West Seattle, Washington
04 Friday
Compare: Fauntleroy Way as it looks now, through The Triangle …
… and Fauntleroy Way as it might look, in a concept proposed as part of the ongoing West Seattle Triangle planning discussions:
Almost two years after a touchstone meeting that “started (the) conversation” about The Triangle’s future (2008 WSB coverage here), concepts like that one are progressing as part of an official city-involved process. It’s part of the presentation (see it here) given to the Seattle Design Commission last Thursday by architect David Hewitt, a consultant working with the city Department of Planning and Development and a citizens’ advisory group, as they try to envision how The Triangle could evolve with purpose as more development moves in among the existing businesses, large and small, in the next decade-plus. The Design Commission gave unanimous approval to this first round of concepts, which hasn’t yet been formally presented to the Advisory Group, whose next meeting has just been set for 5:30 pm October 27. Read on to see a few more concepts from the presentation, and how they were initially received:Read More
Just in from the Seattle City Council – the official announcement of their vote today in favor of an “opt-out registry” you can join to stop delivery of unwanted phone books. This has been in the works since early summer (here’s our original June report). Read on for the full details (ADDED 5 PM: council news release followed by statement just e-mailed to us by the Yellow Pages Association):Read More
Two car-theft stories in this afternoon’s West Seattle Crime Watch update: First, if you didn’t catch it playing out in the comment section, Lee confirms that his stolen “beater” Acura – first reported here – is indeed the car that Kath spotted. (He also provided an update on its post-theft condition.) The site where it was found is less than a mile from where it was stolen. Meantime, we have a new car-theft (and prowl) report from a few miles south – click ahead:Read More
Got plans for dinner this Wednesday? Here’s a chance to dine at the newly renovated Chief Sealth International High School while helping its athletics program:
This Wednesday, October 13th, the Football, Boys’ Basketball, and Volleyball programs at Sealth will host a dinner benefit to support these programs. It will be a spaghetti dinner event with short presentations from each sport. The dinner will begin at 7:00 pm; tickets are $12, with the proceeds going toward the Football, Boys Basketball and Volleyball programs, and Sealth Athletics. Purchasing a dinner ticket will also give you free admission to the first Sealth home basketball game in the new gym when the Boys’ Basketball team takes on Brisbane, Australia, on November 30th, 2010 at 7:00pm. You can purchase dinner tickets at the door this Wednesday night starting at 6:30 pm. The event will be held in the brand new Galleria at Chief Sealth.
If you haven’t been there yet (or lately) – 2600 SW Thistle (map). P.S. It’s homecoming week at Chief Sealth (the football game is this Friday night across the street at Southwest Athletic Complex, 7 pm, vs. Nathan Hale).
(One of the more than 60 people who gathered last year to call Fauntleroy Creek’s salmon home)
It’s a West Seattle tradition – gathering to drum, chant, and sing to call coho spawners to Fauntleroy Creek. Judy Pickens just sent word that this year’s event is set for 5 pm Sunday, October 24th, with the singing and drumming to be led by Bron Edwards-Cryer and Kevin Finney, at the fish-ladder viewpoint (SW Director and upper Fauntleroy Way SW, across and up the embankment from the ferry dock – here’s a map). Judy adds, “Old Man Rattlesnake will be a special guest! Bring a drum of any kind, or just yourself.” All ages welcome. (Find out more about Fauntleroy Creek here.)
Another construction project is under way in West Seattle right now, in addition to the various commercial and park projects we’ve been updating – but you might not have heard much about it unless you are affiliated with West Seattle Little League or a frequent visitor to Bar-S Playfield on Alki Point. New construction and storage buildings are about to go up at the field, according to WSLL president Mark Terao, who e-mailed to share news of a new website that’s tracking the project, as it gets under way in a big way (at left, that’s WSLL Board Member/Majors Manager Mark O’Neil, photographed during work about a week ago to clear out the old snack shack before it’s taken down):
The site has been prepared for the build. The old container has been relocated to make space for the new storage building. Everything has been cleared out of the old snack shack and our contractor has shot the grade and staked the location of the new buildings. We will be removing the old shack this week and pouring the foundation. … We are shooting for a completion date of January 15th 2011. Currently the project is estimated to cost $150,000. To date, we are still in need of roughly $30,000 to complete the project. Through the generous support of local businesses and residents, this number is shrinking, but it is still a big nut and we are still asking the community for help.
Mark says, “For a minimum donation of $100 you can have your family’s (or) business/organization’s name placed on the permanent “Thank You” plaque that will be affixed to the building.” You can find a donation form on the West Seattle Little League’s main website here. Meantime, Mark says they will continue to update progress, with photos and info, on the project website.
