West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
Highlights of what’s up around West Seattle for the rest of today/tonight:
LAFAYETTE KINDERGARTEN TOURS: 1:15-2:15 pm, prospective parents are invited to tour Lafayette Elementary. (California SW/SW Lander)
IMMIGRANTS’ STORIES @ SWYFS: 5-7 pm, dinner, a tour, and conversations at Southwest Youth and Family Services, featuring Seattle’s Civic Poet Claudia Castro Luna and immigrant families – details in our calendar listing. (4555 Delridge Way SW)
FREE TAX-PREP HELP: You might qualify for the tax-preparation help being offered via United Way of King County at 24 locations including, in our community, the West Seattle Food Bank. 5-9 tonight and other nights – info in our calendar listing. (35th SW/SW Morgan)
WEST SEATTLE LITTLE LEAGUE: 6-8 pm at Uptown Espresso in The Junction, West Seattle Little League (which provided the photo above) is hosting another information/document night: “Join us if you need to turn in your documents OR if you just want more information about WSLL and the upcoming season.” The registration deadline is coming up fast – Monday, February 15th – and you can sign up online at westseattlelittleleague.com. (California/Edmunds/Erskine)
RELAY FOR LIFE OF WEST SEATTLE: The kickoff meeting for this June’s overnight cancer-fighting Relay for Life of West Seattle is 6-7:30 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy. Come meet organizers and team captains and find out how to be part of it. (9131 California SW)
PATHFINDER SCHOOL ELEMENTARY TOURS: K-5 tours 6-7:30 pm tonight – RSVP required; the school website explains how to do that. (1901 SW Genesee)
DENNY INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: 6:30 pm, prospective families are invited to an open house to meet Denny teachers and staff. (2601 SW Kenyon)
2ND DESIGN REVIEW FOR 4700 SW ADMIRAL WAY: As previewed here earlier this week, the Aegis Living West Seattle assisted-living/memory-care project at 4700 SW Admiral Way goes back to the Southwest Design Review Board tonight, 6:30 pm at the Sisson Building. (California SW/SW Oregon)
LIVE MUSIC AT PARLIAMENT TAVERN: 8 pm, Sweet Jesus, The Other Matt Clark, Graham MacRae are on tonight’s lineup at Parliament Tavern in The Admiral District. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
LOOK AHEAD … to see what’s coming up on our calendar, especially to get a jump on morning events (like school tours) that happen before we publish this daily reminder list.
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6:56 AM: Good morning. So far, no incidents reported in/from West Seattle.
7:43 AM: A crash is reported at 24th/Holden.
7:52 AM: Via Twitter, Michael reports lower Spokane backed up @ Alaskan, possibly by signal issues.
(WSB photos – click images for larger views)
Last regular-season home game for the undefeated West Seattle High School girls-varsity basketball team on Wednesday night – and their season-long win streak continued with a 51-43 win over Seattle Prep. Pre-game honors for seniors included special balls to #32 Lydia Giomi (above) and #30 Lexi Ioane (below) – Giomi scored her 1000th point vs. Eastside Catholic back on January 8th and pulled down her 1000th rebound vs. Garfield on January 29th; Ioane scored her 1000th point vs. Lakeside on December 16th.
Other Wildcat seniors include #21 Gabby Sarver and #15 Sarah DuLong. The team finishes the regular season Friday night at Franklin.
(WSB photo)
At Chief Sealth International High School tonight, the last regular-season home game for the girls-varsity team brought a 60-42 loss to Holy Names. In our photo is the Seahawks’ #2 Allison Hadaway, one of the seniors honored tonight along with #11 Bella Cortez De Bonar, #24 Elliott Snodgrass, and #34 Kali Schroyer. The team plays at Eastside Catholic Friday night, and then the postseason begins.
