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Spotlight Stories


  • Hit-run

    HIT-RUN DEATH SUSPECT: How he was found

  • Beached

    BEACHED SUV: Why is it still there?

  • Bridge

    BRIDGE PROJECT: Road-closure plan

Update: King County Executive Ron Sims leaving for D.C. job
February 2, 2009 10:11 am
|      20 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle politics

King County Executive Ron Sims had a no-subject-specified media briefing scheduled for this morning – and multiple sources report he is taking a new job with the Obama Administration. We’re not at the briefing since we’re en route to a mayoral event at West Seattle High School but will update when word comes from the executive himself. 10:34 AM UPDATE: It’s confirmed. The event we’re at includes Mayor Nickels and former mayor Norm Rice, so we should hear what they have to say about it. Read Sims’ statement at the county website. 11:27 AM UPDATE: Just talked to Mayor Nickels after the news conference. He says Sims called him with the news this morning. Will add our clip with mayor’s comment when we’re back at HQ. Rice, by the way, didn’t speak at this event after all, so no comment from him. 11:35 AM UPDATE: Just received this statement from West Seattle-residing King County Council Chair Dow Constantine:

“I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to King County Executive Ron Sims on his appointment as deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. I commend him for taking on this new challenge and stepping forward to serve our citizens as a federal official.

“I will sit down immediately with my colleagues to create a non-partisan process to choose an interim replacement to serve the remainder of Executive Sims’ term.

“An ideal appointee would possess the necessary policy experience, political skills, and management ability to help guide King County through the next several months. We need an appointed executive who can devote his or her full attention and talents to the unprecedented financial challenges facing King County.

“It is the voters of King County—not this Council—who this November will select an Executive to serve them for the next four years.”

We’ve also asked for a comment on whether he’s considering running for the job. ADDED 12:53 PM: On video, the comment we got from Mayor Nickels while he was visiting West Seattle High School this morning for an event celebrating student health centers (separate report to come):

Inspired by P-I online journalist Monica Guzman, here’s the direct link to congratulation messages being sent to Sims via Twitter.

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Update: Junction shooting victim dies, no arrests yet
February 2, 2009 7:29 am
|      49 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

(Sunday night photo by WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
Though his wounds were originally described as “not life-threatening,” Seattle Police now say the man shot in The Junction late last night died overnight. The update a short time ago from Officer Renee Witt also includes a few other changes to what police have found out since our original coverage: They say he’s 26 years old and was “walking across the street” when two people “both opened fire, striking the victim twice.” (We have since clarified with Officer Witt — as originally reported, it’s still believed he was in some kind of argument with those two people when he was shot; the victim is reported to have said that himself after running into Talarico’s and collapsing.) The two suspects are still believed to have gotten away by car, described only as a “white sedan,” and Officer Witt says investigators have no other information on the suspects they’re seeking. 7:37 AM UPDATE: Checking e-mail from the past few hours, we found this note:

The man shot at Talarico’s was my brother, Steven. He was 26 and unfortunately, he did not make it. He passed away shortly after arriving to Harborview. The shot to his chest went through the main artery from his heart. He was an amazing man and I will miss him! If any of your readers know anything about what happened please have them call the police. I just can’t believe the people who did this are out there running around…

The note is from Tanya, whose surname also is on the e-mail, but we won’t add that until we can confirm with the Medical Examiner that the man’s next-of-kin have been officially notified (we just called and they currently don’t expect to release the official ID till this afternoon). This is the first homicide in West Seattle since 49-year-old Tracey Creamer was killed last April in Highland Park by her husband, who then killed himself; that was the only 2008 WS killing, following three in 2007. 8:39 AM UPDATE: The latest information from police is also now summarized on SPDBlotter. 11:37 AM UPDATE: New photo from WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli – one of the bullet holes in the Talarico’s facade:

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Update: Man shot in The Junction; shots pierce Talarico’s wall
February 1, 2009 11:53 pm
|      49 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

ORIGINAL 11:53 PM REPORT, which was headlined “Assault with weapons call …”: Happening right now in the 4700 block of California SW, and police have just called for backups for “crowd control.” 25 year old man shot at least twice. More to come.

