West Seattle, Washington
12 Monday
Thanks to Lee for the photo and tip – that’s West Seattleite Kersti Muul, honored at the Seattle Audubon Volunteer Appreciation Dinner and Awards Ceremony, receiving the 2018 Education Award for “Extraordinary Commitment To The Education Program.” Kersti’s educational efforts have included helping people protect, understand, and appreciate local fauna and flora in many ways, including photos and information she’s shared with readers here on WSB. Congratulations!
Two reader reports from recent early-morning incidents:
ADMIRAL PACKAGE THIEF: The video is from Jeff:
He says that was recorded at 4:37 am Tuesday in an Admiral neighborhood.
PROWLER IN A CONVERTIBLE: From C:
Sunday night at 3 am (8/26), I called the cops on a prowler across from the Delridge P-Patch community gardens. The police showed up shortly after the prowler got in his yellow convertible and drove off headed north. Hopefully they caught the guy! Black hoodie was his only identifier.
The family of former West Seattleite Mike Hawley is sharing this remembrancce:
CW4 Michael Warren “Mike” Hawley (U.S. Army Ret.), a resident of Dothan, AL, passed away on Tuesday, August 21, 2018 from injuries sustained in a helicopter crash in Granger, TX. Funeral services were held this past Monday, August 27, with burial following at Meadowlawn Memorial Park in Enterprise, AL.
Mike was born August 14, 1960 in Seattle and spent the early part of his life in West Seattle. He was a 1978 graduate of West Seattle High School and attended South Seattle Community College and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Excelsior College and was currently working on a Masters Degree. Following school, he joined the U.S. Army 2nd Battalion Rangers, then later left and re-signed as a Warrant Officer and attended flight school. He served as a helicopter pilot for over 20 years prior to his retirement. Mike was enjoying his military retirement working as a part-time contract helicopter instructor pilot in Texas. He has resided in Dothan since 2006 and was an avid golfer, enjoyed fishing, and loved smoking a good cigar.
Mike’s career highlights as a pilot are as follows: B Co., 2nd Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger), (SOCOM) Ft. Lewis, WA, Special Operations Infantryman; B Co, 1st Battalion, 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment), Ft. Campbell, KY, AH-6J Special Operations Pilot;); 1-14th Aviation Training Battalion, Ft. Rucker, AL, Senior Instructor Pilot/Master Gunner OH58D(R); 1-17th Air Cavalry Squadron Fort Bragg, NC; 1st Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Standardization Instructor Pilot OH-58D(R); Blackwater Aviation, Baghdad, Iraq, Lead Pilot MD-530F; DynCorp, Kabul, Afghanistan (Special Mission Wing) Counter Narco-Terrorism Program, Standardization Instructor Pilot Russian Mi-17; Utility Aviation, Brunner Aerospace, Georgetown, TX, Senior Instructor Pilot MD-530F.
Survivors include his wife, Tonisha Hawley; his daughters, Audrey Hawley, Alexandria Hawley, and Heather Hawley; his in-laws, Harold and Mary Sconyers; sisters, Jackie (Bruce) Leland and Kathie (Jon) Hall; brother, Jeff Hawley; sister-in-law, Tangela (Kevin) Souders; brother-in-law, Jeff (Erica) Sconyers; nieces and nephews, Michael Maier, Rick Maier, Marilyn Souders, Maddie Souders, Maredith Sconyers, and Garrison Sconyers; grandchildren, Chelsea and Jesslyn; 3 great-nieces also survive. Mike was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Marjorie Hawley.
Mike will be greatly missed by his loving family and amazing friends. He had a true love for life and never met a stranger. Everyone who knew him loved his infectious laugh and sense of humor which led to his natural ability to make others laugh.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
(WSB photo)
4:51 PM: No word yet on how today’s contract talks between Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association went/are going. But on this day after voting to authorize a strike if no deal is reached in the next week, many educators spent an hour on informational picket lines before or after their workday. Above, Louisa Boren STEM K-8 educators along Delridge minutes ago. Adding photos from other schools shortly.
5:43 PM: Teachers from Gatewood Elementary were stationed at the busy corner of Fauntleroy/Alaska:
(WSB photo)
Several blocks south on Fauntleroy, the Fairmount Park Elementary line:
(Texted photo)
From Alki Elementary:
(E-mailed photo)
And the first group we heard from after the vote last night, Genesee Hill Elementary:
The sign on the left in their photo is a big issue in addition to salary, teacher Stephen Katz told us in a conversation during the picketing, as one of the chants was for “full-time counselors! full-time nurses! full-time librarians!” Even GH – the most populous elementary in West Seattle – has only a part-time nurse, he explained. Katz – who teaches third-graders at GH – has a unique perspective, having worked in the private sector, including as a small-business owner, before becoming a teacher at age 50. He and the GH teachers will picket again 3:30-4:30 pm tomorrow; most of the other schools we heard from also plan to do it again tomorrow, either before or after their workdays – they are all continuing to prepare for the scheduled first day of school one week from today, as contract talks continue. Also: The union has just announced that it and the district will be back at the table tomorrow, saying “some progress was made” today.
