West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
2 quick Saturday notes: First, thanks to Stefanie at White Center’s Proletariat Pizza for e-mailing to be sure everybody knows their new almost-neighbors at 3.14 Bakery have their grand opening tomorrow. More at partner site White Center Now. Also – looks like a busy Saturday for yard sales tomorrow – we count at least 5 West Seattle sales in the WSB Forums’ Freebies/Deals/Sales section. (And speaking of sales – there’s an Arts and Crafts Fair at C & P Coffee tomorrow, 9 am-3 pm.) More in the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.
(Thursday photo by Susan DuTemple)
By noon tomorrow, the fog from earlier in the week might seem like a particularly pleasant memory. The National Weather Service has called for an official “heat advisory” for noon tomorrow through 10 pm Monday. According to the newest forecast, we could be in the mid-90s tomorrow and Sunday, with only a bit of cooling the following three days. You know what this all means – time to haul out the “who has air conditioning” lists! These started a month ago during the last heat advisory. Here’s the one with A/C-equipped restaurants; here’s the (longer) list of “other places with A/C.”
ALSO: Note that tomorrow night, there are special events to cool you off – West Seattle Outdoor Movies (co-sponsored by WSB) in the courtyard by Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) features “Wayne’s World” at dusk – and tomorrow’s the last of three monthly movies presented by Coastal next to its Alki store (“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle“).
50-year-old Stephen Hayes Kirk is now charged with three counts of second-degree burglary, all from cases in Burien; the court documents mention that investigators have been looking into many other break-ins, including those in West Seattle, but no charges are filed in other cases so far. His bail has been reduced to $25,000 from the $150,000 set yesterday (which is what documents indicate prosecutors requested again today). We obtained the photo at left from the Department of Corrections.
Continuing to add more details from court documents: The “probable cause” information mentions 32 smash-and-grab burglaries that Seattle and Burien Police and the King County Sheriff’s Office have been investigating and says they began on June 15th. Since they had the same MO – glass smashed, vending machine(s) or cash register stolen – investigators say that strongly suggests the same person or persons was/were responsible. Their big break came, the court documents say, when they made a traffic stop on July 24th and the driver told them he knew who had burglarized a store on Des Moines Memorial Drive – a man he knew as “Steve” who drives a red pickup truck with “East Pierce County Fire Department” on its driver’s side door. Detectives reviewed video from a 7-11 near the store that had been burglarized and found a man and truck in the video that appeared to match the description.
Another clue, the documents say, came when they found the cash register from the July 29th Uptown Espresso break-in in West Seattle in the parking lot of Puget Sound Credit Union on Airport Way South – surveillance video from the credit union showed what appeared to be the same man and pickup truck. They circled back with the tipster from the traffic stop, who then told him he had witnessed the burglary he’d mentioned. Detectives ultimately got a full name on their suspect by checking with a scrap yard in Georgetown, asking if they had any customers matching the description.
The court documents say they subsequently got a court order to put a tracking device on Kirk’s pickup truck. That was done by a King County Sheriff’s Detective on August 6th – last Friday. Among other things, according to the documents, the tracking device placed his pickup near the two Admiral District smash-and-grab break-ins earlier this week – Luciano’s Pizza on Sunday morning (photo right) and Admiral Shoe Repair on Monday morning. He was arrested early Wednesday, with most of that story told in the separate court/police document we reported on yesterday – except for one detail: Officers found a “large amount of loose change” in Kirk’s pockets, but he claimed it was because he’d been panhandling at a nearby store when someone ran up to him, gave him all that change, then ran away.
Kirk’s arraignment – the hearing at which he would enter a plea – is set for August 26th. We’ll be checking with prosecutors regarding whether more charges might be filed before then.
Nine months after first word that a 7-11 was on the drawing board for the former Exxon station/mini-mart at 35th and Barton, there’s a new indication it’s moving forward: A liquor-license application filed this week. This comes after a real-estate-style shingle’s been hanging out front of the property for a few months, promoting franchise opportunities; the names on the liquor-license application include Joseph DePinto, 7-11’s corporate CEO, so we have a message out to corporate HQ to see what we can find out about its status. (Nothing new on the building-permit front.) 7:24 PM UPDATE: Got voicemail from a corporate rep at day’s end. We have to call back to ask specifics on this particular store – but she said that in general, 7-11’s are often built/opened by the corporate parent without a franchisee having signed on yet – then they go find one.
Just in from SDOT:
The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will close all eastbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct from First to Fourth avenues S overnight, beginning Sunday night, to prepare for the Monday morning opening of the Fourth Avenue S Off-ramp. The closure is necessary to remove the concrete barrier and to patch surface concrete where the barrier was connected to the viaduct deck.
