November 2011

By Cassandra Baker, Intern

6:00 p.m. on November 14th. 67th block of Jones Ave NW

A man and his family returned home from a convention on the evening of November 14th to find that their home had been broken into. The victim’s daughter’s bedroom window was open, and the back door was unlocked. Nothing was missing, and the interior of the house appeared to be undisturbed. There were no pry marks around the open window, and no fingerprints were found at the scene.

8:00 a.m. on November 14th. 95th block of 21st Ave NW

A house under construction was burglarized between 1:00 p.m. on November 13th and 8:00 a.m. on November 14th. The burglar pried open the front door lock, then stole a construction radio and power cord that were near the front door. There were several power tools in the house that were not taken. There was no information on the suspect at the time of the incident report.

6:14 p.m. on November 11th. 67th block of 12th Ave NW

By Greg McCorkle

As part of a national day of protest, hundreds of protesters headed to Triangle Park across from the Husky Stadium yesterday to voice their anger over the lack of living wage jobs.

Many unions were represented as well as nonunion workers, folks who are unemployed, and college students fearful of the future they are facing with large college debts hanging over their heads.

One Ballardite present at the march was Diane Sosne.

Interviewer: How long have you been here this afternoon?
Diane: Got here about twenty minutes ago.
I: Just in time for the rain
D: It’s not dampening out spirits.
I: Of course not, we’re Seattleites. What is the purpose of this rally?
D: This rally is for the 99% of us, nurses, I’m a nurse, health care workers, young, old, getting together to say it is not okay about the inequality in our country and in our community, here in Seattle. We need jobs, we need to put the underemployed and unemployed to work, we need the Super Committee in D.C. not to cut Medicare or Medicaid and Congress not to cut Medicaid or Medicare. That will hurt the people we take care of as nurses so that’s why we’re out here today.

The Triangle Park at 2500 NE Pacific Street across from Husky Stadium was the gathering point for hundreds of people from all over the state, including people from West Seattle and White Center voicing their anger over the lack of living wage jobs. Many unions were represented as well as nonunion workers, folks who are unemployed, and college students fearful of the future they are facing with large college debts hanging over their heads.

To make their point they marched West down NE Pacific through the University District and on to the University Bridge to highlight the need for improvements to our nation’s infrastructure.

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE

Improvements to bridges and highways would create living wage jobs that could help bring the economy back on its feet.

The marchers were allowed to stay on the University Bridge and disrupt traffic for almost an hour and a half by police. By that time the marchers said what they had to say and exited the bridge peacefully.

“Telling Our Westside Stories”

“Telling Our Westside Stories” is wrapping up as youth interview adults about their early West Seattle and White Center memories. The Southwest Seattle Historical Society received a Department of Neighborhoods grant for young students to interview adults at Madison Middle School, and South Park and Delridge Community Centers. Interviews began Oct. 24.

"We reached out to different community groups for suggestions of people for the youth to interview," said Judy Bentley, former Society president. "The interviews focus on three themes, land, water, and home." She said the Log House Museum will offer an exhibit when the interviews are assembled, and there will be an interactive exhibit traveling to community centers and libraries.

On Nov. 17 about a half-dozen area citizens were interviewed by Madison Middle School 7th graders, each by two or three students armed with two tape recorders per session, just in case.

Participating were former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, long-time Alaska Junction and White Center resident, Peggy Sample, CPA Ralph Elder, and Alki resident,

Mayor Mike McGinn and members of the Seattle City Council are hosting a Road Safety Summit on Monday Nov. 21 from 6pm to 8pm to listen to what the public has to say about safety on Seattle roads. The goal is to create a shared citywide commitment to safety on our streets and develop concrete next steps for safer streets.

The meeting is being held at the Southwest Community Center 2801 SW Thistle Street.

RSVP now at http://seattle.gov/roadsafety/meeting3.htm

Can’t come on Monday?
By the end of the day on November 23rd, go online to http://www.seattle.gov/roadsafety/comments.htm to provide your thoughts and ideas on how to improve safety on Seattle streets.

You will be asked to review traffic safety data and then give your answers to these three questions:

1. What do you think are the highest priority safety problems to solve on Seattle roads?
2. What do you think are the most important things to do to make Seattle roads safer?
3. We often talk about what government can do to promote safety. What are the ways that groups and individuals can promote safety?

There continues to be tight city council races in four Highline cities as formal certification of the election results is set for Nov. 29.

As of Friday night, Nov. 18, 35 votes separate Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler from his opponent, Rebecca King.

