West Seattle, Washington
29 Friday
The big line outside West Seattle’s Target store this morning was the result of an invitation sent out three weeks ago (here’s our version) – in honor of National Preparedness Month, Seattle Police and Target were teaming up to offer 100 families $100 each to put together their disaster kits.
All 100 slots filled up fast – and this morning, the people who got in on the offer got to go shop! Among them was the WSB’er who provided these photos. She adds: “I try to keep several days’ worth of food and water on hand for emergencies, and we have sleeping bags, but but there is no way I would have bought lantern/lamps and spare batteries without this program. Thank you, Target!” – and SPD, which explained the program in this SPD Blotter update published yesterday.
P.S. You’re not prepared till you know where your nearest Emergency Communications Hub is – find out (and access tons of other great info) via West Seattle Be Prepared. (We covered their special presentation about “pet preparedness” last night, and the story will be up soon.)
Thursday means that SDOT is out with its citywide weekend traffic advisory – till event season ends later in fall – and the Mobile Chowdown that’ll fill the heart (and bellies) of The Junction on Sunday is among the biggies on the list. Also please note – as linked atop our BIG STORIES list under traffic/weather in the WSB sidebar – the westbound Spokane Street Viaduct (the bridge between I-5 and Highway 99) is scheduled to be closed 10 pm Friday to 10 am Sunday, and that includes the I-5 exits to West Seattle. Other weekend traffic details ahead:Read More
You often hear about writers’ residencies at schools – but West Seattle’s Roxhill Elementary is about to get a singer/songwriter in residency, and students will be writing a song with her. The clip above is a song by Chicago-based hip-hop artist Psalm One, who is coming to Roxhill next Monday and Tuesday to write the song, which will then be recorded on Wednesday. Psalm One’s song in the clip above (PG-rated), “Woman at Work,” includes echoes of the fact that her resumé includes work as a chemist (explained in her bio)! This is part of the ASCAP Songwriter Residency @ America SCORES, a program whose organizers explain as combining literacy and athletics in an afterschool program for elementary-school students in underserved communities. The Roxhill song will be featured on an album that “includes Psalm One’s original songs with other SCORES teams throughout the nation,” according to one of three separate announcements we’ve received about this big event.
The photos are shared by Diane Vincent, who says she was headed home from running errands when, “I saw these adorable entrepreneurs Faye (6) and Owen (5) on corner of 41st & Hinds, selling fresh eggs from their chickens, for 25 cents each.” Diane not only bought three, she got a tour of the new chicken coop from Faye, Owen, and proud mom Anita, who told her they had raised their five hens from chickhood, and that they just started laying eggs a few weeks ago.
Wednesday happened to be the first day for their corner egg stand – check it out today (after school, of course); Diane said they were hoping to be back, and she promised them she’d spread the word. Oh, and Diane added in her note last night, “I just fried up the eggs for dinner; super yummy!”
(Great blue heron in a West Seattle tree; photo shared by Morgan)
After 7 am and it’s in the 40s; fall chill has arrived (check the latest temp/forecast/tides/etc. here). From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
ROSH HASHANAH MORNING SERVICES: The Jewish High Holy Days are here, and West Seattle’s Kol HaNeshamah (WSB sponsor) has morning Rosh Hashanah services/events (at First Presbyterian downtown) followed by a picnic – details here.
AT THE LIBRARY: 11:30 am, it’s Preschool Story Time at the Delridge branch (Brandon/Delridge) and Toddler Story Time at the High Point branch (35th/Raymond).
ASSESSOR SPEAKS TO LIONS: County Assessor Lloyd Hara is the featured speaker at today’s meeting of the West Seattle Lions Club, noon, Senior Center. (We spoke with him recently about WS property values and questions such as “why do my property taxes not go down when my property value does?” – story coming up this morning.)
BICYCLE DEMO: The Felt Bicycles Demo Truck will be at the West Seattle Cycle University location 4:30 pm to 7 pm.
HOW DO UNIONS WORK? West Seattle Democratic Women meet in the evening at the West Seattle Golf Course. Karen Hart, President of SEIU Local #925, will speak on how the union works to achieve its goal and what is being done to improve job opportunities and obtain equal pay for women. No-host bar and registration at 6:30 pm. Dinner at 7 pm, program at 7:15 pm. Cost is $12 for members; $15 nonmembers; or the minimum fee of $5, which includes coffee/tea and dessert. Check (206) 935-3216 or wsdwomen@yahoo.com to see if there’s still room.
