West Seattle, Washington

31 Saturday

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month : 03/2011 376 results

Election 2011: West Seattleite Michael Taylor-Judd’s council-campaign platform
March 30, 2011 3:24 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

The only non-incumbent West Seattleite in this year’s City Council races so far has gone public today with his platform and his full campaign website. Michael Taylor-Judd is running for Position 1, along with four other people so far (all listed here), including incumbent Councilmember Jean Godden. From this page on his site, he breaks down his positions into four issue areas: education, housing, transportation, public safety. He says he’s in favor of passing the Families and Education Levy this fall; opposes the Highway 99 tunnel but acknowledges it’s the designated alternative and says “Now is the time to assess whether or not the Tunnel will be the safe and suc­cess­ful option our city can afford”; for public safety, he says, “I believe we need to redou­ble the Seattle Police Department’s com­mit­ment to com­mu­nity polic­ing.” You can read his full news release here; his campaign also is on Facebook, here. Taylor-Judd is not the only West Seattleite who’s aiming to be on the ballot this year for City Council; in a separate race, incumbent Councilmember Tom Rasmussen is so far running unopposed (besides Godden with 4 opponents and Rasmussen with none, each of the other 3 incumbents on the fall ballot has one challenger so far). This year’s election dates are August 16 (primary) and November 8 (general).

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Lafayette Elementary chooses ‘big toy’; construction this summer
March 30, 2011 2:10 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

From Lafayette Elementary‘s ‘Play It Forward’ playground-project team – a big decision for the playground upgrades at West Seattle’s most populous elementary school:

Here is the result of the Lafayette playground equipment vote. A Playground Equipment Selection Committee comprised of staff, faculty, parents and community members met to develop criteria for the “big toy.” They then sent out RFPs to all of the vendors approved by the Seattle School District.

Of the eight RFPs the committee received, three fit the criteria. After a vote at the community meeting, the students, parents, siblings, faculty and staff. Here is the winner!

Thank you to everyone who voted in our Big Toy Vote for the Lafayette Playground. By an overwhelming margin, Proposal “A” was selected with 365 votes, 48% of the total votes. Proposal B came in second with 290 votes, and C with 103. We’ll be breaking ground at the end of the school year and building the new playground over the summer break.

There’s still a lot of work to do before the kids can enjoy our new playground – money to raise, bricks to sell, volunteers to help prep and build the toy over the summer. We need you! Look for upcoming announcements about our community update meetings and volunteer opportunities. We also will be closing out our brick sales on May 13th – be sure to get your orders in before you miss out! Questions/Ideas/Wanna Help? Contact Holly at rhgrambihler@msn.com or Deborah at deborah@civicgroup.net

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Video:: Seattle Police promotions, including West Seattle commander
March 30, 2011 1:20 pm
|    Comments Off on Video:: Seattle Police promotions, including West Seattle commander
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle police

We are at Seattle City Hall, where hundreds of people are gathered for the Seattle Police Department‘s latest promotion ceremony, with today’s promotees including Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen, officially marking his achievement of that rank a few months ago. (video added)

Everyone who has spoken so far, including Mayor McGinn (top photo), has acknowledged that this is a difficult time for SPD, and that it is important to celebrate achievements as well as focusing attention on problems.

Police Chief John Diaz is speaking as well, thanking the promotion recipients for taking on leadership roles in a challenging time – though moments later, he also remarked on last year’s crime rate, the lowest in Seattle in more than 40 years, while acknowledging, “We have a lot of work to do” to help people be safer, and to make up for recent high-profile mistakes (while not, so far, alluding to any particular incident). He went on to mention this morning’s SWAT incident in West Seattle, which ended without injury (WSB coverage here), speculating it “won’t get any media attention tonight” because it ended peacefully. More to come, including video; here’s the SPD Blotter overview of the event.

