West Seattle, Washington
29 Friday
Following up on last month’s joint meeting of Highland Park Action Committee and Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council, WWRHAH chair Amanda Kay Helmick invites you to a Tuesday meeting:
The Westwood / Highland Park Neighborhood Planning Committee is holding its first informal meeting tomorrow night at Big Al’s. 7:00 pm. We are starting the discussion on what a Westwood / Highland Park update would look like and what people see as the future of our area. The meeting is open to anyone who might be interested.
Big Al’s is in White Center, 9832 14th Ave. SW. Here’s the area covered by the 1999 WW-HP plan; see the full plan here.
It’s a pre-Halloween hoedown in Highland Park next Friday! From Holly with the HP Elementary PTA:
Highland Park Elementary is hosting a square dance on Friday, October 24th. This is a free event and open to the public. Dinner will be served from 6-7 and the dance will be from 7 – 9. Free pumpkins to take home, while supplies last! Donations will be accepted as a PTA fundraiser.
Highland Park Elementary is at 1012 SW Trenton.
Though the Parks and Green Spaces Levy expires this year – with the newly voter-approved Park District to follow as a source of extra funding – some of the projects it funded are still in the pipeline. And the design process is getting going for one in West Seattle – the Highland Park play-area upgrade. We just received word via a postal-mail postcard that a community meeting is set for 6:30 pm October 29th at Highland Park Elementary (1012 SW Trenton). As first proposed more than two years ago, the plan here is to “improve the usability and safety (of) the play area” at the park (1100 SW Cloverdale), which also is home to West Seattle’s only spraypark, another project largely funded by the 2008-2014 levy. What kind of play equipment and access do you want to see? Everyone interested is invited to get involved with planning, and this meeting is the next step.
(WSB photo: Ex-encampment site being cleared after its closure one year ago)
The West Seattle site known best as the multiple-times-former site of the “Nickelsville” homeless encampment will NOT be the new home of Food Lifeline after all.
It’s been almost two years since the nonprofit confirmed it was looking at the site, which includes both city- and state-owned land. FL described the location as its preferred site as recently as one year ago, when the encampment moved off the site under orders of the city.
But today, a spokesperson for Food Lifeline sent word that FL has instead chosen a site in Riverton, just south of South Park, and is breaking ground there. Asked why FL decided against the ex-encampment site at West Marginal Way SW and Highland Park Way SW, Joleen Zanuzoski told WSB, “When Food Lifeline was going through the second phase of the environmental review at the West Marginal/ Highland Park location, there were a lot of unknowns associated with the land that would lead to additional investment for the build. Food Lifeline made the decision to look elsewhere so they could spend their donors money in the most efficient way possible and to find land that wouldn’t have so many questionable elements attached to it that might be cause for more money being spent for land development.”
FL says it’s instead constructing two buildings on nine acres at 9600 8th Avenue S. (map), with “200,000 square feet of warehouse and cold storage, administrative offices, conference rooms and a demonstration kitchen space. Food Lifeline will occupy one of the warehouses.” It’s raising money to buy the property, for which it’s made a lease-to-own deal for starters.
Meantime, we have a message out to the city, inquiring about the future of the ex-encampment site in West Seattle, now that the Food Lifeline proposal is no longer in play. (Previously, you might recall, the same site was under consideration for a new jail that ultimately the city agreed didn’t need to be built.)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
In the city’s stack of neighborhood plans, Highland Park and Westwood share one. Last night, the community councils for the neighborhoods shared a meeting.
More than 40 people in attendance as Highland Park Action Committee‘s regular monthly meeting was joined by Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council, with the focus on crime fighting and prevention.
The first arrivals at the Seattle Police Mounted Patrol Unit‘s second annual Open House found it pretty exciting to meet the horses face to face. Above, Officer Laura Wollberg and Chance impressed a young visitor. You’ll find the horses and officers in and around their barn on the west side of Westcrest Park in Highland Park – Charlie got a last-minute touchup:
Along with meeting the horses and seeing demonstrations (one riding demo should be under way now, and another’s at 4, plus you’ll see how they go through “desensitization training”), you can get a behind-the-scenes look at barn operations. You might call this the pantry:
Some of the inventory, being put to good use:
For today’s open house, human treats are on hand too – free hot dogs and chips:
We asked the unit leader Sgt. Jim Scott (below, with Dozer) if visitors need to know anything else. He reminded us there’s parking inside the gate, too (that’s on the right when you drive in from 8th, where an SPD vehicle is marking the entrance).
