month : 09/2013 320 results

The more help, the better for the Friends of Morgan Junction Parks‘ work party tomorrow. From Barry:

Friends of Morgan Junction Parks is hosting another event this Sunday at 10:30 am. Volunteers from Peace Lutheran Church will be joining us to restore the triangle park next to Thriftway. We’ll be removing invasive species, clearing brush and spreading mulch. Seattle Department of Transportation will be providing mulch and tools. All are welcome.

The triangle is between Fauntleroy, Morgan, and 42nd – just west of the intersection where SDOT’s been fixing the road.

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Update: Assault with weapons call on 31st SW

| West Seattle news | West Seattle police

3:39 PM: The 7900 block of 31st SW (map) is where police and fire are responding to an “assault with weapons” call. No other details yet, aside from the fact that it’s an “assault with weapons/aid” call, which suggests no major injuries.

3:54 PM UPDATE: Police believe it’s a case of domestic violence, though we have no other details, aside from the injury involving some kind of sharp object.

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Ex-‘Nickelsville’ site update: Back for cleanup, ‘5S’-moving

September 7, 2013 3:26 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Nickelsville encampment | West Seattle news

The cleanup and moving operation at the former “Nickelsville” site is in its seventh day. Top photo is the view from the former parking-lot entrance. The parking lot itself is a hub of activity as the remaining “5S”‘s are moved – the “small simple sturdy sleeping structures” still standing on the east end of the site. Today is a day to try to get all 14 of them moved, the camp announced via Facebook, so we went back for these photos:

The forklift and trucks are vital to what they’re doing now – trying to get those structures to the new campsites in the Central District, Madison Valley, and Skyway.

As we reported Thursday, the city has fenced off the site; the mayor’s office confirmed that the former campers would have access through Friday to continue cleanup, but that’s apparently been extended – we’ll check back with them Monday.

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Police response at 20th and Holden

September 7, 2013 12:56 pm

| Comments Off on Police response at 20th and Holden

| West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Thanks for the tips on police with rifles out in the 20th/Holden vicinity. According to scanner traffic, this started with a passserby reporting seeing someone in a house possibly pointing a gun at someone else. At least one person was reportedly detained. We have just passed through the area and the scene is clear.

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Thieves steal $4,000 worth of meat, damage freezer at South Park food bank

September 7, 2013 10:20 am

| 27 COMMENTS

| Crime | How to help | South Park | West Seattle news

(UPDATED Saturday evening: Scroll down for newest info)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

It’s distribution day at the Providence Regina House food bank in South Park. Hundreds of families – about 2,000 people in all – will be fed with the food picked up today by food-bank clients waiting in a long line that, by opening time, was already wrapping around the corner that holds the South Park Neighborhood Center, where the food bank is a tenant.

But those families – many with young children, since today is also “Baby Day” at the food bank – won’t be getting meat. Somebody broke into the food bank’s walk-in freezer overnight and stole an estimated $4,000 of donated meat.

Paige Collins from Providence Regina House tells us that, adding insult to injury, the thief or thieves busted the locking/latching mechanism in a way that renders the freezer unusable until fixed. So even if someone donated replacement meat, they have no place to put it.

They’ve been hit by theft before, and there have been signs of attempts to get into the freezer, but never before has anyone actually succeeded, she says. The meat is donated over the course of each week by the QFC on Capitol Hill – it’s meat that is perfectly good but can’t be sold past its pull date.

The thieves were picky, Collins adds, taking “the good stuff” – which ranges all the way up to roasts – and leaving behind the lowest-grade items, like ground turkey. They also created a mess to get to it – a mess cleaned up by the time we visited, but one that took precious time from food bank staff/volunteers getting ready for their busy distribution hours.

We found out about the theft because Collins had sent a note to the South Park e-mail list, wondering if any neighbors had seen suspicious activity behind the SPNC building. West Seattleites should be on the lookout too. When we visited, another employee was walking surrounding blocks looking for evidence; the stolen meat would have been in banana boxes or in black bins like these:

Those are apparently unique to this food bank. The theft was reported to police early this morning, so if you have any information, call 911.

It’s too soon for Collins to know what they’ll do next; “I can replace the lock, but what if they just come do it again?” she wondered aloud. And they do have enough food to feed everyone today – it’ll just be less than they would have given out otherwise, and South Park is one of the most poverty-challenged areas in the city.

P.S. Collins’ contact information – and donation information for the Providence Regina House food bank, which runs a clothing bank too – is here.

