In case you heard the sirens and wondered – we just checked out the scene of a house-fire call in High Point, at 34th/Juneau. Firefighters are mopping up after making quick work of a small but smoky fire inside a closet. Nobody was home at the time; nobody hurt.
That’s midfielder Tafara Pulse from the Seattle Sounders Women team, visiting High Point’s Commons Park on Wednesday night for the second weekly summer soccer-learning session presented by High Point Community Center.
The players are 7-to-14-year-olds, in the midst of a free six-week session learning the ever-more-popular game. Gorgeous night to be out on the field.
The whiteboard with the produce prices proudly proclaims that this is the first farm-stand day of the season at the High Point Market Garden (32nd/Juneau). We just stopped by, and found out that the produce is so fresh, they’re picking it even as customers are shopping! Here’s the stand to look for, on the east side of the beautiful “farm” plot where it’s all grown:
They’re open till 7, and subsequent Wednesdays, 4-7 pm. Read more about the market-gardens program here; meet some of the farmers here.
After getting the word that Marination Mobile won’t be making its usual Saturday stops in West Seattle this weekend and next, we followed up with co-proprietor Kamala Saxton on something we had heard a while back – that the popular food truck was looking for a new West Seattle spot. Kamala replied it’s true, they need to move:
We have been granted an extension from the Seattle Housing Authority to stay at our current location until August, however, after that we will need to find a new WS location. … We are absolutely committed to remaining in W. Seattle on Saturdays and any leads you have would be greatly appreciated.
The 35th/Graham site (map) where they’ve been for a year has long been tabbed for a future development project – so we wondered if maybe the move mandate meant the project was starting up. We checked with Housing Authority media liaison Virginia Felton, and found out something a little different:
A long-planned cleanup is going to put the site out of commission, starting in September. “There’s pretty serious petroleum contamination on the site,” Felton explained, “but we finally got the money trickled down through EPA to the state to King County to do the cleanup.” Even after the cleanup, the site will be fenced, and “it’ll be a big pit for a while,” she said, adding that more specifics about the cleanup will be available by late summer. As for Marination Mobile – SHA hasn’t been able to find anything in High Point that’ll work, according to Felton; Saxton said her entreprise has examined some obvious possibilities like the remaining Huling sites in The Triangle, and Youngstown Arts Center, but nothing has clicked yet – so again, any suggestions, post them here (or contact them through marinationmobile.com). [Photo credits: Top picture courtesy of Daniel, from July 2009; center photo taken by us today]
(WSB photo from July 2009)
Just circulated by the Seattle Housing Authority, word that the High Point Market Garden produce stand will open for the season a week from today – Wednesday, July 7th. It’s scheduled to be open 4-7 pm every Wednesday till September 29th, according to the announcement. The produce that’s sold at the stand is grown and harvested on site; the garden and stand are at 32nd/Juneau – here’s a map. (Hat tip: Delridge Neighborhood District Coordinator Ron Angeles‘s mailing list.)
Just got a note from Kamala with Marination Mobile, the food truck that’s been a hit in the 35th/Graham lot for months now. Next month marks a year since it’s been making Saturday visits to West Seattle – but it’ll skip the next two Saturdays:
We just wanted to let our W. Seattle peeps know that we will be closed on July 3rd (so that folks can prepare for the 4th), and July 10th as Big Blue will be at the Mobile Chowdown at the Seattle Center. We are already missing West Seattle, but look forward to seeing you all on July 17th. Wow, the 17th already seems too long to be away from West Seattle…
We thought we’d covered our last graduation for this school year. Then an invitation arrived – as a media advisory sent on behalf of a school we hadn’t heard of – Hope Academy. The advisory from the local Council on American Islamic Relations invited us, a newspaper, three TV stations, and three radio stations to cover its ceremony and banquet Saturday night in High Point, explaining:
Hope Academy will celebrate the achievements of its students during with its fourth annual banquet, themed “American Muslims: Defining Ourselves.” The event will be held at the West Seattle Elementary School from 4:45 pm to 6 pm. … The event will include award presentations to graduating students as well as other students. Muslim community leaders and activists from the area will join in the celebration.
