day : 16/03/2016 13 results

BASEBALL: West Seattle HS season-opener

March 16, 2016 10:39 pm

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| West Seattle news | WS & Sports

Our second report on the start of high-school-baseball season: Close game for West Seattle High School, opening the season with an extra-inning loss this afternoon at Hiawatha, vs. Highline. The photo and report are from Caryn Johnson:

Wednesday afternoon officially opened the West Seattle High School Baseball season. It was a beautiful, but cold afternoon for baseball. Jamie Maples (#6 – photo above) started on the mound for Westside, pitching three innings. The Wildcats got off to a slow start, falling behind until the bottom of the 6th inning, where they took advantage of some costly errors by the Pirates, scoring 3 runs to go up heading into the last inning. Yet, in the end, errors on the West Seattle side let Highline back into the game, pushing it into extra innings.

In the end, the Wildcats fell just short, losing 8-7 in eight innings.

The next game is scheduled on Friday at 3:30 against Rainier Beach at Hiawatha Playfield.

See the full season schedule here.

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BASEBALL: Chief Sealth’s season-opening win

March 16, 2016 9:55 pm

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| West Seattle news | WS & Sports

First of two high-school-baseball reports: Chief Sealth International High School opened the season today with a 3-0 win on the road against Tyee HS in SeaTac. Head coach Ernest Policarpio (who is also Sealth’s athletic director) sent the box score – Sealth pitcher Nik Turcinec got the win, 7 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts. Offensive star was Jonathan Pashby, who went 2 for 2, with 2 RBIs, 1 run, 1 walk. Next up, the Seahawks play Ingraham at 4 pm Friday at the Northwest Athletic Complex; see the full schedule here.

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PHOTOS: Fauntleroy Food Fest 2016

March 16, 2016 8:59 pm

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| Fauntleroy | West Seattle news

Get to know more of your West Seattle neighbors’ smiling faces:

The Hall at Fauntleroy was filled with community members and community spirit on Tuesday night during the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s annual Food Fest membership meeting. The local food-and-drink participants are of course a big draw – Nate and Pedro were there from Endolyne Joe’s (WSB sponsor):

Donna Lawson from Stuffed Cakes, too:

Will and Georgia from Giannoni’s Pizzeria:

Also there, Tuxedoes and Tennis Shoes from DSquared (the new brand for the many-layered food business that began at The Hall), Bird on a Wire, Original Bakery, Unsweetened Tooth, Daystar, The Kenney.

FCA’s new slate of leaders paused for a photo:

Mike Lantz-Dey continues as president. Departing board members were Gordon Wiehler and Debbie Kerns (who will, however, continue coordinating the Fauntleroy Fall Festival):

Other community groups/organizations included the Seattle Nature Alliance:

Rebecca and Mark represented. Also there, Fauntleroy Creek steward (among other community roles) Judy Pickens and Fauntleroy UCC pastor Rev. Leah Bilinski:

Other organizations represented included the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor), Seal Sitters, The Whale Trail, RainWise, South Seattle College (WSB sponsor), Morgan Community Association, ArtsWest, and the city Department of Neighborhoods, represented by neighborhood district coordinators Kerry Wade and Jenny Frankl:

Plus SPD, which brought the Mobile Precinct:

That’s Community Police Team Officer Clayton Powell inside. Inside, we caught him on camera with Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith and Seattle University research assistant Jennifer Burbridge, who’s been working with the precinct on neighborhood issues for many months now:

From here – get more involved with your community council! If Fauntleroy is the neighborhood where you live or work, check out FCA meetings on second Tuesdays, 7 pm, at historic Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW) – watch fauntleroy.net in the meantime for updates.

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Explore your creativity with new Nature Consortium EcoARTs classes

March 16, 2016 7:31 pm

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| West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

West Seattle-headquartered Nature Consortium‘s mission is two-fold – involving both nature and the arts. And this year, it’s offering something new, and sponsoring WSB to get the word out: Two new six-week EcoARTs series of art classes for adults – Painting Techniques in Acrylics and Watercolors, for all skill levels, one hour for six consecutive Wednesdays, supplies included. Sign up here. Or, sign up to explore Mosaic Art – no experience necessary for this six-week series of one-hour classes either – register here. Both classes are taught by professional artists and start in late March.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Hit-and-run ‘tree trimmer’; plus, twice-prowled truck

March 16, 2016 4:18 pm

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| Crime | West Seattle news

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports today. The first one, a tale of hit-and run from Tim McConnell:

Last night around 12:40, on the corner of Hanford and Belvidere, someone decided to remove the speed limit sign that was in the parking strip in front of our house. They also decided to trim our trees and some of our shrubs. The problem is, we didn’t ask them to, and they did it with their car.

