West Seattle, Washington
04 Thursday
First photo-enhanced coyote report in a while. It’s from K. Parsons in Gatewood:
… in broad day-light after cruising around our front yards on the 7100 block of 39th avenue SW between Myrtle and Orchard, this guy was sunning himself (or herself) in our neighbors’ backyard for about 15 minutes then loped through our back-yard. This pic was taken today about noon. They sure do help with the rodent population but take care of your cats and small dogs!
Three alerts to share in this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup tonight. First, Lee reports that his neighborhood e-mail group has word of grounding-wire theft on utility poles in an alley near 39th/Stevens (map). This isn’t just costly to utilities, but also a serious risk to worker safety, so they were expected to get fast repairs, but neighbors say they were told West Seattle has seen a lot of this lately. Second, metal thieves in action again in Seaview; from 44th/Raymond (map), Alison reports the neighborhood e-mail group has shared word of a “dirty, dark blue, older-model Toyota sedan” traveling an alley with someone walking alongside throwing items including bicycles and scrap metal into the trunk. The neighbor who spotted them called 911 and gave chase, but finally called it off at a dispatcher’s advice when high speed and wet streets made it unsafe – not before providing police with the plate and description, though. They’re suggesting area residents check their backyard to see if anything’s missing. Finally, from Greta in Gatewood:
I live on Sw. Rose St. between 35th & 37th [map]. We had a flyer left on our front porch today alerting us to a 3rd burglary on our block. I haven’t talked to our neighbors yet, so I’m not sure the details. Thought I’d share this with others in the neigborhood.
Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow has explained at various public forums that these flyers are left if repeat burglaries happen in neighborhoods without a Block Watch – if you want to set one up, check out the info here, and be sure to join up with the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
After 20 years without their own building, the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation finally has one.
Friday was WSUU’s first full day of owning the former Gatewood Baptist/Seattle International Church building at California/Othello (map).
Congregation leaders and members didn’t waste a minute of Day 1. At 9 am Friday, a group was on the site whacking weeds that were starting to get out of control, and when we visited to speak with church leaders between 5 and 6 Friday night, another work party was busy tidying up the church’s side yard along Othello, looking for all the world like they weren’t likely to leave before dark (if then):
The building needs work inside too before the first scheduled service in 4 1/2 months – but the Westside Unitarian Universalists couldn’t be more excited – read on:Read More
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Many schools have Earth Day on the agenda today – among them, Gatewood Elementary, whose 4th and 5th graders made multiple stops this morning. We caught up with them at Lowman Beach Park, where they picked up litter (you’ll note the bag in front of them on the Lowman tennis court). 4th/5th-grade teacher Darren Radu tells WSB that students also went to Pelly Place for invasive-plant removal, stenciled storm drains along the streets near the school, and did litter patrol at other spots including the Lincoln Park P-Patch. (Thanks to Darren for the heads-up – let us know what your school is up to, either with an advance tip, or photos/info afterward, so we can share the news! WSB contact info is here.)
Published late tonight at seattlepi.com: A woman is charged with attempting to promote commercial sexual abuse of a minor, after she was found in a Gatewood apartment where prosecutors say four teenage girls also were living – three of them runaways. The seattlepi.com report says police were tipped by one runaway’s mom, who discovered that the phone number from which her daughter had called her was linked to what the article describes as “a prostitution-oriented Web site.” Police found the 21-year-old suspect, Kendra M. Williams, with two girls in an apartment in the 7100 block of California SW (map), and say she told officers she was setting up an “escort service.” The King County Jail Register shows that Williams has been in jail since March 29, with bail set at $25,000; we’ll check the court documents after the online system reopens in the morning. ADDED WEDNESDAY MORNING: It has since been pointed out to us that this story originally appeared at SeattleCrime.com yesterday afternoon – with more details – you can see their story here.
Today, Fauntleroy Way got some TLC in the form of dozens of new trees – tomorrow, 35th SW through Westwood, Gatewood and Sunrise Heights needs as many volunteers as can be mustered for a 10 am-1 pm cleanup of sidewalks and planting strips. Westwood Neighborhood Council and Friends of the Southwest Library are co-sponsors (as first reported here); check in at the library (35th/Henderson) at 10 am.
This Saturday, the youth group from Peace Lutheran Church in Gatewood hopes you’ll drop by and help them amass a sizable food donation for the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks. Peace Lutheran youth director Nicole Klinemeier explains, “The food drive is part of an event where we are talking about hunger issues. This is one of our service projects during the event. The event itself lasts for 24 hours, but they commit to not eating for 30 hours, as a taste of what it is like to go hungry.” She says the items food banks need the most include:
Cereal
Dry variety (e.g., Hamburger Helper, Rice a Roni, etc.)
