West Seattle, Washington
03 Thursday
(Early Wednesday, substituted Christopher Boffoli‘s video – which starts with two West Seattleites! – for the original early-going photo that held this spot)
“Approve” means that the domestic-partnership rights law will take effect; “reject” means it won’t. Results here. Referendum 71 supporters planned a live stream from their Capitol Hill party here. Yes on 71 is ahead in the early going. WSB contributing journalist Christopher Boffoli is at the pro-71 party and says it’s jampacked. 11:44 PM: Adding more photos from Christopher. Here’s West Seattleite Anne Levinson, who chaired the Approve Referendum 71 campaign:
State Sen. Ed Murray and partner Michael Shiosaki:
Sen. Murray said, “This is the side of the mountain, not the top of the mountain. We have a lot of work to do. This is an important step but it is still not fully equality. So tonight my friends, we celebrate, but tomorrow we go back to work.”
City Attorney – West Seattle incumbent Tom Carr vs. Pete Holmes
Council Position 2 – Incumbent Richard Conlin vs. West Seattle resident David Ginsberg
Council Position 4 – Sally Bagshaw vs. David Bloom
Council Position 6 – Jessie Israel vs. incumbent Nick Licata
Council Position 8 – Mike O’Brien vs. Robert Rosencrantz
8:19 PM – Leaders after the first round of results are Holmes, Conlin, Bagshaw, Licata, O’Brien.
9:25 PM: Conlin is at the Edgewater right now at the Dow Constantine party and just said hello – long enough for us to get a photo.
11:52 PM: In the city attorney’s race, Carr – a West Seattleite – has conceded to Holmes. He told the Seattle Times (WSB partner) he thinks this was just an “anti-incumbent year.” (Here’s their story; here’s a brief Publicola report on Carr’s Alki gathering.)
Seattle Port Commission results are here. Early results: Creighton, Holland, Albro leading.
Seattle School Board results are here. Early results: DeBell, Smith-Blum, Patu ahead.
State Initiative 1033 results are here. Early results: No on 1033 has the lead.
All King County races (which includes Seattle city races) are linked from here.
All state races are linked from here.
For national results, we recommend MSNBC.com – go here.
That dropbox outside the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center at 5405 Delridge (map) is the one place in West Seattle you can take your ballot all the way up till 8 tonight. If you get there before 7, go inside for the Voters’ Open House and meet folks like Delridge District Coordinator Ron Angeles (left in the photo below) – cookies, coffee, and tote bags while they last.
Just before sunset, we went out to look for afternoon sign-waving (here’s who we found this morning) – nobody in Admiral when we went through; on the Fauntleroy walkover, we found county assessor candidate Bob Rosenberger with supporters:
And at 35th/Fauntleroy, kitty-corner from where West Seattle-residing King County Council Chair/County Executive candidate Dow Constantine campaigned this morning, a supporter of his opponent Susan Hutchison stood with signs this afternoon:
Here’s the schedule for results tonight: King County plans just ONE release of results, around 8:15 pm. We will have all the major results here on the WSB main page, along with coverage from some of the biggest Election Night events, including the Constantine party at the Edgewater downtown, and the Approve Referendum 71 party on Capitol Hill. (They’ve also announced they’ll have a live video stream online – here’s a link.)
After the original proposed maps for individual schools’ new “attendance areas” came out a month ago, Seattle Public Schools acknowledged a few errors – including different attendance boundaries for Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth High School, which will share a campus within two years. So a new round of maps is out this afternoon – linked from this page.
For West Seattle, the document explaining changes and “rationale” simply says the maps for West Seattle were changed to “reflect the district’s commitment to support co-location of Denny and Chief Sealth.” The district site also now has a page linking to “walk route” maps for indivdual schools. The revised maps are to be introduced at tomorrow night’s School Board meeting and voted on in two weeks; West Seattle’s board rep Steve Sundquist has a community-conversation meeting this Saturday, 1 pm at High Point Library, where he’ll field questions on this and other district/school issues. There’s also an official public hearing Nov. 9 at district HQ. More on all that and the process overall is in the official district news release, which you can download here.
