day : 19/11/2013 9 results

Tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting featured crime-trend updates from Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Pierre Davis and transportation-safety info from SDOT’s Jim Curtin (who started speaking about 26 minutes into our video). We’ll add toplines later but just in case you’re interested, we recorded the entire hour and a half meeting on video and it’s just finished uploading, so we present it here for your potential late-night/early-morning viewing. More later!

ADDED 9:40 AM WEDNESDAY: Toplines from WSB’s Katie Meyer:

*From SDOT community traffic liaison Jim Curtin’s presentation – the top spots in West Seattle for collisions, October 2010-October 2013:

1) Olson Place SW and 1st (aka, east end of Roxbury)
2) 35th/Avalon (that includes collisions near the bridge entrance)
3) 8th SW and SW Roxbury

Major causes of collisions:

33% caused by speeding
48& of fatal crashes involve impaired drivers (alcohol or drugs – no increase in marijuana so far)
22% of fatal crashes involve distraction

Most common type of collision in West Seattle:
“Hit parked cars” (1,150 hit parked car hit “incidents “in the three-year time period Curtin covered – some are multiple-vehicle incidents, so higher total of hit parked car numbers).

CRIME TRENDS: Lt. Davis stressed both the importance of reporting crime AND suspicious sightings – “partnership with the community” – and of prevention. People are still, he lamented, leaving keys in cars, leaving home doors unlocked, etc. Also, he warned, mail and package theft ramp up this time of year (for obvious reasons), and he reiterated something noted last month, that West Seattle will have holiday-season emphasis patrols, with officers out on foot beats. Traffic emphasis patrols will be “highly visible” in the months ahead, too.

NEXT MEETING: WSCPC is taking December off; at 7 pm January 21st, Ann Graves from Seattle Animal Shelter will be on hand to discuss various animal-control issues.

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As-it-happened coverage: Neighbors speak out about 36-unit, no-parking Junction development

November 19, 2013 6:45 pm

| 69 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle news

6:45 PM: We’re in the basement at Hope Lutheran Church along with more than 30 people here for a meeting that wouldn’t have happened if neighbors hadn’t petitioned the city for it. While the 36-unit, no-parking-space apartment building proposed for 4535 44th SW is going through Design Review – with at least one more meeting to come – other components of public comment are routinely dealt with via e-mail, postal-mail, phone comments … unless at least 50 people petition for a meeting to address SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act)-related impacts. No decision will be made tonight, but anyone who wants to get up to a microphone and speak is supposed to get a chance to do so. City planner Tami Garrett is presiding. We’ll be publishing notes as it happens. It’s starting with some voicing of confusion over the meeting’s topic – “we thought it was about the lack of parking,” per a few voices from the audience. “Is there anyone here from SDOT?” one man asks. No, just the Department of Planning and Development. Garrett clarifies that Design Review doesn’t include impacts such as parking, traffic, and noise, but this type of meeting does.

6:51 PM: Some confusion continues. Garrett explains that this is not microhousing – the units are proposed as full-fledged, if small, apartments. One man asks her to clarify how best they can express their opinions to decisionmakers about the lack of parking; he says he was “stunned” to find out this building has none. Garrett finally moves into the introduction, explaining that this project is in what’s considered a “frequent transit zone” that is part of an “urban village,” and that’s why no parking is required. She says two planners will review this project – she deals with Design Review and SEPA, while another planner will deal with “how it meets the land-use code.”

Questions arise from around the room, again, regarding why the law doesn’t require parking in this kind of law. Both city law and SEPA have changed, explain Garrett and co-worker Molly Hurley, who says “Tami’s role and my role are limited to review of this project to make sure it meets current codes. Therefore we are not effective conduits for your concerns about … the codes and policy,” which she says need to be expressed to City Councilmembers. A few minutes later, Hurley acknowledges that DPD does “have a hand in writing codes.” This particular change traces to last year, they say. “It was adopted at the City Council level,” explains Garrett, after someone in the back asks, “Did we get a say in (the change)?”

7:04 PM: The first speaker, Ellen, begins.

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West Seattle man hailed for quick help after police-motorcycle crash

November 19, 2013 5:05 pm

| 14 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Quick shoutout in honor of a West Seattleite’s fast action after a collision involving a police officer: You might have heard about what Michael Katz did when he saw a driver hit a Seattle Police motorcycle officer in SODO yesterday – as explained in the SPD Blotter summary, “A man ran over to our officer and notified dispatch by using the officer’s radio. His quick-thinking and calm demeanor alerted officers to the situation and sped up emergency response.” A WSB reader tipped us later that the man was a West Seattleite, and we made contact with Katz today to confirm. No, he’s never used a radio like that before, he told us, but “they’re pretty user-friendly.” P.S.: We have an inquiry out to SPD to ask how the officer is doing.

