West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
A WSB’er sounded the alarm last weekend, and many others followed. Now, the state Attorney General is out with an official alert about those fake e-mail, text, and phone messages that aren’t really from Wells Fargo (or any other bank):
State Attorney General Rob McKenna today warned consumers about a text-message trap to capture financial information and drain credit card and bank accounts. Such text message scams are called “smishing.”
“If you don’t wish to be smished, ignore text messages that look like they’re coming from your bank or credit card,” McKenna said. “Flip over your credit or ATM card and call the number on the back. If there’s a problem with your account, that’s the best way to find out.”
Consumers began contacting the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division early this week complaining about calls to their cell phones from those posing as Wells Fargo employees. An automated voice suggested that the customer’s account has been breached and directed them to “press one” for assistance. They were then connected to a person who asks for sensitive account information.
Many of the calls came to those who don’t even have Wells Fargo accounts. As the week progressed, the scam morphed to text messages from those posing as representing Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Capital One.
“Phishing” scams trick consumers into turning over account numbers, PINs, credit card security codes, usernames, passwords and other sensitive information. “Smishing” is a similar scam launched over SMS (Short Message Service) messages – better known as text messages.
Scammers have long phished by phone and email. The text scam is a somewhat new variation. The Attorney General’s Office recommends that consumers never respond to any message requesting account or personal information. Instead, contact the institution using a phone number from a statement or from your bank or credit card company’s official Web site.
Phishing and smishing are criminal acts that the state Attorney General’s Office lacks authority to investigate. Consumers contacted by such scammers should file a complaint with the FTC: . Federal law enforcement monitors complaints filed through the FTC.
Consumers concerned they may have revealed sensitive information in a phishing or smishing scam should contact their bank or credit card company, if applicable, and monitor their bank statements, credit card bills and credit reports to watch for suspicious activity.
The Seattle Police Aggressive Drivers Response Team has been in major school-zone-enforcement mode the past two days, according to an update tonight on SPD Blotter, and most of it’s been done in West Seattle. For the numbers – including some non-school-zone enforcement, too – read on:Read More
Tonight is the first of two major public hearings for next year’s city budget proposal – and if you have something to say, you’re urged to participate, either by going to the hearing (5:30 pm at City Hall, with signups starting at 5) or by sharing your thoughts online. One coalition didn’t want to wait for tonight’s hearing; they planned to attend a special budget meeting this morning. They are a coalition of 11 groups from neighborhoods around the city – primarily business-focused – who together have issued a letter boiling down to this sentence near the start of a letter they have sent to city leaders: “While major crime is down citywide, street disorder persists and continues to negatively impact our neighborhoods.” They want to make sure the budget provides adequate resources to fight that disorder, and they have some suggestions. Among the signatories to their letter are reps from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the White Center Community Development Association (whose office is in South Delridge). Here’s some of what the letter calls for:
*Increase police foot and bike patrols and dedicated anti-crime teams.
*Implement a pilot ‘Hot Spots’ program.
*Officer Distribution [in problem areas].
* Legislative Tools for Arrest/Diversion.
All of those points are elaborated on, in the full letter – we didn’t receive it in a cut-and-paste-friendly format, so we can’t include the full text here, but you can read it as a PDF.
Just talked with a woman who reports a sad scam story similar to ones we’ve heard before: She says she was approached by two women at Westwood Village, outside the QFC store, who asked her for help. The web of what they needed/wanted her to do kept spinning – and now she is very sadly out $6,000, she says. The story had something to do with Africa, an impending airplane flight, and needing to show trust. She says that police can’t do much because she willingly gave them the $6,000, not realizing till afterward that she had been scammed, after an hour and a half of various stops and various people, including a visit to the Walgreens at 15th and Roxbury. The tale was reminiscent of this one, which also originated at Westwood Village, this time last year. Yes, we know YOU might not fall for this, but if you have particularly kindhearted friends/relatives, you might make sure they’re warned that this is out there. Sorry we don’t have descriptions on the suspects, but just the concept of being approached for a large sum of money should be enough to raise suspicion.
Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
After a summer hiatus, the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network reconvened last night at the SW Precinct for their monthly meeting. Led by co-founder Karen Berge, the meeting focused heavily on Emergency Preparedness, as so many community events have this month, and a city rep was on hand to provide information about accessing matching fund grants to promote the issue.
First however, Karen had a big announcement: WSBWCN has been awarded a $4,000 grant from the Bill Wright Technology Matching Fund to help develop on online tool that will help neighborhoods find their Block Watch captains, and will help captains communicate with each other. Says Karen about the award: “We’re doing back flips over here!”
City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Project Manager Garry Owens (photo at right, with Karen) was invited to discuss the city’s matching fund grants that are available to community groups undertaking projects focusing on community involvement.
Two updates on safety near West Seattle schools:
NEW CROSSING GUARDS: WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz reports that Highland Park Elementary now has three crossing guards helping students, after years of just one. From left to right in the photos above, Lemike Taumoepeau is at 9th/Trenton; Ray Covello, at 11th/Henderson; Theresa Straga-Propst at 16th/Trenton. They’re out on school days from 8:15-9 am and 2:45-3:30 pm.
LATEST SCHOOL-ZONE SPEEDER ROUNDUP: Seattle Police were out in school zones again today, and the latest citation roundup they’ve posted on SPD Blotter mentions three local schools, including 36-mph citations near Roxhill Elementary, 28-mph citations near Arbor Heights Elementary, and a 37-mph citation near Holy Family School. (Plus a 78-mph driver on the West Seattle Bridge.)
Was it part of what some fear is a “war” between drivers and bicyclists? An isolated incident? Or? A commuter who bicycles to his West Seattle workplace says he was almost killed by a truck driver this morning, just before the final leg of his trip, and he believes it was deliberate. He has since written and sent a letter to the mayor, published in its entirety below:
Dear Mayor McGinn,
My name is Kit Newman and I am writing you to inform you about a most outrageous incident I experienced on my bike commute this morning. I have been a resident of the City of Seattle for 21 years now and nothing like this has ever happened to me.
I live in the Central District at 22nd avenue and Yesler Way. I work at a small architecture firm on California Ave. SW in West Seattle. I have been commuting by bike between the CD and West Seattle most days for the past 4 years. My normal route takes me down Jackson street to the water front and then south along East Marginal way to reach Spokane street and thus over the little bridge to West Seattle. This incident happened along the southbound lane of East Marginal way very near the Coast Guard port facility and the US Customs warehouse. Having just crossed the intersection of S. Holgate St. and E. Marginal right in front of the entrance to the Hanjin container port terminal, I proceeded south in the southbound lane of East Marginal. There were many bike commuters from West Seattle coming the northbound direction in the temporary bike lane along the west side of the street. Seeing the southbound lane ahead was clear of any vehicle traffic, I elected to ride in that lane rather than against the opposing bike lane traffic coming northbound. The long line of opposing vehicle traffic in the northbound lane of E. Marginal was stopped at that time because a freight train was using the rail crossing at S. Holgate behind me.
As I proceeded in the clear southbound lane ahead, to my utter astonishment, one of the several 18 wheeler container trucks that were stopped in the traffic of the northbound lane, pulled out of that lane, crossed the double yellow center line between lanes and proceeded to accelerate coming northbound head on to me in the southbound lane!
An owner of the Beach Drive-area home where firefighters put out a deck fire (WSB coverage here) yesterday afternoon sent the following e-mail to both warn others, and thank the heroic neighbors who spotted the fire:
I am one of the homeowners who deeply appreciates the help of our neighbors who called 911 yesterday. Here is what appears to have happened: Our deck was being refinished. After the worker (who doesn’t smoke) left, it appears that the rags and cans of deck stain were heated by the sun, burst into flame and ignited the siding and the deck. The firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire just as the flames broke through the windows and began to reach inside! Now, we are dealing with repair and lots of cleanup. Thanks to our neighbors and our very fast and professional fire department!
The homeowner says it’s worth taking a look around your home/condo/apartment to be sure you don’t have any unattended cans at risk of doing the same thing. If you do – but they’re not in active use, so you just want to get rid of them – here’s how/where to do that.
