West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
From SDOT:
Tomorrow, Friday, December 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Seattle Department of Transportation crews will close the left lane of Alaskan Way Viaduct northbound at Massachusetts Street. During the closure, the crew will install a temporary railing until a permanent repair can be made. The guard rail was damaged by a recent one-car accident. Motorists should expect slowing and use caution through the work zone.
Two months after West Seattleites Marty Riemer and Jodi Brothers were dropped by The Mountain (where he’d been for 12 years), he’s just announced a new gig, via his Facebook page, where his status reads:
We have a new home! Starting Monday, December 7, Jodi and I are bringing the comedy to 96.5 JACK-FM. Tune in on Monday to 96.5FM (my old home from the KXRX days) for the “7:19AM Funnies” and “5:19PM Funnies.” We bring you the comedy 1 minute faster; first with the funniest. That’s what happens when you give us a little free time to be creative .. we come up with a 5:19 Funny. Awesome! Details at martyriemer.com
Here’s the direct link. Just this past Monday, we published a WSB interview with the duo. Congratulate Marty when you see him at the West Seattle Junction Tree Lighting this Saturday night (5 pm, Farmers’ Market parking lot).
A day and a half after our first report of arrests on the February 1st murder of Steve Bushaw in West Seattle, police have issued their official news release – with one new bit of info: They’re still asking for tips in the case. Read on for the full text (including where to direct tips):Read More
Notice something missing in that photo? At West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park 
along 35th SW at Alaska, overlooking the West Seattle Golf Course, the totem pole’s gone, with only that blue steel post in place. (Here’s a Flickr shot of what you SHOULD be seeing there; [added 6:48 pm] at left, a Rotary photo.) After a WSB’er e-mailed us yesterday to say she noticed it missing, we put in an inquiry to the Parks Department to ask if it had been taken away for maintenance – and also went over, not just to get the photo you see above, but also to see if there was a note about work being done. Now we’ve just learned, Parks thinks it may have been stolen. We just talked with Terry Boden, who works on maintenance for parks in this area; he says he checked throughout the department to see if anyone has any knowledge of the totem pole being taken away for maintenance, but hasn’t turned up anything – so he’s planning to call Seattle Police to report it as a theft. As donors and stewards of the 33-year-old park, Rotary Club of West Seattle has been investigating too, Josh Sutton tells us – checking out a report of a stuck truck getting towed from the scene, possibly while trying to take the pole away; in fact, while there yesterday, we noted these tracks in the grass:
Parks received that report too and hasn’t been able to confirm it. So if you know anything about what happened to the totem pole, Terry Boden would like to hear from you – he’s headquartered at Lincoln Park, 206-684-7457.
Thanks to those who answered the call for photos of the full-moon-rise that brought photographers to West Seattle viewpoints in droves last night, looking for a shot like … that one there! Thanks, Greg! (He’s also wondering if anyone can identify the specific peak in front of the moon in his image.) Also just in, Derek’s view from a little while later:
ADDED 11:11 AM: Two shots from Alki photographer extraordinaire David Hutchinson. For the technically minded, he includes this note:
The full moon photo is actually a combination of two taken on a tripod. The first was at a shutter speed of 1 second to expose for the downtown skyline and the second taken immediately afterwards at 1/60 of a second to expose for the full moon. At 1 second the moon shows as a white featureless disk and at 1/60th second the downtown lights are hardly visible. Our eyes do a great job of compensating for this difference in brightness.
David photographed from the Seacrest area, and went back for this morning’s sunrise:
ADDED 3:24 PM: Thanks to Sean for this closeup of just the full moon:
Thanks again! If any more come in, we’ll add them to this item.
