West Seattle, Washington

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Spotlight Stories

WEST SEATTLE ART: New mural on Puget Ridge
September 14, 2022 2:47 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Puget Ridge | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Installed this week at 18th/Myrtle [map], just east of Sanislo Elementary, that’s the newest city-funded Art Interruptions work to appear in West Seattle. Thanks to Katie Kauffman for letting us publish her photos – she was there when artist Toka Valu was working with a crew to get the work in place:

The inscription at the north end of the mural explains:

“Lukia e Tenifa”

One of the most cherished ngatu (traditional Tongan mulberry bark paper cloth) motifs from Tonga is the Amoamo Kofe, loosely meaning “caressing bamboo.” Visually, Amoamo Kofe is often depicted to look like 4-5 consecutively larger diamond cutouts stacked on top of one another. This motif can be found on the larger shark and along the water swirls while Octopus displays a series of repeating diamond shapes common throughout Pasifika to represent strength and wisdom in times of conflict. Shark and Octopus continue to honor their peace pact today following their colossal struggle many generations ago.

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FLU SHOTS: Weekend clinics planned at four schools in West Seattle, starting Sunday
September 14, 2022 12:51 pm
|    Comments Off on FLU SHOTS: Weekend clinics planned at four schools in West Seattle, starting Sunday
 |   Health | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Planning on getting a flu shot? Weekend vaccination clinics are planned at three West Seattle schools in the next month-plus. Here’s the announcement:

Seattle Visiting Nurse Association will offer 28 weekend flu shot clinics at 14 school sites for staff, students, families, and the community from September 16-October 23, 2022 (including 3 sites in West Seattle, as shown below). Sign up for an appointment at: https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/health-services/flu-clinics

Madison Middle School – 3429 45th Ave SW

Sunday, September 18, 2022 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 8, 2022 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 23, 2022 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Louisa Boren STEM K-8 – 5950 Delridge Way SW

Saturday, October 1, 2022 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Chief Sealth International High School – 2600 SW Thistle

Sunday, October 2, 2022 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 15, 2022 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

ALSO: Flu shots for Seattle Public Schools students (regardless of insurance) are available through School-Based Health Centers. We also have COVID-19 vaccine clinics for any person aged 3 and older. COVID vaccines are free, and insurance is not required. For more information and to pre-register, visit the COVID Vaccine Page – the southwest regional clinic is Sunday at Madison MS, 10 am-2 pm. The updated COVID booster will be available at all clinics.

(Thanks to those who forwarded the announcement to us!)

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PHOTOS: ‘Casting call’ day for community video shoots commemorating West Seattle Bridge reopening
September 14, 2022 12:02 pm
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle Bridge Safety Project | West Seattle news

12:02 PM: That was the scene a short time ago at Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, as people started gathering to participate in the first of four shoots as part of the community-planned video to commemorate the West Seattle Bridge reopening, as announced earlier this month. If you’d like to be in it, there are three more stops today with video director Ryan Cory – if you can get to any of them, the plan is:

12:45 pm Admiral Theater
1:45 pm Alaska Junction by Easy Street
2:45 pm at the bridge’s west entrance

The bridge remains on schedule to reopen this Sunday, September 18th. SDOT isn’t saying yet exactly what time.

P.S. These two had our favorite outfits seen at the Alki shoot:

1:15 PM: Just got word from Stephanie, one of the people coordinating this, that if you can make it to the 2:45 pm shoot on the bridge, meet at Pecos Pit (35th/Fauntleroy; WSB sponsor), “graciously feeding us with sliders and tastes of potato salad.”

5:02 PM: Thanks to Laina Vereschagin from the community coalition for these photos from the last shoot of the day, on the bridge’s west end – first the “cast” with director Ryan Cory:

Even the Chief Sealth International High School cheer squad turned out:

The full video might not be out till month’s end but snippets are expected to debut soon.

