West Seattle, Washington
30 Tuesday
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Just like last night, we were out for a bit, got home, and suddenly there’s a helicopter – this one also sweeping around southwest West Seattle, Lincoln Park/South Beach Drive vicinity. We saw a few cruisers while we headed through that area a few minutes ago but nothing active except an empty car being checked out by an SPD cruiser with rollers, near the Lincoln Park 76. Listening to the scanner, of course, nothing obvious so far. 11:58 PM UPDATE: Comment from area resident says police told her/him it’s a search related to a robbery at Beach Drive/Lincoln Park Way. We saw two SPD units parked in that exact spot, no rollers though, while driving home at about 11:25 so this might match up. 12:06 PM UPDATE: From the scanner, report of suspect running southbound on beach from ferry terminal after jumping the wall. Helicopter (confirmed as Guardian One, operated by King County, but it assists Seattle Police, who don’t have a chopper) heading that way. 12:22 AM UPDATE: Heard from Lt. Ron Smith at Southwest Precinct: Search for “possible burglary suspects who fled southbound through Lincoln Park.”
Posted by the P-I tonight, the obituary for former five-term Seattle City Councilmember Jeanette Williams, recounting the story of how she fought for federal funding to get The Bridge built, and extensively quoting West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who got his city-government start on Ms. Williams’ staff. $60 million of the bridge’s $150 million cost came from the federal government. (April 1973 photo at left, from the Seattle Municipal Archives.)
Meet Cohen. His proud family wants to let the world know he’s one of the finalists in the CityDog Magazine “Cover Dog” search. We mentioned back in August that CityDog was coming to West Seattle Thriftway as part of the search, during an animal-adoption event; of the 500 dogs who entered both in West Seattle and other locations citywide, five finalists have been chosen, including Cohen. Ray Clemens tells WSB that Cohen is about 7 1/2 months old; he was adopted from the Seattle Animal Shelter in June, after having been abandoned in a park as a small puppy. Ray adds, “We are so proud of him.” Here’s how to vote: See the final lineup here. Send a note to info@citydogmagazine.com with COHEN in the subject line. (If you want to make it really easy, just click here to launch a mail window for the Cohen vote, pre-filled subject line and all.) By the way, you can see all the dogs from the Thriftway photo day by going to this Flickr page. (Side note, CityDog founder Brandi Ahlgren is a West Seattleite.)
Yes, by the time 3 o’clock approached, it was all too much for that West Seattle Junction trick-or-treating munchkin. But in the preceding two hours, such excitement:
That’s the view looking over the Thrill the World dance encore toward the adoring crowd on the southwest corner of the Walk-All-Ways intersection. (See video of their Occidental Park “official” performance here; they’re at Admiral Theater tonight at 9.) Earlier at that same intersection:
All along the streets of The Junction, businesspeople were waiting to hand out treats. Any guesses who this is?
That’s Dawn Leverett, president of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce board – for today, the Cham-BOO! of Commerce – outside Windermere Real Estate. We also found potentially shadowy characters outside Shadow Land:
Here’s who greeted trick-or-treaters at Zamboanga:
Back at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), Thrill the World-West Seattle organizer Lora Lewis was still in zombie garb, attacking her “Project Runway” star barista Blayne:
As for the West Seattle citizenry, a little cooking humor for Chris and Steve (with baby Owen):
Having been to a few conferences lately, we could appreciate the costume on the left side of this pic:
The Junction event was the first of three business-district trick-or-treating events this Halloween season. The other two are on Halloween, next Friday — the Admiral merchants welcome you 3 to 6 pm (see the WSB Holidays page for full details on the giveaway that’s involved) and Westwood Village 5-7 pm. Here’s hoping Friday has weather like today’s … like these two from Forsythe Studio, the sunshine was truly, well, groovy:
‘Cause if Halloween isn’t nice too, there will be just one thing to say: D’oh!
