day : 03/09/2014 10 results

Update: 2 ‘ assault with weapons’ calls – man shot on 24th, 3 arrested after stabbing at Cottage Grove Commons

FIRST REPORT, 11:56 PM: Two calls initially dispatched as “assault with weapons” – we’re en route to both.

12:08 AM UPDATE, 7500 BLOCK 24TH: This is barely a block from the precinct, where, police tell us, they heard a shot and headed this way to investigate. Someone shot himself in the foot and is described by police as “not cooperative.”

We’re off to Cottage Grove Commons next.

12:37 AM UPDATE, 5444 DELRIDGE WAY SW: Police are inside the building investigating; all we have right now is word that someone was stabbed, and at least one person is in custody. We might not be able to find out more until later this morning.

10:40 AM UPDATE: We have just obtained the police report for the Cottage Grove Commons incident, as noted in comments, and will add a summary here shortly. The 24th SW shooting is one of two incidents (the other wasn’t in West Seattle) in this SPD Blotter post just published. It doesn’t mention what we were told at the scene – that it was believed to be self-inflicted – but does say the victim is 37 and that the injury was actually to the ankle.

11:24 AM UPDATE: Adding the summary of the aforementioned police report on the 5444 Delridge Way stabbing – click ahead if you’re reading from the main page:
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You can help! West Seattle Food Bank needs more books

Got books you don’t need any more? The West Seattle Food Bank is looking for three specific types right now. From Judi at WSFB, who also shared the photo:

The West Seattle Food Book clients love our Bookcase Program so much that we’re running out of books. We are in need of children’s picture and board books, and cookbooks. Our donation hours are Monday – Friday 9 am – 3 pm and Wednesday until 7 pm. For more information on our Bookcase Program, go to westseattlefoodbank.org. Thank you so much.

The food bank is at 35th/Morgan (map).

Overdue, court-ordered rent payments for West Seattle Club lead to hearing as part of owner’s Chapter 11 case

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Two months after the owner of the West Seattle (Athletic) Club fitness center filed for personal bankruptcy, he and his landlord were in court today because an order to pay part of the club rent hadn’t been complied with.

As the club is a major West Seattle business with thousands of customers, community interest in its status remains high, so we’ve been following the bankruptcy-court-case filings – almost 100 of them – since Sam Adams and wife Erika Adams filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late June (reported here on June 30th).

Today’s hearing was not the first held for various motions since then, but it’s the first one we have attended. Sam Adams and John Pietromonaco, owner of the club’s North Delridge site and building, were both in the downtown federal courtroom as their lawyers argued a key point relating to the three-week-old order for rent to be paid.

First, a bit of background:

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West Seattle back-to-school: Highland Park Elementary barbecue

September 3, 2014 3:36 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle back-to-school: Highland Park Elementary barbecue
 |   Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Another special back-to-school event to announce! From the Highland Park Elementary PTA, via Holly:

HPE will be hosting its annual back to school BBQ on Friday, September 5th. The BBQ is scheduled from 5:30 – 7:00 on the school grounds.

This is an annual tradition at HPE, and provides the students and their families an opportunity to gather as a community, share their visions for the school year, and celebrate the beginning of another school year. Hot dogs and refreshments will be provided. The PTA will be on hand, as well as teachers and administrators.

Special event, accomplishment, request, etc. from/at YOUR school? Let us know!

West Seattle back-to-school scene: Schmitz Park flag ceremony

If the district’s timetable for the new school at Genesee Hill holds, this morning was the second-to-last first-day-of-school flag ceremony at Schmitz Park Elementary.

The program now housed at SPES is scheduled to move into the new GH school in 2016; the district’s most-recent announced plan for the current SPES building is to use it as an early-learning center. Thanks to Sean O’Connor for these photos from this morning! (Watch for a few other “first day of school” stories here, later today and tonight.)

Got gas (service)? Puget Sound Energy’s sending smell-mail

September 3, 2014 1:28 pm
|    Comments Off on Got gas (service)? Puget Sound Energy’s sending smell-mail
 |   Safety | Utilities | West Seattle news

That quick video clip’s all about something Puget Sound Energy is sending out to more than a million customers via postal mail (in this case, e-mail just wouldn’t work), as explained in this announcement:

Billing statements from Puget Sound Energy arriving in mailboxes over the coming weeks might smell a little rotten.

A newly designed natural gas safety brochure is being sent out to more than 1.1 million PSE customers throughout September. In addition to lots of important information about what to do if there’s a suspected gas leak, there’s a scratch-and-sniff section that’s a reminder of the rotten egg odor associated with natural gas.

