day : 07/07/2008 8 results

Reminder: Southwest Precinct Appreciation Day next week

July 7, 2008 11:16 pm
|    Comments Off on Reminder: Southwest Precinct Appreciation Day next week
 |   Delridge | How to help | West Seattle people | West Seattle police

Jennifer Duong, who provides staff support to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council on behalf of Seattle Neighborhood Group, asked us to post this reminder – the event’s become even more timely since the original announcement, given the major incidents (robbery/shooting and attack, to name a few) our neighborhood law enforcers have been through lately:

Next Tuesday, July 15, Southwest Precinct neighbors are invited to drop by the precinct to show their appreciation for officers who endure long hours, bad weather and ever-present danger to patrol WS area communities. The open-house event is planned from 10 am to 8 pm, to accommodate all three shifts.

Community members are invited to drop-in at the precinct anytime from 10 am to 8 pm for food, fun, and small talk. Come by and meet the people who patrol your neighborhood and taste some great food from local cafés. Bring thank-you cards and letters of appreciation. Share your stories about a dedicated officer or anecdotes about how someone from SPD has helped you. Coloring books and stickers for kids and art supplies to make appreciation cards will also be available.

All are welcome to donate food and beverages from local restaurants, delis, grocery stores, cafés and bakeries. (Home-cooked or home-baked foods cannot be accepted). Donations will qualify as 501-(C)3 charitable contributions. If you would like to participate or volunteer, please contact Jennifer at 206-322-6134 or jennifer@sngi.org. (If you need us to pick up your food donations, contact us by Monday, July 15th). The event is sponsored by members of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council and Seattle Neighborhood Group.

Contact:
Jennifer Duong
SNG SE/SW Program Coordinator
206-322-6134
jennifer@sngi.org
Seattle Neighborhood Group

If you’ve never been to the precinct, it’s directly east of the south side of Home Depot, at Delridge and Webster (map) – the main entrance is from a parking lot that you enter from Webster.

Wildlife watch: Another post with coyotes AND an otter

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Kayle sent that photo and this note:

6:30 am Sunday. We live in the ravine above Salty’s, up near Walnut in North Admiral. We’ve been hearing three coyote pups and mom at night … now they have been waltzing around our deck in the mornings! The pups look healthy, well fed and are bold. Watch your pets!

Then this afternoon, JC sent this:

Not sure that this is particularly newsworthy, but it certainly made my jaw drop: I was just driving up the north end of California Avenue, coming up from Harbor Drive at 2:43 pm. A little more than halfway up the hill, I had to stop for an otter which was loping across the road towards bay side of the street. There was a white pick-up truck coming down the hill who also had to stop. The driver and I exchanged astonished shrugs as the otter disappeared into the bushes.

In the previous reader-report wildlife post (which coincidentally mentioned coyotes and an otter), we noted you’ve got a chance tomorrow night to hear various experts talk about “coexistence with coyotes,” though you’ll have to go to Rainier Beach to do it. ADDED EARLY TUESDAY: Maybe you’ll see City Councilmember Sally Clark there. One of the newer entries to her official blog mentions her first-ever coyote sighting (she lives near Seward Park).

Mayor to unveil proposed “multifamily code” changes tomorrow

How will city leaders change the “multifamily code” (zoning for townhouses, apartments, etc.)? The long-awaited proposal from the mayor’s office goes public tomorrow afternoon — first step in the next stage of the process, which then will involve public comment including City Council hearings. We’ll be there to cover the announcement. (Some of what it might include was previewed during a city Planning Commission member’s presentation in the “Townhouses: Can the Patient Be Saved?” forum we covered here a month ago.) City background on the issue can be found here.

