West Seattle, Washington
05 Thursday
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
No arrest yet in the West Seattle arsons.
That’s what Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis told the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network tonight, almost one full week since the last fire in the string of half a dozen arsons that have been under investigation for more than two weeks. Here’s video of his update:
That most-recent fire was early last Wednesday, set in a recycling bin outside a house at 40th SW and SW Morgan, half a mile from the October 12th firesetting shown on surveillance video made public last Thursday:
Capt. Davis told the more than 30 attendees that the investigation remains open and active, with multiple agencies working on it. Call 911 or 800-55-ARSON if you have information.
He was asked about last Saturday’s double shooting, in which a 24-year-old man was killed and a 34-year-old man seriously wounded, with a 25-year-old suspect arrested hours later. Capt. Davis had no additional information on that beyond pointing out that – as we reported after the suspect’s bail hearing – the victims and suspect were known to each other.
Also brought up by attendees:
(White Center Now photo from Sunday night)
Two nights ago, on our partner site White Center Now, we reported on a stabbing at 15th and Roxbury in White Center, as King County Sheriff’s Office deputies and detectives searched for three men who stabbed a 26-year-old after he got off a bus. What we didn’t know until tonight is that the victim is an employee at two West Seattle restaurants. The co-proprietor of one, Ma’Ono’s Marjorie Chang Fuller, forwarded us the YouCaring page that seeks help for the victim’s recovery, with this update:
Ramon Aspeitia is a highly respected and extremely hard working employee at both Shadowland and Ma’ono in the West Seattle Junction neighborhood. He was viciously attacked by 3 men and brutally stabbed in the back on his commute home after work Sunday Oct 25th around 6:30 pm at his bus transfer in White Center. He is currently in Harborview Medical Center, fighting to be stabilized and to regain feeling in the lower half of his body. We are all hoping for a full recovery and he could use your thoughts and prayers at this time. This is gonna take a tremendous toll on his family and of course his 2 children. We’re asking the community to help in any way they can. Every bit will help his family with the medical and monthly bills while he recovers. His family will greatly appreciate anything you can do to help..
Big takeover just announced: Walgreens is buying Rite-Aid for $9.4 billion. Walgreens has two West Seattle stores, in High Point (35th/Morgan) and South Delridge (15th/Roxbury); Rite-Aid has two stores in WS too, south of The Junction (California/Hudson) and at Westwood Village (25th/Barton). The official news release says that Rite-Aid will continue operating as a subsidiary of Walgreens, “initially” under the Rite-Aid name, so there’s no indication of closures/consolidations at this point. The aforementioned stores represent four of West Seattle’s six standalone chain drugstores right now – the other two, in Admiral and The Junction, belong to Bartell Drugs, which is headquartered in West Seattle – and a seventh is on the way, the CVS store to be built at 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW.
Suddenly we have three coyote reports to share – so here goes.
FROM JAF: A coyote crossed 35th SW at Brandon “at approximately 2 pm on 10/27. Poor thing ran east across 35th in traffic to get away from me (pulling in garbage cans). Luckily, cars stopped for it.”
Not long before that, and not too far away:
FROM JOHN … who included this photo:
He saw that coyote “at the corner of 37th and Graham, 1:20 pm today.”
And this happened around 11:30 last night:
FROM JOEY: “Coyote spotted on 34th running toward Barton and the P-Patch. On its way, it attacked a small animal (cat?). Horrible sounds. Little animal got away and ran toward west side of 34th.”
(The most important thing you can do if you see a coyote, the state reminds us on this info-sheet, is to scare it away – for its sake, for your sake, for pets’ sake. They’re everywhere – but they’ll keep their distance if they perceive it’s too risky to get close.)
Three West Seattle biznotes this afternoon:
HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY, COPPER COIN: The Admiral eatery is celebrating its third anniversary, and manager Gregg Graham e-mailed to say they’re planning specials all day tomorrow, including:
*A tasty, special one-off ‘Copper IPA,’ brewed for the occasion by Lowercase, and offered at 1/2 price all day Wed.!
*The debut of a new slew of awesome artisan sandwiches, served up on our fresh house ciabatta baked at the Coastline bakery and also offered 1/2 price all day Wed!
Copper Coin is at 2329 California SW.
WINGSTOP MOVING AHEAD: Almost three months after Eats Market Café moved out of Westwood Village, citing lease loss, there’s movement in the plan for Wingstop to move into that space. City files now show an application to proceed with “tenant improvements” for the chicken-wing franchise restaurant.
