West Seattle, Washington
25 Friday
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes this morning. First, Howard in North Admiral is asking that you be on the lookout for his stolen car, a graphite-gray 2010 Subaru Outback 3.6R (which would look like this), license plate starting with AAV, taken from outside his home in the 3700 block of SW Grayson (map) late last night or early today. He believes another car nearby was prowled at the same time; call police (206-625-5011) if you have any information. Also, via Facebook, Regan reports a car prowl at 112th & Marine View Drive (map), with some items from the car “found down the street.”
(added 11:52 am) Shortly after we published this, we received another note about car prowls, and it makes more sense to add it here than to publish a separate item: Someone smashed the window of Brian’s 2008 Chevy Avalanche overnight, in the 7100 block of Wright (map), north of Lincoln Park. He shared the photo shown at right. The truck was ransacked, with a Bluetooth headset the only item missing. Brian says the same thing happened overnight to a neighbor’s vehicle, and that there have been several other car break-ins in their neighborhood recently.
(back to original 11:10 am report) Also: A West Seattle crime survivor is telling her story: The 68-year-old woman targeted in a “home invasion” robbery in Highland Park on August 26th talked with KING 5, which aired her story last night, after the two suspects’ arraignment:
As the KING report notes, the two suspects, 37-year-old George Augustine, Jr., and 45-year-old Sean Oie, pleaded not guilty. We reported the filing of charges on September 7th, following our story a few days earlier with the lengthy narrative of how police say it happened.
Reminder: West Seattle Crime Prevention Council tonight, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct (map).
After hearing from Jennifer, Amanda, and Scott C about a Comcast outage affecting some in High Point and Gatewood (anyone else?), we checked directly with the company, whose local spokesperson Steve Kipp tells us, “The outage is related to the power outages that occurred in the area due to the transformer fire on Delridge” (WSB outage/fire coverage here) – possibly, according to the person he checked with, the fault of a surge when the power started returning. He adds, “We have technicians working on the scene now. I will let you know as soon as repairs are completed. I also will post updates on Twitter at @comcastwa. 12:21 PM UPDATE: Latest tweet from that account says the outage is 75 percent fixed (that leaves about 700 people affected, according to Kipp). 2:27 PM UPDATE: And Comcast now says everybody should be back up.
There’s still room on the (free!) van for a guided (free!) tour of five West Seattle P-Patch gardens this Saturday (September 25) – meet up with the group at the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center (map) at 1 pm, and spend two hours taking a fresh look at neighborhood treasures around the peninsula – including the site of the future Roxhill P-Patch (citywide map here). The city just needs you to RSVP – a quick online process here. (That same page has info on similar tours elsewhere in the city.)
(Picture of the morning: Before Monday got super-busy for SFD – with the SODO industrial fire and the Delridge fire/outage, among other calls – Deanie Schwarz photographed the Ladder 13 crew at Morningstar Deli in Highland Park)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar: The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets for the first time since June, 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct meeting room (Delridge/Webster) … Merrill Gardens at West Seattle (WSB sponsor) is celebrating Active Living Week with a cruise theme, including cruise-travel presentations by AAA Travel at 1 and 6 pm, cruise-type activities including bingo (2:30 pm) and spa treatments, a gift shop, and games (call 206-926-9724 with questions) … Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor) starts the night with open turntables at 6, followed by the monthly Alauda belly-dance showcase … West Seattle Community Orchestras (formerly Westside Symphonette) rehearse at Chief Sealth International High School tonight … And while it’s not in West Seattle, this could be of interest: The city’s proposing new tree regulations, including some that are looser than current rules; they’ll be reviewed at an open house tonight at City Hall, 5:30 pm (with presentations starting at 6), details here.
Tonight, Alki’s peppy boutique Coastal is hosting a Customer Appreciation Night event, 5-8 pm. You might want to go show some Retailer Appreciation if you’re a Coastal fan – the shop has announced that “for the first time since our first winter,” they will shut down for the offseason. The closure starts October 4th and they expect to reopen on or around March 25th. But Coastal insists, “Please do not take this as a bad sign!” They explain why you shouldn’t, in their online announcement.
