West Seattle, Washington
19 Tuesday
(WSB photo from 2011 West Seattle Grand Parade)
“Thanks, everyone, for your support of this wonderful West Seattle tradition!” says West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade co-coordinator Jim Edwards, reporting good news today: They’re received enough sponsor pledges and community donations “to move forward with this year,” two days after putting out a last call for $ help. In addition to the barricade costs – $7,000, as previously reported – they also deal with an even-higher cost for other elements of producing the parade, including permits, trophies, and liability insurance; Jim notes, “At a time when our veteran community has grown smaller with the passage of the elder members of the American Legion, it will be wonderful to help reduce the burden on the Post.” Jim and the other volunteers who coordinate the parade are still catching up on tallying the donations and figuring out where things stand, as well as planning for the future to avoid a donation-drive panic EVERY year – so they don’t have a detailed update yet, but wanted to get this news out. Go ahead and mark your calendar for July 21st (and if you’d like to run/walk the parade route, register now for the first-ever Float Dodger 5K before the parade!).
P.S. Another reminder that one of the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (maps here) sales this Saturday is a benefit for the parade, at Legion Post 160 – sale #140.
At 4 pm today, the Seattle School Board meets for another work session on the BEX-IV levy at district HQ in SODO – which will raise money to build and renovate schools throughout the city. A new draft proposal is on the district website for discussion at the meeting – see it here. Nothing dramatically new for West Seattle, but it does add new details to some of what’s been under discussion:
NEW SCHOOLS:
-The new Schmitz Park Elementary proposed for the old Genesee Hill site would be a 650-seat K-5, this draft says
-The new Arbor Heights Elementary would also be a 650-seat K-5, this draft says
REOPENED SCHOOLS:
-The old Hughes building, currently leased by Westside School (WSB sponsor), would be “upgraded” to reopen as a 304-seat K-5
-The old Fairmount Park building, closed five years ago, would be “upgraded” to reopen as a 304-seat K-5
INTERIM SCHOOL:
-The Boren building is listed as having a capacity as 760 and being “interim location for STEM K-5, Fairmount Park, Hughes, and Arbor Heights” – ostensibly while renovations/rebuilds are under way for each of those schools
Though Roxhill Elementary made its case at a meeting last week for needing renovations, if not a rebuild, or maybe even a move – WSB coverage here – it is not mentioned in the draft. There is a mention toward the end of the document that this proposal could result in a “potential elementary seat surplus in West Seattle.”
The document says that there will be one more round of community meetings in September before the board finalizes the levy plan later in the fall, to go to voters next February. One more note: If you want to talk with West Seattle’s school-board director Marty McLaren about this or any other issue – like the transportation (and therefore bell-time) changes – she has a community conversation meeting scheduled TODAY at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson), 12:30-2:30 pm.
For today’s previews, we direct you to the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar, which changed formats semi-recently to be a true calendar, with individual listings for each event: You can click the “plus” on the right side of any event’s line and see an expanded description, then click “read more” to go to the full listing, usually including a map – or click the “minus” on the right side to close the listing so the calendar’s back in line-by-line view. Today’s events include a 12:30 pm community conversation with West Seattle’s school-board rep Marty McLaren; tonight’s major community meeting is the 34th District Democrats‘ endorsements meeting at 7 pm. Get the full list on the calendar.
ORIGINAL 8:50 AM REPORT: The West Seattle Water Taxi‘s 8:15 run was canceled because of mechanical trouble for Rachel Marie, and the boat usually on the Vashon run, Melissa Ann, is picking up with the run scheduled to leave right about now. More to come when we find out about plans for the rest of the day.
12:56 PM UPDATE: The county just sent word that Rachel Marie is fixed and back in service on the West Seattle run.
(The crowd for 2011’s appearance by Caspar Babypants, who’s in the concert series again this year)
The big news from tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, led by vice president Karl de Jong – the music lineup for this year’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha. As announced at the meeting (held as usual in the lower-level meeting room of Admiral Congregational Church), chosen from more than 60 applicants, by ANA president Katy Walum with help from ANA treasurer Ann Limbaugh and Hiawatha Community Center’s Tiffani Melake – “We listened to a LOT of music,” said Ann:
JULY 26 – The Local Strangers
AUGUST 2 – Mark Dufresne
AUGUST 9 – Reilly and Maloney
AUGUST 16 – The Braxmatics (this show is at Alki Beach)
AUGUST 23 – Caspar Babypants
AUGUST 30 – Curtains For You
The ANA’s website will have even more information about the concert series soon (if it’s not already there by the time you see this).
