West Seattle, Washington
05 Thursday
First came Löwman Bräu – then Whale Tail Ale … The next charity-benefiting brew to be debuted by the West Seattle/White Center beverage community is almost ready, and this time, YOU get a chance to name it! Jeff Gilbert from Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) – one of nine participating establishments – shares the announcement:
NAME THE NEXT WEST SEATTLE/WHITE CENTER CHARITY BEER A COMMUNITY-WIDE CONTEST MARCH 1, 2012 – MARCH 18, 2012
~ brought to you by ~ Big Al Brewing, The Feedback Lounge, West 5, Shadowland, Mission, The Bridge, Locöl, Beveridge Place Pub and Company Bar
It’s that time again and we’re about to premiere the third of three West Seattle/White Center charity beers crafted by BIG AL BREWING – and we’re inviting YOU to give it a name!
Last year we debuted LÖWMAN BRÄU (named after West Seattle’s Lowman Beach) and WHALE TAIL ALE (in homage to the famous whale tale sculpture on the Alki Elementary playground). This year the naming rights are given over to the West Seattle/White Center communities and all the prestige that comes with it!
Come up with a name that is West Seattle/White Center-centric and e-mail it to us. The author/authorette of the winning name will receive a $25 gift certificate from THE FEEDBACK LOUNGE, WEST 5, MISSION, SHADOWLAND, LOCÖL, BIG AL BREWING, THE BRIDGE, BEVERIDGE PUB PLACE and COMPANY BAR ($225 value), along with a T-shirt from each of these fine establishments ($150 value).
That’s not all:
Last night on partner site White Center Now, we reported that Highline Public Schools had offered its superintendent job to Dr. Susan Enfield, who’s been serving as interim Seattle superintendent but didn’t want the permanent job. This morning, Dr. Enfield announced she’s taking the job in Highline – the district that includes White Center and Burien – pending contract finalization. Details from our partners at the Seattle Times.
Though they are in White Center, their experimental delivery zone includes part of West Seattle, so here’s what Proletariat Pizza just announced (via e-mail to us, as well as a note on Facebook):
We’re taking a leap of faith and will be trying out delivery tonight. Monday through Wednesday only, rough boundaries are 35th to the west, 4th to the east,
TrentonThistle to the north and 112th to the south (Arbor Heights, just call first, we’ll likely make an exception if you’re just outside the boundaries.) $2 delivery fee. Whole pizzas only (no halves), drinks, salad and dessert, but sadly, no beer and wine delivery. And all this is subject to change as we get it all figured out, which will likely take some time.
The FB version from Proletariat co-proprietor Stefanie mentioned a slightly-further-north border (Thistle), so we have a followup question back out to clarify.
2:55 PM UPDATE: Thistle it is.
So many eagle sightings – and yet, each sighting, each photo, brings something new to notice. From photographer/writer Trileigh Tucker, the photo above – taken this morning – and her explanation:
Lots of eagle activity in Lincoln Park these days: calling back and forth, challenging to and by juvenile eagles, the husband eagle bringing food to impress his wife. Pretty exciting times as the courtship season ramps up!
Trileigh keeps a website with more pictures/words about some of her wildlife sightings, and says it includes a new update on the snowy owls that have been delighting birdwatchers in Western Washington (West Seattle included – remember this November photo?).
Burien’s bid to annex White Center and most of the rest of what remains of unincorporated North Highline (the green “Area Y” in the map above) is fairly far down the road, as we’ve been reporting on partner site White Center Now, but in case it somehow stalls, Seattle is retaining its potential interest. That’s the bottom line of a brief discussion today by the Seattle City Council‘s Economic Resiliency and Government Relations Committee.
Last year, Seattle councilmembers promised to decide by this month whether they would continue supporting the status of White Center (etc.) as a “potential annexation area,” despite having said that they didn’t think they could afford to pursue it and so wouldn’t get in Burien’s way; today’s discussion fulfills that promise. City staff said there wasn’t much to lose in keeping it designated as a “potential annexation area” – right now, Burien is waiting to see if the Legislature will preserve or cut a tax-related funding source that is vital to keeping the annexation affordable for them (or any other city). Even if they do, Burien then needs to take the matter to voters in the area, before annexation would be final.
Meantime, Seattle is expected to move forward on annexing some unincorporated turf that isn’t part of what Burien is pursuing, the so-called “Sliver by the River” in the South Park area and the “Duwamish Triangle,” with a council discussion planned March 5th.
