March 2011

Coming up Sunday April 3 is a bone marrow registry drive at Alki Arts Gallery.

The person behind the event, Marnie Devlin shares this: "What started as me trying to convince 25 friends to join the registry for my 25th birthday has now outgrown that considerably and turned into a community event.

Alki Arts has donated the use of their space, Cactus next door is running a 25% off promotion for anyone who joins the registry that day, and several West Seattle businesses have donated raffle items. Among them- Menashe and Sons, Capers, Cactus, Feedback Lounge, and Seattle Style Salon.

As a lifetime West Seattle resident, I must say how impressive and humbling the community support has been!"

She promises NO NEEDLES OR BLOOD AT THE DRIVE.

Just a cheek swab and a promise that if you are ever the perfect match, that you will save a life in a one day, out-patient procedure.

West Seattle photographer David Rosen of SlickPix Photography shared this beautiful image with us tonight.

"On a beautiful night down along Alki, I noticed the weather had cleared up and the rain had stopped. I noticed that the color of the sun was reflecting off of the clouds and making them glow. I talked to another photographer who had come down also to take photos of the sunset and told me " This is why I love living in Seattle, you never know what you're going to see, either a bland sunset when it has been raining or an incredible one like tonight ."

Camera: Canon EOS 7D

Shutter: 1/160

Aperture: f/7

Focal Length: 18mm

ISO Speed: 100

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air presidents address customers impacted by
today's computer system outage on YouTube.  To view the video, visit [
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD_cce6kkCY&feature=channel_video_title
]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD_cce6kkCY .

Stories of leaked results are surfacing about the two independent forensic experts assigned to reexamine two key pieces of evidence in the current appeals trial of the murder of Meredith Kercher. Stefano Conti and Carla Vecchiotti of Rome's Sapienza University continue their review of DNA on the alleged murder weapon, the knife, and the infamous bra clasp ripped from Ms. Kercher during the murder that the prosecution claims contains Raffaele Sollecito's finger prints.

It is now believed the forensics experts can find no trace of DNA on the knife and that the bra clasp is too rusty to examine. The prosecution believes Amanda Knox's DNA and Ms. Kercher's DNA were found together on the kitchen knife and that the knife and bra clasp place Knox and Sollecito at the crime scene. The expert re-examinations were part of an independent review of evidence granted by an appeal court judge earlier this year.

The King County Department of Transportation announced Saturday afternoon that the West Seattle Water Taxi will resume service as of Monday morning, March 28.
The Rachel Marie, which had encountered mechanical problems last week has been repaired.

Featured This Week at the Farmers Markets in West Seattle and the University District, March 28 – April 3, 2011
Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance Markets:
University District (UD) – Saturdays, 9 am – 2 pm, YEAR ROUND –
West Seattle (WS) – Sundays, 10 am – 2 pm, YEAR ROUND

NEW:
Aged Balsamic Vinegar – from Rockridge Orchards at both West Seattle and the U-District markets.
(This is an exceptional artisan vinegar in limited supply. Try pairing it with Holmquist Hazelnut Oil and drizzling it over fresh spring market greens. It makes an out of this world early market season salad.

Pretty Things; Dogwood Blossoms, Willow Boughs, Cherry Blossoms and Pussy Willows for a spring time bouquets and arrangements. From Choice Bulb Farm at both markets.

NEWSWORTHY:
Foraged and Found is back at the West Seattle Farmers Market with wild mushrooms (Black Truffles), stinging nettles and fiddlehead ferns.
Bluebird Grains is back at the U-District Market every week with fresh ground organic flours, emmer, rye, cereals and pancake mixes.
Easter is 4 weeks away, but farmers are taking orders now for farm raised Hams, Leg of Lamb and Fresh Duck.

Congressman Jim McDermott this morning held a coffee for the the public at C&P Coffee, 5612 California Ave, the first in a series of such talks he will give around Seattle. About 60 people attended. He spoke, then did some Q&A about health care reform, veteran's health issues, the economy, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He criticized President Obama's handling of the economy, particularly taxation, and the current war situation, and attacked the Tea Party for lacking a clear agenda, as he sees it.

Some of Congressman McDermott's Comments:

"I've been to congress 23 years," McDermott said. "This session is populated by a large mass of people elected last year with no philosophy except to go and dismantle the government. So what you're seeing is a determined effort to undo everything that is what we think of as government- environment, education, labor.

"The next three weeks they say they are going to take out Obama Care, National Public Radio, Family Planning, the EPA and everything else (...) to agree to extend the continuing resolution and deal with the debt limit.

Press Release:
A computer system outage that disrupted about 15 percent of Alaska
Airlines and Horizon Air flights today has been partially restored. Alaska and
Horizon flights are operating, although many are delayed by two hours or more
and additional cancellations are possible.
By midday, Alaska and Horizon had canceled about 140 flights affecting some
11,700 passengers. Customers are being re-accommodated on the next available
flight at no charge. The airlines are also working to accommodate customers on
other carriers.
“We’re working to get our operation back to normal as quickly as possible and
are very sorry for the inconvenience to our customers,” Alaska Airlines
President Brad Tilden said. “We are doing all we can to book them on other
flights.”
Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight onwww.alaskaair.com
or by calling 1-800-ALASKAAIR before leaving for the airport. Customers whose
flight plans are affected are advised to change their flight reservations on
alaskaair.com. Alternatively, they can call: Alaska Airlines Reservations:
1-800-ALASKAAIR (1-800-252-7522) or Horizon Air Reservations: 1-800-547-9308

The bartender at the Bamboo Bar and Grill on Alki Andrew Piper is a BIG Buffalo Bills fan. So big his car is essentially a mobile billboard for the team with helmets and emblems on the hood.

The Seahawks fans at Pegasus Pizza are aware of his love for team 2116 miles away and finally chose to represent the 12th man. Anthony Do and Nick Loudakis took it upon themselves to show him how some people feel about that kind of thing here.

What did they do? They plastic wrapped his car.

Complete with a greeting from the 12th man, just to remind him that he is in Seahawks country.

At the time we posted this he was unaware of his car's condition but we will update with his reaction once we hear about it.

Sharon Bang owner of the Alki Cafe has shared that the former location of the Alki Bakery which she announced her family would re-open is finally ready to open.
Dubbed the Beachside Cafe it will offer an extensive menu.

"After a long wait, we finally have an official opening date for Beachside Cafe on Alki.  We are opening on Monday, April 4th.  Every time we felt like we were ready, there were things to be improved.  We really wanted to do it right for all those who have been waiting patiently with so much anticipation.  We wanted to make sure we bring the quality to this great location.  We searched for the best quality of ingredients for all the food items we were going to prepare; as small as just the right bread for each sandwich or better syrup for our espresso lovers.  We also wanted to work with local vendors to bring freshness and to support local economy.

Our hours of operation will be as follows;
Sun - Thursday: 7 am to 7 pm
Fri & Sat: 7 am to 8 pm

We are going to serve Caffe Vita Coffee.  We are, however, bringing back manual espresso machine for best taste of coffee.  

Here are list of things you will find at Beachside Cafe on Alki;