You usually hear them before you see them – the shack-shack-shack-shack call of bright-blue-with-black-crest Steller’s Jays, a call many can recognize even if you’re not an “I can identify that bird in two notes” expert. Two of the photographers who often contribute memorable West Seattle sightings have shared Steller’s Jays photos, just as we noticed them back in our backyard. Above, Machel Spence, best known for microphotography – bugs, fungi, etc. – captured the larger-than-life countenance of a jay. The next three photos are courtesy of Trileigh Tucker, who says the brash blue birds tipped her off that it’s “beaked hazelnut” season:
The nuts are a hit with the Steller’s Jays – though they have to go through some extraction efforts:
Trileigh explains, “Beaked hazelnuts are one of the traditional autumn delicacies enjoyed by native people in our area, and were traded up and down the coast — although it looks like this year, the jays have beaten us humans to the harvest! But interested folks can still find a few nuts and shell fragments; look on the ground under sturdy conifers near hazelnut shrubs, which are all through Lincoln Park.”
Trileigh’s also written about this on her website, Natural Presence. We thank her and Machel for sharing their photos – and everyone who shares theirs via WSB (e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com or use the WSB Flickr group).
Our house (in the 3000 block of) 46th Ave [map] was burglarized today between 4.30 pm and 5.15 pm (when my wife went to pick up our kids). The thieves made off with an iPad, a laptop, a bottle of vodka, some clothing, and some of my wife’s jewelry. They attempted to unplug the flat-screen TV but gave up for whatever reason. Most of the jewelry has only sentimental value and has been passed down through generations. The thieves used a blue canvas bag with the words AHLA on it to haul away their loot.
The thieves appear to have entered through an open upstairs window facing the alley between 45th and 46th aves. None of our neighbors saw much of anything, despite being outside at the time. One neighbor reported seeing a dark, late-model Cadillac with two caucasian males in it driving erratically near at the entrance to the alley on Hanford around 4 pm. Not clear if this is related. They could have been on foot as they didn’t take anything big.
As of an hour ago, they were awaiting police, so they could file a report.
We took that photo back on sunny July 4th, the day Colman Pool celebrated its 70th anniversary on the Lincoln Park waterfront. That wasn’t the end of the anniversary festivities, explains senior guard Anne Barnes – they’re hoping you have memories to share:
We have had a great time out here, and look forward to the last few weeks of the season.
This is our 70th anniversary year (as you have reported). In addition to the party we held on the Fourth of July, we are also putting together a memory book for the pool. There are tons of great memories out there; we’d like to collect as many of them as we can! Swimmers can ask for a page to write on at the front desk of the pool, or they can e-mail memories to me (I will print them out and paste them in the book).
The pool is open every day until Labor Day (Sept. 5) and also the following weekend (Sept. 10 and 11).
Quick toplines from the first day of the fourth week of testimony in the trial of two of the four men charged in the murder of 26-year-old Steve Bushaw in the middle of a West Seattle street on Super Bowl night in February 2009. Defendant Brandon Chaney spent the entire day on the witness stand, claiming he had no knowledge of a plan to shoot Bushaw until the two confessed shooters, John Sylve and Danny O’Neal, ran to the car he was driving that night and yelled “GO!” All three lawyers finished their questioning of him around 3:30, and then they spent some time talking with the judge about the instructions that will be given to the jury before they begin deliberating. Chaney’s lawyer Jim Roe indicated he has one more witness to call; prosecutor Jeff Baird says he has at least one “rebuttal witness”; defendant Bryce Huber’s lawyer Tony Savage appeared to indicate he would not call any witnesses – he had already said his client probably wouldn’t testify. Once the defense rests, both sides will get to present their closing arguments before the case goes to the jury. The contention has been that Huber and Chaney were in on the shooting plan, conceived as retribution on behalf of a friend of both men who was beaten up in a home-invasion robbery two weeks earlier, because that friend allegedly believed Bushaw had masterminded the robbery (but wasn’t present).
If you or someone in your family gets hurt or sick and needs attention immediately – you’ll soon have another choice in West Seattle.
Highline Medical Center Urgent Care debuts in October. For now, it’s in the same location where Highline (a WSB sponsor) has its Family Medicine Clinic – across from the east side of Jefferson Square – but they’re also finally going public with the news that next year, they’ll move into their own building in The Triangle.
A 25-year-old man is in jail after allegedly attacking a cab driver with a stun gun early this morning in the Morgan Junction area. We heard a bit about the incident via the scanner and just obtained the report from Seattle Police. The cab driver told police he had picked up the suspect in The Junction and was told he wouldn’t have to go far. According to the driver, he was directed through a few side streets southwest of California/Fauntleroy – and then around 46th and Fauntleroy, the suspect grabbed him from behind and “drove an electric stun gun into his side 3-4 times.” At that point, the report says, the driver lost control of the cab, which then hit a vehicle on SW Frontenac. The suspect got out and so did the driver, running after him until the suspect jumped a fence. A K-9 unit came to help try to track down the suspect; the stun gun was found in the 4600 block of SW Maple (map), while the suspect was found about a block away, hiding under a van. Police say the suspect doesn’t live in the Morgan Junction area; they didn’t find any money on him, but did find 4 grams of marijuana. He told them after being advised of his rights that he didn’t know what he was doing in the back seat of a patrol car, and it was, the report says he claimed, “all King County Jail’s fault.” (The register shows his most recent stay there, in an assault case, ended on the 4th of July.) The cab driver didn’t want to go to the hospital, but did have what the report calls “a series of red, raised welts near his belt line above his hip.”
Some residents near the Fauntleroy ferry dock say the overnight electrical work by Seattle City Light has been keeping them sleepless, to the breaking point. The utility first issued a warning early this month; then last week, neighbors said it got really loud, as noted here – one commenter called it “the most obscenely loud jackhammer ever.” SCL’s Scott Thomsen responded by saying the jackhammering is done. But there’s word from City Light that tonight might be noisy again, so neighbors are bracing themselves. One is even putting out an open call for a lawyer who they could consult; Chuck Sawyer (ecccsawyer [at] q.com). He and others say they are concerned not even so much about this work, which is scheduled to run another two weeks, but a precedent it might set for other future work in the area, including the Barton Pump Station adjacent to the dock.
ADDED 3:27 PM: Chuck’s video with the jackhammering from last week.
EXTRA WADING WEEK – IF THE WEATHER IMPROVES: The West Seattle wading pools that were scheduled to close after last weekend will get an extension this week – IF the weather gets back to sunny and 70-plus. Here’s our original report on that city announcement. The latest forecast does NOT look too promising, unfortunately.
ZIPPY’S RETURNS: The only all-burger joint in West Seattle/White Center is scheduled to reopen today after a week-plus vacation.
FAMILY STORY TIME: High Point Library, 35th/Raymond, 7 pm! All families are welcome to enjoy songs, rhymes, games, and books with the children’s librarian.
Matt Haggerty is going into his senior year at Seattle Lutheran High Schoolin West Seattle – a time when students not only are completing their coursework, but also working on their senior projects involving community service. Matt’s project is called “Ritual Running,” and he’s inviting you to be part of it. It’s a running group that will start meeting in September, working up to a 5K/10K run/walk event that will raise money to go toward buying and shipping shoes to areas of the world where they’re most needed, in conjunction with One World Running, which donates shoes in the U.S. as well as other parts of the world. Participation in the group is free, but the eventual event will have an entry fee and will encourage participants to gather pledges for the cause. Running is one of Matt’s passions – he says he runs both cross-country and track and has completed 4 marathons, “3 of which I ran in under 3 hours.” He’s planning on running the Boston Marathon next year.
The running group is set to start September 6th – a little over two weeks away – meeting Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30 pm, and Saturday mornings at 10:30 am. The target date for his 5K/10K is October 8th, but Matt warns that could change. In the meantime, you can sign up by e-mailing Matt at ritualrunning@gmail.com. He has a website in progress at ritualrunning.com, and Ritual Running is on Facebook, here.
(African Children’s Choir performance in Kentucky this past June)
Another weekend of big events in West Seattle (and environs) is just days away. We’ll be previewing them throughout the week, starting here: Young singers from Uganda who are touring our state right now will be in concert at West Seattle Christian Church this Friday. The African Children’s Choir will perform in the church’s Activity Center (map) at 7 pm; doors open at 6:30. You can read here about how the choir members are chosen and trained; most are between 7 and 11 years old. It’s been almost exactly two years since the choir’s 2009 visit to WSCC.
Quick toplines from the first day of the fourth week of testimony in the trial of two of the four men charged in the murder of 26-year-old Steve Bushaw in the middle of a West Seattle street on Super Bowl night in February 2009. Defendant Brandon Chaney spent the entire day on the witness stand, claiming he had no knowledge of a plan to shoot Bushaw until the two confessed shooters, John Sylve and Danny O’Neal, ran to the car he was driving that night and yelled “GO!” All three lawyers finished their questioning of him around 3:30, and then they spent some time talking with the judge about the instructions that will be given to the jury before they begin deliberating. Chaney’s lawyer Jim Roe indicated he has one more witness to call; prosecutor Jeff Baird says he has at least one “rebuttal witness”; defendant Bryce Huber’s lawyer Tony Savage appeared to indicate he would not call any witnesses – he had already said his client probably wouldn’t testify. Once the defense rests, both sides will get to present their closing arguments before the case goes to the jury. The contention has been that Huber and Chaney were in on the shooting plan, conceived as retribution on behalf of a friend of both men who was beaten up in a home-invasion robbery two weeks earlier, because that friend allegedly believed Bushaw had masterminded the robbery (but wasn’t present).
A 25-year-old man is in jail after allegedly attacking a cab driver with a stun gun early this morning in the Morgan Junction area. We heard a bit about the incident via the scanner and just obtained the report from 
Matt Haggerty is going into his senior year at
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