West Seattle, Washington
13 Tuesday
A note from King County Public Health:
Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, Public Health’s Flu Hotline at 877-903-5464 will provide expanded service by offering callers an opportunity to speak with registered nurses. Hotline nurses will tell callers how to manage their symptoms at home, tell them if they need to see a doctor or health care provider and answer other medical questions about H1N1 flu. The Flu Hotline number is 1-877-903 KING (5464).
Also tomorrow, perhaps coincidentally, county political leaders plan a media briefing to “call for state legislators to provide dedicated public health funding to help counties statewide.”
Those dancers were part of Chief Sealth High School‘s Cinco de Mayo assembly earlier this afternoon – and the assembly ended with a bonus: Seattle Seahawks reps (including defensive tackle Craig Terrill) were there to present Sealth teacher Nancy Ruyzcki with the Symetra MVP award (officially announced last December), which brings the school a $20,000 grant and what Sealth’s Sam Reed describes as “a complete set of laptop computers that will be for use by our students in a mobile-classroom setting” – see ’em here:
Terrill also led the students in a cheer – noting that he’s a Seahawk and they (because of the Chief Sealth mascot) are Seahawks too:
(photo of Sheriff’s Office and Medical Examiner units at store, added 4:36 pm)
Thanks to Heather for sending us a note saying she had just seen King County Sheriff’s Deputies and what looked like a body outside Roxbury Safeway (map). We called KCSO’s media spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart and he confirms, yes, it’s a body. Two men walked up carrying what was at first described as an unconscious woman; medics arrived and reported obvious signs she was already dead. Sgt. Urquhart says it’s too soon to speculate on the circumstances and whether a crime was involved, but he does say the investigators are looking into the possibility that the men and woman might be related to a “nearby homeless camp.” We’re on our way over to try to find out more. 4:14 PM UPDATE: Medical Examiner staffers are at the scene, investigating with deputies. Shoppers are being routed around the scene, which is out in front by the soda machines.
While at the Southwest Precinct late last night looking at reports including the Morgan Junction anti-gay vandalism case (WSB coverage here), we also found the police report from Friday night’s Alki shooting. Not all of the 44-page report is public, but there are a few additional details of interest – read on:Read More
We broke the news a week and a half ago that the city Parks Department had recommended naming the new Morgan Junction park “Morgan Junction Park,” pending Superintendent Tim Gallagher‘s approval, and today the department announced that’s been finalized as its official name. The park, which opened last month after construction concluded, is to be dedicated June 13 during the Morgan Community Festival. The official announcement explains, “The Parks Naming Committee considered some 17 nominations, and after applying the criteria in the Park Naming Policy, unanimously recommended the name Morgan Junction Park because it acknowledges the history and location of the park.” (Among the other nominations was, of course, Tim St. Clair Park, in honor of the longtime West Seattle journalist who died last year; department naming policy says it can’t be done till someone’s been gone three years.) The park is on California SW, just north of the newly revitalized business block with Zeeks Pizza (opened May 1st), Feedback Lounge (opened April 25th) and Beveridge Place Pub (moved a year ago), near the Morgan/Fauntleroy/California “junction” intersection, and was the former site of an auto-repair shop, once purchased with the intent of development as a future monorail station before that transit project was killed. West Seattle still has three more new parks in the works — Junction Plaza Park, the newly covered Myrtle Reservoir site, and new parkland where West Seattle Reservoir in Westcrest Park is being covered. P.S. Got ideas for where money from last year’s Parks Levy should be spent? Wednesday night is your chance to offer comments at a meeting at West Seattle Golf Course, 7 pm.
ADDED 5:22 PM: Couldn’t resist asking Dewey Potter at Parks what the other name suggestions were. The reply:
Morgan Park
Deputy Steve Cox Park
Eddie Alvarez Park
Charlie Chong Park
Beveridge Place Park
Bicycle Park
The Whistle Stop Plaza
Walter R. Hundley Park
Quincy Jones Parkor after:
Ken Griffey Jr.
