West Seattle, Washington
26 Friday
Tonight we finally have details on the gunfire incident that brought Seattle Police SWAT officers to an Alki neighborhood in the early hours of New Year’s Day, as mentioned briefly here that night.
We’ve obtained the full police report; what follows is what SPD says happened, starting with multiple 911 calls reporting “shots fired” at 60th/Hinds (map) less than an hour into the New Year:Read More
That’s TONNULL, one of three bands – along with One Class Lady and Echo9 – ready to rock Youngstown Cultural Arts Center this Saturday as a benefit for hurricane victims in Nicaragua. Desiree e-mailed to let us know about the concert, which she says is Chief Sealth International High School student Kathryn Purcell‘s senior project. The concert is set for 7:30-11 pm January 7 at Youngstown, admission $7, benefiting the rural Nicaraguan community of El Quebrachal, where Hurricane Rina caused major damage to homes and school facilities earlier this fall. Find more information on this Facebook page set up for Kathryn’s project.
(WSB photo from the show’s first night of this past holiday season, November 26, 2011)
The music-synched Helmstetler Family Christmas Lights Spectacular is dark till next November, but mastermind Jim Winder has a postscript – a final report on the donations made by visitors/fans:
Thank You West Seattle for another great Season of Giving
TOTAL GIVING FOR 2011!! $2960.86
$1200 for the Dr. Ed Kingston Memorial Fund
$865.43 for Northwest Parkinson Foundation
$895.43 for the West Seattle Food BankPLUS
1433 lbs of food
If you just can’t wait till next holiday season – there’s already a countdown calendar on the show’s official site!
(June 2011 photo of DESC Delridge project’s proposed site)
The Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s proposed Delridge Supportive Housing project is suddenly undergoing a redesign, according to documents filed with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission as part of the next round of financing DESC is seeking – and that redesign will be for a project with 66 units, not 75 units as originally proposed.
The city Office of Housing had originally granted a waiver to DESC, allowing it to propose a 75-unit project even though the amount of “extremely low-income housing” in the area was supposed to max out at 63 units beyond what it currently has. Neighborhood advocates had questioned the information on which the waiver was based – and now, according to a city document also on file with the WSHFC as part of the DESC application, it appears they had grounds for concern.
Documents from the city, dated in mid-December, say that newly available 2010 census information superseded what DESC had been working with, and that the site now could only support 66 units in this income range. This notification came just as DESC was about to submit its application for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to the WSHFC, and since there wasn’t enough time for them to completely redo the application, they are redesigning the project right now, and expecting to submit new information by the end of this month. The documentation we just reviewed at WSHFC offices downtown includes this DESC explanation:
This late change creates both capital and operational inefficiencies. It is also driving the total development costs over the WSHFC cost limits. Our team is currently redesigning the project with a new cost estimate, and a revised development budget will be shared with WSHFC and other public funders by january 31, 2012.
We attempted to reach DESC leadership by phone and e-mail earlier today for comment, and so far have not heard back. We are still reviewing a few more documents related to this and will add any additional information of relevance.
The Delridge project first came to light last June and has since moved through stages including property purchase – $768,000 for three lots in the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW, with the sale initiated last April and closed one month ago – as well as city, county, and state financing approvals, plus the first round of city Design Review (with a second round to come, though no date is set). Our coverage of the project is archived here.
A question came in last night about a police/fire sighting at Sanislo Elementary on New Year’s Day. Nothing on the logs when we looked – but now the answer is in, via SPD Blotter:
On 01-01-2012, just shortly before 3:00 p.m., officers responded with school security, to an alarm at a school in the 1800 block of SW Myrtle St. Officers set up containment and used Seattle Fire Department ladders to gain access to the rooftop, where the 2 suspects (men 27 and 19 years-old) were hiding. The suspects were taking into custody without incident. The suspects had two packs filled with items stolen from the school. They also had burglary tools. Both suspects were booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary.
That wasn’t the only time local police called on SFD to help with an investigation this past week – we covered a ladder-to-the-roof effort early December 29th in The Junction.
The early weeks/months of parenthood can be scary as well as joyful – suddenly you’re responsible for a little person who depends completely on you. If you’re up for helping brand-new parents get through that time, here’s your chance. Just received from Martha:
PEPS is looking for group leaders for Newborn Groups in West Seattle. Now that the holidays are over, please consider leading a PEPS Group! We have new parents anxiously awaiting the start of their groups – if you remember how valuable your own PEPS experience was, please consider volunteering to lead a PEPS Group in West Seattle. PEPS provides the training and materials. You can also co-lead with a friend to divide up the time commitment! For more information, see our website, and/or contact our Volunteer Manager, Cate Palmer, directly at catep@peps.org. We would love to hear from you ASAP!