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Video: SWAT situation at Triangle motel over, man in custody
March 30, 2011 7:41 am
|      29 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(WSB video of SWAT team going into the room to take the man into custody)
7:41 AM: We’ve received calls asking about SWAT team action at the 36th/Alaska motel. Police describe it as a “barricaded person.” They are working to communicate with that person. The situation is affecting traffic in the area, so if you usually go through that area, we’d advise finding an alternate route. More to come.

(Photo of van at SWAT-situation scene, shared by Stephen)
7:52 AM: WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand just spoke with SPD Det. Mark Jamieson at the scene. This started in the 5 am hour, when police encountered a man outside the motel who appeared to have a knife. They told him to drop it; he ran into a room at the motel, and has been there ever since. Just before 7 am, they decided to tape off the area. Right now they are trying to establish contact with the man in a variety of ways but have not been able to reach him. No injuries to anyone have been reported so far.

8:13 AM: Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen says the man is believed to be “elderly … with mental issues.” Police are asking media, as is standard in active SWAT team situations, to be careful not to show live images that would clue the suspect to what is happening outside his location. Our crew says traffic now appears to be moving OK in both directions along SW Alaska.

8:39 AM: No change in the situation but police continue trying to coax the man to come out peacefully. Their messages via bullhorn can be clearly heard around the area: “We want to help.”

9:18 AM: Still ongoing; man still in room, police still on scene actively working to resolve the situation. We had sent a message to Josh Sutton at the nearby West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) to ask how this was affecting their facility, if at all, and he has replied in the comment section: “… Just to be clear, Y employees have been kept informed of the situation since the beginning and the safety of our kids and members has not been a concern. We appreciate the police’s direct communication in this effort.”

10:23 AM: The man is in custody. Police forcibly entered the room and got him, no injuries reported. He’s believed to be in his early 40s. Det. Jamieson says he’s going to be taken to Harborview Medical Center for an evaluation.

11:07 AM: Video of the incident’s end, added atop this story; here’s video of Det. Jamieson with a quick briefing for the media once the man was in custody:

We are also adding photos from earlier, which we could not use during the incident because, as mentioned earlier, police request that their positions at a standoff scene not be shown, lest it jeopardize the operation:

ADDED 1:13 PM: The SPD Blotter account of the incident:

On March 30th, shortly after 5:00 AM, officers from the Southwest Precinct were dispatched to a motel in the 3500 Block of SW Alaska Street. The 911 call was for a man outside the building, screaming. Officers arrived and contacted the male standing outside one of the rooms. He was clearly agitated and not wearing a shirt. It appeared to the officers that he may have had a homemade knife of some sort in his hand. The officers attempted to contact the man, but he ran inside the room and barricaded himself inside. Officers made numerous attempts to contact the man through the door and by calling the room, but to no avail. Negotiators and SWAT were called to the scene about an hour later and attempted to establish a dialogue with the individual. Negotiators tried for hours to establish some sort of communication with the man.

SWAT officers eventually were able to put chemical irritants inside the room that eventually forced the man to come to the window. Officers were then able to safely secure the man’s hands while they entered the room and took him into custody. He was taken into custody at approximately 10:15 AM without any further incident. Seattle Fire Department arrived to assist with the decontamination of the individual, and then the 40 year old male was transported to Harborview Medical Center where he will undergo a mental health evaluation.

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Congratulations to West Seattle’s Global Reading Challenge finalists
March 30, 2011 7:33 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

That’s not an audience for a concert, or a sports event, or a play – hundreds of people filled the seats at the Central Library downtown last night to watch students answer questions about books! With Roxhill Elementary, Sanislo Elementary, and Concord International teams among the 10 finalists in the citywide Global Reading Challenge, we had to go downtown last night to see what happened. Though none of the three – the Concord Orange Dragons, Roxhill Bulldogs and Sanislo Ice Dodos – scored high enough to be one of the two teams advancing to a championship match against Canadian teams (Bryant and Thurgood Marshall teams will do that, via video conference) with north-of-the-border teams, they all performed well. Concord’s team is at left in the next photo, with the Roxhill team at right (Sanislo was in the middle of the floor, out of our range):

Competing teams sat at tables on the auditorium floor and wrote down answers to multiple-choice questions about the books they had read for this year’s challenge (here’s the list of books), which in the beginning involved dozens of schools around the city; then finally after almost two hours, the scores were tallied, winners announced, cookies were enjoyed. (And hopefully, even without a “challenge” to live up to, more books!)