11:57 PM UPDATE: Here’s what else we know; WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is on the scene and we are monitoring the scanner at HQ. Apparently the victim ran into Talarico’s after being shot. Police are looking for a white Lexus with a “black male and Hispanic male,” at least one armed with a “revolver.” Their “be on the lookout” broadcast says it was last seen heading “southbound” from the area. Christopher says California is blocked off in that block of The Junction, and that it’s a “madhouse” down there right now. According to the scanner, the victim is alert/conscious, and has at least two gunshot wounds – described by medics as in “the right axillary area” and in one arm.

12:16 AM UPDATE: Added photo from Christopher, who also says police have found “shell casings” – which is what they were looking for in the street, as shown above (and in this next photo, added later).

12:23 AM UPDATE: Yet more information from Christopher on the scene – the victim and suspect apparently were fighting outside Talarico’s before the victim was shot. At least two bullet shells were found on the ground, and Talarico’s exterior was believed to have been hit by at least one of the shots. The victim’s wounds are NOT believed to be life-threatening. Police now are not sure the white car in which the suspect got away was a Lexus as first reported – it might be something similar, like a Camry.

12:34 AM UPDATE: An official police update via phone from Officer Renee Witt in the Seattle Police media unit – she says THREE suspects are being sought (no further description of them or their vehicle, though) and also confirms that gunshots pierced Talarico’s front wall, adding that bullets reportedly lodged “in a couple of barstools.” No one hit/hurt other than the man shot outside, however.

12:42 AM UPDATE: Christopher reports that police believe the gun was 9mm. In the comment section, we have heard from Erin, who says she was inside Talarico’s when this happened, and since she is a nurse, tried to help the victim as best she could till help arrived. She says the wounds were in the armpit (axilla) and leg. Meantime, in an unrelated (but nearby) incident, police report via radio that they have just taken one person into custody in connection with an assault at Poggie Tavern (again, stressing it’s NOT related to the shooting).

12:56 AM UPDATE: More from Christopher, who was the first newsperson on the scene and is sending additional photos shortly: He saw 4 bullet casings in the middle of California and confirms that police found multiple bullet holes in the front facade of Talarico’s. Also, he reports, the person who shot the victim “ran through the pedestrian tunnel and got into a car there. Eyewitnesses said the victim was wearing a white shirt but that they saw no blood at all. Victim was screaming, ‘They shot me. I’m shot’.”

1:48 AM UPDATE: Still no word of arrests, nor an update on the victim’s condition – we’ll be checking again with police in a few hours. According to our archives, this is the first West Seattle shooting incident in more than four months in which someone has been hit/hurt (here’s the last one we reported). One interesting side note from Christopher at the scene: Police marked the bullet casings found in the street by using new electronic flares, which you can see in this photo:

From the scanner: Dispatcher was asked for description of the suspects and replied “black males with dreadlocks,” so that’s a possible update from info available earlier.

7:32 AM UPDATE: We have posted a separate followup – police have just announced that the victim did not survive.

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Morgan Community Association updates: MJ festival, park
February 1, 2009 11:51 pm
|    Comments Off on Morgan Community Association updates: MJ festival, park
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

(progress at Morgan Junction park site, photographed January 2009)
Another headline from this past week’s Morgan Community Association meeting: Looks like June 13th will be the date for the next Morgan Community Festival; MoCA skipped last year but is going full steam ahead with this year, and expects to have some of the area’s opening-this-year businesses on board. Music, food, and fun are planned, with events happening in and around the new park and neighboring Beveridge Place Pub. More details in the months ahead. Also from the meeting — an update about the park too, and the push to have it named as a tribute – read on:Read More

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Update on West Seattle help for North Sound puppy-mill rescuees
February 1, 2009 10:07 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | Pets | West Seattle news

