January 2013

By Cassandra Baker

2:57 p.m., December 27. 100 block of NW 84th St

A man returned to his home on December 27 for the first time since December 18 and found that it had been burglarized. The suspect threw a brick through a back window to gain entry. When the victim and responding officer entered the residence, they found an empty can of Four Loko and a pair of shoes that did not belong to the victim. No one was inside.

The victim said that he had been having problems with a local transient sleeping in his garage and on his porch. He said that the last time he was at the house, he had removed all of the transient’s property from the porch and put it in a nearby alley. He described the transient as a white male, 22 years of age, 5’7” with a thin build.

8:00 a.m., December 27. 800 block of NW 85th St

Holly Brown, whose column on food and entertaining appears here on the West Seattle Herald will be a featured guest on King 5 TV'sNew Day Northwest with Margaret Larson on Monday Jan. 7. Brown is the host of www.TheBrownLounge.com and her online video segments for the site.

Brown said, "I'll demo and talk about our recent Tamale party and the idea of communal cooking style dinner parties. I'lll be making tamales on the show and talking about the Tamale party we just had at our house on New Years Eve."

It's possible to be in the audience on Monday if you are interested. The taping is from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. If you're interested in being in the studio audience, you can get free tickets by RSVPing to newdaytickets@king5.com.

Their Audience Coordinator will send you detailed instructions. Brown said, "Feel free to invite a foodie friend to come too if you like. If you can't come, hopefully you can watch the show."

The show airs starting at 11am on King 5.

Brown concluded with "Of course you can always find our recipe and party plan at www.TheBrownLounge.com if you miss the show."

As you cruise down S.W. Avalon Way or putter up steep S.W. Genesee St. over the next few weeks, be prepared for a new stop along the way.

Seattle Department of Transportation crews have been busy installing a new traffic light at the intersection of Avalon and Genesee, and expect it to be fully operational by the end of next week (Jan. 11), according to SDOT Communications Director Rick Sheridan.

Sheridan said, "SDOT studied the location due to a constituent’s request for a signal. The location met the national guidelines for a signal installation based on traffic and pedestrian volumes, collision history, and distance to the next adjacent signalized intersection."

Additionally, SDOT will install four new marked crosswalks along with six curb ramps around the intersection to improve pedestrian safety and handicap accessibility.

The steep grade of Genesee coming into Avalon from the east (coupled with the curve of Avalon) can make for tricky sight lines in determining a safe time to enter the intersection. The new light should improve safety.

UPDATE 12:27am

SSCC offered a press release update on yesterday's campus lockdown:

Late Thursday afternoon a student reported a threat of gun violence on campus by another student. Campus Security and Seattle Police were immediately called, and Seattle Police began investigating on campus. The college also instituted “shelter in place” precautions, which included locking buildings and rooms, and notifying staff and students. Once Seattle Police confirmed that no threat was present on campus, the “all clear” was given. The student making the threat has been contacted and is suspended from campus pending a conduct investigation.

Using the phrase “lock down” in our message may have been stronger than necessary, but our first reaction was to be protective until more was known about the situation. And, had there been an active threat, there are other emergency communication tools that would have been used.

The college regularly conducts emergency preparedness training sessions and emergency drills. We will review our response to this situation in order to continue improving our safety and security on campus.

WSDOT Press release
Starting Friday night, crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will close the ramp from southbound Interstate 5 to the West Seattle Bridge and the westbound Columbian Way ramp to the West Seattle Bridge. Detours are in place.

Here's the WSDOT graphic of what will be closed and when.

This is the first of 11 weekend-long ramp closures to replace 31 aging expansion joints on the I-5/West Seattle Interchange.

Drivers can prepare for this and the next 10 closures by checking the website in advance. The WSDOT website has detailed list of closed ramps and weekend dates as well as detour maps available to print or download.

Ramp closure details and detours
• The ramp from southbound Interstate 5 to the West Seattle Bridge and the ramp from westbound Columbian Way ramp to the West Seattle Bridge will close at 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4 and reopen at 5 a.m. Monday, Jan. 7. 


Music will fill the air provided by the Seattle Youth Symphony on Saturday Jan. 26 in a midday concert experience ( 10 a.m.- 1 p.m.) as young violin, viola, cello and bass players from Southwest Seattle schools play on "Super String Saturday at Chief Sealth International High School.

The third annual even will showcase elementary and middle school string players who have been working with professional musicians in a program meant to enhance their musical knowledge. These musician "coaches" lead small group and individualized instruction to deepen the quality of the students' musical skills.

In a press release the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras (SYSO) filled in the details

"SYSO provides the coaches free to the Concord, Roxhill, Sanislo, Arbor Heights, Gatewood, West Seattle and Highland Park elementary schools and Denny International Middle School in the Southwest region of the school district -- an area which historically has had lower participation rates in instrumental music due to economic barriers.

This is in rebuttal to the letter from Robert Price concerning annexation, which was short on facts and repeated the same old propaganda we heard from the pro-annexation side before the election.

I found the claims made in this letter consisted of a lot of false accusations and misinformation.

Annexation, in fact, was an attempt at a power/land grab by a group of Burien and King County politicians working in concert to further their own ambitions.

Their political agendas unfortunately did not coincide with the best interests of the residents of Area Y or the residents of Burien.

Annexation was wisely turned down by a large majority of Area Y residents who refused to have the wool pulled over their eyes.

The defeat of annexation was a victory for democracy and a victory for the residents of area Y who prevailed in spite of a large sum of money spent promoting it by the city of Burien and the strong support of King County politicians who were desperate to get the red ink of Area Y off their balance sheet.

You might have seen the sirens and the smoke yesterday at Jensen's Smokehouse in Greenwood.

At 12:04 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 2, someone put in a 911 call reporting a fire at the Smokehouse's two-story business located at 10500 block of Greenwood Ave N. Responding firefighters were able to extinguish the flames in the outside generator. It took a little over half-an-hour to completely knock down the fire.

A creosote buildup in the ductwork was most likely ignited by an operating generator and convection oven, according to the Seattle Fire Investigator.

Damage was limited to the ductwork and the roof. Damage estimate is $40,000 to the structure and $10,000 to the contents. No injuries to report.

We put in a call to Jensen's Smokehouse and they said they are still open. Their biggest smoker is down, but they have two others that they can use.

Follow Ballard News-Tribune on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ballardnewstrib

And Twitter at http://twitter.com/ballardnewstrib

From the King County Sheriff's Office, details on a shooting that occurred in the early morning hours of Jan. 3 in White Center:

On 1/3/12 around 4:45 a.m. in the morning we responded to a call of a shooting in the area of the 9800 block of 15 Ave S.W. When we arrived we found a 42-year-old Burien man with an apparent shotgun wound to the leg.

A witness said he saw the victim and another man talking and then heard a loud bang. One of the males left the area and the other was on the ground with an injured leg from the shotgun. The injured man was unable to tell deputies what happened. The shotgun was recovered nearby.

It is unknown at this time how the man was shot.

The Rotary Club of West Seattle is holding a fundraiser/donation drive for Powerful Schools at Marination Ma Kai on Friday, Jan. 4.

Here are the details:

This Friday will be our first Friday event at Marination Ma Kai (1660 Harbor Ave S.W.) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for Powerful Schools.

Powerful Schools gives every child the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential. This means making college or career readiness the expected path for ALL children. Through literacy programs, arts and after-school classes, we work in pre-schools and elementary schools to prepare children right from the start.

Powerful Schools believes in an holistic approach to education. This includes striving to not only meet each of our programs expected outcomes, but also aligning all of our programs to our core values: the 4 E’s of Education.