West Seattle, Washington
30 Wednesday
(WSB photo from 2010 ‘Hands Across the Sand’)
Once again this year, “Hands Across the Sand” demonstrations are planned on shorelines around the country, including Alki Beach, where we photographed the inaugural local event a year ago. The Sierra Club says it’s intended “to champion clean energy solutions that will move us beyond oil — and protect our coastal economies and marine wildlife.” Alki’s “Hands Across the Sand” is scheduled for noon this Saturday, just east of Alki Bathhouse; more here.
No, the semi-truck trailers lined up in the parking lot at vacant Boren School on Delridge don’t mean anyone’s moving in. They’re staging for a move involving two other campuses – the big migration, starting tomorrow afternoon, from the old Denny International Middle School to the new one alongside nearby Chief Sealth International High School.
When we asked Seattle Public Schools about the truck trailers, suspecting they had something to do with the Denny move – which precedes abatement work to prepare for demolition, as explained at last week’s informational meeting – we learned something else: Boren, 2+ miles from Denny, is being used as staging because of a big sporting event at the Southwest Athletic Complex east of Denny this weekend, so that parking lot is off-limits. That’s according to SPS spokesperson Teresa Wippel, who says this notice went to Denny-area residents today:
Denny International Middle School will be relocating, beginning this Thursday, June 23rd. School District staff will be moving furniture and equipment to the new building, continuing into early next week. “No Parking” signs will be posted along the west and south sides of the building as well as along 29th AVE SW between SW Cloverdale St and SW Trenton St. and you will see moving trailers on these streets.
On Saturday, June 25, and Sunday, June 26, the Southwest Athletic Complex will be the site of the Pacific Northwest Junior Olympics Track and Field Championships. A large crowd is expected.
Information about, and the schedule for, the track/field meet is on its website.
(Vicious Puppies Crew 2010 clip from YouTube)
Even if you’re NOT interested in asking Mayor McGinn a question or hearing what he has to say, you might consider going to his Town Hall at Hiawatha Community Center tomorrow (Thursday) night. For one – there will be a short entertainment break around 6:30 pm, with two West Seattle-based youth groups performing for a few minutes each: the breakdancing Vicious Puppies Crew and the synchronized dancers of Defined Movement. Before that, from 5:30 till 6:30 pm, the community-information fair will include your chance to meet people from, and find out about, a wide variety of groups and issues. As mentioned here yesterday, the West Seattle Triangle planning team will be represented – the two draft proposals for that area’s future have just gone public, including major zoning changes, and they’re seeking public comment, as well as ready to answer questions. Today, Ed Pottharst from the Department of Neighborhoods shared a list of other participants in the information fair:
Admiral Neighborhood Association
Alki Community Council
Whale Trail Project
Seal Sitters
Alki Wildlife Habitat
Alki Community Center Advisory Council
Barton P-Patch
Concord International Elementary School
Delridge P-Patch
Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council
Lincoln Park P-Patch
Morgan Community Association
Nature Consortium
Southwest Seattle Historical Society & Log House Museum
Sustainable West Seattle
West Seattle Be Prepared
West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network
West Seattle Chamber of Commerce
West Seattle Food Bank
West Seattle Helpline
(If you’ll be tabling there and aren’t listed, leave a comment!) Again – 5:30 pm info fair, 6:30 pm performers, 6:40 pm mayor/others Q/A. Hiawatha is at 2700 California SW, probably best to park at West Seattle High School’s California-facing lot if you’re driving, since Hiawatha’s own lot is fairly small.
By the 4th of July weekend, The Grove/West Seattle Inn – our peninsula’s only motel – plans to reopen, two months after closing for the first phase of extensive renovations. We’ve been chronicling the renovation plans since the motel’s new owners, longtime West Seattleites, announced them back in December. They’re having a community open house next Monday, and they have reservations for their first guests, starting with the pre-4th of July weekend. But to put it bluntly, some wonder how they will keep out the seedy clientele that kept many legitimate visitors away in recent years. That’s one of the questions we asked Lynn Sweeney, spokesperson for the owners, who granted our request for a tour this week – read on:Read More
It’s been atop our BIG STORIES list on the sidebar all week, just for easy reference, but in case you’ve missed it somehow, a midweek reminder: The Alaskan Way Viaduct is closed for much of Saturday because of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. And since the event starts in Tukwila, there are other road closures within miles of West Seattle that might affect you too (including, in SODO, part of 1st Avenue S.). The information is all on the marathon website, where we got the map shown above. Of course, with the Morgan Junction Community Festival and the Northwest Paddling Festival, you might not want to leave West Seattle on Saturday anyway – but if you do, consider yourself forewarned. Again.
