West Seattle, Washington
18 Thursday
(WSHS #22 Annalisa Ursino, #12 Lydia Giomi, #10 Charli Elliott; photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
9:32 PM: The final score in Bellevue minutes ago was 43-30, with the West Seattle High School girls’ basketball team out of the postseason after a loss to Liberty HS (Issaquah district), but the game was a lot closer most of the way than the final score reflects. More photos and details later tonight.
ADDED EARLY SATURDAY: First, the scoring rundown for WSHS – Giomi led the field with 10 points, #30 Lexi Iaone (above) was second with 7 points including the Wildcats’ only three-pointer of the game. #21 Gabby Sarver (next photo) was third with 5 points.
Elliott followed with four, and scoring was completed by #15 Sarah Cooper (photo below) and Ursino with 2 points each.
Liberty got out to a 5-0 lead before WSHS finally scored midway through the first quarter and went on to take the lead 7-5, promptly losing it when the Patriots hit one of several 3-pointers, answered by the one by Ioane, which gave West Seattle the lead again.
Everything was hard-fought, from rebounds to breaking through the two sides’ respective defenses.
WSHS led 12-8 at the end of the first quarter but Liberty came back out fighting in the next one – including its very vocal fan contingent (WSHS had a hearty turnout too) — and the lead see-sawed a while, with Liberty ahead 22-21 at halftime after a run including two 3-pointers.
West Seattle’s rebounding was strong in the second half but its shooting was on the cold side. They did take back the lead a few minutes in, 23-22, and the lead was extended to three points after a pair of foul shots by Giomi.
But five unanswered points, including yet another 3-pointer, by the Patriots gave them the lead again, 27-25, and Liberty held it the rest of the way, including a few flashes of full-court-press defense. They were one point up over WSHS, 29-28, at the end of the third quarter, and it wasn’t that close again. The Wildcats had many shots but few successes. They scored only once more, a basket by Sarver with just under 3 minutes to go, while Liberty opened it up, including yet another 3-pointer along the way, until the 43-30 final.
Head coach Sonya Elliott has the chance to keep the same strong team growing next year, since none are seniors – yet.
A memorial service is planned on March 8th for Betty Lou Benson, whose family shares this remembrance:
Betty Lou Benson died peacefully at age 90 on February 12, 2014 after a short illness. She was born August 20, 1923 in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from the University of Denver (DU) in Education. She moved to Tacoma in 1949 to teach elementary school and met her husband, Norman, in The Mountaineers. He had also moved from Starbuck, Minnesota to Seattle to work for Boeing.
They married in 1951 and enjoyed skiing, hiking, and folk dancing together. They made their home in West Seattle for over 50 years where she was a homemaker involved in her church, school PTA, Camp Fire, and Boy Scouts. Early on, they purchased a cabin on Vashon Island, which is still enjoyed by the family today. Betty was a door-to-door Avon Lady in her Admiral district neighborhood and worked part time at the Louise North dress shop in the West Seattle Junction. Later she was active in the West Seattle Garden Club, Federated Women’s Club, and her Kappa Delta Sorority Alumnae group. She was always generous with her time and talents.
She also collected countless donations for the Salvation Army Hickman House for victims of domestic violence and was named their Volunteer of the Decade in 1998. After her husband Norman passed away in 2002, she lived 11 years at the Kenney Home, a very special community of friends where she received kind, compassionate care. She was a wonderful mother with a positive, gracious spirit. She always enjoyed people and was a dear friend to many. She loved the ocean, beach walks, and especially trips to Hawaii. She leaves behind her children Janet (Mark) Thomasseau and Gary (Jane) Benson and grandchildren Allison Thomasseau and Matthew Benson.
Remembrances may be made to West Side Presbyterian Church – Youth Special Event Scholarships – or Salvation Army Hickman House at 1101 Pike St, Seattle, WA 98101. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm Saturday, March 8, 2014 at West Side Presbyterian Church, 3601 California Ave. SW. Share your memories at forestlawn-seattle.com.
(WSB publishes obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
As promised, we followed up on the latest arrest of Ryan Cox, the West Seattle repeat offender who has been in and out of the criminal-justice and mental-health systems: The City Attorney’s Office tells WSB he will spend up to four more months in jail as a result of his most recent arrest. It dates back to the assault case in which he pleaded guilty last year. His original sentence ended New Year’s Eve. Three weeks after that, he was arrested for violating probation; though the CAO sought to have him kept in jail longer, a judge released him on personal recognizance after one day. Local business owners say he still wanders the area with disruptive behavior, and brought their concerns to the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting again this past Tuesday. Both new Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske and Seattle Municipal Court presiding judge Kimi Kondo, who also hears cases in the city’s Mental Health Court, were there. During the meeting, we discovered via the publicly viewable SMC docket that another probation-violation warrant had been issued for Cox’s arrest, two weeks earlier. The wheels began turning after the meeting; the following day (Wednesday) he was arrested and jailed. Since then, he’s appeared again in court. CAO spokesperson Kimberly Mills tells WSB that while they wanted all remaining jail time to be imposed (about 11 months), Judge Pro Tem Robert Chung instead revoked the suspension of 180 days – six months – and “struck active probation.” With the time he has served so far, that would mean a release date no sooner than mid-June, Mills says. Side note: The short account of Cox’s Thursday hearing says the court was addressed by an SPD officer regarding “community concerns”; Capt. Wilske had promised Tuesday night that he would make sure that information was brought to the court’s attention.
