West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Just in time for Disaster Preparedness Month, the city-run Seattle Channel now offers embedding code for its videos – including the one you can watch above, a Seattle-geared preparedness overview, with practical advice, including what to do in case of earthquake. We found it by following links from the city’s “3 to Get Ready” campaign, which is being advertised on WSB and other news sites around the city to keep preparedness top-of-mind this month. Set aside 15 minutes to watch it – being ready is “everyone’s responsibility,” as the host points out – nobody can do it for you. Then take time to check out West Seattle-specific resources you won’t see in the video, like the info-rich volunteer-created West Seattle Be Prepared website, and its centerpiece, the community-created Emergency Communication Hubs (you know yours by now, right? right?).
More than a year after Dr. Jill Wakefield was promoted from the South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) presidency to the role of chancellor for the entire Seattle community-college system, there are now three finalists to succeed her at SSCC – including the man who holds the job in the interim. The finalists’ official campus visits will start next week. Read on for the official announcement:Read More
We haven’t been able to find the answer to this question – so we’re hoping maybe you know. Karen shared the photo above, earlier this month, after seeing fish like that all over The Junction; in a note tonight, Mark is the latest to ask:
Does anyone know what is the meaning of the “purple fish” graffiti that has been sprayed on many different walls and surfaces at the Junction and other places? I’ve also seen them at the 35th & Fauntleroy intersection. They may well be other places around W. Seattle, and maybe other places in the city as well. They are about 12-18 ” long, and look like they were made with a fish-shaped stencil and a can of purple spray paint.
We’ve tried search phrases from purple fish to purple shark. No luck. But maybe you know the story…
An unusual scene at Providence Mount St. Vincenttoday – Arlene Carter shares photos and the story:
A team of five UW mechanical engineering students visited Providence Mount St. Vincent (The Mount) today to gather information for their senior project. Their goal is to design a lift to be used in developing countries that would cost less than half of what our “developed world” machines cost, without sacrificing safety or functionality. The students, Kim Phasavath, Mark Bae, Thanh Mai, Marcus Lew, and Joe Grogan, learned how The Mount’s mechanical lifts work from Mount employee Penny Garrett, a Resident Assistant. Penny demonstrated how to use each kind of lift, with students playing the role of patient. She explained features that work well and ones that could be added to improve the safety and efficiency of lifts. The students will present their results to their class and share them with The Mount at the end of spring quarter.
Lists courtesy of Square One Books
Looking for ideas of what to read? Again this week, courtesy of Gretchen Montgomery @ Square One Books (WSB sponsor), we bring you her independent West Seattle bookstore’s 5 best-sellers in each of 4 key categories:
Hardcover:
1. Every Last One by Anna Quindlen
2. The Bridge by David Remnick
3. The Harvard Psychedelic Club by Don Lattin
4. In the Green Kitchen by Alice Waters
5. The Help by Kathryn StockettPaperback:
1. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
2. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
3. The Widow Cliquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar Mazzeo
4. The Not So Big Life by Sarah Susanka
5. The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran by Dirk HayhurstChildren/Young Adult:
1. Savvy by Ingrid law
2. Mama, Is it Summer Yet by Nikki McClure
3. Smile by Raina Telgemeir
4. Warriors: Ravenpaw’s Path by Erin Hunter
5. The Stone Rabbit Series by Erik CreddockTeen:
1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2. Graceling by Kristen Cashore
3. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
4. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
5. Light #1 The Morpheus Road Trilogy by D.J. MacHale
Square One is in Jefferson Square.
(March 2010 photo taken during bridge tour, courtesy City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen)
Three weeks ago, we brought you the letter the city sent to the Coast Guard asking again for restrictions on opening the “low bridge” – this time, because its vehicle usage is about to increase dramatically, especially in the afternoon, with the May 17th closure of the 1st Avenue South onramp to the westbound high-rise West Seattle Bridge. (Here’s the detour map.) At last night’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting, Pigeon Point rep Pete Spalding asked about the status of the request, and SDOT’s Stuart Goldsmith indicated they’d gotten word it wouldn’t be granted. That’s just been confirmed today by SDOT communications manager Rick Sheridan, but he says there’s a “voluntary” plan:
Though we have not received official written notification, the US Coast Guard (USCG) has indicated that it will not support a suspension of peak hour openings of the lower Spokane Street Swing Bridge. In order to minimize traffic disruptions after the First Avenue S on-ramp closure, the parties involved in the decision agreed to a voluntary system for minimizing p.m. rush hour openings of the bridge. Waterway users, the Port of Seattle, the USCG and SDOT have jointly agreed to this. SDOT will monitor the impacts of bridge openings on traffic during this phase of construction and, should a sustained pattern of traffic disruptions occur, the Coast Guard is committed to working with the city to address the issue.