(WSB photo of ‘The Hole,’ taken last month)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Some details remain elusive, but new court documents reveal some of what’s in the settlement that canceled plans for another trial in the longrunning legal fight over the stalled West Seattle development site dubbed “The Hole” (fully excavated for a parking garage between a once-planned Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics/apartment building, then fenced off when it became clear things had fallen apart and gone to court).
To recap: We first reported news of a settlement on June 3rd. No one would comment on its details. Last week, King County Superior Court Judge Susan Craighead‘s bailiff Jennie Cowan told WSB they were expecting some kind of documents to be filed in the ensuing week or so – and bit by bit, that is now happening.
Next Tuesday is this year’s Spoke and Food benefit event – to encourage people to bicycle to local restaurants. In West Seattle, Chaco Canyon Organic Café is participating, and in neighboring White Center, Proletariat Pizza is participating. 20 percent of that night’s proceeds from all participants go to the Seattle Tilth Children’s Garden. Both restaurants have bicycle racks, of course! It’s 5-10 pm next Tuesday (June 28).
Five quick mentions (sorry, later than usual as we were caught up in following up on this):
HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE: Monthly meeting, 7 pm, HP Improvement Club (12th/Holden). Speakers scheduled to talk about West Seattle Tool Library, Community Orchard of West Seattle, and September’s Delridge Day festival.
BITE AT THE POINT: All are invited to Bite at the Point, a free community potluck and family-fun event at High Point Community Center. Details here; 6-7:30 pm.
PEPS ORIENTATION AT BRIGHT HORIZONS: Interested in PEPS – the Program for Early Parent Support? Just got word that there’s an orientation tonight for people who aren’t signed up yet or who signed up for a group that’s not meeting yet. The meeting’s at Bright Horizons (WSB sponsor), 38th/Alaska, 7 pm.
OPEN MIKE: No featured readers this time – all welcome to the monthly Poetry Bridge gathering at 7 pm at C & P Coffee, 5612 California SW, including poets, story tellers, and musicians with a poetic message.
BACKYARD COTTAGES: Free one-hour workshop on building a backyard cottage or “accessory dwelling unit” put on by Ncompass Cottage Company (WSB sponsor), 7 pm at Community School of West Seattle (9450 22nd SW) at 7 pm. Check to see if there’s room – contact Stefan at 206-933-5961 or stefan@ncompass-llc.com.
Just yesterday, we brought you news of a new project proposed on Avalon Way, a few lots east of 35th – six stories, 117 apartments, at 3261 Avalon. This morning, there’s word that it’s scheduled for its first Southwest Design Review Board “early design guidance” meeting. And the meeting on Thursday night, July 28th, will be a doubleheader – it also includes the second Design Review meeting for Nova, Harbor Properties‘ proposed 62-unit building at 4600 36th SW, adjacent to Merrill Gardens-West Seattle (WSB sponsor) and the motel now known as The Grove/West Seattle Inn. (Here’s our coverage of Nova’s first Design Review session.) The July 28th meeting will be at the Southwest Precinct meeting room, Delridge/Webster, with Nova at 6:30 pm, the Avalon project at 8 pm.
**7/21/11 NOTE – Since original publication, the meeting has moved to the Senior Center in The Junction, and the projects have reversed order, Avalon at 6:30, Nova at 8.**
(SCROLL DOWN FOR STORY UPDATES including SPD reports, Bang Bar cleanup)
2:16 AM: We’re still trying to piece this one together but here’s what we know so far, thanks to scanner traffic as well as tips from Will (who sent photos) and Jacob: At least two businesses were hit by vandalism – broken windows – in The Junction early today – the new Bang Bar on California north of Edmunds (Will’s photo above shows fire crews dealing with the broken glass), and Elegant Nails a short distance south:
Police were talking to possible suspects at last report. Other scanner traffic suggests there’s even more to the story but we’ll wait till we can confirm with police sometime in the next several hours.
