West Seattle Blog…

Mystery helicopters over Gatewood

Thanks to the tipsters who phoned in sightings of two unmarked helicopters in the Gatewood area in the last 30 minutes. We’re told they were not news helicopters and we have no word of police activity in that area. At the moment they have flown off as quickly as they appeared. We’ll post an update if we’re able to find out what it was related to. But it is likely unrelated to any kind of law enforcement or rescue activity.

Door-to-door alert: Solicitors in Gatewood

Couple notes tonight about solicitors in Gatewood – whether legit or not, it’s not clear, but those who e-mailed to share the story thought they seemed suspicious – read on: Click to read the rest of Door-to-door alert: Solicitors in Gatewood…

Also happening now: West Seattle Edible Garden Tour

(Photos by Christopher Boffoli)
Also under way now and continuing till 4 – still time to get your ticket and map and go see the gardens – the 3rd annual West Seattle Edible Garden Tour, raising money for Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle. The photo’s from a Gatewood garden that’s among the stops on the tour. More photos later.

ADDED: In hats, Shawn and Amy Carlson showed off their garden:

From Urban Land Army, Sandy Pederson’s garden, where you’ll find 28 varieties of heirloom tomatoes.

And next, Lisa Hlavsa, with son Ben (right) in their garden during the tour:

Community Harvest has much more going on, pretty much year-round. Drop-in gardening on Thursday nights, and lots more. Keep in touch at gleanit.org. (And you can find out more about sustainability – including edible gardening – again today during West Seattle Summer Fest, at the GreenLife zone, on the west side of California SW just north of Edmunds.)

West Seattle Crime Watch: Metal thieves/’scavengers’ again?

From KV:

After reading through the blog it seems like these might be the same people that struck other neighborhoods. I live in the Gatewood neighborhood between Holden and Kenyon. Older model loud blue pickup with two men stopped pickup in alley, one African American male and one Caucasian male, got out and walked into neighbor carport. The whole back of the pickup was full of large metal items and they looked through the neighbors whole carport and stole fencing and other pieces of miscellaneous metal. The pair was stopped by another neighbor further down the block when they were found in the backyard looking around another neighbor’s yard. They said they were looking for scrap metal, but were going to ask permission before they took anything. This time, one of the people was actually around the front and side of the house and it is unclear what they were doing.

Reader alerts: Solstice Park, Gatewood Hill

Two reader reports to share tonight – first, an encounter near Solstice Park (we received this in e-mail but it’s since turned up in the WSB Forums, where some are wondering if it’s a person who’s been arrested in the area before – read it here); second, a door-to-door alert – read on: Click to read the rest of Reader alerts: Solstice Park, Gatewood Hill…

West Seattle coyotes: One caught on cam in Gatewood

First photo-enhanced coyote report in a while. It’s from K. Parsons in Gatewood:

… in broad day-light after cruising around our front yards on the 7100 block of 39th avenue SW between Myrtle and Orchard, this guy was sunning himself (or herself) in our neighbors’ backyard for about 15 minutes then loped through our back-yard. This pic was taken today about noon. They sure do help with the rodent population but take care of your cats and small dogs!

West Seattle Crime Watch: Wire theft, metal thieves, & Burglary #3

Three alerts to share in this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup tonight. First, Lee reports that his neighborhood e-mail group has word of grounding-wire theft on utility poles in an alley near 39th/Stevens (map). This isn’t just costly to utilities, but also a serious risk to worker safety, so they were expected to get fast repairs, but neighbors say they were told West Seattle has seen a lot of this lately. Second, metal thieves in action again in Seaview; from 44th/Raymond (map), Alison reports the neighborhood e-mail group has shared word of a “dirty, dark blue, older-model Toyota sedan” traveling an alley with someone walking alongside throwing items including bicycles and scrap metal into the trunk. The neighbor who spotted them called 911 and gave chase, but finally called it off at a dispatcher’s advice when high speed and wet streets made it unsafe – not before providing police with the plate and description, though. They’re suggesting area residents check their backyard to see if anything’s missing. Finally, from Greta in Gatewood:

I live on Sw. Rose St. between 35th & 37th [map]. We had a flyer left on our front porch today alerting us to a 3rd burglary on our block. I haven’t talked to our neighbors yet, so I’m not sure the details. Thought I’d share this with others in the neigborhood.

Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow has explained at various public forums that these flyers are left if repeat burglaries happen in neighborhoods without a Block Watch – if you want to set one up, check out the info here, and be sure to join up with the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network.

A home of their own: Westside Unitarians get keys to new church

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

After 20 years without their own building, the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation finally has one.

Friday was WSUU’s first full day of owning the former Gatewood Baptist/Seattle International Church building at California/Othello (map).

Congregation leaders and members didn’t waste a minute of Day 1. At 9 am Friday, a group was on the site whacking weeds that were starting to get out of control, and when we visited to speak with church leaders between 5 and 6 Friday night, another work party was busy tidying up the church’s side yard along Othello, looking for all the world like they weren’t likely to leave before dark (if then):

The building needs work inside too before the first scheduled service in 4 1/2 months – but the Westside Unitarian Universalists couldn’t be more excited – read on: Click to read the rest of A home of their own: Westside Unitarians get keys to new church…

West Seattle Earth Day: Gatewood Elementary students on patrol

(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Many schools have Earth Day on the agenda today – among them, Gatewood Elementary, whose 4th and 5th graders made multiple stops this morning. We caught up with them at Lowman Beach Park, where they picked up litter (you’ll note the bag in front of them on the Lowman tennis court). 4th/5th-grade teacher Darren Radu tells WSB that students also went to Pelly Place for invasive-plant removal, stenciled storm drains along the streets near the school, and did litter patrol at other spots including the Lincoln Park P-Patch. (Thanks to Darren for the heads-up – let us know what your school is up to, either with an advance tip, or photos/info afterward, so we can share the news! WSB contact info is here.)

Runaway teen’s mom helps tip police to alleged “escort service”

Published late tonight at seattlepi.com: A woman is charged with attempting to promote commercial sexual abuse of a minor, after she was found in a Gatewood apartment where prosecutors say four teenage girls also were living – three of them runaways. The seattlepi.com report says police were tipped by one runaway’s mom, who discovered that the phone number from which her daughter had called her was linked to what the article describes as “a prostitution-oriented Web site.” Police found the 21-year-old suspect, Kendra M. Williams, with two girls in an apartment in the 7100 block of California SW (map), and say she told officers she was setting up an “escort service.” The King County Jail Register shows that Williams has been in jail since March 29, with bail set at $25,000; we’ll check the court documents after the online system reopens in the morning. ADDED WEDNESDAY MORNING: It has since been pointed out to us that this story originally appeared at SeattleCrime.com yesterday afternoon – with more details – you can see their story here.

Next volunteer neighborhood cleanup – 35th Avenue SW

Today, Fauntleroy Way got some TLC in the form of dozens of new trees – tomorrow, 35th SW through Westwood, Gatewood and Sunrise Heights needs as many volunteers as can be mustered for a 10 am-1 pm cleanup of sidewalks and planting strips. Westwood Neighborhood Council and Friends of the Southwest Library are co-sponsors (as first reported here); check in at the library (35th/Henderson) at 10 am.

Next chance to help the hungry: Peace Lutheran youth food drive

This Saturday, the youth group from Peace Lutheran Church in Gatewood hopes you’ll drop by and help them amass a sizable food donation for the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks. Peace Lutheran youth director Nicole Klinemeier explains, “The food drive is part of an event where we are talking about hunger issues. This is one of our service projects during the event. The event itself lasts for 24 hours, but they commit to not eating for 30 hours, as a taste of what it is like to go hungry.” She says the items food banks need the most include:

Cereal
Dry variety (e.g., Hamburger Helper, Rice a Roni, etc.)
Beans
Rice
Canned meat (anything but tuna)
Canned fruit and vegetables
Diapers (size 4, 5, 6)

You can drop off donations on Saturday between 8 am and 12:30 pm; Peace Lutheran is at 39th and Thistle (map). And remember – because of the Feinstein Challenge (explained here), ANY donation to the local food banks through the end of April counts for extra.

