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Flipped-car mystery in North Delridge

Police are dealing right now with what’s described in radio exchanges as a flipped silver Lexus RX SUV. It was reported in the lot downhill behind Ounces at the north end of Delridge – apparently having come down that slope. Dispatch said two people were trying to right the car and the person who called 911 was told “don’t call police.” Took a while to get officers there – initially no one was available, so they had to dispatch from another precinct, but canceled that when West Seattle officers became available. The first on scene reported finding the flipped vehicle, empty, no one in sight. It had temporary plates, and when dispatch ran them, they checked to the appropriate car, but we haven’t heard whether it turned out to be stolen or not – will have to check on that later this morning.

FOLLOWUP: Delridge Playfield, unfenced

Thanks to Jay for the photo! The fencing is down at newly resurfaced Delridge Playfield. As reported here earlier this week, the turf work was scheduled to finish today, with official reopening tomorrow. This comes three months after work began – one month faster than the original estimate. (The project had a few non-turf components that readers have noted aren’t quite done yet, though.)

FOLLOWUP: Delridge Playfield almost ready to reopen

(WSB photo, Sunday)

If you’ve noticed that the turf-replacement project at Delridge Playfield looks almost done … that’s because it is, Seattle Parks confirms. We asked about its status, and a Parks spokesperson responded that the work will be complete on Friday (October 6th) and the field will open to users the next day (Saturday, October 7th). The project started three months ago – that’s less time than the four-month estimate. The contractor for the project is Ohno-Touchdown JV. The Delridge field is reopening one month after Hiawatha Playfield, which also has new turf.

Jim Price search, ‘bump-and-robs,’ other topics in Q&A with police at HPAC

The first fall meeting of HPAC – the community coalition for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge – tonight lasted less than 40 minutes, as one guest was a no-show. But the online meeting’s first scheduled guest was there – on behalf of the Southwest Precinct, second-watch commander Lt. Grant Ballingham. He answered a variety of questions from attendees.

One was whether there’s anything new in the search for Jim Price, the 86-year-old Pigeon Point man who’s now been missing for nine days.

Lt. Ballingham said officers had responded to a few possible sightings, and in two of those cases, they found and talked with the person who was the subject of the sighting, but it wasn’t Jim. Otherwise, he said, all officers have the bulletin flyers with them and are on the lookout.

The Kia/Hyundai thefts aren’t slowing down, he said, though he didn’t have numbers. He said the cars often are stolen where others are dumped. The most-concerning trend, he said, is the “bump-and-rob” carjacking attempts. He said both people who were targeted for those in West Seattle one day last week escaped by simply driving away. He echoed the advice about driving to a safe place rather than getting out of your car.

As we’ve already added to our earlier story, he said Junction TrueValue had to deal with two incidents today, a “robbery by force” and then later the harassment/death threat incident we reported. He said a suspect had been arrested in the latter. And while he acknowledged there are many serious incidents, he said that judging by the number of Significant Incident Reports he sees from around the city each day, the Southwest Precinct has the least amount of violent crime in the city. He also voiced optimism about city leaders’ plans to supplement police with alternate responders. And finally, he thanked community members for their watchfulness and for reporting things (like all those stolen/dumped cars).

ALSO AT HPAC: Next month, HPAC will again join with Highland Park Improvement Club and Highland Park Corner Store for a combination tree giveaway and Halloween event (with a pet-costume contest!), Trick or Trees, noon-4 pm at the store (7789 Highland Park Way SW). … HPIC will soon have another Town Hall to update the community on the rebuilding project and the fundraising to facilitate it.

NEXT MEETING: HPAC usually meets online, fourth Wednesdays, 7 pm – watch hpacws.org for updates.

YOU CAN HELP: Saturday afternoon search planned for Jim Price, still missing

86-year-old Jim Price of Pigeon Point is still missing, for a fifth day. Again this afternoon (Saturday, September 23) volunteer searchers will fan out to look for him. If you can help, please meet up at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW; map) at 2 pm. His family says, “Please come. We cannot express the appreciation enough.”

