West Seattle, Washington
13 Tuesday
Waiting to see what the second round of vote totals looks like? King County Elections just announced plans for TWO daily updates for the rest of the week:
King County Elections will post two sets of general election results reports today and for the rest of this week due to the volume of last-minute voters returning ballots. The Elections Department will issue a first set of results by 4:30 p.m. as planned, along with a second set of results by 8:00 p.m.
King County Elections has received about 518,000 ballots to date for the general election, not counting a substantial number of drop box returns yesterday. Ballots will continue to arrive, however, they must have valid postmarks indicating that they were mailed on or before election day in order for them to be processed and counted.
Each voter’s signature must be verified before a ballot is opened, inspected, scanned, and ultimately tabulated. Ballots that come in that are damaged, reflect write-in votes or were not voted consistent with the directions, require additional handling and time to process. On average, a ballot takes a little more than a day to process so it can be added to the results report.
You can use the King County Ballot Tracker to see if your ballot was received and signature verified. (Example: We dropped ours at one of the vans on Monday. Ballot Tracker shows they’ve been received.) And you’ll find the latest results update here.
(Photo by Long Bach Nguyen)
CONSTRUCTION NEXT FOR THE WHITTAKER: As teardown concludes on the site of West Seattle’s biggest development (4755 Fauntleroy SW), the project team says official construction is a few weeks away. First, they’ll be hauling off the demolition debris, and they have started work on promised improvements for the parking lot next door at the Masonic Center. While that work is under way, the center has parking space on the east side of Fauntleroy Way, north of Edmunds. Newest estimate of project completion for The Whittaker (~400 apartments, ground-floor retail, ~600 underground parking spaces) is end of 2016.
P.S. In case you missed it – over the weekend, we published a last look at the last and biggest building to be demolished.
MICROHOUSING FOLLOWUP: Vigorous discussion ensued when we published this Sunday night update on three West Seattle microhousing projects – particularly the two that are moving ahead after responding to a city memo issued in September, based on a court decision. One of those projects, 3050 SW Avalon Way, responded by saying it would remove “sinks, refrigeration equipment, built-in cabinet and counters outside the bathrooms” from the rooms so that the future building would still qualify to count up to 8 “sleeping rooms” as a single dwelling unit. The file for the other project, 3268 SW Avalon Way – where demolition happened last week – didn’t show a similar response, but DPD spokesperson Bryan Stevens tells WSB its developers made the same decision:
For this proposal, the applicant elected to redesign the floor plans so that these rooms are clearly sleeping rooms and not individual apartments. The bedrooms were modified so that they no longer have separate sinks, counters or food preparation areas. Each bedroom now only has a separate bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink. The permit is for 7 units total, each with 8 bedrooms, a large kitchen and lounge area. This change was in response to the Superior Court ruling on the Harvard proposal and is not related to the recently adopted legislation regarding SEDUs.
(That’s “small efficiency dwelling units,” the city’s official name for microhousing.)
DESIGN REVIEW FOR ASSISTED-LIVING FACILITY: We’ve reported before about the assisted-living facility proposed for 4515 41st SW. Just added to the Southwest Design Review Board‘s schedule, for 6:30 pm December 4th (at the Senior Center of West Seattle), is the first meeting to look at the plan, now described as:
4-story assisted-living facility containing 48 sleeping rooms (66 beds total). Parking for 11 vehicles to be provided below grade. Existing structures to be demolished.
Here’s the project page on the city website.
Finally, not far from there …
REDEVELOPMENT AT 40TH/OREGON: Thanks to Jeannette for the tip – an 84-year-old house at 40th/Oregon is scheduled for teardown and replacement.
The project has just evolved in city files, she points out, from a rowhouse to a combination of two single-family homes and a 2-unit townhouse building. County records show the house and its 4,600-square-foot lot were sold two weeks ago for $500,000.
Here’s the latest proof of that:
That photo is from Scott, who says the coyote was “right in the front yard” at 39th and Graham, 8 am today. *Added – an 8:20 am photo from Jamie, same area*:
Another sighting this morning, via Twitter:
There was a coyote hanging out at Fauntleroy and Raymond this morning @westseattleblog
— Dorcas Bean (@dorcasbean) November 5, 2014
And Robyn saw one “run west up the sidewalk on Rose Street west of 35th” around 5 o’clock Tuesday evening.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU SEE ONE? As the experts advise – do everything you can to scare it away. Yell, wave, throw rocks. That’s what experts urge, to encourage them to keep their distance. And remove every source of food you can (that includes outdoor pet food as well as small pets themselves, although experts say they more often eat small wild animals such as rats).
