January 2012

At noon today the 25th annual King County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration took place at Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall.

West Seattle residents attending included King County Executive Dow Constantine, who spoke, King County Council Member Joe McDermott, and King County District Court's Chief Presiding Judge Barbara Linde. Attending from White Center were soon-to-be King County District 8 Civil Rights Commissioner Aileen Sison with her mother, Erlinda Aparis Sison. (We will follow up shortly with a story about Aileen's new post.)

The theme for 2012: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"

2012 marks the 25th year that King County and its employees will honor the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and celebrate his vision of an America offering opportunity for all. The public was invited to join King County employees at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle for the county's Silver Anniversary celebration.

With referrals significantly down and state reimbursement rates decreasing, Ruth Dykeman Children’s Center on Lake Burien has closed two out of its three residential programs.

Only 11 children now live at the site. They are part of the center’s residential program for 6 to 12-year-olds. Two other children recently were discharged.

But the 12 beds for adolescent boys and four beds for young women, 18-22, transitioning from foster care to independence are now empty.

The center has housed troubled children since Judge King Dykeman moved his Ruth School for Girls to the 8-½ acre site on Lake Burien in 1931.

Judge Dykeman had observed that many of the young women he saw in court needed support outside the home but there were no appropriate services for them.

He started the school in the Ravenna district in 1921 and named it after his daughter.

With the residential program winding down, could this prime property on Burien’s only large lake be sold as residential property? This greatly concerns the center’s lakefront neighbors who worry about public access to the lake, located next to downtown Burien.

Cu Van Troung, 25, was arraigned on first degree murder charges on Jan. 12 in the shooting death of 24-year-old victim Jason Saechao.

Troung pleaded not guilty, remains in jail with a $1 million bail, and is scheduled for a case setting hearing Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. in the King County Courthouse, room 1201, according to King County Prosecutors.

Prosecutors allege Troung went to the Seattle Roll Bakery in White Center on Dec. 28 and shot Saechao several times in a dispute over the theft of a necklace and romantic involvement with a female witness in the shooting.

For a full recap of this case, please check out the Herald story, "Love and theft leads to murder."

Press release:

Since 2008, volunteers in Walker Preserve have removed large amounts of invasive plants and planted many native trees and shrubs. Walker Preserve is in the City of Normandy Park, along Walker Creek. Walker Creek has spawning coho and chum salmon each fall. Restoring native vegetation along the creek benefits salmon and other wildlife.

Please join us this Saturday, Jan. 14, to continue this work! We also have several monthly community weeding projects scheduled through the winter to remove ivy and other invasive weeds, and plant native trees and shrubs along the trail and stream in Walker Preserve and other areas in the basin.

This stewardship project is a joint effort of the City of Normandy Park, and the Miller and Walker Creeks Stewardship program.
Address: SW. 168th St. and 2nd Ave. SW. in Normandy Park, up the road from Normandy Park City Hall.

If driving, your parking options include:
Three spaces in the small lot at SW 171st St. and Second Ave. S.W.
On the street along SW. 168th St.

Date/Time: Saturday, January 14, 2012, 9:30 a.m. – noon

Turned off by hard physical labor, a young Dennis McCoy enrolled in community college in the late 1960s.

He thought law enforcement looked interesting and in 1969 he joined the Seattle Police Department as a cadet. He was only 19 years old.

For 42 years and two months McCoy wore his uniform proudly, but now he has hung up his badge in exchange for a peaceful retirement in a quiet small town in Oregon.

"I'm happy to leave the city of Seattle. Sad to leave my buddies and friends at the Department," McCoy said at a retirement celebration with his large family at Crown Hill's Patty's Eggnest.

A family man, McCoy has ten kids - "some natural, some adopted," he said.

The way he takes care of his family is not unlike the way he took care of his fellow officers.

"It's always been my mission to take care of my troops and keep them safe," McCoy said.

Over the years McCoy moved up the ranks to Sergeant and worked as a patrol officer, SWAT member, Harbor Patrol, and Traffic Sergeant.

"Patrol was my favorite. To work in uniform is all I ever wanted to do," McCoy said.

Update for Jan. 17
While many community groups, schools, etc. are cancelling events tonight due to the impending storm, Betty Wiberg with the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council confirms they will hold their meeting tonight:

7 - 8:30 p.m., Jan. 17, at the Seattle Police Southwest Precinct community room (2300 S.W. Webster).

WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL
"We have Officer William Witt of the Aggressive Driving Team. Officer Witt is unique in that he is also a DUI Officer as well as being part of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Team." -President Richard Miller

January 17, 2012
7:00-8:30 PM
7:00 pm Greetings and introductions: Richard Miller
Recognition of all media persons.
7:10 pm Police reports and updates
7:30 pm PROGRAM: Officer William Witt will educate us about the duties of the Aggressive Driving Team and the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Team.
8:20 pm Community priorities and reports

For the Good of the Group:
1. Nominating Committee for election of officers at June, 2012 Meeting.
2. Betty Wiberg will resign as Secretary at the end of June, 2012.

Friday 3:30 p.m. update on fundraisers & Teri Ensley comments:

The West Seattle just posted a story on Kitty Harbor's Adopt-A-Thon this weekend which will, in part, benefit Teri Ensley and her Furry Faces Foundation in the wake of her losses due to her recent house fire.

"My neighbor, David, who works from home saw the fire and called 911," Ensley recalled. "So that made a huge difference. And Jared, the kitty that some saw in photos being resuscitated by the firefighter, is doing very well, at Lien Animal Clinic. Jared didn't eat at first but then really started chowing the next day. He is still a little freaked. They found him in the bathtub with his face to the drain so he could breath. He was smart enough to do that, and that saved his life.

"The firefighters were wonderful," she added. "I can't say enough about our firefighters, and the fire investigator, too. They were awesome and very sensitive to what was going on.

Update for Jan. 26
The suspect who robbed a cab driver at gunpoint of the $20 dollars he had just given the victim as a fare on Jan. 10 was arrested by Seattle Police on Jan. 23, according to the SPD.

The robbery occurred in South Seattle, but the suspect was originally picked up at a Tukwila motel.

The suspect's image was captured by an in-cab camera and police were able to identify the 44-year-old man thanks to tips that came in after the image was made publicly available.

The suspect was arrested at 2 p.m. on Jan. 23 in South Seattle. He was transported to King County Jail for investigation of robbery, according to police.

Original post on Jan. 12
King County and Seattle law enforcement are on the lookout for a suspect who robbed a cab driver after getting picked up at a Tukwila motel on Jan. 10.

The suspect is described as an Asian male in his 30s.

Additional details from the Seattle Police Department:

The Ballard girls basketball team hosted Newport last night but the team's shooting left the home crowd cold.

Newport gained a six-point-lead in the first quarter and Ballard played catch-up the rest of the first half.

The third quarter looked a lot more promising for the Beavers with Ballard outscoring Newport 12 to 2.

But Newport made a comeback in the final quarter surpassing Ballard by two points.

The final score was 39 for the Beavers, 41 for Newport.

Leading the Beavers in scoring was Nancy MacGeorge with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and one assist.

SDOT is doing some maintenance work on Admiral Way today and sent this notice:

The Seattle Department of Transportation’s Urban Forestry crews are working on Admiral Way today between SW Olga Street (by Belvedere Viewpoint Park) and 39th Avenue SW . At approximately 9 a.m. this morning they closed the two inner lanes. They plan to reopen the lanes no later than 3 p.m. The crews are performing landscape maintenance work in the median.