West Seattle, Washington
08 Wednesday
Sunrise Heights residents who thought they heard gunfire around 4:30 this morning have found proof, and police have gone back for further investigation. The report we received mentioned a yellow or light-colored “muscle car” at the time shots were fired near 32nd and Kenyon (map) – police got there fast, we’re told, but the car was gone. Then this morning, our tipster found spent casings (including the one shown above) and a needle in the gutter, across the street from the east wall of the Westside School campus:
They counted five, but just texted us to say that while police were there a short time ago, a sixth was found, all 9mm. No reports of injuries or property damage.
In a separate incident, we have a report from Tom in Highland Park, who reports three shots fired from a car last night around 10:30 pm at 15th and Holden (map), by the apartments that drew a major response back on Tuesday. The call is noted in an SPD auto-tweet but as with all auto-tweets, no further details.
One more Crime Watch note that does NOT involve gunfire – an Arbor Heights resident reports a house in the neighborhood was broken into during the day Friday, 39th and 106th (map), and urges “vigilance,” observing that it went unnoticed until the resident discovered it later.
(Red-breasted sapsucker, photographed by Trileigh Tucker)
Welcome to the first Saturday of spring! So much going on; the following is only part of what’s on the calendar:
TRAFFIC ALERTS – RAMP CLOSURES AND DELRIDGE DETOURS: Two traffic-alert reminders this weekend – from the east end of the West Seattle Bridge, the ramps to Northbound I-5 and Beacon Hill are closed all weekend as part of the I-5 Spokane St. Interchange Special Bridge Repair project. Also, if you aren’t a regular Delridge Way driver and therefore might not traveled this way since Wednesday, a reminder that the Delridge repaving project has moved to Phase 2 and southbound traffic is detoured around the Thistle-to-Trenton work zone.
FAIRMOUNT RAVINE CLEANUP, THE SEQUEL: Two weeks after their annual cleanup, Fairmount Ravine neighbors and friends are returning this morning to do what they couldn’t finish. You are invited to join them; meet at Fairmount and Forest (just east of the east side of Hiawatha) at 8;30 am.
SCOUTING FOR FOOD: Reminder that Boy Scouts might be in your neighborhood today leaving door-hangers about the Scouting for Food drive – details here.
SANISLO BOOK SALE: 10 am-2 pm, Sanislo Elementary has a book sale – and bake sale! – to raise money for its annual 4th-grade field trip to Camp Sealth on Vashon Island. 1812 SW Myrtle (map).
BOWL WITH THE COMMODORES: 10 am-noon, the Seafair Commodores raise money for the summer festival’s scholarship program, with their annual Bowl-A-Thon at West Seattle Bowl. Here’s our preview story.
SPRING SKI/GEAR SWAP: 10 am-6 pm, at the VFW Hall (3601 SW Alaska), sponsored by across-the-street Mountain to Sound Outfitters.
SPRING PETTING ZOO: 10:30 am-noon, drop by Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (2326 California; WSB sponsor) for “Zoo for You!”, a spring petting zoo with bunnies, chicks, chickens and guinea pigs. All welcome!
DELRIDGE GROCERY MEMBERSHIP LAUNCH/LUNCH: 11 am-1 pm, drop by Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW) and find out more about the Delridge Grocery co-op – including buying a membership!
STORY TIME AT BARNES & NOBLE: From Melissa at Westwood Village B&N –
Just wanted to let folks know that everyone’s favorite aardvark, Arthur, will be joining us for our storytime Saturday at 11 am! We’ll be reading “Arthur’s Pet Business” and “D.W. the Picky Eater”, as well as having treats and fun with Arthur!
MAYOR TOURS ADMIRAL DISTRICT: Mayor Mike McGinn has accepted the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s invitation to tour the district, and is scheduled to be here 1-2 pm today. The tour is set to start from Admiral Safeway (2622 California SW) and end at Alki Mail and Dispatch (47th/Admiral); see the detailed schedule here.