With that, we bid you adios:
(That photo is courtesy Meredith; all previous photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick and Junior Member of the Team Torin)
(WSB video of the entire 4-plus-minute Pioneer Square dance, added 1:33 pm)
The “Thriller” zombies have finished their invasion of Pioneer Square, and now it’s on to West Seattle: You can see their encore at Easy Street at 2 pm this afternoon (during Junction trick-or-treating); their official group dance as part of the worldwide record attempt is in the books. Or the coffins. Now atop the post, video from the Thrill the World/West Seattle crew joining the rest of the Seattle Thrillers — 166 total dancers — at Occidental Park this morning. (They’re also dancing at 9 pm at The Admiral tonight, while the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival [WSB sponsor] showings there have moved on to the “horror” theme including a special late night “Rocky Horror” screening.) Couple pre-dance pix:
The West Seattle contingent spent weeks rehearsing, and they also collected donations for local nonprofits including West Seattle Food Bank and WestSide Baby. ADDED 9:50 PM: According to this site, Seattle had the third-biggest group of participants.
That’s the apartment building at 6609 Admiral Way (map), immediately west of Bar-S Playfield, whose fencing you can see on the left. Because of its spot high over Alki Point, this building’s roof has been home to cell-phone antennas for more than a decade (you can see part of the history on the site’s official city-permit webpage) – here’s a closer look at one group on the northeast section of the roof:
In April 2007, we told you about neighbors’ concern over a plan to add more antennas; this past June, we reported that the city had approved the plan to expand a group of Verizon antennas from 3 to 11. (You can read the decision here.) Neighbors challenged that decision, and after various delays, their case comes before the city Hearing Examiner on Tuesday morning, and they sent WSB a letter inviting anyone who shares their concern to show up and support them. Their major concerns are twofold — read on:Read More
The prospect of more Seattle Public Schools closures in West Seattle has been hinted at during the now-under-way process of discussing the future of the Denny Middle School site — the district has said a “future elementary school” may be built there, but not as an additional school, instead as a replacement for three as-yet-unspecified schools to be closed. Now (hat tip to saveseattleschools.blogspot.com) the district has put up webpages about closure discussions (superintendent’s message here, FAQ here). More details could emerge by next Wednesday, when school-board members have a work session and special meeting regarding “capacity management,” which would include school closures. Here’s an excerpt from what’s now on the SPS website:
SPS has operated for many years with substantially more capacity than needed for the number of students enrolled; and we have more school buildings than other districts with comparable student populations. Many of these buildings are costly to maintain due to their age and amount of deferred maintenance.
The most recent Seattle Public Schools building closure in West Seattle was Fairmount Park Elementary, shut down at the end of the school year in 2007. If age is to be a factor in school-closure proposals, it’s worth noting the age of West Seattle school buildings that have not gone through recent renovations: Part of Gatewood Elementary dates back almost a century and has city landmark designation; Lafayette Elementary‘s buildings date back to 1941-1953; Arbor Heights Elementary‘s buildings were built between 1948 and 1958; Alki Elementary’s buildings are from 1954 and 1967; Roxhill Elementary opened in 1958; Schmitz Park Elementary opened in 1962; Sanislo Elementary opened in 1970. Next Wednesday’s School Board meeting is in two sessions, a 3-7 pm “workshop,” and 8 pm “special legislative session,” both at district HQ in Sodo.
From left, that’s West Seattle High School principal Bruce Bivins, Chief Sealth High School principal John Boyd, and Steve Huling, right after tonight’s “Huling Bowl” football game between WSHS and CSHS. Given the amazing year West Seattle’s having, you probably weren’t surprised to hear the Wildcats won – but the game was just part of what the night was about – we’ve got the story and video, just ahead:Read More
That word just in from Bil Hood at West Seattle Stadium – he notes the 21-18 win means the Saints are still undefeated in league play.