HOW TO HELP: Another search this afternoon for Jim Price, missing since Monday night

Just received from a family member via comment on a previous story: “There is a Search Group meetup again today at 2 pm to continue to search for Jim. Meet at the Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW) for quadrant assignments. Please show up if you are able! Thank you so much!” Jim Price, 86, has been missing since leaving his Pigeon Point home Monday night, on foot, possibly headed for The Junction. A community search Thursday afternoon yielded no new clues as to where he might be.

REOPENING: Delridge Community Center scheduled to reopen tomorrow after week-plus closure

Today is scheduled to be the end of a nine-day closure for Delridge Community Center. According to Seattle Parks, the shutdown since September 2nd has been for “re-flooring and front entrance construction.” Monday and Tuesday, the community center is scheduled to be open “but no showers or programs.” Full operation is to resume Wednesday (September 13).

READER REPORT: Tree down on street bridge over Longfellow Creek

Thanks to Manuel for the photos and report: “A tree fell from the Longfellow Creek area and is blocking the small Nevada Street bridge in Delridge. SDOT is on the scene.” (Here’s a map.)

This was about an hour ago, so it might be clear now, but still noteworthy; readers also reported a tree down earlier this week by Dragonfly Pavilion, but that one did not appear to be blocking anything.

HELPING: West Seattle DAV’s reminder for veterans

From the West Seattle DAV chapter, headquartered at 4857 Delridge Way SW, a message for all veterans:

Do you need help filing a claim for disability?

The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) West Seattle Chapter #23 has trained Service Officers to help you with your claim. There is no charge , we are available on a first-come first-serve basis every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 AM to 1 PM.

If you have questions, the chapter’s phone number is 206-933-8604.

FEED THE NEED! Delridge Grocery Co-op shopping for a few more helpers, invites you to ‘Volunteer Hangout’

August 21, 2023 10:21 pm
|    Comments Off on FEED THE NEED! Delridge Grocery Co-op shopping for a few more helpers, invites you to ‘Volunteer Hangout’
 |   Delridge | How to help | West Seattle news

The volunteer-powered Delridge Grocery Co-op has, against all odds, created an oasis of healthy food in a neighborhood where mini-mart shelves of snacks are pretty much the only other options. The team needs to grow to keep the momentum going and the store open (right now they’re up to five days a week). If you are open to the idea of spending three hours, once a month, helping the shop stay open so neighbors can buy food – or maybe you’d be interested in helping pack/deliver DGC’s Essential Boxes on Saturdays – come chat with the current crew this Wednesday night. They’ll be at Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW) 5-8 pm Wednesday (August 23rd). No obligation – stop by, ask questions, find out how the DGC works. “We’ll even bring some goodies to share from the store!” the DGC team promises.

P.S. If you haven’t shopped at the co-op (5444 Delridge Way SW), you do NOT have to be a member – it’s open to all,

UPDATE: Pedestrian hit by driver at Delridge/Genesee

12:15 PM: That was the traffic-camera view a few minutes ago as a collision response blocked northbound Delridge north of the Genesee intersection. This was dispatched as a pedestrian hit by a driver. We haven’t heard anything about the pedestrian’s condition so we’re headed to the scene to try to find out more.

12:20 PM: NB Delridge traffic is being diverted onto WB Genesee, and officers just told dispatch that this will last “for a while.”

12:30 PM: Contrary to that, our crew has been told the street will be reopened shortly – though there’s compounding trouble on the southbound side in the same area (bus-lane repair). The pedestrian, described as an “adult male,” was taken to a hospital for “observation.” No other information on circumstances.

12:46 PM: The northbound lane has reopened. Because of the construction on the southbound side, one northbound lane is being used for southbound traffic.

