January 2013

United States Attorney Jenny Durkan provided the following update to White Center residents on Jan. 18 on the aftermath of Operation Center of Attention, a multi-agency raid of drug and gun traffickers operating out of the White Center area in 2011.

Dear White Center Community Members:

I hope the New Year finds you well. I am writing to provide an update on the collaborative public safety efforts in the White Center area.

As you know, the multi-agency, federal and local law enforcement operation, called “Center of Attention,” that ended in late October 2011, focused on violent offenders who used White Center to engage in criminal activity. The King County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have been working hard with our law enforcement partners to bring those offenders to justice.

United States Attorney Jenny Durkan provided the following update to White Center residents on Jan. 18 on the aftermath of Operation Center of Attention, a multi-agency raid of drug and gun traffickers operating out of the White Center area in 2011.

Dear White Center Community Members:

I hope the New Year finds you well. I am writing to provide an update on the collaborative public safety efforts in the White Center area.

As you know, the multi-agency, federal and local law enforcement operation, called “Center of Attention,” that ended in late October 2011, focused on violent offenders who used White Center to engage in criminal activity. The King County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have been working hard with our law enforcement partners to bring those offenders to justice.

King County Councilmember Joe McDermott (serving West Seattle and North Highline), who also chairs the King County Board of Health, adopted a resolution on Jan. 17 calling on state and federal lawmakers “to take action to reduce deaths caused by gun violence.”

“We have a moral obligation to curb gun violence. Every jurisdiction must do what is within its power to keep our communities safe,” McDermott said of the Board of Health resolution.

McDermott cited the aftermath of high-profile mass shootings in Colorado and Massachusetts last year - along with the Café Racer shooting in Seattle - as signs that our state and nation need to take “meaningful action” in reducing gun violence.

The resolution is more declarative than specific at this time, proclaiming support for “efforts to reduce gun violence as well as mental health programs that stress prevention and early intervention services,” although the Board said they will take their “own actions to reduce harm from firearms.”

All photos by Zachariah Bryan

If there's one thing we can be certain of in this world, it's this: Kids love the new playground at the Salmon Bay Elementary and Middle School.

On Friday, Jan. 18, at about 8:30 a.m., kids, parents and community members gathered in the auditorium of Salmon Bay Elementary School to celebrate the completion of the new playground.

Not just any playground, though, the new one built at Salmon Bay is especially designed to accommodate children of all types, including those with autism spectrum disorder. The playground, which was completed over the summer, replaces in older one that had been torn down and cemented over when it was found to be falling apart as children played on it.

"All of you, all of your parents, all the folks who live in the neighborhood, everyone got together and made this playground happen," Department of Neighborhoods Director Bernie Matsuno said.

The event opened up with the kids being led in a sing-a-long of several songs. Ecstatic, City Council President Sally Clark took a picture and posted on Facebook, "Starting the day with Yellow Submarine - how great is that?!"

Meeting announcement from the West Seattle Block Watch Captains' Network

Our January meeting of the West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network is next Tuesday, 1/22. We are starting the new year with a great agenda!

Our new/returning SW Precinct Captain, Joe Kessler will stop by to meet us. He will talk to us a little about his priorities and you’ll have a chance to ask him questions.

After that, the main discussion topic for the meeting will be residential Surveillance Cameras. We see growing use of these cameras in our area since costs for them have decreased and they make it easy to document activities around our homes/neighborhood and offer the ability to retro-actively lookup information after a crime has been committed.

I’m looking for more people who are knowledgeable about the technologies that are available and/or what to look for when buying and installing this equipment to participate in a panel discussion or provide a demo. If you are that person, or you know of someone who could, please contact me so I can expect you: wsblockwatchnet@gmail.com.

Mark Sears, whose day job is managing Colman Pool (he also lives there) has been doing research on Orcas for more than 30 years. His direct personal experience with these marine mammals will be the subject of his presentation on Thursday Jan. 24 at C & P Coffee at 5612 Calfornia, Ave. SW. There is a $5 suggested donation.

Sears, from his location at Point Williams sights and is authorized to go and collect material such as uneaten fish parts and whale residue (feces and other material) that aids researchers in their study.

Also included in the event are updates from Seal Sitters and diver Laura James representing Tox-Ick.org.

Tickets are available from www.brownpapertickets.com

The talk begins at 6:30 and goes until 9pm.

By Cassandra Baker

11:51 a.m., January 14. 53rd block of Ballard Ave NW

A man called police to report that his business had been burglarized, most likely by a former employee. The victim said that there was no damage to the door that was the point of entry, and it was locked when he arrived at the business on January 13. He said he believed that the ex-employee had used his key to gain entry and then stole a camera and an iPod. The ex-employee had previously stolen some checks from the victim and then written them out to himself.

11:54 a.m., January 12. 67th block of Earl Ave NW

An unheard sports story this season is the one of the Ballard High School gymastics team, who just posted their highest scores yet at the KingCo 4A meet, taking first with 156.7.

Still, Coach Stephanie Gundel said there's still a lot of room for improvement.

Maybe that's because that's what the girls have been doing all season. Improving.

In their first meet in November against veteran teams Newport and Bothell, Ballard lost by a wide margin, getting a team score of 148 to Bothell's 159.55 and Newport's 164.35. Gundel wrote that Ballard had a solid performance and that it showed Ballard was still a contender, having beaten Redmond (122.7).

In December, Ballard hosted Inglemoor, hoping for a little revenge since it was Inglemoor who nudged them out of District Championships last year, Gundel wrote. Showing improvement from their first meet, the Ballard girls showed up, outpacing Inglemoor 151.35 to 150.725.

From there, the score kept going up. In January, Ballard girls posted a respectable score of 153.85, getting third against a very tough Woodinville (169.1) and Bothell (161.85).

The National Weather Service has announced a "Dense Fog Alert" as well as an air stagnation warning:

.DENSE FOG AND LOCAL FREEZING FOG WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN A HALF MILE OVER MUCH OF THE WESTERN WASHINGTON INTERIOR LOWLANDS THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. IN ADDITION AN AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK AS LIGHT
WINDS AND A LOW LEVEL TEMPERATURE INVERSION TRAP POLLUTANTS NEAR THE SURFACE.

...DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST FRIDAY...
...AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST
TUESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A DENSE FOG ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST FRIDAY.

* TIMING...TONIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING.

* VISIBILITY...LESS THAN A HALF MILE IN MOST AREAS AND LOCALLY NEAR ZERO.

Italian male super model Fabio Lanzoni paid a visit to West Seattle on Jan. 17 to make an appearance at Metropolitan Market in the Admiral District. His visit was to promote "Healthy Planet Nutrition" a group of products that include Whey Protein, Colostrum, and Glutamine.

According to that website, " Healthy Planet Vitamins is a combination of the purest whey protein, purest glutamine, and the purest colostrum products. Fabio Lanzoni better known as simply (Fabio) is the president and founder of Healthy Planet Vitamins and has been a strong advocate of the use of proteins for several years. Fabio started Healthy Planet Vitamins in order to formulate a product using only the purest forms of proteins available today."

Fabio told the West Seattle Herald that health has been his life-long passion.

"The Metropolitan Market is a great fit for my products, and people here in Seattle are interested in what they eat," said Fabio with a slight Italian accent.