In West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:
TRUCK STOLEN IN THE JUNCTION: Beau‘s brother just moved back to West Seattle and was staying with their mom when his truck was taken from a street parking space:
The vehicle that was taken is a 1980 black Ford F150 truck with Washington plate # 16650cv it was parked at SW Oregon St and 40th AVE SW and was taken sometime between Monday evening 2/1/16 (after 7pm) and today 2/3/16 (before 3 pm). A police report was filed and it was also confirmed by the police department and their database that the vehicle had not been towed. Please contact Beau at 406-431-6792 or the police with any information.
MORE BROKEN WINDOWS: Following our Sunday and Monday reports on windows (mostly cars) broken out around the peninsula, we heard from two more people today – a caller who said a driver’s-side window was taken out while her car was parked by the tennis courts alongside Whale Tail Park in Alki, and Laurie R., who wrote:
Between 8:30 – 8:45 last night, our driver’s side rear window was smashed. We’re in Sunrise Heights, on the corner of 32nd & Elmgrove. My sister was outside on the porch when it happened and saw a small silver car speed away. She called 911 and the police arrived about 10 minutes later to take a report.
We asked Southwest Precinct Capt. Pierre Davis today if these were considered related; he said detectives hadn’t heard about that many yet, wondering if maybe the reports are in the online queue. So keep reporting them, if they happen.
WAS THIS LOOT? Jovelyn found a “black Eddie Bauer diaper bag filled with supplies and an inhaler” near 29th and Brandon – no ID, dumped in a ditch. The bag also had an invoice book that didn’t belong on the bag but did belong to somebody in the 9700 block of 12th SW whose car had been broken into. Sound familiar? Please comment.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Hours after Mayor Murray officially unveiled the $290 million, 7-year Housing Levy renewal/expansion, it was the centerpiece of this month’s Southwest District Council meeting.
First – here’s the overview flyer:
The briefing was led by Office of Housing director Steve Walker, with colleague Maureen Kostyack. 
He first tried to explain where HALA (the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda) and the levy overlap, and where they don’t.
Voters have elected “to tax themselves for affordability” since 1981, he said, segueing into the levy-specific discussion.
This will cost you about $10/month if you have a home around $480,000 in value – double the $5/month for the housing levy that’s expiring, according to Walker, who added: “In the end, the levy’s about people … How can we create an opportunity for our children to be able to live in Seattle? … At the pace we’re going, that’s not possible. How can we be sure people aren’t displaced by the community and the community connection they have?”
Kostyack summarized the three areas the levy is intended to address (the city team was supposed to have a slide deck but couldn’t get the setup to work, so they improvised without it):
The photo and report are from Joleen Post of the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor):
Tonight, more than 100 YMCA volunteers and staff kicked off the Together We Can Build a Better Us campaign at The Hall at Fauntleroy! 2016 is an exciting year at the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA and the goal is to raise $400,000 by March 16.
$350,000 will be designated to the Youth and Family Programs Fund. This enables the Y to offer West Seattle kids the chance to develop their full potential through academic support and enrichment, camps, youth sports, swimming, after-school programs, early learning, and more. Many of the Y’s school-based academic-support programs are free thanks to community donations. For Y programs with a fee, this fund supports families who cannot afford the full cost.
$50,000 will be designated toward the Building Fund, supporting the upcoming West Seattle YMCA facility expansion and renovation. The Y has already raised nearly $3.64 million locally toward an overall goal of $4 million. Construction on the expansion and renovation will start when the Y receives building permits this spring. Learn more at OurNewY.org.
Donors may choose which fund they prefer to support or designate their gift to the Community’s Greatest Need. Since this year is a big one for the Y – the West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA Board is diving in and matching every new and increased gift.
You can help by giving to the Y’s just-launched Together We Can Build a Better Us campaign here.
