West Seattle, Washington
26 Friday
Hoping these will be the last ones for the night, but they couldn’t wait till tomorrow. Ann wants to send out a warning about the robbers who held up her son and friends in Westwood last night, and Jeanine sent word of a break-in this afternoon. Both reports ahead:Read More
LeRoy Bell and His Only Friends have made some new friends tonight on Hiawatha Community Center‘s east lawn, and there’s still time to get here before 8 pm and be part of the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s weekly Summer Concerts at Hiawatha show. Video:
Music’s great, and the PCC Natural Markets (WSB sponsor) Kid Picks van is here as usual with samples of healthy treats:
As much fun as the music is, it’s also fun to watch neighbors and friends catching up with each other – it’s like one big neighborhood party, with many families bringing dinner, kids running around, etc. Tonight’s guest emcee, West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen:
Two more shows in this year’s series (with co-sponsors including WSB) after tonight – Caspar Babypants next Thursday, and be sure to have the kids bring coins for the Wellspring drive (donors get the chance to win a custom CB song, as noted here earlier this week), and Star Anna for the final show on September 1st – ANA president Katy Walum says that night will include a diaper drive for WestSide Baby (early warning, get some before then and have them ready to bring along)! P.S. If you have any questions about the new Umpqua Bank branch coming to the Admiral District, Umpqua had reps here tabling tonight and they say they’ll be back next week. So far, it’s looking like a mid-October opening for the branch, they say.
One more upcoming event to mention – signs around the field are promoting the 100th birthday celebration for Hiawatha itself, coming up 11 am-5 pm Saturday, September 17th, with festivities including a 5K, basketball and pickleball tournaments, a barbecue, and concert.
2 lively local events up ahead, in West Seattle and South Park:
After a few months on hiatus, Rainbow Bingo returns to the Senior Center of West Seattle one week from tomorrow – Friday, August 26th, with Sylvia O’Stayformore (“Seattle’s Effervescent Hostess“). The night starts at 6 with Mariner Dogs, Teriyaki Chicken Burgers, Sloppy Joes, and cold drinks; 6:30 pm, music and entertainment; 7 pm, Tropical Rainbow BIngo! Admission by donation, and prepaying early gets you a discount – check out the Senior Center website at sc-ws.org.
Before then – South Park has a larger-than-life street party this Saturday:
The “Lucha Libre” Mexican-wrestling spectacular will be shakin’ the street 4-8 pm this Saturday (August 20th) at 14th and Cloverdale in South Park (map) – kids’ activities start at 4, the wrestling starts at 6. South Park is alive and kickin’, bridge or no bridge – construction’s starting to rev up, and you can check that out while you’re there – and they’re inviting their West Seattle neighbors (and the rest of the region!) to come join the party. Check out their new catchtheculture.org website, too.
Just in from SDOT: Tonight’s scheduled westbound Spokane Street Viaduct closure (would have been the third night in a row) has been canceled; it’ll be rescheduled, but no date yet.
2:55 PM: A bail hearing for the 25-year-old man arrested on Wednesday in Highland Park in connection with Tuesday’s White Center murder has just ended in a King County Jail courtroom. WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand reports from KCJ that bail was set at $1 million; the suspect waived his right to appear in person, so was not there. Next step in the case will be a King County Prosecuting Attorney decision on filing charges (Monday’s the deadline), and of course two suspects remain at large – as the King County Sheriff’s Office noted in its official confirmation of the arrest (added today to our story from last night that first reported the suspect had been booked into jail).
3:22 PM UPDATE: A few more details have arrived in the probable-cause documents from prosecutors. Among them: Gang rivalry is believed to have caused the fight that led to the shooting of 23-year-old Sweetheart Failautusi. And this suspect (whom we won’t identify until he is charged) is alleged to have fired the deadly shots; we’ve transcribed the probable-cause allegation in our report on White Center Now.
The Grouchos are back. They’re tougher to see than during their previous appearances on the north-facing slope alongside the eastbound West Seattle Bridge (our photo is from 2007) – but, as Patt posted on the WSB Facebook wall today, they’re back. Until last year, they seemed to appear magically each spring. This year, it turns out, they actually reappeared a few weeks ago, according to West Seattle writer Mark Bourne, who had chronicled them in the past; we contacted him this afternoon to mention the new sighting, and he pointed out he’d already written about it (with new photos showing they’ve multiplied!). Who puts them there? Still a mystery.
One of our area’s most distinctive nonprofit performing groups is the victim of a crime – and hoping you can help solve it. Just out of the WSB inbox:
The Cabiri is a nonprofit organization based in West Seattle. We offer aerial arts classes for adults at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center and provide performances at community events and festivals throughout the Seattle area. We perform at a wide variety of benefit events and provide scholarships for nearly 20% of our students and we need your help.
On Monday night, August 15th, our vehicle was broken into in front of our house in the Highland Park neighborhood of West Seattle and a bag was taken that contained some of our teaching aerial apparatus.
The bag was a standard issue military seabag about 42″ long and it contained two trapezes, multiple aerial tissu, several black steel locking Omega Pacific carabiners, several 18″, 36″ and 72″ Polyester Roundslings (spansets) with “Cabiri” written on them in black marker, multiple Petzl rescue swivels, multiple CMC steel rescue eights, a can of Tuf Skin spray rosin and an iPod connector cable.
Attached are sample images of the equipment for distribution.
If you see any of this equipment or anyone approaches you about purchasing the equipment, please be aware that it is stolen and is property of The Cabiri. Contact the police and then notify us. We have filed a police report and would very much like to get this expensive equipment back, which we cannot afford to replace at this time. Total value of the stolen equipment is approximately $2,500.
If you would like to make a donation to help us replace this stolen equipment, we welcome you to do so on our web site: anunnaki.org/page.php?page=contribute or in person at the Arts In Nature Festival this weekend at Camp Long in West Seattle. We and our students will be there performing all weekend on both Saturday and Sunday.
We are devastated at the loss of this essential equipment and thank you in advance for helping us spread the word in hopes that it will make a safe return to us.
Sincerely,
Charly McCreary
Managing Director
The Cabiri performance troupe
http://www.cabiri.org
Besides the southbound Alaskan Way Viaduct closure from 11 pm Friday night through 5 am Monday morning (at the latest), there are other traffic advisories around the city this weekend – so as usual, we’re sharing the official SDOT roundup (which includes, in West Seattle, Picnic at the Southwest Precinct, 1-4 pm Saturday, and in South Park, the “Lucha Libre” Mexican-wrestling spectacular street party 4-8 pm Saturday) – read on!Read More
That’s a 2010 clip of LeRoy Bell and His Only Friends, the group that headlines Summer Concerts at Hiawatha tonight – one of the highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
TRAFFIC ALERT: The westbound Spokane Street Viaduct is scheduled to be closed again overnight tonight, starting earlier than the past two nights – 10 pm-5 am.
KENNEY BARBECUE: Family, friends, and neighbors are invited to the annual summer barbecue on the Seaview lawn at The Kenney (WSB sponsor), 5 pm. Bring a donation for West Seattle Food Bank.
SHOP LATE THURSDAYS: Another edition of Shop Late Thursdays in The Junction, till 9 pm; participants’ list here – check with your favorite shops to see if they’re offering Thursday-night deals!
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: Tonight, the fourth of six concerts in this summer’s series (with co-sponsors including WSB) – get a taste of LeRoy Bell‘s music in the clip above; show’s at 6:30 pm on the east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center; bring your own blanket/chair.
FREE PARENTING WORKSHOP: 7 pm at Alki Arts: “Creating a Whole and Healthy Family,” with Bill Dean, free. This is for parents who are concerned about their kids who may be … struggling, or who just want to find out how to assist their children as they begin to traverse the slippery slope of adolescence.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The prosecution might rest its case today in the trial of the two remaining defendants in the February 2009 West Seattle murder of Steve Bushaw.
We were in court for the afternoon session on Wednesday, which included the end of testimony by another of the detectives in the case, talking about cell-phone records – which are key to the prosecution’s case – and the testimony of a woman who says defendant Bryce Huber, with whom she had been romantically involved, drove to see her in the Tri-Cities the day after the shooting.
If you’ve seen it, you will probably remember it – the motorcycle in the front of that photo, a purple 1994 GS500 with lavender rims. Patrick e-mailed us on behalf of its owner, his friend Mary, who asked him to help get the word out that it was stolen from her West Seattle home a few nights ago. If you see or hear about a bike like this – either firsthand or perhaps offered for sale (or being “parted out”) somewhere, they ask that you report it to the police or e-mail Mary (mcbrainard at hotmail dot com) or call her at 206-607-9963. Oh by the way – the similar GS500 in the photo belongs to Patrick, and he says, “I will not be riding my purple bike for a week or two so there will be no confusion when a purple bike is seen (I have another one to ride). Purple is rather rare.”
That’s a clip from “Come and Get It,” featuring West Seattle-raised movie star Frances Farmer, who came back to the city for its premiere in 1936. Seventy-five years later, she remains a local legend and source of curiosity – which brought about 20 people out for a Museum of History and Industry-sponsored walking tour in Admiral last night.
(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Its guide was Peder Nelson, the local historian/musician who also put together a Frances Farmer tribute three years ago at the city-landmark Admiral Theater – where last night’s tour began. WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen went along for part of the tour.
The generosity of West Seattleites has meant success for so many fundraisers. One coming up next month asks you to open your heart and pocketbook for people in crisis on the other side of the world – many with families that have fled to the U.S. and are living in our community. Here’s why High Point residents are planning a fundraiser September 9th:
Historically, Somalia was a nation with a socialist dictatorship government that could provide for its people. With power comes thirst for more power and in 1991, tribes wanting their turn at leading the country ousted the Somali government led by Siad Barre. In the ensuing Civil War; thousands of people, including children, the elderly, and mothers died at the hands of brutal militiamen. Thousands of Somalis walked and hitchhiked for weeks and months to find freedom, to find water and basic necessities, thousands dying in that journey for survival.
After 19 years of insecurity, and a weak transitional government, famine in Somalia has now destroyed the lives of nearly 12,000,000 people in the Horn of Africa. After years of drought, the crisis has now hit a tipping point. Famine has been officially declared in five regions of Somalia. The United Nations expects the famine to spread across all regions within two months. The famine is the result of crop failure, livestock death, and prices in local markets that are too high for most people to buy what is needed to feed their families. In addition, a weak government battling a militia group called Al-Shabab has created one of the worst humanitarian crises of our lifetime.
United States officials and aid agencies reported that the drought and now famine has taken the lives of 29,000 children under the age of five. We have heard countless stories, seen unforgettable images, and the situation worsens. In Somalia, children are starving to death before their mother’s eyes as they trek to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu or refugee camps. Without any time to grieve, a mother of five walked to save her only surviving child, racing against time only to die at the refugee camp.
In these tough economic times, we are all strapped for cash and have families to feed. But at the end of the day, it is up to us to do something because children and innocent victims are suffering. High Point residents are hosting a fundraising event to make a difference. In an effort to provide support to World Vision, residents are planning to raise $20,000. High Point residents have families in Somalia that are dying by the dozens. This tragedy is not only affecting the lives of innocent people in Somalia, but our clients, our neighbors, our friends and families. Those dying in the middle of the road, in bushes, and in refugee camps, are not nameless. Let’s take a moment to remember their lives at this event.
This fundraiser will benefit Islamic Relief or Mercy Corps. Your donation will help save a life.
When: September 9, 2011 at 6pm
Where: High Point Neighborhood House Center—6400 Sylvan Way SW
| 30 COMMENTS