West Seattle, Washington
29 Monday
Received a note overnight via Facebook from Debbie, who says:
I was nearly mugged on the corner of Hudson and California [map] at 9:45 pm! Someone tried to grab my purse off my shoulder while my friends and I were walking by; they unfortunately misjudged my ferocity and failed.
Meantime – we also have two West Seattle Crime Watch alerts that came in this week but hadn’t been included in a roundup yet – a “walk-in break-in” and a car prowl – (added 9:20 am, also a third – another car break-in report that just came in) read on:Read More
CENTENNIAL WALK: Holy Rosary is yet another of the West Seattle churches celebrating its 100th anniversary – and pastoral associate Patrick Barredo sends word of the next event in the celebration, coming up tomorrow:
This Saturday, October 3, members of Holy Rosary Church will have a pilgrimage, walking from Holy Rosary Church (starting at 11 am), and arriving at St. John Episcopal Church at 11:30 am. During Holy Rosary’s Centennial year, this pilgrimage marks a return to history, for St. John Episcopal Church sits on the second location of Holy Rosary Parish. (The first location is at Hanford and Hill, and the current location is the third site.)
Members of St. John Church will be “at home” at 11:00 am saying our prayers and awaiting the arrival of Holy Rosary pilgrims. There will be a course to follow through St. John Church marking particular spots used by the former Holy Rosary church. When it seems like a good time to begin, there will be a short liturgy based on “An Order for Service for Noonday” from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979, led by Rev. Peter DeVeau of St. John and Fr. John Madigan of Holy Rosary.
Afterwards, there will be a lunch of soup and sandwiches in the upstairs Parish Hall, in the general air space of what was the first Holy Rosary School.
We don’t have the exact route they’ll take, but here’s a G-map showing the distance from Holy Rosary to St. John.
“BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS” EVENTS REMINDERS: St. John the Baptist Episcopal is also one of three venues where you and your pet(s) can participate in this tradition this weekend, honoring the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals: Providence Mount St. Vincent, 10:30 am Saturday (meet in the front lobby); Alki UCC, special service 10 am Sunday in the sanctuary; St. John the Baptist, Sunday in the West Seattle High School parking lot next door.
Still some room left to party with the folks working to make West Seattle an ever-better place for business … the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s Bordeaux, Bites and Bingo fundraiser is tomorrow (Friday) night, 6 pm at Sodo Park, operated by West Seattle-based Herban Feast (parent to Fresh Bistro). Great food, wine and fun – plus (as you can see on the poster above) raffle prizes. As West Seattle grows, the Chamber should grow too, but can’t without your support – we joined the C of C a few months after becoming a business two years ago, and wholeheartedly endorse membership for all businesses, large and small – the more self-sufficient our community can be, with strong businesses (and potentially more jobs!), the better. And it’s not just about business: It’s also about sustainability (there’s the Chamber’s “Green Team”), civic affairs (the monthly Lunch with LEOs [local elected officials] brown bag), and other initiatives. So go enjoy BBB with the C of C. Call 206-932-5685 to snap up one (or more) of those remaining seats.
(EPA’s Ann Carroll, red coat, and Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett, crouching, check out the garden)
The U.S. Conference of Mayors‘ Leadership Committee is in town – and more than 20 of them came to High Point for a visit this afternoon (before it started to rain!). WSB contributing journalist Kathy Mulady was there – she says the High Point Market Garden (32nd/Juneau; map) was one stop on a tour Mayor Nickels (who is the Conference of Mayors’ president) was leading while the visitors were here. He posed with some of the gardeners:
Hien Nguyen is the Market Garden Master at High Point:
He told Kathy that neighborhood residents are welcome to stop at the garden any day (bring cash) to purchase whatever vegetables are ready to harvest. The farm stand has been open Tuesdays from 3 to 7 pm; Julie Bryan from the city’s P-Patch program, which manages the market gardens, tells WSB that next Tuesday is scheduled to be its last official day. (The market garden also offers produce subscriptions with weekly pickups – find out more here.)
