April 2014

Fraudulent fiend puts pressure for phony checks

April 2 – At 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 59th Street police responded to a robbery and assault. The complainant told officers that over the course of three days the suspect harassed him and forced him to withdraw large sums of money from his personal account. The suspect made first contact with the complainant at his job and asked, “Do you want to make some real money?” The complainant said he did. Then a later he noticed the suspect following him in his car and so he pulled over. The suspect got out of his car with another individual and slammed the complainant against his car, demanding his driver’s license and debit card. The suspect took a picture of the complainant’s driver’s license and threatened to hurt him if he didn’t cooperate. The next two days the suspect deposited and withdrew a series of forged checks totaling five thousand dollars while threatening to hurt the complainant if he didn’t cooperate. The complainant feared for his family and decided not to call the police. He received a bill from his bank for the total amount withdrawn. Police have no leads for the suspect.

By Anna Erickson

Within the past few months, increased rent prices in Ballard have forced tenants out of their homes along with local businesses.  

By the end of April, Ballard Hair Salon (1708 N.W. Market St.) will be moving out of their Northwest Market Street location and won’t be reopening at another location.

The 71-year-old owner of the salon, Norma Allison, said she is devastated to lose her shop after 22 years. This May would have marked the salon’s 23rd anniversary.

“I never dreamed I would go out this way,” said Allison. “I was looking forward to another couple of years.”

Allison rents the salon space from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Ballard-Alki Lodge #170, and said she found out about the rent increase in December. Property taxes and utility fees that weren’t originally part of her lease were also going to be added.

The news came at an especially trying time for Allison as she was undergoing surgeries for breast cancer treatment.

The $15 minimum wage debate has made some headway in Ballard. Annie Davis, founder of a 30-year-old Ballard based business, Annie’s Nannies, announced last week that she will be paying all of her employees $15 an hour.

Annie’s is a service that links clients to nannies. They employ 4 fulltime, 3 part-time and 60 temporary workers.

“I challenge every business that can afford it to do the same. My company’s new pay scale is my positive protest to draw attention to the need for a higher minimum wage and to pay everyone who works a living wage,” wrote Davis last week in a statement.

Though her employees were already making close to $15 an hour, Davis said that the little extra makes a difference.

“Most people working in Seattle can’t afford to live here. I want my employees to be able to live in the city they work in. … Even $15 an hour might not be enough to cover the high cost of living in Seattle,” said Davis.

By Matt Wendland

White Center corn stand robbed at gunpoint
According to the King County Sheriff’s Department, a food cart serving corn on the cob near the intersection of 15th Avenue S. and Roxbury in North Highline was robbed at gunpoint. The incident took place at just after 8PM on March 18th when the owner of Best Roasted Corner stand was approached by a man with a handgun. The suspect demanded the money from the stand’s cash register. The victim surrendered $100 of cash and the suspect fled east on foot down S.W. 98th Street. Police arrived shortly after the report of the crime but were unable to locate the suspect. Police have yet to release an update on the case.

Teens accused of setting bus-stop garbage on fire

By Andrea Reay, Executive Director, Discover Burien

The best part of any travel adventure for me is sampling the local cuisine. Maybe it’s because I’m Italian and grew up in a family that planned dinner at breakfast, or maybe it’s because food tells the story of a place and culture better than any travel guide, or maybe it’s just because I’m always hungry. Whatever the driving force, the first thing I do whenever I visit somewhere new is look for a great place to eat.

What is so amazing about Burien is that you don’t have to get on an airplane to experience different cultures or gain new perspective. Whether you’re hungry for Mexican, French, German, Thai, Indian, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Australian, Irish, Mediterranean, or Vietnamese, the world is literally right at your doorstep. Within the 10 square miles of Burien we have over 100 restaurants and specialty food shops, offering cuisine from all over the globe.

A motorcyclist killed after a car-motorcycle collision in Burien that deputies say involved alcohol has been identified as Lee Cornett, 40, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The collision occurred just after 9 p.m. in the 400 block of Southwest 156th Street, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office.

The motorcyclist, a 40-year-old Tukwila resident, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The rider of a another motorcycle, who was traveling behind the first, suffered minor injuries while trying to avoid the collision.

The driver of the car also suffered minor injuries and was taken to Highline Hospital, police said. Because investigators believe he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision, he has been booked into jail on investigation of vehicular homicide, the sheriff’s office says.

Detectives from the sheriff’s Major Accident Response and Reconstruction Unit responded to the scene and will be conducting the investigation.

Just so ya know, in the world of television, there are Regional Emmy Awards (The ones you never see on TV) and National Awards that you have probably seen or heard of. There are many categories such as The Best Local News cast, best show, best talent, best reporter, best producer etc. etc. etc. It’s important to note here that they also add and subtract categories every year. In my world, winning an Emmy is everything. I was just as taken in as the next talent and every year I would scramble to package the very best show and send it in hoping to snag the gold. Over the years I was nominated for an Emmy in categories like,Outstanding Talent ,best Entertainment segment, best entertainment series for 13 times.

Drivers on SR 99 in Seattle will soon see a noise-blocking wall rise out of the ground near the spot where crews will dig a pit to reach and repair Bertha, the SR 99 tunneling machine. The double-plywood wall, which will be as tall as the lower deck of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, is designed to shield neighbors from construction noise associated with the repairs. It will stretch along the west side of the viaduct between South Jackson and South Main streets. Construction of the wall should take about two weeks.