EVENING UPDATE: Collins tells us they believe they know who did it, after getting word a suspect was out trying to hustle some of the stolen food on the street. They also have learned that some of it was seen at a local laundromat earlier today, and are hoping video surveillance might help identify a suspect.

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West Seattle Saturday: Sales; horses; festival; author; Harry’s Chicken Joint half-iversary…

September 7, 2013 8:43 am

| 5 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

From the “kids, do NOT try this at home!” (or anywhere else) file … Craig Young photographed those three little raccoons atop a utility pole in Admiral one recent sunny day. Looks like we’ll see some sunshine today (though fog started drifting through as we wrote this!). From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

WEST SEATTLE EAGLES’ GARAGE SALE: “Shopping, fun, food” are promised, 9 am-3 pm at the West Seattle Eagles‘ aerie in The Junction; here’s our calendar listing. (4426 California SW)

MORE GARAGE SALES: Find today’s (free to post!) listings in the WSB Forums, here.

PRAYERS FOR PEACE IN SYRIA (AND ELSEWHERE): 10 am-3 pm today at Holy Rosary in West Seattle; here’s our original preview with details. (42nd/Genesee)

SAN GENNARO FESTIVAL: As previewed here night before last, a West Seattle family is presenting Seattle’s first San Gennaro Festival this weekend – a celebration that’s famous in some other cities’ Italian-American communities, but somehow hadn’t happened here. It’s on South Angelo Street (no number necessary) in Georgetown, 10 am-10 pm today and 10 am-6 pm Sunday. (Map)

BENEFIT BAKE SALE: From Katie:

My daughters will be having a bake sale from 11 am-1 pm (today) to raise money for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation in memory of their grandpa. There will be signs pointing to the sale on 28th Ave SW and SW Myrtle.

More info here. (Map)

BENEFIT BARBECUE, AND MORE: At West Seattle Thriftway, the traditional Saturday 11 am-4 pm benefit barbecue has special friends on hand – Roxbury Spine and Wellness Clinic (which like WST is a WSB sponsor).

(WSB photo, added 2:35 pm)
11 am-4 pm, offering free spinal-stress tests and 5-minute chair massages. Look for the tent outside the store’s southwest door. (California/Fauntleroy/Morgan)

AUTHOR PAUL SCHMID AT WESTWOOD B&N: From Melissa at Westwood Village Barnes & Noble – word that a notable local kids-book author will be a special guest at 11 am storytime:

We have Paul Schmid, author of several wonderful children’s picture books, guest starring at story time with a talk and signing of his new book, “Oliver and His Alligator.” Mr. Schmid is well-known as the author of “A Pet for Petunia” and “Hugs from Pearl.” We’re very happy to be hosting a great local author with a fantastic back to school story!

The store is on the south/southeast side of the shopping center.(2800 SW Barton)

SEATTLE POLICE HORSES AT WESTWOOD: As previewed here earlier this week, the Seattle Police Mounted Patrol plans to bring horses/officers from its Highland Park HQ to Westwood, for a stop at Daystar Retirement Village (2615 SW Barton) 12:30-2:30 pm, and then a stop at Westwood Village shopping center (east side, near Starbucks), 2:45-4:15 pm. Public welcome to come meet them!

HARRY’S CHICKEN JOINT HALF-IVERSARY: The party’s not *at* Harry’s – which will be closed for the occasion – but instead at Beveridge Place Pub, 6-9 pm – free food from Harry’s Chicken Joint (WSB sponsor), celebrating six months in business. Details in our original preview. (BPP is at 6413 California SW)

HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Tonight, Seattle Lutheran (photo below is from practice this week) starts its season:

The Saints host Evergreen Lutheran at West Seattle Stadium, 7 pm.

UNIFIED OUTREACH TALENT SHOW: See talented youth show what they can do, 7 pm tonight at Ginomai Art Center in The Junction – details here. (42nd/Genesee)

Even more events/activities for today/tonight – and beyond! – are listed on our calendar!

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High-school football: First games for WSHS, Sealth

September 7, 2013 7:57 am

| Comments Off on High-school football: First games for WSHS, Sealth

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

(Added: WSHS-Fife game photo by Lawrence Kane)
Tough start to the varsity-football season for West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School last night. Both were on the road against non-league opponents. WSHS lost 41-0 at Fife; Sealth lost 37-26 at Evergreen – though the final score in that game represented a notable comeback, after being down 31-6 at halftime. Seattle Lutheran‘s first game is tonight; more on that coming up in our daily preview.

