West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Coming to West Seattle Outdoor Movies tomorrow (Saturday) night? Bring food – for the West Seattle Food Bank! It’s the nonprofit beneficiary this time around. The movie is “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” and in addition to collecting non-perishable food, the WS Food Bank will also benefit from this week’s raffle … movie maven Lora Swift from Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (screen location, 4410 California SW, and WSB sponsor) says a food donation will get you a raffle ticket, too. So go looking for those donatables in your cupboard, and/or go shopping Saturday to get some items to bring – protein, for one (peanut butter, beans, etc.). The courtyard opens at 6:30 pm – bring your own chair/blanket – and the movie’s at dusk (probably 8:40ish this time).
SIDE NOTE: This is the second-to-last WSOM of the season; the grand finale is Saturday, August 24th, another comedy classic, “This Is Spinal Tap.”
(WSB photo of the WSHS band at a game in January 2013)
Less than three weeks until Seattle Public Schools (and many others) start a new year of classes. Tonight, West Seattle High School music leader Ethan Thomas has a message for his incoming and returning band members:
Attention West Seattle High School Band Students. We will be hosting a band camp at the Southwest Athletic Complex on September 7th and 8th for students involved in the WSHS band in the 2013-14 school year. Please check the West Seattle High School website for complete details and registration information (westseattlehs.seattleschools.org).
That’s the weekend after the first day of school (which this year is September 4th).
Thanks to Tony for the photo from the scene of a crash at 35th and Thistle earlier this evening. Medics and investigators worked quickly to help keep the busy intersection from being blocked for too long – we got texts about it but it was already in the process of final clearing by the time we arrived. A car and motorcycle were involved, and the motorcycle rider is reported to have been taken to the hospital by private ambulance, which means no major injuries (if they had been, the intersection also would have been closed for a much-longer investigation).
(August 6th photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Donald Maxwell Plute is now charged in connection with the pickup theft and car-ramming incident that unfolded across the peninsula a week and a half ago. And his bail in this case alone will start at $250,000 – if police can find and arrest him.
Plute is the 23-year-old Top Hat man who was let out of jail the day after his arrest last week as first reported here, because District Court Judge Johanna Bender didn’t find “probable cause” to hold him. Compounding matters at the time, a warrant for his arrest was issued the same day, related to another case, but somehow it wasn’t brought to the judge’s attention. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told WSB at the time that charges still might be filed – and today, indeed, they have been.
Plute is now charged with first-degree robbery, two counts of second-degree assault, and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle. As we reported during and after it all happened on August 6th, the pickup truck he is accused of stealing from outside Cactus on Alki was pursued by an Audi containing two men including the pickup’s owner. While calling 911, they followed the pickup to Upper Alki, where it reverse-rammed the car, then took off. It was spotted again in Morgan Junction, where a police car pursuing it was also reverse-rammed on southbound California just south of Fauntleroy. The pickup was ditched nearby in Gatewood and Plute was arrested hiding under a deck at a nearby home.
The charging document filed today says that evidence developed since last week includes fingerprints from a phone that was in the pickup when it was stolen, as well as witness identification of Plute. The documents also say Plute has had five warrants out for his arrest in the past three years, with convictions including hit-and-run and another case of attempting to elude police; his record goes back to age 15, with juvenile convictions including theft, assault, car prowl, and possession of a stolen vehicle. The charging documents tell the tale of many citizen witnesses who spotted the suspect on the run in Gatewood and also note that the damage to the police car alone will cost more than $11,000 to fix. Again, Plute is now charged, but is not in custody; if and when he’s arrested, $260,000 in warrants are out for him.
ADDED 1:38 AM: Went back through our photo archives and found a full-face photo we took at the arrest scene after Plute was taken out of a patrol car to be checked out by arriving firefighter/medics summoned when he complained of pain.
According to a close-up view on the Facebook page a commenter mentioned, the neck tattoo says “FEAR ME.”
The three-day grand-opening celebration has begun for West Seattle Cyclery, one of WSB’s newest sponsors, now that both its retail and service operations are up and running. Here’s what proprietor Brad Loetel would like you to know about his new business:
(From left, West Seattle Cyclery’s Brad, Catherine, Sawyer)
We are a new full-service bike shop in West Seattle. Our mission at West Seattle Cyclery is for our customers to love cycling as much as we do. We will support our customers in that effort by hiring dedicated, smart, and professional staff who will use their knowledge and experience to ensure that our customers purchase the bikes and equipment which best meet their needs.
