We did not get to Beacon Hill last night for the first City Council/Mayor public hearing on the city budget, but monitored more than an hour and a half of testimony via a live stream (which ended before the hearing did). Most of it focused on citizens’ pleas to spare Seattle Parks facilities and programs from the deep cuts that have been rumored, and warned of, as city departments face “midyear” cuts shortly, as well as the plan for next year’s budget. One of the most impassioned voices was that of Alki’s Jackie Ramels – prefacing her remarks by noting she was speaking as a private citizen and not in her role as chair of the Seattle Parks Board – all but telling the council and mayor they had no right to even think about slashing parks, given how much public support they have: “How can you even think about closing parks and community centers, when the public has approved parks levies time and time again? The public gives and gives and gives, and the electeds take and take and take. … Fund parks, fully, now.” The image above, by the way, is our screen grab from the aforementioned live feed; Ramels tells WSB she got the EPIC FAIL T-shirt specifically for the occasion. (She also provided the crowd shot we used above.) Liesa Rose from Alki Community Center‘s Advisory Council spoke of the value of Parks programs such as after-school care, saying she could not work if there wasn’t someplace safe, affordable and convenient – the community center is adjacent to Alki Elementary – for her child to go. West Seattle’s Bruce Bentley (screen-grab image at right), on the board of the Associated Recreation Council that runs many programs at Parks facilities, said its revenue is $11 million, more than it’s ever been, because of the value citizens find: “We touch so many different lives across this process.” If you could not be at this hearing, another one is set for May 5 in North Seattle – details on the City Council’s page – where you’ll find council contact info (mayor contact info here) – even more budget info on the Budget Committee‘s page. Side note: We haven’t seen a comprehensive article about last night’s hearing from any regional-news sites yet, but will add a link if/when we do.
One other Parks note, in case you hadn’t already heard: Deputy Superintendent Christopher Williams was named Acting Superintendent on Wednesday, two days after Superintendent Tim Gallagherannounced he’s resigning. Delridge Neighborhood Services Coordinator Ron Angeles, when forwarding this announcement to his mailing list, pointed out that Williams is a graduate of Chief Sealth High School (as noted in the last line of the official city news release about the appointment).
The community is invited to a Prayer Rally @ The Statue of Liberty on Beach. 61st Ave. and Alki Ave. on ‘The National Day of Prayer’ May 6th – 6:30 PM.
This event is sponsored by West Seattle Ministerial Association and will include participation from 10 local churches, including… the ‘Worship Team’ from Freedom Church of Seattle, the ‘Righteous Praise Dance Team’ from Shorewood Christian School, and a brief message from Pastor Joe Turner of Shorewood Foursquare .
Transportation is the focus for this Disaster Preparedness Month “moment” … specifically, how you’d get around if you can’t drive, either because you’re out of fuel or the roads are jammed/impassable. West Seattle Be Prepared webmaster (and more) Karen Berge recalls the scenes from 9/11 in which women were trying to walk with shoes that weren’t made for distance – giving rise to the thought that even if high heels are your preferred business wear, you might keep something more practical handy at your workplace, stashed in a locker or under a desk, and at home, regardless of what you usually wear, know where the sturdiest, most walkable shoes are, in case you have to get out fast. If you’re not fully acquainted with West Seattle’s streets and trails, take some time to learn more about them – the West Seattle Walking Trails maps can help. Know the route to your West Seattle Emergency Communication Hub, at least. And beyond walkability – even if you don’t or can’t regularly ride a bike, you might consider having one around as a matter of preparedness; taking the idea even further, given that we’re surrounded by water, owning watercraft (or having an agreement with a friend who has a boat moored on this side of the bay) could be considered part of preparedness as well.
