All posts by Jason

Crime, Life on the Hill

Large police response on the north end of the hill

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After a case of misidentification at the UW in pursuit of the suspected Parkland shooter, police have swarmed north Beacon Hill, concentrated mainly around the Jungle and Jose Rizal Bridge near Amazon. BHNW scanner logs reported a possible sighting of the shooting suspect near 21st and McClellan earlier this morning, and neighbor Quoc Tang sent a note:

When I left for work this morning, there were media vehicles, police vehicles, and an armored car with officers in camouflage uniforms hanging off the side, they were driving around the neighborhood. It also looked like they may have had 17th blocked off as well.

Best to follow BHB on Twitter for updates this morning.

10:20 Update: Lewis Kamb in the Tacoma News Tribune:

SWAT units arrived at a duplex on 17th Avenue South in the Beacon Hill neighborhood about 9 a.m., according to neighbors, and ordered a resident to come out. A neighbor saw a middle-aged woman come to the door in her pajamas. Police aren’t confirming anything, but the buzz is that she was wanted for questioning in relation to the manhunt. The house is now secured and police may have either removed the woman or taken her from the house.

10:32 Update: From Travis Mayfield on Twitter:

Police have cleared the scene here at Jose Rizal Park on Beacon Hill.

10:37 Update: A description and photo of the scene on 17th from Pete Hathaway, posted to the mailing list:

police-on-17th-20091130
Click the image for the full-size version.

The two armored police yielded about a dozen police armed with assault weapons and a bullhorn, directing the occupants to lay down inside. They went into the house without an incident. When they left, about a dozen sheriff and other officers (detectives I would assume) pulled up in regular vehicles and spent over an hour in and around the house. Eventually one person was brought out and put into a vehicle. Several full brown paper bags were brought out and loaded into a different vehicle.

Crime, Health and Safety

Crime notes: Safety tips, more burglaries, and doorbell-ringers

6 Comments

Chris Lew forwarded some helpful crime tips:

Hi Neighbors,

There is a concern amongst neighbors regarding crime in the area. In the past month, a couple houses have been broken into. We would just like to share some ideas on keeping each other safe.

Package and mail theft
It’s the holiday season and packages on your door are a target. If you can, have packages sent to your workplace. Or tell UPS and Fedex not to leave packages. You may want to consider leaving a note at your door that packages should be held and picked up at their station.

If your mail is stolen, it is a federal crime. Please report it to the post office.

Suspicious activity
There are reports of people that look out of place, looking in people’s houses or yards. A couple weeks ago some homeless people were caught breaking in around Swift Avenue. There are homeless encampments in the greenbelt areas.

Depending on the situation, suspicious activity can be reported to 911 for emergencies or 206-625-5011 for the non-emergency police line.

Door-to-door sales
There has also been an increase of solicitors. They may say they are selling newspaper subscriptions or funding neighborhood clean up efforts. Ask for ID, literature and/or a receipt. Don’t be fooled by a name. Some people use sympathetic sounding names, or names that closely resemble those of respected, well-established charities.

The best policy is to donate directly through an organization’s website. Know a charity before you give. Check them out on the BBB.

We need to show that we’re watching the neighborhood. One thing I do is to take pictures. If you see something, take a photo on your camera or phone. Do it with suspicious cars (try to include the license plate) as well as people. (In fact, I’ll try to keep my camera near the door in case the doorbell rings.) Even if it’s not museum quality, the photo could be useful, after the fact, since it will give an indication of time and location. Remember, that anything out in the public can be photographed. But you cannot shoot inside people’s homes without their permission, as they have a reasonable expectation of privacy according to law.

Please pass this info to your neighbors.

Chris provided a PDF version of these tips from BHNW as well.

Thanks, Chris!

* * *

Select items from the BHNW scanner blotter:

  • 11/19 1:45pm Vehicle break-in near 15th and Hanford
  • 11/19 9:15pm Burglary victims identified suspects near Spokane and Beacon, threats exchanged
  • 11/20 1:30pm Two men casing houses, looking in windows near 13th and Nevada
  • 11/21 12:15pm Burglary near 39th and Rose
  • 11/22 10:45am Stolen vehicle found near Beacon and Ferdinand
  • 11/22 1:15pm Burglary near Beacon and Brandon
  • 11/23 9:00pm Doorbell ringer ran when resident answered door near 15th and Massachusetts
  • 11/23 9:15pm Vehicle lost control while being pushed near 19th and Bayview

And some reports from the BAN and Beacon Hill mailing lists:

  • Vehicle break-in near 19th and College, some time between 6:30 and 10:30pm, 11/23. North Face jacket and backpack stolen.
  • Vehicle break-in near 20th and Bayview some time after 9pm, 11/23.
  • Burglary near 19th and Hill around 10am, 11/23.
  • The fellow from 9pm on 11/23 was also seen near 15th and State an hour earlier.