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers, beyond our ongoing breaking-news (etc.) coverage:
*Early Christmas morning, officers contacted two men suspected of threatening and harassing a woman in the 2100 block of Harbor Ave. SW. Luckily, one was deterred from reaching toward the small of his back; it turned out that he was carrying a loaded Colt .45 handgun in a shoulder holster. He did not have a license to carry the weapon, which had been reported stolen from a home in Redmond associated with gang activity. He also carried prescription muscle relaxer, 15 rounds of loose .45-caliber ammo, a stolen wallet and Social Security card. The other suspect carried 63 grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms, two crack pipe kits, and one needle kit. One of the suspects is an 18-year-old with a Alaska Junction area address; the other is a 22-year-old transient whose last known address was in Arlington. Both were booked into King County Jail for investigation of narcotics possession and harassment. One faces additional charges for carrying a concealed pistol and for possession of stolen property.
Seven more summaries ahead, including another bullet discovery, driving dilemmas, and more:Read More
A West Seattle fan of the Blue Angels just asked us the other day if one of the jets would be here again this year for the Seafair winter planning meetings – and indeed, word just arrived, Blue Angels jet #7 is expected around 1:15 tomorrow afternoon at Boeing Field, with an 11 am Thursday departure planned. Seafair says Blue Angels #7 Lieutenant Mark Tedrow and #8 Lieutenant Todd Royles will be on board. This year’s airshow is set for August 3rd-5th. (Our coverage of last year’s winter visit is here.)
(Thanks to TouchTech Systems‘ Brian Presser for the photo!)
CLASSIC BARBER SHOP’S MOVE: If you’re in The Junction and notice that sign – it is actually related to two other stories we have covered in the past few weeks: Over the New Year’s holiday, Classic Barber Shop moved from 4704 California SW to 5040 California SW, where it seamlessly picked up the space occupied by Alki Style and Barber Shop until its proprietor John Burmaz retired following his workday on New Year’s Eve (WSB coverage here). Classic would have had to move eventually anyway, since its former space is part of the building that Charlie Conner and partners just sold (WSB coverage here), along with its long-in-the-works development plans, to Chicago-based Equity Residential (no response from ER yet to inquiries about its timetable for the site).
HEARTLAND CAFE CHANGES: Just got word from proprietor Jay Wergin that Heartland Café has made some changes in its hours: “First and most important is, our hours have changed. We are open for the first time on Mondays for breakfast and lunch but will close the café at 3 pm. The bar will be open serving limited food specials on Monday until 2 am.” We’ve updated the hours on the WSB West Seattle Restaurant Guide page for The Heartland (restaurant proprietors/managers are invited to send us changes any time – we will be checking periodically but we’d also like to announce your changes when they happen; here’s how to reach WSB).
NEW COCKTAIL MENU ABOUT TO DEBUT AT THE FEEDBACK: This isn’t just any cocktail menu – it’s the cocktail menu for the bar/lounge that won Best Cocktails in the Best of Western Washington vote for two consecutive years. Mixmaster Matt Johnson unveils his new lineup at 6 pm Thursday at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor); you can peruse some hints via the Feedback Cocktail Club‘s Facebook page.
NEW WEBSITE FOR GUITAR TEACHER RICHIE JENKIN: Got word over the holidays that West Seattle guitar teacher Richie Jenkin, the only music teacher on the current WSB sponsor team, has a new website, including audio and video of some of his music, if you’d like to not just read more about him but HEAR his work before inquiring. Address is the same: richiejenkin.com.
If you live and/or drive, ride, walk, run in the North Delridge area, take note this morning that City Council and SDOT reps are coming over next week for a walking tour focused on transportation-related concerns, just announced by North Delridge Neighborhood Council transportation chair Jake Vanderplas. He says everyone’s invited; meet in front of the Delridge Community Center at 3 pm on Wednesday, January 11th. The itinerary and issues will be discussed two days before the tour, during next Monday’s monthly NDNC meeting (all welcome there too, 6:30 pm January 9th at Delridge Library).
(Chicken photographed at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center by Machel Spence)
Caption, anyone? Machel’s photo seems appropriate for the first full-on business/school day of the still-new year. The list of scheduled events isn’t too long today, but here’s what we have on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
TODDLER STORY TIME … at the West Seattle (Admiral) branch of Seattle Public Library, 10:30 am.
LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB IN THE NEW YEAR? “Notes From the Job Search” help/networking meetings continue Tuesdays at 11 am at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor; 5612 California SW).
BABY STORY TIME … at the Southwest branch of Seattle Public Library, 11:30 am.
BRIDGE CLOSURE: Fauntleroy Expressway closures scheduled to continue overnight tonight through Thursday night.
NIGHTLIFE: Open-mike night, acoustic/poetry/comedy, 7 pm at Skylark Café and Club … Rock music/pop culture trivia every Tuesday night at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm .. Starlite songwriter showcase, Shadowland, 9 pm … Karaoke at Talarico’s, 9:30 pm …
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