West Seattle, Washington
04 Thursday
Seen Whitney’s car? Just out of the WSB inbox:
1994 Honda Accord stolen from Westcrest Park Off Leash Area. Around 6:00 pm April 1st. Light green, two door. Pima Medical Institute sticker up front on driver’s side corner. With broken passenger headlight. Green middle sticker on bottom back window. License plate number AUH9649. Please help me find this vehicle! If seen, message me at (970) 596-9574.
6:14 PM: Thanks to the texter who sent word (and photo) of a crash in the 1700 block of Alki Avenue [map]. Seattle Fire has sent a medic response; the texter says it appears a vehicle almost hit a house. We’re en route to try to find out more.
6:41 PM: Just arriving at the crash scene. Does indeed appear to be a close call. Police are still here. General traffic alert: Alki Avenue is jammed both ways – looks like a summer night down here.
6:45 PM: Police tell us the driver apparently had a medical problem that sent the car off the road. No one was seriously hurt otherwise. SFD is gone and the remaining SPD cars are not in the traffic lane, so the jam down here is not related.
Nine days after the last Highway 99 tunnel-machine update, WSDOT just published another one – but it still doesn’t answer the big question of when the Alaskan Way Viaduct will close so the machine can tunnel beneath it. The update goes into great detail about how crews are working in “hyperbaric” conditions, and includes this :34 video:
WSDOT has said it hopes to provide two weeks advance notice of the two-weeks-or-so closure, so at this point it would seem unlikely to start before mid-April. The state is continuing to add info to its special closure-info website at 99closure.org.
Today’s update also included a note that results of the March Viaduct inspection are available:
Survey crews measured approximately 5/16 of an inch of settlement near Seneca Street and between 1/8 and 1/4 inch of settlement at the Columbia Street on-ramp. Crews also observed upward movement of up to 1 inch at some locations at the south end of the structure. This upward movement is uniform in nature. No new cracking or structural damage was found.
That’s the entirety of the update published here.
(Photo added 5:16 pm)
5:04 PM: We’ve been getting questions about an Alaska Airlines jet flying over West Seattle, accompanied by a smaller plane. It’s a “photo flight,” we’re told via Twitter.
@westseattleblog @AlaskaAir 737-900 doing a photo flight in Elliot Bay at a low altitude in case enquiries happen. pic.twitter.com/L4hcND9W7X
— Woodys Aeroimages (@woody2190) April 1, 2016
5:16 PM: Added a photo texted by James Tilley, atop this story – thank you!
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
5:36 PM: And one more photo from James, above – plus, below, Woody’s Aeroimages gave us permission to republish its tweeted photo of the two planes’ takeoff:
@komonews @westseattleblog @KIRO7Seattle @KING5Seattle A picture of @AlaskaAir departing PAE with Photo Learjet pic.twitter.com/bxcFwq14Va
— Woodys Aeroimages (@woody2190) April 2, 2016
Alaska Airlines unveiled its updated look two months ago.
District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold is midway through her second session of office hours in the district. We just talked with her for a few minutes after her initial rush of visitors, who came from near and far (even someone from Wallingford!), with concerns ranging from roads to garbage rates to parks to bike racks. You don’t need an appointment – you’ll find her in the Senior Center (Oregon/California) cafe upstairs until 7 tonight.
(WSB photo – Jacob Kokko, defense lawyer, prosecutor in court)
1:10 PM: As first reported here last week, serial arsonist Jacob Kokko has pleaded guilty to three charges – one, reduced as part of a plea bargain – and is being sentenced today. We’re in the courtroom of King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell and will chronicle the hearing live as it happens.
Kokko has been in jail since his arrest almost five months ago. The recommended sentence is for the time he has served – which is almost as long as the maximum possible penalty, given that he has no criminal record.
His lawyer told the judge, “He’s a good kid, you’re not going to see him again … He was crying for help, and he’s going to get the help that he needs.” His lawyer says Kokko will be responsible for getting that help.