1:44 PM: SFD says the pedestrian is 87 years old; our contact is waiting for info from the medic-unit crew on his condition when transported. … (Added) SFD says he was in stable condition when taken to the hospital.

Delridge Community Center expanding hours, days

(Seattle Parks photo)

Right now, Delridge Community Center is open Mondays-Fridays, 9:30 am-6:30 pm. The city announced today that its hours will expand starting Monday, September 11th, to Mondays-Fridays, 9:30 am-9 pm, plus Saturdays, 9:30 am-6 pm. It’s one of eight community centers around the city that will get added hours with Seattle Park District funding; it’s one of West Seattle’s only two city-run community centers currently in operation, as Hiawatha CC is closed for eventual renovation and Alki CC has only been in use for child care.

VIDEO: Grand opening and homecomings celebrated at Salish Landing in Delridge

Past and present 6955 Delridge Way SW residents were exuberant at the grand opening for the Seattle Housing Authority‘s newest property. Above is Fatuma, one of the new residents. Some of her new neighbors also lived there when it was the Lam Bow Apartments before a three-alarm 2016 fire – and have moved back now that it’s an all-new complex called Salish Landing.

Speeches, a ribbon-cutting, and Native songs highlighted the grand opening event on Tuesday afternoon.

As you can see in that photo, dignitaries were part of it – Mayor Bruce Harrell, SHA executive director Rod Brandon, City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, 34th District State Rep. Emily Alvarado. But the stars of the show were past and present residents – all who lost their homes in the 2016 fire were offered apartments at Salish Landing, SHA says – and two spoke, Briana and Theresa. This affordable housing is what saved her from living unsheltered, Theresa said.

Salish Landing has 31 more units than Lam Bow did – 82 in all, a mix of 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments. They’re all spoken for, the SHA tells us – and speakers at Tuesday’s event underscored the need for much more housing like this. We recorded them all:

Some of the funding for construction came from the Seattle Housing Levy, which is expiring, with a renewal/expansion set for the November ballot.

(Thursday note: Story corrected to reflect that Fatuma was not among those who lived at the Lam Bow pre-fire.)

FOLLOWUP: Rebuilt and expanded, former Lam Bow apartment complex opens with new name

Two months ago, we reported that the (now former) Lam Bow Apartments at 6955 Delridge Way SW, rebuilt and expanded after a fire in 2016, were almost complete. This afternoon, the Seattle Housing Authority announced that some people have moved in, and a ribbon-cutting is planned next week. Plus, the complex has a new name: Salish Landing. SHA spokesperson Kerry Coughlin tells WSB that 52 of the units are leased and the remaining 30 are in the process of being leased. That’s 31 more units than the site held before one of the original two Lam Bow buildings was heavily damaged in a three-alarm fire. Though that September 2016 fire only affected one building, SHA decided in 2019 to demolish the remaining building and redevelop the entire site. It’s a five-story apartment building with 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments for income-qualified residents; SHA says pre-fire Lam Bow residents were offered the chance to move back into the new building. Its amenities include a large courtyard and playground, community room, and small library. SHA says Salish Landing apartments include sustainability features including renewable-energy panels and stormwater-detention vaults. It also has an 80-space offstreet-parking lot as well as bicycle storage. The ribboncutting next Tuesday afternoon will include Mayor Bruce Harrell.

WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: 2nd consecutive night of gunfire in 5400 block Delridge Way; hour-plus later, shots on 31st SW

11:29 PM: Police are blocking off the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW after discovering shell casings following 911 calls about gunfire. This is the same area in which a deadly shooting happened last night. Early descriptions of two vehicles possibly involved tonight include one – a white Charger or Chrysler 300 – that police told dispatch sounded similar to one involved last night.

11:53 PM: Officers told dispatch they’re reopening southbound Delridge. No reports of anyone injured, so far.

