Fauntleroy Creek salmon update – and video
The Fauntleroy Community Association website has posted a short video clip from the recent Fauntleroy Creek coho return – follow the link from the fauntleroy.net home page. And there’s new information beyond what’s posted with that video — we visited the fish-ladder overlook (across the street and up the bluffside staircase from the ferry dock) over the weekend and saw a note headlined “IT’S A WRAP,” indicating creek-watchers believe this year’s return is over — but they did count more than 90 fish during the week-long return, compared to none last year and 46 in ’05. Next step, according to that note – watching for fry in February.
Fleeting new role for the mayor: Grocery-bagging
We mentioned earlier in the week that Mayor Nickels was going to wander over to his neighborhood supermarket, Metropolitan Market in Admiral, to help promote MM’s new reusable bags. He made good on his promise this morning and helped bag a few groceries – our WSB videographer was there to get the proof:
This also gives us an excuse to mention the West Seattle supermarket hours for Thanksgiving Day again: Metropolitan Market is open till 2 pm, Thriftway till 4 pm, QFC till 6 pm, the Safeways are open regular (24) hours, PCC is closed. ADDED 7:30 PM: Another clip from the Metro Market event, with the mayor joined by Terry Halverson, CEO of the Metropolitan Market chain (which is HQ’ed in West Seattle):Read More
Nucor permit application: Time running out to comment
WSB reader Julia called this to our attention. We have not been able to do a lot of research on it but wanted to let you know about it before it’s too late, in case you are interested in having a say: Nucor Steel is upgrading one of its cranes, to boost production, and because that could increase emissions of carbon monoxide and a variety of other components (details in this notice), Nucor has to get permits from the state Ecology Department and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. Both are recommending approval; the deadline for public comment is tomorrow (the notice was apparently posted almost a month ago; as a result of this, we’ve learned about a new place to check for important public notices!), although it appears from the second part of a posting on this site that one piece of the project is open for comment until 12/12. Both these notices say a public hearing will be held only if there is “significant public interest” — contacts to express said interest can be found on the links.
Three ways to be greener
Three things of environmental note:
FREE E-CYCLING: This isn’t happening in West Seattle but it’s not far, and it’s free: 9 am-3 pm tomorrow, Safeco Field parking structure at Occidental & Edgar Martinez (map), you can bring certain electronic items for free recycling: specifically “any make or model of computers and related equipment, including monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, laptops, gaming consoles, and mobile entertainment devices.”
GREEN PAINT: The folks who run Authentic Home, the bright blue interior-design shop (AH-provided photo at left) that relocated to The Junction 2 months back, have a new line of environmentally smarter paint, described thusly: “Our new paint is Zero VOC and solvent-free and environmentally responsible. All 60 of our colors can be made with Authentic Home COLOR Paint GREEN and remain true to the colors and vibrancy in our original low VOC paint.” We’ll confess, we had to look up “VOC” (here’s the explanation).
SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE: Want to get an early start on a New Year’s resolution for all of West Seattle? Be at the Camp Long lodge tomorrow, 9 am-2 pm, for the Sustainable West Seattle Open Space Forum addressing “How do we make West Seattle more sustainable in 2008?” Free breakfast and beverages (bring your own mug and utensils, in the sustainability spirit). Read more here.
Update on fishing nets and seal concerns
5:30 PM UPDATE: Observers say the net is now gone.
ORIGINAL POST FROM EARLIER: Concerned observers say this boat spotted off West Seattle’s northern shores at midday today is believed to be a tribal boat involved with the net they are worried about (as we reported this morning), which could even be a gill net, which they say is “very damaging to wildlife.” They still suspect it’s linked to the Suquamish tribe but say it could be related to the Muckleshoots. Also, they say they have heard from beach patrollers that other nets are in the area — “that there are multiple nets now, including purse seine nets far offshore off Seacrest … These nets are not as lethal to marine life and farther away from pups.” They are again hoping that the tribal fishing crews will pull the nets away from the potential danger zone, or at least monitor them to get quick word if any marine mammals such as seal pups get entangled. They say Suquamish leaders had previously posted a note asking fishing crews NOT to place nets near “known rookeries” (which Alki and “Anchor Park” are), and they are continuing to ask concerned citizens to call the Suquamish at 360/598-3314 to ask questions and express concerns.
