West Seattle, Washington
27 Sunday
Just received a note about an apparently thwarted case of animal cruelty involving beach birds known to many in the Fauntleroy area (featured on WSB back in August). The person who e-mailed us did not want to be publicly identified:
I called 911 on 3 youths today who were using a sling shot to sling rocks at the white geese that have taken up home near the front entry of Lincoln Park.
The youths were yelling, “kill them” when a lady stopped and asked them to leave the geese alone. I was walking my dog and told them to stop and leave them alone. At this point they had something in their hand and it looked like they were trying to put it around the geese’s neck. They yelled at me and asked what I was looking at. They made threatening remarks to me and the other lady. I called 911 and gave a detailed description to them. I couldn’t stay for the police to arrive as I had to leave to pick up my own son from after school care. This was about 4:30 today.
Description (I should have taken a picture with my phone, but was intimidated):
3 youth male between the age of 15-16
One Caucasian, very thin, dressed all in black with spiked blonde hair
2 others who looked like brothers, husky build, mixed race, definitely some islander, one was wearing a red t-shirt with jeans and the other a red hoodie with jeans. The one with the hoodie was yelling “kill them”. The one with the red t shirt was saying the threatening remarks.I hated to see those innocent geese that are so beautiful tortured. Not sure if you want to post or not. The police dispatcher said a car would come patrol the area as soon as possible
As previously reported, there’ve been questions concerning the bidding process for Delridge Skatepark (to be built at the northeast corner of the park adjacent to Delridge Community Center), after the low bidder was reported to not have met an amendment to the qualifications requiring a certain number of skateparks of a certain size to have been built within a certain time – Parks was deciding whether to give the project to the second-lowest bidder, or to re-bid it. According to a note just received from project manager Kelly Davidson, they’ve made the latter decision:
After internal review and review with the City Attorney’s office, Parks is rejecting all bids for Delridge Skatepark. The project and qualifications will be reviewed and the project will be re-bid. I will follow up with more information on the re-bid process once we have determined the dates and revisions to the qualifications.
Just after we published the first version of this, another e-mail came in, this one from Kevin Stoops, a top manager in Parks, confirming this means a months-long delay in skatepark construction:
Earlier today we decided to reject all bids for the Delridge Skatepark and rebid this project later this year or early next year for mid-2011 construction.
This decision has been reached after a review of the very restrictive supplemental bidder qualifications that were issued by addendum to the original project requirements. These focused on volume of work rather than specific construction requirements to complete the work, and are unnecessarily restrictive. the project will be re-bid with clearer contractor qualification requirements outlined in the construction documents. The design of the skatepark will not be changed.
Further, issuance of a construction contract involving excavation and concrete work at this time of year will be problematic was we are now ready to enter a wet rainy period for some time. The construction window for such concrete work is already rapidly coming to an end for 2010 and an extremely wet winter is forecast. Starting construction in the face of such would likely lead to unintended site costs due to wet conditions.
Admiral Neighborhood Association president Katy Walum is among the neighborhood leaders you can expect to see at tonight’s City Council Budget Committee hearing at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center (signups at 5, hearing at 5:30, more in this morning’s preview). ANA is the latest local group to voice concern about Mayor McGinn‘s proposed budget, particularly the cuts that would be made in the Department of Neighborhoods – closing the Neighborhood Service Center in The Junction and cutting the Neighborhood District Coordinator job that’s based there, as well as cutting the amount of money that would be available through the Neighborhood Matching Fund. Read on for more, as well as other toplines from last night’s meeting:Read More
Three updates from Patrick Dunn with the West Seattle Tool Library, entering its first winter since its creation as a Sustainable West Seattle project. For one, they’re about to hit a membership milestone – and that includes some prizes you might be eligible to win! Second, a free workshop is ahead, and third, the Tool Library’s hours are changing this weekend. Read on for details on all of the above: Read More
Two quick notes about spotlighted walking opportunities in the next two days:
Tomorrow night is the monthly West Seattle Art Walk, and since it’s the start of a new quarter, that means some new venues join the roster – the full list is on the walking map; you can also sample some of the participating artists by checking out the official West Seattle Art Walk website. Among the WSB sponsors who will be showing art tomorrow night are two with new locations – Click! Design That Fits (4540 California SW in The Junction) and M3 Bodyworks (5236 California SW). Official Art Walk hours tomorrow (Thursday) night – in 41 venues from Alki Bathhouse in the north to Barton Street Lofts (WSB sponsor) in the south – are 6-9 pm.
