December 2016

Update 9:35pm
Power has been restored.

Update 6pm
Power was quickly brought back online for thousands in West Seattle after a transformer in a vault failed on Saturday afternoon. Seattle City Light reported that only 136 customers were still affected at 3pm and that they expected to have the power restored completely before 9:25 PM.

Original post 1:40pm
Seattle Fire Dept emergency crews responded to call for "vault fire" in the 3900 block of Alaska Way SW around 1:25 pm on Saturday. One person contacted the Herald and said a manhole cover had blown off as a result of an explosion caused by failed transformer.

City light said via Twitter that power should be restored within a few hours.

By Gwen Davis

Homelessness is a crisis in Seattle. Fortunately, the city is responding.

In September, the city released a plan to transform the current homeless service delivery system, so that people who are experiencing homeless will have more access to longer-term solutions. The city will invest over $50 million in shelter and services.

However, transforming the system will take time. In the interim, Mayor Ed Murray convened a task force to provide recommendations on how the city can best respond to individuals who are in crisis now.

On December 1 of this year, the city announced three new sanctioned encampment locations, one of which will be located on 9701 Myers Way S. with capacity to serve 60-70 people. The encampment will be permitted for 12 months with an option to renew for an additional year. The city is in discussion with potential operators for the Myers Way site.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Thursday, Dec. 8
Winter sports
All Winter sports events were either postponed or cancelled because of snow.

Wednesday, Dec. 7
Gymnastics
Mount Rainier
The Rams scored 159 points to win a four-team meet Wednesday, besting the 157 of Auburn-Riverside, the 137 of Decatur and the 134 of Kentridge.
Kennedy
Kennedy Catholic finished fourth in a four-team meet Wednesday with 91 points.
Kentwood and Auburn tied for first with 135 points and Todd Beamer was next with 130.

Wrestling
Highline 34, Mt. Rainier 33
It was as close of a match as you can get as Highline edged Mount Rainier in non-league action Wednesday.
Kentlake 72, Kennedy 12
The Lancers were pinned with a loss in Wednesday action.

Boys basketball
Evergreen 49, Highline 44
Evergreen rose up to score a close win over the Pirates on Wednesday.
Seattle Christian 62, Bush 37
The Warriors were winners Wednesday against Bush School.

Girls basketball
Highline 47, Evergreen 28

The Argosy Cruises Christmas Ships will be entertaining people in West Seattle again on Saturday Dec. 10..

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 – FIRST SAILING
LEAD BOAT with Choir
FOLLOW BOAT Goodtime II
CHOIR: Dickens Carolers
DEPARTS: Seattle Waterfront – Pier 55, 2:30-4:50pm

1st Performance: 3:25-3:45 Lowman Beach Park

2nd Performance: 4:10-4:30 Alki Beach Park
Beverages and treats provided by Alki Community Center/Seattle Parks Department. Here's the schedule:

3:30-3:50 Endolyne Children's Choir
3:50-4:10 Band lead caroling
4:10-4:30 Christmas Ship (all head to the water's edge to listen to on-board carolers)
4:30-4:40 Band lead a couple carols
4:40-5:00 Sea Lu band
5:00-5:10 Band lead a couple carols

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 – SECOND SAILING
LEAD BOAT with Choir
CHOIR: Dickens Carolers
DEPARTS: Seattle Waterfront – Pier 55, 7:00-9:45

1st Performance: 8:00-8:15 Duwamish Waterway Park

2nd Performance: 9:05-9:25 Salty’s on Alki
Salty's will be offering free parking, blankets, heat lamps, festive cocktails and Northwest holiday cuisine.

information from Whale Trail
The Whale Trail presents Lynne Barre, NOAA Fisheries in a talk about Species in the Spotlight, focusing on the Southern Resident Orcas at C&P Coffee on Dec. 15.

Last year NOAA Fisheries launched the Species in the Spotlight initiative focused on stabilizing the populations of eight endangered species at very high risk of extinction. Southern Residents are one of the Species in the Spotlight.

With this effort NOAA is marshaling resources and focusing on partnerships to turn around the decline towards extinction and support conservation of endangered species. Lynne will highlight some recent recovery and conservation efforts for Southern Resident killer whales called for in the Species in the Spotlight Action Plan.

