(Photo provided by Seattle Parks) Seattle Parks says it’s hired a crew to cut 22 trees along SW Jacobsen, which runs east from Beach Drive at the south end of the Emma Schmitz Viewpoint waterfront. Spokesperson Dewey Potter explains:
This is to let you know that Parks is hiring a contractor to remove some hazardous alder trees along SW Jacobsen Rd., which runs through Me-Kwa-Mooks natural area. There are 22 trees identified for removal; all have either dead tops, advanced decay, severe leans and/or compromised structure. All have been rated at 11 points out of 12 on the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA): http://www.isa-arbor.com/ hazard evaluation form.
The trees have had signs on them for several months indicating that they are to be removed. One neighbor responded that she was concerned about migratory bird nesting, so Parks delayed the project until well after nesting season. In the field, several neighbors have expressed concerns about the trees because of falling branches or failing trees, and are happy that we are taking action. There is parking along the road and frequent pedestrian and vehicle traffic, which is endangered by falling limbs or whole tree failures. There have been several whole tree failures across the street in the past several years. The tree crew has done clearance and hazard mitigation pruning within the past year, but based on their aerial inspections, they report that the trees had defects that pruning could not correct. Given the species and conditions of the trees and site conditions, our professional arborists think that removing these trees is a necessary action to protect people and property.
Parks bid out the project, and the successful bidder is Asplundh Tree Expert Co. The contractor will be responsible for traffic control and chipping and removing logs.
Clint Hewitt and Conrad Hill are pleased to announce that after meeting with Zippy’s Giant Burgers owner Blaine Cook this morning, the “Holidays 4 Hope” toy drive will have a donation bin at Zippy’s! The two Chief Sealth International High School seniors are collecting toys to brighten the holiday of local children. The next time you head to Zippy’s for one of their amazing burgers and vintage sodas, remember to take a new toy, book, or game to donate!
Zippy’s Giant Burgers at 9614 14th SW is the newest local site hosting a toy donation bin, joining the Original Bakery at 9253 45th Avenue Southwest, JC’s Deli at 9007 35th SW, as well as Chief Sealth International High School and Shorewood Christian School.
Please help us make a positive impact on the lives of local children and families for this holiday season! We are excited and grateful for the community support we are receiving for Holidays 4 Hope! Thank you to everyone hosting our holiday donation bins and bringing donations for the kids! We really appreciate every contribution!
For additional information on Holidays 4 Hope, contact Clint Hewitt at c.hewitt206@gmail.com or Conrad Hill at crhill2013@gmail.com
As the students write – it’s up to you now … fill those donation bins!
Four weeks till Christmas, and five nights till the West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays Tree Lighting this Saturday night! Today we have the lineup, so you know what to expect (and so you know you won’t miss the actual lighting if you can’t get there immediately, though the park fills up and you won’t want to wait unless you absolutely have to!):
The event’s official start is at 5 pm. The Starlite All-Stars, local musicians featured at Shadowland‘s Tuesday night singer/songwriter showcase, will start playing before then, and will continue till a few minutes after 5. That’s when Doug Baldwin from the Junction Association (and Windermere West Seattle) will introduce the emcee returning for a 4th year, West Seattle-residing radio personality Marty Riemer. He’ll be followed by ArtsWest executive director Line Sandsmark introducing a number by the “Winter Wonderettes,” the ArtsWest holiday show. They’ll be followed by the Endolyne Children’s Choir, introduced by director Amy Stagno Bokanev. You’ll also hear from West Seattle Christian Church‘s pastor Dan Jacobs (long active in Junction events – including volunteering to run the projector for summertime West Seattle Outdoor Movies) and WestSide Baby executive director Nancy Woodland. Then at about 5:40 pm, emcee Marty introduces the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Junior Court, who will count down and light the tree. That will lead into more music by the Starlite All-Stars, as the event wraps up around quarter till six.
