West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
From wildlife writer/photographer Trileigh Tucker, the tale of a baby bird’s rescue – and what to do if you see one in trouble:
A West Seattle neighbor was a real wildlife hero this afternoon.
From my house, I heard an unusually loud Steller’s Jay cacophony in the park, but figured it might just be a bunch of nestlings calling to Mom and Dad for dinner. Shortly after that I heard a bunch of crows shrieking up a storm, and finally realized I should probably go check it out. I should have done this right away.
Several people were standing around a baby Steller’s Jay that had been harassed out of its nest by crows, who were apparently harassing and poking at it on the ground until Guardian Angel #1 stepped in to disperse them. Guardian Angels #2 and #3 were staying with the little bird – at first they thought it was dead, but then saw it was breathing. I picked it up and it held on tightly to my finger, so I knew it might be OK. We looked up in the nearby trees for the nest, hoping to put it back, but couldn’t find it. The parent jays were nearby but didn’t seem to be at their nest.
We put him in a box, then called PAWS in Lynnwood, who said to bring it up there for rehabilitation. So Guardian Angel #2, whose name is Marjorie Severson [photo above right], a generous and kind West Seattleite who volunteered to drive the little baby jay all the way up to Lynnwood for PAWS to help him out! I’m attaching her photo with the baby bird. She truly is an angel helping out the forest creatures.
This is fledging season, when a lot of baby birds risk injury or shock. If people find a baby bird on the ground but alive, the thing to do is to put it in a dark quiet box (with gaps so it can breathe), then call PAWS: 425-412-4040. This is their wildlife number, open 8-8 seven days a week, and they’ll tell you what to do. Everyone, put this number in your cellphones!
(UPDATED 12:52 AM with fire’s cause)
(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
8:09 PM: Firefighters are just starting to arrive at a possible house fire at 34th and Morgan. They’re reporting smoke and flames. We’re en route. Firefighters say the house is boarded up – so at this point, they are fighting it “defensively,” not going in. Westbound traffic is blocked on SW Morgan, so avoid the area.
(This and next two photos by Tony Bradley)
8:16 PM UPDATE: Our crew arriving at the scene says this is not at 34th despite the radio transmission – it’s at 36th and Morgan, a house that has been the source of trouble in the past.
8:24 PM UPDATE: The fire is in the basement. Though initially, noting it was a boarded-up house, firefighters were not going in, they are now searching and so far have not found anyone inside. Traffic at 35th and Morgan, and westward, is blocked. No report of injuries.
8:37 PM UPDATE: Also no sign that anyone had been inside, we are told at the scene. The Fire Marshal is en route to investigate. Meantime, we finally had a moment to dig up the background – it was last October 4th when we first reported that the house had been boarded up, five weeks after neighbor complaints had come to a head with a stolen-property case.
8:54 PM UPDATE: With the fire basically out, they have finished searching the house. Nobody inside. Neighbors tell us they have seen a couple people coming and going recently, though (which as discussed in comments had been noted even after the house was boarded up). The street is likely to open within 45 minutes or so, and authorities are trying to get Metro buses through, since this is on the 128 route.
9:05 PM: Police have just announced via radio that eastbound SW Morgan is reopening.
12:52 AM: SFD says the fire was started by “spontaneous combustion of improperly-disposed-of stain rags,” with damage totaling $30,000.
A day before the West Seattle Bee Garden debuts with a celebration in High Point next Sunday, another new local community garden will debut in Highland Park on Saturday – a section of the new Westcrest Park P-Patch dedicated to growing food for the White Center Food Bank. The “Presto Garden” project is being led by Sustainable West Seattle, incorporating donations from local businesses and organizations listed in this update on the SWS website. Here’s where you come in: Many hands, light work. Be there on Saturday (May 18th) 1-5 pm for the planting party that will help make it happen. Westcrest is at 9000 8th SW (for those not familiar with the park, we’re tracking down specific directions to the planting site, and will add them here).
It’s been a big year for West Seattle High School‘s music program, especially the marching band, with two downtown parade appearances including St. Patrick’s Day, as shown in our video above. This Tuesday, you can help the program keep growing by having dinner at Abbondanza in Morgan Junction. WSHS’s first-year music teacher Ethan Thomas explains:
The West Seattle Rotary Club is hosting a dinner fundraiser at Abbondanza Pizzeria (6503 California Ave SW) to support the music program at WSHS.
Abbondanza will be donating 10% of their proceeds and Rotary Club volunteers will be waiting tables and donating their tips.
Mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 14th, and come out and support our young musicians. The restaurant will be open from 5-9 pm.
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
The long run of beautiful spring weather has brought perfect conditions for hundreds of local students to visit the woods along Fauntleroy Creek. It’s the time of year when they release school-raised salmon fry during an intensive schedule organized by creek steward Judy Pickens. WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was there on Friday as students from both Alki Elementary and West Seattle Elementary students visited within the span of an hour. Above, WSES teacher Kendall Paine showed students an insect, part of the ecosystem supporting this salmon creek.
Volunteers like Bud Schwinger (below) help the students get their fish into the creek, and show them how to spot the fry:
They’re transported to the creek from schools’ tanks in buckets:
After a short walk to the water’s edge, it’s into the water – volunteer Dennis Hinton (below) helped Alki fifth-grader Steven Huynh release fry:
Yes, you can see them if you look really closely – note the three fry in the foreground, released by a West Seattle ES student and ready to swim away:
Before Memorial Day, Judy and volunteers will have helped with 17 release visits. Then, come fall, it will be time to watch for salmon spawners further down the creek – last fall, you might recall, set a record (here’s our report, with photos by Nick, from mid-November).
