1st day in the office for Southwest Precinct Capt. Joe Kessler
This afternoon we got the chance to spend a few minutes talking with the new leader of West Seattle’s police force (they handle South Park too), Southwest Precinct Capt. Joe Kessler. This was his first official day in the office at the precinct (which is just east of Home Depot). He says he’s thrilled to be working in West Seattle because of strong community involvement — and he considers community participation in info-sharing here at WSB to be part of that. When it was clear some of the department’s top leaders would be moving around this year (we first reported the moves in late February), Capt. Kessler says the Southwest Precinct was his top choice. He says he’s worked before with many people who are based at the SWP, so they’ve already got a good working relationship to start with. As he gets settled in, we’ll be talking with him more about his plans for leading the team that’s working — with your help — to keep West Seattle safe. (Capt. Kessler’s predecessor in the SWP’s top role, Capt. Mike Fann, is now running the Traffic Unit.)
Beveridge Place Pub reopening delayed
Thanks to the people who just e-mailed and texted us to let us know that Beveridge Place Pub has sent out an e-mail update saying plans to reopen tomorrow in the new location next door, after closing the old location Sunday, are on hold because of inspection issues. We tried calling but got no answer; the e-mail forwarded to us goes on to say, “Unfortunately, we can’t provide an exact date for the new place right now, but we’re sure you understand we are trying to resolve things as fast as possible.”
Fighting colon cancer? Invitation from a West Seattle survivor
West Seattle mom of three Anita Mitchell is not just fighting colon cancer, she’s fighting to help other people who are battling it. And that’s why she took time to talk with WSB about how she’s doing and about a celebrity-led event in Seattle this Saturday that’s a must-attend for not just patients, but also their family and friends — an event that wouldn’t be happening if she hadn’t pushed for it:Read More
West Seattle Chamber of Commerce awards: 2 honored
That’s Tom Smith of Tom’s Automotive, honored at the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s annual Awards Breakfast attended by 105 people at Salty’s on Alki this morning as “Business of the Year” — as he mentions in our video, in business 37 years! (Thanks to WSB readers for contributing nominations!) Also honored this morning, Warren Lawless with the Community Service Award; he has been a businessman and community leader in West Seattle for more than 65 years. The awards were presented by deputy mayor Tim Ceis; among those in attendance were other political leaders including West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, and countless West Seattle business/community leaders. ADDED 11:52 AM: Here’s a short clip from Warren Lawless’s acceptance speech. He had many great quips drawing audience laughter, but this brief quote seemed to get to the heart of what he was honored for:
Admiral Safeway site: What do YOU want to see there?
That’s a new store that Safeway is building in Los Gatos, California, close in size to its current store in West Seattle’s Admiral District. Could a similar plan — underground parking, outdoor patio — be appropriate for the Admiral project that Safeway’s about to launch? It was one of many suggestions given to five Safeway reps who were on hand last night at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting. They had no presentation of their own to make — stating simply and quickly that they don’t even have a design outline for the site yet, and just wanted to hear thoughts from those at the meeting — and, from you:Read More
Fight against youth drinking still needs more fighters
On the 14th anniversary of the day when millions were shaken to learn Seattle grunge-rock megastar Kurt Cobain had ended years of substance abuse by committing suicide, an earnest group gathered tonight at South Seattle Community College in hopes of strategizing how to save today’s young people from getting anywhere near that kind of lethal low point. You probably heard about the anti-underage-drinking town-hall meeting ahead of time; organizer Renae Gaines from Madison Middle School worked hard to get the word out.Read More
Reader report: Supermarket employees’ unusual task
That photo is courtesy Bill Schrier, who witnessed a startling sight in Metropolitan Market tonight – he describes it as a man yelling and throwing merchandise – Bill says what you see in his photo are store employees who managed to get the man under control till help arrived. No more details at this point about what happened or whether everyone is OK; we will check with police tomorrow.
