(WSB photo: Shari Sewell at NWH&H’s 2014 Alki Beach 5K)

West Seattleite Shari Sewell has announced she’s leaving Northwest Hope and Healing – which helps breast-cancer patients cope with the challenges of life going on despite their diagnosis. She’s been with the organization 12 years and says, “The Foundation is in great shape, so I figured I’d leave on a high note. I’m looking forward to some time off to relax and figure out what’s next.” Here’s how the organization announced the news, including word of who will succeed Shari:

After 12 years with NW Hope & Healing, Shari Sewell, our talented Executive Director, will be stepping away from her role as Executive Director and from daily operations at NW Hope & Healing. Shari’s passion for assisting breast cancer and gynecology patients will endure in the years to come as a supporter of the NWHH mission. Shari will continue in her role through early December. We are so thankful for Shari’s time and energy developing NW Hope & Healing into a thriving foundation that touches lives on a daily basis.

Shari has put her heart and soul into this organization, but she’s ready to hand the reins to a new leader and take a well-deserved break. Kristina Dahl will take over as ED in December. Kristina looks forward to building upon NWHH’s solid foundation so that, together, we can assist more women than ever before.

Shari says, “I’m proud of what we’ve done and they way we’ve done it. I’ve exceeded my goals for the organization so it’s time for me to focus on the next chapter of my life. NW Hope & Healing is on solid ground and I’m excited to see where it goes.”.

The Board of Directors is grateful for her devotion, leadership, and commitment to the organization. Shari has been a vital force behind our Healing Programs, which have reached 10,000 women in the last 15 years, to help them get back on track financially while they deal with the physical and emotional effects of breast cancer. Please join us at our wine tasting at the Georgetown Ballroom on November 18th as we raise a glass to thank Shari, toast to her success and celebrate new beginnings.

If NWH&H has not directly touched your life or that of someone in your family, you might still have been part of their work by running or walking in the summertime Alki Beach 5K Run/Walk – here’s our coverage of this year’s event; Shari’s successor Kristina spoke at the 2013 Alki Beach 5K. NWH&H also presents other benefits/celebrations including the annual “Style” fashion show (next one April 28, 2016).

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Car stolen from apartment garage; burglary; (stolen?) bicycle & toolbox found…

November 9, 2015 8:12 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Five reader reports tonight in West Seattle Crime Watch:

CAR STOLEN FROM APARTMENT GARAGE: Robert hopes you will be on the lookout for his car:

My car was stolen Sunday morning at around 9 am from 4730 California Ave SW. I’ve already filed a police report, etc. I’m hoping to get readers to keep their eyes open. It’s a blue 2012 Mazda3 hatchback. License plate WA – AHJ1794

He says it was taken from inside the garage, and he’s working with management to check for surveillance video.

BURGLARY: From Delaney in Arbor Heights:

We had a break-in last week (Thursday, November 5). Because over $500 worth of goods was stolen and someone illegally entered our property, it was classified by the SPD as a felony burglary. Someone climbed in our bedroom window while we were at work and stole about $2,000 worth of small electronics and jewelry, as well as a backpack to fit it all in and transport back to their den of thieves. Nothing else was broken or damaged.

She adds, “We have a GIANT privacy hedge which I’m sure made it that much easier for them.” (That indeed is the type of thing discouraged by CPTED – Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design – principles – follow the link for tips.)

ANYBODY MISSING THIS BIKE? Melissa spotted this “Magna mountain bike” on Cambridge between 20th and 21st Ave SW:

ANYBODY MISSING THIS TOOL BOX? Jake says his wife found it in a planting strip near their Gatewood home, “presumably dumped judging by the damage. Hoping to reunite it with the rightful owner. Holding on to it for now, I plan to drop it at the local precinct if no response.”

You can reach him at jake.daniel@gmail.com. By the way, we checked with Robert, the teacher who lost many items in a recent car prowl, including a tool tote. This is NOT his. But even more of his stuff has turned up – some of his teaching materials were found by another WSB reader, so he has them back! Wherever you are, please watch out for stuff that might have been dumped by thieves, and let us know so we can get the word out there.

