West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
The aerial imagery is from Arbor Heights Elementary, just before school got out for the weekend. Staff and students assembled on the playground in the shape of a heart, as a sign of support for the survivors in Parkland, Florida. The image was made with a drone piloted by a parent volunteer.
ADDED SATURDAY: Here’s the official photo:
SDOT says the long-planned sidewalk project along 35th SW in Arbor Heights will start construction soon – possibly before the end of the month. It was originally scheduled for last year, but as reported here in December, it slid to this year. And now, we have received an update from SDOT project spokesperson Ching Chan, along with the “fact sheet” and map embedded above (and visible here):
As you may know, this project to improve the intersections along 35th Ave SW, from SW 100th St to SW 106th St near Arbor Heights Elementary and Westside School, has been in the planning stage for a couple of years now. Due to a number of factors, the project was placed on hold previously. I am writing to inform you that the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will be moving forward with the construction work and may begin construction as early as the week of March 26. We hope to complete this project before school starts in September.
Chan says SDOT already has “reached out to Arbor Heights Elementary, Westside School, Seattle Public Schools Transportation Department, and sent construction notices to nearby residents to inform them of the upcoming construction work,” but that still doesn’t include everyone who drives/rides/walks in the area, so they asked us to get the word out too. Chan also says SDOT is working to schedule a “public meeting to help provide more project information to community members in a couple of weeks” – we’ll publish a followup when there’s a date/time/place for that.
On Friday, we published Arbor Heights-based Cub Scout Pack 799‘s announcement that next Saturday (March 17th) will be their day for pickups and dropoffs in the Scouting for Food donation drive. Tonight, troop parent Jason T. shares the photo, after they distributed about 850 doorhangers to let people know:
Here is a group photo of all the Scouts and parents who helped put out the word today. They worked hard, and covered a majority of houses in our map, meeting some friendly people and pets along their routes.
If you got a doorhanger, put out your bag of food by 9:30 am next Saturday. And if you didn’t, but want to donate, you can drop off nonperishable food for the West Seattle Food Bank that same day outside Arbor Heights Elementary School, 3701 SW 104th St, between 10 am and 11:30 am. (Other packs and troops do this too, so you might hear from one of them!)
It’s Scouting for Food time – when local Scouts help the fight against hunger by collecting your donations. We heard today from Cub Scout Pack 799, which will be collecting in Arbor Heights a week from tomorrow, and putting out door hangers before then to let neighbors know about the drive. And they will have a dropoff spot, too, for anyone who wants to donate but is outside the pickup zone. Here’s the announcement:
Cub Scout Pack 799 Scouting for Food drive — Donation Collection in Arbor Heights
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Saturday, March 17, 10 am to 12 pm, Cub Scout Pack 799 will be collecting donations for the West Seattle Food Bank, in the blocks between Marine View Drive and 35th Ave SW, and SW 100th St and SW 112th St, in the Arbor Heights/Arroyo Heights neighborhoods. Anyone in these blocks who wishes to donate can simply leave donations by front door by 9:30 am on Saturday, March 17th. Scouts will be distributing door hangers in the neighborhood this week, to get the word out.Additionally, anyone who lives in the surrounding neighborhood, but is not exactly within our pickup area, is welcome to drop off donations at Arbor Heights Elementary School, 3701 SW 104th St, between 10 am and 11:30 am. Scouts will be stationed inside the front parking lot to accept drop-off donations.
Last year we had a successful drive, and our Scouts had a lot of fun doing it. We hope to have just as much fun this year, serving our community.
Our friends at West Seattle Food Bank say the most-needed items are:
– Canned meals (also meat, beans, fruit, vegetables, sauces) – list
– Kids’ backpack food (bars, juices, snack cups, instant soups, ramen) – list
Many thanks in advance, to all those who are able to participate, helping those in need in our community!
Parents, Leaders and Cub Scouts of Pack 799 (Arbor Heights)
Questions about our Scouting for Food drive? Email: pack799.scouting4food@fea.st
Anyone else? Let us know – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
6:44 PM: A “full response” was heading to a possible house fire in the 3500 block of SW 108th in Arbor Heights – but now most units are being canceled, as the first units to arrive say it’s a “large illegal outdoor fire” that is not threatening any structures.
6:55 PM: The address was corrected to the 10800 block of 36th SW. Our crew has just arrived and was told that the fire was in a big pile of construction debris behind a house.
7:05 PM: The last engine has left and the call is closed.
(Starr W., Simone S., Zoe P., Tevia & Taytum C., Denise K. singing ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’)
“We’re here to remember, honor, and celebrate Black history and Black culture, which is American culture.”
