West Seattle, Washington
01 Sunday
On ScubaBoard, one of the people who pulled the diver out of the water at Seacrest Saturday afternoon (see earlier WSB coverage) has posted his story. A thread on the Northwest Dive Club board suggests there’s a report circulating that the diver didn’t make it, but there are no updates at this moment on the Fire Department or Medical Examiner media hotlines, nor in the citywide media.
… including tomorrow’s West Seattle Farmers’ Market fresh sheet and 2 deals at upscale West Seattle restaurants; posting it all after a jump since we sense people are still catching up on today’s news, post-game, and don’t want to push all that too far down the main page:Read More
First: While out checking on the Seacrest diver rescue (see report below this one) and West Seattle bridge accident (second report below this one), we also drove along Alki and happened onto this amazing scene: Dozens of people crossing over to the beach at Pepperdock (first photo) around 2 pm, carrying red balloons, which after what looked like a moment of reflection (second photo), they released (third photo). Since we were in our car, we couldn’t ask who or what it was for – please post a comment if you know. 10:20 PM UPDATE: Finally found confirmation; a memorial gathering for a young woman who died.
Second: West Seattle’s Rainbow Girls braved the blusteriness at midday to collect Christmas trees outside the Masonic Hall in The Junction for the treecycling fundraiser we mentioned here on WSB. If you missed it, our other treecycling info is here.
ORIGINAL 1:42 PM REPORT: The fire department’s sending out a big response in that direction – a diver apparently got into trouble – report of CPR under way now – diver’s companions all out of the water and accounted for. 2:35 PM UPDATE: Scene was cleared by the time we got to Seacrest. Appears the diver was rushed to the hospital. 2:40 PM UPDATE: Information gathered at the scene by WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli, who took the photo above (more to come):
The injured man was recently engaged. He and his fiancee are avid divers. In fact, I learned that when he recently proposed to his girlfriend they were on a dive together. He put a ring in a shell and sank it in advance of the dive. When they found it he opened the shell and had an underwater sign to ask if she’d marry him. Today there were a handful of divers out there. This man was off diving on his own in 25 feet of water. The fiancee was not diving with him today but was on the scene and was visibly shaken. Another diver told me that when the diver did not come up his friends alerted the other divers who went over to where he was diving and executed a search.
2:55 PM UPDATE: According to the fire department’s media-hotline update, the diver is in his 40s and was indeed diving solo, and as Christopher learned, found unconscious underwater. The fire department did not have an update on his condition – we will check on that again later. More of Christopher’s photos:
2:35 PM UPDATE: Everything’s open again now.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Breaking news from WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli: A crash has closed the bridge heading toward downtown, around Fauntleroy. 911 website shows 2 fire/medic units on the scene. Sounds like they are diverting cars from Fauntleroy to Avalon. Right now you can see that on this city traffic cam showing the blocked-off Fauntleroy entrance to the bridge; here’s the latest image … 3 PM NOTE, live traffic cams now removed from this post because they’re no longer relevant BUT here’s an earlier photo of the 35th roadblock, thanks to Eric for sending it:
For the first time in a while, a “lost pet” e-mail landed in the WSB inbox this morning, reminding us we had been meaning to add a West Seattle Pets section. As with everything else, this page is starting small, with room to grow (room for pet fun and pet info as well as lost/found). Please go there to see “Nico” the lost kitty in case he turns up at your house. 11 PM UPDATE: “Nico” is back home safe; we’re continuing to add features to the pet page, including a link to the WSB Pet Photos group on Flickr that we just set up in case you want to upload pet pix for potential showcasing (we started with a pic of our 2 cats).
From the WSB Events page and Weekend Lineup list: It’s not happening in West Seattle, but it features a well-known West Seattleite: Georgie Bright Kunkel (photo left) speaks at Elliott Bay Books at 2 pm today about the book she and husband Norman Kunkel co-authored to tell the story of his experiences during World War II and beyond, WWII Liberator’s Life: AFS Ambulance Driver Chooses Peace. (Among so many other writings, Georgie contributed her Christmas story “The Red Plush Coat” to WSB last month.)
First pic, Cub Scout Pack 793 in West Seattle; second pic, 598th Maintenance Company in Iraq. During what Pack 793 advisers describe as “their most successful popcorn-selling season ever” — more than $12,000 sold, beating last year’s record $9,000-plus — they collected community donations so they could send popcorn to the soldiers for Christmas — and that effort resulted in $710 worth of caramel corn, chocolate caramel crunch, and microwave popcorn going overseas. Why the 598th, you ask? One of its soldiers is uncle to one of the Scouts. (Read more on the Pack 793 website.)
