West Seattle, Washington
17 Wednesday
The official comment period has opened for two major local – but not residential – projects in The Triangle, according to notices in today’s city-issued Land Use Information Bulletin:
(Rendering of the future northwestern corner)
YMCA EXPANSION: As first reported here one month ago, the West Seattle Y (WSB sponsor) plans to expand on its current site at 4515 36th SW. Here’s the land-use-application notice; here’s how to comment – deadline is October 19th.
FIRE STATION 32 REBUILD: The fire station at 4700 38th SW in The Triangle also is expanding, with a total rebuild, and a City Council land-use action is required for permits, as well as other steps outlined in today’s notice. This notice also opens a comment period through October 19th; here’s how to have a say.
Back in 2009, we reported on Lettuce Pray – local faith communities collecting food donations, particularly fresh-grown produce, for local food banks. It’s been going strong ever since, and just wrapped up another season. Jane Taylor shares this update:
I wanted to pass along the success of this summer’s Lettuce Pray collection. Kristen Parsons and I were unable to carry on these weekly collections of food from the churches, so Becky Boberg from WestSide Universalist Unitarian Church took it over for us.
As you can see, she collected about 1500 pounds of food, of which 1150 were fresh produce, grown by West Seattleites and taken to church on Sunday, where Becky picked it all up and deposited it directly into cold storage at the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks.Besides OLG and WWUU, participating churches included Alki UCC, St. John the Baptist Episcopal, Tibbetts United Methodist, Holy Rosary, and St. Bernadette’s.
In its six years, Lettuce Pray has collected over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce and an equal amount of canned goods and non perishables. Our thanks to the generous souls (and gardeners) of West Seattle – and to Becky Boberg! We’ll be back next summer!
Jane also forwarded the photos – noting that’s Becky’s hand, holding those beautiful tomatoes!
Two Monday morning West Seattle Crime Watch notes:
HAVE YOU SEEN CARRIE ANN’S STATION WAGON? Silver 2002 Volvo V70 wagon, license #AAE8123, stolen in The Junction “up the street from Holy Rosary,” sometime between 8:30 pm Friday & 9:30 am Saturday. Small black spot on the back hatch, where the previous owner’s bike rack rubbed; small-medium dent in the rear passenger’s side door; long slice all along the headliner, across the front, near the windshield; multiple brightly-colored IKEA blankets left inside. Call 911 if you see it.
Also this morning:
Read More
Thanks to Mark Wangerin (psst, bought his student-benefiting West Seattle Wildlife calendar yet?) for the photo of a young Cooper’s Hawk. We now fly on into Monday. Not too much on our calendar, but here are a few notes:
MICROHOUSING VOTE: During its 2 pm meeting, the City Council is expected to vote on the microhousing rules it’s been working on – read them in full here; toplines are in our report from two weeks ago. (City Hall/Seattle Channel)
SEAHAWKS ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: 5:30 pm; places to watch with a big screen *and* food as well as beverages (it’s a dinnertime game, after all) include WSB sponsor Feedback Lounge (6451 California SW) in Morgan Junction and Skylark in North Delridge (3803 Delridge Way).
FAMILY STORY TIME: For kids of all ages (and the grownups accompanying them) – 6:30 pm at High Point Branch Library. (35th/Raymond)
LATER START TIMES FOR TEENS: Today’s the deadline if you’re interested in pursuing a position on the task force Seattle Public Schools is setting up to consider this.
(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Welcome to a new week! Perhaps the biggest traffic note of the day, so far, would be expectations that the pm commute might ramp up a bit earlier tonight, with Seahawks fans trying to get to wherever they plan to watch tonight’s game (5:30 pm vs. Washington)
TRANSPORTATION NEWS OVER THE WEEKEND: Want to help look at the “big picture” in The Junction – what it would take to truly be a “transit community”? Join a tour and conversation Saturday … Speaking of The Junction, a signal-sequence change has drawn attention … Here are two alerts for later this week.
8:50 AM UPDATE: Northbound I-5 has a lane-blocking crash described as “south of I-90,” so that’s likely to be affecting the offramp from the east end of the bridge.
