West Seattle, Washington
26 Tuesday
(Photo sent by Carolyn Newman)
10:05 PM: Seattle Fire is sending a water-rescue response by land and sea to the Seacrest vicinity. The dispatcher has told responders it’s a report of two diving students missing, reported by their instructor. Updates to come.
10:09 PM: This has been updated to one diver missing, in the Honey Bear (Cove 2) vicinity.
10:19 PM: Search continues. As shown in the photo above, crews on land are using a fire-truck ladder to help search.
10:29 PM: Rescue divers are searching, as well as crews in boats and on land; SPD is part of the response as well as SFD. The missing diver was described in an early dispatch as a woman in her 30s.
10:55 PM: The search continues.
11:04 PM: The medic units have been dismissed from the response (thanks to Aaron for that tip from the scene), which indicates this has switched into more of a recovery mode.
11:18 PM: SFD says this is now an SPD-led search.
1:30 AM: No further updates. We’ll check with SPD later this morning.
Once the primary-election ballots are counted after next Tuesday night’s voting deadline, the spotlight turns to November, and one city ballot measure will likely dominate the discussion: Seattle Charter Amendment 29. It attempts to codify particular policies for dealing with homelessness, Just announced by the 34th District Democrats – their August meeting will be preceded by an informational forum with reps from both sides. Supporters call their compaign Compassion Seattle, opponents call theirs House Our Neighbors, and participants from both will be part of the online event, open to all, 6-6:45 pm Wednesday, August 11th. You can register here to get the viewing link. The 34th DDs’ regular August meeting will start afterward, at 7 pm (same link if you plan to stay), and they may take an endorsement vote during the meeting,
(Updated Monday with official confirmation of Roxbury victim’s ID)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The man shot and killed at 28th/Roxbury Thursday night is reported to have been 45-year-old Ronald Moore, best known as the veteran rapper Gonzoe,
There is still no official confirmation of this – the King County Medical Examiner’s Office has not released the victim’s ID yet – but we have confirmed that Gonzoe lived in West Seattle.
Word of his death started circulating last night, starting with a report on the entertainment-news site VladTV (which cited WSB for details on Thursday night’s crime scene/investigation). There’s no question that Gonzoe, who came to fame in the mid-’90s as a member of the group Kausion – has died; family, friends, and fans are mourning him. But what we’ve spent hours trying to find is an open citation of who actually linked his death to the Thursday night shooting. Because so many people have called this to our attention, we’re publishing this story with what we do know, as well as what we don’t.
Though his online ID cites Los Angeles as his base, we have confirmed that Gonzoe lived in West Seattle, at least part of the time. First word came from a person who contacted us, identifying themselves as a longtime friend, saying that the rapper moved here a few years ago and has family here; this person said they’d confirmed the death circumstances by talking to a relative. Checking various types of online databases in which names and addresses can potentially be matched, we found confirmation in 2020 and 2021 records from a traffic case that he had a Morgan Junction address. Looking through Gonzoe’s Instagram posts – in which he often gave short pep talks to his followers – we found one video dated July 13th that was clearly made here in West Seattle (the beachfront scenery shows Vashon and Blake Islands).
Back to online information, his friend Boskoe 100, with whom Gonzoe founded a boxing league called Glovez Up Gunz Down, talked about the shooting in a video. He said he was told that Gonzoe was getting ready for a “late-night studio session” when he went to the Roxbury Lanes restaurant to pick up some food, got into an argument with someone, and that person followed him out and shot him.
The King County Sheriff’s Office continues investigating the Thursday night shooting but hasn’t released a report on the circumstances; what we cited in our coverage comes from what we learned at the scene and via emergency-radio communication that night, as well as KCSO confirming the victim’s death Friday morning.
ADDED MONDAY AFTERNOON: Via King County Public Health/Medical Examiner’s Office, we have confirmed that the Roxbury shooting victim was indeed Ronald Moore/Gonzoe. His death was ruled a homicide, caused by a gunshot wound to the chest. No updates so far from KC Sheriff’s Office investigators.
(Photo: @TheRealGonzoe)
When we reported Friday on the plan to revive the Admiral Benbow, we noted we’d happened onto that news while at 4210 SW Admiral Way researching something else. Now we have those details too. A liquor-license application was filed this week for the former Parliament Tavern space. The name on the application is one we recognized from past correspondence – Tanner Jitmongkonkul, whose business Sticky Treats & Sweets we’d spotlighted a few times when it had pop-ups at Itto’s Tapas.