From left, that’s High Point Community Center‘s assistant coordinator Rebecca Hall and coordinator Brian Judd, with Superintendent Tim Gallagher at his open house happening right now at HPCC (6920 34th SW; map). It’s a casual drop-in event, so you can go over any time between now and 8 to join the chat (beverages and snacks supplied). Other Parks-affiliated folks we saw there in the early going included Parks Board chair Jackie Ramels (from Alki) and Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee member Cindi Barker (from Morgan Junction). Question, concern, idea for a West Seattle park – or someplace you think should be one? These are the folks to see – they’re there till 8. P.S. There’s a Facebook page now for highlights of West Seattle community centers’ activities – “fan” it here (and be sure you’re connected with us on FB too, facebook.com/westseattleblog).
With Shipwreck Tavern, Porterhouse, Brickyard, Angelina’s remodeling, CF West Seattle, Muttley Crew Cuts‘ 
move, West Seattle Bloom Preschool, Revolution Coffee going nonprofit, Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) celebrating its 5th tomorrow (who’d we miss?) – the Admiral District is jumping these days. And this Saturday, it can use YOUR help making sure all these changes are framed with spiffy-clean streets. Admiral Neighborhood Association president Mark Wainwright just sent out a reminder that the quarterly Adopt-A-Street cleanup is this Saturday – meet at Metropolitan Market (where the cheese celebration continues, by the way) at 9 am for coffee/treats, then spend a few hours brightening up your community.
The two meetings mentioned here last week for discussion of upcoming improvements at Delridge Playfield – artificial turf and lighting – have been rescheduled; the first one had been in conflict with the West Seattle Candidates’ Forum, so now you can attend that too. New playfield-meeting dates: October 19 and November 23, both at 7 pm, both at Delridge Community Center. You can find more info on the project – which is funded by the Parks and Green Spaces Levy approved by voters last year – by going here.
Summer’s over but things just don’t seem to slow down. So SDOT is continuing to issue these alerts. The big one, as mentioned yesterday – Saturday morning’s Alaskan Way Viaduct closure for the Puget Sound Heart Walk (though SDOT has a different start time – we’re following up to see which is right – update, SDOT says 8:15-11:30 is correct). Read on for the full list:Read More
Two more big Halloween-vicinity events have just been announced. First, a Halloween edition of Indoor Movies on the Wall:
Just got word from Lora at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) that “Nightmare Before Christmas” will be shown at the West Seattle Christian Church Activity Center (site of last winter’s indoor movies, and steps away from the summer outdoor-movie site), 7 pm Friday, October 30th – free! B/Y/O chair/blanket. Lora adds, “We’re also collecting food for the food banks – bring in a can and get a raffle ticket for one of our spooktacular prizes.” One other Halloween-week event just unveiled:
NIGHTMARE ON MORGAN STREET: Well, actually, on California SW – where the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) has just announced this masquerade ball for 6 pm Thursday, October 29, to raise money for West Seattle Helpline. Suggested donation $10; costume contest, raffle, live DJ, food and drink specials. (And the Feedback will get you in the Halloween mood a week from tonight with Punk Rock Pumpkin-Carving, 7-9 pm during the monthly West Seattle Art Walk, Thursday 10/8 – the “punk-ins” will be sold afterward.)
A two-part crime case here in West Seattle turns out to be a three-parter — so far. First, you’ll recall the armed robbery at Westside Pharmacy on September 16 – the day after its pharmacy operations officially closed so they could move to the new QFC. 
