April 2011

Editor's note: The West Seattle Herald has been covering news here for nearly a century. Robinson Newspapers (which publishes the West Seattle Herald) have a massive news archive of Herald coverage dating back to 1928. What follows are crime reports and public safety issues from 1930. Although reporters’ names were not included with stories at that time, their original words remain intact. As more historical crime reports are compiled there will be more installments of West Seattle All Time Crimes.

Feb. 20, 1930
Nearly Loses Hand
G.F. Smith of the Gourlay-Backstock Lumber Co., has been carrying around a hand that looks as if it had gone through a meat grinder. Part of it did go through a joiner and only luck prevented him from losing the hand. It is now healing nicely.

April 17, 1930
Imposter Visiting Homes Say Fixit
The Fixit Shop, 4531 California Ave., complains that an imposter is making the rounds of West Seattle homes, soliciting lawn mower sharpening on the representation that he is from the shop.

A car crashed into the California Nails salon in the 4824 block of California Ave. s.w. on Monday at shortly after 2:00 pm. No one was seriously injured.

The owners Anh and Binh Nguyen were inside at the time. Anh said "She was doing a fill and I was walking around in there. I missed it by maybe 30 seconds. I just walked away from there. Nobody got hurt. The glass came in and it seemed like it hit somewhere else. Maybe it was like guidance from above."

The car hit a fire hydrant which was bent by the impact, as it careened into the front window. "That hydrant really saved us," said Nguyen. No word was immediately available on the cause for the crash or the driver who was taken to Harborview Hospital but people on the scene commented that he "seemed ok,"

The couple have a daughter and said, "She will be shocked."

On April 3 an officer was dispatched to Highline Medical Center to take a report from a victim/patient there who suffered head and hand damage in an assault on the 4700 block of California Ave s.w. the night before. The victim told police he had been drinking and around 1 a.m. on Sunday night was walking to his car when he was hit in the head from behind with a heavy object and knocked out. When he came to his keys, wallet and car were missing. A Good Samaritan spotted the beaten man around 2 a.m. and brought him to the hospital. Police got the word out on the stolen vehicle and a Washington State Police dispatcher said the car had been found on I-90 and impounded. The vehicle was found with blood and a gun on the front seat and a witness had seen a man staggering away from the vehicle (with no further details). The victim told police he kept a .380 semi-auto Bersa handgun stashed under the dashboard behind the fuse panel.

Dear Editor,

My name is Hanna Anderson. I’m in fifth grade at Thurgood Marshall School and I feel very strongly about the amount of sleep kids my age get.

Everyday a lot of children come home tired. They don’t want to do anything. They just sit there watching “America’s Got Talent” in their living room. They reveal their D- on a math test. They really don’t want to got to soccer practice. Later that night their parents peek in their room at 10:00 to see that their child has fallen asleep on their homework. The next day the parents get a call from an angry math teacher saying that their child has yet again fallen asleep.

80% of kids lack the 9 or more house of sleep needed everyday. 1 in 4 kids admit that they doze off in class on a regular basis. 97% of kids have electronics that they use before bed. 22% of kids dozed off while finishing homework. 28% of kids say that they’re too tired to exercise, which leads to obesity. According to the Seattle Times -

Why do we favor some  golfers over others? Or baseball players? We all root  root  root  for the home  team but why golfers and prize fighters who carry the single burden of winning your love along with the paycheck?

Of course, with many sports fans  the fan loyalty depends on betting on a winning ticket. Pure greed. Nothing personal.

Sometimes it is Pete Homer attachment. It is with me mostly.

I love rooting  for  Freddy Couples, Jefferson Park boy who made mighty good on the golf course. And I got  emotional rooting  for Portland great Peter Jacobson because his   Dad  Erling was  a star  center  on my  Jeff High  football team. When I was delivering  papers I often stopped to watch the team practice . My high school  loyalty lasted years and extended to buying  a leather  carry bag  from Peter's  company I used for  many years when I played  at Burien's  Rainier golf course.

I rooted for Tiger for many years. He was so thrilling.  Now I find myself cheering for young  golfers from Northern Ireland.

It was a good weekend for Ballard athletics.

The Ballard coed ultimate frisbee started off the weekend with a 14 to 6 victory over Seattle Waldorf School on Saturday morning.
Six games into the season, the Ballard coed team remains undefeated.

The boys and girls ultimate frisbee teams will be back in action this afternoon at Magnuson Park. The boys face Garfield at 4:30 p.m. and the girls take on Nathan Hale at 5:00 p.m.

LAX:

The Beavers boys lacrosse team hosted Mt. Si High School on Saturday. Ballard's Brian Gemme scored a season-high of 5 goals to lead Ballard to its third victory of the season.

Ballard scored 6 unanswered goals in the first quarter and extended their lead to 7 to 1 at half time. Ballard scored an additional 7 goals in the second half and Mt. Si was unable to net a single goal in return.

The Beavers won 14 – 1. 

Brian Gemme scored 5 goals, Jacob Marks had 3 goals and one assist, Nic Conti had 1 goal and 3 assists and goalie Nick Onstad-Hawes with 6 saves.

Ballard faces Franklin High on Tuesday, April 12 at 5 p.m. at Franklin High School.

Track:

Deadline for receiving items for On The Go is Noon Friday for the following week’s print edition of the Herald/News. Events are published based on timeliness and space availability. Email event submissions to: calendar@robinsonnews.com.

Items can be accepted from nonprofit groups and government agencies only. Others may call Richard Sherman 206-708-1378 for inclusion in our “Out & About” advertising column in the print edition.

West Seattle & Westwood Curves Food Drives
During April two Curves locations are having food drives to support West Seattle Food Bank and White Center Food Bank. During April we will waive our joining fee for a bag of groceries. Help feed our neighbors and friends by dropping off non-perishable food donations.
3280 California Ave. S.W., M-F 6:15 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 8-1:30 p.m., 206-932-5650.
11001 16th Ave. S.W., Suite 100, M-F 6:45 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-noon, 206-246-7900.

Discovery Shop
4535 California Ave. S.W.
206-937-7169

There will be a Ballard District Council meeting on Wednesday, April 13, at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Library.
On the docket for this meeting is a speech by Colonel Anthony Wright who has operated the Ballard Locks for the past three years and who lives at the Locks in the “Colonel’s Residence”.

The Colonel's presentation will be followed by Scott McGlashan, Ballard’s New SPD Community Police Team Officer and a review and update on the status of Major Private Development Proposed in the Ballard District.

The council will also discuss the 2011 Neighborhood Projects Fund and vote on the top projects. Earlier this year, sixteen proposals for small scale transportation and parks improvements were put forward by Ballard organizations and individuals. Each district council submits not more than three proposals which they wish to be further evaluated for cost and feasibility by Seattle DOT.

For more information or to share your ideas about projects and issues contact Ballard District Council staff Rob Mattson at 684-4051 rob.mattson@seattle.gov

The Seattle animal control has been receiving an increased amount of complaints against dog owners who allow their dogs to run off-leash on Golden Gardens beach.

Seattle Municipal Code states that dogs are not allowed organized athletic fields, beaches, or children's play areas in Seattle parks.

Humane Law Enforcement Officer, Matthew Belue, said they're sending out more officer patrols to enforce the off-leash law.

Fines for off-leash and scooping violations range from $50 to $150, and can be as high as $500 at a beach.

Golden Garden has a 2.2 acre designated and fenced off-leash area in the upper portion of the park but Belue said many people don't use them because they are worried about illnesses.

Belue said they're enforcing the leash law to prevent bite and cruelty incidents and ensure welfare of the dogs and other beach goers.

From the SPD Blotter:

"On 04/09/11 at 1:00 p.m., a 40-year-old grandfather and his 2-year-old grandson left in a vehicle, and were to return in two hours. When they didn’t return the family became concerned and called the grandfather’s cell phone. He did not return their calls.

At 3:19 a.m. (04/10/11) the family reported the child missing. The family believed that the grandfather may have relapsed (drugs/alcohol), and the child was possibly in danger.

The Officers handling the call entered the vehicle in WACIC with the missing child’s name, and entered the child as missing.

Late this evening, while conducting a search for the child and vehicle an officer was able to locate the vehicle using history he found in the LPR (license plate recognition) vehicle. He was also able to question people at the location of the car, and determine where the 2-year-old was (West Seattle). The grandmother was notified, she responded and recovered the child. Officers responded to the grandmother’s house to check the welfare of the child. He was in good unharmed and in good spirits."