The Everett Animal Shelter is one of the places that’s taking care of some of the hundreds of dogs rescued from suspected “puppy mill” operations in the North Sound, and in addition to donations collected in West Seattle and elsewhere, the rescuees there are getting hands-on care from local volunteers. At right, groomer Jennifer from The Wash Dog in Morgan Junction posed with a shelter worker during a visit a few days ago. Wash Dog owner Bernadette Cassidy says, “For legal and ‘property rights’ reasons, we can’t share photos of the dogs themselves but there were heart-tugging stories to be seen. Thank goodness they are out of their previous situation. We had the opportunity to fill two shifts on their volunteer schedule. Four Pekinese with skin problems got shaved and bathed, a Lab and a Doberman who had shared a crate in which neither one could stand upright got full baths – along with nail trims and ear hygiene.” They also took along items from a donation box at Pet Elements in Morgan Junction, but Bernadette adds, “Although these supplies are very much appreciated, what they need most are cash donations to pay for the mounting Veterinary bills. In order to help out that, the Wash Dog will be donating half of all Self-Serve proceeds on Feb 14th, Valentine’s Day, to the Everett Animal Shelter.” Meantime, West Seattle-based Furry Faces Foundation is also continuing to work with WS businesses to collect donated items and was planning another trip this weekend; Teri Ensley from F3 tells us the folks from Muttley Crew Cuts are planning to head north tomorrow for dog bathing and grooming, and bringing along another load of donated items. You can still help out by donating (same info Teri provided earlier this week):

1. Lots and lots of toys for small to sm/med sized dogs
2. Lots of wee wee pads/puppy training pads
3. Bedding—beds, blankets, towels, etc.

Here are the businesses where you can drop off items:

Admiral District:
Mud Bay; 2611 Calif. Ave SW (dog food & supplies only)
Muttley Crew Cuts Co; 3707 Calif. Ave SW

Alaska Junction:
Hotwire Online Coffeehouse; 4410 Calif. Ave SW (dog food & supplies only)
Petco: 4732 Calif. Ave SW

Alki: All the Best Pet Care; 2820 Alki Ave SW

Morgan Junction:
Pet Elements; 6701 Calif. Ave SW
The Wash Dog; 6400 Calif. Ave SW
Stella Ruffington’s, 7003 California SW

Westwood Village: Pet Pros; 9033 25th Ave SW

If you’d like to inquire about offering some other kind of help, you can reach Teri at furryfaces@hotmail.com – thanks!

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Revised report: Not a quake, a “false reading”
February 1, 2009 9:34 pm
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Not WS but we're mentioning it anyway

REVISED AT 10:26 PM: The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network has taken the 9 pm Kitsap County earthquake reading off its map. “False reading,” according to this Twitter update from NWCN, which is where we heard first word of the alleged quake (and then checked it out on the PNSN site before posting anything here). Have never seen a report “canceled” like that but we’ll just go back to not reporting quakes until our inbox is full of “we felt it” reports … (Eric B explains further in this comment.)

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From the WSB “More” page: 2 CL sightings
February 1, 2009 4:41 pm
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   Pets | West Seattle online

From the WSB More page (which automatically posts the latest West Seattle mentions from citywide/regional media, followed by the latest West Seattle mentions on CL): First, a Leschi rental ad headlined ESCAPE WEST SEATTLE and raising the spectre of looming traffic doom – might be misplaced given that the tunnel proposal could keep The Viaduct open during construction. Second, a reported dog attack in Lincoln Park (thanks to Diane for the tip) – we’ve sent a note with a followup question.

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West Seattle winning: Admiral 7-11 sells $6.8 million Lotto ticket
February 1, 2009 12:32 pm
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Thanks to three tipsters who heard this mentioned on TV last night and this morning – there was nothing online about it so we couldn’t mention it till we got it confirmed, but now we have. Washington State Lottery communications director Jacque Coe confirms that the one $6.8 million winning ticket from last night’s Lotto game was sold at the Admiral 7-11. She says the store was notified last night (and was checked with again this morning), and folks there are “very excited,” but the winner hasn’t officially come forward yet. If you happen to be the winner – or if you know the winner – here’s advice from Coe: SIGN THE TICKET. KEEP IT AWAY FROM HEAT SOURCES. AND — Call the nearest Lottery office tomorrow to make an appointment to claim your prize; she says you can’t just show up unannounced – they need to give you some information first to make sure everything will go smoothly when you get there. The office nearest West Seattle is in Federal Way; the number to Olympia headquarters is here. (Of course, we’d love to hear from The Big Winner too, although you’d have to show us the ticket – a former employer got hoaxed big-time by someone telling a [believable but not verified] tall tale.) Winning numbers, by the way: 5, 15, 24, 25, 35, 46.