8:58 AM UPDATE: WSDOT says the crash has cleared.
Tomorrow morning, Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole reports to the City Council on her first three months leading SPD. The agenda includes this written report, with multiple points of special interest here. For one, she briefly mentions a potential change in the future of the surveillance camera/wireless mesh system first reported here in January 2013 – a system that has been put on hold pending SPD development of policies for its use, as mandated by the City Council a year and a half ago. Now, it seems SPD might be seeking to hand it off:
In accordance with City Ordinance 124142 the department has not utilized the Port Wireless Mesh system. We are exploring the prospect of transferring the management and administration of the Wireless Mesh system to the City IT Department.
Our last update on the system’s status was in March, when Mayor Ed Murray told WSB he didn’t expect them to be used for a long time – if ever.
Many other aspects of SPD operations are mentioned in the report, but this one caught our eye – the subject of unsolved murders. West Seattle has at least four in the past few years – Stephen Jeffries, Jr. (January 2014), Greggette Guy (March 2012), Kaari Higgins (January 2011), and Jeremy Peck (December 2010) come to mind, for starters. The report does not mention specific cases but says this:
The Criminal Investigations Bureau Chief and Violent Crimes Captain have conducted a thorough review of all unsolved homicides twice during 2014. While I cannot discuss specifics of those open investigations in this report, I can tell you that the cases that remain unsolved have either problems with the integrity of evidence or a lack of cooperation from witnesses. I hope that we can develop greater trust and communication with our community so that individuals with information about these cases or other unsolved crimes will come forward.
Chief O’Toole’s briefing is scheduled for 10 am during Monday morning’s City Council “briefing” meeting. Immediately afterward, she and other SPD leaders will update the council on bias crimes/incidents in the city; the accompanying report says five were in the Southwest Precinct, out of 60 citywide, in the first half of this year.
There’s a lot to decide in the November 4th election, now less than a month away – closer, really, since voting begins when ballots start arriving at mid-month. If you’re not registered and want to sign up online or by mail, tomorrow’s the deadline – here’s how to register (same goes for updating your address if you ARE registered). If you miss that, you’ll be able to register in person at the King County Elections offices in Seattle and Renton on September 27th – but why delay? Easiest way to do it is to sign up right here, right now.
(WSB photos by Katie Meyer)
Sunshine again graced the annual Blessing of the Animals event presented by St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Admiral, drawing pets and their humans to the West Seattle High School parking lot next door this afternoon.
While St. John’s isn’t the only local church offering animal blessings, it’s the only one where you’ll find a member of the Order of Saint Francis participating in this tradition inspired by the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals:
That’s Brother Paul from the OSF, explained here. St. John’s priest in charge Rev. JD Godwin offered blessings as well – below, he blesses Waffles:
Even if you’re not religious, if you have a companion animal in your life, you might appreciate this offered prayer: “Bless those who curl themselves around our hearts, who twine themselves through our days, who companion us in our labor and who call us to come and play.”
We did spot one brave, well-behaved cat, named Purrcilla:
Rev. Godwin and Brother Paul blessed St. Francis medals and offered one for each pet blessed.
Most waited patiently for their turn.
West Seattle’s Peace Lutheran Church also offered animal blessings today, and next Sunday afternoon, they’re planned at Fauntleroy UCC Church.
We feature new Little Free Libraries as they pop up around West Seattle, as we hear about them – and today, Rose Sheppard from the Building Committee at Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation sends word and pic of theirs, and its designer:
On October 4th, our Little Free Library was installed. Designed and built by congregant John Monahan, we love the Dr Who phone booth motif. It’s a perfect model! We are sure it’s the best British phone booth on this side of the Atlantic Ocean – and much more useful.
We are very grateful to John and proud to have such a distinctive Little Free Library structure on the south side (Othello St.) of our church property at 7141 California Ave SW.
“We want to see this through your eyes – we’re interested in a dialogue.”