After I picked up a bunch of the car parts they left behind, obviously as a way to pay us for our damaged landscaping, I did some research on those parts, and learned they used a dark blue 1999-2002 Land Rover. Now, me personally, would have just used a regular shovel and hedge trimmers, but I guess they were pressed for time and figured one quick pass through our yard at high speed should do they trick. It was effective, as the sign was taken completely out of the ground, concrete post and all. The tree trimming was less than professional, as they removed the top of one tree and just pushed over the other. The second tree had already been trimmed that way by a previous “auto landscaper” and somehow survived. This time, I am not so sure I can revive it.

As my wife and I work every day (yes, every day – our last day off was Jan 1st, our next will be Easter – small business owners), we do not have the time, nor the resources, to replace our damaged plants. We would really like it if the vehicles owner (or the person they let drive it) would come fix the damage they caused. If they could come replant what they destroyed and pick up all the plastic and glad they left, we would really appreciate it. We love our yard, but we don’t have the time to spend on it like we used to.

We would also like to find out of anyone has a few big rocks they would like to get rid of. We have a couple of spots in our yard where trees used to be that could use a more sturdy landscape material. One that can’t be “trimmed or moved” by late night, high speed, amateur yard maintenance.

The car should be easy to spot – it’s most likely a 1999-2002 dark blue Land Rover Discovery, or possibly a Range Rover, with massive damage to the passenger side front end. It is definitely missing a headlamp and fog light, and the trim for the fog light, as well as the plastic quarter panel around the wheel well, and a mud guard. If you are the owner or know the owner, please contact us through the Blog.

The “small business” he mentioned is West Seattle Runner, a longtime WSB sponsor, owned by Tim and wife Lori McConnell.

Also today:

HIT BY CAR PROWLER(S) TWICE: Sheryl reports, “In the last two weeks, my husband’s Chevrolet Silverado has been broken into twice. He typically parks on California Ave between Manning & Spokane streets (3600 block). While nothing of value has been taken, and they were kind enough not to break the windows, I wanted to let others in the neighborhood know so they could be vigilant and not leave valuables in their cars. ” Car prowling remains a top West Seattle crime issue, as reiterated at last night’s WS Crime Prevention Council meeting.

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Public land, unauthorized private use? City Council briefing tomorrow on ‘park-encroachment removal’

March 16, 2016 1:53 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

That’s the presentation that will be shown to the City Council’s Parks, Seattle Center, Libraries & Waterfront Committee tomorrow morning, as two Parks and Recreation managers brief councilmembers on what they’re doing about encroachment – people who live next to Parks property and are encroaching on it in myriad ways, maybe something as simple as throwing yard debris over the line, maybe something larger like having a fence or a hedge that’s all or part on city land.

With so much Parks property in West Seattle, this could be a major issue, so we checked with Donald Harris, one of the Parks managers who will be at tomorrow’s meeting. He says this is something they heard from citizens on the advisory committee that put together the Park District levy approved by voters in 2014 – appreciation for acquisition but also, concern that the city isn’t fully using/appreciating what it already owns, so the levy included “encroachment removal” funding.

You’ll notice if you go through the slide deck above (or here) that the only West Seattle park mentioned is Schmitz Preserve Park. We asked Harris if that means they’re focusing on something major involving that park; he said no, but they will be looking at its boundary to see what’s happening around it. “We’re pretty methodical – we go out and do a survey to be sure we know where the boundary is.”

Overall, he said, the department “is looking to be a little more diligent in protecting the boundaries of parks where there are neighbors who might not have understood where the line is and gone over it.” If you’re interested in the topic, the briefing is scheduled during the committee’s 9:30 am Thursday meeting at City Hall; it’ll be live on Seattle Channel, seattlechannel.org or cable channel 21.

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Gunfire theory, car-prowl hotspots, how many crashes = too many … all @ West Seattle Crime Prevention Council

March 16, 2016 12:01 pm

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| Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Council | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Car prowls are still “the issue of the day” for West Seattle crime, Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis told the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council last night.

His regular briefing was one of two focuses at the meeting – the other one was pedestrian/traffic safety. More on that later in the story, but first, the crime briefing:

Hotspots right now include Westwood and south Highland Park, as well as South Park, and on a citywide basis, this category of crimes was set to be the focus of SPD’s twice-monthly Seastat meeting today.

Capt. Davis also reiterated the importance of reporting those crimes in particular, even if nothing was taken, so they have accurate records – SPD is pointing citizens at its Dashboard to check community-crime stats, but those stats won’t be accurate if people don’t report them.

And he mentioned what we had reported here earlier in the evening – two arrests following two robberies earlier in the day, targeting students. The suspects were arrested near 9th and Henderson in Highland Park, though the robberies happened elsewhere; items stolen from the victims were recovered, he said.

