The WSBeat: Road rage, cab-rider rage, and more
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*Near Jefferson Square on Wednesday, a gentleman waved the car behind to “go around” when his groceries spilled to the floor and he needed a moment to rearrange them. The driver did, indeed, pass by, but then stopped and blocked in the gentleman’s car. An “overly excited/hostile” passenger jumped from the car and kicked a dent in the gentleman’s passenger door. Officers found the suspected offending driver (58 years old) and his son, the suspected kicker (36 years old) at dad’s Morgan Junction-area home. At first, dad lied and said he had been alone at the time, but he finally went in and got his son, admitting he was trying to “protect him.” It’s possible Sonny Boy will face charges of property damage.
Five more summaries ahead, starting with the case of cab-rider rage:Read More
Calling all bands: Play the popular Admiral summer concert series!
(WSB photos from July 2010, 1st concert of this year’s series)
Think summer in winter! West Seattle’s hottest outdoor-concert series is getting ready to line up next summer’s acts. From Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum:
The Admiral Neighborhood Association is now accepting Band Submissions for our 2011 Summer Concert Series at Hiawatha Park. Concert dates will be July 28th, August 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th, and September 1st. The ANA asks that bands include website information (or other means by which we may listen to music samples), number of band members and staging/sound requirements, and the best means of contacting the band. We also request that you submit your band’s fee for a 90 minute set, including a 10 minute break. When determining your fee for submission to play our series, you may wish to take into account the community, not-for-profit nature of our organization, and the high degree of visibility your group would receive as a series participant (last summer’s audiences numbered up to 1,200 people).
Please note that the ANA’s Summer Concert Series is a free, family outdoor concert event in a residential neighborhood.
The ANA will receive submissions through January 15, 2011; please submit to katy.walum@gmail.com. We hope to announce our 2011 series schedule by January 31st.
If you or your business is interested in sponsoring the 2011 ANA Summer Concert Series at Hiawatha Park, please contact Dave Weitzel at dave@weitzelconstruction.com.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Station scare; fast-acting thief
Two notes tonight (and stay tuned for this week’s WSBeat around 11 pm, barring breaking news): First, this didn’t turn out to be a crime, but we’ve received a couple of after-the-fact questions about police action earlier today at Fire Station 11 (map) in Highland Park, so in case anyone else is also wondering – when we checked with SFD spokesperson Lt. Sue Stangl to ask about a reader report of “police tape” up at the station, she explained: “The crew found a PVC pipe next to the fire station that looked suspicious. SPD checked it out and determined that it was filled with sand and was not criminal in intent.” Meantime, from Deb at 35th/Cambridge (map), another lesson sadly learned about not leaving ANYTHING in your car, ANYWHERE, ANY TIME – she says this happened between 3:30 and 4 pm Monday:
I left my convertible parked outside my garage … for less than 30 minutes. When I returned, someone had slashed the top to unlock the doors and rummage though my glove box. I had only left my car briefly as I had just replaced the wiper blades and was going to run some errands (we’re talking 15 minutes tops). I believe the garage door scared him off and the thief only made off with my iPod (thank heavens it was a really old one, can’t hold a charge, and locks up regularly…enjoy it, buddy) but he left my stereo and faceplate behind. When it dawned on me what had happened, I glanced out to the street to see someone standing there looking at me in a tan coat with a hood with a backpack, maybe 6 feet? May have been the guy, maybe not…best to be on the lookout and just a reminder that even 2 feet from my house, it’s not safe to leave anything in your car.
‘Nightlife Initiative’ update: Still pursuing ‘flexible’ liquor hours
In a week with few other official government events, Mayor McGinn briefed the media tonight on the status of the “Nightlife Initiative“ he announced in July. The full status report is here (PDF). Many of the components only affect other parts of the city, but of note citywide, the proposal to pursue “flexible liquor-service hours” – such as later cutoff times – is still in play. Discussing the results of 2,400 comments tallied on the initiative, the mayor’s report says “… more than 80 percent of online respondents agreed or strongly agreed that, ‘Extending service hours will make our streets safer.'” The city acknowledges it would need to develop a proposal to present to the state, and says that the guidelines for “exploring” the idea would include:
Conditional license
1. Privilege for bar owners
2. Started as a pilot
3. Use of data throughout the process
4. Reduces police resources
5. Resolution of City Council needed for adoption
As for existing rules, the report includes an update on what the city’s interdepartmental Code Compliance Team is finding. Citywide, the number of businesses where sales/consumption of alcohol is allowed rose 18 percent in 2010, the report says, from 1,497 in 2009 to 1,766 in 2010. Fewer than 1 in 7 had “noncompliance issues”; of those, the Southwest Precinct (West Seattle/South Park) area had the smallest number – 10 – and the report says 9 of those fixed the problems, with 1 still a work in progress. Meantime, the report also notes a new law that’s about to take effect:
The Nighttime Disturbance Ordinance was passed by the City Council on August 2, 2010. It creates a new civil infraction for loud noise, threats or fighting that occur in a public place in a commercial or industrial zone between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. The noise provisions of the ordinance were approved by the Department of Ecology in November and SPD is currently conducting officer training on the ordinance. Enforcement will begin in January 2011.