With that, two Seattle Planning Commissioners, both West Seattleites, are inviting you to be part of the dialogue about the future of The Junction and vicinity with a walk-and-talk event next Saturday (October 11th), 10 am.
They came to September’s Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting to initiate the dialogue, and we since have received official confirmation and the invitation itself (see above, or click here for the PDF version) – RSVP for updates on where they’re planning to meet (we’ll also have that here, later in the week).
Commissioners Jeanne Krikawa and Luis Borrero said they realize many might not even have heard about the Seattle Planning Commission, an independent, but city-convened/funded, group of appointees. That’s why they and commission policy analyst Jesseca Brand visited JuNO, to talk about not just what they do but also about looking at The Junction’s “walkshed” – what “essential components of livability” it has, and doesn’t have. Those were described as parks, plazas, libraries, community centers, wayfinding, green streets, bike infrastructure, as laid out in the Seattle Transit Communities report a few years back.
If any of those elements don’t exist in a “transit community,” they should be only “a stop or two away.” Here’s the slide deck Borrero and Krikawa showed JuNO:
This all figures into the Seattle 2035 process to update the city’s Comprehensive Plan, a major project for the Planning Commission right now, and one that has already resulted in a variety of events.
Even if this all sounds a little too wonky for you, remember that a process more than 15 years ago set the stage for much is what’s happening now. That’s what designated The Junction and vicinity as a Hub Urban Village – one meant to encourage workplaces to locate in the area, not just residences and services, the commissioners told JuNO.
In turn, JuNO director René Commons and attendees told Krikawa and Borrero that the Junction “walkshed” is definitely missing some of what are supposed to be hub characteristics – no nearby community centers, libraries, public schools.
The commissioners in turn asked those in attendance how they feel about The Junction’s growth. We’d summarize the various answers as “trepidational,” as well as eager for more transit – but join next Saturday’s walking tour, and tell them yourselves.
The bottom line of all this is consideration of how The Junction and vicinity should be viewed in the decades ahead, as a prism through which to see growth and the choices to be made. It’s a rare chance for more of a big picture look than the piecemeal decision-making so many have decried in the past few years. If you’re interested in having a say – or at least listening – be part of the tour next Saturday, and the conversation to follow.
(At Alki Beach Harbor House, by Loren Beringer, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Happy Sunday! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
GET YOUR COPY OF ‘APRON STRINGS’ AT WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, during today’s Farmers’ Market, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society will sell its newly released recipes-and-stories book.
Added 11:04 am, a photo from SWSHS: Joan Stover (left), co-editor of “Apron Strings: Recipes and Recollections from the Duwamish Peninsula,” chatting with Gay Johansson of Roxhill at this morning’s market (44th/Alaska)
G0SPEL SUNDAY, WITH SINGALONG: 2 pm at Hope Lutheran Church, join this choir-hosted event featuring gospel and spiritual songs, including the opportunity to sing along! Details in our calendar listing. (42nd/Oregon)
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS #1: First of two events today – 11:45 am at Peace Lutheran Church, on the Westside Patio; details in our preview. (39th/Thistle)
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS #2: 1 pm in the West Seattle High School parking lot, St. John’s Episcopal Church offers blessings to your pet/companion animal(s); details in our preview. (3000 California SW)
CROP WALK TO FIGHT HUNGER: Registration at 12:30 pm, walk at 1 pm, from Alki UCC, again hosting this walk raising money to fight hunger. (62nd/Hinds)
COMMUNITY ARTISTS’ SHOWCASE: 2-3 pm, stop by the Southwest Branch Library for the reception that opens the 23rd annual Community Artists’ Showcase. The works being shown by your neighbors and friends will be up throughout the month. Stop by and meet the artists today, free, and enjoy coffee and dessert. (35th/Henderson)
WSB FORUM PICNIC: It’s a place to talk about everything from politics to schools to food, a place for raves and rants, a place to list jobs and yard sales, a place where you never know what might happen next. The WSB Forum has been up and running for seven years, and every so often, members organize a picnic. You don’t have to be a member to join them – they’d love to meet lurkers too! 3-5 pm at Lincoln Park Picnic Shelter 1 – see the forum for updates.
