West Seattle, Washington
16 Tuesday
The weekend after this year’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service – one service project continued today at Denny International Middle School: A three-level stairwell mural celebrating where the students have come from, and where they’re going. On the first level – the 6th graders’ floor – a reminder to never forget your roots:
On the second level, the 7th graders’ floor, a work in progress honoring the scholars as they take shape and grow up:
And on the third level, the 8th graders’ floor, the art parallels their growth as they get ready to take flight (to the left of the totem pole, we’re told, the Space Needle will be depicted):
According to Seattle Public Schools, MLK Day of Service work at Denny, with other beautification projects as well as the mural, included district/school personnel and CityYear team members, as well as volunteers from Starbucks.
Police say they started trying to pull over that car in West Seattle after discovering it was stolen – but it didn’t stop until it crashed into a pole outside the White Center Taco Time at 16th and 102nd. That’s all we know so far – we saw one person being arrested at the scene; scanner traffic suggested at least one other person had fled and was being sought. More info as we get it.
Thanks to Toni T. for sharing the gleaming downtown view from tonight’s sunset. That gives us the opportunity to add three photos received Friday night but put on hold because of semi-breaking news:
That photo and the next one are by Annika Bowden.
And here’s one by John Hinkey (who also contributed the swimmer/boarder view in today’s calendar preview), with a Bremerton ferry rounding southeast Bainbridge Island:
Rain’s on the way back, per the newest forecast.
If you weren’t part of the standing-room-only crowd at The Whale Trail‘s speaker-series launch two nights ago at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) – good news – “Diver Laura” James, who also participated on behalf of toxic-runoff-fighting Tox-Ick.org, recorded video of the orca presentation by Mark Sears! (Next Whale Trail guest speaker: Lynne Barre from NOAA Fisheries on February 21st, 6:30-9 pm, again at C & P.)
(Photo by Cathy Jaramillo)
If you haven’t already spotted this event in the WSB calendar – it’s time to step up and sign up to be part of Stairway Walks Day on February 9th, with volunteer Feet First Neighborhood Walking Ambassadors leading walks on routes from West Seattle-residing Cathy and Jake Jaramillo‘s new book “Seattle Stairway Walks.” Three of the routes are in West Seattle, and while the guided walks are free, you have to sign up because there’s a cap on participants – same goes for the routes in other neighborhoods, in case you want to take the opportunity to celebrate public stairways off the peninsula. Just go to this page on the Brown Paper Tickets website and sign up for free “tickets” for whichever walk interests you (preview the routes here) – they all run 10 am-noon on Saturday 2/9, two weeks from today.
That’s the “instrument petting zoo” from the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra‘s “Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday” event today at Chief Sealth International High School (2600 SW Thistle), a celebration of symphonic music for and by students – including the SYSO’s free mini-concert:
Afterward, SYSO musicians coached students from the eight participating Southwest-region schools – we peeked in on one session in Sealth’s Little Theater, where Alex and Jack from SYSO were working with viola players:
(WSB was a media sponsor for today’s event.) Find out more about SYSO and its programs at syso.org!
Seattle Lutheran High School‘s basketball teams play at Crosspoint Academy in Kitsap County this afternoon – after facing the 2B division leaders from Bear Creek School at home last night. BC won both games – 34-13 over the girls (stats here), 54-41 over the boys (stats here).
The week ahead is busy, too – the Saints are on the road against Chief Leschi on Tuesday, then back home Thursday to play Auburn Adventist Academy (SLHS alumni get free admission that night).
(Spotted off Alki on Friday by John Hinkey)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar for today/tonight:
SOUTHWEST SEATTLE SUPER STRING SATURDAY: Today’s the day, 10 am-1 pm at Chief Sealth International High School (2600 SW Thistle), including a free 10:30 am mini-concert – everyone’s invited! – by musicians of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, which is presenting this event, and coaching for young musicians who are part of SYSO’s local school programs. (WSB is a media sponsor of this event.)
STORYTIMES: At 11 am, Barnes and Noble at Westwood Village, Melissa says, “Skippyjon Jones will be hanging out with us! Everyone’s favorite chihuahua wannabe will be there to shake paws and make friends while we read his stories!” … And at 11:30 am, it’s Vietnamese storytime at Delridge Library (Delridge south of Brandon) – details here.
