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Pencil Me in For Kids volunteers get ready to deliver
August 25, 2008 9:43 pm
|    Comments Off on Pencil Me in For Kids volunteers get ready to deliver
 |   How to help | West Seattle people | Westwood

pencilgroup.jpg

The storm lifted just in time to make sure this group didn’t need boats to navigate West Seattle streets on their way to a get-together tonight in Westwood where they sorted school supplies as part of Pencil Me in For Kids, for delivery later this week – with the start of school just days away! Left to right: In front, Jeanne Arvidson, and Sue Lindblom from Illusions Hair Design [WSB sponsor]; second row, Cathy Rouyer, Josh Sutton from West Seattle Family YMCA [WSB sponsor], Al Rouyer, Guthrie Sutton, Chris Rouyer; according to the PMiFK website, Sue brought the program to the Rotary Club of West Seattle eight years ago, and now it’s one of their major annual beneficiaries.

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Bag-fee battle: Referendum drive claims 20,000 signatures
August 25, 2008 9:20 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Bag fee battle | West Seattle politics

Fifteen days after we showed you the first West Seattle signature-gatherer sighting, the anti-bag-fee campaign reports 20,000 petition signatures, about 33% more than they need to make the ballot, so it looks like we’ll be voting on it next year. As for when — as mentioned here last week, that’s up to the City Council; the first “special election” opportunity isn’t till February, a month after the fee kicks in.

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Hollywood at Hiawatha: Movie shoot at community center
August 25, 2008 9:00 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Seen around town | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

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The catering truck and tents are the only aspect of the production we can photograph, since they’re publicly visible; the folks shooting a movie inside Hiawatha Community Center wouldn’t let us shoot what they’re doing in there. Just as this afternoon’s storm started to let up, we headed over to check it out, after receiving an e-mail tip from Andrew, who wrote to ask what we knew about the movie, adding, “I was just there working out [at the Hiawatha gym] and there is a large film crew there with a room full of extras.” We did manage to find out the movie’s called “Dear Lemon Lima” and it has a “coming of age” plot, which makes sense considering that its iMDB page points eventually to a message board post from someone listing some reported cast members such as:

Meaghan Jette Martin from the Disney Channel- Camp Rock, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody and the Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream
>>>
Elaine Hendrix from The Parent Trap, Joan of Arcadia, ER, Charmed, Crossing Jordan and CSI
>>>
Vanessa Marano from The Gilmore Girls, Without a Trace, Malcolm in the Middle and Finding Nemo
>>>
Zane Huett from Big Love and Desperate Housewives
>>>
Eleanor Hutchins from Law and Order and Half Nelson
>>>
Kari Nissena from Nip Tuck and Huff

Here’s a more formal version of the list from iMDB. Now, we can’t say for sure whether any or all of those actors are actually at Hiawatha for the current round of shooting, which is supposed to continue through tomorrow; a cruise through Google Blog Search suggests they’ve been shooting around the metro area for a while – one of those links further elaborates on the plot, describing it as “a hilarious heartbreaking story of a very imaginative half-Eskimo girl trying to find her place at an Alaskan prep school.” TUESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: A flyer at the Admiral Starbucks says extras are needed TOMORROW (Wednesday), lunch will be provided, call this number for more info: 425-246-2725

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HPAC report #1: “Lull” in the jail-site process, but no letting up
August 25, 2008 8:36 pm
|    Comments Off on HPAC report #1: “Lull” in the jail-site process, but no letting up
 |   Highland Park | Neighborhoods | West Seattle jail sites | West Seattle news

