West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
We heard a lot about mail theft and package theft before Christmas. Here’s the first report we’ve had since then, from a West Seattleite who didn’t want her name published:
Between 6:45 pm on Dec. 31st and 10 am on Jan. 1st, mail from our house on 35th Ave SW just south of SW Alaska [map], was stolen! We have two mailboxes, and both were cleared out, along with a small package for our neighbor. Just a warning for people in the area, this may have been random, but it is something to think about when leaving mail on a front porch on a busy street! This was reported to the police but we haven’t heard anything from them regarding the incident.
The USPS has its own investigators to deal with mail theft, and you can file a report with them by going here. P.S. – After taking December off, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council resumes monthly meetings in two weeks, on Tuesday, January 17th, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room; if you have neighborhood crime concerns, that’s one place to bring them to police attention, face to face. The West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network is scheduled to meet again toward month’s end; keep an eye on their site.
Reminiscent of how the Christmas Day mini-windstorm began – the wind sounds fairly fierce, but so far, no official warnings, at least onshore (Puget Sound off our shores has a “gale warning” till 8 pm, a “small craft advisory” till 4 pm Wednesday). The Alki Point weather station (K91S on this list) recorded a 52-knot gust at the top of the hour. No power problems currently on the Seattle City Light map for our area, but we’ve received two notes about Comcast problems in the Sunrise Heights area (no way to tell if it’s weather-related, of course).
Unless you are keeping your tree up through the Epiphany – or oh, say, the Super Bowl – it’s go-time. So here are some reminders about tree-cycling, if you haven’t accomplished it already. Via the city – this is your second and final week to tree-cycle for free. (From Seattle Public Utilities:
(Curbside residential pickup:) Trees must be trimmed to 6 feet or shorter. Trim branches to less than four feet to fit into the collection trucks. Bundle each section with sisal string or twine (not plastic). Decorated, flocked and plastic trees are not recyclable and will be charged as extra garbage.
At Apartments – One tree may be placed next to each food/yard waste cart at no extra charge each collection day.
At Recycling & Disposal Stations – Clean trees can be taken for free (see hours and locations). Trees should not exceed eight feet in length and must be free of decoration. Trunks should not exceed four inches in diameter. The stations will accept up to three trees per vehicle.
The station closest to West Seattle is the South Transfer Station in South Park.
One more option – a local nonprofit youth group has a tree-cycling event next weekend: The West Seattle Rainbow Girls will hold their fifth annual Christmas tree recycle fundraiser Saturday (January 7) at the Alki Masonic Hall, 4736 40th SW, 10 am-2 pm. Suggested donation $5. No flocked trees. For more information, contact Jan Hunter at 206-849-7906. (The Rainbow Girls are also one of two groups with tree-cycling fundraisers in Burien next weekend; if you’re interested in that info, it’s in our White Center Now tree-cycling roundup.)
We’ve shown you the New Year’s Polar Bear Swim … call this one the New Year’s Octopus Swim, shared by diver/underwater photographer Laura James, from Cove 2 at Seacrest:
New Years Day Dive! from Laura James on Vimeo.
SIDE NOTE: After reviewing the video, we asked Laura about its start, in which she touches the octopus’s suction cups; she explains that it’s a way to both gauge where an octopus is in its lifecycle, and to offer “kind of a ‘hello’ but allowing it to check me out since much of their sensory input comes from suction cups. I find that if they are not OK, they retract into the den. This one seemed more curious than upset, based on color pattern. It was getting rather annoyed by paparazzi by the end of the shoot, and solved the dissatisfaction by throwing a fish at me (the cloud of silt near the end) and going back into the den!”
If you’ve ever wanted to check out the West Seattle Cooking Club – which was featured here last summer – but just couldn’t get to one of their Monday afternoon meeting, today might be your chance. 2 pm, Beveridge Place Pub. They’ll be choosing the “themes” for their next few months of meetings; today’s theme is Latin, according to the WSCC Facebook page.
A few quick notes: No Water Taxi today; Metro is on a Sunday schedule; so is Sound Transit; state ferries are on the new winter schedule that took effect Sunday.
