West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
As promised, we followed up with the City Attorney’s Office regarding the status of Ryan Joshua Cox, the 31-year-old man arrested last week in connection 
with the anti-gay graffiti that had appeared in several spots around West Seattle, most notably and repeatedly a Morgan Junction couple’s garage door. Assistant city attorney Beth Gappert, who prosecutes cases in this area from her base at the Southwest Precinct, confirms that Cox is charged with six misdemeanor cases of property destruction-graffiti. He will not be prosecuted for malicious harassment, the felony that would indicate a hate crime; Gappert tells WSB, “The detective assigned to the case and I reviewed the evidence that was gathered as part of this incident. Based upon that, we determined the evidence was insufficient to prove that Mr. Cox acted ‘because of his perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory handicap’ per RCW 9A.36.080 (the Malicious Harassment statute).” So the case was not referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Cox is still jailed in lieu of $5,000 bail (upped last week, as reported here), according to the King County Jail Register. The Municipal Court website indicates another hearing is scheduled in his case tomorrow.
If you want to know more about what’s happening with the Alaskan Way Viaduct/Tunnel project – and/or if you’ve got something to say about the way things are going – mark June 10th on your calendar. That’s just been announced as the date for the next “scoping” meeting for the project in West Seattle, 6-8 pm 6/10 at the Madison Middle School commons. The specific purpose of the meeting is explained as follows: “(Y)ou will be able to ask questions and share your thoughts on what environmental elements and mitigation measures should be studied in the supplemental draft environmental impact statement on the proposed bored tunnel alternative.” If you can’t go, SDEIS2ScopingComments@wsdot.wa.gov is the place to e-mail your comments.
Betsy Hoffmeister from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council has just shared these three designs from which the new Delridge Community Center playground (recent WSB coverage here) will be chosen. She also says community fundraising that’s needed for the project only has $350 to go. Here’s the full specs for the design above; here are the full specs for the design below:
And here are the specs for this next one:
We’re checking on the proper pathway for public feedback; meantime, feel free to comment here for starters! And remember there’s a plant-sale fundraiser for the playground project at Delridge Day, Youngstown Arts Center this Saturday (WSB story here – by the way, we’ll be reporting live from Delridge Day throughout the event, so hope to see you there!). ADDED 9:09 PM: More info on what happens next, sent by Holli:
Cast your design vote – you can e-mail helpdelridgeplay@gmail.com with your pick, or attend a public meeting at the Delridge Community Center on Monday, June 1 from 7:30pm-8:30pm. The designs will also be on display this Saturday, at Youngstown Arts Center as part of Delridge Day which runs from 11 am-5 pm.
We’re looking for all the help we can get to build the playground on July 17th. We’ll have the equipment, breakfast, lunch, water and free exercise! Registration starts at 7:45 am, building begins at 8:30 am and ends around 2:30 pm for some fun.
Anyone interested in being a Build Captain on Build Day needs to attend an orientation on Prep Day, July 15th. All are welcome to help on Prep Day.
Food Committee: We also need someone to lead the Food Committee! A few volunteers are doing double-duty on the Food Committee and have done some preparations, but we need a leader.
To volunteer contact Chris via email at helpdelridgeplay@gmail.com or call (206) 499-3733.
Also, we’d love to put the spotlight on some local musical talent to entertain our volunteers at a closing ceremony that afternoon around 3pm, and at a grand opening the following week. Please contact Holli Margell via e-mail at holli.margell@gmail.com if you would like to perform.
Design note: We can only chose from these three designs. Changing any element is no longer an option – it is too far along in the process.
Thanks to Feet First for sharing photos from this morning’s trash pickup involving Sanislo Elementary School students who gathered at the Southwest Precinct for a special-mission walk to school – part of the Go! Project, a Safe Routes to School Program funded by the state Department of Transportation and facilitated by Feet First. We took you along earlier this month during another special Safe Routes to School event with Sanislo families (here’s our coverage) and they’ve been doing something special every week all month long.
Lisa Quinn from Feet First tells WSB they picked up 20 pounds of trash this morning!
We reported earlier this year on the big backlog at Seattle City Light – report a burned-out street light, wait weeks, maybe months, for it to get fixed. The mayor says he’ll take that on – news release ahead:Read More
Just out of the WSB inbox:
The Phuket Gazette reported this week (
The committee unanimously approved what the 
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