West Seattle, Washington
19 Friday
As reported earlier this week, longtime West Seattle Herald reporter Tim St. Clair died Monday night after battling cancer. (His obituary is on the Herald site.) This morning, we just received word that his memorial is set for Saturday on Alki:
A celebration of life for Tim St. Clair, Mr. West Seattle, is being held on Saturday, March 1st, at the Alki Bathhouse, 2701 Alki Ave. SW., from 4 PM to 7 PM. It is open to the public, Tim’s family would love to hear stories about Tim and his time in West Seattle as a reporter for the Herald. Please post this on your site at the request of his family. There will be photos of Tim from his life as well as mementos and awards and memories of a wonderful man who contributed so much to the community.
So said one Option 2 (shared campus) opponent, right after the school board vote. You’ll see that clip at the end of this post. First, let’s backtrack:
(video unavailable due to blip.tv shutdown)
There, you see the opponents of the Denny-Sealth shared campus who stood silently throughout much of tonight’s Seattle School Board meeting (WSB liveblog archived here), until and during board members’ 5-2 vote in favor of the project — here’s the roll call:
(video unavailable due to blip.tv shutdown)
Ahead: More clips including West Seattle’s board rep Steve Sundquist explaining his support for Option 2 and board member Harium Martin-Morris explaining why he opposed it, plus public comments before the vote (including one FOR the shared campus), and that “it’s not over” vow:Read More
Out of the WSB inbox, from Trissa:
Just wanted to let you know that someone tried to break into a house on the 4000 block of 23rd Ave SW tonight at 8:00 pm. There was a lot of police activity and they brought dogs to try and catch the person or persons. So a thank you to our police and hopefully they will catch the person(s)!
Side note, we were at the Southwest Precinct reviewing police reports, including last night’s pit-bull shooting incident, just before going to the school-board meeting, and will be writing that all up after the Denny-Sealth wrapup report.
We’re monitoring other news while liveblogging the School Board meeting; ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) just sent the lineup for its next season:Read More
9:50 PM: Back at WSB HQ now. Processing video for a separate wrap-up post on tonight’s School Board vote.
9:10 PM: Just back from wading into reaction interview central in the foyer outside the board room. Talked to Sealth staffers Delfino Munoz and John Wright, both of whom spoke against Option 2 tonight. Munoz quote: “It’s not over.” But what’s next – he says it’ll take some time to step back and reassess. (The board meeting continues, by the way; we will continue monitoring in case of anything WS-related.) P.S. The opponents were clearly disappointed as they cleared the chambers after the vote, but were classy about it – no loud boos or other disruptions – in case you were curious (and didn’t happen to be watching on TV). The board’s now discussing future transportation plans for students; high-school students are scheduled to stop getting “yellow bus” transportation as of next year, and are to be given Metro passes instead. WEST SEATTLE-SPECIFIC NOTE: District staff confirms this is the last year that Spectrum kids (one of the district’s gifted programs) from West Seattle who go to Washington Middle School will have the opportunity to ride regular school buses; that ends next year, though Metro passes would be made available for them too. (Meeting adjourned at 9:20 pm.)
9:05 PM – The vote is 5-2 for Option 2. The no votes are from Mary Bass and Harium Martin-Morris.
After the jump, the rest of our liveblogging of tonight’s meeting, in reverse chronological order, exactly as we filed it during the meeting:Read More
Steve lives in the 2400 block of 44th SW and just sent this (we’ll be looking for the official police report during our forthcoming trip to the Southwest Precinct):
Yesterday (Tuesday 2/26) we were disturbed to learn that our next-door neighbors’ house was shot at by a group of five young boys. There is a sizable bullet hole in their front picture window, and police who responded to the incident confirmed that the hole was made by something larger than a BB gun. According to our neighbor, she was returning home from walking their dog when she noticed the boys congregated on the landscaped parking strip in front of their house. The boys appeared to be of middle-school age. One of them was holding a gun pointed at the house. The gun holder tucked the weapon into the front of his pants took off running south down 44th Ave SW with the rest of the boys when she called out to them asking what they were doing. She began to pursue them but pulled up short when one of the boys called out to the others “She’s after us!” followed by something about using the gun.