ADDED LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT: We’ve also received a photo from Pathfinder K-8:
They too will be out picketing again tomorrow – 7 am to 8 am outside the school on Pigeon Point.
(Photo tweeted by @westseawx)
3 PM: Seattle Fire has sent a “full response” to the Hill Crest Apartments in the 7500 block of 35th SW.
3:02 PM: First firefighters on scene aren’t seeing anything but are checking out an odor of smoke inside the building, possibly from a 4th-floor unit.
3:04 PM: This is now reported to be a kitchen fire. The response is being downsized.
3:19 PM: Ventilating now, reports @westseawx, whose photo we’ve added above (note that you’ll want to avoid northbound 35th in that area for a while, until the response clears).
A new firefighter at Seattle Fire Station 32 in The Triangle helped police catch a suspected drunk driver after a hit-run crash in front of the station. It happened around 5:20 pm Tuesday; a 34-year-old woman was in the crosswalk with her dog when a pickup-truck driver hit her. As we learned from a tipster later – confirmed today by SFD – firefighter Felton Tate got a description of the truck and driver and provided it to police. With that information, SPD found the 26-year-old suspect at his home a few blocks away. The report says the suspect acknowledged to the officer that he had been involved in the collision. The report says police found “what appeared to be an empty case of beer in the passenger seat of the vehicle.” The driver, police say, showed signs of intoxication, so he was arrested. The report says he refused a breath test until more than three hours after the crash – police were by then pursuing a warrant to draw blood – and at that time, the report says, his breath tests came in at .12. He was booked into jail, where the register shows he is still in custody, in lieu of $5,000 bail. The victim, meantime, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
(WSB photo, August 9)
“Not guilty” was the plea this morning at the arraignment of 16-year-old Loyan A. Ahmed, charged as an adult with second-degree murder in the August 9th bus-stop shooting of 37-year-old Taylor Fehlen. As reported here two weeks ago, detectives say the ORCA card Ahmed used on the bus led police to him, and that they heard from his mother – who told them she had seen his photo here – as they closed in. According to court documents from this morning’s hearing at the King County Courthouse, Ahmed’s lawyer asked Superior Court Judge John Chun to prevent media from photographing the defendant’s face, and the judge granted that motion. Ahmed is due back in court September 12th.
(Aerial view of West Seattle, earlier this week, by Bill Schrier)
Highlights for the rest of your Wednesday, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
WADING POOL OPEN: The Lincoln Park wading pool is open 11 am-8 pm today. (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)
SPRAYPARK OPEN: It’s also the last full week of operations for Highland Park Spraypark, 11 am-8 pm. (1100 SW Cloverdale)
COLMAN POOL CLOSED: Repairs continue at the outdoor saltwater pool on Lincoln Park’s shore. We’ll update separately when we hear its status for tomorrow.
MOVIE MATINEE: 1 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle, “Charlie Chan on Broadway” is this week’s feature. (4217 SW Oregon)
PICKETING PLANNED: As reported here last night, Seattle Public Schools teachers have voted to authorize a strike if they don’t have a contract agreement before the first day of school next week. Some local schools had informational picketing this morning; teachers at two others have told us they’re doing it this afternoon, Genesee Hill Elementary, 3:30-4:30 pm (5013 SW Dakota), and Louisa Boren STEM K-8, 3:55-4:55 pm (5950 Delridge Way SW).
HIGH POINT MARKET GARDEN FARMSTAND: 4-7 pm, buy fresh-grown organic produce right next to High Point’s mini-farm! (32nd SW/SW Juneau)
SKYLARK OPEN MIC: Signups at 7:30 pm, music (all genres – comedy welcome too) at 8:30 pm, at The Skylark. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
8:52 AM: Thanks for the tips about a big police response in The Junction, in the alley just east of California/Alaska. It ended before we even got there but police wrapping up at the scene say it involved a man with what turned out to be a BB/pellet gun. He is in custody. No one hurt. Mike Lindblom, West Seattleite who happens to also be a Seattle Times journalist, was there as this unfolded – on his way to catch a bus – and tweeted:
Some very nervous @seattlepb with rifles and K9 just arrested a man in WS Junction whom neighbors say had fired a pellet pistol. No injuries or police-force used.
— Michael C. Lindblom (@MikeLindblom) August 29, 2018
He also says Husky Deli owner Jack Miller confronted the man. We’re headed over to see if we can talk to him.
9:24 AM: More from Mike in this comment. Meantime, WSB’s Patrick Sand talked with Jack Miller, who says it was an Airsoft-type pellet pistol and that the man who had it claimed he was just “shooting at the flowers.”
ADDED FRIDAY: Just discovered Instagram user @r_dabernathy‘s video of this. Adding for the record:
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
7:02 AM: Good morning. So far, no incidents reported outbound from West Seattle.
8:38 AM: Police activity is reported in The Junction. We’re on the way to find out more and will have a separate story once we do.
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