West Seattle, Washington
24 Friday
A day and a half after the deadly shooting in the 9200 block of 16th SW, no updates from police, but we know more about the man who died:
(Photo republished with permission)
We know more about 40-year-old Stephen Jeffries, Jr., thanks to a friend’s effort to make sure the shooting doesn’t go unsolved. Mr. Jeffries is survived by four daughters (three of whom are with him in the photo above). He was a 20-year employee of Seattle Public Utilities. His longtime friend Mike Wheeler set up a Facebook page to publicize the search for tips and has also started a crowdfunding campaign for reward money.
Mike says of his friend, “He was a homeowner, one-time business owner, and good friend to so many people in the Seattle area as he was born and raised here. … Stevie was loved by so many people of different race, religion, and status that many people are in serious pain right now. I started the Facebook page because I, like so many others, are in serious pain because of his loss.”
(Photo added 3:07 pm, with clouds moving back in)
Noticed that the Olympic Mountains are visible today from areas of West Seattle with a west/northwest view, but it’s something of an unusual view – their peaks are barely snowcapped. In case you wondered about it too, we’re sharing the link we found, from the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles – reporting that the Olympics’ snowpack is far below normal, compared to this time last year, when it was twice normal. The PDN report says the Cascades are doing better, but not by much.
Two development notes so far today:
2646 SW HOLDEN: First, a followup on our report last Saturday about the 18-house proposal for an acre and a half between SW Holden and SW Webster: The comment period is now officially under way, with an announcement in today’s Land Use Information Bulletin. The notice is here; the direct link to a comment form takes you here. The notice says comments are being accepted through January 15th.
5936, 5938 CALIFORNIA SW: Second, another project in north Morgan Junction that’s been making its way through the system since late November, replacing a 90-year-old house at 5936 California SW with two townhouses and three single-family houses.
The five 3-story units, with five offstreet parking spaces, are covered by four permit applications – the townhouses (fronting California) are here; the westernmost house is here (5938 A); the middle house is here (5938 B); the easternmost house is here (5938 C).
The lowrise-zoned site was sold four weeks ago to a builder in the Blueprint Capital co-op (whose website already lists the three houses as “under construction”). It’s a busy area, with two other nearby (but not related) projects of note: On the west, this site is almost directly across from the future microhousing site at 5949 California; on the east, it’s a few doors down the alley from the six townhouses proposed on church-owned land.
If you have resolved to read more in 2014 – supporting West Seattle authors is one way to get into the spirit. You can meet one tomorrow with the next chapter in the “Words, Writers, West Seattle” series. The author in the spotlight this time is Robert Spector, whose featured book has a theme that’s close to our hearts and many around here – small local independent business:
Next up in the “Words, Writers & West Seattle” series is West Seattle author Robert Spector, speaking about his book, The Mom & Pop Store: True Stories from the Heart of America (Walker Books, 2009).
This FREE presentation will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, at Barnes & Noble-Westwood Village. A question and answer opportunity as well as book signing will follow Spector’s presentation.
The Mom & Pop Store is a celebration of the history of small, independent retail and the story of how these shops thrive on attentive customer service and community support for local businesses. With the backdrop of the growing “buy local” movement across the country, Spector, who grew up working in his parent’s butcher shop, set out to discover the state, and the state of mind, of independent retailing in America.
(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Back to work today? Whether you are or not, normal schedules are resuming – Metro, for starters, is back to a regular weekday schedule today. The Water Taxi is back in service.
First – please allow us a moment to thank you and EVERYONE for traffic/transit coverage collaboration in 2013 – especially bus riders and carpool passengers who can safely and legally text/call/e-mail with real-time updates, but also those who use other ways to share as-it-happens information, procured perhaps via the view from a downtown office overlooking The Viaduct or a home overlooking The Bridge or a busy local road, or provided through a call or text when you get to your destination, sending word about a problem you passed. It’s all vitally important, as reinforced during big events including the doubled-deicer bridge closure one month ago today (second-most-commented WSB story of the year). So, on we go into 2014.
