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.
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 theSeafair 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).
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).
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 …
We heard a lot about mail theft and package theft before Christmas. Here’s the first report we’ve had since then, from a West Seattleite who didn’t want her name published:
Between 6:45 pm on Dec. 31st and 10 am on Jan. 1st, mail from our house on 35th Ave SW just south of SW Alaska [map], was stolen! We have two mailboxes, and both were cleared out, along with a small package for our neighbor. Just a warning for people in the area, this may have been random, but it is something to think about when leaving mail on a front porch on a busy street! This was reported to the police but we haven’t heard anything from them regarding the incident.
The USPS has its own investigators to deal with mail theft, and you can file a report with them by going here. P.S. – After taking December off, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council resumes monthly meetings in two weeks, on Tuesday, January 17th, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room; if you have neighborhood crime concerns, that’s one place to bring them to police attention, face to face. The West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network is scheduled to meet again toward month’s end; keep an eye on their site.
Reminiscent of how the Christmas Day mini-windstorm began – the wind sounds fairly fierce, but so far, no official warnings, at least onshore (Puget Sound off our shores has a “gale warning” till 8 pm, a “small craft advisory” till 4 pm Wednesday). The Alki Point weather station (K91S on this list) recorded a 52-knot gust at the top of the hour. No power problems currently on the Seattle City Light map for our area, but we’ve received two notes about Comcast problems in the Sunrise Heights area (no way to tell if it’s weather-related, of course).
Unless you are keeping your tree up through the Epiphany – or oh, say, the Super Bowl – it’s go-time. So here are some reminders about tree-cycling, if you haven’t accomplished it already. Via the city – this is your second and final week to tree-cycle for free. (From Seattle Public Utilities:
(Curbside residential pickup:) Trees must be trimmed to 6 feet or shorter. Trim branches to less than four feet to fit into the collection trucks. Bundle each section with sisal string or twine (not plastic). Decorated, flocked and plastic trees are not recyclable and will be charged as extra garbage.
At Apartments – One tree may be placed next to each food/yard waste cart at no extra charge each collection day.
At Recycling & Disposal Stations – Clean trees can be taken for free (see hours and locations). Trees should not exceed eight feet in length and must be free of decoration. Trunks should not exceed four inches in diameter. The stations will accept up to three trees per vehicle.
One more option – a local nonprofit youth group has a tree-cycling event next weekend: The West Seattle Rainbow Girls will hold their fifth annual Christmas tree recycle fundraiser Saturday (January 7) at the Alki Masonic Hall, 4736 40th SW, 10 am-2 pm. Suggested donation $5. No flocked trees. For more information, contact Jan Hunter at 206-849-7906. (The Rainbow Girls are also one of two groups with tree-cycling fundraisers in Burien next weekend; if you’re interested in that info, it’s in our White Center Now tree-cycling roundup.)
We’ve shown you the New Year’s Polar Bear Swim … call this one the New Year’s Octopus Swim, shared by diver/underwater photographer Laura James, from Cove 2 at Seacrest:
SIDE NOTE: After reviewing the video, we asked Laura about its start, in which she touches the octopus’s suction cups; she explains that it’s a way to both gauge where an octopus is in its lifecycle, and to offer “kind of a ‘hello’ but allowing it to check me out since much of their sensory input comes from suction cups. I find that if they are not OK, they retract into the den. This one seemed more curious than upset, based on color pattern. It was getting rather annoyed by paparazzi by the end of the shoot, and solved the dissatisfaction by throwing a fish at me (the cloud of silt near the end) and going back into the den!”
If you’ve ever wanted to check out the West Seattle Cooking Club – which was featured here last summer – but just couldn’t get to one of their Monday afternoon meeting, today might be your chance. 2 pm, Beveridge Place Pub. They’ll be choosing the “themes” for their next few months of meetings; today’s theme is Latin, according to the WSCC Facebook page.
Thanks to those who have texted in the past few minutes about a police search under way in the Camp Long/north High Point area. According to scanner traffic, a resident reported seeing someone emerge from a crawl space under a home and run away. That’s all we know so far; the description mentioned over the airwaves included “dirty blond hair” and a light-colored shirt.
Meantime, there is finally a tiny bit of official information regarding an incident early this morning in the Alki area that led to a major response in the 60th/Admiral/Hinds area. A neighbor had told us it involved people firing guns, and that indeed is the official online designation finally posted for the call (“weapon discharge”). We don’t know if anyone was arrested, and may not be able to find that out until after the extended holiday weekend.
