West Seattle, Washington
12 Monday
Two days till a special meeting to help North Delridge residents find out about crime trends and how to mobilize to protect themselves and their families. We first reported on the meeting plan on March 7th, the night Southwest Precinct operations Lt. Pierre Davis announced it at the SW District Council meeting. We checked back with precinct leadership for more details; Capt. Steve Paulsen explains that the focus is on Delridge and its neighboring streets, from the West Seattle Bridge to reopening-this-fall Boren School. Capt. Paulsen and Lt. Davis will provide crime information, and will introduce community members to the Community Police Team Officer for their area, Jon Kiehn, and precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon. Everyone in North Delridge is welcome at the meeting, 7 pm Thursday (March 29th) in the precinct’s community room, along SW Webster just west of Delridge Way SW.
During the 9 years that Jo Ann Yockey has been head of school at Westside School (WSB sponsor), enrollment has doubled, from 130 to 268, and a middle-school program has launched, among other achievements. Now, Yockey is moving on to a new challenge, with a new job starting in July at Abiqua in Salem, Oregon. Her successor, Kate Mulligan, chosen by Westside’s board earlier this year, was at the Sunrise Heights campus this morning, visiting from her current job at Hualalai Academy, a K-12 school in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. We stopped by the school as Mulligan, at left in our top photo with Yockey, was finishing a school-community meet-and-greet. It’s a big week at Westside for other reasons – one of which you can glimpse toward the right side of the photo, a sign about the 23rd annual auction coming up Saturday. Even if you’re not going – you can bid in the online auction, continuing through Thursday night – the listing/bidding site is here.
Also happening at Westside, as we found out from communication/development director Jana Barber, who showed us around, new raised beds for an edible garden:
Barber says a grant from the Medina Foundation is helping fund the garden, where the students will grow food to donate to the West Seattle and White Center food banks, and they’re already raising seedlings in classrooms for short-season crops they hope to be able to harvest before this school year ends in June. Also growing inside the Westside building – this year’s baby salmon:
Westside second-graders raise salmon ever year, and these baby fish will be released into Fauntleroy Creek this spring.
Regina shares the photos, along with this message: “Thank you, West Seattle, for helping feed our neighbors – from Troop 282 and Pack 793.” Those are two of the local Scouting groups who collected food donations during Scouting for Food, door-to-door and at dropoff spots, last Saturday, and while we don’t have a poundage total, you can tell from the photos that people gave generously:
Remember that until the end of April, donations to the West Seattle Food Bank and White Center Food Bank, both of which serve WS, count for extra, because of the Feinstein Challenge – you can follow the links to their respective websites (click on their names in this story – all blue text in WSB stories leads to a weblink) to find out how to give, in multiple ways.
(Danny McMillin‘s ’10-shot combo’ of an eagle taking off from Alki; larger view on Flickr)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
CLOSURES AGAIN TONIGHT: As part of the ongoing Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project, the 1st Avenue South offramp will be closed from the eastbound West Seattle Bridge, and the 1st/Spokane intersection will be closed too, both 9 pm tonight till 5 am Wednesday.
DELRIDGE SUPPORTIVE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE: The group reviewing issues related to the DESC Delridge Supportive Housing project meets again, 6:30 pm, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW)- the agenda (see it here) includes a presentation by the Delridge Produce Cooperative, a prospective tenant for the building’s commercial space, as well as time for public comment.
WEST SEATTLE BLOCKWATCH CAPTAINS NETWORK: The group’s agenda tonight – see it here – is centered on planning Block Watch Captains’ Appreciation Day. 6:30 pm, Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster).
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY ORCHESTRAS’ ANNUAL OUTREACH CONCERT: From the WSCO announcement:
The West Seattle Community Orchestras’ Debut and Intermediate Orchestras will perform at 6:30 pm at Highland Park Elementary thanks to a 4Culture grant from King County. … Highland Park’s own music teacher and WSCO Debut Orchestra conductor Daniel Hershmann -Rossi will lead his group through four pieces including Offenbach’s Can Can and Handel’s Sarabande. Toni Reineke, Ph.D., Intermediate Orchestra conductor, along with assistant conductor Anton Coleman, will lead their group through Smith’s Rites of Tamburo, Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, along with several other pieces. Concert is free to all; donations gladly accepted at the door to support Highland Park’s music program; a bake sale sponsored by the Highland Park PTA also benefits school programs.
