West Seattle, Washington
17 Tuesday
Seven months after we first reported the proposal to “upzone” California SW 
between Hanford and Hinds (map at left) and a bit beyond on the west side — more than three months after our last update — and more than six months after the big public meeting about it — the city Department of Planning and Development‘s recommendation about the California Ave “upzoning” proposal is finally close to completion. We just talked with Malli Anderson, the city planner working on it, and she says she is “writing the recommendation this week.” She says it’s a complicated multi-page decision and can’t commit to exactly when it will be done – but everyone who is a “party of record” will get notification by mail (if you don’t hear about it sooner) — that includes everyone who has sent the city comments about the proposal, as well as everyone who put their names on the sign-up sheet at that official meeting last November (WSB coverage here). Here’s how the process will go, according to Anderson: DPD issues its recommendation to the city Hearing Examiner, who then schedules a hearing. That recommendation can also be appealed. About two weeks after the hearing, the HE makes a recommendation to a City Council committee, which then in turn makes a recommendation to the full Council (which has to approve any zoning change such as this). The recommendation will not be public the moment Anderson finishes drafting it – it first must go through various stages of internal review at the DPD before it’s released. We’ll keep watch and let you know as soon as we know. (To catch up on this proposal, you can check our coverage archive here; that includes our December interview with area property owners/rezone backers Mike Gain and Roger Cayce.
Reporting from City Hall downtown (where the west-facing windows show a glimpse of West Seattle and a slice of Elliott Bay – the glare in the photo obscures the view, but you get the idea): We mentioned earlier today that Captain Joe Kessler and other Southwest Precinct leaders were scheduled to brief the City Council’s Public Safety (etc.) Committee at 2 pm today; the committee’s actually taking care of other business first and the SWP briefing is yet to come, sometime after 3 pm, just in case you’re following along via the Seattle Channel (online here, on-air at Channel 21). We’re here not just to cover it but there’s also a chance that the precinct leaders may talk about the SWP’s unique informational pratnership with WSB, in which case we might be asked to say a few words. MORE COUNCIL NEWS: Just in via e-mail, the council has just set a 7 pm July 8 hearing on the proposed bag fee/foam ban. 3:52 PM UPDATE: Our 15 seconds of fame will have to wait for another day. WSB got a nice shoutout from Lt. Steve Paulsen, but more importantly, both he and Capt. Kessler gave major props to YOU — and everyone in West Seattle — for what they called an “incredible” level of commitment, alertness, and involvement, which is helping keep our area safer. Some interesting stats in Capt. Kessler’s presentation, too; we’ll write those up a bit later – now we’re heading across downtown for the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Citizens’ Advisory Committee‘s big public hearing at Seattle Center at 5:30 pm (exactly where, is explained here).
We just confirmed with the Seattle Animal Shelter that they have seized the dog which is reported to have bitten a child at the Lafayette Elementary playground before school this morning. Our first report came from Lafayette parent Bernicki, who quotes school administration as saying the bite wasn’t serious; the dog apparently ran onto the playground without its owner or minder anywhere in sight, and in fact, Ann Graves from the Animal Shelter tells WSB they are still trying to locate its owner before they can decide what will happen to the dog. She says their report indicated the dog is a pit bull, which is also what Bernicki told us, but they will not be able to confirm its breed — it could be a mix — until the dog is at SAS facilities later.
Just out of the WSB inbox – a news release sent by West Seattleite Keith Bacon announcing an event at Easy Street a week from tonight — a book launch party with two members of R.E.M. in attendance. Read on for the full details:Read More
A month and a half after his first report here of a homeless encampment at Camp Long (cleared by the city days later), WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham sent the above group of photos and this new report:
West Seattle can’t wish away the plight of those affected by homelessness and mental illness by looking the other way. Public parks are becoming uninhabitable as safe play areas for our youth, and natural habitat is being destroyed.
(L-R) 1. Signage warning squatters to vacate at a small encampment at Lincoln Park Annex remains after much of the belongings were removed.