LITTLE LEAGUE MEETING: West Seattle Little League general membership meeting at 6:30 pm at Heartland Café. All members interested in joining the WSLL board are encouraged to attend.
BURLESQUE AT SKYLARK: Westside Burlesque Revue at Skylark Café and Club, 9 pm, $7 cover charge
SECOND-TO-LAST DAY: Seattle Parks and Recreation “Try It for $2” program runs through month’s end. Try something new for only $2! Attend a program or class session once for $2 at one of the city’s many community centers. If you like it, register for the remainder of the class for a prorated amount. More info at tryitfor2.com
Richard Stannard shares this tribute to his late wife Elaine, who was a trailblazer in so many ways:
Elaine Viola Stannard, who died Sept. 16, 2011, was a graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Washington, where she got her teaching degree.
She was a Quaker peace worker and civil rights worker in the mid-1940s in the Chicago area, when no one ever heard of such a thing. She was an activist member of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and knew many of the people who rose to prominence in the movement in the Sixties. At that time, she was married to a fellow graduate of the University of Chicago, the late Robert Davenport, the father of her daughters. They moved to the Seattle area in 1956.
She is survived by five daughters: Carolyn Benjamin, Elizabeth (Sherry) Davenport-Sanchez; Virginia (Ginger) Van Boven (husband Alan); Susan Moore and Roberta (Birdie) Davenport (husband Steve). Her grandchildren are Eric Benjamin, Thalia Ryer, Leslie Benjamin; Paula Wilson, Amber Kent; Leaf Van Boven, Lana Van Boven Hughes; Drew Moore, Brinn Moore and Rita Moore. Great-grandchildren: Phoenix and Griffin; Elena; Caleb and Anna, Elliot.
For seven years, she taught elementary school in Renton, a job that was plainly her first love. At that time, she was a resident of the pioneering housing cooperative, May Valley Co-op Community, and owned property there for many years after she moved away. She was one of the founding members of a food cooperative there which became Puget Consumers Cooperative (PCC), one of the leading retail food co-ops in the nation.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Just as Seattle Public Schools gets ready to discuss its “capacity management” plan with district families, yet another school has hit capacity – and then some.
Speaking to his school’s PTSA for the first time, new Chief Sealth International High School interim principal Chris Kinsey said the school has 1,247 students (as of just before his appearance last night), while its estimated capacity is about 50 below that.
Because of the extra enrollment, Sealth is scheduled to get up to five more teachers, Kinsey said, but he has to figure out where they would work – since the classrooms are maxed out; he said it may mean teachers must give up their classrooms during prep time. And since now-adjacent Denny International Middle School has almost 800 students, Kinsey noted, the newly colocated campus is school-day home to more than 2,000 students.
His comments, and some Q/A, were part of a wide-ranging meeting on the Sealth side of the campus Galleria last night, as Kinsey revealed that he’s even been doing some teaching as part of his new job, because of the overflow.
Many of the auto thefts we hear about happen in the middle of the night – but here’s another reminder thieves might be brazen enough to strike in the middle of the day, too: Amber reports that a gray late-’90s Nissan belonging to a neighbor’s employee was stolen from the street in front of her house today, between 7:45 am and 5 pm. She’s on 18th SW near Thistle (where, she says, a neighbor was hit by burglars just last week).
(WSB photo from St. John’s 2010 “Blessing of the Animals”)
This weekend is the closest one to the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi – patron saint of animals – so it’s time for West Seattle’s traditional “Blessing of the Animals” events. On Saturday, you’re invited to the lobby of Providence Mount St. Vincent at 10:30 am. Then on Sunday, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church will offer blessings in the West Seattle High School parking lot next door (3000 California SW) at noon. As The Mount’s announcement put it, it’s simply an occasion “to give thanks for all creatures great and small.” (And that means even the smallest of pets, if someone brings ’em – check out the guinea pigs in our report on St. John’s event last year.)
