West Seattle, Washington
31 Tuesday
A new feature is in the works for Cottage Grove Park in Delridge — a playground where the littlest of children can safely play. Organizers now have three options, and they’re hoping you will help them choose – just one of the ways you can help – read on to see the options and find out more:Read More
That photo is courtesy of Aviva with Community Harvest of West Seattle, which held its first container-vegetable-growing class at White Center Food Bank (which serves part of southern West Seattle) on Wednesday. Aviva sent us this report, including something you can do to help future classes like this:
Participants learned that with a sunny deck or patio, fresh vegetables could be grown and harvested our their back doors. Lettuce Link and West Seattle’s Backyard Greenhouse provided starts ranging from common leaf lettuce to exotic raddichio. Containers and soil were donated by individuals and local businesses (West Seattle Nursery, Junction True Value). We hope that this class improves access to the 5-a-day and increases self-reliance in obtaining healthy foods. We hope to continue this program and are soliciting donations of pots (1-5 gallon) – plastic or other lightweight material. For more info: info@gleanit.org
And as we mentioned Wednesday night, a big effort to improve local access to not only healthy food but more fitness options is under way in the form of the King County Food and Fitness Initiative, with Delridge/White Center as an area of emphasis. Wednesday night’s update came with a brainstorming session at the monthly Delridge District Council meeting; read on for the latest:Read More
It’s in the Delridge/White Center area. Read more here to see if you can help. (That link, by the way, goes to a post on a new blog set up by Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association executive director Derek Birnie to share info on upcoming events and volunteer opportunities in the greater Delridge area; you can browse it any time at delridge.blogspot.com.)
First of at least two reports from tonight’s West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meeting — Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen had a little information about the mother and son shot in their Delridge duplex last week. He said both are doing OK; no one in custody right now but a possible “person of interest” was detained, then released pending further investigation. He also said the shooting was not random – the mother was definitely targeted, not sure about the 10-year-old son. Other news from tonight’s meeting included the promised briefing on “casing” (no revelations but good reminders) and plans for WSCSP’s first Officer Appreciation Day at the precinct. More on all that in the morning.
The wall along the sidewalk on the Delridge side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center got a facelift at midday today, thanks to a group of UW students — one of whom is Vitaliy Demyanik (at left in photo below, with participant Inigo Esteban), who manages a local College Pro Painters franchise. He’s a 4th-year student at the UW, and led a team described in the official announcement as “15 students from the Business and Economic Development Center at the Foster School of Business” in today’s cleanup, with donated materials and labor. (The paintout was scheduled for three hours, but when we got there barely 2 hours into it, they’d made quick work of it.)
Balloons mark the spot as Olympia Pizza and Pasta on Delridge marks its first day in business, two months after we first told you it was coming. 5605 Delridge (map); open till 11 tonight.
From this morning’s official police update on last night’s double shooting in the 5600 block of Delridge (WSB late-night and overnight coverage here): The woman is 28, her son is 10. Both are expected to fully recover. Police spokesperson Renee Witt says the woman “was in her kitchen cooking when someone fired multiple rounds through the kitchen window,” hitting her several times in the chest and leg. That was on the north side of the residence; then on the south side, someone – police aren’t sure if it was the same person – fired multiple times into the residence from the south, hitting the boy once in the shoulder. Still no arrests and no suspect description (beyond the possible “burgundy SUV” involvement mentioned last night) — but Witt says that detectives from the homicide and gang units are investigating and “talking to possible suspects” as well as looking into a possible motive. 12:03 PM UPDATE: Side note – two noontime tv updates included interviews with the owner of the future Olympia Pizza location we’ve been telling you about (former Pacino’s Coffee) less than a block north, and reported that it’s opening in two days.
