West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
That’s according to this story (video clip included), including an interview with the husband of the victim, now identified as Terry Leffard. Still no additional info from other coverage or Seattle Police of exactly who the kidnapper/attacker is, except that he is described as a transient living in a van. One clarification — with verified address info (9800 block of 33rd SW), we know the area where this happened is Arbor Heights, not Westwood as we mentioned earlier.
… you should see it again. Nine days after a sharp reader helped us bring you first word of the Elliott Bay Water Taxi‘s increased capacity, extra early-AM run, and extra shuttle during the looming Freeway Fright ’07, King County posted another official alert about it today. If you still aren’t completely dialed into the I-5 challenges ahead, here’s the WSDOT lowdown; here’s the city’s plan; here’s our newly enhanced traffic-cams-n-more page (we’ll be adding more including the I-5/Spokane Street cam since that will be the epicenter of the Aug. 10-29 fun).
The Times says she was found in Cle Elum because her kidnapper/attacker dropped her off at a clinic there. Still no ID or description of the “landscaper” who is suspected of having done this.
The name of the diver who died at Seacrest last Monday is now public: Wayne Hernandez, who was 43. The article does not mention a hometown but public databases for King County list only one person of that name/age, from Redmond.
Seattle Police just told us the WS woman reported missing (previous post) has now been found, and officers are going to talk to her to find out what happened. This all unfolded in the Westwood area. At least, that’s where police say the victim lives; this update quotes family members as saying the victim was found in Cle Elum. We have asked Seattle Police to let us know if it turns out later there is a suspect we all need to be watching for.
Thanks to everybody who wrote to tell us about this while we were out on Blue Angels watch — the search for a missing woman in West Seattle. Will see what more we can find out from Seattle Police asap, including where this happened.
The tycoon who brought WS the Delridge megaflag (photo below, looking south from outside Uptown Espresso) has just put his Vashon ranch up for sale (Beachcomber story including detailed property description here; Times story here), less than a year after moving his company out of West Seattle. (The ex-SGA Delridge building, by the way, is no longer listed for sale anywhere that we can find. Oh real-estate insiders out there, does it have a new owner?)
7 am, just after the Blue Angels landed @ Boeing Field and parked @ their Seafair “home” alongside the Museum of Flight. (I-90 bridge closures start at 9:45 am.)
Just in from Paul Carr, who with wife Libby Carr is heading up the group that is picking up the stalled proposal to build a plaza for the recast Alki Statue of Liberty. His unedited e-mail responding to recent comments, questions, and criticisms, as well as some questions of his own, and the latest on their committee’s efforts, all after the click:Read More
-If you live in/around The Junction, don’t miss the first meeting of JuNO — Junction Neighborhood Association. 6:30 pm Thursday @ the Senior Center.
-If you’re concerned about the future of the Charlestown Cafe and the site it’s on, Our Town West Seattle invites you there, 7 pm Thursday, for a briefing before the next city Design Review Board meeting on the project.
WSB reader/commenter (and blogger) Chas Redmond writes to tell us flyers have just gone around announcing the imminent demise of the 35th SW crosswalk at Kenyon (photo), hot on the heels of the Java Bean crosswalk removal….
Chas elaborates on this better than we could, so we’re quoting verbatim from his e-mail:
SDOT appears to be on a crosswalk-removing rampage – again claiming that “safety is our highest priority” and that un-signalized but marked crosswalks do not meet Federal standards based in part on a 2002 Federal Highway Administration study. So, the latest victim is the marked crosswalk at Kenyon and 35th Avenue SW. Oh, SDOT also says that “it is also important to note that, according to Washington state law, a legal pedestrian crossing exists at every intersection regardless of whether or not a crosswalk is marked. Thus pedestrians will continue to have a legal right to cross at this intersection.”
What they don’t state is that they are removing more and more of the visible signs of pedestrians, giving drivers even more incentive to ignore pedestrians. Irrespective of whether or not un-signalized crosswalks are safer or not, marked crosswalks remind motorists that there other users of the roadway or intersection and removing them is one more notch on the belt of automotive traffic at the expense of pedestrian traffic. Responses can be made by calling SDOT’s comment line at 206-615-1608 or e-mailing “walkandbike@seattle.gov.”
But be it known that the flyer states emphatically “SDOT will be removing the crosswalk at 35th Avenue SW and SW Kenyon Street.”
West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician announced today that he is planning to cope with Freeway Fright ’07 by, among other things, telecommuting and taking some time off. If you can’t work from home, how about a wi-fi-equipped coffeehouse? Suggests Hizzoner, “Fill up, log in, and chill out.” If you just can’t avoid driving, take note that some alternate routes will get special treatment, like First Avenue South heading north from The Bridge into downtown. Remember, you can check commute cams before you leave, through our WS “Live” Cams page. We’ll bring you more details on alternate routes in the days before FF ’07 hits; for now, here’s the official WSDOT project page. (We would be negligent also not to take this opportunity to re-remind you of an unrelated WS project that’s now just days away, the intense phase of Admiral repaving.)
