That little guy was the very last West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade participant to cross California SW at Atlantic, and with that, the road reopened a few minutes ago. The post-parade festivities are still in full swing at Hamilton Viewpoint Park. We’ll have a full parade report with video and photos a bit later!
P.S. Till our full coverage of the parade is done – here’s the video of the entire parade (which we’ll transfer over to the in-progress story when it’s ready):
If you were up early – and in The Junction – you might have wondered what brought four police cars to 42nd/Alaska. Nope, nothing bad …
Those are the four Southwest Precinct officers who, along with one other citizen, answered the West Seattle Junction Association‘s call to help their all-around guy Don Smathers(center) with the task of placing flags along the heart of The Junction for the holiday. We followed along – photos ahead:Read More
(Thanks to Don Brubeck for the photo of a holiday-ready cargo bike parked during a ride along Alki)
Welcome to the holiday! Our FULL list of Independence Day events and notes for West Seattle is on the WSB 4th of July page – including a few business notes, fireworks-watching, and more. Of particular note otherwise:
WEST SEATTLE 4TH OF JULY KIDS’ PARADE: The only holiday parade in West Seattle starts at 10 am at 44th/Sunset in North Admiral, all kids, of all ages, invited. Here’s our most recent preview, including the route map (organizers ask that you NOT park along it, particularly Atlantic St.). Even if you’re not participating, please note that at one point California SW is blocked both ways at Atlantic for the parade to cross, and it takes a while.
LOW-LOW TIDE: Been waiting for sunshine AND a day off to walk the beach during an extra-low tide? Today it’s -3.2 at 11:50 am.
COLMAN POOL: The newly reopened, newly renovated outdoor pool at Lincoln Park *is* open regular hours today (though indoor Southwest Pool is closed). Schedule’s here.
WADING POOLS: Doublecheck the hotline after 9 am, but today’s forecast looks promising for them to be open today. Lincoln Park, E.C. Hughes, and Hiawatha would be the ones open on Wednesdays when the weather criteria are met – here’s the schedule.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports tonight. First – have you seen the painting at right? If so, police need to know. Its artist, Mariel, says it was on display at the Admiral Theater – until someone stole it:
Recently, I put up a few paintings inside the Admiral Theater. They’ve been up now for a few months. Last week however, I went to the theater to watch a movie. I looked at my art as I walked by, and everything appeared in place. Upon exiting, I started chatting with Dinah, the manager. She mentioned how much people love the paintings, etc. She mentioned one of them.
As I looked over, my boyfriend & I both noticed it was missing.
Mariel’s report continues – along with two other reported West Seattle thefts – ahead:Read More
(WSB photo from 2010 4th of July Kids’ Parade)
All systems are go for tomorrow morning’s West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade through North Admiral streets, according to coordinator Sherri Chun. And she has one big reminder for people who are either coming to the parade in the morning or going to be in the area for some other reason:
I was just down along the parade route and I was asked by a resident to get the word out – please do not park on Atlantic Street between Sunset and California. This is along the parade route, and if you park there you will actually be obstructing the parade. The parade route runs south on Sunset to Atlantic, east on Atlantic, across California, then north again on Palm, ending at Hamilton Viewpoint Park. The police do not enforce parking. They are there to manage traffic during the parade.
It starts at 44th and Sunset at 10 am tomorrow – kids of all ages welcome, whether walking, riding a bike or scooter, being pulled in a wagon, as long as it’s non-motorized; the fire engine and pickup truck at the head of the parade are usually the only motorized vehicles involved. And if you can, please bring a dollar or two for the donation boxes at the start of the parade route and the end (Hamilton Viewpoint, where there’ll be games on the green as long as the weather’s OK – the parade is rain or shine, the games are weather-dependent) – there’ll be concessions, too, offered by the Admiral Neighborhood Association. For even more parade info – all the way down to the anthem singer! – check our preview from 2 weeks ago.
