West Seattle, Washington
30 Thursday
That’s the photo we published in this report the night of June 15, when a motorcycle and minivan collided at 30th/Trenton (map) and closed streets for a few hours. The photo we didn’t publish, with the motorcycle on the ground, is later in the story. That night, there was no word if the motorcyclist was likely to survive. But she did. Days and weeks later, friends dropped into the comment thread on that same lone post from time to time with updates – finally, a few weeks ago, out of curiosity, we e-mailed one of the commenters to ask if the crash survivor would care to tell her story. And that’s how we met West Seattle photographer and motorcycle rider Karen Derby, who is battling back from leg and face injuries, and hoping to ride again. Here’s her story – including photos, some she took herself, before and after – but before you click ahead, a warning that two included in the story (and one you won’t see unless you click a link) are somewhat graphic – Karen wanted to tell her whole story, and the visuals are part of it:Read More
QUAKE DRILL: A statewide earthquake drill is planned for 10:15 this morning, and EVERYBODY is urged to participate. Find out more about it here.
A CALL YOU MIGHT GET IF YOU’RE A SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS PARENT: In connection with the quake drill, SPS is sending out “test emergency calls” from its new SchoolMessenger system; a “random sample of 5% of … families” will get these calls; another 5% will get a “general announcement” version of test calls from the system.
SPEAKING OF SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Today is the first “two-hour early dismissal day” of the school year.
AND ONE MORE SCHOOL NOTE: Today’s the first monthly informal coffee hour that West Seattle’s school-board rep Steve Sundquist — 9 to 10 am, Coffee to a Tea with Sugar in The Junction; drop by to talk education issues.
GETTING OUT THE LONG-TERM-CARE-RESIDENT VOTE: That’s the topic of a major conference at Providence Mount St. Vincent today, 9:30 am-2:30 pm, with everyone in the local long-term-care community welcome to participate.
“NICKELSVILLE” UPDATE: Not much was reported on the second day of the homeless camp’s existence at Highland Park Way/West Marginal; tonight at 7 pm, organizers hope to rally “community supporters” as they count down the final hours till the city’s eviction notice kicks in at 5 pm Thursday.
Just broke this story at our partner site White Center Now: King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s office has announced a discussion October 2nd about a potential Alcohol Impact Area in the White Center business district – and the announcement notes that since the district includes areas within Seattle city limits as well as unincorporated King County, authorities and community members on both sides of the line are invited – and that the concept of “adjacent AIAs in unincorporated King County and the South Delridge area” should be considered in the discussion. The discussion is set for 7 pm Thursday, October 2nd, during the regular meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council at North Highline Fire District headquarters. Read more here (the seventh news item today on White Center Now, with at least one more to come – newsiest day for our partner site since it launched seven weeks ago).
(WSB photo from 35th/Juneau crash scene, 9/4/08)
Just in from Denise Sharify, who works for Neighborhood House in High Point and has been active on area pedestrian issues: A pedestrian-safety rally is set for 2:30-4 pm October 7 at 35th/Juneau, where a High Point 15-year-old was hit and injured just a few weeks ago. Everyone concerned about pedestrian safety in our area – not just on 35th – is encouraged to join in; Denise’s note to community members also mentions the California/Dawson crash that killed 92-year-old Rosemary MacCorkindale yesterday and the 35th/Brandon crash that killed 39-year-old Gregory Hampel last month. More details on the rally when plans are further finalized.
BINGO: Derek, who discovered Monday night bingo at Alki UCC Church after the last time we mentioned it here, noticed it had vanished from our events calendar (oops! fixed!) and wanted to remind all would-be players it’s happening weekly – doors open 5:30 pm, games start 6:30 pm. More on this page of the Alki UCC website.
SCOUTS: Just got a note from Suzanne saying that tonight is Recruitment Night for Cub Scout Pack 284 at Gatewood Elementary School library, 6:30 pm: “Some of the Pack’s leadership and parents will be there to answer any questions about joining Cub Scouts. Our first Pack meeting of the school year will be Thursday at Our Lady of Guadalupe’s cafeteria at 7pm. First – Fifth grade boys are welcome to show up and check out what happens at the Pack meeting and hear about what scouts did over the summer including camp, hiking and the West Seattle Parade.” (ADDED 12:02 PM) Also: John e-mailed to say “Cub Scout pack #285 is having their recruitment night at 6:30 in the community room of St. John’s the Baptist Episcopal Church located (just west of West Seattle High School) at 3050 California Avenue SW. Pack 285 is one of the oldest Cub Scout packs in West Seattle and we are meeting to welcome new Cub Scouts and talk to parents who are interested in scouting. We will also be reviewing this summer’s activities and looking ahead at the fun events we have planned for the year. Boys in the 1st through 5th grade are welcome to join in. Contact Assistant Cubmaster John Woodworth @ 206-265-3295 or Cubmaster John Hoene at 206-372-3153 if you cannot make tonight’s meeting.”
