West Seattle, Washington

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month : 09/2012 340 results

West Seattle Crime Prevention Council: Neighborhood concerns; case updates
September 18, 2012 11:41 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Council | West Seattle news

Neighbors brought concerns to tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – exactly what the meeting’s for. A big one involves a situation that’s been reported and discussed here – a house in Upper Morgan linked to a recent arrest in a neighborhood some blocks north. Read on for that, the latest crime trends, updates on recent cases including last night’s search, and more:

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West Seattle weather watch: Sun, sun, sun
September 18, 2012 10:51 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

Thanks to Bill Bacon for sharing a sunset photo tonight (taken at Lincoln Park)! Looks like more full-color sunsets ahead, because the forecast remains rain-free. If you’re looking for storms – look east. A few thousand miles east.

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Opening Wednesday at ArtsWest: ‘Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson’
September 18, 2012 9:04 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Five and a half months after ArtsWest revealed the productions comprising its 2012-2013 season (WSB coverage here and here), its season opener is about to hit the playhouse’s West Seattle Junction stage. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is opening night for the Northwest premiere of “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” a Tony-nominated musical, directed by Christopher Zinovitch, with musical direction by Kim Dare. In ArtsWest’s announcement last March, it was described as a “comedic audacious mix of historical fact and fiction surrounding America’s controversial seventh president — the man who invented the Democratic Party, drove the Indians west, and ultimately doubled the size of our nation,” with “outrageous comedy, anarchic theatricality, and a rock score.” It runs through October 20th, Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm (with a few exceptions to that schedule, so check here – same link where you can buy tickets online).

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Happening now: Proletariat Pizza anniversary/food bank benefit
September 18, 2012 6:28 pm
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants | White Center

Just stopped by Proletariat Pizza (9622 16th SW in downtown White Center) to catch Stefanie and Mike Albaeck and family for a quick photo to mark the popular pizzeria’s 3rd anniversary. (Here’s our 9/18/09 report on partner site White Center Now.) Busy night, which is also good news for the White Center Food Bank, to which Proletariat is donating 30 percent of the night. (WC Food Bank also serves south West Seattle, from SW Myrtle south.) They’re open till 9 pm.

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‘Beat the Burn’ on Sept. 30th: Not just a 5K – festival too
September 18, 2012 5:02 pm
|    Comments Off on ‘Beat the Burn’ on Sept. 30th: Not just a 5K – festival too
 |   How to help | West Seattle news

(WSB video from start of last year’s first-ever Beat the Burn 5K – this year it’s at Jack Block Park)
New info today about Beat The Burn, the 5K fundraiser coming up September 30th at Jack Block Park and along the West Seattle waterfront: They point out it’s not ONLY a 5K – it’s also a community festival with everything from food trucks to kayaking to the legendary Bubbleman:

The Port of Seattle Fire Department/Local 1257 Firefighters and the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters Burn Foundation would like to invite you to bring the family and join us on Sunday, September 30th at Jack Block Park on the scenic West Seattle Waterfront.

The BEAT THE BURN 5K RUN/WALK event is open to all runners, walkers and family members of all ages. Join us for a fire engine siren start, live music by SLACKER, a local band favorite, health and safety displays, Lumpia World and Sweet Wheels food trucks, entertainment, beer garden, a kid’s area. And don’t miss the Alki Kayak Tours standup paddle board and kayak demonstrations at 11:00 a.m., the Bubbleman at 11:30 a.m. and the Northwest Disaster Search Dogs in action at 12:45. And we’ll have hourly drawings for $100 Gift Cards compliments of Salty’s and a $200 Gift Card from El Gaucho for the first runner across the 5K finish line. And don’t forget to pick-up your 2012 Firefighter Calendar; we’re giving away 100 copies!

Come meet the firefighters at Jack Block Park and join us for a fun outing on the West Seattle waterfront. It’s all for a great cause – to help send young burn survivors ages 7-17 to Camp Eyabsut. Thank you. Register at saveburncamp.org

For another week – till Wednesday 9/26 – you can also register in person at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor).