(Photo by Mark Wangerin: ‘Intergrade’ Northern Flicker – characteristics of eastern, yellow shafted, & western, red-shafted varieties)
Just a few of your options for today/tonight!
FALL PLANTING AT CAMP LONG: Can you spare a few hours today? 10 am-2 pm, EarthCorps welcomes volunteer help for fall planting at Camp Long – details in our calendar listing. (5200 35th SW)
EARLY DAYS: Drop-in support group for parents of babies up to 1 year old meets today, Limber Yoga. (Same group featured in this WSB story yesterday – expanding and seeking help to cover training costs for volunteer facilitators helping new parents.) Noon-2 pm. (6019 California SW)
WORK AT HOME? Grab lunch and take a break for casual networking and support at the Home Office/Coworking Meetup at Office Junction (WSB sponsor), noon-1 pm. (6040 California SW)
RAPIDRIDE ON CALIFORNIA IN THE JUNCTION? That’s one of the items on the agenda for tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting. Also up: The proposed Neighborhood Matching Fund changes that already have drawn opposition from the SWDC’s counterparts in eastern West Seattle. All welcome. 6:30 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle. (Oregon/California)
KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: 6:30-8:30 pm, tour John F. Kennedy Catholic High School (WSB sponsor) in Burien. Details on the school’s website. (140 S. 140th)
WEST SEATTLE SOUL: 8 pm at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), Rippin Chicken‘s onstage with a “free-form groove night full of insane amounts of groove and jams.” (6451 California SW)
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE: You get the spotlight at Skylark‘s weekly 21+ fully backlined open-microphone night – signups 7:30 pm, music starts 8:30 pm. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
AND … more events for today/tonight, recurring and one-time-only, are on our calendar.
(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Another nothing-out-of-the-ordinary traffic morning for our area, so far. Looking ahead:
TRANSIT FUNDING PASSES – WHAT NEXT? At 11:30 this morning downtown, city and county leaders will meet the media to talk about the passage of the transit-funding measure on yesterday’s Seattle ballot. (It was ahead 59%-41% after the first and only election-night ballot count; next round of results this afternoon.)
RELOCATE RAPIDRIDE IN THE JUNCTION? Is the SDOT proposal to move RapidRide onto California SW in the heart of The Junction, first reported here in August, moving forward? An SDOT rep is scheduled to discuss it at tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle (Oregon/California).
FAUNTLEROY MEETING TOMORROW: 7 pm tomorrow (Thursday) at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW), city leaders including SDOT director Scott Kubly will meet with community members about traffic/transportation challenges from speeding to sidewalks and beyond, as first announced last month. All welcome.
Back to today’s getting-around watch …
7:52 AM: Low bridge is open for marine traffic. No advance-warning system yet but SDOT does continue to tweet bridge “openings” at @sdotbridges. (Added: If you’re keeping score, according to the tweets, the closure lasted about 11 minutes.)
The election-night vote count for King County is in, and here’s how the local ballot measures are going:
TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT DISTRICT PROPOSITION #1 – results here
59 percent yes, 41 percent no
*Added 9:13 pm: Mayor Murray issued a statement saying in part, “Great cities need great mass transit – and Seattle is a great city. Seattle voters understand that, and today’s passage of Prop 1 is the next step to getting the transit system that Seattle wants and that Seattle needs. With today’s vote, we are now able to do something that has eluded elected leaders of this City for decades, and that’s significantly add to existing transit service in Seattle.”
*Added 11:52 pm: Murray, County Executive Dow Constantine, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and others will meet the media downtown Wednesday morning to talk about what’s next now that Prop 1, which includes a car-tab fee and sales-tax increase, has passed. We’ll be there.
PROPOSED TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, CITIZENS’ PETITION (MONORAIL) – results here
80 percent no, 20 percent yes
SEATTLE PRESCHOOL MEASURES – This is a two-part set of results – here (“should either measure become law?” and here (which is preferred, 1A or 1B)
Should one become law? 65 percent yes, 35 percent no
Which one? 67 percent for 1B, 33 percent for 1A
HIGHLINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOND MEASURE: Results here
57 percent yes, 43 percent no (note: 60 percent approval is required for passage)
MORE RESULTS: Other county results are here.