BENEFIT WINE TASTING: Bring a wine to contribute to this fun tasting event (and more!) benefiting Furry Faces Foundation – read about it here. (2942 SW Avalon Way)
FINAL PERFORMANCE OF ‘THE MOUNTAINTOP’: 3 pm, the acclaimed ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) production of “The Mountaintop” is on stage one last time. (4711 California SW)
AS FOR WHAT’S UP TONIGHT … see the calendar!
(“Walk All Ways” signage in 1956; click image to see full-size Seattle Muni Archives photo)
It’s not often news when a traffic signal is tweaked. But in this case, we’ve now received several reader reports of a sequencing change at the most-famous intersection in West Seattle – and since tomorrow is usually its busiest day of the week, with Farmers’ Market shoppers and brunchgoers (among others), we’re sharing the FYI. First word came from Kathleen, who explained:
The sequence of red/ green lights and “walk” signs has changed sequence. I walk up to the Junction nearly every day and it has always been: green light going east on Alaska across Calif.: then green light going west; and then green light for the traffic going north/south on Calif; THEN the walk all 4 ways signal.
(Thursday) I couldn’t figure why so many cars were running through the intersection at the wrong times. I almost missed going across the street because I was waiting for the north/south traffic to go before me. It has been changed so the 4-way walk is now BEFORE north/ south cars can go. Confusing to anyone who has done it the old way forever!
We’ll be asking SDOT about this on Monday.
P.S. The history of “Walk All Ways” here is part of this HistoryLink.org essay about The Junction, which says it was installed in 1952, removed in 1974, brought back in 1988.
Last time we featured undersea video from “Diver Laura” James – observing a curious octopus – we heard clamors for more. Laura has obliged, inviting us to share the clip you see above, which she titled “Beneath a Dark Sea.” Yes, these are local waters – Cove 2, right off Seacrest.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ever wish for advance alert of an upcoming meteor shower/eclipse/etc. – and/or wonder “What’s that bright ‘star’ up there?” This should help. It’s our periodic feature by West Seattle’s own Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen, famed for her solstice/equinox sunset watches, among other things.
(Friday’s moon, photographed by Danny McMillin, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
By Alice Enevoldsen
Special to West Seattle Blog
Eclipses! We have eclipses this month! Don’t miss them, if the clouds part: This Wednesday, early morning (October 8th), lunar, and October 23rd, solar.
Hey, what’s that?
Clouds. I’m betting you saw clouds. As the rainy windstorms of fall come in, we lose some of our night skies. We’ll get a few sparkly-clear nights in winter again, but we’re into the time of year where you take what you can get. Enjoy the way the clouds make for some amazing sunsets.
Although Saturn and Mars are both still beautiful in the evening sky and Arcturus is also visible higher in the West, Capella is probably the most striking object in tonight’s sky. It is that this star always seems to sparkle and twinkle just a bit more than most other stars.
Just before the Sun rises, you’ll be unable to miss Jupiter shining low in the East. Orion is rising a bit South of Jupiter, and Sirius will be twinkling like crazy closer to the horizon than that.
Safe Eclipse Viewing
12:16 PM: The sale is on at California and Myrtle, half a block east of Gatewood Elementary, whose families are trying to raise $90,000 in a matter of days to keep a teacher – if you missed our earlier stories, here are the Thursday (with 100 comments) and Friday reports. All ages are helping out, from facepainting …
… to beverage-pouring …
Laura posed with the apple-shaped tote board as things got going after 10 am:
While we were there, somebody gave them a drive-up donation:
They say they’ll be out as long as possible.
2 PM UPDATE: Organizers say they have raised $35,500 so far, including “an anonymous $10,000 donation.”
3:15 PM UPDATE: Just in from Gatewood parent Kevin Kincade:
Both the Feedback Lounge and The Bridge will have donation boxes to support the Friends of Gatewood tonight. Go and have a drink and kick in a few extra bucks to help save a teacher. It’s a win-win! This is to support their cause of raising $90,000 in order to save a teacher at the school. Any and all donations will be appreciated. Thanks!