Thanks to those who have texted in the past few minutes about a police search under way in the Camp Long/north High Point area. According to scanner traffic, a resident reported seeing someone emerge from a crawl space under a home and run away. That’s all we know so far; the description mentioned over the airwaves included “dirty blond hair” and a light-colored shirt.
Meantime, there is finally a tiny bit of official information regarding an incident early this morning in the Alki area that led to a major response in the 60th/Admiral/Hinds area. A neighbor had told us it involved people firing guns, and that indeed is the official online designation finally posted for the call (“weapon discharge”). We don’t know if anyone was arrested, and may not be able to find that out until after the extended holiday weekend.
New haircuts to start the New Year. That’s part of what volunteers organized by Vietnamese Cultural Center director Lee Bui brought to the “Nickelsville” encampment in West Seattle today, along with donated food and clothing. Above, Renton hairstylist Van; below, Nga Ngo:
Volunteers promised they’d return, after a Thanksgiving visit with free flu shots as well as food (WSB coverage here). Here’s most of today’s group:
While there, we also found a second group of volunteers, who came to the encampment to offer a New Year’s Day barbecue:
What the New Year will bring for Nickelsville isn’t clear, as their status on this city-owned land remains tenuous. Though Mayor McGinn said after the encampment’s return last spring that he didn’t plan to evict them as his predecessor had three years earlier, the city also is not moving toward granting a request for utility hookups, as discussed at last month’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting (WSB coverage here).
Danny McMillin spotted this barred owl during a New Year’s Day walk in Lincoln Park. (Is he/she one of these two? Would take keener eyes than ours to tell!) Thanks for sharing the photo!
Here’s one good sign for the year ahead: The hale and hardy of West Seattle, White Center, and environs were graced with sunshine for the second consecutive New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim on Alki (after two preceding years under cloud cover). Of course, as evidenced on the beach this morning, it’s not the weather – it’s more about the chance to, shall we say, chill with friends – like this group identifying themselves as the “Dunkins“:
And this one, the “Libres“:
Then there was the pirate, and friend …
No costume for organizer Mark Ufkes, just a big smile:
And as the crowd (biggest one we’ve ever seen!) lined the beach, ready to run into Puget Sound, one guy went first – everybody else counted down, and ran in, shortly thereafter:
(added) And from the WSB Flickr group pool, Henrik‘s really-close-up view:
P.S. Turns out that wasn’t the only Polar Bear Swim today. Dave Meucci shared this video of his friends-and-family dip:
Though this year and last year had sunshine in common, the air temperatures were different – we noted it at “freezing” on New Year’s Day 2011, but at 10 am today, it was 48 degrees!
Following the sad news about Frosty the seal pup, West Seattle-based Seal Sitters was heartened to end the year with a visit from this pup, promptly dubbed “Bubbles.” Seal Sitters’ Robin Lindsey shared the video of Bubbles; you can see more of her video and photos as pup visits (and other “news on the beach”) is chronicled on their Blubberblog site, where you’ll also find their year-end wrap-up – as noted here previously, it was a record year for pup sightings on local beaches, keeping the all-volunteer Seal Sitters busy. If you see a seal or other marine mammal on a local beach, call them at 206-905-SEAL (7325).
Here’s a potential New Year’s resolution for parents, grandparents, guardians, and caregivers of young children – take advantage of Seattle Public Library story times! Children’s librarian Amy LaVare shares a list of what’s scheduled at the Delridge (Brandon/Delridge) and High Point (35th/Raymond) branches the next few months:
JANUARY 5 and all Thursdays through MARCH 8: Preschool Story Time, 11:15 am, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW)
JANUARY 10 and all Tuesdays through MARCH 20: Family Story Time, 7 pm, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW)
JANUARY 12 and all Thursdays through MARCH 29: Toddler Story Time, 11:30 am, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.) No story time on March 15.
JANUARY 23 and all Mondays through MARCH 26: Family Story Time, 7 pm, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.)
JANUARY 28 and all Saturdays through MARCH 31: Vietnamese Story Time, 11:30 am, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW) This story time is offered entirely in Vietnamese.