More on this topic and others, including this year’s 4th of July Kids’ Parade and local park issues, ahead:Read More
Once again tonight, as announced last Thursday, SDOT has closed the westbound West Seattle Bridge for a short distance right at 99 – short, but it still means that if you’re heading westbound, you have to take the Harbor Island ramp and use the low bridge to get to WS. We’ve had two reports in the past few minutes that this has led to a backup all the way to I-5 (one texter has been stuck for more than half an hour) – if you look at the bridge cam, you’ll see the line of headlights stretching back that way. The work is scheduled to continue overnight and again Wednesday and Thursday night too.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
DESC is applying for its 5444 Delridge Way SW building permit next month, executive director Bill Hobson told last night’s meeting of the project’s Advisory Committee.
That was a side note to a discussion with the team from SMR Architects, returning to West Seattle to discuss the 66-unit Delridge Supportive Housing project for the first time since the second and final Southwest Design Review Board meeting two months ago.
Instead of a presentation followed by Q/A, the presentation was punctuated by the half-dozen community members in attendance engaging the architects in conversation about various features of the building and site.
Thanks to Gatewood Elementary PTA president Nicole Sipila for the photo and report about today’s big event:
Just wanted to share an exciting surprise with you about the students and staff of Gatewood Elementary today. Six Mariners came to talk to the kids about being apart of the Dream Team, D = Drug Free, R = Respect, E = Education, A = Attitude & M = Motivation. Manager Eric Wedge, John Jaso, Dustin Ackley, Kyle Seager, Jason Vargas, and Felix Hernandez all spoke about how important it is for kids to succeed in life to stay drug free, show respect for themselves and others, to stay in school and do well, to keep a positive attitude, and to be motivated to succeed.
Also, the students of Gatewood enthusiastically took Felix Hernandez’s two-extra-books-a=week challenge! It was a very special and exciting day for the Gatewood community. A big Thank You to the community outreach team of the Mariners for a great surprise!
More details in an MLB.com writeup we just found on the Mariners’ website.
More wildlife sights on West Seattle beaches today, as the lowest tide once again was minus three feet, and then some. Thanks to WSB’ers who shared photos – above, Machel Spence‘s photograph of what she explained was “a rare and sweet find at low tide … an opalescent a frosted nudibranch, I don’t see these very often except for the very low tides.” The next photo is courtesy of Jen, who said she and her daughter spotted it (among other creatures) while out this afternoonn. She added, “It was so much fun and beautiful out there.”
(Do you know what that is? We don’t!) Tomorrow’s low tide won’t be as low as the past two days, but still excellent for tide-walking depending on the weather – forecast right now as “partly sunny” – it’ll be minus 2.8 feet at 2 pm.
As the county gets closer to building a million-gallon underground storage tank across the street from Lowman Beach Park, in hopes of reducing combined-sewer overflows from Murray Pump Station, the project’s next Design Advisory Group meeting has been announced: 6:30 pm Thursday at Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW). The county has linked meeting-related documents from its calendar page, including the agenda, the project timeline through this December, and a “preliminary design feedback summary” – find it all here.
Meet Lauren. She’s been working to learn more about bees, which are so vital to our environment … and yet, to some, so scary, or at least mysterious. She has an idea to help other learn more about them – but she can’t make it happen alone – so she would like to pitch her idea to you, and find out what kind of support is out there:
Seeking fellow West Seattle Neighbors interested in supporting an observational/educational beehive in High Point!
My name is Lauren Englund and I live in the High Point Community. I am also a member of the High Point Neighborhood Association … and I have an idea. I would like to apply for a Department of Neighborhoods Grant (or similar) for the construction of an observational beehive enclosure within one of the park spaces in High Point (perhaps something similar to the enclosure already installed at Bradner Gardens Park). Beehive enclosure’s help to minimize disturbance to the bees, heighten the flight path of the bees (to minimize human/bee interaction), and protect curious children from getting too close to the hives.
ORIGINAL 1:43 PM REPORT: So far we’ve gotten reports from Pigeon Point and Puget Ridge that some are without power. City Light‘s “system status map” happens to be down right now for maintenance, but we have a call out to the utility to find out more about what’s going on. Please let us know if you’re reading this via something battery-powered because the outage is affecting you too.