When she returned to her house she noticed for the first time the large bullet hole in her front window and called the SPD. The bullet passed through the main living room where the family often spend time. Fortunately no one was home when the shooting occurred.
This happened around 9:30 am on Tuesday.
That’s yet another new sign on the big lawn in front of the “Painted Lady,” 
aka Satterlee House (inset right), in the 4800 block of Beach Drive, this time for Ewing and Clark, at least the third time it’s switched listing agents since we started watching it a year and a half ago. Current price, $2.2 million. As we reported earlier this month, the proposal to build three houses on that lawn is going before the city Hearing Examiner in a few weeks; the Landmarks Preservation Board has a say because the Satterlee House is an official landmark, and its ruling is what’s being appealed. One more Beach Drive real-estate note: The fourplex at 4131 Beach Drive is up for sale, $3,050,000, and the listing says it’s in the process of condo conversion. And regarding real-estate in general – it’s been reported that prices are falling more slowly in Seattle than the rest of the country; if you want to track West Seattle real estate, WS realtor (and WSB sponsor) Bill Barna is now offering a regularly e-mailed “market tracker” report. Click here to e-mail Bill for the Market Tracker; or you can see a sample version here. (He also has an automated “new listings e-mail” service that we find useful to monitor for local listings which might be worth noting here.)
As reported here about this time yesterday, at least a few eastbound drivers heading out of West Seattle were startled to see those semi-new “Alaskan Way Viaduct Closed” 
lights flashing yesterday morning –considering The Viaduct was wide open at the time. We called the city Transportation Department and were told it was a test. Why no warning, then, some commenters sensibly asked. We had a followup question out and didn’t hear back till SDOT communications chief Rick Sheridan just called with new information: It was a system failure, after all. He says SDOT was confused when we first asked yesterday morning because some testing WAS actually happening elsewhere along the chain of warning lights — a crew was out in the north end along Aurora, where similar lights are set up for southbound drivers, testing individual lights; Sheridan says that was at the same time a “field communications device component” failed here in West Seattle, turning on the whole system. The faulty component has since been replaced. We asked why there was no advance public alert about the test that WAS going on; Sheridan says there wouldn’t be one for a “one light at a time, quickly off and on, with a crew standing there” test like the one on Aurora, but he promises there will be one for a systemwide test he says is planned in about three weeks. (Which would be right before the actual scheduled inspection closure of The Viaduct March 22-23.)
Especially for you if you work outside West Seattle and are in that “isn’t it Friday yet?” mode. First photo courtesy of Chas Redmond, taken by cameraphone looking at the Olympics from Anchor/Luna Park along Alki Ave (the clouds are clearing now); the other two, we took after spotting a heron in the trees at Camp Long late yesterday:
A reader suggests we ask how you survived those three hours of Starbuckslessness. That gives us an excuse to point you to a couple places with insight as to what went on: The Daily Weekly photographed a group of employees with a butcher-papered easel headed HOUSE RULES; StarbucksGossip.com, of course, has a massive comments thread; and the AP says there’s a new sign posted in SBUX stores.
Tonight, the Seattle School Board is scheduled to make its decision on the Denny Middle School/Chief Sealth High School shared-campus proposal. (All WSB coverage is archived here.) What board members specifically are being asked to approve or reject is a resolution to move $10 million from elsewhere in the budget to support Option 2 (district rendering below), the option recommended by district administration — going ahead with building a new Denny on the Sealth campus, but adding money to the required renovations CSHS was already scheduled to get:
WSB will be there tonight with live online updates; as the day goes on, we’ll report any late pre-vote developments, starting with this: Sealth teacher John Wright forwarded a petition signed by staffers who support Option 3 (building a new Denny on its current site; renovating Sealth with the basic upgrades it is scheduled to get no matter what). Here’s the petition text; Wright says of the 93 CSHS staffers contacted yesterday, 83 signed it (they hadn’t yet reached 16 staffers):
We the undersigned staff at Chief Sealth High School strongly urge the School Board to vote for Option 3 to keep the campuses separate. We strongly urge all available funds be utilized to build the absolutely best possible Denny Middle School to support our entire community.
