West Seattle, Washington
30 Tuesday
We have just confirmed information posted earlier tonight in the following comment on our original report about Saturday’s accident near Seacrest, in which a 25-year-old diver turned up missing and was rushed to the hospital (along with the two divers who brought him up and needed to be checked out for effects of rapid ascent):
The missing diver was my brother, his name is Duy Tran. We do not know how long he was under water for before he was found, nor have we been told about what the possible cause of the accident was. He has severe brain damage from the extended period of time he was without oxygen, we were told that it took 30 minutes to get his heart beating again. We just hope that there will be some good news somewhere in the future.
Before republishing this comment here atop the home page in an update, we called Harborview Medical Center to verify whether a patient by that name is there. We just received a call back from the nursing supervisor who confirmed that yes, Duy Tran is there, and listed in serious condition. We also followed up with the sister who left the comment; she added in an e-mail reply, “My brother’s wife called me this afternoon and told me about the post on WSB … my brother did not have ID on him when he was diving, and my family did not find out about what had happened until around 8 pm yesterday … My family has lived in West Seattle for almost 10 years and we have always found it a wonderful place to call home. It is sad that the closeness to Alki that my family loves about West Seattle so much has caused us so much pain.” Seattle Police Harbor Patrol took over the investigation yesterday; there has not been a formal update from SPD since then, but we will be checking tomorrow morning to see if they have determined what went wrong — as we showed you in video added to our original report, SPD divers went down yesterday afternoon to look for clues. MONDAY MIDMORNING UPDATE: No new information re: the police investigation, according to Seattle Police spokesperson Officer Renee Witt. We also checked again with Harborview, where spokesperson Susan Gregg-Hanson tells WSB this morning that Mr. Tran is still listed in serious condition. MONDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: Lila Tran has posted a photo of her brother on her blog, and describes him as “in a coma.”
As we’ve reported previously (Sept. 25, Sept. 26, Oct. 7), West Seattle is about to get a barbecue joint, and tonight we know when it’ll open: Otis Austin from the OK Corral called WSB today to say this Thursday’s the day. (In our 10/7 update, he had said he expected to open in the first half of November, so he’s right on schedule.) If you missed our earlier updates, he already has a successful OK Corral in Greenwood, and he’s taking over the West Seattle restaurant space at 4417 Fauntleroy (map), long-vacant former home of Seattle Teriyaki and Burger, next to recently remodeled/changed-hands Tervo’s Mini-Mart. Otis says he’s planning to be open noon-10 pm, 7 days a week, for starters, while he gets a feel for what the neighborhood wants — and for the first two months, he’ll offer a “five-dollar lunch special.” Asked exactly what you’ll get for your five bucks, Otis says with a friendly chuckle that you’ll just have to go in and see. As he had told us last month, though there will be a table or two, the focus will be on takeout.
(click to see full-size potential route map on Metro website)
Two weeks ago, we told you about proposed Metro Route 50, which would include a leg between Delridge and The Junction. It’s not getting a ton of attention in West Seattle because it’s included in a package of proposals that Metro is spotlighting as Southeast Seattle changes — all related to the launch of light rail next year. Metro’s taking public comments through next Thursday, so we’re reminding you about this one more time in case you want to pipe up. this page has all the details on your commenting options, including e-mail, phone, and postal-mail methods, or this online questionnaire (note that you’ll find Route 50 about halfway in). Metro says it will decide in January whether this (and other) proposals go forward; more comments will be solicited, and then a final county decision is expected by May.
From West Seattle acupuncturist Miranda Taylor (who you may know for her advocacy with the High Point Neighborhood Association), we get word of acupuncturists citywide banding together to offer free services to Iraq/Afghanistan combat veterans on November 11th, and planning a permanent clinic to support them. Read on for full details:Read More
Thinking of a furry new addition to your household? Now’s the time, Morgan Junction’s the place. The Morgan Junction Pet Adoption Stroll is under way right now — with adoptable pets at Pet Elements (California/Holly; here’s a map), Stella Ruffington‘s (two doors down from Caffe Ladro; here’s a map), and The Wash Dog (next to Kokoras Greek Grill; here’s a map). When we stopped by a few minutes ago (before the stormy weather returned, but don’t let that stop you), Pet Elements still had a half-dozen-plus available cats and kittens from Purrfect Pals shelter, including the two you see above, and these two:
(Hard to get cats to pose, but you know that if you share your home with one or more!) Again, three venues, one afternoon, cats AND dogs, continuing till 4 pm today, more info here. Furry Faces Foundation organized it and is participating with adoptable pets; the Pet Stroll comes on the heels – or should we say the paws – of F3’s “Catsino” fundraiser, with recreational casino-inspired gaming on Saturday at Beveridge Place Pub — check out a couple of the characters we found there:
Furry Faces Foundation is a local labor of love, with advocacy for rescued animals and spaying/neutering – keep an eye out for their other fundraisers year-round, from plant sales in the spring to wreath sales for winter!
Thanks to Cindi Barker of the Morgan Community Association for forwarding that rendering from the city’s Public Art program. It shows the original concept for a public-art project that’s now being proposed for the sidewalk alongside the new Morgan Junction park, as revealed at the last MoCA meeting (WSB coverage here). This rendering was created when the project by SuttonBeresCuller was on the boards for a Central District location, so its configuration may well change, but the idea’s the same — frames set into the sidewalk with surfaces for people to create temporary art. The city had already funded it for the original location, so installing it at Morgan Junction’s new park won’t cost that project anything more, and MoCA voted to support the idea; this is the first time the rendering’s been available for wider distribution here. SDOT already had agreed to sidewalk improvements by the new park, for which construction might start before year’s end, project manager Virginia Hassinger told MoCA last month.
The pic at left is a hint … kiwis are part of what’s on this week’s fresh list; see the entire list here. Remember, West Seattle Farmers’ Market is year-round now, so today and every Sunday, you’ll see it 10 am-2 pm at 44th/Alaska in The Junction.
Now that it’s 2 am Sunday on time-change day, it’s really 1 am, so it’ll be 2 am again in an hour. Anyway, here we are joining the chorus of fall-back reminders, with the smoke-detector add-on: Change those batteries. Even if you have an ultravigilant smoke detector like ours, which thinks every roast is an inferno, it still needs functioning batteries to save your life. Go change ’em.
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