Regional news: 2 Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputies shot
Just a few weeks ago, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department was investigating the deadly shooting of four Lakewood Police officers. Tonight, they are dealing with an attack on two of their own: 2 Pierce County deputies shot after answering a domestic-violence call in the Eatonville area. According to what Pierce County spokesperson Det. Ed Troyer just said in a live interview on Channel 7, both are in critical condition, and the person who opened fire on them was killed. For information directly from Pierce County, watch the red-bordered emergency-info box on its website, here. KIRO’s developing story is here; developing coverage from our partners at the Seattle Times is here; ongoing Twitter updates related to the story are here (tagged #eatonville). With the four Lakewood officers killed the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton – a former West Seattleite – killed on Halloween night, this makes seven eight law-enforcement officers shot in the Puget Sound area in the past seven weeks. 11:52 PM: Tacoma’s News-Tribune is also posting updates – here’s their story, updated a few minutes ago. We’ll be monitoring Web/Twitter over the next few hours and will note any major developments here.
12:08 AM UPDATE: Seattle Times photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux is at Harborview Medical Center, where one of the deputies were airlifted, and reports via Twitter that Seattle PD Deputy Chief Nick Metz reports that deputy “is still fighting.”
12:58 AM UPDATE: The Times has reported that the other deputy, at Madigan Army Medical Center, has spoken with investigators. And Pierce County has identified the suspect who was shot and killed as David Crable. And Cliff DesPeaux has uploaded this video (first streamed live a short while ago) of Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor at Harborview, asking people to keep the deputies in their prayers.
1:21 AM: According to seattlepi.com’s Casey McNerthney, the deputy who’s at Madigan is doing better and is now listed in serious condition instead of critical.
40 car seats + 3,000 diapers needed by WestSide Baby, ASAP
We’ve been checking in with major nonprofits – the people whose business is helping people — over the past week, to see what they need by Christmas. Our previous stories: West Seattle Food Bank here, White Center Food Bank here, West Seattle Helpline here. Tonight; WestSide Baby, which helps families in need not just throughout West Seattle/White Center, but beyond – and they have a very specific wish list.
By Lauri Hennessey
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Have time with the kids in the next two days? Take the chance to show them the true meaning of Christmas, and in the process, help WestSide Baby meets its holiday collection goal. The nonprofit is still short of its goal, and only has until Wednesday to make the target.
Nancy Woodland, executive director of WestSide Baby, says she set her goal for the December collection drive at 25,000 diapers, 100 coats, and 50 car seats. As of this afternoon, the community had collected enough coats to meet the goal, but WestSide Baby was still 3,000 diapers short of the goal. And, WestSide Baby is far behind on collecting the car seats.
“We’ve noticed a 13% increase in the number of children served this year compared to last,” she says. Woodland says WestSide Baby has served the needs of 400 children in the last ten days, an unheard of number for the organization. Woodland says that is roughly double the usual number for this time of year. In fact, she says, since October 1, WestSide Baby has seen unprecedented need. She says they have served more than $33,000 worth of supplies through White Center’s Neighborhood House alone. Diapers are not covered by food stamps or other government programs and cost approximately 23 cents each.
(More specifics on how to help – and where to take those donations the next 2 days – ahead!)Read More
Appeals Court ruling on Satterlee House: Original decision affirmed
A major ruling late today in the long-running fight over whether William Conner, owner of the landmark Satterlee House – aka Beach Drive’s “Painted Lady” – can build three houses on its expansive lawn. The city Landmarks Board originally declined to approve the specific three-house proposal; Conner challenged the decision before the city Hearing Examiner, who upheld the ruling (here’s our April 2008 report); then he took it to King County Superior Court, where a judge upheld the city decision (here’s our October 2008 report); then he took it to the 1st Division Court of Appeals, which has just upheld the decision. Read their ruling here; our report on the arguments before the state court last June is here. We’ll add more to this report as we seek comment and read the full ruling. (As noted in earlier reports, these decisions have not been rulings against ANY construction on the Satterlee House lawn, but rather against the specific proposal Conner took to the Landmarks Board, which has jurisdiction over changes to landmarked property; here’s our archive of case coverage, newest to oldest.) Summary of the case/decision, from the ruling document:
William and Marilyn Conner purchased a designated historical landmark property in West Seattle known as the Satterlee House. The Landmarks Preservation Board rejected their proposal to develop the site because it did not preserve the protected historic features. The hearing examiner and the superior court upheld the Board’s decision.
The Conners’ principal contention is that the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance is unconstitutionally vague as applied. They also contend the landmark restrictions on the property constitute an unlawful tax, a regulatory taking, and deprived them of due process. We reject their arguments and affirm.