From co-publisher Patrick @ Southwest Athletic Complex: Another cross-town rivalry game is in the books. Full coverage, including video of the trophy presentation, to follow soon
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Just got about half a dozen notes about a helicopter over Morgan Junction/Seaview/etc. We can hear it from WSB HQ in Upper Fauntleroy but can’t see anything. We’ve had some previous Friday night helicopter visits linked to high-school football but the reports so far say this one is using a spotlight to sweep for something. Scanner’s on, listening to see if we can pick up what it’s about, we’ll post if/when we find something out; if you see any obvious police search on the ground, please post a comment to help solve the mystery – thanks! 9:06 PM UPDATE: Just talked to the folks at the precinct, and it’s NOT a police call – they’re not on anything major – might be King County-related, but definitely not one of their cases. The info-quest continues … 9:17 PM UPDATE: Closer to our ‘hood and it looked like two choppers. Plus a knowledgeable source in e-mail says one is definitely King County’s “Guardian One” (Seattle doesn’t have its own police chopper so Guardian One works for multiple agencies). We left a message for the Coast Guard on the offhand chance it has anything to do with this. 9:25 PM UPDATE: Absent official information to this point, we’re going to head down toward L-Park (which is just down our hill) in hopes we might bump into someone on the ground who has actual info. Keep posting in the comments – if we don’t crack the case, you just might. (And as we typed that – an SPD cruiser just went past our house.) 9:30 PM UPDATE: OK, scratch that, whatever is going on, they’re zeroing in on “a house” somewhere and have just mentioned the helicopter on the scanner. No address heard, we’re going to stay here and keep listening. 10 PM UPDATE: KING 5 news says sheriff’s deputies were looking for a murder suspect in White Center, but they don’t have much info about the case – who was killed, when, where why. The suspect is reportedly in custody. That doesn’t entirely explain all the West Seattle searching unless it turns out (and we will be pursuing KCSO info too) that they were first looking here. 10:14 PM UPDATE: Actual information! Thanks to King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. John Urquhart for calling back. He says a man “assaulted his girlfriend by cutting her” — not serious injuries — she went to the Texaco station at 16th and Roxbury to get help — he ran to a friend’s house — officers, with helicopter help, zeroed in on that house to arrest him — he is in custody. Sgt. Urquhart says there was a report the man MAY have had a homicide warrant from SOMEWHERE ELSE but he has not verified that so far. As for what all the helicopter action over West Seattle was about – he doesn’t believe it was related except that it may have been the chopper setting up and waiting to get the signal to move in and help with this arrest. 10:32 PM UPDATE: TV says the suspect is believed to have been linked to a Kent murder in July. 10:36 PM UPDATE: Sgt. Urquhart just called us again to confirm that information — the man arrested in White Center tonight was wanted in a summertime murder in Kent. 10:49 PM UPDATE: Also got a note back from Lt. Ron Smith at the Southwest Precinct, who says two of his officers did help KCSO handle calls in White Center for a short time because of this incident — Seattle Police are all clear of the WC incident now — and also adds one other detail, that the location was “11th SW just south of Roxbury.”
Just one week to go till the Elliott Bay Water Taxi‘s last day of the ’08 season – after Halloween night, it’s done for the year. We got word today from Chris Arkills in County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s office of not only some special plans for the final day, but also of something you can do to voice your support for the Water Taxi’s future – here’s the update from Chris:
The last day of the 2008 Elliott Bay Water Taxi season is Friday, October 31. This year’s season has been another recordbreaking year. As of the end of September, the Water Taxi carried 169,349 passengers in five months. Last year the Water Taxi carried 166,000 riders through October, so we will be setting a new record for ridership. Preliminary numbers from October indicate that there is still a strong and dedicated ridership for the Elliott Bay Water Taxi even as the fall weather has rolled in and the tourists have left town for the most part.
With one week of service left, it is a great time to get on the Water Taxi a few more times. Take a trip downtown or mix the Water Taxi into your commute. As a way of thanking the loyal commuters who ride the boat downtown every morning, there will be free coffee and donuts on the morning commuter runs between 6:30 and 9:30 on the last day. We hope you can join us on Halloween morning or sometime this coming week to ride one more time.
We are also tentatively planning a press conference midday on October 31 at Pier 55 to speak about the success of the 2008 season and to discuss plans for the future. Details will be coming soon about the actual time and the speakers attending and we will share them with West Seattle Blog early next week.
But while the season has been very successful, there are also challenges to the King County Ferry District as well. The Ferry District was created last year to take over the Vashon Island passenger ferry, the Elliott Bay Water Taxi, and to establish up to five new demonstration routes on Lake Washington and Puget Sound. Each year the Ferry District tax must be reauthorized and there are some in the county who do not support waterborne transportation.