SDOT was already planning to be over here doing “spot paving” on California SW in the block south of SW Edmunds tomorrow and Wednesday (as reported here). Now comes word that SW Avalon Way will follow, between 35th SW and SW Spokane (map), on Thursday and Friday, 9 am-5 pm, weather permitting. SDOT’s announcement says, “One lane of traffic in each direction will remain open. Bicycles will merge with general traffic within work zones. All sidewalks and crosswalks will remain open.”
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
After previewing WestSide Baby‘s kickoff for “Re-Ride,” their expanded car-seat-recycling campaign, we checked back toward the end of the four-hour Saturday event to see the results: Above, some of the 40 or so seats WS Baby told us they received. About one in five could be reused; the rest will be disassembled for recycling. Volunteer Caxambu showed up on Saturday to pitch in with that:
Keep an eye on westsidebaby.org – and here, of course – for updates on upcoming opportunities to donate *any* used car seat you have on hand.
Mayor McGinn has jumped into the endless bikers-vs.-cars safety squabble tonight, writing that he will take on not only specific safety issues, but attitudes: “My office will be convening a summit of community leaders, experts and elected officials to determine how best we can encourage an attitude of responsibility and empathy on the roads, and make it safer for all users.” Meantime, Cascade Bicycle Club invites everyone who’s interested to attend its media briefing tomorrow on the same topic (mentioned in this Tuesday night WSB story). It’s in North Seattle, but the two politicians who are speaking happen to be from West Seattle (City Council Transportation Committee chair Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, speaking as County Board of Health chair), 9:30 am (location and other details here).
WestSide Baby has accepted car seats for recycling before – but usually, just the ones in good enough shape to reuse. Starting this Saturday, they will accept ALL used car seats – 10 am-2 pm on Saturday, bring yours to their donation HQ in White Center, 10032 15th SW (map) – so if you have one, in any condition, in the basement, the attic, the closet, the garage, bring it over! For the new campaign Re-Ride: Car Seat Reuse and Recycling for Local Children in Need, WS Baby is now partnering with recyclers Total Reclaim to enable acceptance of any and all car seats (if yours can’t be reused, they request a $5 minimum donation to help cover the cost of recycling its materials). WS Baby says they are only able to fill about HALF the requests they currently get for car seats, so widening the recycling program will hopefully help them fill more. P.S. If you can help them dismantle car seats in preparation for recycling, please contact Shana Allen at shana@westsidebaby.org or 206-767-1662.
(Added 11:29 am: Part of the stretch to be “spot paved,” looking south on the northbound side)
New information from SDOT today about the “spot paving” planned just south of The Junction, as first reported here last month. It’s scheduled to be done next week:
Crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation plan to grind and pave in the block of California Avenue SW between Erskine Way SW and SW Hudson Street on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 20 and 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. One lane of traffic will remain open for each direction and bicycles will merge with general traffic. There will be a police officer at the intersection of California & Erskine/Edmunds to assist traffic. All sidewalks and crosswalks will remain open.
Before you ask – as noted in our August story, SDOT says it wishes it could repave California SW further south, too, but doesn’t currently have the money.
Two reader reports this morning – one, a car break-in; second, an uncomfortable encounter with someone the reader says seemed “shady” – both ahead:Read More
Two updates on safety near Arbor Heights Elementary School:
First: Thanks to the parent volunteer who shared that photo of the new group of AH crossing guards, sworn in by teacher Margaret Boitano at this week’s all-school assembly. We’re told that almost half of this year’s fifth-grade class trained last spring and are serving as crossing guards now – so keep an eye out for them if you’re driving in the area before/after school. (Safety news from other schools? Let us know!)
Second: Arbor Heights is featured in the latest roundup of Seattle Police Aggressive Drivers Response Team patrols – with four speeders and a “no proof of insurance” citation listed in the SPD Blotter writeup (which includes the latest ADRT efforts from other parts of West Seattle, including the bridge and W. Marginal Way SW).
