West Seattle, Washington
23 Tuesday
3:30 AM: An “assault with weapons” response is arriving at an address in the 9200 block of 17th SW [map], where a man is reported to have a gunshot wound to the leg. Police are searching for the suspect, last seen “running southbound in an alley,” though there’s no description yet.
3:34 AM: Now the report is that “two or three black males in hoodies” might have been involved, and this might have happened during “a robbery in an alley.”
3:51 AM: Medics describe the victim over the air as 19 years old with a thigh wound from a 9mm bullet, not believed to be life-threatening. They’re taking him to Harborview Medical Center.
3:59 AM: We’ve talked to police at the scene but so far they’re still trying to lock in some facts such as where the robbery/shooting actually happened. A K-9 is involved in the search.
16th SW is closed in White Center between 98th and 100th after a double shooting (update: one confirmed dead), in the same area where a man was shot and killed eight months ago. We’re updating on partner site White Center Now as information becomes available.
Road games for everyone on Friday night. Here’s the scoreboard:
WEST SEATTLE @ GARFIELD
-The #1-ranked Wildcat girls beat the Bulldogs, 58-48.
–WSHS’s Anthony Giomi was top scorer in the boys’ game, 22 points, but Garfield won, 64-58.
CHIEF SEALTH @ BISHOP BLANCHET
–52-50 was the final score in the Seahawk boys’ win over Blanchet.
–Sealth’s Celia LaGuardia was top scorer with 22 points but the girls lost to Blanchet, 67-47.
UP NEXT
-Sealth plays at Garfield, 7:30 Tuesday for the boys, 7:30 Wednesday for the girls.
-WSHS plays at Bainbridge, 7:30 Tuesday for the boys, 7:30 Wednesday for the girls.
Family and friends will gather on January 14th to remember and celebrate the life of John Frederick William Horner. Here’s the remembrance being shared with the community:
John Horner was born in London, England. As a child, John was part of Operation Pied Piper, the evacuation of children to the countryside during World War II. He spent several years living with families in rural England before returning to his parents in London.
John served for 8 years in the British Army “Royal Signals” in the post-war occupation of Germany and Italy. He was in an Airborne division and made many parachute jumps in training. John immigrated to America in 1954 with his first wife, Maisie, and lived on Long Island, New York until 1967, when he moved to California. He married Norma, his second wife, in 1970, and they moved to Seattle in 1994 to be close to Norma’s family.
In his early years in the U.S., John first worked in a metal-fabrication shop operating a drill press, and then through a family connection got a job in electronics assembly in the home of Saul Marantz, who had recently started his audio products engineering company. (Yes, that Marantz!) He learned electronics, and then switched to software, and became a programmer and eventually an IT Manager in the aerospace industry until he retired in the late 1980s.
In addition to computers and electronics, John had many interests over his lifetime, including art, astronomy, and firearms. He even relived his old Army days by celebrating his 80th birthday with a tandem jump from 13,000 feet! He made a few solo jumps after that, until he broke his leg on a hard landing. But John’s greatest passion was his music. He loved listening to all types of music and loved playing his autoharp every day. John was very active in the Northwest autoharp community for many years, and even wrote a song that was published in the Autoharp Quarterly magazine.
John was preceded in death by his brother Robert Horner, and is survived by his stepson Jon Diemer and wife Martha, his grandchildren Kristin Russell and Neil Diemer and their families, his sister-in-law Nan Allen, and several relatives in England. His many West Seattle neighbors were like an extended family for John, and he deeply appreciated their friendship and support over the years.
John was 89 years old when he passed away, and had achieved his goal of living independently until the very end! A memorial and celebration of John’s life is planned for Sunday, January 14th, from 2-4 PM at his house in West Seattle.