If you see extra equipment at the 63rd Avenue Pump Station in South Alki – King County Wastewater Treatment Division is bringing in a temporary generator truck after the station’s main electrical breaker failed. Spokesperson Annie Kolb-Nelson says this is not related to ongoing upgrade work, but: “Unfortunately, the generator may be noisy to the near neighbors. The good news is that we will be able to minimize its use, because it will only be needed during storms and high flows, and it looks like drier weather is in the forecast starting Saturday.” Repairs could take up to two weeks, she adds. A flyer has been sent to neighbors, with this number for questions: 206-263-9453.
FIRST PM TRAFFIC ALERT, 4:36 PM: Thanks to the texter who reported the 35th/Roxbury stoplight is in flashing-red mode. We just verified it; and via Twitter, SDOT says its engineers have been alerted.
5:10 PM: Just checked. Still flashing.
SECOND PM TRAFFIC ALERT, 5:22 PM: A crash has closed southbound 4th Avenue S. at Spokane:
UPDATE: SB 4th Ave S is closed at S Spokane St. Use alternate routes! Backup growing fast. pic.twitter.com/RdzhH7so53
— seattledot (@seattledot) February 4, 2016
Turns out this too has to do with a flashing traffic signal – resulting from crash damage, and causing big backups.
(WSB photos)
2:19 PM: Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School are in “shelter in place” right now, the district confirms. – with police investigating, following a report that someone might have been seen with a gun at Sealth. There is NO report of anyone having been injured – this is precautionary right now. More as we get it.
2:25 PM: We’ve just talked to police at the school. They say the person who was reported to have been seen with a gun is believed to have left the building. (According to dispatch description, it’s believed to be a female former student.)
2:30 PM: SPD says five have been “detained” (which doesn’t necessarily mean “arrested”). Our crew says that’s happening on or near the Southwest Athletic Complex fields south of Sealth but it appears police are leaving without anyone in custody. If you’re seeing a helicopter, it’s TV.
2:41 PM: SPS says the “shelter in place” is over and the schools will be dismissed as normal. SPD says officers have found marijuana (where, they haven’t said) but no weapon.
2:55 PM: Per scanner, officers have found the person they were looking for, at Westwood Village.
3:18 PM: Only one police car remains at that scene, at Rite-Aid, and operations inside the store appear to be normal. The suspect was reported in custody a short time ago; we’ll be checking on whether she was arrested. (And if and when we get the messaging that goes home to parents, we’ll add it here.)
3:56 PM: Here’s what police have just reported via SPD Blotter:
Seattle police arrested an 18-year-old woman Wednesday afternoon at Chief Sealth High School in West Seattle after she was reportedly seen with a firearm.
At around 2 PM, a fellow student reported seeing the young woman drop a firearm in bathroom, before picking it up and leaving the school building.
School staff called police and put the Sealth and nearby Denny Middle School campuses in shelter in place.
Officers identified the student alleged to have a firearm and found her at the Westwood Village shopping center. Police were not immediately able to locate the handgun, but arrested the 18-year-old for a firearms violation.
During the investigation, officers also attempted to contact a group of students near the school after they ran from police.
Officers were able to contact the group of students and determine they were not connected to the young woman seen with the firearm. Police, however, did find a bag of marijuana while attempting to contact the group, but it remains unclear whether it belonged to any of the students.
ADDED 6:58 PM: Denny principal Jeff Clark just sent us the letter he and his counterpart at Sealth have e-mailed to families:
Dear Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School Families,
We want to inform you of an incident that involved both Chief Sealth and Denny today. At around 2:00 PM, a Chief Sealth student reported to her teacher that she saw another student with what looked like a gun. The teacher notified the office. The administration called 911 and both Chief
Sealth and Denny went into a shelter-in-place. The police responded immediately to the Chief Sealth campus. After a police investigation and assessment of potential danger, the shelter-in-place was lifted. Shortly thereafter, Seattle police arrested an 18-year-old Chief Sealth female student at Westwood Village.Please know that we take safety in our buildings very seriously; the well-being of students is our top concern. We are proud of how our students and staff responded to this incident.