There is a public hearing on the Ferry District scheduled for November 3rd at 1:30 at the King County Council Chambers on the 10th floor of the King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue (Third and James), Seattle. It is important the the other members of the King County Council hear how much the Elliott Bay Water Taxi means to West Seattle. If you can spare the time to attend and testify we encourage you to do so. Speakers usually have 2-3 minutes to speak. If you can’t attend but want the Council to know how you feel about keeping the Water Taxi and the King County Ferry District moving forward, please consider sending them an e-mail. It is important for other areas of the county to understand what an important asset the Elliott Bay Water Taxi is to West Seattle and how its success can be replicated around the county. Contact information for members can be found here:
www.kingcounty.gov/council.aspx
The vote on reauthorizing the King County Ferry District will occur on November 17, so it is important to share your views on the Elliott Bay Water Taxi and the Ferry District as soon as possible.
Laura says the area of Schmitz Park in the photo at left is near where she saw this: “I took a walk today, around 1 PM, through Schmitz Park. After smelling smoke from a possible fire, my neighbor explored a bit more by walking off the trail. He found what looked like a makeshift (single-person) camp. The man had the appearance of being homeless, but scurried off once my neighbor approached. There was a blue tarp, hanging socks, and more disturbing, a recently started (camp?) fire at the base of a dry tree, with dry brush all around it. Now, I know the park is fairly wet and damp, but I would hate to see something catch on fire, then spreading throughout the trees. He was reporting it to 911, but I wanted to give you a heads up as well. The … photo (is) in the proximity of the location. Just walk straight up (in the photo), up the hill and that is where the little fire was.”
We’re welcoming new WSB sponsors this afternoon — local realtors with an open house this weekend they’d like to let you know about (see the photo above): Here’s what Bunny Parker (Campbell) and Karen Hoffbuhr want you to know about themselves and their real-estate business: “They began working together in 2003 when they joined Keller Williams Real Estate. They have dubbed themselves team2use.com and truly enjoy working as a team. They believe they can deliver more to their customers and have grown their business primarily based on referrals. They know and love the Puget Sound area and enjoy helping buyers and sellers with all their real estate needs. West Seattle is home to both; Bunny has twin daughters and Karen has a daughter and a son. They can truly call themselves lifelong West Seattle residents. For Bunny and Karen, their connection began a long time ago in West Seattle. They attended Genesee Hill Elementary (Pathfinder), Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School. They have been great friends for 30 years. Previous to real estate Bunny managed many restaurants in the area, including Angelina’s in the Admiral Junction. She then moved into food sales. Real estate has been an excellent fit for of taking care of the customer, sales and of course working in a community she loves. Karen graduated from SPU and worked at Boeing and Teledesic. She spent a great deal of time doing Boeing Tours, conducting orientation for new employees, human resources and customer service. Karen enjoys the challenge of helping people achieve their goals and working to bring a real estate transaction together. Bunny and Karen feel a strong connection to Seattle Schools. With each closed transaction they will donate $500 to the school PTA of your choice. We believe Real Estate should be fun and we love what we do! Come by for a treat, not a trick, on this Sunday from 1:00 –4:00 P.M. at this open house, 4535 51st PL SW (here’s a map). It is a beautiful 5-bedroom Craftsman with spectacular views. We look forward to seeing you around West Seattle because it will be where we will always be.” Thanks to Bunny and Karen, team2use.com, for joining the WSB sponsor team, and thanks to YOU for supporting the sponsors that make it possible for us to provide 24/7 West Seattle news, information, and discussion; see the current sponsor lineup here, along with information on how to join it!
Fresh pies and Christmas bunny, spotted at The Kenney‘s holiday bazaar/bake sale, which continues till 4 pm today and then again tomorrow, 10 am-4 pm. To the east, across Fauntleroy SW, Gatewood Elementary is awash in greenery today for Earth Summit III, continuing till 3 pm – we popped by a little while ago to have a look at some brand-new trees and the people getting ready to plant them:
Last year during Earth Summit II, kids from Gatewood and other West Seattle schools planted trees with the help of a Nobel laureate (WSB coverage here).