Yes, odor is an air-quality problem: How to report it

Got a couple notes about a strong chemical-like odor in the Gatewood area at midday. Not an avalanche of reports, so at first we weren’t going to write about it – but it does provide an opportunity to remind you that odor IS an air-quality issue and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency wants to hear about it. So if something is persistent or otherwise worrisome, file a report – at least this will help them track it. The information is on the PSCAA website – you can file online or call during business hours.

Metro proposes change for Route 22 through Gatewood

While we were at King County Department of Transportation HQ on Thursday afternoon to talk about some of the ongoing routing changes caused by construction, KCDOT’s Linda Thielke mentioned a proposed change was in the works for Route 22 through Gatewood. She didn’t have full details, but they’re out now: Metro wants to take the 22 off about half a mile of residential streets (41st and Ida) and move it to California SW for the full stretch through Gatewood, so that it stays on arterials all the way. Here are the details; note the “online survey” on the right side for comments. If Metro goes through with the change, it’ll take effect in October. (Disclosure, because we always try to let you know when we have skin in the game: WSB HQ is on the proposed new route.)

West Seattle Crime Watch: Car-prowl alert, and 2 home break-ins

Two Crime Watch reports to share today – one a car-prowl alert; one about two neighboring homes that both were broken into – read on: Click to read the rest of West Seattle Crime Watch: Car-prowl alert, and 2 home break-ins…

Update: California SW reopens after Gatewood pole mishap

ORIGINAL 12:22 PM REPORT: A crash at California/Monroe (map) in Gatewood has California SW closed for a few blocks in both directions. As you see in our photo, it involves a car and a pole, and utility lines are down. No serious injuries reported. 12:59 PM UPDATE: Street’s still closed. Seattle City Light apparently needs two crews to deal with the pole/line problem caused by the crash, and is still awaiting the second one. 1:19 PM: Brian Zenk shares this photo from another angle:

1:51 PM: California SW is now open again. But you can’t turn onto Monroe – it’s blocked off – the pole is still at an angle.

11:19 PM: That’s one photo we didn’t use earlier – showing that part of the pole was knocked all the way across California to the west side of the street. As of just minutes ago, crews are still out working on the pole and the lines, and the California end of Monroe remains blocked off.

Warm Up America followup: Come celebrate the blankets

(From left, Leslie Hoots, Margot Massey, Sofia Wagner, Susan Munn, and Lisa Boeckh of the Threads Ministry)
This is the embodiment of “many hands make light work” – and also, many hands = more warmth, in a multitude of ways. Leslie Hoots shares this update on Warm Up America – including an invitation for you to come help celebrate, this Sunday:

Last August, the Threads Ministry at Peace Lutheran Church in West Seattle began our second annual Warm Up America project. The Seattle Yarn Gallery on California Ave SW partnered with us and became a collection point for the community. The West Seattle and White Center communities were invited to join with us by donating left over yarn, knitting or crocheting squares and sewing them into blankets, which will be donated to WestSide Baby, White Center Salvation Army Corp, and Riverton Place Men’s Rehab Facility.

The outpouring from the community overwhelmed us. We had a student contact us from Highline High School, whose teacher taught her to knit over the summer, and she made our project her Senior Project making three Warm Up America blankets and a Child’s quilt, and the West Seattle YMCA took up our cause and donated yarn to the project, as the “good deed of the month”, during the month of January. Many folks from the community called and donated or worked with us in making squares for our blankets. As of today, we have 28 completed blankets and enough squares to make another 30 blankets.