FEBRUARY 1 and all Wednesdays through MARCH 28: Somali Story Time, 5 pm, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.) This story time is offered entirely in Somali.
Story times are open to the public. Everyone is welcome. No registration is required. Free parking is available at each location. For more information, call the High Point Branch at 206-684-7454, the Delridge Branch at 206-733-9125 or Ask a Librarian.
You’ll also find Story Times at the Southwest, South Park, and West Seattle branches; we’ll be adding these, and those, to our ongoing WSB West Seattle Events calendar, and you can check on daily/weekly events through the calendar on the library website.
That’s our video from last year’s New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim on Alki, just in case you’re thinking about joining today’s swim but need a little reassurance that you won’t be alone. This year, at least, will be warmer – our 2011 story notes an air temperature in the 30s, and it’ll be in the 40s this time around. The swim is part of what’s on our list for this holiday:
WHO’S OPEN FOR COFFEE … Not an all-inclusive list but here’s who told us they definitely planned to be open: Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), 8 am-6 pm … Diva Espresso, open 8 am to 6 pm … Bird on a Wire, 10 am-2 pm … Caffe Delia (in Proletariat Pizza‘s WC storefront), 9 am- 1 pm … Red Cup Espresso open 9 am-3 pm … (added) C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor) open 10 am-2 pm
RESTAURANTS … You won’t likely have much trouble finding places that are open, but several did let us know they definitely are open, and the list is on the West Seattle Holidays page (which goes back on hiatus after today, till next November!).
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET CLOSED for the holiday, but it’ll be back next Sunday (January 8th).
SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY … branches closed today.
POLAR BEAR SWIM … Jump/run/wade into Puget Sound from Alki, across from Duke’s/Christo’s, 10 am (here’s the announcement).
NEW YEAR’S DAY WALK … Emerald City Wanderers is sponsoring a New Year’s Day walk, starting between 9 am and 1 pm, 5- or 10-kilometer route, free. Starts from St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 3050 California SW.
2011 again brought immense joy as another year of collaborating with you to cover our community – and 2012 is off and running that way too. Thanks to David Hutchinson for the first shared-via-WSB photos of the Space Needle 2011-2012 New Year’s fireworks, as seen from Duwamish Head.
When KING posts the fireworks video, we’ll add a link here.
Story and video by Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
More than 90 participants of all ages kicked off tonight’s Highland Park New Year’s Blast (and Potluck!) by marching in the Not-So-Silent Night Parade.
Armed with assorted noise-making devices and papier-maché lanterns, children and adults set out from the Highland Park Improvement Club on a several-block march through the surrounding neighborhood, stopping traffic and bringing people out onto their front porches and yards to exchange shouted wishes for a “Happy New Year.”
Dan Mullins served as a sort of de-facto grand marshal of the procession, with tonight marking the third annual New Year’s Eve noise-making march, though he noted that the neighborhood has been gathering for community events on the last day of the year for 91 years.
Awaiting the group in the parking lot of the club afterward was another relatively new tradition for the holiday: the “Sage Comet.”
Former Cirque de Flambé member Chris Huson was joined by Rory Denovan in a fireball-twirling display, adding a bit of heat to the chilly evening air.
Wearing kilts as a nod to the tradition’s Scottish “Hogmanay” roots, the men spun flaming wire cages in large circles around them. Despite the name given the event, “Sage Comet,” it was bits of Christmas trees and rosemary set aflame by another Cirque alum, known only as “Tricky Bunny.”
Keeping with the family-orientation of the evening, Huson and Denovan were attended by their wives — Kristin Huson and Becca Fong –donning black robes and holding tall torches in front of the gathered crowd, lending an air of ritual to the proceedings.
Once the flames had burned out, revellers were invited back into the club for a potluck dinner and a night of live music from four bands, promising to carry the festivities securely into 2012.
With a solid attendance already on hand for the early part of the night, HPIC secretary Julie Schickling expected as many as 150 people might attend throughout the evening.