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West Seattle wildlife warnings: Watch your chickens!
September 18, 2012 3:01 pm
|      32 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | Wildlife

We hear about coyotes and raccoons all the time, but West Seattle chicken owner Alyssa says you should keep your eyes on the skies:

I live on 35th near Kenyon Hall and have 3 little backyard chickens. I thought I should let everyone know…I had the little chickens free ranging in the yard (Monday) and a hawk literally swooped down and would have taken them if I hadn’t lunged. I was sitting about 10 feet away and saw it coming in my peripheral vision. I knew we had dogs/cats/raccoons/opossums/rats after our chickens, but this one actually surprised me! Of course I didn’t get a picture, but it looked possibly like a cooper’s hawk? It was brown with white streaks on the wings, not too big, maybe 16 inches tall? I have attached a picture of the chickens, it was the little ones it went for — they are only a couple of months old. West Seattle needs scarecrows, I guess??

P.S. In the vein of the “co-existing with coyotes” link we often include in those reports, we have found a “Living with Wildlife: Hawks” link for info from the state, if you’re interested.

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West Seattle traffic alert: Beach Drive resurfacing begins
September 18, 2012 2:01 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

Another section of the remaining bumpy stretches of Beach Drive is getting help right now – Atlas to Juneau, as announced by SDOT last week. Traffic is getting through, but one lane at a time, so you may have to stop and wait for a bit. The work is expected to continue till about 7 this evening and then again 8 am-7 pm tomorrow. With this and the section that was repaved back in May, only the section abutting the long-disputed (now settled), slide-prone slope will remain, and the city says that’ll be fixed once the slope work is done (no timetable yet).

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Fairmount Park Elementary: 8-room addition, before reopening
September 18, 2012 12:31 pm
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

We know more today about what’s planned for Fairmount Park Elementary before Seattle Public Schools reopens the closed-since-2007 campus. Last week, it was explained at the school board’s work session about the BEX IV levy (WSB coverage here) that the district planned “an addition” at Fairmount Park, which in turn, administrators said, would eliminate the need to reopen the former Hughes Elementary, currently leased to independent Westside School (WSB sponsor). But we didn’t know the details until this week’s school-board meeting agenda. District documents show it is planned as an eight-classroom addition, and the board will be asked tomorrow night to approve almost a million dollars for its design. It is proposed as an addition to a contract Miller Hayashi Architects already had for design/engineering work to get the school in shape for reopening in the fall of 2014. The district has not said yet what kind of program it plans for the reopened school – regular neighborhood school or something else (such as permanent home of the K-5 STEM school just opened at Boren on Delridge).

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‘Who Killed Me?’ New billboard campaign to solve murders
September 18, 2012 11:30 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Tomorrow marks exactly 31 years since Greggette R. and Dwight K. Guy were wed at a church in Burien. Today – six months and one week after Mrs. Guy was murdered in West Seattle – her husband (above) came from Kent to stand in a South Seattle parking lot with other murder victims’ families, showing support for a new billboard/bus-board campaign. CrimeStoppers and Seattle Police are among the sponsors of “Who Killed Me?”, which will place billboards around the city, showing murder victims’ faces, and imploring people with any information to come forward. Dwight Guy did not speak at today’s media event, but several of those on hand did, often emotionally. (Added – here’s our video of the entire event:)

Mr. Guy’s message, in a conversation with WSB afterward, is the same: Even if it takes years, his wife’s killer can be found and brought to justice. Organizers tell us a billboard will be put up in West Seattle with Mrs. Guy’s photo; they’re checking on the planned location (update – it’ll be on Harbor Avenue near the bridge). The first billboard, unveiled during the media event, highlights three other unsolved killings.

For more on where the Greggette Guy case stands, here’s our detailed followup from last week. P.S. There is one more West Seattle case on SPD’s list of spotlighted unsolved murders in the past 2 years – that of Kaari Higgins, a Fauntlee Hills woman whose January 2011 death was not classified as a homicide till long afterward. Find out more about Ms. Higgins, Mrs. Guy, and the other unsolved-murder victims here.

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West Seattle Tuesday: Crime Prevention Council; Sealth PTSA; more
September 18, 2012 9:15 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Tuesday: Crime Prevention Council; Sealth PTSA; more
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Photo by Machel Spence)
Neighborhood crime concerns? Questions for police? Tonight the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council resumes its season of monthly meetings. That’s one of the highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:

TRAFFIC ALERTS: From our latest day-by-day/night-by-night list: In West Seattle, SDOT announced Beach Drive repaving between Atlas and Juneau would start today, 8 am-7 pm. No closure expected but lane restrictions. On the highways, another southbound 99 closure between Battery Street Tunnel and West Seattle Bridge, 9 pm-5 am. And a Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project note – there’ll be work on the surface at 1st/Spokane tonight because the eastbound 1st Avenue South offramp is scheduled to reopen tomorrow morning.