Please note that times are approximate – we’ve covered this since 2007 (even emceed it in ’08) and it can go a lot faster, or a little slower. Hope to see you there right from the start.
This is just one of dozens of holiday events and notes in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, updated at least once a day as the season continues – see it here.
That’s the helmet-cam video of bicyclist Jeff‘s trip to and through West Seattle’s first “bike box,” originally linked in the discussion following our Sunday report on the addition to the north/eastbound side of Andover at Delridge. Commenters had several followup questions, as did we, and as promised, we took them to SDOT, whose Marybeth Turner researched and responded. Ahead, our eight questions and SDOT’s eight answers, including what’s next for this project site and whether any more are in the works:
(ADDED: Video of orcas @ Vashon’s Point Robinson, by Kelly Keenan via Orca Network on FB) 11:18 AM: Just got a text that orcas are again headed this way – off Bainbridge Island a short time ago, and moving south. Alki Point and Beach Drive are likely the best places to go now – or Lowman Beach and Lincoln Park in a bit. Let us know if you see them! (Here’s our coverage from last Saturday’s sightings. P.S. Whether it’s whales or any other type of breaking news, text us at 206-293-6302 any time!)
11:56 AM: At Lincoln Park. Nothing visible with unaided eye, but wildlife photographer/writer Trileigh Tucker tells us she saw them with strong binocs. (P.S. We saw Trileigh at the park a bit later, and want to thank her publicly for sharing the binocs – we got a glimpse too!)
We spotted the garland-hanging crew in The Junction earlier this morning – getting ready for Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored by WSB again this year) starting this weekend (schedule here!) This IS another good day for decorating if you can, since the rain might be back by tomorrow. Here are a few highlights for today from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide:
AUTUMN POTPOURRI FESTIVAL: “A little of this ’n that” at Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon) now till 1 pm. Gift items, jewelry imports, collectibles, decorations, crafts, desert plants, Santa Claus, bake sale, jazz with the Ellis Brothers, lunch at 11:45 am.
PEPS ORIENTATION: 1:30 pm for new/expectant parents at Bright Horizons (38th/Alaska, lower floor of Link). Details here.
OPEN ARMS ‘SHORT AND SWEET AUCTION’: West Seattleite Sabrina Urquhart is on the board of Open Arms Perinatal Services, which helps low-income women and their families, with results including increased breastfeeding-initiation rates, decreased C-section rates, and fewer cases of low-birthweight babies, and shared the news that they are raising money through an auction and entertainment event at 6:30 tonight at SANCA in nearby Georgetown – details here.
WEST SEATTLE STEM ELEMENTARY PTA MEETING: 7 pm tonight at the school (aka K5 STEM at Boren), 5940 Delridge Way SW. More info on the PTA website.
4TH ANNUAL JIMI HENDRIX TRIBUTE: Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) welcomes you tonight to celebrate the rock legend. Special guest: Another local legend, Pat O’Day, with his personal collection of rare Hendrix photos. 7 pm, 6451 California SW – more info here.
(WSDOT image showing underside of deteriorating expansion joint – explained here)
Monday, we reported on the Spokane St. Overcrossing/Timber Bridge project ahead for Highway 99 south of the West Seattle Bridge (here’s the story). Today, we have new information on another new WSDOT project that will affect local drivers starting early next year – currently known as “Spokane Street Interchange Vicinity – Special Bridge Repair.” This one involves replacing more than two dozen deteriorating half-century-old expansion joints on and around the West Seattle Bridge/I-5/Columbian Way interchange (here’s an aerial view of the segments), and it will require a series of weekend closures involving various ramps.
We’ve been watching this one for a while and just got word from WSDOT that the closure schedules are now online. See them here, along with detour maps. The closures are currently scheduled to start with the weekend of January 4-7, late Friday night through early Monday morning, when WSDOT will close the I-5 northbound, I-5 southbound, and Columbian Way ramps to West Seattle Bridge. Subsequent weekends will NOT be the same pattern – every weekend closure has a slightly different configuration. As you’ll see on the closure-schedule page, this is expected to continue into next spring; it’s a $4.5 million project, to be led by Eastside-headquartered Mowat Construction.