Tina Turner
Dorothy Dandridge
Lena Horne
Jesse Owens
Shannon Felix, proprietor of Avalon Glassworks in the Luna Park district, sends this news: 27-year-old 
West Seattle resident Jill St. Onge has died in Thailand, one of two tourists whose deaths are suspected to be linked to food poisoning. Ms. St. Onge worked at Shadow Land, where we took the photo at left during last year’s Junction Trick-or-Treating. She and the other woman who died, a 22-year-old from Norway, were staying at a guest house on Phi Phi Island, according to this article from a local news site, the Andaman Times. The story quotes Ryan Kells, Ms. St. Onge’s fiance, an Avalon Glassworks employee who was traveling with her. Ms. St. Onge had been writing about their travels on this personal website; the last update was a week before her death. The Andaman Times article says an autopsy is being done in Bangkok to find out more about what killed her. Ms. St. Onge and Kells were supposed to return home next week after 3 months overseas. ADDED 4:48 PM: Thanks to Shell for finding and sharing this link – a website set up by family/friends to tell more about what happened to Ms. St. Onge and what’s happening now.
That’s architect Gene Guszkowski, showing one of the new renderings that his firm AG Architecture has drawn up since The Kenney changed its mind about demolishing the iconic century-old Seaview building as part of the $150 million redevelopment project it’s been working on since last summer (first WSB report here). He presented the new plan last night at Fauntleroy Church during a community meeting organized by the Morgan Community Association and Fauntleroy Community Association; as MoCA’s new president Deb Barker put it, “The owners and architects are here to get feedback from you”:
Barker is a former chair of the Southwest Design Review Board, whose current members will see The Kenney’s proposal a week from Thursday (6:30 pm 5/14, Senior Center of West Seattle). So what feedback was offered last night by the 30-plus in attendance? Read on for details and more photos:Read More
Saturday is already a great shopping day because of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (here’s how to get The Map!) – if you’re in the market for a new pet too, check out adoptable foster cats at Alki Community Center. (The one pictured at left got a home during the last West Seattle adoption event in November.) We posted this in the WSB Forums yesterday but wanted to mention it here too while we have a moment – read on for the official announcement:Read More
Right now, the city Transportation Department (SDOT) has just three West Seattle traffic cameras that you can see online – not counting the ones on The Bridge. One is the camera shown above, at Fauntleroy/Alaska (all city traffic cameras are viewable from the Travelers’ Information Map). We’ve just learned that the number of West Seattle traffic cameras, viewable online, is about to grow. We discovered this while checking out an online notice about the city taking bids for more work in a traffic-technology program, with a mention of West Seattle. Subsequent checks directly with SDOT yielded information about the program, and the locations of the next three West Seattle traffic cameras: two in The Junction — California/Alaska and 42nd/Alaska — and one near the Fauntleroy ferry terminal, at Fauntleroy/Trenton – we’ve mapped the three locations here:
The ITS contract that’s going out to bid also lists work at other spots where sensors will be installed for real-time traffic information, plus a role in the forthcoming Metro RapidRide bus service — with the first bus unveiled yesterday (here’s our coverage, with photos) — as explained by SDOT spokesperson Rick Sheridan:
… the advertisement for bids refers to Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) components that SDOT is installing citywide. We are adding devices to improve traffic flow efficiency and provide roadway related information to the city and travelers. These enhancements help improve safety and travel times, and reduce fuel consumption and pollution.
SDOT is currently updating many signal cabinets to facilitate future Rapid Ride corridors. For West Seattle these changes will occur along SW Alaska Street, 35th Avenue SW and Fauntleroy Way SW. The cabinets and associated fiber optics will let our system detect buses as they approach signalized intersections. If a bus is detected and the signal is about to turn red for the bus, the signal instead will extend the green for the bus in order to reduce delays for riders.
