day : 20/12/2011 10 results

Another basketball showdown between neighboring high schools – this time, Chief Sealth International High School and Evergreen High School (White Center), in a girls-varsity game tonight at Sealth. The home team won big; more details and photos ahead:Read More

West Seattle Christmas lights: Not always about the brightness

December 20, 2011 8:43 pm

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| Holidays | West Seattle Christmas lights | West Seattle news

We had set out to check an Admiral District tip “around 37th/Hanford” but might have been too early – didn’t see the lights in question. However, we found these two homes nearby, at Belvidere/Hanford, and though neither is completely awash in lights, each had a distinctive feature – the luminarias above, and the non-plastic, non-inflatable creche scene below:

We’ve added that corner to the WSB West Seattle Christmas Lights map – and will keep adding at least through Christmas Day; tips still welcome at editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks to everyone who’s helped so far (especially the display creators themselves!)

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Happening now: Admiral Theater’s 2011 free Christmas movie

December 20, 2011 7:56 pm

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| Admiral Theater | Holidays | West Seattle news

Long before night fell, we photographed the marquee for posterity (and reminders via Twitter and via Facebook) … Tonight’s the night the doors to the Admiral Theater swung wide open for a free holiday treat, a hot ticket indeed:

Those are some of the moviegoers now watching “A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie,” courtesy of The Admiral and its fellow Admiral District businesses. And look who was there to help Admiral boss Dinah Brein share the holiday cheer (and collect donations for the Humane Society):

We have it on good authority that Santa, in this case, likely arrived via two wheels, rather than eight tiny reindeer. P.S. If you feel like a movie Christmas Day, the Admiral will open at 4 pm Sunday (after closing following the matinees on Christmas Eve).

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West Seattle Crime Watch: 3 in custody after burglary attempt – plus news of other arrests

December 20, 2011 3:47 pm

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| Crime | Highland Park | West Seattle news

3:47 PM: Thanks to everybody who called/e-mailed about a major police response in Highland Park, in the 16th/Trenton vicinity. It started with an attempted burglary, according to officers at the scene – including today’s tweetalong-ing Officer Scott Luckie, who hadn’t even gotten a chance to put the news on Twitter yet. Three people in custody, and one vehicle under investigation (in photo above). If/when we get more details, we’ll add them here. (added – one of Officer Luckie’s later tweets, with a photo)

Also via Twitter, the officer says two of the suspects were found in that vehicle, one “hiding in the bushes” at the targeted house.

ADDED 4:15 PM: Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen tells WSB the suspects in this case are “2 males, 1 female,” and are indeed suspects of which police were “aware.” Moments before we asked him about this case, he had sent this update on the overall burglary situation in West Seattle:

As I have stated previously, since Thanksgiving, the West Seattle community had experienced a significant increase in residential burglaries. The men and women of the Southwest Precinct have made apprehending the suspects in these crimes their major priority. Each time a suspicious circumstance call is dispatched, multiple officers have been dropping what they had been doing and rushing to the area.

In the past 3 weeks, we have identified 20 individuals as well as many vehicles. A number of these individuals have been committing burglaries in other Puget Sound communities. We have been collaborating with a number of police agencies who have experienced similar trends and suspects. Most if not all of the suspects are not from the West Seattle community. To date, we have arrested 8 in the past couple of weeks. Our residential burglaries have been reduced by half just within the past week. We will continue to locate and develop probable cause for the outstanding suspects.

Again, I would like to thank our West Seattle community for their assistance in reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods…Their observations and 911 reporting have had a tremendous impact in helping us apprehend these individuals which in return have made their neighborhoods safer.

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West Seattle Water Taxi ridership skyrockets: Not just ‘Viadoom’

December 20, 2011 3:10 pm

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| King County Water Taxi | Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo from October 24, taken at Seacrest Pier)
We were asked recently about West Seattle Water Taxi ridership since the week-plus Alaskan Way Viaduct closure. Found the answer hiding in plain sight on the Water Taxi website. Even after the late-October closure, ridership ran way above last year, according to this month-by-month chart, which reports 9,734 rides last month – close to quadruple the 2,578 rides in November of last year. According to both the King County Ferry District‘s online budget documents and discussions we’ve had with the staff of County Councilmember Joe McDermott (who chairs the Ferry District’s Board, another set of hats the council wears), the 2012 plan for the Water Taxi includes a 50-cent fare increase in the spring as well as ongoing planning for new vessels to take the place of the leased boats that have been in use on the WS and Vashon routes. (Most of the cost of those boats will be borne by grants from the federal government.) One more note: No Water Taxi service on the two upcoming “official holiday” Mondays, December 26 and January 2.