If you’re looking for more fun, fitness, education, and/or entertainment in the New Year – you just might find it in the ongoing programs and special events at our area’s city-run community centers. Every quarter, a brochure comes out listing what’s ahead at Alki, Delridge, Hiawatha, High Point, and South Park Community Centers, as well as at Southwest Teen Life Center and Southwest Pool. You can pick up a paper copy at any of those locations or scroll through the PDF version here.
Two events coming up this month, showcased by the centers: First – a new cooking/baking series kicks off with a challah-baking workshop at 5:30 pm Thursday, January 9th, at Delridge CC (see brochure page 18). Second – the popular Reptile Man at High Point CC, as part of the Fabulous Family Fun series, 10:30 am Saturday, January 18th, $5 per person if you pay in advance (see brochure page 4).
Thanks to Diane Ferrero in The Arroyos for sharing the photos of what appears to be a new start of sorts on part of the slope in the area (map). Diane wrote, “Looks like a patchwork quilt in the Arroyos. A crew came and worked for a couple of days removing all the noxious weeds and planting native plants. You can see each little plant is surrounded by a coffee-bean bag for protection. We are pretty sure that the city is trying to protect the Madrona trees in the Arroyos.”
More than seven acres of property in the area is city-owned. The madrona trees there and nearby are noted in this story we found in the Seattle Times (WSB partner) archives
Police have been searching near Delridge/Findlay (map) after reports of gunfire. No one is reported so far to have been hit/injured, but police at the scene told us they did find shell casings in the alley west of Delridge. One person who heard it told us it sounded like five rapid-fire shots. Officers are investigating reports of suspects seen running and/or driving away to the east. (Thanks to everyone who tipped us on this.)
(First two photos by Craig Young)
Looked to us like the biggest Alki Beach New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim yet!
Organizer Mark Ufkes (below) thought that was a fair assessment.
(This and subsequent photos/video by WSB’s Patrick Sand unless otherwise credited)
Here’s our video as the hundreds of participants took the plunge from 42-degree air into 46-degree water:
12:42 PM: More photos added, ahead:
As mentioned earlier – in case you weren’t well aware – the New Year arrived wrapped in a thick blanket of fog. If you had hoped to watch the Space Needle fireworks from West Seattle, as many do each year, it was all but impossible. This morning, we did get this lone photo from Ryan O’Keven (thank you!), who took it in the early seconds, before the fog thickened even more.
With everything else that happened last night, from New Year’s Eve celebrations to breaking news, you might have missed this: Ed Murray, former Alki resident, is now officially mayor of Seattle. Though his formal inauguration ceremony isn’t until next Monday, he was sworn in before family and friends at 7:30 pm last night, with husband Michael Shiosaki at his side in their home on Capitol Hill. His new official mayoral Facebook page has photos. The introduction notes, “Murray took the oath of office holding Michael’s hand and beads from a rosary his grandmother brought into this country when she immigrated here in 1905, atop a Bible from 1850 written entirely in Gaelic. The tie he wore was the same tie he wore when he first took the oath of elected office in 1996.” In addition to the Facebook page, a mayoral Twitter account is now launched at @Mayor_Ed_Murray and he’s released his first address to the city, on video. Everyone’s invited to the inauguration ceremony at City Hall, 3:30 pm Monday (January 6th). *Photo from mayoral Facebook page, republished with permission*
(Pigeon Guillemots, photographed in West Seattle by Mark Wangerin)
A brand-new year has taken wing! Welcome to 2014; here’s our roundup of what’s up:
LOOKING FOR COFFEE? Here’s our list featuring some coffee shops that told us they would be open today. (Businesses do sometimes change their mind about holidays after we check – so please let us know if you find a discrepancy.)
