January 2012

“There is a good life here. Please, come out here man; Seattle has a lot to offer.”

Those were the words 42-year-old Jonathan “Jamie” Vause used to encourage his friend, shooting victim Michael Travis Hood, to move from a crime-ridden “ghetto” in Jacksonville, Florida to Seattle in August of 2011.

The urging came shortly after Hood lost his best friend in an “assassination” shooting death in August. Vause said Hood was in need of change, and since the move, things had been going well – opening his first bank account and finding steady employment at Charlie’s Produce.

“He came out here to get away from that and then lost his life as a result,” Vause said. “He was so pumped on his success and he had it all taken away from him.”

On Saturday night, Jan. 21, Hood was shot four times in the chest, allegedly by 63-year-old (or possibly 67, his arrest papers have two birth dates) Lovett James Chambers (aka Cidrick Mann), a West Seattle resident and longtime patron of the Feedback Lounge at the Morgan Street Junction. The shooting occurred just north of Feedback on California Ave.

UPDATE: SLIDESHOW- Year of the Dragon

The Vietnamese Cultural Center, 2236 SW Orchard St. in West Seattle, celebrated the TẾT- Vietnam New Year today. Traditional culture was celebrated, and the Vietnamese and American flags were raised for the first day of new year The program included a memorial service to King Quang Trung who defeated China invader on Tết in 1788.

According to Vietnam online, in Asian culture the Dragon and Tiger are the most desirable of the 12 signs under which to be born. Both bring good luck, strength, nobility, wisdom and a promising future. The Dragon ranks higher than the Tiger as it has been a symbol of royalty for thousands of years.

Read more about the cultural center in our recent story here.

In their monthly meeting after a holiday hiatus, the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network met on Jan. 24 to discuss mental mapping tips in remembering details of suspect and suspect vehicles when we witness a crime and call 911. Location, victim injuries and the type of crime were also covered.

Seattle Police Southwest Precinct Officers Jonathan Kiehn and Alex Chapackdee, along with Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon presented.

In starting out his presentation, Kiehn asked a female attendee to step out of the Southwest Precinct community room to gather some handouts he had forgotten to bring in. A natural human reaction, most in the room briefly glanced at the woman before looking back to Kiehn. Little did they know, there were no handouts to be had and a setup was in the works.

Burien lawmakers voted Jan. 23 to demolish the Normandy Park/ south Burien fire station at 135 S. Normandy Rd. and build a new facility on the site.

The new station will be a two-story 18,850 square-foot building with three vehicle bays, a maintenance bay, training classroom and sleep rooms for six firefighters.

The facility will also feature a running trail that could be used by community members. Other amenities include surface parking for approximately 18 vehicles, landscaping, stormwater improvements, an emergency generator and fuel pump.

While the current station can be accessed from both Normandy Rd. and Occidental Ave. S., the new facility will be built further south on the site with access only from Occidental. Two single-family residences behind the current station have been demolished to make way for the new building.

A new traffic emergency light signal is proposed for the intersection of Normandy Rd. and Occidental.

Burien’s hearing examiner conducted a public hearing on Dec. 8, attended by two nearby residents.

King County Prosecutors charged 67-year-old Lovett James Chambers, known locally as "Cid," with first degree murder on Jan. 25 in the shooting death of 36-year-old Michael Travis Hood outside a West Seattle bar on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 21.

The victim was shot four times in the chest, allegedly by Chambers, near the Morgan Street Junction and died from his injuries early Sunday morning.

According to prosecutors, "Chambers remains in jail with bail set at $5 million. Arraignment is scheduled for February 8 at 8:30 a.m. in courtroom 1201 at the King County Courthouse."

This story will be updated with details from the charging documents and testimony from Jonathan "Jamie" Vause, the man who was with Hood the night of his murder and a friend who encouraged him to move to Seattle from Florida - tragically to get his life back on track and live in a safer part of the nation.

Developing coverage on this story can be found here.

By Kyle Howard

A boys basketball matchup between the O’Dea Fighting Irish and the Chief Sealth Seahawks took place Tuesday night Jan. 24th at Chief Sealth high school. O’Dea’s ability to get to the free throw line proved to be the big difference in this game.

O’Dea’s aggressive offense seemed to be too much for the Seahawk defense to handle; unable to cover their men Chief Sealth was in foul trouble most of the game. The Fighting Irish shot 24-35 from the line, proving to be a huge advantage for them. The Seahawks foul trouble would lead to two players fouling out in the fourth quarter, including Chief Sealth star Pepe Hernandez who finished with 14.

Slideshow update: Photos from Friday's Empty Bowls event in Burien. The fundraiser raised funds for the Highline and White Center food banks.

PLEASE CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE FOR MORE

Press release

Join us for a meal and help fight hunger in our community!

EMPTY BOWLS
Friday, January 27, 2012
Lunch served 11:00 AM-2:00 PM
Dinner served 4:00-8:00 PM

Burien Community Center
14700 6th Ave SW, Burien
$15 (minimum) Adult Donation
$10 (minimum) Child Donation

Empty Bowls events can be found around the country raising money to combat hunger in our communities. Moshier Art Center Potters have donated bowls to be filled with soup at this fun event...all are invited! Your donation will get you the opportunity to pick out a beautiful handmade bowl, as well as a simple but wonderful meal of soup, bread, dessert and drink; all donated by local businesses. Sponsored by Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services and Discover Burien.

New this year—we will have barrels for food donations for the food banks if you would like to bring some canned food.

The Jan. 23 standoff in White Center ended peacefully after a King County deputy kept cell phone communication alive with a suicidal man who had a handgun pressed to his head for several hours, according to KCSO Sgt. Cindi West.

The deputy was able to develop a rapport with the distressed man and kept him from pulling the trigger.

The standoff ultimately ended in White Center around 10:30 p.m. when the man, located in his vehicle and demanding that officers stay away, tried to flee. A patrol officer rammed his vehicle into a fence at 15th Ave S.W. and S.W. 102nd S.W. and SWAT team members were able to safely apprehend the man. He was transported to Harborview Medical Center for evaluation, West said.

Recounting the ordeal, West said earlier in the evening the man’s wife called 911 to report they had been arguing, possibly over divorce. He left the north Burien home and she feared he was suicidal.

The woman gave police her husband’s cell phone number and a deputy with four years on the force called the man and kept him on the phone, attempting calm him and find out where he was located.

High winds Tuesday night into Wednesday caused numerous power outages in Burien resulting in 7000 without power, according to Seattle City Light. As of 9 a.m. on Jan. 25 the outage map shows only a few people still without power.

From Seattle City Light
Two of the larger outages left more than 7,000 customers without power in the Burien area. Both outages occurred around 11:30 p.m.

The exact cause of both is unknown as is the estimated time of restoration. Crews are responding to identify the exact locations, assess causes, and make repairs.

Customers can get outage information online at www.seattle.gov/light/sysstat.

For the third year in a row the City of Seattle is inviting the community to come downtown to City Hall for an Open House this Saturday.

The public is invited to learn about resources the City provides, meet local elected officials, enjoy local music and food, and connect with opportunities to make Seattle a better place.

The agenda will include tours of the Mayor’s Office and City Council Offices, a Q&A session with the mayor, workshops on the legislative process and interpreting credit reports, tabling by City departments and the City Attorney’s Office, live music, a farmer’s market, and more.

City Hall Open House
 is happening Saturday, January 28th, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 
601 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104