West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician says shopping at farmers’ markets (like ours) fights global warming. (Especially if you take the bus to get there!)

Prayers requested

A reliable longtime reader sent the following note, wanting to get the word out. Usually we would try to confirm such tips through a second source but time is of the essence with someone fighting for their life:

John, a flamboyant and funny waiter working evenings at Jak’s Grill and weekend brunch at Skylark Cafe & Club, was hospitalized yesterday evening after suffering a brain aneurysm. Friends say the prognosis is not good, and he could really use the prayers of his customers and friends right now.

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Fun stuff to do BEFORE the weekend

May 9, 2007 7:58 am

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| West Seattle Art Walk | West Seattle schools | WS culture/arts

–Tonight, Cafe Rozella continues its 2nd-anniversary celebration with Show Brazil performing @ 7 pm.

–Tomorrow night, the Junction Art Walk (second Thursday of each month) is back. And now it’s got its own blogsite, with a list of who and what you’ll see.

–Also tomorrow night, “Carousel” opens at West Seattle High School (7:30 Thurs-Fri-Sat this week and next; advance tickets are half-price @ Square One).

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Wave hello to Wave2Go

May 9, 2007 1:24 am

| 1 COMMENT

| Transportation

The state ferry system’s new electronic ticketing arrives at Fauntleroy (and Vashon, Southworth, Tahlequah, Point Defiance) as of today. These are the last terminals/routes to add the system, so now you can buy tickets for any ferry route at dock kiosks or online (could be handy for those summer-weekend trips on the busiest runs).

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Husky player suspected in Alki hit-and-run

May 8, 2007 12:26 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Crime

Hadn’t heard anything about this weekend collision till today’s Times article.

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Blazing backhoes

May 8, 2007 10:41 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| Development

No moss growing under some developers’ feet, er, backhoes. Less than two weeks after we noted that permits were granted for the SW corner of Cali/Seattle, the demolition work is almost done — “before” (April 25) and “after” (this morning) photos below:

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Living the high (price) life

May 8, 2007 8:07 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle housing

Toward the end of this article about the still-rising home prices in King County, a recently sold WS home is featured as an example of “what the median price will buy you.”

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New disc-overy

May 8, 2007 2:03 am

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| Fun stuff to do | WS & Sports

Tonight’s the kickoff for a weekly West Seattle Ultimate Frisbee pickup game — just one catch; the first three sessions are in Tukwila, apparently because of a field-space crunch. If you want to join the fun, show up at the Tukwila Community Center field tonight @ 6:30. (Weather should be splendid.)

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Congrats, Wildcats

May 7, 2007 7:58 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

West Seattle HS is in the baseball playoffs — and won its first-round game today.

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No tunnel? No viaduct? No problem!

May 7, 2007 6:28 pm

| 8 COMMENTS

| Transportation

City Council members voted today to spend $millions studying something resembling The Third Option.

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WS Gas Price Watch updatelet

May 7, 2007 12:38 pm

| 9 COMMENTS

| Gas prices

No change at what we believe to be the lowest posted ($3.27/Delridge Arco) and highest posted ($3.49/35th-Holden Chevron) regular. Maybe the talk that prices peaked is true.

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Brainstorm a more beautiful banner

May 7, 2007 10:30 am

| 1 COMMENT

| WS culture/arts

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

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Particularly plaintive pet plea

May 7, 2007 10:04 am

| 6 COMMENTS

| Pets

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.

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Saving the steelhead

May 7, 2007 8:47 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| Wildlife

Fisherfolk alert: The federal government has just listed Puget Sound steelhead as “threatened.”

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Looking ahead to next weekend (yes, already!)

May 6, 2007 10:03 pm

| Comments Off on Looking ahead to next weekend (yes, already!)

| Community Garage Sale Day | Fun stuff to do

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.

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About those classic buildings …

May 6, 2007 7:17 pm

| 9 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle history | West Seattle housing

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.

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HAPPENING RIGHT NOW: Buy plants for pets

May 6, 2007 12:59 pm

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| Gardening | Pets

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.

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Shaping the future of another old WS school

May 6, 2007 9:49 am

| 5 COMMENTS

| Delridge | Development | West Seattle schools

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.)

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The most interesting Cinco de Mayo party on Alki

May 5, 2007 10:45 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| Seen around town

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.

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Delridge crash

May 5, 2007 10:44 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Delridge | West Seattle news

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.

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Surprise, it’s not condos

May 5, 2007 7:01 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle religion

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.

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WS Gas Price Watch: New “low” spot, new high

May 5, 2007 3:22 pm

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| Gas prices

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.

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Opening day for that other boating season

May 5, 2007 9:09 am

| 1 COMMENT

| Seen at sea

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).