One more early-morning incident that woke up more than a few people early today – suspected gunfire heard in South Delridge, Westwood, and as far north as Sunrise Heights. This security video is from a camera near 17th and Cloverdale. We couldn’t find a police report number showing that any evidence of gunfire had been found; if anyone reading this knows of a related report number, the video’s owner was wondering how to call it to police’s attention in case the vehicle seen going by in the background was related. Meantime, just a reminder, if you think you hear gunfire, call 911, because the more calls they get, the more chance they have of figuring out where it happened and if there’s any damage/evidence.
That’s a view of the Delridge Triangle (18th/Barton). We’ve reported before on community plans to give it a brighter, safer future, and now there’s a simple, fast way to show your support. From Kim Barnes:
Did you know the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition is working in partnership with Highland Park Action Committee and South Delridge Community Group to improve one of our community public spaces in South Delridge?
On June 25th, The Friends of the Delridge Triangle will submit its application to the Neighborhood Matching Fund. The goal? To get the Delridge Triangle (9200 Delridge Way, across from Burger Boss and 2 Fingers Social) redesigned to create a space that is safe and usable for the community.
The Delridge Triangle lies at the center of the South Delridge community. With Highland Park to the east and Westwood-Roxhill to the west, the public right of way is central feature to the South Delridge corridor. The space has a long history of negative social behaviors that have created fear and avoidance and the surrounding community is in desperate need of easily accessible outdoor space. Your pledge to participate in the redesign project over Fall 2018-Spring 2019 is a critical step toward filling the need for easily accessible green space in South Delridge.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
For the grant application to be successful we need your pledge of interest to participate as the Community Match to the grant award over the October 2018-April 2019 period. Can you spare two minutes today and complete the volunteer pledge form here?
For project information along with online pledge form, you can go here: DelridgeTriangle.org Your details will not be shared beyond the Delridge Triangle team, and you’ll be updated on the progress of the application submission starting at the end of June.
Can you help with getting more pledges? Would you like to consider pledging cash, materials or have questions? Email the steering committee at DelridgeTriangle@gmail.com. Thank you for supporting our community!
Just hours until summer’s next big West Seattle event, the Morgan Junction Community Festival, 10 am-4 pm Saturday at and around Morgan Junction Park [map]. We’ve already published multiple previews, but here are two sets of specifics that might help you finalize when you want to be there:
Music and Entertainment Schedule
10:00 Endolyne Children’s Choir (MJP music stage)
10:45 Bubbleman (MJP)
11:45 Soyaya (MJP music stage)
12:30 – 2:00 Spatter of Morgan (MJP expansion site)
1:00 Servants of the Rich (MJP music stage)
1:00 Live Mural Painting by Desmond Hansen (MJP)
1:45 – 2:05 Bark of Morgan Pooch Parade and Contest (MJP expansion site next to Eddy Street)
2:15 DEAL (MJP music stage)
3:15 Gary Benson (MJP music stage)
Children’s Activities (Eddy Street side of MJP)
10:00 to 4:00 Crafts with Janet Taylor
10:00 to 4:00 Face Painting
10:00 – 12:30 Sidewalk Art with Chalk Artist David Toledo
10:00 – 2:00 Balloon Artist
First Responders Units (California Ave in front of MJP)
10:30 – 3:00 Seattle Police Dept Mobile and Mounted Patrol
1:00 – 3:00 Seattle Fire Department Engine 32
Now, food details:
Sweet Bumpas Handmade Ice Cream. Owner/chef Matt Bumpas is excited to be participating again for his 4th year! Flavors he’ll be serving up:
Hokey Pokey (Sweet Cream w/ Honeycomb Candy)
Chocolate
So Vanilla
Strawberry Vanilla
Garden Mint w/ Cocoa Cookie
Peach Dreamsicle
Lemon Sesame Street (Lemon Sesame Ice Cream w/ Black Sesame Honeycomb Candy
The Tamale Guy, Juan Garcia. is again offering three kinds of his wonderful homemade tamales, served with a choice of great sauces and pickled vegetables.
Hickory smoked chicken
Pork belly
Vegetarian: charred cauliflower and roasted potato
Chips and salsa
Beveridge: strawberry-lime agua fresca
Jones Barbeque
Chopped Pork Sandwich
BBQ Chicken w/Southern Slaw
Strawberry Short Cake
Assorted Beverages
West Seattle Thriftway’s fundraiser for the festival will be grilling hamburgers (and will include a soft drink and chips) in front of the store from 11:30 am until approximately 3 pm. (Southeast corner of California/Fauntleroy)
The vendor/community group list is here; Bark of Morgan details are here. See you there!
Alki Community Center will be closed Monday, June 18 through Friday, June 22 for major maintenance. During this closure we will also be starting construction of accessibility improvements that will last through the end of the year. Alki Community Center is located at 5817 SW Stevens St.
Seattle Parks and Recreation is partnering with Department of Education and Early Learning to make required improvements for expanded licensed preschool at our community centers by providing ADA compliant preschool classrooms and access.
This project will address 79 documented barriers to accessibility (areas that do not meet the Americans with Disability standards), including accessible parking, accessible routes, accessible kitchen upgrades, door opening forces and closing speeds, addition of automatic door actuator, tactile signs, toilet and shower room upgrades, counter heights and elements not within reach ranges.
Seattle Parks and Recreation will work with the contractor to minimize the construction impacts. The work will require us create some site entrance detours and to close the single user bathroom, kitchen and other parts of the center and parking areas for short periods.