PHONE SCAM ALERT REMINDER: From Carol: “Just wanted to give a heads-up that in the last 2 days, we’ve had 3 phone calls on our land line telling us that we are being sued by the IRS and that we should phone back immediately for help. I know this is a SCAM and just wondered if anyone else in West Seattle is also getting phoned?” This scam can take many forms, as reported here back in February.

CASE UPDATE: The man arrested in connection with Sunday morning’s West Seattle mugging, found in a Fiat stolen in a Saturday night carjacking on Queen Anne, wasn’t booked into jail until this afternoon, after a short hospital stay. So he won’t have a bail hearing until tomorrow.

If you have Crime Watch information to share – once it’s been reported to police! – e-mail us at editor@westseattleblog.com – if it’s breaking news (big police response somewhere RIGHT NOW, etc.), text/voice-call us 24/7 at 206-293-6302 – thank you!

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FOLLOWUP: E. coli source still not identified in Chipotle-linked illness investigation

November 9, 2015 6:14 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Health | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

MONDAY, 6:14 PM: Though the West Seattle Chipotle restaurant is *not* one of the ten linked to patients in the Pacific Northwest E. coli outbreak, it and the chain’s 42 other restaurants in Washington and Oregon remain closed. But both the state Health Department and Chipotle ownership are indicating they’re moving toward reopening. Today was the 10th full day of closure for most of those restaurants, including the one in The Junction, and the state has continued to provide daily updates: As of this afternoon’s update, 27 cases have been confirmed in Washington, including 10 people who were hospitalized, none of whom ate at a Chipotle any more recently than October 24th. The update also says the first round of test results from Chipotle food samples has not turned up any E. coli, so they haven’t linked it to any particular food yet. The chain has its own page detailing what it’s been doing in the meantime, but says it doesn’t know when it will get health authorities’ permission to reopen. (WSB photo: Sign that’s been up on Chipotle’s door in The Junction since October 31st)

TUESDAY, 10:55 AM: Chipotle says it will reopen the restaurants, this one included, “in the coming days.” We’ll be checking daily on the West Seattle location, which opened two months ago today. (As of just after 11 am Tuesday, its regular opening time, it was still closed.)

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ELECTION UPDATE: Braddock still leads Herbold in City Council District 1

November 9, 2015 4:14 pm

| 11 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

The newest round of election results is out – and Shannon Braddock is still ahead of Lisa Herbold in the City Council District 1 race, though now by fewer than 100 votes:

Braddock – 49.99% – 11125 votes
Herbold – 49.57% – 11030 votes

(For comparison, here’s the final count from last week.) Next count, 4:30 pm tomorrow. The county’s full results list says 24,699 ballots have been counted in the District 1 race, and its most recent ballot-return statistics say 27,512 ballots were ready to count from this district, which suggests more than 2,800 ballots are yet to be counted.

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Westwood ‘transit center’ lighting, sidewalk improvements delayed until next year, Metro says

November 9, 2015 3:40 pm

| 9 COMMENTS

| Safety | West Seattle news | Westwood

(WSB file photo: ‘Wall of buses’ along Roxhill Park, across from Westwood Village)
It’s been two years since the Westwood-Roxhill Community Council started seeking safety improvements along the Roxhill Park section of the Westwood-area “transit center” – particularly lighting. We’ve covered walking tours of the area going back to the end of 2013, where WWRHAH leaders including co-chair Amanda Kay Helmick pointed out the safety issues. In January of this year, Metro told WWRHAH that they had procured a $170,000 county grant for lighting and ADA sidewalk upgrades to the area – but it hasn’t happened yet, so Helmick just followed up again, with various people in the loop, including King County Executive Dow Constantine‘s transportation adviser Chris Arkills, who investigated and then forwarded this update from Metro’s Paul Roybal:

Thank you for your inquiry about the status of King County Metro’s project to construct sidewalk and lighting improvements at the Westwood Village C Line Terminal. Over the past several months, Metro’s preliminary design work has included:

· coordination with the City of Seattle to address technical design issues,
· completion of federal environmental review requirements, and
· identification of City of Seattle permitting requirements.

