West Seattle, Washington
02 Friday
Two West Seattle biznotes:
JUST POKE: On the way for 5 1/2 years, the regional chain Just Poké is finally close to opening in West Seattle. Mel sent the photo after noticing the sign had gone up Thursday at the future Just Poké at 4735 42nd SW, across from Jefferson Square, four-plus months after construction began, four years after the previous tenant vacated. We checked today with JP founder Norman Wu about opening plans; he tells us “We’re currently on track to open the last week of June!”
SPORT CLIPS: Thanks to Richard for the tip on this. After almost six years in central Westwood Village, Sport Clips – part of a national chain that specializes in “haircuts for men and boys” – has shut down and cleared out, signage and all. We don’t know how long ago they closed, but Richard thought it was relatively recent.
(Black-capped Chickadee, photographed by Jerry Simmons)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
GARDEN CENTER OPEN: Need more plants for your garden, containers, etc.? You can shop at the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) Garden Center, open with a wide variety of plants, until 3 pm. (North end of campus, 6000 16th SW)
SPRAYPARK OPEN: 11 am-8 pm, Highland Park Spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale) is open daily.
SCRABBLE CLUB: You’re invited to play 12:30-1:30 pm at Margie’s Café in the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon).
GUN LOCKBOX GIVEAWAY: Free lockboxes as part of Gun Violence Awareness Day, 4-5:30 pm at Greenbridge Plaza (9800 8th SW).
LOOP THE LUPE SWAG PICKUP: Registered for tomorrow’s Loop the Lupe? Stop by West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) 4-6 pm to pick up your shirt and medal!
VISCON CELLARS: Stop by Viscon Cellars (WSB sponsor) for wine by the glass or bottle, 5-9 pm (5910 California SW).
DESTINATION DELRIDGE: Fundraiser for Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, 6 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW). Check to see if tickets are still available!
CORNER BAR ON THE ROAD: Highland Park Improvement Club‘s all-ages Corner Bar is back at West Seattle Golf Course (4470 35th SW), 6-10 pm. Live music and more. All ages!
LIVE AT EASY STREET: The Rallies are onstage at 7 pm. (4559 California SW)
LIVE AT C & P: Mars FM performs at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW), 7 pm. No cover.
CHORAL CONCERT: Northwest Firelight Chorale sings “On the Wings of Change” at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church (3050 California SW), 7:30 pm. Details in our calendar listing.
LIVE AT THE SKYLARK: Barbara Volk and friends, 8 pm (doors at 7) at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW).
Something to add to our calendar? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
That flag led the Youth Mini-Parade following the White Center Pride flag-raising last night at the parklet outside Mac’s Triangle Pub (Delridge/Roxbury/16th). It was a gift from WC Pride to the Community School of West Seattle, meant to replace the one stolen from CSWS earlier this week (as reported here in Crime Watch). Our coverage of the flag-raising and parade is on partner site White Center Now.
P.S. White Center Pride, a nonprofit, is raising money via an online silent auction starting Saturday morning – preview the items here. You can also preview the items during tomorrow’s street festival in downtown WC.
6:03 AM: Good morning. It’s Friday, June 2nd.
WEATHER & SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
Sunny, high around 70. Sunrise was at 5:15 am; sunset will be at 9 pm.
TONIGHT & SATURDAY
*10 pm tonight-6 am Saturday, the Highway 99 tunnel will be closed both ways for maintenance work
*All day/night Saturday, 16th SW through downtown White Center will be closed to vehicle traffic for the WC Pride street festival
TRANSIT
Metro – Regular schedule, but trip cancellations and temporary route suspensions can and do happen at any time.
Water Taxi – Continuing the spring/summer schedule, including late-evening runs Friday and Saturday nights.
Washington State Ferries‘ Triangle Route continues on the 2-boat schedule; sailing cancellations remain possible on short notice, so check here for alerts/updates and see Vessel Watch for boats’ locations.
SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS
Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Henderson), cameras are also up at Delridge/Genesee, Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Orchard, and Delridge/Oregon.