Two days later, police arrested the suspect – after he bolted from them and jumped onto the playground at Schmitz Park Elementary. Now, it’s reported that after 23-year-old suspect Tyler Ljubich‘s first hearing, King County District Court Judge Janet Garrow let him out of jail. Police had an arrest warrant for him again on September 24 and went to a relative’s home east of Me-Kwa-Mooks to take him back into custody. (A neighbor e-mailed us that day about a sizable police presence in that area; it’s the same place police went to get him on the 18th, about half a mile south of where he was finally caught at SP Elementary that day.) We checked jail records today to see how long Ljubich was free in the interim: The King County Jail Register shows he was first booked the afternoon of September 18th, the day of the capture on campus, and released the evening of September 19th, so he was out for five days in the interim. This time, he’s being held in lieu of $200,000 bail, and his case is filed in Superior Court. His criminal record includes two guilty pleas in 2007 – one to a drive-by shooting, one to domestic-violence harassment. (Full records aren’t available at the moment so we won’t be able to check till later to get details of those cases and his next court appearance in this one.) 1:53 PM: Photo of Ljubich added (obtained from state Department of Corrections).
ADDED 5:46 PM: The court records are accessible again – first thing we’ve found is one of Ljubich’s convictions from 2007 – he pleaded guilty to a drive-by shooting charge for what was described as a road-rage incident at 38th/Genesee – Ljubich was shooting at another car; bullets hit a parked car, but no one was hurt. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison; we’ll be following up to see when that sentence actually ended, and we’re looking into his other 2007 conviction as well.
If you have one or more old cell phones sitting around because you don’t know the best way to get rid of them – here it is. Via Facebook, Megan Wilson sends news of a cell-phone-collection drive she’s organized to help victims of domestic violence. Between now and December 11th, take the phone(s) to the counter at Easy Street Records in The Junction, any brand, with or without charger. Megan explains, “Each phone collected is given to the Shelter Alliance that refurbishes the phones to help victims of domestic violence during safety planning. For each phone submitted, the Shelter Alliance will give money to the Victim Support Team that I volunteer with.” (Here’s info on that team.) Any special instructions? we asked. Megan’s reply: “It does not matter what brand/type the phone is. The phones should be deactivated and Shelter Alliance does erase data. It is best, however, to erase your own personal data from phone before turning in.” P.S. Megan adds: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Here’s how to get help – or call this hotline any time: 800-562-6025.
Thanks again to Jim Hardy from West Seattle HS volleyball for score reports – the team won again yesterday, 3-2 over Rainier Beach (25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 13-25,16-14), and JV also won over RB, 3-0. (All sports are welcome to report results! E-mail, FB, text, whatever works.) Meantime, here’s what’s ahead in HS football, with all three West Seattle schools’ teams coming off wins last week: Chief Sealth HS plays Nathan Hale at the Northeast Complex (map) 7 pm tomorrow; West Seattle HS faces Ingraham at Southwest Complex (map), also 7 pm tomorrow; and Saturday’s the Seattle Lutheran HS Homecoming game, 1:30 pm vs. Friday Harbor at West Seattle Stadium (map).
When we reported this last week, the date was labeled in the city system as “tentative” – but the official notices came out in today’s Land Use Information Bulletin, so you can mark your calendar: On Thursday, October 22nd, the Southwest Design Review Board will get its next look at two major West Seattle redevelopment proposals: The Kenney (6:30 pm; here’s the official notice) and Admiral Safeway (8 pm; here’s the official notice). The meeting’s at Youngstown Arts Center, 4408 Delridge (map). For The Kenney, this is the 4th “early design guidance” meeting, so the Design Review Board will look at the project at least one more time after this; Safeway passed EDG, so this could be the last look. Public comment will be taken on both. (What’s Design Review, you ask? The city explains, here.)
PARKS BOSS IN HIGH POINT: It’ll be the 2nd time this week that High Point Community Center has played host to a citywide superintendent: Tuesday night it was Seattle Public Schools‘ Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson; tonight, it’s Seattle Parks and Recreation‘s Tim Gallagher. He’s been running the city’s park system for almost two years now – how do you think it’s going? Issues in the parks you’re concerned about (or happy about)? Be at HPCC (map) at 6:30 pm.
FALL FASHION AFFAIR: The Junction is not only a great place to eat/drink — its boutiques have citywide fame. Four of them team up again tonight for the annual Fall Fashion Affair. Go to Carmilia’s, Clementine, Edie’s and Sweetie 7-10 pm – see what’s new and enjoy treats – a punchcard will then entitle you to bubbly @ West 5.
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