The man charged with second-degree murder in last August’s White Center murder of 23-year-old Sweetheart Failautusi has struck a plea bargain. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells WSB that Anthony Haroldlee Smith pleaded guilty this morning to that same charge, acknowledging he is to blame for the deadly shooting at 15th and Roxbury in the early-morning hours of August 16th. Sentencing range is 134-234 months; KCPAO spokesperson Ian Goodhew says the “agreed recommendation” for sentencing will be 15 years. He adds, “Sweetheart’s family felt the agreement was the right thing to do to assure a conviction and have the certainty of the mid-range recommendation as opposed to him possibly receiving a lower sentence.” Smith is to be sentenced March 23rd at 1:45 pm by King County Superior Court Mary Yu.
Thanks to Eric and Kristen, who both sent word of what looked like a car-bicycle crash at 8th and Roxbury (map) earlier this morning – but was instead a case of a pedestrian hit by a car, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West. (It’s their jurisdiction because it happened on the county side of the Highland Park/White Center line, though as you can see in the photo, which Eric sent, Seattle Police helped out.) Sgt. West says the driver was southbound on 8th, getting ready to turn left (eastbound) onto Roxbury, and was apparently “blinded by the sun” when she hit a 67-year-old woman who was walking northbound across the street. She was driving very slowly, Sgt. West says, so the pedestrian suffered only “very minor injuries.” The bicycle seen on the ground by passersby belonged to a witness who stopped to help, NOT to the victim, according to Sgt. West.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog/White Center Now editor
White Center is where Justin Cline and Ann Magyar launched Full Tilt Ice Cream, and it’s where they’re adding an additional business space to facilitate more growth.
We were there two hours ago when Justin got the keys (from broker Mary K. Wynn, left) to the 16th SW space on the south block of downtown White Center that was briefly known as GAME Lounge, before that the Hang Around and The Wall, among other identities – like a fancy restaurant called Epicure.
But he has one other motivation besides more room to facilitate growth: Read More
On partner site White Center Now on Tuesday night, we reported on a “takeover”-style armed robbery at the Pawn Pros shop in WC. Today the King County Sheriff’s Office is distributing surveillance video recorded during the robbery, and asking that anyone with information about the robbers’ identities (or anything else related to the crime) please call them at (206) 296-3311.
MURDER SUSPECT IN COURT: On partner site White Center Now, we just added video to our courthouse coverage of this morning’s arraignment of Cu Van Truong, charged with murder in the shooting death of Jason Saechao at Seattle Roll Bakery last month. Truong pleaded not guilty and is scheudled to return to court in two weeks.
TWO READER REPORTS … for West Seattle Crime Watch this morning, both with photos. First, from Bill:
A sacred image was stolen from under the giant poplar at the end of my driveway at the west (21st Ave SW) entrance to the SW Graham Hill Climb sometime between about 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, January 10, and 7:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 11.
Big, old trees, especially, may be possessed of female tree spirits, which can be malevolent if not properly propitiated. Reward, no questions asked. Please contact Bill, 206.768.0170
And from Jamie:
I wanted to report a hit and run. Happened January 10th during the day sometime, on 21st ave SW.
(updated) In the 9400 block, Jamie adds.
Last but not least, as we were finishing this, we got word from Richard Miller of the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council that he has confirmed a guest speaker for next Tuesday’s meeting:
We have Officer William Witt from the Aggressive Driving Team. Officer Witt is unique in that he is also a DUI Officer as well as being part of the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Team.
Want to know how the ADRT – subject of so many WSB discussions! – works? Perfect opportunity. 7 pm Tuesday, Southwest Precinct meeting room (Webster/Delridge), all welcome.
UPDATE: The autistic Burien teenager reported as missing in White Center turns out to have been safe after all, at Harborview Medical Center. King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. John Urquhart tells WSB that the 15-year-old was found on a roadside by someone late this morning, and was actually at Harborview Medical Center long before everyone realized he was the boy that KCSO asked the public to help find. So bottom line, he’s OK. Our original story is after the jump:
We have just added details from court documents to our White Center Now report on the first-degree-murder charge filed this afternoon against the suspect in Wednesday morning’s deadly shooting, 25-year-old Cu Van Truong. According to court documents, the dispute started over a piece of jewelry. The full story is here.
Some new information in the deadly White Center shooting, after the first court appearance of the 25-year-old West Seattle man arrested less than 10 hours after it happened. We’ve just published the update on partner site White Center Now.
New information just in from the King County Sheriff’s Office – a suspect is now in custody in this morning’s deadly shooting at Seattle Roll Bakery in White Center, and the motive was not robbery after all. Full details on White Center Now.