High Bridge – the main camera:
High Bridge – the view from its southwest end (when SDOT points the 35th/Avalon/Fauntleroy camera that way):
Low Bridge – east-end vicinity:
1st Ave. S. Bridge – alternate route across the river:
Highway 99: – northbound side at Lander.
MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: See all working traffic cams citywide here, most with video options; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are on this WSB page.
BRIDGE INFO: Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed to see if the city’s movable bridges are opening for vessel traffic.
If you see trouble on the bridges/streets/paths/bay, please text or call us (when you can do it safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities). Thank you!
A suspect is in custody in the Roxy’s Casino shootings. That’s according to King County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Glen Brannon, White Center’s new “storefront deputy,” who just announced today’s arrest during the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting we were covering for partner site White Center Now. We’re attempting to get more details from KCSO. The deputy described the shootings as not random, and said they involved a “beef” between two people, the suspect and one of the three victims. Two other people – both casino employees – were not intended targets. (A crowdfunding page is set up for one of them, identified publicly as CJ.) The casino and adjacent Roxbury Lanes, meantime, reopened today; they had been closed since the shootings just before 11 pm Saturday.
Thanks for the tips and photos – the one above is from Rebecca. A tree is down across Bonair in Upper Alki, so avoid that area for a while. Rebecca says it’s down near where Bonair meets Massachusetts.
Thanks for the photo. We’ve received several reports of brown water today, this time in Seaview – the photo is from a home near 45th/Seaview. No official word on the cause but lately it’s mostly been from hydrant testing stirring up the sediment, aka rust, in water lines. But please be sure to report it to SPU – 206-386-1800, 24/7.
(Sunday morning photo sent by Doug)
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has released the name of the 49-year-old man found shot to death at Don Armeni Boat Ramp early Sunday morning. He is identified as Peyman Shojaei, and his cause of death is listed as “multiple gunshot wounds.” Still no information from SPD on circumstances (we just asked again). Online research suggests Mr. Shojaei was local; his funeral is planned for next week at Forest Lawn Cemetery in High Point, and his name cross-references to an independent trucking business in North Shorewood. If you have any information about the case, SPD’s tipline is 206-233-5000.
2:47 PM: Thanks for the tips (and to Vern Murray for the photo). That moving truck is stuck atop the steep SW Charlestown hill west of California; multiple tipsters describe it as having “bottomed out.”
3:19 PM: In comments, Teri reports a tow truck has arrived.
3:48 PM: Todd reports via email that it’s now unstuck and has moved along.
(Southwest Seattle Historical Society photo)
As noted here earlier this week, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s Log House Museum is closed starting today for about a week and a half. The building isn’t the only thing undergoing an overhaul. SWSHS is also looking at new ways of serving you. They have some questions for you, too, via a community survey. Here’s how the SWSHS explains it:
Like all museums and cultural organizations, the last few years brought challenges for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society and its landmark Log House Museum. But, says its new Programs and Outreach Director, Elizabeth Rudrud, it has also created opportunities.“Visitors are looking for new experiences with their local museums,” says Rudrud, “and the last few years have allowed museums to understand that, to think differently about their programs and audiences.”The is embarking on a strategic planning process to guide its decision making for the next three years and hopes to learn from its community.
A critical component of the process is a community-wide survey. “We hope to learn whether Duwamish Peninsula residents are interested in history, what stories from the past are important to them, what types of programs or services they would like to see us offer,” Rudrud continues, “and for those who have not been to visit the Log House Museum – why? Is this something that could change if the museum did things differently or programmed in different neighborhoods?”
Respondents who choose to enter their name and contact information will be eligible for a drawing to receive a $100 American Express Gift Card. The winner will be notified in late July or August. (Personal information is not required to participate in the survey.)
The museum is already thinking in new directions, renovating its interior to accommodate larger programs and offer private rentals to bring in unrestricted income as well as expanding how it talks about the area’s past.