3 WEST SEATTLE TEAMS IN READING CHALLENGE FINALS: Tonight’s a huge night for Global Reading Challenge teams from Alki (George’s Magician’s Treasures), Arbor Heights (Da Peeps), and Roxhill (Stoehr’s Superstars) – citywide competition with seven other teams at the downtown Central Library, 7 pm. Good luck, all!
(1st two photos by Patrick Sand for WSB)
ORIGINAL 9:52 PM REPORT: Rescue crews are converging on the Fauntleroy ferry dock after what was reported, according to scanner traffic, as a possible person in the water, reported to have fallen out of a dinghy. Our crew’s on the way; updates when we find out more.
10 PM UPDATE: The location where the person is believed to be in the water is actually off the south Lincoln Park beach, so that’s where rescuers are converging now.
They are still on the ferry dock too – with a fire-truck ladder extended (thanks to Maggie for pointing out it’s visible on the webcam):
10:10 PM UPDATE: Rescuers are headquartered by the first picnic shelter on the south stretch of Lincoln Park beach, where divers have been suiting up. Our crews on the scene say the Coast Guard has done a flyover and divers are about to go in.
(Photos from hereon out by Christopher Boffoli for WSB, except dinghy photo)
10:16 PM UPDATE: The ferry that was coming in has stopped a few hundred yards offshore.
(added) According to Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams at the scene, here’s what they believe happened: Two men in two small vessels were going back out to a sailboat anchored offshore. One apparently fell out. He’s believed to be in his mid-20s.
10:35 PM UPDATE: Divers are still in the water – but no rescue yet. No word of an active sighting, either. Adding a photo showing the light from the SFD ladder in the background (substituted later, actual ladder photo).
10:46 PM UPDATE: Seattle Fire spokesperson Kyle Moore is on scene. He says there were actually three men taking supplies out to the sailboat, when it was discovered one was missing. (added – photo of one of the dinghies/rafts)
Divers are still searching but if they are not able to find the missing person soon, Moore says the operation will officially change to “recovery” mode.
10:49 PM UPDATE: Our crews at the beach say the victim is reported to have been found and is receiving CPR, has been taken to med unit. Moore says he’s been told the man is still alive and getting “cold water resuscitation.” He is reported to have been not very far offshore – 20 feet maybe.
10:56 PM UPDATE: Back here at HQ, we’re hearing scanner traffic about rescued man – believed to have been in the water an hour. CPR and “slow rewarming” under way as they prepare to rush him to Harborview Medical Center.
11:16 PM UPDATE: SFD’s Moore says the man was found about 25 yards offshore. Don’t know when we’ll find out if resuscitation efforts were successful, but of course we will update the story whenever there is info.
You may recall, this is the second time in five weeks that rescue divers have handled a call off West Seattle shores – last month, diver Tareq Saade died off Seacrest; his body was recovered about eight hours later.
ADDED 11:46 PM: Here is WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli‘s video of Moore’s media briefing right after the man was rescued:
6:38 AM UPDATE: Multiple citywide news orgs are reporting that the man didn’t make it. We don’t have independent confirmation so far, but the odds did seem very much against the possibility of surviving that much time underwater.
8:08 AM UPDATE: We also have spoken with Harborview Medical Center, where a spokesperson confirms the man died.
One longrunning point of contention related to the 66-unit DESC Delridge Supportive Housing project is finally settled.