Looking ahead to increased traffic on the low bridge as the Spokane Street and Alaskan Way Viaducts’ construction projects approached, the city asked in 2008 for the peak-hour restrictions, and was turned down (WSB coverage here) without any “voluntary” attempts to make it happen. Meantime, if you’re tracking all the effects of various construction projects in the metro area, including the two viaducts, here’s the latest update from SDOT.
4:41 PM: The Waste Management truck drivers who went on strike yesterday are reported to be offering to return – here’s the latest from our regional-news partners at the Seattle Times. That’s led Seattle Public Utilities to issue this update:
Based on reports that striking Teamsters will return to work, Seattle Public Utilities is advising its Friday customers to put out their garbage, yard waste and recycling before 7 tomorrow morning.
Customers whose collections were missed due to the strike on Wednesday and Thursday may set out up to twice their garbage, yard waste and recycling on their next regular collection day, at no additional cost. Missed recycling should be set out on customers’ next recycling day, which would be in two weeks.
SPU will provide updates as needed. Customers with solid waste service problems may call the Call Center at (206) 684-3000.
6:12 PM: The Times story is updated now, and Waste Management is saying it welcomes the workers back. In addition, the two sides will resume talks on Monday.
As previewed two days ago, a film crew working on what’s believed to be a Japanese TV project has been in action this afternoon on the West Seattle Bridge, leading to “rolling slowdowns.” Sorry we just don’t have a chopper yet, but our friends at KING do, and they have just published aerial photos. The crew is expected back on The Bridge 11 pm-1 am tonight, after shooting on the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct 8-10 pm.
(Photo added 2:50 pm)
Thanks to Katie for the Twitter tip on this – she heard about trouble at the KeyBank in The Junction; we called SPD’s media unit and here’s what Det. Mark Jamieson says happened: A man broke a window at the bank (update: north side, as shown above), then walked inside and apparently told the staff he wanted to pay for it, even offered his ID. Then he left (Det. Jamieson isn’t sure if payment was taken before this) and caught a bus, hand bleeding from the broken glass. Metro and SPD were notified, and they stopped the bus at 35th/Avalon to take the man in custody – they also called the Fire Department to check out his injury. From there, he was to be taken to the Southwest Precinct for questioning.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Many schools have Earth Day on the agenda today – among them, Gatewood Elementary, whose 4th and 5th graders made multiple stops this morning. We caught up with them at Lowman Beach Park, where they picked up litter (you’ll note the bag in front of them on the Lowman tennis court). 4th/5th-grade teacher Darren Radu tells WSB that students also went to Pelly Place for invasive-plant removal, stenciled storm drains along the streets near the school, and did litter patrol at other spots including the Lincoln Park P-Patch. (Thanks to Darren for the heads-up – let us know what your school is up to, either with an advance tip, or photos/info afterward, so we can share the news! WSB contact info is here.)
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli)
No, “green beer” isn’t just the coloring-added stuff served up on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a double meaning today for the keg of Elliott Bay Brewery‘s Demolition Ale that an entourage including owner Todd Carden (photo above, left) and chief brewer Doug Hindman (right) delivered by bicycle to the Latona Pub in Green Lake (6423 Latona Ave NE, ) today. The keg got its own helmet and T-shirt:
Covering the departure for WSB, Christopher Boffoli reports, “Latona Pub has been doing events all week in recognition and celebration of Earth Week. All of the beers they have been serving are delivered by human power. And today Elliott Bay delivered theirs via pedal power. Todd Carden of EBB says that people should check out the EBB’s blog and Twitter feed today as they will be offering a special coupon for Earth Day and organic beer.” (You can show the coupon at EBB on your smartphone.)
