West Seattle, Washington
02 Saturday
Thanks to Caryn Johnson for this report on today’s West Seattle High School varsity baseball game on a showery afternoon at Hiawatha:
Sophomore Carson Wright started on the mound and pitched 5 2/3 innings. He pitched well against a big-hitting O’Dea team. Giving up 11 hits, but only giving up 6 runs (4 earned). He struck out 3, hit one, and didn’t walk any. Freshman Anthony Coats came into pitch in the 5th inning and pitched the remaining of the game not giving up a hit.
Jamie Maples led the team on the offensive side of the ball with 4 hits and 2 RBI’s. Morgan McCullough also had a good outing with 3 hits and 1 RBI. As a team they had 9 hits.
Defense had their first test of the season against the big bats of O’Dea. Everyone on the field got into the action and recorded outs. The highlight on the defensive side was a 6-4-3 double play in the top of the 7th inning by Morgan McCullough, Jack Page and Alex Pastrana. This closed out the top of the 7th and gave West Seattle one more shot to score some runs. In the end they fell a little short, losing to O’Dea, 6-4.
WSHS is on the road for its next game, Wednesday against Cleveland at Rainier Beach HS.
Once again, there’s West Seattle news in the periodic report that SDOT director Scott Kubly will be presenting to the City Council Transportation Committee. His report for tomorrow’s committee meeting (9:30 am, City Hall) has been added to the agenda since its draft publication last week. Included in the report, some work updates including 19th/Webster stairway cleaning (before/after photos above) and dates for news on what the city plans to do to make Roxbury safer:
SW Roxbury Street:
*SDOT will announce preferred alternative and project implementation schedule at Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting on April 7
*SDOT will host an open house about the recommended changes on April 9
*Implementation set for the week of August 17
Two other updates: Regarding enforcement on 35th SW – a big topic in discussion of what was presented at the two most-recent meetings (WSB coverage here and here) – Kubly’s report says, “SDOT grant funds will provide extra safety patrols on 35th – currently developing MOA with SPD for more than 100 hours of OT patrols on 35th SW.” Also, regarding the Fauntleroy Boulevard project, he reports, “CM Rasmussen did a tour of the site with Deputy Director, Barbara Gray, and Jorge Carrasco, Director of City Light.” That would be regarding including undergrounding in the project, for which construction funding is still not certain – it’s NOT in the Transportation Levy to Move Seattle proposal unveiled by the mayor last week (WSB coverage here). Read Kubly’s full report, including updates from around the city, here.
P.S. Kubly and other SDOT reps will be at the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s meeting this Thursday (March 26), 6:30 pm at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center (6400 Sylvan Way) – bring your questions.
(WSB photo, July 2012)
Sad news about someone we’ll miss seeing around The Junction. Even if you didn’t know his name, you’ve probably seen Don Smathers, shown at center in our photo from 2012, when Southwest Precinct officers helped him with one of the tasks he’s handled over the years – putting up the flags for the 4th of July. We got word today from Susan Melrose at the West Seattle Junction Association that Don has died:
Don Smathers has been a familiar friend in The Junction for many years. This morning he passed away peacefully in his home in the Campbell Building, where he had lived for 25 years. We will have a memorial in Don’s honor, but for now, we can take a moment to remember this kind soul.
We’ll let you know when that is scheduled.
ADDED SUNDAY: 5 pm Wednesday, April 1st, in Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska).
APRIL 1, 12:52 PM UPDATE: Because of weather uncertainty, this will be at Easy Street Records (California/Alaska) instead.
Back on Friday, thanks to a tip, we reported on the looming deadline for telling the Port of Seattle what you think about a Terminal 5 issue that’s not directly related to the Shell drilling-fleet controversy: The fact the port has declared the long-term modernization project will be environmentally non-signficant and therefore doesn’t require an environmental-impact study. Some West Seattleites disagree and are sending in their comments by today’s deadline, including a letter that we’re told represents more than two dozen residents in East Admiral, just upslope from T-5. One of their points:
The road traffic resulting from simultaneously unloading two post-Panamax ships will cripple the already congested West Seattle bridges. We do not have an answer to this, nor does the Port. Therefore, we recommend an environmental impact study be done to understand the traffic solutions before reaching the point of no return.
