It’s a disease that’s difficult to talk about … but even more difficult to live with. Crohn’s Disease has no cure – but that’s not stopping a West Seattle patient, Heidi Coy, from doing what she can to help find one. She’s organized the Bowl vs. Bowel fundraising bowling event at West Seattle Bowl this Saturday night. She tells the story:
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis April 29, 2008. After suffering chronic pain, consistent vomiting and diarrhea, fevers, fatigue, and losing more than 30 pounds in body weight, I was not able to keep any nutrients in my body. I underwent diagnostic testing revealing I have Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Little is known about what causes Crohn’s Disease and there is no known cure. I am currently able to work as a full-time nanny and am a mother to an 19-month-old son. He is the light of my life and want nothing more than to be healthy for him. I will be on medicine and other treatments, as well as dealing with flare-ups for the rest of my life.
On July 9, 2011 we will be putting on a bowling fundraiser “Bowl vs. Bowel” to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. I would like to give back to this foundation (CCFA) to help raise money while I am healthy to hopefully find a cure. This fundraiser will take place at WS Bowl from 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. Help fund research and treatment of all Irritable Bowel Diseases. Every amount counts great or small. Cost is $20 a person. Raffle tickets $1 each or 15 for $10. There will be raffle prizes, shot calls for prizes, great music, $2 jello shots, HighStrike Grill, a helpful and welcoming staff, and a great time had by all!
You can pre-register to ensure your spot at WS Bowl; discounts if you register a team of 5. Contact Chris at ctroupe27@gmail.com – mention Crohn’s fundraiser. You don’t want to miss this! Thank you for your support!!
September 26th was set today as the trial date for Duane Starkenburg, the Gatewood man arrested in late January and charged in connection with three attacks on women in Lincoln Park. His court appearance today was a brief “status conference”; if nothing changes in the case between now and September, he will appear for a September 9th hearing to confirm whether both sides are ready to go ahead with the trial later that month. (More backstory on the case is in our previous report, from his last court appearance in May.)
Thanks to Nick for sharing the link to this newly released video by the duo Cause and Effect. Not only did we like the song (“Happiness Is Alien”), having a personal fondness for synthpop, but it’s cool to see the West Seattle backdrops that dominate the video (after the first minute or so). The scenery is what won the recommendation from Nick, who says C&E’s Rob Rowe lives here. The song is from their new multisong release “Artificial Construct II,” available July 26th.
5:11 PM: Police and medic response affecting traffic near SW Library, More shortly.
5:24 PM UPDATE: Police say this started as a fight between two people. One for some reason started jumping on nearby car roofs. That brought the police. Neither combatant, we are told, needed to be taken to the hospital. Street’s back open.
11:38 PM UPDATE: Commenters suggested circumstances different than what we initially heard from police on the scene. We followed up tonight with Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams, who just shared information from the official report: “At about (4:45 pm), officers responded to a call to 911 reporting a very bloody male acting wildly and jumping on top of cars near 35/Henderson. Officers were able to take the individual, an adult male, into custody. He was treated by Seattle Fire at the scene, then transported to the hospital for further treatment and evaluation. In addition to the damage the suspect caused to the cars, he also apparently damaged the inside of a nearby apartment. The suspect was not a resident of the apartment, but is known to at least one of the apartment residents – who were not at home at the time. There is no indication at this time that the suspect sustained his injuries as the result of being assaulted.”
Caught in a fence – how to get down? When Patrick Abdo saw that little raccoon stuck in his not-at-home-at-the-time neighbor’s fence, he decided action was in order. Photos too. Six more images, and Patrick’s first-person story, explain what happened next – after the jump:Read More
Mangled, melted plastic is all that’s left of a portable restroom that caught fire early today at Bar-S Playfield on Alki Point. Unlike the one torched at Me-Kwa-Mooks Park on Beach Drive last week, this one doesn’t belong to Seattle Parks; it was rented by West Seattle Little League. That’s according to WSLL president Mark Terao, who was at the field when we went there for a photo this afternoon. But he’s not the one who told us about it – nearby resident Thome-mailed to report seeing the fire – and putting it out:
I live on the hill overlooking the field. My gf and I heard a very loud explosion a bit after 1:30 am. When we looked off of our back deck we could see the roof of the honeybucket was gone and there were flames inside it.