As far as we could tell, we were the only media that showed up. However – as you can see in our photos – those on hand included Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell. We asked for more information about the school; Abdul Kadir Jama explained that Hope Academy is “a full-time community-based school that serves K-8.” He added, “We aim at educating the American Muslim children by providing them an opportunity to grow in a conducive environment where they can maintain their faith, culture and at the same time become good citizens.” Saturday night’s celebration included awards to two groups of students, in the photos above and below:
The ceremony included singing of the Somalia anthem, in tribute to the land Seattle’s Somali immigrants – including parents of the students honored Saturday night — left amid civil war that has raged on now for almost 20 years:
Councilmember Harrell spoke, with a message for the students’ parents:
Hope Academy’s classes are held at locations including the High Point Neighborhood Center, according to CAIR’s S. Arsalan Bukhari, who sent the graduation announcement. Looking for more information online about Hope Academy, we happened onto some YouTube clips on this channel, including a student discussing world geography.
The “School’s Out Bash” is an annual tradition for High Point Community Center – but this year, they moved it to HP’s Commons Park, and what a perfect night: Hundreds came for free fun, including food, field games, and face painting:
That’s Laura Wilburn from High Point CC. Bounce houses drew a crowd too:
Wondering what else is up this summer, at HPCC and West Seattle’s other community centers? Here’s the summer brochure.
We received a few notes earlier about police activity near the 35th/Morgan market (map) and a few blocks north near the High Point library branch. Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Rasmussen tells WSB that both scenes “were related to a robbery at the (market). Three juveniles were arrested by our officers in the area of the library. No suspects outstanding.” He also says that in another incident this afternoon, police arrested a juvenile burglary suspect “who entered a woman’s house in the 9200 Block of 26th SW [map] while she was at home.” (Another reminder that if you’ve got questions/concerns about crime, precinct leadership will be at tomorrow night’s monthly meeting of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council as usual, 7 pm; also scheduled to be there, City Attorney Pete Holmes.)
Story and photos by Karen Berge
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
More than 50 people gathered Thursday night at the High Point Neighborhood Center for a community-safety forum, billed as a follow-up to the emotionally-charged meeting on April 29th, which followed the stabbing of a woman there on April 23rd. This 2-hour meeting began and ended with some short updates and announcements, but the primary focus was to brainstorm solutions for bringing the community together to move ahead.
Jennifer Cobb and Andrew Mead, from the High Point Neighborhood Association (HPNA), started by describing their mission, “to foster community safety” and the objective for this meeting, to keep it “focused on solutions, focused on what we can do going forward.”
Willard Brown from Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), spoke for several minutes; he remarked “the most important thing is to work together on this” and said that SHA “is committed to bringing resources together.”One tangible change that residents will notice is that they have been “working with SPD to increase the police presence in our community.”
Your Seattle Public Library team wants you to know that the Summer Reading Program has officially begun, never mind whether the weather agrees. Ken Gollersrud from High Point Library says there are “many great free programs over the summer for all ages right here at several West Seattle branches including Duct Tape Mania, Bookmaking for Teens, Save Our Amazing Raptors, Electronic Gaming, Zinery 101, Paper Airplanes, 20,000 Volts Under the Sea, among others.” You can sign up, and track progress, online – details here.
She was joined by the mother of a Somali boy who was beaten days later, in the April 29 incident that happened hours before hundreds filled a room at Neighborhood Center for a community safety conversation. At that meeting (WSB coverage here), police and Housing Authority leaders heard many of the same concerns brought forward today.