There have been multiple admissions of community and staff engagement flaws in this entire process, some accidental, some intentional. Ultimately, however, we request Option 3 be chosen as there has been no evidence towards academic benefit for any co-location campus model.
1. All or almost all of the existing 6-12 models in the country referred to by the school district are either private, charter or magnet schools with self-selecting application processes. The models of 6-12 schools which exist were pre-planned projects, not mergers of existing schools. Successful 6-12 models had staff heavily involved in every phase of the development of the school and, in many models, the schools were created gradually (ex. one grade level at a time).
2. There is no academic plan for a 6-12 co-location model. Vague affirmations from the district that it “could work†as well as the Facilities Department website’s Academic Benefits (actually just copied from the Denny principal’s letter) do not constitute an academic plan. An academic plan requires considerable deliberation and intensive wide-ranging input prior to construction according to best practices.
3. Any large-scale educational program change absolutely needs teacher support for it to be successful. Combining the campuses without an educational plan for shared programs, shared planning and collaboration time for teachers, will lead to a lack of support and poor implementation.
Ultimately the reason why Sealth staff cannot find a single research study to clearly refute the proposed 6-12 model for Sealth & Denny is because something like this appears to have never been tried before. Never before have two existing schools with a significant FRL rate and no self-selecting application process had a building built prior to the development of an educational plan with the expectation that it would somehow work out. There are no studies to support or refute this exact model because it is a massive experiment on our kids – it has not been tried elsewhere and we believe it has not been done because it is an inadequate model.
Wright says Sealth principal John Boyd (WSB interview from yesterday morning is here) was presented with this petition late yesterday afternoon, before it was sent to the School Board. He also notes “this is a staff petition because the district still maintains that all of the other ‘Sealth staff polls’ were unofficial. So to avoid charges of ballot stuffing or any other classic attempts to discredit the integrity of the staff’s position, the original petitions will be given to the Board along with the staff list so they can verify the accuracy by contacting anybody they want.” He says that will be done at tonight’s meeting.
Hard to believe that the Exxon Valdez oil-spill case is not over yet, 19 years after the tanker catastrophe that soiled Alaska’s Prince William Sound and ravaged its wildlife. But today, U.S. Supreme Court justices hear oral arguments in one ongoing case — Exxon is arguing that it should not have to pay punitive damages to more than 30,000 people affected by the spill — and a West Seattle photojournalist’s work will be part of the plaintiffs’ exhibit. Natalie Fobes (shown left while on assignment in Siberia) was one of the first photojournalists on the scene; she got there the day after the spill. She says she “hitch-hiked her way around (Prince William) Sound on fishing boats and mail planes while many photographers and journalists were stuck in Valdez waiting for a plane or helicopter charter,” spending the next few months documenting the devastation as she lived with fishermen, Native Alaskan families, and cleanup workers. Fobes testified in person at some of the earlier trials. You can see some of her photos at Fobes’ website here. She says, “I got into photojournalism to make a difference. To have my photographs included in one of the largest environmental cases ever argued before the Supreme Court is amazing.”