Thanks to the BHNW volunteers and everyone on the mailing lists!

Lost and Found

Pets: lost, found, and in school

Sophie is still missing. From Craigslist:

500.00 reward for finding our lost cat
Sophie is a 7 year old spayed gray and white fluffy cat with greenish-yellow eyes. She was last seen around 7pm on September 25th, 2009 and was wearing a bright pink collar with silver sparkles on it and a small pink bell attached. She enjoys hiding out in garages and would likely be a little skittish unless hungry. We miss her terribly and need to have her back home with us — she’s a true member of our family. If you have any sort of information please, please contact us as soon as possible — no questions asked, we just desperately want her back home. Life just isn’t the same without our girl. (206) 723-1608. Thank you so much.

* * *

Contact Ely if you know where this dog belongs.
Contact Ely if you know where this dog belongs.

This red-coated dog was found around 7:30pm Tuesday evening running around the intersection near the fire station at Beacon and Spokane. Please call Ely at 206-478-8930 if you can help find his owner.

* * *

First graders at Beacon Hill Elementary got a visit from some adorable pit bulls.

Urban Planning

El Centro also seeks the community’s development input

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Photo by Wendi
Photo by Wendi

Update: The survey form has been updated. See below for the links to the new questionnaire. They need responses by noon on Sunday, November 29th. Thanks for sending along the new form and revised due date, Chris!

Elliott Jones, Development Assistant with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps at El Centro de la Raza sent this to the mailing list today:

If you’re involved with El Centro de la Raza at all, you know that we’ve been working for a few years on finalizing plans to develop the South end of our property (directly across from the Light Rail Station along Lander St.). We are extremely excited because now that the Light Rail is up and running, it won’t be too long before we get to develop the property and make our beloved Beacon Hill even better!

Our vision for the space includes a large multi-purpose/event building, underground parking, low-income housing, an open space/plaza, as well as retail/office/business space. We are currently working with the Business and Economic Development Center (BEDC) at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business to assess what kind of retail/office/business space will be best for the Beacon Hill community. And of course, in order to figure that out we need your input!

Students from the BEDC will be at Red Apple this weekend with a questionnaire they developed regarding what kind of development you, as Beacon Hill residents, would like to see on that piece of property, so valuable now that the Light Rail has moved in – small, independent stores? Chain restaurants? More grocery options? Better parking?

If you’d like to fill out the survey without taking a trip to Red Apple, you can download the survey in Microsoft Word format from El Centro download the revised survey in Microsoft Word format here.

Because not everyone has the capability of running Microsoft Word, we have made an HTML version and Google Docs version available if you find working with those formats in your web browser easier. (I hope this does not cause a hardship for the survey talliers.) These links have been updated to reflect the new survey above. — Ed.

Please email your completed surveys to Ming Huang, President of the Asian Business Student Association, at huangmingf@yahoo.com.

Ms. Huang and her colleagues will compile them and send the results to El Centro anonymously. Mr. Jones emphasized that they are committed to developing the El Centro property in the community’s best interest.

If you have any questions, you can contact Elliott Jones at (206) 957-4652.

Crime

Crime notes: Civic stolen, scanner catch-up

4 Comments

Dan Dean writes:

Just wanted to let you know that our car was stolen last night from 14th Ave and South Hinds Street, and was hoping you could post it to the blog!

This is on the heels of a roof rack stolen off of our car last week. I don’t know what’s going on in our neighborhood, but it’s incredibly frustrating.

Please keep an eye out for a white 1998 Honda Civic 4-door with Washington plate 299 VCV.

* * *

Chris and Amie wrote to the mailing list about a car prowl that occurred on Sunday:

Last night, someone smashed our front passenger window of our newer model car with our empty garbage can, parked on the parking pad at 19th & McClellan, an open, well lit spot. They rifled through the contents of the car, and stole my jacket in the front seat. We figured they just leaned in to look for stuff, as the alarm would have gone off if they opened a door. I would imagine it took them several tries to break a car window with an empty 24-gallon plastic garbage can. Sadly, we heard nothing. This was reported to the police.