The open house continues until 5 pm today.
P.S. It’s been three years since the Seattle Police Foundation, a nonprofit that supports events like this, stepped up to coordinate a community campaign to support the Mounted Unit.
(WSB photo from Delridge Day, 8/6/14)
On the heels – or hooves – of the Seattle Police Mounted Patrol Unit appearance at last month’s Delridge Day, here’s your next chance to see the unit’s horses and humans: This Saturday, it’s the second annual open house at their West Seattle home base. We’re giving you an extra nudge because Sgt. Jim Scott says they really want to make sure you know about the chance to come visit them. The Mounted Patrol is based alongside Westcrest Park in Highland Park (9000 8th SW – directions here); the open house runs noon-5 pm and is hosted by the nonprofit Seattle Police Foundation, whose announcement mentions riding demonstrations at 1 and 4 pm, plus free hot dogs.
9:01 AM: Moving this over from our morning traffic watch: Seattle Fire is on the scene of a crash described as a car hitting a building in the 7900 block of 9th SW (map). Everyone got out of the car OK, SFD reports, but it hit the gas meter, so they’re calling in Puget Sound Energy.
9:04 AM: Our crew at the scene reports the aforementioned gas leak is very noticeable in the immediate area – so stay clear of there for now. No major traffic effects, though. This happened at an auto-repair shop at 9th/Kenyon.
9:22 AM: Replaced our original photo with a wider view showing the scene – the black car with the open doors is the one that hit the building, and it’s since been pulled out:
Also, PSE has shut off the gas, and the SFD crews will be pulling back too.
Just out of the WSB inbox, from TW:
My girlfriend’s car, a red 1995 Subaru station wagon license plate 782 ZDF, was stolen sometime Fri night/Sat morning outside my apartment a block off of Westcrest Park in the Highland Park neighborhood. If anyone sees it, please call the Seattle Police. It’s bad timing; she’s part of a friend’s wedding this evening and her bridesmaid’s dress was in the car. If any of the readers of the West Seattle Blog can spot it, that would be a lifesaver. Thanks!
Call 911 if you see this or any other stolen vehicle, police say.
7:13 PM: … That’s what the big response is for. Two people hurt, but neither lost consciousness, per scanner.
7:22 PM: We are at the scene. Two people were on the motorcycle, both taken to the hospital by private ambulance. The crash scene is on Holden west of 16th, at the 7-11 driveway. No life-threatening injuries. It’s suspected the collision happened because the sun got in everybody’s eyes, police told us.
7:39 PM: Added a photo. At top, police officers and firefighters were cleaning up the scene, including lifting up the motorcycle, awaiting a tow truck. SFD says the people taken to the hospital were the 50-year-old man driving the motorcycle and 50-year-old woman who was his passenger.
Three months after we first reported on seismic-safety retrofit work needed inside some city reservoirs, it’s about to start at West Seattle Reservoir in Highland Park. Neighbors will receive, if they haven’t already, notices from Seattle Public Utilities, which tells WSB that work will start by the end of September and run through March. Here’s the notice:
(If you can’t see the embedded version, here’s the PDF version.) SPU says project signs will go up in the park before work begins. Our June story, linked in the first sentence of this one, details the full backstory, including the expectation that work will be needed at West Seattle’s other underground reservoir, Myrtle, and will probably start there before the end of next year.
Another special back-to-school event to announce! From the Highland Park Elementary PTA, via Holly:
HPE will be hosting its annual back to school BBQ on Friday, September 5th. The BBQ is scheduled from 5:30 – 7:00 on the school grounds.
This is an annual tradition at HPE, and provides the students and their families an opportunity to gather as a community, share their visions for the school year, and celebrate the beginning of another school year. Hot dogs and refreshments will be provided. The PTA will be on hand, as well as teachers and administrators.
Special event, accomplishment, request, etc. from/at YOUR school? Let us know!
ORIGINAL REPORT, 9:18 PM: Another big police/fire response – this time an “automobile rescue” call at Highland Park Way/West Marginal Way SW. This also involved an SPD officer, per Twitter.