Beans
Rice
Canned meat (anything but tuna)
Canned fruit and vegetables
Diapers (size 4, 5, 6)
You can drop off donations on Saturday between 8 am and 12:30 pm; Peace Lutheran is at 39th and Thistle (map). And remember – because of the Feinstein Challenge (explained here), ANY donation to the local food banks through the end of April counts for extra.
Got a couple notes about a strong chemical-like odor in the Gatewood area at midday. Not an avalanche of reports, so at first we weren’t going to write about it – but it does provide an opportunity to remind you that odor IS an air-quality issue and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency wants to hear about it. So if something is persistent or otherwise worrisome, file a report – at least this will help them track it. The information is on the PSCAA website – you can file online or call during business hours.
While we were at King County Department of Transportation HQ on Thursday afternoon to talk about some of the ongoing routing changes caused by construction, KCDOT’s Linda Thielke mentioned a proposed change was in the works for Route 22 through Gatewood. She didn’t have full details, but they’re out now: Metro wants to take the 22 off about half a mile of residential streets (41st and Ida) and move it to California SW for the full stretch through Gatewood, so that it stays on arterials all the way. Here are the details; note the “online survey” on the right side for comments. If Metro goes through with the change, it’ll take effect in October. (Disclosure, because we always try to let you know when we have skin in the game: WSB HQ is on the proposed new route.)
Two Crime Watch reports to share today – one a car-prowl alert; one about two neighboring homes that both were broken into – read on:Read More
ORIGINAL 12:22 PM REPORT: A crash at California/Monroe (map) in Gatewood has California SW closed for a few blocks in both directions. As you see in our photo, it involves a car and a pole, and utility lines are down. No serious injuries reported. 12:59 PM UPDATE: Street’s still closed. Seattle City Light apparently needs two crews to deal with the pole/line problem caused by the crash, and is still awaiting the second one. 1:19 PM: Brian Zenk shares this photo from another angle:
1:51 PM: California SW is now open again. But you can’t turn onto Monroe – it’s blocked off – the pole is still at an angle.
11:19 PM: That’s one photo we didn’t use earlier – showing that part of the pole was knocked all the way across California to the west side of the street. As of just minutes ago, crews are still out working on the pole and the lines, and the California end of Monroe remains blocked off.
(From left, Leslie Hoots, Margot Massey, Sofia Wagner, Susan Munn, and Lisa Boeckh of the Threads Ministry)
This is the embodiment of “many hands make light work” – and also, many hands = more warmth, in a multitude of ways. Leslie Hoots shares this update on Warm Up America – including an invitation for you to come help celebrate, this Sunday:
Last August, the Threads Ministry at Peace Lutheran Church in West Seattle began our second annual Warm Up America project. The Seattle Yarn Gallery on California Ave SW partnered with us and became a collection point for the community. The West Seattle and White Center communities were invited to join with us by donating left over yarn, knitting or crocheting squares and sewing them into blankets, which will be donated to WestSide Baby, White Center Salvation Army Corp, and Riverton Place Men’s Rehab Facility.
The outpouring from the community overwhelmed us. We had a student contact us from Highline High School, whose teacher taught her to knit over the summer, and she made our project her Senior Project making three Warm Up America blankets and a Child’s quilt, and the West Seattle YMCA took up our cause and donated yarn to the project, as the “good deed of the month”, during the month of January. Many folks from the community called and donated or worked with us in making squares for our blankets. As of today, we have 28 completed blankets and enough squares to make another 30 blankets.
On Sunday, February 7th, we will have a blessing ceremony during our 10:30 AM church service and then distribute the blankets to agencies in the West Seattle and White Center communities. We want to extend an invitation to the community to see the results of their generosity and join us in celebrating the end of this wonderful project. A big thank you to the Seattle Yarn Gallery for their part in making this a successful event. Peace Lutheran Church is located at the corner of 39th SW and Thistle in West Seattle and our web address is www.peacelutheranseattle.org.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports: First, an e-mail that may have landed in almost every inbox in West Seattle, judging by the number of people who forwarded it to us. When we first saw it Monday morning, we tried reaching contacts at the Southwest Precinct to get it confirmed or denied; we didn’t hear back but will try even harder tomorrow. Anyway, the note tells the story of a daylight burglary last Friday, apparently in Highland Park, going on to say that police told the victim that there’s “a ring of high school students that look for empty homes during their lunch hour” and are dropped off and picked up by someone; the note also says “This is going on 6-8 times a day in West Seattle alone, in all neighborhoods.” Higher than any local burglary rate we’ve ever heard, so we will persist with our police inquiries today to see if that’s really the case. Meantime, one other burglary report has come in, from Grace in Gatewood:
Wanted to let everyone know that there’s been a burglary in the Gatewood area on the 3500 block of SW Southern Street (map) right off of 35th Ave. Entry was through a kicked-in ground-level back door while the owners were out of town. If anyone saw anything suspicious on this block between Friday the 22nd and Sunday the 24th of January, please report it. No one was hurt, but lots of items of sentimental value were stolen.