Sometimes when a business moves, its old location is empty a while. Not the case with the longtime Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor) spot at 7501 35th SW (map). As first noted here in late July, a tenant was lined up long before Swedish moved to its newly built headquarters a few blocks south. Above, the proprietors you’ll now find at 35th/Webster – Todd Ainsworth and Chris Christensen (above), who are now up and running with West Seattle AutoWorks. They went public with details a month ago, as Swedish prepared to move, and today marks the start of their first full week in business. Chris and Todd are both West Seattleites and have worked locally for a long time too; they do repair/maintenance on everything but the cars Swedish handles to the south. They’re online, too – on Facebook here, on the Web here – open Mondays-Fridays, 8 am-5:30 pm.
(From Run USA 2010 online gallery, used with permission – see many more here)
That’s West Seattle runner John Wallace III – wearing a T-shirt from West Seattle Runner! – as he got ready to run east from Los Angeles on Sunday morning, starting his hoping-to-set-a-cross-country-record odyssey (previewed here). Today, he’s starting day 2 of Run USA 2010. You can follow along through the many links from his main website (including Facebook). … Also looking ahead to today/tonight: Two neighborhood councils meet tonight – North Delridge at 6:30 pm, Delridge Library (Delridge/Brandon); Pigeon Point at 7 pm, Pathfinder K-8 (Cooper) School, 1901 SW Genesee. … And Delridge Skatepark is on the agenda (with the bid situation undoubtedly to be discussed) at the citywide Skate Park Advisory Committee‘s meeting tonight, 7 pm at Parks HQ downtown … Did you know Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) has Munchie Mondays ($1 items 3-7 pm)? … More on the calendar.
In our daily/nightly countdown to the November 2nd general election, a reminder that your ballot likely will show up in the mail before the week’s over. You have till November 2nd to get it postmarked/mailed, or dropped off, but in case you’re an early-bird type: For the former, just remember, you need 1 first-class stamp. For the latter, while the county added more drop boxes for this election – after cutting way back for the primary, to only two, there are now 11 for the general election (listed here). None in West Seattle or White Center, however (before the cutbacks earlier this year, there had been one at Delridge Neighborhood Service Center and one at White Center Library); we asked the county why our area doesn’t merit one, and to date have not received a clear answer, just an explanation of the criteria in general:
– Voter use at previous location
– Population densities and distribution (existing and future)
– Proximity to transit services
– Access and safety
– Public facility available to host box
– Designated urban center per adopted regional land use and transportation plan
Without one in WS or WC, the nearest ones will be at the King County Administration Building downtown and county Elections HQ on East Marginal in Tukwila (here’s the map with all drop-box locations – they’re all scheduled to be open 24/7 until 8 pm November 2nd).
That’s Jett, a Gatewood Elementary School student you might have seen in this story on the Seattle Times (WSB sponsor) website. The medal he’s holding is the one he got from Sounders FC forward Nate Jaqua after the Seattle club won the U.S. Open Cup Tuesday night – explained at the start of an earlier Times story. Jett’s mom Stephanie e-mailed tonight with more on the story and how Jett’s handling his prize:
When he is not carrying it around, it is hanging from the wall with a picture of Nate Jaqua next to it. He was so excited. The kids were standing there getting autographs and my daughter was holding a replica trophy that we made. He asked Nate for his medal and I said, laughing, no, Jett, you can’t have his medal, he just earned that. But then he finished his autographs and took it off his neck and handed it to Jett. Jett just keeps saying, I can’t believe it. Nate Jaqua is such a good guy to do that. I brought the replica trophy and real medal to Gatewood the next day for Jett to show his 1st-grade class and Jordan to show her 3rd-grade class. I am so happy for him.
Here’s Jett’s sister Jordan with the aforementioned replica trophy:
They are quite the sports fans – we thought we recalled a photo here sometime back, involving a different team, and indeed, here’s one from the WSB archives, almost 3 years ago!
The request comes from Karin, who shared photos of some of her fellow volunteers at today’s 350.org tree-planting party at Schmitz Park – adding new growth to the existing old growth:
I had a great time with this group, and we planted mega amount of trees. The trees all have bright ribbons to mark them, and we ask the community to be watchful where you walk along that area by the stream to ensure survival of the plants. Thanks to Dylan, who was our organizer and leader.
This was one of many work parties for this year’s “10/10/10 Global Work Party” – here’s our coverage from the “350 Day of Action” last year. P.S. The significance of “350” is explained here.