JUDGE SPEAKS TO ROTARY: As previewed here on Monday, King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu speaks to the Rotary Club of West Seattle today, noon at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor).

PROLETARIAT PIZZA’S ANNIVERSARY GIFT: Three years ago today, the popular family-owned pizza place opened in downtown White Center, and they’re celebrating by donating 30 percent of tonight’s take to the White Center Food Bank. Hours 4 pm-9 pm.

DROP-IN CHESS: For youth, at High Point Library, starting at 4 pm.

JOIN A DRILL TEAM! The Spinnakers are having an open house at Highland Park Elementary tonight, 6-8 pm. Details here.

EVENING BOOK GROUP: “In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez is the featured book this month for the group meeting tonight at High Point Library (35th/Raymond), 6 pm.

WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: After summer break, this volunteer citizen group is back in session. Local police leadership is there for crime-trend updates and citizen Q/A, so if you have concerns or questions, this is your best chance each month to get them answered directly. 7 pm, Southwest Precinct meeting room, right off the parking lot along Webster west of Delridge Way SW.

CHIEF SEALTH INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL PTSA: The PTA/PTSA meetings for the new school year are under way, and tonight, Chief Sealth’s PTSA kicks off its year, 7 pm in the school library; details in the calendar listing.

NIGHTLIFE: Alauda belly-dancing showcase at 7:30, followed by Baby Ketten Karaoke at 9, at Skylark Café and Club … Open-mike night at The Cask in the Admiral District, 8 pm … Trivia That Rocks at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm …

More on the calendar!

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Countdown to Metro changes: Transportation fair tomorrow
September 18, 2012 7:48 am
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

Questions about RapidRide and/or route restructuring, all of which kick in on September 29, just one week from Saturday? Metro is one of the participants scheduled for a Transportation Fair at Greenbridge, 2-4 pm tomorrow, in the Wiley Community Center, 9800 8th SW (just south of Roxbury). Other groups and agencies will be there too, with information about a wide range of transportation options; they’re listed on this flyer.

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West Seattle weddings: Congratulations, Mariko & Chris!
September 18, 2012 1:03 am
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people

The Junction is a popular place for wedding photos these days! West Seattleites Chris and Mariko Raynor are announcing their marriage after returning from their long honeymoon in Thailand. Chris is a remodeler and Mariko is a paralegal. Chris says their wedding July 21st was at a chapel in Kent, with the officiant from West Seattle’s Our Lady of Guadalupe, Father Jack Walmesley. Congratulations to the newlyweds!

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West Seattle weather: Nothing but sunshine in sight
September 17, 2012 10:09 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle weather: Nothing but sunshine in sight
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

Thanks to JayDee for sharing tonight’s sunset view from Upper Alki. (For beach-level views, check out WSB’ers Debra and April, who have launched the Facebook page Alki Beach Daily Sunsets.) There still isn’t even a hint of rain in the forecast, according to what the National Weather Service is projecting for the next week. Wildlife-care tip: Be sure to keep water in the bird baths, or even set up makeshift ones (past years’ Christmas-tree stands on our back patio have been popular with the birds).

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Traffic stop turns into police search
September 17, 2012 7:37 pm
|      17 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle police

7:37 PM: The police search that is under way in Sunrise Heights right now started with a “routine traffic stop,” we’ve learned at the scene. Police say they were trying to pull over a driver for something “routine” when the driver took off and headed east, then got out of the car at some point and ran. They don’t know why but they’re trying to find him; the search includes a greenbelt area stretching down the hillside off SW Othello. A K-9 team is involved in the search.

7:51 PM: The search is also covering greenbelt area southeast of High Point, stretching down toward Home Depot, as a commenter notes.

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Highway 99 followup: Third southbound lane to open soon
September 17, 2012 7:27 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Alaskan Way Viaduct | Transportation | West Seattle news

If you drive 99 between West Seattle and downtown, you probably noticed (as did commenter Robert) that while the new northbound stretch through SODO is open, the southbound side is still two lanes. Not for long, says WSDOT spokesperson Travis Phelps. He says, “We will start pulling back the barrier tonight when the southbound viaduct is closed. We hope to be done by Wednesday.”

