day : 21/11/2014 11 results

Less than a week until the shopping day that’s become known as “Black Friday” (shop local indies!), we have word tonight of “Pre-Black Friday Doorbusters” … adoption “deals” at Kitty Harbor in West Seattle this weekend:

Avoid the crowds and bring home something much more special and lasting — an adopted cat(s)! This weekend, all colors of black kittens’ adoption donation is $20 less. We have panther black, elegant black, ink black, sleek black, reddish black, sexy black and more! Black cats are our personal favorite — they have cool personalities, beautiful eyes and are very loving. Did you know they were worshiped in ancient Egypt?

Prefer a more mature cat? Our 15 amazing adult cats want you to know that their adoption donation is just $50 this coming weekend. They’d like to remind you that they are yesterday’s kitten, are still playful, loving and very dignified.

It gets better! The above kitties will be sent home with their very own, special Christmas stocking, chock full of kitty kibble, toys, and catnip. Just our way of making sure you don’t have to go out shopping for their Christmas gift. We have 35 Adults, teenagers and kittens that are looking to meet you.

Kitty Harbor is at 3422 Harbor SW, open noon-5 Saturday and Sunday.

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West Seattle development: New Junction apartment-building proposal, 60 units at 4528 44th SW

November 21, 2014 8:57 pm

| 67 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle housing | West Seattle news

Scouring the latest Department of Planning and Development data, we turned up another new apartment-building proposal for The Junction. The 1952-built 8-unit building at 4528 44th SW (map), shown above in a King County Assessor’s Office photo, is proposed for replacement with what the city website describes as a “new 60-unit apartment building, five stories plus basement, five enclosed parking spaces.” The 5,850-square-foot site is zoned for development up to 65′ and borders the alley behind several retailers. It’s also almost directly across 44th from the under-construction 38-unit Lofts at The Junction at 4535 44th SW. According to the DPD website, this proposal will have to go through the Design Review process; no date set yet – it’s in the relatively early stages, with its newest “site plan” filed just this past Monday.

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Holiday giving: West Seattle Food Bank turkey drive Saturday

November 21, 2014 8:00 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| How to help | West Seattle news

The West Seattle Food Bank is up to 300 of the 500 turkeys it needs for the holiday season. It’s just added another chance for you to help close the gap. From WSFB’s Judi Yazzolino:

We will be holding a last-minute Turkey Drive tomorrow at the West Seattle Food Bank, from 1 pm to 4 pm. Drop off your turkey/donation and get a tour of our facility from our Executive Director or Operation Managers. In addition to turkeys, we also need stuffing.

We’ll also be at the Junction True Value Christmas Open House, Saturday from 10 am – 2 pm greeting holiday shoppers and selling raffle tickets for $5. You have a chance to win wine tasting for 10 at Viscon Cellars on California Ave. with appetizers paired for the wine by The Bridge. Thank you to both of them for donating. See you on Saturday.

WSFB HQ is on the southeast corner of 35th/Morgan – donors can pull into the garage from Morgan just east of 35th. JTV (a WSB sponsor) is at 44th/Edmunds.

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Crime Watch: SPD goes public with SeaStat trends, data, including current West Seattle burglary hotspot

November 21, 2014 5:46 pm

| 16 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Just made public by Seattle Police – the SeaStat crime data that top brass has been reviewing regularly. Until now, as we have mentioned to SPD several times, precinct-level data hasn’t been updated publicly on the department website since the April stats. Here’s the citywide SeaStat slide deck presented Wednesday – and here are Southwest Precinct toplines we’ve noted while going through it:

That’s the main West Seattle trend called out in the November 19th stats – six burglaries in 10 days in an area including parts of Gatewood, Sunrise Heights, and Upper Fauntleroy. The slide deck also includes year-to-date stats for major crimes; all categories are down except auto theft (up 12 percent, less than a third of the citywide percentage increase), aggravated assault (up 1%), and (added) rape, which has more than doubled, from 4 to 10:

Note that the Southwest Precinct serves South Park as well as West Seattle; the July homicide on the slide above, only one this year in the precinct, was a double murder in South Park, in which a 45-year-old man was charged with killing his mother and stepfather. West Seattle’s most recent murder was the still-unsolved killing of Stephen Jeffries, Jr., less than an hour before the end of 2013.

This edition of SeaStat also calls out auto-theft and shots-fired trends around the city; for the latter, 31 so far this year, down from 35 last year. Again, here’s the full slide deck from last Wednesday’s citywide briefing, including the SW Precinct toplines we pulled out.

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West Seattle salmon: Help Puget Soundkeeper scout, and save, Longfellow Creek coho

November 21, 2014 3:04 pm

| Comments Off on West Seattle salmon: Help Puget Soundkeeper scout, and save, Longfellow Creek coho

| Delridge | West Seattle news | Wildlife

(Photos by Torin Record-Sand for WSB, unless otherwise credited)
Tomorrow morning, you’re invited to join Puget Soundkeeper Alliance for a walk along Longfellow Creek in North Delridge, as the group continues to investigate the health of local salmon. We got a preview by joining Kathryn Davis and Michelle Piñon from Soundkeeper on Wednesday as they were joined by Elissa Ostergaard, a creek steward from South King County.