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West Seattle has a Tool Library; how about a Toy Library?

November 19, 2013 2:02 pm

| 20 COMMENTS

| Environment | How to help | West Seattle news

When Katie sent a short note asking us to add to the calendar two meetings later this week to see if there’s community interest in forming a West Seattle Toy Library, we thought it sounded like news. So we asked for more details. She explained:

There are no other toy libraries in Seattle. They are very popular in the UK and Australia. The USA has a National Toy Library Association that affiliates with toy libraries in other major cities. They are not as popular in the US as they are in other countries around the world but I think that should change. The recent interest to be green and teach sustainable practices to our kids should extend to the realm where they live: toys.

I was tired of buying toys that my toddler would play with for 10 minutes and then toss aside. I want to teach her what it means to recycle in a meaningful way and I want her to learn to treat things with respect so it can be used in the future. I was looking for something that we could do as a family, and so I google searched toy libraries in Seattle. Much to my amazement and annoyance, there isn’t one. So. I guess we’ll have to start one. The tool library has been a major source of inspiration for me and I am looking for other families who want to jump on the bandwagon and get this thing going!

The meetings are 7-8 pm this Thursday (November 21st) and 3-4 pm this Saturday (November 23rd), both at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor). Come to one to talk about “what a toy library is, overview of function, & opportunities for participation.”

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West Seattle scene: Holy Rosary School’s centennial photo session

November 19, 2013 12:15 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle history | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

(First 3 photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
West Seattle’s Holy Rosary School is celebrating its centennial, and as part of that, its 460-plus students gathered today for a group photo in the church. That’s our view of the big picture, above. Here’s Carl Baber, the parent who served today as official photographer:

He had quite the task to wrangle 460-plus photographic subjects at once. But they got a treat after their historic pose – they were all allowed to make goofy faces:

We asked HR if they had a comparable all-school shot from sometime in the past hundred years. Answer: No; but for comparison’s sake, here’s a 6th-grade group shot from 1959:

And for a bonus view of history, an aerial (looking west-northwest, with 42nd SW in the middle, between church and school):

The people we talked with at HR today didn’t know what year that’s from – do you? Meantime – read about the school’s history here.

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SCAM ALERT: Fake ‘City Light’ callers still buzzing businesses

November 19, 2013 11:04 am

| Comments Off on SCAM ALERT: Fake ‘City Light’ callers still buzzing businesses

| Crime | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Another West Seattle business has just received the scam call claiming that City Light will cut off their power immediately if money isn’t handed over. This time, the report comes from Wendy at Flower Lab in Admiral. We’ve reported on two others in the past week and a half – here and here. If you get this (or another) scam call, report it to police! It’s not new – as City Light explains here – but the scammers are gambling they’ll find someone who doesn’t know it’s fake, so spread the word, especially to businesses. (You can use the Share This feature at the bottom of this and every WSB story – mousing over it enables you to e-mail a link or share it via multiple social-media services.)

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West Seattle Tuesday: Metro Q/A; new greenway; Crime Prevention Council; special meeting on ‘no parking’ project…

November 19, 2013 10:42 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Luna/Anchor Park, photographed last weekend by Doug Branch, shared via WSB Flickr group)
As is often the case with Tuesdays, another big day/night to get involved in your community! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and newly launched Holiday Events and Info Guide – a few highlights:

BAZAAR: Under way until 1 pm, the “mini-Harvest Festival” bazaar at Senior Center of West Seattle; details in our calendar listing. (California/Oregon)

QUESTIONS ABOUT METRO CUTS? Just found out about this one via a retweet from South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor), where Metro reps will be on hand at midday today:

Learn about #KCMetroCuts at @SouthSeattleCC 11am-2pm today. http://t.co/hzh9a0d778

— King County Metro (@kcmetrobus) November 19, 2013

VOLUNTEER NIGHT AT WESTSIDE BABY: Can you help? 6-9 pm; details in our calendar listing. (10027 14th SW)

GREENWAY OPEN HOUSE: 5:30-7:30 pm, get info and/or ask questions about the South Delridge/Highland Park greenway plan-in-progress. Open house @ Salvation Army. (9050 16th SW)

WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: Speaking of traffic/pedestrian/bicycling/etc. neighborhood safety, Jim Curtin from SDOT is the scheduled guest at tonight’s monthly meeting. Crime trends and Q/A with Seattle Police reps too, as always. 7 pm, Southwest Precinct. (Delridge/Webster)

COMMUNITY MEETING FOR ‘NO PARKING’ DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL: 6:30 pm at Hope Lutheran Church is the community-requested meeting with city planners regarding 4535 44th SW, proposed for 36 units and no parking. This is separate from the Design Review process, which doesn’t look at traffic and other environmental effects. Details in our calendar listing. (42nd/Oregon)

ZZ WARD LIVE: The next in-store at Easy Street Records is ZZ Ward, tonight at 7 pm. (California/Alaska)

BELLY DANCING AT SKYLARK: Skylark Café and Club‘s monthly Alauda showcase is at 7 pm tonight. (3803 Delridge Way SW)

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2013 WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, first edition, is live!

November 19, 2013 9:32 am

| 5 COMMENTS

| Holidays | West Seattle news

This year’s edition of the WSB West Seattle Holiday Events and Info Guide is live! Besides following that link, you can find it any time by clicking the HOLIDAYS tab atop every page of WSB. We’ll be adding to it daily (sometimes multiple times a day) as more events, donation drives, and info snippets come in, from now through New Year’s Day; it’s your one-stop shop for all types of holiday-related information, grouped by types rather than dates (if you want to see what’s happening on any given day, our year-round West Seattle Event Calendar remains the place for that.) If your holiday event/etc. isn’t in the guide yet, please send information as soon as possible to editor@westseattleblog.com. Our guidelines, as with regular calendar items, are:

-Information in plain text in the body of your e-mail, NOT in a Word/PDF doc (etc.).
-Doesn’t have to be a big wordy “press release,” just a few basic facts is fine!
-Photos/posters not required but if you send one, please send as a .jpg.
-Please include a Web and/or Facebook link for your event if available; if you’re charging admission and are selling tickets online, a link for that would be great too, to save us the time of looking for it.
-Unless it’s something you’ve scheduled at the last minute, PLEASE send at least a week in advance.

Thank you and happy holidays!

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Tracking Tuesday; new stop signs on 26th SW greenway

November 19, 2013 6:47 am

| 39 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(City cameras are broken again, so here’s a state camera, 1st Ave. S. Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:47 AM: No specific incidents so far on the routes through/from West Seattle, but we’re watching as usual, for the morning commute and beyond.

8:05 AM: Thanks to the commenters who pointed out that the SDOT cameras are stuck again. So we’ve switched to two state-run cameras, facing south over the south end of the 1st Avenue So. Bridge, and looking south over I-5 just south of the West Seattle Bridge.

8:33 AM: Tommy and Lindsey have both pointed out that new stop signs are installed on the 26th SW greenway in North Delridge. (Added Tuesday pm: Greenway info/map here) And, not all drivers are noticing. Tommy sent this quick clip:

And Lindsey tweeted:

There's a set of new stop signs up at 26th & Juneau. Beware, a lot of cars haven't noticed them yet. @westseattleblog

— Lindsey Hurd (@lindseyhurd) November 19, 2013

By the way, if you have a question about neighborhood traffic safety, SDOT’s Jim Curtin is the person to ask, and he’s the guest at tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – 7 pm, Southwest Precinct (Webster/Delridge).

P.S. The city traffic cams are working again, so here’s the east-facing one from the bridge:

For more cams, see the WSB Traffic page.

10:32 AM: SDOT reports via Twitter – and commenters have noted here, too – that northbound 99 is closed at Battery St. Tunnel.

4:32 PM: From SDOT – an alert for tomorrow morning:

Tomorrow morning, November 20, the Homeless Advocates March will get underway at 7:45 a.m. after the participants spend the night at Westlake Park. A Seattle Police motorcycle escort will accompany the 100 participants in the street as they make their way east on Pine Street to Fifth Avenue, then southbound on Fifth to the City Hall at Cherry Street. The activists have a goal to “Get 1000 people off the streets by summer 2014.” They will occupy the Committee to End Homelessness in King County (CEHKC) Governing Board Meeting being held at 8:30 a.m. in the Bertha Landis Room of City Hall. Motorists can expect to encounter delays between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m. as the marchers move along the downtown streets. Given the timing of the event, commuters may need to allow for extra time to get to work.

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