Horses in Morgan Junction Park! Not an everyday sight – but members of the West Seattle-headquartered Seattle Police Mounted Patrol are visiting while a fundraiser is under way next door at Beveridge Place Pub (6413 California SW). It’s continuing until 7; the pub is 21-and-over, but all ages are welcome to stop by the park.
Details in our Thursday preview.
More than a year ago, when the city bought land for a future park in The Junction in an about-to-be-development-laden zone on 40th SW, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw noted in a meeting that it came when the city turned its focus away from pursuing land adjacent to Dakota Place Park. Now, that particular land is back in play. Mayor Ed Murray‘s office says he has signed and sent to the council a bill authorizing “the acquisition of two adjacent parcels of approximately 5,750 square-feet in total, located at 4041 and 4045 California Avenue SW, adjacent to Dakota Place Park …” The mayor’s office says the urgency of acquiring this site has increased because of a developer’s deal to buy the site; the city’s chance to buy it expires March 31st. We’re told the authorization will be introduced at the Council meeting on March 3rd and voted on shortly thereafter. No word yet on the proposed purchase price; the original/current DP Park site is a former Seattle City Light facility.
(Photo courtesy Log House Museum)
Making weekend plans? It’s your last chance to visit the home of West Seattle history, the Log House Museum, during its regular hours 12-4 pm Saturday and Sunday – after Sunday, it’s closing for a few weeks to get a new exhibit in place. Southwest Seattle Historical Society executive director Clay Eals shares the announcement:
Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 15, 2014, for the opening of a new exhibit at the Log House Museum of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.
The new exhibit is the second phase of a three-phase exhibit whose overall title is “Telling Our Westside Stories.” The theme of the second phase is “Work.”
The first-phase exhibit, with the theme of “Land,” has been up since fall 2012 and will close on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Regular open hours are noon to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. The museum is located at 3003 61st Ave. S.W., one block from Alki Beach.)
To take down the first-phase exhibit and install the second-phase exhibit, staff will close the museum from Thursday, Feb. 27, through Friday, March 14.
The new exhibit will open to the public at noon Saturday, March 15. It will examine various types of work done over the years by residents of the Duwamish peninsula and their attitudes toward it.
Besides artifacts, photos and printed interview excerpts, the exhibit will focus on brief videos that tell stories visually in the museum’s main gallery.
The bulk of the material generated for the “Telling Our Westside Stories” exhibits comes from interviews of community elders conducted by students at Madison Middle School and supervised by volunteers of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.
Volunteers have transcribed the interviews, culled related images and combined interview excerpts and images into brief videos.
“Eliciting and preserving the stories of our residents is an important part of what we do,” says Clay Eals, executive director. “It is straight down the middle of our mission to promote local heritage through education, preservation and advocacy.”
The exhibit, curated by Sarah Baylinson, museum manager, is funded in part by 4Culture and the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.
The Log House Museum is at 61st/Stevens, a block inland from the heart of Alki.
Topping this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup – a burglary investigation under way in Sunrise Heights. Martin asked us about a police response near 34th/Othello (map); SPD’s Det. Mark Jamieson says a resident called it in as a suspected break-in, hearing what sounded like breaking glass and then hearing sounds in the basement, where she said no one should have been, though the house has a basement living area. Police took one person into custody, but we don’t know yet if they were officially arrested (remember, that is a further step beyond being taken into custody for questioning – just because you see someone handcuffed doesn’t mean they were arrested) – we’ll be checking back with police.
Also:
CAR BREAK-IN: Krista e-mailed: “I would like to report to West Seattle Blog and your readers about my boyfriend’s car window getting smashed in the Highland Park neighborhood. It was parked on the street, block of 9th Avenue and Trenton Street (map). They didn’t steal anything from the car and it happened late last night or early this morning.”
BIKE-THEFT ATTEMPT: Andrew has a warning for bicycle owners, and it goes with this photo:
A thief attempted to steal my bike while I was at work (Wednesday). Luckily they must have got spooked, because they left my bike in my driveway. I’m in the townhouses by California and Myrtle (map). Please remind people to not leave anything they don’t want stolen outside.
Thanks, got lucky this time!
ORIGINAL REPORT, 10:54 AM: Though at one point the “every other week pickup” idea appeared to be on a fast track to approval, the presentation that Seattle Public Utilities will make to a City Council committee next Tuesday paints a fairly negative picture. See the full presentation here. We’ve pulled out a few slides – above, the “downside,” which includes “significant resistance.” Next, the effects – basically, some residents would actually pay more for less-frequent pickups, while others would save no more than a few dollars:
To help increase recycling, SPU recommends some other possibilities:
Just before finishing this story, we learned about this note in The Seattle Times (WSB partner) – saying the mayor has made the call not to proceed (we’re checking with his office now). We first reported back in November that the City Council would decide early this year whether to go citywide with the idea, which had gone through a test run in four neighborhoods in 2012, including part of Highland Park.
