February 2013

From the Seattle Police Blotter Written by Detective Jeff Kappel
Quick responding officers catch a burglar actively trying to break into a house in West Seattle.
On February 22nd at approximately 1:01 p.m. a witness saw a man trying to break into the rear door of a house in the 5000 block of 35th Avenue SW and called 911.

Officers quickly responded and set up containment around the residence. As an officer and sergeant approached the front of the house they encountered the male suspect trying to escape from the yard.
The suspect fled out the south gate but was intercepted by an officer who was on the south east side of the residence and blocked the suspect from going down into Camp Long.

The 24-year-old male suspect was taken into custody without further incident and booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary.

This remains an active and on-going burglary investigation.

The next planning meeting for the Delridge Produce Co-Op is Monday, February 25th at the Delridge Public Library from 6:30 to 7:45pm and this meeting has some significance.

It's been a long held dream and goal of the group to help end the food desert status of the Delridge neighborhood by providing a place to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.

To get there, the next step is a membership drive and an event to promote it. That event is set for Saturday, March 23rd at the Youngstown Cultural and Arts Center from 11am-1pm. More details will emerge as the date gets closer. But for now the need is for members. In a press release the group said:

"How can you help us? We need everyone to get the word out to your neighbors about the opportunity to purchase a member share to help us build this store! More to follow but please join us at a planning meeting, 4th Monday of every month, 6:30pm at the Delridge Public Library!"

On the agenda for the meeting are

• Promotional Materials
• Name Change
• Funding

UPDATED Saturday, 11:00 p.m.

For SLIDESHOW click on photo above, or photos from gallery below

Xahil McDonald, host:

"I think it's been a huge success and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. It was a way to get all the kids incorporated and having fun and feeling the same."

Patricia McDonald, Xahil's mother and Chief Sealth grad:

"I have made sure to surround (Xahil) with a lot of amazing people and experiences. Oh man, I'm just in awe all the time. The first Special Olympics event he went to he was so excited. He came back with a million pictures and wanted me to see all the photos of his new friends. It was a moment when you can see something open up for your kids, a whole area of the world that he didn't know that he loved so much. I am so proud. He has several offers of soccer scholarships for college. The name 'Xahil' is from Mayan folklore. His father's family is from Honduras."

Kristian Nilssen, Chief Sealth Senior, lives in WS, Special Olympics Soccer player with Xahil and was taking photographs at the dance:

Burien Arts’ Fifth Annual Highline Classic Jazz Festival is nearing. The big event takes place at the Landmark Event Center in Des Moines, Saturday March 9th from 2:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Featured are 15 bands in three music venues playing Straight Ahead Jazz classics, and early to mid -20th Century jazz styles, Dixieland, Gypsy Jazz, Blues, Ragtime and Big Band Swing. The fest promoters promise plenty of dancing, food and drink, and schmoozing with the jazzbos.

The festival was started by Burien musician and Festival Director Lance Haslund. His wife, Laurie, the volunteer coordinator, said he puts in four months of full-time work to prepare each year's event.

"We started it as a program and project for Burien Arts," said Lance. "We're board members. Burien Arts used to have an art gallery and are working on getting one opened again. We present Shakespeare in the Park and we started the Strawberry Festival.

Volunteers are needed to work at the Cancer Resource Center and its gift shop at Highline Medical Center in Burien. The resource center is a function of both the Highline Cancer Center and the American Cancer Society and is located by the front entrance of the Highline Cancer Center and across from Radiation Oncology - Swedish Cancer Institute at Highline Medical Center.

Volunteers will be asked to commit to four hours a week with the goal of a one-year commitment. Chances are you will be trained by volunteer, Billie Eberle, a retired Highline RN. In addition to selling pink breast cancer themed t-shirts and caps, volunteers direct folks to the numerous shelves stuffed with free books and pamphlets on an array of cancer-related topics. They also have a back room where everything is free, including wigs, scarves, donated hand-made caps, and breast prosthesis, some unused. There are also some intangibles expected of volunteers.

press release
Most people who cross this bridge every day are unaware of what lurks beneath – a prism of yellow-tagged, weathered and splitting wooden crossbeams and 60-year-old timber piles, sprawling 450 feet long over railroad tracks.