Please share memories and condolences on the online guestbook at emmickfunerals.com. Arrangements entrusted to Emmick Family Funeral & Cremation Services of West Seattle.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
Two reader reports tonight in West Seattle Crime Watch, both including car prowls:
IN NORTH DELRIDGE: After reading last night’s report about tools taken in a Pigeon Point shed break-in, Lauren sent this:
Both of the following incidents happened at our house located very close to Pigeon Point at Delridge and Oregon [map].
Sometime in the very early hours of yesterday, January 4th, both my and my boyfriend’s cars were broken into in our driveway. Nothing of value was inside but items were clearly rifled through and strewn around. I discovered this at 7:30 am. Police report was filed.
This early AM (January 5th) at ~2:50AM, we heard a loud sound like a car door slamming. My boyfriend and I went out to the deck and saw a car part way up the driveway. The car quickly turned into the street and sped away very fast. The car was black or dark blue and either a PT Cruiser or a Mini Cooper.
IN ADMIRAL: From Wendy:
I wanted to report that we had a car prowl yesterday or last night on the 2600 block of 47th Ave SW [map]. We have reported it to the police but wanted to get the word out to the neighborhood to be aware. No signs of forced entry so not sure if we left it unlocked. We don’t keep much in our car, they took a phone charge cord, ice scraper, wet ones, a nearly empty tube of lotion, and a dog harness.
The only thing I care about having back is the dog harness. Brand-new green and brown Gooby.
P.S. The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is back in session this month – Tuesday, January 16th, 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster). Neighborhood crime updates and concerns are always the centerpiece, but this month WSCPC president Richard Miller has also scheduled a guest, Steven Freng from the Northwest High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, who will talk about “recent drug use trends, including specific problem drugs and other emerging issues,” according to the announcement from Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Burbridge.
At Seattle Lutheran High School north of The Junction, it’s a much-anticipated time of year – “J-Term.” This year, the students in our photo above will be participating in the first “J-Term Abroad,” including senior Alex Okabayashi, who wrote this to explain:
After Christmas Break at Seattle Lutheran High School, we swap our regular classes for elective-based block periods for the entire month of January. We call this “J-Term.” This gives the students opportunities to explore their passions and find something new about themselves. My junior year, I took 3 classes in total: fiber clay, creative writing, and team sports. J-Term let me decompress from finals and start the new year off fresh while also letting me pursue some of my hobbies in a classroom environment.
However, when I heard about the first J-Term Abroad trip, I was instantly hooked. A 2-week marine-science course in the Caribbean with 10 other students on a catamaran sounded spectacular. Scuba-diving and marine biology right on the water sounded amazing, but I was a bit reluctant. I’ve never done anything like this before, but once some of my friends started signing up, the window for this opportunity was shrinking super quickly (all of the spots for guys were taken by the first day)! We’ll be sailing along crystal clear waters surrounded by forested islands in less than a few days, and it feels like everything is coming full circle. Have fun in the rain, by the way…
SLHS, by the way, has an open house coming up January 25th.
ORIGINAL JANUARY 5TH REPORT: Early heads-up: One week from tomorrow – on Saturday morning, January 13th – the Alaskan Way Viaduct will close for four hours, both ways from Seneca to Denny, including the Battery Street Tunnel. This is for an inspection related to plans for decommissioning the BST when the Highway 99 tunnel goes into service and takes the Viaduct out of service. The closure is scheduled for 6 to 10 am on January 13th.
JANUARY 8TH UPDATE: The boundaries of the closure, originally published on SDOT’s weekly construction/closure advisory, were wrong, WSDOT tells us today, and it’s basically just the Battery Street Tunnel, so if you are northbound during the closure, you will be able to exit at Western; if you are southbound, you will be able to exit at Denny. And the Elliott Avenue onramp to SB 99 will remain open.
(Sound Transit’s West Seattle-to-Ballard ‘representative’ map – draft ‘alignment’)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
If you care about what’s going to happen with West Seattle’s forthcoming light-rail line, you need to pay attention to and get involved in the process right now, especially for the next year and a half – though it’s not due to arrive until 2030, the timeline depends on key decisions being made in the next year and a half.