Thanks to @pockrat for tweeting that photo of a traffic backup on Fauntleroy SW north of Lincoln Park a little while ago. Fauntleroy is likely to be busy as the holiday getaway traffic adds to the usual evening-commute ferry lines – plus the RapidRide-related construction continues in the dock vicinity. If you’re heading out, whether by ferry or bridge, we have a variety of relevant local cameras on the WSB Traffic page.
P.S. Speaking of traffic alerts – if you saw our story earlier about Friday’s Admiral offramp closure on the westbound West Seattle Bridge – please note, the story’s been updated; the time frame has changed to a window between 9 am-3 pm.
A comment discussion following our story on Sunday night’s Highland Park crash included a discussion of why there’s not always someone on duty at the Southwest Precinct front desk. Today, precinct commander Capt. Steve Paulsen explains that and other temporary changes are part of a citywide summer emphasis on maximizing patrols:
To our West Seattle Community Members,
The summer months are historically very busy for us due to numerous special events as well an increase in emergency calls for service. We have noticed that City-wide, our response times for priority 1 calls have edged into our 7 minute expectations. This increase is due to several factors which includes staffing, summer 911 call loads as well as an increase in crimes of violence which the Department has responded with Safety Emphasis patrols in many parts of the City. The emphasis patrols are gleaned from each precinct and centralized for City-Wide deployments.
Given these recent demands, we have put “all hands on deck” and reassigned our Community Police Team officers and other precinct staff into patrol cars for 911 response.
This decision was difficult and has caused us a great amount of dissonance because we firmly believe that keeping our precinct open and available to our community is very important in maintaining that partnership we value.
We will make every attempt to staff a precinct desk officer so folks can personally stop by for questions as well as get needed assistance. I would like to apologize in advance that our hours of availability will be limited and sporadic at best. Most likely if the precinct is actually open, it will be weekdays between 8am and 2pm. Outside of those hours, there is a telephone next to the main entrance where folks will be directed to our Communications Dispatch Center who can assess individual calls and send an officer for assistance.
I am anticipating that we will be back to normal operations this September…Your men and women police officers of the Southwest Precinct wish everyone in West Seattle a fun and safe summer. Again, thank you for understanding as well as helping us make West Seattle one of the safest communities in the City.
Sincerely,
Captain Steven Paulsen
Commander, Southwest Precinct
(Start of GoApe course in Great Britain’s Delamere Forest. Photo copyright Jonathan Kington; licensed for reuse via Creative Commons)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The Go Ape proposal to build and operate a commercial zipline/rope-swing attraction across six-plus acres of 135-acre Lincoln Park‘s treetops did not just swoop in out of the blue.
We’ve been gathering more information in the four days since we broke the news about the proposal – which had not previously been brought to general public attention, though the city and the UK-based company have been working together for almost a year. Our original report is now the third-most-commented-on non-snow story in WSB’s five years of covering West Seattle news, with 235 comments as of this morning.
In research so far, we found that two other urban-park-based proposals in the U.S., where it has three locations in addition to its two-dozen-plus in Europe, were dropped after opposition similar to what’s being voiced here, while one potential location, on land owned by a California airport, appeared to have been welcomed by the community. Ahead – more on that as well as new information about how the Lincoln Park proposal emerged, and what happens next:
When Seattle Police launched an upgraded version of their SPD Blotter website yesterday, it included a new feature: This list of unsolved murders. The list of victims of course includes Greggette Guy, found dead off Beach Drive in March. But there’s another West Seattle victim on the list, one we didn’t notice, till SeattlePI.com crime reporter Casey McNerthney (whose report is here) did: Kaari Higgins, who died after being found seriously injured in a home on SW Concord in Fauntlee Hills in January 2011. There had been rumors her death might have been homicide, but when we checked with police in early 2011, it was not classified as such, and that’s the last we heard of the case, until now. The brief summary on the new SPD “Catch a Killer” page:
Kaari Higgins was a loving mother to her two children, 10-year-old Ryan, and 13-year-old Lindsey. Kaari was found injured and unconscious inside her home on 44th Avenue SW and SW Concord Street on January 8, 2011. Medics rushed Kaari to Harborview, where she died from her injuries. The King County Medical Examiner determined Kaari’s injuries were not caused by an accident or a fall, and this case is being investigated as a homicide.