On Sunday, February 7th, we will have a blessing ceremony during our 10:30 AM church service and then distribute the blankets to agencies in the West Seattle and White Center communities. We want to extend an invitation to the community to see the results of their generosity and join us in celebrating the end of this wonderful project. A big thank you to the Seattle Yarn Gallery for their part in making this a successful event. Peace Lutheran Church is located at the corner of 39th SW and Thistle in West Seattle and our web address is www.peacelutheranseattle.org.

Crime Watch: Burglary reports, including a much-forwarded e-mail

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports: First, an e-mail that may have landed in almost every inbox in West Seattle, judging by the number of people who forwarded it to us. When we first saw it Monday morning, we tried reaching contacts at the Southwest Precinct to get it confirmed or denied; we didn’t hear back but will try even harder tomorrow. Anyway, the note tells the story of a daylight burglary last Friday, apparently in Highland Park, going on to say that police told the victim that there’s “a ring of high school students that look for empty homes during their lunch hour” and are dropped off and picked up by someone; the note also says “This is going on 6-8 times a day in West Seattle alone, in all neighborhoods.” Higher than any local burglary rate we’ve ever heard, so we will persist with our police inquiries today to see if that’s really the case. Meantime, one other burglary report has come in, from Grace in Gatewood:

Wanted to let everyone know that there’s been a burglary in the Gatewood area on the 3500 block of SW Southern Street (map) right off of 35th Ave. Entry was through a kicked-in ground-level back door while the owners were out of town. If anyone saw anything suspicious on this block between Friday the 22nd and Sunday the 24th of January, please report it. No one was hurt, but lots of items of sentimental value were stolen.

West Seattle coyote sighting: 2 roaming Gatewood

Been a while since the last coyote sighting. Just got a text that two are currently “roaming backyards” in Gatewood, 3600 block of Webster/Othello (map) – and the tipster says one appeared to have killed a cat (black with white paw) – so if you’re in the area, might be a good idea to round up your pet(s) for a while. (P.S. As shared in the comments, here’s the state’s Living With Wildlife advice regarding coyotes; also, you can browse 2 1/2 years of WSB coyote-sighting coverage, with many photos, by starting here.)

West Seattle Crime Watch: Gatewood break-in

A Gatewood resident who wants to be anonymous is sharing news of a crime on her block:

A neighbor just came by our house to alert us to the break in at a neighbor’s home, on SW Rose St, between 35th & 37th Ave SW [map], around 10 am today. Apparently the burglars broke in through the back door and stole numerous valuables — inlcuding a digital camera, jar of coins and other items.

I don’t have any other details, but thought I should alert others of this incident.

By the way, though tomorrow’s the third Tuesday, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is NOT meeting – it’ll resume regular meetings in January.

Gatewood power outage: City Light says they’re working on it

Got a note about an outage in Gatewood that’s been under way since about 8 this morning. Just checked with Seattle City Light’s on-call media rep – no estimate yet when it’ll be fixed; they say it’s affecting about 53 customers, in the northern Gatewood Hill residential area east of the Morgan Junction business area so far as we can tell from the boundaries.

West Seattle Crime Watch: Reminder from car break-in victim

From Jessica in Gatewood. While it pales compared to the huge crimes rocking the city at large – an officer murdered, a serial arsonist on the loose – still, a reminder it seems we can’t hear often enough:

I just wanted to report that we had a car broken into (Friday) morning. We live on Monroe Street [near 37th; map]. The car was parked in our driveway in front of the house. We know it happened sometime between 5:30 and 7:00 am. The thief broke the passenger side window and took a few items. Just wanted to get the news out and remind everyone not to leave anything valuable in their cars, because there is someone looking.

The next meeting of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, by the way, is a week from tomorrow, Nov. 17, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct; you can contact the precinct’s crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow regarding Block Watch and other information at any time – here’s how.