Just back from the Highland Park Action Committee meeting, which for the first time in months spent less time on the jail-sites fight than on other matters – not because they’re letting up, but because, as HPAC chair Dorsol Plants noted, the city’s part of the process is in a sort of lull: Now that the city is exploring a partnership with north-/east-side cities to find a site for a regional jail (as first reported here in early July), instead of simply pursuing its own site, Seattle has to wait for those cities to “catch up” and propose potential misdemeanor-jail sites to add to the list (if you’re just catching up with this, in early May Seattle identified four “finalists,” including two in southeast West Seattle). But HPAC leaders and members have kept the pressure on – meeting with all but one City Council member, for example; Plants says some council members are talking about possible “mid-rise” jail options rather than the “low-rise” that had the city focused on 7-acre sites including the ones in this area. HPAC vice chair Rory Denovan urged concerned citizens to keep sending letters and e-mail to city leaders, saying “that’s made a big impact.” Plants also revealed that 11th District State Rep. Zack Hudgins is donating about 200 signs to the jail-sites fight: “The bulk of what it will say is, ‘We need jobs, not jails’ – sticking with our main argument right now, that the land-use codes (for the potential sites) are there for a reason – we need to protect industrial and commercial areas, so the community can grow with good job opportunities.” After the brief jail-fight update, HPAC moved on to a briefing/discussion of a road project that will affect everyone on the peninsula, the Spokane Street Viaduct work – city project manager Stuart Goldsmith had some new info, including an update on when the eastbound lower roadway will close – first significant part of the work – and we’ll be posting that separately a little later.

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West Seattle Weather Watch updates: Complete cloudburst
August 25, 2008 4:47 pm
|      21 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(adding info, pix, video as we get it, scroll down and/or refresh)

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(Photo from Alia – thank you! – added 5:16 pm; next, video from outside WSB HQ)

Video thumbnail. Click to play
Click To Play

(video added 5 pm, lightning and thunder a few seconds in, amid ferocious rain)
Poured so hard here a few minutes ago, it took down one of our downspouts. If you’re still at work, check everything closely when you get home – haven’t seen rain that hard in a VERY long time. The street outside our house suddenly looks as flooded as if it had been raining for hours. 5:05 PM UPDATE: All the TV stations seem to have sent reporters out this way, although most are reporting by phone because it’s not safe to put up the live trucks’ antennas in thunderstorm weather. Someone on the Eastside on Channel 7 reports a funnel cloud over there. We’re monitoring scanner/online 911 too, so far no serious problems reported. If you have any photos, or reports of any problems, please let us know (editor@westseattleblog.com). 5:30 PM UPDATE: The skies are lightening now (as opposed to “lightning”), though TV radar suggests there’s more nastiness heading this way. Here’s another photo from Alia (we added her first photo at the top of this post, taken as this all was revving up):

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ADDED 5:49 PM UPDATE: Here’s another clip from WSB HQ during the height of the storm – the water came down with such force (see the clip above) that it broke our downspout wide open:

Video thumbnail. Click to play
Click pic to play video

5:53 PM UPDATE: To quote Junior Member of the Team, “Hey look, it stopped raining!”

6:58 PM UPDATE: Here, belatedly, is the photo to support the above statement.

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Just as we were in the process of trying to add that photo about an hour ago, the site went down – please forgive us; as it so happens, we have outgrown our current host and we will be moving to a new one shortly anyway – last time that happened, the 12/3/07 deluge hit, coincidentally. We are also setting up a backup site that we will announce when it’s ready, so that if (heaven forbid) this one ever goes down again, you can find us somewhere else till the problem’s fixed.

7:17 PM UPDATE: Thanks to Lissa in Arbor Heights for this rainbow photo:

rainbowarborheights.jpg

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Proposed Metro bus-fare increase: Quarter now, quarter in 2010
August 25, 2008 4:25 pm
|    Comments Off on Proposed Metro bus-fare increase: Quarter now, quarter in 2010
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

Not sure if this has gone wide yet, since County Executive Ron Sims announced via Twitter (where we are one of only 45 “followers”) that he had posted it on his blog (not sure if that’s hit critical mass yet either): He’s recommending that bus fares go up a quarter this year, another quarter in 2010. ADDED LATER: West Seattle’s County Councilmember Dow Constantine chairs the council’s Transportation Committee; here’s his official comment:Read More

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Commute alert: Thunderstorm rolling through
August 25, 2008 4:14 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle traffic alerts | West Seattle weather

We’ve seen the flashes and heard the thunder — watch out for another bout of nasty weather on your drive home — though we can see a bit of sun over Vashon, it’s solid ominous gray looking toward Bainbridge and points northwest. Here’s the latest forecast; remember you can check out all the area traffic cameras here. (And here’s the radar link; thanks to Amy for that.) 4:41 PM UPDATE: OK, *that* flash was RIGHT HERE – the thunder followed almost immediately.

