West Seattle, Washington
29 Thursday
For a while last year, coyote-sighting reports were coming in almost daily. Then – either the coyotes started keeping a low profile, or else people started getting used to them. At any rate, we got a sighting report tonight, so we’re sharing what Kim sent:
Hello, We live on 51st Place west of Edmunds St above Beach Drive [map]. Our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (a small one, just 12 lbs) went crazy barking this morning. As I looked out the window I saw a coyote. He/she (was) about the size of a German Shepherd. I had only let our dog in from being outside a few minutes before. Very scary, therefore I told the family Prince must go in his pen when outside. He has gotten used to a pen because of a close encounter with a raccoon last summer.
Previous WSB’er coyote reports (many with photos) are archived here, newest to oldest. State-collected info on coexisting with coyotes can be found here.
Just in from Mayor Nickels‘ office – three “open houses” next week where you’re promised the chance to talk with him and city staffers about the December snowstorm response – note the third one is happening here in West Seattle (home to the mayor, deputy mayor, SDOT boss, among others):
SEATTLE – Mayor Greg Nickels invites Seattle residents to talk with him, department heads and city staff about their winter-storm experiences. The input is being gathered as part of a citywide performance review of emergency snow operations.
Three meetings are planned and residents are invited to attend any or all:
● Tuesday, Jan. 13, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Green Lake Community Center, 7201 E. Green Lake Dr. N.
● Wednesday, Jan. 14, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Garfield Community Center, 2323 E. Cherry St.
● Thursday, Jan. 15, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Southwest Community Center, 2801 S.W. Thistle St. (map)The sessions will offer residents an informal opportunity to talk one-on-one with the mayor and meet with staff from transportation, utilities and other departments.
Among this weekend’s highlights: Two nighttime explorations presented by Camp Long; a free introductory class by new WSB sponsors NiaDivas; and your chance to join the new group West Seattle Change – more than two dozen events and activities in West Seattle this weekend, ahead:Read More
Found out about this from City of Seattle technology boss Bill Schrier (a West Seattleite, by the way), who mentioned it on Twitter: The city just launched an updated, clickable My Neighborhood Map that you can use to search for all sorts of info – even active fire incidents (use the “impacts” tab) and crime stats. They’re asking for feedback; send it here.
That photo (by Sage K) is from a long night back in May, when we and many WSB’ers stayed up into the night tracking the situation on Delridge (original coverage here) as police tried to find the person who shot a mother and her 10-year-old son, from outside their home. Today, we learn that new indictments say the shooting was meant to intimidate the older victim out of testifying in a federal case. This was first reported last night by KING5, but the online story didn’t mention West Seattle or Delridge, so we didn’t catch it, but Stephanie e-mailed us the link today, wondering if it was the same case. We checked with local U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson Emily Langlie, who confirmed that the May shooting mentioned in the story was indeed the West Seattle case, and sent us the indictment documents. Not only do the indictments cover that shooting, describing the mother as a “government witness,” but they also detail the alleged stolen-car/parts ring that’s at the heart of the case; it had been under investigation even before the shooting, the main suspect, DeVaughn “Buster” Dorsey, accused of being involved in the operation of a “chop shop” in a garage at an apartment complex at 7535 24th SW (map). The documents say this operation ended in May, about a week and a half after the Delridge shooting – Dorsey’s been behind bars since 5/23/2008 — and list more than a dozen specific vehicles. Counts 21 and 22 have just been added to a pre-existing indictment, and they’re the ones involving the shooting, for which Dorsey is charged with witness tampering and “discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.” Both shooting victims have recovered; we checked state court records to see if Dorsey has a criminal history — his name is listed (for civil proceedings as well as criminal) for 170 cases in the past 20 years. He’s due in court to answer these charges next Thursday. ADDED 4:23 PM UPDATE: Uploaded the entire indictment so you can read it if you’re interested – there’s no confidential info but lots of details.
That’s one of the revised renderings of the Conner Homes California/Alaska/42nd project that we received when its proposed “alley vacation” went before the Seattle Design Commission in November. As we reported at the time, the commission expressed some concerns and asked for a second presentation; we just received next Thursday’s Design Commission agenda, and it includes that presentation, 11 am-12:30 pm at City Hall downtown. (If you have extra time to spare, a West Seattle-relevant presentation will precede it, 10-11 am Thursday — “passenger facilities” designs for Metro‘s RapidRide, which is scheduled to add a WS line in 2011.)
As discussed in comments following yesterday’s coverage of the Spokane Street fire (here and here), though it apparently started in Pacific Sheet Metal, it also burned The Dutchman next door – a site rich in Seattle music history. WSB’er RealLowVibe just tweeted word of this website set up to help the Dutchman recover. Today’s update from the fire department is that investigators still can’t go in because of all the water flooding the site (see photo above, taken yesterday by C. Simmons), and it may take several days for the scene to be safe enough for them to enter.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
One man’s mere presence underscored the high stakes at last night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting on the redevelopment proposal for The Kenney, the century-old nonprofit retirement complex in Fauntleroy: Vince Lyons.
Last night KING5 TV broke the story that the P-I would be put up for sale as a possible precursor to closing. People at the paper expressed surprise, as they hadn’t heard this. Today, however, this has just appeared on the P-I’s online home page, confirming it:
The Seattle P-I newspaper is being put up for sale. Steve Swartz, president of Hearst Newspaper Division, told the newsroom that Hearst Corp. is starting a 60-day process to find a buyer. If a buyer is not found, Swartz said, Hearst will pursue other options. The options include moving to a digital-only operation with a greatly reduced staff, or completely shutting down operations. In no case will Hearst continue to publish the P-I in printed form, Swartz said.
(Update: It’s now on the P-I site in article format; second update, here’s the Hearst news release.) We want to add a personal note that we would hate to see the P-I go, for one major reason: It has by far led the way in Seattle in presenting online news and information on a citywide/regional basis, including recognition of the importance of collaborating with the people formerly known as “readers.” (The P-I has also trailblazed in creating opportunities for its reporters to do coverage in blog format as well as traditional articles; among the stories it’s covering that way right now is the announcement that Boeing‘s Commercial Airplanes division plans thousands of job cuts this year – here’s the latest on the P-I site.)
2:45 PM UPDATE: Side note on this story, a little visual reminder that the news landscape has changed. Joe sent this screen grab from his check of Google News coverage on the P-I sale:
He hadn’t been aware that WSB stories are indexed in Google News. We announced that here last February. WSB was the first blog-format Seattle neighborhood-news site to get Google News indexing; several other sites achieved it within the past month or so.
More than a few people have e-mailed to ask why so many street lights are burned out – and have been for some time – along The Bridge; in the past few days, we’ve also heard about a particularly unlit stretch of South Delridge. Two things to share: First, we have the question out to Seattle City Light‘s communications team, which so far has learned that the person in charge of “operations” for this area has just convened a meeting on the subject; as soon as info from said meeting – what’s going to be done and when – is available, we’ll report it. Meantime, don’t ever assume the city “knows” a light is out; this SCL page has options for how to report them.
10:39 AM UPDATE: We’ve learned from City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s staff that he too has been pursuing this with SDOT and City Light, which for starters has told Rasmussen that “a re-lamping effort” is in the works later this month for the Spokane Street Viaduct stretch of The Bridge (99 to I-5), and the councilmember expects work to be done on the high bridge’s lights then too.
Several quick Crime Watch reports to share from the past few days. We start with the Saga of the Stolen Santa. Kirsten in North Admiral sent the photo of the “Old World Santa” at left and wrote: “(Tuesday) when I got home from work I noticed that the Old World Santa I display yearly had been stolen from my front porch. Normally I would not get upset about a material thing but the more I got to thinking about it, the more upset I have become. The Santa was my Mother’s who is now deceased and prior to my display, she had done so for many years prior. Each year when I’d put it out, it helped keep my memory of her alive and in a little way made the holidays a bit more bearable. The likelihood is that some kids took off with it but I thought that by sending this in, there is a chance I may get it back. It’s about 2.5 – 3 feet tall and 30 lbs or so.” Seen this Santa? Send us a note (editor@westseattleblog.com) and we’ll forward it to Kirsten. Ahead: Another stolen item whose owner hopes to get it back, and a stolen item that WAS retrieved, plus other reports:Read More
(one of many photos we received during Snowstorm ’08)
The Seattle City Council has another post-snowstorm discussion coming up next Monday morning, after more than five hours of briefings this past Monday and Tuesday. Since snow-related trouble hit West Seattle particularly hard, from missing buses to missed trash pickups, it’s not surprising that some of the toughest questions at those briefings came from WS-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen. Before memories of those first two briefings faded too far away, we e-mailed to ask him about any reflections on what he heard – read on to see what he sent back:Read More
Tonight’s two-part session of the Southwest Design Review Board meeting ran almost four hours. First project on the agenda, 4502 42nd SW, won final design-review approval unanimously; second project, the $150 million “reinvention” of The Kenney, got approval to move out of the “early design guidance” stage (after two rounds), but not without extensive discussion under high-level supervision, and there are still more meetings to come (at least one more round of design review, and City Council approval would be required if they do pursue some rezoning). More details to come in separate reports.
Thanks to Judy Pickens for calling our attention to this recent change: The Southwest Library branch is now open Sundays, which means — along with the West Seattle branch in Admiral — there are now two WS libraries you can go to on Sunday afternoons. Both are open noon-5.
West Seattle businesses are on alert tonight after two were burglarized overnight. WSB has confirmed with Circa in the Admiral District and Cupcake Royale in The Junction that both were broken into. At Circa, burglars stole the safe, but the restaurant tells WSB there wasn’t much money inside; they also took the restaurant’s official iPod, which was used to play music at Circa. At Cupcake Royale, we were told the burglars didn’t make off with the safe, but did get some money. The door through which they broke in had to be replaced – that work was just finishing when we went by to talk with them about what happened. We have an inquiry out with the Southwest Precinct seeking further details about these break-ins and about any progress toward arrests.
Always lots going on when the Southwest District Council meets. Its members include representatives from many neighborhood groups and other organizations based in the section of West Seattle that the city calls the Southwest District (the city calls the rest of WS the Delridge Neighborhoods District; here’s the map). Last night, its new co-chairs began their terms – Erica Karlovits, president of the Junction Neighborhood Organization, and Chas Redmond, from the Morgan Community Association (among many other groups). On the agenda: Three major aspects of how West Seattleites get around and will get around in the future — Metro’s forthcoming RapidRide, the Spokane Street Viaduct widening project, and the Alaskan Way Viaduct Central Waterfront decision-to-come – read on for the latest:Read More
Since West Seattle currently has the city’s only under-construction Whole Foods Market, and since the chain’s money woes continue to fuel chatter, we thought we would share this story about a major investment that pumped up its stock today. WF and local developers have continued to reiterate this project’s on track; here’s our most recent report.
Just one West Seattle item on today’s Land Use Information Bulletin from the city: Before final approval can be granted for the Hiawatha Playfield project (field and light changes), a public hearing must be held before a city committee; that’s set for the 9:30 am February 11th meeting of the City Council’s Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Committee. Read the official notice here.
(photo by C. Simmons)
If not for the massive flooding in the northern and southern areas of Western Washington, the Spokane Street fire at Pacific Sheet Metal early today (WSB coverage here) would have been a huge story for citywide media. Since they’re preoccupied, we’ll post a few updates here: No word on the cause yet – the latest update from Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen says firefighters are working to get “a large amount of water” out of the building and its surrounding area, and once that’s done, investigators will be able to go in. (added 12:51 pm — you can see the water in this photo sent by C. Simmons)
Also, Seattle Police have posted a side note to SPDBlotter — In addition to closing the Spokane Street Viaduct (the stretch between Highway 99 and I-5) during the height of the fire, they also had to stay with an unusual group of evacuees – residents and staff of the high-security sex-offender detention facility on the other side of the SSV had to be moved out for a few hours, and police stayed with that group until they were allowed to return to the building around 4:30 am. We’ll post another update here whenever the Fire Department has more investigation info (just saw a short TV update, finally, but it was the same info we posted nine hours ago). 12:32 PM UPDATE: City Light says it’s now restored power to all but one of the customers that have been without it since the fire.
(photo added 11:36 am – the car in the background is traveling NB on Fauntleroy)
ORIGINAL 11:24 AM POST: If you’ve heard this one somewhere else: A tree fell on 39th at Fauntleroy in the Fairmount Springs area. IT IS NOT BLOCKING FAUNTLEROY. It is briefly blocking the triangle area on the side where drivers get to Fauntleroy, northbound, from 39th, and it’s being cut up as we speak.
ADDED 11:43 AM: A reason to keep close watch on the trees around your home/apartment:
Hutch sent photos of the lilac that “decided to give it up” after Sunday’s heavy, wet snow, plus the past few days’ rain (and maybe the wind, too) … good reminder that there may be more than a few trees/large shrubs in weakened condition around the area.
New information about the Admiral 7-11 robbery attempt we covered last weekend, which was quickly followed by the arrest of three suspects who police believe were involved with a series of holdups, mostly at convenience stores, in West Seattle and White Center (among other areas) over the past month: First, to be clear, as we originally reported, court documents indicate it was a robbery attempt; no money was taken and the would-be robber fled when the clerk ran into the restroom and called police. Two charges are now filed against the suspect who authorities say actually tried to rob the store, 18-year-old Jose G. Torres: He is charged with first-degree attempted robbery and unlawful gun possession – charging papers say he had a 38-caliber handgun but shouldn’t have, since he was already a convicted felon. The following excerpt from charging papers tells the story of what happened early Sunday morning – including an explanation of how police made the arrests so quickly:Read More
KENNEY DESIGN REVIEW #2: Reminder that tonight is the Southwest Design Review Board meeting rescheduled from snowy 12/18. It’s at West Seattle Christian Church (WSB sponsor), SE corner of 42nd/Genesee (map); 6:30 pm, the board looks at 4502 42nd (previous coverage here); 8 pm, second “early design guidance” for The Kenney (archived coverage here). Presentation “packets” for both are linked from the meeting listing here.
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: As previewed yesterday, it’s tonight, 6-9 pm at venues all over WS — including places you might never have been before like The Building (map) in Morgan Junction. Artist/venue info and map are here.
THINKING ABOUT REMODELING? Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) is presenting another of its free seminars tonight, 6:30 pm — more details here (including how to RSVP).
Three things this morning, following up on the school-closure-plan discussion at last night’s four-hour Seattle School Board meeting (see our running updates here). First, our video of the one Cooper Elementary advocate who spoke, Shelly Williams:
Members of the Cooper community held a meeting yesterday afternoon to plan next steps in their fight against the proposed closure. The Cooper School Works anti-closure website says the big nighttime meeting for the school community, postponed last month because of the snow, is rescheduled to next Tuesday, Jan. 13, 7 pm.
Second – If you want a chance to speak at the final public hearing on the citywide closure recommendations, you need to start calling/e-mailing at 8 am TODAY. The hearing is 6:30 pm January 22 at district HQ in Sodo; the number to call today starting at 6 am is 206-252-0042; or e-mail hearing@seattleschools.org
Third – Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson is participating in an online Q/A session today via the Times website, 11 am-noon; you can send in a question now by going here.
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