He spoke briefly at the judge’s invitation and said this was a “turning point” in his life and that he is aware that this will affect the rest of his life. (We have his full statement on video and will add it when back at headquarters.) He said he would be going back to college, where he has two years’ credit and was majoring in psychology.
Judge Ramsdell is going along with the recommended sentencing so far, a suspended year – provided he stays out of trouble – in jail, plus as-yet-undetermined restitution, 50 hours of community service, and credit for jail time served otherwise (147 days total), meaning he will be going free shortly.
While details of the crimes were not discussed here in court, documents indicated Kokko, 22, had acknowledged setting four fires – outside the Senior Center and Hamm Building in The Junction on Halloween night, outside a house on his block in High Point earlier, and the 35th/Morgan bus-stop fire caught on the surveillance video that led to his arrest – but denied involvement in the others that were suspected to be part of the same spree.
1:26 PM: No one else has spoken at the hearing other than Kokko, the lawyers, and judge – no victims, no family members – and it’s now over (after many mostly silent moments of paperwork-signing), with the judge saying “Good luck to you, sir” and a deputy re-handcuffing Kokko to return to jail (processing for release usually takes at least a few hours).
You might have noticed that the temperature display in the WSB header has been insisting it’s zero degrees this morning. Might seem like a great April Fool’s joke … except it’s not; just a malfunction, first one for this feature since we added it in the January overhaul, and we’re troubleshooting it. Meantime, if you click the time/temp spot, you’ll get to the WSB West Seattle Weather page, which DOES have the accurate temperature (mid-to-upper 50s at last check). Sorry!
Thanks to Mark Wangerin for beautiful hummingbird images to grace this sunny, warm first day of April – rufous above, Anna’s below:
Now, highlights of what’s up for the rest of today/tonight:
TALK TO YOUR COUNCILMEMBER: Second session of in-the-district office hours for Councilmember Lisa Herbold today, noon-7 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction. Appointment NOT required; just drop by. (4217 SW Oregon)
‘PULP FICTION’ @ WORDS, WRITERS, & WEST SEATTLE: Tonight, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society-presented meet-the-author event at Westwood Village Barnes & Noble features Greg Hatcher, “pulp fiction” genre writer, writing instructor for the Young Authors class at the West Seattle YMCA’s Community Learning Center, and comics/cartooning teacher (among other things):
Find out more about “new pulp movement.” More info in our listing – drop by between 5 and 7! (2800 SW Barton)
FREE ‘FAMILY NIGHT’ FUN: 6-8:25 pm, it’s another free, fun “Family Night” at the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor), all welcome, whether you’re a member or not. Obstacle course, games, running, swimming – details in our listing. (4515 36th SW)
WEST SEATTLE DRAMA CLUB BENEFIT: Tonight, see “The Addams Family” at West Seattle High School as part of a special fundraiser, “Taste of the Arts“!
(Photo courtesy WSHS Drama Club)
7 pm dessert and more, 8 pm performance – details here (including how to get your ticket). The money raised goes for program needs including body microphones, a sound-effects library, theater lights, monitors for musicians and in the dressing room, replacements for the worn/torn curtains … You can help! Be at WSHS tonight. (3000 California SW)
BILL DAVIE: “Alternative singer-songwriter” performs tonight at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. (5612 California SW)
WEST SEATTLE BREWING COMEDY NIGHT: 8 pm at West Seattle Brewing, it’s comedy night with Cathy Sorbo – details in our listing. (4415 Fauntleroy Way SW)
AND THERE’S MORE … on our complete calendar!
From Erin, near 31st and Holly in High Point [map]:
We had a scary situation we wanted to report to you about an attempted intrusion to our home this morning in High Point.
My husband was downstairs in the kitchen at 4:45 am, when he noticed a man with a backpack walk up the alley (heading toward the street). Moments later our security panel chimed saying the garage (side) door had opened. My husband opened the side door to the house and found the guy he’d just seen with the backpack standing inside our garage!