EAGLES’ BENEFIT DINNER FOR MAKE-A-WISH: Pot-roast dinner at the West Seattle Eagles‘ HQ to benefit Make-A-Wish Foundation, 5:30-7:30 pm.
JAZZ WITH YOUR DINNER @ LA ROMANZA: Live jazz starts at 6 pm for music during dinnertime at La Romanza Bistro Italiano in The Junction (4521 California SW; WSB sponsor) every Saturday night.
DOUBLE FEATURE: Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil’s Carnival, Episode 1, one night only at The Admiral Theater (2343 California SW), 7 pm – details and ticket link here.
TWILIGHT HOSTS apertureSTOP! A night of spoken word and photography at the gallery/boutique in The Junction (SW Alaska next to Easy Street), 8 pm – details in our listing.
LIVE MUSIC AND OTHER NIGHTLIFE: Follow these links to individual listings –
*Gary Benson at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW, WSB sponsor), 6 pm
*The Kings of Mongrel Folk, in concert at Kenyon Hall, 7:30 pm
*West Side Glory variety show @ Skylark, 8 pm
*Dead Sonics, Weird-Ons at Benbow Room, 9 pm
*A Leaf, “melody-based indie folk-rock,” at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 9:30 pm
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
Another beautiful night for comet-watching at Lincoln Park. This time, WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams was watching the comet-watchers – like Donovan Huhner, above. He and others came to south Lincoln Park in hopes of spotting Comet PanSTARRS:
The park’s south beach is where Alice Enevoldsen of Alice’s Astro Info and WSB’s monthly Skies Over West Seattle has been holding court on clear(-ish) nights, along with her husband Jason Gift Enevoldsen:
If you can’t make it to Lincoln Park, Alice has an online guide for where/how to look for Comet PanSTARRS, which she calls a “cute little comet.” As she wrote on WSB earlier this month, this is considered to be the “Year of the Comet,” so there’s a lot more viewing to come.
Keep an eye on Alice’s Twitter feed (and ours) for updates on viewing opportunities while PanSTARRS is still in sight. (Here’s how it looked last weekend.)
Nine turbulent months after leaving Harbor Island’s Vigor Shipyards, the Shell drilling rigs Kulluk and Noble Discoverer have both been loaded onto giant Chinese ships to be taken to Asian shipyards. They both were set to head back here late last year when trouble struck in a variety of ways, including the Kulluk running aground on an Alaskan island. The video above, from Earthjustice, shows Kulluk being loaded onto the Xiang Rui Kou at Dutch Harbor, Alaska (still there as of this writing, per MarineTraffic.com). Shell is quoted as saying it’ll be heading to Singapore. Kulluk was here more than a year before departing last June; the Noble Discoverer, which spent less time here (though they left the same day), was loaded aboard an identical Chinese “dry tow” ship, the Xiang Yun Kou, earlier this month, headed for Korea (here are photos and backstory on its previous trouble). Alaskan news organizations quote Shell as saying it won’t try again to drill in the Arctic before next year.
With the “microhousing” trend expanding to West Seattle, including a new Junction proposal for 31 units in 4 stories on a 3770-square-foot parcel, questions are coming up here that already have been raised in other parts of the city, and four councilmembers have announced a public meeting aimed at answers. Here’s the official announcement circulated today:
Seattle City Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen, Nick Licata, Sally J. Clark and Richard Conlin today announced a public meeting on micro-housing developments on April 18, in response to questions and concerns raised in several Seattle neighborhoods.
“Several Councilmembers and I are sponsoring a two hour meeting to review what is occurring due to the strong interest and concern we are hearing in the neighborhoods,” Councilmember Tom Rasmussen stated. “A portion of the meeting will include an opportunity for the public to provide comments and recommendations on what, if any, regulations should be enacted for this unique type of housing.”
