March 2020

All Seattle Public Schools are closed due the coronavirus pandemic but on Monday March 16, they began a free meal program. The first day, at 11am they had very few takers at either the Denny or Sealth locations where the meals were set up. Meals not consumed may be made available to homeles in the community but that question remained under discussion by the District.

SPS produces about 15,000 meals daily and as an example Denny provides close to 600 breakfasts and lunches daily, matched by Sealth meaning 1200 meals are consumed by students on site.

The early meals are all comprised of fruit or prepackaged food, provided in sacks with things like hummus, fruit, caesar salads, chocolate or regular whole milk, fruit juice, healthy chips, and dried berries.

Doree Fazio Young, known to generations of West Seattle students as the Lunch Lady at Denny said, "We ended up serving 98 lunches between the 2 schools on the 1st day."

By Abigail Taylor

And not much has changed.

Ballard continues to be a homogenous community, with small increases in diversity. For this reason, raising funds and providing space to talk about diversity are important actions for Brandi Henderson, the owner of Ballard business, The Pantry.

“I grew up in Alabama,” Henderson said. “I was very, very aware of racial issues just from being in the public school system and coming from a racist family and being surrounded by racist white people.”

The Pantry is a community kitchen in Ballard that provides cooking classes and creates space around the table for everyone. With this mission in mind, The Pantry began donating to local and national organizations that promote social justice in 2017.

By Cynthia Flash

Chuck Bowden is like the Energizer Bunny – he just keeps going and going and going.

After retiring as a technical writer and product planner from Fluke Corp. in Everett, Chuck and his wife, Tessa, moved to West Seattle. Now he’s a super volunteer repairing electronics at the Senior Center of West Seattle’s Stop ’N Shop Thrift Store.

In addition to electronics, he enjoys photography, astronomy, sailing, cooking and, most of all, spending time with his grandchildren. And in between other activities, he undergoes kidney dialysis five times a week at home.

Chuck’s health problems began when he was 29 due to a rare autoimmune disorder. He was racing a sailboat in Vancouver, B.C. and came home sick with a fever. Initially diagnosed with a virus, he eventually learned that his kidneys had failed and that survival would require dialysis to remove waste and fluid from his body.

An early design guidance review meeting is set for a seven story 200 unit apartment building proposed for 8251 15th SW

Download the full proposal and other documents from this page

From the proposal:

The proposed multifamily development is located on the northwest corner of 15th Ave NW and NW 85th St. extending from 8501-8521 15th Ave NW, with 200 dwelling units and 104 parking spaces (90 of which are below grade).

The proposed development of this 30,935.75SF site includes demolition of the existing structures on site which include (2) single-story commercial buildings, and (2) surface parking lots.

With the rate of infections and deaths rising from COVID-19 Governor Jay Inslee will order on March 16 that  all bars and restaurants in the State of Washington to close.They will still be able to offer take out and delivery but no in-person dining will be allowed. The ban does not apply to grocery stores or pharmacies.

Here's his announcement: