11:23 PM: Just got a text inquiring about this, so here’s what we know: Police are searching north of California/Charlestown after a man reported being robbed at gunpoint. He said it happened around California/Manning (map). There’s a K-9 team helping in the search. More as we get it.
11:54 PM: No word of an arrest so far. Initial description, according to WSB contributor Katie Meyer, was “white male, 30, 5’10, beard, mustache, red jacket, reached in waistband and pulled out gun.”
1:17 PM TUESDAY: Checked back with police. No arrest.
(Photos by Deanie Schwarz for West Seattle Blog/White Center Now)
The signs are up at Zippy’s Giant Burgers, reminding customers that this is the final week at the original Highland Park location, before the move to bigger new digs in White Center. WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz checked in as the countdown began. Even the “Burger of the Month” seems appropriately named:
WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz asked Zippy’s proprietor Blaine Cook how many burgers Zippy’s has served since opening day on May 1, 2008. He thinks more than 180,000 — based on the number of buns they purchased. “If we were McDonald’s, we would have sold that (first) million faster than he did.”
William, taking a phone order, is one of Zippy’s 11 employees, and is looking forward to not bumping into the other employees in the much larger new space. He also mentioned wanting to check out the newly renovated Southgate Roller Rink two blocks to the west with his daughter and cousins after work. Deanie also talked to customers – and for this one, another mile and a half or so will be no big deal:
If you missed the stories in January and February – Zippy’s is moving because foreclosure clouded the future of its current building; the former owner closed his store next door, and the other business on the lot, JoJo’s Espresso, shut down too. As the signs say, this Saturday is the last day at the current location; then a mad rush to reopen by 4/25 at 9614 14th SW in WC.
Tonight, Monday, April 11, 7:00 PM
U-District Pizza Mart
5026 University Way NE
Fundraiser for funeral arrangements as well as an opportunity to share condolences with friends and family who will be in attendance.
Other memorial plans are still being made. (added later) This also is mentioned on the Swinery website; meantime, Mr. Brewer’s “last extensive … interview” was published online today – destined for a magazine later this spring, but shared sooner online, in his memory. Read it here.
Today I have submitted a request to an anonymous corporate donor to match the $8,591.45 raised by our businesses and our community during the West Seattle for Japan donation drive on Sunday, March 27th. If they agree to the full match our total raised will be $17,182.90.
This is an astonishing amount of money to be raised in such a short period of time. It speaks volumes about the caring nature of our businesses and our community. I couldn¹t be more proud to call West Seattle home.
In addition to the funds raised and matched through our donation drive, I have worked with several other donors and wish to recognize the efforts of Nancy McManus of QuallyQue for her efforts during the “tweetup” raffle for Japan relief.
I wish to also recognize the effort of a great group of kids at Pathfinder K-8. Through their ‘Penny Harvest’ program they are donating $500 to the WS4J relief effort and I have secured at least one corporate donor that will match that generous amount  I am pretty sure I can leverage several other corporate donors to match what the Pathfinder children have donated with a goal of turning their pennies into dimes (or dollars). If you are aware of any potential donors, and would like me to approach them, please forward contact information to me directly.
Moving forward I will wait for the donor¹s response and when those funds are deposited I will split the proceeds 50/50 and have one check delivered to Peace Winds America (so they can remit to their office in Tokyo) and will have one check transferred to the account of KnK International’s bank in Tokyo. No agency fees have been taken, no credit card percentages have been charged, no bank fees will accrue. This is real money, getting directly into the hands of people who need it the most.
Thank you
Dave Montoure
West 5
If you missed the big day of fundraising on March 27th involving almost 30 businesses, here are links to WSB morning-till-night as-it-happened coverage: Morning report here; afternoon report here; evening report here.
A new tenant is finally on the way to the former Payday Loans space at 35th and Roxbury. WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz has just confirmed that a “medical-marijuana facility” is moving in. The business owner, John Davis, co-owner of Northwest Patient Resource Center, says it’s not a dispensary, it’s a “facility.” The impending move also has been confirmed by property owner Ken Kim. Davis tells WSB he’s hoping to open in about a month. This would be the third medical-marijuana business in West Seattle; two are opening shortly in White Center. Legislation to legalize and regulate medical-marijuana dispensaries just passed the State House today (it already had passed the Senate), with both of West Seattle’s State House Reps (Eileen Cody and Joe Fitzgibbon) voting yes.
• Enjoy great jazz music by Jacob Lakatua Quartet
• ‘Ooh and ahh’ as Capoeira Malês demonstrates an amazing acrobatic capoeira performance at 11:30. Spectators will have a chance to learn some of the basic movements and sequences of this exciting Afro-Brazilian art form that incorporates martial arts, dance and music together in a fun and accessible manner!
• Create at the arts and crafts table sponsored by the ARC Summer Day Camp program from High Point and Delridge Community Centers.
(5:22 PM NOTE: Still no info from police on cause/cited-or-not)
2:23 PM: We’re on our way to the 4800 block of California SW, where a car has reportedly crashed into a shop – east side of California, south of Edmunds, south end of The Junction. More in a moment.
(Photo added 3:06 pm – by Katie Meyer for WSB) 2:34 PM UPDATE: On scene now. The shop is California Nails. The car is all the way into the shop – “embedded,” as our crew puts it. Photo added. California is closed at the scene, south of Edmunds, at the moment. At least one person is hurt, and is on a stretcher.
2:43 PM UPDATE: We’re now told at least two people were hurt – a man has already been taken to the hospital, and a woman is being treated at the scene. (Update: The male driver was NOT hurt.) Fire crews tell us the injuries are NOT major. The shop owners tell WSB the woman was a customer “getting a fill” when they all heard a noise, and in came the car. Traffic south of the crash scene is being diverted westbound on Hudson. (Here’s scene video from WSB’er Kristina.) TV crews have arrived (and if you heard a chopper, that was KIRO).