1:53 PM UPDATE: Just heard back from Scott Thomsen at City Light. He says the outage is affecting 2,061 homes/businesses. They’re not sure about the cause but he says dispatchers got a report of “balloons in the wires” somewhere in the area – and if that’s the problem, he says, it should be a quick fix (p.s., Scott adds, please DON’T release balloons, especially the mylar ones, they’re bad news for power lines); if that’s not the cause, it may not be so quick. The boundaries SCL lists – which are never precise, so this does NOT mean everyone in this area is powerless, nor does it mean no one is without power outside the “boundaries” – are Brandon SW on the north, SW 106th on the south, 21st SW in the west, 10th SW in the east. In comments here, and via the WSB Facebook page, we’re also hearing that part of West Marginal Way South – which is part of South Park – is affected too.
2:18 PM UPDATE: Thanks for all the updates. Some in Highland Park report their power’s back on. Haven’t heard from other areas yet.
4:21 PM UPDATE: No formal followup info from SCL yet but more people have reported getting their power back. The “system status” map is back too and indicates one lingering trouble spot, in Puget Ridge.
Heading back from checking out an unrelated story early this morning, we noticed these signs stretching along a couple blocks of Beach Drive SW immediately south of the disputed slide slope, creating a no-parking zone for “construction” later this week. Coincidentally, we had just inquired hours earlier with the City Attorney’s Office about the status of the legal fight over the slide site, and while we’re still awaiting that information, we asked SDOT if this is work related to that site. Answer: No, but it IS work to repair the rocky stretch of Beach Drive just south of there, replied spokesperson Marybeth Turner. She says the dates have changed, too – though the signs said May 9-11 when we checked them early today, according to Turner, the work is now set for next week.
2:34 PM UPDATE: We do now have that update on the legal fight over the slide-plagued slope that is now held behind a block wall (though water continues leaking onto the road, as we saw today, days after the last rain, with puddling right across from the semi-new BUMP warning sign):
The legal fight involves multiple parties that filed claims and counter-claims, including upslope homeowners, streetfront homeowners, and the city; its status isn’t available online, but City Attorney’s Office spokesperson Kimberly Mills told WSB today, “We have a mediation scheduled for the end of the month and hope the parties can resolve the issues.”
With just nine days to go till the West Seattle Helpline‘s “Taste of West Seattle” food-and-drink-fest fundraiser, Helpline executive director Tara Byrne has an announcement:
In order to remain compliant with Washington State law, it is now mandatory that those attending the Taste of West Seattle be 21 and over only. We apologize for this inconvenience and have advised people [affected] who have already purchased tickets to contact Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838-3006 for a full refund. Those over 21 that want to taste what West Seattle establishments have to offer can still buy tickets at www.tasteofwestseattle.org. Attendees will be required to have IDs at the door.
Tara says there are 15 more food/beverage participants this year than last, and there will be more room at The Hall of Fauntleroy too, with an additional “tented area” and room.
A few notes as this Saturday’s 8th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (245+ sales, 9 am-3 pm, all over the peninsula!) gets closer …
PREPRINTED MAPS: If you absolutely have no access to a printer to print your own copy of the “printable” map (linked on this WSB page, right above the clickable/zoomable “online” map), we have made a limited number of copies and dropped handfuls off at three local coffeehouses: Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (4410 California SW), C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW and, like Hotwire, a WSB sponsor), and Bird on a Wire Espresso (SW Henderson just steps west of 35th SW). Hotwire (#125 on the map) and C & P (#183 on the map), remember, both are “group sites” for individual sellers who didn’t have enough space or merchandise for their own standalone sites, so you’ll want to visit them on Saturday, and while there’s no sale at The Bird, Saturday includes a sale at the Gasco station site right across 35th (#175 on the map)!
SNEAK PEEKS, AND WHO’S LOOKING FOR WHAT: With sale day so close, we’ve invited sellers to post more info/photos, if interested, on the WSCGSD Facebook page, and shoppers are also invited to post there if they’re looking for something specific. (For example, the West Seattle Tool Library plans another tool shopping spree that day, and its wish list is on its website, if you are selling any of those items or know someone who is.) The WSCGSD Facebook page is also where we’ll post any news of last-minute cancellations or other changes – you will find those on the WSCGSD page here on WSB, too, but if you use FB, that’s the one and only place devoted ONLY to the big day.