Certain project elements, including the lighting improvements, trigger requirements of the City of Seattle Street Improvement Permit process. This process requires additional coordination with various City departments, and is typically completed in a three- to six-month time frame. Concurrently, Metro is actively working with the City of Seattle to identify options to reduce the construction duration once permitting is complete. Metro’s design team now estimates that construction will be complete in mid-2016.

Some of the other problems pointed out by WWRHAH in the 2013 walking tour have already been addressed.

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UTILITY-WORK ALERT: About the work on Beach Drive

November 9, 2015 2:08 pm

| Comments Off on UTILITY-WORK ALERT: About the work on Beach Drive

| Utilities | West Seattle news

If you’ve noticed work on, and just off, Beach Drive just south of Constellation Park – here’s what’s going on. From the King County Wastewater Treatment District:

Construction has begun across the street from King County’s 63rd Avenue Pump Station. The pump station is located on the waterfront at the intersection of Beach Dr. Southwest, Southwest Spokane Street, and 63rd Ave. Southwest, in West Seattle.

The work will include upgrading the existing connections from three private homes to the county’s pipeline.
What to expect:
· The sidewalks in front of the three homes will not be passable while the work is ongoing.
· There should only be minimal impact to traffic.
· All work will be done from 8:00am to 5:00pm M-F.
· The work is expected to take up to 2 weeks.

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FOLLOWUP: 14 oiled birds rescued at White Center spill scene; investigation continues

November 9, 2015 11:37 am

| 8 COMMENTS

| Environment | West Seattle news | Wildlife

(WSB photo from Sunday)

On the third day of cleanup at an oil-contaminated White Center stormwater-retention pond, we’ve just obtained the newest information from state Ecology Department spokesperson Larry Altose:

Workers made progress on Saturday and Sunday, rescuing oiled waterfowl and removing oil from the pond near 13th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 100th Street in unincorporated King County.

The Washington Department of Ecology is coordinating the response, in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks. Ecology has hired a spill response contractor and a wildlife rescue organization for the cleanup.

The spilled material appears to be about 50 to 100 gallons cooking oil that entered the pond via the county stormwater drainage system. County and Ecology staff have been tracing storm drains to search for the source of the spill. No additional oil has entered the lake since a citizen first reported the spill late Friday afternoon.

Cooking and other edible oils, while less toxic to wildlife, still cause environmental harm. When birds contact the oil it coats the feathers so that the animals lose insulation and buoyancy. Oil damages habitat for other aquatic life, reducing oxygen levels and creating physical impacts on the water surface and shoreline.

Crews from Focus Wildlife International have captured 14 oiled birds, four mallard ducks and 10 Canada geese. The birds received initial treatment near the scene in the organization’s special trailer. They were transported for further treatment at the Progressive Animal Welfare Society’s Wildlife Rescue Center in Lynnwood.

Workers hope to capture approximately 20 other oiled birds, some of which have flown to other ponds, lakes or fields in the area. No wildlife deaths have been reported.

Meanwhile, other workers continue to tend oil spill cleanup materials placed in the pond to collect the oil, which has spread into a slick over much of the surface. Crews succeeded in preventing oil from draining out of the pond, which flows into nearby Hicklin Lake.

The cleanup has reduced the amount of oil seen on the pond over the past two days. Ecology’s contractor will measure the amount of oil recovered in cleanup materials to better determine the size of the spill.

The on-site response effort, which involved 25 people on Saturday and 18 on Sunday, continues to step down to about 9 responders today.

Our first report, on Saturday, is here; our Sunday followup is here. As we’ve noted previously, this county-owned area of unincorporated King County had already been the subject of extensive cleanup efforts – focused on the land, rather than the water, because of problems with encampments and drug use during the non-rainy months – here’s a report from last month, published on our partner site White Center Now.

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West Seattle Monday: Books, bikes, Tilden School open house…

November 9, 2015 10:03 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Seagull and snack, photographed at Alki by Matt Olson)

Welcome to the brand-new week! Busier-than-usual Monday – here are the highlights, primarily from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

NEXT ROUND OF ELECTION RESULTS: Around 4:30 pm – often earlier – King County releases the next vote count, which includes an update on the too-close-to-call City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) race. Watch for it here (and here on WSB, too).