We are committed to doing everything we can to keep our students safe. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Aida Fraser-Hammer
Principal Chief Sealth International High SchoolJeff Clark
Principal, Denny International Middle School
Saturday, a gathering is planned to remember 21-year-old Chad Crooks. This is from his family:
Laura and Todd, along with Corey, Macey, and Grady Crooks, write this to share some profoundly sad news with those that have not yet heard. In the early morning hours of Thursday, 21st our sweet, brilliant, gentle giant,
Chad Crooks lost his battle with mental illness and with that, we lost him. At 21, he was our oldest son and brother and a blessing to everyone that met him along his path. With everyone around us, we grieve and love and, in time, we will heal.
Even through his recent struggles, Chad remained gentle and kind, but in the end, made a choice to control his destiny. Chad battled a disease that threatened to offer little hope of using his gifts, making them just beyond his grasp. His brilliance was a gift that he hoped would advance the knowledge and understanding of the complexities of our existence and lives on Earth and elsewhere. Our loss is the world’s loss.
This mental health tragedy is not unique to the Crooks family. It is a devastating, cruel affliction that destroys beauty. Like cancer or heart disease, schizophrenia and other types of mental illness have the same impact, often killing with an invisible hand.
A service will be held at our Admiral UCC Church here in West Seattle on February 6th at 2PM with stories, love and refreshments following. The Admiral United Congregational Church of West Seattle is located at 4320 SW Hill Street. Donations designated in Chad’s honor will be gratefully accepted to aid research in the field of schizophrenia and depression, with details available at the Saturday service.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
11:24 AM: If you’re headed southbound on 35th SW, you’ll want to divert before you get to SW Barton. Police and Fire crews are on scene right now and the southbound lanes are blocked. Texters said someone appeared to be “lying in the road.” We’re here now and checking but wanted to get the alert out for starters.
11:28 AM: A lane is open again so southbound traffic can get around the scene. We talked to police, who say it does not appear anyone struck the man – this isn’t a crash investigation – but SFD is evaluating him to try to find out what’s wrong.
11:42 AM: A private ambulance was headed that way, indicating non-life-threatening injury/illness.
Marée Bistro and Bar – the successor to Cassis on Alki – has set the date: Grand opening tomorrow (Thursday, February 4th), 5 pm. Marée will be run by Andy Dekle, who was Cassis’s head chef, and Megan Hartz, also on the previous restaurant’s founding team. It’s at 2820 SW Alki. We had first word of their plan shortly after reporting the Cassis closure back on December 19th. Marée has described its theme as “seasonal, market inspired French cuisine with a Northwest flavor.”
The day began with a spectacular sunrise; the photo by James Bratsanos looking west to the Kitsap Peninsula shows the short-lived reflection of that sunrise glow. (Reminder – this, like most WSB photos now, can be clicked for a larger “lightbox” view!) Now looking ahead – here’s what’s on the calendar:
PAYING FOR COLLEGE: 10 am-7 pm, drop in for one-on-one help figuring out how to finance college, regardless of where you’re going or hoping to go. At the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) Library – details in our preview. (6000 16th SW)
STORY TIME, TIMES 4: Wednesday is a big day for story times at local libraries: Preschool Story Time, 10:30 am, West Seattle (Admiral) Library at 2306 42nd SW; Toddler Story Time, 10:30 am, Southwest Library at 35th/Henderson; Baby Story Time, 11:30 am, High Point Library at 35th/Raymond; Somali Story Time, 5 pm, also at HP Library.