West Seattle wildlife: Coyote sighting in Gatewood

It’s been a while since we added to the coyote-sighting archive (which you can browse here). But it’s a good occasion for a reminder that authorities urge education/coexistence – don’t call in a coyote and expect to have animal control come chase after it. But do consider keeping your pets inside. This morning’s report is from Sherrideth:

Just wanted to alert the neighborhood that there is a coyote in Gatewood. Saw it
run across SW Austin as I drove to work this morning at 6:10 (10/20).

She says the cross-street was 39th SW (here’s a map). If you haven’t seen the state’s Living With Wildlife coyote info page before – check it out here.

Orchard Street Ravine spruce-up – and 2 BIG events ahead

Yes, cleaning up and restoring West Seattle’s greenspaces can be fun, even if they call it a “work party.” We got the photo from a participant in Saturday’s work party at Orchard Street Ravine in Gatewood, where 8 people showed up, including new volunteer Cassandra. According to our contributor, the biggest job of the day was creation of “tree life saver rings” around a madrona and native bitter cherry to keep them from being strangled by clematis and “blackberries on steroids.” One more native cherry needs work next time, and 100 creeping dogwoods will be planted then – “next time” means November 7th, which is Green Seattle Day, with Friends of Orchard Street Ravine partnering with the Green Seattle Partnership. Find out more about Green Seattle Day here; this also gives us an excuse to remind you that, to the east, Duwamish Alive! work party/cleanup day is next Saturday – find out more about that (and how to be part of it) here.

Jewelry box found: Could it be discarded loot?

The WSB Forums are the best place for lost/found items (aside from pets) in most cases but here we have another exception – since the finder thinks this might be related to a recent crime – Monte e-mailed tonight:

A couple of weeks ago I found a jewelry box in my garbage can and would like to return it to its rightful owner. I’ve been reading here on WS Blog about all the burglary/break-ins here in Gatewood (California and Othello area). Nothing too valuable here, mostly costume jewelry and a young girl’s keepsake stuff. Identify it and I’ll get it back to you right away.

You can reach him at 206-265-2812.

West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 cases from Gatewood

First one is a purse-snatching attempt; second one, a burglary – for both stories, read on: Click to read the rest of West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 cases from Gatewood…

Road-rage report – from bicyclist towing 2-year-old daughter

Just out of the WSB inbox, a road-rage report – from a bicyclist who was towing his 2-year-old daughter uphill in the new California SW bicycle lane in Gatewood. Read on: Click to read the rest of Road-rage report – from bicyclist towing 2-year-old daughter…

Happening today: Baby Maarten’s benefit sale at Peace Lutheran

That’s the biggest of three rooms of donated items going on sale starting at 9 this morning at Peace Lutheran Church (NE corner of Thistle/39th; map), with the proceeds to help Maarten, a 1-year-old fighting a brain tumor. You first saw Maarten’s story here two weeks ago; now the big sale is here, today and tomorrow. Lots more information at the Help Maarten website, including an update on how he’s doing, and how you can help if you can’t make it to the sale – but if you can, not only will you find the giant room of stuff you see in our photo, but also in other rooms, musical instruments, furniture, even artworks – we dropped by as organizer Claudia and other volunteers were working Thursday night to get it all organized. And a bake sale too!

West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglary victim catches suspect

Last night at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting (earlier reports here and here), Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen briefly mentioned that officers had been busy yesterday afternoon chasing after burglars who’d hit at least three places. He also said an arrest had been made thanks to alert citizens noticing and reporting someone suspicious. This morning we have the story firsthand from one of those citizens – who happened also to be among the victims – and actually tracked down one of the suspects:

Our home, in which we have lived for 26 years, near 35th and Morgan [map], was robbed September 15, 2009.

Our neighbor saw a youth with a backpack leaving the area about 4 PM.

My wife arrived home at about 4:30 PM and found a window screen off a back window, door open, drawers open in bedrooms, my son’s coin containers on the floor, and a laptop computer missing.