11:07 AM UPDATE: And the official announcement has arrived from the mayor’s office, saying he read the same report excerpted above, and that’s what led him to turn thumbs-down on the idea – read on:
Thanks to Paul Brannan for the photo of an eagle, pursued by crows, shared via the WSB Flickr group. Flying into Friday night, here are highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
HELP THE HORSES! Tonight, 5-7 pm, is the benefit at Beveridge Place Pub and neighboring Morgan Junction Park (where you’ll find horses!) for the Seattle Police Mounted Patrol. Details in our preview published Thursday. (6413 California SW)
MOVIE NIGHT AT HPIC: Highland Park Improvement Club invites you to movie night! Movie info and more, in our calendar listing. 6:30 pm doors, 7 pm movie. (12th/Holden)
STATE COMPETITION FOR SWIMMERS: As noted here last weekend, swimmers from Chief Sealth International High School are among the student athletes in the state championships starting at 6:15 pm tonight at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
‘PRIVATE EYES’: Second and final weekend for the “comedy of suspense and intrigue” by Twelfth Night Productions.
(Production photo by Ron Dugdale)
7:30 pm curtain time at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
STATE COMPETITION FOR WRESTLERS: Also noted here last weekend, two Sealth wrestlers are in state competition starting tonight at the Tacoma Dome.
ONSTAGE AT KENYON HALL: Classical guitarist Meredith Connie and other featured performers are at historic Kenyon Hall tonight, 7:30 pm; details in our listing. (7904 35th SW)
BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS: 8:15 pm at Bellevue College, the West Seattle High School girls-varsity basketball team faces Liberty for the chance to advance in the postseason.
Lots and lots of great fundraisers coming up around West Seattle – many are in our calendar, many in queue for mentioning here on the main page, but this is the only one we’ve seen featuring shellfish, and it’s two days away. For crab fans, from Gary:
Alki Masonic Lodge #152 is hosting its annual New England Style Crab Boil on Sunday (February 23), 4:00-7:00 pm at the Alki Masonic Hall, 4736 40th Ave SW. $30 per person (under 12 free). Meal features dungeness crab, clams, mussels, corn on the cob, and boiled potatoes, served family style with salad and clam chowder. (Steak is available for those guests who don’t favor seafood). All proceeds will help fund the annual Masonic School Awards Program. Contact Martin Monk, 425-681-5024, for information. Tickets are available at the door.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The wheels of justice seem to rotate excruciatingly slowly as a case moves toward resolution – via trial, via plea bargain, via something else. A status hearing is rescheduled, then rescheduled again, then rescheduled again.
If and when a case gets to the courtroom, you would imagine, it’s full speed ahead.
Not necessarily.
For one, there is the pace of testimony. Most witnesses are not the dramatic bombshell-droppers of TV, movies, theater. They are brought in to provide a few details that might (or might not) prove later to be key
There’s the matter of logistics.
On Thursday, the first day of witness testimony in the murder trial of Lovett “Cid” Chambers began an hour later than planned.
The first scheduled witness for the prosecution, it seemed, had overslept.
Dominoes then fell, as the second scheduled witness had been told to show up around 10, the third witness around 10:30, so neither had arrived. Calls were made. A cab was even sent to fetch one witness.
The fourth scheduled witness was on videotape – but that couldn’t be moved to the head of the line because of an ongoing discussion over what could be heard on the tape besides the witness – a discussion requiring further review and a decision from Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle before the video could be played for jurors.
Eventually, it all worked out, and the first witness to arrive took the stand at about 10:10.
(More cameras, and other info, on the WSB Traffic page)
Nothing of note on area roads/highways right now.
WEEKEND I-5 LANE CLOSURES: The I-5 expansion joints work will affect the southbound collector-distributor lanes on the south side of downtown this weekend – detailed here.
REMINDER OF NEXT WEEKEND’S HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE: As first reported here last weekend, the next full-weekend closure of Highway 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct is coming up NEXT weekend, late night February 28 until early morning March 3rd.
SNOW ON THE WAY? The National Weather Service is still warning of a snow chance starting Saturday night. Here’s the updated Special Weather Statement issued early this morning.
7:38 AM UPDATE: Bus-rider alert, from Samb via Twitter: “Card reader for Northbound C Line California/Fauntleroy giving error message for all cards.”
8:58 AM UPDATE: SFD is being dispatched to a crash at 1st/Spokane, car vs. utility pole, possible power lines down. Don’t know yet exactly what side of the intersection, so we don’t know yet how it might be affecting traffic.
9:26 AM UPDATE: JEM reports in comments, “The accident on 1st is north of Spokane St. The right lane was blocked before you get to Horton, where that lane is right turn only. So will slow things down if you are exiting to 1st from WS Bridge.”
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