King County Elections reports Sheckler has received 3,293 votes (50.05 percent) while King has garnered 3,258 (49.51 percent.)

In SeaTac, Councilwoman Mia Su-Ling Gregerson is hanging on to a 29-vote lead with 2,252 votes (50.10 percent.) Challenger Erin Sitterley has received 2.223 votes (49.45 percent)

Former Normandy Park mayor Charlie Harris is trailing his opponent, Stacia Jenkins by 32 votes. Jenkins has 1,310 votes (50.44 percent) to Harris’ 1,278 votes (49.21 percent)

Current Normandy Park Mayor Shawn McEvoy is breathing a little easier with an 82-vote lead. McEvoy has 1,366 votes (51.30 percent) and Todd McKittrick has 1,284 votes (48.22 percent.)

Kate Kruller has opened up a 100-vote lead in her Tukwila City Council race against Louise H. Strander. Kruller has 1,413 votes (51.57 percent) while Strander has 1.313 votes (47.92 percent.)

Swedish indie dance rockers, The Sounds will be headlining Neptune Theatre on Monday, Nov 21, in support of their self-produced album, Something To Die For.

The band is on their first American tour in two years.

"Has it been that long?" asked the fiery lead vocalist, Maja Ivarsson in a phone interview. "We are always touring and it doesn't seem that long ago. America is our home away from home."

Ivarsson was pleasantly surprised to learn of Seattle's strong Scandinavian ties and said she may just have to visit Ballard in search of a taste of home, revealing that salty licorice is her absolute favorite treat.

Formed in Helsingborg in 1998, The Sounds are an indie rock band known for their poppy rock songs and high-energy performances.

Their newest record, Something to Die, is their first self-produced album and was a true labor of love.

"We always loved our demos. They always sounded cool and they had something. They captured the creativity and somehow some of the magic got lost in the studio," Ivarsson explained. "We knew what we had and thought, 'We can do this on our own'. It was lots of fun."

Metro Transit Chief of Police Lisa Mulligan stopped by the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting on Nov. 15 to explain how her division of the King County Sheriff’s Office operates.

A small crew with a large beat
Starting out with the scope of Metro’s beat, Mulligan said there are over 9,000 bus stops in King County and a total of 68 Metro police for coverage. With such a large area and relatively small crew, Mulligan said her division prioritizes their presence based upon the number of complaints. As many would expect, most of her officers spend their time in the downtown business district. Downtown has the highest ridership and, therefore, the most problems, she said.

As for how Metro police work with King County Sheriffs and Seattle Police, Mulligan said it is a fluid system. If a bus driver calls for help in South King County or West Seattle for example, Mulligan said Metro dispatch will often ask local law enforcement to respond to the call. She said if her officers are more than five minutes away in response time, they will call for assistance.

Drivers should prepare for ice, winter-like driving conditions

The Friday morning commute could be a wintry one for Puget Sound if weather forecasts are accurate and snow showers move into the area. 



Washington State Department of Transportation crews will be on the road ahead of the storm pre-treating areas where ice is likely to form first, such as bridges and ramps, and monitoring changing conditions.

WSDOT has snow plows stationed throughout Western Washington and on Stevens and Snoqualmie passes.
Crews in Western Washington have access to more than 195,000 gallons of liquid deicer and a stockpile of nearly 27,000 tons of sand and road salt. Additional snow-fighting equipment, sand, road salt and liquid deicer are stationed on the mountain passes.



“We’re ready for it and we’ll be out on the road ready to plow where needed,” said Dave McCormick, WSDOT assistant regional administrator. “Ice on windshields and the first snow of the season in the lowlands signal that wintry conditions are here, and drivers should prepare for the possibility of heavier snow around the corner.”

Press release

The city of Burien declared Thursday, Nov. 17 its parks, beaches, playgrounds and playfields to be tobacco- and smoke-free, joining Auburn, Covington, Seattle, Snoqualmie and the Vashon Parks District, which have similar policies.

“When folks come to a public park, they expect to breathe fresh air – not someone else’s cigarettes,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine, who said he will work with the County Council to develop a no-smoking policy for King County parks.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE FOR MORE

Tobacco-free parks reduce exposure to second-hand smoke for children and families, and reduce pollution from cigarette butts, the main source of litter in public places.

Tobacco-free parks are part of a broad movement to create healthy and smoke-free areas, especially for kids and the most vulnerable. In recent months many hospitals, housing providers, and mental health and chemical dependency centers have also gone smoke-free.