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FOLLOWUP: 26th/28th/Andover/Yancy protected bike lane complete
September 14, 2022 10:36 am
|      34 COMMENTS
 |   Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

First, six years of RVs … then, eco-blocks … now, a protected bike lane. SDOT says the bike lane installed from SW Andover and 26th to Yancy/Avalon is complete, now that the post installation is complete.

The announcement to what had been dubbed the “SW Andover Collaboration Team,” which included the two major businesses along Andover, was forwarded by City Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s staff. It’s only been a month since the full plan emerged, which in turn was less than two months after the long-running RV encampment was cleared.

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WEST SEATTLE WEDNESDAY: 12 notes
September 14, 2022 9:00 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Osprey fishing in late August, photographed by Danny McMillin)

Here’s what’s happening, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, inbox, and previews:

SPRAYPARK OPEN: Wading pools have closed for the season but Highland Park Spraypark at 1100 SW Cloverdale will be open 11 am-8 pm, every day through Sunday

MOUNTAIN TO SOUND OUTFITTERS CLEARANCE SALE: As noted here, this shop (WSB sponsor) at 3602 SW Alaska is having a change-of-seasons clearance sale. Open 11 am-6 pm today.

JOURNALING FOR MINDFULNESS: Writing class at Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon), 11 am.

(added) CASTING CALL: The community coalition commemorating the bridge reopening is still interested in having people show up for video-shoot locations today, as explained here – the locations/times are:

11:45 am Alki Beach by the Statue of Liberty
12:45 pm Admiral Theater
1:45 pm Alaska Junction by Easy Street
2:45 pm at the bridge’s west entrance

FLUTES IN THE FOREST: Free outdoor concert in Schmitz Park(Admiral Way/Stevens), 5-6 pm.

SPORTS-MEDICINE TALK FOR RUNNERS: Learn about returning to running post-injury, at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) with Lake Washington Physical Therapy (WSB sponsor), 6 pm.

34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS: Our area’s largest political group meets in person at 6:30 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9130 California SW); agenda highlights are in our calendar listing.

JAZZ AT OTTER ON THE ROCKS: Trio Jazz Night, 6:30 pm (4210 SW Admiral Way).

LIVE AT LOCOL: Locöl Barley & Vine (7902 35th SW) spotlights live music 6:30-8:30 pm Wednesdays, no cover, 21+, rotating artists.

MUSIC BINGO: Now weekly at The Good Society (California/Lander), 7 pm.

TRIVIA x 4: At 7 pm, you can play trivia at the West Seattle Brewing Mothership (4415 Fauntleroy Way SW); Larry’s Tavern (3405 California SW) hosts Wednesday-night trivia starting at 7:30 pm; trivia starts at 8 pm at Beveridge Place Pub (6413 California SW); at 8:30 pm, trivia is back at Talarico’s (4718 California SW) with Phil T.

SKYLARK OPEN MIC: 7:30 pm signups @ West Seattle’s longest-running open mic – no cover to watch. (3803 Delridge Way SW)

Have a calendar event to add? Please email westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, WEATHER: Back-to-school Wednesday; 4 days until West Seattle Bridge reopens
September 14, 2022 6:03 am
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:03 AM: Good morning. The final bridge-reopening countdown continues as we start Wednesday, September 14th.

WEATHER

Mostly sunny, high around 70 predicted .

BACK-TO-SCHOOL

*Seattle Public Schools starts the new year today, one week late, after educators voted to suspend their strike. Be mindful of school buses, as well as students walking, rolling, and riding. Reminder – five West Seattle schools have speed-enforcement cameras, as listed here.

FERRIES, BUSES, WATER TAXI

Ferries: WSF continues the 2-boat schedule for Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth. Check here for alerts/updates.

Metro buses are on their regular weekday schedules; watch @kcmetroalerts for trip cancellations/reroute alerts.

The West Seattle Water Taxi is on its regular schedule.

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

906th morning without the West Seattle Bridge. 4 days until SDOT expects to reopen it – on this Sunday, September 18th. Watch WSB for reopening updates all week.