HOUSING LEVY: Centerpiece of tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting, 6:30 pm, is a briefing on the housing-levy renewal headed for city ballots later this year. We’ll get the details in an announcement from the mayor at noon, and then the official West Seattle discussion is planned tonight. All welcome; the meeting’s upstairs in the Sisson Building. (California/Oregon)
FLY FISHING FILM TOUR: 7 pm at the historic Admiral Theater, this national tour makes its local stop! Still time to get tickets at Emerald Water Anglers (WSB sponsor) at 42nd/Oregon in The Junction. More info here. (2343 California SW)
JIM PAGE: This “free-flow” singer-songwriter performs at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. (5612 California SW)
BASKETBALL HOME GAMES: Girls-varsity basketball home games tonight – Chief Sealth IHS hosts Holy Names (2600 SW Thistle), West Seattle HS hosts Seattle Prep (3000 California SW), both at 7:30 pm.
‘REALLY REALLY’: Second-to-last week for ArtsWest‘s latest production starts with tonight’s 7:30 pm performance. (4711 California SW)
TRIVIA TIME: 8:30 pm, another edition of the longrunning trivia night at Talarico’s Pizza with host Phil Tavel. (4718 California SW)
Another local school is hoping you can help send its 5th graders to outdoor-education camp. Roxhill Elementary‘s counselor launched the crowdfunding campaign and the tax-deductible donations go through the Roxhill PTSA, whose co-president e-mailed to ask if we would share it:
The intention is to raise money to send Roxhill kids to camp and field trips since we do not have the funds to do so this year. Roxhill is a school in need. … 80% of our students are on free and reduced lunch. Many of our students have never had the chance to attend camp or other field trips that enrich their education.
The donation link is here.
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6:55 AM: No incidents of note on routes in/from West Seattle so far this morning.
7:16 AM: In case you missed our mention last night – Metro is circulating another reminder of its systemwide changes next month. Biggest one for West Seattle is the RapidRide C Line/D Line separation, which will include the C Line going to and ending in South Lake Union.
8:16 AM: Still incident-free this morning.
11:04 AM: As Kara points out in comments, northbound 4th Ave. S. has police activity; it’s because of a shooting on board a Metro bus. NB Route 132 (which originates in Burien), we’ve confirmed with King County DOT. One person is in custody and another sought; a 22-year-old man has been taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound.
10:57 PM: Both varsity teams won tonight at Seattle Lutheran, including the girls’ team with a special incentive:
As reported here earlier, this was the last scheduled home game in the last of 35 seasons for Coach Bruce Carlson. A special photo included alums of his teams:
We’ll have video of the tribute and more photos later. As for the game itself, the girls beat Crosspoint, 46-22.
The SLHS boys also went home with a win over Crosspoint, 64-43.
#34 Josh Meyer (above) was top scorer with 26. More on this game later, too.
ADDED 8:35 AM WEDNESDAY: Video and photos:
Thanks to Sanislo Elementary librarian/teacher Craig Seasholes for sharing that photo as a followup to a lifetime-memory event from last month (WSB coverage here) – the day he and students hosted Holocaust survivor George Brady, his daughter Lara Brady, and Japanese museum curator Fumiko Ishioka sharing their story as told in “Hana’s Suitcase,” whose titular character was George’s sister. The book inspired a play that’s now at Seattle Children’s Theater downtown, where, Seasholes says:
Thanks to generous support from SCT and Biller Family Foundation, Sanislo Elementary School 4-5th graders got to see the SCT play today. It was a wonderful “encore” to the special events of last month. A Big Sanislo Thank You to all of you who helped make this memorable story come to life.
8:33 PM: Just an alert that WSB will have some downtime tonight starting around 11 pm. Last Saturday we had two rounds of downtime to switch to new server hardware, with space not only to hold our current 10-year archives but to accommodate the years ahead, following up on our recent software overhaul. But there’s one more step to take to move our live site onto the new hardware, and that’s happening tonight. Please bookmark (or otherwise save) our backup-site address, since we’ll use it for breaking news, if needed, while the work is under way – westseattleblog.wordpress.com – and of course our major social-media channels too, facebook.com/westseattleblog and twitter.com/westseattleblog. Thanks for your understanding as we continue evolving.
2:15 AM: Over now.