OVERWHELMED BY DEBT? Come talk about it in a conversation sponsored by Occupy West Seattle, noon at Dubsea Coffee (8th SW in Greenbridge, just south of Roxbury), details here.
OPEN HOUSE: Bright Beginnings preschool at Hiawatha Community Center (2700 California SW) welcomes interested families today, 1-3 pm.
JUNIOR ROLLER DERBY: 5 pm tonight, the West Seattle-founded Derby Brats’ Galaxy Girls – one of the top junior derby teams in the world – host another top team, the Portland Rosebuds, at Southgate Roller Rink; details here.
DAUGHTERS OF THE DEAD SEA AT SKYLARK: The West Seattle band headlines tonight’s slate at Skylark Café and Club (3803 Delridge Way SW), 8 pm.
Much more for today/tonight on the calendar!
8:59 AM: Today’s the day for the city’s first gun “buyback” – an invitation to citizens to turn over unwanted/unneeded firearms in exchange for compensation – in 20-plus years. It’s happening 9 am to 3 pm in a parking lot at 600 7th Avenue downtown [map], but could end earlier if they run out of the gift cards that are being offered. They’re also offering gift cards for “high-capacity magazines,” but only if turned in along with the weapon for which they were procured. The full FAQ about today’s event is here on the website of the Seattle Police Foundation. Among the sponsors/donors enabling today’s event is West Seattle’s Nucor, where the city says the guns will be melted down, to be turned into rebar.
3:27 PM: Big turnout, says SPD, though no total will be made public till a mayoral news briefing Monday.
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Police now say the Roxhill Park incident reported here earlier involved the arrests of eight teenagers, and they’re investigating whether any are linked to the holdups earlier this week. From Jonah Spangenthal-Lee‘s update tonight on SPD Blotter:
Southwest Precinct officers seized a gun, impounded two cars, and arrested eight teenagers in Roxhill Park Friday evening, and are now investigating possible connections between the teens and several burglaries and robberies, including two recent armed muggings in Roxhill Park.
Following the muggings earlier this week, Southwest Precinct officers stepped up patrols around the park.
Today, around 4 pm, patrol officers noticed a dozen teens milling around the area of the park where gunmen had robbed two groups of middle schoolers.
When police tried to contact the group of a dozen teens Friday evening, several of them took off running. Officer were able to catch up to eight of the teens, who are all between 14 and 18 years old.
Officers arrested and booked an 18-year-old man into the King County Jail on a weapons charge after police found a handgun and a box of ammo in the car he’d been driving. Officers released the seven other teens at the scene, but police are now examining links between several of the teens and several robberies and burglaries in the West Precinct.
Police also seized two cars from the park and are obtaining warrants to search the vehicles. At least one of the cars may be associated with a recent robbery case.
This all actually started unfolding before 4 pm; the release of seven suspects corresponds to what Det. Jeff Kappel told us this afternoon. Our first report on Wednesday afternoon focused on the Tuesday robbery of middle-schoolers in the park; later on Wednesday, police revealed a similar holdup had happened Sunday. The victims included students of Denny International Middle School, whose principal Jeff Clark sent a letter to school families later Wednesday; a more widely distributed letter came yesterday from regional Executive Director of Schools Carmela Dellino, including safety tips.
ADDED 11:16 PM: The 18-year-old suspect is facing charges of carrying a concealed pistol without a license and being a minor in possession of a pistol, both misdemeanors, with bail set at $1,000 for each charge, $2,000 total. His prior Seattle appears to include mostly driving violations, but a Pierce County record accessed online says he was arrested a week ago in Pierce County on suspicion of burglary and possession of a stolen gun.
ADDED 4:31 PM SATURDAY: According to the King County Jail Register, the suspect is out of jail as of about three hours ago.
Nothing new yet on the Roxhill Park investigation from this afternoon – but here’s what else came in today:
ADMIRAL ASSAULT: The victim does not want to be named, but wonders if anybody knows the suspect (do NOT post the info in comments if you do – contact the police, with the number you’ll see in a few paragraphs):
Last night at the Yen Wor, right after last call, I was assaulted by a man outside of the bar. He followed me across the street where my car was parked and basically beat me at a boxing match (I stink at boxing). The punches were well-targeted and strong, and I have several stitches under my left eye where my glasses broke and cut into my skin and both eyes are black and blue.
