Got questions about potholes? Parking? Paving? Sidewalks or lack of them? Crosswalks? Bus bulbs? The man who’s in charge of the Seattle Department of Transportation – and therefore in charge of the streets, sidewalks, city-owned bridges (both West Seattle bridges over the Duwamish included) – will be in West Seattle for Q & A this Wednesday. SDOT director Peter Hahn is guest speaker at the Southwest District Council‘s monthly meeting at 6:30 pm Wednesday (March 6), Southwest Teen Life Center (2801 SW Thistle, adjacent to SW Pool). The public’s welcome, so if you have a question, concern, idea, kudo, be there and speak up.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For everyone who’s wished they had advance alert of an upcoming meteor shower/eclipse/etc. – and/or wondered “What’s that bright ‘star’ up there?” – this is for you – the second edition of our new monthly feature by West Seattle’s own Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen, famous for her solstice/equinox sunset watches among other things.
By Alice Enevoldsen
Special to West Seattle Blog
Last month I encouraged you to remember to look up on clear nights (we do have them!) and enjoy our “regular” night sky. This month we have a couple of exciting events that are potentially visible from here in West Seattle. Again, be ready to take advantage of what clear skies we do have, because many March nights are too cloudy for stargazing, and you’ll have to turn to airplane-spotting or cloud identification for your nocturnal hobby.
Comet PanSTARRS!
We are incredibly lucky here in West Seattle. We have a flat Western horizon, which is where you’ll be looking for Comet PanSTARRS just after sunset. I’ve attempted to mock up a little local finding guide image for you here (editor’s note, updated image substituted 3/9/13).
This is just a guide: I overlaid some planetarium program imagery on a scaled photo of the Olympics. I did my best, but to really find the comet you’ll need an accurate finder chart which includes stars (Astronomy.com has one). At first, in early March, you’ll need binoculars to pick the comet out of the bright post-sunset sky. Toward mid-March it should be brighter, and possibly as bright as the middle stars of the Big Dipper. This would make it easily visible without binoculars. Comets are notably unpredictable though, almost as unpredictable as Seattle’s weather in March.
No need to avoid the Delridge/Trenton intersection tonight – the city says it reopened early, and the adjacent section of Trenton that was closed for prep work is open too. The detour that’s in place for southbound Delridge between Trenton and Henderson remains in place while the repaving project continues Phase 1; as reported here Friday night, Phase 2 is expected to start in about two weeks.
Last night, Kristina told us about that photo via the WSB Facebook page:
At Lowman Beach this morning, there was a sign “I surrender” on a log – someone went to some trouble to letter the sign, and to cut the groove into a log to attach the sign, and I wonder what it’s about. … Who put it there? What does it mean? It’s beautiful and thought-provoking and I am appreciative: thank you.
Reminded us of a stenciled message we noticed on a Lowman Beach log and showed here almost six years ago. But apparently it’s not just a Lowman phenomenon – Kristina then e-mailed this afternoon to say she came across this today in the Schmitz Park area:
Actor Matt Damon says he’s on strike – and with the video you can watch above, Chief Sealth International High School students say they’re ready to join him. Haven’t heard about his strike? Watch *his* video:
With that recent “news conference,” Damon and his water.org did his best to make sure you know that 2.5 billion people don’t have access to something you likely take for granted – toilets.
Since Damon is looking ahead to World Water Day on March 22nd, and Chief Sealth is too – with their third annual World Water Week full of lessons and events March 18-22 – they’re thinking their suggestion that he come here should be an irresistible invitation, says social-studies teacher and WWW ringleader Noah Zeichner. Especially given their specific focus – sanitation and wastewater. So they’ve submitted their video to his strikewithme.org website, and sent photos like this one and this one to the #strikewithme feed he launched via Instagram. They hope he will come to Sealth to share the stage with Jack Sim, the activist nicknamed “Mr. Toilet,” who is coming all the way from Singapore to be the keynoter for WWW at Sealth (you are invited too), 7 pm March 19th at the school auditorium, admission free.
As Sim points out in this short video profile of Sim, it’s a taboo topic – and that’s killing people, as taboos too often do. So he talks about toilets, and the Sealth students are doing the same, as is Matt Damon. Will he take them up on their invitation? Stay tuned!
(P.S. A fundraiser continues, to help foot the bill for World Water Week costs and the 9th-grade WEST Project – check it out here.)
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
Just a reminder as the day begins – as noted in our coverage of Saturday’s crash on the bridge, WSDOT says the Alaskan Way Viaduct/99 will NOT be closing this morning after all; they did all the inspection/maintenance work on Saturday. (But if you were going to take 99 further north, note that a section is closed from the Western Avenue exit northward for a running event, until 11 am.) The ramp from the eastbound West Seattle Bridge to southbound I-5 *is* closed and scheduled to remain closed till early Monday, and that goes for the Delridge/Trenton intersection too.
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