Not long after DESC went public last June with news of its proposal to build the project to house formerly homeless people, many living with challenges such as mental illness and/or substance abuse, the question was asked: Will sex offenders be among the residents? As we reported on June 27th, DESC executive director Bill Hobson said they would not be allowed in the building’s population “if that’s what the neighborhood wants.” The request had not been formally made by any group representing the population, however, and the issue’s status came up in a mail-group discussion over the past week. That discussion concluded with Vonetta Mangaoang of the Delridge Alliance, a member of the project’s Advisory Committee, reporting late today:
Just this morning, Bill Hobson, in response to my request to have the issue of sex offender exclusion placed on tomorrow’s neighborhood advisory committee agenda, resolved the issue by simply stating that DESC will exclude sex offenders from their Delridge supportive housing facility. His quick and decisive action hopefully resolves neighbors’ concerns.
Thank you to each of you who pointed out the importance of this issue. I encourage neighbors to continue to actively communicate with your neighborhood representatives on DESC’s community advisory committee (e-mail alliance@ndnc.org).
That committee meets again tomorrow night, 6:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center; the agenda is here.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this afternoon. First, an update from the Alki gunfire incident we covered early Sunday:
(Sunday morning photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
If you missed our story – nobody was hurt, but police arrested a 26-year-old Central District man who they say fired at another man in the alley behind Cactus (they say the suspect was thrown out of Bamboo earlier). After getting a clear description of his vehicle, officers pulled him over shortly afterward, on Harbor Avenue near Salty’s. He’s been in jail since about 3:30 Sunday morning – no charges yet, but he’s listed as “bail denied,” and we’re checking with prosecutors on his status and will add any additional info here. 5:05 PM UPDATE: His bail was set this afternoon at $100,000; deadline for filing charges is Wednesday. The court documents say police found a shell casing as well as a bullet at the scene, both .45 caliber, as was the handgun found in the suspect’s possession.
Meantime, we received a reader report of vandalism at a school playground:
Thanks to Carrie for sending that photo from the playground at Lafayette Elementary, West Seattle’s most populous grade school. We’ve blurred the graffiti – which was a phrase suggesting drug use, rather than a “tag” – as per our usual policy. We checked with Lafayette and are told they’ve reported it to administration, as they’re required to, but that “spot painting” is likely in order too. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for graffiti vandals, since police say their best chance is to get a call so quick they can catch them in the act.
Last but not least:
Stopping by Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) late this morning, we remarked that the pastry case was so empty, it must have been a busy morning. No, the baristas informed us, the “pastry bandit” was to blame. Investigating further with Hotwire proprietor Lora Swift, we found out they’ve had their pastry/donut deliveries stolen three times in the past week or so, and a table was taken from the Hotwire patio too. Other businesses with doorstep deliveries, be forewarned.
When Kerry from Elliott Bay Brewing Company sent a reminder that EBB was opening its new Public House in Lake City today, we asked for a photo, since we’re not expecting to be up that way any time soon. And here it is! “Our first lunch!” notes Kerry. Find info about the new location here.
When Seattle voters said “yes” to the Parks and Green Spaces Levy in 2008, part of the money was for creation of the Opportunity Fund, to pay for projects proposed by citizens and community organizations. In West Seattle, for example, an Opportunity Fund grant is pivotal to the plan to transform the Highland Park wading pool into a spraypark, under a plan first proposed by Carolyn Stauffer (even before she became co-chair of Highland Park Action Committee). If you’re interested in trying for a share of the second round – the process is about to begin, and workshops have just been scheduled to help would-be grant seekers figure out how to make it happen. We just found the list on the city website; “technical assistance” for would-be proposal letter-writers is at 6 pm April 25th at West Seattle Golf Course, while another workshop for applications is set for 6 pm June 27th at High Point Community Center. Project proposers will pitch the levy Oversight Committee this fall (by the way, that group’s next meeting is tonight at 7 at Parks HQ downtown).
Thanks to Michelle Riggen-Ransom for the photo taken at The Kenney (WSB sponsor), where she helped chaperone two 3rd-grade classes from nearby Gatewood Elementary this morning as they read their poetry to residents:
The poems were great, ranging in topics from soccer, writing, nature and the elusive Seattle sun. Third-grade teacher Amy Griffin did an amazing job organizing the event – the kids were very well-behaved and The Kenney residents were all smiles during and after the performance.