LOOKING FOR RESTAURANTS? Here’s that list. Same caveat as above.
TRANSIT/TRANSPORTATION: Metro buses are on a Sunday schedule … King County Water Taxis are NOT running today … The Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth state-ferry route is on a regular weekday schedule … Sound Transit buses are on a Sunday schedule … In the areas of the city with pay-station on-street parking, it’s free today.
New Year’s Day events:
TAKE A WALK: Any time between 9 am and noon, you can head out on a mapped 5K or 10K walk planned by Emerald City Wanderers, departing from St. John the Baptist Church. Details here. (California/Hanford)
TAKE THE PLUNGE: 10 am sharp (you’re advised to get there early), on Alki Beach across from Duke’s, join the annual Polar Bear Plunge/Swim/run-in-and-run-out event – details here. (58th/Alki)
P.S. So foggy at midnight, we hear the customary Space Needle fireworks views from West Seattle weren’t so great. Here’s the KING 5 video – foggy *AT* the Needle too, but the colorful official-broadcast view was the best available.
(WSB photo by Tracy Record, looking west on Barton from 15th, toward 16th)
11:27 PM: Seattle Police and Fire have rushed to 15th/Barton (map) in South Delridge to check out an assault-with-weapons report. (Thanks to the person who tipped us via text.) Will update as we find out more.
11:31 PM UPDATE: According to radio traffic, this is a shooting. The victim is described as a 35-to-40-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest, found unconscious, and undergoing CPR. The victim is being rushed to Harborview Medical Center. No information so far on the circumstances or any suspect(s).
11:40 PM UPDATE: Also from radio communications, there is a second victim – a female, shot in the hand.
12:14 AM UPDATE: Police say via Twitter they’re still searching for suspect(s); no word of even a description. We’re just back from a quick visit to the vicinity – very foggy, didn’t get too close, but close enough to report that Barton is taped off at 15th (top photo), while police and a loud crowd are focused on 16th and Barton. 16th is blocked off there too, so if you need to travel north-south in that area, use Delridge or 15th.
(This photo and others below by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
12:26 AM UPDATE: Christopher Boffoli is now at the scene for WSB and reports that SPD rifle officers are keeping a high profile at the scene.
1:12 AM UPDATE: Christopher reports police are “expanding the crime scene to the auto and brake service center across the street from the house where the shooting apparently occurred … it looks like they found bullet damage in the building and a vehicle parked out front.”
5:13 AM UPDATE: Still no information on the victims’ conditions; police have had a busy night all over the city, but we expect an update on this at some point this morning.
9:38 AM UPDATE: This has finally appeared on SPD Blotter, though the item includes few details not already reported here:
Detectives are looking for a suspect(s) who shot two people late last night in West Seattle.
On 12/31/13, just shortly after 11:00 p.m., the victims were at a social event at victim 2’s residence in the 9200 block of 16 Av SW when a disturbance broke out and shots were fired.
Victim # 1, a man in his 40′s was shot twice in the torso and sustained life threatening injuries. V#2, a 33-yr-old female was shot in one of her hands. Both victims were transported to Harborview Medical Center and admitted.Victim #1 was listed in critical condition.
Homicide, Gang Unit detectives and CSI responded and processed the scene. No suspect information available. The investigation continues.
12:04 PM UPDATE: According to the man’s family, he did not survive. That means this is West Seattle’s second homicide of 2013; the first was just two and a half weeks earlier, the killing of 46-year-old Nga Nguyen in her High Point residence – no arrest in that case yet either.
WEDNESDAY, 9:11 PM: Police also have now confirmed that the male victim died.
