Five West Seattle Crime Watch notes this afternoon … First, from Patricia, 2 stolen kayaks to watch for:
Our two Easy Rider Kayaks were stolen last night off our car along with the racks and locks. We live on 46th Ave SW between Lander and Stevens. Would like people to keep an eye for them. One is hot pink with yellow trim and the other is white with blue trim. They are 16 foot Eskimos.
We also have a couple other break-in and theft reports from the past few days – including one in which the burglar(s) made off with items large and small, including … an ice-cream bar … and another one in which an item left behind might have been loot from an EARLIER burglary. Read on:Read More
RIVERSIDE HISTORY WALK FEATURING FRANK ZUVELA and JUDY BENTLEY
Tour Scheduled for Saturday August 28, 2010 – 10am
First generation Riverside resident Frank Zuvela will lead an interpretive walk through local history. Walk the old neighborhood of Riverside on the northwest side of the Duwamish River, below Pigeon Point and over the hill from Delridge. Settlement origins go back to the people of the Duwamish tribe, which were later settled by Croatian immigrants in the early 1900’s. They formed a multi-ethnic neighborhood of European immigrants where Duwamish camps and longhouses had once been. As the Duwamish River was straightened and dredged, the residential community of Riverside co-existed with manufacturing and shipbuilding. The tour is sponsored by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and one of the most popular walks… an easy pace is set, with frequent stops and tales from Riverside of the past sixty years. Seattle poet and writer Richard Hugo wrote of his fascination with this community of fishermen in The Real West Marginal Way.
Donation requested… or free attendance with a new museum membership!
Meet in front of Global Diving on W. Marginal Place, the northern end of 17th.
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For more information about the this and upcoming events, please visit www.loghousemuseum.info
New information today about the chase and crash (WSB coverage here) that first caused quite the spectacle through Highland Park (and points southward), then closed SW Roxbury at 8th SW for more than four hours Sunday afternoon/evening. We spoke with King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jim Laing, who shared details from the preliminary report: It started when deputies tried to pull over a vehicle at 156th and 1st S, and instead of stopping, it took off. = apparently, Sgt. Laing says, because the driver not only had a $10,000 warrant out for his arrest (related to a protection order), but also because he was under the influence of drugs (both of which, according to the report, he confessed when finally arrested). After a pursuit that led all the way into Highland Park and then back south, a deputy tried the so-called “PIT Maneuver“ to stop the car – and it worked. Along the way, though, according to Sgt. Laing, three patrol cars had front-end damage, and three citizens’ cars were hit, with minor damage – the early version of the report didn’t say where that happened (though one of them has added a comment following our original story). The only person hurt was the suspect, taken to Harborview Medical Center with minor injuries. Sgt. Laing adds a postscript: There was a second person in the car but as all this was unfolding, that person wanted out – so they hit the driver repeatedly, till he slowed down so the passenger could get out of the car.
3 months earlier than expected, the first major component of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project is officially open to drivers, now that a morning media tour and ceremony are over. The 1st vehicles were project trucks, at 10:17 am, applauded by the SDOT onlookers; the first “unofficial” driver came just a few minutes later:
The $42 million ramp starts with one lane at the top, though it’s wide enough for two once the entire SSVWP is done, according to project manager Stuart Goldsmith; by the time you get to the bottom, there are three lanes – one left turn (south), one to go straight or turn right, one turning right. More to come! (P.S. Apropos to the fact some refer to it as the “Costco” ramp since it provides a direct route from The Bridge, a Costco rep was in the crowd to watch.) ADDED 11:47 AM: Prior to our complete followup later with more details and a look ahead – a few images from the “media tour” pre-opening, all by Christopher Boffoli:
That’s the view from the top of the ramp, looking back at West Seattle (obviously those barrels are gone now). Next, the view looking down toward 4th Avenue:
And the crew putting finishing touches on the traffic signals, up till the last moment:
In addition to City Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen and Sally Clark, plus County Councilmember Jan Drago and SDOT boss Peter Hahn, WSDOT’s leader for the entire Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project, Ron Paananen, was there to help cut the ribbon and say a few words about the role this plays in “viaduct replacement” – with an extra path downtown for West Seattle drivers. We talked to CM Rasmussen about that too.
(The “south portal” section of the Viaduct/99 project itself also has an offramp in the stadium vicinity, just before the entrance to what WSDOT still refers to as “the proposed deep-bore tunnel.”)