If you are a food-truck fan, you no doubt are counting down the days till Sunday, when the Mobile Chowdown will take over the heart of The Junction with more than 20 food trucks (listed here), 11 am-5 pm, all ages, no admission fee. Turns out that the Mobile Chowdown will be something of a preview for what the Highland Park Improvement Club hopes will be a weekly, growing food-truck gathering! On the following Saturday, October 8th, what you might call a new West Seattle node of food trucks will debut. You probably already know that Marination Mobile and Parfait Ice Cream, both of which will be at Mobile Chowdown, have been at 35th/Graham on Saturdays. Now, HPIC is inviting food trucks to use its spacious parking lot on Saturdays – and the first two official takers are Lumpia World and I Want Curry Now, both of which will also be at Mobile Chowdown this Sunday. So to review:
*Mobile Chowdown in The Junction this Sunday (October 2nd), 11 am-5 pm, California SW from Edmunds to Oregon, one-time event
*HPIC food-truck Saturdays start October 8th, 11 am-3 pm, 12th/Holden, recurring
P.S. On October 8th, you can make a day/night of it at HPIC – they are having a Harvest Dinner potluck that night at 6 pm, asking participants to “bring their own homemade food to share, plus a plate to leave behind, which will become part of the community kitchen we are building.” Cabaret and musical entertainment and a no-host bar. (If you’ve never been to HPIC, maybe this reference will help – a few blocks east of where Zippy’s used to be.)
With all the nature lovers we’ve encountered in WSB-land, we’re startled to hear that this local school program is low on volunteers. But that’s what Marieke Stientjes Rack from the Seattle Audubon Society reports – so we’re sending out the call:
Seattle Audubon has provided FUN for FREE at Sanislo Elementary School for 10+ years. FUN is a environmental education program for 3rd and 4th graders. The program introduces students to the natural world in their own schoolyard habitats through observation, discovery, and scientific inquiry. Seattle Audubon has been and is able to provide this high-quality program, including small group instruction, because of volunteers. Volunteers are trained and then work with small groups of 4-5 students for 4, one-hour lessons, over the course of 4 weeks.
FUN students spend over 8 hours getting to know their schoolyard habitat and, on average, showed a 13% increase in environmental science knowledge for the 2010-2011 school year. Here is a link to the program website; interested volunteers can contact Seattle Audubon’s Volunteer Coordinator at volunteerc@seattleaudubon.org.
11:45 AM: Busy hour for the Seattle Fire Department – after clearing a major callout for a possible water rescue on the south end of Beach Drive, they are now responding to a “fire in building” call in the 6500 block of 32nd SW. Our crew is on the way.
11:49 AM: Neither call has turned out to be a major incident – Seattle Fire spokesperson Helen Fitzpatrick says the “water rescue” was a report of an overturned kayak, but the person in the kayak swam safely to shore, and that the fire call has turned out to be “food on the stove.”
11:20 AM: We have just confirmed with Harborview Medical Center what two people reported in the comments on coverage of Tuesday’s West Seattle Bridge crash: The 53-year-old man whose motorcycle crashed as he swerved to avoid a car has died. Commenter JD says, “He was a very kind, and wonderful person. He served the community with honor and integrity. He will be greatly missed.” We are not publishing his name until we confirm with the King County Medical Examiner’s Office that their notifications have been made, but another commenter had described him as a state Ecology Department employee who commuted to Bellevue from Kitsap County. A commenter says he leaves a wife, three sons and a daughter, and many others who love him.
ADDED 2:36 PM: We know now that information about the motorcyclist’s death has been circulated in his workplace, and we feel comfortable publicly identifying him as Bradly Gilmore. We asked the Ecology media team if there was any information they can share, and got the following from Seth Preston:
I can say that those who worked with Brad thought very highly of him. As Bob Warren, manager of the Toxics Cleanup section in Bellevue, said of Brad: “There are very few people in life where you know that they have everything in the right order and priority. And it seemed that everything he did was of the highest quality and accomplished with such calmness. I will miss working with him.”
Brad worked in our Voluntary Cleanup Program, which enables owners of contaminated sites to meet state cleanup standards independently and to receive technical guidance from Ecology during the process.
Among Brad’s accomplishments was serving as project coordinator for the Shell multi-site pilot project. You can learn more about this groundbreaking effort here: ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites_brochure/vcp_sites/vcpOverview.htm.