Kevin adds, “And one more update — they are in their last hour at the bake sale now (3:15) so come by and get some goodies before we shut down.”
Just as we were adding this update, we received a photo from Sam with donation collectors at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor):
We’ve had a few other community-contributed photos come in, and we’ll be adding to the story.
4:59 PM: We’re told that Beveridge Place Pub has joined the list above of nearby establishments that will have donation boxes tonight.
ADDED LATE SATURDAY: An update and thanks from Nicole Sipila:
We had an amazing day. Many times I was brought to tears and for those folks who know me, that is not an easy feat.
In the bank, as of 4:00 closing time, we have collected $35,300.00 We also have approx. $8,500.ish coming back to the school from a grant that the PTA made last year, so that would put us at $43,000ish to our ultimate goal of $90,000!
Yes, we had one anonymous donor with a check for $10,000. Another for $5000 and yet another for $1000!!!! I was moved to tears at all of these checks! But I was even more emotional about some of the small moments that happened today.
First, we had an amazing parent, teacher turnout. Bringing baked goods and just handing us cash, saying, “Keep it. If you don’t make your goal, do something great with the money for the kids.”
Also, one set of parents who happen to be foster parents, who had heard that many of the GW teachers would be contributing $500 and they wanted to match that amount. Then I learn that these are foster parents of a child at GW that might be going back to birth parents at the end of the month and they didn’t want a refund if we don’t meet our goal! “Keep it, do something good with it!” Yes, I was a teary mess.
We had some ADORABLE little Gators who were standing on the corners collecting drive by donations. They had walked down toward Thriftway and passed by the Real Change vendor that hangs out by McDonald’s. This man, who doesn’t have much himself, gave these children a dollar. I am tearing up just writing this.
Plus all the other small moments, the Schmitz Park 1st grade teacher (young and new to the district) who stopped by with friends who just wanted “to support us and our teachers.” And all the other schools who posted our event on their web sites (STEM and Fairmount Park) and the parents of other schools who stopped by to drop off small donations just to say, “We support you.”
I am truly blessed to be apart of this community and am amazed at the generously of friends and strangers.
(WSB photo: Cookbook editors Joan & Joey arranging stacks at LHM on Friday)
Get ’em while they’re hot! Copies of “Apron Strings,” a brand-new local cookbook, are officially on sale. This weekend, you can buy it during regular hours at the Log House Museum (noon-4 pm Saturdays, Sundays, and Thursdays and Fridays) – or maybe you’ll be at the LHM for the volunteer orientation today (11 am-1 pm) and get yours then – or, look for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market tomorrow. And get busy making recipes like this one:
Here’s the SWSHS announcement about “Apron Strings”:
Just in time for Thanksgiving meal planning and the search for a unique holiday gift, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society is releasing a new, home-grown cookbook.
“Apron Strings: Recipes and Recollections from the Duwamish Peninsula” is a 180-page paperback with 114 recipes from 49 local residents. Stories accompany many of the recipes, and the book is laced with 16 photos from the historical society’s archive.
Editors of the cookbook are three longtime members of the historical society: Dayle Banks, Joey Richesson (former board secretary) and Joan Stover (former board treasurer). The cover features a colorful, quilted vintage apron from Merrilee Hagen, past president of the historical society.
“Apron Strings,” priced at $25, is on sale at the historical society’s “Birthplace of Seattle” Log House Museum. It also will have its public debut from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, at a table at the West Seattle Farmers Market in The Junction.
Net proceeds will go to the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.
Three years in the making, “Apron Strings” is “no ordinary cookbook,” the editors write in the book’s preface. “It is a collection of recipes that reflect the history and culture of Duwamish Peninsula families and friends. … Entwined with the details for sifting, stirring, baking and frying are the stories of the people and circumstances surrounding the dishes, the family traditions of meals and snacks, and the community history of food that is uniquely West Seattle, White Center and beyond.”