This is the first of the 2016/17 Orca Talk series hosted by The Whale Trail in West Seattle, with help from Seal Sitters. Join us to celebrate the seasonal return of the orcas to local waters, and do some holiday shopping too!

Buy tickets now to reserve your seat. And hurry! This will likely sell out.

About the Speaker

By Lindsay Peyton

Among members of the community, business leaders and non-profit representatives assembled on Thursday, Dec. 8 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Whittaker, a luxury apartment on 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW, was one especially special guest.

Mountaineer Jim Whittaker, 87, was the first American to summit Mount Everest – and erected a U.S. flag on the top. He was also the first full-time employee of REI – and held the title of CEO for the company throughout the 1960s. He’s from West Seattle, a graduate of West Seattle High School -- and the namesake of the luxury apartment complex.

Whittaker climbed up a few steps in the main entry of the south building to address the crowd.

“This is home,” he said. “I used to walk from Fauntleroy to Arbor Heights for lunch. I’m sure that’s where I began to develop my lung capacity.”

Whittaker said the apartments were built to fill a need for the area – with so many new people moving in and searching for residences.

The newest art gallery in West Seattle, just opened in time for the holidays is Raven’s Nest West at 4557 Glenn Way SW, one block west of the Junction. This is no ordinary gallery.

Raven’s Nest West features northwest native museum quality original cedar carvings, engraved jewelry, limited edition prints, cedar bark weavings, ivory sculpture, painted deerskin drums, apparel and more with an exclusive representation of the art of Tlingit Master Artist / Carver Israel Shotridge. They also represent Native artists from throughout the Northwest Coast, Washington state Tribal communities, Canadian First Nations, and Alaskan Native Artists from all over Alaska including Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Aleut, Yupik, Inupiat, and Eskimo.

The project set to be built in the former Alki Tavern location at 1307 Harbor Ave SW is moving ahead with the filing of the Land Use Application for the 6-story structure that will include an office, a café, a design lab, a restaurant, an underground parking lot, retail stores and 15 apartment units. Parking for 27 vehicles would be inside the building. The community amenities in the structure reflect the architects’ priority to design a building that will engage local residents.

From the City of Seattle Analysis and Decision:

The packet includes materials presented at the meeting, and is available online by entering the project number (3015628) at this website:

http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Design_Review_Program/Project_Reviews/Reports/default.asp

The packet is also available to view in the file, by contacting the Public Resource Center at SDCI:
EARLY DESIGN GUIDANCE April 3, 2014

Mailing Address:
Public Resource Center
700 Fifth Ave., Suite 2000 P.O. Box 34019

Sponsored by Sarah Cecil

Most of us need to do some type of estate planning, but it’s especially important if you are part of a “blended” family. And the best time to start is now – before these plans need to be implemented.

Estate planning can be complex, so you will need help from a qualified legal professional. But here are a few general suggestions that can be suitable for blended families:
Update beneficiary designations – and think about multiple beneficiaries. Update the beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts and insurance policies to reflect the reality of your blended family. These designations can supersede the instructions you provided in your will. So if your will states that your current spouse should inherit your assets, but you had named your former spouse, or a child, as the primary beneficiary of an IRA, then your former spouse or your child – not your present-day spouse – will indeed receive the IRA.

Update 1/5/16
The Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board voted unanimously to nominate the Crescent-Hamm Building at 4302 SW Alaska Street/4559 California Avenue SW for landmark status. The board's designation hearing for the building will be on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2016.

Original Post 12/8/16

History of Crescent-Hamm Building (from the nomination)

In 1908, W. T. Campbell purchased the two lots on which he would later build the Crescent Building from Cecil and Helen Upper and F. N. and Alice Handschy. With this purchase, Campbell owned four lots of prime real estate at this important intersection where the two streetcar lines merged. Campbell paid $5,000, a price that suggests the lots had improvements. Indeed, Baist’s 1912 Real Estate Atlas depicts the property as it existed for more than a decade, with a one-story wood building occupying the east half of both lots and a small outbuilding at the rear of the parcel . The Sanborn Fire Insurance Company’s 1917 map of the Junction shows the same structure, noting it functioned as a retail shop and drugstore.