A famous bakery is going against the grain: While the trend has more typically been for successful businesses from other Seattle neighborhoods to expand west, West Seattle-founded Bakery Nouveau is expanding to the northeast, six years after its low-key arrival here. Our friends at fellow independent neighborhood-news service Capitol Hill Seattle have broken the news this morning that BN “has launched plans for a new shop on Capitol Hill.” No, it’s not moving there – it’ll be a second location, according to the CHS story, for which editor Justin Carder interviewed BN proprietor William Leaman. Read all about it here. (2011 WSB photo)
(Live view from the only WS Bridge camera currently in operation; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page) 6:50 AM: Another chilly morning – but dry, at least until tonight, according to the forecast. No problems on the routes from/through/to West Seattle so far. Reminder for bus riders: Till 8:30 this morning, Metro says, its reps are on hand near four northbound bus stops to listen to your thoughts about West Seattle service – as noted here.
ADDED 11 AM: We stopped by the northbound California/Fauntleroy station just before the mingling window ended at 8:30 am and found KCDOT’s Ashley DeForest:
She hadn’t kept count of how many people she’d spoken with but said things had been pretty busy. Also there, interviewing her: Transportation reporter Mike Lindblom from The Seattle Times (WSB news partner) –
Reminder from the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival team: “The Hi-Yu Junior Court will be at the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast, Saturday, December 1, 7 am-11 am. Add or start your collection by getting your unique blown-glass ornament for $20. Ornaments will also be available for purchase at certain store locations, Junction Hometown Holidays events, and online. Check out westseattlehiyu.com for details.” Ornament sales benefit Hi-Yu programs. And one more reminder that applications are being accepted for this year’s Senior Court until Friday – more info in our story from last month.
Two shoreline scenes to share tonight: First, thanks to Alki photographer David Hutchinson for tonight’s vivid late-fall sunset. According to the current forecast, we have one more clear day ahead – then clouds might start moving back in around this time tomorrow night, with an anticipated return to wet weather. Temperatures are expected to stay a bit above normal, though tonight, with the clear sky, will be cold. Looking ahead to the big holiday events next weekend – all listed in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide – might be rainy, but you know what they say about making predictions this far out …
Second, just received while we were processing David’s photo, Aaron Baggenstos shares this view of harlequin ducks photographed at Lincoln Park:
(Click image for larger view)
Aaron tells us he leads wildlife-photography tours throughout the state via his business Aaron’s Photo Tours.
(Crowded RapidRide bus boarding downtown 11/20/12, photo courtesy Ben Blain) By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“The change we did was big – probably too big.”
So acknowledged Metro Transit planning supervisor David Hull during this month’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, which itself swerved back and forth along a list of topics that, too, was probably too big.
The change to which Hull referred was the September 29th Metro service change affecting numerous West Seattle routes, taking effect the same day as the launch of RapidRide C Line, replacing the 54/55 buses.
Metro’s received an earful and then some ever since, and is offering another chance tomorrow (Tuesday, November 27th) morning for West Seattle bus riders to sound off – at four stops along the RapidRide route, as detailed here.
At the WSCPC meeting, the changes’ effects on public safety – on board the buses, at the stations, along the roads with more buses and new features such as curb bulbs – were supposed to be the subject. But some attendees brought up gripes about reduced or changed service, too.
In the end, much was vented, little solved – but the venting itself might lead to something down the road. Metro reps again noted that some tweaks were in the works, likely for the February service change.
Ahead, what came up, what was said, and what’s next:
5:38 PM MONDAY: The photo and report are from Monica:
There is a lot of good stuff happening in Highland Park and there is the bad stuff, like this dumped, smashed RV, located at 12th SW & SW Myrtle….such a “gift” for our neighborhood. A neighbor stopped by as I photographed the “thing,” mentioning that he saw this heap of junk over by Westwood Village earlier in the week.