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Beach Drive slide zone: Slope work wrapping up; road repair soon

September 6, 2013 9:56 pm

| 22 COMMENTS

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

A little over one year after news of a settlement ending the Beach Drive legal mess born of a muddy mess, the resulting project is just about done. If you haven’t driven the 6000 block lately – the retaining walls, drainage, slope revegetation, and even street trees are in; the photo above is from Thursday – compare it to one of the photos we’ve taken in the past six years after recurring slides from that slope:

Homeowners along the water side of that area had sued, saying both the city and upslope homeowner/builder Peter Saladino were to blame. As part of the settlement, he agreed to fix the slope, and that work’s been under way all summer, following the granting of permits earlier in the year.

Now the big question – how soon will the badly rutted road in that area be repaired? SDOT had said that work would follow the slope project. We checked with the department today; spokesperson Marybeth Turner told WSB, “We tentatively plan to pave this area at the end of the month if weather is favorable … assuming the contractor at that location has finished everything.”

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What the police response in Sunrise Heights is about

September 6, 2013 8:07 pm

| 10 COMMENTS

| Sunrise Heights | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(Photos by Tony Bradley)
We’ve had some questions about a big police response in Sunrise Heights, near 32nd/Webster. Here’s what we have learned from Seattle Police Lt. Steve Strand at the scene: It started as a medic call – no details yet of the original call – but the person that needed help became combative toward the Seattle Fire crew, and police were called. While they were trying to get the combative man under control, he collapsed, police say. He has since been taken to Harborview; because he collapsed while police were dealing with him, that escalated the incident to a different level of investigation, which is what the SPD personnel on the scene are doing now.

We don’t have details so far about the person’s age or condition. But we’ll add anything more we find out.

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West Seattle road work: Partial closures on SW Thistle next week

September 6, 2013 7:07 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

A major route between west and east West Seattle will be partly closed for road work four days next week, according to SDOT:

Seattle Department of Transportation crews will replace concrete panels on Southwest Thistle Street between 35th Avenue Southwest and 37th Avenue Southwest next week. The street will be closed to westbound traffic from Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 8 a.m. until Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 5 p.m. Then the street will be closed to eastbound traffic from 8 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12 until 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13.

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West Seattle development: 4730 California crane 1 week away

September 6, 2013 5:17 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle news

Judging by the number of people we see looking through the fence whenever we visit The Junction during the daytime, the 88-apartment, 14-live-work-unit 4730 California mixed-use project – aka the former Petco site – is quite the spectacle. The crane base is in now, almost three months after demolition/excavation began – our photo was taken before today’s concrete pour – so we asked the project team when the crane is going to arrive. The answer: One week from tomorrow – Saturday, September 14th. Assuming nothing happens to change the schedule, that means the crane will be up before the West Seattle Car Show, which – as noted here previously – is planned for the next day, Sunday, September 15th. 4730 California pis expected to be finished late next year.

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Celebration of life Sunday for Karol Fern Sample, 1968-2013

September 6, 2013 3:44 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Obituaries | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Karol Fern Sample, gone too soon at age 44, will be remembered with a celebration of life this Sunday. Brad Johnson asked us to share the invitation, which includes some information about her life:

(The celebration is planned) on the lawn just outside Colman Pool in West Seattle this Sunday, 9/8, at 2 o’clock, right after the last noon swim of the outdoor season, where fellow swimmers and others … are asked to make arrangements so that you can join us as we celebrate the life of our dear and recently departed Karol Fern Sample, who, after two courageous years of fighting cancer, moved out into the universe to spread her fairy dust, positive energy, and bigger-than-life smile this past Monday morning, September 2nd.

The idea is for this to be a potluck where we share food, but more importantly to share in the warmth of community with hugs and remembrances of Karol’s short but vital, vibrant life. This near fixture of Lincoln Park, dressed typically in a white or green wool hat with ear flaps, either rode her classic bike or walked daily around the paths surrounding this park and pool, her second home, where she could also keep watch over any stranded seal pups or orcas magically appearing out in the sound. But what many didn’t know was that this very creative, bright shining star was a gifted and highly talented visual artist, a painter.

