West Seattle, Washington
01 Friday
Thanks to John for the recent raccoon group photo from Sunrise Heights. Today brings multiple opportunities for you to hang out with others – from the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide and regular year-round Event Calendar:
STORY TIMES: Preschool Story Time at two local libraries this morning – Southwest (35th/Henderson) at 11 am, Delridge (Brandon/Delridge) at 11:15 am. P.S. – Note that all Seattle Public Library facilities will be closed MONDAY (Christmas Eve) as well as Tuesday (Christmas Day).
SPRUCE @ DESIGN COMMISSION: As first reported here on Monday, the project now in the works for the 39th/Alaska site long known as “The Hole” is going back to the Seattle Design Commission (1:30 pm, Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall) for a discussion of the “public benefit” component of the revised project. Open to the public, and there usually is a public-comment period. It’s part of an all-day meeting, so don’t wait for the doors to open – just go in when you get there.
FREE WINE TASTING: It’s all about “holiday wines” tonight at West Seattle Cellars (WSB sponsor), 5:30-8 pm.
SHOP LATE THURSDAY!!! Last one before Christmas, 6-9 pm – participating merchants are listed here. At WSB sponsor Click! Design That Fits: Discounts, and snacks/book signing with West Seattle-based, nationally renowned cookbook author Kim O’Donnel – details here.
ALSO OPEN LATE TONIGHT: Avalon Glassworks offers Hot Shop Late Thursday! “Shop late this Thursday until 8 pm. We’ll have live glass blowing to keep the house warm …”
‘WRAP IT UP’: Gift wrapping by donation with Furry Faces Foundation and AARF: These two animal-advocacy groups are wrapping gifts by donation (you decide how much), with 100 percent of the donations going to help animals, 6–9 pm, Beer Junction, 4511 California SW (during their weekly Beer Tasting)
CELEBRATE MARTY RIEMER’S MOUNTAIN DEPARTURE: 7-10 tonight at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) – details in the Facebook invite.
HIGH SCHOOL CONCERTS: West Seattle High School Winter Concert tonight in the WSHS Theater, 7:00 pm; also at 7, at Chief Sealth International High School, concert by Denny International Jazz/Chief Sealth International Jazz 2/Chief Sealth International Jazz 1.
CHRISTMAS PARTY FOR WORK-AT-HOME/UNEMPLOYED/ETC.: And after you’ve shopped … Yen Wor karaoke host Guy Olson is organizing company-party-style festivities for those who won’t get them otherwise (he was last seen looking for a copy machine to borrow), starting at 9 pm.
WINTER SOLSTICE TOMORROW! And there are solstice events – including a North Delridge walk and Alice Enevoldsen‘s always-popular sunset watch – in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, along with other holiday events, all the way through New Year’s Day – we’re continuing to update it daily (it now includes the link to our full list of Christmas Eve/Day/etc. church services, and later today we’ll be adding the lists of restaurants/coffee open for the holidays.
(SDOT’s east-facing West Seattle Bridge cam; more WS-relevant cams here)
Back to our normal traffic/transit updates, now that the weather is back to the more-predictable showery pattern – here’s the latest forecast. Please let us know if you spot any problems – provided you’re not in the driver seat (in which case, comment or text/call when you get where you’re going, 206-293-6302).
TRANSIT NOTE FOR NEXT WEEK AND BEYOND: Reminder that Metro will be on a “reduced weekday” schedule Monday and Wednesday-Friday of next week as well as Monday of the following week, with a Sunday schedule on the next two Tuesdays (Christmas Day and New Year’s Day) – more here. Both Water Taxis (West Seattle and Vashon) will be out of service on Christmas/New Year’s Days but operating normally the other weekdays.
8 AM UPDATE: Thanks to the caller who just let us know about stalled cars causing some backup as eastbound WS Bridge leads to northbound I-5.
