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West Seattle Crime Watch: Car-prowl alert, and 2 home break-ins
March 4, 2010 12:40 pm
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   Arbor Heights | Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

Two Crime Watch reports to share today – one a car-prowl alert; one about two neighboring homes that both were broken into – read on:Read More

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Update: California SW reopens after Gatewood pole mishap
February 6, 2010 12:22 pm
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   Gatewood | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

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.

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Warm Up America followup: Come celebrate the blankets
February 4, 2010 2:54 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Gatewood | West Seattle news

(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.

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Crime Watch: Burglary reports, including a much-forwarded e-mail
January 26, 2010 1:46 am
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gatewood | Highland Park | West Seattle news

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.

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West Seattle coyote sighting: 2 roaming Gatewood
January 3, 2010 10:27 am
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Coyotes | Gatewood | West Seattle news | Wildlife

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.)

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Gatewood break-in
December 14, 2009 11:57 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

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.

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Gatewood power outage: City Light says they’re working on it
November 14, 2009 11:17 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Gatewood | Utilities | West Seattle news

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.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Reminder from car break-in victim
November 9, 2009 9:45 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

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.

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West Seattle wildlife: Coyote sighting in Gatewood
October 20, 2009 10:05 am
|      17 COMMENTS
 |   Coyotes | Gatewood | West Seattle news | Wildlife

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.

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Orchard Street Ravine spruce-up – and 2 BIG events ahead
October 11, 2009 11:22 pm
|    Comments Off on Orchard Street Ravine spruce-up – and 2 BIG events ahead
 |   Environment | Gatewood | West Seattle news

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.

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Jewelry box found: Could it be discarded loot?
October 7, 2009 9:54 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Gatewood | West Seattle news

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.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: 2 cases from Gatewood
October 7, 2009 4:50 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

First one is a purse-snatching attempt; second one, a burglary – for both stories, read on:Read More

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Road-rage report – from bicyclist towing 2-year-old daughter
September 26, 2009 11:54 pm
|      43 COMMENTS
 |   Gatewood | West Seattle news

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:Read More

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Happening today: Baby Maarten’s benefit sale at Peace Lutheran
September 18, 2009 6:30 am
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   Gatewood | How to help | West Seattle news

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!

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Burglary victim catches suspect
September 16, 2009 11:55 am
|      39 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

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.

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Peace Lutheran to host sale benefiting 1-year-old’s tumor battle
September 4, 2009 12:21 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Gatewood | How to help | West Seattle news

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.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Broad-daylight break-in
August 24, 2009 10:53 am
|      32 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

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.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Car break-in; vanishing trash can
August 19, 2009 2:39 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gatewood | Sunrise Heights | West Seattle news

Reports this afternoon from Sunrise Heights and Gatewood – read on:Read More

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Update: New California SW bike lane explained
July 22, 2009 4:04 pm
|      17 COMMENTS
 |   Gatewood | Transportation | West Seattle news

That’s the view of a small section of the new California SW bike lane, as seen from one of the big chairs outside Caffe Ladro in Morgan Junction. Since we first told you about the new lane last Sunday, more work has been done, and one stretch of California SW just north of here (south of Fauntleroy Way) now has bike lanes on both sides of the street. We had sent an inquiry to SDOT after noting the bike lane wasn’t called for in the Bicycle Master Plan, which simply recommended “sharrows” in this area (they’ve been painted in the same area between the bike-lane-lined sections). Here’s the explanation we received today:

The recommendations for bicycle facilities in the Seattle Bicycle Master Plan were based on detailed field work and available data regarding traffic volumes, turning movements, speeds and other factors. However, the plan also recognized that “in most cases, the facilities and actions identified in the Plan will require additional traffic analysis….”

In this particular case, there is about 48′ from curb-to-curb on the stretch between Fauntleroy and Myrtle, yet the 2-way left-turn lane is only present between Fauntleroy and Willow. That provided some extra room on the section between Willow & Myrtle, so we were able to install bike lanes on both sides of the street for those 3 blocks. We also determined that there is enough roadway width (~40′) to upgrade to a climbing lane (bike lane going uphill, sharrows going down) between Myrtle and Ida. In general, we prefer to install bike lanes over sharrows if there is space available.

Also today, the city issued a midyear “Bridging the Gap update” news release regarding how much road work’s been done so far this year – read it here.

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Engine 37 firefighters check out hot deals at Gatewood bake sale
July 22, 2009 1:21 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Gatewood | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

It’s the little surprises that make life fun – like, when neighborhood heroes stop by your bake sale. Cori from Gatewood just e-mailed to share that photo (editor@westseattleblog.com) and explained, “Thanks to the firefighters of Station 37, who took time out to stop at a bake sale put on yesterday by some neighborhood kids. They were so great and it gave the kids such a thrill!” Inbetween fighting fires and crimes, local firefighters and police officers do spend a lot of time involved in community activities large and small – which reminds us that you probably need another reminder to sign up for your Night Out close-the-street block party August 4 – local public-safety personnel are known to make the rounds that night too. Sign up here before the July 31st deadline.

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Bike lane just added to south stretch of California SW
July 19, 2009 9:09 pm
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   Gatewood | Transportation | West Seattle news

Much of the main south stretch of California SW, from south of Morgan Junction up toward the Gatewood/Fauntleroy border at SW Thistle (map), not only has received bicycle-awareness “sharrows” in the past week-plus, but now also of this weekend has a bicycle lane, mostly in the southbound/uphill direction. (The bike lane ends at SW Ida [map], which is also where the Route 22 bus turns.) Striping crews have been working night and weekend hours in the past several days — they first moved the center line a few feet east, where it’s now marked by reflective yellow “turtles” (so many of which had come off during last winter’s snow/ice/sanding), and then the bike lane appeared. The West Seattle section of the citywide Bicycle Master Plan (see it here) does not call for a bike lane in this area – bike lanes are marked by broken dark-blue lines, sharrows by light turquoise, and this stretch is marked only with the latter (here’s a screen grab; link to the full plan is here):

We’ll be checking with SDOT tomorrow about the appearance of the bike lane and if bike lanes are on the drawing board anywhere else in West Seattle that’s not included in the Master Plan. (In the plan, the stretch of Fauntleroy that’s getting a bike lane as part of the “rechannelization” following the current road-rebuilding/repaving work is coded in the plan as “more study needed.”)

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Neighbors scare off would-be thief
July 15, 2009 10:38 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

Just in from Regina, who says this happened early Monday morning:

We live on Gatewood Hill – 38th off of Morgan [map]. Around 3:45 I awoke to the sound of people talking in what seemed to be my yard. I woke from a deep sleep and thought maybe it was a dream. Looking out the window I saw a white male about 6 ft tall, dressed in a black tank top and black pants, muscular, pacing up and down the street. We all know the neighbors and this agitated person didn’t belong. Then I heard shots.

Turned out the shots were him smashing the glass to pieces on a neighbor’s car with nothing in it. Other neighbors who had just returned from the airport yelled and gave pursuit of him and his getaway vehicle. The car with his friend fled one way, the dressed-in-black thug the other.

We believe he was trying to steal the car as it was the cheapest on the block, clearly had no alarms and there was nothing in it visible to be stolen. Police tried to find him, but the thug is gone. Watch out. This happened between 3:45 and 4:10 am on Monday.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Playground purse-snatching reported
July 13, 2009 1:42 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

Out of the WSB inbox, Jennifer reports a theft at the Gatewood Elementary playground around 11:30 this morning – read on for her report:Read More

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