We called 911. The dispatcher advised there might be a slight delay due to a structure fire call. The honeybucket was starting to go up in flames at that point so I grabbed a fire extinguisher and went down the hill to put it out. It took two extinguishers, but I got the flames out. The firetruck showed up just minutes later. There wasn’t much left but sizzling plastic goop, but I appreciate them making sure it was doused. The honeybucket sat only feet away from a storage shed that could have gone up as well.
(The structure fire was the one on Roxbury.) Thom says they had seen illegal fireworks being set off in the area earlier; WSLL president Terao confirmed their field was “trashed,” and they had to clean it up, since they are hosting a tournament, with more games coming up tonight. “It’s frustrating,” he said. We checked with Seattle Fire; spokesperson Kyle Moore says an investigator wasn’t sent (the Roxbury fire was one of two house fires SFD was dealing with in the early-morning hours), so there’s no official cause on record. (Meantime, for a vivid look at a fireworks-suspected fire in a dry field, check out this story on our White Center site.)
West Seattle Golf Course is without water at last report while plumbers try to trace the source of a leak in a pipe near a fire hydrant in the parking lot it shares with West Seattle Stadium. The stadium was affected earlier too, but Seattle Parks says its water is back. So just in case there’s golf in your near future, you might want to check before you go.
So far, haven’t heard any reports that today’s big downtown event led to traffic chain reactions, so that’s good news. But WSDOT wants you to know in advance that next weekend, there’s another of those double closures – the 520 floating bridge and the Mercer offramps. “Expect region-wide congestion,” they warn. More here.
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand, taken at standoff scene, around 1:30 am)
It started about 8 pm last night with a call from the 5400 block of 21st SW. A bullet had gone through the wall of a house, through multiple rooms, and wound up shattering a bathroom light. Police found the bullet on the bathroom floor. Police determined the shot came from somewhere to the east, and below the house. While investigating, they heard shots being fired from the back yard of a home in the 5400 block of 18th SW. In that yard, they found “multiple pistol-shell casings and four spent shotgun shells around a fire pit,” according to Seattle Police media-response Det. Renee Witt. She says a resident of the house gave police verbal authority to search the backyard, where they also found a “large-caliber rifle-shell casing.” But when they tried to search inside the home, “the occupants inside locked the door” and wouldn’t even let the resident who’d allowed the yard search come back inside. So, they got a search warrant for the house and nearby vehicles. (Somewhere in that interval is when we got a tip about this, went to the scene and took the photo above, though on-scene police wouldn’t comment.)
Given the weapon involvement, the SWAT team was called in. “The occupants were safely removed,” Det. Witt says, adding that police found seven handguns, a pistol-grip shotgun, an “AK-47-type rifle hidden underneath the stairs leading to the downstairs portion of the house” and “brought the evidence to the precinct.” One person was arrested – for unrelated warrants; any further arrests will depend on results of the investigation, including the original shot-fired-into-house case.
ADDED 3:05 PM: No indication whether it might be related, but we got a call from someone about half a mile away, on Puget Ridge, who says gunshots fired from outside pierced her home too. Police found two different-caliber bullets (.45 and .40), she says; this happened early the morning of July 4th, and the resident and her husband just thought they were hearing fireworks. Nobody was hit but it was a close call – they were 12 feet away from where a bullet landed, she says.
Not just because the festival zone in The Junction this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be aiming for Zero Waste … nor is it just because sustainability is in the spotlight in the GreenLife area again this year.
Recycling will also happen in the form of interactive art, via a first-time feature called Hack-cycle – which you could say puts the “cycle” in “recycling.”
“We’ll have equipment for people to dissemble and reconfigure bikes,” explains Rusty Oliver(right), a metalwork artist and instructor who’s based in South Park. But there’s a lot more to it than that.
If you know Rusty’s work, we have to say, it’ll be tamer than a lot of what he’s known for, such as art with flames:
However Hack-cycle plays out, consider it your introduction to metal art – just bring a bike, not part of a bike, but a bike you’re willing to, well, reconfigure, as part of what might be Summer Fest’s most memorable interactive activity yet … human-powered, in multiple ways.
The usual place to post lost/found on WSB is the Forum – unless it’s a pet, since they have their own page (several reunions already today!) – but two unusual reports have come in, possibly crime-related, so we’re spotlighting them here – a found safe and a missing/stolen volleyball net (whose owner is offering a reward):Read More
TRAFFIC ALERT REMINDER: Today’s the day with the huge parade downtown – it’s not till 10 but early staging-related closures/detours might affect downtown/bound drivers. Here’s what SDOT sent around last week.