Two months after CityDog Magazine‘s latest “cover dog search” photo session in West Seattle (here’s our August report), CityDog has announced all five finalists from this year’s five search sessions around the city – and the voting has begun. This year’s West Seattle winner is Spencer, and you can cast your vote (for any of the five) by clicking on your favorite finalist’s photo on this CityDog webpage – that’ll open an e-mail window; just type the name of your fave into the subject line, and send your vote. The West Seattle finalists won the last two years – you have till October 31st to vote and see if it’ll be three in a row. (Thanks to Amanda for the tip. We’re contacting CityDog to see if we can get permission to use Spencer’s photo here.) MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: Thanks to Spencer’s person Bob for sharing the photo at left this morning. He explains that Spencer is a 3-year-old Italian Spinone and “would be honored to represent West Seattle in this fiercely competitive contest as the New Cover Dog of CityDog Mag.” (He promises a few more biographical details later.)
(Photo courtesy Laura Bermes)
If you just happened into Roxbury Lanes Friday night – it might have looked like another busy night bowling – but something special was going on: Pins for Pennies, a fundraiser for West Seattle-based Family Promise of Seattle, the area’s only shelter program helping homeless families, on hiatus right now (as first reported here in August) while trying to raise enough money to reopen. Laura Bermes from the Family Promise of Seattle board reports last night’s event raised more than 200,000 pennies!
Over 50 people bowled and even more showed up to support bowlers. A great time was had by all. Thanks to Roxbury Lanes for their support and to Full Tilt Ice Cream as well! We raised over $2,000 and still have pledged donations coming in! We have another fundraiser planned for November – West Seattle’s first ever Comfort Food Throw Down. The community will have a chance to eat delicious food, purchase homemade items, and will get to vote for the first-ever Comfort Food Champion of Seattle!
More details to come. You can also donate to Family Promise of Seattle any time, by going here.
With Halloween just three weeks away, we’ve got two more big event announcements: First, Skeleton Theatre (an animatronic, narrated, sound-effect-enhanced production in a South Admiral front yard) will be back October 31st-November 1st, this time with an all-new show after two years of the pirate-themed presentation. It’s rock ‘n’ roll this time – make no bones about it. There’s some info about the new show at skeletontheatre.com. Also in Admiral – the first big doggie-costume contest we’ve heard about so far:
That’s from the flyer (see the full version here) just shared by Muttley Crew Cuts for this year’s Muttster Mash, a chance for people to party along with their pooches – beer and wine too – 7 pm-11 pm on October 30th. To see more of what’s in store as Halloween approaches (and other local events/meetings/workshops/etc.), check out the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports this afternoon. First one is from JR:
We were alerted today, by VISA, of unauthorized charges on our credit card and the card was shut down. I am wondering if others in West Seattle had the same thing happen to them in the last few days? If so I would love to compare purchases and payment locations directly with respondents in order to help the police in their their investigation. I will not specify the business specifically, but we used this card at the following West Seattle locations:
Two different fruit and vegetable stands
One restaurant at the Junction
The above charges were made on Friday.On Saturday we bought coffee at a coffee shop in West Seattle and then went to Queen Anne lower hill where:
*We paid by card for parking at a parking lot west of Seattle Center
*We purchased stage theater tickets from a theater
*We bought sports merchandise at Seattle Center.The fraudulent charges started after 4 PM Saturday. Don’t know if they occurred in West Seattle or Queen Anne.
I do not want to name any specific businesses, but if you have had your card number stolen and incurred fraudulent charges after using your credit card at any of the types of places meeting these descriptions, contact police and Visa Fraud division, 1-800-383-0618.
We also received a recent report of a credit-card number apparently stolen after being used at an area gas station; the person who e-mailed suspected a card skimmer, but we have not yet seen a police report verifying that. It all is a good reminder to check your credit-card account online as often as feasible – daily if you can – to catch something like this.
Meantime, we also received a car-theft report from Lee (39th and Hanford), who is puzzled:
Just noticed my car was stolen overnight. White ’88 Acura Legend. Real beater. Why anyone would steal the worst car on the block (and probably the entire neighborhood) is beyond me, but there you go. Irony is that I recently bought a newer, much nicer truck that was parked right behind it. And I’d already donated the Acura to charity and was just waiting for them to come pick it up.
Next Saturday, the first season for the Delridge Night Market wraps up with one more chance to meet your neighbors, buy fresh fruits and vegetables, enjoy entertainment, and more – like screenprinting with North Delridge Neighborhood Council (see their new website yet?) volunteers, who shared the photo from last month’s Night Market; they’re selling their famous I (Heart) Delridge shirts too. And there’s room for more vendors, too – arts, crafts, other goodies – tables and chairs are available; if you want/need a tent, it’s BYO. Interested vendors/artists can e-mail Phillippia Goldsmith at DNDA, PhilippiaG@dnda.org. And if you just want to browse, explore and enjoy, stop by Delridge/Brandon (next to Super 24; here’s a map) between 3-7 pm next Saturday (October 16).