In this story, we’re tracking the big statewide measures for starters, and will add other regional results, including Legislature and Congress races. The initiative numbers, you should note, will change often, since results are coming in from counties all over the state, and some will be counting all night long (unlike here in King County, where there won’t be a second count until tomorrow). We’ll update the initiative results, with time notations, as often as we can, in the hours ahead.
I-594 (FIREARMS) – results here
9:09 pm – 59.72% yes, 40.28% no
I-591 (FIREARMS) – results here
9:09 pm – 45.44% yes, 54.56% no
I-1351 (CLASS SIZE) – results here
9:09 pm update – 49.43% yes, 50.57% no
STATEWIDE ADVISORY VOTES – results linked here
U.S. HOUSE, DISTRICT 7 – results here
Jim McDermott, 80%
Craig Keller, 20%
STATE SENATE, 34TH DISTRICT – results here
Sharon Nelson, 98% (unopposed)
STATE HOUSE POSITION 1, 34TH DISTRICT
Eileen Cody, 98% (unopposed) – results here
STATE HOUSE POSITION 2, 34TH DISTRICT – results here
Joe Fitzgibbon, 81%
Brendan Kolding , 18%
6:41 PM: Thanks to everyone texting us about Guardian One, the law-enforcement helicopter – it’s over Highland Park because of a search for burglary suspects. We don’t know yet exactly where the break-in was, but we’re seeing some police vehicles along the 9000 block of 8th SW near Westcrest Park.
7:23 PM: Police describe the break-in that led to the search as “an armed burglary.” We don’t yet know if anyone was home or not; there were no medical calls in the area, so no indication that anyone was hurt. A K-9 team also was used in the search.
9:23 PM: According to Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams, early reports indicate “two male suspects armed with handguns entered a residence in the 9000 block of 8th SW) around 6 pm. They “encountered residents inside the house and fled on foot shortly thereafter.” Despite an extensive search, no arrests yet; no one was hurt.
ADDED 1:52 PM WEDNESDAY: SPD Blotter has just published details of how police were told this unfolded:
Two traffic notes, one this evening, one this weekend:
AVALON BACKUP THIS EVENING: If you wondered what was backing up SW Avalon, probably this:
@westseattleblog Here's a pic of the bus with it's hood up. pic.twitter.com/vgsbR4N8n0
— Kevin Freitas (@kevinfreitas) November 5, 2014
Kevin tweeted that photo of a stalled school bus. Haven’t heard how conditions are now, but thought we’d mention this in case you got caught in it and never saw what was happening. Meantime, also via Twitter, we’re hearing traffic is steady headed to the West Seattle Stadium ballot dropoff (35th just south of Avalon) – you have until 8 pm to get your ballot (no stamps required) dropped off there.
BATTERY STREET TUNNEL CLOSURE NEXT WEEKEND: Just announced by SDOT:
The Seattle Department of Transportation will close the Battery Street Tunnel (SR 99) to both directions of traffic from 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 until 8 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. During the closure, SDOT crews will test the fire suppression system.
Northbound traffic on the Alaskan Way Viaduct (SR 99) will be routed off the viaduct at Western Avenue, then directed to Broad Street, then to Second Avenue, and on to Battery Street to return to northbound Aurora Avenue North (SR 99).
Southbound traffic on Aurora Avenue North (SR 99) will be detoured from Aurora Avenue at Denny Way, then directed to Wall Street and then to Elliott Avenue to return to southbound Alaskan Way Viaduct (SR 99).
Lots of info in West Seattle Crime Watch today, including three new reader reports and two followups:
CAN YOU FIND THIS STOLEN CAR? WSB readers have spotted three stolen vehicles in recent days. Maybe this will be the fourth. Jena shared the photo and explains, “My boyfriend’s 1991 Honda Accord Coupe was stolen from out front of our house last night sometime after 12:30 am in Arbor Heights.” Call 911 if you see it.
STOLEN, THEN FOUND: The most recent of the aforementioned three stolen cars spotted by readers was Matt‘s gold Nissan Maxima, reported here Sunday, found in Arbor Heights this morning.
RECOGNIZE THIS BICYCLE? It turned up in an alley west of The Junction.
Let us know if you recognize it. (Looks a lot like this one, but that one had been taken in for safekeeping last we heard.)
CAR PROWL: From Sage K:
Just wanted to let you know that sometime between 11:45 pm on Sunday Nov. 2nd and 8 pm Monday Nov. 3rd, my car was broken into while parked in the parking lot for the Longfellow Creek Apts on Delridge where I live (the gate which is supposed to be closed from 6 pm-6 am has been open for about a week as someone broke it, which means parking lot not as controlled). They punched the lock on the driver’s side door.