Low Bridge: Automated enforcement cameras remain in use until the high bridge reopens; restrictions are in effect 5 am-9 pm daily – except weekends; the bridge is open to all until 8 am Saturday and Sunday mornings.

1st Avenue South Bridge:

South Park Bridge:

The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):

Are movable city bridges opening for vessels? Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed; 1st Ave. S. Bridge openings are tweeted by @wsdot_traffic.

All currently functional city traffic cams can be seen here, many with video options; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are also on this WSB page

Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Please text or call us (when you can do so safely) – 206-293-6302.

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VIDEO: City early-education leaders mark new school year with West Seattle visit
September 13, 2022 10:36 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

As preschoolers arrived today for the second day of the school year at the Community School of West Seattle, they had a special entourage of greeters – from the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP) and the city Department of Education and Early Learning. CSWS, which is at 22nd/Roxbury, was one of six recipients of SPP grants for facility improvements. The school received $109,000 for a plumbing overhaul and playground improvements that will enable kids to play outside year-round. The visitors took the opportunity to celebrate the start of the levy-funded SPP’s eighth year – it’s grown from fewer than 300 students citywide in 2015 to more than 2,100 this year. DEEL director Dr. Dwane Chappelle spoke briefly, as did CSWS’s interim executive director Rebecca Lane (second from left):

With them were, at left, Leilani Dela Cruz, the city’s director of early learning, and at right, Adiam Emery, representing the mayor’s office, where she is now executive general manager. CSWS is one of more than 80 sites participating in the SPP and the only one in West Seattle/South Park to receive one of the grants announced today (see the full list in this city news release). 23 of the SPP sites are at Seattle Public Schools buildings, so their first day of school won’t happen until tomorrow, which will be the third day of the school year at others. If you’re interested in enrolling a child in the Seattle Preschool Program, you can find out more here.

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STRIKE SUSPENDED: Seattle Public Schools classes start tomorrow after union members vote to return before ratification vote
September 13, 2022 5:05 pm
|      24 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

5:05 PM: Just in from the Seattle Education Association:

Following a tentative agreement with Seattle Public Schools that better meets students’ needs, particularly for Special Education and mental health supports, the union of 6,000 substitutes, teachers, office professionals, and paraprofessionals of the Seattle Education Association voted this afternoon to suspend their strike and return to class. …

The tentative agreement, which is embargoed until ratified by the SEA membership and SPS board, is for a 3-year contract with Special Education ratios maintained and improved in areas, adding baseline mental health staffing in all schools, and raises above IPD every year. The vote to ratify the tentative agreement will take place later in the week.

Via Twitter, the union says 78 percent of its membership voted, and 57 percent of those voting supported suspending the strike. We’re now waiting for the district to announce when school will start.

5:20 PM: The announcement’s just in – school starts tomorrow for all students, including kindergarteners and preschoolers. That’s exactly one week later than the originally scheduled first day. And as with the original plan, the first day of school will not be an early-release day (though subsequent Wednesdays will be).

7:58 PM: Regarding the five missed days of school, here’s what the district says: “Five days will need to be made up during this school year. Students are required to attend 180 days of school. The additional dates will be negotiated by SPS and SEA, and then approved by the Seattle School Board. Once agreed on, we will notify families and post the updated 2022-23 school year dates to our website.” After the last SEA strike in 2015, six days had to be made up – here’s how that was done.

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stolen white pickup
September 13, 2022 5:03 pm
|    Comments Off on WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stolen white pickup
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

The report and photo are from Eric:

Last night our truck was stolen from the Gatewood neighborhood.
The truck was parked at SW Austin Street and 41st Ave SW.
The truck is white and a 2003 Ford F250 Super Duty with a Pennsylvania license plate.
Police incident number 2022-244409.
The truck was stolen at 2:22 am on 09/13/2022 and we saw it stolen on our camera when we woke up this morning.
Please contact the police if you see this truck.