But this time, it was a much smaller forum. The two women were part of a group of about 30, led by the High Point Somali Residents Council (HPSRC).Read More
Today was supposed to be the rescheduled arraignment date for Marcus Combs, charged a month ago with attacking a woman walking along a High Point street. Instead, his arraignment has been postponed again – King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe just published this update to the office’s home-page “docket”:
This morning’s competency hearing/arraignment was postponed for Marcus Allen Combs … who is accused of beating and stabbing a woman who was walking with her 9-year-old daughter in West Seattle on April 23. The defendant just completed a 15-day mental evaluation, but will now be sent to Western State Hospital for a 90-day evaluation to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. He will return to court for another competency hearing on August 30. The defendant is charged with first degree assault. Bail is set at $1 million.
Full house in the Bridge Park Retirement Community (WSB sponsor) great room this afternoon as a Northwest gardening luminary came to High Point to share his secrets: Gardening expert/writer/seed-seller/TV personality Ed Hume. Topic of the day: Container gardening.
It’s hotter than ever now because you can do it anywhere – you don’t have to have a big chunk of land to turn into a garden. (West Seattle Nursery co-promoted today’s event and provided plants.) Hume’s been sharing gardening knowledge for more than 30 years, and continues to maintain a busy public-appearance calendar – if you missed him at Bridge Park today, here’s where to find him next.
Following up on the High Point stabbing almost three weeks ago: The man who’s been in jail since then, in lieu of $1 million bail, 22-year-old Marcus Combs, was supposed to be in court this morning to enter a plea to the charge of first-degree assault, but instead, his arraignment was postponed until May 26th. According to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, “Combs will undergo a 15-day mental evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial.” The victim, a 40-year-old woman whom investigators say was attacked randomly while walking with her 9-year-old, has been recovering at home since the day after the attack.
Vince reports, “More than 20 women gathered to celebrate Mother’s Day by helping to build a house for Habitat for Humanity of Seattle/South King County. The event was sponsored by Lowe’s.”
The worksite is along SW Morgan, about a block east of 35th SW.
What to do to calm High Point concerns amid what even its Seattle Housing Authority manager acknowledged last night are “tensions between groups amongst our young people”?
There was no consensus among those who spoke emotionally and powerfully at last night’s community meeting, sponsored by the High Point Neighborhood Association, originally meant to address questions and concerns about the stabbing of a 40-year-old woman along a local street last Friday.
But there was one clear message taken from the standing-room-only, even sitting-on-the-floor meeting: Hundreds of High Point neighbors wanted to talk about it – and about the circumstances surrounding the incident that brought police and fire to the neighborhood two hours before the meeting, when a 16-year-old boy, identified during the meeting as Somali, was beaten in a fight near HP Neighborhood Center, site of the meeting.
At the front of the room were HPNA leaders, Southwest Precinct police leaders, and SHA managers. The rest of the room was filled to overflowing with residents and community advocates – at right, that’s the end of the line waiting to get in, before the meeting.
“I know we come here tonight with many emotions,” began HPNA president Jennifer Cobb. Indeed, those emotions permeated the 2-plus hours that followed – the meeting might have run longer, but it was pointed out that some of those in attendance had to get to 8:30 pm prayers.
The full, long story will take a while to write, so for now, a few toplines from tonight’s High Point community meeting, organized by the High Point Neighborhood Association to discuss safety concerns in the aftermath of last Friday’s stabbing: Overflow crowd (photo shows a corner at the front of the big meeting room) at High Point Neighborhood Center, with HPNA leaders up front along with Southwest Precinct top leadership and Seattle Housing Authority reps. … The nearby assault that sent a 16-year-old boy to the hospital 2 hours earlier was a topic of discussion too – he was said to be Somali, and his injuries were described as serious … Asked why the suspect in last Friday’s attack was not charged with a hate crime, police explained that the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office makes the final decision, but so far, they said, their investigation had not turned up evidence it was a hate crime … SHA management acknowledged there are “tensions” between groups of teenagers and promised more programs at the center and in nearby Commons Park in time for summer … A long line of people spoke at the meeting, with many different perspectives: Some criticized HP management. Some criticized police; some complimented them. Some criticized troublemakers’ parents. Others challenged HP residents to get to know each other better. … Now, a note that was NOT discussed at the meeting, because of its length (2 1/2 hours) and intensity: HPNA president Jennifer Cobb just sent word of the announcement they forgot to make as the meeting wrapped up:
We are collecting donations for the woman who was attacked. Make checks payable to the High Point Neighborhood Association and drop off at the High Point Center or mail to HPNA – 6400 SW Sylvan Way/Seattle, WA 98126 by Friday, May 14th.