Recently, it joined as an early partner with the newly established Maritime Washington National Heritage Area. “The partnership allows us to collaborate with a region wide network, rethink how we talk about maritime history, incorporate geological and ecological history, and consider maritime programming.”
The Log House Museum, located one block from Alki Beach, is in a prime location to talk about the history of waterways in Washington State. It was near this location where Chief Sealth, who regularly traveled the region’s waterways, welcomed the arrival of settlers who arrived at Alki Point in 1851 on the Schooner Exact.
The LHM expects to reopen by mid-month; its regular hours are Fridays and Saturdays, noon-4 pm.
(WSB photo, Lincoln Park South Play Area shortly after July 2017 closure)
After years of delays – six years, in one case – construction is finally on the horizon for two West Seattle playground projects, Lincoln Park South and Westcrest Park. Bundled together, as Seattle Parks said last year would be done, they are now open for bidding. The previous play equipment at Lincoln Park South was closed in July 2017 because of safety concerns from termite damage; at the time, Parks said it might take until the following year (2018) to get it replaced. A community-engagement process in 2017-2018 settled on a marine theme for the replacement. But over the ensuing years, the timeline has just kept sliding, with no clear explanation.
(WSB photo, Westcrest Park play area shortly after May 2021 closure)
Meantime, the Westcrest Park play area was closed two years ago, with similar “deterioration” concerns cited. Parks first said it would be replaced as part of the work at Westcrest Off-Leash Area, but last year decided instead to bundle it with the Lincoln Park project. The bid documents aren’t yet available online, but the schedule says bidding opened yesterday and will continue for three weeks. Typically, the construction schedule isn’t set until a contractor is chosen, so we don’t know yet how soon the work will start, nor whether the two will be built simultaneously or sequentially. The city website says the Lincoln Park project is budgeted at $600,000, but doesn’t list a dollar amount for Westcrest; both projects will be funded by the Seattle Park District.
King County Assessor John Wilson just finished a media briefing on what his staff is seeing as they work on property valuations that will affect next year’s tax bills. His assessment of the situation: “Assessed values are going down in some areas for the first time in a long time” – at least a decade. This follows a big jump last year, so Wilson sees it as “re-level-izing.” So far, his staff has finished just two of the 85 districts, so valuation notices will be going out in those two districts first – Queen Anne and Sammamish. In QA, Wilson said, valuations are down 8 percent, while in Sammamish, they’re down 22 percent. So far, they’re only seeing a few areas of the county that aren’t trending downward – Normandy Park, for example, is up, while South Seattle is flat. Wilson says the downward trend also applies to commercial property, which he attributes to the work-from-home trend reducing demand for commercial space and therefore bringing down rents. Valuation reviews for all 85 districts won’t be complete until late summer, so it might still be months before you get your valuation notice if you own property. These are 2023 valuations for the tax bills that go out in early 2024. Wilson cautions that “Assessed values are not the sole predictor of property taxes” – they won’t know how taxes are going until the taxing jurisdictions start sending their budgets for next year. One more note, while you can’t appeal your property taxes, you can appeal your property valuation, provided you do it within 60 days of the notice date – the process is explained here.
Here’s the list of what’s ahead as the new month begins, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
UNDERSTANDING MEDICARE: Got questions? A local expert has answers. 11 am presentation at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon).
SPRAYPARK OPEN: Daily operations continue for Highland Park Spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale), 11 am-8 pm.
WEST SEATTLE UKULELE PLAYERS: All levels welcome to this weekly 1 pm gathering. Email westseattleukuleleplayers@gmail.com to see where they’re playing today.
GIRLS RIDE WEST SIDE: New bicycle club has a 5:30 pm ride tonight – more info in our calendar listing!
THURSDAY FOOD-TRUCK POP-UP: 4-8 pm at Highland Park Corner Store (7789 Highland Park Way SW), Lunch on the Plate will be visiting.
HIGHLAND PARK RUN CLUB: Also at HP Corner Store, meet up at 6:30 pm for a three-mile run!
WESTIES RUN CLUB: Meet at The Good Society (California/Lander) at 6 pm for a 3-mile run – more in our calendar listing.
