West Seattle, Washington
14 Tuesday
ORIGINAL 8:30 PM REPORT: Two traffic alerts:
DELRIDGE/THISTLE CRASH: Thanks to the texter who sent that photo from a car vs. moving van collision on Delridge near Thistle. They report an ambulance was on scene (as well as SFD Engine 11, which has since cleared, according to the fire log). We’re off to check whether the vehicles have been cleared yet.
CALIFORNIA WAY BLACK ICE: Another texter wanted to warn others about black ice on California Way, which connects Harbor Avenue and California Avenue SW – slick enough that they briefly lost control and almost collided with another vehicle. The temperature’s expected to fall below freezing again tonight, so this could be a concern in other places overnight and tomorrow morning. (Note – Minutes after publishing this, we received another text reporting a crash in that area – nothing on the 911 log so we are off to check on that too.)
9:02 PM (UPDATE ON BOTH INCIDENTS): California is closed just north of Hamilton Viewpoint. Delridge should be clear by now – we stopped there while heading here and a tow truck was at work in the SB lanes. Police told us one man from the moving van was taken to the hospital.
9:34 PM UPDATE: While two people have mentioned a flipped vehicle on the California hill between Harbor Avenue and Hamilton Viewpoint, we could not get close enough to verify, with SPD also blocking the road just southwest of Harbor [map] and the reported flipped vehicle not in view from either end. Whatever happened, there’s been no medical callout. While heading away from the area on Harbor, we did see an SDOT sand/plow truck headed toward it. By the way, if you’re looking for an alternative between Admiral and Harbor/Alki, we wouldn’t recommend Fairmount Avenue – that’s what we tried, and it’s icy much of the way, even slushy toward the north end.
10:20 PM UPDATE: Deborah sent a photo of the flipped vehicle:
She says, “No injuries. Lots of nice people stopped to help or inquire. Great police and tow truck support. All clear now.”
(Photo by Teresa Wippel/MLTnews: From left, WSHS’s #1 Akili Kasim & #4 Chaaka Trahan, MTHS #23 Khyree Armstead, WSHS #1 Nate Pryor)
7:46 PM: School’s out until next Monday, but it’s not a full vacation for some local high-school basketball teams. This afternoon in Mountlake Terrace, the West Seattle High School boys’ varsity team had its first loss of the season, 49-43, to the host team in the MTHS holiday tournament. … The WSHS varsity girls remain undefeated, 9-0 after a victory over Olympic HS in East Bremerton earlier this week, 76-31 … Last night, the Seattle Lutheran HS boys beat The Northwest School, 51-26 (thanks to Mike Jensen for the score report) … The Chief Sealth International High School varsity basketball teams have been off since December 18th; while the girls don’t play again until next week, the boys are playing tonight at North Kitsap, and we’ll add the score to this story when it’s in.
ADDED EARLY THURSDAY: Final score – North Kitsap 72, Chief Sealth 58 … Plus, more on the WSHS boys’ game, courtesy of our friends at MLTnews.com – here’s their video of the game webcast (and we’ve added a photo atop this roundup).
Two more West Seattle Crime Watch package-theft reports just in, and both include visuals of the thieves:
GENESEE HILL THIEF: The photo and report are from Angela:
Around noon today, we drove around to retrieve a package from our neighbor’s house – they were out of town and had asked us to keep an eye out because they’d been informed the package was to arrive while they were gone. When we drove around to grab the package, we witnessed a tall white male, walking down the street with a similar package, and once we confirmed the package was no longer on their front porch, we drove up next to the individual and asked him where he was going with the package. He turned right back around and said he’d put it back. We got out of the car, took the package from him and he continued to walk toward SW Genesee – then headed west up Genesee Hill. We pulled around and confronted him, told him to leave the area, and took a picture of him. It’s likely that he’s still roaming the streets – he said he felt stupid and apologized, and would not attempt to do this again. We searched the area about 15 minutes later and couldn’t find him.
Description
White Male
Roughly 6′ 2″ tall
Wearing a paperboy-style hat – gray
Black flannel-material jacket
(Average) build
Blue water bottle in hand
Either blue or green eyes, not brown
Scruffy in look – probably early- to mid-30’s in age
If you know who this is, the police report to reference is 15-450056.
LINCOLN PARK THIEF: Near Lincoln Park, a Tuesday theft was caught on video shared by the victim:
That video starts with a blue car heading right to left; forward the video to 1:28, where you’ll see someone walking into the video from the left, going down stairs, running back up with packages, and hopping into that same car, which takes off. The package’s owner explains:
On Tuesday, December 29th, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, this video shows at around 2:25 pm a Blue CRV slowly drove past our house, looked at recently delivered packages and then dropped off a thief (out of view) who stole the packages from our porch and then jumped back in the Blue CRV. Be on the look out for this guy and the car around West Seattle! A police report has been filed and any information you may have, or if you see the car and/or the man in the video, please contact Officer Jenkins, referencing incident 15-449867.