Our customers have said that they really appreciate that West Seattle Cyclery is a locally owned shop with both an owner and staff from West Seattle. Our customers also appreciate that we understand that they prefer to be riding their bikes instead of waiting for their bikes to be repaired. Our goal is to complete most repairs within 2 days. Occasionally it will take longer, but we will make every effort to minimize the delay.
The customers who seek us out are happy we are in their neighborhood. A few have had bad experiences at other shops and want to find a new shop. The staff at West Seattle Cyclery have been in the business for many years. We know you don’t get loyal customers by providing poor customer service. We also know there is competition from other bike shops around the Seattle area, and the Internet has definitely made an impact on the bike industry. So it is in our interest to make sure you get great customer service, because we love cycling and want you to enjoy riding your bike.
Catherine, Sawyer and I used to work together at another shop. Recently, a former customer from that shop came in to West Seattle Cyclery. He was really excited to see us because he did not know that we were the people behind West Seattle Cyclery. He bought his first bike from us to train for the STP a few years ago. Now he is doing four to five 100=mile rides a year and no longer has to take his diabetes medicine. He looks forward to having us work on his bikes to prepare him for his next big ride.
Regarding community involvement – we have talked with West Seattle Bike Connections to see how we can help them achieve some of their goals. We also want to make West Seattle safe for cyclists of any age. We look forward to supporting many other local organizations. Community is an important part of why we are here, so we plan on giving back when we can.
West Seattle Cyclery is at 4508 California SW, 206.557.7267, online at westseattlecyclery.com. The grand-opening celebration continues through Sunday!
We thank West Seattle Cyclery for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
Two of West Seattle’s in-progress mixed-use developments have just applied for their master use permits, which triggers a new comment period (through at least August 28th):
(Click image for larger view)
3210 CALIFORNIA: It hasn’t appeared in the city’s “land-use information bulletin” yet, but a spokesperson for the developers, Intracorp, tells WSB the master-use permit (MUP) application has been submitted for this five-story project with about 150 units, 168 parking spaces, and 4,200 square feet of commercial space. Its status is verified by the project page on the city website. That was facilitated by the project passing the Early Design Guidance phase of the Southwest Design Review Board process June 27th (here’s the city’s report on that meeting; our detailed notes are here). The image above is from the size/shape renderings shown at that meeting. This project still has at least one more SWDRB meeting ahead; no date announced yet, but the spokesperson believes it’ll be in October. Comments can be sent to michael.dorcy@seattle.gov.
And on the east edge of The Junction:
4745 40TH SW: This also recently passed Early Design Guidance, and has now applied for a MUP, while awaiting at least one more Design Review meeting. The project is listed in city files as eight stories, but part of the building will be shorter; units will total about 150, while parking spaces are projected around 116, and retail at about 1,000 square feet. It will be adjacent to a new city park to the north, which in turn is across the street from the west side of the 4755 Fauntleroy Way (aka Whole Foods) project. Here’s the city report on the July 11th meeting; for comments on the project, e-mail bruce.rips@seattle.gov.
When a reader note first alerted us earlier this week to “No Parking” signs for a few blocks of Admiral around 49th, they were marked for the time frame in which two double-portable classrooms’ move from Boren to Schmitz Park Elementary was supposed to happen. However, after another reader pointed out that the signs are still there and now dated today/tomorrow, we checked back with Seattle Public Schools – and it turns out the move is rescheduled for TONIGHT. So portables will be making their way from Boren to Schmitz Park overnight tonight, somewhere between midnight and 6 am.
When Seattle City Light started converting streetlights to LEDs around its service area, the focus was on non-arterial streets because of concerns about how the new lights would handle the needs of major streets.
(WSB photo from 2010: Side-by-side residential test of LED vs. sodium streetlights)
Now, after testing, City Light is getting ready to start swapping out arterial lights too. We talked with SCL’s Scott Thomsen after we spotted a published notice about the call for bids.
He says SCL expects to award the contract for fixtures on August 26th, getting the components sometime in October, and beginning installation shortly thereafter. According to Thomsen, they hope to get as many as 1,800 LED streetlights installed on arterials by year’s end, before the weather gets too bad.
That will include 88 lights in the White Center Business District, by request of the WC Chamber of Commerce, he said, but otherwise, they will be focusing on a northern area, with “selected lights chosen by SDOT,” strategic placements with easy access while the weather remains workable. After that, the installation pattern will be much the same as the one that’s been followed for residential-street LEDs, going north first before heading south. And, Thomsen adds, they’re still finishing up the residential installations.
