West Seattle, Washington
22 Tuesday
(January 2012 photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Last week, SDOT said this would likely be the last week of nighttime Fauntleroy Expressway closures as part of the earthquake-safety work that’s been under way for months. Today – it’s official:
The contractor working for the Seattle Department of Transportation on the Fauntleroy Expressway, the raised roadway at the west end of the West Seattle Bridge, completed nighttime work on Tuesday … No further closures of the raised roadway are expected for this project.
The contractor has been strengthening the structure to make it more likely to withstand the force of a major earthquake. Upgrades to the structure have included strengthening the columns with steel jackets, strengthening the pile caps, adding additional longitudinal restrainers and replacing the bearing pads. The latter work item is what required the nighttime closures.
This afternoon’s West Seattle Crime Watch notes include a “happy ending” to a car theft reported here, plus 4 other reader reports, all ahead:Read More
Thanks to Diane for sharing the word that the American Red Cross‘s local Facebook page had featured 29-year-old Tareq Saade, who died in a diving accident Sunday off Seacrest. We published his name and a little bit about him yesterday, after the King County Medical Examiner’s Office publicly identified him, but now we have learned more: Stephanie Schoo at the American Red Cross’s local office gave us permission to republish their photo of Mr. Saade, and explained, “The photo was taken last year at a Red Cross volunteer recognition event where Tareq was one of several volunteers recognized for outstanding service.” His Red Cross volunteer work also had been mentioned in comments on an earlier WSB story; Jessica wrote that he had trained to be a first responder. He also was a ham-radio operator, remembered by members of the Capitol Hill Prepares group as an “active member … participating in radio trainings and drills” (thanks to Karen from West Seattle Be Prepared for pointing us to that information). At the end of our Tuesday followup, one of the volunteers who found his body after the official search ended told more of her story; in e-mail correspondence with Johanna Raupe, we had asked her why she and Patricia Gunderson went down after police/fire teams called it off for the night, having searched for more than five hours, after first word that Mr. Saade had disappeared while surfacing after some kind of problem happened during a deep dive with an advanced class. She replied in part, “I’m a diver and a mother. I have both a son and a daughter that are divers as well. … I know how many divers have been lost and never recovered or found maybe years later. The conditions were prime to find him before the marine life came in and before the big exchange happened. I wouldn’t want my children left behind. I could not leave him behind, not if I had the skills to locate him.”
ADDED THURSDAY AFTERNOON: We received a note pointing us to a memorial page set up on Facebook for tributes to, and memories of, Mr. Saade. It also mentions that his memorial is set for this Saturday at Salty’s on Alki.
Just in from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce – this year’s Westside Award winners, who will be celebrated at an April 18th breakfast:
The results are in! Thank you to all who submitted nominations for The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Program.
From a pool of over 40 submissions, the committee has selected AmericanWest Bank (formerly Viking Bank) as the WestSide Business of the Year for 2011. Many nominators mentioned “friendly, personal, and professional” but it was AmericanWest Bank’s community involvement and support of local non-profits that earned them the title. All the nominees represented the quality West Seattle businesses which make us proud, including: Mashiko, Ola Salon, Click! Design That Fits, Clementine Shoes, Max and Quinn’s Atomic Boys, Link Apartments, Tony’s Market, Nurturing Expressions, and Ventana Construction.
To honor new ventures, an award in its second year is WestSide Emerging Business. Congratulations to The Grove West Seattle Inn for being the 2011 recipient and a strong addition to our business community.
As West Seattle’s only full-service inn, The Grove brings safe, convenient, clean and friendly lodging to our peninsula. Some other new businesses are already making a great impression. Nominees for WestSide Emerging Business of the Year, for those in business less than three years, included: Highline Medical Center Urgent Care, West Seattle Produce Co., The Cove School, Eldercare Consulting, and Les Schwab.
Also in its second year is the Not-For-Profit category, for which The West Seattle Garden Tour has been chosen WestSide Not-for-Profit Business of the Year. A major fund raiser for many non-profits, the West Seattle Garden Tour attracts scores of tour-goers to enjoy our neighborhoods each July. West Seattle is home to some other hard-working Not-for-Profit organizations. Nominees for this award included Transitional Resources, West Seattle Helpline, Sustainable West Seattle, WestSide Baby, Sports in Schools, Westside School, and West Seattle Food Bank.
Finally, the third-annual WestSider of the Year award which honors an individual who has made a lasting impact on our community, goes to Pete Spalding, tireless advocate and civic leader for West Seattle. Pete has been an active member of the West Seattle Food Bank Board, serves on the Southwest Precinct Advisory Council, the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council, and many other community groups.
