West Seattle, Washington
26 Friday
The photos and report were shared tonight by Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clark:
On a recent trip to Dharamshala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, at his residence in exile, Ms. Lori Markowitz presented His Holiness with a Denny sweatshirt as a gift from the entire Denny International Middle School community! He was pleased to see our logo includes the words, “We love all immigrant and refugee families” and was very supportive of our school motto, “We All Belong!” He sent a message of encouragement back to all the Dolphins to develop increased hope, compassion, and love in our community and in our world.
Here at Denny, we are very proud of our Youth Ambassadors program, which inspires our scholars to make a positive difference in our community. Ms. Markowitz has been an incredible supporter of our school by partnering with us to launch and continue Youth Ambassadors and by helping us to make powerful connections locally and around the world. We are inspired by the words of hope, compassion, and love from the Dalai Lama—and very grateful to Ms. Markowitz for helping us to make this powerful connection!
In the spirit of compassion,
Jeff Clark, Principal, Denny International Middle School
Ms. Lori Markowitz gave the following insight into her historic trip:
“What a wonderful way to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Youth Ambassador program born during the seeds of Compassion conference April, 2008. Meeting his Holiness the Dalai Lama in India at his residence in exile was an honor and privilege I will certainly cherish for the rest of my life. To be able to travel with two of the very first Youth Ambassador students made the experience that much more memorable and powerful.
“The messages his Holiness shared with us will remain close to our hearts. Habib and Olivia (remarkable Youth Ambassadors who I’ve had the privilege of working with for many years) will indeed continue to be ambassadors of hope, kindness and love.
“The Dalai Lama believes compassion and love need to be emphasized daily and included in the school curriculum. The idea is, if children are intentionally taught to be generous and joyful and to nurture empathy and mutual understanding (not in a religious manner) they will have a happier, healthier life. We saw many Tibetan wind horse flags representing goodwill, inner strength, and positivity, ‘Others Before Self’ — the kind and giving spirit was palpable. The Youth Ambassador program is dedicated to cultivating compassion, providing unique learning experiences, building strong school communities, and investing students in a broader movement for positive change.
“Giving his Holiness the Denny International Middle School ‘we all belong’ sweatshirt as a gift was truly an honor! Currently, the Youth Ambassador program is embedding a civics and compassion curriculum allowing students to become more engaged citizens involved in making their own neighborhoods better areas to live and thrive in, a vital component of a thriving democratic society.”
We reported on the Youth Ambassador program at Denny back in 2015.
If you’ve been in The Junction since Friday, you might have noticed the new art in Pegasus Book Exchange‘s window (4553 California SW). Erika Bass sent a photo and report today, explaining its origins:
Check out the new public art piece, Paper Words, hanging in the window at Pegasus Book Exchange in the West Seattle Junction. The large papercut was created by teenage students in Erika Bass’ Creating Public Art class at Southwest Community Center’s Family Learning Program. The words and images were chosen by the students in response to visiting Pegasus and in celebration of this treasured West Seattle business.
The student artists in Erika’s photo are, from left, Fiona Hewitt, Asha Navaratnasingam, Lilah Christianson, Margot Lange, Ciaran O’Rourke, Elliott Custer. Not pictured, Oscar Callahan.
Thanks for the tips. The police response near the Fauntleroy ferry dock followed a report of a suspected prowler who took off running when confronted by a resident, officers told us at the scene. A 911 call and search ensued; a person believed to be the suspect was found and taken into custody, pending ID confirmation by the resident.
5:58 PM: Another of this week’s major meetings is Thursday, when community members are invited to Roxhill Elementary to find out about the “programs and services” that will be moving into the building after the elementary students move to EC Hughes. After we received and published the announcement last week, we asked Seattle Public Schools for more details. That request has gone unfulfilled to date – but we just found some information while checking the most recent Superintendent’s Friday Memo on the district website, something we don’t read as often as we should: “Interagency at Youngstown, BRIDGES and other special education services will move in to Roxhill building thanks to BEX IV.” Interagency Academy (also mentioned by a commenter) is, as described on the district website, a “network of small, alternative high schools spread out across Seattle designed to support students who need different supports than comprehensive schools offer.” The Youngstown Cultural Arts Center site is one of 11 locations. BRIDGES is short for Building Real-life Independent Daily Living and Gainful Employment Skills, according to its SPS page. It’s described as “designed for young adults with disabilities ages 18-21 who continue to need special education services outside of a 9th-12th grade setting/curriculum in order to meet their own unique post-secondary transition goals.” We’ll find out more at Thursday’s meeting (6 pm June 7th, Roxhill library, 9430 30th SW).
ADDED 9:19 AM: We finally got a district response this morning, from associate superintendent Michael Tolley, who adds some context for some of these programs moving:
This fall, construction to build a new Wing Luke Elementary (WLE) school on its current site will begin. While under construction, WLE will be temporarily housed at Original Van Asselt (OVA). Therefore, all of the programs and services currently located at OVA will be moved to other buildings throughout the district, including the Roxhill building. Multiple Special Education services, including BRIDGES and In Tandem, will move from OVA to Roxhill. The Interagency programs currently at the Youngstown Cultural Art Center will also move into Roxhill.