We originally drafted this story on Saturday, planning to finish and publish it on Monday. Then came The Big Power Outage, which now holds the title for “most-commented WSB story ever,” passing the previous titleholder, coverage of the November 22, 2010, snow/ice-pocalypse. As was the case with both those reports, comments on WSB stories are more often about community information-sharing than about opinions or observations, whether it’s a road report in a morning-traffic thread, or the simple “No power here/power’s back on here” updates from Monday. That said, our one-and-only look back at 2013 proceeds, with less than an hour left until 2014. It’s a Top 11 since we already had dug up the Top 10 before something new topped them all:
11: ‘Private’ fireworks display off Beach Drive, July 20, 2013 – 137 comments
10: Townhouses planned for ex-Charlestown Café site, June 4, 2013 – 143 comments
*Follow-up note: As reported here earlier this month, this project finally debuts at Design Review on January 23rd.
9: Impending opening of Bada Bistro, March 12, 2013 – 144 comments
*The announcement declared “We don’t serve merlot.” The discussion caught fire from there. The restaurant closed after less than five months.
7/8 (tie): Alan Polevia spotted in Shorewood, hours-long helicopter search ensues, March 5, 2013 – 145 comments
*After serving about four months of a six-month sentence, Polevia got out of jail October 21st. He spent a day back behind bars in early November for a DUI warrant.
7/8 (tie): Bicyclist killed on East Marginal, May 1, 2013 – 145 comments
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
This edition of The WSBeat contains summaries written from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers – generally cases that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block?” Or on the bridge, or the beach, or …
*Just after midnight on the 24th, officers were called to a beach fire at Alki. While they were happy to see that it was in one of the burn pits, they were less happy to see a propane tank in the middle of the blaze. A fire crew came to take care of the situation and asked officers to make a suspicious circumstances report.
Four more summaries ahead, including a drive-by purse-snatching:Read More
(October 2012 reader photo, by Katina, taken in an Admiral neighborhood)
An unexpected phone call this New Year’s Eve: Aaron the federal wildlife agent called to ask us to share another reminder about keeping your dog(s) safe from coyotes. “We are seeing an increase in coyote calls concerning predation on small dogs at night in West Seattle,” he said. “It’s easily prevented by going out with the small dogs at night as they are let out to relieve themselves. It sounds like simple advice, because it is, and can really help keep your small dogs safe. Removing this attraction can help keep coyotes focused on more natural food sources.”
This is the same advice Aaron offered in another phone call last July, which followed his appearance before the Highland Park Action Committee two months earlier. As we wrote then, he says that even dogs staying in their own yards might be “coaxed” by coyotes to come to the edge of the yard, where the larger canines can grab them. As for cats? As with dogs, if they’re outside and unaccompanied, they’re at risk.
He told us tonight he wants to get this advice out again “to (help) keep coyotes wild in our part of the city.” And they’re out there – if you haven’t seen our coverage before, five years of sightings are archived here). Sightings we’ve heard about this month include:
*Early morning, near Fauntleroy Church/YMCA
*Late morning, 9700 block 30th SW, “jumped our back fence and headed east towards 28th and Safeway”
*Early evening, California Lane (North Admiral)
*Early afternoon, crossing Fauntleroy Way at SW Rose Street: “Moving up from the park into the neighborhood”
What if you come face to face with one? Best advice: Scare it away. That too will help keep them wild, which is what’s best for them, us, and our pets, experts stress, over and over again. More advice here.
Tomorrow morning, among those who have told us they plan to take the (polar) plunge into Puget Sound, you’ll find Kayleen Dunson – the West Seattleite who is Umpire in Chief for the Seattle Metro Area Softball Umpires Association. She tells WSB her first year in that role has been great “We trained more umpires than ever before … sent 20 umpires to work National and/or State tournaments (and one umpire who got to work the World Cup of Softball), and made everything about umpiring more FUN!” They got regional/national media attention, too. But she’s particularly proud of Shani Neamen, a recruit who won the “Rookie Umpire of the Year” award.
Kayleen shares the story:
When Shani Neamen read about the need for Softball Umpires on the West Seattle Blog in January, she decided to give it a try. She joined the Seattle Metro Softball Umpires Association, went through the top-notch training program, and became a certified softball umpire. She had a blast, and did a great job – and in October she was chosen as the Seattle-Tacoma region’s “Rookie Umpire of the Year.”
