West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
Water Without Waste’s founders from left to right: Elma Borbe with Sound Transit, Shauna Causey with Comcast, Felicia Kline with WaMu, and Paul Whyatt with Weyerhaeuser stand with Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin (center, seated) as he signs the Water without Waste pledge.
Since Water Without Waste kicked off its cut-your-plastic-water-bottle-use campaign earlier this spring (we told you about it after an Alki Community Council presentation in March), they’ve gotten pledges equivalent to 20,000 fewer water bottles. Here’s the full announcement:Read More
As mentioned here last night, the city has narrowed its list of potential municipal jail sites to four, and two are on the eastern edge of West Seattle, as seen in city aerials above — Highland Park Way/W. Marginal Way (map) and 9501 Myers Way (map). For those seeking more information and opportunities for feedback, a new section is live on the city website (here’s the start page) with everything from the reason why the jail’s needed, to the rationale behind the site-selection process, to how to send in feedback (online form here). The timeline for the process (choose a site this year, open in 2013) is outlined here. As pointed out in this WSB Forum thread, the jail proposal may well come up at tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting (7 pm, President’s Board Room at SSCC) since Councilmember Tom Rasmussen will be there; we just checked with his staff and he doesn’t have an official position yet on where the jail should be built (the two non-WS options are Interbay and 11762 Aurora).
We asked SDOT what they were, we asked SCL, got nowhere, but finally the answer comes from one of our fellow community-news websites, MyBallard. Those mystery poles with two solar panels and a sensor belong to the Traffic.com network (this photo is from 99; there’s also one near Walking on Logs). We should have known this because our last “old media” employer, KCPQ, was a Traffic.com affiliate, and we knew they were expanding their detection network (which figures into travel-time calculation among other things) onto some of the roads not previously covered, like the Viaduct and the WS Bridge. (Traffic.com’s “latest incidents” updates, by the way, are permalinked from the WSB Traffic page, which also has West Seattle-relevant traffic cams.)
This comment just came in below our report on last month’s contentious Alki sidewalk-project meeting; no one will see it on a five-week-old post, so we’re highlighting it here. From someone signing themselves “CS”:
As a property owner on Alki Beach – well, the enforcement of the sidewalk has already begun. We’ve been ticketed twice for parking on the “sidewalk†this past week, although we’ve been parking there without issue for decades. I called Parking Enforcement but their stance is – it was always illegal, and now we’re enforcing it due to public (anonymous) complaint. I called Theresa Casper, the Project Manager for the sidewalk proposal, but she denied having anything to do with it (ya, right). So there is no way for property owners to expect formal notice – if people start complaining – the police will start ticketing. However, our property extends into the water. We have never bothered enforcing the right to prevent people from walking on the beach. But we will now. So – the public can take the sidewalk back – but the property owners will take back the beach they own and you can bet I will be reporting any trespassers on it from now on.
In mid-April, the city told us design was proceeding, for now, on the sidewalk extension that the waterfront property owners are fighting, but hadn’t yet figured out how to handle one homeowner’s question about a process for getting the project stopped; sounds like it’s time for a check back with SDOT.
Somebody breathlessly called WSB HQ early this morning to report this sighting on the lawn @ Pathfinder K-8 along Genesee Hill. We’re not just all about fire trucks and teardowns; we love happy photos too, so we were glad to head out for a look. If we were a betting person, we would suspect it has something to do with the big event coming up Saturday (update: actually it’s for Teacher Appreciation Week), and the flamingos remind us we hadn’t published the latest news release from the fine folks @ Pathfinder about the event, some advance work done last weekend, and how you can be part of Saturday’s festivities:Read More
LOWEST TIDE: Beach Drive Blog notes it’ll be another great afternoon for low-tide lovers. According to the May tables, it’s the lowest tide of the month.
SOUTHWEST DISTRICT COUNCIL: Two guests are scheduled tonight at this monthly meeting of representatives from neighborhood groups and key organizations: West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, and Fauntleroy resident Ron Richardson, best known for the sign outside his house but currently advocating for public campaign financing (he stopped to talk with us about it at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival last weekend). The meeting’s at 7 pm in the President’s Board Room @ South Seattle Community College, all welcome.