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BIZNOTE: Pharmaca sets West Seattle closing date
September 13, 2022 4:05 pm
|      73 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

For weeks, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy employees in The Junction have been telling customers their store will close, according to readers. We’ve tried repeatedly to get that confirmed; the store told us we had to talk to corporate, corporate would not return our calls and emails. We were just back at the store yesterday asking again if they could go on the record yet. Then today, a sign announcing the closing date went up in the store; after a tip, we went over for a look. It says the store’s last day will be Monday, September 26th, and that prescriptions will be transferred to the California SW Rite-Aid. Pharmaca opened its West Seattle store 14 1/2 years ago; the chain of 28 stores was taken over last year by a “digital pharmacy” company called Medly. This is the second business to close in the West Seattle Junction building at 4707 California SW; the wine shop Bin 41 announced its closure a month ago.

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VIDEO: Here’s what the West Seattle Bridge pre-reopening ‘load testing’ looks like
September 13, 2022 1:52 pm
|      25 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle Bridge Safety Project | West Seattle live

1:52 PM: As we first reported last week, today’s the day that SDOT planned to begin one of the last critical tasks before reopening the West Seattle Bridge on Sunday (September 18th) – load testing. It involves trucks moving across the bridge with “specialized heavy loads,” and SDOT has recorded some of it via drone video we just received.

While this needs to be done before the bridge reopens, SDOT has said repeatedly that the repaired bridge already has been tested in other ways and has performed as expected, so they’re not anticipating any surprises. Still no word of exactly what time Sunday they plan to start pulling down the barricades to end the 2 1/2-year closure.

3:31 PM: So what happens now? SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson says, “It will take us a few days to analyze the data.” Likely that’ll be complete by Friday afternoon, when a pre-reopening media briefing is planned.

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UPDATE: Seattle Fire ‘full response’ for house fire near 17th/Kenyon
September 13, 2022 11:08 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

11:08 AM: A Seattle Fire “full response” is headed to the 7900 block of 17th SW for a possible residential fire. Updates to come.

11:11 AM: First firefighters on scene are seeing smoke but the source hasn’t been traced yet, possibly in the attic.

(Added: WSB photo)

11:14 AM: Firefighters tell dispatch it’s clearly an attic fire, and that everyone is reported safely out of the house. … They think it started outside and spread up to the attic.

11:26 AM: The fire is reported to be under control.

11:33 AM: And now they’ve called the fire “tapped” (out).

11:42 AM: Firefighters confirm to us at the scene that no one is hurt. The investigation into the fire’s cause is under way, starting in the back of the house.

ADDED WEDNESDAY: We followed up with SFD regarding the cause. Spokesperson Kristin Tinsley says, “The fire was ruled as ‘accidental’ by fire investigators. Started as a result of a smoldering fire on a table that spread to combustible material. The fire extended to the wooden exterior siding and travelled up the wall, and into the attic space. Total estimated loss is $95,000.”

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SEEN OFF WEST SEATTLE: USS Nimitz, northbound in Puget Sound
September 13, 2022 10:58 am
|    Comments Off on SEEN OFF WEST SEATTLE: USS Nimitz, northbound in Puget Sound
 |   Seen at sea | West Seattle news

(Photo by David Hutchinson)

Thanks for the photos/tips! That was the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) headed northbound in Puget Sound earlier this morning. It’s been about seven weeks since it was last seen headed the other way, to Bremerton, after two weeks of training.

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WEST SEATTLE TUESDAY: 17 notes for today/tonight
September 13, 2022 9:00 am
|    Comments Off on WEST SEATTLE TUESDAY: 17 notes for today/tonight
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Cormorant, photographed by Rainer Klett)

Here’s what you should know about, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

BLOCK DROP DIY CLEANUP: 9 am-6 pm today, Duwamish Head‘s famous lock-studded fence will be the pickup/dropoff spot for equipment and bags for your DIY cleanup.