The call went out, and you answered: High Point toy drive success
(All photos by WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
Meet Bishop Deborah Dinkins from Restoration Worship Center, which has services at High Point Community Center noon-2 pm every Sunday. Bishop Dinkins and church volunteers coordinated the HPCC toy distribution that went awry a week ago because a promised delivery didn’t come – then the call went out to see if they could make it happen today – and a few hours ago, they did, with the help of many WSB’ers and generous folks from all over the area. Look at just one table laden with donated toys, in a room that was full of them:
Families went into the room in small groups – and the kids made their choices:
Not only did they serve the dozens of families who crowded into the community center this afternoon, but church volunteer Tina Taylor (at left in the photo below) told us that they shared some of the donations with three other churches (1 of those churches alone, she said, was helping 80 more families) – and gave four bags to kids in the HPCC gym whose parents, the youth told church volunteers, were hesitant to sign up to be on the list for toys.
They repeatedly expressed their gratitude to everyone who reached out to help. One week ago, they weren’t sure they would be able to help hundreds of families have a merry Christmas – then, both Bishop Dinkins and volunteer Taylor said, there was “a miracle.”
(If you’re still looking for places to give to – we know there are Giving Trees still up all around West Seattle – the one for Hickman House at CAPERS in The Junction, for example, will be waiting through Christmas Eve.)
Have you seen Seth? West Seattle Nursery “shop cat” vanishes
(photo courtesy West Seattle Nursery)
That’s one of the photos we featured last March with our first in a series of “West Seattle shop cat” stories – that’s Seth from West Seattle Nursery, and we’re not exaggerating when we speculate that thousands of West Seattleites have met him. Galen Guffy from WSN has just sent word that Seth is missing, and asks folks to be on the lookout for him:
Our beloved nursery cat is missing. His name is Seth and he is a huge black, brown and grey tabby cat about 18 lbs and approximately 7 years old.
The last time we saw him was December 20 at about 6 pm. He didn’t come in when we closed, even though we called and called, and he wasn’t here waiting for us when we opened. This is highly unusual as he is always here in the morning waiting to be let in if he stayed out the night before or begging for his breakfast from the opening staff. In all the years we’ve had him he’s never ventured more than a couple blocks away from the nursery. We spent the morning combing our neighborhood looking for him and calling animal control to see if anyone has brought him in.
We are really worried about him and would appreciate it if you could let your readers know and ask them to contact us if they’ve seen him. We would be so very grateful.
The nursery’s number is 206-935-9276. Seth will also be on the WSB Pets page shortly.
West Seattle’s stolen totem pole: Meet the man who carved it
(Photo provided by carver Robin Young(third from left) ‘s daughter Tracy Zimmerman)
No major new developments in the saga of the West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park totem pole – stolen three weeks ago tonight, then recovered a week and a half later, after a suspect was arrested. But we do have a new story to tell today – what we’ve learned about the man who carved it: Robin Young, a Native American carver (born in South Dakota at the Cheyenne River Indian Agency, he told us in the course of our interview).
We tracked him down after reading a comment on one of our original reports, in which his daughter Tracy Zimmerman wrote:
I would like to say thank you for all the effort put into finding the totem pole. My father Robin Young is the one that carved it. There is such pride and heart that goes into the craftmanship and our family is very thankful.
We followed up with her to find out more. She replied that he’s still alive and well and living in Federal Way; he taught woodcarving at Highline Community College during the time he created the Rotary pole, which the club donated to the city, along with the park, in 1976 (she also shared the historic photo above). The Rotarians have been in contact with him too and are hopeful that he will be able to participate when the pole is reinstalled; there are still decisions to be made about how and when that will happen, and whether it needs restoration work first.
So how did the family find out about what happened to the totem pole? Tracy explained, “I heard about the pole being missing on the news … I saw the picture they showed and said to myself that looks like the pole my dad carved. I found an old picture and sure enough it was the pole he carved, so I called my mother and let her know. She was funny and said I remember that pole well. It was in our front yard for ever while he worked on it.”
Her dad is battling some health problems but agreed to answer some questions via e-mail – read on:Read More
Yet more holiday help: 2 West Seattle blood drives
Just out of the WSB inbox:
The Puget Sound Blood Center is giving West Seattle two opportunities to save lives before the New Year. With a decrease in donations and an increase in accidents, we could use help maintaining a stable blood supply over the holidays.
As we exchange gifts during the holidays, please remember that you have the most precious gift inside you to give.
Please give others a chance at a better life:
– Saturday December 26th
* Holy Family Parish- Tice Hall 9516 20th Ave SW
* 10:00AM- 4:00PM (closed 12-1pm)
– Monday December 28th
* Safeway- 2622 California Ave SW
* 9:00AM- 3:00PM (closed 11:30-12:30)
The Puget Sound Blood Center is a non-profit, community and volunteer based
organization. For more than 60 years, the PSBC has been improving the quality of
life for sick patients in the Puget Sound area. This is all thanks to the generous
donors who are saving lives in Western Washington every day. Your volunteered blood
is distributed to 70 local hospitals and clinics in the Puget Sound area. For more
information, please contact 1-800-DONATE-1.