That point was made repeatedly during the first meeting of one of the groups that will be involved in the planning process for Sound Transit‘s West Seattle and Ballard extensions, the Elected Leadership Group. Here’s video of the meeting, just published by Seattle Channel:
Another point: The planning process is not ONLY for groups – individual comments will be vital. (But if you want to get involved at a more-intense level, you are invited to apply ASAP for one of up to seven spots open on the soon-to-launch Stakeholders Advisory Group, which has 19 members already announced – more on them, and how to apply, later.)
West Seattle-residing County Council Chair Joe McDermott is co-chairing the Elected Leadership Group with City Councilmember Mike O’Brien. Others in attendance at the group’s first meeting, at Sound Transit headquarters on the south side of downtown, included Mayor Jenny Durkan, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and City Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Lorena González, Bruce Harrell, Lisa Herbold, and Rob Johnson.
ST CEO Peter Rogoff opened by speaking of a “certain sense of urgency” and mentioned “how much worse congestion will get … before we can deliver these projects.” He also mentioned the hope of speeding up the projects beyond the current 2030 West Seattle/2035 Ballard opening plans. And he acknowledged the complex logistics – including the bridges to be built over waterways for both lines, and the new tunnel that the Ballard line will use. He vowed to be “responsive” and “straightforward” in the anticipated “back and forth,” and promised that ST would do its best to answer questions thoroughly and transparently.
Two West Seattleites was among the half-dozen people who spoke during the public comment period early in the meeting.
New information today about Thursday’s home-invasion robbery on Puget Ridge. An area resident has provided Seattle Police with images of what police say might be the getaway vehicle – likely a silver 4-door 1999 Buick, with one particularly distinctive feature: Lug-nut covers missing on both passenger-side wheels.
Otherwise, police say there’s not too much more than what we originally reported – it happened just before noon in the 5200 block of 18th SW, and they don’t know why this particular house was targeted. Four people forced their way into the house; at least two had handguns. They are described only as black, male, with dark hoodies covering most of their faces. They demanded cash, and were told the people in the house had none. One resident was “pistol-whipped outside the house” before the robbers broke in; they took “nothing of value,” SPD Det. Mark Jamieson told WSB this morning, and let barely two minutes after they arrived. Robbery detective St. John is investigating – call 206-386-4050; the incident number is 2018-004202.
(“Synchronized” sea lions, thermoregulating! Photographed by Kersti Muul while orca-watching in West Seattle Thursday)
The first weekend of 2018 is on the way. Here’s your list of possibilities, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: The home of West Seattle’s history is open noon-4 pm. (61st SW/SW Stevens)
WORDS, WRITERS, WEST SEATTLE: New location for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society-presented first-Friday author series – Southwest Library. 5-7 pm tonight, drop in to hear from David M. Hansen, talking about his book “Battle Ready,” telling the stories of the coastal forts in the Northwest a century ago. (9010 35th SW)
VISCON CELLARS: Tasting room open 5-9 pm – stop in and enjoy a glass of wine at Viscon Cellars (WSB sponsor); bottles available for purchase too. (5910 California SW)
JAZZ AT SALTY’S: Dave Holo Trio performs, 5-8 pm, at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor). No cover/minimum. (1936 Harbor SW)
SKATE NIGHT: 5:45 pm-7:45 pm, skating at Alki Community Center. $3/person. (5817 SW Stevens)
AT C & P COFFEE COMPANY: 7-9 pm, live music with David Johnson. (5612 California SW)
AT THE SKYLARK: Live music at 8 pm, with Snaketopus, TENRAI, and Hands of Deliverance. $8 cover. 21+. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
AND THERE’S MORE … on our complete-calendar page.
Christmas tree still up, and drying out? Curbside pickup or transfer-station dropoff options not quite working for you? Tomorrow brings another option – the West Seattle Rainbow Girls’ annual dropoff event in The Junction. They’ll be at the Masonic Center parking lot (4736 40th SW) between 9 am and 1 pm Saturday (January 6th) to accept your tree. It’s a fundraiser, so the fee is whatever you want to donate for the service.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
6:57 AM: Good morning! No incidents in/from West Seattle so far this morning, nor is there anything major in the area with potential ripple effects.
8:08 AM: The skipped Route 56 mentioned by commenters has finally resulted in an after-the-fact Metro alert:
Transit Alert – Route 56 to downtown Seattle due to leave 61 Av SW & Alki Av SW at 7:32 AM did not operate this morning.
— King County Metro🚌 (@kcmetrobus) January 5, 2018
8:37 AM: Another Metro note – the “online open house” for the Route 120 conversion into the RapidRide H Line, your next feedback opportunity, is open for 10 days starting today – it starts here.
An exciting day for 16 West Seattle schools – delivery of 2,400 eyed coho eggs for the Salmon in Schools program. We were at Highland Park Elementary, one of the newest participants, as longtime volunteers Judy Pickens (above center) and Phil Sweetland (below right) made the delivery and explained how things work.
At HPES, 4th grade teacher Danielle Meier (above left) is overseeing the program this year. Participants at other schools range from preschool to high school (Chief Sealth International is another new participant). But this isn’t just a West Seattle program – Judy and Phil are on the steering committee for all of Seattle, with 73 public and private schools having obtained state Department of Fish and Wildlife permits to raise and release fish. Today, volunteer Shannon Ninburg helped them make the rounds of local deliveries.
The students and teachers will observe the salmon growing until May, when the fry will be released there – 1,800 fry by 744 visiting students last year. The eggs are from Soos Creek Hatchery in Auburn and are not to be taken for granted, as we were reminded in 2016.
Two Three West Seattle Crime Watch items tonight:
ANOTHER STOLEN CR-V: For the second day in a row, we’ve received a report of a stolen CR-V. The one stolen yesterday was found by a WSB reader hours later. Maybe you can find the one taken overnight from Sarah in Seaview:
I’d like to report the theft of my vehicle sometime last night, 1/3-1/4, in the 5900 block of 48th St SW, it was parked legally in the vicinity of my residence and it’s been verified by SPD as not towed.
The vehicle is a blue 2011 Honda CR-V; notable features include Maryland license places and several Washington, DC parking permits, as well as a whole lot of bumper stickers including: Sierra Club, Bernie Sanders, Barrie School, George Washington University, Ocean City Brewing Company, West Marine Sailing, and several magnets for Marathons, Half-Marathons and Cycling. It’s pretty distinct and that’s not an all inclusive list, but hopefully could help positively identify it if spotted.
If you see it, call 911 – and then let us know.
(Sunday update: Confirmation that the CR-V was spotted by a reader – southwest of The Junction – and has been recovered!)
ADMIRAL ATTACK SUSPECT UPDATE: Today brought another hearing for Kierra Ward, charged in October’s knife attack on a mother out walking with her baby. Documents from the hearing indicate that Ward is choosing to go to trial rather than seeking a plea bargain; the date is tentatively set for February 21st, depending on what happens at a readiness hearing set for February 9th. Ward remains held in the King County Jail in lieu of $400,000 bail.
ADDED 8:50 – PIGEON POINT SHED BREAK-IN, TOOLS TAKEN: This just came in from Elizabeth, minutes after we published the above two items, so we’re adding it:
I wanted to let the Pigeon Point community know that my shed was broken into either last night or sometime today. The thieves stole all of my tools. (4100 block 19th SW) … They cut the hinges off my shed to get in. Below are a list of the tools stolen I have identified so far in case anyone hears or sees anyone out there with new things.