The man claimed he and his friends thought our house was abandoned. After my husband informed him our house was not abandoned (nor were any of the houses on the street) the man left our property. We called the police this morning and filed a report.
The officer reminded us to always call the police immediately and not approach these guys because you never know if someone has a weapon or some other intention, and of course to lock all doors. Typically our garage is always locked but we had forgotten to do so after some extensive repair work and been done on it the previous day.
The man was African American, 5’11”, wearing a shiny gray wind pants, zip up hoodie, and square backpack.
Just a reminder to everyone to stay vigilant!
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:29 AM: Good morning and welcome to April. The day begins with a transit alert – a crash at 3rd/Seneca has Metro routing the C Line, 120, and 56 off Seneca between 1st and 3rd. SDOT says the crash is blocking one southbound lane.
6:31 AM: And just like that, Metro has now sent an alert saying those routes are all back to normal.
9:26 AM: Reminder for next week – the parochial schools that were out on break this week will be back to school; the Highline district just south of West Seattle will be on break. (Seattle and Vashon public schools are out the week of April 11th.)
The Japanese Club was onstage in the Galleria when we walked into Chief Sealth International High School‘s annual Multicultural Night, midway through a lineup of performances that had begun with the resurgent Mariachi program. While dancing and music continued, schoolmates, families, and other community members continued to mingle:
For some, it was a photo-op occasion:
Back onstage, Charlie Loper from the Sealth GSA presented a spoken-word performance – we caught part on video:
The Asian Culture Association followed:
Here’s a video excerpt:
The Sealth BSU had T-shirts to sell:
And the performances closed with a breakdancing quartet:
The party didn’t break up immediately. On the sidelines near the stage, a public invitation to prom, with signs, drew cheers and applause. The Galleria continued to pulse with energy as we headed toward the door, back out into the warm spring evening. Thanks to Sealth activities director Sarah Martin for the invitation, and to the students for sharing their talent and passion.
Just getting this on your radar for Saturday, if you’ll be out and about and able to donate – it’s the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle‘s annual donation drive for the West Seattle Food Bank. Volunteers and collection bins will be at West Seattle Thriftway (4201 SW Morgan; WSB sponsor) and Junction QFC (42nd/Alaska). If you catch them as you go into the stores, you can get specific wish lists for the WSFB’s Home Delivery and Mobile Food Bank programs, which “deliver nutritious food to the homes of the homebound elderly and disabled neighbors unable to access the food bank.” And if you shop at Thriftway, give them your receipts, too, because the store will donate back 1 percent to WSFB. The drive is set for 9 am-2 pm this Saturday (April 2nd).
Three reports in tonight’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup:
CHURCH BURGLARY: Thanks for the tips. Another non-residential Junction break-in – what was on the Tweets by Beat log as a “commercial burglary” reported Tuesday morning in the 4100 block of 42nd SW was a break-in at Holy Rosary Church, according to police report details we were finally able to obtain today. The report says someone got in through a window and stole items including cash and credit cards, but left behind “evidence” that police have collected and are following up on.
TIRE SLASHING: John reports from North Delridge:
I just want to let you know that several cars including one of my own had their tires cut last night. All the cars were parked on 28th Ave SW across the street from The Dragonfly Pavilion Park Between Yancy and Nevada. I have heard this is a growing problem in West Seattle.
PROWLER ON VIDEO: From the Shorewood/Arbor Heights area:
I wanted to send you a video I caught (Tuesday) at my house of a prowler. We had numerous packages stolen last week and set up this camera.
Nothing was stolen (so far as) we can tell.
The area the man is seen walking into, and emerging from, leads to and from the house’s side yard and backyard. A police report is filed – #2016-108242 – if you have any information.
Thanks for the tips and reports – 206-293-6302 text/voice if urgent, editor@westseattleblog.com if not – as long as you have already called 911/SPD!