All three of these are coming up this Saturday:
First, that Google Map from greenseattle.org shows the West Seattle spots where you can join in GREEN SEATTLE DAY – which means special Saturday work parties in parks and green spaces all over the city – lots of info here, including how to volunteer! Second, it’s NORTH DELRIDGE ADOPT-A-STREET — meet North Delridge Neighborhood Council reps and neighbors at Delridge Community Center by 10 am Saturday, have a cup of coffee, get equipment and head out to clean up the area. As Nancy Folsom put it, “The city supplies bags, gloves, reachers, and safety vests (very fashionable!), we supply the civic pride.” Third, WEST SEATTLE WILDLIFE HABITAT PROJECT fundraising plant sale! 3223 47th Ave SW (map), 10 am-3 pm Saturday, selling native plants to raise money for the project’s demonstration garden at Seacrest. P.S. You can join the WSWHP’s group on Facebook by going here.
A bit of a lull as we get ready to cover the next wave of major news later today – revised school-attendance maps (4 pm), election results (8 pm) — so if you’re looking for something new to read, check out the WSB Forums for community-powered items including:
*The merits of independent bookstores, as other neighborhoods lose theirs
*What’s the going rate for babysitters these days?
*Reward for missing heirloom jewelry
SIDE NOTE: Not from the forums, but based largely on WSB comments – the regional news site Crosscut has a story today about the booted-from-Lincoln-Park-moved-to-Lakewood-Park cyclocross controversy.
Two updates this morning in the aftermath of the Halloween night murder of Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton, a former West Seattleite: SPD has just announced how you can donate to help Officer Brenton’s wife and children – go to any Bank of America branch and ask to contribute to the Brenton Family Assistance Fund. West Seattle’s B of A branches are in The Junction (4001 SW Alaska), Admiral (4323 Admiral Way), and on the east side of Westwood Village. Meantime, the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild says the reward fund in the as-yet-unsolved ambush – which also injured Officer Britt Sweeney – has now grown to $60,000. Here’s the tipline info from SPDBlotter:
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call either 911 or the Seattle Police Homicide Unit at 206 684-5550, or the tipline at (206) 233-5000. Those wishing to remain anonymous are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or send a text to CRIMES (274637). Your text message should include “TIP486″ to ensure proper routing.
As for the investigation, SPD plans another media briefing in a few hours; here’s this morning’s update from the Seattle Times (WSB partner). As announced last night, Officer Brenton’s memorial will be at KeyArena this Friday, 1 pm. ADDED 2:52 PM: SPD has released a statement from Officer Brenton’s family:
“The family of Officer Tim Brenton would like to thank the community for the tremendous outpouring of support. Even with the tragic loss, Tim’s wife and children are finding solace in the support from the police community, their friends and family, and the community as a whole. We know that Tim would be honored and humbled by the limitless support that has been provided at the difficult time. We sincerely thank you for the generous emotional support, thoughts, and prayers.”
Central District News has video of this handwritten note being read to the media this afternoon.
That video shows the scene this morning at the Fauntleroy/35th entrance to The Bridge – with King County Council Chair/County Executive candidate Dow Constantine joining supporters including State Sen. Joe McDermott. A bit east from there at the Fauntleroy walkover, sign-wavers included one of his top supporters:
That’s the candidate’s mom, Lois Constantine. Also on the overpass, City Council candidate David Ginsberg (shown here last night) and sign-waving on behalf of mayoral candidate Joe Mallahan:
The Constantine and Mallahan election-night parties will be at the Edgewater on the downtown waterfront – they’re among the many parties on this map compiled by West Seattle activist Brian Allen, who’s added more updates since we showed it to you early yesterday morning:
Whomever you’re voting for, tonight’s the deadline, though vote-counting will take days. You can mail it if you’re sure it’ll be postmarked today, but the really foolproof way to get it in, if you haven’t already, is via dropbox up till the 8 pm deadline; the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center (5405 Delridge) has one and will be the site of a Voters’ Open House 3-7 pm, and there’s also one at the White Center Library (full countywide list, with addresses, here). While this area (County Council District 8 in the breakout) has returned a higher percentage of ballots than any other – according to the county’s running tally – that still amounted to only 25 percent by last night.
Two school-related notes for today/tonight: First, 4 weeks after Seattle Public Schools released proposed attendance-boundary maps and then revealed the West Seattle maps had a major error, revised maps are scheduled to go public during a School Board work session that starts at 4 pm at district HQ downtown. Second, families interested in Chief Sealth High School‘s International Baccalaureate program are invited to IB Information Night tonight, 7-8:30 pm in the library – more details on the official flyer. (Sealth’s currently at 5950 Delridge but if you’re looking ahead to next year or beyond, remember it’s scheduled to move back to its own campus at 2600 SW Thistle this fall.)