Another semi-high-profile West Seattle case is closing with a plea bargain: This time, it’s 20-year-old Sean Jeardoe, first mentioned here in early July after being arrested in a stolen truck spotted in the West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) parking lot by a reader who remembered seeing a WSB Crime Watch story about the truck. This reader-contributed photo from that day is the only one we have of him:
Charges weren’t filed against Jeardoe until September, as reported here, and by then he also was under suspicion in other crimes, including burglaries on Vashon Island. In all, documents say he confessed to 22 burglaries all over King County, from Shoreline to Issaquah to Vashon to Tukwila. Stolen property from many of them was found in a Sunrise Heights trailer and a White Center apartment, both places where he had been staying.
Yesterday afternoon, Jeardoe pleaded guilty to 14 felonies – eight burglary charges, three auto-theft-related charges, and three counts of gun theft, with crime-scene addresses listed in court documents including West Seattle, North Seattle, Shoreline, Burien, and Vashon. Prosecutors are recommending a variety of concurrent sentences that would add up to eight and a half years (102 months) in prison. Jeardoe has served jail time before – including the 3 1/2 months he’s been in since his September arrest – but not prison time. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle on February 7th.
P.S. The woman arrested with him in July and September and described repeatedly in court documents as “his pregnant girlfriend,” 34-year-old Jessica Detrick, has nothing showing on her record since she spent five days in jail in September. As we reported then, she was released after pleading guilty in a 2012 burglary case, which shows as the most recent case filed against her in King County – no charges appear from either of the arrests this year.
(New Year’s Day 2013 photo by Nick Adams)
Four people have asked about it in the past half-hour, so we’re thinking more than a few missed our first word on December 22nd that the Alki Beach Polar Bear Swim is definitely ON again tomorrow. So – here’s the reminder! 10 am New Year’s Day, gather on the beach across from Duke’s (map); better to be early than late, says organizer Mark Ufkes. As he observes, “This is a great way to wash away the complexities of 2013 and welcome the unlimited possibilities of 2014.”
12:42 PM: Third one in five days in West Seattle, by our count – thanks to Nancy for the photo from 112th/Marine View Drive (map), where a Seattle Public Utilities crew has just arrived to fix a reported pipe problem. This follows Delridge and Gatewood trouble (reported here Monday). We are seeking more information from SPU, and will update with whatever we hear back.
ADDED 2:55 PM: We asked SPU’s Ingrid Goodwin about both this situation and the 41st/Frontenac one, which was still under investigation when we talked with her yesterday:
Crews just finished (about 1 pm) the leak repair on 41st and Frontenac. The leak was on a service line, not the water main.
The water main break on 112th and Marine View Drive is on a 4″ pipe. Crews are onsite making the repair now.
It’s not unusual for there to be leaks and small breaks on a daily basis throughout the City. Seattle does have aging infrastructure and some of the pipes are nearly 100 years old. Our crews stay busy with maintenance, repair and upgrades to the system.
(January 1, 2013, Space Needle fireworks, photographed by David Hutchinson)
Happy final day of 2013! Today’s highlights list focuses on some of your options for tonight, besides watching the fabled Space Needle fireworks, whether in person or on screen. You can get started before dark:
NEW YEAR’S EVE WALK: Any time between 4 and 7 pm, you can start a 5- or 10-kilometer West Seattle walk mapped out by the Emerald City Wanderers, starting at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church. Details in our preview, which notes the New Year’s Day walking plan, too. (California/Hanford)
Once it’s dark, you can start your night with one last look at some of West Seattle’s brightest Christmas-lights shows:
WEST SEATTLE LIGHTS FINALE: Tonight is closing night for the music-and-movement West Seattle Lights/Helmstetler Family Spectacular show.