The assailant is a white military-looking guy in his mid to late 20’s, in muscular shape and standing about 5′ 7″. He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with red “NRA” lettering on the front and some kind of patriotic/flag/eagle on the back and a black Marine-style stove pipe hat with a pin on the front. He has close cropped hair, again very much looking like he’s fresh out of, or wishing he still was in, the military. There’s really no better way to describe him, he looks like he’s on leave from the Marines.
Again, the assault happened on the north side of College, in the parking lot behind the Blockbuster. … I gave chase north on Admiral and called 911, but he’s way faster than me and he had something to run from. If you know who this is, please share his name/location with Southwest Precinct. The police report is 2013-027975.
STOLEN CARS: Two to report:
*For the second time in six months, Cari‘s been hit by car theft near 40th and Edmunds on the east side of The Junction. This time, green ’96 Subaru Legacy wagon, WA plate AIU7166. Another Subaru was stolen from her there last year and found on Capitol Hill three days later. The car stolen overnight has gray bumpers/fenders, a Luna Park sticker on the right sun visor, and “lots of old 80s/90s rock cassettes inside.” Any sightings, call 911.
*From Gloria – a car stolen AND a car found. First, this 1996 Honda was stolen from the 8100 block of 13th SW on Wednesday:
Then, she says, it was found Thursday in the 4100 block of 20th SW on Pigeon Point, “stripped of front-rear bumpers, front fenders, hood, middle console. Obviously it was stripped very quickly, recovered less than 24 hours after having been stolen. And somewhere nearby. There has to be a neighbor that is noticing suspicious behavior in a garage in their area.”
Minutes after Gloria sent us that report, she found out that a family friend was hit by auto theft last night in the 9000 block of 5th SW – the missing vehicle is a green ’98 Honda Civic, license plate 767 JEN.
Finally, two reports of prowling and other suspicious activity, plus car prowlers – after the jump:Read More
Thanks to Jess for noticing a sign that the delayed start of work on the two-building Equity Residential development at 42nd/Alaska/California is NOT imminent: Part of the site is being turned into a pay-to-park lot. It’s been six months since the businesses formerly on the site had to clear out. In November, the development team had told WSB they expected to start demolition right after Christmas; then when we checked in a month ago, they said it would be “early (this) year” instead. So with the parking-lot striping, we renewed our inquiry with project spokesperson Sierra Hansen, who replied:
As we mentioned earlier this month, the start of construction has been delayed at the site. In the meantime, Equity has decided that there might be interest by Junction visitors to use the parking lot on the east part of the block, and are contracting with Diamond manage the lot until construction starts.
On a related note, they discovered signs of trespassing and will be hiring a security firm to patrol and monitor the buildings until demolition.
The site had been long held by Eastside-based Conner Homes, which shepherded the development plan through the approval process, and then sold it to Chicago-based Equity for $11 million in December 2011. No new date for the expected start of work.
4:10 PM: Thanks for the tips about the helicopter. The only thing working in the area right now is that police are investigating a suspicious vehicle and one possible suspect in the Roxhill Park area. NO new robberies or other crimes – and they’re not saying exactly what was suspicious about this car. At one point, they were checking out three cars and eight people – but Det. Jeff Kappel tells us only one vehicle and one 18-year-old remain under investigation. More as we get it. We had already been to the scene to check it out before the helicopter(s) turned up – have added a photo from that stop – and have since gone back to see if there’s anything new.
4:40 PM: The helicopter departed; the vehicle was being towed from the park.
(Admiral Neighborhood Association rally/tribute at 47th/Admiral in 2011)
The Admiral contingent trying to get a traffic signal at 47th SW and SW Admiral Way has just cleared a hurdle – the Southwest District Council has recommended their project “for further evaluation” as a potential Neighborhood Street Fund grant recipient. Admiral Neighborhood Association past president Katy Walum, who pitched the project to SWDC at its meeting this month (WSB coverage here), shared a letter from SDOT’s Therese Casper, excerpted here:
… Your proposal, and 38 others, will be investigated over the next several months to help determine whether it will be designed and built in this third of three NSF rounds under the current Bridging the Gap levy. I will be working with a consultant to develop a preliminary design and cost analysis during this period and it is possible I will contact you at some point to clarify questions or help define alternative approaches.