CAR-SEAT RECYCLING: If you have car/booster seat(s) you’re not using – and can get to IKEA in Renton on Wednesday – you can be part of a first-of-its-kind event that WestSide Baby‘s Nancy Woodland just e-mailed to announce – though it’s not in West Seattle, it’s for families here and all over the south King County area. The event also includes safety checks for the car/booster seats you’re using now, and kids’ helmets too; read on for full details:Read More
(click image to see full three-page document with city’s “final design”)
First update from tonight’s Alki Community Council meeting: Issues are still simmering with the city plan to finish the sidewalk on the north side of Alki Sw, from 63rd SW west to the other side of Alki Point. What you see above – difficult as it may be to decipher (even if you click on the image to see the full three-page document) – is what’s described on the city’s webpage for the project as “the final design,” and labeled on the document as “100% review” (dated tomorrow, by the way). At one point, the ACC had hoped that city project manager “Sam” Woods would be at tonight’s meeting; instead, she has been going door-to-door through the affected area this week to talk with residents. Just one problem, said a few attendees at tonight’s meeting: The letter from SDOT director Grace Crunican (read it here) says those visits were happening yesterday and today – but some didn’t even get the letter till today. They say they still have safety concerns about the plan and would like to see it presented one last time (the previous, contentious community meeting was this one in April) – with safety details highlighted (beyond the two raised crosswalks, at 64th and at Alki/Beach, as reported here in July) — before it’s finalized prior to construction (which Crunican’s letter says will start early next year). ACC secretary Larry Carpenter says he’s certain that such a meeting is already in the city’s plans; we’ll check with SDOT tomorrow, and we’ll also be asking about a report tonight that the project is $150,000 over the original budget.
The city’s Department of Information Technology is coming to High Point Library tonight to offer you a free “Home Computer and Internet Security Workshop” – here’s the official description:
Tired of viruses, email & money scams, spies and thieves? Join your neighbors as you learn tips and tricks for keeping your home computer safe while on the Internet by the City of Seattle Office of Information Security Chief Michael Hamilton. One of his most important responsibilities is keeping the City’s computers and networks safe and secure, and he can show you how to do the same at home.
The workshop’s 5:30-7:30 pm – first-come, first-served, so check for space: call Vicky at 206.233.7877 or e-mail vicky.yuki@seattle.gov.
The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is always on our list of must-attend meetings. We strongly urge you to be there too, if you have any kind of crime/safety concern in your neighborhood (that includes “nuisance properties”), since Southwest Precinct police leaders are always in attendance and you get the chance to bring up questions/concerns – and tonight features a special guest of timely interest, from the Seattle Police Gang Unit. See you at the SW Precinct meeting room, 7 pm (off Webster, just west of Delridge, parking lot’s on the south side of the building, steps away from the meeting room).
That photo comes from Fauntleroy’s Ron Richardson, along with this account of what happened, and the safety reminder it sparks:
Around 3 pm Saturday there was yet another rear-end accident as a car heading up Fauntleroy Way SW ran in to a parked car. The driver of the moving car was sent to the hospital to be checked out. One of the responding police officers said that there appeared to be no serious injury.
Moving cars slamming in to parked car is a common happening along Fauntleroy Way with northbound traffic. Drivers often are distracted by action in and around the park. Drinking has been a factor in some of the incidents. [editor’s note: there is no police report available yet on what might have been to blame in this case]
Some folks do not realize that Fauntleroy Way is a two-lane road and not a four lane road so they drive along what they think is a curb lane until they run in to a parked car. Drivers also need to be aware that this area has kids crossing to the park, fast moving traffic, cars pulling out from side streets, and drivers making dangerous U turns in attempt to get in to the southbound ferry lane. This latest incident happened at Fauntleroy Way and Rose Street.
That intersection is across from central Lincoln Park; here’s a map.
As was evidenced again in the discussion after the 35th/Juneau crash the other day (original coverage here, followup here; today’s update here), there are many things that could be done to make our roads safer. But there’s no arguing that some of the responsibility lies with all of us as drivers. To that point, Lt. Steve Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct wanted to share these thoughts (and some info):
I regularly receive a varying mix of opinions from our community in regard to value of traffic enforcement and its overall importance to public safety/saving lives.
In the last week since school has started, I have noticed an increase in traffic collisions. Most are due to speed or just not paying attention to driving, i.e. … cellphones, GPS navigation screens, DVD players, reading the paper, putting on makeup, shaving, eating…
I attend a number of community meetings from every part of our fine West Seattle community. The single most common complaint the Seattle Police Department receives from each neighborhood is traffic-related. We are fortunate to have regular assistance in West Seattle from our Traffic Section, who have City-wide responsibility in patrolling our neighborhoods to ensure traffic and pedestrian safety.
