Dizzyingly busy WS weekend

May 11, 2007 7:20 am
|    Comments Off on Dizzyingly busy WS weekend
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle parks | WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

From 130-plus yard sales in 1 day, to a wild hour to try the Water Taxi, to women’s tackle football, to bellydancing, there is so much to do this weekend, you’ll wish you could just skip sleep. Full list is one click away:Read More

Local kids go green

Nice P-I writeup on local students’ Pelly Place Ravine cleanup today.

WS Gas Price Watch: “Highest high” holding

May 10, 2007 2:27 pm
|    Comments Off on WS Gas Price Watch: “Highest high” holding
 |   Gas prices

No update for a few days because not much has changed. Lowest posted price  we’ve seen in WS is now $3.31 at the Arco on Delridge near Home Depot. Highest posted price (for regular) remains $3.49 @ 35th/Holden Chevron, which hasn’t gone up since one week ago.

The map’s up

As promised, Megawatt has just posted the map and guide to all 130-plus locations planning yard/garage/whatever sales this Saturday during its 3rd Annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. The guide splits the list into “quadrants” — check it out to see who’ll be selling what near you!

Backhoe vs. bricks, caught on camera

May 10, 2007 10:18 am
|    Comments Off on Backhoe vs. bricks, caught on camera
 |   Development

Thanks to Jerry from JetCityOrange for sending this video clip of the Cali/Seattle SW corner demolition, before it got to the rubble phase we photographed the other day.

Paying tribute to Charlie

May 10, 2007 7:20 am
|    Comments Off on Paying tribute to Charlie
 |   West Seattle people

charliebw.jpgTwo weeks after we lost another true WS original, it’s time for the final tributes. Visitation for former city councilmember Charlie Chong is 4-7 pm tonight and 4-6 pm tomorrow night at Howden-Kennedy; vigil service is 7 pm tomorrow and funeral Mass at noon Saturday, both at Holy Rosary. According to CharlieChong.com, everybody’s welcome; the site also has information on where to make donations in Charlie’s memory.

Get your bag together

May 10, 2007 12:40 am
|    Comments Off on Get your bag together
 |   WS miscellaneous

When you stop at the store today or tomorrow, buy extra “non-perishables” for the Letter Carriers’ Food Drive this Saturday. It’s a mega-simple way to help others — put together a bag of canned/boxed/bagged food items, and leave it by your mailbox (door, if you have a mailslot) Saturday for pick up. Look how well WS did last year!

Update on John the waiter

Many kind people have posted comments on the item below about John, a waiter from JaK’s and Skylark, stricken by an aneurysm last night. Now we are sorry to have to pass along bad news from Jessie at Skylark:

I have sad and terrible news. John is not going to make it.Skylark will be closed early tonight (7pm) so open mic is cancelled. 
We’ll reopen at 11:30am (the normal time) tomorrow.

I’ll follow up with details (wake info, benefit events for the hospital bills, etc) when I know them.

So long, smolts

May 9, 2007 2:02 pm
|    Comments Off on So long, smolts
 |   Environment | Fauntleroy | Wildlife

An update on the Fauntleroy Creek page says 20 of the creek’s coho are on their way out to the “saltwater phase of their lifecycle.” Check out the creek overlook (part of the view shown in recent photo below) next time you’re down by the ferry dock or the south end of Lincoln Park; it’s a little bit of wildness amid all our urbanity, kept up by a lot of hard (volunteer) work.

2creekfromabove.jpg

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.

Fun stuff to do BEFORE the weekend

May 9, 2007 7:58 am
|    Comments Off on Fun stuff to do BEFORE the weekend
 |   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).

Wave hello to Wave2Go

dock1.jpgThe 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).

Husky player suspected in Alki hit-and-run

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

Blazing backhoes

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:
califseattleswcornersequel.jpgcaliseattle.jpg

Living the high (price) life

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.”

New disc-overy

May 8, 2007 2:03 am
|    Comments Off on New disc-overy
 |   Fun stuff to do | WS & Sports

Frisbee-1.jpgTonight’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.)

WS Gas Price Watch updatelet

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.

Brainstorm a more beautiful banner

banner1.jpgThe 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

Particularly plaintive pet plea

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.

Saving the steelhead

steelhead_line1.gifFisherfolk alert: The federal government has just listed Puget Sound steelhead as “threatened.”