May 2011

Working hard to hang out in a backyard, an unknown suspect kicked down two padlocked fences to get into the yard of a house on the 6300 block of 34th Ave s.w. on April 24. The unknown suspect did not take anything or attempt to get inside the house.

Standing at the bus stop on Delridge Way s.w. and Croft Pl. s.w., two female acquaintances were approached by an unknown man who pulled out a black “possibly semi-automatic” pistol and pointed it directly at a woman’s face. He said, “Give me your purse. Give me your (expletive) purse!” The woman gave him her purse and her acquaintance handed over her backpack. The suspect got into the passenger side of a black SUV and took off – long gone before the police arrived.

The incident in which Rosie, a Newfoundland dog, was killed by a Des Moines police officer in November began with a stray dog report.
In light of that, the following press release from Des Moines Animal Control Officer Jan Magnuson is especially relevant:

Beginning this week and throughout the summer, a Leash Law Emphasis will be conducted by DMPD (Des Moines Police Department), specifically targeting city parks and the marinas (the main marina and Redondo).

ALL of Des Moines is a leash law area-
· Per DMMC 19.08, the citation fine for a dog not being under proper leash control in a city park is $291
· Per DMMC 15.04, the citation fine for a dog not being under proper leash control in the marina is $513
· Per DMMC 8.04, the citation fine for a dog not being under proper leash control on other public property or trespassing on private property is $86

By Sarah Wyatt
After fostering dozens of puppies and dogs for Basset Rescue of Puget Sound, West Seattle resident Suzie Wedia still celebrates when a new family adopts one of her charges. She looks forward to placing Bruno. The tri-colored basset hound follows her around her home and paws Wedia’s legs until she sits down on the sofa, then snuggles into her arms. Another foster Basset, Boo, vies for attention.

“It's worth the work because I love all animals and it makes me feel good to help out,” she says.
Nearby are scrapbooks, compiled by Wedia’s daughter, filled with pictures of foster animals eating, sleeping and playing. Each photo includes a short biography for each dog, usually ending with the date the animal was adopted.

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
Sunday, May 1 thru Saturday, May 21: Yellow tags 50% OFF. Every Sundays in May: Men’s Wear 50% OFF. Sunday, May 8 thru Saturday, May 14: Cookbooks/Teacups 50% OFF. Monday, May 9: Pictures /Frames Event begins. Every day: the shop features a variety of craft supplies and needle-craft implements: fabrics, yarn, buttons, needles and much more.  The Shop is open on Sundays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. All other days the Shop is open for our valued customers & donors purchasing and/or contributing goods; offering estates or financial support from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

I was always impressed when my boyhood Catholic pal Joe LeDoux would say "Hail Mary, full of grace" whenever he did something that filled him with shame. Just one line uttered and the error was dismissed.

I never questioned if there was more to his prayer. It was none of my business, obviously private and probably Catholic. We had a typical Depression childhood, playing touch football in the street or kick the can or spying on teenagers lip-rassling in the rose garden at nearby Peninsula Park.

Joe was not the only Catholic boy I met, since we moved a lot. I went to Woodlawn Elementary, and he went to Holy Redeemer. I didn't even know what a redeemer was.

I discovered later that Joe was guided by a lot of things he learned from nuns. All I had was Proverbs. I got them mainly from Mom's lexicon, a lot from her Holy Bible. She had a saying for just about every situation. Proverbs are meant to help us learn from others' mistakes, and I have not always practiced what they preached.

Mom's homilies hung around in our brains. Here are a few I heard most, often at dinner:
"The lord helps those who help themselves.”   
“Accept yours, but leave some for your little sister."

We The People
Concerned Citizens
State of Washington
City of Seattle

As our sister paper, the West Seattle reported, City Attorney Pete Holmes is suing the Protect Seattle Now Coalition for collecting what he believes is enough signatures to put the deep bore tunnel project to a vote on their referendum. He filed the suit the morning of March 29, just one hour after the organization filed 29,000 signatures with the City Clerk's office. He said referenda only apply to legislative policy actions, not administrative actions, and so this may not be legal.

Then, on April 13, Holmes sued again, this time to block citizens to vote for Initiative-101 after its sponsors turned in enough signatures. Holmes said that Initiative-101 "is beyond the scope of the local initiative power" that rests, instead, with the city's governing body (i.e., the Seattle City Council, which overwhelmingly support the tunnel).

In celebration of Ballard's green spaces, Groundswell NW features and celebrates a "Park of the Month" and the community around it.  In May, the spotlight is on Webster Park, its history and a new group forming to maintain it.

Amy Janas is leading the effort to keep Webster Park looking good and here's what she had to say about the park:
 
"I love urban parks, “pocket parks” and urban green spaces.  I don’t love certain types of morning glory and graffiti.  The morning glory and graffiti prompted me to get involved with Webster Park. 
 
While my young children were on the swings or digging in the sand, I would untangle and pull out morning glory.  I started bringing my gardening gloves to the park.  I’d pull morning glory, then grass from the sandy area. Next, dandelions.  My young children would run over to pluck a few weeds and then return to their play.  Webster Park is our “other backyard” and I’m practically raising my children there.  It seemed perfectly natural to tend to the weeds.
 

By Alex Peery, UW News student.

There were a numbe rof May Day celebrations throughout the city yesterday.
People of all ages filled Woodland Park on Sunday to eat, play and celebrate May Day, hosted by the Fremont Arts Council.

Games were provided for the children, including sack racing and tug-of-war, and although meant for kids, some adults joined in, too. Many people just spread out on the grass, enjoying the sunny weather.

And then, of course, there was the crowning of the May Queen. She was chosen from a number of eligible girls during a group dance.

Everyone gathered around the May pole shortly after the queen was chosen. Covered with colorful ribbons, people were encourage to take hold wherever they could. After a small amount of confusion, the traditional dance was wrapped up.

After the coldest April on record, the mercury hitting the mid 60's was enough to cause Alki to resemble an anthill as people finally feeling some warmth swarmed the beach on May Day, Sunday May 1.

People came out on bikes, motocycles and on foot to bask in the rays of the golden orb that has seemingly been in hiding for a few months. The traffic was moving very slowly on Alki Avenue, music pouring from cars and players on the beach.

The National Weather Service is saying that we are returning to a pattern of showers and some breaks this week but getting a glorious warm sunny day on the weekend, for many in West Seattle felt like something we all deserved.

NWS Forecast for this week:

Monday: Rain. High near 54. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 5 to 8 mph increasing to between 21 and 24 mph. Winds could gust as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Monday Night: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. South southwest wind between 10 and 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 55. South southwest wind around 9 mph.