-Rigid Miter Saw, collapsible
-Rigid Table Saw, collapsible
-Rigid Hand Sander
-Rigid Nail Gun & Nails
-Dewalt Cordless Hand Saw
-Dewalt Cordless Reciprocating Saw
-Dewalt Cordless Drill
-Dewalt Cordless Impact Drill
-Dewalt Drill Bits (4-5boxes)Unfortunately I don’t have any cameras working that could help catch these people. My thought is that they drove some kind of truck and reversed back into my driveway up to the shed and broken. This would have shielded them from being seen from all sides (the other sides are surrounded by two other neighbors and my house as I have an open driveway, no garage. I’m guessing they had some kind of van as the miter saw and table saw are big.
Wanted to let the neighborhood know so everyone can keep an extra eye out on their homes as well as hope that someone saw something that could help catch these thieves.
(L-R, Councilmember Lisa Herbold, SWDC co-chairs Tamsen Spengler & Amanda Sawyer, secretary Roxane Rusch; Gunner Scott of HPAC, Mat McBride of Delridge NDC, Lora Swift of WSJA)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
New year, new information – many community updates filled last night’s first 2018 meeting of the Southwest District Council, representatives of groups and organizations around western West Seattle.
The meeting was the first under SWDC’s new leadership, co-chairs Tamsen Spengler (of the Morgan Community Association) and Amanda Sawyer (Junction Neighborhood Organization), with secretary Roxane Rusch (Admiral Neighborhood Association).
The spotlighted guest was City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, now midway through her four-year term representing District 1 (West Seattle and South Park).
That photo from Washington State Ferries shows WSF boss Amy Scarton christening the newest state ferry, M/V Suquamish, this afternoon at Vigor Industrial on Harbor Island. It’s the fourth Olympic Class ferry, and scheduled to go into service later this year. Before that, you’ll see it out on sea trials starting in a few months. The plan for starters is for it to be on the Mukilteo/Clinton run in the summer and be on maintenance relief for other vessels at other times of the year. The ferry’s name is explained in the announcement: “The Washington State Transportation Commission selected the vessel name in 2016 to honor the Suquamish people, a tribe that has inhabited the central Puget Sound for approximately 10,000 years.”
Thanks to Rich for the tip – less than two weeks after West Seattle Produce closed at future apartment site 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW, another closure: Mexican-food truck Taqueria La Original was towed off the lot this morning, and like WS Produce, it is now in search of a new home. We talked with TLO management by phone; they’re hoping to find a new home in West Seattle, but “it’s hard.” Once the truck does find a new location, they promise to announce it online. Taqueria La Original took the spot outside WS Produce almost exactly a year ago, same spot left by another food truck, Beloved Mexico, just over a year earlier.
(WSB photo)
ORIGINAL 12:47 PM REPORT: Police are in the 5200 block of 18th SW on Puget Ridge (south of Dawson), after a report of a home-invasion robbery. It’s still early in the investigation, but so far, they have been told that four armed men, described only as black, wearing black hoodies, and black masks, broke into the house. At least one person was home, a man who suffered a facial injury. The robbers are believed to have gotten away in a vehicle, though SPD tells us there are conflicting descriptions. We also don’t know yet what if anything they took. Robbery detectives are on their way to the scene; we’ll check back later for an update.
FRIDAY MORNING NOTE: The report was not available yesterday but we’re renewing our request this morning. The final classification of the call, meantime, was “strong-arm robbery.”
11:29 AM: If you grab binoculars and head for Constellation Park [map], you just might find Kersti Muul and Jeff Hogan there watching orcas. Kersti has texted us that whales are visible off the north tip of Blake Island, currently “milling,” though they had been observed northbound earlier.
11:47 AM: Jeff confirms that they’re visible from here, between Blake and Bainbridge islands currently.