Now, for the third to last time, our nightly reminders:
–West Seattle Be Prepared (resource-laden, WS-specific website here; Facebook group for more discussion/ideas here)
-Accept the city’s simple 3 To Get Ready challenge (register for prizes!), which is being advertised on WSB through early May
-All of this month’s reports/ideas/links are in the WSB Preparedness archive, newest to oldest – see them here
9 days till the sixth annual edition of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – coming up Saturday, May 8, 9 am-3 pm, all over the peninsula.. We are deep in the throes of mapmaking right now – we start with a Google Map before converting the data into the printed, numbered map, and what you see at left is a screengrab of the peninsula with “only” two-thirds of the sales entered so far – there’s no question, we’re past 200 sales. If you missed out on the three-week registration period (which closed last Thursday), we heard tonight that there are still a few spots at the group-sale site at Highland Park Improvement Club (e-mail hpic1919@gmail.com to inquire) – also you can check with Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) if there’s any room in the Hotwire courtyard/Ginomaiparking lot multi-seller site, or at C & P Coffee. If you add all the people participating there to the total, plus the multi-family/group sales, there are at least 400 people selling! Lots of nonprofit fundraisers too – including West Seattle High School Grad Night, Chief Sealth High School PTSA, Lincoln Park P-Patch, CoolMom, Hope Lutheran mission trip, West Seattle Christian well-building trip, West Seattle Relay for Life, Alki and Lincoln Park Co-op Preschools, Amigos de los Americas, Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, Boy Scout Troop 284,Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, and then there’s the West Seattle Tool Library – accepting donations, and sending “scavenger teams” out to buy tools, instead of selling. The West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day map will be available online by Saturday night; we’ll have a limited number of printed copies for pickup at various locations, hopefully also by Saturday but it depends on how fast we finish it! Meantime, the most important thing to do is to mark your calendar and plan on a fun day. (Note to sellers: Thursday’s the last day we can take you off the map if you have to cancel – e-mail garagesale@westseattleblog.com or call 206-293-6302.)
(Photo by Dina Johnson)
Two weeks ago, we shared West Seattle High Schoolmarketing instructor Martha Tonkin‘s open call for volunteer help to judge student presentations. She reports a great response – and today, the students (above) gave those presentations, with concepts for cause-based marketing campaigns. The photos are courtesy of one of the volunteers, Highland Park’s Dina Johnson, who reports, “It was a lively event – a reminder of those days when we all had more enthusiasm, ambition, and imagination than experience and know-how. Almost all the students planned to have Taylor Swift perform in their benefit concerts. The teacher, Martha, was eager to get judges’ feedback afterward, not only on the presentations, but the concept of the project itself.” Here are the judges – Dina’s second from left.
Now, where YOU might come in – Martha is looking for judges for two other competitions – 8-11 am next Tuesday, May 3, a photography show called “Portraiture” with 60 WSHS students – 12 photography judges are needed; 3:30-8 pm May 20th, eight marketing judges and 12 photography judges are needed to judge “West Seattle Spring Expo 2010,” final marketing-campaign projects by the students. Can you help? Contact Martha: 206.252.8832 office, 206.283.8440 cell, mmtonkin@seattleschools.org
Thanks to Bob Bollen for that photo; Bob, along with J. Leddy, David V. and Ron, sent word of that submarine sighting off Alki Point, northbound , in the past hour. Earlier in the day, David Hutchinson photographed a more frequently sighted vessel, just as the storm clouds rolled in:
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Just in case you saw the fire response to The Mount within the past hour, or the “4 RED” call on the live 911 log – Christopher Boffoli checked it out; firefighters told him it was a small fire in an elevator exhaust-fan motor. No injuries but some smoke, so that’s why – as shown in Christopher’s photo – they had to bring in fans to clear the air.