It’ll take up to six years to get all the arterial lights/fixtures replaced. The advantages, in case you were wondering, include that they last three times as long, use less electricity, waste less light on non-targeted areas (which means less “light pollution”), have a better “depth of field” so that more objects are illuminated, and show colors more truly, particularly helpful for police trying to get accurate descriptions of vehicles, suspects, etc.
From Jamie: “On August 14th a 20′ U-Haul van containing ALL of a newly stationed Coast Guard member’s belongings was stolen from SW Hudson and 38th Ave SW. The license plate of the van is Arizona AE28808. Hopefully it will be recovered somewhere with a few of the person’s belongings inside.” If you see it – or have any information – call police.
Thanks to Kristian for that view of last night’s sunset with fog on the water – others have also shared great photos you can see here on WSB and on the WSB Facebook page – thank you! Send us photos any time via editor@westseattleblog.com. Now on with today/tonight highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar …
FIRST, A TRAFFIC REMINDER: If you’re heading off-peninsula late tonight and/or Saturday morning, the Highway 99 closure might affect you.
WEST SEATTLE CYCLERY GRAND OPENING: As previewed here earlier this week, West Seattle Cyclery (new WSB sponsor) starts its three-day grand-opening event today; Friday hours are noon-7 pm.
CONCERT AT THE MOUNT: Third of four free Friday night concerts tonight at Providence Mount St. Vincent (WSB sponsor), this time featuring the 85th Street Big Band, performing on the south side of the campus at 6 pm (with dinner on sale at 5:30 pm – steak, potato, coconut cream pie. (4831 35th SW)
GARDEN PARTY: As previewed here on Thursday, the 34th District Democrats are partying tonight at West Seattle Nursery, and you’re invited. Tex-Mex buffet, music, auction, more. (California/Brandon)
BOBCAT BOB: Popular musician “Bobcat Bob” Rice plays C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) tonight, 6-8 pm. (5612 California SW)
FREE MOVIE AT HPIC: It’s free movie night at Highland Park Improvement Club! Doors open at 6:30, movie at 7 – go here for a hint at what they’re screening. No admission, but bring $ for concessions. (12th/Holden)
‘GUYS AND DOLLS’: 7:30 pm, first night of the final weekend for Twelfth Night Productions‘ “Guys and Dolls” at the West Seattle High School Theater; details in the listing. (3000 California SW)
E MEETS WEST – EL-FEST: The third annual Elvis Presley tribute is tonight at the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm. Eight Elvis tribute singers – and more! (6451 California SW)
‘NEIL YOUNG VS. NIRVANA’: That’s the music battle tonight at The Benbow Room in the Admiral District, 9 pm; details here.
Seattle Police say no one’s been arrested yet in connection with a stabbing early this morning at what they describe as a “transient camp” beneath the Delridge Way offramp from the bridge. Via SPD Blotter, they report that Port of Seattle Police were first called to the parking lot of the Chelan Café around 2 am, but when it was determined the attack had happened at the “camp” across the street, SPD took over. The man who was stabbed says he was asleep under the offramp and woke up to discover a man he knows only as “Lazarus” was stabbing him. He was taken to the hospital (the call is on the 911 log as a “medic response,” not “assault with weapons”) and is expected to survive.
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
6:50 AM: Happy Friday! One more time, here’s a look ahead to closures/changes:
*Tonight/tomorrow morning, Highway 99 closures – details here
*Next Monday-Friday, Orchard/Dumar closes between Highland Park/Puget Ridge and Delridge – details here
*Prep work is under way there, so Metro Route 120 changes are already in effect – explained here
7:35 AM: Don’t know the severity (or lack of it), but Engine 36 is on a call described as “fuel spill” at 11th and Spokane, which would be just east of the low bridge. Also, Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry runs are about 10-15 minutes delayed because of the fog, per WSF; it started very early this morning – we were hearing the ferry foghorns starting around 1 am. On the other side of the West Seattle waterfront, just got this photo from Lise:
(The Spirit of Kingston is on the Vashon run today.)
8:42 AM: Fog effects continue on the waterways: The West Seattle Water Taxi is on time at last report, but one Vashon run has been canceled by both the fog and a “minor mechanical (problem)”; the three ferries on the Fauntleroy route are all running up to half an hour late now.
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