They also suggest the port is gambling a quarter-billion dollars or so on this without knowing whether the market might change irreversibly in the few years T-5 will be closed. Here is their full letter:
They’re also sending it to city and county leaders and asking for their support. As explained in our Friday report, the documents about the “non-significance” decision are here, and comments can be sent to SEPA.p@portseattle.org.
(WSDOT photo)
A third big piece of the Highway 99 tunneling machine was lifted up from the repair-access pit today – and that means just one BIG lift to go, the cutterhead, for which Seattle Tunnel Partners will use that large red assembly you’ve been seeing next to the Viaduct. It’s shown in this next photo shared with WSB by Gatewood photographer/pilot Long Bach Nguyen (taken before today’s lift):
The previous two lifts were on Thursday – with the big half-circle piece you see toward left center of the LBN photo – and on Saturday. No exact date announced yet for the cutterhead to be brought out. STP has said that if repairs go well, it hopes to be tunneling again in August.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
When we first reported on Sunday about the early-morning shooting on Alki that left one person hurt, we had little information. We have since been contacted by a witness who recorded almost a minute of the chaos and gunfire and wanted to make it public, saying, “I believe that this will show many why we need more police and why our youth/young adults should be monitored closely at these hours of the night.”
ALERT: This is unedited phone video (except to fix it from vertical to horizontal fit) and you will hear lots of profanities in the audio **if you choose to play the clip.** The gunshots are audible and muzzle flashes are seen, but the person who was shot is not:
In a long text conversation with the witness who recorded that while at a restaurant/bar across the street, we agreed to keep them anonymous (we don’t even know their name). They had already shown the video to police, who, they say, showed up quickly, within “three or four minutes” of the gunfire.
From the witness’s view, it started as “a very large group of young adults yelling and using derogatory terms as well as throwing things at this vehicle, which led to a fistfight in the middle of the street.” Then, the witness says, one person kicked off the black car’s driver’s-side mirror, and another punched out a passenger side window, followed by shots from a passenger, and then toward the end, someone “returned fire” after the black car sped off westbound.
As noted in our Sunday report, there was no “assault with weapons” large Seattle Fire medic response, because police found no victim at the scene. Seattle Police say they were later contacted by Everett Police after a 17-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the leg turned up at a hospital there. Police have since talked to the victim; on Sunday, they told us he was “uncooperative” with investigators. The incident also is now detailed on SPD Blotter.
As far as we can tell from WSB archives, this is the first incident in 2 1/2 years in which someone has been shot in the Alki area. Not the first case of gunfire, but the first case with a victim, since this case in August 2012.
Even before this, local police had promised more presence at the beach this year via both the new Southwest Precinct bicycle patrols and a new mobile-precinct vehicle that is on the way after the precinct went years without a replacement for the one SPD lost in an arson attack. That is what the lifelong West Seattleite who shared video of Sunday’s shooting is hoping for: “I hate that these hoodlums are ruining my neighborhood.”
ADDED 2:11 PM: A few additional details are in the Southwest Precinct summary of what happened, which we obtained from precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith:
On 3/22/15 at 0109 hour, Officers were dispatched to a fight disturbance/shots fired incident in the 2600 block of Alki Av SW (just west of Marine Av SW & Alki Av SW). Initial report to 911 has it that: two people were down and that someone has a leg wound.
Upon officers arriving in the area, the suspects involved in the fight/shots-fired were GOA [gone on arrival], possibly in vehicle/s. There was no “scene” other than the spot where the incident occurred. Officers checked the area and did not locate any evidence such as shell casings or blood to indicate that someone has been shot. A baseball cap was located and submitted into evidence. During a canvas of the bar across the street, an officer located a witness who had recorded the shots fired incident on his cell phone. The video was sent to the police and submitted into evidence.
Based upon the on-scene investigation, it appears that at least 6 people were surrounding a vehicle. One of the 6 people kicked the vehicle’s left rear view mirror and damaged it. The front passenger from the vehicle fired at least 3 shots at the 6 people as the 6 people were surrounding it. The 6 people then scattered, running away. A white male is then seen getting into the driver’s seat of the vehicle and drove it away, on Alki Av SW.
At 0345 hour, Everett PD called SPD 911 and reported that they have a “victim” with a non-life threatening gunshot wound in the leg. The “victim” was uncooperative and was with his girlfriend. The Everett PD Officers will complete a report under their case number, DD 15-5308. This incident was screened by phone with our Homicide/Assault unit.