STUDENT MEAL PICKUP: Locations for Seattle Public Schools students to pick up lunches until school starts have changed. Hours are still 10 am-1 pm; our story from Sunday night lists the West Seattle locations.

POSTCARDS TO VOTERS: 10:30 am politics-at-a-distance volunteers’ weekly gathering at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor).

SPRAYPARK STILL OPEN: Wading pools are now all closed but Highland Park Spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale) remains open 11 am-8 pm daily through Sunday.

CHESS CLUB: Play at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon), 1:30 pm.

CITY COUNCIL RECONVENES: 2 pm, the weekly full-council is happening online and in-person – here’s the agenda, with inforation on how to comment.

IRISH DANCE CLASSES: Children can learn Irish dance at the VFW Hall (3601 SW Alaska), 4:30 pm – info’s in our calendar listing.

DEMONSTRATION FOR BLACK LIVES: Longstanding weekly 4:30-6 pm sign-waving demonstration at 16th/Holden. Signs available if you don’t have your own.

AUTHOR EVENT: Madeline Ostrander is at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor) to talk about her new book “At Home on an Unruly Planet,” 5:30-7 pm.

STORYTIME IN THE GARDEN: Bring your little one(s) for a story followed by a garden activity, at the Delridge P-Patch, 6 pm (5078 25th SW).

SCRABBLE NIGHT: 6-10 pm, go play Scrabble at The Missing Piece (9456 35th SW).

FAMILY GAME NIGHT: Meeples Games (3727 California SW) welcomes families 6-8 pm to this weekly hosted game-playing night.

WEST SEATTLE TIMEBANK: Learn about timebanking and have fun at tonight’s 6:30 pm gathering at Puget Ridge Edible Park (5265 18th SW) – info in our calendar listing.

ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: 7 pm community meeting in-person at Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill), all welcome.

FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: 7 pm business meeting for the FCA board – community always welcome; here’s how to attend, in-person at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW) or online.

TRIVIA X 3: Three of the venues where you can play Tuesday nights – 7 pm at Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW), 7 pm at Admiral Pub (2306 California SW), 7:30 and 8:30 pm at The Lodge (4209 SW Alaska).

BELLE OF THE BALLS BINGO: Play bingo with Cookie Couture at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW), 8 pm. Free, all ages!

You can always see more on our calendar – and if you have something to add for the future, please email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, WEATHER: Tuesday notes, 5 days until West Seattle Bridge reopening
September 13, 2022 6:03 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:03 AM: Good morning. The final bridge-reopening countdown continues as we start Tuesday, September 13th.

WEATHER

Morning clouds, afternoon sun, upper 60s predicted .

SCHOOL

*Classes are canceled for a fifth day at Seattle Public Schools, but a tentative agreement was announced late last night.

FERRIES, BUSES, WATER TAXI

Ferries: WSF continues the 2-boat schedule for Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth. Check here for alerts/updates.

Metro buses are on their regular weekday schedules; watch @kcmetroalerts for trip cancellations/reroute alerts.

The West Seattle Water Taxi is on its regular schedule.

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

905th morning without the West Seattle Bridge. 5 days until SDOT expects to reopen it – on this Sunday, September 18th. Watch WSB for reopening updates all week.

Low Bridge: Automated enforcement cameras remain in use until the high bridge reopens; restrictions are in effect 5 am-9 pm daily – except weekends; the bridge is open to all until 8 am Saturday and Sunday mornings.

1st Avenue South Bridge:

South Park Bridge:

The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):

Are movable city bridges opening for vessels? Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed; 1st Ave. S. Bridge openings are tweeted by @wsdot_traffic.

All currently functional city traffic cams can be seen here, many with video options; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are also on this WSB page

Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Please text or call us (when you can do so safely) – 206-293-6302.

