n the spirit of reducing, reusing, and recycling, we are celebrating Earth Day by holding a clothes drive for the residents of the High Point community. We are asking the wider West Seattle community to contribute any new or slightly used clothing. Please bring clothes clean and no undergarments. Clothes donations may be left with the High Point Center front desk, 9 am-5 pm Monday-Friday of this week, April 23-27. Our address is: 6400 Sylvan Way SW. We thank you in advance for your generosity! If you have any questions, please contact High Point Living Green Project Manager, Rochelle Saedi at rochelles@nhwa.org or (206) 588-4900 ext. 612

(And though it’s not related, we can’t resist a reminder that a whole variety of NON-clothing items can be recycled via the Fauntleroy Church event this Sunday.)

At right with Democratic governor candidate Rep. Jay Inslee are, left, Farhiya Mohamed, and at right, Shukri Olow, High Point community builder – Shukri put together tonight’s forum at High Point Community Center, during which he spoke to and with an audience of more than 50 people. Their questions touched on topics from health care to jobs and beyond; we recorded the forum on video and will add it to this story once it’s ready here it is. (added 12:39 am)

The sponsoring High Point Neighborhood Association invited Republican candidate Attorney General Rob McKenna as well, but says he told them he could not attend. (He sent a representative.)

Responding Southwest Precinct officers located evidence of a shooting in the north lot of the High Point Community Center. A van that was parked in the lot (unoccupied) had been struck, as well as the exterior wall of a house across the street in the 3400 Block of SW Willow Street. The residents of the house heard the shots and the bullet hit the house, but it did not penetrate to the interior of the house, and there were no reported injuries. Officers were able to recover shell casings from the parking lot, and the rounds that struck the van and the house.

The SPD report doesn’t mention the types of vehicles seen leaving the area after the gunfire, but Brittany described them as “black newer Jeep Cherokee and red Pontiac Firebird.”

1:51 PM: Our crew reports it turned out to be a “food on the stove” call – smoke but no real fire, and the Fire Department’s wrapping up.

We just filed a police report for a break-in to our garage. We had left the door unlocked because we planned to be in and out all day while we moved some things around. Around three I brought some boxes down and noticed the car doors were slightly ajar. I started looking around and found that a very old laptop and an iPod had been taken from one of the cars.

When the officer came to take our report she indicated that they had found some kids in another garage not too far away. We are now searching for serial numbers. (As I type I am on hold with Apple Support).

It is a good reminder to always keep your doors locked and to not leave valuables in your car.

JANUARY 5 and all Thursdays through MARCH 8: Preschool Story Time, 11:15 am, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW)

JANUARY 10 and all Tuesdays through MARCH 20: Family Story Time, 7 pm, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW)

JANUARY 12 and all Thursdays through MARCH 29: Toddler Story Time, 11:30 am, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.) No story time on March 15.

JANUARY 23 and all Mondays through MARCH 26: Family Story Time, 7 pm, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.)

JANUARY 28 and all Saturdays through MARCH 31: Vietnamese Story Time, 11:30 am, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW) This story time is offered entirely in Vietnamese.

FEBRUARY 1 and all Wednesdays through MARCH 28: Somali Story Time, 5 pm, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.) This story time is offered entirely in Somali.

Story times are open to the public. Everyone is welcome. No registration is required. Free parking is available at each location. For more information, call the High Point Branch at 206-684-7454, the Delridge Branch at 206-733-9125 or Ask a Librarian.

You’ll also find Story Times at the Southwest, South Park, and West Seattle branches; we’ll be adding these, and those, to our ongoing WSB West Seattle Events calendar, and you can check on daily/weekly events through the calendar on the library website.

What: An opportunity for young people to connect to professionals in all sorts of careers and ask them questions about what they do and how they prepared for their careers.

Where: High Point Center Neighborhood House (6400 Sylvan Way SW)

When: Tuesday, Dec. 6th 4-6 pm

Why: Young people can benefit from talking to adults who are already doing the things they aspire to do about what it takes to get there! We want to give the youth a chance to ask questions and hear about what certain careers are like and for adults to see themselves as resources for youth.

Help us make our career night a success for our youth! We are looking for more professionals from areas of work in Media, Natural Science, Social Science, Medicine, Business, Architectural Studies and Engineering to briefly talk about the work that they do and answer career-specific questions from teens. If you work in a field that was not mentioned or are self employed and would like to share your experience, please also contact Khatsini, YELS (Youth Empowered With Leadership Strengths) program coordinator, at khatsinis@nhwa.org or 206 588 4900 x.627 for further steps.