(Harbor seal photographed by Robert Spears)
Leaping into the weekend … lots going on, so we’re going to be quick about everything and point you to the full-details links. From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and coverage archives:
TLC FOR LINCOLN PARK: 9 am, meet Friends of Lincoln Park at the park’s Fauntleroy/Rose kiosk to help remove invasive plants to get ready for a planting session next month.
BAKE/LEMONADE SALE TO CROWDFUND A TEACHER: 10 am and for as long as they can keep going, Gatewood Elementary parents are planning “the biggest bake sale imaginable” (lemonade, face painting expected too) as they try to crowdfund to cover the salary of a teacher their school otherwise will lose – here’s our report from last night; original Thursday report here. (California/Myrtle)
DROP OFF ART FOR SOUTHWEST LIBRARY SHOWCASE: 10 am-6 pm,
last chance to drop off up to 3 items for the Southwest Branch Library Community Artist Showcase, which starts tomorrow. (35th/Henderson)
VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION AT LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: 11 am-1 pm, find out how to help the home of West Seattle’s history, as a volunteer for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. History expertise NOT required. (61st/Stevens)
LEARN TO BE QUAKE-RESISTANT: 11 am, free city-presented workshop at West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library on making your home earthquake-resistant – but as announced in August, registration is required, so check to see if there’s room, before you go. (2306 42nd SW)
BARTON P-PATCH FALL FESTIVAL: Noon-4 pm, celebrate fall, food, and community at the Barton Street P-Patch – including a chance to enjoy pizza from the on-site oven! Details in our preview. (34th/Barton)
WEST SEATTLE SOLAR TOUR: Noon-4 pm, self-guided tour to see West Seattle homes that might inspire you to check out solar power.
RAINWISE AT FAUNTLEROY SCHOOLHOUSE: The RainWise program (WSB sponsor) might be able to get you a raingarden with a rebate. Your next chance to find out about it is 2-4 pm at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. Refreshments! (9131 California SW)
SPIDERS OF THE DUWAMISH: 2 pm, find out, with a talk at the Duwamish Longhouse and a walk at Herring House Park, why spiders are friends, not foes!
(Orb spider! Photo by Myrtle)
Details in our calendar listing. (4705 W. Marginal Way SW)
MANHATTAN SHORT-FILM FESTIVAL: 4 pm, 10 short films at the historic Admiral Theater – details in our calendar listing. (2343 California SW)
FLY-FISHING DEMO: 4-7 pm, free event focused on fly fishing on the water, from kayaks and stand-up paddleboards. Details in our calendar listing. (Seacrest, 1660 Harbor SW)
(Friday night sunset, by Chris Frankovich)
FAMILY FUN NIGHT: 5:30-8:30 pm, Dance! West Seattle at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (lower floor) presents this annual tradition on a Saturday, for the first time:
*Free Event with Live DJ Paul Thompson of Star 101.5!
*Hula Hoop contest, Specialty Dances, and more
*Bring your $$$ for Pizza, Pop, and Cookie, Silent Auction, Raffles, Cakewalks, Face Painting, all to help raise funds to keep our Concert Dancers performing free of charge in the community!
*Buy 10 raffle Tickets, get one free@ only $1 apiece!
*Any Donations to our Concert Dancers are tax deductible
(9131 California SW)
RAISING AWARENESS, $ TO FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING: 5:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, big slate of performers putting on “Red Light Revolution 2.0” – details in our preview. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
FIGHT MS WITH THE WEST SEATTLE BIG BAND: 7 pm, dance with the West Seattle Big Band at the Senior Center of West Seattle, and raise money to fight MS – an event inspired by a band member living with MS, as explained in our preview. (Oregon/California)
LAST EVENING PERFORMANCE OF ‘THE MOUNTAINTOP’: 7:30 pm, second-to-last performance (final evening show) of the ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) production of “The Mountaintop.” (4711 California SW)
NIGHTLIFE! Lots of listings on the calendar.
ONE LAST NOTE: Earlier this week, King County announced it would start working on Saturdays to accelerate excavation for the Murray Combined-Sewer Overflow Control Project’s million-gallon tank. Change in plan – instead of starting today, the Saturday sessions will start NEXT weekend, on October 11th.
