New hoops for healing, as South Park continues to ‘Fight the Fear’
(Photos by Cliff DesPeaux)
7-year-old Damar Johnson was among the first tonight to aim for the net at a new basketball court dedicated tonight at the South Park Community Center. The event, covered for WSB by photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux, was more than a dedication; it was a tribute in honor of Teresa Butz, killed a little more than a year ago during a desperate, and successful, bid to save her partner’s life during a vicious attack in their South Park home; tomorrow is the anniversary of a memorial attended by hundreds, also at SPCC (WSB coverage here). The Fight the Fear Campaign has been active in her memory – helping create new opportunities for South Park youth, like the new basketball facility:
Fight the Fear provided $5,000 seed money for the court. The Seattle Storm – co-owned by West Seattleite Anne Levinson – is a partner in the project.
Storm players came to tonight’s event to present a basketball clinic, and to meet fans like 9-year-old Fernando Cruz:
Here’s Fernando with Storm forward/center Abby Bishop:
All that basketball worked up an appetite for a barbecue on the beautiful summer night:
Among the dozens who attended tonight, Teresa’s partner, who spoke with our partners at the Seattle Times (here’s their story about the event), calling the dedication “healing and hopeful.”
Can you help a West Seattle native get a shot at stardom?
From the WSB inbox today (the photo wasn’t included but we asked for it on followup):
My name is Erin Register and I was born and raised in West Seattle. I went to college at WSU and after graduating, I relocated to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Things have been going pretty well for me but I’m relocating to Ireland for a year to get a second degree and travel around Europe before returning to Los Angeles. I recently entered AMC’s contest to be on their show Mad Men and was wondering if you would maybe post something on the blog for local West Seattleites to vote for me, it would mean the world to me if I got to be on that show. I’ve done a lot of theatre in Los Angeles and am part of an amazing repertory company (xrtc.org) I’ve also been on The Singing Bee and was in a short film that won several awards at the Los Vegas Film Festival but I really think if I could get a walk-on role on Mad Men, it would launch me to a place of opportunity I haven’t been to yet.
Below is the link to vote, people can vote from each computer or phone once a day until the contest ends. Again, it would mean the world to me and today IS my 25th birthday, so it could be my birthday present :)
Go here to vote for Erin – we just tested it, no registration required, it’s a simple click.
West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Parade, art fair, movie, Stuff the Bus
It’s a weekend so big, we’ve been previewing it all week, and then some. Hope to see you along the route of the American Legion Post 160-presented West Seattle Grand Parade at 11 am tomorrow (California SW, Lander to Edmunds) – and at Alki Art Fair both days this weekend – and for the WestSide Baby diaper drive Stuff the Bus (co-sponsored by WSB) on Sunday – and at the Highland Park Sunday Market as it returns this weekend … plus the Hi-Yu Community Brunch, also on Sunday … Even more going on – just click ahead for this week’s West Seattle Weekend Lineup, brought to you by Skylark Café and Club (with weekend delights including brunch both days, live music both nights)!Read More
Traffic alert: Rollover crash blocking NB West Marginal Way South
ORIGINAL 4:38 PM REPORT: This is on the South Park section of West Marginal Way (map), by Northwest Center and other large industrial buildings – a rollover crash has blocked the northbound lanes of West Marginal. This is in the South Park area but in case you take that route to get back to West Seattle, here’s the traffic alert. No details on the crash cause or injuries, but tow crews are there so it shouldn’t be blocked too much longer. 4:46 PM UPDATE: A little further down the road, the Marginal/Holden intersection is still under police control and overall, says our reporter, “it’s a mess” – so avoid the area for a while.
From Delridge CC, meet your summer photojournalism interns!
All over West Seattle, there are terrific summer youth programs – and we’re thrilled that one of them will be presenting participants’ work here on WSB. The summer photojournalism program at Delridge Community Center is working with WSB again this year; you will see some of their work soon, but first, they wanted to introduce themselves!
My name is Fizan Rao, and I am a high school student currently taking part in the RecTech Photojournalism Summer Internship program at Delridge Community Center. I’m writing to introduce the program to the West Seattle community on behalf of the ten teens who are taking part in the internship. This is the second year for the Photojournalism Program at Delridge.
