April 2014

For 26 years West Seattle Thriftway has opened it's doors the Saturday before Easter to the children and parents of West Seattle for their Annual Egg Hunt.

Growing in size and popularity each year this years hunt will include 25,000 - 30,000 eggs filled with treats and prizes.

Join them on Saturday April 19th and see the hour of frenzied fun for yourself. It is reccomended to get there early as the line starts to form at 8 a.m. and Doors are open at 9 a.m. The event is open to kids aged 1- 10.

By Tim Clifford

The King County Sheriff’s department is desperate to apprehend a suspect in the rape of a woman in White Center.

On Mar.7 the 58 year old victim (who has chosen to remain anonymous) was walking to the bus stop on Roxbury near 24th Ave. after dinner with family when a young black male, about 5’9 with a medium build, in his 20’s and wearing a hoodie approached her and asked for a cigarette. The victim gave him a cigarette and was about to light it when the suspect grabbed her by the throat and dragged her to a nearby lot where he punched her multiple times before sexually assaulting her. Afterward the suspect ran away with the victim’s purse.

The victim was left unconscious in the lot with her eyes completely swollen shut, a fractured skull, and a broken jaw. She was so unrecognizable after the attack that she was able to show a picture of herself in the hospital during a recent interview on Q13 News without fear of being recognized by her normal face. It has been over a month since the attack and the victim is still recovering from her injuries and cannot eat solid foods again yet.

According to King County, construction is in full swing on the roadside rain gardens being installed over the next two years in the Sunrise Heights/Westwood neighborhoods as part of the Barton CSO Control Project. I’m writing to give you a project update and share a few pieces of news.

The greatest neighborhood construction impact is being seen right now, and through the spring. The county offered an explanation:

1. Deep wells are being constructed on all 15 streets this year, at the same time as the rain gardens are going in on 8 streets.

2. Relocation of water and sewer lines has progressed more quickly than expected. That means that some streets are seeing construction start earlier than expected.

3. While well installation and utility relocation are happening on some streets, other streets have begun rain garden installation.

Well installation and utility work will be complete by summer, and the only summer work will be rain garden construction. This should impact two to three streets at the same time, instead of 8.

Information provided by Seattle Citizens to Repeal Ordinance 124441

Today, supporters of the city’s mobile app ride services -- Lyft, Sidecar and Uber -- submitted over 36,000 voter signatures calling for a referendum on the recent city ordinance that would limit access to these popular services. Supporters turned in more than double the 16,510 voter signatures required to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

Today marks the final day that petitions can be received by the City Clerk’s office in order to refer the ordinance for a citywide vote.

“We’ve seen overwhelming support from voters for the referendum effort,” said Brad Harwood, spokesperson for the group. “The fact that we were able to gather more than double the required number of signatures in such a short time shows that Seattle voters clearly want to have a conversation about this issue.”

Mobile app ride service companies have stated that the new ordinance would severely limit their ability to continue providing service within the city, and thereby reduce affordable transportation choices in Seattle.

For 40 years, a colorful 24 foot totem pole stood at Belvedere View Point Park on Admiral Way until it had become so deteriorated that the city parks department replaced it in 2006 with a new story pole.

The Parks Department gave the totem pole to the Southwest Seattle Historical Society with the understanding that it would be restored and raised once again, this time at the Historical Society's Log House Museum. The totem pole has been restored to its former glory, and the unveiling ceremony is fast approaching, coming up this spring for the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

In a special luncheon for Chamber of Commerce members, Clay Eals, Executive Director of the Historical Society, will use a PowerPoint presentation and video to reveal rarely seen images of the carving and painting of the totem pole in 1966 and its careful and professional restoration.

The Department of Planning and Development has released an update for development in the North and Northwest area of Seattle. There are three new land use applications for subdivisions, a minor antennae project and two land use decisions.

Information provided by the the Department of Planning and Development.

Comments may be submitted through April 30, 2014.

611 N 49TH ST:

Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into four unit lots. The construction of residential units are under Project #6367392. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots.

4323 EVANSTON AVE N:

A Ugandan chess champion is coming to West Seattle Elementary on April 23. The Gates Foundation is sponsoring Phiona Mutesi, a chess prodigy from one of the poorest slums in Uganda, to visit the US and come to West Seattle Elementary. The school was selected for this opportunity because their 2nd and 3rd grade students have been participating in the First Move Chess program for several years.

Also coming is Robert McClellan, Executive Director of Brooklyn Castle – a movie about students in New York and their chess team.

The video from ESPN tells her story.

By Katy Wilkens, MS, RD

You can tell spring is here because weeds are growing. But don’t despair, much of that green garden growth that we call weeds is actually edible. Native people in our area waited with impatience for the bright color of spring greens, knowing they were full of healthy nutrients.

Dandelions are an especially great source of vitamin C, potassium, antioxidants and other nutrients, good for your heart and kidneys. And picking dandelions will be great payback for the way they threaten to take over your garden. Verify that any dandelion flowers, greens or roots you pick have not been treated with chemicals.

Cream of dandelion soup

3 cups of chopped dandelion leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onions or leeks
3 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 cups homemade chicken broth, or low-sodium broth
1 cup half-and-half
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or tarragon
½ cup dandelion flower petals (remove green ends)
Croutons (optional)

By Erin Bosetti

Tucked down a non-descript stairwell, in between Bop Street Records and Great Harvest Bread Co. and below the bakeries, burger joints and tchotchke filled boutiques that dot Market Street lies a library.

Not a Seattle Public Library but an alternative collection curated by a crew of information deviants that has been servicing our city for over 50 years. It’s called the Seattle Metaphysical Library (2220 N.W. Market St L-05), and for about thirty dollars a year one can enjoy full access to it’s overflowing shelves, checking out up to three books at a time.

“We have a wide variety of material here. We specialize in things that the public library doesn’t carry” explains library president Margaret Bartley. “There’s an incredible world of alternative research, media, politics and medicine that is totally considered heresy, and if you acknowledge it exists in academia your career is ruined. That whole area of what we’re not allowed to look at, to me is really important.”

The 2014 Outstanding Alumni of the Year for South Seattle College is Ciscoe Morris. He will be honored at the annual "Friends of the College" dinner on Tuesday, April 29, at 6 PM in the Jerry Brockey Student Center at South's West Seattle campus.

In a press release the college said:

Since graduating from South's Landscape and Horticulture program in 1977, Morris has made a name for himself as an author, a television host and a radio host. His energetic personality and love for gardening is captured on his weekly show "Gardening with Ciscoe" airing on King-5 TV and throughout the northwest on Northwest Cable News. Additionally, Morris hosts a weekly radio show on KIRO RADIO. As an author, he is a regular contributor to the Seattle Times and has written best-selling gardening books.

"This is truly an honor for me," Morris said. "My passion for gardening has brought me to places I never would have imagined, but it all started as a student at South Seattle College."