WHITE CENTER PRIDE FLAG-RAISING: 6:30 pm ceremony and entertainment in the park outside Mac’s Triangle Pub (9454 Delridge Way SW), presented by White Center Pride.
YOUTH PRIDE MINI-PARADE: Immediately after the aforementioned flag-raising, three local schools lead a Youth Pride Mini-Parade heading south into the heart of the White Center business district – our preview includes the route map.
WEST SEATTLE TAE KWON DO: First June class, 6:30 pm at High Point Community Center (6920 34th SW).
WEST SEATTLE SILENT BOOK CLUB: Read and then chat – or not! 7-9 pm, this month’s gathering has NINE venues, all in our calendar listing.
PIANO BAR: Larry Knapp and friends provide the music as you enjoy Piano Bar at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon), 7-10 pm.
COMEDY IN THE JUNCTION: 8 pm at Great American Diner (4752 California SW):
Want to be one of those people who can say “I saw that comedian before they got big?”
This is your chance. Cozy Comedy is back at the Great American Diner with their audition show. Seattle’s most up-and-coming comedians will audition to be part of their rotation of comedians that fill 13 different venues across the state.
Closing out the show is Erin Ingle, who may just be Seattle’s tenderest feminist, with comedy that’s equal parts joy and judgment. Erin has been performing stand-up since 2012 and currently headlines around the PNW. Erin has been featured on Comedy Central, NBC, and at the “10,000 Laughs,” and “Laugh Your Asheville Off” comedy festivals, and her monthly comedy Q&A show “Is This Normal?” brings in a regular cult crowd. She hopes one day to be friends with someone who owns a glamorous boat.
Tickets $10 at cozycomedy.com
NORTH HIGHLINE UNINCORPORATED AREA COUNCIL: Live/work/study in White Center/vicinity? This is your community coalition and they’re meeting online at 7 pm. Our calendar listing includes connection and agenda information.
There’s even more in our calendar!
Mental illness affects more than the people struggling with it – their families, friends, co-workers are affected too. One of your West Seattle neighbors found support and wants both to let you know about it, and to invite your support. Here’s the message from Jesse:
I have experienced incredible support and care from an organization called NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This organization offers support groups, education, and listening ears to families who have a loved one with mental illness. Their goal is to help the caregiver, so the caregiver can better help their loved one in crisis and learns ways to help themselves. Often persons in crisis have little resources for help. This means often it’s a family member or friend who steps up and dedicates part of their life and resources to help this loved one. This takes financial and mental tolls on the caregiver. The support from NAMI and the many other caregivers is an indispensable resource. NAMI helped myself when I had a loved one enter a mental health crisis. My life changed completely after I never saw my husband, home, or puppy again due to his actions. At my lowest NAMI gave me the tools and support I needed to get me to a place where I am stronger than I have ever been. I am grateful beyond words. This is why I created my fundraising team The Cortex Vortex!
Saturday, June 3rd, NAMIWalks is hosting a fundraising walk at Marina Park in Kirkland. We hope to get people out to support the cause to aid mental illness in our community. We are asking for donations to continue providing the resources to help more families in need. Please Join, Donate & Walk with your Families, Friends and Pups!
If you decide to join the walk event, it’s happening 8-11 am Saturday. If you need support, here’s how to contact NAMI’s Helpline – that page also has information about emergency resources.
6:03 AM: Good morning. It’s Thursday, June 1st.
WEATHER & SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
Sunny, high in the mid-60s. Sunrise was at 5:16 am; sunset will be at 8:59 pm.
TRANSIT
Metro – Regular schedule, but trip cancellations and temporary route suspensions can and do happen at any time.
Water Taxi – Continuing the spring/summer schedule, including late-evening runs Friday and Saturday nights.
Washington State Ferries‘ Triangle Route continues on the 2-boat schedule; sailing cancellations remain possible on short notice, so check here for alerts/updates and see Vessel Watch for boats’ locations.
SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS
Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Henderson), cameras are also up at Delridge/Genesee, Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Orchard, and Delridge/Oregon.
High Bridge – the main camera:
High Bridge – the view from its southwest end (when SDOT points the 35th/Avalon/Fauntleroy camera that way):
Low Bridge – east-end vicinity:
1st Ave. S. Bridge – alternate route across the river:
Highway 99: – northbound side at Lander.
MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: See all working traffic cams citywide here, most with video options; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are on this WSB page.
BRIDGE INFO: Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed to see if the city’s movable bridges are opening for vessel traffic.
If you see trouble on the bridges/streets/paths/bay, please text or call us (when you can do it safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities). Thank you!
By Judy Pickens
Special to West Seattle Blog
Students from the Fauntleroy Children’s Center capped one of the biggest salmon-release seasons on Fauntleroy Creek since the first, in 1991.
Between April 27 and May 31, volunteers with the Fauntleroy Watershed Council hosted 730 students and some 235 adults for 17 releases in Fauntleroy Park. They brought 1,850 coho fry reared from eyed eggs through Salmon in the Schools-Seattle.
The total included 500 fry raised by volunteer Jack Lawless to ensure that, in the event of a school die-off, every student would have a fish to put in the water. His fish also enabled children from four additional preschools to have a release experience.
k(WSB photo – volunteer Dennis Hinton at left)
Elementary field trips to Fauntleroy Park included exploring nearby habitat and seeing some of the aquatic insects that comprise a large portion of a fry’s diet. Those that find enough food and protection in the creek will head to saltwater next spring as smolts.
From mid-March to late May, volunteers checked net traps in the upper and lower creek twice daily to document 41 smolts that had survived to leave for nearshore habitat in Fauntleroy Cove. Eleven of them came from the pond that formed during April’s partial blockage of the creek culvert under 45th Avenue SW.
“Finding so many downstream of the park confirmed that juveniles are making use of the entire system,” said veteran volunteer Dennis Hinton. “Those released at the big bridge in the park will linger there for a few weeks, so come have a look – but be sure to keep your dog out of the water.”
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports:
STOLEN BLACK KIA SOUL: From Darcie:
Vehicle stolen from Delridge Way SW & SW Brandon St between 5/30 and 5/31 7 pm-11 am. Black 2015 Kia Soul, license plate CES6260. If spotted, please report to police. Incident #23-150397
ABANDONED-LIKELY-STOLEN BICYCLE: An anonymous reader sent this photo of a bicycle seen for at least a few days apparently abandoned in the Harbor Avenue area:
Yours? Email us (westseattleblog@gmail.com) and we can connect you with more-specific location info.
Happening at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon) until 10 pm, it’s the first part of a two-part world-music festival in The Junction. Yogi and The Yoginis (pic above, video below) are onstage until 7:30 pm, followed at 8 by The Pazific Band.
The event is “Sounds from Around the World Festál,” produced by Janean Wyvold of Urgent Africa, one of several special events planned in The Junction thanks to city neighborhood-recovery grant funding. Tonight’s show is a prelude to an all-day festival Saturday (June 3rd) at Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska), which will feature four bands, 11 am-7 pm. Both events are free of charge and all ages.
Driving along Delridge recently, we noticed that the largest current affordable-housing construction project in West Seattle, the rebuilt and expanded Lam Bow Apartments complex, appeared almost complete. We subsequently confirmed that with the Seattle Housing Authority. Almost seven years have passed since one of the Lam Bow’s original two buildings was heavily damaged in a three-alarm fire. While that September 2016 fire only affected one building, SHA decided in 2019 to demolish the remaining building and redevelop the entire Lam Bow site into an 82-unit complex, 31 more apartments than the two original buildings held. As SHA prepares for the building at 6935 Delridge Way SW to be occupied, spokesperson Kerry Coughlin tells WSB, “We are contacting former residents at this time about whether they want to move back.” The new Lam Bow, with a construction cost estimated at $26 million, has a mix of 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units, and a mix of rents as well, including some for those making up to 60 percent of the average mean income. Funding announced in 2019 was from a mix of sources including the Seattle Housing Levy, which expires this year and is – as we reported in March, and as a council committee affirmed just today – moving toward a $970 million expansion/renewal for this November’s ballot.
