Holiday Weekend Watch: Forecast iffy
Guess it won’t be TOO horrible if this forecast holds and Memorial Day is something like today (photo above shows an afternoon sunbreak along Lincoln Park’s north shore). At least Colman Pool will be open (we were so desperate today to get a glimpse, despite the plywood over the plexiglass on the west and south sides, we took our young assistant up on his offer to sneak a photographic peek through the drainage openings at the bottom of the brick wall):
Colman Pool’s opening day is Saturday (schedule here).
Story behind a new number on the Lincoln Park vigil sign
That’s the sign in Ron Richardson‘s yard along Fauntleroy across from Lincoln Park, which he updates with the
death and injury toll in the Iraq war. We’ve told you about it before; our most recent post, and comments on it, led to coverage in the citywide media. Richardson introduced himself to us at our table at the recent Sustainable West Seattle Festival in The Junction, and told us he’d added a new number to his sign, in honor of an area resident killed in the war in 2005, Christopher Dickison (photo right). Here’s his story of how that happened — timely as Memorial Day approaches:
The most important response [to the sign], by far, came three weeks ago when a woman and several of her family knocked at my door. The woman, Leanna Dickison, wanted to thank me for having the sign. She told me that her son, Christopher Wayne Dickison, was fatality number 1754. Christopher’s twin sister Rhonda Herrera was part of the group. Chris’ mother had made a blanket as a gift for me. I thanked her and suggested she take the blanket to the VA Hospital and present it to one of the Iraq vets at the VA.
I have since visited Leanna and learned more about Christopher. The family lives in White Center. Christopher was a graduate of Evergreen High. He joined the military in 2002. He was in Iraq for a year when his tour of duty was extended. It was during this extension that Chris was killed. I looked up Chris’s name on the internet and found articles and memory pages by those who knew him as a friend, a relative and as a comrade in arms. This reminded me that the internet can be a rallying place for folks to share their respect and love.
I have attached a current photo of the sign, a photo of Chris and a list of some of the websites that memorialize Chris. I have added the number 1754 on the sign and it will stay there. Each time I change the other numbers I will remember Chris and his family. They are our neighbors and part of our community. As folks spot my sign I hope they remember Chris and all of the others killed and wounded in Iraq. I also think about this war and why we are fighting it. I hope your readers think upon this as well.
Here are the links that Ron provided: a page featuring citywide media coverage from Christopher’s death in 2005, a guestbook that he has signed and you can too, and a video tribute posted online.
Side note: Richardson also is involved with another issue right now — voter-owned elections — and told us he’ll be speaking about that at tonight’s Delridge District Council meeting (7 pm, Southwest Precinct).
Attention, small businesses: BizJam returning to West Seattle
If you hadn’t already heard: Registration is open for the second annual BizJam Seattle conference for “indie” businesses, presented by Biznik (motto: “business networking that doesn’t suck”) – and again this year, it’s happening in West Seattle, at Youngstown Arts Center. This time around, it’ll span two days – Day 1, July 9, will focus on what small businesses need to know about “social media.” Read more about BizJam here (disclosure, we’re speaking at BizJam; in the year since the last BizJam, we’ve become an “indie” business ourselves). Speaking of social media, you can find us on Twitter as westseattleblog and on Facebook as WS Blog — we also just set up a West Seattle Blog group there.
Longfellow Creek Garden update, and a request for help
That’s a recent photo of Longfellow Creek Garden, the small organic garden/farm that is taking shape in North Delridge (first reported here last month). Zach Zink wrote us a while back inviting people to come help with getting LCG in shape, and got quite a response. Now he’s asking for help with a new challenge for this nonprofit operation: “We are in need of a certified plumber to install a few pieces of equipment so we can have an irrigation faucet at the Garden. Our budget is pretty low this year, and getting water installed is going to run us between 500 and 700 dollars. Saving on labor would help us out to the tune of 200 dollars!” If you can help or know someone who might be able to, e-mail Zach at zach@growingwashington.org.