12:50 AM: Now police are investigating gunfire reported in the 6400 block of 31st SW, where they’ve found casings in an alley – from a handgun, they told dispatch, plus “rifle rounds.”

WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: More gunfire, this time on Delridge Way and on SW Myrtle

10:52 PM: Second gunfire incident in six hours – this time, after numerous reports to 911, police have found shell casings at a gas station near Delridge/Findlay, as well as a car “with blood around it,” though no word of victims so far. There’s also a report of bullets hitting a nearby residence and car. This is still developing.

11:04 PM: Police are investigating whether the Delridge shooting is linked to a driver found with a gunshot wound after a crash at the eastbound West Seattle Bridge’s 4th Avenue exit.

11:11 PM: Back to the West Seattle scene, an officer just told dispatch they’ve recovered “about 50 casings” so far. Whether that’s all at the gas station or elsewhere, they didn’t say.

11:30 PM: After being flagged down by someone, police have found more shell casings – “at least five so far” – in the 3100 block of SW Myrtle.

11:47 PM: As shown on the traffic-camera frame grab above, part of Delridge is still blocked off near the original gunfire scene.

12:14 AM: Northbound Delridge has reopened, officers just told dispatch.

1:33 AM: Many unanswered questions in all this – we hope to be able to add followup information later this morning.

WEST SEATTLE WILDLIFE: Two video views

Two reader-provided videos of West Seattle wildlife to share this afternoon. First, Manuel and daughter were out along Longfellow Creek when they got this view of three of its beavers:

Two years ago we wrote about a city plan to keep beaver dams from blocking creek flow; checking back on the city website, it looks like a related project remains in the planning phase.

On to the shores of Puget Sound – Stewart L. shared this video of a river otter, dining:

If you’re new around here – yes, river otters are the ones you’ll commonly see in the saltwater around here, not sea otters.

‘Scenes of violence’ response in Delridge

Seattle Fire is sending a “scenes of violence” response to an apartment complex in the 7900 block of Delridge Way SW, and police are responding too. So far, this is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing thoughts about self-harm, call 988 – the hotline that launched one year ago today.

LIBRARIES: Three branches in West Seattle closed through weekend after bedbug sightings

3:58 PM: Thanks to Christy for the tip and photo. The High Point and Southwest libraries closed at 2 pm and will be closed all weekend because of what the door sign describes as “a pest issue requiring chemical treatment.” Book drops are closed too. We have an inquiry out to Seattle Public Library headquarters in hopes of finding out more. Back in May, another reader tip led to this report about a similar situation stemming from a bedbug problem at the HP branch.

5:04 PM: As a reader comments below, Delridge is now closed too, and that’s reflected in the reply we just received from SPL spokesperson Laura Gentry:

We have temporarily closed the Delridge, High Point and Southwest branches due to bedbug sightings by staff at these three locations in the last 24 hours.

We are taking aggressive steps to remediate the issue; and unfortunately, that means keeping the branches closed throughout the weekend. These branches are scheduled to receive treatment early Monday morning, so we are keeping them and their book drops closed until that has occurred and they are cleared for re-entry (about two hours following application).

We are very sorry for the inconvenience this causes our patrons in the Southwest Region of the city, but it is important we act quickly to limit the impacts of this issue by immediately closing these locations, applying treatment, and discarding impacted materials.

We thank our eagle-eyed staff who quickly alert us to anything that might negatively impact patrons, staff, or Library spaces!

They’re not sure yet what time the branches will reopen Monday – likely by early afternoon – we’ll update when we have word.

ADDED SUNDAY: SPL says all three will reopen Monday at noon.

FOLLOWUP: Delridge Playfield turf project about to begin

(Seattle Parks photo)

When Seattle Parks told us last month that the Hiawatha and Delridge Playfields turf-replacement projects would overlap for about six weeks, that apparently was an underestimate. Hiawatha just started two weeks ago, with a three-month estimate, and Delridge is about to start, with a four-month estimate, so the overlap with both fields closed is likely to be more like two and a half months. Parks announced today that Delridge will close starting July 1st – this Saturday. In addition to the turf replacement, Parks says, “Accessibility issues to the exterior of the restrooms will also be addressed during the closure.” According to the city website, the winning bid – $2.8 million – was by South Seattle-based Ohno-Touchdown JV.