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: Its monthly meeting is at 6:30 tonight at the Delridge Library, and one of the items on the agenda is West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day — the NDNC is one of two local neighborhood groups having fundraising sales on Saturday; its sale at 2512 SW Genesee will raise money for tot-size equipment at Cottage Grove Park, while elsewhere in east West Seattle, the Pigeon Point Neighborhood is having a sale at 19th/Genesee to raise money for Cooper Elementary. Back to NDNC and its meeting tonight – lots more to be discussed, too.
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.
*We first told you yesterday morning about the deaths of a couple in a 2nd/Roxbury home. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office confirms it was a case of murder-suicide; 48-year-old Traci Creamer, the first person murdered in West Seattle in 2008, died of head injuries and suspected strangulation blamed on her 44-year-old husband Jeffrey Creamer, whose death from wrist wounds was ruled a suicide. As we reported yesterday, police say they had a long history of domestic violence. Online court records we checked appear to bear that out.
*The city’s list of more than 30 potential jail sites for misdemeanor offenders is down to four, and two are on the eastern edge of West Seattle: Highland Park Way/W. Marginal Way (map) and 9501 Myers Way (map). According to Delridge Neighborhood Services Center Coordinator Ron Angeles, community meetings are expected this summer.
A year after the last time we had a reason to mention it (and two years after its “early design” review), 4532 42nd SW (just a stone’s throw north of the QFC/Office Depot megaproject) — shown at left — is active again, with a Design Review Board meeting date appearing today on the city website. The date is June 12; the time and place aren’t listed yet, it’s that new. The project is still described on its city page as “6-story structure containing 3,085 sq. ft. of commercial space at ground level and 35 residential units above. Parking for 54 vehicles.” We’ve now added it to our clickable Junction/Triangle major development (and major real-estate listings) map:
By the way, if you care to bookmark it, we’ve given that map a permanent home on this WSB page-in-progress.
That’s a rendering of what the new 4th Avenue offramp from the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct — the elevated roadway between the high bridge and I-5 — will look like. It’s one of the renderings we got after meeting a few days ago with city reps to find out full details on the two-phase project. We’re still working on the in-depth report but wanted to show you this after hearing that city councilmembers okayed the first installment of $ for the project today. This ramp will be the first part of the project to be built, starting this fall, and will exit onto 4th (with southbound and northbound turning options) across from City Light HQ. The second part of the project involves widening the SSV by building an entirely new section on its north side:
Our forthcoming report will also include details on the different impacts drivers will experience during the SSV work — with major closures for the lower part of Spokane Street, especially during the widening project, which is still more than a year away.
After our post last night about an alleged Comcast employee turning up at WSB HQ at 7 pm, we promised to follow up with Comcast. We got help from a Comcast communications manager we’ve actually met, Alki resident Shauna Causey, who sent this:
Safety and security are extremely important to us especially in WS where Larry Carpenter recently ran into some questionable folks at his door.
We have 3,200 Comcast employees in Washington State so Comcast employees are in West Seattle on a daily basis. Since I don’t have a name, I can’t speak for the employee that you met, although there are several simple guidelines our neighbors can use to recognize legitimate Comcast workers. Keep in mind that many of these guidelines are also useful for identifying employees of other companies that have reason to work inside or outside a home, such as the power company, gas company or other phone company.
Comcast requires that all employees and contract employees wear ID badges at all times. No employee or contract employee is allowed to work inside or outside a customers’ home without an official company ID badge, which will include a photo ID and company logo. Customers can ask to see a Comcast representative’s ID badge. Comcast employees also have clearly visible uniforms, including shirts, hats and vests all of which have the Comcast logo.
All vehicles driven by employees and contract employees are clearly marked with Comcast logos and identification. A Comcast contractor’s van will say: Comcast Authorized Contractor.
Comcast will not ask to work in your home without your prior knowledge. If a customer is unsure of work that is to be performed inside or outside their home, they should call 1-800-COMCAST to verify the work.
