West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
Back from three-plus hours at the Southwest Precinct, starting with the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, then moving on to review the latest reports. From the WSCPC meeting – the February crime stats, announced by Lt. Steve Paulsen: 
2 armed robberies, down from 5 in January; strong-armed robberies were up to 7 for February, described by Lt. Paulsen as largely “afterschool stuff” – youths getting iPods and money stolen, and he says they’re “working with the schools on that issue” – residential burglaries down to 37 in February (usually averaging about 50/month); 26 car thefts in February, down from 33; car prowls down dramatically in February, 83, from January’s 127. More from the Crime Prevention Council meeting in a separate story; first, on to some of the latest reports from the precinct, including more than a few car crimes, starting with a theft that ended in arson and a store clerk scaring away a would-be robber – plus a burglary from today, reported by a local Block Watch — read on:Read More
E-mail note tonight from Cafe Revo, which opened three and a half weeks ago in the Luna Park business district – it’s starting “happy hour” as of tomorrow, 4-6 pm Mondays-Fridays, with offerings including $4 appetizers.
(thanks to Mona for the photo)
We’re checking on something happening at 16th/Roxbury (map) – there was a brief medic call to 15th/Roxbury, it closed, but Mona just sent word of a big fire/police presence in the area, and we got a call from Kevin too. More as soon as we confirm info. Avoid the area in the meantime. 8:11 PM UPDATE: This is on the King County side of White Center – King County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating; they say a man was hit by a car in the intersection – the driver told investigators he never saw the man. The man’s been taken to Harborview Medical Center. The Roxbury/16th/15th area is still closed at last report so avoid the area.
(looking north along 42nd from Jefferson Square during the 1st walking tour, February 28)
Reminder: If you can spare the time at midday tomorrow, it’s your next chance to get directly involved with the city’s review of parking in The Junction – a review that will eventually lead to a decision on whether the city will install pay stations, Residential Parking Zones, new time-limit signage, and/or other parking-management “tools.” At 11 am tomorrow, you can join the group rendezvousing outside Cupcake Royale at California/Alaska – as reported in our coverage of the first tour Feb. 28, the city reps want to hear about your observations and concerns. (Though the posted time is 11 am-1 pm, most of the first tour was done in about an hour.) If you can’t make the tour, you can have your say in other ways – contact info is on the parking review’s website. (Archived WSB coverage of the ongoing Junction parking review can be found here, newest to oldest.)
Just got word that vandal(s) hit the Chief Sealth High School – permanent campus – project overnight. According to a report provided by the Southwest Precinct, the construction crew arrived first thing this morning “to discover someone(s) broke into the secured school … set fire to a cabinet / cork boards, and broke multiple skylights and other interior windows.” The report elaborates:
They set a wood cabinet on fire, which caught nearby corkboards on fire. Numerous interior windows as well as skylights were extensively damaged. Several beer cans were left behind, as well as blood smears from where (the) suspect may have been cut. The fire alarm had been disabled due to reconstruction.
The report also says construction workers had reported graffiti vandalism and a “trash-can fire” the day before, which might have been the work of the same vandal(s). Detectives are doing followup work now, and the blood smears provided potential DNA evidence. We will check with Seattle Public Schools regarding damage estimate from this vandalism and what’s going to be done to step up security. 7:04 PM UPDATE: A district spokesperson says that information won’t be available till tomorrow.
2 Alaskan Way Viaduct notes: Short one first, the tunnel plan (SB 5768) gets a public hearing tomorrow afternoon in the House Transportation Committee, 3:30 pm (it’s already passed the State Senate, but the House is considered to be a tougher crowd for this one). Second, WSDOT just sent word that it’s calling for bids on a key part of the first major viaduct-replacement project, the south section — read on:Read More
On one side of Alki Ave, you’ll have St. Patrick’s Day night at Celtic Swell — on the other, a tradition from the other side of the globe. Thanks to Paige for e-mailing to share this:
CHAHAR SHANBEH SOORI tonight, Tuesday March 17 at Alki Beach Park, 7 pm-11 pm
Chahar Shanbeh Soori is the ancient Iranian festival dating at least back to 1700 BCE of the early Zoroastrian era. The festival of fire is a prelude to the ancient Norooz festival, which marks the arrival of spring and revival of nature. Chahar Shanbeh Soori is celebrated the night before the last Wednesday of the year. On this occasion people make small fires and jump over them of good luck in the coming New Year.
Please bring as much firewood as you can and light a fire ONLY in designated fire pits – otherwise the Fire Department will be called in and our fires will be put out. Be safe and have fun. *Note: This is a community organized event and not an IACA-sponsored event.
For other Iranian events celebrating the Persian New Year/Spring Equinox, go to:
iaca-seattle.org/calendar
1. The Parks Department sent out a roundup today of sports-signup highlights at their facilities around West Seattle; check it out here.
2. Just got a City Hall advisory that Hizzoner will be volunteering at the High Point Habitat for Humanity construction site tomorrow. Celebrityish help is nothing new on the project; we covered Seahawks wives helping out back in February.
Photos in honor of St. Patrick’s Day – first, West Seattle’s legendary green street line, down 41st SW north of Admiral; next, a lot of green now to be seen at the Morgan Junction park site, well on its way to completion (it’s scheduled for an official dedication during the Morgan Community Festival June 13th but will be done long before then):
The city’s just sent out more reminders that the naming process for this park is under way — get all the details in our most recent report here – the deadline is April 6. P.S. Not green, but — in case you’re looking for a lucky pot of gold – might have been at the end of the rainbow that Rhonda watched move across Puget Sound during this morning’s showers:
When we first told you last Friday about the lawsuit that developers BlueStar filed against Seattle Capital and its parent company in connection with the stalled Fauntleroy Place development, we also mentioned there was word of another lawsuit. We’ve now learned more about that lawsuit: It’s filed against Seattle Capital and Fauntleroy Place LLC, but for this one, the plaintiff is BAJ Capital, local investor Christopher NeVan‘s firm, which state corporation-information files listed as one of the “governing” parties in FP LLC along with Seattle Financial. It tells the detailed tale of what allegedly happened with the site and its ownership last year – we’ll be reading it a while to distill it, and we’ll link it here as soon as we can. The first 10 pages (which are followed by exhibits including the original 2006 LLC agreement forming Fauntleroy Place) accuse the defendants of breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. This suit was actually filed a few days before BlueStar’s suit (which isn’t yet available in the public online court system). ADDED 1:17 PM: Here’s the lawsuit if you’d like to read it for yourself. (The one filed Friday isn’t available online yet.) 2:28 PM: We’ve summarized the complaint, if you’d rather read the toplines than wade through the whole thing:Read More
Top o’ the mornin’ … St. Patrick’s Day events around West Seattle include corned beef, cabbage, and fiddle music at Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights today (call 938-3964 to check if there’s still room) and Shamrock ‘n’ Roll at Skylark (WSB sponsor) tonight, including open turntables at 6 pm and karaoke at 9. Between 6:30 am and 7 pm, drop by Hotwire (WSB sponsor) for a FREE 12-OUNCE PEPPERMINT MOCHA for some green caffeine. And this evening – not holiday-related, but fighting crime is always worth celebrating, so be at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct — hear about the latest crime trends, bring your crime concerns, and see Sgt. Jeff Durden explain the Community Police Team.
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