From the North Delridge Neighborhood Council website: Two neighborhood-advocate positions are open on the “Delridge Alliance” advisory group that’ll work on issues related to the Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s plan for a 75-apartment “supportive housing” project at 5444 Delridge Way SW. The alliance’s formation was discussed at last month’s NDNC meeting, as reported here. If you’re interested in being part of it, details and links are in this writeup on the NDNC site. The project itself passed the first round of Design Review earlier this month (WSB coverage with video, here), with at least one more round to come, though the review-meeting date is not set yet.
For more than four years now, we’ve been glad to be able to work with photojournalist Christopher Boffoli. Though lately his career focus have turned toward the unique “Disparity” imagery that gained worldwide attention this year, he took the time to look back at his WSB work from this year and put together a slideshow of dozens of memorable images. Many were from breaking-news stories, as that’s been his WSB specialty over the years, but that’s not all you’ll see if you click through the photos (or let them play automatically) … watch closely for, for example, the most-talked-about food from last July’s West Seattle Summer Fest. Speaking of food, Christopher’s about to open an exhibition of images from his “Disparity” work, January 10-February 23 at Winston Wächter Fine Art (203 Dexter Ave. N. downtown).
P.S. 2 more year-in-review roundups to come … we’ve archived previous installments (plus this one) here.
“Bird Watcher Newbies” sent that photo. Sometimes we can “name that bird” without asking for community help; this time, nope, we need you. They write:
We just had a feathered visitor near our house on Alki, and not having seen him before wanted to know if it could be posted for those who know for identification. He had an interesting call, which our intrepid hound still wants to locate!
The photo above is as close as we could crop it, by the way. Thanks, if you can help!
Paul Swortz added that photo to the WSB Flickr group pool back in October, but it seems more evocative of the New Year’s Eve party mood as people start staking out Harbor Avenue viewpoints for tonight’s Space Needle fireworks. Here’s what else is on the schedule as the New Year approaches:
TAKE A WALK: The Emerald City Wanderers have New Year’s Eve and Day walks planned here in West Seattle again this year; tonight, start between 4 and 7 PM at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church and head down to Alki Beach. Free! More info on the ECW website.
CLOSING EARLY: Not all-inclusive, but a few that we’ve heard about/found … Seattle Public Library facilities close at 6 pm (and are closed tomorrow); state liquor stores are open till 8 pm; PCC Natural Markets (WSB sponsor) close at 10 tonight, open 9 am-7 pm tomorrow …
NEW YEAR’S EVE DINNER – multiple restaurants listed on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page (and if you have trouble finding contact info for any other West Seattle restaurant, consult its page in the WSB Restaurant Guide, where we also have linked its Facebook and/or Twitter pages if they have ’em).
NEW YEAR’S EVE NOT-SO-SILENT NIGHT PARADE, AND HIGHLAND PARK IMPROVEMENT CLUB PARTY: Gather starting at 6:15 pm in the Highland Park Improvement Club parking lot at 11th/Holden; the parade is at 6:30, party following – full details here.
NEW YEAR’S EVE BASH AT MENCHIE’S FROZEN YOGURT: 7 pm-11 pm: Balloons, coloring contest, games, party-room raffle (1 raffle ticket with each purchase), pictures with Menchie & other surprises – facebook.com/menchiesadmiral.
NEW YEAR’S EVE BURLESQUE: At Skylark Café and Club, 8 pm. Facebook event page has more.
LOTS MORE NEW YEAR’S EVE BAR/LOUNGE PARTIES – listed on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page
FIREWORKS AT THE SPACE NEEDLE: Just in case you’re new in town, if you can find a spot with a view of the Space Needle, you can enjoy the eight-minute fireworks show at … no, not midnight, the Needle reminds you via Twitter, 11:59 pm. But don’t wait till the last minute. And please note that traffic along Harbor Avenue, pretty much all the way up to Alki, is generally absolute gridlock late in the evening, so don’t wait till the last minute to go look for a spot (we speak from experience).
NEW YEAR’S EVE AT THE HELMSTETLER FAMILY SPECTACULAR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS SHOW: Want to catch it one more time? Free cocoa tonight, as mentioned a couple weeks back. Official website with directions and lots more info, here.