The results of our evaluations will be returned to you, and to the District Councils in June for ranking, after which the Bridging the Gap Oversight Committee will determine the overall ranking of projects across the city in July and August. Those projects ultimately selected will typically be designed in 2014 and built in 2015 (though some might be completed sooner). …
ANA and others have been working to get the intersection considered for a signal; crashes there have included City Council staffer Tatsuo Nakata being hit and killed by a driver while crossing there six years ago. As Walum told SWDC earlier this month, SDOT has said the signal could cost anywhere from $125,000 to $500,000, and while they have it on their list, 11 signals are ahead of it – unless something else accelerates funding, such as this grant program.
Meantime, we’re checking to see which of the other four projects pitched to SWDC are advancing.
12:18 PM: Thanks to Kendall Jones from the West Seattle-headquartered Washington Beer Blog for the tip that the new West Seattle Brewing Company has just announced its “first commercial sale” – its “West Pale” has just been tapped at A Terrible Beauty in The Junction. WS Brewing Company is the beer-making enterprise that took over the former Tervo’s/Corner Market spot in The Triangle, as reported here last July. But don’t go THERE to try their brew – it’s not open to the public. Terrible Beauty IS (at Edmunds/California).
8:20 PM: If you’re just seeing this now – all gone, reports WSBC.
Two youth-music notes today:
First, whether you’re interested in enjoying a mini-concert, exploring youth-music resources, or both, tomorrow’s the day for the free Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday event, presented by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra at Chief Sealth International High School (2600 SW Thistle), including a mini-concert by the SYSO:
The community is invited to hear the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO) perform excerpts from (its recent) Benaroya Hall concert at a free mini-concert on January 26th at 10:30 am at Chief Sealth International High School Auditorium.
After the mini-concert, Seattle Youth Symphony musicians will mentor younger musicians who participate in the SYSO in the Schools program at Arbor Heights, Concord, Gatewood, Roxhill, Sanislo, Highland Park and West Seattle Elementary schools, as well as at Denny International Middle School. These student musicians will have the opportunity to participate in master classes, chamber ensemble demonstrations, and play side-by-side with Seattle Youth Symphony. SYSO thanks media sponsors West Seattle Blog and Classical KING-FM for their support of Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday. For more information about the event, contact Kathleen Allen, SYSO Director of Education, Communication and Partnerships at kathleen@syso.org or 206.362.2300.
You can find out more about SYSO here.
Second, band musicians from Denny and Sealth presented the schools’ third and final winter concert last night, and Denny principal Jeff Clark shared photos:
(Those are the Denny Beginning and Junior Bands.) He says it was a great night:
What a thrill it was to hear the fantastic music performed by our amazing bands at Denny and Sealth (Thursday) evening. Equally impressive as the sound of the music was the number of our scholars performing: 73 in the DIMS Beginning and Junior Band, 70 in the DIMS Senior Band, 19 in the DIMS Jazz Band, and 70 in the CSIHS Symphonic Band! Music is thriving in our pathway thanks to our outstanding students, families, and teacher, Mr. Pimpleton!
More photos ahead:
(Ducks on Longfellow Creek, by Flickr member old desolate, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Got your ducks in a row for today/tonight? Some of the highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
WEST SEATTLE GARDEN CLUB: 10 am-2 pm at Daystar (2615 SW Barton) – here’s the lineup for today’s meeting, which you’re welcome to join, even if you’re not a member.
RAINBOW BINGO: Didn’t get enough “Ugly Sweater” excitement during the holidays? It’s the theme for tonight’s Rainbow Bingo at the Senior Center of West Seattle (WSB sponsor). Doors open at 6 pm if you’re interested in buying dinner; 7 pm, bingo. Details here – including how to call to be sure there’s still room!
PATSY CLINE TRIBUTE: 8 pm at Kenyon Hall (7904 35th SW), with David Duvall and Meg McLynn – details here, including reservation info.
SWEET SWEET MUSIC: 8 pm tonight at Fauntleroy Church’s Fellowship Hall (after the farewell dinner for longtime Pastor David Kratz) – details here.
LOTS MORE NIGHTLIFE ON THE CALENDAR: Listings for Skylark, The Cask, Benbow Room (Tiki Night!), C & P Coffee … find them all here.
