October 2012

West Seattleite Steve Saxlund is a frequent bike rider (not to mention motorcycles and other vehicles) but last year when he saw an odd looking van drive past him near his home he didn't think much about it.

That is until a friend of his contacted him from Spain and said he had found him on Google. Not in a text search but in Google's Street View, the massive visual index compiled by the search giant.

Saxlund's picture shows him casually riding his Electra Beach Cruiser on SW Stevens near his home.

Of course the Street View cameras have captured plenty of strange things as they roam the streets, and now even the trails of the world. A story from the United Kingdom's Daily Mail from Aug. 30 compiles some of more remarkable images.

This wikipedia entry explains how Google's Street View technology works.

American Legion press release:

Veteran’s Day is November 11th and honors the men and women who have served in the United States armed services.

Who is a Veteran?
Veterans are people who served in the military (U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard) in times of war or peace.

Who do you know who is a veteran?
Maybe it is your mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandfather, grandmother, cousin, neighbor, or teacher. You can be very proud of them. Many have given much to keep us safe and free.

Have you thanked a veteran today?

http://www.va.gov/kids/k-5

This year, considered writing a thank you card to a Veteran thanking them for their service to our country.

The West Seattle American Legion Auxiliary Unit 160 invites children (and adults) to make a card for a Veteran for Veteran’s Day. Cards can be dropped off at the American Legion Hall 3618 SW Alaska St (through the mail slot at the front of the building) or if your school is interested in doing it as a school project, we would be happy to pick them up.

Matt Kellogg named his dog Theo for jazz great Thelonius Monk.

Here's why. "He came from a litter of about eight and we (Kellogg and his girlfriend JoAnn Acosta) had gone to Petco out in Bellevue to the Grant County No Kill Animal Shelter since they were having an event there. The event featured rescue dogs or dogs whose owners could no longer care for them. "When a person would pet the dogs in his litter, they would then move on, and all the puppies would jump up after them," as if to say 'come back, come back Kellogg explained. "One little white puppy though did his own thing. He went off into his own little corner and laid on his paws. He wasn't begging for attention, but he wasn't disappointed either. That was his demeanor. That was so cool to me. It's such a cool instinct for a puppy that small, to be that self possessed and self contained. He seemed like Thelonius Monk to me. That was the coolest name I could think of, so we shortened it to Theo."

When you walk into the new JC's Deli at 9007 35th SW you might be surprised. Not by the warm decor, and friendly greeting but by a face that has grown familar to West Seattle sandwich lovers for more than two decades. Jeanette Cummings has opened her new deli after a long history of hoagy making first with Hoagy's Corner (at the corner of 35th and Barton (now the Super Deli Mart) for 18 years then later with Gasco across from the Seattle Public Library on 35th SW for 3 and a half years.

The name isn't for her initials. It's for Jeanette and Cynthia her daughter who will be on hand to work the counter too.

"I've always wanted my own deli" Cummings said, "so I can make them how I want to, make them as big as I want. I believe in quality of the food and freshness. I make my sandwiches with love."

Cummings gets her fresh deli meats from Cash and Carry and her baked goods from Franz bakery.

by David Rosen

The Seattle Fire Department quickly rushed to a fire in a single family residence in the 2300 block of Halleck Ave SW around 1:19pm on Oct 23. It was a massive, "full response" with 14 units on the scene.

Seattle Police was also dispatched to help with traffic control.

The house was vacant and a demolition crew was working there at the time of the fire.

They were all working in the kitchen when they heard a loud humming and popping sound. They came outside only to find out that the electrical box was arcing and blew the electrical box door off and they noticed that the arcing wires were catching the insulation in the wall on fire.

They quickly smashed the box off the wall and cut power to the entire house to stop the fire from spreading.

They snuffed out the small fire before the fire department arrived. Everyone got out safe and there were no injuries.

Press release from TAF
New Facility Set to Transform White Center and Impact on STEM Education;
Major Thanks to Safeco Insurance for $1 Million in Grants

WHAT: A decade‐long dream will become a reality on October 24, when a new community learning center opens in Seattle’s White Center neighborhood, giving TAF (founded as Technology Access Foundation) the space it needs to reach 20,000 students annually with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Until now, TAF’s outreach and capacity to assist students has been limited by space constraints, but the new 24,000‐square‐foot Bethaday Community Learning Space – built through a host of public, private and corporate contributions and grants, including $1 million worth from Safeco Insurance – will change all that. Visuals at the Grand Opening event will include:

● Remarks by Dow Constantine, King County Executive
● Remarks by Trish Millines Dziko, Co‐Founder and Executive Director, TAF
● Ribbon cutting

A video played during the 11th Annual Seattle Police Foundation Awards banquet on Oct. 19 is now available for viewing (see above).

The banquet honored SPD Southwest Precinct Officer Scott Luckie and Detective Scotty Bach for their actions in tracking Stawicki down near Fauntleroy and Raymond on May 30, after he had killed four at Cafe Racer and took another victim's life before jacking her car and eventually dropping it off in West Seattle, taking off on foot.

Luckie and Bach were given Medals of Courage for their work.

Here is the Herald coverage as events unfolded that day.

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Summary of the video:
A day of tragedy in Seattle started at the small Café Racer in North Seattle when a mentally-ill man methodically shot and killed four people on May 30, 2012. Ian Stawicki then shot and killed a woman near city hall before stealing her SUV and driving to West Seattle.

Progress is continuing on the $13 million 120 unit, apartment project on Avalon Way backed by developer David Meissner and designed by Nicholson Kovalchick Architects, a West Seattle company located above Easy Street Records in the Junction.

The construction crane for the project went up on Tuesday Oct. 23 for the H-shaped, residential-only complex which will likely be complete by September of 2013.

The building will have a wide variety of apartment options, from studios to lofts to one and two-bedroom units. A portion of the building will be workforce housing – spaces set aside at a fixed lower rent in exchange for tax incentives from the city.

There will be parking for 118 vehicles – mostly underground with a few ground level spots.

Got concerns? Address them to the Mayor himself.

Mayor Mike McGinn is holding a signature town hall event tonight in Loyal Heights at the Philadelphia Church Bible College (2363 NW 80th St), from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

While the city budget is mostly out of the Mayor's hands now, it would be a good time to express your community's needs and desires and concerns, and we all know the Ballard area has plenty of those -- from combined sewer overflow to condominiums to greenways to car camping to coal trains to the Missing Link. And so on and so forth.

So put your game face on and get some good comments in tonight.

Have you met the candidates for the 36th District yet? Tonight's your chance.

In a debate forum tonight at the Sunset Hill Community Center (3003 NW 66th St) from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., all of the candidates will be appearing. For Position 1, Reuven Carlyle will be squaring off against Leslie Klein, and in Position 2, Noel Frame will be going mono a mono with Gael Tarleton.

The League of Women Voters will also be hosting a session to talk about some of the hot ballot initiatives on the ballot, which include marriage equality, marijuana legalization and charter schools.

Should be fun!