Nicky from the Westenders Scooter Club e-mailed to renew the 
invitation to you to join them this Saturday night for “Operation Chano” – a night of fun to benefit the family of Cafe Revo (WSB sponsor) co-founder Chef Sean “Chano” Goff (photo right), who died a month ago at just 43 years old. They’re promising pasta, music, the featurette “Mondo Scooterama” and a raffle with “a treasure trove of prizes” incluing a “rare early painting by Harold Hollingsworth” — full details at westenders.org. 5 pm Saturday, Rainier Yacht Club.
Big games ahead this week for some of West Seattle’s high-school athletes, starting tonight. Here’s the list:
*West Seattle High School girls’ soccer vs. Holy Names, 5 pm today, Memorial Stadium downtown
*Seattle Lutheran High School varsity football vs. Evergreen Lutheran, 7 pm Thursday at WS Stadium
*Chief Sealth High School varsity football vs Mercer Island, 5 pm Friday at Memorial Stadium
*West Seattle High School varsity football vs. Ferndale, 7:30 pm Saturday at Bellingham’s Civic Stadium
The Fauntleroy Way/West Seattle Bridge approach walkover is a must-visit on Election Eve and Election Day morning – if you’re looking for photo ops, anyway. And that’s where we found City Council candidate (and High Point resident) David Ginsberg just before sunset tonight. We’ll check back on sign-wavers at bridge approaches in the morning. Remember to get your ballot in by the end of the day tomorrow – if you have to push up right against the deadline, you can get it to a dropbox by 8 pm (visit the one in Delridge between 3 and 7 and you can check out the Voters’ Open House). [Disclosure: The Ginsberg campaign has a paid political ad on WSB.] Another sight tonight:
J. Leddy got the photo – the 74 is the giveaway as to the carrier – it’s the Bremerton-based John C. Stennis.
Announced on the SPDBlotter: The memorial service for Officer Tim Brenton, shot and killed Saturday night in Leschi, will be this Friday at 1 pm at KeyArena. Read more here. ADDED 10:05 PM: Central District News has coverage of a candlelight vigil tonight at the scene of the Halloween night shooting. (Photo added 12:56 am; Officer Brenton’s family provided photos to SPD for distribution to media.)
EXXON CLOSED: Thanks to Bruce for the photo and the news that the 35th/Barton (map) ex-Exxon station has shut down. He’s been watching the site for a while and reports, “It became an independent gas retailer (having the lowest price in this immediate area for a month or two) but then they ran out … Over the summer I saw very little traffic at this store, even though a gas price was posted to lure people into stopping. While I was taking pictures a Jetta was filling up at the Propel BioDiesel pump [elsewhere on the site], so that is still on and functioning, at least for now.” (6:22 pm – See comment from “C-Rad“ re: reported 7-11 plans.)
TONY’S SEASONAL CLOSURE: Across the street from the ex-Exxon, Tony’s Produce has shut down for its seasonal closure; during the fall hiatus from the produce business, they usually reopen with Christmas trees.
OFFICE DEPOT “TAKING LONGER”: While walking around The Junction today, we peeked into the lower level of Capco Plaza – home to the new QFC – to look for signs of progress on the future Office Depot store. The space is still truly bare-bones, and no one was working inside, so we called building owner/developer Leon Capelouto to check on its status (we’d tried directly calling Office Depot some weeks back, but got no callbacks). He says some modifications to the space have pushed back the timetable a few months, and now it’s looking more likely Office Depot will open around February. “They’re still coming,” he said. Other tenant news in the building – we noticed the signage for this physical-therapy business on the east side of the building:
Capelouto said they just opened today. And a previously mentioned tenant, Desert Sun Tanning, has just gotten permits to start working on its space. One more note: Near the newly restored bus stop in front of the QFC, a worker was installing some enhancements – which he said were structures for people to lean on while awaiting buses.
MARTIAL ARTS/YOGA: Also during our walk, we bumped into Brian Presser of TouchTech Systems, always a good tipster about new-business sightings – most recently, this one – and he directed us to 42nd just south of Alaska, where a martial-arts/yoga business is opening, listing some of its specialties on the window:
And finally:
NEW ALLSTATE OFFICE: Christopher Price has just opened an Allstate Insurance office at 3862 Delridge (map) next to H&R Block. He says 4 licensed agents will be there, speaking English, Spanish and German; the phone number is 938-AUTO but they’re offering home/business/boat insurance too, plus financial services.
