May 2016

The annual Westside Awards Breakfast May 4, presented by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce at Salty's on Alki, honored local people and businesses nominated by community members.

The winners were:
Westside Not-for-Profit of the Year: West Seattle Helpline
Westside Emerging Business of the Year: HomeStreet Bank – West Seattle Branch
Westside Business of the Year: C & P Coffee
Westsider of the Year: Dave Montoure

Former Mayor Norm Rice spoke in a conversational style presentation with questions coming from Hamilton Gardiner, Partner at Holmquist & Gardiner LLC and the audience.

Rice noted the "can-do" attitude about this region and said "You need a strong banking and financial community to make the kinds of investments that everybody benefits from."

He politely declined to offer advice to current elected officials saying, "I didn't like anyone giving me advice so I try to keep my mouth shut and offer no comment."

information from King County Sheriff

At around 12:18am on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, King County Sheriff 911, received multiple calls of gunshots from residents in the area of SW 146 and 21st Ave SW. Callers reported hearing several shots being fired and observed a dark truck leaving the area at a high rate of speed. A Deputy coming into the area observed a truck matching the description given by the callers, leaving the area.

When the Deputy activated his lights to stop the vehicle, it sped away at a high rate of speed. Deputies initiated a pursuit of the vehicle that last several miles. During the pursuit, the truck drove onto S/B SR509 before eventually coming back into the city of Burien and the area of SW 146 / 21 Ave SW, where the initial shots calls came from. The pursuit ended at around 12:30am when the suspect’s truck turned into a driveway and became stuck.

Information from King County Sheriff

In the early morning hours of Sunday May 1st, 2016, King County Sheriff’s Deputies happened upon a person lying in the street, with a wheel chair next to them, near the intersection of SW 104 & 16th Ave SW. Deputies were able to quickly determine the victim, a 63 year old, Native American male, had been struck while trying to cross the street in his wheel chair. Deputies and North Highline Fire / Aid crews attempted to render aid but the man later died of his injuries.

The vehicle that had hit the man, was initially gone when Deputies first came upon the scene. However, approximately 4 hours later, a 51 yoa Hispanic male, returned to the scene and turned himself in to Deputies. The suspect admitted to knowing that he had hit something, but told Deputies he thought it was a shopping cart. When he learned it was a person he had hit, the suspect said he consulted a pastor and then came back to the scene to turn himself in.

The suspect was booked for investigation of Felony Hit and Run.

information from King County Sheriff

On April 30th, 2016, Deputies from the King County Sheriff’s Office and members of its contract cities participated in a special prescription drug take back and disposal program sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency. The program is designed to keep people, as well as their animals, and the environment in general, safe by keeping unused prescription drugs out of the wrong hands where they can harm people and out of the trash, landfills, and sewer systems where they can hurt animals and the environment.

At multiple Sheriff’s Office precincts and Contract City Police Stations around King County, residents were invited to turn in any and all unused medication anonymously and free of charge. Communities were notified via advertising and announcements in local print, radio, and social media, as well as notices posted at local pharmacies. This special event lasted just four hours, but in that short amount of time, the total weight of the unused medication that was turned in came in at just under 300lbs. The drugs will be turned over to and properly disposed of by the DEA.

Mother’s Day is almost here, so start shopping for the flowers or candy for Mom. But this year, why not also go beyond the traditional? Specifically, if your mother is still working but getting close to retirement, consider providing her with a gift that can help make her days as a retiree more pleasant.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Contribute to her IRA. As long as your mother is employed, she can contribute to an IRA, and she may already have one. If so, help her fund it for 2016. You can’t contribute directly to her IRA, but you can certainly write her a check for that purpose, and by doing so, you can make it easier for Mom to “max out” on her account this year. Assuming your mother is over 50, she can contribute up to $6,500 per year to her IRA. As you may know, an IRA can be a great way to save for retirement because it offers significant tax benefits. Contributions to a traditional IRA are typically tax-deductible, while any earnings can grow tax deferred. Roth IRA contributions are not deductible, but any earnings can grow tax free, provided the account owner meets certain conditions.

