One of the most joyful annual fundraisers in West Seattle is happening right now on the playfield at Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point. Today marks the 10th time Pathfinder PE teacher Lou Cutler has, in honor of his upcoming birthday, run one lap for each year of his age.

Today, that means 62 laps with Lou, who does not run alone – Pathfinder students and staff join him on the field too, and track the laps (above); students track their own laps too:

This is a fundraiser for the regional branch of Make-A-Wish, for which Lou has volunteered more than a decade (we talked to him about it in-depth before his birthday run in 2011), helping make dreams come true for children living with life-threatening medical conditions. Lou started around 8:45 this morning and hit the halfway point while we were there an hour ago, so he likely has less than an hour to go. You can cheer him on, wherever you are, with an online pledge via his Make-A-Wish page.

A followup today from Jeanne Turner, who along with husband Mark shared first word of the Pigeon Point sinkhole last weekend:

SDOT arrived at 19th SW and Charleston on Pigeon Point this morning with a crew and equipment to fix a sinkhole that opened up Sunday afternoon. Dan Doyle of SDOT (a fellow West Seattleite) said the hole appears to be 18 inches to 2 feet deep. Today they will knock out the concrete and fill the hole with rock and gravel to stabilize the area. This will be covered with asphalt for a temporary fix until they can pour concrete. Because the area is relatively large, affecting four concrete slabs, SDOT will probably wait until spring to make the permanent fix.

Thanks for the update and photo!

The neighbors of Pigeon Point are known for their block parties – like one of West Seattle’s biggest Night Out block parties, and regular community cleanups. But tonight was one of a kind – thanks to a contest won by neighbor Thomas Prowell:

That’s Thomas, with wife Wendy Prowell and their dogs Ginger and Baxter – and the Taco Time NW Traveler food truck. Thomas won a TTNW contest for the Traveler to come cater a private block party with free food and drink for up to 75 neighbors, and tonight was the night. (Taco Time NW, by the way, was founded in White Center half a century ago and now operates more than 70 TT restaurants.)

Back in their home neighborhood of Pigeon Point, one of the trademark signposts held a tribute:

Pete has led the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council multiple times, as well as chairing the citywide Parks and Green Spaces Levy OVersight Committee, serving on the board of the West Seattle Food Bank, and countless other councils/groups/projects. His awards include being honored as this year’s “Westsider of the Year” by the WS Chamber of Commerce.

Southwest Precinct operations Lt. Pierre Davis said West Seattle-area burglaries/car prowls were at a “historic low” in May – “the bad guys just aren’t playing here right now.” The Pigeon Point neighborhood itself is “pretty quiet right now,” he added. Attendees were invited to ask questions – and their biggest concerns involved speeding through the neighborhood (which includes a couple of straightaways). Before Lt. Davis left, a meeting attendee called out that he wanted to express thanks for everything that Seattle Police have done while being “severely tested” recently – and that sparked a round of applause.

Much of the rest of the meeting included other public-safety topics, from Block Watches to traffic calming:

BLOCK WATCH CAPTAINS’ NETWORK: Lt. Davis had also stressed the ongoing importance of neighbors watching out for neighbors, and that set the stage for Deb Greer and Karen Berge from West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network. Greer stressed that despite the name, their organization covers the entire area handled by the SW Precinct (South Park, too). If you want to start a Block Watch, she explained, first step is to contact Mark Solomon, SPD’s Crime Prevention Coordinator for this area. They’re also working on an online “Block Watch finder” type of tool. Once your Block Watch is set up, Berge added, be sure their organization knows about it – as well as the city. She also circulated “no soliciting” signs for anybody interested (since, as you might know, city law says that if you have a “no soliciting” sign, it’s illegal for someone to try to contact you at your home that way). They’re also looking ahead to Night Out, with special packets planned. One resident asked how to get somebody interested in taking on the BW Captain role – he said he’s still captain for a block where he hasn’t lived for four years in the house he owns there! Greer suggested selling the benefits as more than dealing with crime – there’s community-building, for example, and it’s “not as hard of a job as it used to be.” (P.S.If you’re a BW Captain, be sure you’re RSVP’d for the big party!)

NIGHT OUT: Tuesday, August 7th, is the annual crimefighting/community-building event Night Out, and PPNC chair Pete Spalding reminded attendees that 20th SW will be blocked off again (any Seattle neighborhood can participate, though arterials can’t be blocked off – watch this SPD webpage for information on registration, which does not appear to be open quite yet).