Every spring, it’s one of the biggest benefit book sales we’ve seen – and tomorrow’s the day for Sanislo Elementary to welcome the community into the school to shop for something “new” to read! Organizers promise, “You’ll find great kids’ and adults’ books for wonderful prices! Bring extra change for the delicious bake sale. All proceeds will go toward the annual 4th-grade field trip to Camp Sealth on Vashon Island.” The sale runs 10 am-2 pm Saturday at Sanislo, 1812 SW Myrtle (map).
ROAD REPAIRS: When we reported last night that a city document showed repaving work scheduled for California SW between Holly and Myrtle (map), we promised a followup. We checked in with SDOT communications director Rick Sheridan, not just to verify that work, but to ask if anything else is coming up. The California SW paving work scheduled for 9 am-3 pm April 2nd and 3rd will be “spot repairs,” Sheridan verifies. As for the schedule ahead, he says “small-scale surface repair” is planned later in April for westbound SW 106th in Arbor Heights, between 35th and 37th SW. He says both of these projects are being paid for from the General Fund.
UTILITY PROJECT: As sometimes happens, when one note comes in with a question, another comes in simultaneously with an answer. Someone asked what’s happening with the road work in the 5000 block of California SW (near Rite-Aid); the reply is gas-line maintenance and it could close a lane, plus some of the parking, until the end of the month. It’s supposed to just happen between 9 am and 3 pm but our tipster reported seeing flaggers already set up with lane constriction at 7 am.
About this time yesterday, students from regional independent schools had arrived at West Seattle Stadium for a track meet – but were kept in their buses a while because of a situation that turned out to involve a (non-student) death. By the time we heard about it, the authorities were gone, and while there was NO indication of foul play, we have been working today to try to get more-conclusive information, to be certain. For starters, the person who originally tipped us yesterday has shared the note that an administrator sent to parents at one of the participating (non-West Seattle) schools:
Two ways to help fight hunger, through food drives this month:
WASHINGTON FEDERAL FOOD DRIVE: The photo shows Lisa Raymond setting up the food-collection spot at Washington Federal‘s Dakota/California branch north of The Junction. There and in Morgan Junction, they are part of the “Bankers Care” food drive through April 5th, collecting food for Northwest Harvest, which supplies local food banks. Just bring in non-perishable food to donate.
And tomorrow – watch for a notice on your door, about a different food drive:
SCOUTING FOR FOOD: West Seattle’s Troop 282 sends word that they and other Scouts “will be dropping off door tags to homes in the West Seattle area this Saturday, March 23rd, 8:30-10:30 am. They will come back the following Saturday, March 30th to collect food for the West Seattle Food Bank, 9 am-11 am. If you would like to donate and need a pick up, contact R Schulz, 206-890-2237.”
(added) Also collecting, West Seattle Boy Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs 284, 289, 793, and 799, according to a separate notice we received, which reminds us, “Remember (that food bank) donations made in March will go further because of the Feinstein Challenge. For the 16th consecutive year, Alan Shawn Feinstein will contribute $1 Million to help end hunger. So the more you contribute to the West Seattle and White Center Food Banks, the more he will match.” (That goes for April, too; here’s our original announcement.)
And see this comment about two area supermarkets where you can donate food tomorrow!
10:57 AM: We’re in the courtroom of federal bankruptcy judge Karen Overstreet downtown, where she has just announced she will approve the sale of West Seattle’s Allstar Fitness to Sam Adams – after a long and rambling hearing – in which she also said she will ask the US Attorney’s Office to investigate current club owner Bob Padgett for not notifying members of bankruptcy when filed last August, among other things. We’ve been tweeting live; details to come here.
11:19 AM: The hearing has ended. The judge expressed ongoing concern for members getting notice, from hereon out, about their rights, including those whose contracts don’t wind up being assumed by the new ownership, and their rights to file a claim in the Chapter 11 case. She asked the bankruptcy trustee to look into a way to point members to a court website where they could read documents and notices. Trustee Richard Hooper also promised the judge that he will be posting a notice at the club this afternoon to notify members of the sale. We will expand this coverage with play-by-play from the hearing as soon as we’re back at HQ.