Community Safety Partnership report #1: Shootings update
First of at least two reports from tonight’s West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meeting — Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen had a little information about the mother and son shot in their Delridge duplex last week. He said both are doing OK; no one in custody right now but a possible “person of interest” was detained, then released pending further investigation. He also said the shooting was not random – the mother was definitely targeted, not sure about the 10-year-old son. Other news from tonight’s meeting included the promised briefing on “casing” (no revelations but good reminders) and plans for WSCSP’s first Officer Appreciation Day at the precinct. More on all that in the morning.
Seahawks starter swoops into College Night at SSCC
Above left, that’s Seattle Seahawks cornerback Kelly Jennings, focusing on the educational field rather than the playing field tonight at South Seattle Community College, appearing on behalf of City University, which is partnering with SSCC in a new 4-year-degree program (reported here last month). This was part of College Night at Brockey Center on the school’s campus in northeastern West Seattle:
During the event, visitors wandered between booths and tables set up on behalf of other educational institutions as well as SSCC programs like its culinary-arts offerings, spotlighted in a cooking demo:
College Night is an annual SSCC event organized to provide information on transferring to four-year programs or further exploring some of the school’s vocational programs. (One more note on Jennings’ appearance – info provided in advance notes that he holds two degrees in Finance and Business Management from the University of Miami.)
Salon crash update: Saved by a quirk of fate
Followup on this morning’s crash at Jan’s Salon south of Morgan Junction (earlier WSB coverage here): We dropped by to talk with Jan earlier this afternoon; she is still trying to sort things out and expects to be closed at least a few days (photo above shows some of the damage, through the shop window). She was not insured – she said she was “between insurers.” She also said it was a quirk of fate that she wasn’t in the salon when this happened – she originally had a 9 am appointment scheduled today, but the client canceled, otherwise she would have been in the salon at the time of the crash. (The truck, shown in the photos from our earlier coverage, was towed after a couple hours; we wound up two cars behind the tow truck as it rattled past our corner, heading southeast.) Jan says she’s been in business at this location (California & Frontenac) for 14 years.
Satterlee House followup: Agent says repairs in the works
If you’ve been following the saga of the Satterlee House – the city-landmark-designated “Painted Lady” of Beach Drive (4800 block) – you know its current owner, William Conner, is challenging a city ruling against his proposal to build three 3,000-square-foot-average homes on its long front lawn (most recent WSB report here). In testimony before the city Hearing Examiner, who affirmed the city Landmarks Board ruling that Conner had appealed (WSB coverage of the decision here), it was disclosed that the house has significantly settled and that the problem likely had contributed to the failure of at least one purchase offer over the years. One of the witnesses at the hearing (as reported here) was the Satterlee House’s longtime listing agent, AC Braddock, who e-mailed WSB to say that Conner has committed to repairing the settling, and she believes that might “help someone to decide to buy the entire property as an estate. Having the house lifted and made more level should give a prospective owner more confidence in the viability of the home and seriously consider making the investment required to update the home and grounds as an estate home.” Braddock adds that she plans to schedule some open houses before and after the repair work.
Happening tonight: Crimefighting community meeting
We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: If you are concerned about crime and safety in your neighborhood — the kind of response that we get for our crime/safety coverage indicates that thousands of people in West Seattle are — there is one monthly meeting you shouldn’t miss: Send a family member, send a neighbor, just make sure you’re represented, to hear the latest information for yourself. It’s happening tonight: West Seattle Community Safety Partnership, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct public meeting room (Delridge/Webster, just east of the south side of Home Depot). Local police leadership (including Community Police Team members) is always there, not only to present updates, but also to answer your questions and address your concerns. And it’s not just about crime – the Seattle Neighborhood Group provides a staff member to this group (which has a new slate of volunteer leaders) to share information about fighting any blight in your neighborhood, including so-called “nuisance properties.” We always cover this meeting to report highlights here, but that’s no substitute for getting some of this practical how-to information – and getting questions answered – in person. On the agenda tonight — “casing” — maybe that’ll help us all sort out some of those door-to-door dilemmas. See you there.
… the city is trying to do it with a new campaign called “Give Your Car the Summer Off.” (
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