December 2011

The Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board is accepting applications for new members to help make walking in Seattle safer and easier. The volunteer board, which was created by Seattle City Council in 1993, plays an influential role in implementing Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan. The board advises the Mayor and City Council, participates in planning and project development, evaluates policies and makes recommendations to all city departments including the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

Board members serve a two‐year term, with an opportunity to serve a second term. They are frequent walkers of a variety of ages, levels of mobility, and walks of life, and from areas throughout the city. Members must be Seattle residents, and may not be city employees. The group meets the second Wednesday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. at City Hall on Fifth Avenue between James and Cherry.

Update for Dec. 29, 4:30 pm
The 25-year-old suspect in the fatal White Center shooting at Seattle Roll Bakery in White Center made his first court appearance today and bail was set at $1 million, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.

The deadline for filing charges is tomorrow, Dec. 30.

Probable cause documents released today show the suspect’s last known address was in the High Point neighborhood of West Seattle.

According to those documents, the argument between the suspect and victim started outside the Seattle Roll Bakery around midnight. The argument, which never became physical, moved into the store when witnesses say the suspect allegedly turned his back on victim Jason Saechao, pulled a handgun from his waistband, turned back around and shot the victim several times.

Saechoa was hit four times according to an autopsy report – including the top of the head and a close range shot to the face.

After the shooting the suspect allegedly threatened witnesses in the bakery, telling them “not to talk if they knew what was good for them,” according to court papers.

Update for Dec. 29, 4:25 pm
Probable cause documents released today show the suspect’s last known address was in the High Point neighborhood.

According to those documents, the argument between the suspect and victim started outside the Seattle Roll Bakery around midnight. The argument, which never became physical, moved into the store when witnesses say the suspect allegedly turned his back on victim Jason Saechao, pulled a handgun from his waistband, turned back around and shot the victim several times.

Saechoa was hit four times according to an autopsy report – including the top of the head and a close range shot to the face.

After the shooting the suspect allegedly threatened witnesses in the bakery, telling them “not to talk if they knew what was good for them,” according to court papers.

Witnesses initially heeded his warning, telling police an unknown robber was the culprit, but the suspect was eventually identified.

According to the documents, detectives tracked the suspect down at his sister’s residence and arrested him in a traffic stop around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 28.

The partnership between the Washington State Patrol and the Seattle Police Department to crack down on unsafe commercial vehicles went into action today and they took two trucks off the road with "catastrophic brake failure."

The SPD squad is comprised of four Traffic Section officers who took a special training course at the WSP academy. The full story was published by the West Seattle Herald on Dec. 14.
Posted by Detective Jeff Kappel from the Seattle Police Blotter

On December 27th officers from SPD’s new Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Squad (CVES) conducted six commercial vehicle inspections.

Two trucks were taken “Out Of Service” for catastrophic brake failure.

Total safety violations documented:

Brakes – 5

Lights (ID, Marker, Clearance) - 4

Conspicuity (reflective) – 3

Headlight/Taillight/Turn Signal – 3

Registration/tonnage – 1

Fire Extinguisher - 1

Medical Card - 1

Windshield – 1

Two citations were issued for No Medical Card and Expired Tonnage (total fines: $674.00).

Finney, whose proper name is Huckleberry Finn, is a 10 year old yellow lab and he lives with Ann and Marty Ruybalid and their daughter Zia.

He's an outstanding runner, logging some 7 to 10 miles daily in Lincoln Park or Alki.

He came from New Mexico, from a breeder there.

He gets Pinnacle Duck and Potato dog food because," He has allergies, so we couldn't feed him any normal chicken or anything. The vet who suggested it even suggested Kangaroo," Ruybalid explained.

The name Huckleberry Finn (now Finney) was a second choice. "We were first going to name him Otis but once I got to know him a little bit I decided that he wasn't Otis at all. Otis is like a lazy fat dog that likes to sit on the dock of the bay. So, Huckleberry Finn is like very michevious and active and he wants to explore the world," explained Ruybalid.

Update for Dec. 28
The female teenager who was shot in the leg on Tuesday evening, Dec. 27, was the victim of a friend accidentally discharging his weapon, according to Det. Mark Jamieson with the SPD.