As the Pump Station 38 overhaul in the 1400 block of Alki Avenue SW nears completion, here are new views of the art installation. We first told you almost three years ago about the planned artwork by Sarah Thompson Moore, inspired by an old topographic map of Alki. As we showed you earlier this month, it’s now coming to life as a lithomosaic concrete installation, and Seattle Public Utilities just sent new photos.
Before the crew is done with the art installation, one of the final components of the pump-station project, they will be installing a guardrail fence which will include elements of the design. The work on the pump-station infrastructure, SPU says, will “improve service reliability, improve system performance, and reduce maintenance requirements and costs.”
Last night, around the time we were out covering the Myers Way death investigation, a police search was happening in North Admiral. It eventually involved a K-9 team, and an arrest. We asked SPD today what it was about, and here’s the response: “This was a freshly stolen vehicle in the 2300 block of 44th Ave SW around 7:15 pm. The vehicle was later found dumped in an alley. Witness info, coupled with security footage, helped an officer identify both suspects. One suspect was taken into custody in the area of California Ave SW & SW College St, while the other suspect was not located.”
(WSB photo, 2009)
Our photo above is from July 4th, 2009, when Marination brought its already-famous food truck to West Seattle. Co-proprietors Roz (in the photo) and Kamala opened Marination ma kai at Seacrest three years later, and that’s become a West Seattle staple. But now Marination’s original truck is back in West Seattle, in a new role along with a sibling. Here’s the explanation from South Seattle College (WSB sponsor):
Marination, a Hawaiian-Korean culinary team that started with a food truck in 2009 and has now expanded to multiple brick-and-mortar locations in the Seattle area, donated two food trucks to South Seattle College earlier this month, including “Big Blue,” the truck where it all started (read an ode to Big Blue on Marination’s Instagram page).
Automotive Technology students will gain experience working on the trucks to get them in prime working order and then our Culinary Arts students will get to create food truck menus and feed our campus community with both sweet and savory concepts, simulating the entrepreneurial experience many of them may wish to take in their future careers.
The college will rebrand the trucks with new names and paint jobs, involving the campus community to come up with fun concepts. The trucks are expected to be fully functioning next academic year, and Culinary Arts students have already promised their first stop will be feeding Automotive Technology students as thanks for their mechanical expertise.
“Marination’s donation of food trucks to our college is an amazing gift and we are so grateful for their generosity,” said SSC’s Dean of Hospitality and Service Occupations Brian Scheehser. “Marination is a shining example of how to succeed in Seattle’s culinary industry, and we are proud to have part of their company history become part of our college culture and curriculum.”
South Seattle College’s Professional & Technical Career Training Programs have benefited greatly from donations over our 50-plus years in operation, from jet engines to support Aviation Maintenance Technology student learning to shelves that improved our Landscape Horticulture greenhouses. Anyone interested in donating equipment to support our programs (thank you!) can contact the Seattle Colleges Foundation.
This year’s first major Pride celebrations start tomorrow. White Center Pride is raising the flag at 6:30 pm Thursday in the mini-park outside Mac’s Triangle Pub (Delridge/Roxbury/16th). Immediately afterward, three local schools are co-presenting a youth-led mini-parade walking through the heart of the WC business district – here’s the announcement:
Community School of West Seattle, White Center Pride, Explorer West Middle School, and The Bridge School are coming together to put on a Youth Pride Mini-Parade following the 6:30 PM White Center Pride Flag Raising at Triangle Park on June 1, 2023. All are welcome to join the celebration!
See the mini-parade route here. White Center Pride’s other events include a street festival on Saturday (June 3rd), 11 am-11 pm, with part of 16th SW closed to vehicle traffic; see the schedule here. And there’s a pre-funk tonight at Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th SW) – drag cabaret and Pride skate; details here.
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