Charges filed against suspects in West Seattle bank robbery

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Documents just in from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office – both suspects in last week’s Admiral Wells Fargo robbery (which preceded the downtown shooting that sent one to the hospital; WSB coverage here) are now charged with three counts each — robbery and eluding — with bail set at $2 million and a hearing planned July 21st. The charging papers include narrative of how the robbery allegedly went down – and confirmation the robber was NOT wearing a dress after all – read on:Read More

Jail-sites fight: City says county extension only partly helps

Latest in the process of deciding where the city might build a new jail for misdemeanor offenders – with “final four” potential sites including two in southeastern West Seattle: City Councilmember Sally Clark made this point while speaking to the Delridge District Council last month (WSB coverage here) – the city contends that even if the county extends its jail-space agreement with Seattle and other cities – as the County Council wants to do — that doesn’t stop the city’s jail-planning process. Here’s the news release just issued by the city, in which officials explain why: (ADDED 5:02 PM – following the city news release, we’ve added the one the county just sent, which notes toward the end that the county is currently below once-projected jail population)Read More

Statue of Liberty Plaza construction: Fence up, statue soon down

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Thanks to David Hutchinson for those photos from Alki, where construction work is about to begin on the Statue of Liberty Plaza, as planned (here’s our report from last week). David says the Parks Department plans to start breaking up the asphalt tomorrow, and that’s also when Parks will take the statue away for temporary storage during construction, scheduled to last two months, with the dedication celebration planned for September 6. (See the latest site plan here; all archived WSB coverage of the Alki Statue of Liberty is here.)

Another east-west West Seattle divide: Sunday wading pools

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What’s missing in that picture? Kids enjoying a city wading pool on a sunny Sunday afternoon — according to people who live near that pool, which is in the park next to Delridge Community Center. It’s always closed on Sundays – as are the two other wading pools in eastern West Seattle (Hughes and Highland Park), as well as not-too-distant South Park wading pool, while the two wading pools in western West Seattle (Lincoln Park and Hiawatha) are open seven days a week. In correspondence with the concerned neighbors, as well as in a response to a WSB inquiry, the Parks Department says the wading-pool schedule is carefully considered by geography. More on that ahead – but first, we took a look at the online citywide schedule and made this map, with blue markers showing the 7-day-a-week pools/spray features and red markers showing the ones closed Sundays (most of those are closed both weekend days, with a few exceptions; Delridge is open Saturdays):


View Larger Map

The schedules aren’t new but the Sunday closures became particularly glaring for neighbors in the 90-degree heat a week ago, when the pool had a “rogue opening” as one neighbor described it, after somebody figured out how to turn on the water – and now they are trying to get the Parks Department to make a change – read on:Read More

What’s big, between now and Friday

CLOSURES: Southwest Community Center, all week (maybe a little longer), related to the renovations at adjacent Southwest PoolWest Seattle Driver Licensing office, reopening Wednesday.

NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP MEETINGS: Big night on Tuesday, highlighted by Junction Neighborhood Association with guests including BlueStar reps to discuss the latest design for Fauntleroy Place (received and published here hours before the June 12 groundbreaking ceremony), 6:30 pm @ Ginomai; also Tuesday, Westwood Neighborhood Council gets a Denny/Sealth update and discusses the neighborhood vision for the Denny site’s future, 7 pm @ Southwest Precinct (location changed because of SWCC closure); Admiral Neighborhood Association meets @ 7 pm Tuesday, Admiral UCC Church, and Fauntleroy Community Association meets @ 7 pm at the schoolhouse.

EVENTS: The BizJam Seattle entrepreneur/small-business conference takes over Youngstown Arts Center on Wednesday and Thursday (your editor here is among the presenters, 2:30 pm Wednesday); it’s the West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk 6-9 pm Thursday; and Friday is the first of 3 days/nights for West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction (come see us at the Information Booth!).

NOT IN WEST SEATTLE BUT IT’LL AFFECT YOU: The City Council‘s public hearing on the proposed foam ban and bag tax is 7 pm Tuesday at City Hall downtown.

TONS MORE GOING ON … check the WSB West Seattle Events calendar page for the full list.