Trial updates for two high-profile West Seattle cases
Both just posted at the P-I site: The jury in the Tatsuo Nakata 47th/Admiral pedestrian-death case will start deliberating the fate of defendant Ephraim Schwartz tomorrow morning (story here); the jury in the trial of ex-Huling salesmen Adrian Dillard and Ted Coxwell heard lawyers’ opening statements today (story here).
A morning @ 34th/Morgan: Crossing-guard crunch, and more
We saw that close call while spending time at 34th/Morgan this past Tuesday morning, meeting with neighborhood and pedestrian-safety activists who say it’s one of this area’s most dangerous places for schoolkids to have to cross. Here’s a taste of the regular traffic:
Kids coming from the booming north side of High Point cross here to get to West Seattle (formerly High Point) Elementary, which is further south on 34th.Read More
West Seattle wildlife updates: Delridge coyote; birdwatch win
First, a coyote sighting this morning at 21st & Andover (map), from Emily (thank you!):
9:05 this morning as I was driving to work there was a big beautiful coyote on the sidewalk. I stopped my car and it stopped and looked at me for a full minute. It looked really healthy and was as big as a large dog but with a fox shaped tail and a skinny jaw. It ducked down into the very small woodsy area by SW Charlestown. I drove around the block and put my cat inside for the day. I’ve heard they were here but I didn’t realize they were 1 bk from my house.
Now, the birdwatching win. Imagine seeing 79 different bird species in your yard! We can recall maybe 10 … such as the Northern Flicker and Steller’s Jay:
Those photos are courtesy of Ed Newbold, who coordinates the YardBirdRace around Western Washington. He sent word (from his YardBirdRace breaking news page) that the Seattle Residential category of the 4th annual YardBirdRace had West Seattle winners:
Jim Flynn and Marissa Benevente appear to be testing the upper limits of what it’s possible to see from a residential Seattle yard as they ended up with 79, five ahead of the record in Seattle overall and Seattle residential, both of which they set last year. Common Nighthawk and Western Screech-Owl are two of the birds that helped them get there. This is the second year West Seattle & Flynn/Benevente have led in Seattle residential and Seattle overall.
You can find out more about the YardBirdRace here.
Pothole problems: Faulty fixes?
We’ve talked here before about pothole problems and rutted roads around West Seattle. This week, we heard from a High Point resident named Casey Crowell who has an unusual take on it: He is concerned about the same potholes being fixed over and over, making things worse, rather than getting a longer-lasting fix in the first place. Here’s the letter he just wrote to the mayor about it, with specifics all the way down to the pothole Casey has nicknamed “Bruno”:Read More
“December was catch-a-burglar month”
That quote from Southwest Precinct Sgt. Jeff Durden at Tuesday night’s West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meeting — from which we have a few holdover notes to share with you before too much more time elapses, in addition to the news we reported last night about the high-security funeral that’ll be at Freedom Church next Tuesday. To elaborate on that quote, in the past month, SW Precinct leadership estimates its team has arrested more than 15 burglary suspects. Lt. Steve Paulsen noted that detectives and patrol officers are working more closely together, literally – four detectives are now based at the precinct, rather than elsewhere, which means more chances for them to talk face-to-face with the officers working the streets. “Our clearance [case-solving] rate has just been remarkable,” Lt. Paulsen noted. Not only are they arresting suspects, but he says they’re recovering lots of stolen property too. And they also praised community members whose eagle eyes and quick phone calls are helping them detect crimes and catch suspects more quickly. Other notes from the WSCSP meeting, including community “trouble spots” they’re watching:Read More
Date set for next Westwood meeting on Denny-Sealth
Quick headline (more to come) from tonight’s joint meeting of the Delridge and Southwest District Councils: The Westwood Neighborhood Council announced it’s set the date for its next community meeting on the Denny-Sealth project — Feb. 6 Feb. 5, Southwest Community Center CSHS Commons. (THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE: WNC says it had to change the date to Feb. 5 after getting word today that school board rep Steve Sundquist couldn’t make 2/6.)