With that mission, Arbor Heights Elementary students and staff presented songs and stories in an hour-long assembly this past Thursday afternoon. They were each other’s audiences – joined by many parents, too. A big ovation greeted AH staffer Rosslyn Shea, who emceed the assembly (and kindly invited us to cover it).
She explained the backstory of Black History Month – which became a monthlong celebration in 1976, half a century after it began – “a time to remember the struggle, while remembering the accomplishments …” The program, directed and produced by Laura Drake, then began, with the anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (top video). Ms. McAlpin‘s class sang “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around”; then Reyana H. portrayed Sojourner Truth, telling her story of slavery, and marriage with five children.
She was 30 when slavery ended in NY State in 1827. “I began to work with other abolitionists … I was also a strong believer in women’s rights.” Student Artise B., portrayed Frederick Douglass. “It was against the law for slaves to learn to read and write,” but he secretly taught himself.
“Once I learned how to read, I taught other slaves.” He was an adviser to President Lincoln. “A white man’s happiness cannot be purchased by a black man’s misery.”
Ms. Irish‘s class sang “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize.” A poem by Langston Hughes was performed by students Simone D. and Naimo M. Then pilot Bessie Coleman‘s story was told by Mariah R., speaking of achievement despite discrimination.
“I opened the possibility for women of color to become pilots,” though her life was cut short by an airshow-rehearsal accident.
Booker T. Washington, the influential educator, was portrayed by Joaquin L.. “Once I saw white children inside a schoolhouse reading books, that was what I wanted to do.” He ran a school “that is still going strong today.” He closed by reading this quote spiritedly: “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else!” Then Ms. Ciocca‘s class sang “Woke Up This Morning with My Mind Set on Freedom,” and Ms. Amble‘s first-grade class performed to Ella Fitzgerald‘s version of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
That was followed by Ms. Wilson‘s class with “If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus.” Then, from even-more-recent history, more historic character portrayals – two trailblazing Black candidates for President, U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm (by Phalestine W.) and Rev. Jesse Jackson (by Zinneddine A.). “What is the American Dream? The American Dream is one big tent.”
Two third-grade classes sang along with Sly and the Family Stone‘s “Everyday People” – “Sometimes I’m right, I can be wrong …” they raise their index fingers on the chorus.
“Love’s in Need of Love Today” by Stevie Wonder was the afterschool program’s presentation, and then “We Shall Overcome” as a closing song, with everyone in the auditorium invited to join in. And on the way out, we stopped to notice student work on the walls:
AH and other Seattle Public Schools are now out for a week of mid-winter break, with classes resuming Monday, February 26th.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Some promising news emerged on multiple fronts at this month’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting.
CRIME DROP: WWRHAH was briefed by Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith. The area covered by this community group, he said, has had 56 incidents in tracked categories compared to 119 a year earlier. That includes one fewer robbery, one more aggravated assault, 7 crimes against persons compared to 5 – but property crime is down dramatically – one more burglary, one more commercial burglary (3 compared to 2), but larceny (much of it shoplifting) is down dramatically, about a fourth of what it was. Also: 15 car prowls compared to 17, 8 car thefts compared to 13. 49 property crimes in all – less than half it was at this point last year. Police continue working harder to get repeat offenders kept in jail – including for example making sure the “(law enforcement) objects to release” box is checked on reports.
The subject of the arrest of officer-assault suspect Jorge Cruz-Benitez two nights earlier came up; he was allegedly first spotted doing graffiti vandalism in the area (Delridge/Henderson). Lt. Smith echoed what we noted in a previous discussion, that not all tagging is gang-related. (This meeting was on Tuesday night; one night later, on Wednesday night, Cruz-Benitez was released from jail, according to the KC Jail Register.)
(Southwestern side of Roxhill Bog – WSB photo from 2014)
ROXHILL PARK AND BOG: WWRHAH has been pushing forever to get the bog water-flow fixed –
here’s an extensive report we published in 2014 – and is making progress. Your involvement can accelerate things. First:
The Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition usually meets on first Tuesdays – but not tonight, given the proximity to the holidays. However, WWRHAH is helping coordinate these two special upcoming community discussions that you’re encouraged to be part of. First – imagine more events in Roxhill Park!
(2016 WSB photo from ‘Blood Wedding’ performance in the park)
On Tuesday, January 9, from 6:30 to 7:30 at Southwest Library, we’ll join Parks Commons and Arts in Parks Coordinator Randy Wigner to discuss ways Roxhill Park could be a good location for this program. The goal of the Parks Commons Program is to develop community capacity and civic engagement in event production, and the program is assigned to parks that experience long-term public safety issues and where those issues would be improved by increased community use of these parks. We’ll discuss park needs and if the program is a good fit.