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76 mph on the West Seattle Bridge, 55 mph on Admiral Way…
March 30, 2011 1:10 am
|      22 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Seattle Police are updating their campaign against “aggressive driving” almost every day on SPD Blotter. The latest update includes several West Seattle spots – highlighted by five tickets for 70 mph or higher on the bridge. They also mention Admiral Way and SW Henderson. Here’s their roundup.

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Another new park coming to West Seattle: Puget Ridge Edible Park
March 29, 2011 10:41 pm
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   Puget Ridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(Photos courtesy Stu Hennessey)
By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Thanks to a group of Puget Ridge neighbors, the historically agricultural parcel of land at 5265 18th Ave SW [map] will retain its agricultural status and become urban farmland in West Seattle.

Stu Hennessey, owner of Alki Bike and Board, is part of a community group that has been working toward the preservation of this site to turn it into a publicly owned permaculture farm, to be known as Puget Ridge Edible Park (PREP). They applied for, and were recommended to be granted, a $520,000 share of the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund (here’s our coverage, with video, of project supporters making their case last October).

He says, “We thought it would be cool to have a P-Patch or garden” for fresh produce in their neighborhood.

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‘Style Swap’ this Saturday, to help girls half a world away
March 29, 2011 9:41 pm
|    Comments Off on ‘Style Swap’ this Saturday, to help girls half a world away
 |   Fauntleroy | How to help | West Seattle news

From Wendy Weeks – a reason to go through your closet before Saturday. That’s the day she’s hosting a “Style Swap Benefit,” 11:30 am-2 pm Saturday (April 2nd), at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW):

Empowering women in developing countries is one way that we can directly make a change on a global level. On April 2nd, you have the opportunity to contribute toward change. How does this work? Attend our Style Swap and bring your favorite out-of-size clothes. Contribute 20 dollars to participate and you will help fund the scholarship of a high-school girl at a school in Malawi.

By participating in this charitable act, you and 49 other women will sponsor a student for her entire high-school experience. All monies collected will go directly to the scholarship fund of a girl to be selected by the school. But wait, there is more!

There is a side benefit for you as well! You can purge your closet of those clothes that you love but will never get in again and in return you may find some gems to bring home!

Just bring your clean and well-cared-for items (tops, bottoms, shoes, purses, scarves, jackets, etc…) to the swap between 11:30 am and 12:00 pm and at 12:00 you can start looking for your new best outfit! We can even arrange to pick-up your items ahead of time either from a north or south end Seattle location. Call before March 30th for information concerning an advanced clothing pick-up or drop-off.

So contribute 20 bucks, clean out your closet and find some new treasures! All clothing not swapped that day will go to charity. Light refreshments will be served. A complete description of the school and how this non- profit works will be available on the day of the event.

You can call Wendy at 206-769-1049.

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Helping from afar: West Seattle for Japan update; CSWS bake sale
March 29, 2011 6:00 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Two updates tonight on West Seattle help for Japan. First, we checked in again with West 5‘s Dave Montoure on the second day of tallying up the donations/proceeds percentages from the nearly 30 businesses that joined in West Seattle For Japan on Sunday:

As of 2:00 p.m. we had passed the $6,000 mark, with 15 businesses left to collect from. Getting e-mails that several of those businesses made deposits after I checked at 2:00 p.m. Tremendous!

West 5 also is hosting a “tweet-up” (Twitter users’ gathering) on Thursday night that will include a Japan-fundraising raffle, starting at 5:30 pm.

Meantime, Community School of West Seattle is getting ready for a fundraising bake sale – teacher Jen Foster shares the update, and this photo:

Jen writes:

In a whole school effort, students, teachers and parent volunteers have been busy all day baking for our bake sale.