Crews will place temporary barriers where the new off-ramp meets with the upper roadway to allow for a daylight opening of the ramp.
All eastbound lanes will be open by 5:00 a.m. Monday and the new Fourth Avenue S Off-ramp will be opened after the morning commute. The overnight closure begins at 10:00 p.m. Sunday, August 15, and will be complete by 5:00 a.m. Monday, August 16.
Everyone’s familiar with West Seattle’s famous murals of historic scenes, mostly in The Junction (including the recently removed-and-replaced “Press Day“). Soon, new art will join the connection, courtesy of local youths. We caught up with the young artists for these photos during a recent work period at High Point’s Commons Park.
High Point Community Center‘s Rebecca Hall explains the project:
High Point staff is overseeing a mural project at Commons Park. The theme is past, present, and future. It was teen led, designed, and executed. It incorporates soccer, different ethnicities (including a hajib on one of the girls), local industries such as Boeing, and local attractions such as the Space Needle. There were a total of 46 different youth who worked on the mural project over the past three weeks. Youth ranged in age from 8 to 18 with the majority falling between the ages of 9 and 14. The mural will be complete after the youth add in writing what they want to be when they grow up on the panels. The mural will then be sealed and with the assistance of the Junction Association it will be installed in the walkway between California Avenue and the parking lot behind merchants in the Alaska Junction.
We hope to get an installation date firmed up soon. The Junction Association is having the hallway painted before the new murals are installed.
That’s the walkway in the block between Edmunds and Alaska, near Northwest Art and Frame.
Six weeks after the South Park Bridge closed for good – by opening the drawbridge leaves and keeping them that way – demolition is about to begin, according to a news release from King County, though the leaves won’t be the first thing to go. Read on for details:Read More
Story and photos by Jonathan Stumpf
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Lisa Coronado — an actress, producer, and West Seattle resident — is still marveling at the recent phone call she received from the owner of C&P Coffee Company, offering up the coffeehouse as a filming location and any services it can provide to Coronado and her West Seattle-based show “The Divine Marigolds,” which she hopes will make it to TV.
“I mean, where else are you going to get that except West Seattle?” asked Coronado during a break from a script reading of the pilot episode, titled “Finnegan’s Wake.”
They describe their show as “a heartfelt comedy about a tight knit Irish-American family set in the gorgeous Alki Beach area of Seattle, Washington.”
Today we’re welcoming one of our newest sponsors, Dick Cady, who offers piano lessons in West Seattle to both beginners and advanced students. 
It’s a WSB tradition for new sponsors to get the chance to let you know about their business; Dick says he tries to create the right environment to help students learn: “One of the things I hear from my students often is, ‘This is exactly what I wanted to know.’ I’ve been teaching for some time, and knowing when to teach something is as important as knowing what to teach. Also, my students often say how much fun they are having. I like to have fun and laugh in the lesson too. Whether it’s the parent of a beginning child or an older transfer student, an adult who has been playing a long time or one who is just starting, most people seek me out because they have heard from a friend how much they’ve learned. I’m always honored to get a recommendation from a student. I think they keep coming because there is always more to learn in music – and this goes for me too – and because of the supportive atmosphere.” Dick also has experience working with students who have performed in national and regional competitions. Just this part spring, two of his students who are part of the Garfield High School Jazz Band received Outstanding Soloist awards at the Essentially Ellington competition in New York. Over the past 10 years he has sent several students to that festival, while some of his middle schoolers have received awards at festivals and competitions closer to home. Piano teacher Dick Cady is online at dickcady.com; by phone, he’s at 206-762-8679.
We thank piano teacher Dick Cady for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our sponsor team, and info on joining, all here.
Happy 1st anniversary to Cherry Consignment in The Junction and Porterhouse Pub in the Admiral District – both are having special events today in honor of having been open a year. Porterhouse (2329 California SW) is offering beer specials and door prizes. Cherry Consignment (4142 California SW) is having a special sale event 6-8 pm, with storewide discount, a “Super Saver Rack,” and refreshments.
As of very early this morning, the downtown transit tunnel was still closed because of a “malfunction” — affecting buses, light rail, and drivers/bike riders on the streets that carry more buses when needed. To get the latest on its status, go here. 8:59 AM: As you probably know by now, all’s well again, and has been for most of the commute. The link, however, is a good resource for all Metro riders – it’s a blog-format website where they track the commute status daily, even when nothing extraordinary’s happening.
| Comments Off on 2 more Saturday notes: New bakery opens; lots of yard sales