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County Council hits a home run with today’s highlight
August 25, 2008 4:09 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway | WS & Sports

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The only West Seattle connection here is County Councilmember Dow Constantine, but “Voice of the Mariners” Dave Niehaus (at the center of the photo, next to DC) is beloved here as well as elsewhere in M’s-land, so we wanted to show you this county-provided photo. Constantine and fellow councilmembers paid tribute to Niehaus at their meeting today; from the news release:

“Dave Niehaus loves the players and he loves the game, but he has never forgotten that his first duty is to the fan sitting at home,” said Constantine. “To the radio listener, this excitement and wonder for our national pastime is what makes Dave Niehaus special.”

Also per the news release, Niehaus had this to say: “Those magic moments of 1995 will return to Safeco Field. I promise you, they will return.” Sure hope so. (Semi-pertinent side note: When we got here in ’91, and went to our first M’s game in the Kingdome, its interior signage carried the name “King County Stadium.”)

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1 more West Seattle link to the Democrats’ get-together
August 25, 2008 3:56 pm
|    Comments Off on 1 more West Seattle link to the Democrats’ get-together
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

daschle.jpgIn addition to the local delegates we mentioned earlier, here’s another WS link as the Democratic National Convention gets under way today: Cara Kroenke at Southwest Youth and Family Services points out that former Senator Tom Daschle addresses the convention Wednesday. This is relevant because the former Senate Majority Leader, one of three brothers of SWYFS executive director Steve Daschle, will be in West Seattle on September 16th, headlining the SWYFS fundraising breakfast and silent auction at Salty’s — still time to get tickets (go here to see how).

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Alki Car-Free Day: Door-hangers on the way this week
August 25, 2008 12:15 pm
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | Transportation | West Seattle news

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As promised, we checked with SDOT this morning to inquire about plans for further advance warning of residents in the September 7th (noon-6 pm) Alki Car-Free Day closure zone (here’s the city info page, with map – as shown atop this post), given the Capitol Hill uproarlet over towing before yesterday’s rain-shortened Car-Free Day up there. SDOT communications boss Rick Sheridan quickly sent this reply — bottom line, Alki Ave residents, watch your doorknobs:

The city will follow the same procedures that typically occur for all street closures. “No Parking” signs, with the day and times noted, will be put out on the Friday before the event. SDOT will also distribute door hangers in the neighborhood this week that will warn of the impending event and highlight the parking restrictions. Those restrictions will cover the entire stretch of the road.

Let us know when you see one of those doorhangers, k? (editor@westseattleblog.com)

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Another playground proposal: Arbor Heights site
August 25, 2008 11:54 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Arbor Heights | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | West Seattle religion

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We met Jan Seidel (left) and Loretta Kimball on Saturday, when we stopped by Saturday’s Arbor Heights Block Party to find out more about a new “community playground proposal” mentioned on the party-promoting flyer. They are the force behind a proposal to create a playground on a plot of Arbor Heights Community Church land just west of the church (map). It’s not just a church project; they’re pursuing a community partnership – read on for more of what we found out:Read More

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Democratic Convention: At least 3 West Seattleites are there
August 25, 2008 10:14 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people | West Seattle politics

donkey5.jpgAs the Democratic National Convention starts today in Denver, here’s the West Seattle lineup as we know it: For one, we know Mayor Nickels is there, because County Executive Ron Sims tweeted (posted to his Twitter feed) about it. Also, the 34th District Democrats had previously mentioned Chris Porter and Kimber McCreery were going (more on the 34th DDs’ home page), as well as a 34th DD’er who’s from Vashon, 18-year-old Nick Bordner. This is the culmination of a long process that started way back with those well-attended caucuses on February 9 and then the 34th District caucuses on April 5 (our in-person coverage stopped there); we’ll let you know if we find online diaries or blogs from any of the local attendees.

