day : 26/09/2011 11 results

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports tonight, one from the north, one from the south. First – the last stolen car reported here was found by a commenter, and Louie hopes this one will be too:

Last night between 11 pm and 7 am our car was stolen from our driveway on 42nd and Hanford. It was parked just feet from our house and we have a motion light there but it was not enough to stop them. It is a gray Mitsubishi Endeavor 2005 with a cracked front windshield. License # 376-SWA. Please call police with any information!!

And from Rudy:

Wanted to report that a friend who lives on 31st Ave. SW just south of Thistle had her home broken into today in the middle of the day. Burglars tore a screen to the kitchen sliding window in the front of the house, climbed through and took a tv, computer, camera and jewelry. A neighbor reported seeing a male loading something into a black VW Golf and then speeding off.

If you have a Block Watch or are interested in forming one – you might want to be at tomorrow night’s meeting of the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network, 6:30 pm at the Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster) – details here.

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Followup: 2 West Seattle bridges proposed for temp sensors

September 26, 2011 6:30 pm

| 11 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(November 22, 2010, photo by Paul)
Would a temperature sensor on the West Seattle Bridge have helped city crews get snow/ice trouble under control sooner in recent years’ storms? Seven bridges would get sensors under a proposal that Mayor McGinn called attention to in his budget-presentation speeches today. Reading even the finest of the fine print on the budget plan, we couldn’t find which seven bridges would be targeted, so we checked in with SDOT. Spokesperson Richard Sheridan says the list is not finalized yet, but the recommendations so far would include not only the “high bridge” but also West Seattle’s “swing” (low) bridge, as well as the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Aurora Bridge. This will all be hashed out over the next two months before the budget plan is finalized; your opportunities to have a say include public hearings, starting with one downtown a week from tomorrow (details here).

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Think snow! West Seattle’s Mountain to Sound Outfitters expanding, planning ski/board swap

September 26, 2011 5:18 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS & Sports

With autumn rain all day long, can mountain snow be far behind? West Seattle outdoor-sports entrepreneur Greg Whittaker is ready for it. For one, he’s been expanding his Mountain to Sound Outfitters (WSB sponsor) shop in The Triangle, to include space next door that formerly belonged to Westside Auto Repair (which closed because of an owner’s health problems). Greg explains that with the addition of retail-showroom space, “We now will have a less cramped feel when coming into our store to check out the world’s best manufacturers of skis, snowboards, SUPs, kayaks, skates, racks, and more clothing. With the 2011-12 winter order arriving, we definitely need the space. We will also have increased parking!”

He’s putting the finishing touches on the space this week, and then the expansion will be celebrated with a “Grand (Re)Opening” event this weekend. On Saturday, October 1st, they’ll be barbecuing 2-6 pm, and you can dine free with a purchase from the store (otherwise it’s $5). On Sunday, October 2nd, there’s a skateboard raffle and sunglasses giveaway. Even more details (and sample deals) can be found here.

For two, M2SO is getting ready for a Ski and Snowboard Swap event in a few weeks. The Ski/Board Swap dates are October 21st-23rd – starting with gear check-in and pricing that first evening, 4-7 pm; swapping on 10/22 from 10 am-6 pm and on 10/23 from 10 am-3 pm (after that, there will be two hours for check pickup and load-out). Mountain to Sound Outfitters is at 3601 SW Alaska.

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3 more chances to shape future of Roxhill Skatespot/Playground

September 26, 2011 3:33 pm

| 12 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | Westwood

Now that Delridge Skatepark is up and running – the development spotlight turns to the next one in the wings, the “skatespot” (smaller version of a skatepark) at Roxhill Park, and concurrent playground improvements (the beloved castle, at right, is to be replaced). Here’s our report on the first public meeting; three more have just been announced (via postal-mail postcard from the Parks Department), all three at Southwest Library. The skatespot’s “schematic design” will be presented 6 pm October 12th; the playground’s “schematic design” will be presented 6 pm October 17th; and the final design presentations for both will be at one meeting, 6 pm November 14th. Project info’s here.

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Mayor’s budget speech #2: This time, the details

September 26, 2011 2:06 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Click anywhere on the image to play the clip – our workaround to avoid the previous “auto-play” problem)

2:06 PM: Mayor McGinn‘s second budget speech of the day is under way – this time, he’s speaking to the City Council, which will spend the next 2 months working on it. Click the “play” button above to join the live feed. (UPDATE: The archived video is now available.) Details are also supposed to be available online here any minute now – we’re continuing to check around and will make note here when the documents are published publicly (then we’ll add toplines while going through them).

2:12 PM: Budget documents now available at the city Finance Department website. The executive summary is here. Speaking to the council, the mayor says his proposal is about “priorities” and “morals,” not just about “balancing” the spending plan.

2:40 PM: Some toplines:

*155 “full-time equivalent” positions cut, 96 of which are currently filled
*43 “full-time equivalent” positions added
*If previous community-policing staffing goals had been met, and if open positions were filled, SPD would have 86 more officers by next year than it will have. Its budget is being cut by $2.4 million. But the budget’s executive summary says that key goals are being met or exceeded – such as “priority 1 call response times,” 6.3 minutes through June compared to the 7-minute goal of the “neighborhood-policing plan.”
*Of interest if you use city parking outside West Seattle (where there is no pay-station/meter parking) – there will be rate changes in some neighborhoods, depending on usage trends. Capitol Hill, for example, will go down; Ballard will go up. The city plans to start a “pay by cell phone” program next year. And parking tickets will cost you more – $44 starting next month, up from $39.
*Various grant programs administered by different departments will come under the umbrella of the Department of Neighborhoods
*Winter preparedness spending will include installation of temperature sensors on seven bridges (we’re still looking for the list)

2:52 PM: Mayor’s speech is over; when archived video is available, we’ll replace it atop this story. In the meantime, we’re reading the SDOT proposal from the full-details budget docs. For those who think the mayor is all-bicycles, all-the-time, note that his previous 2012 proposal called for 300 new bicycle-parking spots; this plan cuts that in half. He also would drop chip-seal maintenance for some non-arterial roads, and will no longer inspect city-owned stairways.

More to come… And remember that the public hearings start one week from tomorrow (October 4th); the schedule and other info about the process is on the City Council’s budget website, here.

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West Seattle road work: Still more to do on Avalon Way

September 26, 2011 1:18 pm

| Comments Off on West Seattle road work: Still more to do on Avalon Way

| Luna Park | Transportation | West Seattle news

Assuming the weather gets better by tomorrow – latest forecast suggests it could – SDOT says the paving work on Avalon Way will continue, and may go into Wednesday as well. According to spokesperson Marybeth Turner, “Lane closures will not last long and flaggers will assist traffic through the work areas. Sidewalks will remain open.”

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Jogger-attack suspect Duane Starkenburg back in jail

September 26, 2011 12:15 pm

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| Crime | West Seattle news

The West Seattle man waiting to stand trial in connection with allegedly sexually motivated attacks on joggers is back in jail, in connection with a different investigation. We have been working since Friday night to get details on what put Gatewood resident Duane Starkenburg back in jail Friday morning, with the King County Jail Register noting “investigation of child rape.” Police could only tell us that night that there were no new incidents of sexual assault under investigation in the area. Sources subsequently told WSB the investigation apparently involved a past allegation, and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has just answered the inquiry we sent first thing this morning.

Without going into details that could give clues to the victim’s identity, we will say that probable-cause documents indicate this incident is alleged to have happened about 10 years ago, when the victim was 9 years old (the statute of limitations, we’re told, wouldn’t run out for another 8 years), and that Starkenburg was known to the victim’s family. Starkenburg’s bail is set at $100,000, after a judge found probable cause to keep him in jail pending a charging decision; KCPAO spokesperson Dan Donohoe says they will decide by tomorrow whether to file charges. (We do not usually name suspects before they are charged, but we do evaluate on a case-by-case basis.) Starkenburg is still awaiting trial on the charges filed against him in January for allegedly attacking three female runners/joggers in the Lincoln Park area; he was last in court earlier this month, at which time the case was pushed back another two months, with the trial now tentatively scheduled for November, though court documents indicate that possible plea-bargain “negotiations” had been a factor.

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Video: What’s cut, what’s not? Mayor’s budget plan

September 26, 2011 11:25 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Click the image to play the video – our temporary fix for previous “autoplay” problem)

11:25 AM: Click the “play” button to watch Mayor McGinn‘s first of two budget-plan speeches, live. [UPDATED: The clip is now his archived speech, recorded live.] He’s at Seattle Central Community College (and will speak to the City Council inside City Hall at 2 pm), following introductions by people including community-college-system Chancellor Dr. Jill Wakefield, familiar to West Seattle as former South Seattle Community College president. According to his website, details won’t be available until 2 pm – here’s the link to watch; we’ll plan on a separate story then, but if any advance word emerges, we’ll add to this one first.

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Mayor’s budget proposal today: Southwest Community Center users already fighting

September 26, 2011 9:30 am

| 9 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | West Seattle politics

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

After Mayor McGinn formally presents his budget plan with speeches at 11 and 2 pm today, it’s likely more than a few groups will start mobilizing to challenge parts of it.

One group of city-service users already has a two-week head start: Those who use city-run community centers that are facing major operational/staffing changes. The mayor came to West Seattle two weeks ago today (WSB coverage here) with City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, who chairs the Parks Committee, and acting Seattle Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams to preview that part of the plan, splitting centers into geographic groupings, each of which will retain one or two full-service centers, while the others see varying degrees of cutbacks/changes (all documented here).

Perhaps the most drastic of all is the plan proposed for West Seattle’s Southwest Community Center, which would no longer be a community center, but instead would be reclassified as a Teen Life Center – which is currently part of its operations. And part of its space would be transformed into a new Neighborhood Service Center for the city – replacing the one on Delridge, which would close (as reported here two weeks ago).

“All of us … are stunned” by the SWCC proposal, wrote the center’s Advisory Council president, Tom Foley, in a letter to the City Council. (Read his entire letter here.)

Among them – a group whose relationship with and use of Southwest Community Center would seem to embody what the city has said it’s seeking, partnerships with community members/groups that maximize use of a facility and bring in revenue.

This group is the Family Learning Program, serving more than 130 kids and their homeschooling families, which has seen major growth since it launched last winter, and was hoping to expand its program to more days – until this proposal put it under a cloud of doubt.

And it’s only one of the programs based at the center, serving customers diverse in everything from ethnicity to age, with regular programs and special events including the annual luau presented by the local Pacific Islander community:

(Photo courtesy Tom Foley)
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West Seattle Monday: From budgets to bingo

September 26, 2011 7:11 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Mallard duck, photographed by Bill Bacon)
No weather alerts in effect this morning, but it’s still expected to be wet and breezy – you can check conditions on the WSB Weather page any time. Meantime, from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:

BUDGET DAY: Both Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine are announcing their proposed budgets for next year in speeches set to start at 11 this morning. Both events will be broadcast live on their respective cable channels/online streams – Seattle Channel and King County TV.

CLASSES START AT SSCC: In West Seattle’s Puget Ridge neighborhood, South Seattle Community College‘s fall quarter begins.

COOKING CLUB GOES VEGGIE: Vegetarian recipes are the order of the day when West Seattle Cooking Club meets, 2 pm at Beveridge Place Pub in Morgan Junction.

BINGO AT ALKI UCC: The weekly bingo games at Alki UCC Church (62nd and Alki) are back in session! The Hotline for information is [206]935-5950. Doors open at 5:30, games at 6:30, $7 buy-in, and payouts vary according to the number of players.

FAMILY STORY TIME: 7 pm, Family Story Time at the High Point branch of the Seattle Public Library.

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RIP Wangari Maathai, Nobel laureate who helped plant trees here

September 26, 2011 1:48 am

| 8 COMMENTS

| Environment | West Seattle news

Just heard that the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, environmental/economic/social justice advocate Dr. Wangari Maathai, has died of cancer at age 71 in a Kenyan hospital. Hundreds of West Seattleites have special reason to remember her: