When 4 year old Matthew Brinton spotted this driftwood 'Tyranosourpuss' on the beach in front of his house at Three Tree Point he decided to go for a ride. Matthew is the son of Brett and Joy Brinton
At approximately 4:05 a.m. on Feb. 21, officers responded to an alarm at a church (Mars Hill) located in the 1400 block of Northwest Leary Way.
Officers arrived on scene and discovered a door ajar and subsequently searched the building.
Officers located an adult male suspect hiding under a desk.
The suspect had attempted to disable the alarm by pulling it out of the casing and smashing it. He must have thought he was successful, but he wasn’t.
The suspect was booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary.
The recent shootings of Sea Lions in Puget Sound have made people far more sensitive to marine mammals so it was not surprising to see dozens of people transfixed by the sight of an elevated flipper just off Point Williams (where Colman Pool is located) in Lincoln Park on Sunday the 21st. Many on the scene conjectured that it was an Orca or a whale and others thought it was dead.
It was in fact a Sea Lion, but it was not dead or injured. It was engaging in typical behavior for the species.
Janette Wilson of SealSitters.org said what was observed is a behavior which enables sea lions to regulate their temperatures. Also known as "ventilating". If you go to www.sealsitters.org and check out our "Blubber Blog" around the September time frame, you will find similar documented episodes. We attempted to provide public education during that time through the following link:
It's February in Seattle but the weather might suggest that it's May. It's been so clear and warm that over the weekend at least six driftwood "forts" appeared on the beach built in a variety of styles, by kids and adults alike. While many of them were built on Saturday, the 20th they were added on to on Sunday, with some taking the "lean to" approach and others looking positively architectural.
CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE IMAGES.
Many of the amateur builders were barefoot and others were bundled up. The beach began to look like a settlement for castaways toward the end of the day.
One boy, named Hawk, was having a great time just playing. His mother said, "It's a collaboration of all the kids and families that come down here. They were down here two days ago working on it. It's changed a lot since then and he does feel some sense of proprietorship to it," she said laughing. There were six or seven kids building it according to people there.
Greg Hendricks and his daughter Skyler took advantage of the beautiful weather we have all been enjoying to paint their garage doors.
But it wasn't just for general home improvement. "My wife quit working last year and we need to sell. We're definitely staying in West Seattle but we're going to downsize a little bit."
Their house, which has 2300 square feet, also has "Totally unobstructed views of Puget Sound and the Olympics from the deck." The Hendricks paid close to $770,000 for it a few years ago and now they are asking $700,000. "We're trying to give it away this year," Hendicks said chuckling. It goes on the market March 1, and is located at 8023 California Ave. S.W.
The Crown Hill Playground Project Committee, comprised of parents, community members and Small Faces board of director members, are hard at work on an initiative to build a new playground at the Crown Hill Center.
"Small Faces is teaming with the community to provide a welcoming outdoor environment that connects families with play space opportunities” said Lynn B. Wirta, who recently retired after nearly 30 years as the center’s director and now leads this initiative.
The planning to build a play field as part of the Pro Parks Levy, which provides funds to create new parks in Seattle neighborhoods, started in 2005.
In 2006, the fundraising began and the Crown Hill Playground Project Committee applied to the city for a grant, which they will find out if they will receive this month.
Parents and community members have weighed in through a survey of what the playground should include, and though it is still a work in progress, the committee has decided on a climber and a rock wall for approximately $20,000.
Other possibilities for the playground include monkey bars, a tire swing, basketball courts, a volleyball net and an amphitheater for outdoor movies.
Just one day after Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tim Gallagher’s Feb. 17 announcement that he decided to ban all smoking in all Seattle parks, despite other recommendations from the Board of Park Commissioners, he announced he would “relax the rule.”
Therefore, as of April 1, smoking, chewing, or other tobacco use is banned within 25 feet of other park patrons and in play areas, beaches, or playgrounds. Gallagher tweaked the new municipal code of conduct while on vacation skiing in Oregon. He said in a press release that his decision change was due to “public input.”
The West Seattle Herald asked smokers and former smokers for their input on the new ban.
“I smoke a pack a day,” said Will Gurkey, 41, who was taking a lunchtime cigarette break on a lawn area of a West Seattle office complex just off Delridge where he works.
“Smokers are generally pretty nice people and we try very hard not to offend anyone,” he said. “We grumbled about moving 25 feet from doors to smoke outside. But we were like, ‘O.K.’ I’m pretty neat about discarding cigarette butts.
As a result of Riser Homes' construction of two houses on 23rd Avenue SW a few hundred feet up the hill from the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, most houses in the Pigeon Point neighborhood have 24-hour no-parking signs in front of their houses. That includes homes without driveways. According to signs, the no-parking enforcement begins Monday, Feb. 22, and runs until April 5.
Many residents are surprised and outraged by the big trench to be dug. Also, Metro's Route 125 bus will be rerouted through their neighborhood as will other traffic from South Seattle Community College creating more congestion as 23rd near the new houses will be cut off.
"They gave us the weekend notice by sticking all these signs here," said Nichole Espana who lives on Genesee near 23rd Avenue in the house where she grew up. "We have multiple vehicles so we spent almost $300 on gravel to put in our front yard to park. I came home yesterday and I was like, wow, they're all along our street. When my baby sitter comes over where are they going to park?"
"You can't even leave a voice mail," said Alex, her husband. "The number you're supposed to call at Riser Homes says the mailbox is full."
It was an unseasonably nice day for a bit of gardening Feb. 20, and nearly 50 volunteers from St. Alphonsus School took advantage of it, building a large garden the school plans to use to give back to communities near and far.
The garden comes courtesy of a Washington State Department of Ecology grant to St. Alphonsus, located at 5816 15th Ave. N.W.
The garden will benefit the students of St. Alphonsus, but Stephanie Schmutz, fourth-grade teacher and organizer of the project, said the benefit will reach beyond the school.
"We are creating a living lab, not only working with the earth but the different sciences and social studies," she said.
Students are researching plants to find out what will grow best in the new garden, but they will also give a portion of the proceeds from the garden to the Ballard Food Bank. Another portion will be sent to a school in Guatemala to build a library.
The garden gives the children a purpose and responsibility, Schmutz said. She said it is important for students to help less fortunate students in other parts of the world.
The volunteer turnout surprised Schmutz, who put a notice for help in the school bulletin.
Spring is here and so is your chance to beautify your neighborhood. Now in its 24th year, Spring Clean is Seattle’s premier public space cleanup program. This year’s Spring Clean runs from Thursday, April 1 to Monday, May 31. Projects include litter pickups, removal of invasive plants such as English ivy, weeding and general upkeep of traffic circles and planting strips, storm drain stenciling, and graffiti removal.
Spring Clean participants are eligible to receive FREE resources from Seattle Public Utilities, including bags, gloves, safety vests, and waste collection.
For more information, visit www.seattle.gov/util and search “Spring Clean” or call (206) 233-7187.