That photo tweeted by @jrush78 shows a sign up in The Junction, as Metro gets ready for its March changes – in particular, breaking RapidRide C away from D, and sending C to South Lake Union. We mentioned the plan back in December. Today, Metro issued a reminder of its March 26 systemwide changes, including RapidRide, as detailed here. For a summary of the other changes around the system, go here.
5:20 PM: If your phone rings at 6 pm, tonight or Thursday – here’s what it might be about:
Join us for the Mayor’s telephone town hall to talk about the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda, or HALA for short. We will be calling over 50,000 people in their homes today and Thursday, but if you want to make sure you are on the call, just call the number below. You will have a chance to ask questions and learn more about the HALA recommendations.
Tuesday, February 2nd: (855) 756-7520 Ext. 31029# at 6 p.m.
Thursday, February 4th: (855) 756-7520 Ext. 31028# at 6 p.m.
City info about HALA is here. The Morgan Community Association hosted a West Seattle-focused briefing two weeks ago; our video of that is here.
5:35 PM: In related news, the mayor’s office just announced that details of the Housing Levy renewal will be out at a noon event tomorrow. Considering that the first official community discussion of the levy is at 6:30 pm tomorrow here in West Seattle, seemed the announcement was going to have to be made by Wednesday afternoon.
By Randall Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Tonight, Seattle Lutheran High School will hold a post-game ceremony to recognize its 35-season women’s-basketball coach at his final scheduled home game.
“But first we need to win a game,” says Bruce Carlson, tonight’s honoree.
A victory for Seattle Lutheran (6-1 conference, 11-6 overall) over visiting Crosspoint (1-6, 1-14) would keep the Saints within a game of first-place Evergreen Lutheran (7-0, 12-1), who will host SLHS in the season finale on Friday with a share of the SeaTac League title in play for the winners.
While the crowd in the gym tonight will certainly enjoy the elevated stakes in the basketball game itself, the stands will be filled with people there to pay tribute to a man who has led multiple generations of West Seattle athletes: “I’ve coached players who are children of some of my former players or of players I watched playing for the men’s team,” says Carlson. “That’s one way to know you’re getting old!”
In addition to coaching former players’ children, Carlson has “been blessed” to have had had players return to help with summer scrimmaging, with a few even serving as assistant coaches.
The West Seattle native decided a few years ago that he would depart with his current senior class:
(WSB photo)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Looking north down the sidewalk in front of Sleepers in Seattle, you wouldn’t notice the spot unless it was pointed out to you.
This morning, the owners of the shop at 4741 California SW used graffiti remover to get rid of a swastika written onto the sidewalk.
“We get tagged all the time, but not like this,” Max Alcabes, son of owners Carlos and Meryl Alcabes, said as we stood on the sidewalk, looking at the spot.
Here’s a photo provided by the Alcabes, taken before they removed it. (Our policy is generally not to fully show this type of vandalism unless requested by police for investigative purposes.) It wasn’t huge or bold. That’s not the point. It would have had the same effect even if it were tiny:
“We’re a Jewish family.”
Meryl had made note of that, calling us after reporting it to police and the regional Anti-Defamation League office. We happened to be in The Junction at the time, and went over to talk to her husband and son at the shop.
They say this is the second time it’s happened in less than half a year. The Alcabes didn’t report it the first time, but, Max says, “Twice in a year, it’s not random.”
He said he walked The Junction looking to see if the same kind of symbol had been marked anywhere else. He didn’t see anything – just what was marked outside the shop that serves as a showroom for their business, which they’ve owned for 25 years.
Here are the city and county codes for malicious harassment – the terminology used for a hate crime. If you have any information, contact Seattle Police.
ADDED TUESDAY NIGHT: Meryl Alcabes tells us that after seeing this story, people stopped in all day to offer support; she comments below, “Thank you so much for the support we are getting from all of you, our West Seattle neighbors.”
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