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Seafair Clowns bring school supplies, fun to Roxhill Elementary

September 6, 2013 1:47 pm

| Comments Off on Seafair Clowns bring school supplies, fun to Roxhill Elementary

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

You’ve seen them at big events like the West Seattle Grand Parade – but you might not realize the Seafair Clowns do a lot of community work too – and that’s what brought them today to West Seattle’s Roxhill Elementary, whose principal Sahnica Washington (top photo) gave them a warm welcome, as did the hundreds of kids to whom they gave out school supplies and backpacks:

The Seafair Clowns’ 9th annual School Supply Giveaway also brought out other community leaders – below, Seattle Police interim Chief Jim Pugel with West Seattle’s own Seafair Clown “Officer Lumpy“:

Seattle Fire Chief Gregory Dean and some of his crew members pitched in too – as did local TV personalities including KING 5’s Lori Matsukawa, below with Chief Dean:

Local sponsors helped make the event possible, too – read more about it here.

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5 highlights for your West Seattle (and beyond) Friday night

September 6, 2013 1:01 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

Another lightning photo from overnight just came in: “This is looking west toward Blake Island, with transmission tower lights on the Kitsap Peninsula beneath the lightning and the lights from Bremerton reflecting in the clouds on the right,” explains the photographer, Mark Dale. (Thanks again to everyone who’s been sharing photos!) It’s looking a little sunbreaky in West Seattle as we write this – wanted to mention a few events for tonight before it’s too late:

ROTARY ‘FIRST FRIDAY’: 5-7 pm at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), stop by and meet Rotary Club of West Seattle members who are gathering for a good time and a good cause (charity benefit/awareness-raising TBA). Details in our calendar listing. (6451 California SW)

‘ENDLESS SUMMER’ CORNER BAR IN HIGHLAND PARK: The Highland Park Improvement Club‘s monthly Corner Bar is back, all ages 6-9 pm, 21+ after 9 pm, live music, beverages, more. Details in our calendar listing. (12th/Holden)

ROSH HASHANAH: Kol HaNeshamah (WSB sponsor) has evening events beginning with Tot Shabbat at 6:15 pm – more details on the KHN website.

HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL: The season begins! Both of tonight’s games involving local schools are away games – Chief Sealth International High School (above, WSB photo of practice this week) visits White Center’s Evergreen High School, 8 pm; West Seattle High School (below, WSB photo of practice this week) is at Fife, 7 pm.

More events for today/tonight (and far beyond) can be found on our calendar!

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West Seattle Bike Connections joins in Bicycle/Truck Safety Fair

September 6, 2013 11:56 am

| 7 COMMENTS

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

Thanks to West Seattle Bike Connections president Don Brubeck for sharing photos from the Bike/Truck Safety Fair early this morning at Terminal 25 off East Marginal Way. T-25 is close to the scene of the May 1st bike/truck collision that killed a rider. Don reports:

Rain let up, and we had a good turnout. Very informative for cyclists to ride in a semi and experience the turning radii, mirror blind spots and stopping distance these truckers need. Great conversations between cyclists, truck drivers, Port of Seattle, SDOT, and BNSF representatives.

We really appreciate the work of Port of Seattle Transportation Planner Christine Wolf and public affairs representative Mick Schultz, and others from the Port in making this happen. Great to have Dongho Chang, Chief Traffic Engineer, Monica Dewald, and Jim Curtin there from SDOT. Our group had 7 volunteers staffing the event, and Cascade Bicycle Club sent Robin Randells, education trainer. Truck drivers Teo and Warren Aakervik were great.

The city is planning more improvements to the area by November, as updated here August 13th.

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West Seattle Weather Watch: ‘Flood watch’ until 6 pm

September 6, 2013 9:57 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

What a night! The photos above are courtesy of Illex Photography – taken six seconds apart, the second during lightning that, the photographer says, “turned night into day.” Now the question many are asking: When will the rain stop? While the National Weather Service still has a “flood watch” in effect for our area until 6 tonight, after that, the rain is supposed to ease, in time for the weekend.

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: September’s first Friday

September 6, 2013 6:03 am

| 11 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
6:03 AM: The downpour started before midnight – which means a potentially problematic morning commute. We’ll keep very close watch on this one. And an alert for tonight, assuming the weather doesn’t cancel the expansion-joint work – the ramp from northbound I-5 to the West Seattle Bridge is scheduled to close all weekend again, along with two adjacent ramps, 7 pm tonight until early Monday morning.

7:15 AM: WSDOT says that overall, the commute’s slow but “no massive backups” anywhere.