ADDED TUESDAY MORNING: We went by at 9 am and it was still there, though the tag was from 11/21, warning that it needed to be gone by 11/24. Here’s the view of its east side – right along Riverview Playfield:
(WSB staff photo)
If it’s still there tomorrow, we’ll start checking with the city to see about a timetable.
Some restaurant news on this quiet post-holiday-transition Monday: Walking along 16th SW in downtown White Center this morning, we noticed a sign up in the window of TT’s Soul Kitchen, at the former site of Pho Lynna (southeast corner of 16th and Roxbury): It’s scheduled to open tomorrow at 11 am, with live jazz for the first official lunch crowd from noon-2 pm. The proprietors are a White Center couple, Tony and Trina – they were out when we stopped by, but a staffer told us they’ll be open 11 am till 10 pm Tuesdays through Sundays (we’ll doublecheck as soon as we hear back from them). There’s an image of their menu on Facebook – with lunch and dinner items including sandwiches, burgers, gumbo, fried chicken and fish, and more.
This morning, we mentioned that King County expected to resume work today on 26th/Barton-area changes related to Metro Route 120, including bus-bulb installation. This afternoon, KCDOT spokesperson Jeff Switzer sends word that the work is postponed another two weeks:
King County Metro Transit is adjusting the schedule for the next round of construction in West Seattle. The contractor for the project is tentatively scheduled to start bus zone and sidewalk improvements Dec. 10 and focus work on the south side of Southwest Barton Street.
The city’s Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project is all but done … the state’s Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project has moved from the south-end work to focusing on the preparations for tunnel-boring … but another project on the horizon is of potential interest to West Seattle/White Center/South Park drivers: At the Spokane Street Overcrossing on Highway 99, south of the West Seattle Bridge (here’s a map), WSDOT will replace the “Timber Bridge.” It’s been mentioned in passing a few times over the past year-plus, and now it’s finally gone to bid; WSDOT is scheduled to announce the successful bidder any day now, and work is expected to start in February, lasting more than a year. The official info-page is here. As WSDOT spokesperson Broch Bender puts it, the structure “predates the Space Needle.” While the work is under way, WSDOT says, it will “maintain two lanes of northbound and one lane of southbound SR 99 traffic throughout construction by rebuilding the east and west halves alternately.”
If your family includes a current 8th grader planning to attend, or considering attending, West Seattle High School, here’s your invitation to an event next week:
West Seattle High School is hosting a Department Fair on December 4th for families with a current 8th grader.
6-6:30 pm: Meet department heads and review course offerings
6:40-7 pm: A 9th-grade panel discusses readiness and support and extracurricular activities
7=7:30 pm: A college and career-prep panel gives an overview of course offerings, AP and Honors classes, and requirements
(WSB/WCN photo from Saturday night)
Two updates today on Saturday night’s deadly fire on 28th SW, just south of Roxbury: First, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West, it’s been ruled an accidental electrical fire. (Though no crime was believed to be involved, Sgt. West was dispatched to the scene to help coordinate communication.) Second, the sister of the home’s resident, 71-year-old Peggy Munsen, has spoken with WCN news partner The Seattle Times and confirmed that Ms. Munsen is the woman who died in the fire. That’s the same information given to us that night by a friend, but WSB policy is to withhold names until officials and/or family confirmed it. Ms. Munsen’s sister is former West Seattleite, now Bremerton resident, Kay Trepanier, long known for her business Cruises By Kay. As she told The Times, her sister went into the cruise business too. There is no word yet of memorial plans.
12:19 PM: We’ve just obtained some information on an incident that caught some attention on Fauntleroy Cove Sunday afternoon. A sailboat ran aground, and Seattle Fire Department crews helped make sure the person on board got to shore safely, according to SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore, who says, “Our engine company waded out in 1 foot of water. The lone occupant of the sailboat leaped to the firefighters and they took him to shore. He was uninjured.”