ADDED 6:21 PM: The rest of today’s story – through the end of the court hearing, anyway (we’re interested in hearing from anyone who might have seen the new owner at the club today, and/or the promised notice to members – your comments and/or e-mail are appreciated):
Two reader reports in this West Seattle Crime Watch update. First, from Greg:
About 9:45 (last night), we heard a ‘bang’ outside our home at 39th & Othello and a very loud vehicle speeding off (sounded like a V8 to me). Our friend’s car was hit and badly damaged; the right front quarter panel destroyed among other things. When I ran outside I heard the vehicle speeding south … The damage would be on the right front side of that vehicle. Any tips can be relayed to SPD, I can give the case number as necessary.
David e-mailed to report somebody paintballing his car, and then had an addendum:
Awoke to find our car had been ‘paintballed’ (Wednesday) night – – bright globs of yellow gunk all over. Vicinity of Trenton & 32nd. … (Later) while cleaning the paint off my car, several neighbors came by and reported four car prowls this week in the same vicinity, one of which occurred while they were unloading plants from their little SUV. While their back was turned, someone dived in the cab and made off with CDs, work keys, and a McDonald’s container of soda pop. Didn’t have their back turned twenty seconds – – unbelievable!
Next crime-related meeting is Tuesday (March 26), 6:30 pm, West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network (Southwest Precinct, Delridge/Webster) – watch the WSBWCN website for an agenda announcement soon.
(Thursday’s sunrise, by Don Brubeck, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Bundle up! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar – where you will find even MORE of what’s up today/tonight:
ONE MORE TRAFFIC-ALERT REMINDER: 10 pm tonight through 5 am Monday morning, the West Seattle Bridge ramps to northbound I-5 and Beacon Hill are closed for the Spokane Street Interchange Bridge Repair project. Info and detour suggestions here.
WEST SEATTLE GARDEN CLUB: Monthly meeting 10 am-2 pm today at Daystar (2615 SW Barton) – including a 1 pm presentation on ephemerals. Details in the calendar listing.
RAINBOW BINGO: This time the theme is “Dress Like Your Favorite Celebrity.” Doors open at 6, bingo at 7 at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon in The Junction).
‘SILENCE IS LOUD’: At Dubsea Coffee in White Center’s Greenbridge neighborhood tonight, a student project shines a light on suicide prevention during a night of art and performance – 7-9 pm, details in our listing.
NIGHTLIFE TONIGHT: Our listings include (follow the links)
*Sid Law at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 6
*Triangular Jazztet at Duos, 7:30
*Three bands at Skylark, 8
*The Slags and Apehead at Poggie Tavern, 8:30
*Midnight Factories, Skyline Divine at Benbow Room, 9
DEADLINE FOR SCULPTURE ARTISTS: Today’s the deadline to submit a Statement of Qualifications if you are interested in Seal Sitters‘ “Year of the Seal” project – here’s our previous story with details.
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
If you head north to Snohomish County in your commute – they’ve been hit with snow, but nothing here. Here’s one example:
Again, that’s SNOHOMISH COUNTY – not us.
WEEKEND CLOSURES: Another reminder for tonight through Monday morning – the I-5 Spokane St. Interchange Special Bridge Repair Project will close ramps from the West Seattle Bridge to northbound I-5 and to Beacon Hill.
IF YOU NOTICE MORE POLICE DOWNTOWN – and in fact, Deborra already asked us about this, seeing a motorcade – SPD has tweeted “The Irish Prime Minister is in town, thus the reason for the increased police presence downtown.”
When demolition equipment dug into the century-old house at 4526 41st SW (map) on Thursday, it wasn’t the start, but more like the end to the process. To find out more about the forthcoming four-townhome project, previously mentioned here last September, WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli talked with owner/developer Zoran Brlecic (below left), who lives across the alley:
Christopher reports:
He said the house was built in 1907 and that they spent months dismantling and giving away whatever could be re-used, including the back deck, which was meticulously disassembled over the course of a week before being hauled away. Zoran says he thinks the house may have been one of the first on the block to convert from coal to burning gas. The house’s gas furnace from the 1950s was still in good working order before it was removed.