While I’m lucky that the few things they took: gate opener (which leads me to believe it was a resident or someone that knows one), blu tooth, phone charger, blue mid size Maglite, cloth Trader Joe’s bag (wt heck?) sliver car shade, and a box in the trunk that had some oil, funnels and other car maintenance misc items. Have a relatively low replacement cost and they left most of the things I actually care about. Replacing door locks even with insurance is a pain and costly.
AHEAD – as promised, a followup on the marijuana-investigation raids at two Gatewood homes last Saturday (here’s our original story):
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Have you voted yet? These Gatewood Elementary kids hope so! Teacher Darren Radu explains:
Our kids got fired up about voter turnout the past couple of days; we’ll be heading over to Morgan Junction … to remind people to send in their ballots.
Not only did they make signs – they wrote you this letter (click the image for a larger view):
You have until 8 pm to get your ballot to a drop van or dropbox, as explained in our daily calendar highlights; if you’re mailing it, you need stamps and you need to make sure it’ll be postmarked with today’s date.
When someone asked recently about that “LEASED” sign on the years-empty ground floor space at the Orion Building at 2743 California SW, adjacent to PCC (WSB sponsor), we didn’t have an answer – but today, we do. Broker Blake Taylor from West Coast Commercial Realty e-mailed to announce that West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) is moving into the space, and we have confirmed it with proprietors Lori and Tim McConnell.
WS Runner has been located on the second floor of Charlestown Center since opening in spring 2010; now they’ll be at street level, with more room – ~2,200 square feet, about a third bigger than their current shop. Tim told us this morning that the layout also will be an upgrade – one big rectangular space, instead of one with a few too many corners. The McConnells hope to move into the new space, about two-thirds of a mile north, in January. (The back of the space will be leased, broker Taylor says – synergistically! – for an expansion location of Elite Sports and Spine.)
P.S. West Seattle Runner will continue offering a slate of in-store events and clinics, according to the McConnells, and have some coming up in their current space: $10 discount on registration for the Seattle Half/Full Marathon during an info/signup event 6-8 pm next Tuesday, November 11th; Goretex waterproof running-shoe tryout during the 6:30 pm November 19th group run (walkers welcome too); Team In Training-hosted Turkey Trot group run/walk on Alki on Thanksgiving morning (meet by Tully’s at 8 am), November 27th, free (food donation requested).
(Bald eagle in Lincoln Park – carrying nesting material? – photographed by Trileigh Tucker)
Election Day is here. In honor of that most patriotic of days, we feature two bald-eagle photos in our daily preview from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
VOTE! Until 8 pm, the ballot-dropoff vans are in West Seattle and White Center, or you can check the county’s list of fixed dropboxes, OR you can mail your ballot (which, unlike dropoffs, requires postage), as long as you’re sure it’ll be postmarked with today’s date. Still deciding? Lots of info on the KC Elections website. The first results are expected around 8:15 pm, and you’ll see them here on WSB as soon as they’re published.
VOLUNTEER MAPMAKING: Help Ebola first responders across the globe without ever leaving your home. As previewed here on Tuesday, bring your laptop to the West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library at 6 pm tonight to find out how. (2306 42nd SW)
WESTWOOD-ROXHILL-ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY COUNCIL: 6:15 pm monthly meeting at Southwest Branch Library. The announcement from WWRHAH leadership has a question for everyone in the neighborhoods this group serves:
… Our big topic is Steering. We’ve gotten stuff done and in motion:
The Roxbury road safety project;
More police presence in Roxhill Park;
We’ve gotten Metro & SDOT to fix some road issues around Westwood;
We’ve got the Arbor Heights storm drains project slowly advancing;
We have grant money for more Roxhill Park improvements;
We helped make sure the city didn’t rush through the every-other-week trash pickup;
We got Metro to move peak hour Route #21 layovers from Westwood to 35th & Roxbury;
We’ve got the city and county studying and researching restoring the bog closer to its original state.
The Southwest District Council helped us get Arbor Heights more money for sidewalks on 35th;
The Delridge District Council and SDOT helped us do that on the south side of Roxbury by the school with the county.Most of these are in different stages — underway or done — and that’s just over our first solid year.
So, now what? You tell us: What are the biggest outstanding issues for Westwood, Roxhill, and Arbor Heights? Come tell us at the meeting … or online, or over e-mail at contact@wwrhah.org.