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West Seattle food news: Four notes
February 1, 2009 10:03 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

ZEEKS PROGRESS: Five months after we first reported that Zeeks Pizza is taking over the former Corner Inn space in Morgan Junction, the company’s applied for its liquor license (beer/wine). Zeeks hopes to open this spring.

SPEAKING OF LICENSES: Also in the new-application file, the new owners of Slices on Alki have applied to take over its existing beer/wine license; the team includes Chris Frothingham, who is executive chef at 2100 Bistro at the waterfront Marriott.

IN CASE YOU HADN’T HEARD THIS: It was first mentioned in the WSB Forums weeks ago, but we haven’t mentioned it here; some Web-wandering early today inspired us to make a belated mention – Talarico’s in The Junction dropped its no-minors policy, and now serves pizza (etc.) to all ages, up till 8:30 pm.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, AND NOT PIZZA: Ama Ama Oyster Bar and Grill (WSB sponsor) is selling tickets starting today for Oyster Madness on February 28th – all the oysters you can eat plus beer/wine/sake tasting. More details here along with info on how to buy tickets.

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Today: Farmers’ Market; Super Bowl parties; WSCC open house
February 1, 2009 7:02 am
|    Comments Off on Today: Farmers’ Market; Super Bowl parties; WSCC open house
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle Farmers' Market | West Seattle religion

WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am till 2 pm today. Here’s the latest Ripe and Ready fresh list; new highlights include sea-salt caramels and sausage!

SUPER BOWL PARTIES: Four are in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup for today (here’s a direct link) – Puerto Vallarta, Redline, Rocksport, and Shadowland.

WEST SEATTLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OPEN HOUSE: One year after groundbreaking (WSB coverage here), the Junction church is showing off its new activity center today – you’re invited to an open house 2-4 pm. It’s not just a facility for church uses – it’s available for community events too (like the Winter Movies on the Wall series next month), so they’re hoping folks will stop by to envision the possibilities. South of the church on 42nd south of Genesee (map).

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New Washington State Ferries plan drops Fauntleroy expansion
February 1, 2009 12:42 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   Fauntleroy | Transportation | West Seattle news

As we reported a few hours ago, Washington State Ferries has gone public with the revised version of its Draft Long-Range Plan (see it here). It includes significant changes to the proposals for the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run – most notably, the proposal to expand the Fauntleroy dock is out. Here’s the excerpt:

WSF concurs that the draft Scenario A did not adequately address the growth and operational issues associated with the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route. The revised proposal adds a fourth, small vessel to the route, operating as a shuttle between Vashon and Southworth. This allows the other three vessels on the route to operate in direct service between Fauntleroy and Vashon and between Fauntleroy and Southworth, better utilizing the capacity on those vessels and increasing overall efficiency on the route. It also increases capacity for Southworth, which is one of the areas slated
for high growth.

Based on comments heard at the Fauntleroy public hearing and comments received by the City of Seattle, the concept of expanding the Fauntleroy dock (as proposed in the draft Scenario A) is not viewed as feasible. As a result, the project has been removed from the Revised Draft Plan, and WSF will investigate all possible roadway and right-of-way options, if expanded vehicle holding is needed.

