West Seattle, Washington
26 Friday
Story by Tracy Record
Photos by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers
Jef Fike is so focused on fresh food, his about-to-open Alki restaurant doesn’t even have a freezer.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, February 19th) is the official opening night for Cassis, a name already known to fans of fine food who mourned the end of its Capitol Hill edition a decade ago and cheered when news of an Alki rebirth broke last year.
As a pink sunset glow topped storm clouds off Alki a few hours ago, we stopped in by invitation for a few photos of the just-completed interior, and an opening-night-eve conversation with Fike (above).
Before we get on with the rest of the night’s news – quite a sight at sunset. Thanks to Wayne McFarland for the photo above from Fauntleroy, and JayDee for the photo below from Upper Alki, both showing the storm clouds that rose over the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas, as well as further south, before and at sunset.
The forecast suggests it’ll be breezy and rainy off and on at least through Thursday night.
(May 2013 WS5K photo courtesy Tracy Brigham, whose sons greeted passing runners that morning)
Today’s afternoon sun reminded us that the countdown to spring is on, and we are exactly three months away from a big day along the beach – May 18th is the date set for the West Seattle 5K run/walk on Alki, organized by and benefiting the West Seattle High School PTSA, followed by SDOT‘s Seattle Summer Streets event (11 am-5 pm), once officially and still casually known as “car-free day.” You can sign up for the West Seattle 5K right now and get the lowest-priced registration – just go here. (As for the official start of spring, this year it’s March 20th.)
(TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE: Next game for WSHS set; scroll down)
(WSHS #30, Lexi Iaone; photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
4:39 PM: In postseason competition at Ingraham High School in North Seattle this afternoon, the West Seattle High School girls’ basketball team has just lost to Mercer Island, 52-49; down by nine points at the start of the 4th quarter, head coach Sonya Elliott‘s young team (no seniors) embarked on a comeback, but fell short.
(WSHS #12 Lydia Giomi, #21 Gabby Sarver, #10 Charli Elliott)
They’re not out of the postseason yet; our crew reports the Wildcats are expected to play again Friday night in Bellevue, opponent TBA. (More photos & game details later this evening.)
ADDED 11:02 PM: Coach Elliott tells WSB their next opponent is Liberty, 8:15 pm Friday at Bellevue College. Ahead, notes and a few more photos from today’s game:
First the call for help … then the dropoffs on a blustery Saturday … and now the tally: Mary Ellen Cunningham says the donations for City of Joy added up to about 800 pounds worth:
How’s that for West Seattle generosity! Fantastic. A bunch of us were elated going through everything … getting it all organized and packed up ready for the trip to Congo.
The center, which helps survivors of sexual violence in the DRC, accepts online donations too.
(UPDATED with full archived Seattle Channel video of mayor’s speech)
2:08 PM: Live online via Seattle Channel – Mayor Ed Murray‘s first State of the City speech. Watch it by clicking the “play” button. We’ll update later with the archived video as well as any notes of particular West Seattle interest. (3:57 pm note – the archived video is now viewable above.)
2:30 PM UPDATE: Several notes of interest so far – a mention of the Youth Ambassadors program active at several local schools (the mayor mentioned Roxhill, Denny, and Concord); also a nod to the Duwamish River in a climate-change mention, and a promise that he’ll do something about deteriorating street conditions.
2:45 PM UPDATE: Speech over, but Council Chair Tim Burgess asks the mayor to stay for a special presentation – a photo from Murray’s days as a council staffer. Now it’s on to the council’s meeting. A few other notes in the meantime – he touched on growth without any promises of slowing it, and called the “urban village strategy” a success; he voiced support for the expected April vote on Metro/roads funding and August vote on “sustainable parks funding”; he said he intended to call for a maritime summit; he said the city needs to rebuild trust with neighborhoods, and reiterated his plan for a neighborhood summit April 5th.
3:57 PM UPDATE: Here’s the full text, sent by the mayor’s office as a PDF. We missed another West Seattle shoutout – a mention of the recently announced 35th Avenue SW safety project. The full video is also available, so we have added that above.
That’s one of just dozens of images in a photo gallery showing unclaimed stolen property from a burglary spree – jewelry, phones, wallets, photos, sports cards, prescription drugs, more. We don’t know so far whether any of it is from burglaries in West Seattle. But just in case – we’re sharing this found-property info just in from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West, who is asking that it be distributed far and wide:
Were you the victim of a burglary between January 2012 and July 2013? If you were and you live somewhere between Mill Creek, Washington and Tigard, Oregon, we may have property that was stolen in your burglary.
Detectives from the Sammamish Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Office are trying to find the owners of stolen property that was recovered last July after the arrest of a couple who admitted to committing dozens of burglaries between Tigard, Oregon and Mill Creek, Washington.
Krystal Sweetman, 27 of Puyallup and Steven Tipton, 27 of Tacoma were arrested last July after an investigation that revealed the couple had committed more than 80 residential burglaries between January 2012 and July 2013. The couple sold many of the stolen items at area coin shops, netting over $346,000 in the 18-month crime spree.
Detectives also discovered that the pair had a storage unit that was packed with property taken from the burglaries. Many of the stolen items from the storage unit have not been claimed and detectives are hoping to reunite victims with their property.
In January, Sweetman pleaded guilty to multiple charges and was sentenced to 36 months in prison and 36 months in community custody. Tipton is expected to plead later this month.