After the reading, children presented hand-written, original poems to their new friends. Attached is a photo I took of some of the kids, with teacher Ms.Griffin on the left. And here’s a quote from The Kenney’s Activities Director Amy Seebeck that she just sent over to Ms. Griffin: “Just wanted to thank you so much for coming today. Our residents absolutely loved having the kids here. Also wanted to extend a special thanks to those who went to our memory care unit. That was so special for them. You made our day!”
Very proud of our third-graders and a big thank you to Amy Griffin for putting together this lovely event!
Water-watcher alert: You might have seen this recent story about Disney Cruise Lines bringing a ship to Seattle this year. Today, the Port of Seattle just announced some additions for next year. Oceania Cruises’ Regatta will sail from Pier 66 downtown in 2013, and Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice will sail from Magnolia’s Terminal 91. Neither has sailed from Seattle before; Solstice, according to the port announcement, “will be one of the largest cruise ships to berth in Seattle, with an overall length of 1041 feet and a capacity of 2850 passengers.” This year’s cruise season runs May 6th-September 30th, with Holland America’s Oosterdam the first one in and last one out, and 202 stops are scheduled over the spring and summer; the schedule is online – download the PDF here, linked from the port’s new cruise-related website here.
The sun is trying mightily to get the upper hand on this morning’s clouds. Might just make you think about … golf. This morning, the West Seattle Women’s Golf Club is helping you daydream with its annual call for new members – Ruthi Winter shares the photo and the invitation to join them:
Women have been golfing with the West Seattle Women’s Golf Club (WSWGC) for decades and many lasting friendships have been formed over the years as a result of the camaraderie of golf. Several social events occur during the year, but the main objective of the WSWGC is to provide a friendly atmosphere in which to learn about golf, to play golf, and the chance for some fun competition.
Annual dues are $70.00 plus a $5.00 initiation fee for new members. Dues pay for your GHIN number and handicap, reserved tee-times on
Tuesdays and Saturdays, weekly competition fees, most WSWGC tournament fees and operating expenses, as well as providing a great opportunity to meet and play golf with other women golfers. Please join us for our Season Opening “Spring Kick Off” Social on
Sunday, April 29, at the West Seattle Golf Course. RSVP to Kay Whelan at mkwhelan@comcast.net – Here are some of (the other) events on our calendar:
May 22nd – Spring Field Day
June 19th – Field Day
July 24th – Tournament
Aug 13, 14 – Club Championship
Sept 18 – Fall Field DayInterested in membership? Send inquiry to Ruthi Winter at ruthi.winter@gmail.com – Hope to see you at the West Seattle Golf Course!
(On the beach at Cove Park, by Karen/”old desolate” via WSB Flickr group pool)
From the remodeled WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
VIADUCT’S OPEN AGAIN: As noted earlier this morning, the weekend inspection/maintenance closure ended on schedule (half an hour early, to be precise). Remember that another weekend closure is coming up in early April, from Friday night 4/6 through Monday morning 4/9, so work can be done to reinforce the structure in advance of work on the 99 tunnel.
CLOSURES TONIGHT: As part of the ongoing Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project, the 1st Avenue South offramp will be closed from the eastbound West Seattle Bridge, and the 1st/Spokane intersection will be closed too, both 9 pm tonight till 5 am Tuesday.
REMINDER, SOUTHWEST POOL IS CLOSED: Details in our Sunday story. The pool reopens April 16th, and will celebrate an official “grand opening” with special events on April 17th.
ELLIOTT BAY OPENS LAKE CITY LOCATION: 11 am today, 12537 Lake City Way NE, the West Seattle-founded company opens its third location (#2 is in Burien). Want a peek, even if you’re not going to be up that way any time soon? The West Seattle-headquartered Washington Beer Blog has a preview.
RESCUE DRILL THAT YOU MIGHT SEE FROM HERE: We mentioned it last week, and if everything’s still on schedule, today’s the day, noon’s the time, Blakely Rock off south Bainbridge is the place, and you just might see this all from West Seattle shores. Details in the listing page on our calendar.
WEST SEATTLE COOKING CLUB: This time around, the West Seattle Cooking Club meets at Big Al Brewing in White Center – with “pub food” as the theme. 4 pm.