Also happening today – a tribute procession and memorial service downtown for a 
Seattle Fire Department Battalion Chief who worked in West Seattle for more than half of his long career with the city. Battalion Chief David H. Jacobs, Jr., was with SFD for more than a quarter century; spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen tells us he worked at West Seattle’s Station 29 (in North Admiral) from 1987 to 1997 as a Lieutenant and again from 2004 to 2008 as the Battalion Chief. In 2003, he was honored as SFD’s “Chief of the Year.” Last month, Chief Jacobs died after a battle with cancer. Prior to this afternoon’s memorial at the Lake Union Naval Reserve Center (map), a procession will follow this route, per SFD: “The Seattle Fire Department Honor Guard, Seattle Firefighters Pipes & Drums Band, fire engines and fire trucks will leave Sixth Avenue between Battery Street and Bell Street at 1:30 p.m. and head south down Sixth Avenue to Bell Street, go east on Bell Street to Ninth Avenue, then go north on Ninth Avenue to Republican Street and then East on Republican Street to Terry Avenue. The procession will finish heading north on Terry Avenue to the memorial site.”
RESERVOIR PARK PLAN: Residents of Highland Park have been brainstorming for years about the future of Westcrest Park and extra parkland to be created by the covering of its reservoir (including June’s HP Action Committee mini-summit); now, the work is well under way, and while the Parks Department says park construction won’t start till 2011, its official meetings to plan and design the space start tonight. 7 pm, High Point Community Center (map).
WESTWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: 7 pm, Southwest Community Center (map). Tonight’s agenda includes presentations on community murals, robbery prevention and the ReLeaf free-tree program.
ARTIST RECEPTION AT THE DUWAMISH LONGHOUSE: Photographer Joanne Petrina has been documenting the lives of Duwamish Tribe members for two years, and her work is on display at the almost-year-old longhouse in West Seattle ; tonight, you can meet her at an artist reception, 6 pm. Full details here. (Side note – there’s a holiday craft fair at the longhouse this weekend.)
LOW TIDE, AGAIN: As pointed out yesterday by Lura, tonight’s even lower than last night.
TWO AFTERNOON REMINDERS: The “alley vacation” component of the Admiral Safeway redevelopment project goes before the Seattle Design Commission at 2 pm today (previewed here); another planning meeting for the Admiral-area kiosks and signposts in the West Seattle Trails project (second one this week) starts at 4 pm at the West Seattle (Admiral) Library (map).
More on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar and the West Seattle Holidays page – which includes ongoing “giving tree” and other charity efforts as well as specific time-based events – LOTS of chances to make this a happier holiday for those going through tough times.
Judging by our early-morning inbox yield, some folks followed up on the recommendation we shared Tuesday from Lura, who sent info about late night low tides continuing the next two nights – David Rosen from SlickPix Photography saw the stars you see above, and the Alki curve you see below:
We also have a bit of video from Alki – WSB contributing reporter Mary Sheely was out with husband Dave Sheely (catch his designs at Urban Craft Uprising this weekend!) and they spotted this camouflaged crab:
Also a photographer’s delight – the full moon that’s just graced us – the prospect of seeing it come up pre-dusk led to this lineup:
Thanks to “westseattledood” for that shot of photographers staked out at the Admiral Way viewpoint last night, awaiting the moonrise over the downtown skyline. Haven’t seen any photos of it yet but we’d love to run one if you have one! Facing the other way, we received a few dusk photos of the USS John C Stennis out and about again – this one from Chris S with the Olympics’ “The Brothers” peaks in the background:
Thanks again to everyone for sharing photos and video – you can send it directly (editor@westseattleblog.com) or also share via Facebook or the West Seattle Blog group on Flickr.
From Wednesday night’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting: The group took the first steps toward forming committees with members focused on specific needs/concerns. 
As co-secretary Holli Margell (at left with Patrick Bergner) noted, the four board members can only do so much – they need help. The matter of who’s on which committee hasn’t been settled yet, but they did decide on the committees: Public safety, including attendance at monthly meetings at the Southwest Precinct; outreach, to get the word out about the council’s existence, and to interact with other groups, as well as planning events and maintaining a website; beautification, which includes the quarterly Adopt-a-Street cleanups and traffic-circle maintenance; streets and pedestrians, focusing on street improvements and how to make the area more walkable; and two other areas were being combined into one committee — transportation (bike lanes, bus routes, etc.) and planning/development. Meantime, NDNC revisited the road-project proposals they’re supporting for potential city funding; after getting an indication from the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council that only smaller projects are likely to succeed in getting funding, they dropped the $6 million Delridge traffic-calming idea for now. They’re instead asking the district council to consider championing the Brandon and Hudson sidewalk projects, as well as drainage/sidewalks for 25th SW between Brandon and Juneau. (See our NDNC report from last month for more on the first two projects.) Two more notes – The group is sending a card to the precinct, expressing their thanks and support, during what’s been a difficult time for law enforcers around the region – Margell is holding the card in the photo above left. Also, co-chair Mirro pointed out at the meeting that since the Delridge Library will be changing its hours because of city budget cuts early next year, the council will have to change its meeting time/day. No decision yet; we’ll let you know when they announce the plan.
Francine e-mailed to share the story of something that happened Tuesday because of the road work shown in our photo above (taken Wednesday) at the far north end of California SW – it’s part warning, and part thanks for Good Samaritans – read on:Read More
Not sure if it’s a first but certainly it’s a rarity – Easy Street Cafe, better known for live music (and breakfast/lunch), is the venue where a play will be performed the next two weekends. Dylan Ward (left) shares the announcement:
I am producing my new play “Closing” at the Easy Street Cafe, on Dec 4th, 5th, 11th, and 12th, which are Fridays and Saturdays respectively. The show starts at 9:30pm. Tickets are $15 and are available at the door or in advance at Easy Street Records. Tickets include Coffee and Pie. All of the cast and crew either live in, work in, or are from West Seattle.
“Closing” is about Rowan, who is working at the Catharsis Cafe on its last day of business. Catharsis is a failed art space/coffee shop, and all Rowan wants to do is leave his failures, co-workers, and old lovers behind him. He and the owner are ready to lock up and ship out, but a particularly strange woman appears and asks to tell her story about seals. Despite his impatience, Rowan must reconcile his feelings and allow her to speak.
Dylan says the closing night of “Closing” is already almost sold out – so this weekend’s your best chance to see it. We asked, why Easy Street? Dylan’s reply – “because the play takes place at a cafe. I figured that rather than building or mimicking a set for a cafe, I would just use one. The audience members will be sat at seats in the cafe, and the play will happen in the aisles, at a table, on the stage, and behind the bar.” We also couldn’t resist asking whose pie they’ll serve: The pie is by Janiel’s Alki Pie Company, baked here in West Seattle.
Just received documents from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with the charges against the four suspects who, 
as we first reported early this morning, have been arrested in connection with the February 1 shooting death of Steve Bushaw in The Junction. The suspects named in the documents are the same three who we found on the King County Jail Register early today – 27-year-old Bryce Huber, 30-year-old Brandon Chaney, 28-year-old Danny O’Neal Jr. – and the man arrested in San Antonio, TX, 32-year-old John Sylve. More as we read the documents. 4:43 PM: The documents tell a long and complicated story which as we boil it down appears to explain why so much time elapsed between the murder and the arrests – it appears to have been an extremely complex investigation, involving a lot of cell-phone trails in the evidence – read on for more as we add it:Read More
King County Sheriff’s Office says this is what it’s about: A bail bondsman was trying to arrest someone – which they have the authority to do, per Sgt. John Urquhart – and the would-be arrestee ran off. Now KCSO is involved. So that’s what we know about the search for now; thanks to everyone who’s sent tips/questions. 4:23 PM UPDATE: The helicopter seems to have left the original search area, which we have confirmed on scene is 16th/102nd, on the south side of the main White Center business district.
Here’s another reason to be at the West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting (at left, The Tree, photographed this afternoon) this Saturday night: The latest winners of West Seattle Volunteer Recognition honors will be introduced and, with your help, cheered mightily! Today we’re giving them an advance shoutout, now that the application-review committee has announced its decision and gotten the news to the winners (in hopes they all can be there). It’s another star-studded group:
COMMUNITY
Chas Redmond
Pete Spalding
Both are involved with too many groups to list here (we’ll have a more detailed report on the winners this weekend). Just a quick sampling: Chas co-chairs the Southwest District Council and leads the West Seattle Trails project; Pete leads the West Seattle Food Bank Board of Directors and is a WS rep on the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee.
ENVIRONMENT
Jay Mirro
Judy Pickens
Both are involved in a variety of community efforts but are being recognized in this case as active stewards of revitalized West Seattle waterways: Jay, Longfellow Creek; Judy, Fauntleroy Creek.
