West Seattle, Washington
15 Tuesday
(WSB photo by Tracy Record, looking west on Barton from 15th, toward 16th)
11:27 PM: Seattle Police and Fire have rushed to 15th/Barton (map) in South Delridge to check out an assault-with-weapons report. (Thanks to the person who tipped us via text.) Will update as we find out more.
11:31 PM UPDATE: According to radio traffic, this is a shooting. The victim is described as a 35-to-40-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest, found unconscious, and undergoing CPR. The victim is being rushed to Harborview Medical Center. No information so far on the circumstances or any suspect(s).
11:40 PM UPDATE: Also from radio communications, there is a second victim – a female, shot in the hand.
12:14 AM UPDATE: Police say via Twitter they’re still searching for suspect(s); no word of even a description. We’re just back from a quick visit to the vicinity – very foggy, didn’t get too close, but close enough to report that Barton is taped off at 15th (top photo), while police and a loud crowd are focused on 16th and Barton. 16th is blocked off there too, so if you need to travel north-south in that area, use Delridge or 15th.
(This photo and others below by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
12:26 AM UPDATE: Christopher Boffoli is now at the scene for WSB and reports that SPD rifle officers are keeping a high profile at the scene.
1:12 AM UPDATE: Christopher reports police are “expanding the crime scene to the auto and brake service center across the street from the house where the shooting apparently occurred … it looks like they found bullet damage in the building and a vehicle parked out front.”
5:13 AM UPDATE: Still no information on the victims’ conditions; police have had a busy night all over the city, but we expect an update on this at some point this morning.
9:38 AM UPDATE: This has finally appeared on SPD Blotter, though the item includes few details not already reported here:
Detectives are looking for a suspect(s) who shot two people late last night in West Seattle.
On 12/31/13, just shortly after 11:00 p.m., the victims were at a social event at victim 2’s residence in the 9200 block of 16 Av SW when a disturbance broke out and shots were fired.
Victim # 1, a man in his 40′s was shot twice in the torso and sustained life threatening injuries. V#2, a 33-yr-old female was shot in one of her hands. Both victims were transported to Harborview Medical Center and admitted.Victim #1 was listed in critical condition.
Homicide, Gang Unit detectives and CSI responded and processed the scene. No suspect information available. The investigation continues.
12:04 PM UPDATE: According to the man’s family, he did not survive. That means this is West Seattle’s second homicide of 2013; the first was just two and a half weeks earlier, the killing of 46-year-old Nga Nguyen in her High Point residence – no arrest in that case yet either.
WEDNESDAY, 9:11 PM: Police also have now confirmed that the male victim died.
We originally drafted this story on Saturday, planning to finish and publish it on Monday. Then came The Big Power Outage, which now holds the title for “most-commented WSB story ever,” passing the previous titleholder, coverage of the November 22, 2010, snow/ice-pocalypse. As was the case with both those reports, comments on WSB stories are more often about community information-sharing than about opinions or observations, whether it’s a road report in a morning-traffic thread, or the simple “No power here/power’s back on here” updates from Monday. That said, our one-and-only look back at 2013 proceeds, with less than an hour left until 2014. It’s a Top 11 since we already had dug up the Top 10 before something new topped them all:
11: ‘Private’ fireworks display off Beach Drive, July 20, 2013 – 137 comments
10: Townhouses planned for ex-Charlestown Café site, June 4, 2013 – 143 comments
*Follow-up note: As reported here earlier this month, this project finally debuts at Design Review on January 23rd.
9: Impending opening of Bada Bistro, March 12, 2013 – 144 comments
*The announcement declared “We don’t serve merlot.” The discussion caught fire from there. The restaurant closed after less than five months.
7/8 (tie): Alan Polevia spotted in Shorewood, hours-long helicopter search ensues, March 5, 2013 – 145 comments
*After serving about four months of a six-month sentence, Polevia got out of jail October 21st. He spent a day back behind bars in early November for a DUI warrant.
7/8 (tie): Bicyclist killed on East Marginal, May 1, 2013 – 145 comments
By Megan Sheppard
On the WSBeat, for West Seattle Blog
This edition of The WSBeat contains summaries written from reports on cases handled recently by Southwest Precinct officers – generally cases that (usually) have not already appeared here in breaking-news coverage or West Seattle Crime Watch reports, but that might at least answer the question “what WERE all those police doing on my block?” Or on the bridge, or the beach, or …
*Just after midnight on the 24th, officers were called to a beach fire at Alki. While they were happy to see that it was in one of the burn pits, they were less happy to see a propane tank in the middle of the blaze. A fire crew came to take care of the situation and asked officers to make a suspicious circumstances report.
