September 2013

The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, for the 2nd year, sponsored a fund raising effort for its operations by cruising around Puget Sound aboard Jack Miller's converted trawler the Baltic Sea. More than 46 members bought tickets for the event Sept. 19.

Executive Director of WestSide Baby, Nancy Woodland said, "The Cruise for Commerce is the one fundraising event the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce does all year. We partner up with the amazing Jack Miller who donates his boat for us to bring members and friends of the Chamber out. We raise funds to build up the infrastructure behind the office and all of the systems that keep it running. We hope it provides the networking in a relaxed and fun atmosphere for folks to come together all in support of the West Seattle business community."

by Chris Carlson

The Ballard News-Tribune just wrote about the Benito Chicago Eatery surviving as a small Ballard restaurant for 15 months, but now they will have competition in a fairly unfulfilled niche in Seattle: Patxi's Chicago Pizza.

Patxi's is moving to the old Sanborn building (5323 Ballard Ave NW), around since 1901 (when it was a hardware store built by Gustavas B. Sanborn), and will be slinging pies when their buildout of their space is done, sometime next year.

The pizza joint is Palo Alto-based, created ten years ago with expert pizza maker Francisco "Patxi" Azpiroz at the helm. It's since expanded into a chain, with locations throughout California and Colorado. And now Ballard.

The chain has catapulted in the last few years. According to pizzamarketplace.com, Patxi's has experienced a three-year growth rate of 342 percent, with $14.2 million in revenue. In 2009, the brand's revenues were $3.2 million. The company has added 298 jobs in the past three years and now employs 418 people. (Phew.)

The moment Maria Federici is most known for is one she has no recollection of.

It was approaching midnight on Feb. 22, 2004 when the young, attractive 24-year-old Renton woman was driving home from a bartending shift at a Kirkland club on I-405. She found herself behind a rented U-Haul trailer with an improperly secured load when that moment struck.

A large piece of particle board broke free from the load, crashed through Maria’s windshield and into her face, causing serious brain trauma, structural damage and permanently taking away her sight.

The driver was tracked down but, with no laws against improperly securing your load, he was never charged with a crime.

In the aftermath Maria’s mother, Robin Abel, went on a crusade to change that. In 2005, Washington lawmakers passed “Maria’s Law,” criminalizing failure to properly secure a load.

Nearly a decade after the accident, and after more reconstructive surgery than she can recall, Maria has decided to tell the rest of the story with her self-published book “Obstacles … Bring ‘Em.”

The new models of Apple's iPhone (5S and 5C) went on sale on Sept. 20 and widespread reports of constrained supply rang true in West Seattle as well.

As a case in point, the Morgan Street AT&T store had no 64GB models and no gold or white 5s models at all. They can be ordered online, however.

The line outside was small, just a few people long but that store, while they were not allowed to disclose the number they got, expected to sell out today.

The phone is available at various resellers around West Seattle including Verizon, T-Mobile, and Radio Shack.

The mystery of the disappearing bicycle seat

Sept. 16, 9:34 a.m., 6000 Block of 36th Ave NW -- An unknown suspect entered a secure parking garage of an apartment complex and stole the seat to a woman's bicycle. The bicycle was locked inside a fenced-in area in the parking garage at the time of theft. Entry was not forced into the garage or the fence. No suspect information was available at the time of report and no evidence was found at the scene.

Burglar steals jewelry, MacBook

Sept. 13, 8:29 p.m., 21st Ave NW -- A woman was noticeably upset after her home had been burglarized. A little bit incoherent and unable to stay on topic, she said she worked long hours and had been away from her house for about 12 hours. When she arrived home, she discovered that someone had been in her residence, rifled through her dresser drawers and bedroom closet, and that her cat was missing. (The cat was later found in the basement, undisturbed.)

The victim said she was missing $20,000 in jewelry and a MacBook Pro. Her televisions, credit cards and checkbooks were left undisturbed.

South Seattle Community College starts class on Sept. 23, and the 19th was a day of celebration for the school's past, and a chance to look forward to this coming year.

SSCC's Kevin Maloney shared this photo of President Gary Oertli speaking during the event and the following details:

South Seattle Community College hosted its annual “Salute to South” celebration on September 19. The event is a community reception, open to the public, that allowed South to celebrate the upcoming academic year, that starts on Monday, September 23.

For South Seattle Community College President Gary Oertli, events like this help strengthen ties to its community.

“Events like this helps build community. Our mission is to respond to the needs of the community,” Oertli explained. “The more we engage with our community, to find out what their needs are, the better we become as an institution.”

SSCC is located on 16th Ave. S.W. in West Seattle.

This dog was found wandering into someones yard earlier today. It's very friendly, loving, and really misses its family. Please contact Burien C.A.R.E.S. if you have any info on its owner,

Burien C.A.R.E.S.
Community Animal Resource
& Education Society
(206) 812-2737

PARK(ing) Day, the day that parking spaces get turned into little parks, is coming to Ballard today, Sept. 20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Currently on the map (which can be found at http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/seattleparkingday.htm), there are three locations in Ballard.

The Light Table Design Collective, a group of UW graduates from the College of Built Environments, will have a space setup on Ballard Ave between Vernon and 22nd.

Secret Garden Books will have two locations setup: the first is outside their store (2214 NW Market St), and the second will be in front of the Scoop at Walter's (6400 block of 32nd Avenue NW).

Outdoor reading and board games will be available at both, but the one in front of Walter's will have an extra treat: Ballard News-Tribune columnist Peggy Sturdivant will be hosting an "Ask Peggy" booth. (If you're not in the know, Peggy is something like the queen of Ballard; she knows and connects everybody. Also we're sure she's full of insight and can solve all your relationship problems, or at least have a witty answer.)

With their summer hiatus in the rearview, the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council met on Sept. 17 to discuss far-ranging safety concerns with Seattle Police Southwest Precinct second-in-command Lt. Pierre Davis, who said he’s confident recent property crime spikes will be down for a while with two high-profile arrests made recently.

Before launching into Q and A with the audience, WSCP President Richard Miller asked those in attendance to state where they live and whether their neighborhood feels safer today than it did a year ago. The unanimous answer, while not surprising for people attending a crime prevention meeting, was that things seemed less safe, with more property crime hitting either them personally or their neighbors. One attendee mentioned it could just be that people are more aware of the crime occurring in West Seattle than they’ve been in the past, thanks in large part to a media focus on it.

After the roundtable, a man asked Lt. Davis point blank: Is crime up in West Seattle?