As WSB readers had reported earlier this month, they say they’ve seen many coho in the creek. We didn’t see any live fish on Wednesday, perhaps because of the semi-long dry spell (now over), but we did learn what you can find out from a dead fish, once one was spotted:

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Followup: Driver found guilty of assault for hitting bike rider in North Delridge

November 21, 2014 12:55 pm

| 36 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

More than a year after a charge was filed, there’s a verdict in the case of a woman charged with assault for deliberately driving her car into a co-chair of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council. According to court files, King County Superior Court jury has found 38-year-old Erika Soerensen guilty of second-degree assault against 33-year-old Jake Vanderplas. After two days of deliberations, jurors reached the verdict this past Wednesday, two weeks after proceedings began with pre-trial motions.

The assault happened near 26th SW/SW Andover on July 8, 2013, and first came to light later that day in a letter by Vanderplas, sent to and published by Seattle Bike Blog later that day. Police found Soerensen six days later, slowed by the fact it had a California plate but had been sold to her a few months earlier; prosecutors charged her in October with second-degree assault, of which she has now been found guilty.

The investigation indicated that Soerensen had first passed Vanderplas “at a high rate of speed” while northbound on 26th SW, a neighborhood-greenway street; he then passed her, and after following him at 20 mph for several blocks, repeatedly honking her horn, she swerved into Vanderplas, who suffered a hand injury, and then she drove away; police tracked her down about a week later. As noted in charging documents, her 2002 Nissan Sentra “has a curb weight of 2,519 pounds” while Vanderplas’s 2007 Schwinn LeTour bicycle weighs about 30 pounds.

Her sentencing is set for January 9th, in the courtroom of Judge Regina Cahan, who presided over the trial. The standard range for that crime is three to nine months’ imprisonment.

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Cassis: Welcoming the bistro on Alki as a new WSB sponsor

November 21, 2014 12:01 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Today we’re welcoming one of our newest WSB sponsors, Cassis, the bistro at 2820 Alki Avenue SW. Here’s what proprietor Jef Fike wants you to know:

The summer crowds are gone from the beach and we’re anxious to meet our new neighbors!

Cassis Bistro was open for 7 years on Capitol Hill and was a top ten restaurant in Seattle during that time. We have re-located to West Seattle and we love our new community.

Our food is anchored in French traditional bistro fare. It’s not fussy or precious. It’s just delicious, hearty, and comforting with lots of classics. Our menus change monthly to reflect the seasons and the local, fresh ingredients so readily available in Seattle. We work with small farmers and are committed to organic, grass-fed, non-processed ingredients. We have a great happy hour as well as wine specials on Mondays and Wednesdays beginning in December. We will also be doing Sunday suppers beginning in December.

Sign up for our monthly newsletter at jef@cassisalki.com and like our Facebook page, Cassis. You can also follow us on Instagram at cassis_alki.

See you at the beach!

We thank Cassis 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.

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Followup: Bridge backup from hour-and-a-half tow-truck wait = Case of ‘confusion’

November 21, 2014 10:51 am

| 16 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news

10:51 AM: Remember last week’s high-bridge backup, involving a lane blocked by a crash-damaged car that didn’t get towed for an hour and a half?

(Our screengrab from just before the tow truck arrived – note the police car toward the right)
City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has just published his tale of trying to sort out how that happened, and the bottom line is:

SPD told him they thought they are legally at the mercy of whatever the driver wanted to do about getting towed.

But – the City Attorney told Rasmussen – they weren’t.

So, Rasmussen writes, SPD Chief Kathleen O’Toole promises she will “have officers trained to eliminate the confusion.”

You can go here to read what he went through to find this out (including the behind-the-scenes timeline of last week’s incident, which largely matches what we had reported, including a mention at one point of a possible 2-hour tow-truck wait).

P.S. Rasmussen adds that an even-longer delay from earlier this year – remember the 4-mile, 5-hour Highway 99 closure in June? – will get a review in the council Transportation Committee, which he chairs, at 9:30 am December 5th, along with “SDOT and SPD’s new emergency incident response plan for these types of major closures.” (You can read the “after-action report” about that incident here.)