(scroll down for latest updates – newest update, 2:08 am)
(photo of Delridge/Juneau roadblock taken by Sage K, added 11:53 pm)
Helicopter and many police involved right now in search centering on the 5600 block of Delridge. The call is “assault with weapons 14” which usually means multiple patients known or suspected. Trying to find out more. Thanks to those who e-mailed us with first word. 11:03 PM UPDATE: Whoever they’re looking for in this, scanner traffic indicates they’re not in custody yet, so if you’re in that area, be safe and be sure to call 911 if you see/hear anything/anyone suspicious. 11:05 PM UPDATE: One TV report says woman and boy shot. We heard scanner traffic talking about a 12-year-old male gunshot victim so we believe that’s from this incident. We’re also hearing that police may be looking for two suspects. 11:10 PM UPDATE: Victims taken to Harborview Medical Center, which indicates serious wounds. According to King County records, 5625 Delridge is a duplex. 11:17 PM UPDATE: According to the police media-info line, this started with a 911 call around 10:30 pm from a woman reporting hearing 10 to 12 gunshots. The media-info line describes the victims’ wounds as “non-life-threatening” and also says a third person was believed to have been shot at, but not hit. 11:36 PM UPDATE: Nearby residents say the helicopter has left the area, but we are not hearing any scanner indications of any arrests so far. Sage K does report northbound traffic is still being rerouted at Delridge/Juneau, where police have the road blocked. Sage also sent photos; stand by. 12:01 AM UPDATE: Lots of new info in update we just got from the Seattle Police media-info line. Most important: “Tentative” description of the vehicle police are seeking – a burgundy SUV. That’s ALL the information they have on possible suspects. Also, they identify the victims as a mother and her 12-year-old child. She was shot twice in the chest; he was shot in the back of the shoulder. Both are expected to survive, according to police. They say the search and investigation currently involves: Guardian 1 (helicopter), K-9, CSI, homicide, and gang units. Nobody in custody as of this report filed moments ago. 12:47 AM UPDATE: Sage K reports in comments that Delridge is now fully open again. No notable scanner activity in the case for a while, meantime. (We’ll keep monitoring till at least 2 am and will post whatever we hear/learn …) 2:08 AM UPDATE: For anybody still awake and wondering, no new developments reported. We’ll continue to monitor for a while longer, as we’re still working on an unrelated article that has to be done before the WSB newsroom shuts down for the night.
Thanks to Shell Marr for that photo and word that The Wash House laundromat on 35th (between Morgan and Graham) has abruptly closed. Shell adds, “It’s really too bad they did not make it, Vicki & Jim were just the nicest people and really made doing laundry somewhat enjoyable if that is possible. Thank you, Vicki & Jim …” Meantime, another sign just sighted, this one on Delridge:
We first told you two months ago that Olympia Pizza and Pasta was taking over the short-lived Pacino’s Coffee spot; it’s had a temporary banner up for a while, but the official sign just appeared this week. We don’t have any info yet on a targeted opening date.
First, regarding the report two nights ago regarding someone taking pictures and claiming it was for a West Seattle High School assignment — this comment just came in:
I am one of 2 photography teachers at West Seattle High.
We do ask our students to take landscape and portrait pictures that they find beautiful, so if you see students wandering and taking pictures of each other, random people or pets (they should ask first), bushes, trees, pretty houses, architecture, they may very well be doing their coursework. However, the story of the mother taking pictures of a car is not in line with any assignments I am aware of, and just sounds weird. Students shooting pics during the school day should have a signed note from one of their teachers, indicating permission for them to be outside shooting: you can ask to see this if you feel they are acting inappropriately, and please, contact the school with their name and location if they are. Students with inappropriate behaviors of any kind should be reported immediately to the WSHS Main Office.
Second, from that same night, the ants/power pole meeting in North Delridge – we have a little more information:Read More
Just wanted to let you know we’ve got messages out on this one, though we’d love to hear from anyone who attended the meeting we didn’t hear about till it was too late (we’ve managed to get onto dozens of media-info lists but sometimes something slips through) – The community-organizing group ACORN held some kind of rally tonight in North Delridge about a reported problem involving Seattle City Light and ants. Lisa kindly transcribed the flyer as follows:
“[ACORN logo] DANGER!!! Ant Infestations and Faulty Power Lines threaten our safety!
Join us to tell City Light that we will not put up with it any more. We’re taking action to address unsafe electrical conditions and ant infestations on county property!! We need YOU there!!
What: Meeting with Seattle City Light’s Supt.
When: Tues., May 6th, 5 pm
Where: 4716 26th Ave SWTell your neighbors, bring your family and friends! Wear red for solidarity! Call ACORN today 206.723.5845
During our recent wave of doorknocker reports, a couple folks mentioned ACORN stopping by, but nothing about ants, power poles, or rallies. The e-mails we got about the event tonight (thank you!) but not in time for us to go. (Went to the area a little while ago but no trace of whatever was going on a few hours earlier.) We’ll let you know what we find out tomorrow.
The police escort is staging at Chief Sealth and the Inconvenient Ride bicyclists, with dozens of other students, will head out shortly, with a new route: they now plan to head north on Delridge all the way from Thistle to the low bridge.