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SEATTLE SCHOOL STRIKE: Tentative agreement announced
September 12, 2022 9:23 pm
|      30 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

9:23 PM: Seattle Public Schools says, “SPS and SEA bargaining teams have come to a tentative agreement. We will share an update on the start of school tomorrow afternoon.” SEA told its members in an email that was forwarded to us, “… Our tentative agreement is for a 3-year contract with Special Education ratios maintained and improved in areas, adding baseline mental health staffing in all schools, and raises above IPD every year.” The announcement comes after four days of striking.

9:36 PM: When we talked to SEA president Jennifer Matter in West Seattle on the first day of the strike, she said the agreement would have to be ratified before SEA members could go to work – unlike 2015 (the last SEA strike). But she said calling a general meeting could be accomplished quickly thanks to technology. In tonight’s message to members, Matter said, “… Ratifying the TA is part of our democratic union processes and to respect members’ voices we are keeping the TA among members only until it is ratified.”

9:42 PM: The media update that just arrived from SPS says, “… For now, the details of the tentative agreement are confidential. SEA members will review the proposed contract and vote tomorrow on whether to suspend the strike. Tomorrow afternoon, we will share an update on the start of school.”

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ARTISTS! West Seattle Garden Tour ‘s annual competition is on
September 12, 2022 8:34 pm
|    Comments Off on ARTISTS! West Seattle Garden Tour ‘s annual competition is on
 |   Gardening | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Summer’s not officially over yet … but the √West Seattle Garden Tour is looking ahead to next summer already, starting with its annual art competition. Here’s the invitation:

The West Seattle Garden Tour is one of the premier garden tours in the Northwest, as well as a fundraiser for local non-profits promoting horticulture, education or the arts. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organized by a group of dedicated volunteers. Since its inception in 1995, WSGT donates about $25,000 annually to local beneficiaries.

In addition to supporting non-profit organizations, the West Seattle Garden Tour provides an opportunity for local artists to showcase their original artwork on tour marketing materials, including the cover of the WSGT ticket book and promotional poster. The winning artist also receives a $500 cash award. Winning and honorable mention artworks will be featured during the May and June 2020 West Seattle Art Walks.

Please accept this invitation to submit your original artwork to the annual WSGT Art Competition. We look forward to receiving and reviewing your submission! Submissions accepted (now through) November 13, 2022.

Submission rules and entry form are available on our website

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WEST SEATTLE SCENE: Award-winning authors @ C&P Coffee
September 12, 2022 7:15 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle books | West Seattle news

Not watching the Seahawks-Broncos game? Here’s an option – award-winning West Seattle authors Lyanda Lynn Haupt (seated) and Donna Sandstrom are reading and signing their books at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor) right now, until about 8:30 pm. It’s in celebration of both having been chosen as finalists for this year’s Washington State Book Awards, as noted in the event announcement. This is the first of three author events in West Seattle this week, as previewed here.

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SEATTLE SCHOOL STRIKE: No classes Tuesday; district says ‘several key proposals’ resolved
September 12, 2022 6:16 pm
|      17 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

As striking Seattle Education Association members picketed for a fourth day, those from schools around north West Seattle joined for one big noontime march starting outside West Seattle High School. At this point, it appears Tuesday will be a fifth day of picketing – Seattle Public Schools has officially canceled classes for the day, while citing progress in a statement this afternoon:

While Seattle Public Schools (SPS) and Seattle Education Association (SEA) have not yet reached a final agreement, they have come to a resolution on several key proposals. Negotiations continue, and we hope to have a full tentative agreement soon. There will be no school on Tuesday, Sept. 13.

No progress report from the union yet; we’ll update this story if/when there’s one.

BACKGROUND: District updates are here; union updates are here. SEA’s contract expired August 31st, almost three months into negotiations; the strike began on what was supposed to be SPS’s first day of classes, last Wednesday. This is SEA’s first walkout since 2015. That strike, like this one, started on a Wednesday; a tentative agreement was announced the following Tuesday morning.