Creator Jim Winder says you can help them hit a charity milestone:
Last Show Of The 2013 Season Is New Year’s Eve – Also your last chance to be involved in a momentous last four years of giving by the West Seattle Community!!!
West Seattleites (and those visiting from out of town) have been in a giving spirit since Christmas Eve as YOU have donated over $900 and 300 lbs of foodstuffs for our two charities…the West Seattle Food Bank and The Northwest Parkinson Foundation. Soooo…we are that much closer to collecting $10,000 for our two charities since 2010!!
Only $89 to go!! Thank you, West Seattle!!!!
Jim says this year’s giving has already passed last year’s total – $2,777 so far. Tonight’s schedule is 4 pm-midnight; if you’re not going tonight but you want to donate (everything goes to the nonprofits – nothing for show operations), you can do that online. What? Haven’t been? Find WS Lights at 39th and Charlestown.
WEST SEATTLE YULETIDE: This new music-and-movement display now has a name, and a website! Ken Iverson says they’ve dubbed the show at 4120 38th SW “West Seattle Yuletide”:
You’ll find WSY online at westseattleyuletide.blogspot.com, and Ken says the show IS on tonight.
MENASHE FAMILY LIGHTS: The biggest and brightest display in West Seattle is still on too! (5605 Beach Drive SW)
Then:
HIGHLAND PARK’S NOT-SO-SILENT NIGHT PARADE, FIRE PERFORMANCE, CORNER BAR: Highland Park Improvement Club is a one-stop shop for a multifaceted New Year’s Eve. The night starts with the parade, all ages, everyone welcome, leaving from the HPIC parking lot around 6:30 pm. Bring lights and noisemakers to parade through nearby neighborhoods:
Then it’s back to the lot for the Sage Comet Fire Performance, and then inside for HPIC’s special New Year’s Eve edition of the Corner Bar. Details on all of the above are here, as well as on the HPIC website. (12th/Holden)
Last but not least – bar parties! No matter where you prefer to drink, we bet they have a party. Here are the venues we have heard from:
SKYLARK: New Year’s Eve Prom Party with Baby Ketten Karaoke, starting at 8 pm – Facebook invite here. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
BAMBOO BENEFIT: Bamboo Grill on Alki is having a dance party starting at 8:30 pm and collecting donations for the American Cancer Society. Here’s the Facebook invite. (2806 Alki SW)
FEEDBACK LOUNGE: Fifth annual New Year’s Eve Party at The Feedback (WSB sponsor) with the Disco Cowboys, starting at 9 pm. Details in our calendar listing. (6451 California SW)
NEW YEAR’S EVE AT OUTWEST BAR: The lineup from OutWest: “A ‘White Party’! We’ll have a Video DJ, White Winter Jello Shots, a hosted Champagne Toast at midnight and a special guest vocalist to sing Auld Lang Syne.” (5401 California SW)
THE BENBOW ROOM: Live music starts at 9:30 pm – details in our calendar listing. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
And if you’d rather just take a walk on the beach:
LOW-LOW TIDE: -2.9 feet just before 10 pm, according to our favorite tide chart.
As for the Space Needle fireworks – just one word of advice: If you’re heading down to the north/northeast-facing shore to watch them from here – or one of the official viewpoints – do NOT wait until the last minute; in our experience, things start getting crazy by 10 pm.
(Click image for full-size view)
Just hours to go until the New Year, and that means time for reflection on the old one – individually and organizationally. WestSide Baby‘s executive director Nancy Woodland asked if we would share this with you:
As 2013 comes to a close, I’d like to thank the West Seattle community for its amazing support this year. We have increased our service by thousands of children, started to reach new neighborhoods and stretched ourselves to do more. Most of this is because of this community. While we continue to reach to other parts of Seattle for support, we want to pause and acknowledge what has happened locally. Individuals, families and children have collected 110,000 MORE diapers for us this year than in 2010. That’s incredible and, in large part, because of West Seattle!! Donations of new car seats have increased and we’ve been able to distribute 5,000 clothing bags mostly from the used items that come from the children prancing around our local parks and elementary schools.