We will have some gluten-free, some nut-free, and of course typical bake-sale favorites like brownies and Rice Krispie treats for purchase.

Last year we were lucky to have a Japanese pre-school teacher, Mayuko, who returned to Japan in September. While she was with us, she taught the kids some Japanese words and origami. When the students heard about the earthquake and tsunami they thought of Mayuko. We have been in contact with her through e-mail and Facebook, and she said the best way to help was to send $ to the Red Cross.

*All of the bake sale proceeds will benefit the Red Cross.

Our k-2 class has been busy making origami cranes. These cranes have been strung onto mobiles and will be for sale also. The class decided that they would like to donate their proceeds to Mercy Corps.

Bake sale at CSWS, 9450 22nd Ave SW

Thursday 2:45 PM-3:30 PM
Friday 11:45-12:30 PM

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Followup: West Seattle Water Taxi spring/summer schedule
March 29, 2011 5:04 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   King County Water Taxi | Transportation | West Seattle news

As first reported here yesterday, the King County Water Taxi‘s West Seattle-to-downtown run will start its new spring/summer 7-day-a-week schedule on April 8th. And now we have details of how that’ll work this year, including shuttle and game-day plans. The schedule is online here, and you can read on for the overview!Read More

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Traffic alert for bicyclists: New Alaskan Way detour starts tomorrow
March 29, 2011 4:07 pm
|      19 COMMENTS
 |   Alaskan Way Viaduct | Transportation | West Seattle news

Among the many ongoing changes related to Alaskan Way Viaduct and Spokane Street Viaduct construction, here’s one that starts tomorrow, affecting bicyclists:

Starting Wednesday, March 30 through Friday, April 8, crews will route bicycles off of both directions of Alaskan Way S. between S. Atlantic Street and S. Royal Brougham Way while they rebuild the entrance into the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 46. Cyclists will need to follow a signed detour route via East Frontage Road S.

Find more information about the detour – including a map – by going here.

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Brief court appearance for jogger-attack suspect Starkenburg
March 29, 2011 1:49 pm
|    Comments Off on Brief court appearance for jogger-attack suspect Starkenburg
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

We’re at the King County Courthouse, where the hearing we came for lasted barely a minute. The defendant: 46-year-old Duane Starkenburg, the West Seattle man arrested in late January and charged with indecent liberties for allegedly attacking three women in Lincoln Park over the past seven months. This was to be a “case-setting” hearing; Starkenburg’s lawyer asked for a continuance (postponement), as they continue to receive and review various records in the case, he told the judge; the prosecutor did not object. So Judge Ronald Kessler agreed to the defense’s request to set Starkenburg’s next appearance for May 3rd. Starkenburg did not speak; we won’t have a new photograph from today, but he looked about the same as he did at his last hearing (see photo in this February story), close-shaven head, wearing a dark suit. He remains free on $175,000 bond, and remains under orders to stay out of all parks in King County.

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Saving the Shoremont: New owner ‘really just liked the building’
March 29, 2011 11:50 am
|      42 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle history | West Seattle housing | West Seattle news

The latest Land Use Information Bulletin from the city brought word that the proposal to renovate the interior of the Shoremont Apartments on Alki is proceeding – it’s been determined no environmental review is needed. You’ll recall the twin apartment buildings were once proposed for demolition, to make way for an ultra-modern development planned 3 years ago; then foreclosure led to new ownership. This morning, we talked for the first time with new owner Dennis Schilling, who tells WSB he bought the Shoremont because he has “always liked small brick buildings … I thought (these) were pretty interesting.” More about his plans, ahead:Read More

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Update: Death investigation in Fairmount Ravine
March 29, 2011 10:40 am
|      72 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news

10:40 AM: Police and fire are now rushing into Fairmount Ravine (Fairmount Avenue south of Harbor). There is a report via scanner that someone went off the Admiral Way Bridge over the ravine. Avoid Fairmount from either end. Crews on scene report via radio that they do not believe the person survived.