Again, you can read the entire Nightlife Initiative report here.
New development proposal for just-cleaned-up High Point site
(Photo courtesy Marco via Twitter)
After a few months of digging and hauling, most of the cleanup work is done at 35th/Graham in High Point (map), and as the photo tweeted Monday by Marco shows, right now it’s something of a lake. In the process of checking out “what happens next?”, we discovered a new development proposal for the site – two years after a flurry of activity for the previous proposal.
The new proposal turned up at the site’s official page in the city’s Department of Planning and Development system: 90 townhouses and live-work units. That’s dramatically different from the previous mixed-use proposal, last seen at a Design Review meeting more than two years ago. That plan had included 200 apartments and 16,000 square feet of retail. Regarding the new proposal,site owner Seattle Housing Authority‘s spokesperson Virginia Felton tells WSB they’re not ready to discuss it in depth: “We are in negotiation with a developer … I can’t provide details yet – we need to have the actual agreement in place first. We hope to have that accomplished in a month or so. We are excited at the prospect of seeing development move forward on this site and think this will be a very positive addition to the neighborhood.”
As for what’s happening on the site in the near future, following the stimulus-funding (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) cleanup of old petroleum contamination (as first reported here), Felton says, “The excavation will be filled in shortly – leaving a shallow depression to collect water so that the street is not flooded during heavy rains.”
West Seattle Weather Watch: SDOT, Metro, WSDOT plans
ORIGINAL 12:48 PM REPORT: Just in from SDOT:
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is carefully monitoring weather forecasts for Seattle and planning for snow and ice response accordingly. The forecast is for temperatures just above freezing overnight with up to one-half inch of wet snow possible, and an additional one inch of snow possible tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.
After 10 p.m. tonight SDOT crews will proactively apply salt brine in roadway areas where frost or black ice is prone to develop, especially on bridges and other elevated structures around the city.
Starting at 4 a.m. tomorrow morning (Wednesday), SDOT spreader trucks will be prepositioned throughout the city, ready to spread rock salt on major arterial streets (primary snow routes, Levels 1 and 2) for the morning commute if conditions warrant.
The snow plan calls for plowing when there is more than one inch of accumulated snow on the roadway, which is not in the forecast at this time.
SDOT will continue to monitor the weather conditions carefully and respond accordingly.
For more information on Seattle’s winter weather response plan and to view a map of snow routes, please see SDOT’s website.
2:07 PM NOTE: Meantime, the National Weather Service’s “forecast discussion” is still downplaying the likelihood of some snow – another update should be out within the next two hours; whatever happens, they say, would be overnight into the early morning. And WSDOT has announced it’ll open the I-5 express lanes southbound at midnight, just in case.
ADDED 3 PM: Metro has weighed in:
With snow showers in the forecast for Wednesday morning, King County Metro Transit is urging bus riders to prepare by making sure they are signed up for Transit Alerts and that they know the snow routing for the buses they will ride tomorrow.
Then before traveling, riders should check kingcounty.gov/metro/snow for the most current status of Metro service. Updates to the online information will begin at 4 a.m. each morning.
Remember, Metro is operating with a reduced schedule this week, which means some commuter and school-oriented routes do not operate, and other routes have individual trips canceled. This is indicated by an “H” in the timetables.
Current weather forecasts indicate if snow falls Tuesday night into Wednesday morning in the lower elevations of King County, it should be mostly in the form of snow showers with no significant accumulations. But, the snow could be heavier at higher areas in east King County or if a convergence zone sets up inside the county. Bus operations could change rapidly.
We’ll be on early/late watch too, as always, including 1st word from Metro in the morning re: their plans.
Update: 1 hurt in West Seattle house fire on 12th SW
(Photo added 10:40 am)
10:30 AM: On our way to check out the house-fire call in the 8100 block of 12th SW (map) – scanner reports flames seen by firefighters who’ve arrived in the past few minutes. We can see the smoke, while en route, from about a mile away.
10:36 AM UPDATE: Via scanner, crews report the fire is “knocked down” – they’re ventilating and searching the house.