WADING POOLS: Wading pools open IF the weather is forecast for 70+ degrees (wading pool schedule here) – today, Hiawatha should be open 12-6:45 pm, Lincoln Park 11 am-8 pm.
FOR JOB SEARCHERS: Job search help and networking opportunity at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor; 5612 California Ave SW), 11 am, regular weekly meeting of “Notes From the Job Search” group.
STORY TIMES AT LOCAL LIBRARIES: Toddler Story Time at West Seattle (Admiral) Library, 10:30 am … Baby Story Time at Southwest Library, 11:30 am … Somali Story Time at High Point Library (35th/Raymond), 1:30 pm … Summer Toddler Story Time at Southwest Library, 2 pm … Family Story Time at Delridge Library (Delridge/Brandon), 7 pm.
PRODUCE-BUYERS’ CLUB: It’s the second Delridge Produce Coop Buyers’ Club ordering meeting. Come join the cooperative to order fresh produce from local farms at wholesale prices! Meet at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW), 7 pm.
THREE DAYS TILL WEST SEATTLE SUMMER FEST! It’s coming up THIS Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in The Junction. Our next preview is later today – till then, wander the official website to check on vendors, music, and more.
1:39 AM: We’re on our way to the house-fire call at 30th and Roxbury – more as we get it.
1:46 AM UPDATE: Roxbury is being blocked off. The fire address has been updated to 32nd and Roxbury (map). Per scanner traffic, firefighters say they have it under control. We’ll be at the scene shortly.
1:55 AM UPDATE: At the scene. No flames visible. No report of injuries. The house is on the south side of Roxbury, closer to 31st than 32nd. Investigators are being called out right now. Again, Roxbury is closed to traffic, since this is right on the corner, with the roadblock starting just east of 35th.
2:04 AM UPDATE: Firefighters confirm nobody was hurt – nobody was home. They don’t know the cause yet, since the investigation is just starting, but they say there’s significant damage inside the house, so it’s uninhabitable at this point.
4:05 AM UPDATE: SFD has published an update on Fire Line, saying they’ve determined the fire was “accidental” – though aside from saying it started “in a couch,” they don’t say how (we’ll check later this morning). Damage is estimated at $61,000; the house is now described as “vacant.”
ADDED TUESDAY AFTERNOON: SFD’s Kyle Moore says “smoking materials” were what ignited the couch, and adds that Seattle Police are investigating.
Not a cloud in the sky tonight – just fireworks smoke. As seen from Alki – that’s a view of the Winslow (Bainbridge Island) show, courtesy of David Hutchinson. And from Harbor Avenue, the Lake Union fireworks, thanks to Chris Fruitrich:
Of course, there was more to see along Harbor and Alki Avenues than fireworks. Gridlock, even an hour after the fireworks ended – we went over to take a look, thinking we would be going the uncrowded way (westbound), but it was bumper-to-bumper both ways. And a sizable cleanup job ahead – overflow at every trash can, though at least much was bagged (by the time we saw it):
By 11:30 pm, police were out in force along central Alki, which is where the traffic finally thinned on our westward drive. Earlier, we had checked out the fireworks view from the highest point in the city, Myrtle Reservoir Park, which was still under construction last July 4th (opened in fall, dedicated this past April). Not bad, though you have to strategically work around a few tall evergreens that are part of the northward view. Also nice from Myrtle tonight: Crescent moon, setting. Meantime, one more West Seattle 4th of July scene, which is actually from Burien:
As noted in our West Seattle/Admiral 4th of July Kids’ Parade coverage, the West Seattle Hi-Yu float was in today’s Burien parade, and Jim Edwards – part of the leadership team for the West Seattle American Legion Post 160 Grand Parade coming up July 23rd – shared the photo. Look for Hi-Yu royalty and reps at all the big upcoming events (West Seattle Summer Fest this Friday-Saturday-Sunday, the Seafair Pirates’ Landing on Saturday, etc.) and buy a button to help support the program.
Little is known about what causes Crohn’s Disease and there is no known cure. I am currently able to work as a full-time nanny and am a mother to an 19-month-old son. He is the light of my life and want nothing more than to be healthy for him. I will be on medicine and other treatments, as well as dealing with flare-ups for the rest of my life. 
Not just because the festival zone in The Junction this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be aiming for Zero Waste … nor is it just because sustainability is in the spotlight in the 
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