WANT TO TAKE OUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE? If you just can’t wait till next week’s pickup, you can take it for free to the South Transfer Station. Details on the Seattle Public Utilities website.
“Fred by the Library” sent this just before midnight:
Saw 2 healthy-sized coyotes about 30 minutes ago by Arch Ave SW and Walnut Ave SW [map] while walking the dog. They sauntered away to the NW after we saw each other (they were about 50 yards away).
Thought others in the neighborhood might like to know.
Coyotes made it into our West Seattle wildlife year-in-review report; if you haven’t read up recently on what to do if you see one (most important advice – try to spook them), here it is again.
School may be out but holiday basketball tournaments continue. Tonight Seattle Lutheran High School‘s teams are both playing in the finals of a tournament in the Skagit County town of Mount Vernon – and the Saints have already taken the girls’ title, beating Mount Vernon Christian 40-37. Thanks to Seana for the score updates and the photo.
8:50 PM UPDATE: Also from Seana: The SLHS boys take second place in the tournament, losing 42-30 to Mt. Rainier Lutheran.
Another meeting just added to the schedule for the first week of the New Year:
Inspired by Occupy Seattle? Just curious?
Come to: A Public Meeting
6:00 – 7:30 PM Thursday, January 5
West Seattle Library, 2306 42nd Ave SWMeet some Occupy Seattle participants. Bring your questions, concerns, ideas. Find out how to get involved!
Hosted by: West Seattle Neighbors for Peace & Justice
(5/10/11 photo by Gary Jones)
Continuing to go through the WSB archives as we rough out more year-in-review roundups, we realized that “Seen at Sea” coverage – even without the wildlife stories, which we’ve already recapped – contains some of 2011’s most memorable sights. Among them, of course, what you see in the top photo – the Sea-Based X-Band Radar, the missile-tracking floating dome which was at Vigor Shipyards on Harbor Island from May 10th (nighttime arrival coverage here) till August 20th (departure coverage here), during which time it was the subject of doubtlessly millions of photos, and almost as many questions.
(8/20/11 photo by Melanie Dixon)
By the way, SBX is on the move again right now – this story says it departed a Hawaii base on Wednesday for point(s) unknown.
Here’s some of what else made news in and on West Seattle waters this year:
SINKING AND RAISING OF ‘JUSTIN’
Beach Drive was media central for a few days in October after the rock-laden Justin sank. Nobody hurt, but the slick raised some concern – Colby Chester provided the view you see above – and raising the sunken vessel took quite an operation.
FIRST-EVER NORTHWEST PADDLING FESTIVAL
In June, a first-of-its-kind festival debuted in West Seattle, as Alki Kayak Tours/Mountain to Sound Outfitters led the way for the Northwest Paddling Festival at Jack Block Park, where a stretch of previously closed shoreline opened for the occasion.
MORE HUMAN-POWERED WAYFARING
In July, during the outrigger race “Da Grind,” Gatewood pilot/aerial photographer Long B. Nguyen shared that sight. Also in July:
David Hutchinson shared great shots from the Tribal Journeys visit to Alki.
NO, THAT WASN’T AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER
The Seafair Parade of Ships was particularly impressive this August, with the amphibious-assault vessel USS Bonhomme Richard part of the parade, and a hovercraft right behind it. Gary shared the view looking over the Alki Lighthouse.
WHY WE ALL LEARNED THE WORD ‘NOCTILUCA’
In June, many people spotted this phenomenon close up along local waterways, and worried about “red tide.” It was reddish, but that’s not what it was – it was a nontoxic microorganism bloom called “noctiluca.”
WEIRDNESS AT SEA – BEACH DRIVE’S BEACHED COW
Maybe the weirdest West Seattle story of the year – a dead cow washed up in front of multiple Beach Drive homes over the course of a few days in February. Police finally got involved and towed it to Don Armeni, where a rendering company picked it up. As far as we know, the cow’s origins remain a moo-stery.
Track “seen at sea” stories on WSB any time via this archive (newest-to-oldest). Meantime, more year-in-review coverage to come!
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