We told you two weeks ago about the new community-organic-farming effort on a plot of land off Delridge known as “Longfellow Creek Garden.” Today, the LCG blog has photos from the hugely successful work party on Saturday to clear the land, plus a short list of what’s on the agenda next. (That site, by the way, is one of 3 just added today to our “Other Blogs in West Seattle” page, which features links to 144 WS-based blogs, after a frequently updated digest of excerpts from the sites’ latest updates.)
That’s Longfellow Creek Farm — a quarter-acre at 2311 SW Myrtle (just off Delridge; map) where Growing Washington is inviting you to a “community-garden restoration work party” noon-4 pm April 19. Help is needed raking leaves, clipping brambles, spreading mulch, weed-whacking, and painting. The goal is to restore the site into a “functioning, food-producing garden,” and volunteers will be first in line for free organic produce — once it’s grown. They’d like you to let them know you’ll be there; register during the next week by using the contact info here.
Thanks to Mark B. Bauschke for that photo of a one-car crash that snarled things for a bit at the Delridge onramp to The Bridge this afternoon. Mark says he didn’t see any sign anyone was seriously hurt, but he wonders if this was a case of someone waiting too long to decide which way they’ll veer; he notes, “I often get cut off at that onramp by a car that waits to choose upper or lower ramp.”
PIZZA UPDATE: Further confirmation of the news we broke here two weeks ago — Olympia Pizza and Pasta is coming to the short-lived Pacino’s Coffee location at 5605 Delridge (map) — we drove by minutes ago and saw new yellow banners draped outside saying OLYMPIA PIZZA AND PASTA COMING SOON (didn’t have a camera along).
ROAD REPAIRS: The city Transportation Department says its crews are working on the shoulder of Delridge, 8100-8600 blocks, through Saturday afternoon, doing “utility repair work.”
Two announcements to share with you – one for a new Spanish-language preschool, another for a new tutoring service that addresses attention-span issues as well as conventional tutoring and ESL work – full details ahead:Read More
Not even noon yet, and so much has happened already. First, check out the throng outside West Seattle Thriftway in Morgan Junction just before its 9 am egg hunt (so big, we needed two angles – first the group on the south side of the storefront, then the north side):
We hopped quickly over to Alki to catch the crowd gathering at the start of Walk for Water – Seattle is one of two cities nationwide to host this World Water Day event:
Next stop, Delridge Community Center – one of West Seattle’s five city-run community centers, all of which had egg hunts at 10 am today – at Delridge, the crowd was broken into three age groups; here’s video of elementary-age kids on the run for their hunt:
Also at Delridge at 10 am, just yards away from the egg-hunt kids and their Easter baskets, older kids — a few dozen from Denny Middle School — were holding different types of collection containers: bright yellow bags for the Delridge Adopt-A-Street cleanup; the students joined North Delridge Neighborhood Council members in this morning’s effort:
Still more to come in West Seattle as the day continues; our West Seattle Weekend Lineup has the comprehensive list.
Before any more time elapses – the rest of our notes from the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting last night (first report here, including an explanation of DNDC) – with events and initiatives we’re betting you’ll want to know about:Read More
Last night we sat in on the monthly meeting of the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council, one of two district councils in West Seattle, each including representatives of neighborhood groups and other major noncommercial organizations. This time around, the Delridge Council hosted two guests from City Hall: Council President Richard Conlin (who’s made two other high-level appearances in WS recently, at the Southwest District Council and at the Alki Community Council), and Mayor Nickels’ community-outreach director Pamela Green. Both had a lot to say – as did the regular attendees – and we’re going to break it out into several updates, starting with this one about two ways the city’s looking for YOUR opinion right now:Read More
Thanks to Lillie for the tip that this taco truck has turned up at the Orchard/Sylvan road fork west of Delridge (map), across from the northwest corner of Home Depot. We previously hadn’t noticed any taco trucks closer than White Center/Burien, as discussed in this WSB post (and ensuing comments) a year ago.
Thanks to the WSB’er who texted us about this — the other half of the team has just been to the scene and is returning with pix — the southbound lanes of Delridge are closed between Thistle and the Westwood Village turnoff because of some kind of spill involving a Metro bus that started leaking oil in a huge way. Avoid that area for a while. ADDED 9:38 PM: Replaced previous photo of the absorptive stuff put on the street, with video of same, showing just how far it stretched:
We get e-mails now and then asking what’s going on with the Pacino’s Coffee location at 5605 Delridge, which abruptly closed not long after opening. Just happened onto city permit filings indicating the building is being re-equipped as a restaurant – the filing lists Olympia Pizza and Pasta as the name.
| 11 COMMENTS