2. Prior to the posting a considerable amount of debris and property became part of the park’s view looking at the Olympics.
3. After the encampment removal porn mags and refuse remains at the encampment.
4. The Alaska Junction is not immune from homelessness and mental illness. This shows a pedestrian recently passing by a person sleeping in Jefferson Square’s landscaping.
Lincoln Park Annex is now formally known as Solstice Park; it includes the upslope east of the tennis courts that are along Fauntleroy northeast of the rest of Lincoln Park. Side note; the city hasn’t called attention to this West Seattle cleanup (nor the one last month, though we were provided information when we pursued it) the same way as, for example, a recent Queen Anne cleanup (which even got this official news release on the city website).
Five people now have been arrested for the break-in early yesterday at West Seattle HS (original WSB report here, followed by a comment explaining that “the burglars stole items from our special-education students”). Sgt. Jeff Durden at the Southwest Precinct just provided these details: “During the initial incident, one arrest was made of an adult West Seattle High school student. He brought the four other other West Seattle High students into the SW Precinct around 2 pm yesterday. All of the student/suspects are cooperating with both detectives and the school. All property is in the process of being returned.”
Katie sends word of a tree down across both lanes of 48th SW “on the hill between Holly and Graham” (map). 11:43 AM UPDATE: As of our drive-by about 10 minutes ago, the road is still blocked off; this is the section of 48th that runs between Lowman Beach and Seaview. We just added a photo we took around 10:15; one of the crews on the scene told us it appeared that “two half-dead trees” had somehow come into conflict and one ultimately came down.
Well, we were looking for an excuse to post this photo sent by “Trick” (thank you!) after he spotted these baby birds:
The young humans among us will also be clamoring – with joy – since they’re pretty much all out of school as of this afternoon – it’s the last day of classes for Seattle Public Schools students, with dismissal an hour earlier than usual. Summer vacation lasts till school resumes September 3rd, and changes are ahead for some local schools when summer’s over — Chief Sealth High School moves into Boren on Delridge for two years while renovations are under way; West Seattle Montessori moves into a temporary White Center location because its longtime WS home is earmarked for a mixed-use building (the developer (as reported here, when we also mentioned Harbor Properties, told WSB they’re still talking with WSMS about a new home in the new building); and as we reported a few weeks ago, Hope Lutheran School has construction under way over the summer (some of it for the adjacent church, too).
Before we get to the latest highlights of reports from the Southwest Precinct, we wanted to mention you have two chances today to hear from Captain Joe Kessler, who has been running the SWP for more than two months now (we first caught up with him on his first day in the office, April 9th): At 2 pm today, he and other SW Precinct leaders will be at City Hall downtown to brief the City Council’s Public Safety, Human Services, and Education Committee on crime trends and other issues/achievements in our area; you can watch live on the Seattle Channel (on-air or online), and we’ll be there to cover it, too. 
Then tonight at 7 pm, Capt. Kessler will be at the monthly West Seattle Community Safety Partnership meeting — which always includes an all-star lineup of local police leaders, but he hasn’t had a chance to join them yet. This is also the monthly meeting where you can come ask police about any concerns in your neighborhood; a new name likely will be chosen before the night’s out, too (here’s our report on previous suggestions); you can see the agenda here — including a list of phone numbers you might want to keep handy for neighborhood nuisances as well as crime-related problems. Now, on to a few notable incidents from reports processed over the last several days (there’s often a day or more of lag time, so this doesn’t include incidents from most of Sunday, or Monday), including two scam reports and the latest home/car break-ins:Read More
The disappearance of Nicholas Francisco four months ago was fleetingly a WSB story for two reasons: (a) West Seattle was searched because he was a former Mars Hill-West Seattle church member and (b) for a while, people from all over the country who wanted to discuss their theories about his disappearance used this WSB thread (354 comments) to do it. Tonight, the P-I reports his wife has filed for divorce.