Early this morning, the hundreds of volunteers who fanned out for the annual One Night Count of homeless people in King County found five percent more without shelter than a year earlier, according to a news release just sent:
2,736 men, women and children had no shelter in King County last night, a small increase over those found without shelter last year. Last year, volunteers found 2,594 people surviving outside without shelter.
Teams of volunteers with trained leaders are dispatched from ten locations throughout the county to count every person they see outside overnight on one night in January. Approximately 800 volunteers counted people trying to survive in cars, tents, all night buses, hospital emergency rooms, or curled up in blankets under bridges or in doorways.
The Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, an independent coalition of organizations and individuals that works on homelessness issues in our region, organizes the count, now in its 33rd year.
A breakdown of how many people were found in what circumstances – cars, doorways, etc. – is in the second half of this document. While West Seattle is not broken out separately from the city at large, White Center has its own column, with 51 people found unsheltered this time. P.S. We checked with organizers, and the count does include those found in “tent cities” such as the West Seattle encampment that calls itself “Nickelsville.”
(Live view from the west-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
And our daily traffic/transit tracker is off and running – let us know if you encounter any trouble (OR anything terrific!) out there.
Road-work notes: NO ramp closures this weekend as part of the I-5/Spokane Interchange Bridge Repair. But there is one overnight ramp closure this weekend, on Saturday night – 11 pm to 5 am, the northbound I-5 offramp to West Seattle and 6th Ave S will be closed overnight.
Story and photos by Katie Meyer
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
A high-interest topic led to a well-attended meeting of the West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network this week – first meeting of 2013.
In addition to BW captains, Tuesday night’s meeting at the Southwest Precinct drew more than a few others, some saying they were there specifically to learn about “these surveillance cameras” – the announced main topic. One person later mentioned that during a break in at her home, the professional security alarm company that they used “called our house saying “we are not calling the authorities at this time,” loud and clear on the answering machine,” as it wasn’t able to verify if it was a false alarm trip or not. She believed that “If we’d had cameras and home system, we would have had pictures of guy carrying our TV out the door!”)
Seattle Police’s Community Police Team Officer Jon Kiehn and Detective Scotty Bach led the talks/presentations and Q/A.
Thanks to “Diver Laura” James for sharing photos from tonight’s standing-room-only event presented by The Whale Trail at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor). The cozy old home-turned-coffeehouse held 66 people for the presentation by West Seattle-residing orca researcher Mark Sears:
The Whale Trail’s founder/executive director Donna Sandstrom tells WSB, “It was a great night! Even better than we’d hoped,” with “great synergy between our groups” – referring to Laura’s participation on behalf of the Tox-Ick.org runoff-education campaign, and Seal Sitters joining in too. We asked Donna what’s up for the second in this new Whale Trail speaker series; she says Lynne Barre from NOAA Fisheries will be the featured speaker on February 21st, 6:30-9 pm, again at C & P.
We’ve heard from a few people wondering about two sites currently being readied for construction; here’s what we know so far:
The land west of the Arco station at 7301 Delridge Way [map] was up for lease for quite a while – and now, work is under way. City records show a permit granted one month ago for construction of a new 4,000-square-foot “retail building,” We have inquiries out to see if we can find out what sort of retail is planned, given that the existing station already includes a mini-mart; no reply yet.
Also in the earth-moving stages:
That’s 3266 SW Avalon Way [map], the second lot to the east of the 35th/Avalon 7-11 store. (Our photo was taken last week; the lot has even more heavy equipment in action now.) City records say the site is slated for a 7-unit “boarding house” building, same owner/developer as a Delridge project including boarding houses, and same one on record as in the early stages of pursuing a 14-unit boarding-house project at 3050 Avalon Way, as noted when we updated our West Seattle development map a month ago.
In a policy published last year, the city listed characteristics and requirements for boarding houses, including private bathrooms for a “high percentage” of the units, and pathways inside the building leading more to the exterior entrance/exit rather than to common areas. County records say the 3266 Avalon site previously held an 87-year-old house.
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
One month after Christmas – the holiday giving isn’t over yet. This morning at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) in Admiral, West Seattle Food Bank executive director Fran Yeatts and (left) board member David Weld accepted an $11,000 check from store director Glen Hasstedt (right). Yeatts says it’s from what MM customers donated over the holidays.
P.S. The food bank is inviting you to come get a firsthand look at how it works, during a community open house/tour opportunity two weeks from tonight, 5-7 pm February 7th (3419 SW Morgan).
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