He’s an Itto’s bartender and West Seattle resident who, with partner Erin, is working to convert the Admiral Way space into a cocktail bar called Otter on the Rocks. In our email exchange, here’s how he explains it:
We are so excited to bring a cocktail bar with a new concept to West Seattle. The focus will be properly prepared classics as well as signature cocktails. We will be doing a lot of house infusions and house syrups. As opposed to cocktail bars with a romantic setting, we are trying to introduce a much-more casual and approachable vibe, especially for those who are not familiar with cocktails. We like date nights, but we want Otter on the Rocks to be become a friends-gathering sort of space. We will be looking at some open mics, lots of themed nights, and some live music that fits the space. As far as food, we will be serving a rotating selection of “flatbreads” – a much lighter version of pizza with a lot more room for interesting ingredients. We are working with some local chefs to get this dialed in.
No timeline yet – Jitmongkonkul explains, “The permitting process through the City of Seattle has been extremely slow but we are trying to be very patient. We do have a long list of tasks to complete in order to bring this space up to city code so please be patient with us.” The Parliament opened in the space in 2015; occupants before that included Vidiot and Shipwreck Tavern.
We can finally say conclusively that the turkey recently seen in West Seattle is NOT the turkey that spent a year wandering the peninsula. That’s been confirmed by both this turkey’s adoptive family and the person who built an enclosure for her in their yard. They sent photos, including the one above, and this report:
Hedda Gobbler is no longer wandering the street. She has found a safe home away from cars and dogs. For all those who wanted to believe she was a wild turkey, you were wrong. Hedda is a domestic bird not able to keep herself safe because she is a bit of a bird brain. She is very content and enjoying the good life in a forever home where Thanksgiving dinner will never be turkey again.
Hedda’s favorite food is cantaloupe.
– Hedda’s Forever Family
Thanks to Janine for the tip. Almost 100 homes in the Fairmount Park area were without power for more than an hour this morning; the outage has been resolved but we’re noting it here just for the record, as the Seattle City Light website doesn’t archive outages. Janine said the outage was preceded by a flash and “boom” around 8 am; the outage was resolved sometime after 9.
(Photo by Jerry Simmons)
Welcome to the weekend! We start July’s final day with a dozen notes for you:
TRAFFIC ALERT: Work is set to continue into the early afternoon at Highland Park Way/West Marginal, as previewed here.
ROCK & GEM SHOW: On Pigeon Point:
The World’s Fossils & Minerals is showing from 10 am to 4 pm, 2009 SW Dakota
Come see the new material.
BASEBALL TRYOUTS: Starting at 10 am at the Pee-Wee Fields (7226 12th SW):
The Seattle Tigers are holding a final round of tryouts for their year-round 9U and 10U teams for the coming baseball season. Players born after 5/1/2011 are eligible to participate in these teams for fall and winter training in preparation for tournament season in the spring of 2022. Parents can register their child for a tryout spot at: seattletigersbaseball.com/tryouts-for-the-2021-22-season
LEMONADE FUNDRAISER: Girl Scouts are selling lemonade, iced tea, iced coffee, and homemade baked goods 10 am-4 pm to raise money to go to Costa Rica to volunteer at a sea-turtle reserve with Outward Bound in 2022. Find them at 42nd Ave SW and Charlestown. Cash, Venmo, and PayPal are accepted.
MORNING MUSIC: 10:30 am-noon at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW), Marco de Carvalho and friends perform.
TODAY’S AQUATIC SCHEDULE: Open today, Highland Park spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale, 11 am-8 pm), Delridge Playfield (4501 Delridge Way SW, noon-5:30 pm) and Lincoln Park wading pool (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW, noon-7 pm), and Colman Pool (at Lincoln Park, noon-7 pm).
(added – thanks for the text!) DIVING COMPETITION: All-City Diving Championships, until 4 pm at Arbor Heights Swim and Tennis Club (11003 31st SW).
FOOD DRIVE: 11 am-3 pm at Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill), you can drop off food-drive donations – details are in our preview.
REMEMBERING VICTOR HENLEY: 2-5 pm outside the 7-11 at 3801 California SW, all are invited to celebrate the life of Victor Henley, who meant so much to its customers and staff.
ALUMNI FLAG-FOOTBALL GAME: 3 pm at Hiawatha Playfield (2700 California SW), first annual West Seattle High School alumni flag-football game, raising money for the Wildcats’ football program.
PEACE PELOTON RIDE: 3-5 pm, bicyclists gather at The Patio in Columbia City, 5:15 pm ride to Beer Star in White Center, as previewed here.
THE ALLEY’S ANNIVERSARY: 8-10 pm, third night of live music to celebrate three years of The Alley (behind 4509 California SW)
Anything else? Text us – 206-293-6302 – thank you!
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