By Melinda Myers

Increase your harvest without increasing the size of your garden or workload. All you need is a bit of intensive planting, along with some low maintenance techniques.

Invest some time upfront to prepare the garden soil. This will save you time throughout the growing season.  Add several inches of organic matter and a slow release fertilizer into the top 8 to 12 inches of soil.  The organic matter improves drainage in clay soils and increases moisture retention in sandy soils. The slow release fertilizer feeds the plants for several months, reducing the number of applications needed.  You’ll have healthier plants that are better able to fend off pests and outcompete the weeds.

Match the plants with the right growing conditions. Tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables that produce fruit need full sun. Leafy crops like lettuce are more tolerant of shade. Check plant tags and seed packets for planting details or download a free gardening app, like Homegrown with Bonnie Plants, for plant information, maintenance tips, weather reports, and more.

A Ballard man is hoping to shape the future of electric vehicles and energy consumption in a big way and is about to launch his new electric car line.

Steve Leighty is President and founder of Ecocruise, an electric car company based out of Ballard. Leighty started a similar vehicle design company, Kasea Motorsports, in 1989. The company designed ATVs, motorcycles and scooters that were competitive in the industry for over 25 years. His office was based in Seattle.

From his experience with ATV’s, Leighty realized he wanted to make “cleaner” and more sustainable vehicles. He also saw a window emerging in the electric car industry, a new market for smaller electric vehicles.

A Ballard man is hoping to shape the future of electric vehicles and energy consumption in a big way and is about to launch his new electric car line.

Steve Leighty is President and founder of Ecocruise, an electric car company based out of Ballard. Leighty started a similar vehicle design company, Kasea Motorsports, in 1989. The company designed ATVs, motorcycles and scooters that were competitive in the industry for over 25 years. His office was based in Seattle.

From his experience with ATV’s, Leighty realized he wanted to make “cleaner” and more sustainable vehicles. He also saw a window emerging in the electric car industry, a new market for smaller electric vehicles.

Ballard construction site missing tools

A construction company working on a project located at the 2400 block of N.W. 64th Street is missing tools after a burglary on April 16. The complainant called police after she arrived at the scene and discovered the door was torn open. The lock was badly damaged. The complainant noticed tools strewn about and some larger tools missing. A power saw and other tools were taken. Police were able to recover fingerprints on a few items. The valued loss was $3,000.

Burglars go in through roof

A restaurant on Fourth Avenue N.W. and N.W. Market Street was broken into on April 20. The restaurant owner called police after she received an email from a neighbor who reported the property had been burglarized. When the owner arrived she found a hole had been cut in the ceiling. There was debris all over the floor. She also noticed the closing locks on the back door had been pried off. She did not notice anything stolen. Police were unable to recover any fingerprints.

May 3, 2016 marks the sixth year for the Seattle Foundation's GiveBIG event.  A one-day, online charitable giving event, GiveBIG is designed to raise money for our region's hard-working nonprofits.

Here are the links to the pages for local non-profits that need your help:

West Seattle Helpline

https://givebig.seattlefoundation.org/npo/west-seattle-helpline

Southwest Youth and Family Services
https://givebig.seattlefoundation.org/npo/southwest-youth-and-family-se…

Southwest Seattle Historical Society
https://givebig.seattlefoundation.org/npo/southwest-seattle-historical-…

West Seattle Food Bank
https://givebig.seattlefoundation.org/npo/west-seattle-food-bank

West Seattle Community Orchestra
https://givebig.seattlefoundation.org/npo/west-seattle-community-orches…

White Center Community Development Association
https://givebig.seattlefoundation.org/npo/white-center-community-develo…

White Center Food Bank