West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
A commenter broke the news beneath the I-5 post below … we got it confirmed by King County and WSDOT: 
The Water Taxi is getting new technology (Automatic Identification System equipment) which enables the Coast Guard to certify it to nearly double its passenger capacity to 250. This is being done in time for Freeway Fright ’07 next month, but will last beyond that. As King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s office points out, the increased capacity will be good for other peak traffic times and heavy ridership situations, such as the the day last year when a deadly accident blocked The Bridge. During the August 10-29 construction period ONLY, an extra WT trip will be offered, at 6:10 am, and two extra shuttle vans will be added to the WT Shuttle routes during “peak hours.” For those of you who like to know where the $ is coming from, the county says the state is picking up the $20K-plus that’s involved here. SIDE NOTE: If you didn’t see our detailed report last Friday afternoon about a proposal to create a new Water Taxi terminal at Pier 1/2 adjacent to Jack Block Park, read it here.
He’s dropping by the weekly “Drinking Liberally” get-together (not in WS) tonight, according to HA.
A Gatewood neighborhood e-mail list has been abuzz about word of an arrest in connection with one or more of the break-ins that have hit several WS neighborhoods (from Gatewood to The Junction and further north), and concern about whether this person will be appropriately charged. Seattle Police are able to confirm for us that one person is under arrest, and they are awaiting word on what charges will be filed by prosecutors — what happens after they make arrests is ultimately up to the prosecutor’s office, not the police department. They say they cannot go into any other details at this point.
Yes, today’s the day – West Seattle Annexation Day: The 100th anniversary of WS getting annexed into The City … the reason Hizzoner dedicated the tree and the plaque before last week’s Hi-Yu Concert In The Park … the reason you’ve been seeing banners around town like the one at left. HistoryLink.org tells the tale, and also offers a more detailed history of our side of the bay. Today’s Times includes a small blurb with a cool old photo (bottom of this roundup). So … how should we celebrate? Or should we at all?ÂÂ
While the moviegoing world is fussing over this, an even-more-classic musical has just 6 more shows to go onstage at ArtsWest, and we’ve received unsolicited raves here at WSB. “Hair,” featuring the rising stars of the Summer Musical Apprentice Program, plays this Wednesday-Sunday.
If you’re, oh let’s say, under 40, you might not know “Hair” was the hottest show of the ’60s, and still timely today. The photo above (courtesy ArtsWest, taken by mattdurhamphotography.com) captures the psychedelic-ness of it all. Now, about those raves — click ahead to read ’em (followed by online-ticketing info, and even T-shirts …):Read More
Joining the WS Condo/Townhome Name Hall o’Fame along with Verge, NoMo 12, SeventyOne, Bayberry, Sea Holly, and so on, we now have Stratus and Gables — the names Mosaic is giving its condo conversions (“Stratus”=Graham Street Apts., sold for $9 million; “Gables”=West Ridge Park, sold for $22 million). We would like to see developers/marketers consider names that pay homage to the process, perhaps a townhouse complex called Nocquedowne and a condo conversion called Evixus.
The very nice folks in communications @ the state Transportation Department have e-mailed us a couple times 
to see how they can help get all of us in WSB-land through the impending Freeway Fright ’07 — the work on northbound I-5, between the far east end of the WS Bridge and the I-90 exit, slated for August 10-29 (unless more stupid summer rain gets in the way). They want to be 1000% sure you have every last bit of info you need to survive — here’s their “project page” (complete with countdown clock!) and blog-post discussion (did you know WSDOT had a blog?). Our question now: what more do you want/need to know about this work and how it will affect traffic? Whatever your question, they seem willing to offer answers.
From the south end of WS – folks who say they “live on 42nd Ave SW, just up the hill (north) from the Fauntleroy YMCA” just had “an adorable little Pomeranian … wander onto our street this afternoon … Looks just like the doggie in this photo.” No tags or collar, further described as looking “very tired.” If you have any clue who it belongs to, please e-mail us and we’ll put you in touch with the people who found it.
Days after the city carried out its plan to take out the Avalon crosswalk by Java Bean and Luna Park Cafe, it’s also finally answered a couple of tough questions posed by a concerned citizen.
First time this citizen wrote to the address the city offers for comments/questions, WalkAndBike@seattle.gov, he got what sounded like a standardized reply. So he tried again. That exchange, after the jump: Read More
The West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival float has been making the rounds — including this past Saturday’s WS parade — and now its appearance in The Biggest Parade Of All is just days away. But as Hi-Yu President Tim Winston puts it:
“The 40 year-old Oldsmobile V-8 under that beautiful wrapping is overheating & our usual mechanical help is unavailable. Torchlight is a long parade and the street surface air temp is often close to 100 at the end of a hot day.”
Hi-Yu is a volunteer, nonprofit effort on a tight budget and they’re hoping someone out there can point them to “flexible and free” mechanical help for the float, ASAP. If you can come to the rescue, please e-mail Tim at info@hiyu.com — TIA from parade fans everywhere (who would hate to see West Seattle’s pride ‘n’ joy depart 4th Avenue on a tow truck!).