Two unique fundraisers coming up in West Seattle before the end of the month – first one this Sunday, “Wine in the Woods,” benefiting forest-restoring Nature Consortium, whose Lisa Corbin shares the invite:
Nature Consortium, in partnership with 12th and Olive Wine Company, is hosting a wine tasting fundraiser in the West Duwamish Greenbelt on Sunday, September 26th from 3-6 pm. Enjoy performances from local musicians while you sample fine wines and take in the surrounding beauty of Seattle’s largest urban forest. Take home your commemorative wine glass as a reminder of your support of Nature Consortium!
See firsthand the amazing results of the hardworking volunteers who have transformed our vital urban forest from an impassable Himalayan Blackberry bramble to a lush area of native trees and understory plants. Suggested donation is $30 per person. You must be 21 to attend this event, and rsvp is required: Lisa@naturec.org or 206.923.0853
Location: West Duwamish Greenbelt, near the restoration site at 14th Ave SW and SW Holly Streets
(specific location details and parking directions upon RSVP)
We will move indoors in case of rain
Then on September 30th – one week from Thursday – you can see fashion from West Seattle boutiques rock the runway, in a fundraiser for the Gulf Restoration Network. Linda Walsh from Clementine in The Junction explains what they’re planning:
Erin Dolan (owner of Edie’s) has pulled together a great event to raise funds to help support The Gulf Restoration Network. Edie’s, Sweetie, Carmilia’s, Coastal and Clementine will all be showcasing items from our fall fashion lineup at Shadowland on September 30th from 6 to 8. We won’t be selling tickets, but people will be encouraged to make donations for the cause! After the fashion show at Shadowland, we’ll host a late-night shopping party (well until 10:00 :-) at Carmilia’s, Sweetie (also featuring items from Edie’s), and Clementine (also featuring items from Coastal.)
(Photo by Deanie Schwarz)
A rare break tonight for the team at White Center’s Proletariat Pizza – proprietors Stefanie and Mike Albaeck, Highland Park residents (shown above with daughter Hazel and newborn Hollis), took their staff out for an anniversary celebration. Proletariat just finished its first year in business. For our partner site White Center Now, contributing reporter Deanie Schwarz talked with the Albaecks about their amazing year – read the full story here.
6:57 PM: Busy, busy day/night for firefighters. Now a single-family-residence fire call in the 6500 block of Sylvan Way (map). We’re en route. 7:04 PM: First crews arriving suspected “food on stove,” per scanner – at the scene, we’re trying to verify; definitely not a big fire, but lots of smoke being ventilated right now. Also note that Sylvan Way eastbound is blocked at the moment. 7:08 PM: Verified – food fire. Should be wrapped up shortly.
(As of 6:20 pm, 99% of those affected had the power back. At 1:15 am Tuesday, the rest went on)
4:56 PM: Checking on a fire call in the 6900 block of Delridge (map) and – may be coincidental, or not – a report of a power outage at the West Ridge Apartments. We’re also getting multiple reports via Twitter and e-mail of power flickers in other areas; scanner ace Katie tells us the 6900 block of Delridge incident is reported as a burning transformer.
5:11 PM UPDATE: Apparently another transformer fire, per the scanner. Big traffic trouble, according to our crew on the scene. Police and fire are working to keep people away from the area. Another update – we’re now being told at the scene that this started when a tree came down and snapped a line, sparking fire(s). You can see the tree in this photo:
The power will be out until Seattle City Light can repair the damaged line, fire crews tell us at the scene.
5:21 PM UPDATE: Lights are out at Delridge/Orchard and Delridge/Myrtle – compounding the traffic trouble. And in comments, as well as via Twitter/Facebook, we’re getting indications the outage is fairly widespread – reports from Westwood and Highland Park as well as Delridge vicinity.
5:30 PM UPDATE: Just checked with City Light – 3,700 customers (homes/businesses) affected by the outage right now. No estimate yet for when they’ll get the power back on, but we have seen more SCL crews arriving in the area. SCL has an official news release out about this – see it here.
6:03 PM UPDATE: No updates on the repair situation so far. Have substituted better photos from our official camera, for the early ones sent in via BlackBerry. Also added the one immediately above – note Engine 87 – that’s not a regular West Seattle engine; because so many WS crews were at the industrial-district fire (we’ll be adding photos of some of them!), crews from elsewhere shifted into our area.
6:10 PM UPDATE: In comments as well as FB and e-mail, we’re hearing from some folks who just got their power back.
6:20 PM UPDATE: City Light reports via Twitter that all but 37 customers (homes/businesses) have their power back – the remainder may be out for more than five additional hours, while repairs are done.