No date yet for when the three new cameras will be in operation; you can see the existing ones, plus a few state/county cameras of relevance to local drivers, “live” any time at the WSB Traffic page.
State championships aren’t just about sports and academics – there are the arts, too! Congratulations to Seattle Lutheran High School senior Mitchell Siburg, an SLHS Jazz Band member who won first place in the guitar category at the recent 2009 Washington State Solo and Ensemble Contest (full list of statewide winners here), sponsored by the Washington Music Educators Association, held on the campus of Central Washington University. To get to the statewide competition, he had to win the regionals here in Seattle; Bil Hood at SLHS says Mitchell “performed a modern composition in the classical genre titled ‘Sadaude,’ by Roland Dyens, an unaccompanied work in three movements. … Mitchell will attend Buffalo University in New York next year, majoring in music, and hopes to enter a career in performing arts.” (School/student news? editor@westseattleblog.com any time!)
Have trouble keeping track of which City Council committee meets when and does what? The council just sent word it’s joined some other city departments in upgrading its online calendar – with more options such as RSS feeds, e-mail alerts, etc. Check it out here.
If you’re seeing this close to the time we’re publishing it, you know it’s blustery out there, to say the least. Here’s the advisory reminder issued by the National Weather Service late Monday night:
A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE PUGET SOUND AREA AND NORTHWEST INTERIOR UNTIL 11 AM PDT TUESDAY.
SOUTH WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING. THE WINDS WILL BE SOUTH OR SOUTHEAST THIS EVENING…THEN SHIFT TO SOUTHWEST OVERNIGHT. THE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH BEGINNING MIDDAY TUESDAY.
We’ll be watching the morning commute even more closely than usual, just in case of wind/water trouble; please post a comment here (or call us, 206-293-6302) if anything notable happens in your neighborhood.
It was a story we covered last summer, starting with the story of a shocking attack, continuing with a heartening community outpouring of well-wishes: Southwest Precinct Officer Jason McKissack was attacked and seriously injured eleven months ago while responding to a call in High Point. Days later, in an effort led by the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council, hundreds of people sent him get-well wishes and messages of gratitude. Fast-forward to yesterday: While talking with Southwest Precinct Captain Joe Kessler about Alki police presence, for this followup to last week’s shooting, we learned that not only is Officer McKissack still not back at work, but that the trial of his accused attackers — identified at the time as two 16-year-old boys and a 17-year-old girl — is about to begin. According to information we subsequently obtained from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, trial is set to start today, before King Co. Superior Court Judge Tim Bradshaw at the county courthouse downtown, and will likely last about a week; we have heard from at least one West Seattle resident who is scheduled to testify as a witness.
Just four days till the big shopping/selling day this Saturday! We handed out the first 200 copies of the map/listings for Saturday’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival on Sunday – but now, even if you didn’t get a copy today, you can get yours: Here’s the printable version, an 8-page PDF, with — same as last year — the map and listings split into 3 sections. Improved from last year, we’ve numbered the sales so you can cross-reference the map and listings. If you ‘d like to see the sales in Google Map format online, you’ll find the G-map version here – it’s not printable, but if you know how to tweak G-maps, you can use this to customize your own itinerary for Saturday, among other possibilities. Meantime, if you or someone you know is printer-less but needs a copy, this morning we will be distributing hundreds more copies to these pickup spots (the first five are WSB sponsors):
Hotwire Coffee
Fauntleroy and West Seattle YMCA
Illusions Hair Design
Stor-More Self-Storage
Brunette Mix
Senior Center of West Seattle
Delridge and WS (Junction) Neighborhood Service Centers
Southwest Community Center
Southwest Library
(photo added Tuesday afternoon)
Police are investigating repeat graffiti vandalism on the garage door of a California Ave home in Morgan Junction where two men live, and citywide media reports describe the vandalism as involving a “homophobic slur.” We linked this seattlepi.com story about it to the Crime Watch page earlier today; now we’ve gotten word that at least one TV crew is there tonight covering the story – here’s the link to channel 13’s online story, sent to us by a West Seattleite who wrote:
It seems like some sort of call-to-action with your reader-base could help find whoever’s doing it. It’s on a busy street – so someone has to have witnessed something (they’ve done it three times over this last weekend!) … this is just the type of thing a neighborhood can prevent when we come together.