ORIGINAL 11:27 AM POST (followed by updates): We’re at the King County Courthouse downtown, where Superior Court Judge Suzanne Barnett has just announced her ruling on Satterlee House owner William Conner‘s appeal of the city’s denial of his proposal to build three houses on its front lawn. The ruling comes a week and a half after both sides presented oral arguments (WSB coverage here), as part of Conner’s court challenge, filed following the city Hearing Examiner‘s affirmation in April of the Landmarks Board decision to say no to this specific development proposal. (Conner needed board approval because the Satterlee House, at 4866 Beach Drive [map] and also known as “The Painted Lady,” is an official city landmark.) Now, the ruling: The judge has affirmed the Hearing Examiner and Landmarks Board decisions against the development proposal. She said she did not agree with any of the reasons made by Conner and lawyer Richard Hill regarding why they felt the decisions were in error. We’ll add more details shortly, and we also will be following up on whether Conner plans to appeal the decision (the next step would be the Court of Appeals); important to note, again, this does not represent a ruling that no development can happen on the site – only that this it was legal for the city to deny this particular proposal for three 3,000-square-foot-average houses (which the judge termed “mini-mansions”) on the home’s front lawn along Beach Drive. 12:40 PM ADDENDUM: We talked to Hill outside the courtroom; he said they would “digest” the ruling before making a decision on whether to challenge it (they have 30 days to do that). 1:19 PM ADDENDUM: Here are details of what Judge Barnett said today in court:Read More
Not only is it Hallo-weekend — a weekend full of Halloween events, even though the actual day isn’t till NEXT Friday – today and tomorrow mark the first-ever West Seattle screenings for the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (WSB sponsor), plus there’s a parliamentary workshop Saturday, a Nia class Sunday to raise money for Northwest Hope and Healing‘s work helping breast-cancer patients, drumming to call the salmon home to Fauntleroy Creek on Sunday — and a holiday bazaar happening RIGHT NOW — those are among 48 West Seattle events on our handy list ahead:Read More
Just in from WSDOT – read on for the full news release on results of the inspection done while the Alaskan Way Viaduct was closed last weekend:Read More
Back on Monday, the mayor and police chief stood outside Gatewood Elementary to show off the SPD speeder-cam van. Today, people from all over the city will converge on Gatewood for Earth Summit III; read about it here.
Isn’t there some way to save The Kenney‘s century-old original building, Seaview, as part of the redevelopment project? That was one question heard repeatedly Thursday night from both Southwest Design Review Board members and concerned neighbors, dozens of whom packed the project’s first official SWDRB review. After two hours of presentations, questions, criticisms, concerns, and suggestions, reviewers told The Kenney’s CEO and consultants to try again, ordering a second round of “early design guidance.” Board chair David Foster pronounced the situation more “complicated than any (he’d) seen in (his) 3 1/2 years on the board,” but in the end, the meeting was more constructive than confrontational — read on:Read More
We’ve been telling you over the past month (stories here, here, and here) about the Parks Department‘s plan to seek proposals from would-be operators of West Seattle Stadium, in hopes that someone would come forward to make about $4 million in needed improvements at the stadium, in exchange for a longterm contract to operate it. Last night at Parks HQ downtown, the Board of Park Commissioners was briefed (see the briefing document here) on the Request for Proposals (RFP) that the department plans to put out, and members of the public were invited to comment too. Parks Board vice chair Jackie Ramels of Alki, who led the meeting, tells WSB about a dozen people spoke at the hearing, including West Seattle-residing Olympic runner and retired SPU track coach Doris Heritage, two UW track and field athletes/coaches, and representatives of several private high schools and track and field clubs, all of whom wanted to reinforce their interest in the stadium’s value as a track-and-field venue. Ramels says Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher told the meeting that this process is aimed at using the property more — of a potential 5000 hours of usage each year, it’s only being used about 900 hours — and taking care of significant, needed capital improvements, while protecting historic users. That includes guaranteed public access, according to what the board heard from Rebecca Salinas, Seattle Parks Director of Partnerships, and the point was stressed repeatedly as people voiced concerns during the hearing. The RFP draft is to be finished next week; then the Parks Board will make a recommendation to the superintendent at its November 13th meeting, with the RFP going public November 17th.
Tonight, three reports have come in from people who want to share their stories so you can be more alert and aware — including the case of the stolen “stinky skates” plus an unfortunate reminder to lock up when you’re out doing yard work — read on:Read More
Detailed report to come. Bottom line, though, after two hours laden with thoughtful public comments and concerns about the major redevelopment project at The Kenney – the Southwest Design Review Board (with only two of its five members in attendance) asked The Kenney to come back for a second round of “early design guidance” — that means at least two more meetings before it passes all the way through Design Review.
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