FREE POKER & KARAOKE AT SKYLARK: Doubleheader on Monday nights – free poker at 6:30 pm, Karaoke with Kelli at 9 pm – more details are linked from the Skylark Café and Club events calendar (3803 Delridge Way SW).
FLAT EARTH SOCIETY AT WEST 5: It’s a Monday night tradition at West 5 in The Junction, with guest DJs “spinning the rarest and fairest vinyl from deep within their respective LP collections.” Tonight at 9, it’s an all-jazz set by former KTUH disc jockey Dick Walker.
ONE WEEK TILL WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE DAY REGISTRATION: It’s that one day of the year when West Seattle turns into Garage Sale Paradise. We didn’t invent it but this is our fifth year running it and we are excited as always – May 12th is sale day, sales around West Seattle big and small, depending on who decides to join in! Watch for more details here and at westseattlegaragesale.com as this week unfolds – registration starts next Monday, April 2nd (no exact time yet, gotta make sure all online systems are go).
The weekend closure of the Visduct did end on schedule; the state says it reopened around 4:30 this morning.
(Click image for larger view)
Tonight, another look at an old Puget Ridge farmhouse that apparently sparked a fair amount of curiosity and imagination last weekend, after we published a photo Mike Gerber took during the St. Patrick’s Day snow showers. He sent three more photos this weekend and explained:
A surprising number of people asked for some additional information on the old house in the photo you ran last Saturday. Here’s a better angle of it. As for it being the oldest orchard house in Seattle, there’s very little in the historical record about this particular section of West Seattle and so it’s difficult to date it.
The area was covered in enormous old growth forest prior to the 1870’s, and the very valuable and spectacular trees were cut and turned into a hodgepodge of small farms and orchards and over the next 20 years. The construction is consistent with that era and it would seem logical that the trees growing closest to Elliott Bay would be the first to go.
I also met a wonderful and very credible old guy a number of years ago who had lived next to the orchard at one time. He said the house had been built in the 1880s, but that it had been vacant since the Depression.
During the construction of our home we came across four piles of very old lumber that turned out to be the collapsed remnants of small shacks, probably where orchard workers once lived. Under one of them we found two perfectly persevered ‘skat’ playing cards that were made in Germany in the early 1900s, where many of the workers came from.
Skat is considered the national game there and is played everywhere.
It would be interesting to know if any other readers have anything to add to the history of this relatively little-known area.
The location is described in the comment section following last weekend’s story.
2 reports of note tonight – one definitely a crime, the second one, hard to tell:
SCOOTER STOLEN: Sonia reported this one on the WSB Facebook wall. She and her daughter were at Lincoln Park late today when someone made off with her daughter’s scooter: “It was a Barbie scooter. My daughter was playing on the logs and I was taking pictures of her. We were by the construction area (Colman Pool).” If you find one abandoned somewhere, contact police, and tell them you know whose it might be.
CENSUS WORKER? OR WOULD-BE BURGLAR? Tanya had a visitor at her door along Fauntleroy in the Morgan Junction area, asking about her neighbors:Read More
The reader report and photos are from Rebecca in the Fauntleroy Cove area:
Early this afternoon, I discovered a raccoon wandering around the property; it was daytime and I thought it strange that a raccoon would be out and about.
After watching him for a minute I realized he was either very sick or dying. Turns out he had distemper, which is highly contagious and can kill off an entire colony of raccoons, not to mention infect dogs and humans.
I called Seattle Animal Control and they were on the scene in about 20 minutes, quickly caught the little guy, and took him off in a cage. If he isn’t too badly infected, he will receive treatment; otherwise he’ll be euthanized.
We are fortunate to have a diverse population of wildlife in West Seattle and it’s important to keep an eye out for abnormalities that could be a threat to them, us or our pets.
