@ West Seattle Crime Prevention Council: Updates on WS robberies, South Park homicide, more
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The Southwest Precinct‘s commander says extra staffing to protect students – “double the staff on first watch” – will continue “for the foreseeable future.”
That was part of what Capt. Steve Wilske had to say at tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting. Other measures taken to try to stop the string of robbery/grabbing incidents include instant alerts that he is getting in the case of any crime in which the victim is a juvenile. Updates in the meeting included not only the recent incidents but also last weekend’s South Park homicide plus overall local crime trends:
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West Seattle sunsets: Fine end to Fat Tuesday
Thanks for tonight’s sunset views – the one above is courtesy of MM, and we’ll add a few more – as Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) concludes colorfully.
(Added above – photo by Lynn Hall.) Forecast now suggests the rain won’t return until Thursday.
2015 Election: Dave Montoure becomes 8th candidate to announce for West Seattle/South Park’s City Council District 1 seat
Another candidate has just joined the race for the new City Council District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) seat – local entrepreneur Dave Montoure, co-owner of West 5 in The Junction. In his announcement, Montoure says, “We need to end the cycle of career politicians. The peninsula voted to have a districted City Council, signaling a desire to have a city representative who knows the local community from the ground-up. I grew up in West Seattle, live in West Seattle, own a small business in West Seattle, and have served my community in the peninsula.”
Montoure served three terms as chair of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce board, and as noted in his announcement, “has also served on several Boards including the West Seattle Trusteed Properties (retaining free parking in the Junction), the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and the Capital Campaign Committee of the West Seattle Family YMCA.” He says his first actions would be “to create needed commercial and office space for job growth in the peninsula,” to get West Seattle “a 24-7 emergency medical facility,” “to solve chronic transportation issues that negatively impact all users” as well as to “continue my fight with King County to preserve free parking in the Junction in support of our small, independent businesses.” He plans a campaign kickoff event at 6:30 pm February 24th at Easy Street Records/Café.
IN THE DISTRICT 1 RACE NOW: Dave Montoure (declared 2/17/15), Lisa Herbold (declared 2/11/15), Shannon Braddock (declared 2/11/15), Brianna Thomas (declared 2/11/15), Phillip Tavel (declared 2/4/15), George Capestany (declared 11/11/14), Amanda Kay Helmick (declared 10/20/14), Chas Redmond (declared 12/20/13). Filing deadline is May 15th; primary election is August 4th. Along with voting on the D-1 position, West Seattle/South Park also will vote on the two “at-large” spots, Positions 8 and 9.
Update: Rescue response off Beach Drive; everybody OK
(WSB photo)
3:34 PM: Rescuers are headed to 63rd/Beach Drive to look for a report of two people on a raft that might be having trouble getting back to shore. More to come.
3:38 PM UPDATE: Via scanner, we’re hearing that the scene is a bit further south, by the Harbor West condos-on-pilings, and that Harbor Patrol has made contact with the two people, “neither in need of medical attention, all persons accounted for,” so most of the rescue response will be canceled.
West Seattle Metro routes that will get money from ballot measure
This afternoon, three votes (by the City Council meeting as itself and as the Transportation Benefit District board, and by the County Council) comprised final approval to the first list of bus routes that will get more service from the money raised by the recent transit-funding measure. In West Seattle, they are:
C Line
21
21EX
37
55
56
57
60
120
125
The full list of specific increases in service is here. “This is a huge boost to public transportation in Seattle,” declared West Seattle-residing Tom Rasmussen as the TBD meeting wrapped up a few minutes ago.
Meantime, if you’re wondering when we start paying for it – as reiterated when the council met as the Transportation Benefit District Board, the 1/10th of a percent sales-tax increase starts April 1st, and the $60 car-tab fee starts with June renewals.
Followup: How police found the second suspect arrested for recent crimes against students
A brand-new update on SPD Blotter reveals new details of the robbery-case arrest reported here over the weekend after an update was sent to local community-group leaders. Posted this afternoon by SPD Blotter’s Jonah Spangenthal-Lee:
Detectives say a 15-year-old student tried to rob two teens, stole a package from a West Seattle home, and then climbed out of the wreck of a stolen getaway car before rushing back to his high school earlier this month.
Police arrested the teen Friday evening for the string of West Seattle crimes on February 2nd. Around 9 AM, the suspect stepped out of a silver minivan in the 6900 block of 34th Ave SW and began following two 17-year-olds on the street. The suspect repeatedly demanded the pair of victims hand over their cellphones. When the teens refused to give up their phones, the suspect punched both boys in the face. The victims ran away and reported the incident to police.
About four hours after the attack, detectives believe the suspect stole a package of luggage off the porch in the 7100 block of 28th Ave SW, just a few blocks from the scene of the suspect’s attempted robbery. Witnesses described seeing the suspects speeding away from the scene of the theft in a silver minivan. Officers later found the empty minivan crashed into a parked car.
Police impounded the van and contacted the owner, who had reported it stolen. Detectives later searched the van and found cellphones and the luggage stolen from the 7100 block of 28th Avenue.