9:35 PM: SFD has extricated the officer. Three other people are reported hurt.
10:09 PM: We have just talked at the scene with SPD night commander Capt. David Proudfoot. He says the car was coming down the hill to a ‘fast backup’ call in South Park when the officer apparently lost control, hit the pole, ricocheted into a passing car.
4 people taken to the hospital, no major injuries.
11:04 PM: Another update – Seattle Fire now says there were five people in the car with which the SPD officer collided.
both vehicles in view now that @seattlefire E-26 left pic.twitter.com/KMGEYPjqr3
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) September 2, 2014
The driver, in her 30s, went to the hospital along with three girls, two 8 year olds and a 9 year old. A 1-year-old boy in the car was taken home by his dad, SFD says. Investigators are likely to be on Highland Park Way a while longer; when we left, Seattle City Light was also there checking on the pole and wires.
12:47 AM: A summary is on SPD Blotter; the only update from the briefing at the scene is further clarification of how the two vehicles collided – that the SPD car had gone backward into the pole and was then hit by the other car.
Just in from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office: Bail is set at $500,000 for the 25-year-old man accused of stealing an SUV from outside Seamart in Highland Park, with a 10-month-old baby girl in the back seat, abandoning it (and her) in White Center. As added to our coverage last night after he was booked into jail, he also has warrants in connection with three domestic-violence-related cases, one of which also involved taking a vehicle; court documents list his address as less than a block away from the scene of yesterday’s crime. The documents include a short police narrative of how it unfolded; adding that in a moment.
ADDED: Transcribed from the “probable cause” section of the document:
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Story and photos by Alice Enevoldsen for West Seattle Blog
West Seattle’s own Highland Park Spraypark boasts an opportunity to bring science and math into the end of your summer vacation, painlessly and, in fact, pain-relievingly: while enjoying the cooling sprinklers. The entrance is on SW Cloverdale St and 11th Ave SW, just north of Highland Park Elementary School, and it’s open through Labor Day, 11 am-8 pm.
Depending on your kids’ interests and ages, pick one of the challenges below, don some clothes you don’t mind getting wet, and do the activity with them. If they’re a bit older (especially in the teenage range) and are embarrassed by your presence, you can give them one of the advanced challenges and maybe they’ll be tempted by a snack through Seattle’s Summer Food program, Kids and Teens Eat Free, located in the same park.
Challenge 1: Scavenger Hunt
Find all the planets!
Each planet is a circle of a different color, and has a bronze inlaid symbol identifying it nearby.
That’s an example – the Mars circle and its bronze symbol.
Teacher/Parent/Caregiver hint: The planets are not presented in order, and many of the circles are concentric, as if the planets are stacked on top of each other.
The designers of this spray park chose that this representation of our solar system would not label Pluto, the Sun, or moons and asteroids, so your scavenger hunt is for only eight objects. Here’s your cheat sheet for which symbol identifies which planet:
(NASA.gov image)
Note that the spray park uses a different symbol for Uranus:
Challenge 2: Measure the Planets
Optional Supplies:
Measuring tape, ruler, or string (you can also measure with footsteps, arm lengths, or the height of a certain child if you want).
A paper to chart measurements (print this)
Pencil or pen
Even the littlest kids can help measure the planets, but their measurements will not be accurate. Playing at measuring is a great skill for preschoolers and toddlers anyway. Older kids can be prompted to measure more and more precisely. If you have a mix of ages, bring enough rulers or tape measures for each age-group.
Measure the diameter of each planet, and record that measurement on a chart – get it here as a PDF.
How close is this model to being to scale?
How big would the Sun be, if it was to scale with these planets?
I have not finished my own measurement of the planets, so I’d love it if you’d post your findings below.
Teacher/Parent/Caregiver hint: This is the part where kids will get wet, so come prepared and revel in the coolness. If you measure in footsteps or anything other than a standard unit and you want to compare to a scale model of the solar system you’ll have to measure your child’s foot in inches at some point and multiply.
For instance, if Mercury is 5 footsteps across, and your kid’s foot is 7 inches long, then Mercury is 5 footsteps x 7 inches per footstep = 35 inches across.
When you get home, use this Solar System model calculator to see if this model is actually to scale, or not.