We don’t have the police report on this yet but will be working to obtain it. 9:27 PM UPDATE: We’re at the precinct now, and the report is available – read on for a transcription of what it says about this incident, with names and profanities deleted:Read More
Just hit “play” on that first clip, and you’re bound to get a Fourth of July feeling, despite the somewhat wintry weather outside. That’s the Toni Reineke-directed Westside Symphonette senior orchestra, conducted in our video by Nse Ekpo, rehearsing at Chief Sealth High School (Boren). That’s also where the Symphonette’s senior and junior members will perform their FREE spring concert tomorrow night, 7 pm. Also on the program, a Mozart clarinet concerto, with Ekpo soloing:
Westside Symphonette is West Seattle’s community orchestra – all volunteers, and though the concert’s free, donations will be accepted.
As discussion intensified in the comment section following our as-it-happened coverage of Friday night’s Alki shooting (original report here, today’s first followup here) – which sent a 19-year-old to the hospital, with the shooter/s still at large – many people asked about police presence at the beach — is it less than before; whether it is or not, should there be more? So we put in a request to talk with the man who’s in charge of West Seattle police, the commander of the Southwest Precinct, Captain Joe Kessler. First thing this morning, he sat down with WSB for more than an hour. Important to note, you will see him at some upcoming community meetings, including the Alki Community Council on May 21, so as we’ve said before, you will want to be there to directly voice any concerns you have. But as for some answers right now – here’s our story about the conversation with Capt. Kessler this morning:
(Friday night photos, this one and above left, by David Hutchinson)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Just one hour after a 19-year-old was shot at Alki last Friday night, WSB commenter “At the Beach” asked, “Shouldn’t there have been at least more (of) a police presence on a sunny Friday evening down at Alki?”
That’s one of the questions Capt. Joe Kessler, now in his second year as commander of the police precinct responsible for West Seattle and South Park, wanted to answer – even before we asked it. (Yes, he reads WSB comments too.) Right off the top in our conversation at the precinct this morning, he addressed a specific question about police presence, as asked by Cathy at 8:55 Friday night: “Remember that huge police RV, command center type vehicle which always seemed to be parked right across from Alki Auto? Haven’t seen it for a long time.”
According to Capt. Kessler, that’s because the “RV” — officially, a “mobile precinct” — got to be so old, it started “falling apart” and is no longer in service; it was used less last year than in years past, in fact, he says. The Southwest Precinct used to share it with another precinct, and is now without an official share of a “mobile precinct,” though if desperately needed, one could be borrowed from elsewhere. The captain says, however, it’s not what he considers the best use of police resources.
ORIGINAL 4:02 PM REPORT: Just got a call from Jeff Hogan, who usually gives us the heads-up about orca sightings: A humpback whale has been spotted in the past hour near the Fauntleroy ferry dock, breaching and spy-hopping. (Reportedly headed northbound from there.)
6:14 PM UPDATE: Adding two photos from a nearby resident – above, you see part of the whale; below, the splash after a breach (the resident said she saw TWO of those!):
West Seattle festival season is about to kick into high gear, and one of the upcoming events has just gone public with more details of what you can expect: Delridge Day — May 30th at Youngstown Arts Center — will be themed “FRESH,” focusing on everything from fresh food to fresh arts creations and fresh community involvement. One highlight: A “micro-farmers’ market” with organic produce. Read on for more details of what’s just been announced:Read More
The National Weather Service has a wind advisory up in the metro area for midnight tonight till 8 am tomorrow; here’s the full forecast. Famous forecaster Cliff Mass also warns it’s part of an unusually strong spring storm – here’s his latest update.