That slide deck is from the agenda for a City Council committee meeting tomorrow morning, and it’s the first time we’ve seen an all-in-one-place visual breakdown of a subject that comes up in discussion often – property taxes.
The 9:30 am meeting is actually the entire City Council meeting as the Select Committee on the 2016 Housing Levy, and one of its agenda items is a general discussion on property taxes in the city, as they consider the proposed levy, which is double the one that’s about to expire. If you scroll through the slide deck – or get it here as a PDF – you’ll see that it looks at the taxes on a “median”-valued home in the city (half are worth more, half worth less), valued at $480,000, paying $4,553 a year. As shown on page 5, a little less than a third of that – $1,472 – is from/for the city, and in turn, about half of that goes to 7 voter-approved levies, including the housing levy that is expiring:
*Transportation levy, $279
*Park district levy, $140
*Families/Education levy, $98
*Housing levy, $61
*Libraries, $51
*Preschool, $43
*Campaign financing, $9
If you want to hear how this is presented and discussed tomorrow morning, you can go to the meeting at City Hall or watch live via Seattle Channel, cable 21 or seattlechannel.org.
2:38 PM: A large Seattle Fire response is in the 1400 block of SW Cambridge for a “fire in building” call. We’re en route to see what’s happening.
2:45 PM: The call’s just closed, meaning SFD has left the scene. If we find out anything about the original reason, we’ll add it.
(Reader photo from a brown-water situation earlier this month)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
After months of intermittent but intense West Seattle brown-water incidents that we’ve been covering – going back to last fall – the city is making plans for a major operation to try to attack the underlying problem: Rust in the pipes.
The rust isn’t unusual and isn’t unhealthy, Seattle Public Utilities stresses – but there shouldn’t be this much of it stirred up when something happens such as a hydrant opening or pipe break, and it should clear faster (as commenters have pointed out, it often lingers longer than they were told it would).
So SPU is planning a “unidirectional flush” – something that utility managers say hasn’t been done anywhere in the city in more than a decade.
It’s not one big operation at one time but will play out over the course of months. We got an early briefing during a visit to the SPU Operations Control Center, following up on our recent behind-the-scenes look at how water safety and quality is monitored.
We met there with drinking water quality director Wylie Harper and other SPU water managers, including operations director Dave Muto. First, some context. Two-thirds of the 1,800 miles of pipeline in SPU territory is unlined cast iron – and this is the primary source of what discolors the water in certain circumstances:
Thanks to David Hutchinson for another baby photo from the resident Canada geese. *Scroll to the end of this story for his side note regarding the photo. First – from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
HEALTH AND WELLNESS FAIR: 11 am-3 pm at Daystar – details in our listing. (2615 SW Barton)
CHIEF SEALTH IHS MULTICULTURAL NIGHT: 6 pm, everyone’s invited to the Chief Sealth International High School Galleria: “One of CSI’s favorite community events, Multicultural Night is a fun-filled evening of cultural performances, community information, and free food that represents the ethnic diversity of our student body. This is one of the events that truly make us a global village!” (2600 SW Thistle)
SQUIRREL BUTTER & SCOTT KNICKERBOCKER: An evening of American roots music @ C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. No cover; tips appreciated. (5612 California SW)
‘SAVE A UNICORN’ BENEFIT: 7 pm at The Skylark, benefit to help Amanda Hutchins conquer cancer. Singing, dancing, rope-jumping, more – it’s a variety show. Tickets available here. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
‘ADDAMS FAMILY’ AT WSHS: The new West Seattle High School Drama Club & Music Department musical comedy opens tonight in the WSHS Theater! 7:30 pm; ticket info here, production info here. (3000 California SW)
MORE FOR TODAY/TONIGHT/BEYOND … on our complete calendar.