10:44 AM UPDATE: As you can see in our photo added a few minutes ago, the ventilation work is happening on the roof. Firefighters report everyone got out OK. No injuries reported. We don’t have information on the circumstances/cause yet. Police are now being sent to the scene to help with traffic control along this section of 12th SW.
11:03 AM UPDATE: New information from the incident commander – two people who were in the house when the fire started are being checked by medics, one for a possible burn injury. The fire damaged a structure on the side of the house as well as the house itself:
11:35 AM UPDATE: Added a few more photos. According to SFD, one person did indeed suffer a facial burn. No word yet on the fire’s cause, but we’ll keep checking back.
12:35 PM UPDATE: SFD has announced the cause as “food on the stove.”
Video: Muddy mess on 47th SW south of Fauntleroy
(Scroll down for newest info/photo/video)
(Photo added 7:06 am – this is what’s covering the road)
6:02 AM: Checking on the chopper that seems to be hovering in the Lincoln Park area, not far from WSB HQ. It seems to be searching over the water and is sweeping to the south, too. 6:25 AM UPDATE: Apparently a TV chopper checking on a reported slide. 47th SW is closed south of the 10200 block (map) – our roving crew just spotted the sign.
6:55 AM UPDATE: The actual slide starts in the 10400 block (map). This is at or near a spot that had been reported to the city a week ago, according to e-mail we had exchanged at the time with area resident Tony: He had spotted signs of an impending slide on December 19th; two days later, he said, SDOT “came out … and cleaned the road and coned off half of the sliding road.” No sign of a city crew yet this morning, but sunrise isn’t till 8 am.
7:20 AM UPDATE: From another neighbor, Mary, in comments:
I live on 47th street just a few houses down. It seems that the slide was caused by a tree that fell; that tree broke a sprinkler system that was NOT turned off or winterized. The water came gushing out and caused the slide. The mud is about a foot deep and the street sewers are backed up and clogged by the mud. The other slide area mentioned by Tony is down a few houses and is a different section. The area is still closed off and we are all waiting for the City to do something so that folks can get to work.
8:07 AM UPDATE: Looks like cleanup help is on the way. Our crew is headed back now that it’s light – and just called in to say they’re “behind a backhoe.”
8:23 AM UPDATE: Adding a photo of backhoe in action – will have video shortly. SDOT crew at the scene tells us it’ll take an hour or so to clean up.
8:50 AM UPDATE: And there’s the video. Neighbors tell us this may have happened 2:30-3 am – they heard something loud about that time, and woke up to mud.
10:17 AM UPDATE: Just went back to check on the situation. Not clear yet, but crews are making progress. Along with equipment to scoop and move the mud, they also have a vacuum truck to clear the clogged drains mentioned above.
West Seattle Tuesday: From nightlife to storytelling
First, the transit-rider reminder: Metro’s on “reduced weekday service” again today … A citywide event bound to be of interest here too – Mayor McGinn plans an update on the “Nightlife Initiative” at 6 pm tonight (Washington Hall in Squire Park) … Speaking of nightlife, a few notes – the ReKonstruction show with West Seattle-raised comedian Adam Cozens, mentioned in this WSB story, is tonight at Comedy Underground in Pioneer Square, 8 pm (hosted by West Seattle’s Alex Meyer) … Nightlife *in* West Seattle includes “Writers and Tellers Night” at 9 pm, Mac’s Triangle Pub (9454 Delridge Way), with the “Big Fat Liars Club” competition … At the other end of Delridge, it’s Caffeine, live on stage at 9 pm, at Skylark Café and Club, and 8 pm rock trivia at Feedback Lounge (both WSB sponsors) … For the much-much-younger set, there’s afternoon entertainment: Toddler Story Time at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson), 2 pm (more info here) … And looking ahead, we’re continuing to add to the West Seattle New Year’s Eve list on the Holidays page.
West Seattle (-ish) scenes that aren’t what they seem
(Photo by Guy Smith; click for larger version)
Two photos to share tonight that are both optical illusions of sorts involving water. Top, from Guy Smith, who explains (be sure to click the photo for largest version):
From Alki Point, December 26, 2010:
For those who like to contemplate our watery West Seattle horizons, the recent very high tide of 12.9 feet was a good time to do it. This photo taken from Alki Point shows the West Point lighthouse 6 miles north. The curvature of the earth coupled with the high tide makes the light house look half submerged; even though it sits way above water at high tide. The land at left center in the far distance is the only part of Whidbey Island we can see from this angle that sits above the horizon. It’s the tall part of Whidbey at Double Bluff; about 30 miles from Alki Point.
On the goofy side – this screengrab that Paul caught today from a WSDOT traffic camera:
He wrote:
I was just checking traffic cams before heading out to run errands and saw this image on the Spokane cam. I know it is just a raindrop or dirt but it startled me at first!
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