Distemper signs to look for: Conjunctivitis in the eyes, mucous discharge covering the eyes. Wandering around in circles, disoriented, falling down, slower than normal movement. For more information check out Distemper in Raccoons. The number for Animal Control: 206-386-7387
That’s the team you’ll find in the back room at Feedback Lounge (6451 California SW; WSB sponsor) till 4 pm today, with an amazing array of items for the “Hand Up for Mike” silent auction/party. (Mike’s the guy at front and center.) Till we saw the lineup for ourselves, we didn’t realize how many cool auction items they’d rounded up – here’s just a few things:
You might notice the Full Tilt logo. And there are gift certificates from Zippy’s Giant Burgers, Meander’s Kitchen, photos/merchandise from people whose work you’ve seen on WSB (Machel Spence, Jim Clark, and of course Christopher Boffoli and his now world-famous “Big Appetites”), and great stuff from folks you may not have met yet (but should!). The live dessert auction – emceed by Teri Ensley, who you might know from Furry Faces Foundation – promises to be a winner too, and that’s coming up at 3:05 pm:
If you don’t know Mike and haven’t read about him here before – in a nutshell – what happened to him is an all-too-common situation: A health crisis cost him his job, and his apartment, and suddenly he was homeless. After months at Nickelsville, he is now in transitional housing, and working hard to get a new start and get stability, with a new place to live, work, and more. This event is to get a little seed money for him … that “Hand Up.”
After public swim at 4 pm and lap swim at 5 pm today, Southwest Pool (2801 SW Thistle) is closing for 3 weeks of maintenance. That reminder comes from assistant coordinator Matt Richardson:
During the closure there are several major projects. The first week, March 26-April 1, will be comprised of the gymnasium floor refinishing project. This requires the use of materials that put out a fair amount of volatile organic compounds. The Pool, Teen Life Center and EuropaKids will not be in operation during this week.
The last two weeks are the Pool’s regular preventive maintenance closure. The work includes draining and acid washing the plaster shell, replacement of some valve seals, filter repairs and other items that require the pool to be empty. It takes nearly two days to drain the pool , two to fill, and another two to heat the pool back up to its normal 85-degree operating temperature. The Pool reopens April 16th. To register for lessons during our closure, participants can contact any other Seattle Parks Pool or Community Center.
After the pool reopens, there are a couple big events –
-Our Grand Re-Opening (celebration is) on April 17th. The schedule of events is
11:30-12:30 Dedication and refreshments
12:00-1:30 Free Adult Swim
3:00-4:00 Free Public/Teen Swim-April Pools Day on Saturday April 21st, 10:30 am to Noon. There will be water safety demonstrations and practice stations, free swimming, and prizes. Children under 18 must be accompanied into the water by an adult.
Sam Crowley, proprietor of Fleurt in The Junction, is excited today – and not just because it’s sunny and that will likely put even more people in the mood for flowers. She is excited because she’s moving to a bigger new location – the Junction storefront recently vacated by Knows Perfume:
“Due to the overwhelming support of the local community, we are excited to announce that starting mid-April, Fleurt will be moving to a bigger and better location. We are not going far; we are moving right next door to Menashe & Sons Jewelers, 4536 California Ave.
The larger space will allow us to expand our flower offerings and services, in addition to having more unique gifts and creative workshops. We thank everyone for your support, and we look forward to seeing you at our new location.
Besides drop-in service at her storefront as well as “unique gifts and home decor,” Sam notes that Fleurt “offers daily deliveries of flowers, as well as flowers for events and weddings.” She’ll have something else to celebrate next month besides the new storefront – April is also when Fleurt will celebrate its second anniversary in The Junction.
That’s the latest image from the camera watching the West Seattle Bridge eastbound. It was backed up much of Saturday during the first day of the Viaduct/Highway 99 closure, so it’s worth checking as the closure continues today; that’s one of the transportation notes topping our list of highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT/HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE CONTINUES: The stretch of 99 between the Battery Street Tunnel and West Seattle Bridge is scheduled to remain closed until 5 am Monday. These closures sometimes end early; if this one does, we’ll publish an update here as well as on the WSB Facebook page and in the WSB Twitter feed.
STATE FERRIES SWITCH TO SPRING SCHEDULE: The new Washington State Ferries schedule takes effect today, and it includes the return of three-boat weekend service on the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route.