The meeting’s not in West Seattle, but certainly townhouse design is an issue that affects our growing, developing area, and one on which we’ve reported before, with local community leaders at the forefront of the movement. Vlad Oustimovitch, past and present (interim) Design Review Board member, suggested we share a reminder of this meeting tonight at City Hall downtown, 5:30 pm – read the full meeting notice here. The recommendations will be presented by Brandon Nicholson of Nicholson Kovalchick Architects in The Junction, who’s been working with the city as a consultant on this proposal since last year.
(WSB photos by Jonathan Stumpf)
Metro showed off its first RapidRide bus this morning – the type that will be serving West Seattle in two years — and announced new federal funding. Here’s the shelter prototype that also was shown off:
And here’s County Executive Ron Sims at the podium, in one of his last appearances before leaving that job, photographed along with two of the candidates to succeed him (County Council Chair Dow Constantine at left, County Councilmember Larry Phillips at right, inbetween them is County Councilmember Julia Patterson):
(edited 2:50 pm) Jonathan Stumpf was there for WSB; he took the photos you see, and also reports:
County Executive Ron Sims, County Council Members Larry Phillips and Dow Constantine, and various other transit and federal officials were on hand at 6th and Lenora Avenues as King County Metro displayed prototypes of RapidRide’s new hybrid diesel-electric bus, shelter and fare station.
The 60-foot, three-door bus will provide seating for 48 passengers, LED-displays with upcoming stop information, wi-fi and pay-as-you-board fare collection, with some pre-pay options available at certain stations. County Executive Sims called it a bus people will want to get on, a good day for the suburbs and said that people can now throw away the bus schedule, referring to frequency the busses will run. Metro Transit anticipates them running every 10 minutes during peak commute hours and every 15 minutes during non-peak hours.
Bus shelters will include passenger-activated lights to signal the bus, interior shelter lighting, bike racks and real-time information signs displaying the number of minutes until the next bus arrives.
Funding for this project is estimated at about $180 million. It is a combination of the Transit Now sales tax revenue, partnerships with cities and support from state and federal grants. The Federal Transit Administration announced today that it is releasing $14 million in new federal grant money to help fund the acquisition of the new black, red and yellow bus fleet.
As we noted earlier, we also have the county’s detailed news release about today’s announcement/display has just come in; read on for that:Read More
(WSB photo from December 2008 – from left, Rep. Sharon Nelson, Sen. Joe McDermott, Rep. Eileen Cody)
The two state representatives and one state senator who represent West Seattle, White Center, Vashon and vicinity in the State Legislature are inviting you to a town-hall meeting a week from Saturday – here’s the announcement we just received:
All three lawmakers from the 34th District will host a town hall meeting to talk about the 2009 session and what future steps our state should take.
“This wasn’t an easy session,” said Sen. Joe McDermott, D-West Seattle. “The budget cuts will be hard on everyone, and I know people were already worried about losing their job or their home. But this won’t last forever. It will take all of us, working together, to bring our state back to prosperity.”
The meeting is set for 10 a.m. May 16 at the Jim Wiley Community Center, 9800 Eighth Avenue SW (White Center).
“There’s nothing more important than hearing from the citizens we represent,” said Rep. Eileen Cody, D-West Seattle. “It’s nice to be back home and talking to real people at the grocery store or the coffee shop.”
The lawmakers returned home after the end of the Legislature’s 105-day session. The Legislature passed a balanced budget, but left a handful of bills uncompleted that might require a short special session.
“While the budget got all the attention, we did pass some tough reforms,” said Rep. Sharon Nelson, D-Vashon Island. “I am happy to report that the payday lending law that I sponsored passed and is heading to the governor’s desk. As a former banker, I cared about this issue because far too many young people and working families fall into an endless trap of debt when they start taking out payday loans. This law will help.”
Here’s a map to the town-hall meeting’s location.
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