August 2016

West Seattle Riverside neighborhood resident Frank Zuvela is returning to lead the Southwest Historical Society's annual Historic Riverside Walking Tour on Aug.13.

The two-hour tour will start at 10 a.m. at the Riverside Memorial, at the intersection of West Marginal Way Southwest and Southwest Marginal Place, directly below and immediately south of the high-level West Seattle Bridge.

Admission is by donation. The suggested donation is $5. Additionally, booklets on Riverside history will be available for $5. Assisting Zuvela on the tour will be Carol Vincent, a past president and current Advisory Council member of our organization.

Riverside, the largely Croatian community that thrived on fishing and related industry, nestles between the Duwamish River and Pigeon Point, and its small collection of hillside streets and homes is the site of many stories to be related by the energetic Zuvela, 94.

Twelfth Night Productions presents Hairspray The Musical at the WSHS Theater starting Aug. 12.

In 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, plump teenager Tracy Turnblad's dream is to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show. When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight, and meets a colorful array of characters. She then launches a campaign to integrate the show. Hairspray is a social commentary on the injustices of parts of American society in the 1960s.

The play won eight Tony Awards including one for Best Musical.

The book is by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Music is by Marc Shaiman, with lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman. It is based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters.

Performances begin Aug. 12 at 7:30pm. Additional evening performances are scheduled for Aug. 13, 19, and 20.
Matinee performance begin Aug. 14 at 3:00pm and additional matinees are set for Aug. 20 and 21.

WSHS Theater is located at 3000 California Ave. SW.

information from Metro and Sound Transit

Need a ride this weekend to Seafair? With the Blue Angels, hydro races, and road closures coming to town, King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit want riders and Seafair revelers to be prepared.

Metro offers free shuttles for those traveling to Lake Washington to see the hydro races and Blue Angels air shows. And with new light rail stations on Capitol Hill and at the University of Washington, riders have more options than ever to leave their car behind and take the train to connect with free bus shuttles to see all the action.

Metro also will reroute several buses during temporary closures of the Interstate 90 floating bridge to accommodate the Blue Angels as they practice and perform their air show, starting Thursday, August 4, through Sunday, August 7. Shuttle buses, requiring payment of fare, will operate between North Mercer Island and the South Bellevue Park and Ride lot during the I-90 closures.

By Amanda Knox

By my weary, vacant look, you wouldn’t guess at how thrilled I am. I’m so exhausted, I forget myself. This is because all this past week, my partner Chris and I have been organizing, gathering, and boxing our separate households to move in together. We’ve been looking forward to the big day for a while, and now that it’s come, it’s easy to feel physically and emotionally overwhelmed.

I didn’t really realize, for instance, how much cumbersome stuff I had—and how heavy it was—until I tried to play Tetris with it. And, stuff is emotional. Packing up my belongings feels like packing up my history. As I disassemble, I’m reminded of what kind of person I am by the kinds of things that take up my personal space. By far, I have more books and clothing than any other kind of material possession. These are the things that feel most infused with my sense of self—hence my reticence to shed myself of them. Interestingly, books and clothes are also the majority of Chris’s possessions, and we’re enjoying anticipating the challenge of shared bookshelves and closets.

By Peggy Sturdivant

I figured if a woman 30 years older than me with hip trouble was going to get herself to the Safe & Healthy Communities Public Forum hosted by District 6’s Councilmember Mike O’Brien being held at St. Luke’s on July 29, I had no excuse not to attend. After all the public, homeless, formerly homeless and currently housed, was invited to “become part of the solution” for public health and safety.

I chose Table 13 by an open exit door hoping for a breeze. North Precinct Captain Sean O’Donnell may have had the same idea.

Arriving by bicycle I saw Director of Neighborhoods Kathy Nyland arriving on four wheels. Still burning from the Mayoral decision to no longer provide DON staff support to Neighborhood District Councils I wished her bad parking karma, but she didn’t seem to have a problem. I read she’d been offered the position due to her organization of the Neighborhood Summit promised by Ed Murray during his campaign. I went to the Neighborhood Summit at Seattle Center with high hopes and left feeling like I’d just been job fair for the city during a hiring freeze.