Please join us in honoring these recipients at the WestSide Annual Awards Breakfast sponsored by Nucor Corporation at Salty’s on Alki on April 18, 2012, 7:30-9am. The Awards Presentation is the premier event of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, a community gathering to recognize and celebrate excellence in business and the vibrant sprit of West Seattle. This year’s special guest speaker is Matthew Gardner of Gardner Economics. Tickets are $50 each available at http://www.wschamber.com or call the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 206-932-5685.
This time yesterday, your editor here was honored to be the monthly speaker at the Rotary Club of West Seattle, talking about covering news in West Seattle. Since then, there’s big news involving club members and more than 3,000 of their fellow regional Rotarians – Rotary International District 5030 is the first organization in 68 years to receive the Seattle-King County First Citizen Award. West Seattle is one of 53 clubs comprising District 5030, and is home to its district governor, Ann Liberato, at right in our July 2011 photo below, with club president Sue Lindblom:
The news release we just received from the First Citizen Award’s sponsoring organization, Seattle-King County Realtors, quotes award-committee chair Roni Strupat: “Rather than single out an individual, we are delighted to honor an organization with remarkable dedication – and results — in meeting the challenges associated with hunger, poverty and illiteracy.” District 5030 will officially receive the award at a Seattle Sheraton banquet on June 13th. Read on for the district’s accomplishments, listed in the announcement:Read More
(“First sign of spring!” says West Seattle photographer Machel Spence)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
TONIGHT’S BRIDGE WORK: No closures announced so far, but lane closures for the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project continue – listed here.
IN CASE YOU HEAR PLANES: A WSB’er calls our attention to a NORAD alert about exercises over the region – might have already happened (or not), but in case you see/hear military aircraft (the latter’s more likely today), this might explain it.
LIBRARY STORY TIMES: From the Seattle Public Library Calendar of Events – Preschool Story Times at 10:30 am (West Seattle/Admiral branch) and 11:30 am (Southwest branch), Somali Story Time at 5 pm at the High Point branch.
WEST SEATTLE FIRMS AT SEATTLE HOME SHOW: The annual Seattle Home Show continues at the CenturyLink Event Center, noon-8 pm, with West Seattle participants including WSB sponsors Ventana Construction, Potter Construction, and NCompass Cottage Company.
MOVIE TIME AT SENIOR CENTER OF WEST SEATTLE: 1 pm, “Heart and Souls” (1993). California/Oregon. (from Twitter)
TEEN ZUMBA: Fourth Wednesday of the month means Teen Zumba at the Southwest Teen Life Center, open to anyone between the ages 11-19, 5 pm, free. (2801 SW Thistle)
DAYSTAR CHAT: Open conversation with Daystar Retirement Village (WSB sponsor) residents and families, 5 pm, full details here
POEMS AND STORIES: Poetry Bridge‘s 4th Wednesday Poems & Tales at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 5612 California SW, from 7-9 pm. Featured readers are Noel Parkinson and Beau Pritchard, followed by open mike (signup starts at 6:45 pm); free and open to all ages.
It’s been eight months since first word that the Downtown Emergency Service Center planned to build a “supportive housing” project at 5444 Delridge Way – downsized slightly to 66 units, each one to become home to a formerly homeless person living with mental illness and possibly substance abuse. Tuesday night, a new advisory committee met for the first time, expressly to listen to whatever community members wanted to say about the project, even if they had said it somewhere before.
The results are in our video clip, unedited, recording all 13 speakers, who comprised almost half the crowd. (There would have been more, suggested one speaker, if the community had any reason to trust DESC would truly listen and act on the concerns voiced.) They voiced concerns and criticisms, some with fury, some with disappointment, some with skepticism, some with scorn. While understanding the need for the work DESC does, this just isn’t the right site, many said – in one speaker’s words, putting an at-risk community on top of an at-risk community.
DESC director Bill Hobson is co-chair of the new committee, along with longtime community activist/advocate Pete Spalding of Pigeon Point. But this hearing wasn’t for back-and-forth discussion, or even for DESC to respond to concerns – it was meant to be 100 percent for anyone who wanted to speak, to do so.
Meantime, the project still has hurdles to clear – as reported here earlier this week, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission has a public hearing downtown at 1 pm Thursday for projects seeking Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, including this one; on March 8th, it’s the second Design Review Board hearing for the project. Other key dates and input opportunities are detailed here.