Toward our goal of continuously improving and expanding WSB, we’ve just added more new stuff and wanted to officially let you know:
“OTHER BLOGS IN WEST SEATTLE” HEADLINES: We’ve wanted for some time to make this page more than a static list of links, and finally found a service that will pull a frequently updated list of those sites’ newest entries (via RSS). Check the page out and see what you think. Per blog tradition, of course, the newest stuff is on top. Under the list of the latest entries, you’ll find the original list of static links for the 100-plus blogs that we have found West Seattleites producing so far (please let us know if we’re missing someone!).
WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH PAGE: Now that we are visiting the Southwest Precinct at least three times a week to scour police reports for cases you should know about, we have created the West Seattle Crime Watch page so you can easily find the latest information and other resources to help you keep your home and family safe. This page and its contents will be an ever-evolving work in progress but we’ve got enough of the basics on it now to launch it today (you can find it any time from the Crime Watch tab at the top of each WSB page).
“2008 ELECTIONS” FORUM: Today marks the start of the third week for the new WSB Forums, and so far it looks like they’re working for their initial purposes — to give you a place to post a Reader Recommendation Request (forum here) as soon as you have one, rather than waiting for us to find a home for it on the main WSB page, and to give you a place to launch an Open Discussion (forum here) about whatever’s on your mind, whenever you feel like it. We’ve also just added a 2008 Elections section (forum here) in case you want to talk politics — presidential, city, county, state, etc. — when there’s no related current news item on the main WSB page. One forum usage reminder: Anyone can read the posts, but to reply or start a topic, you have to register, and sign in. For as long as you remain signed in, the same user name you choose will also show as your user name for any comment you post elsewhere on WSB. If you don’t want that name to show on a comment, log out before you leave the forum area, or click the “log out” link you’ll see toward the bottom of the right sidebar on any page.
Top-of-the-hour weather conditions from the National Weather Service include gusts up to 38 mph at Alki Point (K91S, in this roundup). (ADDED 10:30 PM: Here’s the Beach Drive weather station page, thanks to BDB.) The latest “forecast discussion” also mentions snow levels potentially as low as 500 feet on Saturday night, which means a big temp drop at some point, considering it’s upper-40s out there now. ADDED 11:07 PM: Top-of-the-hour gust at Alki Point now listed at 50 mph. No power outages right now but if anything major happens, here’s the City Light page that will list them. ADDED 12:27 AM: First “flickering” here in Upper Fauntleroy – the wind’s just intensified, too. ADDED 2:07 AM: 51 mph for the Alki Point top-of-the-hour gust, this time.
One of the police reports we reviewed at the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct late today got even better with some added information forwarded by Lt. Steve Paulsen – 
turns out that one arrest following a gas-station break-in early yesterday helped detectives solve 9 burglaries in all. It all started just before 5 am Thursday, with calls to police reporting someone smashing in the front door of the Chevron station at 35th and Holden. The callers gave police excellent information — describing the suspect and his car, and which way he headed after he took off. An officer spotted the car, a white T-Bird with a sunroof, at 35th and Morgan, and pulled it over in the 7100 block of Delridge. The car’s registered owner gave police permission to search its trunk, where officers found items including 33 unopened packages of cigarettes. One of the detectives who questioned the suspect, Detective Donald Henderson, picks up the story from there, in an e-mail forwarded to WSB by Lt. Paulsen:
A consent to search was obtained from the registered owner. Stolen Property and Burglary Tools were recovered, and placed into evidence. Detectives were able to solve eight commercial burglary cases in West Seattle, and one from North Seattle. Well done to West Seattle Citizens for getting involved, and reporting suspicious activity to 9-1-1.
Lt. Paulsen adds, “This all began with a citizen call and one of our newer police officers on the morning watch (Officer Melissa Wengard). Great example of the public calling in things that don’t look right!” You may recall another WSB report three weeks ago about another stack of burglary cases solved by the Southwest Precinct team. Meantime, here are half a dozen more new and noteworthy West Seattle police reports:Read More
Thanks to Michelle for sending the photo and the tip. What’s on that sign is all the info we have – we just tried calling but no answer and no recorded message. (If you’re not familiar with Admiralty House, it’s at 2141 California in North Admiral.)
Just back from King County Superior Court, where former Huling Bros. salesperson Paul Rimbey 
was sentenced less than an hour ago for 1st-degree theft, after a jury found him guilty last month for his role in a scheme to steal from a mentally unstable dealership customer. His lawyer wanted the basic maximum, 3 months; the prosecutor asked for 18 months; the judge made it 9 months, with work-release provisions so Rimbey can continue at the fulltime job he says he just finally got after a year of trying to find work. He cried while pleading for leniency, and supporters/relatives in the courtroom cried too. 2:31 PM UPDATE: Here’s our full report:Read More
Kicks in this afternoon, according to the latest forecast.
No time for post-holiday letdown, with 26 West Seattle-wide events listed here (including theater, music, movies, Rocky Horror, even roller skating):Read More
COYOTE REPORT: Just in from Katherine – “WOW! Heard maybe 3 coyotes howling and crying early this morning from Pelly Place Natural Area, which is near Lowman Beach Park.” (ADDED 10:30 PM, Alex reports a coyote trying to cross California SW tonight near SW Willow; traffic spooked it, he said, and it retreated back westbound onto Willow.)