I realize that our citizens are very busy and with the advent of technology, they have become increasingly distracted while driving.
To my fellow West Seattle folks….Please slow down and pay attention when you are driving. School has started, we have children walking around…We have more people riding bicycles and motorcycles, which as you know are difficult to see at times. Anticipate each intersection, whether controlled or not, as a potential accident location…Keep an eye out for pedestrians and joggers who may be hooked into their iPods and not paying attention to traffic…
Here are a few of our regularly enforced areas … No surprises here! We would much rather have you slow down than to have to write the citations.
All School zones during school hours
West Seattle Freeway
Admiral Way
35th Ave SW
Fauntleroy SW
16th Ave SW
Highland Park Dr
Delridge SW
1st Ave S near the bridge
SW RoxburyThanks again, please be safe out there and watch out for each other!
Sincerely,
Lieutenant Steven Paulsen
Seattle Police
SW Precinct
Operations
P.S. We originally drafted this early today, before hearing from Denise Sharify re: the 35th/Juneau accident survivor (as we reported this afternoon, she’s out of the hospital). Denise is hoping to work with the High Point Neighborhood Association to revive the High Point-specific Pedestrian Safety Committee that worked on many issues in recent months, some of which have been addressed with city responses such as the new 35th/Raymond light upgrade and the 34th/Morgan crosswalk.
We told you a few weeks ago that work was almost done on the new sidewalks leading to Sanislo Elementary School (map) leading to it from the east. On the first day of school, as the photo above shows, the sidewalk was open and in use. But there’s another issue left resolved: Crossing nearby streets safely. Close to the school, student crossing guards are on the job, like Antje Staudt‘s daughter:
But about a block east, where Myrtle meets busy arterial 16th SW (map) – still no adult crossing guard. We first talked with Antje and other Sanislo parents last spring (WSB coverage here) when the situation came to light: The longtime crossing guard had become chronically ill, and wasn’t replaced — in the midst of a citywide crossing-guard crunch, with dozens of positions open. Sanislo parents and administrators had been working with citywide pedestrian-advocacy group Feet First on the issue; FF says the police department, which administers the crossing-guard program (from central HQ, not from local precincts), hired several new guards citywide but still has no current plan to replace the 16th/Myrtle guard. FF says concerns can be directed to Karen Bye, who runs the guard program, at 684-8984. By the way, while we were in the area Wednesday morning, we noticed police on patrol for traffic violators in the school zone – an alleged violator got pulled over heading north on 16th SW near the intersection:
The City Council has a Pedestrian Safety committee, but its next quarterly meeting is not planned till December.
We’ve had two reports today of markings like the ones at left — placeholders for “sharrows” — appearing along California SW (thanks to Scott C and Patt for the tips) in various spots between Alaska and Morgan Junctions. “Sharrows” are meant to remind drivers and bikers that they share the road. They’re already in place on other major routes including Admiral Way and Beach Drive (put in place about this time last year), and the city’s Bicycle Master Plan has them in the works for California SW all the way from College (in North Admiral) to Thistle, along with other streets (here’s the full map of the various bicycle “facilities,” including sharrows and bike lanes, envisioned for West Seattle).
Out of the WSB inbox, from Don, who wants you to be aware of what happened to him:
In the neighborhood due south of Alaska Junction’s Jefferson Square, we discovered that mail had been taken from our box, opened, and gone through, in search of credit card information and anything else of value. The perps tossed the remainder in our yard, which was ironic, as one thing of value turned out to be some expensive train tickets for an upcoming vacation trip. The only thing we actually lost was one of those fake credit-card-like things on a junk-mail come-on from American Express, but we found pieces of the neighbor’s mail near our house as well. When we mentioned this to USPS personnel, they told us to call the police and file a report, and let the local postmaster know as well.
BE ON THE LOOKOUT. These creeps take advantage of unlocked mailboxes and have no problem committing local and federal crimes. They are probably working neighborhoods across the area.
In a later e-mail exchange, Don told us police would not take a phoned-in report because nothing of value was missing. We will be checking with local police leadership after the holiday to see if there is a baseline for reports to be taken in this kind of situation; Don’s filing a report online with USPS, in the meantime.
Some of what was discussed at last night’s South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting will be of interest to anyone living/working in south West Seattle – including some good news about ongoing issues in the area — so we’d like to point you to the full report we have just posted on partner site White Center Now; you can read it here.
From the WSB inbox:
My name is Cody, and I live on the corner of 35th and Roxbury. Monday morning my car was parked across from the Freedom Church on Roxbury and I had found that someone had flexed my window damaging it and broke in trashing my car and throwing everything out of my glovebox trying to find something. Living in Seattle I’ve learned to keep nothing of value in my car so the only thing they got was a broken iPhone charger :). This morning I walked out to my car parked on 35th and found that someone had side swiped me, taking out my back tail light, and mirror and leaving a nice big white scrape all along the driver’s side. This has not really been my week. I just wanted to let people know to park at your own risk on 35th and Roxbury.