(Charli Elliott of WSHS, Zoe Haywood of Sealth; photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
Wednesday night’s West Seattle High School–Chief Sealth International High School girls-varsity basketball game at WSHS took up where the previous night’s boys’ game left off. Both teams played a very up-tempo, aggressive game – here’s Chelle McMonigle amid Sealth double-teaming:
But West Seattle managed to control the ball for most of the game and came away with a 44-21 win. More photos as the summary continues ahead:Read More
With five days left until Christmas, time is running out for the giving trees and donation drives around town, and some have wrapped up already. Two updates:
First, there’s still time to help out the families who will benefit from the giving tree at CAPERS in The Junction. Proprietor Lisa Myers shared the photo, and says:
The Hickman House Giving Tree is still going strong and collecting donations for the moms and kids who are recovering from Domestic Violence. Gifts for women and children are being accepted through the 23rd of December at CAPERS, 4525 California SW in The Junction. The outpouring of support has been fabulous this year.
There are a few things needed to round out the gifts already acquired:
****All household items: kitchen utensils, pots & pans, silverware, dishes, glassware, twin sheets & blankets
****Gift cards to local establishmentsHickman House is transitional housing in West Seattle for moms/kids who are victims of domestic violence and is under the umbrella of the Salvation Army. All gifts and gift-card donations go directly to the residents living at the facility. CAPERS has sponsored the Hickman House Giving Tree since 1990.
Meantime, a successful holiday-giving drives that recently wrapped up shared a report, and this photo of some of the young helpers:
This drive covered not only West Seattle, but three other communities:
EuropaKids International Preschool, with locations in West Seattle, Burien, and Edmonds, teamed up with Annie’s Nannies of Ballard over the past few weeks and sponsored a diaper drive for WestSide Baby. We put a challenge out to our parents to bring in 5,000 diapers for donation.
We held an internal contest between the individual classrooms and not only did our families meet this challenge, we ended up collecting over 7,858 diapers! As you know, Westside Baby helps families with children by collecting and distributing car seats, clothing, toys, and diapers to local families in need. The holiday is season is upon us and these donations are extremely important to families who need a little extra help. Thank you to the families and staff who participated in this event!
In addition to the CAPERS Giving Tree above, other giving opportunities are listed in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide.
Four months after a federal plea bargain, former West Seattle medical-marijuana entrepreneur Brionne Corbray has
been sentenced.
According to online records from this afternoon’s federal court hearing, while prosecutors asked for a one-year sentence, Corbray’s sentence is for five years of probation plus a $25,000 fine; his lawyer had suggested three years of probation. He pleaded guilty last summer to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, stemming from a undercover sting in which the federal government said its agents had been able to buy it without medical-marijuana authorization. The sting was followed by raids in November 2011.
At the time, Corbray’s GAME Collective had a short-lived “lounge” in downtown White Center (where we photographed federal agents on the day of the raids) as well as its original location on California SW between Alaska and Morgan Junctions, and one in North Seattle. In documents submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez in advance of today’s sentencing, Corbray was vouched for by family, friends, and community members, and he submitted a letter in his own defense, saying he had talked to local and state authorities to get assurance that what he wanted to do was legal, while also saying the White Center and North Seattle locations were primarily run by others:
We all just wanted to make a living in a bad economy and since we followed the state law and were doing a business that hundreds of others were also doing in the city and state we thought we were legal.
The federal government, meantime, said there is nothing even in state law authorizing storefront dispensaries, much less the type of “lounge” briefly operated in White Center, and its document also contends, “… Defendant’s activities would still be illegal today, even after the recent passage of I-502,” though the state has not yet drawn up the guidelines and rules for sales of marijuana.
His lawyer pointed out that Corbray is one of just a few people prosecuted in our state for medical-marijuana businesses, noting that the federal government later sent warning letters to other dispensaries about operating too close to schools but did not prosecute any of them, and concluded, “Given the muddied and mixed messages that persist… sentencing Mr. Corbray to prison is neither an effective nor necessary means to end the medical marijuana industry or even storefront dispensaries.”
The final document from this afternoon’s court proceeding isn’t available online yet; if there is any additional information of note, we’ll add it to this story tomorrow.