(From left, Melissa Chin from Seattle City Attorney’s Office, Cheryl Bishop from ATF, Jill Otake from U.S. Attorney’s Office)
From tonight’s meeting of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council at the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct, toplines on topics from the latest property-crime rate, to last fall’s White Center-area raids, to an impromptu primer on the criminal-justice system, with three guests (above), all ahead & more:Read More
Two announcements from organizers of the third annual Chief Sealth International High School dinner/auction benefit, coming up in a week and a half – you can still get tickets, and they’re still rounding up auction items. Here’s an updated announcement:
3rd Annual Seahawk Spirit Dinner & Auction!
Co-Sponsored by Chief Sealth PTSA, Chief Sealth Performing Arts, and Chief Sealth AthleticsSaturday March 3, 2012
Doors Open at 5 pm ~ Hall at Fauntleroy
Tickets are $60 and include sit-down dinner and big fun!Entertainment includes performances by Chief Sealth High School student musicians as well as local group Choro Tocanda, performing Brazilian choro music. Taking elements ranging from European dance forms to African-rooted beats, this popular music was the first to express the many cultures that meet at the crossroads that is Brazil.
We are still gratefully accepting sponsorships from local businesses as well as item donations for both the silent and live auctions. Ticket sales, item or cash donations, and sponsorship opportunities can all be handled online:
https://csptsa.ejoinme.org/?tabid=326316
Contact chiefsealthptsa@gmail.com for more information.
Huge congratulations to Jean Robinson, a West Seattle Soccer Club coach who has just won a 2011 Coach of the Year award from the U.S. Youth Soccer organization (details here). WSSC’s Tim McMonigle tells WSB that he nominated Coach Robinson after the 2010 season, “and it has taken this long to get to the national level” – he coached a boys’ U-18 team with her that year (going 12-0), and then, he says, “She went back and started with a girls’ U-7 team last spring, and last fall coached a girls’ U-8 team. She is starting over. And the parents love her.”
Todd hopes you might be able to help him find his stolen truck:
This white Mazda B2600i 4×4 truck, with silver-gray canopy, was stolen from 4215 SW Myrtle st – one block east of California – sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning (2/19-2/20). The canopy rear window, shown in one picture, is now broken and covered with black plastic. In the other picture you can see a silver American Automobile Association sticker on the canopy front window. There are roof racks, with a bicycle holder on the passenger side, and on the rear of the truck is a towing insert, instead of a bumper. License plate is WA B89770H.
Call 911 if you see it.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Gusty winds are in the forecast, and they’ve led to some high surf, as you can see at Beach Drive Blog. Meantime, there’s a rescue callout along Beach Drive right now – WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli is there and says that somebody reported a sailboarder possibly in trouble, though they’re believed to be OK.
One more postscript to the process, now in high gear, of selling the 87-year-old former Fire Station 37 (Othello/35th). Last Friday, we published an update with photos from a brief tour with broker Arvin Vander Veen – how about that mega-garage, above!? – plus the dates set for open houses and submittal of offers. Today, the brokerage, Colliers International, has announced the website for two ex-fire stations they’re representing, including 37, is live – seattlefirestations.com (with more photos). Again – the open houses are 10 am-2 pm March 10th and April 7th, with offers due by 5 pm April 20th.
Thanks to Pete for the tip on this (as well as an unsigned text message): Eastbound SW Holden should be open again at any time, since a tow truck was arriving at the scene where a white Jeep Cherokee crashed just east of 15th SW and blocked that side of the road. Its driver walked away (with a passenger, according to witnesses). No injuries reported.
1:46 PM: Police are searching right now for two armed men who are reported to have broken into a residence in the 4300 block of 30th SW. The only description they have of the intruders is, black men, late teens, with hoodies pulled up over their faces. More to come.
1:56 PM: Additional description information: The armed man had a silver .45 handgun, and was wearing a black windbreaker and blue jeans. (If you saw a helicopter in the area, by the way, it wasn’t a law-enforcement chopper – tipster Mary says it was a news chopper, though we’re not seeing it now.)
If you happen to spot the seal pup in the photo – no, it’s not in trouble, and the unusual item by her head is nothing to worry about. Robin Lindsey from Seal Sitters says Sandy (the rehabbed, tagged pup mentioned here 3 weeks ago) may just turn up in West Seattle:
Sandy, the satellite-tagged seal pup, has made her way back to our area, according to the most recent satellite hits. Yesterday, she was hanging out on Vashon’s West side in Colvos Passage. This morning the data reveals that she is at the north end of Vashon, near the Port Orchard/Southworth ferry run. We are asking folks to keep an eye out for her – and to stay back (of course) and call our hotline at 206-905-7325 (SEAL) if you spot her. Sandy’s homing instinct may well be sending her back to West Seattle and we’ll be waiting with open arms and lots of yellow tape!