They help the environment; can you help them?
That’s a photo from an EarthCorps event with Denny Middle School students at the Thistle Street section of Longfellow Creek, where they put in more than 200 native plants — all amid the weather craziness of 10/19. EarthCorps invites you to go check out the new plantings just north of the P-Patch — and a frequent WSB contributor @ EarthCorps also hopes you’ll consider their request for a different kind of community help — one that doesn’t involve digging or planting:Read More
2 earthy activities
FREE ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTARY SCREENING: It’s not happening in West Seattle, but WS resident Shauna Causey is helping organize it, and she’s got 100 spots left, first-come, first-served: The new CNN investigative documentary “Planet in Peril” is previewing Monday @ 7:30 pm at the Metro Cinemas in the U-District, after a 6:30 reception at a nearby restaurant. If you’re interested, e-mail Shauna at Shauna_Causey@cable.comcast.com ASAP.
FARMERS’ MARKET TOMORROW: It’s always earth-friendly to shop for fresh locally grown food at our local Farmers’ Market, which continues every Sunday on into winter. Here’s the latest list of what’s hot:Read More
Greener fill-ups in West Seattle
The Times has a big article today about biodiesel with a citywide map purporting to show where it’s available – including two spots on the eastern edge of West Seattle — but that map omits two more-centrally located spots in WS where we know biodiesel to be available (though sadly we don’t have a car capable of using it): The Admiral Safeway service station (as first mentioned in February) and Hans VW (35th/Graham). Anywhere else?
Free, free, get them free
The new Seattle CAN (Climate Action Now) campaign asks us all to take a few simple steps, such as using energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs. You can get one free today by going to any of the following:
–The WS kickoff event for Seattle CAN featuring Hizzoner, KC Councilmember Dow C, Sustainable West Seattle, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, the Delridge councils, Chief Sealth HS, performers, and a lot more, at Youngstown Arts Center, 9 am-1 pm (info provided by SWS includes notes about refreshments @ 9, the mayor speaking @ 9:30, and a biodiesel demo @ 9:45)
–Public libraries around the city, including the four here in WS (Delridge, High Point, Southwest, West Seattle, all open 10-6 today according to those branch websites) – 1 PM UPDATE, we just stopped by the WS branch to get one, and the people manning the Seattle CAN table there told us they are there until 4.
New West Seattle trees, with Nobel cachet
The WSB photo/video crew is just back from the tree planting at Pelly Place held today in connection with Earth Summit II at Chief Sealth HS. First photo shows Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai assisting students with the tree planting:
The photo below shows Gatewood Elementary students who read a poem at the event. Others in attendance included King County Councilmember Dow Constantine; no mayor sightings — he is in Eastern Washington today. We will post video from the Pelly Place event later.
2 for tomorrow
TOMORROW NIGHT: What should the city do with millions of your $ earmarked for transportation projects? Don’t wait till you read here that crews are on their way to (fill in the blank) and then say “Hey! Why don’t they (whatever) instead?” — stop by tomorrow night’s city Transportation Department open house at Youngstown Arts Center between 5 and 8 pm, look at what’s under consideration, register your preference. Or – if you absolutely can’t make it in person – the city has set up a webpage where you can see what’s on the potential project list and rank your preferences – click here, then choose South Sector; with 29 WS locations on the list, one just might be near you. Make your choices by September 27th.
ALL DAY TOMORROW: Chief Sealth HS hosts Seattle Earth Summit II 9:30 am-3 pm with an impressive guest list, including the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai, as well as West Seattle’s world-famous photographer Art Wolfe. Also part of the agenda: a ceremonial tree-planting @ 11:30 am at Pelly Place Ravine, which Wolfe and local students are working together to revitalize as part of Project Earth Care.