Chief Sealth International High School‘s soccer team opens state-tournament play Wednesday – and looking ahead into the summer, the program is offering a new camp program for 3rd through 9th graders. Just announced:
Following a 3-0 win over Ingraham last Thursday in the Metro League tournament, the Chief Sealth International High School boys soccer team is headed back to the WIAA 3A State tournament for the 2nd straight season. Reigning 2-time Coach of the Year Ron Johnson will lead the Seahawks back to the tournament after their 2nd consecutive undefeated Metro Sound Division season and as one of the true favorites to fare well in this year’s tournament. The Seahawks, ranked in the top 5 in State all season long, will travel north to play Glacier Peak High School on Wednesday, May 15th at 6 pm at Veterans Memorial Stadium (on the campus of Snohomish High School; map).
Chief Sealth Athletic Director Sam Reed would also like to announce a new opportunity for area youth to experience the Chief Sealth soccer culture first-hand, with the debut of the Chief Sealth Soccer Skills Camp. Modeled in part after the long-standing success of the Chief Sealth Boys Basketball Camp, now in its 16th year, this soccer camp will take place July 22-26th and is open to all kids entering grades 3rd-9th (Fall 2013 grade level). The camp will be directed by Reed and Johnson and will feature many of the boys and girls players that have built their respective program’s into regional powerhouses. Registration is now open!
Here’s the brochure/application for the new camp (PDF).
(Blooming border along Thistle St. Stairs to/from Lincoln Park; photo by Mark Ahlness)
May showers bring … more May flowers. And this Mother’s Day is certainly blossoming with promise. From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
REMEMBERING MOM: If you’re going to Forest Lawn Cemetery and Funeral Home (WSB sponsor) to remember Mom today, they plan to have roses for mothers and to place on mothers’ gravesites, and people will be there to offer extra assistance to locate sites if needed.
FARMERS’ MARKET CELEBRATES ASPARAGUS: Cooking tips/demos, 11 am-1 pm, during the market’s regular 10-2 hours. (44th/Alaska)
FLOWERS FROM FLEURT: If you’re looking for flowers to be delivered to Mom (or anyone else for that matter) today, Fleurt (WSB sponsor) in The Junction can do it. They’re open 11 am-4 pm, with deliveries “all day – call early for the best selection,” says proprietor Sam Crowley. They also deliver potted plants, terrariums, and “other cool gifts Mom will love.” Call 206.937.1103. (4536 California SW)
GLASS-BLOWING DEMONSTRATION: Bring Mom to see art in action at Avalon Glassworks today, 11 am-5 pm. (2914 SW Avalon Way)
FAMILY BEACH SAFARI: Go out tidewalking! 11:30 am, at Emma Schmitz Overlook across from Me-Kwa-Mooks. (4503 Beach Drive SW)
SEATTLE RAINMAKERS: The Major League Ultimate team is back home this afternoon at Southwest Athletic Complex, hosting the Vancouver Nighthawks at 1 pm. (2801 SW Thistle)
KALEY MARIE AT C & P: 3-5 pm, another chance to hear this teenage singer/songwriter perform, C & P Coffee Company. (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor)
WEST SEATTLE COOKING CLUB: Ales for Seattle Beer Week (details here): Bring your dish to Beveridge Place Pub at 3 pm. (6413 California SW)
3:48 AM: Multiple medic and fire units have responded to a crash on Harbor Lane, off Harbor Avenue, a few blocks west of the bridge. Four people were in the car, according to radio communications, and two were reported to be badly hurt. More to come.
3:57 AM: Radio communications say all four people were ejected from the car after a high-speed impact that also took out a tree before the vehicle rolled multiple times.
They’re all being taken to the hospital. A man believed to be in his mid-20s was described as the most seriously hurt patient; no ages have been mentioned for the other three. Police said over the radio that they would be closing Harbor Avenue.
4:10 AM: WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand is at the scene. The address has been updated to the 2700 block of Harbor Avenue (map). Patrick says the vehicle is in the north/westbound lanes (headed toward Alki), and confirms what we had heard via radio, that the car took out a tree. Police have closed that side of Harbor but the south/eastbound lanes, headed toward the bridge, remain open.
4:26 AM: SFD says all four people are in their 20s, two women, two men, all were ejected from the car. While the north/westbound lanes of Harbor remain closed, and the other side open, that side MIGHT close once the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad arrives to start doing its work, police at the scene told Patrick.
7:25 AM: The road should be open before long – the tow truck was reported to be on its way.
6:44 PM UPDATE: SPD Blotter has just published a post about the crash, confirming that – as suggested in some of the comment discussion here over the course of the day – the 21-year-old driver is under investigation for driving under the influence.
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 that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block?”:
*A homeless 24-year-old who hangs out in the Admiral area was spotted last weekend as he sat down at an establishment in the 2600 block of California Ave. SW. Because officers knew he was wanted on a criminal trespass warrant, they stopped to chat. A routine search of his backpack turned up a bolt cutter, hammer and box cutters (Suspect: “I use them for work.” Officer: “Where do you work?” Suspect:“I’m unemployed.”), along with 53 prescription pain killers and a plastic bag full of jewelry. He was booked into King County Jail for the warrant, possession of a drug without a prescription, and possession of burglary and auto theft tools.
Five more summaries ahead:Read More
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