Today, there’s a little more information to add to the story published here Friday about the big changes Metro plans next year for the downtown portions of several West Seattle runs. As we reported, the biggest changes include switching the 21, 22 and 56 (among others) from 1st to (mostly) 3rd Avenue, starting with the next “service change” on February 5th. Now, Metro has added a webpage with the full list of affected routes systemwide, and more background info – see it here.
In the final few days of last year, we brought you the story of 34-year-old West Seattleite John Wallace III‘s then-latest milestone: Running at least a mile a day, every day, for 20 years. One of his other achievements included running across the USA in 2004, and reporter Keri DeTore noted in the story that Wallace planned to do it again, hoping to set a world record this time, starting October 10, 2010. That day is here – and Wallace’s plan is on, all out. He’s scheduled to leave Los Angeles City Hall this morning, to start a 2,900-mile route to New York City Hall:
If Wallace keeps the pace of 64.5 miles a day, he can break the old across-the-US record of 46 days, and get to New York in 45 (or fewer), arriving a few days before Thanksgiving (here’s the planned schedule). He’s also hoping to raise money for three charities (all on this page). He is scheduled to start running at, of course, 10 am (10-10-10 @ 10). We’ll check in along his journey, and his website has a variety of links you can use to do the same – he’s also on Facebook, where you can find Run USA 2010 here.
(2008 photo courtesy Nancy, partly blocked drain in North Delridge)
We start today’s preview with a public-service reminder suggested by Katie – go check (and clear, if necessary) your storm drains. With all this rain – right as autumn leaves start to fall – there could be big trouble, fast. Here’s some info from Seattle Public Utilities, specifically focused on its “Adopt-A-Drain” program … Another day of work parties: 10-10-10 events are catalogued by 350.org here – they include a tree-planting event in Schmitz Park starting at 10 am … As previewed here on Saturday, the TEDxRainier event will be streamed live at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) in The Junction, 10 am-6 pm … Also in The Junction, the Sunday tradition – West Seattle Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm.
In our nightly/daily spotlight on the impending election – November 2nd is technically Election Day, but voting starts just days from now, since King County is scheduled to mail ballots at midweek – a quick look at one of the statewide ballot measures you’re not hearing so much about. Seems there are ads all over the place for the liquor and tax initiatives – but then there are a few others you’re being asked to vote on, including Engrossed Substitute House Joint Resolution 4220, which requires voter approval/rejection since it’s a proposed amendment to the state constitution. From the ballot:
This amendment would authorize courts to deny bail for offenses punishable by the possibility of life in prison, on clear and convincing evidence of a propensity for violence that would likely endanger persons.
You can read the full text of the proposed constitutional amendment here. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. 4220 is a result of last year’s Lakewood Police massacre, as this Tacoma News-Tribune editorial reminds us – the killer had gotten out on bail days before killing the four officers. You can read the arguments/rebuttals for and against, by choosing 4220 in the left-side list on the state Voters’ Guide page.
One more high-school-sports shoutout this weekend (in addition to Friday coverage of cross-country and football): We talked with a local coach who is looking back at how he began, as he celebrates his 200th win!
That’s Jeff Norton, longtime Seattle Lutheran High School girls’ soccer coach (and former principal, and current science teacher). He got his 200th win this past Monday when the Lady Saints beat Tacoma Baptist at Fort Steilacoom, 2-1. His team is 5-1-1 in their league so far this year and placed third in the state the last two years. He played college soccer at Concordia University in Portland; coaching SLHS was his first post-college job. He also coached the SLHS boys’ team that won the state championship in 1991.
Just got the photo from Christopher D – it’s from a crash that originally was dispatched as a “heavy rescue” but turned out not to need that kind of attention – He wrote, “I live on Holden St by the new fire station and around 11:00 this evening heard some loud banging noises … (went out) to witness a flipped car that was still running, a fire truck and police.” He says the car hit two parked cars, and that Holden is still blocked west of 35th SW (map) as of a few minutes ago. This is one of many incidents on local roads and highways today, including the crashes that closed the West Seattle Bridge for a while earlier, as reported here; please take extra care in this rain, which has been very heavy at times.
Richard Dusatko from Alki Lodge 152 says, “We’re trying something new” – and if this turns out to be popular, they’ll do more of it:
Training and testing for food and alcohol permits will be available in West Seattle Junction on Sunday, October 24, 2010 and Sunday, November 28, 2010, at Alki Masonic Hall, 4736 40th Ave. SW. Food permits at 10 am with the alcohol permits at 11 am. Cost $15 each. No reservation needed. Tell your friends.
Questions? Call Rick at 206-935-6818 or e-mail vinajane@hotmail.com. (He also points out the lodge will serve breakfast on those days at 9 am, $5.)
**note, e-mail address updated 10/25/2010**
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