(“Before” photo from the city webpage for the sidewalk project)
A project announced in March, at a Highland Park Action Committee meeting is about to become reality: One block of new sidewalk, on the south side of SW Cloverdale, between 8th and 9th SW. SDOT‘s Doug Cox, who briefed HPAC six months ago, says today that work will start “in about two weeks.” The neighborhood has long been requesting this as a safety improvement for getting to nearby Westcrest Park, and now that more park space is being developed there in connection with the West Seattle Reservoir-covering project, $100,000 is being spent from the Bridging the Gap levy fund. Here’s the official construction-alert flyer (which says the work should be done by late October), and here’s an engineering document, for those who are interested in the most intricate details.
(Thursday photos courtesy Gary Long)
Tonight, our partners at the Seattle Times look at bicycling-safety concerns, in the wake of two recent deaths in Seattle. Their story says the Cascade Bicycle Club plans a media briefing on Wednesday to call for safety improvements. Here in West Seattle, a bike crash last Thursday led a witness to make a similar call. It happened at noontime in the 5900 block of Beach Drive, along the rutted, cracked stretch just north of the slide zone that is caught up in a legal fight. Gary Long e-mailed photos to WSB along with the following letter, cc’ing both SDOT director Peter Hahn and Seattle City Council president Richard Conlin:
West Seattle continues to experience hazardous road, bicycle and pedestrian conditions. Here are photos of a bicyclist accident on an extremely hazardous stretch of Beach DR SW.
The City has had request of residents and other users to repair street and sidewalk hazards and has not responded except to a patch here and a patch there. Look at the pictures and count the public costs of this accident with police, fire and private emergency responders. Then count the medical bills of the woman whose bike tire caught in the extremely uneven roadway and threw her off balance.
Wouldn’t Seattle do better if it truly cared about the public safety of its citizens to find some money to repair the road and sidewalks? Both are dangerous in this section and SDOT apparently has no recorded inspection activity over those past ten years. At least the SDOT claims to have no records of such activity.
In the meantime, what kind of logic is there in designating an unsafe roadway as a bicycle facility? Is this just to have more miles to list on Seattle’s brochures? Or is Seattle serious about creating alternative transportation choices that are safe? If you look at the pictures and the conditions of the roadway you will see why this accident happened.
No one should use this stretch of Beach DR. SW (even though it serves the neighborhood as a commute alternative into downtown) and believe they are safe. The sidewalks are unsafe in many places as well as the street. Shared bike lanes designated on Beach DR are completely unsafe as a bicyclist must weave along the roadway to avoid an accident just like the one that occurred (Thursday).
Ask the City of Seattle to take responsibility for creating safe streets, bikeways and pedestrian facilities.
Official information about this particular crash and the victim’s condition is scant. Since the 911 log indicates a Seattle Fire Department crew responded, we asked SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore what he could tell us; he says their records show only that they were called to help a woman in her 40s with “unknown injuries.” No SFD aid car/medic unit was called, so if she went to the hospital, it was by some other means of transport. Meantime, we have an inquiry out to Gary to see if he has received any reply from the city since cc’ing them on this four days ago.
P.S. There is no easily accessible database to track bicycle-related injuries in the city, since calls like this go out as an “aid response” or “medic response” rather than “bike crash,” but a search of our archives (and the rest of the Web) indicate West Seattle hasn’t had a deadly bicycle crash since the two that happened in 2006. A crash in Eastern Washington earlier this year killed a bicyclist from West Seattle, Sally Eustis.
Seattle Public Library branches are hosting a sheaf of “Urban Self-Reliance” workshops this fall. Some are in West Seattle. They updated the news release this afternoon and re-sent it to media, and in light of the BC quake (earlier coverage here), we couldn’t help but notice this part. Call ASAP!
“DIY Seismic Home Retrofitting” – Experienced home retrofit contractors and experts will show participants how to assess and retrofit their homes using the City of Seattle’s free pre-engineered plans. This workshop is presented in partnership with the Seattle Office of Emergency Management and Seattle Department of Planning and Development. Registration is required; call the Seattle Office of Emergency Management at 206-233-5076 to register.
(three locations elsewhere in the city, plus …)
o 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Southwest Branch, 9010 35th Ave. S.W., 206-684-7455
For all the other workshops – which cover a wide range of topics from canning to chicken-raising to spreading the word citywide about the West Seattle Tool Library! – check out the news release.