Lt. Smith, who is acting precinct commander, confirms that patrols, including officers on bicycles, will be increased. The mobile-precinct vehicle has not yet been delivered.
Two biznotes this morning, the first one a followup on an item from our Friday mega-roundup of food/drink notes:
WEST SEATTLE BREWING UPDATE: After its abrupt, unexplained closure some days ago, we had inquiries out, as noted in the aforementioned Friday roundup. Early this morning, we heard back from West Seattle Brewing‘s Drew Locke, who tells WSB via e-mail that it will reopen:
I am working on implementing espresso to our offerings and closed while we use the opportunity to finish employing/testing our 7BBL brew system (quintuple the production capacity we’ve employed since our inception), prepping for the addition of wine/cider & food as well, and finishing some construction elements that have gone to the wayside as I’ve had to bartend 60 hours/week over the past year.
No timeline was mentioned – we’re asking in a followup.
ECOBEAUTY SALON-SPA CLOSES: Thanks to Rick for the tip that this salon north of Morgan Junction has closed after more than 4 years; its website confirms the closure, and “For Lease” signs are already up at the 6040 California SW location. Proprietor Christina said on Facebook that she’s joining CoCo and Co. and that other stylists are “going to fabulous new salons in West Seattle.”
Thanks to Gary Jones for the photos of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, passing Alki Point this morning as it headed out for training (as previewed here on Friday) – you can see Coast Guard escorts in the top photo, and a nearby Washington State Ferry below:
From our calendar, a few events coming up later today/tonight:
FREE ART ACTIVITIES … 11 am-12:30 pm, bring toddlers and preschoolers to the Family Center in Neighborhood House’s High Point Center. More info in our listing. (6400 Sylvan Way SW)
HIGH-SCHOOL SPORTS: Varsity games on local fields include West Seattle HS baseball vs. O’Dea at Hiawatha, 3:30 pm; Chief Sealth IHS softball vs. Garfield at Southwest Athletic Complex, 4 pm; Chief Sealth IHS soccer vs. Nathan Hale at SWAC, 4 pm;
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Monday night is BIG for everyone who loves a good quiz: There’s trivia at Christo’s on Alki (7:15 pm, 2508 Alki SW), trivia at OutWest Bar (7:30 pm, California/Brandon), Quiz Night at Skylark (7:30 pm, 3803 Delridge Way SW), plus pub quiz at Shadowland (8 pm, California/Oregon).
EVENING MEDITATION: 7:30 pm Buddhist-meditation class at Sound Yoga (WSB sponsor). See the center’s full weekly schedule here. (5639 California SW)
PREVIEW THE WEEK AHEAD … by browsing the calendar!
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
As always, we start with what you should know while on the move this week:
STATE FERRIES’ NEW SCHEDULE IN EFFECT: The spring schedule started Sunday.
CONTINUING ROAD WORK: Most notably, the Delridge/Andover/23rd and 47th/Admiral projects.
VIADUCT/99 CLOSURES NEXT WEEKEND: Between the West Seattle Bridge and Battery Street Tunnel, the inspection closure is scheduled for 6 am-6 pm both days, Saturday and Sunday. But a stretch of 99 north of the tunnel will be closed around the clock late Friday to early Monday. Full details here.
SPEAKING OF HIGHWAY 99 … the second of four big lifts for tunnel-machine pieces happened Saturday night.
EARLY-RELEASE DAY FOR SPS THIS WEDNESDAY: It’s not road work but it’ll mean different schedules for school buses and school-zone cameras/lights, and extra care to be taken, earlier, for kids/families on the move – Seattle Public Schools has a two-hour-early-release day this Wednesday.
Congratulations to The Storm, the basketball team from Hiawatha Community Center that won the 13-year-old Girls Competitive Division Championship on Sunday! Mike Jensen shares the photo, reporting, “They played another team from Hiawatha in the championship game (Sunday) afternoon and won a close one, 22-17 … to cap off an undefeated season.” Left to right in the photo are Cami, Ruby, Hannah, Jackie, Madi, Nina, Jaeley, Maddie, Mikayla.
| Comments Off on High-school baseball: West Seattle HS vs. O’Dea at Hiawatha