10:53 AM: Though Fairmount is not blocked on the Harbor Avenue end, the emergency response is centered near the underside of the bridge. Units have just called by radio for the Medical Examiner to be summoned, which is a confirmation that the person died.

11:07 AM: Authorities on the scene tell WSB this is believed to be suicide. Identifying the victim will be up to the ME, who has not yet arrived. Traffic remains blocked off along Fairmount on both sides of the site where the road goes under the bridge. It has been three years since the last such death on which we reported.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you are wondering why we are reporting this, when some media do not: Suicide is an epidemic – claiming more lives than homicide – that must be addressed, not ignored; we report it here along with other violent deaths, and as per experts’ recommendations, offer resource information: If you or someone you know has contemplated suicide, the local Crisis Clinic is there to help: 206/461-3222. There’s a national hotline at 800/SUICIDE

5:41 PM: We asked the Fire Department if they had any age/gender information from the time their crews spent at the scene; Lt. Sue Stangl says their report notes only that the victim was an adult female.

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Tunnel tussle: Referendum signatures turned in; city goes to court
March 29, 2011 10:14 am
|      50 COMMENTS
 |   Alaskan Way Viaduct | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Petition signatures have just been turned in at City Hall by the group Protect Seattle Now, seeking a public referendum vote this summer on the tunnel-related measures recently passed by the City Council, then vetoed by Mayor McGinn, whose veto was overturned by councilmembers. The group says they have almost 29,000 signatures; here’s their announcement, including a challenge to the mayor and council (2:10 PM UPDATE – responses from the council and city attorney, who is taking this whole thing to court, have been added, ahead):Read More

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Traffic alert: Westwood crash, no serious injuries
March 29, 2011 9:59 am
|    Comments Off on Traffic alert: Westwood crash, no serious injuries
 |   West Seattle news | Westwood

Just got to the scene of what originally drew a sizable “rescue” response from Seattle Fire crews but has now scaled back – a car up on the sidewalk at 28th/Trenton. According to scanner traffic from the call to cancel most responding units, “no major injuries.” Major advisory on this – be careful driving this stretch of SW Trenton, northwest of Westwood Village, till the scene is clear.

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West Seattle’s Westwood Village reportedly getting a new owner
March 29, 2011 6:43 am
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | Westwood

According to the Daily Journal of Commerce (if you subscribe, here’s the link), West Seattle’s Westwood Village shopping center is about to get a new owner. The DJC says Bentall Kennedy is buying Westwood Village from Wesbild for $78 million but isn’t planning major changes (the article mentions parking-lot upgrades, and painting). The DJC says Wesbild also just sold Burien Town Square, to a different buyer, for $14 million. The current WV website says Wesbild has owned the center for more than 20 years.

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West Seattle Tuesday: Global Reading Challenge; benefit concert…
March 29, 2011 6:03 am
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts | WS miscellaneous

(Melanie says this owl is now a fixture in her West Seattle backyard)
Good luck to the Roxhill Elementary Bulldogs, Sanislo Elementary Ice Dodos, and Concord’s Orange Dragons as they go downtown tonight to compete with seven other teams in the citywide finals of the Global Reading Challenge. Public’s welcome at the Central Library, 7 o’clock. Also today/tonight:

BENEFIT CONCERT: West Seattle Community Orchestras‘ Symphonette and Beginning Strings perform a community outreach concert at 7 pm at Concord International School (723 S. Concord in South Park) to benefit the music programs of Concord and Arbor Heights Elementary in West Seattle. Musical selections will include several of Disney’s most popular tunes from “Mary Poppins” as well as youth orchestra standards. Suggested donation, $1.

FREE SCREENING AT HEALTH FAIR: Senior Center of West Seattle‘s Health Fair 10 am-1 pm today includes free peripheral-arterial-disease screening by Futura Health Screening (WSB sponsor).

LIVING WELL WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS: Also at the Senior Center, this 6-week class begins, 1-3:30 pm, call 932-4044 to see if space remains.