Family and friends will gather Saturday to remember Captain Ray Armitstead. The obituary that his daughter sent to us this morning also turns out to be a followup on an incident reported here a month ago:
On December 5, 2017, WSB published a photo sent to you of a car on the sidewalk going up Glenn Way. In that car was my dad, Captain Ray S Armitstead. He was 91, born and raised in West Seattle.The EMT were able to get a pulse and took him to Harborview, where he passed away about an hour later. My mom always said he had an angel on his shoulder. That angel was with him in his 35 years at sea and there right to the very end. The police officer, who came to our door, said no citations will be issued, no one and nothing was hit. He is survived by his wife of 73 years, InaRuth, daughter Marybeth, son Daniel, daughters Martha and Joyce.
We’d like to invite any who knew him to his Celebration of Life on Saturday, January 6, 2018, at Dakota Place Park, 2 to 4 pm.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
Two townhouse projects in development news this morning, both on corner lots along SW Brandon:
TOWNHOUSES FOR THAITAN CORNER? An early-stage site plan has appeared in city files for 5258 California SW, current home of The Thaitan. 9 rowhouse (townhouse) units are proposed, two facing California, seven facing Brandon, with nine underground parking spaces. What’s particularly interesting is that while the adjacent, recently vacated Papa John’s site has had the same ownership, there’s no proposal in the files for that site – yet – though the site north has an 18-townhouse plan. Meantime, since the corner site is an early-stage proposal, not yet to the formal application stage, there’s no official comment period open yet either, but if you have anything you want to tell the city, you can contact PRC@seattle.gov and refer to #3030600. As for the restaurant’s future, we’ll be checking on that. (Photo: County Assessor’s Office)
(1:19 PM UPDATE: As Scott points out in comments, since we published this, a similar plan has turned up in online files for the ex-Papa John’s site – 9 townhouses, in this case, 3 fronting California, and three rows of two each behind it.)
And about four blocks directly east …
TOWNHOUSES AT FAUNTLEROY/BRANDON: A project much further along in the pipeline has received a key approval, per this notice in the city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin. Six rowhouse-style townhouses have been approved for the northwest corner of Fauntleroy/Brandon, at 3914 SW Brandon, with six offstreet-parking spaces; today’s notice is the determination of environmental non-significance, and opens a two-week period for anyone interested in filing an appeal.
(Townsend’s warbler, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
Welcome to 2018’s first Thursday! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
FAMILY STORY TIME: 10:30 am at Southwest Library. (9010 35th SW)
WEST SEATTLE TO BALLARD LIGHT RAIL ‘ELECTED LEADERSHIP’ GROUP: As previewed here earlier this week, this group is meeting for the first time at 705 Union Station on the south side of downtown, 2-4 pm. Public welcome. Meeting documents are here. (4th Ave. S. & Seattle Blvd. S. – map)
ALKI ELEMENTARY PTA: 6:30 pm meeting. (3010 59th SW)
READ THE KORAN IN 4 WEEKS: Tonight is the first of four sessions in First Lutheran Church of West Seattle pastor Rev. Ron Marshall‘s next series, 7 pm. Check to see if there’s room. (4105 California SW)
AT THE SKYLARK: Tonight’s live music features Barrett Staples, Thom Joseph, VIBE, Jay Fiddy. 8 pm. 21+. $8 cover. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
WEST SEATTLE SOUL: New monthly event at Parliament Tavern – see tonight’s lineup in our calendar listing. 9 pm. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
THERE’S MORE … on our complete calendar!
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
7:06 AM: No outbound problems from West Seattle so far, but for those headed this way via southbound I-5, a rollover crash involving a box truck has been blocking lanes just north of the exit to the westbound West Seattle Bridge. No injuries, WSP says, but even once it’s towed, there will be residual southbound backups.
8:34 AM: WSDOT says the overturned truck has just been cleared and now they’re on to some cleanup work.
8:55 AM: All lanes open again on SB I-5 just north of the WS Bridge exit.
| 13 COMMENTS