(Video substituted 4:13 pm for original towing-out still photo) 2:57 PM UPDATE: That’s the car, which is being towed out of the shop.
(Photo by Katie Meyer for WSB) 3:18 PM UPDATE: It’s out now. Traffic still being diverted as of a few minutes ago. We’re continuing to add photos and video – as you can see from the angle immediately above, the crash did NOT take out the entirety of the storefront. But they’re closed at least for the rest of the day. A worker in a neighboring business told us the crash sounded and felt like an earthquake.
3:57 PM UPDATE: That photo shows the inside of the nail shop after the car was pulled out. We checked with Seattle Fire’s media team, and Lt. Sue Stangl tells us there actually was only one injury – the customer who ran out after the crash was barefoot and suffered some cuts. SPD’s official report is not in yet, so we don’t have details on cause/cited-or-not. They do tell us the scene has been opened back up to “routine traffic.”
(Photos courtesy Seattle City Light)
If you had seen the crew in action, you might have considered it to be just another power crew at work. But Seattle City Light‘s new Harbor Island installation is about protecting wildlife. The utility sent photos as well as a news release explaining
Seattle City Light is testing a new device built by a local osprey expert to see whether it can protect the growing population of osprey along the Lower Duwamish River by keeping them away from hazardous high voltage power lines.
“We’re trying to keep osprey happy and off our structures, so we can coexist,” City Light Wildlife Biologist Ron Tressler said.
But last August, an osprey started building a nest on a Harbor Island utility pole and it caught fire.
“The fear is that if they came back and tried to nest, we could end up killing a bird,” Tressler said.
To prevent that from happening, the utility turned to osprey expert Jim Kaiser, a consulting wildlife biologist who owns Osprey Solutions. Kaiser and Ed Schulz, a retired electrical engineer from Everett, built a nest deterrent system by modifying and updating a design originally conceived for transmission towers by Idaho Wildlife Biologist Van Daele in the 1980s, and offered it to City Light for testing.
Two weeks after almost 30 local businesses joined together for the West Seattle for Japan fundraiser, we’re still getting word of more donations. WS4Japan organizer Dave Montoure of West 5 was invited to visit Pathfinder K-8 last week, as its students decided how to “spend” the $1,000 netted in their Penny Harvest efforts.
(Photo courtesy Amy Daly-Donovan and Jennifer Giomi)
Pathfinder’s volunteer Penny Harvest coaches Amy Daly-Donovan and Jennifer Giomi report:
Dave was very gracious, providing an overview of his experience and friendships in Japan and the tremendous generosity shown by the West Seattle community in raising money to support the citizens of Japan. He outlined the work of Peace Winds and KnK, and the Penny Harvest team was especially interested in the work of KnK as they focus their efforts on supporting children affected by these terrible natural disasters.
After meeting with Dave and holding telephone interviews with two other organizations, the Pathfinder K-8 Penny Harvest team decided to grant $500 to West Seattle for Japan (which is being generously matched by an anonymous corporate sponsor). The remainder will go to the Seattle Humane Society ($300) and Children’s Hospital Foundation ($200).
Other schools participate in Penny Harvest as well, which the Pathfinder team describes as “a fantastic philanthropy curriculum/program.” It’s explained online at pennyharvest.org.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this morning. First one is a followup to an incident we mentioned on Twitter overnight – the screams that brought multiple 911 calls from a Fauntleroy neighborhood and led to an arrest; second, a “beloved” bike stolen this weekend, with its owner’s spouse asking that you keep an eye out – details on both, ahead:Read More
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL TONIGHT: Agenda includes this Saturday’s “Green Up! Delridge” event (previewed here) and NDNC‘s strategic goals for the months and years ahead. 6:30 pm tonight, Delridge Library (Delridge/Brandon).
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION TOMORROW: As mentioned briefly Friday in our first report on the Admiral Safeway hard-hat tour (2nd report coming today), ANA president Katy Walum invited all sides of the recent construction-site protests (WSB coverage here and here) to come explain (and answer questions). So far, Walum says, both the Regional Council of Carpenters and Marquise Drywall (the company they targeted) have confirmed they’re sending representatives. 7 pm Tuesday, Admiral Congregational Church lower-level meeting room (California/Hill).
According to SPD Blotter, a missing 2-year-old was found in West Seattle late last night, with the help of license-plate-recognition technology. The boy and his 40-year-old grandfather hadn’t been seen since Saturday afternoon. Their family got worried that the man might have had a substance-abuse relapse, so they notified authorities early Sunday. Hours later, an officer found the car because of history in the LPR vehicle; and shortly thereafter, he found out where the boy was. He’s now safe at home. The LPR technology is explained here.
On this one-month anniversary of the Japan earthquake: Being ready for disaster is more than your responsibility to yourself and your family – it’s also your responsibility to your neighborhood and community. As Disaster Preparedness Month continues, so does our monthlong series of reminders and reports. This time – new online resources including the West Seattle Be Prepared recap of Saturday’s Community Summit downtown – story and photos here. The focus here, how you can help your community. Read the recap here; and after the jump, more updates:Read More
Today I have submitted a request to an anonymous corporate donor to match the $8,591.45 raised by our businesses and our community during the West Seattle for Japan donation drive on Sunday, March 27th. If they agree to the full match our total raised will be $17,182.90.
Two 
On this one-month anniversary of the Japan earthquake: Being ready for disaster is more than your responsibility to yourself and your family – it’s also your responsibility to your neighborhood and community. As Disaster Preparedness Month continues, so does our monthlong series of reminders and reports. This time – new online resources including the
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