Jim Pendowski is the manager of the entire Toxics Cleanup Program, based at Ecology’s headquarters in Lacey. Jim said in a message to program employees today that “Brad was a good guy and he made a difference. He will be missed.”
A grief counselor will be available to Brad’s co-workers on Thursday at our Bellevue office.
Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
After a summer hiatus, the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network reconvened last night at the SW Precinct for their monthly meeting. Led by co-founder Karen Berge, the meeting focused heavily on Emergency Preparedness, as so many community events have this month, and a city rep was on hand to provide information about accessing matching fund grants to promote the issue.
First however, Karen had a big announcement: WSBWCN has been awarded a $4,000 grant from the Bill Wright Technology Matching Fund to help develop on online tool that will help neighborhoods find their Block Watch captains, and will help captains communicate with each other. Says Karen about the award: “We’re doing back flips over here!”
City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Project Manager Garry Owens (photo at right, with Karen) was invited to discuss the city’s matching fund grants that are available to community groups undertaking projects focusing on community involvement.
(Young raccoons spotted near 38th/Dakota; photo courtesy of MG)
Welcome to a wild Wednesday! Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
SHORT SCHOOL DAY: Today is the first two-hour early-dismissal day of the year for Seattle Public Schools.
GET CHEESY: Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) launches its annual monthlong “For the Love of Cheese” festival; today’s events at the Admiral store start at noon.
CLINIC OPEN HOUSE: Highline Physical Therapy open house 4-7 pm at new clinic, 4700 42nd SW, suite 510, free non-alcoholic beverages, everybody welcome!
SOLD WHERE IT’S GROWN: High Point Market Garden Farm Stand, 4-7 pm, 32nd SW and SW Juneau – seasonal, fresh, organically grown produce sold next to where it’s grown.
MAKE SURE YOUR PETS SURVIVE TOO: Pet preparedness is the topic of a special educational presentation by West Seattle Be Prepared, 6:30 pm at Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction, details here.
MORE PREPAREDNESS – AT HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE: The local neighborhood council that usually meets toward month’s end is resuming its schedule post-summer, and Highland Park Action Committee has preparedness on the agenda too, with a guest speaker from the Seattle Office of Emergency Management with a SNAP (Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare) presentation. Meeting starts with a 6:30 potluck, SNAP presentation at 7, news/announcements at 8. HPAC meets at the Highland Park Improvement Club building, 12th/Holden.
FOUR MORE CHANCES: “Amy’s View” starts its final week at ArtsWest Playhouse in The Junction, through October 1st, 7:30 pm Wednesday (also this Thursday, Friday, Saturday).
News to share of three local student-sports standouts now scoring college success:
BASKETBALL SCHOLARSHIPS: From West Seattle High School girls’ basketball coach Sonya Elliott:
Best friends & WSHS graduates Kirby Davis and Taylor Magera will be playing basketball at Edmonds Community College this year. Kirby was West Seattle High School’s 2010-11 Most Improved Player and Taylor was Captain; they received basketball scholarships and will continue their education while playing under head coach Tarrance Tucker.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Tim McConnell from West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) shared the news that WSR part-time employee Max O’Donoghue-McDonald was named UW Husky Athlete of the Week after his recent win at the Sundodger Invitational in Lincoln Park, as the first Husky to win it two years in a row. Tim noted, “That’s a pretty big deal considering football usually dominates this time of year. Plus he is just a great kid. Customers love him and he always has a smile on his face, singing a song and just loving life. He definitely does West Seattle proud!”
That’s Kona, a Husky/Lab who is home tonight, two weeks after she was reported lost (her photo has been on the WSB Pets page all that time). Kona’s family says an incredible outpouring of help in West Seattle this afternoon brought a joyful conclusion to their dog’s odyssey. Claire writes:
I wish everyone in the world could have been there today to see the amazing kindness of every person and dog in Westcrest Dog Park today. We got a call about 1:30 that Kona (the black husky lab female who has been missing since 9/12) was spotted in the dog park with an injured leg. We sped there from work and I think every person there, and especially a couple with an amazing Malamute, helped lead us to her in the woods.
She ran out right between my husband and I and he caught her in his arms–she was frantic and running from the voices–but when she realized who it was I think we were all crying. (Well, Kona and I were anyway!) THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for staying with her and making sure she was contained so we could get her home. We took her to the vet and she has a fractured foreleg, and will go into surgery tomorrow, but I don’t know if she could have been caught if she didn’t have the injury to slow her down.