(Friday afternoon photo by Christopher Boffoli)
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has just announced that 22-year-old Marcus Combs is now charged with first-degree assault in connection with last Friday’s stabbing of a 40-year-old woman who was walking with her 9-year-old. Court documents we obtained and reported on Monday said he stabbed her 15 times in the head and body after attacking her and pushing her down along a High Point street. But as disclosed in a Seattle Housing Authority update on Monday, the victim was doing well enough to leave the hospital over the weekend and is recovering at home. Combs is scheduled for arraignment on May 12th; if found guilty on this charge, he could be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. The High Point Neighborhood Association is sponsoring a community meeting tomorrow night at HP Neighborhood Center to discuss the incident and other issues, and is also working to find out if there is anything the community can do collectively to help the victim’s family. ADDED 3:24 PM: Transcription, from the charging documents, of exactly how it’s alleged the Friday afternoon attack went down – read on:Read More
We are out in The Junction, caught in serious sleet/hail/heavy rain. Since it’s been coming down a while, beware of street flooding etc. (iPhone video added 3:40 pm, shot from inside the car during one of the cloudbursts – the forecast says there’s a chance of thunderstorms through tonight.)
(Photo by Greg Gilbert/Used with permission of the Seattle Times – added 7:19 pm) ORIGINAL 12:23 PM REPORT: In a few minutes, King County Executive Dow Constantine and a flotilla of other elected county leaders including Sheriff Sue Rahr and Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg are meeting the media to talk about “an option for preserving current levels of public safety and health services.” According to several advance reports including this one from our regional-news partners at the Seattle Times, the proposal will ask voters to approve a potential sales-tax increase. We’ll add more details as the announcement is made. ADDED 1:03 PM: The Times story is now updated with details – the proposal is to raise the sales tax 0.2 percent, with 60% of the money going to the county, 40% to cities. 1:12 PM: And the official news release is now on the county website. They’re proposing that this go to voters in August. A public hearing on the proposal is set for the County Council’s budget committee at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon; this has to be finalized by May 25th to make it onto the August ballot. This document shows how the county would spend the money it thinks the tax increase would raise.
For the second time in three days, Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson is visiting West Seattle to join in an event with high-profile visitors. The other day, it was the Confucius Institute Education Center opening ceremonies at Denny International Middle School (WSB coverage here), and today, she’s at Chief Sealth High School – pictured above with Sealth principal John Boyd – for a special assembly introducing the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz‘s “Peer-to-Peer” jazz education program. The jazz legend’s son, Thelonious Monk Jr., is here, along with a musical delegation including a team described in the official announcement as “six exceptionally gifted high school jazz students from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.” After the assembly, which is continuing till noon, the visitors will join in an afternoon of workshops for Sealth musicians. ADDED: Our video is from Monk’s stirring pep talk as the event began- talking about how jazz is quintessential Americana – representing so many important values, including teamwork:
(Photo from June 2009 Westwood Village Street Fair)
If you’re looking to start scheduling your summer – more dates are rolling in. Last night, we noted that Sustainable West Seattle is taking exhibitor applications for its festival, to be held in conjunction with Delridge Day on June 5th. The Morgan Community Association announced last week that its 2010 festival is set for June 12th. And the West Seattle Junction Association started planning months ago for this year’s West Seattle Summer Fest, July 9-11. Now, today, we have word that Westwood Village will have a festival again this year too – but earlier than last year. According to WV general manager Stuart Crandall, the date’s set for May 22. Full details to come, but they’re working on activities for not only kids, but also pets! 8:47 PM UPDATE: More details of the festival were revealed at tonight’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting (separate meeting story to come) – including the fact they’re expecting an appearance by beloved clown J.P. Patches! The news was shared by Evie Knoke, who had advance copies of promotional flyers for the festival. Also planned: Live bands, magicians, inflatable bouncers for the kids, hourly raffles including a diamond pendant from Wyatt’s Jewelers (WSB sponsor), and an amateur dog show – you can sign up now at Pet Pros in WV.