It was one of the biggest Seattle-city-government stories of 2015 and it’s going to be even bigger in 2016: How will the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda – aka HALA – affect you, your neighbors, your future neighbors? What do you need to know? How can you be part of the discussions and decision-making? The Morgan Community Association is hosting a briefing geared for all interested West Seattleites, right after an abbreviated version of their group’s quarterly meeting on January 20th, and they’ve sent early word so you can get it on your calendar:
Our first meeting of 2016 starts off with a bang! We will have a short regular MoCA meeting from 6:00 to 6:45 pm to do normal business and officer elections. At 7:00 pm we will transition to a West Seattle-wide presentation on two topics which will affect all neighborhoods; the implementation of the HALA “Grand Bargain” and upcoming code changes governing Mother-in-Law apartments and back yard cottages. All West Seattle community people are invited to attend and learn more about these and how to stay informed and get engaged. It is expected that the Mother-in-Law/Backyard Cottages code changes will go before City Council in late February, so now is the time to learn more.
Here’s the agenda for the HALA briefing/discussion:
Special West Seattle-wide Meeting: “HALA” – What’s It All About ??
7:00-8:00 pm
HALA: An Overview, The Grand Bargain, Focused Outreach and Next Steps
Jesseca Brand, City of Seattle Planning8:00-9:00 pm
Detached Accessory Dwelling Units (DADU’s or Backyard Cottages) and Attached Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs or Mother-in-law Apartments)
Nick Welch, City of Seattle Planning
The meeting will be in the lower level meeting rooms at The Kenney (WSB sponsor), 7125 Fauntleroy Way SW.
Even if you didn’t feel it, the Vancouver Island earthquake late last night is another wakeup call reiterating the message that we all need to be ready, because someday we’re going to shake in a big way. So here are two maps you need to see. First, from West Seattle Be Prepared:
KNOW YOUR NEAREST WEST SEATTLE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION HUB: Especially if you’re new to WS, this might be news to you. Preparedness volunteers in our area have been regional leaders in this unique aspect of preparedness – organizing “hubs” where you can go in case of catastrophe, to get information and seek help if the regular communication channels are down/damaged/unreliable. Click a spot on the map to get information on the location where volunteers plan to set up a hub if and when disaster strikes. If you don’t see one relatively close to you, that’s only because no one has come forward to lead the way in your area – here’s how you can help! And take some time to browse the WSBP website, which is an excellent resource packed with a variety of preparedness-related info.
Now, the second map you should see. You might have already taken a look, as this new city map was circulating in the days just BEFORE the quake:
SEATTLE NATURAL HAZARD EXPLORER: The city-produced map takes you through a variety of types of “natural hazards,” including earthquake risk, as explained in Seattle Times science reporter Sandi Doughton‘s story earlier this week. You can see the map (really, it’s more than a map) fullscreen by going here; in the condensed version above, you can use the arrows at the bottom to scroll through types of hazards. In each category, click the “i” at top right to open up a text box with information at the bottom of the map, including a tab that explains the map’s legend for that section. Among other things, the earthquake-risk view shows where the Seattle Fault travels through our peninsula.
If you can do it, our top recommendation for your to-do list today is to enjoy our spectacular West Seattle scenery. Thanks to Chris Frankovich for the photo of the Olympic Mountains’ best-known peaks, The Brothers, fully visible and snow-covered on this sunny morning. Now here’s what else you might consider for your list, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
TECH HELP: West Seattle (Admiral) Library offers free one-on-one help with tech tools and services they have available, noon-3:45 pm today. Unlike most library events, you have to make an appointment in advance – our calendar listing explains how. (2306 42nd SW)
(added) BASKETBALL LIVE STREAM: If you can’t get to Mountlake Terrace High School to cheer on the undefeated West Seattle High School boys’ varsity basketball team vs. MTHS, you can watch the live stream at 3 pm – go here. (WSHS beat Marysville-Pilchuck in the MTHS Holiday Tournament on Tuesday, 60-43.)
WEST SEATTLE GET FIT: At 6:30 pm, it’s one more informational session for the free program at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) taking you “from couch to half-marathon” in the new year. Our preview has the details. (2743 California SW)
EXPRESS YOURSELF: Open-microphone night at The Skylark, one more time before it’s 2016 already. 8:30 pm (after 7:30 pm signups) – more info here. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
PLAN YOUR NEW YEAR’S EVE/DAY: West Seattle options – from parties to parading to plunging, with workouts and walks (and more!) inbetween – are atop our West Seattle Holiday Guide. Still time to add anything we’re missing – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
(Six WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning! Another between-holidays, no-school commute, but we’re on watch just in case. It’s been below freezing overnight, so be aware of potential iciness.
TRANSIT REMINDER: Metro continues on a “reduced weekday” schedule through tomorrow, and then will be on a Sunday schedule for Friday (New Year’s Day). Also on Friday, no Water Taxi.
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