WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham has filed several updates in the past two-plus months about homeless encampments he has been finding, and investigating, while exploring West Seattle parks. Tonight, he writes about two encounters with people linked to them:Read More
Huge thanks to Joe Follansbee, a West Seattleite and tall-ships expert who took and sent those photos of the beauties sailing past Duwamish Head this afternoon — we got a couple tips (thanks to those tipsters too) but couldn’t get down to get pix in time, then were thrilled to receive these from Joe. He says the first is “the Lynx out of Newport Beach, Calif. It’s a replica of a War of 1812 privateer.” Second is “the Lady Washington, a replica of one of the first American vessels to visit what would later be Washington State.” (Seen in a WSB film favorite, “Pirates of the Caribbean”!) Third is “the Hawaiian Chieftain, which was inspired by 18th century South Seas trading ships.” (Joe is communications director for the last two.) All of course are headed to Tall Ships Tacoma (complete info on that here), along with the U.S. Coast Guard square-rigger Eagle, which we covered yesterday (here and here) and is seen below in a photo from before its departure this morning (thanks to JayDee for this pic taken from the Water Taxi):
Six days after the first city-organized public meeting about the two proposed misdemeanor-jail sites in West Seattle (photo above; complete WSB coverage here), the city sends word of two online updates: “written feedback” and video from the meeting, posted here, and what’s described as “a document describing the public forum format,” posted here (the format itself generated some controversy and complaints during last week’s meeting). The next scheduled city-organized meeting is July 12 at North Seattle Community College and is intended to focus on the Aurora site; WSB coverage of the jail-sites fight, stretching back to first word of the “final four” location list including the two WS sites, is archived here.
We mentioned this morning we had two questions out to the Seattle Police media unit – and now we have answers: First, the Cherokee used in the robbery (shown above as photographed by Scott C while it was being towed away last night) was NOT stolen; second, one of the four law enforcers who fired at the vehicle when its occupant refused to put down a gun WAS from the Southwest Precinct here in West Seattle, according to media officer Mark Jamieson — a patrol sergeant with 19 years experience. As is routine in such cases, he and the others involved (two from SPD and one from King County Sheriff’s Office’s Metro Transit detail) are on administrative leave. 6:02 PM UPDATE: Police also released more details today about the actual robbery and how the suspects knew each other, plus the fact that the suspect who was shot had been armed with a pellet gun. Here’s one account from the Times.
We saw the 911 call for “bark fire” at Westwood Village a short time ago; sounded too small to go. But Tyson just sent this firsthand account and it sounds like some folks deserve kudos:
I’m a daily reader of the West Seattle Blog and just thought I’d share something I just witnessed. Not exactly breaking news or anything but worth a note. Just walked out of the Westwood Village Barnes and Noble and saw a huge plume of smoke coming from the Target parking lot. I then noticed that one of the bushes used for landscaping was engulfed in flames and it was quickly spreading with help of the surrounding mulch. Target and Westwood Village security were very quick in responding to the fire as was the fire department.
No confirmation yet but speculation is that it might have been caused by a discarded cigarette – that sort of thing causes a lot of fires like that this time of year, so if you smoke, please be careful.
We told you recently about Feet First‘s Cart Project – offering discounted pull-carts like the one above to people in the Westwood Village area, as part of a pilot project to encourage people to walk to the store instead of driving. They’ve now set the pickup time – you have to live in the pilot-project area, and you should have received a doorhanger that you can bring along (see a copy of it here) – 3:30-7:30 pm today and each day next Monday-Friday, at Westwood Village QFC. You get the $90 cart for $15 if you pledge to walk at least once weekly to do grocery-shopping and agree to two surveys (initial and followup). Got questions? Call 206/652-2310. If you’re outside the pilot-project area, here’s another way to get a discounted pull-cart – as reported here a week and a half ago, Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) was inspired by the Cart Project and decided to offer discounts on their “shopping trolleys” to shoppers who mention it.
In our story last month about the renovation work that’s closing Southwest Pool till fall, we mentioned adjoining Southwest Community Center would have to close for a week here and a week there because of the project. SWCC just told us the next closure is next week: July 7-12, possibly a little longer. EARLY THURSDAY UPDATE: Junior Kitiona from SWCC sent more details – the closure is likely to stretch into the week of July 14th; how far, they won’t know till they get there – it’s because of the electrical-vault changeover mentioned in the pool-renovations article linked earlier in this post. We’ll keep you up to date on when the center is ready to reopen.
