West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
The creative proprietors of Clementine have not only beautified The Junction by their mere presence, but also have joined the Junction Association Beautification Committee, and one of its current projects is to replace those somewhat dated banners (example at right) trumpeting the shopping district’s free-parking zones. (An endangered species around the city, apparently.) And they’ve put out a call for design proposals for the new banner. Deadline is May 31. Click ahead for the full text of the Request for Design Proposal:Read More
We don’t really have an official policy on lost pet notices – but found this particularly plaintive one on Craigslist shortly after seeing a new flyer for the same missing dog on a neighborhood pole. Keep an eye out.
Fisherfolk alert: The federal government has just listed Puget Sound steelhead as “threatened.”
Just starting to get into the yard-sale groove now that it’s May? Get ready to maneuver between 120 WS sales next Saturday during Megawatt‘s 3nd annual Community Garage Sale Day. You’ll have a couple days to plot your course, since the maps will be available starting Thursday at 9 WS locations as well as at the Megawatt site.
This Thursday night, the city’s Southwest Design Review Board meets to consider the plans for those two Cali Ave teardowns we 
lamented in extended posts a couple weeks back: 3811 Cali (left) and 6053 Cali (right). It’s at the SW Precinct (near Home Depot) — 3811 is first on the agenda at 6:30; 6053 follows at 8.
Sorry we didn’t hear about this any sooner. Through 5 pm today, the Furry Faces Foundation animal-rescue group is selling hanging plant baskets – or the components to make your own – in the courtyard next to Hotwire.
As mentioned in the city’s latest neighborhoods newsletter (page 4), the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association is hoping to eventually buy the former Boren Junior High — now used as interim home to schools under renovation, Cleveland HS at the moment. It’s doing an architectural study to look at the 14-acre site‘s potential, with the thought that it could hold more than 400 housing units and tens of thousands of square foot of commercial space. (The Boren building doesn’t seem to have much preservation value, unlike the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, but you can read about its history here.)
Sure, Cactus was jumping (including the heated outdoor area), bonfires were blazing, all that, but the most interesting thing we saw on Alki this Cinco de Mayo evening was the aftermath of a ceremony next to the Alki Bathhouse, and the reception inside. The candle-equipped ceremony altar (photo below) was framed by white columns wrapped with barbed wire and red roses. We weren’t nosy enough to peek too far into the (catered) reception, but saw enough of the outfits (white-on-black “skeleton” shirt, etc.) to speculate — Goth wedding? SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: Reader reports in a comment on this post that they inquired and were told it was in honor of someone who died.
TV news report (can’t find it written up online anywhere) says 7 people went to the hospital after a crash in WS this morning; pictures showed several crunched cars, one even upside-down. Online 911 logs show the rescue callout went to the 7700 block of Delridge at 9:23 am.
A couple more of those ubiquitous yellow “land-use application” signs are up at the 35th SW site that was formerly home to the Seventh-Day Adventist church, 
now Temenos and the Mars Hill bus pen (left). The application in question, for which a Design Review Board meeting is now set (5/24), mentions — no, not condos — an auto-repair business and offices “adjacent to existing building” and lists the same owners as Swedish Automotive a few blocks north. No reply yet to our note inquiring about their plans for the site.
As of our most recent check, the Arco by Home Depot on Delridge (left) has taken over the “lowest posted price in WS” spot: $3.27/regular. For the gas seller’s perspective, here’s an interesting article; for an attempt to explain the relentless rise, this report blames it on lower refinery output attributed partly to attempts to make slightly cleaner fuel. 9:58 PM UPDATE: WS’s costliest gas, premium @ Admiral Chevron, is up tonight to $3.81.
If you didn’t see them sail in, go down to our north- or northeast-facing waterfront late this afternoon and you can see them sail out: 
First day of the regular weekly cruise-ship visits. Every Saturday starting today, it’s Seattle-based Holland America Line’s Oosterdam (left) and Princess Cruises’ Golden Princess at Terminal 30, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Star at Pier 66. Within two weeks, the rest of the “fleet” will be here too — two ships on Fridays and three on Sundays (full schedule here).
It’s closed this morning (Saturday) 9 am-11 am for WalkAmerica. By the way, if you’ve been wondering about the viaduct’s fate post-election, the City Council’s taking it up on Monday.
Charlestown/Cali 7-11 jumped to $3.29/regular, matching nearby Exxon. Anybody seen cheaper?
Here’s the latest. Good news for some of the folks north of The Junction, at least.
Several readers have written to suggest that the Amber Alert issued in Kitsap County be posted here. Since WS has a direct link to Kitsap via the ferry dock, it makes sense — apparently this mother and baby could be anywhere. Full details at the Washington Amber Alert site. Photos below are the baby, the mother (who isn’t supposed to have custody), and a truck similar to the one they are believed to be in. Call 911 if you even THINK you have seen them. SATURDAY NIGHT UPDATE: They’ve been found; the baby is safe.
Times says the police department has a new aggressive-driving team that’s already been on the move here in WS (Highland Park Way). The article includes pix of their distinctive new cars and a map suggesting this team will be in action on Alki, Admiral, and The Bridge. (Hey, don’t forget the many disregarded arterial stop signs here in South WS!)
Even without the Cinco de Mayo wildness at your favorite drinking spot, it’s a BIG West Seattle weekend. Click for the full (and “full” is an understatement) list!Read More
The Stranger features Alki food. No mention, though, of Coyotes on Alki, on its 1-year anniversary.
For the hundreds of times we have walked or driven past the Alki Bathhouse, we’ve been inside maybe once. Tonight — a good chance to wander in and be warmly welcomed — a spring reception, 5-8 pm (brochure page 14) — we found out from all these cheery postings in the bathhouse’s big side window this morning:
You won’t find it on the website for this converted apartment building (Cali/Myrtle) but a closer look at its streetside sign reveals creative phraseology for what one commenter called its “converted motel” look — “midcentury retro condominium homes.”
We’ve always vowed not to be another blog with cute baby animal pix .. but then came this.
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