June 2016

The new Pecos Pit Bar-B-Que is set for a Grand Opening celebration on June 21 at 4pm. June 22 will mark the first full day in business.

Located at the corner of 35th SW and Fauntleroy Way SW the new restaurant is the most recent venture by Gerry Kingen, co-owner of Salty's Seafood Grills. Kingen who built the Red Robin Burger chain into a regional force before selling to investors sees the new restaurant as a community asset and a high point in his career. See our original coverage here.

"It's the last act, the last restaurant venture I'm going to be involved with," Kingen said, "We already have interest from Canada (A franchise in Canada has already been sold) .so it's not just limited to West Seattle. It's playful and based on the power of nice. I'm very excited about it and where it can go."

information from WSJA

West Seattle Art Walk is pleased to announce an extra special event planned for this Art Walk Thursday, tomorrow June 9th. Stop by The Junction for Historic Mural Tours with Clay Eals of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society! Learn more about these scenes of local history and how they came to grace the walls of our businesses in The Junction.

Clay Eals was kind enough to share a little more about the murals, for those who are unfamiliar with them:

Longtime West Seattleites may look at them as treasures that illuminate our past. Newcomers may wonder how they came to be.

But no matter how long you have lived here, you likely have noticed the increasing deterioration and attrition of the Murals of West Seattle.

The Murals of West Seattle project was led by longtime local business leader Earl Cruzen in 1989-1992. Earl was a persuasive pied piper in the West Seattle business community, drumming up bare walls, funds from generous building owners and the key ingredient of enthusiasm to bring the project to fruition.

UPDATE:
Tracy Dart, the West Seattle woman who admitted faking cancer for nearly a decade, has died. Circumstances surrounding her death are not clear but sources close to the matter previously said she was in home hospice care at her family's home.

A close friend of Dart's who asked not to be identified said, "Super sad, none of us ever even got to talk to her again, she never even tried... to repair in anyway. I guess, at least she is out of pain now." The source said a statement of some kind was expected from the Dart family.

Previous post 6-9-16

The sources, who asked not to be identified said:

" I can tell you 1st hand that the situation with Tracy Dart is serious, her health is failing due to medical issues not related to cancer , and her family would probably like some privacy. I would also expect some sort of announcement from the family in the near future."

“Get over yourself. Not everyone wants to be you.”

“When the center of the universe is discovered, a lot of people are going to be surprised it’s not them.”

“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized that they seldom do.”

Those are just a few of the withering quotes I found regarding self. That last one was from Eleanor Roosevelt. I wonder what she would think about the exponential speed in which a relatively new form of human self-admiration is growing.

In just the time it takes you to finish reading this sentence---approximately a gazillion phone photos will be taken in the Puget Sound. Some of them will be of family gatherings. Some will be of kittens, puppies---and maybe a horned toad or two. Far too many will be of restaurant food---from Canlis to Dick’s.

But most will be taken by a person…of their self.

If so-called selfie photography were an epidemic right now, we would be in the midst of a worldwide black plague. Where did this all start?

By Peggy Sturdivant

On Wednesday June 1st Alison Krupnick attended her first neighborhood advisory group meeting, the North Precinct Advisory Council. She had recently shared her experience in a Seattle Times op-ed piece on being a victim of an assault crime in the parking lot of Ballard’s Neighborhood Center.

For Krupnick the issue of public safety has been increasingly important. She has two teenage daughters on a block that had a drug house and just learned that her assailant is free on bail. As she eloquently wrote to me after the meeting, “My reason for attending the North Precinct Advisory Council meeting came from my growing awareness of how intertwined homelessness, addiction, mental health, and public safety are and my desire to, in some small way, be part of the solution.”

To say that she was disappointed might be an understatement.

I attended as a favor for news reporter Shane Harms.

Stop by the Burien Farmers Market the first Thursday of the month and meet "Buster" from Seattle Barkery. This food truck is for the four-legged, carrying handcrafted dog treats and some treats for their owners too!  He's a 1968 Chevy Step Van that once worked for the Seattle school district in the 70's.  With three gears and a top speed of 55 mph, he cruises to local dog parks, dog-friendly breweries, as well as many Seattle events and Farmers Markets.  He will pretty much go wherever the dogs are.
 
After years of being in the dog care service, owners Ben & Dawn Ford decided to "switch gears" and combine their passion for dogs with their passion for providing a fun and unique way of reaching out to their crazy dog lovers in the Pacific Northwest...just like them!

Starting June 2nd, come see Buster at the market! For more information visit www.seattlebarkery.com

The popular West Seattle Outdoor Movies, sort of a call back to the days of the drive-in, but without cars start's its 12th season on July 16 with Star Wars VII the Force Awakens.

All movies start at dusk and we will have plenty of pre-movie activities too including more live music, raffles, movie shorts and other fun stuff. Movies will be held in the courtyard between Hotwire Coffee and Dr. Wolff at 4410 California Ave SW.

• Star Wars Episode VII Saturday, July 16th
• Monty Python Holy Grail Saturday, July 23rd
• School of Rock Saturday, July 30th
• Skyfall Saturday, August 6th
• The Lego Movie Saturday, August 13th
• The Princess Bride Saturday, August 20th

Visit http://westseattlemovies.blogspot.com/ for more information.

WEST POINT, NY – Cadet Natalie Jean Budner, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Michael Budner of Burien, WA, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday, May 21.

Budner graduated from Kennedy Catholic HS in 2012. While at West Point, she concentrated her studies in Human Geography and Foreign Area Studies. She was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army within the Military Police branch and will report to Fort Drum, NY, for her first assignment.

The mission of the U.S. Military Academy is to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army.

The Highline Times did a story about Natalie in 2012

Female Kennedy HS senior appointed to West Point
May 3, 2012
A female senior from Kennedy High School in Burien who lives in White Center was appointed to West Point Academy February. Natalie Budner beat the odds as women make up just 17-percent of enrollment there.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) led the congressional delegation representing Washington’s King County in sending a letter to thank the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for answering their call for increased local rental assistance in 2016 to reflect the region’s rapidly escalating rental costs. The delegation also continued to press for a permanent fix to the inflation formula in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, which provides rental assistance to low-income households.
 
Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell joined Reps. DelBene, Jim McDermott, Adam Smith and Dave Reichert in sending a letter to HUD Secretary Julián Castro, following up on their letter from June 2015. The current HCV formula has been particularly damaging in areas with steep increases in rental costs, such as the Puget Sound region.