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Virtual ridealong: Officer Luckie tweets from the streets

December 20, 2011 12:30 pm

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle online | West Seattle police

Southwest Precinct Officer Scott Luckie admits he wasn’t using Twitter till he was “volunteered” for today’s “tweetalong,” the latest in a series that Seattle Police have done around the city – first one in West Seattle. Until 8 pm, he is “tweeting” what happens during his shift patrolling eastern West Seattle and South Park, starting with the routine – a mention of roll call (11 am, just before we stopped by the precinct to talk with him – the photo at right is the one WE took for Twitter), followed by this:

What will the rest of the day bring? You can follow along at twitter.com/seattlepd. Officer Luckie told us calls he answered in the past few days including a man trying to break into a house by using a chain saw. (We’re looking for the report on that one.) He has some ground rules to follow, including no photos of suspects’ faces, but otherwise, he’s the one doing the tweeting (which surprised us – we figured he might have someone from downtown along for the ride, helping out).

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Doubly difficult decoration theft

December 20, 2011 10:41 am

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| Crime | West Seattle news

From Cyndi and Steve:

Just a heads-up – last night after 9:00 two of our large outside Christmas decorations were stolen in the 5400 block of 49th Ave SW [map]. One was a a lighted polar bear & the other was a lighted Christmas stocking with presents.

What makes this more difficult is that we lost both of my parents this year as well as other things & we were not going to put anything out but we did it for the neighbors.

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West Seattle schools: Seattle Lutheran’s pre-vacation giving

December 20, 2011 10:31 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Just before winter break, Seattle Lutheran High School students and staff “hit the streets,” as SLHS’s Bil Hood put it, for their traditional community service “to say Thank You and Merry Christmas to this community which has blessed us through the years.” He shared these photos of their work, from food-bank/church/school volunteer projects to quilt-making and cookie-baking – plus yard work “for homeowners who cannot get out themselves.”

(P.S. Though it’s winter break, there’s still activity at the SLHS campus on the north end of The Junction today – basketball games this afternoon vs. the visiting team from Concrete.)

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West Seattle Tuesday: Hanukkah; Admiral movie; road work…

December 20, 2011 9:14 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

Among the road work continuing today/tonight, the repaving of a block of 35th SW, where we photographed that crew by former Fire Station 37 on Monday. That’s part of what’s on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar and Holidays page for today/tonight:

FIRST NIGHT OF HANUKKAH: Hanukkah, the eight-night Festival of Lights, begins tonight. No West Seattle events on the calendar tonight, but there’s one on Thursday and one Friday – see the Holidays page.

FREE CHRISTMAS MOVIE AT THE ADMIRAL: Tonight at the Admiral Theater, “A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie,” 7 pm, presented by the businesses of the Admiral District. Bring donations for the Seattle Humane Society/Animal Shelter, updated details here. Santa’ll be there too.

SPEAKING OF SANTA: You’ll find him at West Seattle Thriftway 3-7 pm today (California/Fauntleroy) and at Westwood Village (in the breezeway between Bed Bath Beyond and Jamba Juice) 10 am-8 pm.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS RUN: As previewed here last night, the folks at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) are inviting you to join a 3.5-mile “slow” run to see some of the area’s lights tonight, starting at the store (California/Charlestown – meet at 6 pm) and ending at the Helmstetler Family Christmas Spectacular a few blocks east.

CHRISTMAS TREES: Updates to the list on the Holidays page – Stop n Shop at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon) – which just sent the above photo – now has trees for $10. Also, as noted yesterday, West Seattle Nursery has cut prices by 33 percent and West Seattle Produce by 25 percent.

35TH SW REPAVING: It’s scheduled to continue during the day today between Othello and Myrtle. Full details here.

FAUNTLEROY EXPRESSWAY CLOSURE: The west end of the West Seattle Bridge is scheduled for more earthquake-safety work tonight, which means it’s closed 9 pm-5 am. Eastbound, you won’t be able to get on at 35th; westbound, you will have to exit at Delridge. Project details and detour map are here.

SOUTHWEST PRECINCT ‘TWEETALONG’: Seattle Police have done this in other precincts, and today is the SW Precinct’s turn – they’ll be chronicling an officer’s entire shift on Twitter. Details here; to see the tweets, start checking the SPD Twitter feed after 11 am. (You don’t have to be a Twitter user to follow that link.)

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West Seattle holiday help: A ‘giving tree’ that needs more giving

December 20, 2011 3:01 am

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| Holidays | How to help | West Seattle news

Many West Seattle businesses (and other places) make space for “giving trees” this time of year – usually decorated with cards listing gift wishes for people in challenging circumstances. Because of the time needed for distribution, some deadlines already have passed – but not this one. Natalie Dolci from the Salvation Army‘s Hickman House, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence and their children, says opportunities remain on their “giving tree” at CAPERS in The Junction:

If you wanted to come by the store get a wish list item for a child in need, there are three more days to do it!

If you have already committed to getting a toy or gift, there are three more days to drop it off.

Thanks so much, West Seattle, for being such a supportive community!

Any other giving trees awaiting gifts?

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