Signs of a slowdown — the good kind
The city has just put up these speed-limit signs in the Alki alley that’s just west of 59th (map). Alki Community Council president Jackie Ramels tells WSB the neighborhood campaign to get these signs was led by Steve Cuddy, who also successfully pushed for the speed bumps on 59th, which is a major street between Alki Ave and Admiral Way but is a particularly bad place to speed since it runs along the south side of Alki Elementary, Alki Playfield, and the Whale Tail Park/tennis courts area. Speaking of the ACC, it meets tomorrow night (7 pm @ Alki Community Center), with guests scheduled to include City Council President Richard Conlin and the owner of the soon-to-open Alki Urban Market, Thampipillai Thilakarajah (featured in this WSB report, a shorter version of which also appears in the brand-new Alki News-Beacon). You don’t have to be a member to attend.
New look at proposed Salty’s hotel
That rendering by CB Anderson Architects is the first look at what the proposed “boutique hotel” south of Salty’s on Alki might look like, along with potential improvements for the main restaurant, such as a new glassed-in deck. Thanks to Derek for first spotting it in the Daily Journal of Commerce (whose articles are only available online to subscribers) and thanks to Eileen Mintz from Salty’s for subsequently tracking down a copy for us to share with you. As Richard Anderson of CB Anderson told the DJC, the project is still in “dream” stage, and this is a very preliminary look at what it could resemble — no formal applications have been filed with the city. One more Salty’s note: The “Under the Alki Moon” wine dinner last night introduced the new cookbook “Good Ciao!”, on which Salty’s co-owner Kathryn Hilger Kingen collaborated with Italian chef Roberto Russo and Salty’s chefs. Read more about it here.
Red Cup Espresso update: Message from Angelia’s husband
Eight days after Red Cup Espresso owner Angelia Paulsen‘s tragically early death in a car crash, her husband Sean O’Dea e-mailed WSB early this morning to ask us to share this with you:
I cannot possibly find the words to describe or thank everyone for the level of support that has been offered to us at this time. I have had hundreds of people come to me with offers of help with anything I could possibly need. This has come from merchants, customers, neighbors and friends. It feels like the entire community has stepped up at at a time of overwhelming grief, and overwhelmed us with care and love. We are doing our best to keep the shop open, and will be open every day from 6 am to around 2 pm. As soon as I can, I plan to have it back to regular hours. I know how much Julian and I loved Angelia, and am extremely touched and honored by the love and respect shown to her memory. Thank you all.
Sean had previously posted in the comments section — up to 111 as of early this morning — following our original report on the accident.
Statue of Liberty Plaza Project confirms it’s reached $ goal
That’s what project co-chair Libby Carr told WSB by phone tonight, at the group’s deadline for wrapping up active fundraising. Co-chair Paul Carr followed up with this e-mail:
We dropped off a letter to the Mayor’s Office late today informing them that we have more than met the goal. Counting the money from the City ($50,000) and what NPA says they can throw in the pot ($10,550), we have almost $175,000. We’ve raised about $115,000 in the last four months. The benches and landscape plaques are all sold or spoken for, and we are going to continue the brick sale (including the “specials”) until the brick company calls for the brick order; we estimate that will be two weeks to a month. We’re doing that partly because people asked for it, and partly because all construction estimates are just that-estimates. Someone has already suggested adding some bench backs-those are not currently in the design. There may be other changes by the City. It would be terrific to have a cushion.
We will have a more formal report to put up on the Sealady website in a
couple of days …
You can find that site here. And to catch up on how this has all developed since last summer, check the WSB Alki Statue of Liberty coverage archive here.
Funeral for murdered boy set for West Seattle church
One of the headlines from tonight’s West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meeting — the Southwest Precinct is working on security for a high-profile funeral that will be held in West Seattle next week. Lt. Steve Paulsen told the WSCSP tonight that the funeral for Deche Morrison, the 14-year-old found shot dead in South Seattle last Friday, is set for Tuesday at Freedom Church (35th SW & Roxbury), and Lt. Paulsen says you can expect to see a sizable police presence in the area. There are security concerns because police have not arrested anyone yet in this killing, nor in the killing of another teenage boy; the gang unit reportedly is looking into both. (More of the WSCSP meeting toplines tomorrow.) ADDED 12:30 PM WEDNESDAY: For those who had asked what time this will be happening next Tuesday — 11 am.
Hours after state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond 
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