West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(Editor’s note: As we bring you a spotlight report each night during Disaster Preparedness Month, we find ourselves repeatedly emphasizing that because of dedicated community volunteers, West Seattle is way ahead of most other neighborhoods in the city – especially for having the Emergency Communication Hubs. That’s part of why West Seattle reps were a big part of a special summit downtown today. This firsthand participant’s report includes important reminders on why preparedness is up to all of us.)
Story and photos by Karen Berge
West Seattle Emergency Preparedness Committee
More than 45 people attended the Community Preparedness Summit this morning at the Emergency Operations Center downtown. West Seattle was well-represented, perhaps a third or more of the participants.
Four of us from the West Seattle Emergency Preparedness Committee (Cindi Barker, Ron Zuber, Deb Greer and I) have been working with Mark Howard from the city Office of Emergency Management and groups from Magnolia-Queen Anne-Interbay and Wallingford-Fremont to plan this event. Several other communities who are just beginning preparedness efforts also provided brief updates on their efforts: Capitol Hill (Angela Wallis), View Ridge (Peter Shaw) and Belltown (Ron Turner). One person from the Green Lake neighborhood also attended. Mark Howard emceed the event (photo):
Many of the other attendees at the Summit were community leaders or those who have some role in preparedness for their communities already; one of the goals of the Summit was to motivate the group to continue working on that effort. Other goals: Inform attendees of the overall Emergency Preparedness work that is being done and where preparing at the community level fits into this effort; provide an overview of where each community is at and where they want to go; identify current issues and challenges; identify the need to maintain interest and structure beyond initial interest in order to create a sustainable structure.
(WSB photos and video by Cliff DesPeaux)
On a day dedicated to caring for the Duwamish River — with more than a dozen Duwamish Alive! cleanup/restoration work parties on and around it — about 100 of the volunteers took to the water, after hearing kayaking basics from Greg Whittaker of Alki Kayak Tours. They left from South Park:
Among them, someone who is dedicated to river cleanup year-round, Neal Chism, to whom we introduced you with this story last October:
Ahead – more photos from the river cleanup, as well as photos and video from the largest Duwamish Alive! site at Pigeon Point Park:Read More
(March 27 photo by Trileigh)
In case you haven’t yet seen the link in Herongrrrl‘s comment following this morning’s coverage of the whale-towing operation off Arroyo Beach: We now know what happened to the gray whale that spent the day swimming in West Seattle waters on March 27. The Orca Network page on Facebook linked to this update from Cascadia Research regarding the four gray whales found dead in Puget Sound before the one in the Arroyos on Wednesday. According to that update, a gray found near Fidalgo Island on April 11th matches photos of the whale watched here three weeks ago. It was described as thin, with its stomach full of “woody debris.” While this is certainly sad news, there’s an important paragraph in the Cascadia Research report:
At this point while these deaths are important to monitor, we do not consider them alarming and they do not appear to reflect any specific problem in Puget Sound. None of the whales that have died are the regular animals that visit Washington waters on a regular basis each year. These appear to be stragglers from the larger gray whale population of close to 20,000 gray whales that typically migrate north past Washington each spring after fasting several months in warmer southern waters they use as their breeding area. This makes April a period when whales that did not get enough food on their Alaskan feeding grounds may be running out of their reserves. A major mortality event occurred in 1999 and 2000 in which 50 gray whales died in Washington State in the two years combined.
One of those whales beached in West Seattle in 1999 – the last stranding here until this week in The Arroyos. (Again, that latest one was towed away this morning for a necropsy at an undisclosed location to the south – here’s our report, to which we just added information from Seal Sitters‘ Robin Lindsey, who works closely with NOAA, that the whale has been “secured” at the location where that necropsy will be done tomorrow.)
Thanks to Colby for sharing photos from the Pinewood Derby races today at Brickyard BarBQ in the Admiral District – above, the contenders’ creations – here, the track:
Another round is planned for noon next Saturday (4/24) at Alki Tavern; here’s the Facebook event page. Pinewood Derby is of course best known as a Scouting tradition, and tomorrow, you can cheer on local Cub Scouts putting their vehicles to the test — West Seattle’s Pack 793 will be racing at Holy Rosary Gym starting at 1 pm, and you’re welcome to come watch for free.
Spotlight stories from partner site White Center Now:
****Video coverage of this afternoon’s South Park Bridge closure protest (Photo above added Sunday, courtesy Dale Rowe)
****Update on reopening-soon Evergreen Pool (now Evergreen Community Aquatic Center)
****Tonight in White Center, it’s Third Saturday Art Walk, 6-9 pm
Thanks to Mike Heavey (in photo below) for sharing pics from one of more than half a dozen sites in West Seattle that were part of today’s annual Duwamish Alive! Earth Day work parties – he was one of 15 volunteers at Roxhill Bog, the restored natural area on the east side of Roxhill Park, across SW Barton from Westwood Village. Mike reports, “Under the direction of park steward, Scott Blackstock, the group of 15 people removed invasive, non-native species (mostly dandelions and some geranium).”
This year marks a decade since the peat bog – buried more than 30 years – was unearthed, so that restoration could begin. Meantime, photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux covered two other Duwamish Alive! work parties for WSB and we’ll have a second report with his images later on.