7:29 AM: If you’re bicycling this morning, the bike/truck Safety Fair is still on at Terminal 25 (East Marginal just north of Spokane) so far as we know, scheduled until 8:30 am.

(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand, added 9:30 am)
8:02 AM: If you’ve watched TV news this morning, you’ve likely seen a big sinkhole mistakenly reported as being in the Burien area – it’s just south of South Park, vicinity of S. 96th/8th S. Not a major route, but affecting truck traffic, says KING 5, which reported that the sinkhole is in a spot that had been repaired months ago, and then was weakened by the overnight deluge.

9:30 AM: Went over to check out the road sinkhole. The county has no idea when it’ll be fixed, but S. 96th is blocked in that spot TFN.

12:03 PM: Just in case you’d heard about this closure on 99 north of downtown – we’re passing along word that SDOT says, never mind:

The Seattle Department of Transportation announces the cancellation of the Sept. 6-7 closure of northbound SR 99 and Mercer Street due to impacts from rainy weather and availability of materials. A full closure of northbound SR 99 and Mercer Street is tentatively rescheduled for mid-September. Further information including closure dates will be provided as the work is confirmed.

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West Seattle family behind area’s 1st San Gennaro Festival this weekend

September 6, 2013 12:10 am

| 16 COMMENTS

| Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway | West Seattle news

One of this weekend’s biggest events in Seattle is a new event – the San Gennaro Festival. It’s happening in Georgetown – but the family behind it is from West Seattle, and wants to make sure you know you’re welcome! Angela Mascio contacted WSB to share that news, explaining:

We started a non-profit foundation called the San Gennaro Foundation of Seattle, which is planning the first annual San Gennaro Festival of Seattle to be held in Georgetown Sept 7th and 8th. It’s going to be a great festival with authentic Italian food, music, and wine :) There will be a kids’ area with different activities throughout the day. We chose the Puget Sound Blood Center to receive any proceeds from this first festival, and we’re also having a blood drive to celebrate the blood miracle of Saint Gennaro.

This festival began in New York as a way for immigrants to celebrate their culture. Today, that festival is about two weeks long and they close down all of Little Italy in New York. Many other major US cities have followed suite and have San Gennaro festivals, so we decided it was about time for one in Seattle.

10 am-10 pm Saturday and 10 am-6 pm Sunday, South Angelo Street in Georgetown will be closed for the festival. It’s where her family first started their businesses, and they still own a building there, Angela explained:

About 50ish years ago, my grandparents and my father and two of his sisters came over from Italy. My grandmother missed the fresh pasta from her father’s pasta company back in Italy, so she started making it in her basement. It grew into a business and their first location was on South Angelo Street in Georgetown. Mascio’s Pasta grew and my dad took it over eventually. It grew more, he sold his shares, and started his own company, again in Georgetown first (San Gennaro Foods, we manufacture Polenta). We’re currently in Kent.

Angela shared this link to her grandfather’s obituary from 1990. She also says her aunt has a business in Georgetown and revived the “Mascio’s Italian Specialty Foods” name. But enough about history – back to the festival. Here’s the entertainment schedule; here’s a map to the location.

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Video: Big turnout, big inspiration @ Seattle Lutheran football/cheer benefit

September 5, 2013 9:47 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

Two nights before their first game of the season, Seattle Lutheran High School‘s football players and cheerleaders were the winners at a benefit dinner tonight. From left in our top photo, head coach Jeff Scott, head of school Dave Meyer, and media personality/entrepreneur Jenni Hogan, who emceed the event. Hogan, a former star rower at the University of Washington, noted that while a student she appreciated athletes coming to speak to her and her teammates, and that’s what she appreciated about tonight’s event, which featured another former Husky athlete, football great Greg Lewis:

Speakers also included former Seahawks player Orlando Huff:

The event, which included fundraising raffles, was held in the Menashe Family Gym on campus:

The menu included this cake, edible all the way down to the football:

Season starts this Saturday night, with the Saints hosting Evergreen Lutheran at West Seattle Stadium, 7 pm.

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The WSBeat: Scam alert; gun-pointing incident; mower-theft hunch…

September 5, 2013 6:41 pm

| 8 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle police | WSBeat

By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog

This edition of the WSBeat contains summaries written from reports on cases handled in the past several weeks by Southwest Precinct officers – generally cases 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?”

*At least one West Seattle business has been struck by the “pay the overdue power bill” scam going around the city. Luckily, the employee became suspicious and called City Light, which confirmed that the company’s bills were up to date and that no payment was necessary (especially to a third party pretending to be a collector).