Police are investigating a strong-arm robbery in Admiral early today, and we just received details via this reader report from Edward:
Three local West Seattle teens were assaulted and robbed by another group of older youths near Hiawatha park & the Safeway in Admiral area a little after midnight (early Saturday am) Oct 4th.
The boys, who all grew up here and attended Lafayette, Washington Middle School & currently attend Garfield (two) & Sealth (one), had met to hang out and get some snacks at Safeway when they were stalked by a gang of four sketchier looking males, one wearing a beanie with long curly hair.
The first blow was a sucker punch from behind that split the victims lip open, and he yelled “They punched me!” to warn the other two boys. But two of the attackers tackled and slammed the second victim to the ground, bloodying his nose and causing a large swollen contusion on the forehead from the impact.
The criminals then stole his red down vest with a K2 Snowboard logo on the chest, his new Galaxy S5 smartphone (worth over $700), and his wallet that contained an Orca bus pass, Debit Card, Garfield School ID, and a few various gift cards along with $5 cash. The third victim eluded his pursuer and ran across to the PCC, which was closed.
After regrouping, the boys contacted their parents and then the Seattle Police. SPD Officer Steiger is handling the case: Incident #14-331689. Please contact him if you have any further information regarding this violent assault & theft.
(Photos & video by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Chief Sealth International High School‘s defense was the star of their 47-6 homecoming win over Franklin last night at Southwest Athletic Complex. But the whole team emerged with energy – watch our short Instagram clip to the end:
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Since it was homecoming, that was just the start of the festivities, which also featured the band, directed by Marcus Pimpleton:
They marched onto the field before the game right behind the cheer squad:
And showed off new moves at halftime:
The game was already 27-0 by halftime, by the way. But backtracking to the start of play:
Starting with recovering a fumble (photo above) for the first score of the game, it was the defense who managed to hold Franklin to a single touchdown- a run back of the second-half kickoff. Among the Sealth players who scored TDs, #5 Alloney Burris:
And #23 Czai Terrell:
Though a consistent ground game put up most of the points, Sealth’s passing game had some major gains against Franklin. #12 Weston Reed passed to #3 Jalonzo Smallwood for one of the Seahawks’ TDs. Here’s Reed in another play, with #30 Heriberto DeLuna:
In addition to the homecoming revelry, the night also brought birthday wishes for #59 Sam Tino:
This was the season’s second win for the Seahawks and head coach Simon Iniguez.
A road game is next up for Sealth, vs. Ingraham, 7 pm Friday at Northwest Athletic Complex.
One local varsity-football team played on the road Friday night – West Seattle High School. At Memorial Stadium downtown, Roosevelt blanked the Wildcats, 39-0. Next Friday, WSHS hosts Cleveland, 7 pm at Southwest Athletic Complex.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
One day after news began to spread of a district-ordered teacher-reallocation move affecting two local elementary schools, one is launching a short-time, big-sum fundraising drive: $90,000 needed by Wednesday, to keep from losing a teacher.
We first reported Thursday afternoon on the situation that could result in one teacher being moved from Gatewood Elementary to newly reopened Fairmount Park Elementary. Fairmount has more students than planned for, the district says, while Gatewood has fewer first-graders than planned for.
While the district has not publicly identified the teacher that would be moved from Gatewood to Fairmount Park, Gatewood parents say the current version of the plan would move first-grade teacher Ms. Morgan. Parent Tracy Clarkson sent the photo at right, her twin daughter and son with Ms. Morgan, who is their teacher. Says Clarkson, “We are longtime West Seattlers, but new to Gatewood. We cannot lose this teacher!”
Another parent e-mailed more details about what will happen tomorrow, and beyond:
Gatewood is mobilizing. We need to raise $90,000 by Wednesday morning. We have about 10% thus far. Disbelievingly, our beloved teachers have each committed $500.
The parents of Gatewood and their children are planning to hold the biggest bake sale imaginable tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. at California and Myrtle and going on throughout the day.