If a customer is unsure or uncomfortable, remember there is always the option to ask the person to leave. All Comcast employees and contract employees know that they are to leave the premises when instructed to do so by the resident. Our employees know that legitimate appointments can always be rescheduled.
If you have feedback, questions or concerns, we want to know about them. You can email We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com or feel free to e-mail me directly at Shauna_Causey@cable.comcast.com. We’re always looking to improve our customer service and we would love to hear your feedback.
Just in from Patrick the Sales Guy – the Trenton (north) entrance to Westwood Village is closed for asphalt work, so if you’re going to WV, you need to use the east or south entrances.
Looks like the SLUT won’t have a sib on this side of the bay. The formal briefing’s later today, and we can’t find the docs online, but the citywide papers say the latest lineup of future streetcar routes does NOT include one for West Seattle. (Previous WSB coverage here, from three months ago when a WS line was in the running.)
We told you Friday night about a report that the then-teen who killed West Seattle resident and Newport High tennis coach Mike Robb in 2005 was due in court today and expected to be formally found not guilty by reason of insanity. The P-I covered today’s hearing and says that’s exactly what happened.
4:13 PM UPDATE: As you can see in the traffic-cam shot below, looks like the crunch is easing:
ORIGINAL REPORT: The westbound commute may be a mess well into the formal start of rush hour. Just talked to Peg Nielsen at SDOT; she says it’ll be another half-hour or so till all the bricks and debris a truck spilled on the westbound high bridge at the high rise are cleared — here are photos of the truck (first one thanks to Josh Sutton from the West Seattle YMCA, another sponsor turned tipster; second one thanks to WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli, who cameraphoned it while driving by):
With traffic already backed up all the way to I-5, that means a real commute crunch. She says the low bridge problem briefly reported earlier this afternoon IS FIXED, so you can try the low bridge, or take 99 south past The Bridge and double back through White Center. We’ll keep you updated. Here’s the view westbound at the trouble spot:
Thanks to Rhonda Porter of The Mortgage Porter (WSB sponsor) for the tip: Accident on the westbound high bridge, west side of the rise, apparently involving a truck that lost its load. You can see the backup from this SDOT camera pointing east:
3:06 PM EYEWITNESS UPDATE FROM WSB TEAM MEMBER: What the truck spilled was a load of bricks, so the cleanup’s taking a while. The westbound backup goes all the way back to the exit from I-5.
One more report from the Southwest Precinct: This one somehow went all but unnoticed over the weekend — a man and woman found dead in a home on the southeastern edge of West Seattle, an apparent case of murder-suicide. Police say they answered a call at 9:45 am Saturday about a man found dead with wrist wounds at a home in the 2nd/Roxbury vicinity (map); relatives said they were worried about his wife, who no one had heard from in a while — officers subsequently found her dead, “locked in the family van.” Police say the couple had a history of domestic violence. No further details, but that would make her West Seattle’s first murder victim of 2008 (our area had three in 2007; all three suspects were still awaiting trial at last check).
Two items just in from Lt. Steve Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct: 
First, confirmation of something we got e-mail about over the weekend: Those WERE gunshots very early Sunday morning on Alki. At 12:44 am, a man heading south from 63rd/Alki “fired 5 rounds from a .38 revolver while driving.” Witnesses gave police a description of his vehicle; several minutes later, an officer found it at Delridge/Myrtle, and found the suspect “in possession of the loaded handgun and ammunition.” They say the suspect “later confessed to shooting up in the air while driving because, ‘he felt someone on the beach had been threatening him’.” and apparently thought that person had something to do with the recent death of the suspect’s relative. No injuries or property damage; the suspect is in jail. Next – three burglary arrests yesterday that may solve more than one recent break-in:Read More
Exactly one week after we brought you first word of the Camp Long homeless encampment (cleared on Friday) that WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham had documented, he has a two-part postscript. First, his newest photos above, clockwise from top, and his captions below:
1. Spring rears its head along the trails leading to the removed encampments at Camp Long.
2. The encampment and its removal scarred nearly 50 yards of trail with deep ruts and the litter. Parks Department workers are limited in their resources to properly restore the park, given other demands.