Also discussed: Shots-fired calls. “We are pretty aware of who we’re looking at,” Capt. Davis said, while stressing that doesn’t guarantee arrests – evidence and timing play into it, too. When an attendee asked for more info, he elaborated, “We have a group of individuals out there that are gang affiliated and when they find a target, they want to shoot at that target – we found a nexus between what’s happening in West Seattle and what’s happening in SE Seattle, in Rainier Valley, we have two groups that are going at it. … Usually when you have a spike in that kind of activity, there’s something behind it.”

So is there anything that can be done besides reporting it? asked the attendee.

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Kathy Crotts Real Estate: Welcoming a new West Seattle Blog sponsor

March 16, 2016 10:48 am

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| West Seattle housing | West Seattle news

Buying and/or selling real estate? This morning we’re welcoming a new sponsor, Kathy Crotts Real Estate; new sponsors are offered the chance to introduce themselves, and here’s what they’d like you to know:

The Kathy Crotts Real Estate team is excited to be a new sponsor on the West Seattle Blog. Our team is the dynamic duo of Kathy Crotts and Tatum Spalding, bringing together more than 25 years of real estate sales and marketing experience in the greater Seattle area.

From Arbor Heights to Admiral, Kathy Crotts Real Estate has been guiding clients through the ins-and-outs of today’s real-estate market. We’ve weathered the ups and the downs of real estate and set clear strategies for our buyers and sellers alike. Our clients become more like family, and that’s who matters most to us.

Kathy Crotts is a lifelong Seattle-area resident who is looking to make West Seattle her permanent home. Tatum Spalding enjoyed 2 years on Beach Drive before purchasing in the Fairmount neighborhood, where she’s been for nearly 10 years now. Both love the quality and pace of life West Seattle provides, and look forward to helping you navigate the West Seattle real-estate market.

Read more about Kathy and Tatum at www.kathycrotts.com.

kathy@kathycrotts.com / tatum@tatumspalding.com
425.531.0470 – 206.859.0442

We thank Kathy Crotts Real Estate 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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West Seattle Wednesday: ‘We Love The Junction’; Delridge District Council; poetry @ WordsWest; more…

March 16, 2016 9:49 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Hamm and Campbell Buildings in The Junction, 1926, subject of tonight’s ‘Town Hall.’ Photo courtesy SWSHS)
Many ways to spend the rest of your Wednesday in West Seattle! Highlights include:

BABY STORY TIME: Three story times are on our calendar for this morning, including Baby Story Time at High Point Library, 11:30 am-noon.

NETWORKING MEETUP: Noon-1:15 pm at West Seattle Office Junction, all welcome – bring your lunch! (6040 California SW)

‘HOPE FOR THE SILENT EPIDEMIC’ … is at the heart of the invitation to today’s monthly Brain Injury Support Group, 1-3 pm at Uptown Espresso in The Junction. Details in our listing. (California/Edmunds/Erskine)

ALKI HOMESTEAD @ LANDMARKS BOARD: Last Friday, we covered the prelude to this: During today’s 3:30 pm Landmarks Board meeting, proposed repairs/renovations to the Alki Homestead will be considered; a “certificate of approval” must be given before they can proceed, since it’s a city landmark. Public welcome, and there will be an opportunity for comment. City Hall Boards and Commissions Room (600 4th Ave.)

JUNCTION LANDMARK CAMPAIGN ‘TOWN HALL’: Find out more about the “We Love The Junction” campaign to get landmark status for the historic Campbell and Hamm Buildings at California/Alaska (historic photo above) – 6 pm “town hall” meeting at the West Seattle (Admiral) Library. More info here; our coverage of the original March 5th announcement is here. (2306 42nd SW)

WORLD LANGUAGE EXHIBITION OF LEARNING: All are welcome to visit Westside School (WSB sponsor) 6:30-7:30 pm tonight to see and hear what students have been learning in world-language classes – more info in our listing. (10404 34th SW)

WHAT BETTER WAY TO SPEND ST. PATRICK’S DAY EVE … than Irish set dancing at Kenyon Hall! 6:30 pm; details in our listing. (7904 35th SW)

POETRY @ WORDSWEST: Tonight’s edition of the monthly WordsWest Literary Series at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) features two poets, Seattle Civic Poet (and West Seattle resident) Claudia Castro Luna and Oliver de La Paz. 7 pm – details in our listing. (5612 California SW)

DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: 7 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. This month’s agenda includes reviewing the Neighborhood Park and Street Fund projects proposed by community members in eastern West Seattle. (4408 Delridge Way SW)

34TH DISTRICT REPUBLICANS: Monthly meeting at 7 pm, American Legion Post 160 hall in The Triangle. (3618 SW Alaska)

‘THE MASK YOU LIVE IN’: Screening for parents; the film “follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity.” 7:30 pm at Madison Middle School, after short 7 pm PTSA meeting – details in our listing. (45th SW/SW Spokane)

SEE MORE FOR TODAY/TONIGHT … on our complete calendar.