I returned home about 5 PM and decided to check the Westwood QFC to see if the thief had deposited the coins my son had saved for years on his dresser.

There was the thief, feeding my son’s coins into the Coinstar machine. I introduced myself and asked to look in the backpack, there was the computer and my son’s iPod speakers…I detained this young man until the police arrived.

Several youths left the parking lot in a white car with a spoiler in a hurry when the police arrived.

Our possessions were returned and the thief was described to me as a convicted felon.

We have asked police for more information today about this case and any other related break-ins yesterday and will add to this story when those details come in. 4:54 PM UPDATE: Talked with Detective Brian Ballew. He says they’re not sure if this suspect is linked to the two other burglaries yesterday afternoon – the only thing in common is that “large amounts of coins” were taken in the others. Also they’re not sure if anyone else was actually involved with this break-in – the one suspect who was nabbed matched the description of the one person seen afterward – but someone did drop the suspect off at the QFC, and, as described above, left in a car described only as “white … with a spoiler.” Det. Ballew also confirmed the suspect was booked into jail and that he has a record.

Peace Lutheran to host sale benefiting 1-year-old’s tumor battle

Meet 1-year-old Maarten, a little guy who’s caught up in a big fight. Right now Maarten and his family are on the other side of the country, where he’s getting help for a brain tumor that he’s been fighting almost his entire life. But in two weeks, right here in West Seattle, hundreds of people will come together for a huge sale to help raise money for him to get better – and they’re hoping you will join them.

It’ll be at Peace Lutheran Church in Gatewood (39th/Thistle), 9 am-6 pm Friday, September 18, and 8 am-5 pm Saturday, September 19th.

We got first word of this from Claudia Ludwig, a West Seattleite who knows the family and is organizing the big yard/bake sale. She says Maarten was diagnosed with the tumor when he was just 3 months old, in October of last year, and has gone through many treatments since then; right now he’s getting radiation again, in Boston. Claudia says his prognosis is good, but it’s just too risky for doctors to do more surgery right now, so radiation is what they’re using. Maarten’s family is publishing updates at helpmaarten.blogspot.com. Claudia says that for the sale in two weeks, more than 200 families are already donating items and baked goods, including members of the Peace Lutheran congregation, but they could use more. She explains some of the backstory:

Maarten’s parents are scientists who have devoted their lives to bettering ours. However, by working in academia, their salary is very low. Francois works at the UW and Sacha has left her job at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) to care for her son. At this point in their cancer treatment, only the basics are covered by their insurance. Everything that is only “recommended” (the physical therapy, hearing tests, occupational therapy) is not covered. And of course this does not include the flights to Boston and the time away from work. Also, all of their family live in France and the Netherlands, so they are really on their own. All of this began only 8 months after they moved to Seattle, so their support network was small.

So when we realized we must do something to help with this increasingly difficult time, we decided on a yard sale where ALL proceeds go to Maarten and his parents to help finance the needed tests, therapies, and the many bills that are stacking up. We originally decided to gather items at our work places, and then bring them to my house to sell. Then the pile of items got bigger, so we decided to spread things to my neighbors’ yards, but even that didn’t seem like enough space. That’s when Peace Lutheran Church graciously joined us and agreed to host and lend a hand. Together we will really make a difference for this family.

Claudia says the most important way to help will be to come to the sale September 18-19 – but they still could use donations as well; there’s info on the right sidebar of the Help Maarten site regarding how to reach her, as well as how to donate money via PayPal and/or check.

West Seattle Crime Watch: Broad-daylight break-in

From Michael in Gatewood:

Would like to spread the word on this one. On the 3900 block of Southern [map] our neighbor’s home was burglarized. Burglar used an ax to go through a secured back door in the middle of the day, Friday, August 21. Seattle Police were dispatched and came to house. No one hurt. No one saw or heard a thing, unfortunately. What concerns us is the violent nature of this break-in.