If I could lasso the moon for all of you, I would. She means the world to my husband, 4 year old son, our other dog Ernie, and me. “Thank you” doesn’t begin to express the depth of my gratitude. Blessings on each of you, and that karma will last you a lifetime.
A little brisk this afternoon as High Point’s new playground – built in a day last Friday, with hundreds of volunteers pitching in – officially opened. But commemorative purple scarves from playground partner KaBOOM! kept community advocates warm:
The new playground is at Bataan Park on the east side of High Point.
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
It’s not too rare for rock ‘n’ roll and politics to mix these days – and that’s what happened tonight at Morgan Junction’s rock-themed Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), location tonight of a fundraiser for the man considered to be the Democratic frontrunner for next year’s governor race, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee. (Suggested donations, per the original invitation, ranged from $75 to $1,000.) Other top local Democrats showed up to lend their support:
That’s State Rep. Eileen Cody (top left), with Marcee Stone, 34th District Democrats board member; next photo, County Councilmember Joe McDermott (below right), with Pigeon Point’s über-involved Pete Spalding (left) and 34th District Democrats board member Les Treall:
Unless the campaign takes an unexpected turn, it’s considered likely to be Rep. Inslee vs. Republican state Attorney General Rob McKenna in November 2012 in the race to succeed Gov. Chris Gregoire. Inslee represents the 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of King, Snohomish, and Kitsap counties, mostly north of Seattle.
A suspect who ran from a stolen car is in custody tonight, thanks to what Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith calls “great teamwork by the patrol units.” We asked Lt. Smith about the incident after hearing some attention-grabbing scanner traffic around 4 pm – a search of some kind in Highland Park, resulting in an arrest. Lt. Smith told us it started with the report of a car theft in the Westwood Village parking lot. Before police even talked with the victim in person, Lt. Smith says, “an officer observed a vehicle matching the stolen vehicle at 15th SW & SW Henderson. The officer pulled behind the suspected stolen vehicle, at which time the vehicle fled.” Then the driver got out, he says, and ran through several backyards. Officers set up “containment” in the area, and caught the suspect “attempting to climb a fence in an effort to flee.”
(WSDOT photo of the new southbound 99 SODO offramp that will open after the 10/21-31 closure)
Concerned about the October 21st-31st Alaskan Way Viaduct closure and how we’re all going to get around, considering how just one incident like this morning’s bridge crash can snarl the system? You’ll get a chance to sort it out in person with city, county and state transportation experts and others, in a special meeting that’s just about to be formally announced. We heard about it while tracking this morning’s City Council Transportation Committee meeting; it’s tentatively set for 5:30-8 pm October 10th at West Seattle High School. Besides the short-term issues of how to get around during the shutdown, we’re told City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and County Councilmember Joe McDermott will want to hear from you on big-picture issues of how the Viaduct project overall will affect area traffic for years to come. A similar meeting is in the works for northwest Seattle, likely October 12th.
Bail for Duane Starkenburg – charged last January with attacking joggers in Lincoln Park, then arrested last Friday for investigation of child rape (as reported here yesterday) – is now up to $500,000. That’s the word from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which has just formally charged Starkenburg in the child-rape case. The charging documents give an approximate time frame for the crime, between April 2000 and April 2002, at which time the victim, the daughter of a then-friend, would have been no older than 11. The documents also say that investigators learned about this while doing followup investigation this month on the jogger-attacks case, for which Starkenburg was awaiting trial. He is scheduled to be arraigned on October 11th. (Photo from February hearing by Mike Siegel/Seattle Times, republished with permission)
Will Seattle Public Schools reopen schools? Build new ones? Both? Just announced, three community meetings around the city to talk about “capacity management” – including one in West Seattle. From the announcement:
With enrollment trends indicating growth within Seattle Public Schools boundaries, the District implemented a task force of community volunteers and SPS staff, who collected and studied all available data relative to demographics and enrollment. Their work resulted in the decision to create and implement an Intermediate Term Capacity Management plan to cover the period of 2012-2016, prior to building schools as part of the Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) program.
That plan will be explained, and your feedback sought, 6:30-8 pm Thursday, October 6th, at Madison Middle School.
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