By Lindsay Peyton

Signs read “Bold. Progressive. Unafraid.” Along with the motto was printed Pramila Jayapal’s name – a democratic candidate who drew a large crowd to Hale’s Ales, all waiting for the votes to be tallied tonight for the Washington state primary.

The results flashed on the big screen. Jayapal immediately took the lead. By 8:15 p.m., she had 38.2 percent of the votes for the seventh congressional district.

In second place, Joe McDermott had 21. 5 percent, while Brady Walkinshaw had 20 percent.

There were a number of candidates seeking election after Jim McDermott decided to step down, also including Democrats Donovan Rivers and Arun Jhaveri, Republicans Scott Sutherland and Craig Keller, and independents Leslie Regier and Carl Cooper.

The crowd started cheering, and Jayapal took the podium with a band of supporters waving campaign signs behind her.

“We can -- and will -- reclaim our government to work for all of us,” she said. “We are the many, going forward as one, mightier together than any of us are alone.”

Neighborhood Matching Fund supports another 23 community groups

Mayor Ed Murray announced an investment of $417,227 in matching funds to support 23 neighborhood-initiated projects across the city. The awards are from the Neighborhood Matching Fund for such projects as community celebrations to multi-media training for youth.

“For 28 years the Neighborhood Marching Fund has helped to support the efforts of community members to make improvements to their communities and neighborhoods,” said Murray. “These projects have included playground improvements, creation of community sidewalks, and construction of parklets for all to enjoy. These efforts are successful because they are driven by community members building connections and engaging with each other to make their projects happen.”

By Lindsay Peyton

Signs read “Bold. Progressive. Unafraid.” Along with the motto was printed Pramila Jayapal’s name – a democratic candidate who drew a large crowd to Hale’s Ales, all waiting for the votes to be tallied tonight for the Washington state primary.

The results flashed on the big screen. Jayapal immediately took the lead. By 8:15 p.m., she had 38.2 percent of the votes for the seventh congressional district.

In second place, Joe McDermott had 21. 5 percent, while Brady Walkinshaw had 20 percent.

There were a number of candidates seeking election after Jim McDermott decided to step down, also including Democrats Donovan Rivers and Arun Jhaveri, Republicans Scott Sutherland and Craig Keller, and independents Leslie Regier and Carl Cooper.

The crowd started cheering, and Jayapal took the podium with a band of supporters waving campaign signs behind her.

“We can -- and will -- reclaim our government to work for all of us,” she said. “We are the many, going forward as one, mightier together than any of us are alone.”

If a community is built on the strength of neighbors then West Seattle is amazingly strong. They proved it again this year with a substantial turnout for Night Out, the annual event meant to bring neighbors together for security against crime and someone for help in the event of a disaster.

On blocks all over the area, people blocked off streets, brought out the pot luck and pizza, brownies and chips and dip, wine and beer and got to know each other better.

This, despite an early sprinkle and some threatening clouds.

More than one party had live music including one at 41st and Frontenac that also had a visit from Seattle Fire Department's Engine 37.

Once more, West Seattle neighbors proved that by coming together they can make the community stronger.

There’s an idea just above the trees near the Ballard Smoke Shop that says time is a flat revolving circle and that all past and future events have already happened. If that’s the case then the grand mal earthquake geologists have predicted will devastate the West Coast and Seattle has already happened and is going to happen again.

A gloomy scene, indeed.

However, there’s work being done, well, at least for buildings. The viaduct may slip into the ether, but Seattleites can rest easy knowing that the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) has identified all the buildings that are considered “high risk” and likely to crumble, “come down” should the Juan De Fuca plate bump uglies with the North American plate.

“Unreinforced Masonry (URM) buildings are the most vulnerable building type in the event of an earthquake. A typical URM is a brick building built prior to 1940 that lacks the steel reinforcement and structural connections between the floors and walls,” said Bryan Stevens, media handler for the SDCI. “We haven’t allowed these types of buildings for many decades, but there are roughly 1,100 of them in Seattle.”