For the future, near and far
Just four months into its hopefully long lifespan, Sustainable West Seattle continues to grow. Tomorrow night, you’re invited to its next meeting — 7 pm, Camp Long, family-friendly, so kids are welcome — where county and city reps will talk about transportation and climate-change issues, respectively. The latter is of special note, with a Seattle CAN (Climate Action Now) kickoff event in WS next Saturday. (Here’s a new reason to care about climate change.) If you can’t make tomorrow’s meeting, see the Sustainable WS website, which includes contact info for the people running its action groups (Energy, Transportation, Food & Health, Water & Waste Reduction, Green Building & Planning).
Also happening tonight
The monthly West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction is 6-9 pm tonight; organizers have posted the flyer (with map and list of participating businesses, buildings, and artists) online here. The folks at Ginomai also wrote us to make sure you know they have a “great free parking lot” at their place on the north end of the Art Walk route (42nd/Genesee); for this month’s Art Walk, they are featuring five artists from the Senior Center in the Ginomai community room.
Also tonight — from the WS waterfront, you might notice a big contingent of paddlers heading out from Alki Kayak Tours at Seacrest around 6:30. The Surfrider Foundation, People for Puget Sound, and others are heading out in kayaks and on boards to call attention to their push for federal $ for what they say is a necessary component of oil-spill prevention in Puget Sound — a full-time rescue tug stationed at Neah Bay, to cover the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. (The WS waters we enjoy here, ultimately come from there. A near-catastrophe happened there in 1991 and can happen again.)
Fauntleroy Creek’s best friends, hard at work again
Just south of the ferry dock, work has begun in earnest on a project Fauntleroy Creek stewards call “the reach to the beach.” Over the next 2 weeks, with the help of EarthCorps, they are working to transform the last stretch of FC into something more natural. Judy Pickens tells us major work won’t start till tomorrow, but we noticed a definite difference between the view of the beach this afternoon (first photo below) and yesterday (second photo below):
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The coho salmon of Fauntleroy Creek need all the help they can get, after a disappointing year; here’s hoping this project does the trick. By the way, the FC fish ladder on the other side of Fauntleroy Way celebrates its 10th anniversary next year!
Caring for the creek
Catching up from the weekend, we have another work-party report from one of West Seattle’s treasured greenspaces: Lina Rose from EarthCorps says 10 volunteers joined her and forest steward Kirsten Rohrbach to clear almost 1000 square feet of invasive weeds from the Thistle Street Greenspace along Longfellow Creek, including clearing space around young cedar trees planted along the creek trail. Lina sent photos; first one shows what it looked like before they dug in:
Next, volunteers in the middle of their work:
No “after” photo – you’ll just have to go see for yourself (Thistle Street Greenspace is one of those places we’ll admit is on our “haven’t been there but must go soon” list; it’s easy to find, just off Thistle east of Chief Sealth HS). Next work party there is September 22nd; other Longfellow Creek sites have monthly work parties, listed here (and also always included in our weekly West Seattle Weekend Lineup posted every Friday morning).
Time and tide
If you share our night-owliness, you may be happy to hear the weather looks promising for tonight’s big (well, technically, tomorrow morning) lunar eclipse. (The height of the excitement, according to NASA, is between 2 and 4 am. You’ll probably see us out looking for the latest-available latte before Ladro closes at 11ish, or is anyone open later?) Since it’s a full moon as well, that brings tidal extremes; we were down by the water for some low-tide sights this morning. First photo, a starfish hugging one of the pilings at Seacrest; second, a NOAA ship passing Alki (with the help of NOAA Ship Tracker, we think it’s Miller Freeman, but aren’t 100% sure thanks to reader Frank @ NOAA for informing us it’s the Okeanus Explorer):
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