12:47 AM: We’ve been covering a post-midnight shooting on partner site White Center Now, but we’re also hearing that Seattle Police are helping search, since the suspect was last seen headed this way, so we wanted to make sure you knew that ongoing coverage is here.
2:21 AM: We’ve updated the WCN story with video of King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West confirming the victim was killed, and that it apparently happened during a robbery at Seattle Roll Bakery. No arrest so far, but there were witnesses, so Sgt. West is hopeful there will be a description to share later this morning.
5:30 AM: Once that new information is out, we’ll have updates here and on WCN. TV crews are live in WC for the morning newscasts, but the reports we’ve seen so far haven’t had anything more than what we all learned from Sgt. West three-plus hours ago.
In case you haven’t checked out our partner site White Center Now lately … we wanted to call your attention to two stories:
‘CHICKEN FRIDAY CHRISTMAS’: “Sometimes the good guys wear black,” concludes Joe Heisler’s story about this bighearted holiday event that gave the White Center Food Bank a Christmastime helping hand (and then some). Read it here.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE SKATE-BOOT SIGN? WCN published a call for clues/ideas about what became of the skate-boot sign that adorned the now-Southgate Roller Rink decades ago. Read it here (and see the photo).
You can check White Center Now’s headlines right here on WSB any time – click the tab under the header that currently says “WC” (and expands to “White Center” when the line of tabs is a little less crowded) – here’s the direct link.
With less than two weeks till Christmas, the giving trees, food drives, diaper drives, etc., all acquire a new sense of urgency – as does the need for volunteer help at some local nonprofits. One of them is the White Center Food Bank – which, remember, serves part of West Seattle too – and Ann just sent this request:
We are still looking for volunteers for our holiday distribution on Monday, December 19 from 12:30 – 3:30. Volunteers will assist clients that have signed up for holiday distribution by assisting clients to gather foods from our distribution line during this time period. Best for adults, volunteers will be on their feet for the time period and should dress warmly. If anyone can assist, contact Audrey Zemke at 206-762-2848 or email audrey@whitecenterfoodbank.org. Thank you!
Please take a minute when you can and scroll down the West Seattle Holidays page for some of the other giving opportunities around our area.
This weekend’s second local tree-lighting ceremony (after Our Lady of Guadalupe on Friday) is now history, and festive history at that! With a trilingual countdown, the lights went on at Veterans’ Triangle Park (16th/Roxbury), as the White Center community celebrated its 2nd annual tree lighting. Last year, a longrunning effort to get power to the mini-park finally succeeded in time for the first tree-lighting ceremony (as reported on our partner site White Center Now). This year’s tree arrived just two days ago, as we showed you on Friday. Detailed coverage with more photos is in the works on White Center Now; we’re also adding this tree to our updated-daily map of local holiday lights – find it here or on the WSB West Seattle Holidays page.
A stalwart group of Santa’s helpers, including White Center business-community leaders, just achieved a milestone in the WC/South Delridge holiday season – raising the official Christmas tree in the Delridge Triangle mini-park (16th/Roxbury) for the second year. As you can see in our video, bright sunshine and good cheer certainly helped. All are welcome to the tree lighting this Sunday night at 5 pm. Santa himself will be there, along with carolers, we hear. (More WC/West Seattle holiday-event info here.)
Till 7 pm, White Center Food Bank‘s turkey drive continues – frozen turkeys, chickens, other kinds of holiday food; WC Food Bank executive director Rick Jump told us when we dropped by a while ago that they had about 150 turkeys but need 700. They also need cereal, cake mix, crackers, cookies, among other types of “trimmings” (longer list in our original announcement). The White Center Food Bank – which serves southern West Seattle as well as WC and environs – is at 10829 8th SW (map). If you can’t make it to WC, the West Seattle Food Bank at 35th/Morgan is accepting turkeys today too, 4-5 pm.
1:52 PM: We’re outside the GAME Collective medical-marijuana “lounge” in downtown White Center – where the Drug Enforcement Administration has a significant presence at the moment. The DEA tells us it’s part of an “ongoing operation” and that they will have a statement “in a few hours.”
Regional-media sources (here’s KING 5‘s story; here’s The Olympian’s story) are reporting a series of raids at medical-marijuana operations all over the region; we’re checking on the status of others in West Seattle/White Center. More to come.
2:32 PM: We have just driven by three West Seattle medical-marijuana dispensaries, including the GAME Collective’s California SW location; no sign of current police activity at any of them.