The other major proposal for the Fauntleroy dock, adding an overhead loading system for walk-on passengers, is still in the plan. Meantime, under Scenario A, here are more specifics on what size ferries would serve the broken-up “Triangle” route:

Fauntleroy-Vashon
• Two 124-car vessels, operating in direct service between Fauntleroy and Vashon
• The two 87-car Evergreen Class vessels would be retired in 2015 and 2017 and replaced on the route with 124-car vessels

Fauntleroy-Southworth
• One 124-car vessel, operating in direct service between Fauntleroy and Southworth

Vashon-Southworth
• A small vessel, operating between Vashon and Southworth to allow for direct service on Fauntleroy-Vashon and Fauntleroy-Southworth and increase the overall capacity on both of these routes.

The proposal says that “small vessel” would be the Hiyu, which carries 34 cars, until it’s potentially replaced “in 2027 with a used 40-50 car vessel at a cost of $12 million” (2008 dollars). Next steps: As detailed in our earlier report, both Transportation Committees in the Legislature have work sessions scheduled in the coming week to review the revised WSF plan. The ferry system says it’s also continuing to collect and forward comments at wsfplanning@wsdot.wa.gov. Meantime, the plan’s status also will be on the agenda at the regular monthly FCA meeting at 7 pm February 10th and an FCA-sponsored community gathering at 7 pm February 18th.

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West Seattle weekend scenes: Admiral cleanup success
January 31, 2009 10:52 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle weekend scenes: Admiral cleanup success
 |   Environment | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

For the second consecutive weekend, West Seattle teens helped clean up their community’s streets – last weekend, during the North Delridge Adopt-A-Street (WSB photo included here), and today, during the Admiral Neighborhood Association Adopt-A-Street. ANA president Mark Wainwright shared the above photo of Madison Middle School students who joined the operation (shown clowning around afterward with some of the big yellow bags of trash collected in the cleanup), and this update:

The kids are Dallas Baker, Lindsay Vanderpool, Sita Ross, Anton Summers, Megan Antalan, and Alexa Antalan (not in that order in the photo). It was awesome to have them there – they were all satisfying part of their volunteer hours for school. The bags of trash are behind them in the photo – of note were a set of tire chains and “millions” of the lane marker/bumps (what are these things called?).

A very successful day all in all. A big thanks should go out to Metropolitan Market and Dave Weitzel of Admiral-based Weitzel Construction, our two wonderful Admiral Adopt-a-Street sponsors. Met Market provides the meeting point, tables, chairs and great food and coffee, and Dave coordinates the event for our group (he’s a long-time member) and takes care of moving the trash to Hiawatha CC afterwards in his truck!

A quick shout out to two FANNA founders, Matthew Slye and Ann Limbaugh, who helped out today and want everyone to remember to attend their first design meeting for California Place Park coming up soon [Tuesday at 7 pm].

Great stuff… and no rain! We’ll be doing it again in approx. three months.

Matthew and Ann are in this photo we took at California/Lander (map) during the cleanup, along with Catherine Barker:

Other local organizations do cleanups too, including the Junction Neighborhood Organization; if you have one coming up and you’ve got room for more help, be sure we know about it so we can include it on the calendar (editor@westseattleblog.com)!

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Transportation notes: Metro fare hike Sunday; ferry plan updates
January 31, 2009 7:33 pm
|    Comments Off on Transportation notes: Metro fare hike Sunday; ferry plan updates
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

METRO FARES: Last warning, tomorrow’s the day they go up. Here are full details on new prices.

FERRY HEARING: Following up on the well-attended hearing in Fauntleroy a week and a half ago – next step for Washington State Ferries‘ long-range plan is a work session in the House Transportation Committee in Olympia, reviewing the plan at the start of the 3:30 pm meeting (agenda here), and a similar session at 1:30 pm Wednesday before the Senate Transportation Committee (agenda). WSF submitted its revised version of the plan today (linked here along with appendices; we are reading to see if any significant changes related to the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route). Meantime, the Kitsap County-based group Citizens Write Plan C, which is opposing both “options” in the WSF plan (A and B, ergo “C”), is organizing a rally for February 18 in Olympia; read about it here.

ADDED 11:40 PM: Looks like the draft plan DOES include major changes of relevance to our area, including removing the proposal to expand the Fauntleroy dock. Writing a separate item to publish shortly.

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From partner site White Center Now: Another food find
January 31, 2009 6:30 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   White Center

In his new series of weekly White Center restaurant reviews – starting last week with the highly popular writeup about roasted chicken and more at El Paisano — Justin from Full Tilt Ice Cream has just written up Queen’s Deli, a new eatery promising “authentic Khmer food.” Go here to read his review.

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Seattle school-closure vote: Two followup notes
January 31, 2009 5:04 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle school closure | West Seattle schools

Two notes in the wake of Thursday night’s vote approving a plan for closures and changes including the end of the Cooper Elementary “program,” the shutdown of the Genesee Hill building, and the Pathfinder K-8 move into the Cooper building:

MEETING VIDEO: Thursday night’s meeting in its entirety is archived on the Seattle Channel website. Note that the cameras don’t have full audience views, so most of the heckling, booing, and other tumult is off-camera, but it can be heard, as can the rest of the proceedings (in some cases, more clearly than it was heard during the meeting, since the audio feed for this recording comes through board members’ microphones, meaning the audience interruptions don’t sound as loud as they did for those of us who were in the room; our video clips are incorporated into our coverage from Thursday night).

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Many questions remain, particularly for the families whose schools are involved in the plan; the district has promised an “updated FAQ” on its “capacity management” (closures/changes) page “within a few days.” Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson said at the Thursday night meeting that the families who would not be able to go to the same schools next fall will get “individual assignment letters” in the coming week. Those letters are supposed to stipulate whether Cooper students (outside those in the autism program, which will stay in the building) will be assigned to Gatewood, Highland Park, or Arbor Heights, per terms of West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist’s board-approved amendment.

If the 60-year-old Genesee Hill campus closes this fall as approved by board members (the only remaining “if” would involve legal challenges, which have been mentioned by various citywide groups), that will be its second shutdown. The first one lasted from 1990 to 1994, according to this district-written article; 1994 is when it was reopened so Pathfinder, then known as Alternative School #4.

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WSB site note: New page with info on our many RSS feeds
January 31, 2009 2:25 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle online

If you read WSB via RSS – or are interested in doing so – we apologize for having our various feed links scattered senselessly around the site – till now: We just added a page to the tab-navigation bar under the sunset header, labeled simply RSS – it’s got direct links to our main feeds and instructions on where to find the links to the many other ways you can use RSS to read WSB (you can get a feed on the fly for any individual comment thread or forum thread, for example). Not sure what RSS is? Here’s a pretty good explanation.

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Have you voted for county Elections Director yet? 3 more days
January 31, 2009 12:30 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

checkbox.jpgJust a reminder in case you set your ballot aside when it arrived and haven’t gotten back to it yet: Next Tuesday is the special election for King County Elections Director, which is now an elected position because of a county Charter Amendment approved in November. Five people are running, including Sherril Huff, who’s in the job now; their names are listed here and linked to more information. This is an all-mail election, and you can’t send the ballot via USPS without a stamp; to skip the stamp cost, you can take your ballot to the drop box at the Delridge Neighborhood Services Center (5405 Delridge; here’s a map; here’s a list of other dropoff locations countywide). For people with disabilities who might have difficulty using the mail-in ballot, here’s information on “accessible voting centers” where the vote can be cast in person. If you’ve mailed your ballot, you can check here if it arrived. (To read the latest news reports on this race, go here.)

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Winter “Movies on the Wall”: Here’s the lineup!
January 31, 2009 9:30 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Fun stuff to do | West Seattle news | West Seattle Outdoor Movies

moviesonwall.jpg

Earlier this month, you had the chance to suggest what you’d like to see at the first-ever Movies on the Wall Winter Series in The Junction, an indoor spinoff of the popular outdoor summertime series. Now, Lora Lewis of Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) sends word of the “winners”: First, at 7 pm March 4, it’s “The Mummy” – here’s the trailer:

(Lora says they’re planning a bathroom-tissue mummy-wrapping contest to go with that one!) At 7 pm March 11, it’s the original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” where the wacky candymaker was portrayed by Gene Wilder:

Then, mark your calendar for 7 pm March 18, for “Napoleon Dynamite“:

All movies are free at the new activity center of West Seattle Christian Church in The Junction (which opens the center’s doors to the public for an open house tomorrow, 2-4 pm, by the way) – Lora promises, “All the fun of the outdoor summer series including concessions, cupcakes, charity raffles other great community activities. Bring your blankets and chairs and join us for the Movies on the Wall Winter Series.” (Doors will open at 5:30 pm with the movies at 7) WSB is proud to be among the sponsors; we hope to see you there!