(WSB photo from May ‘media tour’ of Spokane Street Viaduct’s new 4th Avenue South offramp)
In a few hours, you’ll have a new option for getting off the Spokane Street Viaduct – the West Seattle Bridge section between 99 and I-5 – its new eastbound offramp at 4th Avenue South. The photo above is from the “media tour” of the then-almost=done offramp, back in May; it shows your options at the end of the ramp – left, to go southbound (toward Costco etc.) on 4th; center, to turn right/northbound or head into City Light’s facility across the street; right, right turn only, toward downtown. A made-for-media event, complete with another tour, is set for 9:15 this morning, and when that’s done, it’ll be open to traffic – we’ll keep you up to date. … That’s not even the only “media tour” of the day – this afternoon, we get a sneak peek at the work the visiting artisans are doing at the Seattle Chinese Garden on the South Seattle Community College campus (our partners at the Seattle Times have published their preview story this morning) … Two events at Southwest Library Branch today – Baby Story Time at 11:30 and Afternoon Book Group at 2 pm … Sustainable West Seattle‘s annual potluck is at Lincoln Park at 7 pm (more details on SWS website) … and don’t forget to VOTE! It’s your last full day/night to do so; tomorrow at 8 pm, the vote-counting begins. Here’s all the info you should need to make sure you get your vote in.
Just after sunset Sunday, smoke from the Mt. Hopper forest fire curved gently over the southern Olympics – a shadow of its show the night before. Still, it was almost a symbolic sight after another record-setting-heat day in our area – 96 degrees was the high at Sea-Tac Airport, according to this update from the Seattle Times (WSB partner), which also reports that meteorologists do not expect tomorrow’s record to fall – 98 degrees, in 1967 – tomorrow’s more likely to be in the low 90s. And after that, it’ll start moving back toward normal, according to the newest forecast.
WSB Forums member HanPhotog posted this morning about hearing what sounded like four gunshots in the Alki area early today. As we replied shortly afterward, there’d been no report of anyone being shot, and the police-info maps did not indicate any confirmed gunshot calls. But tonight, we’ve heard directly from someone else who says she found shell casings:
At 3:45 am this morning, there were 6 shots fired on 56th Ave SW close to the cross street of Alki [map]. We woke up to the sound and the flash of light of the gun being fired. One person in my house heard a car speed off after the shots. We called 911 and police responded, but without sirens. We could see them patroling the neighborhood, and spoke to one officer briefly, but since no one had seen the car and there were no sounds of anyone being hit, the police could only scan the streets and alleys looking for suspicious activity. An hour after the shots, when we had started to settle down, we heard someone open our gate at the front of the yard and walk along the house and then open the gate at the back yard. We called police again but again, all they could do was survey the neighborhood. We hadn’t actually seen the person. This morning I found 6 gun casings in the street in front of my neighbor’s house and turned them in to police.
ORIGINAL 7:12 PM REPORT: Incident near Uptown Espresso in The Junction is causing traffic trouble. Details to come.
7:27 PM UPDATE: We’re told this all started with a fight/argument between two people – while police wouldn’t confirm much to us at the scene, witness Mark e-mailed this report:
Just before 7 pm, a scuffle with no real contact started in front of the Uptown Espresso at Edmunds and Erskine. From a distance it was just posturing and yelling. One of the guys in the fight stormed off. Then a small white car, looked like a Suzuki Samurai or Geo Tracker (white, convertible) pulled out in a hurry, a girl yelled at the people in the car and smacked it. The car then sped toward, and hit the guy that stormed off. Hard enough to knock him feet over head in the air. And they drove off. Shortly thereafter emergency folks showed up.
Police do confirm one person was taken to the hospital. The roads in the area are open again.
ORIGINAL 6:23 PM REPORT: Traffic alert in south Highland Park/north White Center: Roxbury is blocked both ways at 9th, 8th is blocked both ways at Cambridge. A crash here earlier is believed to have involved some kind of pursuit that scanner info linked to reckless driving. On the east side of the scene, Roxbury is blocked at 7th. Detours onto side streets are a mess; avoid the area.
7:50 PM UPDATE: See comments for at least one witness report so far. We spent some time at the scene last hour – and saw at least three dented/dinged police cars, Burien and SeaTac, with one dripping fluid from its undercarriage, another needing a tire change, while the investigation team did its work. The vehicle that apparently sparked the pursuit – at least, one that matches the description put out on the scanner – was still at the scene too (in the photo we added above), all of this on the south (eastbound) side of Roxbury. Going back shortly to see if it’s reopened yet. 9:47 PM UPDATE: Open again. Thanks again to everyone sharing eyewitness reports in the comments section; we hope to get official details (including total damage to law-enforcement vehicles) from King County Sheriff’s Office in the morning.
Just two days left to vote in the primary election.
But one West Seattleite who’s running for office isn’t on your ballot.
Even before the 2010 election season has kicked into high gear, former Highland Park Action Committee chair Dorsol Plants has declared his intention for 2011.