PHYSICAL THERAPY NIGHT: 5:30-7 pm at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), “complimentary individual assessment with Lora Clothier, owner of Biojunction Therapy.” (2753 California SW)

TILDEN SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: 6-8 pm, interested parents are welcome to come see Tilden School (independent K-5 education; WSB sponsor) and meet its staff. (4105 California SW)

NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: Second Monday, so it’s the regular monthly meeting night for the NDNC, 6:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. (4408 Delridge Way SW)

WEST SEATTLE BIKE CONNECTIONS: Special night this month – 6:30 pm tonight at HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) in The Junction, help WSBC look ahead to 2016 priorities. (41st SW & SW Alaska)

EVENING BOOK GROUPS: Two tonight at local libraries – 6:45 pm at Southwest Library (35th SW & SW Henderson), the group will be reading “The Imperfectionists” by Tom Rachman; 6:45 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library (2306 42nd SW), the group will be reading “Kafka on the Shore” by Haruki Murakami.

CHECK OUR COMPLETE CALENDAR for even more of what’s up today, tonight, and beyond.

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FOLLOWUP: Fauntleroy Creek salmon watch ends with declaration of coho no-show

November 9, 2015 8:59 am

| Comments Off on FOLLOWUP: Fauntleroy Creek salmon watch ends with declaration of coho no-show

| Fauntleroy | West Seattle news | Wildlife

Just in from Fauntleroy Creek steward Judy Pickens:

(Photo courtesy Nathan Franck)
On Oct. 21, science students from Our Lady of Guadalupe School sampled Fauntleroy Creek for aquatic insects to understand how much food is available to salmon fry and how clean the water is. The insects in the lower creek will have another year to grow because the salmon watch closed today with no fish. That means the lower creek will have no “home hatch” of hungry fry this winter. Very few coho made it back to Puget Sound this fall from the Pacific.

Volunteers have been keeping watch for three weeks, since just after this year’s drumming/singing/welcoming gathering. The spawner turnout has varied wildly in the 20-plus years since restoration work made Fauntleroy a salmon creek again. Last year, 19 were counted; the year before, none; the year before that – 2012 – set a record with 274. West Seattle’s other salmon creek, Longfellow, has no formal count, but we’ve had several reports of sightings.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Monday alerts & updates; missed bus trip, alert-less

November 9, 2015 7:14 am

| 24 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(Six WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:14 AM: No major incidents on the routes through/from West Seattle right now, but if you use 4th Avenue to get into downtown, be advised there’s a crash at Royal Brougham Way – SDOT says it’s on the southbound side, but that still could cause some slow going until it’s cleared.

ALERTS: Morgan Junction sidewalk work is set to continue today – here’s our coverage from Thursday, when it began; right now crews are on the north end of the block, west side of California, just south of Fauntleroy, but the businesses ARE open – and the ones in this building all have access from the lot behind the building … Thanks to the texter who told us about weekend work that closed 21st SW near Sanislo Elementary; we’re checking on its status today.

7:57 AM: The 4th Ave. crash is cleared. Still no other incidents reported along WS commuters’ main routes.

8:17 AM: In comments, we have two reports of Route 57 missing a trip. No text or tweet alerts from Metro in this area so far this morning. And this is also from a Route 57 rider, via Twitter:

@westseattleblog @kcmetrobus – group is standing at the 49th and Charlestown stop with no bus and no alert

— Nancy Wright (@NEW_Seattle) November 9, 2015

Also tweeted, C Line trouble – no bus at 7:45, says Nate, and then:

@kcmetrobus @westseattleblog A bus finally got here… and it's full… 50 ppl still waiting at Junction. Didn't take a single rider.

— Nate (@GnaytJohnson) November 9, 2015

Metro had acknowledged when we visited the local “bases” for this story that not all missed trips were resulting in alerts. So please keep letting us know what you’re experiencing, so we can keep track for followups – on weekdays, commenting here on the daily traffic/transit story is ideal, but you can also e-mail us at editor@westseattleblog.com.

12:33 PM: Metro explains via Twitter:

@westseattleblog @MikeLindblom Sorry. A #57 trip canceled for no operator, then partially filled, but didn't learn until too late for alert.

— King County Metro (@kcmetrobus) November 9, 2015

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