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Park expansion for Morgan Junction? City Council briefing Thursday
September 17, 2012 4:32 pm
|      21 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(Thursday photo courtesy Benjamin Blain)
The proposed Seattle Parks purchase of the commercial site north of Morgan Junction Park (reported here last week) is on this Thursday’s City Council Parks and Neighborhoods Committee agenda. Last Thursday night, the Morgan Community Association invited community members to come see and discuss the site (above) with Parks reps; this Thursday, Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams will brief committee members on where the deal stands. The agenda includes a proposed ordinance that would authorize the city to acquire the site via condemnation – “eminent domain” – which seemed a little drastic, so we checked today with Parks’ Chip Nevins to get an explanation. He says the ordinance “was written several months ago when negotiations were not going as well as they are now. We always expect that we can negotiate a successful acquisition, but condemnation authority shows the landowner that we are serious, provides us with some more negotiating tools and also provides some tax advantages to the seller.” He says that while there have been past cases of the council authorizing this process for Parks’ use, they’ve never had to deploy it. The Morgan Junction site (6311 California SW) is still on the open market for $2 million, as it was when we first mentioned it back in June.

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Three-peat for South Seattle Community College as military-friendly
September 17, 2012 4:02 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Puget Ridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Next Monday, the new school year starts at South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) on Puget Ridge. Today, they’re celebrating receiving the “military-friendly school” designation again:

South Seattle Community College has been designated by G.I. Jobs magazine as a “Military Friendly School” for 2012 – 2013, the third year in a row.

G.I. Jobs polled more than 7,000 schools across the country to compile its “2013 Guide to Military Friendly Schools.” Criteria for making the list included efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students, results in recruiting military and veteran students, and academic accreditations. The recognition honors the country’s colleges and universities for their work in welcoming military veterans and enhancing their student experience.

The honor ranks South in the top 15 percent of all colleges, universities and trade schools nationwide that are doing the most to embrace those who have served their country.

South was noted a good choice because of the college’s experienced staff and personal commitment to ensure that each and every veteran that comes to South has all the means necessary to complete his or her academic goals.

Here’s more info about SSCC’s Veterans Affairs department.

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4755 Fauntleroy development: 1st look at street-level ‘concepts’
September 17, 2012 1:17 pm
|      47 COMMENTS
 |   4755 Fauntleroy | Development | West Seattle news


(Click image for PDF with larger view)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

On September 27th – one week from Thursday – the Southwest Design Review Board gets its first look at the mixed-use megaproject (we haven’t used that term in a while, but this one seems to merit it) proposed for 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW.

As noted in our September 7th report on the project – which first came to light in July – it would span not only the ex-Huling Chevrolet site at that address but also, fronting Alaska, the block from Fauntleroy to 40th, now holding a gas station, funeral home, and ex-used car lot.

By the end of this week, the “packet” with visuals for the meeting should be available online. Over the weekend, the project team went public with three sketches that envision the streetscape in the spots where they are looking at mid-block connectors, aka passthroughs Above, a possible Fauntleroy view looking into the “connector” – next, a possible view from 40th SW on the other side.


(Click image for PDF with larger view)
The project team say they are envisioning the 40th SW side overall as more of a “green street.” Here’s their concept of a potential street-level view:


(Click image for PDF with larger view)
The project site does NOT include the Alki Masonic Lodge, though its Fauntleroy side would be immediately east of that. Right now, the project – which does not have a working title as of last check – is envisioned at six floors, more than 350 apartments, and around 55,000 square feet of retail, over more than 530 parking spaces. While no retailers have been named yet, the project team confirms they’re in “advanced” talks with an unnamed grocer for about two-thirds of the space.

The September 27th Design Review Board meeting is set for 6:30 pm at what’s become the board’s usual venue in West Seattle, the Senior Center (California/Oregon). Public comment is welcome; if you’ve never been to a DRB meeting before, here’s the city’s guide outlining the process.

P.S. For one more layer of public process, an alley vacation – which triggers a different review process that includes the city Design Commission and City Council – would be involved in the plan, too.

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Not just crime & punishment: Judge Mary Yu @ WS Rotary
September 17, 2012 11:49 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Rotary Club of West Seattle | West Seattle news

We usually only report on judges when they preside over high-profile trials or sentencings – but their work includes much more. If you’d like to hear from a judge firsthand outside court, the Rotary Club of West Seattle invites you to lunch tomorrow, with featured speaker King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu. She has been on the bench for a dozen years, serving in the court’s civil-, criminal-, and family-law departments, and shared the Washington State Bar Association’s Judge of the Year award in 2011. (Our most recent coverage of Judge Yu’s work was at a murder sentencing in April.) The Rotary meets at noon Tuesdays at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor).