If you have any information on this or other unsolved homicide cases, the SPD Tip Line is (206) 233-5000. Ms. Higgins and Ms. Guy are the only West Seattle victims on the list, which SPD says dates back to January 2010.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: It has changed twice but as of Thursday afternoon, the Friday ramp closure is now scheduled for 6-9 am, per SDOT)
ORIGINAL 9:23 AM REPORT: A few people have asked about the portable sign around the merge point from 99 to the westbound highrise West Seattle Bridge, warning the Admiral exit will be closed 6-9 am on Friday (July 6th). That didn’t match any of the advisories we usually get, so we asked SDOT what it’s about. Spokesperson Peg Nielsen says it’s a short closure for installation of a temperature sensor. You might recall that sensors for bridges around the city were mentioned in Mayor McGinn’s budget speech last fall; they’re expected to help improve the response to wintertime trouble, especially when conditions change quickly, and outside forecast parameters.
4:54 PM UPDATE: SDOT has just sent an official advisory, and the closure times have changed to a window between 9 am and 3 pm Friday:
West Seattle Bridge, Admiral Way Exit
Friday, July 6, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (expected to be approximately three hours during this period)
*The off-ramp to Admiral Way from the West Seattle Bridge will be closed and traffic will be detoured to harbor Avenue, Avalon Way, SW Manning Street, and back to Admiral Way.
ADDED: A little more info about the sensors, from SDOT’s Marybeth Turner:
They will be installed on a total of 8 elevated structures around the city.
After installing the sensors, we will have to get them connected properly and get any bugs worked out before they will be ready to use
Once they are operating, they will tell us the surface and ambient temperatures.
This info will give real time info to SDOT’s snow/ice responders to help them determine when to apply anti icing liquid or granular salt. The info will also be used for the U of W for the Snow Watch program.
UPDATED 3:17 PM THURSDAY: The closure time is now BACK to 6 am-9 am.
(That’s Schmitz Park in the center of pilot/photographer Long Bach Nguyen‘s image)
Happy day-before-the-4th! If you’re looking for holiday info, find it on the WSB West Seattle 4th of July page; as for today, here are a few notes:
NO BRIDGE CLOSURES TILL THE WEEKEND: Since we usually start the daily preview with an update on what’s closed today/tonight – we’ll note here that everything’s open. No 99 closures are scheduled for the rest of the week; the Spokane Street Viaduct has nothing planned until a Thursday night lane closure and then the full-weekend westbound closure (both detailed here).
FUNDRAISER FOR FIRE-AFFECTED PETS: Tonight at Beveridge Place Pub, a special beer offering, to raise money for pets affected by the Colorado fires, 6-9 pm, details here.
Sure, things can get wild on the beach at Alki. But here’s the true meaning of the word – what you find underwater. Diver/environmental advocate Laura James shares this video, from what she and friends found off 64th/Alki this past weekend. (P.S. Voted for Laura in the Cox Conserves Heroes competition yet? No? Then, go here!)
Over the past several days, we’ve mentioned the Seattle Fire Department setting today as the date for taking Ladder 13 out of service – the truck added to West Seattle more than a year ago to make up for the fact that extra crews from points east couldn’t get to big incidents over here so easily while there was no SODO access to the westbound West Seattle Bridge. That problem’s over now that the new onramp is OK for emergency use. So last night, we covered what turned out to be L13’s final call, a crash a few blocks away; this morning we stopped by the station right before 8 am, when we had heard the truck officially would go out of service. Indeed, the 8 am tone and roll-call announcement sounded over a speaker, and with that, the crew said, they were done. From left in our photo, Ladder 13’s final crew – Mike McDonald, Lt. Jim Dallas, Scott Marcus, Matt Reilly, and Babe Witter.