*On Monday the 2nd, 911 received a call about a man pointing a gun at someone in the 4500 block of Delridge Way. The suspect car was stopped and positively identified in the 6000 block. The driver claimed the incident was the result of road rage — that he had been cut off and “forced to stop” back at the West Seattle Bridge. He also admitted that there was a gun in the car. His passenger was ID’d as the one pointing the gun; his passenger was also his son … and a convicted felon. The 41-year-old Westwood-area resident was booked into King County Jail for investigation of firearms violations.

Five more summaries ahead:Read More

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West Seattle Weather Watch update: Rain, thunder, lightning

September 5, 2013 4:27 pm

| 17 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(If you can’t see the Instagram video above, click here to see it there)
4:27 PM: In case you’re wondering if that expected downpour is still on the way – YES, says the National Weather Service. Its latest alert is a “Hazardous Weather Outlook,” predicting heavy rainfall into tonight, possibly up to two inches. Read the alert here. The flood-watch alert remains effect through tomorrow; read the latest version here.

P.S. One weather-related cancellation so far – Schmitz Park Elementary’s Friday night outdoor-movie fundraiser has been canceled because there’s a 90 percent chance of rain; no new date yet.

6:18 PM UPDATE: The 15-second Instagram video is from just before 6 pm, south of Alki Point. And just minutes ago, the rain resumed here at HQ in Upper Fauntleroy. We hope this storm will pass trouble-free, but if it gets to the point of trees down, clogged street drains, or anything else people should know about, as with all breaking news, please let us know too, once you’ve alerted authorities – text or call 206-293-6302 any time.

10:59 PM UPDATE: As discussed in comments, the rain’s returned. Thunder and lightning too.

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West Seattle encampments: Ex-Nickelsville site fenced but not cleared; California Way cleanup

September 5, 2013 3:41 pm

| 46 COMMENTS

| Nickelsville encampment | West Seattle news

On the fourth day after “Moving Day,” the former site of the “Nickelsville” encampment at 7116 West Marginal Way SW in West Seattle still isn’t clear; the photo above, taken this afternoon, shows the view southeast into the site from what was its parking-lot entrance. However, a chain-link fence went up today around its perimeter, as the city had promised – this view is from that same side, atop the steps:

And this view is on the north side, along Highland Park Way SW:

According to the Nickelsville Works Facebook page, the city will allow them access to the site through the end of tomorrow (Friday, September 6th) to clean up and pack up what’s left following the move to three other sites (all shown in our Sunday coverage). Mayoral spokesperson Aaron Pickus confirms that, and tells WSB that once that extension is over, “The City will clean up with the site with the appropriate equipment.”

Meanwhile, the city also continues to post and clear small campsites found in other areas. A resident tipped us to some clearing work in a greenbelt area along California Way between North Admiral and east Alki; it had been posted in July, and the cleanup crew left a big stack of bags Wednesday afternoon:

The city’s approach to smaller campsites continues to follow what was outlined here three years ago, according to Pickus.

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West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival returns October 27th

September 5, 2013 1:49 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle festivals | West Seattle news

(WSB photo from first West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival, October 2012)
Last year, the annual West Seattle Junction Association-presented trick-or-treating event expanded into something new – and wildly popular from the very start: The WS Junction Harvest Festival, closing the street in the heart of The Junction for fun, games, a temporarily relocated Farmers’ Market, *and* trick-or-treating. And WSJA executive director Susan Melrose has just announced they’ll do it again for a second year!

Sunday, October 27th – 10 am – 2 pm

The West Seattle Junction Association is pleased to announce our second annual Harvest Festival. Last year was awesome! This event brought together our community in so many ways. Our weekly farmers market took to the streets with color and flair, our local non-profits and business brought free kids activities and games, the West Seattle High School marching band led hundreds in a costume parade, and Junction brick-and-mortar businesses hosted their long standing Trick-or-Treat event. The costumes were incredible… kudos West Seattle! Let’s do it again!

If you’d like to help make it great:

1. Host a Booth: Have your non-profit, school, business or club host an activity booth.
2. Volunteer: The first shift helps close the streets at 6 am and second shifts helps direct booth hosts at 8 am.
3. Sponsor: While we’re running a low budget and free event with volunteer staff, closing the street is still expensive, and sponsors will help make this event possible.

Details on these ways to get involved are at wsjunction.org. See you there!

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