Zoran and his wife left their native Croatia just a couple of years before the war broke out in the ’90s. They immigrated to Canada, where they were able to get work visas and then later got refugee status. Ultimately they moved to Ohio and then to Seattle. Zoran says that if this goes well he plans to continue developing properties. He said this property is being built green with a number of features to control water run-off from the property. They hope to have the project completed in nine months.
It went through the “streamlined design review” process; the informational packet remains online. When it’s done, Brlecic told Christopher, he plans to move into one of the new units.
(Ben Wexler pitching)
Another win for West Seattle High School‘s baseball team, reports parent Greg Slader, sharing photos and this summary:
The varsity baseball team improves to 2-1 on the season. Seven pitchers combined to hold Lakeside to one run. Spencer Elder had two hits as the offense executed when they needed to, in order to score four runs. Next game is Saturday @ Safeco Field – 4 pm, come support your team!
(Kevin Cuddy pitching)
As noted in this comment earlier this week, the Saturday game is WSHS vs. Kentridge at the Safe, and admission is free.
Just discovered this in the West Seattle section of the weekly road-work update the city updates every Thursday – Lane closures are expected April 2nd and 3rd on California SW between Holly and Myrtle in south Morgan Junction/west Gatewood (map), because of repaving work. We’ll be following up with SDOT tomorrow to find out if this is “spot repaving” or something more extensive.
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
As always, the WSBeat summaries are from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers 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?”:
*At 39th and Oregon on the 17th, around 8 pm, a man driving by noticed another citizen being threatened by a man with a gun. He honked his car horn, and the suspect — along with a second man — ran off. The driver picked up the victim and drove him home while the victim called 911. Due to heavy foot traffic in the area, the K9 unit couldn’t pick up a good trail. The man with the gun was described as black, 22-29 years old, around 5’10”, wearing a dark hoodie. The other man (who stole the victim’s cell phone) was described as white, aged 22-29, about 6’2”, wearing dark clothing.
*On the 18th, in the 7300 block of 30th SW, a man found two young men peering into his car, which was warming up in the driveway. He asked, “Did you take something from my car?” In response, one youth turned and punched him four or five times. Officers tracked down two teens matching the description in the restroom at EC Hughes Park. The 15-year-old who threw the punches was booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of assault and for investigation of marijuana possession. The other, 16, was released to his parents.
Nine more summaries ahead:Read More
One of the clubs whose meetings are regularly featured in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, the West Seattle Cooking Club, is changing its schedule. It has long met mostly on Monday afternoons, but now it’s changing to every other Sunday, we’re told by WSCC’s Jenn Gibson. That starts with this Sunday, 3 pm, at Beveridge Place Pub, when the theme will be “breakfast cereal” – so you’re asked to make and bring something involving a recipe using breakfast cereal. Because of Easter, the next meeting will be three weeks after that (“Foods Inspired by the Movies” on April 14th), and we’ll have the rest of the calendar in ours – or check the WSCC website.
(8/14 note: To check whether a business is still a current WSB sponsor, please go here)
Today we welcome a new WSB sponsor, Vibrant Life Guided Wellness Programs:
West Seattle naturopath Dr. Katherine Oldfield and Bastyr-trained dietitian Michelle Babb have joined
forces to create Vibrant Life Guided Wellness Programs – a whole-foods based, anti-inflammatory program for weight management and optimal cardiovascular health. Dr. Oldfield (right) and Michelle (below right) facilitate and guide each 12-week program, bringing people together with similar challenges to receive professional guidance with the goal of health transformation from the inside out. The groups are purposefully kept small to facilitate sharing and to personalize the program. Most programs involve a three-week hormone-balancing cleanse or an anti-inflammatory cleanse. Michelle and Dr. Oldfield guide the re-introduction of the foods so that each participant learns how to eat a delicious whole-foods diet that optimizes their health, increases energy, reduces joint pain, and promotes long-term weight management. Depending on the program, Katherine and Michelle share their knowledge on topics that range from inflammation to menopause, 
but most importantly they integrate their passion for food and give practical tips that set their program participants up for success. The programs always include cooking demos, guest speakers and hands-on activities.