Big night around West Seattle – and beyond. The marquee event is happening outside WS but with ramifications here and around the city: The first chance for citizens to speak out about the city budget is coming up at 5:30 tonight (sign-ins for speakers at 5), NewHolly Gathering Hallon Beacon Hill (map). There seems to be no question more major cuts are ahead; if you don’t want certain services cut, what do you think should be cut instead? First chance to speak out. … In West Seattle, the Highland Park Action Committee meets tonight, with topics including the West Seattle Reservoir Park project and this year’s Westwood Vilage Street Fair, 7 pm at Highland Park Improvement Club … In The Junction, ArtsWest(WSB sponsor) opens its new production, Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s “Tell Me on a Sunday,” tonight, 7:30 pm … What can you do to fight underage drinking in our community? The Southwest Healthy Youth Partnership needs you, 7 pm at Seattle Lutheran High School… West Seattle Elementary invites you to come visit the campus as it celebrates Literacy Night, 6:30-7:30 pm, full details and map here … In honor of National Poetry Month, Poetrybridge features a reading by Kerry Cox followed by open mike for all, 7-9 pm at C & P Coffee … Writer/activist Georgie Bright Kunkel sends word that her committee to educate the public about “corporate personhood” meets at 7 tonight in the Westwood Village area; call 935-8663 for specifics.
During this Disaster Preparedness Month, we’ve mentioned the city’s preparedness activities before. Here’s a simple one that you can take advantage of: The monthly newsletter from the Office of Emergency Management. Not quite May yet but the May edition is out – see it here. It lists upcoming classes and drills, in addition to taking a closer look at a specific preparedness topic you might not have heard much about. This edition also has another reminder about the “3 to Get Ready” (WSB sponsor) promotion that’s under way now. Overall, the OEM website has plenty of resources – as does, of course, West Seattle Be Prepared, home of the Emergency Communication Hubs (know YOURS!) P.S. Still need items for your emergency kit? Might be something to look for during West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – 200+ sales around the peninsula, somebody’s bound to have something you need! (Oh, and don’t forget to join the WSBP Facebook group …)
The meeting was supposed to be about explaining the newly released draft plan for helping people get around and helping businesses stay afloat once the deteriorating bridge closes June 30.
But when public-comment time kicked in, it was more like venting – both at the mike and from the audience, demonstrating the community’s indignation that the situation has even come to this.
One woman said she had bought her home in Boulevard Park in 1978, at which time, “I was told the South Park Bridge needed to be retrofitted and replaced. My (child) was 5. He’s 37 now. Why are we sitting here today and why wasn’t this taken care of sooner?”
King County Department of Transportation Director Harold Taniguchi had no easy answer. Besieged repeatedly by audience calls of “how did this happen? why did this happen,” he finally had to say, “We are at where we are at. If we had 32 years to put a funding plan together – we didn’t do it.”
Some community culpability was acknowledged in the middle of a fiery 5-minute speech by Christina Gallegos. Listen to it – as she addresses almost every topic that came up tonight, with clarity as well as fury.
Taniguchi’s response, plus highlights of the draft closure plan – including West Seattle effects – and the search for money for a new bridge, after the jump:Read More
Looks like that first short garbage strike was the last one. Our regional-news partners at the Seattle Times report there’s a tentative settlement in the contract dispute between Waste Management – which handles solid waste for our area among many others – and Teamsters Local 174. No details of the deal yet, but Local 174’s members will vote on it Sunday.
Severson Construction in the 3200 block of Harbor Avenue (map) was burglarized overnight. We received this report from Candace Severson, who is hoping you will be on the lookout for three stolen computers:
The Seattle Police Department called us at home this morning (April 27th) at 2:00 a.m. from the inside of our office on Harbor Avenue. The front window had been taken out and three desktops (one black Sony Vaio desktop and two iMac Desktops) were stolen.
Some tenants who live in the condos above saw two men in a dark vehicle carrying the stolen merchandise. We have filed a police report and serial numbers have been placed on Craigslist for any good citizen who is interested in helping us recover our stolen items.
Here are the serial numbers;
I Mac Desktop 20″ White – W 88284 JUZE 2
I Mac Desktop – W 94492 DOPP 7
Sony “Vaio” Desktop – 27504130 – 4 – 3000366 – 4
Reward for information concerning this theft.
SPD’s non-emergency number is 206-625-5011 – but if you think you see something suspicious happening now, don’t hesitate to call 911.