ADDED 5:49 PM: We’ve added photos just sent by Peter Hogan (thank you!).
We mention them in every WSBeat report, and every time our reporting touches on the issue of suicide. Today, we’ve received an announcement that Crisis Clinic – a life-saving resource for people all over the region – is looking for volunteer help:
Crisis Clinic has been helping individuals and families in need since 1964. From the beginning, volunteers have been the heart of our organization, providing caring and confidential support to callers on the 24-Hour Crisis Line.
Our programs have expanded greatly over the years, increasing our need for community volunteers. We now offer a variety of opportunities for both youth and adults, suited to meet each person’s interests and availability.
New volunteers are currently needed to:
· Answer calls on the 24-Hour Crisis Line or WA Recovery Help Line
· Respond online via Crisis Chat
· Mentor youth volunteers with Teen Link
· Make quality assurance calls for King County 2-1-1
We provide volunteers with professional training and supervision, ensuring they have the knowledge and skill to make a difference in the lives of our callers.
Applications are now being accepted for the next training session starting in January.
To learn more, please call Crisis Clinic at (206) 461-3210 ext. 697 or visit our Volunteer page online at:
(WSB photo, taken this morning)
Two months after demolition of the old houses on the site, construction work is now ramping up at the site of DESC’s future 66-unit Delridge Supportive Housing complex in the 5400 block of Delridge Way, north of SW Findlay. As noted in the project FAQ, onstruction is expected to last about a year.
And tonight, the nonprofit that is likely to open a co-op grocery store in the DESC building’s retail space has its next monthly meeting – with big issues including: How about a new name?
Name the Co-op!!! The Delridge Produce Cooperative idea has evolved from a plan for a co-op produce stand to a small, but full-service, community-owned multi-stakeholder grocery store! This means the store will not only be a source for healthy food, including meat, eggs, dairy and seafood but a support network and financial opportunity for large, small, and backyard farmers. The Co-op’s employees will also have an equal stake in the store. Our current name is misleading for some and we have received feedback regarding a name change. We wish to make another round of reusable strawberry bags and founding member t-shirts!! So, we need to choose our name! Please help.
They’re taking suggestions via their Facebook page. And whether you have an idea for a name, or not, you’re welcome at their meeting tonight:
We invite anyone with the time and inclination to join us at this very exciting step of the grocery store creation. We are welcoming founding Board Members and still looking for core volunteers to help at this stage.
Our November meeting is this Monday evening! All interested volunteers are needed to help plan our next steps. Teresa Young, Organizational Development Specialist from the Northwest Cooperative Development Center will join us to find out how the NWCDC can assist us at this stage. We are making final edits to our business plan and reviewing the first draft of our bylaws. This special meeting will be from 5:30-7:30pm, Monday November 26th at the Delridge Library.
Our red 1996 Subaru Impreza Outback was stolen from in front of our house [6500 block of 37th Ave SW] last night. The license plate read AJX3354. Any help getting her back home would be appreciated.
If you need a reference, Andy says it looks something like this. Meantime, as SPD advises via its @GetYourCarBack Twitter feed (where this has been posted too), if you see what you think is a stolen car, call 911 to report it.
(Live view from the only WS Bridge camera currently in operation; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
Especially if you’re just plugging back in after the long holiday weekend, three notes:
ADDED 10:30 AM: Emergency crews are responding to an incident that’s on the 911 log as “Northbound I-5 at Spokane,” so if you’re experiencing eastbound bridge, or I-5 in the area, slowness, that might be it.
Today we have the lineup, so you know what to expect (and so you know you won’t miss the actual lighting if you can’t get there immediately, though the park fills up and you won’t want to wait unless you absolutely have to!):
A famous bakery is going against the grain: While the trend has more typically been for successful businesses from other Seattle neighborhoods to expand west, West Seattle-founded 
Reminder from the 
At the Spokane Street Overcrossing on Highway 99, south of the West Seattle Bridge (
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