We all know it’s important to eat more vegetables, cut down on the junk food and get some exercise, but knowing and doing are two different things. Vibrant Life helps people achieve those goals and make lifelong change. “The most rewarding part of this program is seeing people who have been chronic dieters change their relationship with food, lose weight and learn to be truly healthy without dieting,” said Michelle. “And I get to see the evidence of how these changes affect our class participants when labs come back showing better blood sugar control and decreased cholesterol” added Dr Oldfield. The Vibrant Life philosophy is that weight loss is not just a calories-in, calories-out equation. The type of food matters, and there are a multitude of other factors that influence weight including exercise, sleep, hormone imbalance and stress management. All of these factors are addressed in the 12-week programs. Vibrant Life’s co-founders both live and have their individual practices in West Seattle. Dr. Oldfield says “We may not be as intriguing as the story about catamarans with couches, or as riveting as the recent estate sale robbery, but anybody who takes one of our classes can expect to learn a whole new way of eating and approaching health and have fun doing it.”
For more info or to take the quiz and see what program is right for you, visit www.vibrantlifeseattle.com.
We thank Vibrant Life Guided Wellness Programs for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
Even before a flurry of inquiries wondering what we knew about that sign on the lower level of The Residences at 3295 – the finally-almost-done building on the southeast corner of 35th/Avalon – we’d been trying to reach the former proprietor of Redline Music and Sports, to ask if it meant his plan to “resurrect” Redline was itself revived. (It was in the works two years ago – till the building changed owners.) Today, we found a partner in the business who says, only in name. A restaurant is indeed opening there under the name Redline WS, Michael Bauer told WSB’s Katie Meyer. And former Redline proprietor Scott Goerig is involved – managing and marketing Redline WS, Bauer says. But otherwise, according to Bauer, it’ll be an all-ages family restaurant with TVs showing sports events all day long, and a menu featuring pizza and burgers, “typical Americana.” In the morning, he says, it will likely have more of a coffee-shop feel because of the major bus stops nearby. Redline WS is targeting a June opening – but things could change, so stay tuned.
2:52 PM: We’ve heard that other parts of West Seattle have had off-on hail/graupel/sleet etc. this afternoon, and it’s finally arrived here in Upper Fauntleroy. Ground-covering, even! Photo in a moment.
2:58 PM: And now … it’s sunny!
3:34 PM NOTE: This might not be the end of the unstable weather – the National Weather Service renewed the alert just before that icy shower hit. (Still sunny as we write, though.)
(UPDATED THURSDAY EVENING with new comments from prospective club buyer Sam Adams, and another “response” document – both updates added at end of story)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Continuing our coverage of Allstar Fitness‘s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, there are new developments as the proposed sale of the 
club’s assets goes before a federal judge downtown tomorrow morning:
More than 50 responses and/or objections to the sale motion have been filed, according to our most recent check of the online docket. We haven’t read all of them yet; most appear to be from individuals, with one exception: GRE 509 Olive LLC.
Its objection involves both the sale and the purchase. You can read it in its entirety here; while we’ve been working on this story, a response has been filed as well – a response saying that if the sale is not approved, the bankruptcy will go to Chapter 7 and the club will close, and had already been on the brink of closing in January.
First, excerpts from the objection:
At the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s past few meetings, they’ve talked about plans to get Mayor McGinn to The Admiral District for a walking tour – and it’s finally set. This Saturday afternoon, a delegation including ANA president David Whiting plans to take him from Admiral Safeway to Alki Mail and Dispatch in the span of an hour or so, starting at 1 pm, with issues to be discussed including development and safety.
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