On the screenshot below, I’ve outlined in red the parts you need to complete the activity, comparing numbers to a scale model:
First, set the solar system calculator up by putting in the diameter you measured of one of the planets.
Second, click “Calculate.”
Third, read the values in the second-to-last column and compare them to the rest of your measurements.
Challenge 3: Be Creative
There are lots more circles on the spray park than just the eight marked as planets. If you wanted them to represent objects in our solar system, what would they be?
What do the spraying features represent? Are they related to imaginary or real features on the planets?
(Some of the extra circles in the spray park)
Teacher/Parent/Caregiver hint: This is an exercise in creativity, as well as some free-form learning about the planets. You can find plenty of space books at the library to fuel the imagination and learn some of the known features on each planet.
Resources:
Use Thinkzone’s Solar System Calculator to calculate a scale model of the solar system (full disclosure: This is my dad’s website; clearly, I come by my geekery honestly!)
Who is Alice?
Alice is many things and works and volunteers for a few different notable organizations, but the suggestions and opinions put forth in this article are her own and no-one else’s. You can find more about astronomy at www.alicesastroinfo.com.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Just before the end of last school year, a member of the Highland Park Elementary School PTA made a pitch to the nearest community council, the Highland Park Action Committee.
Peter Weiss told HPAC’s May meeting that he wanted to organize a 5K to bring the PTA and the school not just money but awareness. HPES, he explained, is the lowest-performing elementary school in the entire district.
That was jaw-dropping news to many, if not most, in the room. Just supporting an event would not be enough. A community conversation was called for.
The conversation began in earnest this past Tuesday night.
Though most community groups skip midsummer meetings, HPAC and the HPE PTA set a date, issued an invite – and the room was full.
We counted more than 50 people.
At the front of the room, along with Sol Mendez from the HPE PTA and HPAC co-chairs Carolyn and Billy Stauffer, were school and city leaders – among the former, new HPE principal Chris Cronas and the district’s regional executive director of schools Israel Vela; among the latter, Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim and City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen.
More questions than answers emerged. But it was one of those events where the event itself was the triumph, for starters, rather than any single declaration or promise made.
The new school year is less than four weeks away, and there’s a push to muster support for one local school that needs it more than ever, Highland Park Elementary. If you can help – or want to at least find out how to – you can do that tomorrow night. For the basic story, here’s the invitation that Highland Park Action Committee co-chairs Carolyn and Billy Stauffer wrote to district, city, and other leaders:
(HPAC’s) role is to affect positive change in our neighborhood, and we have historically been active in bringing together a voice for our neighborhood, which has faced many challenges.
We hosted parent Peter Weiss at our May community meeting, who came to speak with us as a member of the Highland Park Elementary PTA. In discussing his ideas with us to organize a 5K as a fundraiser for the school, the community learned about the state of affairs for our local school – Highland Park Elementary is ranked last in the Seattle Public School System.
Some of our members were brought to tears with this news, exhausted by what feels like yet another blind eye turned towards our community from our leaders. We write to you in response to a request that night from the community to get some answers as to why our school is doing so badly and what the plan is for improvement. We have since discussed this idea with the PTA and have formed a partnership in our efforts. We, along with incoming PTA president Sol Mendez, would like to invite you to a meeting to discuss the school, and answer some questions from our community.
And that invitation is for you too. Come to the Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden) tomorrow night (Tuesday, August 12th), at 7 pm. HPAC says the RSVPs so far include HPES’s new principal Chris Cronas, school-board member Marty McLaren, and City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen.
ADDED TUESDAY: HPAC co-chair Carolyn Stauffer says the school district’s executive director of schools for this area, Israel Vela, also has RSVP’d.
12:52 AM: Police are searching for two people suspected in a reported ‘home invasion’ situation in Highland Park. Scanner-monitored information indicates shots were fired – with at least one casing found – but the victim was not reported injured and no medic crew has been summoned. This happened near 10th and Trenton (map); police, including a K-9 team, are looking for a woman and man who might be known to the victim. More info if/when we get it.
2:09 AM: Still no word of arrests. Robbery Unit detectives are joining the investigation.