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West Seattle Monday: Sustainable WS; Delridge Produce Co-op; more
September 17, 2012 9:09 am
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Photo by Guy Smith, taken last week near Alki Point)
Happy Monday! From the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar – what you need to know about the day/night ahead:

TRAFFIC ALERTS TODAY/TONIGHT: Those who use Highway 99 to head downtown and beyond are driving on the new northbound stretch this morning (it opened Saturday night, earlier than projected). Then tonight, there is another southbound 99 closure – WSDOT is still working on reinforcing a section of remaining Alaskan Way Viaduct that’s over the future tunnel-boring zone – 9 pm tonight to 5 am Tuesday.

AFTERNOON BOOK GROUP: The Southwest Library welcomes you to the group discussing “The Deptford Trilogy” this month, meeting at 2 pm today at the branch (35th/Henderson).

IRISH DANCE: New class sessions (including Mondays) are under way this month at the VFW Hall in The Triangle – find out more here.

WINTER GARDENING, WITH SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE: 6-8 pm at the South Seattle Community College Arboretum, you can get ready for fall/winter food growing by attending SWS’s monthly Community Forum – full details on the SWS website.

DELRIDGE PRODUCE COOPERATIVE: Everyone’s invited to DPC’s general meeting at 6:30 pm tonight, Delridge Library (Brandon/Delridge). The agenda includes a variety of topics from involvement with the upcoming West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival, to a future fundraising dinner/auction, to a market-research survey.

NIGHTLIFE: Pub quiz night at Shadowland, 8 pm … Flat Earth Society at West 5 features Matt Lukin spinning tonight (Melvins/Mudhoney alum), 9 pm … that’s also when Karaoke Kelli presides at the Benbow Room …

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Name a state ferry after Ivar Haglund? Bartell Drugs prescribes petition signatures
September 17, 2012 8:19 am
|      31 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people

(One of WSF’s new 144-car ferries, under construction at Vigor, via WSDOT on Flickr)
The soon-to-be-headquartered-in-West-Seattle Bartell Drugs is throwing its weight behind the proposal to name a new Washington State Ferry after a well-known West Seattle native – entrepreneur Ivar Haglund. The idea emerged last month; when Seattle Times (WSB partner) columnist Ron Judd wrote about it, we noted it on the WSB Facebook page, but hadn’t heard anything since. This morning, a news release from Bartell says the company will have petitions in all of its stores through September 23rd (along with an ongoing prize drawing, including gift cards for Ivar’s). The news release quotes company leader George D. Bartell as saying, “The ‘M/V Ivar Haglund’ plying the waters of Puget Sound would be a fitting tribute to his legacy. Ivar brought the color and pioneering spirit of Puget Sound to our doorsteps through his music, restaurants, and colorful personality.” Ivar died in 1985. His namesake company supports the naming effort too – and it should be noted the new ferries are being built on West Seattle’s Harbor Island.

P.S. After receiving the Bartell news release about this, we asked for the latest timetable on the corporate HQ’s West Seattle move. Spokesperson Barry Bartlett says it’s currently on track for mid-to-late October. They’re moving – administrative operations, not a store – from Georgetown into the West Seattle Corporate Center, known as “the building with the big flag,” at Delridge and Andover, as first reported here August 7th.

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K-5 STEM parents’ reminder: Delridge has a school zone again
September 17, 2012 12:48 am
|      22 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

(Friday photo, courtesy John Hopkins)
If you drive along the 5900 block of Delridge Way SW in the morning or afternoon, remember, it’s a school zone again! Parents from K-5 STEM at Boren have been out with signs the past few school days, trying to make sure everyone knows. The challenge is that while 20 mph “school zone” signs have been up along that stretch for years, first, this is the first time in two years that the school’s been occupied, and second, because of the way the Boren building is laid out, you won’t necessarily see much activity along the street. Parents are hoping to convince SDOT to add flashing lights to the signage for extra reminders, but those requests usually take a while to work through the system.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Four reader reports
September 16, 2012 10:27 pm
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

Four West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports from the weekend – starting with a bicycle theft; Daniel sent the photo and report:

I just wanted to share that my bike was stolen off our back porch Sept 15th. We live off Fauntleroy and Dawson (across from Fairmount Park). It was an old gray Raleigh beach cruiser I had turned into a lowrider. It wasn’t worth much by any means; I just feel cheated, is all.

Three more reports ahead, including a car prowl and a detailed account from a rollerblader who says he was attacked near Luna (Anchor) Park:Read More

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