A little more than a year after the field got its new name – honoring Seattle’s first African-American Superintendent of Parks – Walt Hundley Playfield has its new turf. The completion of the $1 million Parks and Green Spaces Levy-funded renovation has just been announced, and the Seattle Parks news release says that West Seattle Soccer Club will officially kick things off with a day full of games this Saturday. The city announcement quotes WSSC board member Tim McMonigle as saying “this will be one of the very few synthetic lined U-10 and U-11 surfaces in the Puget Sound area.” The field (south of High Point Community Center) also has football and Ultimate Frisbee reference markings. It’s the third West Seattle playfield to get new turf in less than two years, after Hiawatha and Delridge.

For the past month, the library at West Seattle Elementary has been undergoing renovations – 2,000 books, a tech upgrade with iPads, new furniture, new shelves, new carpeting. Today, the overhauled library unveiled to the world. Lauren sent us the above photo via Twitter; when we dropped by for a look, a full complement of photojournalists was there, as was Mayor McGinn (on the other side of the cameras):

The project was the work of the Heart of America Foundation and Target volunteers, dozens of whom were at the school doing more work today, including playground revitalization:

WSES is one of 42 schools around the country in the library-makeover program this year. As part of the project, each WSES student gets seven new books to take home. A commemorative tree was planted too, we were told by WSES counselor Laura Bermes, who summed up the day as “a big deal!”

A little brisk this afternoon as High Point’s new playground – built in a day last Friday, with hundreds of volunteers pitching in – officially opened. But commemorative purple scarves from playground partner KaBOOM! kept community advocates warm:

The new playground is at Bataan Park on the east side of High Point.

This morning, acknowledgements to share from the planners of a first-of-its-kind fundraiser in High Point earlier this month, a dinner to raise money for famine relief in Somalia – an event that even brought out Mayor McGinn:

High Point’s community builder Shukri Olow shares the photos and these words of appreciation for those who made the event a success – including those in attendance:

First and foremost, we, the planners of the Fundraiser dinner for Mercy Corps and Islamic Relief want to THANK our volunteers, our 11 High Point women who made the delicious and authentic Somali rice, hilib, chicken, qalwa, mandazi, sambusa and tea. AND those who helped serve the food and cleanup! Your commitment to your community is admirable. Our volunteers, and co-workers from Neighborhood House including Fredolyn, Bianca, Denise, Aparna, Jennifer — thank you for your endless efforts in making High Point a better community for all.

Secondly, SPECIAL THANKS to our presenters and those in attendance: Mayor Mike McGinn and his wife Peggy Lynch for their support, Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, Executive Director of Neighborhood House Mark Okazaki for his tireless work and engagement in this community.

Thank you Joy Portella-Director of Communications with Mercy Corps, Zuhair Motiwala with Islamic Relief, Seattle Poet Santiago, Asha Mohamed with Seattle Housing, Mohamed Sheikh with Afrique Service Center, Tom Phillips and Julie Wade, Mohamed Moallim with Muslim Housing, and The Seattle Channel for filming our event.

Lastly, THANK YOU DONORS for opening up your wallets and hearts to people unknown to you, to people on the verge of death because of hunger.

We had over 100 people attend our event and raised $4,000 for Islamic Relief and Mercy Corps.To both organizations — your work in countries around the world including Somalia is commendable and I hope that you continue to help those in dire need, even in difficult financial times.

Remember, your donation saved a life and THANK YOU for hearing the stories of those voiceless.

Sincerely,
Shukri Olow and Aser Ashkir

If you missed the event but would still like to help, one of the beneficiary charities, Mercy Corps, has a way to donate online – go here.

Late this afternoon, after hundreds of volunteers built High Point’s new playground at Bataan Park (as previewed this morning), the fences went up, and there they’ll stay till its scheduled opening Tuesday. But we did get to peek through:

For scenes from the action throughout the day – all the way up to the ribbon-cutting – check out High Point resident Wendy Hughes-Jelen‘s album on Facebook.

ADDED 9:36 PM: Commenters have mentioned that our friends at KING 5 were out covering the event today – here’s their story (following an ad which is served by them, not us):

Tuesday’s grand opening is at 4:30 pm.

Today’s the day – and after a week of clouds, they’re graced with sun. High Point neighbors, with KaBOOM! and the Windermere Foundation, are building their new playground at Bataan Park. Smiles all around as signups began:

We spotted West Seattleite and The Mountain radio personality Marty Riemer digging in, too:

If you remember (or were part of) the playground project in Delridge two years ago, you’ll remember that KaBOOM! team members come dressed for success:

We’ll check back later today. It’s only been two months since High Point got word the playground would be built (this was the second time they’d applied to get one); the grand opening is planned for next Tuesday.