West Seattle, Washington
10 Saturday
Sorry we couldn’t update this sooner; the tech upgrade mentioned earlier is still in progress (so still no new comments, sorry). Turns out this was a fatal accident. According to the Seattle Police media-info recording, a male driver and female passenger were in the car shown at left, speeding northbound on Fauntleroy, in the inside lane, when they tried to change to the right lane around 38th (near the main ex-Gee/ex-Huling showroom), lost control, hit a pole, then the pole snapped and fell on the car, almost instantly killing the driver, identified only as a Seattle man in his 20s. The woman, described by police as a 20-year-old Seattle resident, suffered only minor injuries. Police believe “weather conditions” were a factor as well as speed.
Big road closure there right now because of a crash. Listed on the 911 site as “automobile rescue” at Fauntleroy/38th, but two e-mails (so far; THANK YOU!) have told us the whole intersection is blocked off – we’ll be checking it out in person shortly but our posting is limited in the short run because of the tech upgrading that’s under way — breaking in just to mention this.
As mentioned below, we have a little upgrading to do – so till we tell you it’s done, comments are temporarily closed – anything you try to post in the meantime may get lost in the techno-ether. Stand by for an update later tonight, and thank you; if anything urgent comes up, you can of course reach us via e-mail.
Read the latest here — then go make sure you’re stocked up on batteries, etc. 4:30 PM ADDENDUM: Now there’s a flood watch too.
THIS IS OUR 2007 PRICE CHECK – FIND OUR WEST SEATTLE 2008 LIST HERE
Just back from making the rounds of every West Seattle Christmas tree seller we know of. (If we missed one – we’ll admit to not checking arterials east of Delridge to look for indies – please let us know and we’ll get out to scout it.) We chose a couple representative tree sizes for comparison’s sake – 5-6′ Noble Fir, 6-7′ Noble Fir, 5-6′ Douglas Fir. Here’s what we found, north to south, including any special notes – caveat, this is from an in-person survey conducted today; pricing changes certainly could happen before you make your tree-shopping trip:Read More
The bad news — starting around 5 pm tonight, we have to close WSB to new comments for a few hours, to facilitate some tech-upgrade work. The good news — if all goes well (cross your fingers), that work should take care of problems that have caused the site to load slowly for some people at some times, including us (meaning that sometimes it takes us a lot longer to publish something than it should), and it also should pave the way for more new features in the works, so that WSB can better serve you. But comment away for now … we’ll let you know when the PEOPLE AT WORK sign has to go up; just wanted to give you advance warning.
We don’t have any new info on the Avalon/Genesee (map) pedestrian/vehicle accident mentioned during our snow coverage yesterday afternoon; Christine, who was on the scene shortly after it happened, is wondering if anyone else does, and also is sending out thanks to Good Samaritans:
Curious to hear if anyone knows how the young woman who was hit by a van yesterday is doing – another passenger and i riding the #22 downtown were first ones at the scene. Within moments, more folks driving stopped to assist – two nurses also pulled over and we got out of their way so that they could help until the paramedics arrived. The girl who was hit must have lived close by – we called the girl’s home, and the mom arrived just as the fire trucks were pulling up. Any news would be appreciated- and thanks to all who stopped to help!
MONDAY 3 PM UPDATE – Another reader e-mailed us with some info:
A West Seattle High School student was hit by a car on Saturday not far from school, so I assume we’re talking about the same accident. The girl is undergoing surgery to repair her pelvis (which was broken in 7 or 8 places) today and has some cuts and broken ribs, too. She’s got quite a bit of recovery ahead of her, but hopefully she’ll be OK. I’m not going to share her name because I want to respect her privacy, and I’d prefer to remain anonymous, but I wanted to give what little information I have so that those who saw the accident (and helped!) aren’t left wondering.
Activities at Hometown Holidays in The Junction continue through 5 pm (full schedule here), including free photos until 2 pm with Santa Claus. (Those pix, taken by Erik Clineschmidt, are all online here.) We asked Santa if West Seattle’s been naughty or nice in ’07:
Santa also accompanied our video crew on a visit to kids making ornaments yesterday:
Back to today’s WS activities — tons of other stuff going on, all over town – it’s all listed in the latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup, including an artists’ show/sale this afternoon-evening at Ginomai (SW corner of 42nd/Genesee) and then tonight, right across the street at West Seattle Christian Church (just east of The Junction), a free concert (doors open @ 6:30) by the African Children’s Choir (donations will be accepted to help fight AIDS in Africa).
When we discuss community problems and challenges here on WSB, obviously we are all looking for solutions, and full of hope for the future. Hate to be cliche about it, but as that old song goes, “… children are our future.” Even if you’re not a parent or teacher – you can take action to boost our chances of a bright future, by helping more kids realize their full potential, and here’s one way: Be a tutor, 2 hours a week. Erica Ellis, volunteer coordinator for the Youth Tutoring Program, sent this alert:
The Youth Tutoring Program is looking for tutors in West Seattle!
YTP is a non-profit tutoring program that provides one-on-one academic support to students living in low-income housing. We operate five tutoring centers throughout the city. We are in great need of volunteer tutors at our High Point tutoring center located on 35th Ave. SW in West Seattle.
Tutors commit to one evening per week for two hours and work with one student at a time on homework, math and language arts skills. Available sessions are Monday through Thursday from 5:30-7:30 pm.
Many of our students cannot get the homework help they need at home and depend on our tutors for academic support!
Make a difference in the life of a child in your neighborhood. Apply today at www.ytpseattle.org or call 206-328-5659.
When we post your Reader Recommendation Requests, we don’t always hear how things worked out — with so many people in the WSB community willing to take time to answer RRRs with their suggestions and experiences, we are confident that connections are made. But this morning, Francine posted an update to her RRR from 2 weeks ago, and we thought you would want to know, so we are highlighting it here on the main page:
Thanks to one of the recommendations from a WSB reader, I hired two incredibly compassionate and helpful caregivers from an agency called Family Resource Center. But I have a sad update. My dear, sweet, courageous husband Mike lost his battle to brain cancer on Wednesday 11/28/07. It all happened so fast. He died peacefully at home surrounded by his family, friends and our devoted kitty, Adam (who never left his bed). Thanks to all for the recommendations and kind offers. I now know of two other people in West Seattle with brain tumors. We must work to find a cure for this horribly devastating disease. (see abta.org) Thanks again.
Our condolences to Francine … both of us lost parents to cancer, so we’ve “been there.” We hope she will let us all know if there is anything more we can do.
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