ADDED 10:39 PM: Councilmember Rasmussen shares this forwarded e-mail sent department-wide by Chief O’Toole tonight:

From: O’Toole, Kathleen
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 5:33 PM
Subject: Impeding Traffic

The ability to move vehicles and people about the city can be seriously impeded by a single blocking vehicle. During a recent incident on the West Seattle Bridge, traffic was unnecessarily delayed for hours pending the arrival of a tow truck. Officers should know that a vehicle may be impounded WITHOUT prior notice if “the vehicle is impeding or is likely to impede the normal flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic.” (SMC 11.30.040) If an owner’s selected tow company is not able to respond in a timely manner, the officer should request an impound via Communications to have the impeding vehicle removed from the scene promptly.
(http://www.seattle.gov/police/publications/manual/06_120_impounding_Vehicles.html)

If disabled vehicles are not impeding the flow of pedestrian or vehicle traffic, owners may request tow companies of their choice.

Kathleen M. O’Toole
Chief of Police

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West Seattle Friday: Wine; movies; music; theater; school benefits

November 21, 2014 10:01 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Varied thrush, photographed in Lincoln Park by Trileigh Tucker)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar for today/tonight:

BOOKFAIR TODAY/TONIGHT TO BENEFIT ROXHILL ELEMENTARY: As explained here earlier this week, all day, a percentage of purchases at Barnes/Noble (in store or online) will go to Roxhill Elementary if you mention it’s their Bookfair day (see the voucher # in our story) – plus, special in-store readings at the Westwood Village store tonight. (2600 SW Barton)

FALL WINE RELEASE … at the Northwest Wine Academy on the north end of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus, including complimentary tastings. Second of three days, 2-7 pm – more info in our calendar listing. (6000 16th SW)

JAZZ AT SALTY’S: Tonight’s music slate starts at 5 pm at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor) with the New Orleans jazz sounds of the Dave Holo Trio. (1936 Harbor SW)

MORE MUSIC TONIGHT … various venues, go directly to the calendar!

REACHING FOR THE STARS: West Seattle High School‘s annual auction is tonight at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) – see our calendar listing for details – 5:30-8:30 pm. (6000 16th SW)

HPIC MOVIE NIGHT – SPECIAL EARLY START! This time around at Highland Park Improvement Club, doors open at 6, kids’ short film (think Peanuts and Thanksgiving!) at 6:15, main feature at 7 (see our calendar listing for description). Movie’s free, chairs available (or BYO pillows/blankets), concessions available for purchase. (12th/Holden)

‘DOGFIGHT’ AT ARTSWEST: 7:30 pm, this “romantic and heartbreaking story,” a musical based on a 1991 film, continues at ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) in The Junction – final weekend! (4711 California SW)

‘GATHERING BONES’: Performance at Twilight Gallery in The Junction, 8 pm (doors open at 7), details in our calendar listing – check to see if tickets are still available, as space is limited. (4306 SW Alaska)

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Holiday giving: Turkey drive this Sunday and other ways to help White Center Food Bank (which serves part of West Seattle too)

November 21, 2014 9:04 am

| 1 COMMENT

| How to help | West Seattle news

It’s time for our seasonal reminder … did you know that West Seattle is served not only by the WS Food Bank but also by the White Center Food Bank, whose “official” territory begins at SW Myrtle? We mention this so you can be sure to include BOTH in your holiday giving. We’ve been mentioning WSFB donation drives, and now we have some WCFB info too:

TURKEY DRIVE THIS SUNDAY: 9 am-noon at Fauntleroy Church (9140 California SW), drop by with a turkey – White Center Food Bank executive director Rick Jump (at right, file photo from 2011 holidays) will have a refrigerated truck onsite so you can drop by with a frozen turkey and know that it will get to a WCFB client before Thanksgiving.

IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT TO FAUNTLEROY ON SUNDAY, STOP BY WCFB ON SATURDAY: For holiday food donations, the food bank has added extra dropoff hours at its HQ this Saturday, 11 am-2 pm – 10829 8th SW (map).

OR, DONATE FOOD DURING REGULAR HOURS: 9 am-5 pm Mondays-Fridays, you are welcome to stop by that same address with food donations. (Or a check! Speaking of which …)

DONATE MONEY: Most of the time, food banks can buy more with your dollar than what you can get for it at a supermarket. (Turkeys, we’re told, are the rare exception, given the Thanksgiving-season prices.) Here’s the “donate” page on the WCFB website.

P.S. WC Food Bank development director Kristina Dahl says food/financial donations at Roxbury Safeway (as part of Northwest Harvest’s “Hometown Harvest”) benefit WCFB. Ask for her if you stop by WCFB HQ weekdays, and she’d be happy to give you a tour!

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Rainy Friday; weekend preview

November 21, 2014 7:02 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
So far this morning, the rain is the biggest factor affecting everyone heading out for the day:

If you're just waking up, we've got wet roads and some slow commutes. Give yourself extra time if you can and be safe out there!

— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) November 21, 2014

WEEKEND NOTES: Here’s the citywide weekend advisory from SDOT.

8:08 AM: As you can see on the top left camera, there’s a stalled vehicle on the ramp – Justina sent first word via Twitter, that it’s up the eastbound ramp “from Luna Park.”

8:22 AM: Camera shows police have now arrived behind the stalled SUV.

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