This year’sSustainable West Seattle Festival is being held in conjunction with the Delridge Day celebration, June 5 at Delridge Community Center – and organizers are taking applications right now. Here’s the form – May 15 is the deadline for applications. (This is a change for the festival – it’s been held in May in The Junction the past two years – but this year, Delridge Day is a bigger-than-ever event, and the SWS Festival is part of it.)
The community is invited to attend our annual Literacy Night at West Seattle Elementary School. The event is Wednesday, April 28th, from 6:30-7:30. There will be games, poetry, readings, and a visit from literature characters, including Clifford the Dog! Our 4th and 5th grade students will be taking photos with these characters during the evening to earn money toward their annual trek to Islandwood on Bainbridge Island next month. In addition, there will be a raffle and our Scholastic Book Fair (credit cards accepted)! We hope the community will come and visit our wonderful school. Come and meet us! We look forward to welcoming you!
You are all invited to join us for special family activity devoted to spring planting. Kids can get their hands dirty planting various seeds, flowers and wheat grass for their own gardens at home. Folks can learn more about the growing cycle of seeds and have fun grinding eggshells to add nutrients to the soil.
Sunday May 2 10 am – 1 pm.
This event is free and open to the public. The West Seattle Farmers Market takes place every Sunday – Year Round- and is located in the Junction aka downtown West Seattle – outdoors in the parking lot behind Key Bank – off of the corner of California and Alaska.
“The Hole” on the Junction/Triangle border is far from the only stalled-development eyesore in West Seattle. This afternoon, we have new information about another one:
First – City records show repeated citations for violations regarding the building being unsecured, and overgrown. City inspector Michael Griffin – who laughed ruefully when we told him what we were calling about – tells WSB that the Shoremont’s (previous) owners wouldn’t even return phone calls, so it’s all been “an exercise in paperwork.” The city, he says, is doing its best to make sure that the building “is secure to keep transients out” – but even that has required repeat visits, and repeatedly replaced boards (we’ve retouched the tags out of this photo):
Griffin mentioned that neighbors had told him the building was to be auctioned off this month. Online county records show indeed, there was a foreclosure auction scheduled for April 2nd. Including delinquent interest, records say more than $3 million was owed on the site, which had been sold for $2.2 million two years ago. The inspector told WSB he was waiting to see the new ownership, if any, recorded before figuring out who next to start notifying of the violations at the site.
This afternoon, we found out who the “new” owner is: The federal government, according to Chris Sheehan, who is with Whidbey Island Bank, the new owners of what was CityBank of Lynnwood, which the feds closed a week and a half ago. Sheehan tells WSB the Shoremont was part of the CityBank assets seized by the FDIC when they closed the bank – beleaguered by bad real-estate loans. So – he didn’t disagree with our suggested assessment – it’s the feds’ problem now. As soon as we figure out who to talk to at the FDIC (it’s after-hours back East now, anyway), we’ll pursue further. (The site’s not yet listed here.) Meantime, as you can see from our photos taken this morning, the windows are broken, the grass is overgrown, and a once-stately apartment building continues to fall into disrepair.
If you’ve seen police activity in Seaview the past couple hours, Doug‘s report explains it:
Our housekeeper spotted three people in an old light blue van pull into the alley behind our house this morning. Two of the people got out and came into our backyard. She scared them off and called me. I drove around and found them doing the same thing in the alley near 47th and Findlay [map]. I got the police on the phone and followed the van for several blocks throughout the Seaview neighborhood until police arrived and stopped them in an alley off Graham and 46th. They told the cops they were looking for scrap metal, but officers are running their names to check for any warrants. As always, please report any suspicious vehicles to police. There have been far too many home burglaries in the area lately.
Not long after Doug’s note, we also heard from Gary, who said that a tow truck has since shown up to take the van away. We’re checking with police to see if that means there were arrests involving the three people who were in it. SECOND CRIME WATCH REPORT: Bob atSeattle Integrated Martial Arts in The Junction says a sandwich-board sign for his business and co-housed Limber Yoga was stolen from 42nd/Alaska on Sunday night – if you’ve seen it anywhere, let them and/or police know.
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