Four more summaries ahead, including a drive-by purse-snatching:Read More
(October 2012 reader photo, by Katina, taken in an Admiral neighborhood)
An unexpected phone call this New Year’s Eve: Aaron the federal wildlife agent called to ask us to share another reminder about keeping your dog(s) safe from coyotes. “We are seeing an increase in coyote calls concerning predation on small dogs at night in West Seattle,” he said. “It’s easily prevented by going out with the small dogs at night as they are let out to relieve themselves. It sounds like simple advice, because it is, and can really help keep your small dogs safe. Removing this attraction can help keep coyotes focused on more natural food sources.”
This is the same advice Aaron offered in another phone call last July, which followed his appearance before the Highland Park Action Committee two months earlier. As we wrote then, he says that even dogs staying in their own yards might be “coaxed” by coyotes to come to the edge of the yard, where the larger canines can grab them. As for cats? As with dogs, if they’re outside and unaccompanied, they’re at risk.
He told us tonight he wants to get this advice out again “to (help) keep coyotes wild in our part of the city.” And they’re out there – if you haven’t seen our coverage before, five years of sightings are archived here). Sightings we’ve heard about this month include:
*Early morning, near Fauntleroy Church/YMCA
*Late morning, 9700 block 30th SW, “jumped our back fence and headed east towards 28th and Safeway”
*Early evening, California Lane (North Admiral)
*Early afternoon, crossing Fauntleroy Way at SW Rose Street: “Moving up from the park into the neighborhood”
What if you come face to face with one? Best advice: Scare it away. That too will help keep them wild, which is what’s best for them, us, and our pets, experts stress, over and over again. More advice here.
Tomorrow morning, among those who have told us they plan to take the (polar) plunge into Puget Sound, you’ll find Kayleen Dunson – the West Seattleite who is Umpire in Chief for the Seattle Metro Area Softball Umpires Association. She tells WSB her first year in that role has been great “We trained more umpires than ever before … sent 20 umpires to work National and/or State tournaments (and one umpire who got to work the World Cup of Softball), and made everything about umpiring more FUN!” They got regional/national media attention, too. But she’s particularly proud of Shani Neamen, a recruit who won the “Rookie Umpire of the Year” award.
Kayleen shares the story:
When Shani Neamen read about the need for Softball Umpires on the West Seattle Blog in January, she decided to give it a try. She joined the Seattle Metro Softball Umpires Association, went through the top-notch training program, and became a certified softball umpire. She had a blast, and did a great job – and in October she was chosen as the Seattle-Tacoma region’s “Rookie Umpire of the Year.”
Another semi-high-profile West Seattle case is closing with a plea bargain: This time, it’s 20-year-old Sean Jeardoe, first mentioned here in early July after being arrested in a stolen truck spotted in the West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) parking lot by a reader who remembered seeing a WSB Crime Watch story about the truck. This reader-contributed photo from that day is the only one we have of him:
Charges weren’t filed against Jeardoe until September, as reported here, and by then he also was under suspicion in other crimes, including burglaries on Vashon Island. In all, documents say he confessed to 22 burglaries all over King County, from Shoreline to Issaquah to Vashon to Tukwila. Stolen property from many of them was found in a Sunrise Heights trailer and a White Center apartment, both places where he had been staying.
Yesterday afternoon, Jeardoe pleaded guilty to 14 felonies – eight burglary charges, three auto-theft-related charges, and three counts of gun theft, with crime-scene addresses listed in court documents including West Seattle, North Seattle, Shoreline, Burien, and Vashon. Prosecutors are recommending a variety of concurrent sentences that would add up to eight and a half years (102 months) in prison. Jeardoe has served jail time before – including the 3 1/2 months he’s been in since his September arrest – but not prison time. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle on February 7th.
P.S. The woman arrested with him in July and September and described repeatedly in court documents as “his pregnant girlfriend,” 34-year-old Jessica Detrick, has nothing showing on her record since she spent five days in jail in September. As we reported then, she was released after pleading guilty in a 2012 burglary case, which shows as the most recent case filed against her in King County – no charges appear from either of the arrests this year.