The girl sustained a non-life threatening injury and Jamieson said gang unit detectives are investigating.

No arrests have been made at this time and the suspect fled the scene after the shooting.

The shooting occurred while the victim and friends were driving around in the High Point neighborhood near the intersection of 32nd Ave S.W. and S.W. Juneau St.

Original post on Dec. 27
A female in her mid-teens was shot in the thigh around 6:36 p.m. this evening in the High Point neighborhood of West Seattle, sustaining non-life threatening injuries. Unknown suspects are at large, according to Seattle Police.

Here are the details at this time from Det. Jeff Kappel:

Mountain 2 Sound Outfitters, the local ski and paddle boarding specialty store in West Seattle has just relaunched a new, redesigned website, www.shop.m2soutfitters.com The site features 331 products from ski boots to paddle boards. The site construction was done in house by Elizabeth Hall who handles the web design, development and graphic design for the company.

They market the store through their primary website www.m2soutfitters.com, Facebook, and through local media.

Like other "click and mortar" retailers returns can be made in the store or by mail.

Products that are carried on the online store include ski boots, snowboard boots, skis, snowboards, jackets, pants, snowshoes plus Stand Up Paddle boards (SUPs), kayaks, and skates.

Greg Whittaker, owner who also owns Alki Kayak Tours has been in the news recently regarding the status of that business which is located at Seacrest Park. He has been sub leasing space but the recent winners of the lease from Seattle Parks, Marination Mobile have not offered any word on their plans for the space as yet.

The Seattle Department of Transportation has been working to reinforce and seismically retrofit the Fauntleroy Expressway (that's the stretch of road that is raised at the west end of the West Seattle Bridge).
Their press release states:

Closures began the week of December 12th and will continue regularly until the project’s completion in June 2012. Future closures may also occur on weekends, though none are scheduled at this time.

Closures will begin at 9:00 p.m. and reopen the next morning at 5:00 a.m. and are planned for the following evenings:
Tuesday, December 27th through Thursday, December 30th
Note – December 30th has been added as a work night since the previous notice
Tuesday, January 3rd through Friday, January 6th

During this week of evening closures the following detours will be in effect:
· Westbound motorists traveling to West Seattle via the West Seattle Bridge will be directed to use the Delridge Way Southwest off-ramp.

With a pardon to the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare of Staten Island NY, displayed poetry in motion with his own style of play while 81,000 football fans and two young boys on a crystal radio witnessed the "greatest football game" of the century, November 2, 1935 between Notre Dame and the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes.

It could be said that William Shakespeare had no idea he would become a hero in a football game but indeed he did. Not the English playwright but "the bard of Staten Island" b. William Valentine Shakespeare, who enrolled at Notre Dame University in 1932 He became somewhat of star at halfback by his junior year.

The day of the big game, Ohio State had an impressive record and was favored to win by two touchdowns. At the end of the third quarter the Buckeyes were leading 13 to zip. Notre Dame rallied to close the gap to 13-12 with only minutes to play.

In the best tradition of Knute Rockne, who challenged his team a few years earlier to "win one for the gipper" (a reference to former player George Gip, who had died). Layden pressed his players to make something happen.

The Tyee boy’s basketball team remains winless after they fell to Ingraham, 69-36, Thursday night. Size seemed to play a major factor in the game. Ingraham has seven players over six foot compared to Tyee’s three six footers. Rebounding and getting easy second point baskets was Ingraham’s key to their victory.

Tyee struggled shooting the ball from the outside and didn’t have success driving to the basket with the lane being clogged up by Ingraham’s big men. Tyee shot just 1-14 from three-point range and just 2-8 free throws. Tyee also turned the ball over 25 times, cheating themselves out of potential points. Despite the big win, Ingraham struggled shooting the ball throughout the game going 7-27 from three point range and making just 12 of 23 free throws.

Ingraham center Malik Barnes had a pair of impressive dunks in the first half, and guard Lee Anderson shot the ball well making three three-pointers. Ingraham’s record overall now stands at 3-3, but they still remain winless in conference play. Tyee, still winless, will be on the road Tuesday, Dec. 27 at Tahoma High School.