That’s longtime West Seattle businessman Verne Valentine with (left to right in front) Janet Ives, Tina McLauchlan, and Linda Bagocki. They’re smiling but it’s not an entirely cheery time – Verne e-mailed WSB to ask that we share the news that the U.S. Postal Station that’s been at the same location as his Farmers’ Insurance office at 2237 California SW (north of Admiral) is closing next month after 25 1/2 years. He explains, “The U.S. Postal Service has drastically changed the operation parameters to the extent that Farmers Insurance Agency personnel have been forced to discontinue the association.” He says the postal annex will be ending operations July 12th but his Farmers’ Insurance office is not affected and, in fact, is expanding into the space that won’t be needed for postal operations any more.
At left, that’s Eric Thomas of Solar Epiphany, one of two solar-power entrepreneurs who are making presentations at tonight’s meeting of Sustainable West Seattle – whose president Bill Reiswig is at right in the photo; we popped over to get a pic before the meeting starts (7:30-9 pm, Camp Long). Perfect synergy with the weather!
Last week, new Highland Park Action Committee chair Dorsol Plants told the 34th District Democrats (WSB coverage here) that the city had agreed to disclose the reasons 31 sites were dropped from the semi-finalist list of 35 sites (now down to 4, including two in southeast West Seattle). Today, the city sends word that information is posted online (read it here). 6:47 PM UPDATE: Two more jail-sites-related notes — The County Council Committee of the Whole was briefed today on the proposal to extend the county’s contract with cities while a “regional” solution to the jail problem is pursued; the county’s update says no action was taken and the proposal “remains in committee.” Also, we have added a new “category” tag here on WSB for our archived coverage of the jail-sites issue, dating back to the announcement of the “finalists” list six weeks ago; here’s the direct link to all our stories, newest to oldest (you can find it again any time from the “Categories” list toward the end of the sidebar to the right). ADDED AT 9:09 PM: We also have word tonight from HPAC that there’s an e-petition available for online “signing” to express opposition to the jail sites – you can find it here.
Just in from Molly, who’s also of course alerting police:
Just a few minutes ago (4:14 to be exact) I was driving up Fairmount Avenue from the beach when my windshield was hit by a water balloon. It wasn’t from the bridge above as I was more south than that. Just wanted to let you know…
And this sort of thing isn’t exactly harmless child’s play, as noted in a similar report we published two months ago.
INSPECTION TOMORROW: The state Transportation Department just sent word that The Viaduct gets its quarterly inspection tomorrow, but NO LANE CLOSURES are needed. (Side note – the next Stakeholders’ Advisory Committee meeting re: the future of the Central Waterfront section of The Viaduct is June 26, 4 pm, City Hall.)
SHUTDOWN SATURDAY MORNING: FYI in case you would be driving that way – but also, it’s not too late to register if you want to take advantage of this every-June chance to walk on The Viaduct for a good cause — Saturday morning is the annual Race for the Cure. Still checking on the exact shutdown hours, but last year it was 7:45-11 am. The three of us do the 5K walk in R4TC every year; here’s our report on last year’s event, exactly one year ago. (P.S. You can also join in a cancer-fighting event right here in West Seattle in less than two weeks — Relay for Life at West Seattle Stadium, from 6 pm June 27 through noon June 28. We’ll have a detailed preview later this week, but for now, you can get involved by calling Karee Boone at 206-674-4105, Melissa Bazala at 206-281-3738, or Diane Redenbaugh at 206-937-2291.)
That’s the view from the beach-facing window at Tully’s on Alki, where an elementary-school field trip just cleared out, blueberry-shake samples just circulated, and we’re working out of the house for a while just because … the forecast for the rest of the week doesn’t look this good and we wanted to see the beach before the clouds return. The photo doesn’t quite do it justice but there are a LOT of people down at the beach already, and not just obvious field trips (tomorrow is the last day of classes for Seattle Public Schools)! 2:37 PM ADDITION: WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli has been out and about too – he just sent these photos from south of Alki Point.
P.S. Those are different ferries, in case you were wondering – top photo shows a Super Class ferry, second photo has an Issaquah 130 Class ferry (here’s the WSF fleet guide, for our fellow ferry fans).