It is incredibly exciting to watch this little pup we rescued from West Seattle back in August and her progress back in the Salish Sea; and, thus far, she seems to be successfully adapting to her new lease on life after a very long rehab at PAWS. People can follow her on SeaDoc Society’s “Sandy” page and receive almost daily e-mails of her travels.
We want to assure folks that her satellite tag was applied with glue and will fall off as she molts her coat in a few months, if not sooner. The tag does not impair her in any way and provides invaluable data for research that will help other seal pups. Here is a link to the blog posts about Sandy, including a video of her release.
P.S. Want to be a Seal Sitters volunteer? A training session is coming up March 3rd. We have a separate story in the works on that, but you can find out more right now by going here.
LOTS going on around the peninsula. From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
BRIDGE ADVISORIES FOR TONIGHT: The Fauntleroy Expressway is scheduled to be closed overnight as the Seismic Retrofit Project continues, and lane closures are scheduled because of the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project. Details here.
MID-WINTER BREAK CONTINUES: School’s out all week for Seattle Public Schools and other schools that follow its calendar.
ROTARY CLUB OF WEST SEATTLE: If you’re going to the Rotary Club of West Seattle weekly luncheon meeting today, we’ll see you there, since your editor here is guest speaker today. Noon at Salty’s on Alki.
‘THE SHARING REVOLUTION’: Tonight, it’s a “Share Fair” and panel discussion at Sustainable West Seattle‘s meeting, 6-9 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon) (details here)
SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE DESC PROJECT IN DELRIDGE? New advisory committee convenes a public hearing on the DESC Delridge 66-unit homeless-housing project, and would like to hear from everyone in the community with something to say about the project, to help define community concerns/interests going forward. 6:30 pm, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW).
NEW P-PATCH IN WEST SEATTLE: Parks and Green Spaces Levy money has been awarded to create a P-Patch community garden at Westcrest Park in Highland Park, and tonight’s the orientation and design criteria meeting. Organizers say, “You don’t need any experience gardening or community organizing, just an interest in being involved.” 6:30 pm, Highland Park Improvement Club, 12th and Holden.
TOASTMASTERS’ SPEECH CONTEST: 6:30-8 pm tonight at The Kenney: 7125 Fauntleroy Way SW, West Seattle Toastmasters 832 will hold their International Speech Contest; guests are invited to watch the competition free of charge. Club contest winners move on to area competition next month in Renton.
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: At tonight’s WSCPC meeting, new precinct liaison Melissa Chin from the City Attorney’s Office will be introduced, and Jill Otake from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Violent Crime Task Force will speak. 7 pm, Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster) – full details here
West Seattle diver Laura James shares the photo at left – flowers at Cove 2, off Seacrest, left in memory of the diver who died on Sunday. As noted here Sunday night, Laura was one of the divers who went down to mark the spot where another “civilian” team had discovered him, so that police and fire divers could subsequently, and quickly, finish the recovery. Tonight, more information:
*In comments on Sunday night’s report, the diver who died is identified by his girlfriend and others as Tareq. We have learned his last name as well, but are not publishing it yet, while awaiting King County Medical Examiner confirmation that next-of-kin has all been notified (their usual daily media report was not available today because of the holiday). One commenter mentions that he was a ham-radio operator; we are told he was active with an emergency-preparedness group.
*Also commenting was Johanna Raupe, one of the divers who found the body at 110 feet down; she was taken to the Virginia Mason Center for Hyperbaric Medicine after a problem during her ascent. Via e-mail, she shared with WSB the account of what she told her dive group had happened, writing of a “major equipment failure” at 95 feet. As for how she’s doing, she wrote, “I am doing fine, I only experienced pain-related symptoms with some poor balance. The doctor told me I executed the best practices perfectly and my being here was testament to that fact. I had to do a preventative Table-6 decompression. I was released (Monday) morning a little after 4 AM. I am under observation and evaluation for a week.”
*If you missed our original coverage – Tareq was reported to be with an advanced dive class when something went wrong before 11 am Sunday; another diver tried surfacing with him, but lost track of him. Authorities were called, and Seattle Police/Fire and the U.S. Coast Guard searched in the water, from the air, and even from land (atop an SFD ladder) until late in the afternoon. After the dives involving Johanna and Laura, as detailed above, recovery operations were concluded successfully just before 8 pm.