They’re still going to move to 7-digit license plates, as reported here and elsewhere recently, but the configuration will be a little simpler – read on for today’s announcement:Read More
There hasn’t been much news about it for a while, but a West Seattle site — West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way — remains on the list of possible sites for a regional jail to hold misdemeanor offenders from Seattle and several other north/east King County cities. And the city sends word this afternoon that the timetable for the next round of public comment has just moved back – the draft Environmental Impact Statement won’t be out till February, so public meetings aren’t expected till late February/early March. The process is laid out here; that’ll mean a full year elapsing between the last meetings and the next ones.
Some have voiced excitement – some have voiced concern. End result: The Seattle City Council voted this afternoon to allow so-called “backyard cottages,” which have been permitted in Southeast Seattle as a pilot project, to be built around the city – with one big change – they were going to issue only 50 permits per year, but now there’s no cap. Read the announcement here:Read More
Want to see more photos from Saturday’s Trick or Treat at The Junction? The Junction’s own official gallery is 
part of what you’ll find on the newly relaunched West Seattle Junction Association website – wsjunction.org – with added features including an event calendar. They’re on Facebook too, and just added a Twitter account – @WSJA.
Haven’t voted yet? If you drop off your ballot at the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center tomorrow afternoon/evening, you’ll find an extra touch – it’s one of six NSCs around the city offering Voters’ Open Houses. Delridge Neighborhoods District Coordinator Ron Angeles explains, “When people drop by with their ballots, we hope to provide them with some information about the role of Neighborhood District Coordinators, and other Department of Neighborhood Programs. We also hope to engage people to find out more about their areas of interest, i.e. Land Use, Transportation, Public Safety, Housing, Parks/Open Space, Human Services, Emergency Preparedness, and particularly, Citizen Participation, Involvement, and Volunteerism. We’ll have coffee, juice, and cookies.” The Delridge NSC is at 5405 Delridge (map), and tomorrow’s open house is 3-7 pm – the dropbox itself is available around the clock till the voting deadline, 8 pm tomorrow.
(Flag at half-staff today outside West Seattle High School’s historic entrance
After learning last night that murdered Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton was 
a former West Seattle resident who graduated from WSHS in 1988, we asked principal Bruce Bivins this morning for permission to review yearbooks so that we could share a little more information about his time here. We are honoring the Seattle PD request not to publish photos until the family and department have approved one for release, so we did not photograph his yearbook picture (the yearbook itself is at right). In the yearbooks, the main activity in which Tim Brenton is listed as participating was the school newspaper The Chinook, which listed him as a reporter. But in the information seniors were asked to share about themselves, his interest in police work was clear: He also listed as an activity Police Explorer Post #943, listed his dad (a now-retired SPD officer) as one of his idols, and listed his own “destiny” as: “To survive 10 years on the LAPD.”
The Seattle Times (WSB partner) has more information on Officer Brenton’s background in this story; our report on Acting Police Chief John Diaz‘s City Council briefing this morning is here, and our coverage of the SPD media briefing yesterday afternoon (with video including Chief Diaz and Mayor Nickels) is here. If you have any information about the attack on Officer Brenton and Officer Britt Sweeney, who survived, tiplines are 206-684-5550 and 800-222-TIPS.
Two items regarding graffiti/tagging vandalism in West Seattle:
CLEANUP: Meredith shared that photo of a worker painting out what appeared alongside the low bridge over the weekend. If you spot graffiti/tagging vandalism on city property – bridges, parks, etc. – you can report it online (go here) or through a special hotline: 684-7587. The city website also notes that private property owners are accountable for cleanup and if they don’t, the Graffiti Nuisance Ordinance may apply (read about it here).
YET MORE ‘HOMOPHOBIC GRAFFITI’: We have reported this multiple times since early September and continue to get new reports. Over the weekend, Sarah spotted and photographed several more places in the Morgan Junction area where she saw the same profane three-word declaration/accusation — including a business door and residential garage. Last time we talked with police about this, they were looking to see if the same man arrested last spring might be involved again; the charges filed against him then were dropped because he was found incompetent to stand trial, and the official record of his status ends with an evaluation recommendation. This vandalism has turned up on a multitude of public and private spots around Morgan Junction and north Lincoln Park, so it might not be a stretch to suggest that if you see anyone who looks like they are writing on a sign in that area, call police.
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