On Friday afternoon, the Nature Consortium would love to have you join them on their monthly eco-hike (more like a walk – it’s not terribly challenging, so no worries if you’re not a full-fledged hiker) through the West Duwamish Greenbelt. 1 pm Friday, meet at 14th SW and SW Holly. It’s free but they ask that you RSVP – lisac@naturec.org.
West Seattle Chamber of Commerce members heard from Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen during their lunch meeting today at the tribe’s Longhouse and Cultural Center in eastern West Seattle. She provided an update on the tribe’s fight for federal recognition, granted toward the end of the Clinton Administration, invalidated at the start of the Bush Administration: Hansen says the Duwamish have a new legal team in place to help them with their appeal of the latter decision, which they had been pursuing for years, along with new legislation. (She in fact left shortly after her speech for a meeting with the new team, which is why we don’t have a photo of her from today – we’d intended to take one with Chamber leaders as the lunch wrapped up.) According to Hansen, the tribe’s 600 current members are spread around the region, and their intent to seek recognition has no “ulterior motive.” She requested support in the form of letters to Congress, asking them to get the recognition process moving. Meantime, the Longhouse has presented a variety of fundraisers to help pay the legal bills, under the “Frybread for Justice” umbrella – there’s another one this Saturday; check the Longhouse website’s Calendar of Events for more on that and many other upcoming events.
OTHER NOTES FROM THE CHAMBER LUNCH: Local businesses are invited to join a Seattle Chamber event tonight that’s almost in West Seattle – a citywide mixer at Herban Feast’s Sodo Park, 5:30 pm … That’s also the site of next week’s Chamber fundraiser, Bordeaux, Bites, and Boogie, October 21st at 5 pm (more information here) … City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw will be the “Lunch with LEO” guest for the periodic brown-bag-with-an-elected-leader at WS Chamber offices, noon October 28th, RSVP required … And next month’s Chamber lunch will feature South Seattle Community College‘s new president Gary Oertli.
Two notes this afternoon: First, if you haven’t seen this already in the WSB Forums, Chris reports a lane revision on eastbound Andover at Delridge (map). Second: Another reminder that the Alaskan Way Viaduct‘s semiannual inspection is this weekend, so it’s scheduled to be closed 6 am-6 pm Saturday and the same time frame Sunday (sometimes it reopens earlier, and we will report it here if that happens, as well as on Twitter and Facebook). Also note that a bit later this month, the eastbound West Seattle Bridge ramp to 99 will be closed for two nights – 10 pm-5 am, October 20-21 – as part of the Viaduct earthquake-gating project.
ORIGINAL 10:33 AM REPORT: The mayor and city tech boss Bill Schrier (a West Seattleite) have just started a briefing on the new look of seattle.gov – you can watch live above. Notes as we go. Key points: This is the result of a usability study; it streamlines “the interface to five portals instead of nine.” The search feature is stronger, Schrier explains. Also, the right-side links to elected officials, on the home page’s right side, will include their Facebook and Twitter links. There’s a dropdown toward the middle of the page to get you to the relatively new “My Neighborhood” maps, which include layers for 911 calls (not all “live” – there’s a few hours’ lag for police reports) and police reports.
(10:44 am) The mayor is noting that the new look does NOT run throughout all seattle.gov pages yet. Schrier says Knowledge As Power is the firm that has conducted a usability study that helped pave the way for some of the changes they made. He also notes there are 100,000 pages on the city website at the moment so “it will take a long time for us to circulate through (all the pages) to upgrade its look and feel.” The mayor says ask.seattle.gov will be launched in the future for people to post questions – and he says his office will monitor and forward questions to appropriate departments. He says he intends the web to be used more for engagement than to just “push information out to people.”
(10:49 am) Questions/answers now. We asked about personalization. Not yet, but my.seattle.gov is still in the works. Another question: Mobile “light” version of the site? Answer: Not yet. Question: Cost of this redesign? Answer: Less than $5,000 in outside resources (Knowledge As Power says their usability study cost the city less than $1K – their report’s been published online, reps from KAP just said).
(11:01 am) The mayoral media availability has now moved on to other Q/A which so far have included Fire Department staffing, the Viaduct questionnaire to be discussed by WSDOT this afternoon, and two City Council bills the mayor opposed.