YOUTH
Janet Hillier (Chief Sealth High School PTSA)
Paul Leonardo (Southwest Seattle PONY Baseball president)
GROUP
Volunteers at Providence Mount St. Vincent (as the nomination form pointed out: The Mount has more than 200 active volunteers ranging in age from 14 to 92!)
Congratulations to all these hardworking volunteers, and thanks to everyone who nominated someone for the honor – this is the second group this year (meet the first group here), and there’ll be another chance in the new year to get recognition for more of the hardworking volunteers who help make West Seattle a very special place. And back to the Tree Lighting, where they’ll get their turn in the spotlight – it all starts at 5 pm Saturday, Farmers’ Market parking lot at 44th/Alaska, including music, caroling, and more, as the kickoff to Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored again this year by WSB) – and remember to enter the $6,500 Junction giveaway BEFORE Saturday, so you’ll be in the first drawing during the tree-lighting event!
MAYOR-ELECT’S THIRD TOWN HALL TONIGHT: While Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn hasn’t scheduled a Town Hall in West Seattle yet, the one he’s having tonight in Rainier Beach is meant for the “south” section of the city – including us – it’s at 7 pm, 8815 Seward Park Ave. S. (map).
BAKERY NOUVEAU OPEN HOUSE: More holiday fun – the renowned West Seattle bakery has its Holiday Open House 6-8 pm tonight in The Junction, not far from this next event:
OPENING NIGHT FOR “PLAID TIDINGS”: The holiday musical fave is back at ArtsWest again this year – as explained here. You can see Frankie, Sparky, Jinx, and Smudge in holiday form through December 27, and this Friday night is a special “Toast to the Holidays” – featuring wine! – more about that here.
THINKING ABOUT REMODELING/BUILDING A HOUSE? Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) is offering another of their every-so-often free workshops – no obligation – lots of info. It’s at their office (the log-house-style building at 5458 California SW) tomorrow night, 6 pm, free but RSVP requested – contact info’s here.
You may recall the mysterious bicycle accident on Delridge in August that left a woman seriously hurt – with no conclusion by law enforcement regarding whether she had fallen or been hit. The rider, 27-year-old Angela Sweet, has been publicly chronicling her recovery online, with family help, and it’s now been announced that a benefit concert is planned for December 22. According to her website, she has been back home for less than a month.
In The Triangle, demolition crews have finished knocking down all the buildings on the future site of Harbor Properties‘ Link (200 apartments/14,000 sf commercial, background here), along 38th between Alaska and Fauntleroy. That photo looks north; here’s a Google Street View image looking east at the now-gone ex-Huling/Gee service building:
When we went by about an hour ago, crews were pummeling away at the remaining below-grade concrete walls on the south side of the site. It’s the biggest active construction site in West Seattle right now; probably the second biggest is the new Fire Station 37, under construction for 2 months now at 35th/Holden.
Just got word from Karen O’Connor at Parks that tonight’s Fairmount Playground improvements meeting had to be moved – it’s now at 6:45 at High Point Community Center.
(September 2007 nighttime photo of beached jelly on Alki)
Thanks to Lura for sharing this info:
I’m not sure how many nature lovers are willing to brave the cold, but tonight and the next two nights have some extreme low tides. The rare clear sky and full moon means that you’ll be able to walk way, way out and see all sorts of nocturnal sea creatures – shrimp, starfish, crabs, clams…
Low tonight is -3.4 at 10:42 pm
Thursday night -3.5 at 11:27 pm, and
Friday night (early Saturday) -3.2 at 12:14.It’s cold on the beach, but way cool.
Also for tonight – we’ve received a meeting notice for the first time from the South King County group that opposed Sea-Tac’s third runway and is now tackling noise issues, CASE. Since aircraft noise has been a hot topic here off and on over the past few months (particularly this episode in late summer), you might be interested. CASE’s Stuart Jenner says the meeting tonight will focus on current usage of Sea-Tac’s new third runway, with the airport’s noise program manager Stan Shepherd scheduled to make a presentation. 15675 Ambaum SW in Burien (map), 7 pm.