Detectives have photographed the unclaimed property and have provided a [password-protected] link to photos for the public to view. Detectives are asking anyone who was the victim of a burglary between January, 2012 and July, 2013 to look at the photos to see if any of the property belongs to you.
If you have questions please call 804-885-KCSO (5276) – do NOT call other police department numbers. If you see property that you believe belongs to you, follow the instructions on the link. You will be asked to provide the case number of your burglary and will need to provide some proof the item is yours.
If you have trouble accessing the site, please try at another time. We expect the site to be inundated with viewers and access may be limited during the initial release of information.
Here again is the photo-gallery link; the password is SammamishPD – and it IS case-sensitive.
Thanks to Eric Bell for the photo of a hard-working bird he describes as “one of the sparrows that bus the floor of the Metropolitan Market outdoor seating area — free of charge.” Before we get too much further into this hard-working Tuesday, six things you might want to know about, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar.
METRO FARE HEARING: Just in case you don’t usually read our regular morning traffic-watch reports (where we include transportation-related news as well as traffic alerts and ongoing commute notes), details on today’s 1:30 pm Metro-fare-proposals hearing downtown – and how to comment online if you aren’t going – are in today’s edition.
STATE OF THE CITY: Also downtown – but you can watch live via Seattle Channel, online or on cable – Mayor Ed Murray presents his first State of the City speech to the City Council, 2 pm.
TUESDAY TUNE-UP BENEFITS MARY’S PLACE: Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor) invites you to come listen to pianist Victor Janusz and accordionist Robertson Witmer tonight, 6:30-8:30 pm, and raise money for Mary’s Place – details in our listing. (1936 Harbor SW)
ARBOR HEIGHTS ZONING-EXCEPTION MEETING: 6:30 pm at the Arbor Heights Elementary library, it’s the first meeting of an advisory committee considering whether to recommend approval of zoning exceptions needed for the new AHES – explained in our calendar listing. (37th/104th)
MEET NEW PRECINCT COMMANDER: 7 pm tonight at the Southwest Precinct, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council‘s monthly meeting will start with an introduction and crime-trends update from Capt. Steve Wilske, the precinct’s new commander (here’s our recent interview with him). All welcome; the agenda also includes a primer on Seattle’s unique Mental Health Court. (Delridge/Webster)
‘BLUES TO DO’ AT THE FEEDBACK: The Blues To Do Tuesday night series continues at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) at 8 tonight, with Steve Bailey and the Blue Flames. (6451 California SW)
(Sunday morning photo courtesy Jason)
Since information was scant when we checked out the Roxbury/Olson one-car crash early Sunday (original report here), leaving multiple questions unanswered, we just followed up with media liaisons for Seattle Police and Fire. Police do believe the driver fled the scene, through a window; the three people found in the car were in the front-passenger and rear seats. All are described by Seattle Fire as men in their late teens/early 20s; though they were taken to the hospital, none had serious injuries. The report also notes that while police tried to talk with them at the hospital to find out more about the crash and the apparent hit-run driver, none would respond. The ownership of the crashed red Lexus wasn’t clear, either; the report says the person on record as its registered owner had sold it to “a presumed auto dealer” a month ago. It was totaled, and impounded; other damage involved the shrubbery into which the car crashed – the officer writing the report noted, “It appears as if the vehicle was traveling in a northeasterly direction on Olson Place when it drove up over the curb and struck a tree on (a) planting strip. The car continued across the sidewalk, where it struck the shrubbery in (a) front yard.”
P.S. That intersection is West Seattle’s top spot for collisions, according to an SDOT presentation covered here last fall.
(Seattle Pride photo: 8th grade/freshman players at Portland showcase last year)
More youth-sports news: Tryouts start this weekend for Seattle Pride basketball. From Jason Vann:
This is our 5th season as a local West Seattle program. We have kids from Sealth, West Seattle, Seattle Lutheran, Hope Lutheran, Denny, Madison, and Holy Rosary. We have teams and tryouts for girls and boys, from 5th grade through juniors in high school, ages 11-17.
Tryouts are scheduled for the next two weekends – read on for the schedule:
(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
Holiday’s past, so most things are back to the usual baseline – except for Seattle Public Schools, which are out all week, so take that into account.
COUNTY COUNCIL HEARING ON METRO FARE CHANGES: At its 1:30 pm meeting today, the King County Council plans a hearing on the fare increase that is part of the proposed package to avoid transit cuts, in legislation that also creates a special low-income fare. From the KCC website:
The fare increase, which would be implemented in March 2015, would raise fares by 25 cents for all fare categories for Metro Transit bus service. It would also increase fares for Access paratransit service by 50 cents.
The legislation would also authorize the creation of a reduced fare program for transit riders. It would set the fare at $1.50 and establish the eligibility threshold at 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, currently $22,980 for an individual and $47,100 for a family of four.
If you can’t be there, you can send in your thoughts via this form.
8:27 AM: Comment and e-mail mention that the Highland Park Way hill is closed to traffic. 911 log has a notation about a fuel spill.
8:50 AM: Per scanner, Highland Park Way is now open again.
10:03 AM: We asked Seattle Fire about the “spill,” since they responded – Lt. Sue Stangl says, “It was a small trail of fuel up Highland Park Way that ended near a fresh pile of gravel.” So, a mystery spill so far.
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