(11:28 am) The briefing’s now completely concluded. When the video we streamed live earlier is available in archive, we’ll bring back the link. In the meantime, we had a few post-briefing chats: One reason the redesign didn’t include mobile is the cost, Schrier says – they’d made a budget request but it would have been more than $150,000.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this morning. First, after a half-dozen notes/calls from concerned neighbors/passersby, we have a bit of information on the notable police presence near 50th/Stevens (map): Det. Mark Jamieson in the SPD media unit says it’s a search warrant, and that’s all he can say right now – not a currently active crime scene. We’ll be checking back later. (Added: Moments after we published this, another note came in from Laura, mentioning that the FBI is there too.) … Meantime, Jeff sends word of a stolen truck to watch for:
This weekend (Saturday) a friend of mine had his work truck stolen from his house near Genesee and 50th [map]. It is a large Chevy panel truck with “Express Cryogenics” painted on the outside, and is the only one of the same kind in the Seattle area. If anyone knows about this, or sees the truck driving around town, please call me (Jeff @ 206-933-6302) or (Paul @ 206-923-2699). It’s his work truck, and he can’t provide for his family without it. There is only one truck like this in Seattle.
9:30 AM UPDATE: Via Facebook, Julie says officers left the 50th/Stevens scene around 9 am. 5:55 PM UPDATE: Haven’t had a chance to mention this sooner – Jeff says they found the truck, in West Seattle, after getting a call less than an hour after this item was published this morning.
Our quick notes in the daily countdown to the November 2nd election is a few hours later than usual today because there are several things to preview: First, as we’ve been mentioning, King County expects to mail ballots today – so voting could start as soon as tomorrow … One of the two local races for open seats, 34th District House Position 2, will be showcased in West Seattle today – the weekly Kiwanis Club of West Seattle meeting includes a candidate forum with contenders Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey (more details in our original preview) … The 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting is tonight, 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy; along with Get Out The Vote plans, their online agenda notes a guest appearance by King County Council chair Bob Ferguson for county-budget Q/A … And if you haven’t made up your mind in the 34th District House #2 and King County Council #8 races yet, remember to keep the calendar open for the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s doubleheader forum at the Greenbridge YWCA (just over the Highland Park/White Center line) a week from tomorrow, 7 pm October 21st. … “Social media” watch: Only Twitter/Facebook update in those two races in the past day – Fitzgibbon tweeted yesterday. … Election news to share? Let us know. (No attack/counter-attack, though, thanks, plenty of that elsewhere.)
This will come up again later in our reports on last night’s Fauntleroy Community Association and Admiral Neighborhood Association meetings, both of which included discussions of the city budget proposal, but for now, here are the basics on tonight’s hearing, one of three the City Council Budget Committee – which includes all nine councilmembers – has scheduled: The official agenda is here, including links to related documents, and some guidelines for how the hearing will go; the hearing is not in a “listen to a presentation and then comment” format, but instead, almost entirely (you can expect some introductions and instructions) for public comment. They’ll take signups starting at 5 pm, and speakers will start at 5:30 pm. It’s in Brockey Center, the event venue on the south side of the South Seattle Community College campus; here’s a map to SSCC (6000 16th SW), and once you’re there, here’s a campus map. The Seattle Channel will likely webcast the hearing live as it did with the first one; if so, we’ll stream it here too. Previous WSB coverage of the budget’s potential West Seattle effects includes running coverage from the day it was announced, a closer look at the targeted-for-closure SPD Mounted Unit, and detailed discussion of the Department of Neighborhoods‘ potential cuts.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second weekly installment of this new WSB feature – if you missed the explanation/introduction with which we prefaced the first one, you’ll find it here.
By Megan Sheppard
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
From reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers:
*A Fauntleroy woman returned home to discover one of her dogs missing and a bedroom window open. Initially concerned about a break-in, she and officers ultimately decided that a “break-out” was the likelier scenario: There were no signs of forced entry, and the dog (later found 11 blocks away) had apparently seized the opportunity to re-enact The Great Escape by jumping onto the bed and out of the window.
*Around 7 a.m. on October 5th, officers woke a homeless man who was sleeping on a Junction bus stop bench. As part of the information-gathering, they asked if they could search his backpack. The contents — none of which were in his name — might have warranted a round of the “12 Days of Christmas”: Five credit cards, three IDs, two drivers licenses, one passport, several blank checks, one crack pipe, rock cocaine … and a meeeeeethh-loaded syringe.