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Happening tonight: Highland Park Action Committee
August 25, 2008 7:02 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Highland Park | Neighborhoods | West Seattle jail sites

The Highland Park Action Committee, leading the fight against two potential city-jail sites in West Seattle, has its next meeting tonight, 7 pm, at 1116 SW Holden (map).

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Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza construction, 2 weeks to go
August 24, 2008 11:58 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Alki Statue of Liberty | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

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Thanks to David Hutchinson for new photos including that fisheye view of the in-progress Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza — which is scheduled to be done in less than two weeks, with the all-day dedication celebration scheduled for Saturday, 9/6. (More details on the celebration are now posted on the Statue of Liberty Plaza Project website, by the way.) Another big milestone in the past week – installation of thousands of pavers:

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David says, “By Saturday almost all, including the 1503 with inscriptions, were in place.”

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All WSB coverage of the Alki Statue of Liberty is archived here.

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2 Camp Long updates: Festival today; volunteers 9/20
August 24, 2008 10:31 pm
|    Comments Off on 2 Camp Long updates: Festival today; volunteers 9/20
 |   Environment | West Seattle festivals | West Seattle parks

First — Luckie sends three pix from the Arts-in-Nature Festival‘s second and final day at Camp Long today, before the deluge:

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Luckie was up on Schurman Rock to get that photo of the dome set up as part of the Nature Consortium‘s annual extravaganza. Next, kids working on, well, art in nature:

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Final pic – an unwelcome guest at the festival – Luckie says a Camp Long naturalist found it in one of the park ponds and told her that “it’s a non-native species that is partly responsible for driving out the native frogs. Nobody knows how it got there—possibly, someone slipped it into the pond. The naturalist noted that releasing a non-native species such as this one opens a Pandora’s box of possibilities, which are seldom good”:

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The Nature Consortium does a lot more than put on this festival; restoring the West Duwamish Greenbelt is its main mission, and you can join the effort in a work party almost every weekend (watch the West Seattle Weekend Lineup and greenseattle.org). Second Camp Long-related note tonight: We just got a news release about what sounds like a HUGE volunteer effort at Camp Long on September 20th – up to 500 volunteers fanning out to work in the park. Here’s the full announcement:Read More

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Car-Free Day #1 (2 weeks till Alki) report, in case you wondered
August 24, 2008 8:57 pm
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | Transportation

Two weeks till the Alki Car-Free Day, third in a series of three; that series started today, sort of, in a manner that our friends at Capitol Hill Seattle call “a slopping wet joke,” and not just because of the weather. Will add other links as we find them, starting with:
*Casey McKinnon calls it a “non-event event”
*P-I visits Alki during the Cap Hill closure
*KING calls it a washout, noting (as did CHS) it ended two hours early
*KOMO focuses on … kids who had a lemonade stand
*Seattle Times mentions the lemonade stand too (among other things)

There’s a thread in the WSB Forums, too. (Background on the scheduled 9/7 Alki Car-Free Day, from the 7/30 announcement, is here and here.) We will check with SDOT in the coming week to see if what happened on Capitol Hill will lead to any changes in the plan for Alki (and, next week, Rainier Valley) — we’ll be asking, in particular, about the pre-event towing plans (which seemed to be the biggest shock on C-Hill).

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Who’s behind new Snap Fitness in The Junction: Longtime WSB’er
August 24, 2008 6:34 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

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Meet Jim Flynn and M.J. Benavente of Gatewood. You might know Jim better as “JumboJim,” the handle he uses when commenting (or forum’ing) on WSB. Our archives show his participation goes back at least a year and a quarter – to a time when only about 25% of the current readership was stopping by – so we wanted to give his new business a special shoutout, once we found out he was behind it. It’s been mentioned on WSB before – a new fitness center coming to Jefferson Square, Snap Fitness, in the former West Seattle Animal Hospital space next to Subway (WSAH is elsewhere in JSq now); they’ve even posted jobs in the WSB “West Seattle Jobs Offered” Forum, but until a few days ago, we didn’t know who was behind it. Here’s a little more about what Jim and M.J. have in store:Read More