Detectives were able to tie one of the phones to the 15-year-old, and his 17-year-old victims were able to pick him out of a photo lineup. While police were at the suspect’s school investigating the case, security staff said they had seen the suspect running back onto campus shortly after police had found the crashed minivan nearby.
Local biznote: West Seattle Art Nest open north of The Junction
We’ve had big conversations in recent days (here and here) about businesses coming to the new developments in The Junction. Today, our biznote is about a new enterprise getting ready to open in an existing building just north of The Junction: West Seattle Art Nest. Its proprietor Karen Crane is hoping to be open at 4138 California SW by the first week of March.
(WS Art Nest proprietors’ kids “helping with the paint job” – photo courtesy Karen Crane)
West Seattle Art Nest will be the first drop-in art studio for children since Young at Art closed last June in Fairmount Springs (where it moved after its original location made way for the Junction 47 project), and Crane says Young at Art’s proprietor Theresa Anderson will be part of the new studio, “bringing her creativity and art expertise to WS Art Nest, as Art Facilitator Extrordinaire.” WS Art Nest will offer “drop-in-studio-style art, after-school art, specialty classes, camps, birthday parties … a paint splatter room, play area for the little ones, recycle crafting, and much more.” The website isn’t done yet but you can check this Facebook page for updates.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Stolen bike; five more summaries
In this edition of West Seattle Crime Watch – a reader report and five incidents from recent police reports.
STOLEN BIKE: From Tyler:
Between 6am and 6pm, Monday the 16th, my blue Trek 1500 SLR Road Bike was stolen from a secured garage in my condo complex off California Ave near The Junction.
This bike was the first large purchase I made after saving up at a terrible job back in high school and has immense sentimental value. A police report has been filed. See attached flyer for a picture of me with my bike after STP.
If anyone in WS sees the bike (now with all white handlebars) with anyone but me in control of it, please email trunner1221@gmail.com…
… and contact police.
We’ve also read through a variety of recently obtained police reports, from a streetside-parking hit-and-run arrest, to a phone call that tipped its recipient to identity theft:
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West Seattle Tuesday: Crime Prevention Council; basketball; more!
(Monday sunrise by Robert Spears – shared via WSB Flickr group; see full-size version there)
LIBRARY STORYTIMES: Four on our calendar, for today and tonight – find the listings here.
CHINESE NEW YEAR LUNCHEON: 11:45 am at Senior Center of West Seattle – details here, including how to call to see if there’s still space. (Oregon/California)
WSHS GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFF GAME: 6:30 pm at Chief Sealth International High School, the West Seattle High School girls – Metro League champs as of last Friday (WSB coverage here) – play Bishop Blanchet in the district tournament. (2600 SW Thistle)
(added) JUNCTION NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION: 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle, with agenda including briefing on West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) expansion. (Oregon/California)
QUESTIONS/CONCERNS TO BRING TO LOCAL POLICE? 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct, the monthly West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting is the place to bring them, and to hear updates on local cases/trends. (Webster/Delridge)
SLHS BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFF GAME: 7:30 pm at Seattle Lutheran High School, the boys’ basketball team plays a district-tournament game against Providence Classical Christian. More info here. (4100 SW Genesee)
LORI HARDMAN BAND @ BLUES TO DO: Podcast at 6 pm and the Lori Hardman Band‘s show at 8 pm, it’s the weekly celebration of the blues @ Feedback Lounge, presented by Thunder Road Guitars (both WSB sponsors), more info on the Feedblog. (6451 California SW)
MORE NIGHTLIFE and other happenings … please take a look at the full calendar.
TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Post-holiday Tuesday updates
(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! Traffic might still be a bit lighter today because it’s the final day of a four-day weekend for Seattle Public Schools (though many independent schools are back in session). Otherwise, transit services are back to normal. Speaking of transit:
BUS BUCKS: At its afternoon meeting today, the City Council is scheduled to vote on the plan for what extra bus service will be bought with the transit funding approved by voters last year. It’s spelled out here, including local routes 21, 21X, 55, 56, 57, 60, 120, 125, C Line. Find out even more about it at the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s next meeting February 26th.
8:01 AM: Still nothing unusual reported on outbound routes. So here’s a check of travel times from 35th SW just before the bridge, via the SDOT map:
1st Ave Offramp 4 min.
4th Ave Offramp 5 min.
Ballard 29 min.
Crown Hill 34 min.
Greenlake via SR-99 27 min.
I-5 NB/SB 6 min.
Lower Queen Anne 24 min.
Shoreline via SR-99 36 min.
South Lake Union 20 min.
SR-99 Offramp 4 min.
Stadiums via 1st Ave 11 min.
Stadiums via 4th Ave 9 min.
8:07 AM: Transit note – We checked out a tip about police at the bus stop by Roxhill Park across from Westwood Village. All gone by the time we arrived (and we’re not far) except for one transit officer who would say only that it was a “minor” incident, “over fast.”
12:01 PM: Via Twitter:
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