8:41 AM: We just spoke with media-response unit Det. Mark Jamieson, who has published more details on SPD Blotter. As it had sounded last night via scanner, it’s complicated – there were two Junction incidents that might be related, an assault outside Matador (detailed on SPD Blotter here – two passersby hit an employee, who wasn’t seriously hurt) and the broken-windows incident (detailed on SPD Blotter here – it appears the two businesses in our report are the only ones hit). Two 23-year-old men are in custody, and facing charges in the attack, for starters. They were caught just northwest of The Junction, one along Glenn, one along Oregon; the second arrest involved a K-9 officer who had joined the search.
9:43 AM: We can’t make a definitive match yet without seeing a more-detailed police report (not available online), but there were two 23-year-old men booked into King County Jail at 3:30 am on suspicion of misdemeanor assault; according to Seattle Municipal Court status updates, one is already out of jail, on “personal recognizance”; the other, who has a felony criminal record including robbery cases, has a court hearing at 10 am.
10:44 AM: We just went to The Junction to check on the aftermath. The nail salon is already open and doing business for the day. At Bang Bar, here’s what we found:
The owners are there, cleaning up and fixing the window (we took the photo inside, looking toward the street). They told us they will be open tonight as usual starting at 4 pm. Note that, as is posted on their door, they are only open for dinner (etc.) TFN, no relation to this, it’s just a decision they’ve made while they continue to fine-tune operations.
4:42 PM: Will shares another photo – the Bang Bar window, fixed:
We checked on the one believed-to-be suspect who was still in jail this morning; he’s still in this afternoon, in lieu of $950 bail, with a hearing now set for tomorrow morning.
After the summer-solstice sunset, West Seattle’s own NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen offered her traditional explanation of solstices and equinoxes – as you’ll see in our video, above. But the evening’s suspense at Solstice Park (east of north Lincoln Park) preceded that. Would the sun finally appear for one of Alice’s quarterly viewing events, after a streak of 8 without the sun?
The answer: Yes! And at this point, we’re going to cheat and use a photo shared by JayDee from upper Alki, better than any we captured featuring the setting sun:
Back to Solstice Park – the suspense then became, would the setting sun on solstice night line up with a particular stone, as it was intended to?
Alice polled those on hand. No consensus. Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t – although if it didn’t, it was close.
Speaking of “those on hand,” at its peak, we counted close to a hundred people, spread out across the berms and slopes of the hillside park:
Those who came to watch spanned a wide age range – from Alice’s 2-month-old daughter, on up. And Alice cheerily invited them all to come back in 3 months for the fall equinox. That’ll be September 23rd – mark your calendar now! And in the meantime, keep an eye on Alice’s website, alicesastroinfo.com.
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
One more last-day-of-elementary-school West Seattle story: Arbor Heights Elementary celebrated a new artwork this morning, just before its end-of-year assembly – a mural for its playcourt. AH teacher Mark Ahlness tells WSB, “It is the culmination of months of work by all students, under the direction of artist-in-residence Jihyun Andersen.” He has a Flickr gallery up. The artist was there when WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen stopped by:
Jihyun is also an Arbor Heights mom, with a son finishing his kindergarten year. She thought the playcourt looked rather stark, so the mural idea was born, and has been under way since May. It depicts the Fauntleroy Creek ecosystem when salmon are released – a Salmon in the Classroom activity in which AH participates.
Ellen reports that the 5th graders did a lot of the free-hand drawing and the kindergarteners used bug stamps to populate the creek. The 1st-4th graders worked on the plants and birds.
Jihyun told Ellen she plans to add a few trees, then seal the mural with varnish to protect it.
Low-key meeting for the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council tonight, and its last one till September (bylaws passed last year enable them to skip July and August) – but there was the usual crime-trend briefing, plus informational, albeit casual, presentations about the Seattle Police Foundation and the SPD Explorers program, as well as news of a new graffiti-paint-out program this summer – read on for summaries:Read More
The end of the school year for Seattle Public Schools elementaries and K-8s meant special celebrations at some schools. At Lafayette Elementary in the Admiral District, it was the last day for principal Virginia Turner after 7 years (who is moving to Coe Elementary on Queen Anne, as announced last week). WSB’er Luckie shared photos, including the special hats that 2nd graders wore in her honor, and the principal herself saying goodbye:
Luckie says Golden Acorn Award-winning volunteers Deborah Hazlegrove (below left) and Holly Grambihler (below right) were feted too – as organizers of the Play It Forward playground project, which reaches a milestone this weekend with groundbreaking for the next phase and a work party (as mentioned here).
Seattle public middle/high schools are still in session till Thursday.
Thanks to Sharonn for the photo from 37th/Alaska, where a Route 54 bus was involved in a crash. Not major, but as you can see from the ambulance in the photo, at least one person was hurt, and eastbound Alaska (by the VFW and Legion halls) will be difficult to get around until the scene is clear.
(Photo courtesy Paul Riek)
In addition to Saturday’s Morgan Junction Community Festival, there’s another festival in West Seattle this weekend, and it’s a first-time event. Maybe you’ve seen the banner hanging over the entrance to Jack Block Park (a public park on Port of Seattle land off Harbor Avenue SW) – it went up a few days ago, and it’s your invitation to the Northwest Paddling Festival this Saturday and Sunday (June 25-26).
The festival is not just for the hardcore kayaker/stand-up paddleboarder. If you’ve been thinking about trying the sport – or if you prefer to be a spectator – it’s for you too. An Olympic-medalist kayaker will even be on hand. The marine-life protectors of Seal Sitters will too.
And it will kick off with a historic moment: The beach at Jack Block Park is being reopened to the public, in a ceremony on the festival’s eve.
We spoke Monday afternoon with two of the organizers, Paul Riek from Sea Kayaker Magazine and Rob Stowell from West Seattle’s Mountain to Sound Outfitters, to get more details on what you’ll see if you go:Read More
Next week in West Seattle – two days, two restaurant openings. We broke the news earlier that A Terrible Beauty plans to open in The Junction next Tuesday (June 28), 11 am; now we’ve just confirmed that Pizzeria 22, Cary Kemp‘s new wood-fired pizzeria in the Admiral District, is planning to open Monday (June 27) at 4 pm (barring any last-minute snags). He’s been in business with a mobile wood-fired-pizza oven, and now his dream of owning his own restaurant is coming true. It will be all-ages; the menu and hours are at pizzeria22.com; here’s our original report from last January, when he signed the lease at 4213 SW College, a few doors east of California SW. Thanks to Kim for the opening-date tip! (April photo of Cary Kemp & imported oven, by Stephanie Chacharon for WSB)
High Point Community Center is hoping you’ll be part of its start-of-summer celebration tomorrow, “Bite at the Point” – a multicultural potluck and family-fun event (jumpy toys too!). We published this announcement about it earlier, with full details. If you haven’t been to HPCC before, here’s a map; it has a great city-skyline view and expansive playfield grounds, plus, of course, the center. “Bite at the Point” is set for 6-7:30 pm tomorrow.
Another long-dormant project is apparently about to get going again: the south-of-Junction 91-unit building called Spring Hill – no relation to the restaurant – by its previous developer, BlueStar (also the original developer of The Hole). BlueStar is long out of the picture and the site has been bank-owned for a while, and up for sale since 2009; our last update was in early 2010. Now, Paragon Real Estate Associates announced on its website that the site’s been sold to someone who wants to “break ground as soon as possible,” since the project passed Design Review 3 years ago and already has its land-use permit (though construction permits aren’t finalized, according to city online records). We’re still working to find out who bought it.
We discovered the 5020 California SW sale thanks to Jodee, who had e-mailed to point out another West Seattle item on the Paragon website, an Avalon Way sale described as a future 100-unit apartment complex. Actually, 117 units, according to an initial DPD entry for 3261 Avalon Way, one of the addresses that Paragon includes in its info about the sale. The buyer is Redmond-based CD Heritage LLC.
(Monday photo courtesy GW)
The state Ecology Department is talking today about the reddish “bloom” seen in some Puget Sound waters, including ours (here’s yesterday’s WSB report/photos). From their news release (we’ve added an aerial photo they posted to Flickr):
Scientists from the Department of Ecology’s marine monitoring program in a routine overflight of Puget Sound have spotted an extensive reddish bloom in Puget Sound that they suspect is harmless.
It is not the so-called “red tide” that refers to paralytic shellfish poisoning.
The bloom extends from Kingston to Des Moines, and across the Central Basin from Seattle to Bainbridge Island.
Today, they collected water samples they predict will confirm that the bloom is Noctiluca (pronounced “nock-ti-lukah”), a harmless single-celled micro-organism that bioluminesces and occurs normally at this time of year. This kind of plankton does not photosynthesize, but gets its red color from the phytoplankton it eats, a type of nutrition called heterotrophy.