During the closure, the summer child-care program will continue and operate out of the Community Center’s Multipurpose room and gymnasium.
For information on the project, please visit seattle.gov/parks/find/centers/alki-community-center. If you have questions about the accessibility improvements please contact Mike Schwindeller, Project Manager, at mike.schwindeller@seattle.gov or 206-615-1165.
1:28 PM:West Seattle High School principal Brian Vance says the school has accepted the resignation of Marcis Fennell after his first year as head football coach. Fennell sent WSB a copy of his resignation letter; you can read it here (PDF). He cites “many reasons” for leaving, including “unwarranted resistance” to his “attempt to change the culture of the program.” Vance says school administration is sending a letter to program families this afternoon, and that the school will launch a search for a new head coach, though it’s a lot later in the year than the traditional time for such searches. Fennell went winless during his year of coaching the Wildcats; in his resignation letter, he says that he inherited only “1 returning varsity player with significant playing time from the season prior.” His hiring was announced in March 2017.
ADDED 2:56 PM: WSHS athletic director Corey Sorenson has just sent us the aforementioned letter that’s gone out to families; read it here (PDF). In part, Sorenson writes, “I would like to thank Coach Fennell for the endless amount of time and energy he invested into our student athletes at West Seattle High School. During Coach Fennell’s time as Head Coach at West Seattle High School, our school has seen increases in the number of two-sport athletes, overall team GPA and community outreach from within our football program. I want to assure all the families and athletes that moving forward we will be having a football program next fall at West Seattle High School.” He also told families that while WSHS searches for a new head coach, assistant athletic director Jeremy Marzofka “will be running team activities and workouts.”
10:25 AM: Police are searching for a suspect in what they call a case of domestic-violence gunfire. It happened a short time ago in the 6500 block of 16th SW. They’re asking that everyone avoid the area. Per scanner, the suspect was described as a white man with a shaved head and red beard, possibly in a white Jeep Cherokee.
10:35 AM: Our crew reports 16th is closed to traffic in the 7000 block on the south side of this investigation. And just tweeted by SPD:
Police actively searching for Patrick Shephard, a white male, 6'2", thin build, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, also has a neck tattoo. Call 911 if seen.
10:49 AM: Now per scanner police are headed for a nearby greenbelt to investigate a report of a possible body and gun – we don’t know for certain whether it’s related but there’s a fire call too. Also, South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) has sent a text alert that it’s on lockdown. And Metro has sent a text that it’s not serving the campus right now.
10:59 AM: Police confirm via Twitter that they believe the body is that of the suspect they were seeking and that he appears to have died by suicide, in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.
11:16 AM: As a commenter noticed, the location of the SFD response related to the body discovery keeps changing (most recently 13th/Holly). That’s because it’s taken a while for SFD to find the best path into the greenbelt.
Meantime, Metro continue to route transit out of the area, including Routes 125 and 128. We’ll update whenever that gets back to normal.
11:40 AM: We talked to police at the scene; they say this started with a confrontation between the suspect and an ex-girlfriend; he started firing shots into her house. No one was hit, according to police, but other people were home too and some, police say, even jumped out of a window to get away.
11:54 AM: SSC is back to normal operations and so is transit in the area, which means 16th has reopened.
Early this morning, police were back at the Puget Ridge home of repeat offender Gregory Thompson in the 7100 block of 18th SW. We’ve reported on him previously in connection with previous arrests including this case in February in which guns and drugs were recovered. This morning, police confirm to WSB that while they were at his house in connection with an unrelated case, they recovered most if not all of the fish stolen from Seattle Fish Company, in the Thursday morning heist reported here last night. The King County Jail Register shows Thompson was booked this morning for investigation of tampering. We don’t have details yet on that case but will add anything more we find out.
LOW-LOW TIDE: It doesn’t often get much lower than this. -3.7 feet at 12:42 pm. Seattle Aquarium beach naturalists are out at Constellation Park (63rd/Beach Drive) and Lincoln Park (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW) through 2 pm.
CITY COUNCILMEMBER’S DISTRICT OFFICE HOURS: If you have something to bring up with City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, you’ll find her at South Park Community Center, 2-7 pm today, for this month’s round of “district office hours.” (8319 8th Ave. S.)
We are proud to announce that we’ll be celebrating the release of the Respect The Vibez Mixtape, a collaboration between Totem Star and Youth Speaks Seattle, featuring over twenty original songs and poems recorded in the Totem Star studio from January 2017 through May 2018. Youth Speaks Seattle will also be releasing their Chapbook at the event! Join us for an evening of amazing youth performances and the opportunity to get your physical copy of the new mixtape and chapbook!
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
7 AM: Good morning. No incidents reported in/from West Seattle so far.
STADIUM ZONE: Home game again tonight, and the first fireworks show of the year, for the Mariners, vs. the Red Sox, 7:10 pm.
ROAD WORK REMINDERS: The Harbor/Spokane project has begun, and detours for those biking/walking on the Alki Trail start next Monday, as reported here … Also set to start next week, a section of Marine View Drive will be closed as part of a City Light project.
8:25 AM: Hannah reports via email: “Our Microsoft Connector is broken down on Fauntleroy just before 35th, blocking the right lane. We’ve tried closing all the windows and restarting, but no luck yet.”
Just hours until summer’s next big West Seattle event, the 
Alki Community Center will be closed Monday, June 18 through Friday, June 22 for major maintenance. During this closure we will also be starting construction of accessibility improvements that will last through the end of the year. Alki Community Center is located at 5817 SW Stevens St.
1:28 PM: 
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