JUNIPER TO EX-PICA: Almost seven months after the abrupt closure of Pica in The Junction – also described as a lease-loss situation – a new tenant is about to open in that space at 4155 California SW:
That sign in the window announces Juniper, A Natural Nail Bar. No website yet, but via Facebook, Juniper says, “We are proud to be the first nontoxic nail bar in West Seattle!” and mentions a November 4th opening date.
The Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry route will be back to its regular capacity as of mid-afternoon – Washington State Ferries says M/V Issaquah is repaired and will be back in service as of 2:20 this afternoon. It’s been out of service for two days following its latest breakdown.
Quick advance mention in case you haven’t seen this on the calendar: One last West Seattle stop on Seattle Parks Superintendent Jesús Aguirre‘s listening tour – which otherwise made the rounds in this area 2+ months ago – is happening tomorrow (Wednesday) @ High Point Community Center (6920 34th SW), 6:30 pm. Bring comments/questions about what’s working for you re: Parks, and what’s not. (Here’s our report on one of his local stops in August.)
For the first time in a few years, a new apartment building is proposed for the south/east side of the heart of SW Avalon Way: An early-stage application has just appeared in city files for 3039 SW Avalon Way (map), to replace the duplex in the photo above. The north/west side of the street has seen far more action in recent years, with three projects in various pre-construction stages (30, a fourth under construction, and a fifth complete, but on the south/east side, nothing’s been proposed since the completion of Vue at 3261.
The documents on file so far for the new proposal say “approximately 60” units are envisioned for 3039 Avalon, with 20 underground parking spaces. Prolific multifamily-specialist firm NK Architects is attached to the project, which will, according to notations, go through Design Review. The site is zoned MR (midrise) like most of this stretch of Avalon. Since this is in the early stages, no formal application is in yet, so there’s no official comment period, but if you have an early comment, you can e-mail PRC@seattle.gov and refer to project #3022717.
To see what other new projects and updates we’ve reported on lately, scroll through the WSB development-coverage archive here.
(At Hiawatha. Photo by Patrick O’Brien, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
BABY STORY TIMES: Two this morning – 10:30 am at Southwest Library (35th SW & SW Henderson) and West Seattle (Admiral) Library (2306 42nd SW)
(IN THE) SKIES OVER WEST SEATTLE: Full moon tonight is the last “supermoon” of the year, rising at sunset, per Alice Enevoldsen‘s most-recent “Skies Over West Seattle” update.
DISPARITIES IN EDUCATION: Community conversation/panel discussion at 6 pm, Delridge Community Center, with students, educators, and community leaders. Details in our calendar listing. (4501 Delridge Way SW)
WEST SEATTLE BLOCK WATCH CAPTAINS NETWORK: As detailed on the group’s website, WSBWCN will hear from Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis during tonight’s meeting, with info about recent high-profile cases including the deadly shooting and local arsons. Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon also will be there, with seasonal advice. It starts in the precinct meeting room at 6:30 pm – all welcome. (2300 SW Webster)
FREE COMMUNITY/NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL CLINIC: Appointments start at 7 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle – call ASAP to get one; the info’s here. (California SW & SW Oregon)
LOOKING AHEAD TO HALLOWEEN EVENTS … see what we’ve just added to the West Seattle Halloween 2015 Guide!
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:12 AM: Metro says delays related to a crash downtown, in which a bus hit a pedestrian – who was not seriously hurt – are subsiding. No other incidents affecting this area so far.
FERRY REMINDER: M/V Salish continues on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run in place of the twice-the-vehicle-capacity M/V Issaquah, so delays are continuing.
SHORT SCHOOL DAY TOMORROW: Seattle Public Schools students have an early-release day tomorrow (Wednesday), and will be out two hours earlier than usual.
WEEKEND REMINDERS: Next Saturday and Sunday, the Alaskan Way Viaduct will be closed 6 am-6 pm each day for its twice-yearly inspection. And Saturday night is also when we’ll “fall back” an hour for the end of Daylight Saving Time.
8:10 AM: SDOT’s traffic center says an aid response on SW Morgan at Lanham might cause some delays. No word whether it’s eastbound or westbound.
8:54 AM: Some hope for the ferry run returning to normal soon:
Update: The Issaquah is out on sea trials in Elliott Bay. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a clean bill of health.
— WA State Ferries (@wsferries) October 27, 2015
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