Seven more reports ahead:Read More
Before we get to the reports on tonight’s neighborhood-council meetings, one more from last night – the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council. We have toplines from two of the major topics, trees and traffic – read on:Read More
Just got word today from Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association executive director Derek Birnie that former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice (right) has confirmed as keynote for this year’s Gathering of Neighbors in West Seattle, coming up November 6th at Chief Sealth International High School. It’s a chance for community organizations and West Seattle businesses to gather in one place so that they and community members can learn more about each other. And tonight, the Gathering of Neighbors registration form is online, for prospective participants. This will be the first GON since spring 2009; Birnie told WSB in a phone conversation that it’s expanding to be more than just a gathering of community exhibitors with a smattering of entertainment. For example, you’ll see more workshops – Birnie describes them as “learning exchanges.” GON will also be a kickoff of sorts for DNDA, he explains, as it grows into a role of not just making projects happen, but also helping sow and nurture “Seeds of Innovative Leadership” (SOIL for short) – which will be a “peninsula-wide leadership program” that you’ll hear more about at Gathering of Neighbors. Click here to download the registration form – you can e-mail it to phillippiag@dnda.org or send via postal mail to Phillippia Goldsmith, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle 98106.
(Photos courtesy Stir It Up Productions; above, Francine at left, Laurel at right)
By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
West Seattle filmmaker Francine Strickwerda and her business partner Laurel Spellman Smith are freelance filmmakers focusing on social and environmental issues. Their latest work-in-progress is “Oil and Water,” focusing on two young men fighting the presence of oil companies in the Amazon rainforest, with a screening planned this Thursday at the Duwamish Longhouse in West Seattle.
Francine calls it a “David and Goliath” story:
ORIGINAL 6:35 PM NOTE: Separate from the fire incident that’s wrapping up downhill, police are handling a problem with a truck that’s blocked off 22nd SW before the downhill curves – and the tow truck won’t arrive for an hour or so. They’re putting up closure signs at 20th SW/Holden and 21st SW/Webster.
ADDED 10:33 PM: Jon shared photos (one is added, above) “of the truck that was stuck down the street from my house. He had a load of sheetrock for Home Depot. The tow truck was able to pull the end of the trailer back so he could get down the hill. Somehow we need to get the city to put signs up at 16th and Holden so they don’t do this. This isn’t the first one in my 14 years here.”
(Photo substituted at 6:25 pm for original 5:53 pm cameraphone pic)
ORIGINAL 5:41 PM REPORT: We’re on our way to the fire reported in the 5000 block of Delridge (map). Per the scanner, it’s a duplex, and everybody got out OK. “Small amount” of flames said to be visible from the roof. Police are being called in to help divert traffic around the fire scene. 5:50 PM UPDATE: Our crew’s arriving and confirms Delridge is blocked.
From the scanner, fire is described as “tapped.” Our crew is seeing firefighters cutting holes to ventilate the roof. 6:01 PM UPDATE: Incident commander tells us the fire was in a range hood. Police, via scanner, expect Delridge will be blocked another 15 minutes or so. 6:26 PM UPDATE: No word of reopening yet. Added a few more photos, including this closer look at the deployed ladder:
6:42 PM UPDATE: Delridge has reopened, both ways.
Tomorrow, the entire City of Seattle website is scheduled to launch a new look, “making services more accessible,” according to the mayor’s office. Today, Seattle City Light> is already a bit ahead of the curve – with a new “outage tracker” already online. City Light’s Scott Thomsen walked us through it: Go to the SCL home page at seattle.gov/light – and note the System Status box in the right sidebar:
Caveat, this will look different after tomorrow’s redesign launches – but the same info will be available in this order, toward the top of the page. If there’s an outage, a click in the box will take you to a map, where the outage will be marked in red (the bigger the outage, the bigger the mark, but as you zoom in on the map, you’ll get to something like this) – a click on the red brings up a bubble with outage basics:
The biggest thing, Thomsen explains, is that this will be updated every 15 minutes, and it will automatically get new information from what City Light workers are learning from callers and crew members. Previously, the utility used a seldom-used webpage that sometimes displayed outage information – and more often didn’t – Thomsen explains that it wasn’t linked into outage-related info the way this new one is. In addition, the old system wouldn’t be called into action for small outages; this one will show outages of any size. You still need to call and report them, he emphasizes – City Light does not yet have the technology to automatically detect them. But the new software enabling the online “system status” will enable more features around next February, Thomsen adds – perhaps even phone notifications when the outage at your house is over.
