November 2015

Robbers: “Give me everything you got!”

An attempted robbery involving six youths occurred at 14th Ave. N.W. and N.W. 53rd St. on Nov. 6. The victim said that he got off the bus at 15th Ave. and walked to 14th Ave. to go north. As he was walking he noticed a group of young males watching him. He saw two young white males in a parking lot join with the other group. He reported that he had a “bad feeling” about them. He kept walking and was listening to music using ear buds. Suddenly someone spun him around by pulling on the backpack he was wearing. The five suspects were in front of them. They were wearing beanies with holes cut for their eyes. One of them pointed a gun at the victim and said, “Give me everything you got.” The victim said he did not want to get shot and pushed the gun out of the suspect’s hands. It fell to the ground. Then the victim ran and cut across a few yards because he feared that the suspects would follow him home. As he ran he heard the suspects yelling “Eh! Eh! Eh!” When he got home his mother called police. SPD scoured the area but did not find the suspects.

To the Editor,

I have the TPP’s official government site, https://ustr.gov/tpp/, minimized at the bottom of my computer screen, its vastness all locked up in a little icon that keeps bouncing up and down. And I can’t figure out whether I should keep reading.

The Trans Pacific Partnership is a six-thousand word agreement, on everything, from trade to the environment. It has been written in secret over the last six years and includes 12 countries and 40 percent of the world’s GDP. It is being fast tracked through Congress, which means no filibuster or amendments, and could pass by April.

At about five times the length of War and Peace, I could never read it all, and even if I could, I probably wouldn’t understand most of that legal twaddle.

Update
The West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival is in the final push for responses to the Hi-Yu Survey. They report that they have seen an overwhelming response to date but are hoping to get a few more responses. The survey closes EOD 12/13.

Original Post
The West Seattle Hi-Yu Summer Festival is seeking public opinion by hosting an online survey.

Feedback from the community is essential to ensure that the festival is relevant and reflects the interests and demographics of the community.

They note that withe influx of new residents, it's more important than ever to track what people think

Here is the link to the survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HIYU

The survey will be running through Sunday, December 13.

West Seattle resident Wayne Kinslow is a warm hearted fellow who doesn't mind the cold. On April 27 the West Seattle Herald reported that he was completing 1000 consecutive days of swimming in Puget Sound, rain or shine, snow, hail, sleet, lightning or tornadoes... nothing stopped him.

He has since that day, kept on swimming but chose the number 1200 to end the string in honor of the Seahawks 12th Man.

That meant, on Blue Friday, Nov. 13, he appeared near the Alki Bathhouse and stripped off his shirt and pants and dove again, as he had done 1199 times before, into the 54 degree waters of Puget Sound.

Kinslow said he does it because it makes him feel good, "“Your body just comes alive.”

VIDEO BY CLAY EALS OF THE SOUTHWEST SEATTLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Information provided by Seattle Parks and Recreation

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the community to provide input on two play area renovation projects on Sunday, November 15, 2015 at Bergen Place, 5420 22nd Ave NW during the Ballard Farmers Market. Seattle Parks and Recreation’s in-house landscape architect and project planner will provide information on the Webster Park play area renovation and Gilman Playground play area renovation from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and gather community input on play features and amenities.

These projects will replace play equipment, provide access improvements and improve other features at the parks. Webster Park is located at 3025 NW 68th St. and Gilman Playground is located at 923 NW 54th St.

For information about the projects please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/gilman_pg/ or http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/webster/. If you have questions about the projects or would like to request special meeting accommodations please contact Karimah Edwards, Seattle Parks and Recreation at 206-233-0063 or karimah.edwards@seattle.gov.

By Gwen Davis

The West Seattle Transportation Coalition (WSTC) is looking for a new plan to better integrate the Peninsula.

In recent periods, the WSTC has focused on drawing attention to West Seattle’s limited ingress/egress options. It wants to better integrate the Peninsula and beyond. The coalition went ahead and called upon the city to come up with short and long term solutions that do not rely solely on funding from Sound Transit.

In response to this call, and with the direction from the mayor and CM Rasmussen, a list of potential solutions was prepared by SDOT and an interdepartmental team.

The culmination of the new “West Seattle Bridge/Duwamish Waterway Corridor Whitepaper and Recommended Project List” would add $700,000 into the 2016-2017 budget. The amount will help implement mobility and create strategies to reduce congestion, according to the WSTC.

The WSTC is asking its members to look at the proposed projects and email or call the Seattle City Council to let them know that they should support this action by Nov. 13.

Condensed summary of the project list:

Update Nov. 16 - 4:00pm
The margin of potential victory for Lisa Herbold has expanded, by 6 more votes than Shannon Braddock for the City Council District 1 position.

Here's the current count:

Lisa Herbold
49.74% - 12402 votes

Shannon Braddock
49.60% - 12367 votes

That's not much and means a recount is likely but the election is still in question.

Original Post
In the hotly contest Seattle City Council race for District 1, representing West Seattle and South Park Lisa Herbold has now overtaken Shannon Braddock who held the lead up until the most recent count.

The margin today 27 votes.

Here's the current count:

Lisa Herbold
49.73% - 12371 votes

Shannon Braddock
49.62% - 12344 votes

Lisa Herbold said: " My mom always said I picked hard things to do and always did them the hard way. Running & finishing this election is no different!"

By Amanda Knox

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence is upfront with the sobering statistics. On average in the U.S., every single minute nearly twenty people are physically abused by an intimate partner. This adds up to ten million people a year. Ten million people who suffer from physical and emotional wounds. Ten million people at the beginning of the long and difficult path towards healing. Ten million people with a story.

Tacoma-based actress Melinda Raebyne was one them. Indeed, she’s been the victim of physical abuse on multiple occasions and, like so many victims, suffered wounds far more than skin deep. Studies show that there is a high correlation between suffering domestic violence and suffering symptoms of post-traumatic stress: depression, anxiety, hypervigilance, substance abuse. Raebyne had to struggle long and hard against trauma-induced mental illness in order to find herself again. Part of her healing has come about by sharing the victim’s story of domestic violence—their pain and their power to overcome.

An emergency preparedness training exercise at Terminal 5 in West Seattle that will include multiple helicopters, involving the Port of Seattle, Seattle Fire, along with King and Snohomish Counties will be staged Monday Nov. 16

The operations conducted at Terminal 5 will give the participants better training for rescue situations such as those that took place after the Oso mudslide in 2014.

The helicopters will be moving heavy loads of equipment and personnel beginning at 11 am, and ending an hour later at noon.

Entering its second winter season, regional non-profit Nordic ski program Entering its second winter season, regional non-profit Nordic ski program Momentum Northwest is breathing new life into the sport’s local community.
Momentum Northwest utilizes a group of experienced volunteer coaches led by program director and head coach Sam Naney to foster ethics of individual accountability, goal-setting and stewardship in young athletes ranging in age from six to 18.

“The beauty of Nordic or cross-country skiing lies in how it challenges us as individuals,” says Naney, a former Dartmouth ski team captain and retired professional racer. “Our goal from the beginning has been to instill in our skiers not only a sense of competition with their racing efforts, but also a recognition of the value in taking care of our local outdoor venues and appreciating what’s available to us.”

Skiers in the program regularly combine long trail runs at regional locations such as Tiger Mountain with trash pick-ups, and several times each year they conduct multi-hour trail work sessions alongside groups such as the Washington Trails Association.