Next – looking ahead to the RapidRide H Line, but not about the buses or routing:
On Thursday, January 18, community members and kids are invited to join artists from Oakland’s WowHaus studio for a discovery walk to help inform art projects coming to our neighborhood as part of the redevelopment of the 120 into the Metro Rapid Ride H line. Around 2:30 pm, we’ll meet at Roxhill Elementary under the main entry awning, then walk over to the 26th and Roxbury stop and hop on the 120 bus to the stop at Trenton and Delridge (so bring your bus fare). Members of the public can also meet at between 3:30 and 4 at the corner of Delridge and Henderson (where the largest concrete triangle is located in the right-of-way), and join the walk from there. What ideas do you have? Join us and share! Learn more about our selected artists here.
In case you missed last week’s community meeting about the recent Arroyos/south Arbor Heights power outage and related trouble – what you see above is the slide deck explaining what Seattle City Light has planned for the area. A project spanning multiple blocks of South Arbor Heights is expected to last about a year and scheduled to start next March. (The slide deck includes a map you can also see here.) SCL says it’ll be putting in “new electrical conduit and cables” to replace “underground, direct buried cables (that) are approaching the ending of their life.” Besides this month’s outage, the area’s relatively recent outages included last April, August 2016, and May 2016.
STOLEN CAR FOUND: Thanks for the text about a sizable police presence at 16th and Henderson this past hour. Officers were questioning someone after finding a stolen car.
Two reader reports:
CAR PROWL: From Cheryl:
Wanted to let you know that I filed a police report on 12/12 regarding a break in of my car parked in front of my apartment building (in the 3500 block of) SW Ocean View Drive, Arbor Heights. They took several personal items including leather gloves (which were in a compartment), my phone holder, CDs (in the trunk) and my handicap parking permit (in the side compartment of my door). Other silly items taken as well.
ABANDONED BICYCLE: Lisa says this has been on a Fauntleroy corner for almost two weeks:
Yours? Let us know.
(City-provided map from March 2017)
Back in March, we mentioned three West Seattle sidewalk projects were in the works for this year; the city-provided map above accompanied the announcement. With the year almost over, we found that two of them have slid to 2018: The city is currently seeking bids to build the sidewalk along 35th SW between SW 100th and SW 106th in Arbor Heights and a shorter stretch near Sanislo Elementary on Puget Ridge, plus a project outside West Seattle in the same solicitation. No word on the status of the third project, one block of SW 104th in Arbor Heights.
Weekend before last, more than 100 homes in The Arroyos and South Arbor Heights lost power. The unrelated but concurrent Trader Joe’s outage overshadowed it in our headlines, but it’s not the first time an equipment problem took out the power for southwesternmost West Seattle, and so Seattle City Light is having a community meeting Thursday to answer questions and explain “future electrical infrastructure upgrades” in that area. Bring your questions/concerns to the meeting at 6:30 pm Thursday (December 14th) at Westside School (10404 34th SW; WSB sponsor).
(Added: WSB photo, SPU crew wrapping up work around 11:40 am)
Thanks for the tip: We just checked with Seattle Public Utilities about a reported water break in Arbor Heights. SPU says a 4-inch main broke and water was welling up in the 11400 block of 35th SW. They “partially closed a valve to reduce the flow” while making repairs; water should be returning to the 58 homes and four hydrants that were temporarily affected.
P.S. If you have water problems, such as no service or discoloration, 206-386-1800 is the SPU hotline. And thanks for then letting us know too, so we can check on the big picture of what’s going on.
4:33 PM: Seattle Fire has a “full response” headed for a house in Arbor Heights, in the 9900 block of 37th SW. More to come.
4:49 PM: The log shows most of the SFD units have been dismissed from the call, so it’s not major. We are en route in hopes of finding out.
5 PM: Last SFD crew (Engine 37) left just as we were arriving in the area and the call is officially closed. No one else around to ask but note that 99th is blocked off in the area – looks like downed wires/cables of some kind, on the other side of the yellow “caution” tape.
SUNDAY NOTE: Lynn explains here what happened.
Quick toplines from this past Tuesday night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting at Southwest Library:
CRIME TRENDS: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith said a major problem in the area – shoplifting at Westwood Village – is down significantly, after months of emphasis patrols. (More on that in our upcoming Southwest District Council report.) SPD’s work at Westwood will soon be enhanced by an observation station.
SAFETY: WWRHAH member Earl Lee reported that the long-awaited lighting of the bus stop across Barton from WW Village is up and working:
(WSB photo, added Thursday night)
HALA UPZONING APPEAL: As reported previously, WWRHAH is participating in the citywide coalition that is appealing the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed upzoning in the city’s HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability plan. The coalition is now awaiting hearing dates, planning to go door to door to talk with neighbors, and raising money for legal help.