The West Seattle High boys lost yesterday’s basketball game to Rainier Beach, 68-45, according to a brief mention in this Times roundup, which notes they play Cleveland next in this double-elimination round, 6:30 pm Thursday, also at Bellevue Community College.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Just got a phone call about police activity at 24th/Trenton reportedly involving pit bulls. Scanner seems to confirm something happening out there with that particular breed of dog — the caller said it involved the dogs attacking another dog — we’re headed out to check on it. (If this pans out, it would be the third notable pit-bull incident in West Seattle in recent days; there was one in each of our previous two police-report summaries — a man shooting one, and a 9-year-old girl getting bit in the face by one.) 8:44 PM UPDATE: Our person on the scene confirms tons of police and medic activity. No extra details yet, though. Scanner just described original call as a “dogfight.” 8:52 PM UPDATE: Looks like “an older man” is going to be taken away for treatment; our original caller said he’d heard a man had been bitten. 8:59 PM UPDATE: At the scene, the victim’s wife told WSB her husband and their dog were out for a walk when other dogs attacked them; the man is going to the hospital (but is reportedly conscious); police confirm shots were fired but won’t confirm our reader’s report that at least one dog was shot. We’ll have scene video soon. (Side note, for WSB regulars who have previously admitted to being fans of KING 5 breaking-news specialist Jim Forman, our correspondent reports he’s on the scene now.) 9:48 PM ADDITION: Here’s our video clip. Nothing earthshaking – just the medic unit pulling up to a scene already awash in flashing lights.
10:04 PM UPDATE: According to the KING 10 pm report, one of the pit bulls was shot and killed; the dog they attacked was a 7-pound Chihuahua named Rosie. The wife of Rosie’s owner says he was just bitten in the hand, but “he has a bad heart” so he was going to be checked out further. (The online version of their story is here.) 11:02 PM UPDATE: KIRO and KOMO made it out here for their late newscasts. KOMO’s reporter, however, inexplicably proclaimed himself to be in White Center. (Hint: If you are dealing with Seattle Police, you are not in White Center, which is handled by the King County Sheriff’s Office. This part of Westwood is well within the city limits.)
Two nights before the second Design Review Board meeting for the “Spring Hill” mixed-use building at 5020 California, south of The Junction, you can now take a look at its revised design proposal, just posted online. Check it out here; its highlights are three new options (first three drawings below), labeled C2, D, and E:
The courtyard placement in the last two renderings seem to address concerns of neighbors to the east that their back yards (on the alley at the right side of each sketch) would face little more than a big flat wall at Spring Hill’s rear. Compare those to the original three options (angled, California at front, alley behind):
Our coverage of the first DRB meeting for this project is here; Thursday’s meeting is at 8 pm, Denny Middle School Library, after the DRB meets at 6:30 pm for its first look at 9030 35th SW.
This is circulating among Junction businesses — We received it from the folks at Jan’s Beauty Supply (WSB sponsor):
ATTENTION!!!
On Thursday February 21, 2008 at about 4:45 PM, two girls entered the back door to our business. Girl 1 proceeded to the front of the store; girl 2 entered our employee room. We caught girl 2 in the room and she then ran out the back door. She had taken a wallet, check book and digital camera from an employee’s purse. She was chased through Capers, down California Ave. and into Zamboanga where she was cornered. The wallet and check book were retrieved, the camera is still missing. Girl 1 and girl 2 continued north on California Ave.Many merchants said they had seen these girls through the day and a few had the same experience. If you have found anything missing and remember seeing these girls please call the SPD. Please refer to our case number 2008-068225.
Girl 1: Caucasian, early 20’s, 5’8â€, thin build (145lbs.), gap in front teeth, dark brown hair pulled tightly in a pony tail, Black and gold “Baby Phat†hoody and dark “Baby Phat†jeans.
Girl 2: Hispanic-American, early 20’s, 5’6â€, heavy set (165lbs.), thick dark brown or black curly hair pulled into a pony tail, tattoo on the right side of neck, black Northface jacket, distressed light blue jeans, black coach bag.Be on the look out for these girls!!! We can’t let our community go this route!
JAN’S BEAUTY SUPPLY: 206-937-9224
(JAN, SHERI & ALISSA)
First came the plan for a sidewalk along Alki Ave west of the spot shown above – then came concern – then the protest – then word the plan would change (and incorporate some improvements to the 63rd/Alki arterial-turn route) – now (hat tip to AlkiNews.com for first word), the city will send a delegation to Alki on April 2 to show and explain potential alternatives. Larry Carpenter of the Alki Community Council is helping coordinate the meeting; he explains:
SDOT will present several alternative plans at a public meeting on Wednesday, April 2nd from 6:30 to 8:30 PM at the Alki Community Center. Drawings of the variants will be available on tables or along the walls as early as 6 PM so that people can come in early and familiarize themselves with the plans. Sidewalk program manager Sandra Woods (handles all 16 Seattle projects), Alki project manager Therese Casper, and some project engineers will present the plans and answer questions with the intent of getting consensus. … Alki Council will also have reps on hand to answer any questions on the history of the project (going back to the early ’90s).