5:54 PM: Statement just in from the DEA, in its entirety:
DEA SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE MATTHEW G. BARNES STATEMENT REGARDING MARIJUANA ENFORCEMENT
It has never been our policy to target individuals with serious illnesses. However, there are those operating commercial storefronts cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana under the guise of state medical marijuana laws and exploiting such activities to satisfy their own personal greed. The DEA remains committed to the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in all states.
The coordinated enforcement actions of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and our state and local law enforcement partners involve violations of both federal and state law.
The DEA will exercise its investigative authority to pursue criminal actions for any violation of federal law, when warranted. This includes investigating organizations or individuals that grow, manufacture or distribute any illegal drug to include marijuana, and those who rent or maintain a property to facilitate drug trafficking.
8:58 PM UPDATE: We also have received a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:
Today Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local law enforcement executed search warrants in four ongoing federal investigations in Western Washington relating to illegal drug distribution and other crimes in violation of federal law. Each of the investigations targets commercial enterprises that purport to operate as “medical” marijuana establishments but also fail to comply with applicable state law.
The White Center Food Bank not only serves our neighbors to the south in its namesake community, it also serves people in West Seattle as far north as SW Myrtle. So you’re helping people in both communities if you can respond to this request, just received (note it’s actually two requests in one – for turkey donations, and for volunteer holiday-distribution help):
On November 19 from 9 am until 7 pm, White Center Food Bank will be holding a Turkey Drive to collect donated frozen turkeys and chickens for their upcoming Thanksgiving holiday distribution. White Center Food bank expects to serve over 1,000 families for the holiday. This year’s turkey shortage combined with high wholesale prices (currently $1.25 a pound) make it difficult for the food bank to purchase turkeys at normally deep discounts. Starting (today), local sales and deals on turkeys will be posted on the White Center Food Bank’s Facebook page. Other meal items that are needed include: olives, cranberry sauce, pickles, cookie or cake mixes, cool whip or whipping cream, pumpkin, any type of canned milk, muffin mixes and pie crust mixes.
To donate, any turkey or chicken should be frozen. White Center Food Bank located at 10829 8th Avenue SW will be open November 19 until 7 pm to accept any donation. Other times to drop off are available; please call 206-762-2848. Volunteers are still needed to assist with holiday distribution as well including Monday through Wednesday, November 21-23 from 12:30-3:30 pm.
Here’s the WC Food Bank’s post this morning about turkey deals (got one to add?). P.S. We’re compiling requests for holiday help – here’s how to send one.
(Photo by Deanie Schwarz for WSB)
3:56 PM: Big emergency response to 3rd SW/Olson Place (map) just past the east end of Roxbury – there’s a crash that went out as an “automobile rescue” call. Our crew is there and we’ll have more shortly – for now, though, avoid the area, which is a busy route to and from Highway 509.
4:44 PM: From WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz – Three people were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The road is not likely to clear any time soon.
(Photo by Katie Meyer for WSB)
5:19 PM: A total of three vehicles were involved, according to WSB contributor Katie Meyer. She says fire crews had to cut the top off one car to get the patient out safely. Still no word when the road might reopen.
8:38 PM: If you haven’t seen this in comments already – the road has reopened.
10:32 PM: It apparently then closed again – but is now reported as reopened. Meantime, police have published their account to SPD Blotter:
On November 11th at approximately 3:23 p.m. officers responded to the area of Olson Place SW and SW Cambridge Place for a multiple-vehicle head on collision with life-threatening injuries.
Preliminary investigation indicates that a 51-year-old male was driving westbound in his Nissan Pathfinder. The driver crossed the centerline and struck a 1999 Saturn head on. The driver of the Saturn, a 22-year-old male, was transported to Harborview Medical Center by SFD medics with non-life-threatening injuries.
The Pathfinder then spun around and was struck on the driver’s side by an eastbound, on-coming Toyota Camry. The Camry was being driven by a 63-year-old female, who was subsequently transported to Harborview Medical Center by SFD medics with life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Pathfinder was transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Officers evaluated the driver of the Pathfinder for signs of impairment due to alcohol and/or drugs. A blood draw was performed and the laboratory results are pending further investigation.
There were no citations issued at the scene, which is standard procedure in traffic incidents involving serious injuries, and that subsequently require collision reconstruction and extensive follow up investigation.
Traffic Collision Investigation Squad detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.
The road was closed in both directions and traffic re-routed so detectives could effectively conduct their on-scene investigation.
| 8 COMMENTS