Been a while since the last coyote sighting. Just got a text that two are currently “roaming backyards” in Gatewood, 3600 block of Webster/Othello (map) – and the tipster says one appeared to have killed a cat (black with white paw) – so if you’re in the area, might be a good idea to round up your pet(s) for a while. (P.S. As shared in the comments, here’s the state’s Living With Wildlife advice regarding coyotes; also, you can browse 2 1/2 years of WSB coyote-sighting coverage, with many photos, by starting here.)
A Gatewood resident who wants to be anonymous is sharing news of a crime on her block:
A neighbor just came by our house to alert us to the break in at a neighbor’s home, on SW Rose St, between 35th & 37th Ave SW [map], around 10 am today. Apparently the burglars broke in through the back door and stole numerous valuables — inlcuding a digital camera, jar of coins and other items.
I don’t have any other details, but thought I should alert others of this incident.
By the way, though tomorrow’s the third Tuesday, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is NOT meeting – it’ll resume regular meetings in January.
Got a note about an outage in Gatewood that’s been under way since about 8 this morning. Just checked with Seattle City Light‘s on-call media rep – no estimate yet when it’ll be fixed; they say it’s affecting about 53 customers, in the northern Gatewood Hill residential area east of the Morgan Junction business area so far as we can tell from the boundaries.
From Jessica in Gatewood. While it pales compared to the huge crimes rocking the city at large – an officer murdered, a serial arsonist on the loose – still, a reminder it seems we can’t hear often enough:
I just wanted to report that we had a car broken into (Friday) morning. We live on Monroe Street [near 37th; map]. The car was parked in our driveway in front of the house. We know it happened sometime between 5:30 and 7:00 am. The thief broke the passenger side window and took a few items. Just wanted to get the news out and remind everyone not to leave anything valuable in their cars, because there is someone looking.
The next meeting of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, by the way, is a week from tomorrow, Nov. 17, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct; you can contact the precinct’s crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow regarding Block Watch and other information at any time – here’s how.
It’s been a while since we added to the coyote-sighting archive (which you can browse here). But it’s a good occasion for a reminder that authorities urge education/coexistence – don’t call in a coyote and expect to have animal control come chase after it. But do consider keeping your pets inside. This morning’s report is from Sherrideth:
Just wanted to alert the neighborhood that there is a coyote in Gatewood. Saw it
run across SW Austin as I drove to work this morning at 6:10 (10/20).
She says the cross-street was 39th SW (here’s a map). If you haven’t seen the state’s Living With Wildlife coyote info page before – check it out here.
Yes, cleaning up and restoring West Seattle’s greenspaces can be fun, even if they call it a “work party.” We got the photo from a participant in Saturday’s work party at Orchard Street Ravine in Gatewood, where 8 people showed up, including new volunteer Cassandra. According to our contributor, the biggest job of the day was creation of “tree life saver rings” around a madrona and native bitter cherry to keep them from being strangled by clematis and “blackberries on steroids.” One more native cherry needs work next time, and 100 creeping dogwoods will be planted then – “next time” means November 7th, which is Green Seattle Day, with Friends of Orchard Street Ravine partnering with the Green Seattle Partnership. Find out more about Green Seattle Day here; this also gives us an excuse to remind you that, to the east, Duwamish Alive! work party/cleanup day is next Saturday – find out more about that (and how to be part of it) here.
The WSB Forums are the best place for lost/found items (aside from pets) in most cases but here we have another exception – since the finder thinks this might be related to a recent crime – Monte e-mailed tonight:
A couple of weeks ago I found a jewelry box in my garbage can and would like to return it to its rightful owner. I’ve been reading here on WS Blog about all the burglary/break-ins here in Gatewood (California and Othello area). Nothing too valuable here, mostly costume jewelry and a young girl’s keepsake stuff. Identify it and I’ll get it back to you right away.
You can reach him at 206-265-2812.
First one is a purse-snatching attempt; second one, a burglary – for both stories, read on:Read More
Just out of the WSB inbox, a road-rage report – from a bicyclist who was towing his 2-year-old daughter uphill in the new California SW bicycle lane in Gatewood. Read on:Read More
That’s the biggest of three rooms of donated items going on sale starting at 9 this morning 
at Peace Lutheran Church (NE corner of Thistle/39th; map), with the proceeds to help Maarten, a 1-year-old fighting a brain tumor. You first saw Maarten’s story here two weeks ago; now the big sale is here, today and tomorrow. Lots more information at the Help Maarten website, including an update on how he’s doing, and how you can help if you can’t make it to the sale – but if you can, not only will you find the giant room of stuff you see in our photo, but also in other rooms, musical instruments, furniture, even artworks – we dropped by as organizer Claudia and other volunteers were working Thursday night to get it all organized. And a bake sale too!
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