(35th/Henderson)
(Photo by Terri – bald eagles atop tower crane in The Junction last weekend)
WEST SEATTLE SHAMBHALA MEDITATION GROUP: 6:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center – details here. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
‘INTERSTELLAR’ PREMIERE: As previewed here last night, 8 pm is the special sneak-peek showing of this 35mm-film first-run movie at the Admiral Theater. (2343 California SW)
OTHER NIGHTLIFE: Tuesday night is one of the busiest nights on our calendar – see why, here.
After a 12-day closure, the fitness-center building at 2629 SW Andover did indeed open this morning as the West Seattle Health Club (thanks to the commenters who provided first word). If you’ve missed our ongoing coverage, this is the building previously long known as Allstar Fitness, then for about a year and a half as the West Seattle (Athletic) Club.
The owner of the latter, Sam Adams, facing an October 24th court-ordered deadline to pay $1.1 million (mostly back rent), closed it as of October 23rd (though signage only mentioned a two-day closure); documents in his personal Chapter 11 bankruptcy case indicate that he technically “rejected” continuing the lease as of October 27th. On Saturday, October 25th, it was announced that property owner John Pietromonaco had taken it over and would reopen it as a new club with a new name. The new club’s operations VP Dan Lehr told WSB last night that there would be a “skeleton class schedule” for starters, that child care would be available, and that the pool will remain closed for repair/renovations “for about two weeks.” For more backstory, our ongoing coverage is archived here, newest to oldest (we have just merged the archives of coverage so it traces all the way back to our first report on the Allstar bankruptcy two years ago).
ADDED 4 PM: The opening exercise schedule. (Please refer to the club’s website for further updates.)
Parenthood can be joyful. It can also be harrowing. Especially those early days and weeks when you realize a brand-new life is entirely in your hands … and no matter how well you prepared, you’re not sure you’re doing the right thing. The nonprofit West Seattle support group Early Days is for families with babies, and it’s expanding to a second weekly session. That means three of its volunteer leaders need training, and they are crowdfunding to help with part of the cost. One of the new facilitators, Jessica, mom of Oliver (photo above), tells her story:
After Oliver was born, [dad] Daniel stayed home with us for 3 weeks. The first week he was back at work was hard on me. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t crippling anxiety and isolation. Oliver had a lot of gas and grunted a lot, and while this was normal, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something could go terribly wrong at any time.
Sleep deprived and scared, I remember bringing him into the pediatrician, only to be told that what he was doing was very normal. That day, I told the ped that I was thinking about attending a support group at Nurturing Expressions called Early Days and she encouraged me to do so. The next day I threw some diapers in a bag, put clothes on and trekked down to the West Seattle Junction. And I am forever grateful that I did.
During that meeting parents at different places in the first year of their baby’s life talked openly about their struggles. I talked openly about mine, cried and was offered a reflection by one of the facilitators that I was not alone, that many parents had been through much of the same things I was going through. And I felt less anxious, less isolated. It was a major turning point for me.
When I decided to see my midwife about my postpartum mood disorder and start medication, I did it partly because I knew others had done the same, and that I wasn’t weak and this was something that would help me.
The days with a baby are super long and the friends I have made have made them bearable. If I ever need someone, they are there for me.
Early Days is invaluable. For me, becoming a facilitator is an honor and a calling to give back to someone what was given to me. I hope that I can help new parents the way that I was helped. Please consider donating so that we can make this happen. Parents are missing “the village” and we are trying to bring it back. We need each other.
The GoFundMe page, specifically for this training, is here. Early Days, meantime, can be found online here.
(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Another typical fall morning – more rain overnight, but nothing unusual so far on the roads through/from West Seattle as we head into the heart of the morning commute.
ELECTION DAY: Voted yet? You have until 8 pm tonight to get your ballot in (if you’re mailing it, be sure it’s postmarked today). Two transportation measures are on it – Transportation Benefit District Proposition 1 (transit funding) and Seattle Citizen Petition #1 (monorail).
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
It’s a week of big events at West Seattle’s city-landmark Admiral Theater. None bigger than tomorrow, when the first-run “Interstellar” premieres with a sneak-peek screening at 8 pm.
Tonight, Admiral manager Dinah Brein and her crew were preparing the film reels for the screening.
It’s an hours-long task, but one that is a reminder of the reason they are getting “Interstellar” before the megaplexes, as reported here last month: The Admiral is one of just a few theaters still screening in 35mm, and that’s one of three film formats in which the producers are releasing the movie two days in advance.