Mega-pothole alert for southbound Fauntleroy Way
This was so startling we didn’t even stop to note exactly what cross-street we were passing. But the blanket warning would be, avoid the left southbound lane of Fauntleroy in the Fairmount Springs vicinity (a couple curves before Morgan Junction) – our right wheel landed in a HUGE, jarring rut just now. Going to call 684-ROAD and report online ASAP but meantime, wanted to get out the word.
New coffee shop coming to West Seattle
That’s David Robertson and Paul Binder of PB&J Textiles in front of their old location at 7349 35th SW (map; next door to Olympic Heights Laundry, which they operate) – the space where they have just announced they will open Coffee at the Heights, target date mid-June. They have been working on it for a while but kept it under wraps until they were close to the final stage of the permit process for converting the space. Once Coffee at the Heights is up and running, they plan to be open 5:30 am till 8 pm, maybe later; they will serve coffee, pastry, desserts, and sandwiches (the sandwich operation might not be up when they first open, depending on how the Health Department approval process goes). Meanwhile, their current retail/production location for PB&J Textiles is offering something timely:
That’s the display in the south windows of PB&J at 5962 Fauntleroy (map) – reusable bags, just in time for the proposed city tax on non-reusable shopping bags. (As the display notes, $4 will get you one of their bags or potentially 20 non-reusable bags, your choice!) You can buy them right there at the shop.
Update: Pedestrian hit at 35th/Thistle
Just back from the scene (map). Victim is actually a 60-year-old woman, according to police, who also told WSB she was crossing against the light. Neighbors and officers were also helping the woman who hit her, who was sitting on the corner, sobbing inconsolably. Police say the woman who was hit should be OK – she was described as “stable” just as Medic 32 was about to pull away to take her to Harborview Medical Center to be checked out. The southbound lane was closed for a while but should be open again now as the scene clears. 11:59 AM ADDITION: We are choosing not to use the video we have that shows the driver, as police indicate it was not her fault. In this clip, as medics lift the victim onto a gurney to get her to M-32, you can somewhat hear the driver in the background (though we were standing as respectfully far away as we could) along with the voices of police/firefighters trying to comfort her. We think that’s an important part of the story; it was heartbreaking to hear. We are certainly going to think twice about jaywalking, even when it seems safe.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Bra-scattering burglar(s)
E-mailed late last night by Justin:
Just wanted to let our neighbors in the 9200 block of 12th Ave SW (Highland Park) know about our break-in . Sometime between 8:30 Monday morning and 5:30 Monday afternoon someone skinny broke one of our very small basement windows out and shimmied into our house. We lost very little (the window, a Dell laptop, a blue iPod shuffle and a Dell PDA) so we feel very lucky. The officer that stopped to take the report left with several liquor bottles that had been handled and a few batteries that were relocated in the house. None of the neighbors that were home this evening saw anything unfortunately. In addition the officer thought that the perpetrator was likely a juvenile due to the fact that they looked very carefully through our underwear drawers and scattered multiple brassieres around our driveway. The scene was so profound I backed my car into our rockery causing a minor fender bender in addition to our break-in. All in all a very troubling evening. If anyone thinks they have any information, call the southwest precinct and ask for Officer DeBella. Thanks.
Reminder: Admiral Safeway’s future on ANA agenda tomorrow
You saw it here first more than a month ago — word from Admiral Neighborhood Association president Mark Wainwright that Admiral Safeway was ready to “start the process of redeveloping the store.” Mark’s just sent out the reminder for tomorrow night’s ANA meeting with confirmation that the store site’s future is indeed on the agenda: “… some Safeway representatives and their design folks will join us to have a fairly informal discussion about the redevelopment of the Admiral store location. We won’t see any new design work at this point.The goal is to have a discussion about what people would like to see happen with the new development.” By the way, West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen will be a guest at the meeting, too. All are welcome, 7 pm tomorrow, Admiral Congregational church, California & Hill (map).
Thanks to Jeremy for the tip – since our last check of the King County website late last night, the Elliott Bay Water Taxi‘s full operating schedule
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