Contractor crews for the Washington State Department of Transportation this week brought in the heavy equipment to bring down and replace an elevated section of State Route 99 just south of the West Seattle Bridge. When they finish, they’ll leave Seattle’s SODO neighborhood with a stronger concrete bridge better equipped to withstand the test of time.

“If you’ve ever been underneath and heard the rattling of the wooden slats or seen the rotted-out cross beams, you would know why we are replacing it,” said Rick Rodda, WSDOT bridge engineer.

The bridge carries four lanes separated by concrete barrier. This weekend, Feb. 23-25, crews will close all lanes on SR 99 to shift traffic to the west side of the overpass. Work to demolish and rebuild the east side begins Feb. 25.

press release
The Seattle Department of Transportation will close a portion of SW Trenton Street next weekend starting Thursday morning, and the intersection of Delridge Way SW and SW Trenton Street next weekend starting Friday night. This work is part of the first phase of rebuilding Delridge Way SW between SW Orchard and SW Roxbury streets.

SW Trenton Street will be closed between Delridge Way SW and 20th Avenue SW beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday, February 28 for crews to break up and remove pavement on the east side of the intersection. This will reduce nighttime noise impacts during the around the clock intersection work that begins Friday at 7 p.m. and allow the concrete pour to begin earlier on Saturday. All areas are expected to re-open to traffic by 6 a.m. Monday, March 4, at the latest. Local access will be maintained.

For the closure of the Delridge/Trenton intersection, the detour will be as follows (see map at link):

· Northbound Delridge Way SW to SW Barton Place/Street to 35th Avenue SW to SW Thistle Street to Delridge Way SW

A power outage that has affected the Green Lake area has dminished from 4,095 customers to just 429, in the north area. Seattle Public Utilities Power Lines blog has the story:

First update: A power outage has occurred in north Seattle affecting 4,095 customers. Crews are enroute to determine the cause. The boundaries are on the North, 88th St,; to the west, Aurora Ave N; the east is 8th Ave NE and on the south, NE 53rd St. No estimated time of restoration has been determined.

Second update: Crews are onsite and have determined a car struck a power pole. Crews must replace some of the hardware that keeps the pole in place. Estimate power will be restored by 4 p.m. Outage first was reported about 12:30p.m. and left and estimated 4.096 customers without power.

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Update for March 15
It came down to the final hours, but West Seattle-based clothing line entrepreneurs Tomboy Exchange met (and slightly exceeded) their Kickstarter funding goal to make their first run of apparel designed for women in the 40+ demographic.

Here is their statement on reaching the goal, and thanks to all those who helped along the way:

After 30 day Kickstarter Campaign, TomboyX Exceeds $75K Goal
Tomboy Exchange raises funds through Kickstarter to produce first clothing line

Seattle, WA-- Tomboy Exchange, a new women’s clothing line, exceeded its Kickstarter goal of $75,000 in less than 30 days. Funds raised will launch TomboyX’s first line into full production and help start an online boutique.

“This has been an amazing experience and we are all overwhelmed by the strong show of support from tomboys everywhere, but especially right here in Seattle,” stated Fran Dunaway, CEO on TomboyX.

Update for March 5
Update from Chas Redmond, Sustainable West Seattle

Sustainable West Seattle received six applications for the $1000 Green Incubator Grant Program, made possible by a generous grant from the Coho Team at Windermere Agents.

SWS is now asking you - everyone - to weigh in on these applications. Please rate the six applications using this Green Incubator Grant Application SurveyMonkey link. The rating criteria for the survey is the same as SWS cited in the original announcement for the grant - Feasibility, Sustainability, Social and Economic Justice, Community Building, and Educational Elements. Please rate the six applications on each of these criteria.