May 2012

“Finally, today my family can have closure to this nightmare,” Meg Bushaw, the mother of slain 26-year-old Steve Bushaw told the court as the last of four men responsible for her son’s death was sentenced on May 10.

Brandon Chaney, 33, was sentenced to 70 months (just under six years) in prison for driving three others to and from the shooting in front of Talarico’s in the West Seattle Junction on Feb. 1, 2009. The sentence was handed down from King County Judge Joan DuBuque.

The lead homicide detective on the case, James Cooper, addressed the judge before sentencing, and said his investigation found Chaney was complicit in the plan to kill Bushaw, although he did not pull the trigger (John K. Sylve, 34, and Danny O’Neal, 30, admitted to shooting Bushaw; Bryce Huber was found guilty of masterminding the murder). The four men targeted Bushaw in retribution for the home invasion robbery of a drug dealer they thought he had orchestrated. Police never found a connection between Bushaw and the robbery.

Posted by Detective Mark Jamieson - Seattle Police Blotter

On April 22nd, at approximately 11:45 am, a lone male walked into a deli in the 7500 Block 35th Avenue Southwest. The suspect approached the counter and removed a handgun from his waistband. He pointed it at the clerk and demanded money from the till. The suspect then fled the store and jumped into a waiting vehicle. A number of patrol units responded, but the suspect or vehicle were not located. Robbery detectives were tasked with the follow up investigation. Surveillance video captured images of the suspect. A bulletin was distributed to law enforcement.

On Thursday, May, 10th the contractor for SDOT’s Ballard Bridge Painting project will close a single southbound lane of traffic on the Ballard Bridge.

The lane will remain open during peak traffic periods, but will be closed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Simultaneously with the southbound lane closure, the west sidewalk will be closed; however, the east sidewalk will remain open.

The contractor will resume work in the northbound lane, beginning at 8 p.m. today. Sidewalk closures on the east side will also resume. This work will be ongoing through May and into early June.

Bicyclists will be detoured during sidewalk closures. Bicyclists may use the Fremont Bridge or may cross the ship canal at the Ballard Locks. (The sidewalks are too narrow to accommodate bicycle traffic in two directions on the same sidewalk.)

By Erica Thompson, UW News Lab

Jana Jorgensen, the city’s new assistant attorney and liaison to the North Precinct visited the Ballard District Council on May 9th to talk about eliminating graffiti and managing liquor license issues.

“My goal is to reach out to the community and help solve public-safety issues, as well as coordinate with Seattle police and advise them on different issues,” said Jorgensen, who was appointed to the position on March 1.

Jorgensen works closely with the sole graffiti detective at the Seattle Police Department, Christopher Young, to try to overcome this crime. She said it is usually nice homes of middle class families that Young has to knock on the door of to inform parents of their child’s behavior.

One man in the audience noted that Jorgensen never referenced gangs in her presentation and she responded that “graffiti being closely related to gangs is mostly a myth.”

Taggers are usually white, young males between the ages of 14 and 24.

“It’s a crime of opportunity,” Jorgensen said. “Taggers do graffiti to get fame. They want people to know their name.”

By Patrick Robinson

Glen Boyd has been to many concerts during his career as a music writer but among his top music experiences were those provided by the kaleidoscopic talent that is Neil Young.

The Seattle writer's admiration and knowledge of Young's music has finally proven to be very useful, since he was tapped to author a new book, Neil Young FAQ- Everything Left To Know About the Iconic and Mercurial Rocker recently published in softcover by Backbeat Books.

"This book is part of a series they do called FAQ. Robert Rodriguez started it by writing two books about the Beatles, Fab Four FAQ and Fab Four FAQ 2.0 and he got in touch with me about three years ago out of clear blue sky. He said, 'I've seen your writing on the internet and I think you're a really good writer. Would you be interested in doing something for our series?' It was completely unexpected. I was amazed," said Boyd.

press release:
Jenny Gao has been named a National Merit Scholar, one of just 700 high school seniors in the nation to achieve this exclusive academic honor. She is Aviation High School’s first National Merit Scholar. Jenny will attend Harvard University, where she plans to study engineering and applied sciences.

National Merit Scholarship winners are selected for their abilities, skills, and accomplishments in addition to SAT scores in the highest one-half of one percent.

Davis Yoshida from Aviation High school was a National Merit Finalist. He will attend the University of Colorado Boulder. He will study physics and plans to pursue graduate studies in astrophysics. Finalists test in the top one percent in the nation.

Highline also had three Commended Scholars, whose SAT scores are in the top two percent nationally:

Tyler Hall, from Mount Rainier High School, will attend University of Portland in the fall.

James Talbot, Mount Rainier High School, plans to double major in electrical engineering and computer sciences at Case Western University.

Sean Crowley, Aviation High School, has been appointed to West Point military academy.

Contributors are sought for the Highline Public Schools and Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence inaugural Highline Public Schools Scholar-Athlete, Coach and Community Recognition Banquet on Tuesday, May 22. A dessert banquet will be held at Mount Rainier High School at 6:00 p.m. Scholarship recipients, coaches, community and business contributors and sponsors will be honored.

Scholarships will be given to some or all of the student nominees. Recipients, and their award totals s will be determined by the amount of contributions received. Event organizer Terri McMahan, Highline School District Director of Athletics, is asking for your help. She ran a similar program she started in 2002 when she was Edmonds Athletic Director. That program has since raised over $300,000.

On Wednesday morning President Barack Obama made history when he said in a televised interview with ABC that he believes same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

"I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," President Obama stated during the interview.

President Obama's announcement came the morning after North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

With his statement, President Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to publicly express support for gay marriage, and media has been buzzing with excitement about his perhaps risky move all day.

President Obama will be in Seattle tomorrow for a fundraiser and local LGBT groups are planning to stage a friendly protest to thank the president.

King County Executive Dow Constatine released a statement saluting the President for his courageous stand on marriage equality.

"I commend President Obama for being on the right side of history in announcing his support for marriage equality today," Constantine said in a statement.

Glen Boyd has been to many concerts during his career as a music writer but among his top music experiences were those provided by the kaleidoscopic talent that is Neil Young.

The West Seattle writer's admiration and knowledge of Young's music has finally proven to be very useful, since he was tapped to author a new book, Neil Young FAQ- Everything Left To Know About the Iconic and Mercurial Rocker just published in softcover by Backbeat Books.

"This book is part of a series they do called FAQ. Robert Rodriguez started it by writing two books about the Beatles, Fab Four FAQ and Fab Four FAQ 2.0 and he got in touch with me about three years ago out of clear blue sky. He said, 'I've seen your writing on the internet and I think you're a really good writer. Would you be interested in doing something for our series?' It was completely unexpected. I was amazed."