Tuesday will come just three nights after a crowd jammed in for the final monthly “Rocky Horror Picture Show” shadow-cast-enhanced screening:
(Rendering from Design Review meeting in July – new ‘packet’ isn’t available yet)
For only the second time in two and a half months, the Southwest Design Review Board will be convened to consider a project. On November 20th at 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle, it will be the fourth SWDRB meeting about 3824 California SW, the ~27-townhouse/live-work project on the site of the long-closed Charlestown Café. The project needed three Early Design Guidance reviews to make it out of that first stage of the two-stage Design Review process; the third one was in July (WSB coverage here). The board hasn’t met since September 4th; it has two regular meeting nights most months of the year, but the meetings are canceled if there are no projects ready to be considered.
P.S. WS Food Bank has a big event next Saturday – a turkey drive in the HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) parking lot at 41st/Alaska, 11 am-2 pm – bring a 10-to-12-pound turkey or $15 cash.
Four biznotes with an opening, two (temporary) closures, and an update:
‘THE GENERAL STORE’ OPENING: This Saturday (November 8th), The General Store-Seattle is opening at ActivSpace (3400 Harbor Ave. SW), with shop hours starting at 10 am and a party at 6 pm. It’s an online AND bricks/mortar endeavor focused on selling local products; its website has a sampling, including food and body-care items.
BAKERY NOUVEAU CLOSED FOR 2 DAYS: A texter thought you might want to know that the legendary Junction bakery is closed until Wednesday. Its Facebook page says BN is doing some maintenance before the busy holiday season fully ramps up. Its Capitol Hill location remains open.
SEASONAL CLOSURE AT TONY’S: The produce market at 35th/Barton in Westwood is shut down for its seasonal break between Halloween and the winter holidays. It’ll reopen for Christmas-tree sales right after Thanksgiving.
WESTSIDE PUBLIC HOUSE: The sports bar moving into the former Terrible Beauty (etc.) spot at California/Edmunds says its liquor license is in hand. David sent this photo of the U-Haul truck outside the past few days as interior work continues:
No opening date announced yet; we first noted the sports-bar plan in September.
2:40 PM: A week and a half after the discovery of shells stopped excavation at the Alaskan Way Viaduct-side pit where the tunneling machine’s damaged cutter head will be pulled out, the digging has resumed. So announced WSDOT this afternoon, saying archaeologists gave the tunnel contractor clearance on Sunday to get going again. According to the announcement, they “believe the shell deposits are the product of commercial shellfish activities carried out by early Seattleites around the turn of the 20th century.” Therefore, they weren’t believed to be “culturally or historically significant,” and work was allowed to resume.
3:37 PM: Any further delay for the timeline? we asked WSDOT spokesperson Laura Newborn. Her reply: “STP has not given WSDOT an updated timeline. As recently as last month, STP said it expected it would get the front end of the machine up and out of the ground sometime in December, and that it still expected repairs to be finished by the end of March.”
The incident occurred near the intersection of 40th Ave SW and SW Juneau St, in the Fairmount Springs neighborhood, likely sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Thursday morning I noticed that the cover on our car (a 1993 Chevrolet Corvette) was torn open in the back.
We initially suspected perhaps vandals cut it open, but upon closer examination we discovered that a vehicle had scraped almost the entire back end of the car, tearing the cover open (there is a lot of missing paint). We thought this was odd since the car was backed up to the curb of the triangular island bounded by 40th, Juneau, and Fauntleroy in a back-in angle parking spot right near the intersection. Looking at the scene in more detail in the daylight we figured out what had happened…
Coho season continues on 2 local creeks:
Thanks to Josh for sharing that quick clip of one of more than 20 salmon he spotted during a visit to Longfellow Creek: “There are a ton of fish near the bonefish bridge, and we recommend people check it out!” (It’s a short distance down the trail from the Dragonfly Pavilion area just south of 26th/Yancy.)
Meantime, from Fauntleroy Creek, Judy Pickens and Dennis Hinton report more than 90 human visitors during their three-hour “open creek” sessions Saturday and Sunday afternoons. No new coho sightings over the weekend, though, so the total remains at 19. But as Judy puts it, visits are worthwhile, fish or no fish, enabling visitors “to experience spawning season very close to home and to learn a lot about salmon and habitat protection.” (Find out ways you can make a difference, here.) Volunteers will continue their watch in Fauntleroy for at least another week.
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