ROAD-WORK ALERT: ‘Deteriorated’ Delridge Way bus lane to be repaired soon

Max sent that photo after spotting city workers today along Delridge between Dakota and Genesee, where multiple readers have noticed a section of southbound bus lane long blocked off. Will it finally be fixed? Yes, says SDOT, whose spokesperson Ethan Bergerson explained that what Max saw “was an SDOT crew meeting on location in preparation for upcoming repairs.” He added these details:

We expect to begin construction to repair the southbound bus lane of Delridge Way SW between SW Dakota St and SW Genesee within the next three weeks and complete the repairs by the end of August.

Vehicles will be rerouted to the eastern side of the street with at least one lane of travel in each direction when work is occurring. This detour will typically be in effect 24 hours a day from Thursdays through Sundays on the weeks when construction is occurring (there may be weeks when construction does not occur if crews are responding to other projects throughout the city). The sidewalks will remain open at all times.

This project will replace about 460 feet of concrete in the southbound bus lane and also repair a small number of damaged areas in the southbound general purpose lanes. Crews will demolish and remove the existing concrete panels, and repave them with full-depth concrete thick enough to withstand the anticipated bus traffic. This solution will last much longer than temporary asphalt patchwork, but also takes several weeks to complete.

We are also considering a small number of additional repairs in the northbound lanes. Any repairs in the northbound lanes would be completed sometime after the southbound repairs are completed (this has not been scheduled yet).

SDOT is partnering with King County Metro to fund this project. This block was not repaved as part of the recent RapidRide H project because at the time that project was being designed it was anticipated that Sound Transit would most likely rebuild this block as a part of their West Seattle light rail extension. However, we are performing these repairs now due to the deteriorated pavement conditions and because it now appears most likely that Sound Transit’s West Seattle light rail alignment would shift to another location.

Brown water after hydrant testing in North Delridge

First, we received this photo via text:

The caption texted with the photo: “Cloudy with a chance of brown water in North Delridge.” A short time later, Manuel emailed this photo:

He wrote, “It had been a while but getting brown water in North Delridge.” If it’s happening to you, even with the likely explanation (brown water is generally caused by unusual activity – hydrant testing, a line break, etc. – stirring up sediment/rust), please report to Seattle Public Utilities so they can keep tracking – 206-386-1800.

UPDATE: Man arrested for attempted kidnapping after SPD/SWAT response at Delridge/Juneau

4:04 PM: Thanks for the tips. Juneau is blocked between Delridge and 25th SW because of a standoff with someone in a unit at the Longfellow Creek Apartments. Police would only tell us that they’ve been trying to serve a warrant on someone who does not want to cooperate.

We don’t yet know what the warrant is for.

4:45 PM: If you’re in the area, note that officers have warned dispatch (in case of phone calls) that SWAT plans to use a device you might hear from a distance.

5:44 PM: The suspect is reported to be in custody.

6:07 PM: And here’s what SPD tells us about what led to this: “Police responded to a report of a suspicious circumstance in the 5900 block of Delridge WY SW around 11:15 a.m. It was reported a man attempted to take a child from a nearby business without authorization. Staff were able to intervene and the child was safely returned to his legal guardians. Afterwards, the 39-year-old male suspect barricaded himself within his residence. SWAT served a search warrant and took the man into custody. He will be booked into King County Jail for attempted kidnapping.”

SATURDAY UPDATE: Though we aren’t likely to be able to get the paperwork from prosecutors until Tuesday, the jail register shows the suspect had a bail hearing today and that his bail was set at $200,000.