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UPDATE: Car fire spreads to house

March 16, 2016 7:17 am

| 8 COMMENTS

| West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

(WSB photo, added 8:05 am)

FIRST REPORT, 7:17 AM: What started as an “illegal burn” call a few minutes after 7 is now upgraded to “fire in a building” at 4th and Roxbury. First crews on scene say it’s a “fully involved” car with flames spreading to the adjacent structure.

(Reader photo)

7:25 AM: The photo is via a texter who says this is not having a major effect on traffic so far.

7:31 AM: The fire is reported to be under control. No injuries – firefighters confirm everyone got out OK.

7:37 AM: We’ve just arrived in the area. This is in the residential area off the westbound side of Roxbury/Olson – more like 4th/Cambridge as shown on this map. There are a few SFD vehicles in the outside uphill lane at the curve.

8:03 AM: A closeup look (photo just added atop story) shows the fire spread from the car to the back of the house.

8:21 AM: Firefighters are wrapping up now; the fire’s cause remains under investigation, but SFD tells us that nobody knows whose car it is – it was parked behind the garage but does not belong to anyone in the area, so far as they’ve found.

WEDNESDAY EVENING NOTE: We’re still waiting to hear back from SFD on how the fire started and how much damage was done.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Wednesday watch

March 16, 2016 6:47 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)

6:47 AM: Good morning – again today, the day starts with no incidents reported in/from West Seattle.

LOOKING AHEAD: A few notes for the days ahead – with the Democratic caucuses on March 26th, candidate/campaign visits are expected next week, including Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, March 22nd, and Vice President Joe Biden one day before that (we will of course be watching for times/routes when that all gets closer). … We’re now a week and a half from Metro‘s March 26th spring service change, which includes the splitting of RapidRide C Line (which will thereafter go to South Lake Union) and D Line – if you’re not already steeped in the details, find them here.

7:29 AM: We’re covering the 4th/Roxbury fire separately but if we discover any traffic effects as we get closer, we’ll make note here.

7:49 AM: The fire is in a residential area off the south/westbound side of Olson/Roxbury – the outside lane in that direction has a couple SFD units but traffic the other way, toward 509, is not affected at all.

11:54 AM: Driving around, we just saw two things you might want to know: Avalon is down to one lane each way between Fauntleroy and 35th; Yancy east of Avalon is closed. Utility work in both cases.

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If you heard the ‘booms’…

March 16, 2016 1:11 am

| 12 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news

… multiple texters/tweeters say it was fireworks, somewhere in the Fauntleroy/Alaska vicinity. Too far for us to hear from here but “boom”-type fireworks per one description.

MID-MORNING P.S. Thanks to the commenters sharing info about what they saw and when!

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Community Police Team updates & more @ Admiral Neighborhood Association

March 16, 2016 12:53 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Know who your Community Police Team officer is?

Officers on the CPT handle issues that generally aren’t 911 emergency responses – but due to their persistence, may affect a neighborhood far more than a crime here and a crime there.. The CPT officer whose turf includes the Admiral District talked about several ongoing issues at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s March meeting.

Officer Jon Flores first talked about the Mobile Precinct van that the Southwest Precinct has been deploying (we showed it to you when it arrived) – it’s “popping up” all around West Seattle and South Park, and precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis wants it to be for the entire area. “It has a deterring effect – when our kids see it, they don’t necessarily want to hang out around it,” so it’s spent some time by the Admiral Safeway, which has had some “issues.” And of course the Mobile Precinct will spend time on Alki as the weather warms – “it’s a way for us to have a presence without having three or four different patrol vehicles deployed in an area.” CPT Officer Clayton Powell is the “designated mobile-precinct officer” and you’re invited to introduce yourself if you see the van around.

CPT officers also have been working to have “more meaningful interactions with schools around the West Seattle area,” though CPT is not school-resource officers, Flores cautioned. “We want to get into all the schools – we’re not going to be there daily or even once a week but we’re making a more concerted effort to get out and meet the principals, the students, get into the classrooms,” as they recently did at Concord International in South Park, “to build positive relationships with our youth.”

The CPTs also work on issues with transients and homeless people. In Admiral, Flores said, the vacant ex-Life Care Center property at 47th/Admiral/Waite has had squatter trouble, so its owner Aegis Living has now signed up for the vacant-building trespass warning program – a new program like the trespass program that exists for businesses, “giving us the ability to deal with the many vacant properties we have around West Seattle and the city,” said Flores.

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