6:18 PM ADDITION: That’s Carden’s co-owner Brent Norton joining him and Hindman just before they pedaled away. And we’ve found what looks like an arrival photo on the Latona Pub website. And there’s more backstory on the West Seattle-based Washington Beer Blog.
Almost 160 sales are now registered for the 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, coming up Saturday, May 8th – not one big sale, but many sales, all sizes, all over the peninsula. Final reminders:
*Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) still has a few courtyard spots as of last time we checked, if you don’t have room for your own sale – you can sign up @ Hotwire (free)
*C & P Coffee also is offering space for individual sellers (free) – check directly at the shop
*(added) Highland Park Improvement Club is having a group sale, but charging $20 as an HPIC fundraiser – e-mail hpic1919@gmail.com
*If you’re not selling but want to help another local nonprofit, CoolMom is collecting donated items that they will use in their sale at Cycle University (4550 Fauntleroy) up through Friday 5/7, the day before Sale Day. Here’s their flyer about the donations and sale.
We’re advertising/promoting West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day regionally so that people from around the Sound know this is the place to be to shop on Saturday, May 8th. Want to be part of it? Register and pay online by 11:59 pm tonight, starting here. We expect to have the map available a week in advance – look for details on that shortly.
(Seattle Fire Department TwitPic photo, added 10:01 am; thanks to David for the link)
ORIGINAL 9:32 AM REPORT: In case you heard this from eastern West Seattle, or a workplace along the Duwamish: Fire crews are still on the scene at a South Park business where something exploded within the past hour. KIRO TV links aerial photos from its online story and identifies the business as Independent Metals; SFD spokesperson Helen Fitzpatrick tells our partners at the Seattle Times as well as KING5 (their report here) that everyone’s accounted for. While the 911 log shows a massive response, scanner traffic indicates some of the units have been canceled. There’s no official word yet on injuries, though the scanner mentioned at least two patients, one of which was being handled with a private ambulance, which indicates non-life-threatening injuries. According to its website, Independent Metals is a scrap-metal recycling company that’s been in business more than a quarter-century.
10:01 AM: SFD has just posted online that indeed, there were two people hurt, “minor injuries.” The explosion is blamed on a propane tank going into a metal shredder. We’re adding an SFD photo of some of the damage on the building’s exterior.
Though West Seattle’s next major wave of potential effects won’t hit until Monday (after some missed pickups here yesterday), if you’re keeping track, the city followed up last night’s “Thursday pickups, put your trash out” advisory with a “no Thursday pickups after all” advisory this morning. Waste Management is also keeping day-by-day updates on its website – no trash or recyclables today, but they advise customers they can put out up to twice the normal amount on their next pickup day. They have said they intend to bring in replacement drivers, but a WM spokesperson told the Seattle Times (WSB partner) that their contingency plan would take a few days to be up and running. No word so far of any new negotiations.
BRIDGE AND VIADUCT REMINDER: Today’s the day for the “rolling slowdowns” on the West Seattle Bridge, noon-3 pm and 11 pm-1 am, plus 8 pm-10 pm on the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct, for a film crew (here’s our original story – note the additional info in comments).
SOUTH DELRIDGE/WHITE CENTER COMMUNITY SAFETY COALITION: The volunteer group that looks at crime and other safety issues in the south end of West Seattle, as well as White Center – usually with Seattle Police and King County Sheriff’s Office reps in attendance – meets tonight at 6 pm in the WC DSHS office (9650 15th Ave SW).
2 MORGAN JUNCTION EVENTS: The weeklong 1st-anniversary celebration at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) continues with $3.65 anniversary shirts on sale while they last. And kitty-corner at West Seattle Thriftway, you can check out the “Spring Fling” appetizer tasting 3-7 pm.
Thanks to Diane for pointing out the tweet with this newly YouTubed video about West Seattle’s own Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor), made on behalf of MOHAI (the Museum of History and Industry). As the YT page puts it, the hosts are trying to put the hysterical in historical. Or something like that. Anyway, it’s definitely not your standard stentorian-toned peek back into time. (If you don’t already know host Peder Nelson for his other endeavors – like music – you might remember our interview with him before he produced the Frances Farmer tribute at The Admiral in fall 2008.)
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