Just out of the WSB inbox, the latest newsletter from Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon. And this one’s full of news you can use – first, the latest burglary-method trends; second, if you still don’t believe us for all the times we’ve quoted police as saying “It’s OK to call 911 – please do! – when you see/hear something suspicious” – here it is, direct from the source. Plus: Advice on how to make sure someone who looks official (non-law-enforcement), and turns up on your doorstep, really IS official. Read on:Read More
Thanks to Mike for sharing that photo of the work that’s under way by the bus stop on the northbound side of Delridge at Croft (map). It’s a multi-component project from the city’s Neighborhood Projects Fund, according to SDOT spokesperson Marybeth Turner:
SDOT paving crews are working on a neighborhood improvement project at Delridge Way and Croft Place SW. They installed a curb ramp and paved an area within a driveway. They also paved a bus pad. They will install a new traffic island (median) on one side of the intersection to assist pedestrians crossing Delridge. The crew chief expects the work to be completed sometime next week.
(Photo taken this morning by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
With the next rainy season right around the corner, a drilling crew was sighted in the Beach Drive slide zone last week, and several people e-mailed WSB to ask if we knew what they were up to. You’ll recall that the fight over who’s to blame for the slides and the resulting road damage and home dangers is now part of two lawsuits – one filed by the city in 2009 against an upslope homeowner, and a newer one filed by nearby homeowners earlier this year (here’s our May report). Online files on the latter suit reveal a counter-claim recently filed by the upslope homeowner; we checked with the city on the overall status of the case, and here’s the response received from the City Attorney’s Office:
While neither lawsuit has been resolved to date, the parties have agreed that additional information is needed to determine next steps and develop an appropriate fix. The work that occurred last week involved drilling in several locations on the hillside to allow engineering analyses of potential solutions.
That’s all they can say since the matter is still “in litigation.” Meantime, we have an inquiry out to SDOT to ask if any road work is planned before winter, given that whomever is to blame, it’s indisputable that the road alongside the slide remains in bad shape (and wintry conditions like ice – remember this? – compound the problem).
ADDED 5:48 PM: SDOT’s Rick Sheridan answered our inquiry (the short answer is “no”):
In mid-July SDOT crews completed asphalt resurfacing on Beach Drive SW between SW Snoqualmie Street and SW Jacobsen Road (the 4600 block), just beyond the slide area. That work was made possible by the mayor and city council directing property sale funds to spot paving.
The roadway to the south, by the slide area, is in need of full pavement reconstruction. However, repairs in that area will need to wait until the slope is stabilized around the 6300 to 6500 blocks.
In addition, that section of Beach Drive must compete with busier streets in West Seattle and elsewhere for scarce paving dollars. Two examples of other streets that carry much heavier traffic volumes and are competing for the same paving funds are Delridge Way SW, which is scheduled for paving in 2014, and the south end of California Avenue SW, for which there is no funding available at this time.
Out of the inbox, from a woman we’ll just identify by her first initial, “C.” No crime appears to have been committed, so this isn’t a Crime Watch report, but she says the same man has approached her three times, twice in a car while she runs, and once in person, and she wanted to get the word out. Here’s her account of what happened:Read More
Just out of the inbox from Nick, who says this happened less than two hours ago, about 10:30 pm:
Hey, just wanted to let people know that I was jogging Friday night in Seaview on 48th Ave SW between SW Findlay St & SW Brandon St [map] when I got hit about 20 times by some punks with what I’m pretty sure were fully automatic pellet guns. Luckily I was wearing long shorts and a baggy sweatshirt so I only got hit 3 times on my body, but they left some decent-sized marks, including a raised welt on my wrist. Didn’t get the plates at the time as I didn’t think of it until about 15 seconds after they were gone, but it was an average-sized sedan with either a black or dark colored paint job. Multiple people inside, they were heading north. I believe this is similar to a story I read on here not too long ago if I’m not mistaken. I reported it when I got home. Let’s get these cowards off our streets, people. They can really hurt you if you were to get hit in the eye or something.
Nick may be referring to this Crime Watch roundup, which included a report of pellets/BBs fired at a West Seattle home.
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