Fauntleroy Church fire followup: Christmas Eve is ON
As reported here yesterday afternoon, a small fire in the Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) sanctuary was extinguished quickly – but forced the church to move last night’s holiday concert into the Fellowship Hall (photo here) and is leading to some extra work this week getting ready for Thursday night’s Christmas Eve services. Church (among many other Fauntleroy endeavors) volunteer Judy Pickens shares the photo above – explaining that it’s a Christmas ornament stuck to the charred edge of the altar cloth, which was among the “smoldering materials involved in the fire.” She adds:
Christmas Eve services are on at Fauntleroy Church United Church of Christ, despite a small fire on Sunday afternoon. It appears to have started from am ember left behind when candles were extinguished after the morning service. By mid afternoon, smoldering fabrics atop the altar had filled the sanctuary with smoke and activated the smoke alarm. Firefighters arrived en masse and broke a pane of the big window to get at the fire. No cost estimate of the damage is yet available.
The three services on Christmas Eve will be at 4:00, 7:00, and 11:00 PM.
We checked today with Seattle Fire spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen, who says the investigation closed with firefighters’ conclusion that the fire was indeed accidental.
Metro reminder: Schedule changes for the holiday weeks
Metro sent a reminder this morning about its upcoming “reduced service” days:
*Christmas Eve (Thursday) and Monday-Thursday next week (12/28-12/31), “reduced weekday schedule”
*Christmas Day and New Year’s Day will both have a Sunday schedule
And if you are using Metro in the University of Washington vicinity, the “When No UW” schedule is in effect through 12/31. More info at kingcounty.gov/metro – and remember they’re now using Twitter for service bulletins, @kcmetrobus.
West Seattle Holidays: Multifaith “Christmas Eve Truce” event
We’ve got several updates this morning about Christmas-week events at West Seattle-area churches. This one in Highland Park is the most unusual we’ve heard yet. Here’s the full announcement:
CHRISTMAS EVE EVENT REMEMBERS WORLD WAR ONE CHRISTMAS TRUCE
On Christmas Eve, 1914, between the muddy trenches along the Western Front, the armies of World War I spontaneously stopped fighting. They came out of their trenches and met each other in No Man’s Land as unlikely friends.
This Christmas Eve celebrate the 95th anniversary of the incredible “Christmas Truce.” In an inter-faith and non-sectarian event, hear the story in letters, drama and song. See images from the period and the truce. Share the hope of peace in the most unlikely of places.
Featuring performances by The Seattle Labor Chorus, Seattle-area singer Dan Roberts, Raging Grannies, and the Southwest Seattle Readers Theater. Also participating are Rabbi Daniel Septimus, of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, Imam Hisham Farajallah, of the Idriss Mosque & Islamic Center of Washington, Pastor Jim Major of the Highland Park Community of Christ, and Chris King, Founding President of the Seattle Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, representing a secularist perspective.
The event is free of charge, but seating is limited. The doors open at 6 PM; the program begins at 7 PM and will not last more than an hour and-a-half. The event will take place at the Highland Park Community of Christ, at 8611 11th Ave SW [map] – next to Highland Park Elementary School and the park and ball-fields. Reserved seating for disabled or special-needs persons is available with advance notice.
For more information or disabled seating reservations e-mail ChristmasTruce.Seattle@gmail.com.
West Seattle Christmas services: “Longest Night” tonight
We are building the list of West Seattle Christmas Eve/Christmas Day services on the Holidays page (if yours isn’t there yet, we’re actively researching, but info is also welcome at editor@westseattleblog.com). Meantime, one church has a special service tonight – the “Longest Night” service at Tibbetts United Methodist Church. Rev. Dr. Joanne Carlson Brown explains:
No, this isn’t an Elvis Christmas program. For many people this is not the most wonderful time of the year no matter what the song says. Perhaps you have lost someone and this is the first Christmas without them. Perhaps you’ve lost someone around Christmas time and this time of the year is always hard. Perhaps you’ve lost your job or the times of your life are just challenging. This service is a place to acknowledge those feelings of pain and loss and grief and just general out-of-sortedness. Through readings and music and prayers and lighting candles we will move from the dark to a bit of light and comfort and, yes, hope. All are welcome.
Tibbetts is at 3940 41st SW (here’s a map). (Its Christmas Eve service, at 8 pm, is a Celtic celebration again this year, by the way.)
“I’ll be there even if it is cloudy because sometimes the Sun peeks through just as it begins to set, but if it is driving rain or sleet I’m staying home with a hot cup of tea.” Anything could happen, says 
original August coverage
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