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Weekend Lineup reminder: Help clean up Admiral this morning
January 31, 2009 6:03 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Environment | How to help | West Seattle people

You too can enjoy temporary use of spiffy orange vests, yellow bags, handy picker-upper gizmos, and more if you spend a few hours today doing what the folks in that clip did on the day we video’d them one year ago – join in the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s quarterly Adopt-a-Street cleanup. Meeting place is the same, Metropolitan Market, 9 am, free coffee and “light breakfast” treats. That’s just one of a TON of West Seattle happenings today and tonight – here’s the direct link to the Saturday section of our latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup. 10:06 AM UPDATE: Admiral Neighborhood Association president Mark Wainwright sent a note that 14 volunteers have turned out so far and “tasty lunch bags” remain up for the taking along with more supplies – so there’s still time to get over to Met Market and fan out to help with the rest of the cleanup (till about noon).

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Status reports on 2 cases
January 31, 2009 1:12 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

ADMIRAL BURGLARY: Much has been written – even more in the comments than in official stories – about 18-year-old Skyelar Hailey, charged with burglary after his Admiral arrest November 10. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has notified neighbors that after Hailey’s latest court appearance, he has chosen to proceed to trial (prior court documents had suggested a plea bargain was a possibility) and the date is set for April 21. Hailey, whose publicly viewable record includes 10 cases in which he is listed as “defendant,” spent 10 days in jail following the November arrest.

DELRIDGE SHOOTING BEFORE CENTRAL DISTRICT MURDER: CentralDistrictNews.com reminds us (see the story here) that Friday marked one year since the rampage in which Rey Davis-Bell was arrested for allegedly shooting into his girlfriend’s Delridge apartment (WSB coverage here) and then killing a Central District restaurateur. CDN says Davis-Bell is not scheduled for trial until October.

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National Gang Threat Assessment: Read it online
January 30, 2009 10:11 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

Just saw a KING5 followup about the FBI’s just-released “National Gang Threat Assessment,” but we don’t see a link to that actual FBI report on their website; we have the link from an FBI news release e-mailed today, so we wanted to let you know that if you want to read it, you can find it here. Page 18 focuses on the current/predicted Northwest gang situation, and names the gangs the FBI believes are most “criminally active”; information on those individual gangs starts on page 23. No Seattle specifics, but local law-enforcement agencies are listed as contributors.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Vandalism spree on wheels
January 30, 2009 8:59 pm
|      15 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news

Robert e-mailed to report that a carful of people went along 47th from at least Erskine to Raymond (map) about an hour ago, hitting cars with a hammer. Police were called; no word of arrests so far. 9:54 PM UPDATE: Checked back with Robert to see if he had a description of the car — “light/white-colored sedan. With a low rumble of an exhaust.”

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OK, guess we can’t get away with not mentioning this one
January 30, 2009 5:39 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Alaskan Way Viaduct

We saw this earlier today and thought “yawn, we’ve seen that done before on other topics.” SCENIC_Alaskan_Way_AWV1.jpgBut more than a few people have sent it to us via e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook, so we’re thinking maybe it’s worth sharing in case you haven’t seen it yet. The site was just registered this morning so clearly a goofy reaction to the early-am earthquake. Let us be perhaps the last to introduce you to: HasTheViaductCollapsedYet.com. (Please forgive us if at any point AFTER this it turns into a redirect to a scam, porn site, or RickRoll … ) P.S. Looks like ownership was claimed, here.

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