6:44 PM: Here’s the brief SCL online wrapup. Thanks again to everyone who has shared information via comments, texts, phone calls, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, etc. – that provides a much more thorough picture of what’s happening in situations like this than is possible even to see with on-scene reporting plus the utility’s own reports, plus fast word as things change and are resolved. Here’s how to reach us 24/7.
10:07 PM: Thanks to Dietrich for sharing video shot as the incident unfolded – it’s more than 7 minutes long, but a little more than halfway in, you will see some of the flames (shot from down the block):
1:48 AM TUESDAY: Via Facebook, Phil tells us the last pocket got its power back at 1:15 am – after more than eight hours without it.
Two Seattle City Council votes today set up new ways the city can raise money for transportation projects directly from citizens: One bill creates a Transportation Benefit District – which could set up a “variety of revenue-generating options,” according to the council announcement. Some might go to voters – but the council also could enact a $20 vehicle-licensing fee without voter approval. They’ll be setting up an advisory committee to figure out what they want to raise and what it would be spent on. They also approved a bill raising the commercial-parking tax by 2.5 percent, to 12.5 percent. That’ll bring in $5 million more a year, which the council announcement says will go to projects including the Alaskan Way Seawall and Mercer West. One more council vote today creates a Freight Advisory Board to focus on “preserving and improving mobility and access” for freight transport – a big issue given the Port of Seattle’s presence in and adjacent to eastern West Seattle. Full announcement, with links to the bills, is here.
Thanks to the WSB’er who called to share news of burglary suspects getting arrested – the caller wanted to give kudos to police, but Southwest Precinct Lt. Norm James says they’re particularly deserved by the alert neighbor who reported the break-in and called it in: “A neighbor saw a male casing a house in the 3600 blk 46th SW [map], then break in through the back door. Officers arrived and took one male into custody immediately. Another male fled out the door and was taken into custody after a short foot chase.” Lt. James has reported at recent community meetings that West Seattle burglaries are way down, in no small part thanks to situations like this. (The next briefing’s expected when the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meets tomorrow night, 7 pm @ the precinct.)
ADDED 4:09 PM: This wasn’t the only citizen-assisted burglary-suspect catch in West Seattle today, reports AJL in comments:
My husband, who happened to be home, caught a guy halfway into our kitchen window this morning! 6300 block of 37th between Morgan and Graham. In burglar’s haste to escape he dropped his cell phone. While husband was talking with police, he happened to see the guy running up the alley between 37th and 38th just off Morgan Street. Police got him!
(Scroll down for updates, plus more photos added Monday night)
ORIGINAL 2:18 PM REPORT: Thanks to the WSB’ers who e-mailed to ask what we know about a big fire in the South Seattle industrial district, with smoke visible from eastern West Seattle (and downtown). It’s at South Airport/Industrial (map). Thanks to Jim for the photo; checking further. There’s live video on a stream from KING5 (thanks to Tina for that tip). 2:29 PM: The initial media update from Seattle Fire says this is a three-alarm fire at “the old Sunny Jim plant” – a vacant building – archives remind us Sunny Jim (which made peanut butter) was the site of a big fire in 1997. No injuries reported so far. (However, there are side issues – problems with looky-loos on the freeway and trees/power poles burning between the fire site and the freeway, according to the scanner.) 3:05 PM: 2 lanes are closed on southbound I-5 because of the fire. West Seattle crews are involved in fighting the fire – we’re hearing scanner traffic, for example, from Ladder 11, which was just training over at the Admiral Safeway site this morning (as shown here). We also just got this photo from Christopher Boffoli:
Our partners at the Seattle Times are covering the fire here. 3:33 PM UPDATE: Reporters at the scene say a firefighter’s been hurt – KING5’s Meg Coyle tweeted a photo of firefighters surrounding him/her to help.
4:43 PM UPDATE: Per Twitter, firefighters will not go in the structure today.
6:43 PM UPDATE: Adding more photos and info, now that our much-smaller West Seattle fire incident is wrapping up. Sue B sent this photo taken from I-5:
Christopher Boffoli caught some West Seattle crews in action at the scene – you’ll see a couple in his video clip, first:
Next, from Ladder 11, Junction-based:
Crew from The Junction’s Station 32:
And Engine 36, based by The Bridge:
Per the scanner, we heard 36 being returned to service just a few minutes ago, five hours after the fire started.