Since opening our new rented facility in White Center in 2010, we have almost doubled the number of volunteer hours donated, from about 5,000 to nearly 10,000! This growth translates directly to increased impact all around King County and most of these volunteers come from within ten miles. In the last week, we’ve had to close down to item donations because of the requirement to do inventory (volunteers did most of that work too!) but we look forward to re-opening to item donations on January 2nd. Thanks to all for your patience in holding on to the things you’d like to clear out of your homes after the holidays.
On Sunday our constituents received an e-mail outlining the continued need for car seats, diapers, basics, and financial support. We focused on a poignant photo by (WSB contributor) Christopher Boffoli, that captured a rollover accident where an infant’s stroller was thrown from the car but the child had only minor injuries. I can only assume a car seat played a role in that.
The interconnectedness of everything we do it what makes WestSide Baby special. From local families, to local businesses to large corporations and foundations the combined support allow us to do what we do best, focus on the critical items to keep children safe, warm and dry. As Mary from Mom’s Plus agency shared with us, “We work with homeless families and it means so, so, so much to them to receive assistance with diapers. It means that they have extra money for food and other necessary expenses and it also means that they can change their babies diapers more often.”
If you want to know how you can be a part of what we do, please consider donating, signing up online to volunteer or to attend our big benefit Tea on February 9, telling someone else about us – even if they don’t live in West Seattle and please continue doing all the things you do – we need you as we grow. Thank you, West Seattle!
P.S. Today’s the last day to get an earlybird $35 ticket for the WS Baby Tea – go here.
Five years ago, when community members lobbied Metro to make sure RapidRide went all the way to Westwood instead of turning around at Fauntleroy, they didn’t envision what’s become a “wall of buses” alongside Roxhill Park. A new community council has since emerged, and park-safety concerns are high on its list. So today, Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council leaders took a group of visiting officials on what you might call a wall-to-wall tour.
It started and ended on the east side of Barton, alongside the park. This tour didn’t go into the park – though some of its challenges were well within view:
Liquor stolen from nearby stores – four places stock it in Westwood alone, plus Safeway on the other side of the park – is often consumed nearby, and the bus wall hides it from scrutiny. So WWRHAH suggests other places buses could lay over:
The tour around the outer perimeter of Westwood Village was led by WWRHAH chair Amanda Kay Helmick, above in purple, and secretary Joe Szilagyi, above in gray. Those who came along to see and hear about the situation included not only reps from Metro, but also from King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s staff, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s staff, the County Sheriff’s Office – which is responsible for Metro Transit Police – and Seattle Police, Seattle Parks, even state legislator Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (below at left), a frequent transit rider who told his stories of getting around Westwood:
One frequently noted problem, not enough light for people to get around safely at night, including at 25th and Trenton, near the bus holding/bus stop area on the east side of Westwood:
Pedestrian and driver safety is at stake too, with cars exiting onto 25th jutting out to see around the buses and other vehicles there:
At each stop, the WWRHAH leaders offered suggestions, as tour participants took notes. And each area offered its own challenge:
While that stretch along Barton has an official RapidRide area, it was noted that bus passengers also exit much further west along the block, in the layover zone, which is unlit. WWRHAH stressed that they’re not requesting lights for the entire park – but that stretch needs something; our photo below, taken December 4th, shows how dark it can get:
This tour was part of the followup to other exchanges WWRHAH has had with Metro and other agencies that have jurisdiction in the Westwood/Roxhill area; here’s a previous story with a detailed reply to WWRHAH from Metro’s GM Kevin Desmond. The council’s November meeting was centered on park concerns and potential solutions. No specific next steps were announced as this afternoon’s tour ended, but WWRHAH plans to continue pressing for action.
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