NO GENERAL MEETING IN JANUARY, BUT … Since the first Tuesday is the day after New Year’s, no general WWRHAH meeting until February. But watch wwrhah.org for TBA details of a January 9th meeting about Roxhill Park.
Thanks for the messages about the power outage in the south Arbor Heights/Arroyos area; Comcast is reported to be out, too. Seattle City Light‘s map shows the outage as an extension of the one that started yesterday, though now it’s listed as 127 customers, about 30 more than when last we checked Sunday night. If you’re out and not shown on the map, be sure to let City Light know (206-684-3000).
Two big events are coming to Arbor Heights because of this partnership that Westside School (WSB sponsor) has just announced:
Westside School is excited to announce our temporary partnership with Town Hall during their reconstruction project.
We are honored to host Beverly Tatum, who will present her research on Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting In The Cafeteria Together this Sunday, December 3 from 2 – 4 p.m. in Westside School’s theater. This event is open to the public and is sold out (320 tickets).
We have contacted SPD Lieutenant Smith to send a traffic officer or two, during arrival time on Sunday to ensure positive traffic flow. Westside will put out no-parking signs in front of the houses located directly across from our site to keep people from inappropriately parking. Additionally, Westside School staff will be present to assist in directing people to the site.
We are super excited about this Town Hall partnership and we expect this event to be positive for the West Seattle community.
The second Town Hall event set for Westside School will be at 7:30 pm January 22, “The German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children” with Sara Zaske. Ticket information and other details are on the Town Hall website.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Outside of 911 calls when there’s trouble – what resources can police offer you to address chronic crime/safety problems?
A primer of sorts was presented at Tuesday night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting, led by co-chair Kim Barnes.
The discussion started with Joe Everett, who is the (relatively) new City Attorney’s Office liaison to the Southwest Precinct. He explained that the position is meant to “address chronic problems as they are emerging … before they turn into really big incidents.”
Live, work, study, shop in Westwood, Roxhill, and/or Arbor Heights? Be one of the neighbors making things happen via the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition, which gathers Tuesday night, 6:15 pm at Southwest Library. Neighborhood safety is a big topic for tomorrow night, with guest speakers Community Police Team Officer John O’Neil and Southwest Precinct city-attorney liaison Joe Everett, who will talk with you about “empowering the community and leveraging city resources to deal with chronic neighborhood issues” such as abandoned houses (with or without squatters) and problem houses. Also from SPD, Operations Lt. Ron Smith will have the area’s newest crime trends/stats. And lots of “quick discussion items” (see them all in our calendar listing – and bring your own!). Just go to the upstairs meeting room at the library, which is at 9010 35th SW.
Our second report today of sizable items taken in a car prowl. This report is from Paul in the 3500 block of SW 98th [map] in Arbor Heights, where the theft happened sometime this weekend:
The main thing that was stolen was a large gear bag (black PGA golf bag with wheels) that contained kite-surfing gear:
Kite board
10 and 12 meter kites
Harness
Bar and line
Wet suit
Long board skateboard
About $2500 worth of stuff to the right person but worthless to most peopleI also lost a black briefcase that had my entire financial life in it and an old MacBook Pro.
Hopefully the criminals just dumped it all somewhere and I can recover it soon.
If you have any information, the SPD incident # is 17-410552.
3:57 PM: If you’re noticing the police response in Arbor Heights right now – they’re searching for a suspected burglar. Seattle Police tell us the break-in was reported by someone who was home at the time in the 10500 block of 39th SW. A preliminary description distributed via radio communication was that of a man in his 30s, possibly “Hispanic or Samoan,” about 250 pounds, red short-sleeved T-shirt, black knit cap, dark jeans, boots, tattoo on his left forearm, possibly headed east to 35th and then north. Call 911 if you think you have any helpful information.
4:16 PM: They’re still searching – no additional information.
It’s an Arbor Heights Swim and Tennis Club tradition – after the pool is closed to people at season’s end, invite the community to bring their dogs to swim, as a fundraiser for AHSTC swim teams. Today was the fifth and final session, and Jamie Kinney shared photos:
Whether the dogs dove from the board, or jumped from the deck, Jamie reports a great time was had by all:
You can see many more of Jamie’s photos from today by going here.
Thanks to everyone who messaged us about a big police response in Arbor Heights that blocked off Marine View Drive for a while near SW 104th. We just got here a few minutes ago and the response is wrapping up; police tell us they were called to deal with what turned out to be a person in crisis, who was initially very combative, and that’s why they called in extra backup. The person has since been taken by ambulance for an evaluation, and the road has reopened, with most of the police departing.
P.S. Because Seattle Fire wasn’t called in for this, it never showed up on the SFD real-time 911 log, so e-mails were the first tips we got. The fastest way to reach us 24/7 is always text or voice at 206-293-6302 – consider adding us as a contact on your phone. Thank you!
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