The Jade West Café north of Morgan Junction has remained closed since the drunk-driving crash last December that left longtime proprietor Wah Wong and his son Jason Wong seriously injured. (The drunk driver who hit them pleaded guilty and was sentenced last February.) We’ve been trying to reach the family for a while for a followup – but today, something new arrived in the inbox, with a fast-approaching deadline: The ongoing Pepsi Refresh “vote for a project Pepsi will fund” promotion has partnered with Major League Soccer, and each team proposed a project. The Seattle Sounders‘ project seeks to get the $50,000 Pepsi grant to renovate the Wongs’ Beacon Hill home, to help with the mobility issues they’ve suffered because of the crash injuries – Jason lost a leg. WSB’er Ben forwarded us a Sounders e-mail about this – the first he, and we, had heard of it – but take note, THE VOTING DEADLINE IS 8:59 PM OUR TIME TONIGHT. You can vote here.
Just got word from Southwest Youth and Family Services that they are hosting a workshop this Wednesday night for anyone interested in applying for a grant of up to $20,000 for a community project that could be part of the Youth Violence Prevention Initiative. Our part of the city is among three Seattle areas where the initiative is focused, and SWYFS is the lead agency in this area; details on the grants, the application process, and Wednesday’s workshop are here.
ORIGINAL 10:51 AM REPORT: Thanks to WSB’er Diane for pointing out that the fencing’s up all around the Admiral Safeway site. We checked in with Sara Corn at Safeway HQ – and she confirmed that demolition is starting this week. Here’s what we’ve found there this morning: A backhoe’s in place behind the 42nd/Lander house that’s being demolished (top photo) along with the main store building, and Seattle Fire Department crews are doing roof-ventilation training – here’s Ladder 11 on site:
As noted here last month, Safeway has set up a website with project details – the link’s here.
4:25 PM UPDATE: We checked again around 12:30, and the house was still standing – but in the ensuing few hours, it was torn down. Carrie Ann shares this photo:
She says it was quite the attraction for families from nearby Lafayette Elementary once school let out.
After 3 weeks of voting, the Dick’s Drive-In “where to build a new location?” poll results are in. From the company:
After a phenomenal customer response to an online poll, Dick’s Drive- In Restaurants announced today plans to focus their search for a new restaurant location within a 20 mile area north of the original Dick’s in Wallingford. After almost 3 weeks of voting, the north region, including Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, Edmonds, and South Everett scored highest with 53,810 votes, or 46 percent of the 115,524 votes cast. South [which included West Seattle] captured 28 percent, (32,180 votes), and East received 26 percent (30,534 votes). …
“This is an historic time for our family’s small business,” says Jim Spady, Vice President of Dick’s Drive-Ins and son of co-founder and namesake, Dick Spady. “The outpouring of support has been overwhelming and humbling. North received the most votes, and that is where we will now focus our efforts.” Spady added, “We want those who voted South and East to know that we heard their voices also. If the new northern Dick’s is a success, the next two Dick’s Drive-Ins will be built in the South and East regions.
Meantime, as discussed amply during the voting, West Seattle already has fabulous burgers, so be sure to show them your love.
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar listings for today/tonight: High Point Library (35th/Raymond) adds a new Family Story Time on Mondays, 7 pm, starting tonight … 7 pm is also start time (at the Senior Center of West Seattle) for Sustainable West Seattle‘s monthly Community Forum, tonight addressing the question “After Peak Oil – How Do We Transition?” … Fauntleroy Children’s Center hosts a parent meeting on kindergarten readiness, 6 pm (call 206-932-9590 to sign up) … Meet Navos CEO David Johnson, Ed.D., for a look “Inside Navos” at the West Seattle campus (2600 SW Holden), 6 pm … It’s the second session of fall for Bingo on Alki at Alki UCC, 5:30 pm … And it’s the first Monday for now-open-7-days Skylark Café and Club, starting at 3 pm … More on the calendar!
Two years ago, we caught the start of “Walk ‘n’ Roll for Ataxia” on Alki; this morning, we have the announcement that it’s happening again in a few weeks, to benefit the National Ataxia Foundation in its fight against the not-so-well-known nervous-system disease (explained here). It’s at 10 am Saturday, October 2nd, starting from Alki Beach shelter #1 (across from Pegasus Pizza). Registration form here – or e-mail ataxiaseattle@comcast.net or call 425-823-6239. The very next day, there’s another awareness-and-money-raising walk in the Alki area:
(WSB photo from 2008 CROP Walk)
Sunday, October 3rd, is the day for this year’s CROP Walk, leaving from Alki UCC at 1:30 pm, raising money to fight hunger. More info here about how to participate and/or pledge.
