West Seattle, Washington
12 Tuesday
On our way to the second house-fire call in less than three hours, this time in the 6500 block of 21st SW (map).
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB, added 11:23 pm)
9:43 PM UPDATE: Firefighters at the scene tell us this started as a kitchen fire and spread into the attic (which required crews to “ventilate” the roof). But it too was put out fairly quickly. No injuries reported. Crews are mopping up.
11:22 PM UPDATE: The Red Cross was called out to assist the family. Also note, the address was later corrected to 23rd SW.
(Editor’s note, 11:11 pm: We watched till it passed Don Armeni; have added video and photos)
(Photo by Chris Fruitrich, added at 11:09 pm)
In comments on our morning preview, we’ve been getting reports that the Sea-Based X-Band Radar – the huge platform on its way to Vigor Shipyard on Harbor Island for three months of work, as we’ve been reporting since last week – is now in view from Alki. Photos as soon as available – the one above is a screengrab from earlier as it passed Hansville. (And they’re having a media event first thing tomorrow morning, so we’ll find out even more about this structure that will be a local fixture for months to come.)
(Dusk photo by Christopher Boffoli, added at 9:37 pm)
9:09 PM: On the boardwalk at Alki. If it were brightly sunny, it would be fairly visible now that it’s entering the bay. But at cloudy twilight it’s mostly lost in the dusk. Will likely be most interesting in another hour-plus as it approaches the shipyard, close enough, we’d imagine, that it’ll be visible despite the low light. It’s proceeding fairly slowly.
9:39 PM: Added a photo Christopher Boffoli took at dusk. Most striking thing we notice as it gets closer to Alki is all the flashing blue lights from what must be escort boats, so much lower in the water.
11:13 PM: Back from watching till it made its way past Don Armeni, where we shot the video now embedded above this line, with the structure seeming to eclipse the downtown skyscrapers.
12:12 AM: Adding a few more photos that we’ve received. The one immediately above is from Gary Jones. A later shot from Christopher:
And from Paul Arthur:
Though SBX is not to operate while here, its regular mission is described as “to identify ballistic missile threats and relay that information to the battle management, command, control and communications system for missile defense.” It’s based in the western Aleutian Islands.
We’re at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting, where the sticker/decal you see on the vehicle window has made its debut. They’re available for purchase as of right now – $5 each. You can e-mail ANA president Katy Walum at katy.walum@gmail.com, or come to an ANA event such as the monthly meetings (2nd Tuesday, 7 pm, lower-level meeting room at Admiral Church), upcoming Summer Concerts at Hiawatha in July/August/September, or the 4th of July Kids’ Parade. Katy says, “Show your Admiral pride and support the neighborhood.” More to come from the meeting, including the lineup for this year’s concert series (Thursday nights July 28-Sept. 1st)!
7:12 PM: House fire call in 600 block of SW Othello, which is off Highland Park Way (map). On our way.
7:21 PM: Scanner indicates the fire is small, possibly having started in the curtains. One person is reportedly being treated and may go to the hospital – what the injuries might be, we don’t know yet.
7:45 PM UPDATE: On the scene, firefighters confirm it was a small fire in some curtains inside one unit of a duplex, and extinguished quickly. They are checking someone out, but whatever injuries don’t appear to be serious.
Thanks to the unidentified Electric Train Shop fan who just called to point this out to us: The Junction business has published an announcement on its website – it’s closing in about a month and moving to Burien. The writeup blames the impending move of the state liquor store (reported here in February) for a domino effect forcing the move.
Since Zippy’s Giant Burgers owner Blaine Cook told us last week that today would be the “best-case scenario” for opening the bigger new restaurant in White Center, we just checked back with a visit to the opening-soon location (9614 14th SW). Sadly, a few things still aren’t ready (hot-water heater trouble, for example) so he tells WSB it’ll be at least a few more days.
(Photo courtesy William Khazaal, pictured with son Gabriel)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Inspired by the success of West Seattle for Japan, the multi-business quake-relief benefit organized by West 5‘s Dave Montoure, another communitywide fundraising effort is in the works, and seeking more participants.
It’s World MS Day Seattle on May 25th, and while is meant to be citywide, it is West Seattle-born, and so far, most of the participants are from WS and White Center.
World MS Day Seattle is the brainchild of a West Seattleite, 36-year-old William Khazaal. If his name sounds familiar – maybe that’s because his family runs the popular Alki restaurant Phoenecia.
For William, it’s not just an idea – it’s for the fight of his life, as well as millions of others.
Right about the same time his dad died, William not only was studying at the University of Washington business school, and subsequently using his skills to help his mom and sisters reopen Phoenecia in early 2010, he was dealing with having been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And all along the way, he was also busy as father of two sons, his now-almost-6-year-old, Gabriel, pictured with him atop this story, and Blakely, who is approaching 3.)