From Governor Gregoire‘s office:
In response to a request from Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, Gov. Chris Gregoire asks that the people of Washington observe a moment of silence at 9:30 a.m. local time on Friday, Dec. 21, out of respect for the families devastated by the Newtown tragedy.
Gov. Malloy has issued a proclamation declaring Friday, Dec. 21, to be a day of mourning throughout Connecticut. In solidarity with the people of that state, and recognizing that the deaths of these twenty children and six educators is a national tragedy, Gov. Gregoire requests Washingtonians join in this moment of quiet reflection.
“We are all heartbroken by this senseless violence,” said Gov. Gregoire. “Mike and I often think of those parents who will never again hug their first-graders. The courageous acts of the staff at Sandy Hook were truly selfless and heroic. The people of Newtown will long be in our prayers.”
In his letter to Gov. Gregoire, Gov. Malloy wrote, “In the last few days, the outpouring of love and compassion from your state and from around the world has been overwhelming, and the people of Connecticut will be forever grateful.”
In Connecticut, places of worship will also ring bells twenty-six times in honor of each life taken at Sandy Hook Elementary.
And a reminder that the next night – this coming Saturday, December 22nd – a 5 pm vigil is planned at the Alki Statue of Liberty (here’s our original story). Organizer Casey Ann Rasmussen, a West Seattle business owner, tells WSB today that the vigil will include speakers, including, from Families and Friends of Violent Crime Victims, executive director Marge Martin and board member Mark Roe, who also is Snohomish County’s prosecuting attorney.
6:03 PM: We’re at Seattle Public Schools headquarters right now, where the School Board is meeting for a “work session” on short-term capacity management (crowding relief) – proposals that could affect thousands of West Seattle students and their families (as well as their counterparts throughout the city). This is the formal presentation of the proposals we wrote about last night. These meetings aren’t broadcast, so we’re going to write about it live – when the West Seattle points come up, or citywide points relevant to WS – over the next hour and a half. The slide deck that’ll be shown to the board can be seen here.
Assistant superintendent Pegi McEvoy, leading off the meeting, says that the district has received more than 600 written comments; one of the slides from the presentation summarizes the most-frequent comments, including that Fairmount Park is preferred as a permanent home for K-5 STEM at Boren (the only specific West Seattle school mentioned in the summary of comments).
6:10 PM: The president of the FAC-MAC advisory committee has arrived just in time to explain its recommendations – including, regarding West Seattle issues, more portables for Schmitz Park (before the new BEX-IV-funded school can be built at Genesee Hill), opening Fairmount Park Elementary as a neighborhood school in fall 2014, considering housing K-5 STEM at EC Hughes “when available” (Westside School tells WSB late today that it’s expecting to stay through 2015-16 and has a commitment from the district that it can do so).
She says the Schmitz Park community indicated it would rather have more portables than split off kindergarten to another site (a possibility mentioned at the last work session, for SP and other crowded schools such as West Seattle Elementary).
(Note – extensive discussion is ensuing on the North Seattle recommendations from the committee; there are citywide writers here including Melissa Westbrook from the Seattle Schools Community Forum website who will summarize those points later – we’ll update as West Seattle-relevant discussion ensues.)
6:41 PM: Board members are now hearing about the potential financial impacts of various proposals. If a new “kindergarten center” is opened at Boren, for example, to house kindergartens from other schools, the “operational overhead” would be $322,000. Another issue is whether, as originally planned, interim school-bus transportation to “option schools” (such as West Seattle’s Pathfinder K-8) is ended for some students affected by the Student Assignment Plan implemented two years ago – district staff says ending it would be more expensive than continuing it, because it would increase enrollment at many students’ neighborhood schools, potentially leading to a need for more portables.
TO SEE THE REST OF OUR AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE, CLICK AHEAD:Read More
RYAN COX CASE: For those following the case of repeat offender Ryan Cox, in jail since late October for allegedly attacking a man with a baseball bat because of his perception of the victim’s sexual orientation: Cox’s arraignment on hate-crime charges is delayed again – a judge was told this morning that Cox’s mental evaluation still hasn’t happened, and that’s necessary for the competency hearing that is scheduled in connection with the arraignment. New court date: One week from today.
ANOTHER STOLEN CAR: Second one today – and since they are often found close to where they were taken, we publish these reports so the victims’ fellow West Seattleites can be on the lookout. This 2001 Honda Accord was taken between midnight and 4 am from 39th and Andover:
Shaun sent the photo on behalf of the neighbors who are the car’s owners, saying they are already going through a stressful time in their life with health challenges. If you see it – call 911.
Real Change asked us to publish an open letter of sorts, thanking you for your support – and asking that you be sure to support only authorized vendors of their award-winning publication. It’s a West Seattle-specific message, including descriptions of people they say are selling without authorization – which is only verified via a badge like this:
Thank You for Your Support, West Seattle
From Real Change:Every day, Real Change offers opportunity, dignity, and a sense of community to 350 homeless or low-income vendors that sell Real Change News. For over 18 years, we have worked hard to support our vendors and respond to community concerns.
Vendors must follow a Code of Conduct if they wish to sell our newspaper. Vendors who are authorized to sell the newspaper wear a color-coded identification badge. If someone is selling the newspaper without a current badge, they may not be an authorized vendor and did not receive papers from our organization.
We know that there are a few people in West Seattle who are not authorized to sell our newspaper but have sometimes illegitimately acquired papers outside our office. They aggressively panhandle and actively disrespect community members, business owners, and Real Change vendors.
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Lacrosse, anyone?
Students from Hope Lutheran School have been enjoying the sport this fall, thanks to the efforts of students and parents.
Hope Lutheran received a 2012 US Lacrosse Physical Education Equipment Grant, providing 30 sets of lacrosse equipment for the school’s physical education program.
Cara Marion worked with her lacrosse-loving sons Luke and Ben (pictured at right, above) to apply for the grant earlier this year. They learned earlier this fall that their application had been chosen as one of 74 winners in the country — and the only school in Seattle — for 2012.
As first reported here last month, West Seattle on-air/online personality Marty Riemer is leaving The Mountain. And in case you missed it in the WSB Event Calendar, here’s a reminder that tomorrow, after his final airshift, you are invited to join the afterparty at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 7-10 pm. Details are in our calendar listing, and on the Facebook event page.
Wintry weather didn’t keep the criminals home. We have four West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports this morning – three from the snow-showery overnight hours. First, be on the lookout for Jen’s stolen car:
My 1993 Honda Accord was stolen overnight. Car is a green 4-door sedan. Lic. #AIZ7501. The car was parked in the driveway in Fauntlee Hills between Donovan and Concord.
It has been reported to the police, so if anyone sees it they should call 911.
Ahead, two car prowls and a burglary:Read More
FIRST REPORT, 3:54 AM: Though the maps showed Seattle in the “snow shadow” again, snow is falling right now here in Upper Fauntleroy. Just one of the showers mentioned in the forecast? Just went out to check, and it’s fairly wet snow – sticking to the cars, but also audibly melting in the downspout. (Video added above, 4:09 am.) Let us know if you’re seeing any where you are.
4:24 AM UPDATE: It switched to freezing rain after a few minutes – but now flakes are mixed in again – seems to be right in line with the “rain/snow showers” forecast. Photo shows what that first wave left on the car window.
5:04 AM UPDATE: Another serious snow shower’s been under way awhile – more on the car, but not on the road so far. Added the bridge cam view just in case. (You can see more West Seattle and WS-relevant cams here.)
6:55 AM UPDATE: No major problems or changes related to the snow showers.
9:35 AM UPDATE: The winter-weather advisory for the area will expire at 10 am, and the latest forecast says that by afternoon, precipitation will be all rain.
(New WSHS head coach Keffrey Fazio with his players; photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
A home-court win tonight for the West Seattle High School boys-varsity basketball team against visiting-from-across-town Chief Sealth International High School.
(Sealth’s Trevor Reed, left, and Aaron Knox double-team West Seattle’s Jimi Martin III)
It was closer than the final score suggests – after a 47-47 tie in regulation, the Wildcats won 58-51 in overtime. Game details coming up later; the two schools’ girls-varsity teams face off tomorrow night.
ADDED 1:21 AM: Game details and more photos:
Seattle Public Schools staff is suggesting consideration of the former EC Hughes Elementary School in Sunrise Heights as the permanent home for K-5 STEM at Boren, once Westside School (WSB sponsor) moves out. That’s one of the capacity-management – as in, crowding relief – recommendations on which the School Board will be briefed at a work session tomorrow night, according to a document made public today. The document also says staff is NOT recommending moving kindergarteners to Boren to make room, an idea explored in earlier drafts.
Read on for more West Seattle recommendations:Read More
FIRST REPORT, 6:27 PM: We’re on our way to check out a crash reported to involve a vehicle and a bus at 26th and Barton, which is the intersection with the main south entrance to Westwood Village. Police are reported to be looking for two males who fled from the vehicle – a Mitsubishi – and were last seen headed toward Roxhill Park.
6:33 PM UPDATE: Our crew is on the scene. Eastbound Barton is blocked by the crash; westbound is still moving. We can’t tell what route number the bus is from – but it’s not a RapidRide bus; it’s a blue/yellow articulated bus.
7:10 PM UPDATE: Photo added. No word of arrests yet; we’ll be going to check the scene shortly, to see if traffic is moving again.
(September 2010 photo of Capts. Kessler & Paulsen, by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
After two years as commander of the Southwest Precinct, Captain Steve Paulsen has just announced he is being reassigned. On January 2nd, he takes over the South Precinct – and his Southwest Precinct predecessor Capt. Joe Kessler returns. Capt. Paulsen says:
I have truly enjoyed my time serving our folks of West Seattle and South Park the past few years. I can easily say that West Seattle is a great place to work and I will greatly miss my officers and residents that I have come to know and care about.
I am looking forward to new challenges with my next assignment. Just as in West Seattle/South Park, the Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill, SODO and Georgetown each has their own identity as neighborhoods and I am excited to develop those relationships as well as those with my South Precinct police officers.
He describes Capt. Kessler – who left in September 2010 after 2 1/2 years to lead the West Precinct and then moved into a special role on the department’s ethics project – as “one of the best captains on the Seattle Police Department.”
(1st three photos from Monday, by Nick Adams for WSB)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
We have just learned that yesterday morning’s highest water level – the combination of high tide and “storm surge” – wasn’t just high, it was historic – the highest level ever recorded in Seattle.
The word comes from Seattle Public Utilities, which has to track this closely because of the effects storms and high tides can and do have on their facilities – look closely to see the water coming OUT of this manhole on Beach Drive, instead of going in:
And SPU meteorologist James Rufo-Hill tells WSB it’s likely “a harbinger of things to come.” More from our interview, ahead:
Good news: WSDOT will NOT be closing a lane of southbound 99 again this weekend after all, only the Atlantic Street offramp, as work continues on the new Atlantic overpass. Here’s the announcement:
Crews working with the Washington State Department of Transportation will close the southbound State Route 99 off-ramp near Seattle’s stadiums this weekend to complete pile driving for the new South Atlantic Street overpass.
Thanks to hard work last weekend, contractor Atkinson Construction will not close a lane on southbound SR 99 as previously planned. Crews were able to drive 48 of 53 pilings last weekend. They will drive the remaining five pilings and finish welding on another 20 pilings while the ramp is closed this weekend.
Closure details
· At 4 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 22, crews will close the southbound SR 99 off-ramp to South Atlantic Street.· Crews will reopen the ramp at 2:30 p.m. Sunday for fans heading to the Seahawks game at CenturyLink field. The ramp will be closed again at 5:30 p.m., 10 minutes after kickoff.
· The ramp will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday.
More news in the pipeline – but first, in case you need de-stressing, a beautiful sight from underwater, just off Seacrest, at the popular dive spot Cove 2, courtesy of “Diver Laura” James, who explains: “We have big schools of baitfish all winter in Puget Sound, and it is often very hard to capture the ‘feeling’ of diving with them on film, because they are extremely skittish. This dive was done with a rebreather (so no bubbles), which allowed me to be much less ‘scary’ to the fishes.”
As we continue to track major local projects, we have two updates on two Junction-area plans that both have been long in the works (and both on sites visible in the photo below by Long Bach Nguyen):
JUNCTION PROJECT DEMOLITION DELAY: When last we talked with Equity Residential‘s team about their two-building, 206-apartment project coming to California/Alaska/42nd, they told us they planned to start demolition right after Christmas. (The businesses that had been on the site, you’ll recall, had to clear out by July 31st, but the project team says site cleanup issues have taken more time than expected.) We just checked in again to see if they’re still planning on starting work by year’s end – and now the answer is “no.” It’ll be “early next year.” They have not yet chosen a general contractor, we also were told.
‘THE HOLE’ GOES BACK TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION: The agenda for this Thursday’s Seattle Design Commission meeting caught our eye with an item titled “Spruce Project (Hancock Fabrics).” As we first reported in July, “The Hole” at 3922 SW Alaska – formerly Fauntleroy Place – is now Spruce West Seattle, and Hancock is no longer part of it, according to the plans we’ve seen (instead, the retail space is sketched out as an L.A. Fitness outlet). So we called the Design Commission office to see if that’s the project they’re taking up, and indeed it is, according to spokesperson Valerie Kinast. The 216-apartment plan has undergone some revisions, as summarized in this city memo, which presaged the project’s return before the commission:
The final plan for the public space within the right-of-way, as required by the City Council’s preliminary street vacation approval will be reviewed by the Seattle Design Commission, with final approval by the Seattle City Council when the final alley vacation approval is considered.
The meeting is open to the public, on the lower level of City Hall downtown, and this item is scheduled to be considered at 1:30 pm Thursday (December 20th).
Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch today. First, the case of the stolen fence:
That fence used to be in front of the newly opened Duos Lounge on Avalon Way. While we were corresponding with co-owner Benjamin Jury, he mentioned their fence had been stolen: “It went missing sometime between 8:30 am and 12:30 pm on Sunday.” And, he says, some workers even were in the Duos kitchen at the time. If you have any clues, contact police.
Next – the search for a hit-run driver, or at least a witness – since the victim says there are two places this might have happened.
Kat shared the photo and writes:
My car was hit (Monday) sometime between 11 am and 12 pm on California Ave. Driver’s side door.
I was getting a mammogram at the Swedish Mobile unit (3400 California SW) and was parked behind it on the street. I didn’t notice it when I got into my car but there was a lot of traffic and I was just trying to get into my car.
I went to lunch at the Royal India Grill (2342 California Ave. S.W.) and parked across the street on California between the Admiral Theater and Mission. I noticed the damage right away as I walked toward my car. If anyone has any info, please e-mail me at shezahipchick@yahoo.com
P.S. While this would normally be the night for the monthly West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, like many community groups, they’re skipping December; school security – a topic planned long before last week’s Connecticut massacre – is on the agenda for the January meeting (7 pm Tuesday, January 15th, Southwest Precinct).
One week till Christmas – and two reminders from the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide (now adding more solstice and New Year’s events, plus last-minute Christmas happenings):
WORK AT HOME? COME TO THE PARTY! West Seattle Office Junction (forthcoming co-working space in West Seattle) is hosting a co-workers’/at-home workers’ Christmas party from noon to 1 at Beer Junction, 4511 California SW. Anyone and everyone is/are welcome to come. Bring your cookies, lunch and a dish to share, if you like, and show off your favorite Christmas sweater.
SING FOR YOUR SUPPER: From 5-10 pm at Endolyne Joe’s (WSB sponsor; 9261 45th SW), it’s Sing for Your Supper–Holiday Edition! Everyone is welcome to participate; you must sing a holiday carol for at least 1 minute and no more than 2 minutes, all a cappella. Singers will be awarded either a free beverage, appetizer, entrée, or dessert. Santa and his elves will be there too.
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