3. A teddy bear, along with other human waste, continues to litter the area surrounding the dismantled encampment.
4. Large areas of forest floor are trampled and impregnated with leftover refuse from the encampments.
5. Parks Department workers remove a rope swing, near the homeless encampment, to reduce the chance of serious injury to park visitors.
6. A Seattle Parks Department wheel loader knocked a tree down to maneuver close enough to remove a large quantity of human refuse.
Second, Matt has written commentary about an idea he suggests could prevent such encampments and enhance park usage. Read on:Read More
Joan sent that photo after arriving at the new Zippy’s Giant Burgers (16th/Holden) at mid-afternoon Sunday — its fourth day in business — only to find it closed because supplies ran low as demand ran high. (Somehow we’re not surprised, given myriad previous discussions here on WSB about how West Seattle was in dire need of a decent burger joint!) There’s a lively discussion under way in the WSB Forums, with posts from folks who also showed up this afternoon and talked to the owners, plus Ken‘s suggestions (from experience) on what it takes to run a restaurant in the early weeks. Meantime, a commenter on our opening-day Zippy’s report points out that the menu (with prices) is now posted on the restaurant’s MySpace site.
First, the latest e-mail newsletter from Lady Di, Pet Chaperone discusses the move to her new location in The Junction (the old one in Admiral is making way for development):
Moving date has arrived for the Lady Di business. On June 1st we will be open in our new facility at 4433 42nd Ave SW (right in the heart of the West Seattle Junction). We are located behind the Eagles. From California Avenue; entry is through the alley off Genesee St. or Oregon St. The Lady Di Pet Chaperone sign will be posted on the fence.
The new facility is smaller and still offers that “at home” feeling. A cozy fire on cold fall and winter days will keep all the “pups” and us warm. Any donations of wood or furniture will be greatly appreciated. Because the new facility is smaller we will have to limit the number of dogs. The weight limit will be reduced to 50 pounds and only a few of our larger dogs will be able to make the move with us. We are all sorry about this change and hope those few will find another facility for daycare. …
We hope this move will go smoothly and that you will all enjoy bringing your dogs to our new “home-away-from-home.”
We also heard this weekend from Shane at Stella Ruffington‘s in Morgan Junction:
The Seattle Dog Daycare Association (SDDA) is holding a food drive from May 1 through May 15, to benefit local shelters and rescues in the greater Seattle area. Food and/or cash donations are being accepted at Stella Ruffington’s Doggy Playcare during regular business hours.
The Seattle Dog Daycare Association is a networking group of professional dog daycares in the Greater Seattle area.
We’re just back from the first-ever Sustainable West Seattle Festival in The Junction, and by all accounts, and our observations, it was a smash hit. SWS president Bill Reiswig said in closing remarks less than an hour ago that what he found really “moving” was all the interaction going on, between exhibitors and participants and festivalgoers — a fulfillment of the “building community, creating connections” mission you may have seen on the posters for the SWSF.
That’s what we experienced too; we had a great time not only spreading the word about West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, but also meeting so many people who are out there in WSB-land, including some folks we’ve “known” via e-mail for many months but never before met in person … thank you all SO much for stopping by to say hi. We’ll have a full wrapup later tonight with more festival pix and video. Congratulations to Sustainable West Seattle, which made a daring move by putting on a major event like this after less than a year in existence … and succeeded big-time.
(Our previous reports on the festival, under way in The Junction till 3 pm, are here and here.)
Just steps away from the Sustainable West Seattle Festival table that’s become temporary WSB HQ for the day, you can see the Westenders Scooter Club with those bright bikes. And though it’s not technically on the festival site, across the street by the northeast entrance to the Farmers’ Market, we spotted the “human-powered smoothie” maker:
The festival continues till 3 all around the Wells Fargo lot on the northeast corner of 44th/Alaska; we’re here mostly on behalf of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (just another form of recycling) — lots of folks have dropped by to say hi (thanks!). We’re just west of the “Main Stage,” where a variety of speakers have appeared throughout the day – later we’ll upload video from the speech by Jim Diers, former city Department of Neighborhoods leader, whose booming call for “NEIGHBOR POWER!” could be heard for blocks away!
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