We’ve been getting messages in the past 15 minutes or so about increased airplane noise/low-flying sightings – and one message says it’s apparently the same situation that happened in mid-May (WSB coverage here), weather quirks causing Sea-Tac and Boeing Field to be in “opposing flows.” Not sure if we’ll be able to verify that tonight, but we’re checking.
When Alex Miller and two other local teens shared the news two weeks ago that they would be competing in the international Marine Advanced Technology Education Remotely Operated Vehicle(MATE ROV) competition, we asked if he would check back in after they returned home. He obliged with this report (and the photo above) – take note of the fundraising they’re planning!
The international MATE ROV competition was put on the weekend of the 23rd in Orlando, and we were very grateful to participate in it. This was a great educational experience for us, because it allowed us to gain a perspective on the maritime=technology industry. For example we had conversations with representatives from many of the industry’s leading companies. Overall, we finished 19th out of 32 teams at our level. We were also one of three primarily middle-school-age teams, the smallest team attending (with only three team members), and the only team not affiliated with a school or organization. In addition to these accomplishments, our CEO (Clara Orndorff) won an award for being helpful towards other teams. We are already considering improvements for next year. To finance these expenditures, we will be holding bake sales throughout the summer at the intersection of 59th Avenue SW and Alki Avenue.
Clara is 15; Alex and their teammate Nicholas Orndorff are 13. Congratulations to them for their achievement!
Today at 3:30pm – I was expecting a delivery so I was listening for the delivery truck. When I heard an engine running outside my house I looked out the window and saw an older green SUV, I think a Chevy Blazer. A woman walked onto my porch and took a package, sticking it under her sweatshirt as she walked back to the SUV. It was just a $10 book. I was so pissed she was stealing this paperback book, I opened the door and yelled at her that it was just a book. (Upon later reflection this might not have been the safest thing to do.) She made up a story about how she was picking up a package for her grandma and, oops, what do you know, this was the wrong address. She returned to the porch, set it down, then got into the passenger side of the car.
I got a partial plate – starts with either 928 or 528, they left headed north on 48th Ave SW close to Andover. I called police and they responded right away, an officer stopped by to verify where I saw the car go next. The woman was probably in her 20’s, early 30’s at the most, wearing a white hoody sweatshirt and light pants. Average height, a little on the heavy side. Caucasian, blonde hair, long in a pony tail. Keep your eye out!!!
Little Rascals Preschool kicks off their inaugural year full of energy, excitement and adventures for the little rascals in your life.
We are thrilled to be able to offer a preschool program where kids can explore, grow and learn right here in West Seattle! West Seattle is a wonderful place to live, and we look forward to enhancing the community by assisting families in the task of providing a strong foundation for the child’s future development and having fun while doing so.
We are looking for Little Rascals in West Seattle who are between 2 ½ and 5 years of age. We are enrolling now – (206) 932-2936, or www.littlerascalsofwestseattle.com.
Again this year, to discourage personal-use fireworks (which are illegal in Seattle), the Parks Department will turn on the lights for a while at synthetic-turf fields, including 3 in West Seattle. The announcement’s ahead:Read More
You might remember that video from 2009 – WSDOT’s version of how a big quake could bring down the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the downtown Seattle seawall. The Viaduct’s fate has since been settled, but the seawall’s has not …till now. Months after that video went public, not long after taking office in early 2010, Mayor McGinn proposed a $241 million property-tax levy to pay most of the cost of replacing the Elliott Bay seawall (we covered the announcement downtown). That proposal died. Now a new one is expected to go to Seattle voters in November – a $290 million bond measure that got preliminary City Council approval today (here’s the news release), with final approval expected next week. That’s not the full cost – the news release says the city’s already set aside $30 million, and the county would chip in $30 million more. One more number: If your house is worth $360,000, the city says the new seawall will cost you $59 a year. If the current schedule proceeds, it would be done by 2016 – when the tunnel’s supposed to be done, too.