Colman Pool at Lincoln Park (photo above from our feature on its pre-season opening day last month, also gorgeously sunny) is now in 7-day-a-week mode, which means you can still go after work – it’s open till 7 pm (full Colman schedule here). And that’s your only city-run option, since Southwest Pool — as reported in this WSB feature last Friday — is now closed for 3 1/2 months of renovation work. (There are some non-city-operated indoor pools in the area too – including West Seattle Family YMCA [WSB sponsor] and Allstar Fitness.)
Police confirm a break-in early this morning at West Seattle High School – Victoria tells WSB there was quite the commotion on her section of Walnut between about 3:30 am and 5:30 am, when a car apparently related to the investigation was finally towed; Lt. Steve Paulsen at the Southwest Precinct says one “adult” was arrested and they suspect “some seniors (were) involved as well.” Thanks also to Todd for pointing out this brief online citywide-media report, which suggests the burglars had targeted computer equipment.
Michael from M3 Bodyworks (WSB sponsor) e-mailed to say he was walking his dog at Jack Block Park this morning when he happened onto a Port of Seattle employee putting up a notice about West Nile Virus. We just called the port to check whether there’s something specific to be concerned about – short answer, no; long answer, West Nile virus was first detected in King County in 2006 and health authorities suspected that would mean many cases the following year – it didn’t happen but they don’t want you to let your guard down, so local agencies are warning people to continue taking anti-mosquito precautions, reduce “mosquito-breeding habitat” (water left standing a long time – so for example, keep your bird bath changed out), and report dead birds (they’re not testing every bird, the port says, just tracking where the reports come in). The Port says King County’s website is the best info resource for West Nile (here’s the page on reporting dead birds; here’s the WNV main page).
The highest posted price for regular in West Seattle is a dime higher as of late last night than it was exactly a week earlier – though a different station now holds the “honor” of having the highest price. The map above locates each station – click and you’ll see current and past prices from our surveys; or, read on for the full text list plus who’s gone up the most in the past week and who’s gone up the least:Read More
Photos to share, and mention — first, a Father’s Day fireboat display off Beach Drive, photos at BDB. Next: a garden sighting:
As WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli observed in the note with that photo, it’s difficult to catch hummingbirds on camera – but he finally “caught” that one. Next – what’s missing in this picture?
Wendy Hughes-Jelen says tai chi is what’s missing – she can’t believe nobody’s doing it at High Point, and she has already gone to great lengths to find someone to launch outdoor sessions by the pond you see in that photo shared by Wendy. Read all about it at her blog, which includes how to reach her if you’d like to get involved with the tai chi quest. Last but not least – a photo Jerry from JetCityOrange actually sent a few days ago:
On Thursday morning, he e-mailed us the photo and this note:
Appeared overnight as one goes from Harbor Ave/Avalon onto either bridge around Nucor. Street art or vandalism? You decide.
From Bob and Bruce:
Overnight, about 3:45 a.m., coyotes were heard yipping and yodeling in the Eddy St. ravine JUST west of California Ave. (Basically behind the soon to be Morgan Junction Park. Owners of outdoor pets need to be aware that this is still a “shared environment” and quite near Lincoln Park’s wild spaces.
That would likely be not far from where this coyote photo/video report originated.
Looks like a fairly serious crash at 30th/Trenton involving a car and motorcycle; a fire official at the scene tells us the woman riding the motorcycle has just been taken to the hospital, and the injuries were serious enough that authorities will have to do a major investigation, though the people in the car (which is shown at left; the motorcycle was down in a separate spot) appeared to be OK — so avoid that stretch of Trenton, which is closed off for at least a couple blocks east of 31st (here’s a map; all this is not far from Westwood Village, so if you are heading there from the west, use the Barton entrance instead). Too soon for investigators to say exactly how/why the crash happened. 9:02 PM UPDATE: We just went by to check – the area’s still blocked off and the investigation continues. 10:22 PM UPDATE: The scene is now cleared and the road’s open again.
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