Or anyplace you have a view of the Sound from west-facing West Seattle … a bunch of military ships are going by right now (Navy, Coast Guard), we believe as part of the Seafair fleet parade, heading south past north Vashon. 12:45 PM UPDATE, ADDING PHOTOS: They just went back the other way, to dock near downtown. Here are a couple shots we got from Marine View Drive.
Love it or hate it, it’s here … the frenzied finale to Seattle’s biggest summer festival, Seafair. 
We had been debating whether to take up space here with our Blue Angels and hydro obsessions interest, given that it’s not WS-specific, but bless the reader who wrote us to suggest we do exactly that … so here goes.
SECRET #1 — Watch the Blue Angels take off from and land at the Museum of Flight, which is at Boeing Field, just a few miles east of West Seattle. You don’t have to pay MOF admission to go stand along their fence and do this, although we highly recommend the very affordable MOF membership — it’s a unique Seattle institution worth supporting. This is always stirring, particularly on the Friday-Saturday-Sunday occasions, when you can see the full pageantry of the “walkdown,” the synchronized crew checks, the jet engine smoke, the feel-it-in-your-bones takeoffs … anyway, you can read our tales from last year: day 1 here, day 3 here, day 4 here. The Angels will have two takeoffs and landings during practices tomorrow (Thursday), then one each for the “rehearsal” show on Friday and the real deal on Saturday/Sunday.
SECRET #2 — “Free Friday.”
Brilliant line by Crosscut’s Knute Berger, toward the end of his “Mossback” column today featuring our weekend post about a Fauntlee Hills building beef.
We wanted to make sure everyone saw this note added late last night as a comment on both of our recent posts about the Delridge shootings, since the event is tonight. (A reader had described it here as a “block watch” meeting but it’s much more.):
For those residing in North Delridge please come to the North Delridge Neighborhood Council monthly meeting … Wednesday August 1st, at the Delridge Library. Meeting starts at 6:30 and ends at 7:45. One of SPD’s finest, Community Police Team Officer Brian Ballew, will be present to fill in folks on the recent shootings.
Relentless citizen pressure is, and will continue to make a difference. Never hesitate to call 911, because if you think it looks strange, I will almost guarantee that it is strange.
Mike Dady Co-Chair – North Delridge Neighborhood Council
West Seattle bicyclists, you tell us: Is the fact that “sharrows” weren’t included in the Cali repaving truly the outrage this Slog post infers it is, or should be?
We happened onto this scene today at Fairmount Park Elementary, one of the buildings closed by Seattle Public Schools at the end of this past school year to save $. While the building is being taken out of commission, Fairmount Park’s people and programs are “merging” with High Point Elementary one mile southeast; tomorrow night (Wednesday) the School Board is set to vote on the proposal to give the “merged” schools a fresh start by renaming HP “West Seattle Elementary.” (Also on the board agenda, the introduction of the proposed contract for architect and engineering services on the Denny/Sealth project. More on that in the morning; we’re discovering too many nested documents linked from the agenda to coherently summarize it all tonight!)
With about an hour and a half left in July, this has become WSB’s first month with six-digit “traffic,” as they say in internetland. 101,099 “page views” for July; double what we notched as recently as February; 12 times July ’06. Without marketing or gimmicks — people are just discovering WSB online, or hearing about it from friends/relatives/co-workers. By “people,” we mean YOU, so we want to thank you not just for coming by to look at what we’re posting about, but especially for e-mailing us with rants, raves, questions, photos, tips, whatever you are seeing/hearing in, and about, WS. That’s what makes this so much more than we imagined possible when we launched it on a lark, yet it’s barely a shell of what it can become … with your continued help. Thank you, thank you, thank you, 100(thousand) times thank you!
Tomorrow is the first full day of business for Giannoni’s Pizza, on the south side of Westwood Village (between Sally’s Beauty Supply and the future Taco Del Mar), after a soft launch for lunch today:
The Giannoni’s proprietors tell WSB the restaurant opened for 4 hours at lunchtime today for 4 hours and served more than 140 slices. Starting tomorrow, they plan to be open 11 am-10 pm daily.
If you’re looking for someplace to move a business, south of Morgan Junction is where you might want to be. In fact, space is available at the current home of Authentic Home, which is moving later this year to the north edge of The Junction (4151 Cali, former home of Emerald City Locksmith). Below the photo, some other changes in the same business area south of Morgan Junction, which covers two blocks north of Caffe Ladro:
In this block, the Tail Wag has rebranded itself as Stella Ruffington’s; in the block north of the photo, Chill is open, offering massages and “modern apothecary” (its website isn’t built out yet but the flyers at its storefront promise an intriguing mix of aromatherapy). All this within a stone’s throw of development/housing action we’ve reported on previously, including the SeventyOne apartments-turned-condos, the Housing Authority purchase of Riviera West, and the big clump of townhouses on former Gatewood Baptist church land across from the ex-GB/now Seattle International Church itself.
So said channel 7 tv news, briefly. Rescue apparently happening now. We’ll see what else we can find out. 12:35 PM UPDATE: channel 5 says the diver has died. 12:59 PM UPDATE: Here’s an update from the P-I. 1:50 PM UPDATE: Medical Examiner and Police vehicles still at Seacrest when we went by. Also, a short article from the Times.
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