The agenda for tomorrow night’s Seattle School Board meeting, including the vote on the Denny-Sealth combined-campus project, is now updated on the district website. In the public-comment section at the start of the meeting, 18 people are listed as signed up to speak about the Denny-Sealth proposal (you can see the entire list on the agenda posted online). Also added to the agenda since this morning is the “updated report” on the actual item on which board members will be voting, whether to “transfer” $10 million to the Denny-Sealth project in support of Option 2. Here’s a link to that; its list of the sources for the $10 million is: “$1.5 million from Debt Service Fund, $3.5 million from BEX III Technology, $5 million from BEX III Infrastructure.” Again, the meeting’s at 6 pm tomorrow, district HQ in Sodo; we’ll be there and plan to liveblog it with continuous updates here, start to finish (you can also watch live on cable channel 26).
Within the past half-hour, as promised, several dozen Chief Sealth High School students walked out in protest of the proposal to build a new Denny Middle School on their campus. They walked up Thistle and past Denny, as shown in the clip above. We watched the walkout from their Sealth departure and it appeared orderly; according to an e-mail sent to the CSHS staff by principal John Boyd, any student who missed a class will be marked for an unexcused absence in that class. ADDED 4 PM: Another angle from our video, as the protesters walked uphill on Thistle toward Denny:
Tomorrow night is a particularly important night for Chief Sealth High School principal John Boyd (left). Not just because the Seattle School Board is scheduled to make its final decision on the controversial proposal to build a new Denny Middle School on the CSHS campus — two other events will keep him from being at district headquarters for the vote: A mariachi concert with the CSHS musicians and visitors from California, and a basketball game with the 8th graders he’s coaching (including his son) across the street at Southwest Community Center. This morning, though, not quite as hectic, so he made time to talk with WSB — not just about the much-discussed impending vote, but also about what else is happening at his school:Read More
Thanks to two WSB’ers who e-mailed us to report seeing those semi-new “VIADUCT CLOSED WHEN FLASHING” lights in action this morning — one report at 9 am on The Bridge, one report at 10 am on 35th. Marybeth Turner of SDOT confirms it was a planned test, not a malfunction, and is checking to see if any more testing is planned; good thing they’re checking now, since the next weekend-inspection closure for The Viaduct is just a few weeks away (March 22-23).
Just got sad news from editor Jack Mayne at the West Seattle Herald: Longtime reporter Tim St. Clair, 57, passed away last night after a battle with cancer, through which he continued to work — covering West Seattle issues, events, and people — almost up to the end. The Herald plans to have a story up soon with more details on Mr. St. Clair’s life and work (20 years covering West Seattle); Jack Mayne says, “He will be sorely missed by all of us and by the people he chronicled over the years. Tim was not just a reporter, he was a man who believed strongly in the people of West Seattle.” When the Herald’s obituary for Mr. St. Clair is up, we will link to it here, and will also update you on memorial plans. 11:39 AM UPDATE: The obituary is now posted on the Herald website.
First – just got word that West Seattle Little League is planning a “late registration” event tonight at West Seattle High School, 7-9 pm, room 212. Full details plus forms, at the WSLL website. Also, West Seattle Pee Wee baseball has a few spots left (find out more on their website). And a photo followup to last night’s post about big games this week for WSHS and Seattle Lutheran basketball teams — this morning, Walking on Logs (along the westbound Fauntleroy path off The Bridge) is decked out in honor of SLHS with a banner congratulating the “Sea Lu girls” (sorry we only had the cameraphone in tow so no zoom):
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