(Photo courtesy Symetra Financial)
That’s Randy Harkness, who’s taught first grade at West Seattle’s Sanislo Elementary School for more than 20 years. His new jersey is part of what he was given during a special surprise presentation today – Symetra Financial and the Seahawks honored him as a “Hero in the Classroom.” He was nominated by principal Ernie Seevers, who is quoted in Symetra’s announcement as saying, “He made a choice to contribute to our community’s future by working with our youngest scholars, and he has delivered the gift of literacy to two generations of children.” This season, the Heroes in the Classroom program will honor two dozen K-12 teachers around Western Washington, and Harkness is the 8th, as well as the 1st one from West Seattle. Besides the jersey, he got a certificate and tickets to a Seahawks home game as well as acknowledgment on the field – he’ll get his shoutout when the Seahawks host the Arizona Cardinals on October 24th. The award also makes Sanislo eligible for a $10,000 MVP Award – three of the schools with teacher honorees this season will get those awards at the end of the football season. (P.S. Another West Seattle teacher was honored this time last year – Christopher Robert from Roxhill.)
The Luna Park Italian restaurant Café Revo has closed, according to an announcement just received via e-mail:
Anyone who has enjoyed dining at West Seattle’s Café Revò will be saddened to hear that the Italian restaurant, with its tradition of “Mangia, bevi & godi” has been forced to close its doors. Despite the untimely death of Chef Chano a year ago (just months after they opened their doors), his wife Sofia Goff and a talented staff did their best to keep this unique restaurant going. But in the current, difficult economy, this proved to be impossible, and months of searching for a buyer were unsuccessful. Sofia and her family feel that the employees of Café Revo are like family and have kept the restaurant open longer than they could afford to do, out of the employees’ best interest. Sofia hopes that her wonderful employees will find work quickly and she gives them all her support with the best regards.
The announcement is from a group called “Friends of Sofia Goff,” which also says Sofia and her two children are now in “a desperate financial situation,” so they have set up a fund to help. You can donate at any US Bank branch, making a check to the Friends of Sofia Goff Fund. The group makes it clear these donations are not tax-deductible, “but will certainly go to a good cause,” and notes that Sofia and Café Revo have been very active in volunteering and donating to the community, through local schools as well as nonprofit organizations. You also can send cards and donations to her at 4742 42nd SW, #363, Seattle 98116. Her husband Sean “Chano” Goff died in September 2009, just 43 years old; the restaurant had opened the preceding February.
Our partners at the Seattle Times just broke the news: The second suspect in last May’s Highland Park attack is now in jail. According to the King County Jail Register, 22-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was booked just after 4:30 yesterday afternoon. As first reported here, the other suspect, 21-year-old Jonathan Baquiring, was jailed shortly after the charges were made public on September 21st. As detailed in the police-report narrative, the teen victim reported being assaulted for hours by two men who made racist remarks during the attack. Mohamed and Baquiring are both charged with robbery and malicious harassment; Baquiring has pleaded not guilty.
(Report on Pakistan flood-refugee camp, published last Saturday by The Guardian)
“The largest humanitarian crisis the international community has ever faced” is how Nazleen Ejarque describes the Pakistan flood disaster, in the announcement of a West Seattle benefit to reach out across the globe. Though the flooding happened two months ago, its aftermath continues to affect millions. On October 22nd, 6:30-8:30 pm at the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation church in Gatewood (7141 California SW), Nazleen is organizing a fundraiser for FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance, which is responding with search/rescue/evacuation as well as distributing food and medical/relief supplies. Food, dance performances, and henna painting are part of the plan; a $5 donation (for adults) is suggested. Nazleen says, “Please join us in this cause to help those in need…no matter their religion, color or class.” Here’s the full flyer for the 10/22 event. Questions? nazpejarque@yahoo.com
By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Serving the community and reaching out to neighbors were key topics at the monthly meeting of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council at the Delridge Library on Monday night.
Most of the meeting was devoted to a presentation and discussion with Brian Waid and Andy Horner from the Rotary Club of West Seattle (see WSB’s archive of WS Rotary news). NDNC co-chair Jay Mirro said they’re hoping to invite more groups and speakers such as the Rotary Club to the monthly NDNC meetings, to build relationships and better serve the Delridge neighborhood.
Waid and Horner encouraged NDNC leaders (and members of the community at-large) to visit the WS Rotary website for information about the group’s activities, meetings, and mission. Read More
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