TRAFFIC CALMING: SDOT‘s community-traffic liaison Jim Curtin was a guest at the meeting, as neighbors discussed some of the area’s traffic challenges – such as the aforementioned speeders. Can you paint your curbs for safety? he was asked. Answer: Yellow, yes; red, no. And the city doesn’t do curb-painting any more, Curtin explained. “So if it’s up to us,” asked one resident, “what would happen if we painted it red?” Curtin replied, “Probably, not much,” but explained that yellow is the preferred color, because it’s not associated with a “don’t do (whatever)” rule that might not exist in the painted zone. Regarding visibility problems near intersections, he did say that if anyone is parking within 30 feet of a stop sign, they should be reported, since that’s illegal. And you shouldn’t park within 20 feet of any intersection, he said, since they all represent crosswalks – even if not marked – and it’s illegal to park within 20 feet of an intersection. There were concerns about clashes with bicyclists who are on their way to the low bridge, and Curtin said SDOT is pursuing a “big” state grant for a long-term solution to help with the issues raised by Delridge as the bicycle connection to the route off the peninsula. Delridge/Andover may see some signalization changes, too, he said, looking way ahead to a potential Delridge RapidRide a few years down the road. Back to the speeding issue, Curtin said SDOT does not (currently, anyway) install speed-limit signs on non-arterial streets, “unless they are a school zone.”

Though it’s not his specialty, Curtin was asked what can be done about a Pigeon Point road that doesn’t serve many homes but has problems with drainage and surface. Even the chip-seal program, he noted, has been cut back because of budget problems. Drainage issues were referred to Seattle Public Utilities, which had been invited to the meeting but did not send a rep. Overall, things are so “dire,” as Curtin put it, that even arterials aren’t getting all the attention they need, so he advised the neighbors to work with SPU to investigate the drainage situation first.

Sneak peek ahead – Curtin says the city is soon going to embark on a campaign to “refamiliarize people with the rules of the road.”

Attendees were eager to ask about a variety of SDOT-related issues, even those outside his specialty, including “what if a tree is buckling a sidewalk?” It’s the adjacent property owner’s responsibility, he said, unless the tree that’s to blame was planted by the city, in which case it’s the city’s problem.

NEW PIGEON POINT NEWSLETTER: The volunteer effort has just made its debut, put together by PPNC member Scott Morgan. Their website revamp is relatively recent too – see the site at pigeonpoint.org – and local residents are welcome to contribute information for the site and/or the newsletter.

COYOTE SIGHTING: One attendee reported spotting two coyotes “fighting” over the weekend, but finally separated and went their separate ways into Pigeon Point greenbelt areas.

PIGEON POINT GARDEN TOUR: Looks like it will return this year – a volunteer is stepping up to coordinate it.

PATHFINDER PLAYGROUND IMPROVEMENTS: The group heard an update on improvements in the works – organizers are seeking a “small grant” first – but they want to hear what kind of features local residents would like to see at the playground, what would encourage more use. They’re looking at ideas (over time) including spinning, bars, a large play structure in the corner, and a walking track around the playground.

Find out more about the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council at pigeonpoint.org.

Three hours and 61 laps around the Pathfinder K-8 field on Pigeon Point are in the books for the school’s PE teacher, Lou Cutler, in his annual fundraising run for Make-A-Wish (donation link here), for which he’s also a volunteer (2 years ago, we photographed him as a little boy’s wish came true here in West Seattle). One of the remarkable things we’ve noticed while covering this the past few years is that it’s not even remotely all about Lou – we heard shouts of “WE did it!” from some of his young running partners. Our video above captured the last part of the last lap, and the celebration afterward. Next thing Lou did? Got some of the students to pose for a photo, waving their bright green slips (on which laps were checked off). Only THEN did he pose too.

(Scene where victims were found, 23rd/Andover, photo via Twitter from @salishseagirl)
1:15 AM UPDATE: One “patient” is said to have been found near the bridge, in Pigeon Point.

1:24 AM UPDATE: One of the fire engines on this call is now asking for ambulances for TWO patients.

1:43 AM UPDATE: Via Twitter, Cheryl reports both patients on stretchers and going into the ambulances.

1:53 PM UPDATE: Just heard back from Scott Thomsen at City Light. He says the outage is affecting 2,061 homes/businesses. They’re not sure about the cause but he says dispatchers got a report of “balloons in the wires” somewhere in the area – and if that’s the problem, he says, it should be a quick fix (p.s., Scott adds, please DON’T release balloons, especially the mylar ones, they’re bad news for power lines); if that’s not the cause, it may not be so quick. The boundaries SCL lists – which are never precise, so this does NOT mean everyone in this area is powerless, nor does it mean no one is without power outside the “boundaries” – are Brandon SW on the north, SW 106th on the south, 21st SW in the west, 10th SW in the east. In comments here, and via the WSB Facebook page, we’re also hearing that part of West Marginal Way South – which is part of South Park – is affected too.

2:18 PM UPDATE: Thanks for all the updates. Some in Highland Park report their power’s back on. Haven’t heard from other areas yet.

4:21 PM UPDATE: No formal followup info from SCL yet but more people have reported getting their power back. The “system status” map is back too and indicates one lingering trouble spot, in Puget Ridge.

If you’ve headed eastbound on the high-rise West Seattle Bridge in the past hour-plus, you probably drove right by the Pigeon Point Spring Clean volunteers, hard at work in the little 22nd SW street-end park that’s something of a well-kept secret (“hidden jewel” is how Pigeon Point’s Pete Spalding describes it). It’s an annual tradition and they’ll be at it till about noon.