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Road watch: High Point semi-updates
August 24, 2008 4:09 pm
|    Comments Off on Road watch: High Point semi-updates
 |   High Point | Transportation | West Seattle news

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Thanks to Scott C for the tip that, while the upgraded signals at 35th/Raymond (previous WSB coverage here) still aren’t unbagged and turned on, a left-turn lane has just been painted onto 35th (a little hard to photograph in the monsoon, but we tried). Meantime, a little ways southeast, the Lanham/Morgan light isn’t unbagged yet either, though multiple sources had suggested it would start its week of blinking tests (here’s our 8/8/08 update; here’s an update on the High Point Neighborhood Association site this past week. Maybe a rain delay? We’ll keep watching – let us know if you see either one go into test mode before we see it!

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Reader report: “Good door-to-door news”
August 24, 2008 2:46 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Door-to-door alert | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

That’s how Julie titled her e-mail, seeking to share this:

Today in our neighborhood (Genesee)……..we had two very polite West Seattle High School football players (selling Gold Card Savings coupons for new football uniforms) come to the door.

We’ve had so many unsavory obscure organizations canvassing for ages it is hard to remember there really are some worthy causes out there. And they were polite teenagers too!

I hope they get lots of support from our community. Go Westside!

We’ve told you before about the uniform-fundraising drive — which kicked off with a food booth at West Seattle Summer Fest.

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Reader report: Alki Ave power problems
August 24, 2008 1:14 pm
|    Comments Off on Reader report: Alki Ave power problems
 |   Utilities

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(photo added 2:59 pm, through-the-windshield shot showing part of the big SCL presence at scene)
We don’t have any official Seattle City Light info on this but CL reports power trouble in his building and possibly others in the 1100 block of Alki Ave (map) – unofficial word on the scene is water trouble with a transformer, though this was before the rain arrived, so it may not be THAT kind of water trouble.

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Share the wealth (of knowledge): Be a tutor!
August 24, 2008 12:27 pm
|    Comments Off on Share the wealth (of knowledge): Be a tutor!
 |   High Point | How to help

Kay from the Youth Tutoring Program in High Point says some WSB’ers stepped forward to help when we last mentioned one of their open calls for help – and it’s time for another one, as the new school year gets closer. Here’s her announcement; hope you can spare a little time to make a huge difference in local kids’ lives:

Tutor Great Kids!

The Youth Tutoring Program is looking for tutors in West Seattle!

YTP is a non-profit tutoring program that provides one-on-one academic support to students living in low-income housing. We operate five tutoring centers throughout the city. We are in great need of volunteer tutors at our High Point tutoring center located on 35th Ave. SW in West Seattle.

Tutors commit to one evening per week for two hours and work with one student at a time on homework, math and language arts skills. Available sessions are Monday through Thursday from 5:30-7:30 pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-5 pm.

Many of our students cannot get the homework help they need at home and depend on our tutors for academic support!

Our School Year Tutoring Program will be starting the week of September 22nd and we need hundreds of dedicated tutors! New tutor trainings will be held the week of September 8th!

Make a difference in the life of a child in your neighborhood. Apply today at www.ccsww.org/ytp or call 206-328-5659.

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Summer’s final festival: Arts in Nature continues today
August 24, 2008 8:05 am
|    Comments Off on Summer’s final festival: Arts in Nature continues today
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle festivals | West Seattle parks

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Marco kindly shared that photo from the final hour of the first day of the Nature Consortium’s Arts-in-Nature Festival at Camp Long — that’s Pyrosutra (you won’t be surprised to hear they’re now heading off to Burning Man), accompanied by the Yellow Hat Band (and note Schurman Rock in the background). The festival continues today, 11 am-6 pm, with another rich array of art and, well, nature – here’s today’s schedule. $5 donation requested for admission.

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West Seattle Farmers’ Market today: What to look for
August 24, 2008 6:03 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Farmers’ Market today: What to look for
 |   West Seattle Farmers' Market

The organization that runs 7 farmers’ markets including ours says this week’s highlights include several varieties of tree fruit, plus cabbage, and more … here’s the link to the “ripe ‘n’ ready” list. The West Seattle Farmers’ Market is open 10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska.

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