****
*The side note from photographer David, mentioned above: “I know that Canada geese aren’t the most popular bird on the planet, but this little guy is kind of cute. This is another good reason for compliance with the dogs on a leash rule. These geese are generally terrified of dogs (especially large or active ones), even if the dogs are leashed but the owners approach too close. Over the years I have noticed that when the geese make a break to escape to the water by scrambling over the large rocks lining the shore, the small goslings can’t keep up and frequently fall in the large gaps in the rocks and are then trapped – or injure their legs trying to jump across. My wife and I have taken quite a number of the injured ones to PAWS where they usually end up having to be euthanized.”
One week from tomorrow, the West Seattle Water Taxi starts its spring/summer 7-days-a-week schedule. Two days later, you’ll get to ride the new M/V Doc Maynard – twice the capacity of its predecessor – for free during Community Appreciation Day on Sunday, April 10th, hosted by the King County Marine Division at Seacrest Pier. Full announcement after the jump:
(ADDED: WSB photo)
8:23 AM: Big emergency response for a boat reported to be in trouble off the 10400 block of Maplewood Place SW [map], which is in southwesternmost West Seattle.
8:28 AM: From the scanner, 50-foot boat, “foot of water in the bilge,” three people on board, no injuries, “the boat is secured but not to shore yet.”
8:43 AM: Our crew has arrived. It’s a fishing boat, and this is all taking place on private shoreline. The Coast Guard is helping Seattle Fire.
(ADDED: Photo texted by Kathleen)
8:50 AM: More information from SFD – the boat lost power, ran aground, and sprang a leak. Two of the three people on board were taken to an SFD boat by a small USCG craft, while the third worked to fix the problem and get the boat under way again.
9:04 AM: Added photos. The incident commander tells us the boat will head back toward the Duwamish River, and that a fireboat is following just in case there’s any more trouble.
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:21 AM: Good morning – welcome to the last day of March. No incidents in/from West Seattle so far.
AVALON/YANCY/30TH/ANDOVER PROJECT: As of yesterday afternoon, crews on this pedestrian-safety project had closed Andover at Avalon.
7:54 AM: Matt says via Twitter that lower Spokane St. is jammed east of the low bridge but isn’t seeing why; no incidents that we’re seeing logged, either.
8:46 AM: Crash reported at Olson/Myers – one south/westbound lane of Olson is blocked.
1:01 AM: Lots of questions this past half-hour about a helicopter just south of the city/county border. Flight-tracking showed it was Guardian One but there was little discussion on the scanner and no reports of ground activity, so we didn’t know what it was up to until this tweet just after it left the area: “Assisted White Center patrol on person with a gun call in 18 Ave SW. Led patrol in to person in front yard of house. Subject is detained.” That would be a King County Sheriff’s Office case and we’ll follow up later this morning.
ADDED 5:14 PM: We finally have additional information to share. From KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West: “Around midnight, we responded to the area of the 10400 block of 18 Ave SW for a report of a suicidal man who possibly had a gun. We contacted the man in the area and did not locate a gun. The man was transported to a hospital for a mental-health evaluation. The man is a 66 year old living in the vicinity.”
As we close out the last Wednesday of March …some beautiful views of its sunset and sunrise. The top photo is from Colleen Brenize; below, from Howella:
After the jump, more of the colors with which the day ended and began:
West Seattle High School is at the top of the Metro League baseball standings. Thanks to Caryn Johnson for the report and photos from today’s victory:
The Wildcats traveled over the pond to take on the Crusaders of Eastside Catholic. Junior Ryan Kimsey [#15, above] started on the mound for Westside. He would go on to throw a complete game of shutout baseball, giving up only two hits and striking out three. Again West Seattle’s defense was strong behind their pitcher.
Juniors Jack Page and Nathan Johnson led the team with two hits each.
Andrew Burggraff [#39, above] had a double in the 4th inning to hit in an insurance run. In the end, behind the strong pitching of Kimsey and the great defense, West Seattle topped Eastside Catholic 3-0 and now sits atop the Metro League standings at 6-0 in league play.
Next game is 3:30 pm Friday against Ballard at Whitman Middle School.
See the full league standings on the left sidebar of this page.
| 5 COMMENTS