With all that, he barely had time to stop and think about what the diagnosis meant.
Thanks to everyone who’s asked about the fire/police response to Seacrest late this morning. A diver got into trouble – but there’s more to the story, as you can see in the photo above, shared by Roger. King County Department of Transportation spokesperson Rochelle Ogershok confirms that as the Rachel Marie was pulling into Seacrest, one of their crew members spotted “someone waving in the water, as though they were in trouble. When they got closer, they could see something was wrong. So the deckhand jumped into the water,” and managed to get the diver out of the water. The Coast Guard was called, and they along with other authorities took over. We know Seattle Fire units responded and are waiting for official word from them; WSB contributor Katie Meyer says scanner traffic at the time indicated the diver was described as a man around 50, believed to have been in distress after a rapid ascent. We’ll add any more information we get about his status.
ADDED 5:31 PM: SFD didn’t have additional information about the diver, aside from the same info we reported above. However, there’s a bit more about the heroism. KCDOT hadn’t heard about this just yet when we called – but now they’ve put together an entire news release:
King County employees participated in the rescue of a distressed scuba diver Tuesday morning as the Rachel Marie water taxi pulled away from the Seacrest Dock for their regularly scheduled 11 a.m. sailing. Several passengers witnessed the rescue operation.
“This rescue is yet another example of our county employees’ deep commitment to public service and their instinct to go beyond the call of duty,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “I thank the crew of the Rachel Marie for their good work, and I wish the diver a speedy recovery.”
Shortly into the trip across Elliott Bay, the ship’s crew noticed a diver who appeared to be in distress. The boat captain, Neal Amaral, maneuvered the vessel close to the diver as he called for assistance over the radio. Crew member Aaron Barnett [county photo at right], quickly dressed in an onboard rescue suit, jumped into the water, and assisted the diver. Barnett was in the water for about 10 minutes while the diver was maneuvered into a sling.
“We knew what we had to do when we saw him. There was no other option,” said Barnett, the deckhand who dove into the water to assist the diver. “We all worked together as a team. I just happened to be the one who went in the water, but the whole crew pulled together to help him. I’m just glad we saw him, and we hope he’s okay.”
The Seattle Port Police responded to the radio call in their vessel, and they, along with the Coast Guard, were able to get the diver to land and to the hospital for medical care. His condition is unknown at this time.
“I commend the entire crew of the Rachel Marie for their quick-thinking and heroic actions this morning,” Ferry District Chair Joe McDermott said. “Their actions and those of the Coast Guard and Port Police helped to secure a successful rescue.”
Barnett and Captain Amaral are both former U.S. Coast Guard members. Barnett plans to graduate from the University of Washington this spring with a graduate degree in Marine Affairs.
Another business expanding to West Seattle from the north end has just announced its opening date. We first told you three months ago that Breathe Hot Yoga was coming to Link (WSB sponsor; 38th and Alaska in The Triangle); this morning Breathe announced it’s opening this Thursday (May 12), with free classes at 4 pm, 5:15 pm and 6:30 pm that day (the first two taught by proprietor Amber Borgomainerio), and the regular class schedule starting this Friday.
A few updates, with the 7th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day just four days away! This Saturday (May 14th), 257 sales big and small all over West Seattle.
MAP UPDATE: The online map has been out for a few days, linked from the sidebar as well as from its own tab in our top navigation (look for Garage Sale Map – here is the direct link). You can also see it full-screen-width at the site of the company we wound up using after Google Maps, for the first time in four years, proved overtaxed by 250-plus listings (scrambling the map after they were entered, oh well!) – so go here to see that version (be sure to choose VIEW then LIST to get the numbers and address list on the right). Benefits of this new map program – you can print individual listings (click on a listing on the list, and the info bubble that opens will have a print icon, as well as a way to plot directions); it still has Google Maps-type controls, for zooming in/out, etc. However, we’ve had to reinvent the way we make the PRINTABLE map, so that is not quite done but we should have it linked here sometime this evening.
LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIFIC? WANT TO PROMOTE YOUR SALE? Go join the conversation on the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day page on Facebook, where both of the above have been happening – between buyers and sellers. We also invite you to use this for uploading photos on sale day. We still have the official website but FB works in this case, if you use it, for faster interaction directly between participants.
WANT TO JOIN IN? Registration closed two weeks ago BUT there are a few spaces left at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (4410 California SW; WSB sponsor) – 10 x 10, e-mail lora@hotwirecoffee.com or drop by the shop – and VFW Post #2713 (3601 SW Alaska) group sites (e-mail rzuber@clearwire.net OR just show up on Saturday morning, he expects there to be some room left). Lora also says that if you have items you’d just like to give to somebody to sell, you can drop them off (gently used) at Hotwire 7 am-7 pm this week and Animals First Foundation would be glad to have them for their Hotwire table.