To help detect gas leaks more easily, PSE and other natural gas utilities add an odorant called mercaptan to the natural gas, which is naturally odorless and colorless. Everyone in a family needs to recognize the stench, and know what to do if they smell it:

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’12th Flag’-raising rally in West Seattle tomorrow: New info

Tomorrow’s the big flagraising rally for Seahawks fans outside West Seattle Corporate Center (aka the building with the big flag, Delridge/Andover). We had first word of the rally last weekend, and now we have more info. The 1,500-square-foot “world’s largest 12th Man Flag” goes up at 12:30 pm Thursday, per the update from Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) and Bartell Drugs, both of which are headquartered at WSCC. If you can get there earlier, the rally starts at 11 am, with a photo booth, games and contests with prizes, “surprise guests,” food samples from MM, and more. The flag will be raised by former Seahawk Joe Tafoya and WSU Cougars legend/former NFL quarterback Jack Thompson. Yes, it’s the same mega-flag (made by Tacoma’s Flags A’Flying) raised there just before the Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory last winter, and when it goes up tomorrow, it’ll be just hours until game time for the Hawks’ season opener. (January 2014 photo by Christopher Boffoli)

P.S. If you use social media, the hashtag will be #The12thFlag.

West Seattle Wednesday: Back-to-school, and what else is up!

(Belted kingfisher, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

BACK-TO-SCHOOL NOTES: We took roll-call on the major changes in this morning’s Traffic Watch roundup – from start-time changes to school-zone changes. Good luck to all as the new year begins – scholars, staffers, families!

CHAIR MASSAGE TO BENEFIT ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION: Maybe that first day of school, however it relates to you, will leave you in need of a bit of pampering tonight. As part of fundraising this month for the Arthritis Foundation, Massage Envy West Seattle (WSB sponsor) is offering $1-minute chair massages 5-7 pm (and two more dates ahead) – details in our calendar listing. (2513 SW Trenton, north side of Westwood Village)

SDOT DIRECTOR IN WEST SEATTLE: Questions for new SDOT director Scott Kubly? As announced last week, he’s the spotlight guest at tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle. (Oregon/California)

COFFEEHOUSE MUSIC: Jim Page and Grant Dermody live at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7 pm. (5612 California SW)

WEST SEATTLE SOUL: Rippin Chicken at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 8 pm – get your groove on! (6451 California SW)

OPEN MICROPHONE … tonight and every Wednesday night at Skylark, 8:30 pm (signups at 7:30 pm) – details here. (3803 Delridge Way SW)

LOTS MORE … on the calendar!

West Seattle Crime Watch: Another stolen car to watch for

Another stolen car to watch for: Chuck says his car, a teal ’94 Honda Civic two-door, California plate 3GAE402, was stolen over the weekend near 18th SW/Barton (one of several recent auto thefts in the area, he says). It’s been reported to police – who tweeted it via @getyourcarback. Call 911 with any info.

TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Back-to-school Wednesday; here’s what’s new in school zones this year

(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Thousands of West Seattle families are returning to (or starting) the school-year routine this morning. Even if you don’t have a student (or school staffer!) in the household, the start of the school year means changes on the road, not just the presence of school buses (which, by the way, were apparently the reason for some helicopter activity between Highland Park/South Park earlier). First, the basics:

BACK TO SCHOOL: First day of classes for Seattle Public Schools and Highline Public Schools (immediately south of the city limits), and also for independent schools that didn’t start up on Tuesday – including Explorer West Middle School, Tilden School, and Westside School (all WSB sponsors), Shorewood Christian, and others.

SCHOOL-RELATED CHANGES OF NOTE:
*Roxbury SW has two speed-camera zones, near Roxhill Elementary (30th/Roxbury) and Holy Family (20th/Roxbury) – tickets will be warnings for the first month, says the city, and then triple-digit fines
*Since Fairmount Park Elementary is reopening after seven years, that means a school zone on Fauntleroy Way, between Morgan Junction and The Triangle (map)
*The Boren Building in the 5900 block of Delridge Way is now home to TWO schools – K-5 STEM and, for the next two years, Arbor Heights Elementary (whose rebuild has begun), which means twice the dropoffs, buses, etc.
*Some bell times have changed – notably, Chief Sealth IHS in Westwood is starting later (8:40 am) and West Seattle HS in Admiral is starting earlier (7:50 am). Full list of SPS start times is here.

Anything we’re missing? editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!

P.S. In addition to the two Roxbury speed cameras, in case you’re new in town, there is a pre-existing camera zone on Fauntleroy Way in the Gatewood Elementary vicinity, and the city has a “speed van” that MIGHT be in West Seattle at any time – it’s often on 35th SW near Our Lady of Guadalupe.

OTHER TRANSPORTATION NOTES: Published here overnight – Metro’s new West Seattle cut/change proposals. Also – SDOT’s new director Scott Kubly visits West Seattle for tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting.