West Seattle, Washington
20 Friday
“SAFER STREETS INITIATIVE”: City Councilmember Tim Burgess posted about this proposal on his blog today; the council’s Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee, which he chairs, will start reviewing it this afternoon. It’s a 12-point proposal, and you can read it in its entirety here, but these three points in particular caught our eye:
Re-establish one police detective position dedicated to the tracking and analysis of graffiti crime…
Return School Resource Officers to select public high schools and middle schools…
Enact new legislation that imposes civil and criminal penalties when businesses, property owners or property managers knowingly allow criminal behavior to occur and fail to take steps to stop it…
The committee meets at 2 pm; you can see the meeting live via the Seattle Channel, online or on TV @ cable channel 21.
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL TONIGHT! We tell you about this one every month, before AND after. If you only attend one community meeting a month – this one is worth your time if there is anything about crime or safety in your neighborhood that has you concerned. Not only do you get great information on what’s happening in the area and what to do about problem spots (so-called “nuisance properties”), you also get a chance to directly ask questions of Southwest Precinct police reps who attend the meeting. 7 pm, SWP meeting room (Delridge/Webster, enter the parking lot from Webster).
We brought you first word of this event two weeks ago, and now it’s just two days away: Artists and musicians will create one-of-a-kind works all day Thursday, to be auctioned off – in tandem with special performances – at a big party Thursday night, raising money for All-Access Youth Arts Programs at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. (“Skiffle” is oldtime slang for “rent party” as well as a type of music [here’s one of many examples on YouTube].) Here’s the official explanation of how the Youngstown event will play out:
During the day, eight teams comprised of community members, local artists and bands will create a work of art out of a blank canvas (some of these include guitars and basses). These masterpieces will be auctioned off the same night and accompany performances from The Boogilistics, Camille Bloom & The Recovery, Scribes, and special guests Bison (featuring members from Pearl Jam, The Presidents of the United States of America, Guns N’ Roses, and The Dusty 45s), as well as artists and students from Arts Corps, Rock School and the Service Board.
Doors open Thursday night at 6, show starts at 7; tickets are available at the door for $25 suggested donation. The All-Access after-school programs are offered free to participants — music, spoken-word poetry, dance, and more — and enjoying this fundraiser is one way to make sure that can continue. Haven’t been to Youngstown before? Here’s a map.
A few hundred teenagers might not mind quite so much that the sun’s back in hiding, because it’s freshman-orientation time today and tomorrow at West Seattle High School; per the WSHS website, it’s Friday for other grades. One more WSHS note (if you hadn’t already spotted it on the WSB Events calendar) – the West Seattle High School Foundation is presenting a Back-to-School Breakfast Bash one week from tomorrow, 8/27, at WSHS, doors open @ 7 am, with guests including Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson and King County Councilmember (and WSHS alum) Dow Constantine. Make your reservation by Friday – e-mail and phone options at the WSHS Foundation website. First actual day of classes for Seattle Public Schools, by the way, is Wednesday 9/3.
Sometime in the next few hours, it’s more than likely someone in Pigeon Point — atop the ridge that represents northeasternmost West Seattle — will wake up to the blast of a train horn, or more than one, from activity along that stretch of track, roughly Harbor Island to Harbor Ave. Tonight, more than 20 concerned neighbors joined government reps in a cozy City Hall meeting room — more people than you see sometimes in meetings about West Seattle issues that are held IN West Seattle — to try to figure out where to start on a complicated journey toward relief. When we first told you about their effort last week, many comments of disbelief came in, but if you had been in that meeting tonight, and listened to the desperation in some of those voices, you’d know the problem is very real, and some of them are at wit’s end — funny what sleep deprivation can do to you. Ahead, what they said, what they heard, and what happens next:Read More
Just received this from Laura. Maybe it’s not too late for someone to help solve this car theft:
Vehicle missing parked on SW Thistle between Fauntleroy Way SW and 46th Avenue SW across from Lincoln Park. (map)
Last seen today at 6 pm. Noticed missing at 10:15 pm.
Red 1996 Honda Civic CX Hatchback 2 door, WA license plate 430TFY
Police have been notified, car not reported as towed and we are expecting a visit from an officer tonight.
Information can be reported to SPD at 206-625-5011 or here.
TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Laura sent this update:
Just wanted to let you know that we just received a call from King County Sheriff and the car was found blocking a road near Sea-Tac early this morning and had been “stripped for parts” (the hood, engine and other parts were removed from the vehicle).
Thought I would pass along that SPD officer advised last night that if you park your car on the street anytime like our visitor did, it’s worth the $23 investment to get a “Club” for your steering wheel. The officer says they think it is a major theft deterrent.
That’s Callie the cat, who could be hanging on your wall sometime next year, if West Seattleite Stefan Hansmire finishes lining up enough sponsors for the project he’s working on: It’s a calendar of cat art by kids, collected, Hansmire says, “through a series of art parties and conversations.” Each month is intended to have a West Seattle business sponsor, for $150, to cover calendar-printing costs; proceeds from calendar sales will go to Friends of the Animals (he says Next to Nature and Thriftway already have agreed to sell the calendars). His eight-year-old daughter, “who loves cats,” is co-producing the calendar, “to teach kids that their creative work can have tangible value that makes a difference.” If they get a few more sponsors, things will be, well, purr-fect … click here to e-mail with inquiries.
In the same spot where we first saw a signature-gatherer with anti-bag-fee petitions eight days ago, by the southwest door at Thriftway, CoolMom.org co-founder Kristy Royce of West Seattle (with some help!) showed support for it this afternoon by giving out free reusable shopping bags. A group of north-end CoolMoms had something similar planned at a store in their area.
Just picked up this tidbit at City Hall downtown after Pigeon Point residents’ train-noise meeting with Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and reps from SDOT and the Port of Seattle — the report on that is coming up in a bit, but first, on an unrelated note, chatted for a moment afterward with SDOT’s Charlie Bookman, who said that relief is getting close for two miserable blocks of 16th SW around South Seattle Community College (near SW Brandon) – he says the street in that area literally has to be reconstructed, and the work should start within two months.
Multiple reports in citywide media (including this one) say the 16-year-old suspected of killing a man at a Federal Way school last Thursday was arrested today in West Seattle. Per the Times, the arrest happened at 12th SW/Myrtle (map).
We told you last month about the passing of longtime West Seattle activist Nels Ekroth; today, we’ve gotten word from Jackie Dupras that Mr. Ekroth’s memorial is happening this week, 2 pm Thursday, at Alki Congregational Church (6115 SW Hinds) — you’re invited to bring photos and stories.
We knew this was coming but didn’t know it was here till a tip from Rasmus: EveryBlock has launched its Seattle site. The stuff you’ll find aggregated there includes some of the government databases we read to look for interesting tidbits to share with you, but if you want to see it all in raw form, in one place you can access by zip code or street address — this is it. Not perfect because it’s tech-based rather than human-based, so if one of our articles, for example, doesn’t have an exact street address but affects you anyway, it might not come up – for example, what you’ll find right now on the Alki page doesn’t seem to include any of our articles within the past 24 hours – but if you want to watch, say, the boiler permits in your ‘hood, which are issued by address, perfect. It’s indexing recent 911 calls too (the stuff you otherwise find “live” here).
Even as the clouds lift a bit, there’s word that today’s just a warmup, er, cooldown for what’s to come: An “unseasonable” storm “more typical of autumn” is on the way late tomorrow, says the National Weather Service.
That cupola at The Kenney, the century-old senior-care complex in Fauntleroy, is a West Seattle landmark. As part of the major redevelopment project that The Kenney is planning, the building it’s part of will be demolished – but hold on, the cupola’s not going away. WSB obtained extensive details of the proposed project, just as The Kenney starts applying for city permits (its project page is now online here) and rolling out the plan to residents, neighbors, and community groups. Read on to find out about the big changes in the works:Read More
Just in from WSDOT: “A roll-over collision is blocking the three left lanes of southbound I-5, just south of Spokane Street in Seattle. Fire and aid are on scene. WSDOT Incident Response is en-route.” Here’s the camera (what it shows, depends on where its operators focus it):
11:05 AM UPDATE: WSDOT says the crash has cleared but traffic is backed up a few miles into downtown.
For the first time in four years, the Seattle Port Commission and Seattle City Council are sitting down together – it’s happening right now and you can watch live via the Seattle Channel (online, or cable channel 21). We’ve been told City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen plans to bring up the proposal he backs to keep the “low bridge” from routinely opening during rush hours — since Port of Seattle management is on record as opposing it.
Reminders about two events we’ve previewed here in recent days, both happening today/tonight: Supporters of the city’s upcoming disposable-bag fee plan to show their support for it by gathering at Thriftway in Morgan Junction between 3-5 pm (read previous coverage here); West Seattle residents concerned about train noise from Harbor Island and vicinity will meet with city and port officials at City Hall downtown, 5:30 pm (previous coverage here). Organizers of both events told us anyone interested in those issues is welcome to join in.
David Hutchinson took that from Don Armeni around 10:30 pm. The latest forecast warns of some possible “small hail” with overnight thunderstorms.
(photo by Brian Todd, Aus der Traum Photography)
Ah, beach-volleyball weather, suddenly seems like a distant memory with thunder rumbling in the distance again tonight … WSB was the “media partner” for Saturday’s EVP Beach Volleyball Pro Tour stop at Alki, and tonight we have the final word on not only the winners, but also how/when you can see it on TV – that plus more pix ahead:Read More
Published this on White Center Now this morning, but wanted to share it with you too: Results of the latest area grocery survey by volunteers working with the King County Food and Fitness Initiative, which is focusing on areas including South Delridge/White Center, though this survey included a few West Seattle supermarkets too. Read about it here.
We apologize profusely for not having seen the announcement of a West Seattle “Thriller” practice tonight till moments ago, a few hours too late (Google Blog Search runs a bit slow sometimes). But if you want to be a “Thriller” too, looks like you’ll have more regional chances to join in. Not sure the end result can top our favorite recent version, as seen below in one of sixty skabillion clips available online:
More new photos from David Hutchinson with the Seattle (Alki) Statue of Liberty Plaza Project, as construction of the plaza enters its final weeks leading up to the September 6th dedication.
The pace has been picking up this past week … The bronze bench and landscape plaques arrived at the beginning of the week and the final pouring of cement took place. Three of the fifteen bench plaques were embedded in the newly poured apron around the front of the seat walls. Work also began on the first three wooden bench tops. The middle of the week saw continued work on the bench tops, work began on the new irrigation system, and holes were bored in the concrete for the step railing supports. The end of the week highlight was the arrival and installation of benches 13, 14, and 15 which were fabricated offsite as a single unit.
This coming week should see continued work on the benches and the arrival of the inscribed pavers which are scheduled to be installed over the next couple of weeks. At this time the new pedestal which is being cast offsite is scheduled to be put in place around the beginning of September with the Statue to be in installed in time for the September 6th dedication ceremony.
Here’s how the site looked Saturday:
You can catch up on this entire project and what led up to it over the past year-plus, in our Alki Statue of Liberty archive.
(8/17/2007 photo by Garrett Burke)
That was the scene at 4132 California SW, on the northernmost edge of The Junction, as a huge fire burned in the early-morning hours of August 17, 2007, exactly one year ago today. The next day, investigators announced the fire had been ruled arson. In the ensuing months, we have received occasional e-mail questions wondering if the case was ever solved; a few days ago, we checked back with Seattle Police to see if any progress had been made in the investigation; Officer Jeff Kappel in the Media Unit told WSB by phone that they cannot comment on specifics, except to say it is an “open investigation.” The arson burned an under-construction live/work-unit building, but Knoll Development did not let the fire stop its plans — shortly afterward, as we showed you in this report last December, rebuilding resumed, and today the building is almost done:
We took that photo today. Meantime, if you have any information that might help investigators close this case, you can call Seattle Police (non-emergency line is 206/625-5011) or the national Arson Hotline, 800-55-ARSON.
We showed you a couple photos while Picnic at the Precinct was in full swing Saturday afternoon – but that was just in-progress coverage, for anyone checking here who hadn’t been yet. Today, the full report.
First – you see his name here all the time – but we don’t recall having shown you a photo before – that’s Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen at right, with Segway-riding traffic-enforcement officer L. James, who explained the two-wheelers are not just used because they’re cool:
Her face-painting, by the way (which was offered free to picnicgoers), said ‘Beep-Beep.’ Of course.
The event really was all about people – and your chance to meet the ones who work hard to keep you safe – better to meet them, oh, say, handing out free ice cream, than showing up in your neighborhood chasing baddies:
That’s Officer Brian Ballew from the Community Police Team. It was a perfect day for ice cream, but the nearby hot dogs tasted pretty good too (or so the Junior Member of the Team tells us). More pictures, including the Arson Bomb Squad robot unit, ahead:Read More
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