He turned a lot of heads with his City Council Position 4 run in 2009 (that’s when we snapped the photo at right) – almost 18,000 people voted for him in the primary (third place, so David Bloom made it to the general election ultimately won by Sally Bagshaw) — and cites a still-burning city need for change, so he’s trying again.
He hasn’t had a big campaign kickoff, but word’s gotten around.
Every week, courtesy of Gretchen Montgomery @ Square One Books (WSB sponsor), we get the lists of her independent West Seattle bookstore’s 5 best-sellers in each of 4 key categories:
Hardcover:
1. Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson
2. Star Island by Carl Hiassen
3. Burn by Nevada Barr
4. Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenburg
5. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Paperback:
1. Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
2. Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
3. Dead in the Dregs by Peter Lewis
4. Under the Dome by Stephen King
5. War Dances by Sherman Alexie
Children/Young Adult:
1. Red Pyramid/The Kane Chronicles #1 by Rick Riordan
2. Star Wars/The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia by DK Publishing
3. How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills
4. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
5. The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews and Emma Hamilton
Teen:
1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
3. Mockingjay (Pre-orders) by Suzanne Collins
4. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
5. Whisper by Phoebe Kitanidis
Square 1 Books is in Jefferson Square. And next week – before, after and during the West Seattle Junction Association-presented Big Bonanza multi-merchant sale – Square 1 is offering 40 percent off just about everything in the store, starting Thursday.
Dogs and owners are lining up in the shade outside West Seattle Thriftway as the photo shoots continue for CityDog Magazine‘s third annual Cover Dog Search, which visits a few locations around the region before coming up with a lineup of finalists you can vote on. The past two years, the winning Cover Dog has been from West Seattle – first Cohen, then Murphy. (High Point’s renowned Italian greyhound Sophiahas been on CDM too.) We’re told they’ll be there today till about 3 pm – bring pet food for a donation drive on behalf of West Seattle Food Bank (which collects and distributes pet food as well as people food)!
Cut-up pieces of colored paper lay scattered on the floor, as kids constructed a variety of handmade paper airplanes and rockets and took them for test flights outside the library doors.
This summer, the library has teamed up with the Museum of Flight to create a summer program that helps kids around the community express their creativity while learning about aviation. A communications officer at the Delridge Library, Cheresse Thoeny, noticed that “we… [had] …a lot of boys in this neighborhood” and wanted to find something “interesting to kids of all different ages” to bring the community together.
(Photo added 12:55 pm) TODAY: Till 4 pm, West Seattle’s most renowned 3-Day for the Cure team, Team Tracy, is outside West 5 selling bracelets and T-shirts and accepting donations – the big walk is a little over a month away (9/24-9/26, Redmond to Seattle). West 5 also is donating a portion of today’s proceeds during the fundraiser, if you head in (air conditioning!) for food and/or drinks.
TWO WEEKS AWAY: Just 2 weeks left till Northwest Hope and Healing‘s Alki Beach 5K Walk/Run! 9 am Sunday, August 29th, leaving Alki Bathhouse for a 5K round-trip course along the water. This year for the first time they’re closing Alki Avenue for the event – the projected time frame is 8 am-11 am – with more than 1,000 people taking part, that’s just too many to funnel onto the sidewalks/bike path. Signed up yet? You can do it online here.
The early-morning forecast update says upper 90s are possible (revised from earlier envisionings of mid-90s). If you’re thinking a swim might be in order – here’s what the city offers in West Seattle: The Colman Pool schedule (outdoor) is here, Southwest Pool schedule (indoor) here, wading-pool schedule here.
We saw the plume of smoke over the Olympics too – looks like it’s a new (or newly flared-up) forest fire; checking to see if it’s the “Hopper” fire listed here, researching to find out more – that’s the only one in the Olympics, according to this list. Meantime, thanks to Shannon for sending the above photo, just as we were publishing the first version of this item. (And thanks to everyone else who’s sent photos since; here’s more information on the area where it’s burning, Mount Hopper.) 11:12 PM: By all accounts, it IS the Mt. Hopper fire. Turns out KING5 went over and shot video via chopper on Friday – see it here. The fire’s official infopage says “fire managers” plan a flyover tomorrow to assess it again. Also, here’s a somewhat-more-zoomed-in photo taken from Alki by David Hutchinson:
Got your seat at West Seattle Outdoor Movies (courtyard next to Hotwire Online Coffeehouse [WSB sponsor]) yet? “Wayne’s World” is onscreen at dusk; live music before the movie; and if you bring a few bucks for the nonprofit-benefiting raffle, you get a chance at prizes including the one you see above – a framed “Wayne’s World” poster donated by Wallflower Custom Framing! As of right now, there’s still room – so bring your own chair/blanket and we’ll see you there.
