August 2011

During two weeks in August West Seattle Thriftway at California and Morgan Street holds their "Dog Days of Summer" promotion and raise funds for The Seattle Humane Society and other local animal welfare programs.

This weekend's BBQ proceeds benefit the Seattle / King County Humane Society, they are serving freshly grilled Natural Angus Burgers with chips and a drink and hot dogs for the kids. They are asking for a suggested donation of $7 (or more if you can). If you bring a donation of dog or cat food or dog or cat supplies (toys, leashes, flea medication, beds etc) they will drop the suggested donation to $5.

All dog and or cat food and supplies will go to the Seattle Humane Society's pet food bank.

If you do not want the meal, you can still donate any amount inside the store through the checkstand, and you will be provided with a receipt.

Thritway's Michelle Grasso offers a little history:

With dozens of "Thank you very much" phrases and a parade of familiar Elvis Presley hits Danny Vernon wowed a capacity crowd at the Providence Mt. St. Vincent Summer Concert with his show The Illusion of Elvis on Friday, Aug. 12.

Vernon and his wife Marsha perform with a minimal set up but have maximum impact. She proudly announced, mid-show that Vernon has been selected as one of ten Elvis tribute acts across the nation to get the seal of approval from Elvis Presley Enterprises. Recently he won sixth place in a competition in which more than 38,000 competed to be the best Elvis act.

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Vernon splits his show into two parts, beginning with early 1950's Elvis and then after a break, during which Marsha (who sings backup during his act) sings some familiar golden hits, he comes back out as the Elvis of the late 1960's.

In classic style Vernon, whose vocal timbre is amazingly similar to Presley himself, wooed the ladies by giving them hugs, scarves and even a Hawaiian lei at one point.

After four years and one month, ArtsWest's gallery director Nichole DeMent called it quits to focus on her own artistic creations. Her encaustic images currently hang at the NW Encaustic studio through the month at the artistic loft building simply known as "The Building", 7150 44th Ave SW & SW Othello St., just west of California Ave. SW. "Encaustic" images involve creating a one of a kind translucent print layered with beeswax, powdered pigments, and, in the case of DeMent's work, photographs.

"I live near ArtsWest and walked to work every day," said DeMent, who was born in Austin, TX, where, she said, "There wasn't a lot of art, but a bunch of hippies, and you could do whatever you wanted and having a fee spirit.

"I know almost all of the artists who showed work at ArtsWest," she said. "The Artwalk in the four years I was there became a big event with hundreds of people coming in. At first the sales were really good. I was able to double the amount of sold art in the first year I was there. Then the economy went south and so did the sales, unfortunately.

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Some call it the "upside down pencil", others "the flower vase building", but whatever its nickname, the 514-foot Rainier Tower, the one with the "bite" taken out of it at the bottom, presents a challenge for the nearly 200 participants who each raised at least $1,000 to rappel 1301 Fifth Ave. The event is called "Over the Edge".

Friday was "Press Day", while on Saturday and Sunday the building will host the bulk of brave amateur athletes and donars. Special Olympics Washington has raised over $233,000 for this event. Last year they raised $181,000.

Sponsors include Root Sports, a group of regional sports networks owned by DirecTV Sports Networks, affiliated with the overall Fox Sports Net system, and K2 Sports, which officially moved off Vashon Island and is now at 4201 6th Avenue South, two blocks east of the 4th Avenue South Costco. Roughly one third of K2 Sports' over 250 employees live in West Seattle.

You can read our coverage of last year's event here:

Update for Dec. 23
The seven-story mixed-use building envisioned by developers for the southeast corner of the Alaska Junction is back in motion after the initial developer, Conner Homes, sold the spot to Equity Residential on Tuesday for $11.4 million.

The sale means the search is back on for current tenants who will eventually need to find a new location. Equity has not returned calls for comment on their plans for the site, but Tony Ruiz with Conner Homes has said it is likely they will move forward with a similar plan.

Geoff Abdian, owner of the furniture consignment store Suite Arrangements, is one of the tenants now on a month-to-month lease with Equity.