Also happening in The Junction today – the epicenter of Seattle’s celebration of the nationwide (maybe even worldwide) Record Store Day celebration of independent music stores – Easy Street Records. And if you’re talking records, how about a GOLD record? That’s Easy Street owner Matt Vaughan above, holding the one he received for his role in the success of Pearl Jam‘s Backspacer. And if you’re in the mood to pick up a few (or more) records yourself, music’s on sale at Easy Street all day, and the very browsable vinyl stacks are out front:
Here’s the Easy Street online writeup about today’s sale (which is happening at their Queen Anne location too). They’re open till 9 tonight in West Seattle, 11 in QA.
If you haven’t been to Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle‘s plant sale on the north side of South Seattle Community College (6000 16th SW), you’ve got till 4 pm. We dropped by early on to grab a photo; remember they’re also taking donations for the West Seattle Tool Library – non-gas-powered tools in good working order earn you a free veggie start, one per family. Also seen at the sale – Sustainable West Seattle got a new cider press!
Find out more about the Tool Library by going here, and keep tabs on other Community Harvest activities – you can become a member now, too – by going here.
Brunette Mix (WSB sponsor), next to the newly opened Fleurt flower shop at Oregon/California, is one of the 30-plus businesses taking part in today’s big sale day in The Junction. Most will be open till at least 5 pm; the West Seattle Junction Association (WSB sponsor) website has a page of coupons for special deals today. Just like last year, you’ll see red balloons outside participants’ storefronts, so while you certainly can print out the list, you don’t have to have it – just get over to The Junction and get walking! ADDED 3:15 PM: A photo from inside Fleurt, celebrating its first day at the new Junction location:
That’s Josh Sutton from the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) getting dunked as part of Healthy Kids Day (the water was warm, he insisted goodnaturedly when we talked to him between dunks). Till 1 pm at the Y’s Triangle location (xx xxth), you’ll find all kinds of free activities, like the climbing wall:
As part of the Healthy Kids Day celebration, the Y also is waiving family joining fees. ADDED 9:18 PM: More from Healthy Kids Day, courtesy of West Seattle’s Captive Eye Media – the dancers are from the West Seattle High School Asian Club:
(scroll down for newest information)
ORIGINAL 9:02 AM REPORT: We are back out at Arroyo Beach this morning – again, this is private waterfront, and we appreciate the permission to be on one particular home’s bulkhead – where researchers are about to try moving the gray whale that beached and died here Wednesday afternoon. West Seattle-based researcher Mark Sears has been anchored in his powerboat next to the whale – that’s him in the clip above, with a local stand-up paddler who came up for a look a little while ago. A much bigger white boat has just arrived; here’s a photo:
We’ll add updates as this progresses. One other note – according to Robin Lindsey‘s update on the Seal Sitters site (she works closely and frequently with NOAA), it’s now believed this whale (which was fully out of the water on Thursday) is male, not female.
10:20 AM UPDATE: Now back at HQ. The towboat was almost out of sight, heading south, with the whale still in tow, after a stop several hundred yards offshore to readjust the line. With a multiton whale along for the ride, of course, it’s pretty slow-going, and we probably won’t get final word of arrival for some hours to come. 11:04 AM: Adding our video as the tow started to take on a steady pace – the dark bump in the water is the only part of the whale visible during the whole process:
Any updates we get later, we’ll add. Meantime, a big thank you to beach residents Scott and Jen for allowing us to hang out on their bulkhead this morning to report on the last chapter of the whale story (and providing beach umbrellas when the rain moved in!). As per an old newspaper story we linked in an earlier report, this was the first gray beached in West Seattle since 1999. NOAA has said that after the whale is necropsied at a state-owned beach they haven’t publicly identified, it will be left to decompose. Highline Community College‘s Marine Science and Technology Center at Redondo Beach will get the bones; its director Dr. Kaddee Lawrence tells WSB, “We will be slowly gathering the bones as the carcass decays and they will be on display (eventually as a re-articulated skeleton) at our marine center.” 7:22 PM UPDATE: Robin Lindsey tells WSB she just got word the whale-moving operation was a success, and it has arrived at the undisclosed necropsy location, where the examination is scheduled for tomorrow.
“Pity the fool who robs the cash drawer when on Padme Grace’s shift at Again & a Gain children’s and maternity consignment shop @ 4832 California Ave. SW. just south of the Alaska Junction,” began the note from Sarah at Again & a Gain. Read on for the story – which she hopes will be an alert to other businesses in the area as well:Read More
10 am is the magic moment today – that’s when all the fun starts. First – if you can spare time to help with the annual Duwamish Alive! cleanups – here’s the list of sites (many in West Seattle) – they’re all beginning at 10 am (2009 photo at left); that’s also the first moment of the Tax-Free For All (a discount that in effect has retailers paying the tax for you) sale day in The Junction, with participant list and coupon link here; and in The Triangle, lots of free fun activities for Healthy Kids Day at the West Seattle YMCA (which like the WS Junction Association is a current WSB sponsor) … but that’s not all. Go here for a direct link to the full list of what’s up for your cloudy-but-not-cold West Seattle Saturday.
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