Thanks to Sha’ari from Inner Listening Healing Gongs and Sound Therapy (on Facebook here) for that photo from inside Pho Aroma, the new Delridge restaurant (first previewed here a month ago) that’s getting ready to open. Sha’ari says they’re expecting a final inspection on Wednesday; WSB contributor Keri DeTore had just spoken with the proprietors and learned they hope to be open by next weekend. Meantime, a couple miles east, a grand opening this morning in White Center:
Apple and peach pie were the kickoff offerings (and non-pie treats too) at 3.14 Bakery, just a couple doors south of Roxbury on 16th SW in the heart of the White Center business district. That photo is by WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz, whose full report on the opening will be up on partner site White Center Now a bit later this evening (update: here’s that link).
Story and photo by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Dan Atherton is “A New England Original,” and that’s what his new West Seattle restaurant will be too.
If all goes well, this October, Dan will be opening “Jonny Bostons,” a take-out sandwich shop featuring cheesesteaks, hamburgers, and sausages — New England style.
The former Authentic Home paint shop at 4151 California SW (map) in The Junction – which went online-only 4 months ago – is where Dan plans to create a space that delivers good food efficiently, so that people who have a limited time for lunch can spend it eating, not waiting in line.
Dan, also in the building business with Artistic Design, moved to Seattle from the Boston area in 1990. Since then, he says, he’s been “always looking for something familiar” to eat. He’s never found anything that hit the spot, and he feels Seattle is “lacking in good intermediate restaurants. You’ve got McDonald’s and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, but not much in between.” He promises that his food will be the same as “what you’d pick up in downtown Boston.”
Dan’s so serious about the Boston theme that baseball fans will recognize the color scheme of the shop as reminiscent of Fenway Park, with its “Green Monster” color outside, and the interior done in dark camel with Boston Blue and Red. His longterm plan is to replace the front wall with a roll-up door, so he can offer sidewalk seating in good weather.
Jonny Bostons will be open for lunch and dinner, 11 am-8 pm, Mondays through Saturdays.
(Photos by Evan Miglorie)
Get any get-out-the-vote doorbellers at your house/apartment today? Here’s one group that set out from Delridge Community Center this morning – volunteers from the Washington Bus, which is trying to encourage younger voters to participate more in the political process. They rallied before hitting the streets:
Stacy and Tunny are the leaders of this year’s Washington Bus fellows – a political-organizing summer camp of sorts (explained here):
After several hours of GOTV’ing throughout the 34th Legislative District – including White Center and Burien – the group planned an afterparty at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. Meantime – voted yet? Don’t let your ballot just sit there on top of the TV console (or kitchen table, or wherever) till it’s late. 80 percent of ballots aren’t in as of last night, says King County! If you need more voting info – it’s all linked here.
The most distinctive-looking U.S. Navy ship here for Seafair fleet tours last week, USS Green Bay, sailed out of Elliott Bay today, according to Jamie, who shared photos – above, one of the pictures taken from the King County Water Taxi (WSB sponsor) when Jamie spotted the Green Bay (LPD 20) heading out today, and this one, from a tour during the Green Bay’s Seafair stay:
Jamie also notes, “This amphibious transport dock has a landing pad for helicopters and harrier jets and a submersible dock that is used to launch hovercraft.” You can see video of the Green Bay’s Seattle arrival in our August 4th report on the Seafair fleet parade. It’s currently homeported in San Diego.
As of 5 pm, it’s 91 degrees at nearby Boeing Field, and the newest forecast still predicts 90s for the next two days. That’s led to a request that we share a reminder about pets – not just the oft-heard one about “don’t leave them in cars” (the Humane Society just reissued that one – read it here) – but also this one from the owner of one of the many missing, and missed, animals on the WSB Pets page:
Could you please post something … asking for people to look for lost animals in their garages and sheds? In this weather it could be fatal to the missing pets. … Still looking for mine. I hope I find her soon!
Our two Easy Rider Kayaks were stolen last night off our car along with the racks and locks. We live on 46th Ave SW between Lander and Stevens. Would like people to keep an eye for them. One is hot pink with yellow trim and the other is white with blue trim. They are 16 foot Eskimos.
then closed SW Roxbury at 8th SW for more than four hours Sunday afternoon/evening. We spoke with King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jim Laing, who shared details from the preliminary report: It started when deputies tried to pull over a vehicle at 156th and 1st S, and instead of stopping, it took off. = apparently, Sgt. Laing says, because the driver not only had a $10,000 warrant out for his arrest (related to a protection order), but also because he was under the influence of drugs (both of which, according to the report, he confessed when finally arrested). After a pursuit that led all the way into Highland Park and then back south, a deputy tried the so-called 
Even before the 2010 election season has kicked into high gear, former 
Dan Atherton is “A New England Original,” and that’s what his new West Seattle restaurant will be too. 
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