We ask for any community support from everyone. Even if not a monetary donation, we appreciate moral support, too. The families and teachers could sure use it right now.
A donation account was set up late today at Chase Bank; you can donate at Chase and tell them it’s for “Friends of Gatewood.” Parents say online fundraising is not an option because they have to have the cash in hand by Wednesday morning, and online donations wouldn’t be disbursable that way.
They are hoping at least to get a time extension, and say that the district’s executive director of schools in this area, Israel Vela, indicated support for that in phone calls today to parents who had left him messages about this.
Meanwhile, the district responded to a followup question we had sent yesterday. At the ribbon-cutting for Fairmount Park on September 2nd, the day before the new school year began, it was announced they anticipated opening with 380 students. The current enrollment cited by the district is just below that. So why is an adjustment being made just now? District spokesperson Lesley Rogers replied with this backstory:
In August we decided to fund an additional teacher (the student projection [for Fairmount Park] went from 290 to 329, or 39 additional students). This was part of an overall district assessment that resulted in 26 schools having adds or pulls, with a net 2.0 addition. We also added in 2 schools based on high urgency (Arbor Heights and Alki Elementary).
We decided to wait to address FTE [full-time-student equivalent] adjustments due to the traditional student movement, wait list, data cleanup, and no-shows that happens in the first 2-3 weeks of school. The student enrollment reached 368 at 9/22 (Fairmount Park).
The other component was the budget situation. Our mitigation fund was depleted after the last 2 adds. We decided to wait to find out what schools have significantly lost student enrollment, as Gatewood, to transfer FTEs.
Overall, we are waiting for the official 10/1 counts that will be reported on 10/12 to recommend more staffing adjustments. At the same time we are using the current student count to identify the hot spots adjustments and deploy/execute earlier.
We’ll continue to follow up.
ADDED 5:26 AM SATURDAY: Overnight, we received the letter to the community, drafted by organizers of the fundraising drive. Click (or scroll) ahead to read it:
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(Refresh for newest image from WSF camera at Southworth dock)
6:37 PM: Happening in Southworth, but no doubt affecting Fauntleroy ferries: Washington State Ferries says the Southworth dock is closed right now because of “law enforcement activity.” Via Twitter, the Kitsap Sun reports this is a case of a vehicle gone into the water. (You might also see air activity related to this – at least one TV helicopter has headed that way.)
6:55 PM: No one has confirmed whether anyone was in the vehicle, which at least one witness says crashed through the barricade at the dock’s end.
7:20 PM: An update:
Coast guard divers are conducting search/recovery currently. pic.twitter.com/iOTKHmi7wa
— Trooper Russ Winger (@wspd8pio) October 4, 2014
The vehicle is in 60 feet of water.
7:47 PM: WSP says the body of the vehicle’s driver, who was believed to be in it alone, has been recovered. SFD divers are reported to have assisted.
8:01 PM: WSF projects it will be a few hours before the dock reopens – which won’t happen, they say, until the vehicle is pulled from the water. In the meantime, ferries are running only between Fauntleroy and Vashon, and the Seattle-Bremerton run from Colman Dock downtown is recommended as a detour for those trying to get to Kitsap County.
9:40 PM: WSF says the Southworth dock likely will be closed until morning.
11:06 PM: The vehicle has been pulled from the water. Christine Clarridge from The Seattle Times (WSB partner) tweeted a photo and describes the vehicle as a silver Ford Escape.
11:25 PM: WSF says the dock is open again and service to Southworth restored.
Looking ahead to next week, two traffic alerts that might give you cause to plan ahead:
SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT: Just announced by SDOT:
Roadway Structures Crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation will close the left-hand, eastbound lane on the Spokane Street Viaduct from Fourth Avenue South to First Avenue South on October 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., weather permitting. The closure will allow crews to make pavement repairs on the viaduct.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL VISIT: VP Joe Biden’s still on for a visit to Seattle next week, on Thursday (October 9). The full schedule hasn’t been announced but we do know he’s expected at a noon fundraising event for U.S. Senate candidates at the Convention Center downtown.
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