Christopher just sent this – in light of this recent discussion, you might want to be on the lookout:
Just a few minutes ago I watched a man walk down my alley (just off
Oregon between 40th and 41st). He was white, thin, in his 20’s, about
5 foot 7, wearing blue jeans, a blue jacket and a baseball cap. He
drew my attention because he seemed to be acting
suspiciously…looking around at my neighbor’s doorways. When I saw
him pick-up and examine a copper garden ornament in a neighbor’s
garden I decided to go out there to see what was up. When he saw me
he put the item down and walked away. I called the SPD non-emergency
number and filed a report while I followed him on foot for a few
blocks until I lost him. He may or may not have driven away in a
small red Chevrolet that was parked at 39th and Oregon. Just wanted
to spread the word. From what I heard, 11 am seems to be prime
burglary time. I’m not sure if he was looking for metal in general or
if he was just opportunistic. Just thought I’d pass this along so
folks can be on the lookout.
Since Friday morning, when we first posted the story of Kate K and her dog Coco — who is recovering from being poisoned in her own yard — the comment thread brought two other nearby residents forward with stories about dog poisonings – and that has animal authorities investigating whether these cases might be linked (at Kate’s request, we e-mailed those two commenters to be sure they saw her note about contacting the investigator). It’s also brought two citywide-media reports – we want to thank the Times for crediting WSB and those commenters in its report today (here’s the link); the other report didn’t. Thanks also to those who shared advice on emergency vets.
Based on this report and the comments that followed, Steve made the map you see above and asked us to share it – it’s open to collaboration (if it happened to you, go here and add your location). Unfortunately, he has extra impetus to see these guys get caught, as he wrote:
I decided to map out the locations of casings and thefts as suggested by the poster “Jana.” In the middle of typing a reply to the post, inviting Jana and other WSB’ers to view the Google map I created, I received a call from home to let me know that we had been hit (Thursday night).
If you aren’t familiar with how to use Google Maps, here’s the user guide. Meantime, we’re sorry to hear about Steve getting ripped off, but grateful for his generosity in making and sharing the map!
That’s Coco the dog, wearing bandages where she needed IV treatment for medications and fluids after an apparent poisoning right in her own yard in the 47th/Genesee vicinity (here’s a map). We first heard from Coco’s owner Kate K very early this morning, and then a followup after they visited the vet – she’s also put up flyers to get the word out (we just got e-mail about one of them) – here’s her story:Read More
We weren’t sure whether to chuckle or cry when we found out last night’s Seattle Police Department Citizen Appreciation Awards event would keep us from visiting the Southwest Precinct to personally report on the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, which we consider a monthly must-cover. Luckily, we were able to draft previous WSB contributor Evan Baumgardner into service for the occasion – and he brought back important info, including an update on a recent business break-in, other West Seattle crime trends, and a request for ideas from YOU – here’s his report:Read More
“SAFER STREETS INITIATIVE”: City Councilmember Tim Burgess posted about this proposal on his blog today; the council’s Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee, which he chairs, will start reviewing it this afternoon. It’s a 12-point proposal, and you can read it in its entirety here, but these three points in particular caught our eye:
Re-establish one police detective position dedicated to the tracking and analysis of graffiti crime…
Return School Resource Officers to select public high schools and middle schools…
Enact new legislation that imposes civil and criminal penalties when businesses, property owners or property managers knowingly allow criminal behavior to occur and fail to take steps to stop it…
The committee meets at 2 pm; you can see the meeting live via the Seattle Channel, online or on TV @ cable channel 21.
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL TONIGHT! We tell you about this one every month, before AND after. If you only attend one community meeting a month – this one is worth your time if there is anything about crime or safety in your neighborhood that has you concerned. Not only do you get great information on what’s happening in the area and what to do about problem spots (so-called “nuisance properties”), you also get a chance to directly ask questions of Southwest Precinct police reps who attend the meeting. 7 pm, SWP meeting room (Delridge/Webster, enter the parking lot from Webster).
The final record-setting tally for registered Night Out block-party events in West Seattle last week (WSB coverage here and here): 217. That’s just part of what’s in Southwest Precinct crime prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow‘s latest public-safety newsletter, along with more details on what you’ll see at this Saturday’s Picnic at the Precinct (1-4 pm, be there!), and an item of interest for people with home alarm systems. Read the newsletter here.
If you look at the link dates on the WSB Crime Watch page, things were quiet for a long stretch – now that’s changed, at least temporarily. Two more reader reports ahead, along with a reminder about two ways to become a better neighborhood crimefighter:Read More
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