The August 7th election is five weeks from tomorrow – including not only the primary, but also two local levies (Seattle libraries and the King County youth justice/family law center) and we have just learned that, for those who would rather not put their ballots in the mail, there WILL be some ballot-dropoff service in West Seattle for the first time since 2009.
We checked with King County Elections after hearing that Burien had received a new dropbox and wondering if West Seattle and/or White Center would get one too. Kim Van Ekstrom‘s reply: No, BUT: “A new temporary service for returning your ballot will be added for the 2012 fall elections. We will employ 3 vans that will park in temporary locations. The vans will be parked and staffed by people accepting ballots at the following locations, on the following dates and times: Friday, Saturday, and Monday prior to Election Day 10 am – 5 pm, and on Election Day, 7 am – 8 pm.” West Seattle Stadium is one of the three dropoff-van locations.
If you’re interested in where else you will find either accessible-voting service or ballot dropoffs around King County, here’s an advance look at all of that information, which Van Ekstrom says will be updated soon on the Elections website:Read More
(West Seattle Hi-Yu photo from 2011-12 Junior Court coronation)
Girls who will be 8-12 by the start of September are invited to apply right now for this year’s West Seattle Hi-Yu Junior Court coronation – to serve as the Junior Court Queen and Princesses from this fall through next summer, right after the reign of current royalty (above, Princess Elena, Queen Thea, and Princess Amanda). Here’s the announcement we received from Hi-Yu this morning:
The Hi-Yu Summer Festival is in full swing and the float will be in the West Seattle American Legion parade on Saturday, July 21st, 11 am, PLUS traveling to the following communities soon: Burien – July 4th, Chinatown-July 22nd, and Torchlight-July 28th, to name just a few.
Also, it’s that time of year to look for NEW JUNIOR COURT ROYALTY FOR 2013. The current court of royalty will be crowning new girls on Friday, July 20th at the Hiawatha Fun Fest at 1:00 pm.
For an application, click here, print it, fill it out and mail it in BEFORE Tuesday, JULY 17th. ALL INSTRUCTIONS ARE ON THE APPLICATION.
TRY OUT TO BE PART OF HI-YU ROYALTY, HAVE FUN MAKING NEW FRIENDS and PROUDLY REPRESENT YOUR COMMUNITY – WEST SEATTLE!!!
The application form isn’t just an application, but includes lots of information about what’s expected of Hi-Yu Royalty during the year – event appearances and other involvement – as well as Junior Court members’ perks. (Our coverage of last year’s coronation event, with video, is here.)
(Photo by Trileigh Tucker, who muses about birds, and more, here)
Working this week? The midweek holiday will lead to a lot of odd schedules. Still some activities to share, so here are the calendar highlights for today/tonight:
TRAFFIC ALERT: The westbound Spokane Street Viaduct will close 10 pm tonight till 5 am Tuesday (as noted in our list of this week’s closures). Reminder – the 1st Avenue onramp to the westbound SSV is now available to emergency vehicles if they need it, so don’t be startled if you happen to see that in action; the city doesn’t expect it’ll be ready for everybody else till the whole project’s done around summer’s end.
MONDAY ARTISTS: If you’re a watercolorist – even a beginning one – you’re invited to check out Monday Artists, a group that meets Mondays, 9:30 am-noon, at Island View Apartments across from West Seattle High School (3000 block California SW). Details here.
SALAD DAY: The West Seattle Cooking Club invites you to bring a salad to share, while enjoying others’ creations, at their weekly meeting, 3 pm at Beveridge Place Pub (6413 California SW).
DANCE! New series starts with Balorico at Kenyon Hall (7904 35th SW) – details here.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 4TH OF JULY … this year’s holiday-info page is up.
Three 
The list of victims of course includes Greggette Guy, 
The August 7th election is five weeks from tomorrow – including not only the primary, but also two local levies (
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