(Saturday night photo by WSB’s Christopher Boffoli)
On the second day after the murder along Alki Avenue SW, near Luna/Anchor Park [map], no arrest yet – and no new (public) information from Seattle Police. The victim was stabbed around 10 pm Saturday night and died at the scene. Along the Alki Trail, where his body remained for hours while investigators worked the scene, a memorial that started with a few flowers by Sunday evening grew today – including extensive tagging on the trail/sidewalk.
Police won’t say anything more than describing the investigation as “active and ongoing”; as noted in our Saturday night coverage, they don’t believe it was a random killing. It’s the second murder in West Seattle in less than a month, after the deadly shooting of 44-year-old Lorenzo Marr at West Seattle Stadium on May 8th, also still unsolved. The Alki victim’s name has yet to be released; police described him as in his mid-20s. If you have any information, you can call the SPD tip line at 206-233-5000 – or 911.
That’s the Seattle Channel video of this morning’s City Council meeting recapping the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) toplines for District 1 – West Seattle and South Park – before tomorrow’s public hearing. No new info, but if you’ve lost track of where the plan stands, it might be a helpful refresher. Here’s the slide deck they used; here’s the online map that you can use to look up how your neighborhood might change under the proposal.
Basically, the plan would upzone all commercial/multifamily property in the city – and other types, within urban-village boundaries, while also expanding some of those boundaries – while requiring developers to either include a certain percentage of “affordable housing” or pay the city a fee in lieu of that. No date is set for the council’s vote on the plan yet, and the citywide appeal of the Environmental Impact Statement remains scheduled for hearings later this month. Tuesday night’s public hearing in West Seattle is at 6 pm (speaker signups start at 5:30) in the Chief Sealth International High School auditorium, 2600 SW Thistle, as previewed here last night.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
With a new case manager on the job, housing placements from West Seattle’s only city-sanctioned encampment have increased dramatically.
That was part of the information shared at the monthly Camp Second Chance (C2C) Community Advisory Committee meeting on Sunday.
The city’s permit-renewal decision still hasn’t been announced – technically for a second year at the city-owned Myers Way Parcels, though it’s been almost two years already since the camp moved there in July 2016, initially without authorization. But it’s apparently imminent.
(Anna’s Hummingbird, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
Here’s how the first full week of June begins!
COUNCIL REVIEWS HALA MHA UPZONING: As noted last night in our look ahead to tomorrow’s public hearing, the City Council, as the Select Committee on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability, meets at 10:30 this morning to review how the proposal would affect West Seattle and South Park. (Today’s meeting is at City Hall, while Tuesday night’s hearing is in West Seattle.) Seattle Channel will stream today’s meeting live, along with the Channel 21 cablecast. (600 4th Ave.)
LEARN TO ROW! The Duwamish Rowing Club has sessions this month, for both youth and adults, and the first one starts tonight – this one’s for adults:
DRC will be offering 3 three weeklong learn-to-row classes this June. Two sessions will be for adults and one session for youth, ages 10 to 18.
For Adults (ages 18 and older): Session #1
· Monday, June 4th at 6-8 pm
· Wednesday, June 6th at 6-8 pm
· Saturday, June 9th at 12 to 3 pmNo experience necessary; we teach everything you need to know. Adult classes are for 18 and up. $60 for three classes (7 hours of instruction) – scholarships available. Please contact rowdrc@gmail.com if the fee is a hardship. Cash or Check to ‘SPARC’, sorry no credit cards.
Tonight is dry-land training, at South Park Community Center. (8319 8th Ave. S.)
DANCE CLASSES: Balorico starts summer sessions at Kenyon Hall, 6 pm tonight. (7904 35th SW)
WEST SEATTLE BOOSTER CLUB: Last meeting of the school year for the West Seattle Booster Club, 7 pm at the West Seattle High School library. (3000 California SW)
PUGET RIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: 7 pm at Puget Ridge Cohousing, all welcome. This month’s guest is South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) communications director Ty Swenson. (7020 18th SW)
Something for the calendar? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thanks!
Thanks to Bri’Anna for the photos and report:
After five matchplay games, 10 baker games, and two days of cheering, the Greater Seattle Youth Girls Bowling All-Star team, coached by Jessica Buchanan, took first place at the Interassociation All-star Extravaganza in Longview, WA. Three-year all-star and West Seattle High School sophomore Evan Smith helped lead the girls to victory as the Greater Seattle team captain. West Seattle Bowl is her home alley (and also for returning youth all-stars Ruth Magaña and Kyle Jonson).
Evan is extremely proud and excited to bring home a big win for West Seattle Bowl and the Greater Seattle bowling association! Kenmore Lanes is where the Greater Seattle USBC Board of Directors has their home office, so the perpetual plaque will be hung there until next year’s event.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
7:02 AM: Good morning and welcome to the first full week of June. No incidents reported in/from West Seattle so far this morning.
7:20 AM: Crash reported on NB I-5 at the bridge.
7:55 AM: That’s finally cleared.
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