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FYI: That was a Seahawks flyover
September 12, 2022 5:20 pm
|      18 COMMENTS
 |   Skies Over West Seattle | West Seattle news

In case you forgot it was home opener night for the Seahawks – that’s what the fighter jet was for. An F-15 from Oregon, according to aviation-watchers on Twitter.

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WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE REOPENING: Timing notes and final touches
September 12, 2022 4:40 pm
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle Bridge Safety Project | West Seattle news

Six days until the scheduled reopening of the West Seattle Bridge after 2 1/2 years. Today’s notes:

TIMING: We asked SDOT again today exactly when on Sunday they plan to reopen the bridge. Reply: They’re still not saying.

BUSES: After we published our report today on the Metro “service change” this Saturday, Metro announced that the bus routes returning to the high bridge won’t do that until the start of the service day on Monday, instead of Sunday.

FINAL TOUCHES: If you’re wondering what’s happening on the bridge in these final days, SDOT has published an update, including a recap of all the maintenance work that’s been done during the repairs, including resurfacing the west end of the bridge (formally the Fauntleroy Expressway):

(SDOT photo)

SPEAKING OF CONCRETE: The labor dispute that delayed part of the bridge-repair work earlier this year is now over. Teamsters Local 174 says its members have ratified a new contract, more than a year after the old one expired.

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FOLLOWUP: Closed structure at Alki Playground removed, won’t be replaced before school rebuild
September 12, 2022 2:19 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(Texted photo)

2:19 PM: Thanks for the tips and photos. The closed/fenced-off play structure at Alki Playground has been removed. Seattle Parks had said they’d do that before the start of the school year; the educators’ strike apparently bought them some extra time. The play structure was taken out of service in early August; Parks told us afterward that a “safety inspection revealed a major structural issue with the wood decking.” At the time, they hadn’t decided what would happen once it was removed – whether it would be replaced before Alki Elementary closed next year for its rebuild – so we have an inquiry out to see if that decision’s been made yet, and will update when we hear back.

3:08 PM: Parks spokesperson Karen O’Connor says, “We are coordinating with Seattle Public Schools for the play area to be renovated and the structures replaced during the school rebuild between 2023-2025. We will not be replacing the play structures that are being removed before the new school is rebuilt. Some of the play equipment will remain and is not being removed.”

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METRO: Here’s what else is changing for West Seattle buses, besides return to high bridge
September 12, 2022 11:53 am
|      37 COMMENTS
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

On Sunday Monday*, Metro buses – along with other vehicles – return to the West Seattle Bridge after 2 1/2 years. But that’s not the only change for West Seattle Metro riders starting this weekend. Saturday (September 17th) brings the almost-fall twice-annual service change, when schedules are revised system-wide. This time, dozens of West Seattle trips will be cut, as Metro continues struggling with staffing. Here are the planned changes:

ROUTES 21/21X, 50, 55, 56, 57, 120, 125, RAPIDRIDE C LINE: Moving back to the high bridge Sunday. This also means the buses on these routes that served the Spokane/11th stops east of the low bridge will no longer be doing that.

All the other changes are in effect as of Saturday:

C LINE: “Nineteen weekday trips will be deleted to address workforce shortages.” See the timetable here.

ROUTE 21X: “Seven weekday trips will be deleted to address workforce shortages.” See the timetable here.

ROUTE 22: “Two weekday trips will be deleted to address workforce shortages.” See the timetable here.

ROUTE 55: “Three weekday trips will be deleted to address workforce shortages.” See the timetable here.

ROUTE 56: “Four weekday trips will be deleted to address workforce shortages.” See the timetable here.

ROUTE 120: “Five weekday trips will be deleted to address workforce shortages.” See the timetable here.

ROUTE 131: “One weekday trip will be deleted to address workforce shortages.” See the timetable here.

You can see the full system-wide list of changes here.

*3:04 PM UPDATE: We’ve just learned from Metro that they plan to start the high-bridge routing Monday, not Sunday.

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