West Seattle, Washington
24 Saturday
Maybe you can give an incredible gift this holiday season: The gift of a stable place for a young adult to stay. The video explains the Host Homes program; if you’re interested, the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) invites you to find out more on Thursday evening:
The Host Homes King County program matches young people (ages 18-24) with hosts in the community who can provide the space and opportunity for young people to build independent living skills, gain stability, and focus on goal attainment. … This program provides much-needed stability for young people who are “almost there” — many are already working and close to obtaining housing, and just need an extra boost to make sustainable change in their lives.
Host families are volunteers from the community who willingly offer a room in their home that provides safe, short-term, and supportive housing to young people who are at imminent risk of becoming homeless. This is a simple and direct way to make an impact on King County’s homelessness crisis.
Over 1500 youth and young adults between the ages of 12-25 are homeless or unstably housed within King County. Shelter beds and community resources are limited, leaving the vast majority of young people without access to food or safe housing. Through the Host Homes King County Program you have the opportunity to be champion for some of these homeless young adults.
To learn more on how to help in our community, stop by the West Seattle YMCA on Thursday December 20th from 6-7 pm.
That’s the Y’s main location in The Triangle, 3622 SW Snoqualmie.
That’s one of the eviction notices dated/timestamped 2 pm today, now up at both Vine & Spoon (4706 California SW) and Alchemy (4717 42nd SW) in The Junction. Court records show Equity Residential, which owns the two-building Junction 47 complex housing both, sought court action to evict the same-ownership venues because of tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent.
Vine & Spoon already had been closed for more than a week, first posting a notice that it would reopen at the end of next week, then replacing that with a notice that it would reopen December 26th. We spoke briefly at the end of last week with an ownership representative who said they had a new investor who would assist them in reopening, and they promised to call us back to talk more about their plans. That call never came. Then, this afternoon’s action.
Court records show the eviction dates back to an “unlawful detainer” filing by Equity in late October, saying they had first served an order to pay back rent or vacate in July, at which time the documents say two months of the $15,000/month rent was owed; that had grown to $105,000 by the end of October, the filings said. Two weeks ago, the court reissued a “writ of restitution,” noting that the sheriff – which enforces eviction orders – could break and enter if necessary. The separate case involving Alchemy has a similar timeline of documents and actions, with a filing in late October alleging that three months of its $5300/month rent was due by July, and that $89,000 was owed by the end of October.
Vine & Spoon had opened just six months ago, a year and a half after the same ownership opened Alchemy.
When you are out in The Junction doing your last-minute holiday shopping – and beyond – you will see something new in 14 shops: In-store donation boxes like the one above, to rev up the fundraising campaign to help Junction merchants pay the dramatically increasing bill for providing you with “free” parking. That bill – taxes, rent, fees – will total almost a quarter-million dollars next year, says Junction Association executive director Lora Radford. So every few bucks helps. And while supplies last, a donation of at least $5 will get you a classic Junction tree ornament from a rare cache that recently turned up!
The donation boxes are at these West Seattle Junction businesses:
CAPERS
8 Limbs Yoga Centers
Emerald Water Anglers (WSB sponsor)
Fleurt
Hotwire Coffee
Husky Deli
Jan’s Beauty Supply
Next to Nature
Northwest Art & Frame
Pegasus Book Exchange
Stop n’ Shop
Thunder Road Guitars (WSB sponsor)
Verizon West Seattle
Zamboanga
You can drink beer to support the lots, too.
Just in via SPD Blotter – two arrests resulting from a late-night police call at what the address indicates would have been the Westwood Village 24-Hour Fitness:
Officers were called to a gym in the 2600 block of Southwest Barton Street just after midnight Tuesday morning for a report of a theft.
Police arrived and contacted the 51-year-old victim, who said he was relaxing in the sauna when he heard the beeping of an alarm. He went to investigate and saw four people taking belongings from his locker. The victim tried to stop them but the suspects fled out various exits. The victim chased two of the suspects as they attempted to get into a car that was parked in a spot reserved for disabled parking. The two suspects were unsuccessful and continued to flee but were taken into custody by responding officers.
Police recovered the victim’s car keys and wallet, the only things missing from the theft. Officers checked the car the suspects were attempting to enter and discovered it was stolen from an address in Renton.
Officers booked the 18-year-old suspect into King County Jail for theft and released the 16-year-old suspect to his parents after the Youth Services Center refused to book the juvenile for the theft charge. Detectives will continue their work in hopes of identifying the other two suspects.
11:47 AM: SB Myers Way is blocked at Olson while the aftermath of that crash is cleared. SFD cleared the scene fairly quickly so apparently no major injuries, but we’re checking.
ADDED: No one transported.
10:18 AM: Thanks for all the tips/questions! Here’s what we have found out about the Delridge Arco/AM-PM, suddenly fenced off and boarded up, apparently at some time yesterday. Nobody around when we first took a look last night; the city online files show a permit issued yesterday for electrical work to “install a fuel-tank monitor.: There was also a permit issued less than a week ago for electrical work involving “kitchen equipment.”
But that’s just part of the story. The gas station and mini-mart are changing ownership, according to someone who answered the phone associated with the current business license (not the phone number listed for the business – that turned out to be disconnected). She said BP is taking over. So we’re now trying to track down the new ownership to find out about a timeline for reopening. Crews are on site now, as our photos show. A few of the people who e-mailed also expressed concern about inability to access packages at an Amazon Locker on the site. We’re checking on that too.
2:12 PM: Just heard back from Michael Abendhoff, BP’s director of media affairs: “Yes, BP now owns the location and will be updating it over the next couple of weeks. It will have a fresh ampm look, along with new customer offers. We hope to have it opened up by the 1st of the year.”
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and Holiday Guide:
BABY STORY TIME: Geared for the littlest librarygoers, up to 12 months old! 11:30 am at High Point Library. (3411 SW Raymond)
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON MOVIE: 1 pm at Senior Center of West Seattle, “The Song of Bernadette” (1943), part 1 – part 2 is next week. $1 members, $2 nonmembers. (4217 SW Oregon)
SANTA AT THE STORE: Mr. Claus appears at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor), 4-7 pm. (4201 SW Morgan)
HOLIDAY MUSIC, TOO: Alex Baird at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor), 4-7 pm. (4201 SW Morgan)
‘GET FIT, WEST SEATTLE’ INFO NIGHT: 6:30 pm at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), find out about this free couch-to-half-marathon program that starts early in the New Year. (2743 California SW)
OPEN MICROPHONE: Sign up at 7:30 pm, music starts at 8:30 pm, at The Skylark. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
FIRST REPORT, 7:24 AM: The National Weather Service has issued a weather alert for 7 am-7 pm Thursday, a High Wind Watch, warning of winds possibly as strong as those that hit last Friday night and cut power to thousands:
* WIND…South to southeast wind 25 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph. Strongest winds will be near the shoreline.
* TIMING…Winds will increase rapidly early Thursday and continue through the evening.
* IMPACTS…Snapped tree branches and downed trees along with local power outages.
Read the full alert here.
10:59 AM: Now upgraded to a High Wind Warning.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:11 AM: Good morning. No traffic incidents or transit alerts reported in our area so far.
| 2 COMMENTS