If only more political events were set up this way: Two weeks from tonight, as the Aug. 21 primary election approaches, at least 10 Seattle School Board candidates (including 2 incumbents) will be at Pathfinder K-8 for an ice-cream social and moderated forum the evening of Aug. 6 — no, not in the cafeteria, but on the school’s front lawn, atop lovely Genesee Hill. Picnic dinners encouraged. Free ice-cream bars served. So far, forum organizer Eric Baer of the Pathfinder PTSA (co-sponsoring with counterpart PTSAs from 3 other WS elementaries: Alki, Arbor Heights, Sanislo) tells us the confirmed attendees include 4 of the 5 candidates in the WS-centered District 6 race, as well as candidates from the 3 other districts to be decided this year. Don’t just wade frantically through your voters’ pamphlet at the last minute; hear and see candidates in person. Aug. 6; see you there.
… KEEP YOUR PETS INDOORS! If you don’t, as this article just posted by the P-I reminds us, they are liable to wind up as Coyote Chow. Though as we’ve noted before (last August and last September), coyotes are nowhere near the most lethal threat faced by pets whose owners let them roam free. So just say no to anti-coyote hysteria; find out more about these amazing creatures (including video) at this great site forwarded by Charles Redmond, who reports he saw one strolling 39th SW, heading south from Elmgrove, a couple weeks ago. (WS coyote pix, anyone? Send ’em!)
Looking around at WS pump prices for our now-weekly update, we reflected a bit on what was happening when we started WSGPW with this post three months ago — prices were skyrocketing. 
The highest posted price for unleaded in WS peaked in mid-May, when two stations sold it for $3.49. Tonight, one of those stations, 35th/Holden Chevron, is fifty cents lower (left photo); the lowest posted price in WS tonight is at Delridge Arco, $2.83 (right photo), down 54 cents from its May 11 peak. If you’re interested in the whys and wherefores, this article tries to explain what’s been going on in the gasoline industry.
“Sharrows.” The city’s definition: “… bicycle symbols that are placed in the roadway lane indicating that motorists should expect to see and share the lane with bicyclists.” City crews have roughed in some “sharrows” along a stretch of Beach Drive (this one is across from the north end of Me-Kwa-Mooks), as they start to implement the city’s Bicycle Master Plan:
A city handout made available at Thursday’s Alki Community Council meeting had full details on where this work will be happening and how it will affect traffic — click ahead for those details:Read More
Hi-Yu festivities aren’t over yet. The community brunch just wrapped up; the coronation of the next Miss West Seattle Hi-Yu is tomorrow night. But this is the last of our parade reports — a few loose ends, including the list of award winners, a few more pix, and links to other parade-photo galleries out there in WSB-land, after the jump:Read More
If you would rather peruse some stats than simply rage at the sogginess, our friends at Capitol Hill Seattle are looking back at the past decade. (We have no memory of the soaked summer of ’97. Maybe that’s a good thing.)
While we sit back in our fold-up chairs and enjoy the parade, we can’t forget how many people it takes to make it happen — not just the hundreds of participants, but the others behind the scenes. Kudos to the Hi-Yu and American Legion folks, among a legion of others. Now, another group of photos — focusing on people. We start with the Hi-Yu royalty and other Hi-Yu folks (red shirts), who held court on the SW corner of Cali/Alaska (the camera crew you see behind/above them involved Art Institute students who have been shooting video at Hi-Yu events as a project):
Click ahead for more parade people, from the famous to the oughta-be-famous:Read More
Cars, trucks, floats, you name it — if it had wheels, you probably saw it in the West Seattle Grand Parade. Including boats with wheels, like the Seafair Pirates‘ fabled Moby Duck:
More parade wheels — human-powered, gas-powered, even 100% electric-powered (or so it said), after the click:Read More
As always, the West Seattle Hi-Yu American Legion Grand Parade began with two very different police-motorcycle drill teams: Seattle Police and Vancouver (B.C.) Police. Our favorite sight is this one, where the SPD officers stand at Cali/Alaska after their performance so they can watch their VPD counterparts:
To see the officers actually on their motorcycles — click ahead:Read More
We’ve got a few dozen pix to share, so we’re going to do this in installments. This one’s all about the kids — specifically, the Rotary Club Kiddies’ Parade, which meandered down Cali an hour before the “main” parade.
Two of the most creative Kiddies’ Parade entries, after the click:
Even in Seattle, who in the world could imagine that if you wait till late July to schedule an outdoor-movie series, the first one would be rained out? Well, it happened in The Junction tonight; sign on the gate @ Hotwire says “Chicken Run” is rescheduled to Friday, August 10th.
Many more to come later. But for now, four photos, starting with deep-fried disappointment: The Spud Fish & Chips mascot did not show off The Calves (quoth one WSB Team Member, “at this rate, next time the mascot will be in a burqa”):
We did spot a letter carrier in shorts before the parade, but we were not photographing him for his legs, but rather, his scarf in honor of Literary Phenomenon Du Jour:
Here’s the parade-watcher with the best seat in over the house:
Finally (many more pix later), WTG to the Hi-Yu folks who urged the crowd in The Junction to do a “no rain” chant before the parade. Except for a one-minute spray of light mist — it worked. Later tonight, we hear, it could be a different story, so we hope we won’t have occasion to see this parade entry back in WS for something less festive:
Links to our other parade photo posts:
Second installment (The Kids)
Third installment (The Enforcers)
Fourth installment (The Wheels)
Fifth installment (The People)
Sixth/final installment (The Winners)
There IS a car show on Alki today, happening right now. We had received conflicting reports in recent days (and earlier) — it is not sponsored by any official WS-based festival so those folks weren’t involved — finally we knew it would come down to just checking out Alki this morning to see what did or didn’t show up — and indeed, there are dozens of gorgeous classic cars on the promenade. Here’s our drive-by photo. (NOW off to the parade!)
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