NOON UPDATE: We’ve obtained the report from SPD. It says the victim told police he recognized the woman, by voice, as his wife, who he hasn’t (otherwise) seen in a month – both robbers, the report says, were wearing ski masks. The male robber fired two rounds, according to the victim, including one into the floor after tying him up and leaving him in the bathroom. The female robber, the victim said, demanded to know where “the money” was, and though the victim denied having any, she said she knew better, and eventually, according to the victim, they made off with $22,000 in cash.
(UPDATED THURSDAY with fire’s cause, damage estimate)
(WSB photo by Katie Meyer)
12:21 PM: Now there’s another fire call in Highland Park – this one for a house in the 7500 block of 11th SW (map). First crews on the scene are seeing smoke.
12:26 PM UPDATE: Fire crews say the house is fully engulfed in flames. Per scanner, they’re saying they’ve been told no one is inside. It’s a duplex and they report the fire is “knocked down.”
(This photo and next by WSB’s Christopher Boffoli)
1:10 PM UPDATE: WSB’s Katie Meyer confirms from the scene that everyone got out OK, including a cat and dog. Firefighters are still working to figure out how the fire started.
2:04 PM UPDATE: Also from the scene, WSB’s Christopher Boffoli reports that SFD plans to keep a crew there on “fire watch” in case it rekindles.
ADDED THURSDAY MORNING: SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore says the investigation determined the fire was caused by “improperly discarded smoking materials, discarded into a couch. The damage estimate is $60,000 to the structure and $10,000 to the contents.”
(Seattle Fire Department photo via Twitter)
12:01 PM: The big Seattle Fire response is for an industrial building in the 7000 block of Highland Park Way SW, near the intersection with West Marginal Way SW. SFD describes it via Twitter as a machinery fire and says all employees have been evacuated.
12:05 PM: Per scanner, the fire is declared “tapped.” The address checks to Pioneer Industries/Human Services. Firefighters are working to ventilate the building because of the smoke.
12:57 PM: SFD says the fire was “limited to a bin of metals” and that the “smoking bin” is being taken out of the building.
1:25 PM: SFD also has tweeted a picture of the aforementioned bin:
Pic of metal bin that was on fire. Mobile ventilation unit being used to air out building pic.twitter.com/WFqdf6aAeT
— Seattle Fire Dept (@SeattleFire) July 9, 2014
Even as the school year ends today, planning is under way for the next one starting in September – and that’s what this call for volunteers is all about: Girls on the Run is on its way to Highland Park Elementary for 2014-2015.
HPE is starting Girls on the Run at our school starting in the fall. Girls on the Run is an after-school program that uses the power of running to give girls the tools to celebrate their bodies, honor their voices, recognize their gifts, and activate their power!
The program is open to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade girls. Both girls from HPE and from the surrounding community who do not have GOTR at their home school are encouraged to join. We are looking for volunteers to coach our girls. The commitment would be one or two times a week Starting September 29th and running through December 8th. Minimum age is 16. If interested please contact Holly Briscoe, the site liaison for HPE. hollybriscoe@hotmail.com
2:09 PM: If you’re noticing a heavy police presence in Highland Park right now, here’s what’s going on (per scanner, though we have a crew arriving in the area): A car reported as stolen crashed through a fence on 11th SW; at least one person ran from the car and was caught by a citizen on 12th SW. Some confusion over the latter location ensued, briefly, but has been resolved.
2:31 PM UPDATE: Adding photo of the crashed car – which, from the plate and appearance, is this one tweeted by SPD just this morning:
DARK BLUE 1994 HONDA ACCORD STATION WAGON, APJ4280 WA ***DO NOT MAKE CONTACT CALL 911***
— Seattle Police (@getyourcarback) June 9, 2014
(No word so far whether it was stolen in WS or elsewhere.)
The suspect was taken to the Southwest Precinct.
(Click image for full-size flyer also showing the South Park area and the explanatory legend)
With two major combined-sewer-overflow (CSO) reduction projects under way in West Seattle, the King County Wastewater Treatment District is looking ahead to its next one, in Highland Park and South Park. The most-recent HP Action Committee meeting got an update from KCWTD’s Kristine Cramer and John Phillips.
In addition to possible “roadside raingardens” along some streets in the area (highlighted above in yellow) – like the ones going into more than a dozen blocks of Sunrise Heights and Westwood – they also are looking at permeable (porous) pavement in some parts of the area, and possibly a runoff-control project using part of one of the Seattle City Light “surplus” ex-substation sites.
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