West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
(Memorial in Roxhill Park paying tribute to murder victim Bernard Martin, September 2010)
The 22-year-old man jailed for beating another man to death in Roxhill Park last September has pleaded guilty. We discovered this on a routine check of court records this weekend. Chatri Thip was charged with killing 40-year-old Bernard Martin by jumping onto him and smashing a shopping cart against him. This past week in King County Superior Court, Thip pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, the original charge against him. His written statement blames an “aggression-laden environment” at the park the night it happened, starting, he claimed, after a group upset he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant – including her half-brothers – attacked him. The murder victim was not part of that attack, Thip wrote. The original charging documents had said Thip had six beers that night – stolen from the nearby Safeway – and told police he experiences rage when he drinks, and lashed out when Martin came up to him in the park and asked for a beer. Court documents indicate prosecutors will recommend the lower end of the standard sentencing range, 11 years and 2 months in prison (the high end is just under 20 years). Thip is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Susan Craighead at 1 pm September 23rd.
(ADDED MONDAY MORNING: South Park donation dropoff spot to help fire victims)
If you’re among those wondering how to help the victims of this afternoon’s huge apartment fire in unincorporated South King County southeast of South Park, here’s the first answer: Donate to the local American Red Cross. We just found out they are setting up an emergency shelter for fire victims at Peace Lutheran Church in Gatewood. Volunteers are setting it all up right now with the help of Amanda Rudd from the Red Cross; she told us outside the church that the latest count indicates 41 people are without a home tonight, from the 19 units gutted by the fire. They’re planning to shelter and feed about a dozen of them at Peace Lutheran. The Red Cross stresses that it cannot accept donated items, though, just money to fund operations like this; you can donate here – and we’ll let you know about any donation drives we find out about. (Thanks to Anne-Marie for the tip, e-mailing us after spotting the Red Cross vehicles at the church.)
ADDED MONDAY MORNING: From the South Park Yahoo! e-mail group, another way to help fire victims:
Providence Regina House and the South Park Neighborhood Center will be the drop off for donations to support the families who were burned out of their homes yesterday, many with only the clothing on their backs.
Here is what they need the most:
Men’s clothing (WE HAVE VERY LITTLE OF MEN’S CLOTHING AND SHOES HERE)
Full size toiletry items
Furniture for smaller apartments
Gift cards for food and stores such as Target and Fred Meyer
Non-perishable food
Bath linens
Bed linens (twin & full)
Mattresses & box springs (twin, full, queen)
Housewares of all sorts
Shoes for men, women, and childrenWE HAVE LOTS OF NON PERISHABLE FOOD and women’s clothing, and some hygiene items, but could use the other things!! WE ALSO COULD REALLY USE lunch/snack friendly foods, such as applesauce cups, snacky foods, etc…so these hungry/stressed folks can snack, too.
I’m here now (address below) and will be here all day….and tomorrow….and until there is no more need!!
Paige Collins, Manager
Providence Regina House
8201 10th Ave. South, Seattle,WA 98108
206-763-9204
www.providencereginahouse.org
(All WSB coverage of the West Seattle Grand Parade is archived here, newest to oldest)
From motorcycles at the start to DeLoreans at the end – a last-minute entry by the Pacific Northwest DeLorean Club (which won an award!) – Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade showcased a wide variety of vehicles. Though we published plenty of parade coverage yesterday, before/during/after, we still have a few roundups in the works, and this is one of them – click ahead for some of the vehicular highlights!Read More
Out of the WSB inbox today, from Jason:
Our house near 36th and Barton was burglarized during the day on 7/21. The front door was kicked in and several items were stolen. Please let others know so they can keep an eye out for suspicious activity In their neighborhoods.
Police say door-kicking is a common method of break-in; here’s their advice on burglary prevention.
3:25 PM: We’ve been getting calls and text messages asking about the column of black smoke that’s been visible for about an hour. The smoke is from a two-story structure fire in the unincorporated area about a mile south of South Park. The Seattle Fire Department has sent a ladder truck and an engine to assist. Our pictures were taken from as close as we could get to the scene. KING5.com has the details here on what turned out to be a three-alarm apartment-building fire.
5:51 PM: Our partners at the Seattle Times say SFD was one of eight fire departments that responded to help fight the fire. At least two people were hurt, but no major injuries are reported.
Jen Izutsu shared the photo of a coyote spotted near Longfellow Creek this morning – having a snake for breakfast. Snakes are part of the long list of potential food sources listed for coyotes on the state’s “Living With Wildlife: Coexisting With Coyotes” page, though we tend to hear more often about cats. And we’ll remind you that experts urge you to startle and scare coyotes when you are near them – to ensure we can keep our mutual distance, which they say is better for all concerned.
(Scroll down for updates – including the jubilation, on video, when the 50,000-diaper goal was hit)
10:40 AM: Just before 10:10, WestSide Baby volunteers welcomed their first official drive-up/walk-up diaper donation of the day for the 2011 edition of “Stuff the Bus.” You don’t even have to get out of your car if you don’t want to – just enter the Viking Bank parking lot from SW Alaska between 40th and 41st SW:
…and volunteers will be glad to receive your donation and add it to this stack (which at 10 am included 2,266 diapers just dropped off by Laurie Paul from Bright Horizons West Seattle, who told us they were donated by the new child-care center’s families).
Or, if you’re with a child who would like to honk the school-bus horn, you can get out and do that while dropping off diapers! We’ll be back to check on the drive’s progress later. “Stuff the Bus” continues till 2 pm, and WS Baby hopes to amass 50,000 diapers to qualify for a double-matching donation from Huggies.
10:59 AM UPDATE: Via e-mail from WS Baby:
A donation of 6,591 diapers just arrived from a surprise private donation!! They certainly turned heads loading up carts at Target yesterday. At 10:30, we have loaded over 14,000 diapers already. More than the total of the entire day in 2010!!! Keep ’em coming!!!
12:52 PM UPDATE: We stopped by around 12:30, and they were up to 32,000 diapers – then suddenly Valerie O’Mara arrived with almost 5,100 more that she had collected by hosting a diaper drive:
WestSide Baby encouraged people to sign up as diaper-drive hosts this time around – to collect in the days leading up to today’s big “Stuff the Bus” event. Oh, wondering how stuffed the bus was, as of 12:30 pm?
Still room for more! P.S. WSB is proud to be among the Stuff the Bus co-sponsors again this year.
1:56 PM UPDATE: Goal met! More than 50,200 diapers as of quarter till 2! (added) WS Baby executive director Nancy Woodland announced it jubilantly to her crew:
The final tally: 51,266. Celebratory group shot:
And of course, WS Baby is happy to have donations – diapers, other items, money, volunteer help – any time. You can check their website to see what’s needed the most when you’re next able to give.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*On Monday just before 6 pm, a drive-thru teller was able to stall for time when a customer tried to cash a $5,000 check with a suspicious signature. She called the man who had supposedly written the check, and when he denied having done so, other bank employees called 911. An officer arrived and pulled in behind the suspect’s car. The suspect was ordered to turn off the ignition and drop the car keys to the ground. He did so, but while the officer was running a computer check, the engine started up and the car squealed out of the bank lot, nearly hitting a pedestrian. Continuing eastbound, the driver swerved into oncoming traffic and ran a red light, just missing additional pedestrians. Because a chase would have posed additional dangers, the officers opted to not pursue the fleeing car. But citizens later noticed a suspicious car in front of an abandoned house in the 5600 block of 31st SW. Officers identified it as the suspect’s vehicle. Behind the residence? A pile that included ID cards for more than 15 victims, stolen checks, washed checks, cell phone chip cards, a laptop computer, and a loaded Springfield Arms 9mm handgun stolen in a car prowl in north Seattle earlier in the month. The car and all of the property was placed into the evidence room. The suspects remain at large.
8 more summaries after the jump, including two cases of bullet casings found in local streets, and two updates on crimes previously covered on WSB:Read More
It’s a WestSide Baby tradition – reminding people about the “Stuff the Bus” diaper drive by entering a big cheerful contingent in the West Seattle Grand Parade, including the bus itself. As is the case most years, “Stuff the Bus” is the day after the parade – that’s TODAY – but there’s one BIG difference: The location has changed. Bring diaper donations to the Viking Bank parking lot at 40th/Alaska (map) – lots more room to maneuver – between 10 am and 2 pm; help WestSide Baby qualify for a huge double-matching donation (50,000 donated diapers will qualify them for 100,000 from Huggies).
Also today – back to the beach for art and music:
Day 2 of the 2011 Alki Art Fair gets going at 10 am, including another day of continuous live music (till about 5:45 pm), silent auction in the Bathhouse (11 am-4 pm), kids’ muralmaking, and more.
And at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm at 44th/Alaska in The Junction, here’s what manager Catherine Burke says you’ll find today:
Music: Tommy Dean Acoustic
…Apples – FRESH, first of season – Lodi (green, tart, great for crisps)
Apriums
Beans
Berries
New Varieties of Cherries
CORN
Melons
Nectarines
Peaches
Plums
Pluots
Also in The Junction – Friends of the Animals Foundation will have volunteers on site at Next to Nature from 11 am – 3 pm to help you find the perfect rescued feline companion. Visits can also be scheduled at your convenience. Call 206.719.4864 or online
At Pet Elements in Morgan Junction (6701 California SW), 10 am-2 pm, a Dog Treat Bake Sale to help Stephanie Allis raise money for the Seattle Humane Society.
One more event today: Chinese Martial Arts in the Seattle Chinese Garden. Watch exciting martial arts training sessions by students preparing for local, national, and international events in a traditional garden setting. Noon to 1 pm today, Seattle Wushu Center is featured. The garden’s at 6000 16th Avenue SW, via the north entrance to South Seattle Community College. Information: www.seattlechinesegarden.org
If you watched Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade from north of Genesee, you missed out on the freeform fun of the WS Rotary Kiddie Parade, which invites any and all local kids to travel the three blocks south of Edmunds, between the motorcycle drill teams and the rest of the parade. Kids walk, bike, ride in wagons and strollers, and even perform – the Denny International Middle School Marching Band is part of it – here’s our video of the Kiddie Parade in its entirety, recorded at California/Alaska:
Leading the parade and carrying the flag was Sue Lindblom, West Seattle Rotary president and owner of longtime WSB sponsor Illusions Hair Design.
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