March 2012

Update for 4:30 pm, March 6
It was a scary afternoon for parents and students and Denny Junior High, Chief Sealth High School and Roxhill Elementary as all three schools were shifted into either lockdown or "shelter in place" mode after a shooting occurred at Westwood Village around 1 p.m. on March 6.

Southwest Precinct Captain Steve Paulsen and Operations Lt. Pierre Davis provided details this afternoon on what is known so far:

Police responded to Westwood Village around 12:30 p.m. to reports of shots fired. Officers located two witnesses and one uncooperative victim "who appeared to be intoxicated." The victim told police he exited the liquor store and someone punched him in the face, then stole his basketball jersey and a bottle of Hennessy Cognac. The victim said he heard several gunshots but was uncertain where they came from.

There were no injuries or property damage in the shooting.

SPD notified Chief Sealth administrators and they decided to place the school in lockdown.

Press release from Ann Kendall
Help Keep the Music Going for Kids and Community: March 10, 2012

Tickets are still available for the second annual West Seattle Community Orchestras gala on March 10 at the Highland Park Improvement Club (6:30 pm) for $25 per person by clicking here: http://wscorchestras.org/fundraiser.php.

The gala includes a silent auction and ensemble performances by members of all three of WSCO's orchestras throughout the evening.

Performance highlights at this year’s gala will include: “Boil Them Cabbages” by members of WSCO’s adult beginning strings group, Sha’ari Gerfinkel playing the Native American Flute, a trombone quartet featuring members of WSCO’s symphony on a “Song for Japan,” Gregg Rice violin soloist on Beethoven’s “Romance,” and Aaron Abeyta performing solo clarinet for “Music of the Night” by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Southwest Precinct Police were able to apprehend an adult male attempting to break into a South Delridge home in the late evening on March 5.

Here are the details from Seattle Police Det. Mark Jamieson:

On March 5th at approximately 11:30 pm, Southwest Precinct officers responded to a 911 call of an unknown person trying the door handle to the backdoor of a house in the 7900 Block of 18th Avenue Southwest.

The suspect was trying to open the backdoor and the residents did not know the person. Officers arrived quickly and contacted the suspect. He was taken into custody.

The suspect, a 48 year old male, had an outstanding Department of Corrections warrant for VUCSA, as well as a narcotics pipe in his possession. The pipe tested positive for methamphetamine, so the suspect was booked into the King County Jail for burglary, VUCSA, and the outstanding warrant.

The Seattle Department of Planning and Development will be convening two early design guidance meetings next Monday regarding two new mixed-use development projects in Ballard.

The first project is another Bill Parks development at 6401 32nd Avenue N.W. 

The proposal calls for a 3-to-4 story mixed-use structure containing 15-to-18 residential units and up to 5,475 sq. ft. of commercial space.  Parking for 13-to-18 vehicles would be provided at and below grade.  


At the early design guidance meeting, the applicants will present information about the site and vicinity.  The public may offer comments regarding the design and siting of a development on the subject site; and the Design Review Board members will also offer comments and identify those Citywide Design Guidelines of highest priority in developing the site. 
 

The meeting will take place Monday, March 12, starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Sunset Hill Community Association, 3003 NW 66th St.

Over two years ago, Peggy Sturdivant invited several Ballard writers to participate in an author book night at the Sunset Hill Community Center. Many of the authors referred other Ballard writers they knew of and soon enough Peggy had more writers than she could fit in the space. A panel was formed, authors sat around the perimeter of the room to answer questions and sell their books, and the rest of the room filled with people interested in learning more about writing and publishing. The evening was such a success, Peggy decided to do it again.

A year later, Ballard Writers Book Slam was designed and planned. Once again, the response was tremendous and even more Ballard writers showed up. With so much momentum, Peggy and others suggested we meet once a month to network with one another and plan future events.

The Westwood and Sunrise Heights neighborhoods have been selected to take one for the team: chosen by the King County Wastewater Treatment Division to become home for a series of rain gardens, or bioretention swales, over 40 blocks to help reduce combined sewer overflows dumping into Puget Sound during periods of heavy rainfall.