BENEFIT SALES: Browse the 7 pages of listings in the “printable” map version and you’ll see more than a few marked BENEFIT SALE – big sales benefiting community events, schools, youth groups, service clubs, health research, a church, an animal-rescue group, a P-Patch, and more. We expect to publish a few breakout lists over the next few days before sale day.
‘STAMP OUT HUNGER’ DONATIONS: And please remember, whether you’re a shopper or a seller (or doing something else on Saturday, for that matter), please consider donating to Stamp Out Hunger, postal carriers’ annual nationwide door-to-door food drive – leave a bag of nonperishable food by your mailbox or door (if that’s where your deliveries come) before you head out on Saturday morning – it’s an easy way to help in the fight against hunger.
Story and photos by Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Nick Parisi of Highland Park plans to open the doors to Athena’s restaurant today at 11 am.
We first told you three months ago about the plan for the newly designed Greek-themed spot (across from Fire Station 11 at 16th and Holden, in the original home of Zippy’s Giant Burgers, now in White Center) will also be the brick and mortar commissary for Athena’s food truck [reported here by WSB].
(Anemone photographed by “old desolate,” shared via the WSB Flickr group pool)
From the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
DONUT TRUCK DEBUTS: As reported here on Monday, Lucky Devil Doughnut Co. – whose specialties include the Portuguese treats also famous in Hawaii, malasadas – makes its first appearance, 8 am-2 pm at the Uptown Espresso lot in The Junction (California/Edmunds).
ONE MORE CHANCE TO EXPLORE AT LOW-LOW TIDE: Today’s low tide – minus 3.3 feet at 1:11 pm – is almost as low as yesterday’s – and Seattle Aquarium beach naturalists will be out again, south of Alki Point and near Colman Pool in Lincoln Park, 10:30 am-2:30 pm.
ATHENA’S OPENS: 11 am today, the enterprise whose truck has been out in front of the ex-Zippy’s location at 16th/Holden in Highland Park for the past few months will open the sit-down café. We’ll have a preview up by 9:15 am.
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY ORCHESTRAS CONCERT: The Debut and Intermediate Orchestras‘ “Stepping into Spring” concert is tonight, 6:30 pm, at Chief Sealth International High School‘s auditorium (2600 SW Thistle) – details here.
DINE OUT TO SUPPORT THE FAUNTLEROY FALL FESTIVAL: Part of tonight’s proceeds at Endolyne Joe’s, 5 pm to close, go to help keep the annual festival free.
ALSO IN FAUNTLEROY: 7 pm at the schoolhouse (9131 California SW), the Fauntleroy Community Association board has its monthly meeting.
IN ADMIRAL: The Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting happens on the second Tuesday too, 7 pm, lower-level meeting room at Admiral Congregational Church (California/Hill).
STANDUP-PADDLEBOARDING RACE: Every Tuesday night through mid-September, Alki Kayak Tours at Seacrest hosts a 7 pm race – details on the calendar.
TRIVIA THAT ROCKS: 8 pm tonight at Feedback Lounge (6451 California SW; WSB sponsor), where you can admire the new outdoor landscaping before/during/after playing trivia (with prizes!).
BABY KETTEN KARAOKE: It’s here just once a month, and tonight’s the night at Skylark Café and Club (3803 Delridge Way SW), 9 pm.
STARLITE SONGWRITERS’ NIGHT: A weekly tradition at Shadowland in The Junction, 9 pm.
CHECKED OUT THE GARAGE SALE DAY MAP YET? This Saturday, 9 am-3 pm, it’s the 8th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (coordinated by WSB), with more than 245 sales on the map, which you can see – in a clickable, zoomable online version, AND in the printable PDF version – by going here.
(WSB photo of 2011 West Seattle Grand Parade)
Organizers of the West Seattle American Legion Grand Parade – the one that thousands watch every July as dozens of floats and bands and community groups walk and roll and march down California SW – say they’ll have to cancel it if nobody steps up to contribute $3,500 so they can cover the costs. We’ve mentioned the donation drive earlier this year; here’s the latest from parade co-coordinator Dave Vague:
We want to thank everyone in the community who has donated to help put on the West Seattle parade so far this year, however, we’re still $3,500 short of the funds needed to put the parade on this year. As you know, we now are responsible for the cost of the street barricade signs and the bid has come in at $7,000, and so far we have only been able to raise half that amount. If we are unable to raise the additional money needed by June 1 we need to cancel the parade this year.
This was to be the parade’s 79th year, and as added excitement, it includes a 5K run before the start.
We are in desperate need in finding a sponsor or donor for the remaining funds by the end of May.