(Thanks to Gary Jones for sharing his photo of this morning’s full-moon moonset over the Olympics)
ORNAMENTS FOR EDUCATION: From the WSB West Seattle Holidays page (keep checking it, we’re adding new events daily!) – Join Scholastic Journey at a drop-in workshop, noon-5 pm downstairs at West Seattle (Admiral) Library (map), to help make ornaments for an upcoming fundraiser to help get school supplies and uniforms for kids in developing countries. “Drop in for a few minutes or a few hours!” says Krista Livingston (krista@scholasticjourney.org), who adds that it’s free to participate.
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL MEETING/POTLUCK: NDNC is forming new committees on public safety, outreach, beautification, streets/pedestrian, transportation, land use/economic development, and hopes to see a good turnout of North Delridge neighbors tonight for a potluck meeting to talk about those issues and how to make a difference, 6:30 at Delridge Library (map) – bring something to share if you can. “We need YOU to help us make a difference!” says board member Holli Margell.
HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE HOLIDAY POTLUCK: You’re invited to come help HPAC trim the tree at the historic Highland Park Improvement Club building (where the group always meets) and enjoy a holiday potluck – 7 pm, 1116 SW Holden (map).
FAIRMOUNT PLAYGROUND IMPROVEMENTS MEETING: Reminder that tonight’s your chance to have a say in how this Parks and Green Spaces Levy-funded project will improve the playground at Fairmount Playfield. 6:30 pm, High Point Library (map) – here’s our previous preview.
Also tonight — “Plaid Tidings” opens at ArtsWest – more on that coming up! Check our Events calendar and Holidays page (which also has ongoing lists, like tree lots and giving opportunities) for lots more of what’s happening around West Seattle.
(2/1/09 photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
We have been working most of the night to try to confirm a thirdhand report we received of arrests in the murder 10 months ago of Steven Bushaw – shot to death in The Junction hours after the Super Bowl. Police have not been available for comment and the court-records system is shut down for the night, but we did find three people listed 
on the King County Jail Register who were booked today on suspicion of first-degree murder – and one of our messages seeking comment from family members has just been answered: Steve’s sister Tanya Bushaw confirms that they have been told of three arrests, possibly four. This might be the fourth: We just found an out-of-town news story confirming one person under arrest in Texas (with a name different from the 3 in KCJ) and a mention of three others “sought”: This story from San Antonio names a man arrested there in connection with the Bushaw murder (the victim is not mentioned by name in the story but it describes the case as a Feb. 1 murder in West Seattle). We hope to be able to talk with police and prosecutors later this morning and will publish whatever additional information becomes available. (Photo above right was provided last winter by the Bushaw family, showing Steve with niece Ava in summer 2008.) 9:18 AM UPDATE: We just spoke with Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD Media Unit. They are not yet ready this morning to release details of the case/arrests, he told me, but hope to later today – it’s still, he notes, “an active and ongoing investigation.” We’ve also checked the online court files but nothing on this is in the system yet – we have an inquiry in to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, asking for any documents that can be made public at this point. 3:19 PM: PAO spokesperson Dan Donohoe says, “The court documents are under seal because of ongoing investigation.” But he says “some more information” should be available later.
Thanks to all the people who sent us this news today: We hadn’t even heard of the annual Google Zeitgeist list — by that name, anyway — till receiving notes and tweets that WSB was in the Seattle Top 10. Background: Google compiles an annual list of top search terms – you may have heard news reports all day noting that Michael Jackson topped the overall list worldwide. But Google’s announcement also includes breakout lists – such as the top “uniquely local” search terms for major US cities. At right, the top 10 for Seattle – with Sounders FC (scarves up!) at #1 and West Seattle Blog at #5, the only news site on the Seattle list. Just another reason our second year as a business has been even more fun than the first – collaborating with you and the rest of the West Seattle community, informally partnering with the region’s largest news organization, and other highlights. WSB is on track for at least 8 million pageviews for 2009, a 33% increase from last year, 5+ times the year before that. This new way of reporting/sharing/discussing community news has attracted regional and national attention, and this quirky little Google shoutout is just one more bit of proof. Thanks again for being part of this adventure!
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