This type of bloom shows up as large, red-brown, even orange “tomato-soup-like” streaks along current and tidal convergence lines, according to Dr. Christopher Krembs of Ecology’s marine monitoring program.
Krembs said the bloom is also accumulating along shores and beaches.
“We are reasonably certain this is Noctiluca, so there is no public health threat,” Krembs said. “As the sun warms the water, the water stratifies, holding the tiny plankton near the surface where they flourish.” …
The long-awaited opening date is set for A Terrible Beauty in The Junction – the new family-friendly Irish pub/restaurant that’s been in development at California/Edmunds. Co-owner Jenna Shannon Garvey O’Brien has just told WSB contributor Katie Meyer, who’s been covering the in-development establishment since they announced their West Seattle plans 3 months ago, that they will open one week from today, June 28th, starting with lunch at 11 am. Katie visited Jenna and the crew over the weekend, while they – with the help of volunteers – were putting in some of the finishing touches prior to a round of inspections:
That’s Jenna – next photo, one of the helpful volunteers:
If you’ve missed our previous coverage – this is an expansion for A Terrible Beauty, whose original location in Renton is wildly popular by all accounts. Katie has chronicled their extensive makeover of the West Seattle Junction spot that previously housed the short-lived Table 35 – as the ATB team added highlights from Scottie Joe‘s stonework to the distinctive green paint. You can find out more about them at aterriblebeauty.com (including menu information), and they’re also in Facebook, including a page just for the West Seattle location. More to come!
After two series of meetings with a citizens’ advisory group, the city planners working on the future of the West Seattle Triangle have gone public with two draft plans, opened a public-comment period, and announced a public open house.
THE PLANS: The draft “urban design framework” can be seen here; the draft “land use code and zoning amendments” can be seen here. The proposed zoning changes include a recommendation to increase maximum height to 85 feet in the bluish-purple area you see in the graphic above**; that suggestion had drawn concern in previous community-group reviews. The changes also would rezone what is now “commercial” land throughout The Triangle to “neighborhood commercial.”
COMMENT PERIOD AND OPEN HOUSE: The open house is scheduled for 6-8 pm June 29th at the Senior Center of West Seattle; public comment is being accepted on the two draft plans through July 1st – susan.mclain@seattle.gov – note that these plans are supposed to be voted on by the City Council later this summer, so if you want a say in what might eventually turn up in this area, this is your chance. Read on for an excerpt from the zoning/land-use document summarizing the proposed zoning changes, and more:Read More
Summer vacation is hours away for elementary and K-8 students in Seattle Public Schools – it’s their last day (middle/high schoolers attend till Thursday). That’s just part of what’s on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar for today, as we say goodbye to spring:
SUMMER ARRIVES: Summer solstice arrives at 10:16 am our time – then tonight at 8:45 pm, go to Solstice Park to watch summer-solstice sunset (9:11 pm) with Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen (as explained here).
PREPAREDNESS, THE NEXT STEP: Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon) presents Personal Preparedness beyond 3-day kits! 12:15 – 1:15 pm. What do you do on day 4, day 5, day 6, day 10. . . when there is no power for weeks. Prepare yourselves, your family, as best you can, to provide for your basic needs, safety, comfort and well-being for weeks!
SOMALI STORY TIME: It is Somali Story Time, 1:30-2 pm at the High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond) Branch! Bring your children to enjoy stories, rhymes, and fun.
CRUISE PRESENTATION: Join AAA Travel and discover Europe on a river cruise! Learn about the various itineraries and why river cruising is becoming more and more popular. 6 pm at Merrill Gardens-West Seattle (WSB sponsor; 4611 35th Avenue SW) – RSVP to 206.933.4106. Members and nonmembers are welcome!
OUT-OF-SCHOOL BASH: For ages 5-17, 6 pm, High Point Community Center (6920 34th SW) (from the spring brochure)
CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets, Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster). Guests: Renee Hopkins, Director of the Seattle Police Foundation, which sponsors many programs including the SPD Explorer Program, which also will be explained by Sgt. Adrian Diaz.
NEW PRODUCE BUYERS’ CLUB: Delridge Produce Cooperative Buyers’ Club first meeting, Delridge Community Center, 7 pm (more info here)
BELLY DANCING: Alauda belly dance showcase at Skylark Café and Club, 7:30 pm
MORE NIGHTLIFE: Rock music trivia at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm … At Mac’s Triangle Pub at the south end of Delridge, open-mike night starting at 8 pm.
| 1 COMMENT