If anyone would like to donate or become a parade sponsor, contact Jim Edwards (wsbigband@ureach.com) or Dave Vague (vagued@comcast.net).
You can donate online via the official parade website, too. If you’ve missed our previous coverage – this is the second year the city has required groups to pay the cost of street-closure barricades; last year, the quote was about $3,000, and this year it’s up to $7,000. The parade does not charge entry fees and changing that wouldn’t help, because then they would have to pay more to get a different type of permit. If the parade doesn’t get canceled, it’s set for July 21st.
ADDED TUESDAY MORNING: Forgot to note that one of the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day sales this Saturday is a benefit for the parade – it’s sale #140 on the map, at parade-presenting American Legion Post 160, 3618 SW Alaska in The Triangle.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
It’s post-season time for high-school baseball – and both West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School played their first tournament games today, both here on the peninsula. One other thing they had in common: Both got shut out, Sealth losing to Bishop Blanchet 2-0 (photo below), WSHS losing to O’Dea 10-0 (photo above).
It’s a double-elimination tournament, though, so both will get another chance.
(Photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
It’s the newest one, and the smallest one. A little patch of grass by a utility pole outside the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) in Morgan Junction is there for the convenience of passers-by and their pooches. It’s also one of two new features you can admire during the SEVENTY-DEGREE SUNSHINE! expected for Saturday’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, with The Feedback among the participants, putting on a Rock ‘n’ Roll Garage Sale (read more on their website) – they’ve also spruced up the spot where a tree came down last year:
Feedback general manager Bradi Jones dubbed it the “Sound Garden” in her note to us this afternoon, explaining, “Gia Griffitts [pictured], Tim Jones, and I just got done with revamping the front patch where the tree (s) had been, in front of the bar! We made it all nice and fresh! AND Rockin’! Of course!” Go have a look on Saturday while visiting what is Sale #210 on the official WSCGSD maps, now both available via this page here on WSB (including the printable 12-page PDF with the full listing of sales; also check out the WSCGSD Facebook page, where we are publishing updates and where sellers are invited to post more info and photos before Saturday, while buyers are invited to post if there’s anything special they’re looking for).
There’s been no offseason for Seal Sitters this year – which means the volunteer marine-mammal protectors/educators/admirers have been wildly busy. If you’ve thought about joining them, here’s your last chance before things get REALLY busy again. From Robin Lindsey:
Seal Sitters MMSN will hold our final new volunteer training session on Saturday, May 19th at the Alki Bathhouse (2701 Alki Ave SW next to the Statue of Liberty). There will be a lecture/AV presentation from 10am-12. Following a 30-minute break, there will be a followup on-the-beach training lasting approximately an hour. Due to time constraints as pupping season arrives, we will not be able to hold another training until after the season ends. We hope to see folks who want to help protect marine mammals attend the training – and please rsvp to reserve a spot:
blubberblog.org/files/f1e2561025a2bc8063238a9180e25086-368.html
We encourage children to get involved in this empowering experience! Shown in the photo here is new volunteer 10-year-old Casey with her mom Dana and veteran volunteer Christine, looking after a pup at Lincoln Park.
A major round of West Seattle/White Center-area Metro changes that have been under discussion for months – with some revisions along the way – is now official. The King County Council gave its approval this afternoon to the changes summarized here (with a West Seattle-specific overview here), and they’ll take effect as West Seattle RapidRide launches September 29th. Read on for the official county news release:Read More
(2011 WSB photo of ‘The Hole’)
Once Trader Joe’s opened on the northeast corner of 39th/Fauntleroy/Alaska, the “what will we all talk about NOW?” attention turned, for some, to the northwest side of the intersection, home to “The Hole,” the project known as Fauntleroy Place when it was excavated and then entangled in a court fight. That battle ended with a settlement that resulted in a foreclosure auction last October, with 3922 SW Alaska LLC as the only bidder – an entity of Madison Development. Since then, though, nary a word about what Madison – which recently completed the Element 42 apartments east of Admiral Safeway – intends to do with “The Hole.”
For quite some time, we tried to find out through the PR agency that had been speaking for Madison. They said they’d see what they could find out – but no updates ensued. Finally today, while working on various followups, we tried contacting Madison’s Tom Lee directly. His reply was short, but full of promise:
We are still working very hard on the project and hope to have an update for you soon.
As for the site’s DPD file, the only even-remotely-recent activity has been a renewal of permits in late March.
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