As we’ve reported, the 40-year-old victim is home now; the 22-year-old suspect is charged with first-degree assault, jailed in lieu of $1 million bail, and scheduled for arraignment in two weeks. Again, our full story on tonight’s meeting is in the works.
(WSB cameraphone photo added 4:33 pm) FIRST REPORT AT 3:58 PM: Thanks for the tips on the “multiple medic response/14” at Lanham/Morgan – which usually means an incident with multiple victims. On our way. 4:10 PM UPDATE: Police at the scene referred us to the SPD Media Unit, which tells us they received a report of an assault about half an hour ago. A 16-year-old boy had been assaulted at a basketball court by the High Point Neighborhood Center/Commons Park; “a large crowd had gathered, was not being cooperative with officers,” Officer Renee Witt says. They are still looking for the suspect, who was said to have punched the victim and then walked away; only description, a red shirt. Despite the Medic 14 dispatch, Officer Witt says only one victim is reported – but she also stresses, this is “very preliminary information.” (Neighborhood Center will be the scene of a community meeting coming up at 6 pm, to discuss last week’s stabbing nearby; police were invited, as well as neighborhood leaders and community members.) ADDED 4:20 PM: Seattle Fire spokesperson Helen Fitzpatrick confirms only one patient was transported to the hospital, but doesn’t have any condition info. The scene is mostly clear now.
(Friday afternoon photo by Christopher Boffoli)
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has just announced that 22-year-old Marcus Combs is now charged with first-degree assault in connection with last Friday’s stabbing of a 40-year-old woman who was walking with her 9-year-old. Court documents we obtained and reported on Monday said he stabbed her 15 times in the head and body after attacking her and pushing her down along a High Point street. But as disclosed in a Seattle Housing Authority update on Monday, the victim was doing well enough to leave the hospital over the weekend and is recovering at home. Combs is scheduled for arraignment on May 12th; if found guilty on this charge, he could be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. The High Point Neighborhood Association is sponsoring a community meeting tomorrow night at HP Neighborhood Center to discuss the incident and other issues, and is also working to find out if there is anything the community can do collectively to help the victim’s family. ADDED 3:24 PM: Transcription, from the charging documents, of exactly how it’s alleged the Friday afternoon attack went down – read on:Read More
(Friday afternoon photo by Christopher Boffoli) ORIGINAL 2:41 PM REPORT: Prosecutors have until Wednesday to file charges against the 22-year-old man arrested in connection with the stabbing of a 40-year-old woman along a High Point street Friday afternoon, but in the meantime, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has just provided us with the document that indicates probable cause, and tells the story not only of the brutality of the attack, but also of the three heroes who helped and led police to the suspect. 3:25 PM UPDATE: After that document, following the jump, we also have added a letter that High Point residents are receiving, which includes information about a Thursday community meeting, the victim’s current condition, and eviction proceedings for the suspect’s household – read on to see it all:Read More
After getting the word that 
We received a few notes earlier about police activity near the 35th/Morgan market (
But there was one clear message taken from the standing-room-only, even sitting-on-the-floor meeting: Hundreds of High Point neighbors wanted to talk about it – and about the circumstances surrounding the incident that brought police and fire to the neighborhood two hours before the meeting, when a 16-year-old boy, identified during the meeting as Somali, 
The full, long story will take a while to write, so for now, a few toplines from tonight’s High Point community meeting, organized by the 
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