Photojournalism tells a story using a combination of photography and journalism, and the internship provides teens with training in both. So far, we’ve been introduced to the basics of good photography and different ways of using composition, lighting, and background to make a good photograph. We’re learning how to capture and tell a story visually, how to use Adobe Photoshop to edit our photos for publication, and how to write stories and journal about our experience.
In the first two weeks of the program we have been introduced to great photography through slide shows and excellent speakers, like Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Jerry Gay and West Seattle Blog Editor Tracy. Now we’re out looking for stories in West Seattle and the surrounding area. We are planning a weekly feature interviewing interesting people who live in West Seattle as well as covering local events. If you have an event that you think we should cover, or know of someone interesting that we might like to interview, please let us know at rectechinterns@gmail.com. We look forward to publishing our work on the West Seattle Blog in the weeks to come.
Fizan Rao
West Seattle Crime Watch: Robbery arrests; hit-run; car prowl
Three items in West Seattle Crime Watch this noontime. First, new details on the California/Andover mini-mart armed robbery reported here early this morning. According to Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD media unit, the description given by the victim helped officers catch the alleged culprits at Delridge/Orchard – they pulled over a white pickup truck with four males inside (the victim had said two got out of the truck and robbed the store, just before midnight). Det. Jamieson says two suspects were arrested and booked into jail, while the other two were “interviewed and released”; he also confirms that a handgun was found in the truck. Meanwhile, two WSB’er reports have come in this morning – one, a woman looking for the hit-run driver who struck her as she crossed the street this morning; second, a car prowl – read on:Read More
West Seattle Grand Parade sneak peek #5: The lineup meeting
(WSB photo from July 2008 at California/Lander, where the West Seattle Grand Parade begins)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Everybody loves a parade, it’s been said.
All you have to do is stake out your spot on the route, and it unfolds right in front of you – the honor guard, the bands, the drill teams, the floats, the royalty, the sign-wavers, the clowns … In all, more than 75 entries will travel California SW from the Admiral District to the south end of The Junction tomorrow morning (here’s the map), starting at 11 am, right after the Rotary Club of West Seattle-sponsored Kiddie Parade (all kids can join in!) strolls and rolls down the route from Genesee south.
But the West Seattle Grand Parade doesn’t just happen, much as co-coordinator Jim Edwards would try to have you believe otherwise. “It’s a juggernaut now,” he insists. “It would happen with or without us.”
He commented Monday night during a small but pivotal gathering that happens each year before the parade: The lineup meeting. At American Legion Post 160 in The Triangle – the organization that presents the parade every year (not Hi-Yu, though they’re an important participant every year) – Jim, co-coordinator Dave Vague, and parade chair Walt DeLong took two hours to finalize the parade running order.
Read More
Watch ‘Stage Struck’ kids tonight; celebrate the program Aug. 14
What a great way to spend the summer – singing, dancing and acting up a storm. An acclaimed program giving West Seattle kids the chance to do exactly that is Stage Struck, a theater program that’s celebrating its 10th anniversary this summer, with a party coming up on August 14th. Stage Struck offers both summer theater camps and performances during the school year at Fauntleroy Church‘s Fellowship Hall as well as West Seattle High School.
The photos shown here (courtesy of Peggy Fine) are from past years’ performances, but TONIGHT you can see the kids in action as they present “Mary Poppins” at Fauntleroy Church at 7 pm (the past two Fridays, they performed “Cinderella” and “Oliver“). And you can also buy your tickets now for the 10th anniversary event – online at www.stagestruckseattle.com – read on for the official announcement about the celebration, which is also a fundraiser to gather scholarship funds so more kids ca be pat of the Stage Struck program:Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: Store stickup; more converter thefts
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this early morning: First, police are investigating an armed robbery – it happened about an hour ago at the gas station mini-mart at California/Andover (map). Scanner traffic suggests they have a potential suspect in custody – the robber was reported to have fled southbound in a white truck; numerous officers responded, and scanner traffic quickly indicated a potential suspect sighting in the SW Morgan vicinity, as well as a gun having been found in the vehicle. At last report, officers were still working to check with the victim and any potential witnesses; we probably won’t be able to confirm an arrest till later this morning. Meantime, more reported catalytic-converter thefts – coming in as comments on the one published here a week and a half ago – read on:Read More
Just confirmed with the 
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