This morning, we mentioned tonight’s Neighborhood Center volunteer event in High Point. Also in the hours ahead: Youngstown Arts Center is offering free events for youth Wednesdays at 4 pm, starting with All-Access Open Studio for young artists, 4 pm today. Heading south from there, North Delridge Neighborhood Council invites everybody with an interest in ND to join its nonthly meeting @ Delridge Library (excellent a/c there, we hear), 6:30 pm. At South Seattle Community College, the Southwest District Council — representatives from neighborhood groups and other key organizations in the part of West Seattle that the city considers the “Southwest District” — meets in the board room at 7 pm; City Light and Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle have spots on the agenda. Also at 7, at C & P Coffee south of The Junction, West Seattle Cool Momsare having their July get-together, with a presentation including ways to live a less-toxic lifestyle.
WSDOT has sent a bulletin about trouble on southbound I-5 through downtown, blocking three lanes just south of the West Seattle Bridge exit, currently causing a SEVEN-MILE-LONG backup. So if you happen to be reading this from points north, avoid I-5 TFN. 1:37 PM UPDATE: The crash scene is cleared but the backup is 9 miles and will probably take a while to thin out, so we’d still suggest alternate routes.
The traditional WSB sponsor welcome goes out today to Village Green Perennial Nursery, featured in this month’s edition of Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as a “Community Treasure” (page 47!). Village Green is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year. Owner Vera Johnson is a fully organic gardener, specializing in perennials and old roses, growing with soils blended using compost made at Village Green. Of course, organic gardening doesn’t just involve the soil – it involves the rest of the ecosystem, and Vera and her staff extend their customer service to talking with customers about natural pest management, including knowing which plants atttract the “good bugs,” which in turn keep the “bad bugs” away. Village Green, in fact, has its own bee colony and three chickens who help keep potential pests in check. The plants Vera sells are all locally grown by independent growers; she notes that means you get fresher, livelier plants that will adapt more quickly to your garden. She also wants you to know she knows gardens and gardeners, and uses that knowledge in her approach to customer service. Village Green’s nursery grounds stretch out behind the green house you see at the upper right of the photo above; it’s at 10223 26th SW (map), phone 206/767-7735, open Thursdays-Sundays – hours are on this page of the Village Green website, which has a lot to explore. We thank Village Green Perennial Nursery and all WSB sponsors, listed on this page along with information on how to join them.
Fog and low tide don’t mix very well. Just ask the two guys who are sitting in that powerboat right now, waiting for the tide to come back in so they can get back out on the water. Thanks to the person who called to let us know about this; we walked out to ask the stranded boaters if they’re OK, they said yes, “we just got lost” while heading out on the first day of crab season (not-yet-deployed baskets were stacked in their boat). Onlookers (like the person standing by the boat’s stern) are also checking on them; meanwhile, ferry foghorns are sounding just offshore, and it looks like the fog’s pulling back. (The tide bottomed out about 20 minutes ago, so they shouldn’t be stuck too much longer. Tomorrow at 11:39 am, by the way, the tide’s almost as low as the mega-low tide in early June, so boaters – and tidewalkers! – take note.)
Wells Fargo at Admiral/California has reopened after the harrowing events of yesterday (WSB all-day coverage here). Meantime, we are following up with Seattle Police on 2 questions: A commenter asked whether the gold Cherokee (shown here) was stolen; alsoo, we wondered if any of the three officers who had to fire into it downtown happened to be from the Southwest Precinct, since the last official media update said “various precincts.” The SPD media unit is handling inquiries on yesterday’s events; Officer Mark Jamieson is looking into both questions and we’ll update this post when we hear back.
That’s nationally renowned activist Van Jones, talking about how High Point’s new Neighborhood Center is going to set a national precedent, during his Seattle appearance in May. (That’s actually the third of three videos from his speech; part 1 is here, part 2 is here.) Tonight is your next chance to get involved with the Neighborhood Center and its “green revolution,” looking ahead to its groundbreaking next month – tonight there’s an orientation/training session for volunteers. First, find out more about what’s happening with the project — read the article sent to us by Cathy Cooper, then check out several different ways to help with NH:Read More
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