But many neighbors worry they will see a repeat of a partially botched Seattle Public Utilities rain garden program in Ballard that resulted in several unsightly, stagnant pools that never seemed to drain. Residents reported some were rife with mosquitoes, rats and other critters, and posed what parents felt was a drowning hazard for their children and a significant drop in property value.

The lush rain gardens shown at community meetings leading up to the 2010 project were a far cry from the reality. SPU had to bring in trucks to vacuum the water out of malfunctioning swales on a regular basis.

It may not have felt like it lately, but spring has sprung for West Seattle-area high school athletes.

Practices across the state opened Monday, Feb. 27 and ran throughout last week. They are continuing every day this week before games can begin Friday for athletes with enough practices in.

The boys soccer season at Chief Sealth leads the way, starting with a 4 p.m. game Friday against Garfield at the Southwest Athletic Complex's turf field.

Sealth and Seattle Lutheran then open the baseball season with a 12 p.m. game Saturday against each other. That will be played on the baseball diamond at SWAC, which is adjacent to Chief Sealth.

Baseball will kick off the spring season at West Seattle.

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE

The Wildcats will play Tumwater in a 9:30 a.m. game at Hiawatha Saturday.

The spring offerings are boys soccer, baseball, softball, boys and girls track and field and tennis.

Teams will be gunning to stay alive for state weekend, which is Memorial Day weekend May 25-26.

Photos courtesy of Suzanne Tennant
www.suzannetennant.com
http://suzannetennant.com/blog

As workers buzz around the site in advance of the April 13 opening for Trader Joes in West Seattle at 4545 Fauntleroy Way s.w. a trailer is on the lot and interviews have been happening at a high pace.

According to employees at the the store, they've seen more than a hundred people show up for interviews. They open early, at 7 AM and while the quarters in the trailer are cramped the interview and application process seemed to be taking only a few minutes.

Their signage states, "Crew positions available. Wine and food skills appreciated. Part time positions available up to 40 hours. Applications accepted M- F 7am to 5pm. Thank you for your interest. 206-496-9884."

The West Seattle store, some 10,000 square feet in size will be the 17th store in Washington State. It will covered parking and an elevator. It is located in the former Huling Bros. Buick showroom location.

Ever since April of 1998 fans of Zatz a Better Bagel at 2348 Calfornia Avenue have seen the smiling face of Jason Kinch behind the counter but now he's leaving. He's the Store Manager.

It's not to take another job, Kinch said. "I'm retiring, temporarily. I'm taking some time off, getting back into writing. I've got my English degree and then once I figure it out I might seek some work again." He might travel, "If I have the time and have some place I want to go."

He said the highlight of his time there has been, "working with these people." But as for individual moments only one stood out. "I served Kato Kaelin once," he said referring to the witness in O.J. Simpson trial in the 90's.

He will miss the regulars and even "the weird people" that sometimes come into the store.

Owner Don Nolan said he won't even try to replace Kinch, saying half jokingly that he will "Cry," and that, "We're kind of building up everybody else and making a group effort out of it to spread the tasks around."

He said Kinch has been, "fabulous. He takes care of things that I don't have to, so now I'll be back."

Press release
What: The Future Remembered: The 1962 World's Fair & Its Legacy (Live Performance)

When: Mar 16, 2012 6:30 PM

Where: Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center, 4705 W. Marginal Way SW, Seattle, WA

Why: FREE. Chutzpah and doggedness typified the community movers and shakers who planned and launched the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. Now, fifty years later, the characters who made the fair a reality are in the limelight once again in The Future Remembered, a staged reading by Book-It Repertory Theatre sponsored by 4Culture and the Duwamish Longhouse.

It's adapted and directed by Annie Lareau from the newly-released retrospective, The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World's Fair and Its Legacy by Paula Becker, Alan J. Stein and the HistoryLink.org staff.