Remember that most of The Viaduct is closed for most of Saturday, so there’s an extra reason not to leave West Seattle – just stay and shop (if you’re not among the sellers). But still encourage friends, relatives, co-workers to come on over – I-5, 1st Avenue South, etc., are not that tough to navigate! Again this year, we’re promoting WSCGSD outside West Seattle as well, in hopes folks will show up, shop, and then enjoy lunch (maybe even dinner) at our awesome local restaurants.
(Baby robin in Junction-area nest; photo by Katie Meyer)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar, some of today’s highlights:
SBX ARRIVES: Vigor (formerly Todd) Shipyard on Harbor Island repairs/rehabs/builds a wide variety of vessels, but the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) scheduled to arrive tonight for 3 months of work might be the most unusual one yet. We’ve previewed it here, here, and here; if you want to track its progress through Puget Sound, you can use marinetraffic.com (as of this writing, it’s approaching Port Angeles, at 6 knots).
COUNCIL TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: It’s scheduled for a briefing this morning on the city’s Transit Master Plan – see the briefing document here. The politics site PubliCola previewed it, noting that West Seattle’s light-rail prospects may not be so rosy since WS appears to rate low in the rating criteria for an ideal such corridor. Other agenda items include a bicycle/pedestrian plan presentation (see the document here) with nothing conspicuously showcased from our side of the bay. The committee meeting will be on Seattle Channel (seattlechannel.org, or cable 21) live at 9:30 am.
WESTSIDE SYMPHONY IN CONCERT: This group from the West Seattle Community Orchestras performs Bach and Beethoven selections in concert at Chief Sealth International High School‘s auditorium (2600 SW Thistle Street), 7 pm – here’s our preview with dress-rehearsal video from last night.
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: The Summer Concerts at Hiawatha lineup, City Council candidate Michael Taylor-Judd, and the debut of the new Admiral stickers are part of the agenda at the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, Admiral Church basement meeting room (California/Hill), 7 pm
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: Fauntleroy Community Association monthly board meeting, schoolhouse (9131 California SW), 7 pm.
NEW HOURS FOR HIGHLAND PARK COMMUNITY ACUPUNCTURE: The new weekly clinic at Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden) has changed hours to 2-6 pm Tuesdays and will have live (soothing) music today too.
(Shared by a WSB’er during November 2010 snow woes)
Almost half a year has passed since our one notable night of snow last fall/winter. It may be long gone, but not forgotten by some, as evidenced by this note we received and were asked to share:
I need your help. Forgive the dates as this is pretty old but I am having a little trouble at work. I am a Metro bus driver and during the fall shakeup we were hit with the storm that snarled traffic for hours on 11/22/2010. I was driving the 54 leaving 3rd and Pike @ 418p. Four and half hours later we arrived safely at The Junction.
Months later I was notified at work an automobile driver says I hit her car that night. That was a very strange night but our little group developed quite a camaraderie battling the elements and the traffic on our trip over the Duwamish River. The bus was packed and there was a man with a smart phone standing/sitting in the front stairwell checking traffic on the various aerials we tried to get to the first south bridge. We told jokes, took potty breaks, zigzagged through SODO, all the while avoiding the gridlock on the 1st Ave South.
I hope to locate this individual or anyone else on the bus that verify my contention we struck no other cars that night.
Phillip Blake
206-793-4619
Metro ID 5290
Longtime West Seattleite June Kloster will be remembered at 1 pm this Saturday at Emmanuel Bible Church (503 North 50th Street), according to her daughter Patricia Kloster, who wanted to share her mom’s photo and obituary here:
June was born March 26, 1927, the youngest of 5 children of Matthew and Bessie Jarboe. She was very proud of being raised in LaConner, especially after it became such a popular destination for the tulip fields. She married Jens Kloster in Seattle in 1948 and in 1952 they moved to West Seattle where Alki became her favorite haunt!
Most of her married life she was a stay at home Mom and then a school secretary at Alki Elementary (after Ron and Patricia moved on to Madison) and Meany Middle School where she retired in 1992. Also, she was a NASCAR official on weekends with dad for many years at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe.
If you knew June, you knew her smile, jokes and amazing cooking/baking.
Thanks to Alex for sharing that photo via Twitter last night as Elliott Bay Brewing Company‘s facade work continues in The Junction. We first told you a week ago about owner Todd Carden‘s work to restore some of the facade’s historic features – but the best part of the story turned out to be WSB commenters who sleuthed out the storefront’s history (read about it starting here). Looks like Elliott Bay also has put up a photo gallery here.
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