Before those two walks in West Seattle, there is another walk happening outside our area but with West Seattle participants. Lisa from Arbor Heights e-mailed to let us know about Light the Night Walk, a cancer-fighting event for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, coming up next Saturday. Lisa is planning to walk with her friend April Fennell Robinson (photo left), whom Lisa says is fighting non-Hodgkins Follicular Lymphoma (and has already survived breast cancer). The walk is at Green Lake Park, starting at 7 pm September 25th, more info here.
And the day before that – it’s the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure, with a big West Seattle contingent, led by local survivor Tracy Dart‘s Team Tracy. She’s been continuing to chronicle their hard-fought fundraising successes online, and her excitement over being chosen to carry the “Courage” banner in the Survivors’ Circle during the 3-Day. This year’s walk starts next Friday night; Tracy has posted information on her site about how you can cheer on the walkers.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Never a dull moment at Wendy and Stephen Hughes-Jelen’s High Point townhome.
They always have a variety of enterprises under way. For one, they’re companions to Sophia, the Italian greyhound, who’s appeared on the cover of CityDog Magazine. For two, Wendy has a green real-estate practice, and a social-media sideline with multiple blog-format websites (most recently, she’s been producing videos to promote Eat Local Now! – the local-food celebration coming up Sept. 30th).
We could go on, but why bother, when the next thing we’re going to list is so all-consuming: Their current sideline is round-the-clock kitten-raising. Five heart-stealing kittens – with, best of all, webcams. (One’s here; the other’s here.)
On behalf of West Seattle-headquartered nonprofit shelter Kitty Harbor, Wendy and Stephen volunteered to foster the little fluffballs – now six weeks old, two weeks away from adoptability – and decided to chronicle the whole thing online.
The clouds are back after four hours of sunshine graced the second half of the West Seattle Junction Car Show – but not before yielding a perfect rainbow arc over Elliott Bay. Kristina shares the photo above: Jerry from JetCityOrange shares the video below:
(added 7:47 pm) David Hutchinson shared a photo too:
And Jillian got the water-taxi perspective:
Thanks again to everyone who shared photos! You might not be surprised to hear famous forecaster Cliff Mass say that this may wind up as the wettest September on record.
(Our earlier WSJ Car Show reports: #1 is here, #2 is here)
Prime time to come down and see the West Seattle Junction Car Show (co-sponsored by WSB) if you haven’t already – we’re in hour 4 of sun (the puddles from the morning monsoons are almost all gone – check out the blue sky over the Last Resort Fire Department ladder:
That’s parked by the spot where raffle/drawing tickets to raise money for West Seattle Helpline are still on sale, and judging continues, with awards coming up at 3. Here by the way are a few more of the cars that have been here all day, through rain and shine:
Like West Seattle Summer Fest and all the other great summer festivals we were thrilled to be part of too, there’s a whole lot of “get out and talk to your friends and neighbors” going on here – thanks to everyone who has stopped by to say hi! More to come as the awards are announced in about an hour. 3:36 PM: Show’s over – awards have been announced, cars are rolling out. We’ll publish the list of who won (with pix) a bit later.
As mentioned in our food-notes roundup on Friday night – Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) is in the midst of its annual “For the Love of Cheese” celebration, and today’s the biggest event at the Admiral store, with cheesemakers and samples till 5 pm. You can also check in on the hand-pulled mozzarella that Metropolitan Market staffers make year-round:
The full schedule of cheese festival events at the Metropolitan Markets around the region is online here.
That’s former West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival Junior Queen Kailin Jo Alexander Spencer with her creation from the Zucchini 500 under way at West Seattle Farmers’ Market right now – she came over to the neighboring West Seattle Junction Car Show to show it to us. Here’s the table at the market where kids are welcome to stop, make and race their own:
Also at the Farmers’ Market – before the sun came out (it’s been sunny a whole hour now!) – we found Sustainable West Seattle‘s Bill Reiswig, promoting Eat Local Now!
If you haven’t heard about it yet, the annual Eat Local Now! dinner is coming up September 30th at Herban Feast‘s SODO Park – it’s all about local food – to celebrate, and educate! WSB is among the co-sponsors again this year; tickets are $35 adults/$10 kids, available here.
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