* * *

And catching up on recent activity logged at BHNW’s Scanner Blotter:

  • Robbery reported at 17th and Shelton, 8:55pm yesterday
  • Suspicious group of 5-7 men chased from back yard near 37th and Rose, 6:55pm yesterday
  • Report of several shots fired near 14th and Oregon, 2:45pm yesterday
  • Three men door-knocking and looking in windows ran off when they saw someone at home near 32nd and Juneau, 2pm yesterday
  • Burglary reported near Morgan and Beacon, 1pm yesterday
  • Forced entry burglary reported near 13th and Austin, 3pm Saturday
  • Burglary reported near 14th and Hinds, 6:45pm last Thursday (very near where Dan’s car was stolen from!)

* * *

Theresa described some suspicious activity on the mailing list last Friday:

My husband confronted two men who were scoping out houses on our block, the 2700 block of 13th Ave S, around noon today. The first man was about 6′-3″, white, blond hair, glasses, about 25-30 years old, wearing black hoodie and jeans. The second man was about 5′-6″ black, 30-35 years old, black coat, blue jeans, white shoes, carrying a duffle bag.

They walked down the street with a piece of paper in hand, stopping on the sidewalk in front of each house, sometimes going back to houses they had already looked at. They went up to some houses and looked in the front windows. My husband saw the tall man go up to one neighbor’s house look in the front window, then knock on the door, looking over his shoulder repeatedly while the other guy stayed out on the sidewalk looking up and down the street.

My husband went across the street to confront them, and the guy at the door immediately turned away from the house, mid-knock. The guys just looked at each other when he asked what they were doing, paused, then said they were “collecting information”. They departed on foot, heading north on 13th Ave S.

Urban Planning

SDOT improvements coming to Columbian Way

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From the SDOT blog:

A new paving project is planned for South Columbian Way between Beacon Ave S and 15th Ave S in 2010. The project will benefit the multiple users of the street by:

  • Repaving the street
  • Installing new curbs
  • Improving drainage
  • Constructing new curb ramps at intersections to improve pedestrian access

In addition to the above, this portion of Columbian Way S will be restriped as part of this project. Restriping would help improve motor vehicle safety and access, pedestrian access, and bicycle usage. Proposed changes include:

  • one lane of motor vehicle traffic in each direction
  • a new two-way center turn lane
  • new bike lanes
  • a new dedicated right-turn lane at VA Hospital Drive to improve access to the medical center

This project is a part of the voter approved “Bridging the Gap” transportation levy. Click here for more information on the project.

These improvements will tie in with improvements slated for 15th Ave S.

Crime, Health and Safety

Jungle cleanup, sidewalk flooding, and overserving among topics on the BAN list

The Beacon Hill Alliance of Neighbors (BAN) mailing list has been quite active recently, and Travis Mayfield has been all over it for KOMO:

  • Update: Inside the Jungle — Craig Thompson details a recent excursion into the homeless encampment that runs along the west and north sides of the hill, alongside I-5 and I-90.
  • Sidewalk ‘Pools’ Raise Pedestrian Complaints — Complaints of flooded and obstructed sidewalks are addressed by neighborhood representative Steve Louie and City Councilmember Sally Clark.
  • Responding to Public Drunkeness — Tips on reporting “overserving” to the Washington State Liquor Control Board when observing evidence of public drunkeness.

Sign up for the BAN list at http://www.cityofseattle.net/ban/

Weather

Parts of Beacon Hill among nearly 5,000 without power

From the Seattle Post-Globe:

About 4,657 customers lost power at about 6:20 p.m. The cause is unknown and the estimated time of power restoral is undetermined. Affected areas include parts of Rainier Beach, Beacon Hill and Seward Park. The general boundaries of the outage are S. Alaska St. on the North, S. Norfolk St. on the South, Lake Washington on the East and Airport Way S. on the West.

Read the full story.

Life on the Hill, Urban Planning

Beacon Hill possibly “the test bed for a new network”

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“…it’s quite likely that Beacon Hill would be for all the reasons cited above the test bed for a new network.”

Glenn Fleishman’s latest article at Publicola deals with the broadband pariah that is Beacon Hill and the Central District and how Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn wants to address the issue by building a city-wide fiber-to-the-home network paid for by revenue bonds. A plan to “issue bonds, find contractors, and start building triple-play to the home over fiber” is deemed “likely”. This would entail “100 Mbps symmetrical broadband (like they have in Hong Kong, where it costs US$14 per month), video with high-definition channels, and unlimited voice calling.” An appealing proposition.