4:34 PM UPDATE: The KCME now officially identifies the diver who died as 29-year-old Tareq Saade. Cause of death is listed as accidental drowning. According to information we have found online, Mr. Saade was a Microsoft employee who lived on Capitol Hill.
ADDED 11:28 PM: In further correspondence with Johanna – who identifies her diving buddy as Patricia Gunderson, and also has words of thanks for Yvonne Renick, shore support – we asked her how she and Patricia came to be the ones who went down looking after the official search was suspended, something we had not yet heard:
My dive buddy and I originally planned to dive at Redondo. When we got there, there were hundreds of divers in the water. Not a good environment for photography. So we went to Salt Water state park. We couldn’t get in the water there because of the logs baring the beach. We then decided to go to Alki and arrived around noon.
When we go there, Pat looked at me and said “Something is going to happen to us today because all of the cards are lining up. We’re supposed to be here for some reason.”
We stayed at Alki all day watching the entire event unroll. When the team started calling off the recovery for the day (~4:15 PM) I decided to go and talk to two different officers onsite. I let both of them know that I would be locating the body and what did they want me to do with it when I found it.
My buddy and I immediately started checking out our gear and setting it up. (I had to get clearance from the police to enter the water) We got in the water about 5:00 PM and found Tareq about 5:05 based on the clues I mentioned in a prior recount. We moved the body to the new location and headed in.
Why did I do this? I’m a diver and a mother. I have both a son and a daughter that are divers as well. I know what goes on under the water when the sun goes down over the sound. I know how many divers have been lost and never recovered or found maybe years later. The conditions were prime to find him before the marine life came in and before the big exchange happened. I wouldn’t want my children left behind. I could not leave him behind, not if I had the skills to locate him.
I have a gift. I’ve been really successful on my searching, rescues and then this one recovery. I’ve brought three people up successfully. I knew without a doubt that I could find this guy.
(Taken on 35th looking toward Fauntleroy just before 8 am February 8th)
Hundreds if not thousands of drivers who use the Fauntleroy Way entrance to the West Seattle Bridge may still have memories of February 8th, the morning the 35th/Fauntleroy stoplight turned into a 4-way stop for much of the morning commute. We first reported on it as a traffic alert, and then followed up later in the day, because we and others had noticed the light in flash mode the night before, and wondered why it hadn’t been fixed before it could cause a rush-hour backup.
Hours later, SDOT spokesperson Rick Sheridan told WSB , “Though reported overnight, the signal required specialized diagnosis and repair expertise.” (The rest of his statement’s in our followup story.) In an article published online tonight, Seattle Times (WSB partner) reporter Susan Kelleher digs further into what happened. She writes that at the time of the incident, SDOT had a rule that in essence resulted in no one being available for overtime callout to West Seattle the night of February 7th, and reports that rule was dropped last week after a union grievance. The Times report attributes the rule to an SDOT manager who gained notoriety because he, as Kelleher writes, “led the city’s botched response to the December 2008 snowstorms and who figured prominently in a yearlong human-resources investigation into the department’s street-maintenance division.” You can read her story here.
Besides regular monthly lunch meetings and big annual events like the Westside Awards (April 18th this year), the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce offers its members other opportunities to get together – like a brand-new type of event on the calendar for next week: The first Young Professionals Network mixer. David Kim from AmericanWest Bank in The Junction is organizing it, as chair of the Chamber’s Ambassador Committee. Don’t get stuck on the “y” word, he advises, because “the YPN is designed as a unique, casual network programming for those that are young-at-heart. Some other YPNs have an age limit, but … we determined that we wanted to engage members that wanted to have something fun & exciting to mix it up.” The first YPN event is a scotch tasting at West 5 at 5 pm Tuesday, February 28th – “a tasting of several brands of single-malt scotches, with a brand expert on hand to educate about scotch,” West 5 proprietor and Chamber board chair Dave Montoure explains. No fee, and open to all Chamber members; if you haven’t received an e-mail invitation, you can RSVP through the Chamber website. (Not a member? Here’s how to join.)
While at SDOT headquarters downtown two weeks ago to discuss the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project, now in its final months (our story’s here), they mentioned that they would soon be able to share renderings for the art to be included in the work, part of the SDOT Art Plan, which in turn is part of the city’s “1% for art” rule. And here’s a peek:
Project manager Stuart Goldsmith explains:
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