There was a bit of business for the group to handle, before they got down to serious revelry: The recent rash of burglaries, which has hit Pigeon Point hard, as well as several other parts of West Seattle. The group was briefed by Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. (second-in-command) Pierre Davis, who didn’t have news of any new arrests, but did answer questions, and provided a general update.

“It’s typically very, very quiet” in Pigeon Point, as longtime community activist Pete Spalding noted. But not lately.

“Not to scare anybody” regarding the burglaries, Lt. Davis said, but “it’s happening region-wide” – from Snohomish County to South King County. He said a lot of the same people are responsible for break-ins in multiple jurisdictions. “What we’re seeing right now … is a lot of youth” involved in the current burglaries. “We’re tracking anywhere from 10 to 19 burglaries a week” in this area. He advised keeping lights on, bushes trimmed back, and other measures to help make sure anyone who might try

“We were able to get a carload of a few different individuals in this area who were out doing their thing … but witness identification was a problem,” he lamented (as reported here last week). However, that yielded “fantastic intelligence,” he said, that they hope will lead down the road to getting burglars off the street.

One resident asked about a specific car, “a white Lexus.” Yes, said Lt. Davis, that’s one of the vehicles reported tied to some of these, but they need a victim to be able to pinpoint that kind of sighting. Another resident voiced the reminder that you can call 911 if you see a suspicious vehicle. “Are these all stolen cars?” another person asked. Lt. Davis said “Nine times out of ten, it’s their (own) vehicle.”

Over the course of a two-week period, Spalding (who chairs the Precinct Advisory Council) noted, Pigeon Point reported six burglaries. Most recently, Lt. Davis said, it was eclipsed by a sector in western West Seattle, which had more than half the burglaries reported in West Seattle over the most recent week they’ve tracked.

Another question: Are those suspected in these burglaries people with criminal records? Yes and no, said Lt. Davis.

Do alarm systems help? he was asked. Answer: Yes. “It’s a strong deterrent,” particularly if it’s an audible alarm, said the lieutenant. What about dogs? A barking dog, yes – “anything that makes noise is a deterrent.”

Meantime, police are out actively hoping to catch burglars in the act – with plainclothes and Anti-Crime Team officers part of the effort as well as patrol officers, according to Lt. Davis.

That was the end of his briefing; he said he was headed back down to the demonstration scene by the port, to check in on “some spirited individuals.” And the Pigeon Point’ers got back to the potluck.

Thanks to everybody who shared tips about police activity in Sunrise Heights in the past hour or so, near 35th/Webster. Police were chasing suspects in at least one burglary – and that general area, as reported here previously, has been a target lately; we don’t know if it was this same suspect, but there was a scanner report a while ago about a break-in attempt at 36th/Myrtle, not far away. At least one person has been arrested/detained. We’ll add details as soon as we get them.

And from Pigeon Point – pilfered packages and mail were found at noontime today, some with addresses from some distance away:

This lunch hour, my husband discovered a pile of opened mail and packages stashed behind a fire hydrant on the 4000 block of 22nd Ave SW. All the mail was given to our neighborhood mail carrier. I glanced at the mail as I was bagging it up and saw addresses more than a mile away, opened and empty Amazon delivery box, a bunch of Christmas cards…so sad. My husband may have seen the thieves stashing the mail the night before but didn’t think anything of it at the time so did not note the license plate number. The car may be a neighbors but it was a gray Chrysler New Yorker 80s or 90s style.

The person who e-mailed us said she tried to report it to police but they wouldn’t take a report because she was not the victim. So if you think your mail’s been stolen, be sure to file a report.

The Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council e-mail list has been abuzz about that coyote, photographed last Tuesday afternoon “on Genesee and 20th Ave SW (map), heading toward the headwaters of Puget Creek in the greenbelt adjacent to Pathfinder K-8,” according to Joni. We requested the photo after reading her account of the coyote trying to get into the chicken enclosure at her home, which is near the school. Joni says somebody tried to shoo the coyote away but it “didn’t even blink … and stuck around long enough” to be photographed. She has since raised the fence on the chicken enclosure, and reminded neighbors on the list, “Please don’t leave food out for animals, and keep your pets safe!” She also shared the link that we include in most coyote reports – “living with coyotes” info from the state – including what to do when you see one.

The Grouchos are back. They’re tougher to see than during their previous appearances on the north-facing slope alongside the eastbound West Seattle Bridge (our photo is from 2007) – but, as Patt posted on the WSB Facebook wall today, they’re back. Until last year, they seemed to appear magically each spring. This year, it turns out, they actually reappeared a few weeks ago, according to West Seattle writer Mark Bourne, who had chronicled them in the past; we contacted him this afternoon to mention the new sighting, and he pointed out he’d already written about it (with new photos showing they’ve multiplied!). Who puts them there? Still a mystery.