WEST SEATTLE GEAR SWAP, DAY 2: Winter gear of all types. Mountain to Sound Outfitters is presenting the swap/sale, with more details here. 11 am-3 pm at the VFW Hall, 3602 SW Alaska.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Today and every Sunday, 10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska.
GIVE A DOG A HOME: Dog-adoption event today, 11 am-2 pm, at Mud Bay West Seattle (2611 California SW in the Admiral District). In partnership with Homeward Pet.
A HAND UP FOR MIKE: Friends of Mike, aka “miws” in the WSB Forums and site comments, are inviting you to a silent auction/benefit in his honor today, 1-4 pm, at Feedback Lounge (6451 California SW; WSB sponsor). Mike is climbing out of homelessness triggered by a health crisis that cost him his job and then his apartment; he’s in transitional housing and working toward permanent housing and stability (read more about him here), but “a hand up” from friends, neighbors, and community members can make a big difference. Full details in the event listing page from the WSB calendar. (Special request from organizers: “While there will be PayPal available for donations and auction payments, we’re asking for cash and checks to minimize the PayPal fees.”)
OPEN HOUSE: Unified Outreach invites you to an open house today at Ginomai Art Center in The Junction to find out about its free “industry-level cartoon and animation training using Adobe Flash.” 3-5 pm at 4401 42nd SW; meet volunteers and students, and enjoy snacks/beverages. Find out more about the program at UnifiedOutreach.com.
LIVE MUSIC: Mike Buchman at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 5612 California SW, 3-5 pm … Note that Skylark Café and Club has NO music tonight – it’s closing after brunch for repair work.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
12:17 AM: Police have stopped what they believe to be a suspect in a case of gunfire reported on Alki a short time ago. No injuries reported at this point, but it is still an active investigation with at least two locations – where the gunfire happened, and where the suspect was stopped.
12:30 AM UPDATE: WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli is at the scene where police stopped the suspect in his car, which matched the description we’d heard via scanner, a Subaru with spoiler. They also reported recovering a .45-caliber handgun. Back in the 2800 block of Alki SW, they are looking for evidence of gunfire.
1:08 AM UPDATE: Police have published a short summary of this on SPD Blotter. One additional detail from their report: This involved two people in “an altercation” outside, not IN a bar. We heard scanner traffic regarding the reported target of the gunfire saying it happened in the alley behind Cactus; one officer reported finding a “live round” in the area.
In the SPD Blotter item, Gang Unit detectives are mentioned, and Christopher indeed said he saw them at the arrest scene, which was near Salty’s.
ADDED SUNDAY AFTERNOON: A few followup details from Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams: The suspect is 26 years old and had been escorted out of an area bar before all this happened, following a “disturbance.” Lt. Williams also clarifies that while Gang Unit detectives were investigating, that unit “investigates incidents of this nature even if there is no indication that those involved are associated with gangs” – so don’t assume that just because the Gang Unit shows up, it’s definitely gang-related.
ADDED SUNDAY NIGHT: The SPD Blotter report also now includes these additional details, and one new one: The man who was shot at was 28 years old. We can’t confirm whether the 26-year-old suspect is still in jail, since at this point we don’t have his name, but we’ll look into that tomorrow.
Our video features the Denny International Middle School Jazz Band, the first of three student groups directed by Marcus Pimpleton that performed Saturday night for the Big Band Dinner Dance; the two others were from adjacent Chief Sealth International High School – here’s the Jazz 1 group:
Last night’s benefit combined what had been the Denny Jazz Dinner and the Sealth Big Band Dinner Dance, in this first year of the two schools sharing a campus (they had already been sharing a “pathway“). The above photo and the next one are courtesy of Denny principal Jeff Clark, who also shared these words:
Congratulations to Denny and Sealth Jazz musicians on an outstanding night of music. The dance floor has filled as guests are dancing to the sweet sound of jazz. Thank you to our amazing volunteers, families, and staff for making this event possible. A special thank to the West Seattle Big Band for joining us!
The WSBB has long supported student music programs.
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