TREE TAKEDOWN: No doubt this will be a big weekend for taking down the Christmas tree. In addition to the tree-recycling/disposal info we featured in this post-Christmas report, we also have more details about a youth group’s treecycling fundraiser on Saturday: Local Rainbow Girls are taking trees 10 am-2 pm tomorrow at the Alki Masonic Hall (4736 40th; map here) for a $5 donation; the trees will be mulched.
SCHOOL-TOUR TIME: Some West Seattle private schools are already back in post-winter-break session; public schools return Monday. At both private and public schools, tour and open-house time is kicking into high gear, because it’s application season for the ’08-’09 school year (already!). We are adding tour and open-house info to the WSB Events page as fast as we find/receive it; please let us know what’s up at your school. More to come on school-decision season – including a spotlight on some multischool events including the West Seattle Middle School Information Night (with reps from private and public middle schools around WS) at Gatewood Elementary next Thursday.
No midwinter hibernation going on in The Junction — the West Seattle Farmers’ Market (tulips from last Sunday @ left) and West Seattle Art Walk are both going strong. Next Farmers’ Market is this Sunday, with the later start now in effect through February (11 am-2 pm); next Art Walk is Thursday (6-10 pm) — click here for the list of participating locations and artists, just sent by Lora from WSB sponsor Hotwire Coffee (note this will be the second WS Art Walk for the new Twilight Art Collective location in the ex-Bikes & Brew space west of Easy Street). Meantime, for a list of more events coming up even sooner, our weekly West Seattle Weekend Lineup will be published here in a few hours.
Just a few days ago, we published a WSB Reader Report about a car hit with eggs, and 2 other people added in the comments that they’d seen or experienced something similar. We’re listening to the police/fire scanner as usual during late-night watch right now, and just heard police responding to another report of “those eggers,” this time at California and Fauntleroy. If you see anything going on, remember, call 911. Vandalism is a crime.
Tonight’s WSB late-night followup — where things stand for three ex-Huling Bros. dealership employees arrested a year ago and accused of stealing from a mentally unstable customer in 2006. The trial date for two of them, Adrian Dillard and Ted Coxwell, has been postponed several times; the most recent date on record was today, so we dropped by the King County Courthouse downtown, only to find out their lawyers were filing a motion to postpone it again. We’ll let you know when a new date is set. (Dillard bailed out of jail last January, but Coxwell is still listed in custody on the King County Jail Register.) Meanwhile, sentencing is scheduled tomorrow — provided no last-minute postponement happens here too — for Paul Rimbey, the first of the suspects to go to trial; a King County Superior Court jury found him guilty of theft in mid-November, and he is expected to face at least three months in jail.
Thanks to LyndaB for the photo and for word of this crash that blocked the right northbound lane of 35th at Juneau for a while earlier tonight (a second car was involved too; SFD callout on the 911 log does not appear to have been too big). She told us about this one at the same intersection a month ago; clearly “I-35,” forthcoming red-light cameras and all, is worth watching even more closely in ’08.
We’ll have plenty to talk about regarding local and state election issues in the months to come, but with the Iowa caucuses tonight, the presidential race is front and center – so we’re seizing the moment to remind you again that caucuses in our state are just weeks away, on February 9. We took a closer look in this report just before the holidays, with a lot of help from the 34th District Democrats. Since then, the King County Republicans have finally put some information online — their site now has a caucus locator for local Republicans. Local Democrats can locate their caucus site from the 34th DD caucus-info page — which lists all district Democratic caucus sites (here) next to the names of the sites’ PCOs (precinct committee officers) — ADDED FRIDAY, THANKS TO WSB-ERS: to get your precinct number, go here. When we checked today with 34th DD chair Ivan Weiss for any additional advice for would-be participants, he suggested, “They should contact their PCOs if they want to volunteer to help. For example, each precinct will need, in addition to the PCO or convener, a tally clerk (top priority) and a secretary to take the caucus minutes. Also we will need volunteers to move tables and chairs around, and to staff the sign-in tables. Any voter in the 34th District can contact me any time by e-mail or phone if they need to find what precinct they are in, or for any other thing, no matter how trivial. I mean that seriously. I am set up to help them, and usually can answer their questions within minutes.” Ivan’s contact info is here; 34th District Republican contact info is here.
… West Seattle’s 95-year-old discus champion Leon Joslin is featured in the Times today. Inexplicably, the article doesn’t name the “West Seattle retirement complex” where he lives, but we just got a note from Jerald (thank you!) adding some context:
He lives at The Kenney in assisted living. He’s a long-time WS resident and retired from real estate. The triangular office building across from the Original Bakery (Fauntleroy) used to be his and is still named after him.
The USA Masters Track & Field Rankings site has a longer list of his accomplishments.
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