INTERGENERATIONAL BOOK CLUB: Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor) sponsors an intergenerational book club. Readers of all ages are welcome. Potluck and dessert as this month, the discussion centers around “The Book Thief,” a gripping tale set in WW2 Germany. 5:30 pm; for more info, call the church office at 206 932-7777.

More on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar!

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West Seattle help for Japan: Mashiko owner looks ahead
March 29, 2011 1:24 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle help for Japan: Mashiko owner looks ahead
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

By Bill Hutchison
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Continuing to reach out to help Japan is important, not just in the short run, “because it’s going to take years to recover from this,” observes Chef Hajime Sato.

For the owner of Mashiko Restaurant in The Junction – who joined in Sunday’s West Seattle for Japan fundraising effort (WSB photo at left) – the recent earthquake in Japan and ensuing tsunami hit too close to home. Hajime grew up in Utsunomiya, an inland city in the Tochigi Prefecture of Japan, not that far from the quake zone. His immediate family is safe here in the USA but he has many extended family and friends near the disaster areas.

Luckily, everyone is okay. The hardest part of dealing with the disaster was trying to communicate with friends and family. “Trying to get hold of someone by phone was frustrating and nearly impossible for the weeks following the disaster”, he said. As it turned out he finally did so by using e-mail and other online methods, such as Facebook.

Asked how he first heard about the March 11th quake, Hajime told a story full of irony. He was vacationing in Hawaii (on the Big Island) and went to his hotel room after dinner. While watching TV, he started seeing the stories about what just happened in Japan. Suddenly, Hawaii was under a tsunami watch. Hajime and his girlfriend struck up a conversation with a hotel employee summoned to his room to fix the internet connection and asked, “Where do you go if there is a tsunami?”

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Muttley Crew Cuts Hosting 2nd Annual Dog Social
March 29, 2011 1:06 am
|    Comments Off on Muttley Crew Cuts Hosting 2nd Annual Dog Social
 |   Announcements

It’s the 2nd Annual “Dogs For Dogs” Dog Social at Muttley Crew Cuts (4200 SW Admiral Way Suite C) from 7 to 10 pm. Muttley Crew Cuts offers kennel-free grooming, and doggie daycare and boarding in the Admiral District for West Seattle canines.

You are invited to socialize with other dog owners while your K9 friends play. There is a raffle and $2 “dogs”, beer and wine (w/ ID), and snacks. All proceeds go to English Springer Rescue America (ESRA).

You can RSVP on the Facebook Event page here.

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Prayers for Japan: Admiral Congregational UCC Church vigil
March 29, 2011 12:47 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle religion

That’s the Rev. Dr. Donald Schmidt, in his second year leading Admiral Congregational UCC Church in West Seattle, offering a Buddhist prayer during an interfaith candlelight vigil Monday night. It wasn’t a fundraiser, as Rev. Dr. Schmidt reminded participants, but they did have baskets available for anyone who wanted to donate. The March 28th vigil idea, he said, was inspired by Greenpeace.

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Late-night history break: Found in a West Seattle attic
March 28, 2011 11:04 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Admiral Theater | West Seattle history | West Seattle news

Heike shared that Admiral Theater ad from the January 23, 1942, “Seattle Daily Times.” We asked how the old paper was found. Reply: “We put a few can lights into the ceiling, and had to go up into the attic for rewiring. Pretty amazing that it’s been there all this time!”

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West Seattle Garden Tour: Early preview of the gardens!
March 28, 2011 9:28 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Gardening | How to help | West Seattle news

Longing for the warmer months so you can get out and garden? Here’s something to fuel your dreams: The West Seattle Garden Tour may seem like a long way off – three and a half months! – but tonight, you can preview the gardens on this year’s tour. WSGT’s website is now in full bloom, so to speak, and that includes the garden descriptions and photos. For example, check out the “Outrageous Waterfront Garden.” This year’s tour is July 17th, and there’s still a little time to sign on as a sponsor, too (we did) – proceeds benefit local nonprofits; sponsorship info is here.

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