Read the article at Publicola.

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Potluck chocolate ribbon nuisances

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Judith Edwards sends a couple of event reminders to the mailing list:

Mark your calendars for two upcoming events! On Thursday, December 3, the North Beacon Hill Council will hold a potluck dinner and honoring ceremony to recognize those who have worked so hard in the past year to make our community the wonderful place it is to live, and to plan our focus for the coming year. We’ll meet at 6:30 in the Community Room of the Library. Please bring a dish to share, and your ideas for where you want the Council to focus it’s efforts in the coming year. We’ll combine eating with a ceremony to honor the NBHC Board and the others in the community who have made so much happen, followed by a business meeting at 7:30. Please plan to attend and be part of the voice that speaks for our community.

and

On Saturday, Dec. 5 at 10:00 AM Festival Street will open with a ribbon cutting ceremony! Festival Street is that block of Lander between Beacon Ave. and 17th Ave., just south of El Centro del la Raza and north of the Light Rail Station. There will be coffee and donuts donated by local merchants, tents set up in case of rain (in Seattle?), and visits from City leaders. Please come celebrate what the Pedestrian Task Force and Robert Hinrix have worked so hard to bring to fruition.

* * *

Also via Judith, from Vinh Nguyen:

You are invited to help restore Lewis Park for the last event to it’s natural habitat this Sunday, November 22nd, 2009. Lewis Park forest stewards will be at the park between the hours of 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Tools, gloves and water is provided. Feel free to bring your own gloves if you would like.

This weekend, we are working at the three locations: The Triangle Area, North Slope, and the South end of Lewis Park. We will be mainly applying wood chips, and some planting native trees. We hope you can make it.

Please email Vinh if you’re considering helping out.

* * *

Dee from Yoga On Beacon wrote to announce YoBe’s 3rd Annual Holiday Bazaar is this Sunday, November 22nd, from 12:30 to 5:30pm

Enjoy holiday cheer, tea and cookies, YoBe friendly faces, and cool, quality world products from Four Winds Decor on Queen Anne Hill. Items will include jewelery, pashmina shawls, hand-made soaps, knit goods, silk scarves, journals, hand bags, bamboo ware, and much more! Make your holiday shopping a breeze and have fun too!

All YoBe products will be 10% off. First 20 people will get a free YoBe Tee!

YoBe is located at 3013 Beacon Avenue South.

* * *

A “nuisance properties” ordinance has been approved by the Seattle City Council’s public safety committee. From the P-I:

The ordinance would define “chronic nuisance properties” as places where crimes or drug dealing or other nuisance activities occur at least three times within 60 days, or seven times in a year. Offenses such as prostitution, weapon violations, assaults or gang-related activity would be included in the definition.

The police chief would be given authority to declare a property a chronic nuisance. The owner would be notified in writing and given seven days to respond. The property owner would then have 30 days to work with the police on a plan for clearing out the nuisance activity, or face penalties of up to $500 per day for not complying.

Update: from a City Council news release this afternoon:

The Council’s Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee voted this morning to amend the land use code to allow expedited demolition of derelict properties that too often become magnets for criminal behavior in neighborhoods. Council Bill 116642 provides an exception to city land use laws requiring plans and permits for replacement structures before demolition is allowed in single-family zones.

Update to the update: West Seattle Blog has more on the derelict properties measure.

Via the Trash Problems with am/pm Convenience Store in South Seattle blog.

* * *

Java Love, Kusina Filipina, and El Quetzal received health inspection visits last week. (Remember, red-level violations are corrected even before inspectors leave.)

* * *

Speaking of El Quetzal, Jon Gould recommends their new winter beverage on the mailing list:

Juan and Elena at El Quetzal have a new winter offering…an amazing, thick cup of hot chocolate. It is super tasty. The way they make this traditional Mexican drink is pretty cool: They start with dry corn kernels which are softened in water for a few hours. Then they blend the softened kernels with water until the consistency is silky. This is then put on the stove to cook with Mexican chocolate and fresh cinnamon – while a patient person slowly whisks the thickening drink.

The result is a smooth, rich cup of chocolatey wonder. In Spanish, this drink is called “Champurado.” If you arrive at El Quetzal and don’t remember the name just ask for the hot chocolate made with corn.

It’s awesome. Enjoy.

* * *

Finally, Joel points out in the forums that light rail all the way to the airport starts December 19th!

Random emphasis by me. Thanks Joel, Jon, Judith, and Dee! All of the above events and more are (or shortly will be) on our event calendar for your reference.