New haircuts to start the New Year. That’s part of what volunteers organized by Vietnamese Cultural Center director Lee Bui brought to the “Nickelsville” encampment in West Seattle today, along with donated food and clothing. Above, Renton hairstylist Van; below, Nga Ngo:
Volunteers promised they’d return, after a Thanksgiving visit with free flu shots as well as food (WSB coverage here). Here’s most of today’s group:
While there, we also found a second group of volunteers, who came to the encampment to offer a New Year’s Day barbecue:
What the New Year will bring for Nickelsville isn’t clear, as their status on this city-owned land remains tenuous. Though Mayor McGinnsaid after the encampment’s return last spring that he didn’t plan to evict them as his predecessor had three years earlier, the city also is not moving toward granting a request for utility hookups, as discussed at last month’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting (WSB coverage here).
Danny McMillin spotted this barred owl during a New Year’s Day walk in Lincoln Park. (Is he/she one of these two? Would take keener eyes than ours to tell!) Thanks for sharing the photo!
Here’s one good sign for the year ahead: The hale and hardy of West Seattle, White Center, and environs were graced with sunshine for the second consecutive New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim on Alki (after two preceding years under cloud cover). Of course, as evidenced on the beach this morning, it’s not the weather – it’s more about the chance to, shall we say, chill with friends – like this group identifying themselves as the “Dunkins“:
And this one, the “Libres“:
Then there was the pirate, and friend …
No costume for organizer Mark Ufkes, just a big smile:
And as the crowd (biggest one we’ve ever seen!) lined the beach, ready to run into Puget Sound, one guy went first – everybody else counted down, and ran in, shortly thereafter:
P.S. Turns out that wasn’t the only Polar Bear Swim today. Dave Meucci shared this video of his friends-and-family dip:
Though this year and last year had sunshine in common, the air temperatures were different – we noted it at “freezing” on New Year’s Day 2011, but at 10 am today, it was 48 degrees!
Following the sad news about Frosty the seal pup, West Seattle-based Seal Sitters was heartened to end the year with a visit from this pup, promptly dubbed “Bubbles.” Seal Sitters’ Robin Lindsey shared the video of Bubbles; you can see more of her video and photos as pup visits (and other “news on the beach”) is chronicled on their Blubberblog site, where you’ll also find their year-end wrap-up – as noted here previously, it was a record year for pup sightings on local beaches, keeping the all-volunteer Seal Sitters busy. If you see a seal or other marine mammal on a local beach, call them at 206-905-SEAL (7325).
Here’s a potential New Year’s resolution for parents, grandparents, guardians, and caregivers of young children – take advantage of Seattle Public Library story times! Children’s librarian Amy LaVare shares a list of what’s scheduled at the Delridge (Brandon/Delridge) and High Point (35th/Raymond) branches the next few months:
JANUARY 5 and all Thursdays through MARCH 8: Preschool Story Time, 11:15 am, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW)
JANUARY 10 and all Tuesdays through MARCH 20: Family Story Time, 7 pm, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW)
JANUARY 12 and all Thursdays through MARCH 29: Toddler Story Time, 11:30 am, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.) No story time on March 15.
JANUARY 23 and all Mondays through MARCH 26: Family Story Time, 7 pm, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.)
JANUARY 28 and all Saturdays through MARCH 31: Vietnamese Story Time, 11:30 am, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW) This story time is offered entirely in Vietnamese.
FEBRUARY 1 and all Wednesdays through MARCH 28: Somali Story Time, 5 pm, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.) This story time is offered entirely in Somali.
Story times are open to the public. Everyone is welcome. No registration is required. Free parking is available at each location. For more information, call the High Point Branch at 206-684-7454, the Delridge Branch at 206-733-9125 or Ask a Librarian.
You’ll also find Story Times at the Southwest, South Park, and West Seattle branches; we’ll be adding these, and those, to our ongoing WSB West Seattle Events calendar, and you can check on daily/weekly events through the calendar on the library website.
That’s our video from last year’s New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim on Alki, just in case you’re thinking about joining today’s swim but need a little reassurance that you won’t be alone. This year, at least, will be warmer – our 2011 story notes an air temperature in the 30s, and it’ll be in the 40s this time around. The swim is part of what’s on our list for this holiday:
RESTAURANTS … You won’t likely have much trouble finding places that are open, but several did let us know they definitely are open, and the list is on the West Seattle Holidays page (which goes back on hiatus after today, till next November!).
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET CLOSED for the holiday, but it’ll be back next Sunday (January 8th).
2011 again brought immense joy as another year of collaborating with you to cover our community – and 2012 is off and running that way too. Thanks to David Hutchinson for the first shared-via-WSB photos of the Space Needle 2011-2012 New Year’s fireworks, as seen from Duwamish Head.
When KING posts the fireworks video, we’ll add a link here.
As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by 
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