(New Year’s Day 2013 photo by Nick Adams)
Four people have asked about it in the past half-hour, so we’re thinking more than a few missed our first word on December 22nd that the Alki Beach Polar Bear Swim is definitely ON again tomorrow. So – here’s the reminder! 10 am New Year’s Day, gather on the beach across from Duke’s (map); better to be early than late, says organizer Mark Ufkes. As he observes, “This is a great way to wash away the complexities of 2013 and welcome the unlimited possibilities of 2014.”
12:42 PM: Third one in five days in West Seattle, by our count – thanks to Nancy for the photo from 112th/Marine View Drive (map), where a Seattle Public Utilities crew has just arrived to fix a reported pipe problem. This follows Delridge and Gatewood trouble (reported here Monday). We are seeking more information from SPU, and will update with whatever we hear back.
ADDED 2:55 PM: We asked SPU’s Ingrid Goodwin about both this situation and the 41st/Frontenac one, which was still under investigation when we talked with her yesterday:
Crews just finished (about 1 pm) the leak repair on 41st and Frontenac. The leak was on a service line, not the water main.
The water main break on 112th and Marine View Drive is on a 4″ pipe. Crews are onsite making the repair now.
It’s not unusual for there to be leaks and small breaks on a daily basis throughout the City. Seattle does have aging infrastructure and some of the pipes are nearly 100 years old. Our crews stay busy with maintenance, repair and upgrades to the system.
(January 1, 2013, Space Needle fireworks, photographed by David Hutchinson)
Happy final day of 2013! Today’s highlights list focuses on some of your options for tonight, besides watching the fabled Space Needle fireworks, whether in person or on screen. You can get started before dark:
NEW YEAR’S EVE WALK: Any time between 4 and 7 pm, you can start a 5- or 10-kilometer West Seattle walk mapped out by the Emerald City Wanderers, starting at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church. Details in our preview, which notes the New Year’s Day walking plan, too. (California/Hanford)
Once it’s dark, you can start your night with one last look at some of West Seattle’s brightest Christmas-lights shows:
WEST SEATTLE LIGHTS FINALE: Tonight is closing night for the music-and-movement West Seattle Lights/Helmstetler Family Spectacular show.
Creator Jim Winder says you can help them hit a charity milestone:
Last Show Of The 2013 Season Is New Year’s Eve – Also your last chance to be involved in a momentous last four years of giving by the West Seattle Community!!!
West Seattleites (and those visiting from out of town) have been in a giving spirit since Christmas Eve as YOU have donated over $900 and 300 lbs of foodstuffs for our two charities…the West Seattle Food Bank and The Northwest Parkinson Foundation. Soooo…we are that much closer to collecting $10,000 for our two charities since 2010!!
Only $89 to go!! Thank you, West Seattle!!!!
Jim says this year’s giving has already passed last year’s total – $2,777 so far. Tonight’s schedule is 4 pm-midnight; if you’re not going tonight but you want to donate (everything goes to the nonprofits – nothing for show operations), you can do that online. What? Haven’t been? Find WS Lights at 39th and Charlestown.
WEST SEATTLE YULETIDE: This new music-and-movement display now has a name, and a website! Ken Iverson says they’ve dubbed the show at 4120 38th SW “West Seattle Yuletide”:
You’ll find WSY online at westseattleyuletide.blogspot.com, and Ken says the show IS on tonight.
MENASHE FAMILY LIGHTS: The biggest and brightest display in West Seattle is still on too! (5605 Beach Drive SW)
Then:
HIGHLAND PARK’S NOT-SO-SILENT NIGHT PARADE, FIRE PERFORMANCE, CORNER BAR: Highland Park Improvement Club is a one-stop shop for a multifaceted New Year’s Eve. The night starts with the parade, all ages, everyone welcome, leaving from the HPIC parking lot around 6:30 pm. Bring lights and noisemakers to parade through nearby neighborhoods:
Then it’s back to the lot for the Sage Comet Fire Performance, and then inside for HPIC’s special New Year’s Eve edition of the Corner Bar. Details on all of the above are here, as well as on the HPIC website. (12th/Holden)
Last but not least – bar parties! No matter where you prefer to drink, we bet they have a party. Here are the venues we have heard from:
SKYLARK: New Year’s Eve Prom Party with Baby Ketten Karaoke, starting at 8 pm – Facebook invite here. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
BAMBOO BENEFIT: Bamboo Grill on Alki is having a dance party starting at 8:30 pm and collecting donations for the American Cancer Society. Here’s the Facebook invite. (2806 Alki SW)
FEEDBACK LOUNGE: Fifth annual New Year’s Eve Party at The Feedback (WSB sponsor) with the Disco Cowboys, starting at 9 pm. Details in our calendar listing. (6451 California SW)
NEW YEAR’S EVE AT OUTWEST BAR: The lineup from OutWest: “A ‘White Party’! We’ll have a Video DJ, White Winter Jello Shots, a hosted Champagne Toast at midnight and a special guest vocalist to sing Auld Lang Syne.” (5401 California SW)
THE BENBOW ROOM: Live music starts at 9:30 pm – details in our calendar listing. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
And if you’d rather just take a walk on the beach:
LOW-LOW TIDE: -2.9 feet just before 10 pm, according to our favorite tide chart.
As for the Space Needle fireworks – just one word of advice: If you’re heading down to the north/northeast-facing shore to watch them from here – or one of the official viewpoints – do NOT wait until the last minute; in our experience, things start getting crazy by 10 pm.
(Click image for full-size view)
Just hours to go until the New Year, and that means time for reflection on the old one – individually and organizationally. WestSide Baby‘s executive director Nancy Woodland asked if we would share this with you:
As 2013 comes to a close, I’d like to thank the West Seattle community for its amazing support this year. We have increased our service by thousands of children, started to reach new neighborhoods and stretched ourselves to do more. Most of this is because of this community. While we continue to reach to other parts of Seattle for support, we want to pause and acknowledge what has happened locally. Individuals, families and children have collected 110,000 MORE diapers for us this year than in 2010. That’s incredible and, in large part, because of West Seattle!! Donations of new car seats have increased and we’ve been able to distribute 5,000 clothing bags mostly from the used items that come from the children prancing around our local parks and elementary schools.
Since opening our new rented facility in White Center in 2010, we have almost doubled the number of volunteer hours donated, from about 5,000 to nearly 10,000! This growth translates directly to increased impact all around King County and most of these volunteers come from within ten miles. In the last week, we’ve had to close down to item donations because of the requirement to do inventory (volunteers did most of that work too!) but we look forward to re-opening to item donations on January 2nd. Thanks to all for your patience in holding on to the things you’d like to clear out of your homes after the holidays.
On Sunday our constituents received an e-mail outlining the continued need for car seats, diapers, basics, and financial support. We focused on a poignant photo by (WSB contributor) Christopher Boffoli, that captured a rollover accident where an infant’s stroller was thrown from the car but the child had only minor injuries. I can only assume a car seat played a role in that.
The interconnectedness of everything we do it what makes WestSide Baby special. From local families, to local businesses to large corporations and foundations the combined support allow us to do what we do best, focus on the critical items to keep children safe, warm and dry. As Mary from Mom’s Plus agency shared with us, “We work with homeless families and it means so, so, so much to them to receive assistance with diapers. It means that they have extra money for food and other necessary expenses and it also means that they can change their babies diapers more often.”
If you want to know how you can be a part of what we do, please consider donating, signing up online to volunteer or to attend our big benefit Tea on February 9, telling someone else about us – even if they don’t live in West Seattle and please continue doing all the things you do – we need you as we grow. Thank you, West Seattle!
P.S. Today’s the last day to get an earlybird $35 ticket for the WS Baby Tea – go here.
Five years ago, when community members lobbied Metro to make sure RapidRide went all the way to Westwood instead of turning around at Fauntleroy, they didn’t envision what’s become a “wall of buses” alongside Roxhill Park. A new community council has since emerged, and park-safety concerns are high on its list. So today, Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council leaders took a group of visiting officials on what you might call a wall-to-wall tour.
It started and ended on the east side of Barton, alongside the park. This tour didn’t go into the park – though some of its challenges were well within view:
Liquor stolen from nearby stores – four places stock it in Westwood alone, plus Safeway on the other side of the park – is often consumed nearby, and the bus wall hides it from scrutiny. So WWRHAH suggests other places buses could lay over:
The tour around the outer perimeter of Westwood Village was led by WWRHAH chair Amanda Kay Helmick, above in purple, and secretary Joe Szilagyi, above in gray. Those who came along to see and hear about the situation included not only reps from Metro, but also from King County Councilmember Dow Constantine‘s staff, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s staff, the County Sheriff’s Office – which is responsible for Metro Transit Police – and Seattle Police, Seattle Parks, even state legislator Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (below at left), a frequent transit rider who told his stories of getting around Westwood:
One frequently noted problem, not enough light for people to get around safely at night, including at 25th and Trenton, near the bus holding/bus stop area on the east side of Westwood:
Pedestrian and driver safety is at stake too, with cars exiting onto 25th jutting out to see around the buses and other vehicles there:
At each stop, the WWRHAH leaders offered suggestions, as tour participants took notes. And each area offered its own challenge:
While that stretch along Barton has an official RapidRide area, it was noted that bus passengers also exit much further west along the block, in the layover zone, which is unlit. WWRHAH stressed that they’re not requesting lights for the entire park – but that stretch needs something; our photo below, taken December 4th, shows how dark it can get:
This tour was part of the followup to other exchanges WWRHAH has had with Metro and other agencies that have jurisdiction in the Westwood/Roxhill area; here’s a previous story with a detailed reply to WWRHAH from Metro’s GM Kevin Desmond. The council’s November meeting was centered on park concerns and potential solutions. No specific next steps were announced as this afternoon’s tour ended, but WWRHAH plans to continue pressing for action.
One day after he and his teammates won the NFL’s NFC West division, Seahawks defense star Cliff Avril is at West Seattle Bowl tonight – playing a different ball game:
As first announced here last month, Avril is leading tonight’s Strikes for Kids “Live United/Bowl United” fundraiser for United Way of King County. And not only is it a great chance to celebrate and help the nonprofit, it’s also a celebration of Seahawks fever:
…old-school Seahawks fever, too:
Then, there’s just plain fun:
Big crowd tonight, which should be good news for United Way; whenever we get a fundraising tally, we’ll update the story.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes tonight. First, doublecheck before bedtime to make sure your doors are locked. That’s the message one West Seattleite is sharing, after someone broke into her mom’s house in North Admiral:
My mother in-law lives on Palm Ave SW and woke up at 3 am Sunday morning to a person standing in her living room. When confronted, they ran out the unlocked kitchen door in which they entered. Cash and a watch were stolen; no one was hurt, luckily. A reminder to lock all doors and windows; motion lights will now be installed at this residence.
Nighttime break-ins are actually more brazen than daytime burglaries, since there’s more of a chance the burglar(s) will be confronted.
We also have an update from a burglary reported here one week ago: The reader who first told us about the 13-year-old arrested in connection with at least two break-ins says she found something he left behind – somebody else’s laptop. She was trying over the weekend to reach police to get them to come take it.
Finally, a hit-run driver damaged a parked car and destroyed a fence early Sunday in Westwood. Two readers mentioned it to us that morning – and then we heard directly from the fence’s owner, Laura:
A car took out my fence at 36th Ave SW and Barton St.
The front end of the car in the photo was also smashed.
Laura says it was somebody else’s car; the hit-run car and driver both got away. The fence was to be fixed today.
Before, and unrelated to, today’s big electricity outage, two water problems affected West Seattle neighborhoods over the weekend; we asked Seattle Public Utilities about them today:
FRIDAY NIGHT, DELRIDGE/JUNEAU: (map) We heard from area residents awakened (or kept awake) by an SPU crew working on a pipe break 9 pm Friday-3 am Saturday. SPU spokesperson Ingrid Goodwin says an 8-inch pipe broke, but service was lost only temporarily to 17 customers and three hydrants. SPU tries to “limit noise and other disturbances, especially when working at night,” she said, adding, “We thank customers for their patience and understanding when we are required to work in a neighborhood on an emergency repair.” They don’t know yet why the pipe broke.
GATEWOOD HILL: We heard about this one very early this morning, when residents near 41st/Frontenac (map) noticed discolored water from their taps, and one told us she saw water running in the street. Goodwin says SPU got calls early today “about water coming up from cracks in the roadway. … A leak investigation is currently under way to find the source of the leak. It could be on the 8” water main or on one of the 1” plastic services, but we don’t know at this time. All customers in the area continue to have water services (no water shutdown has occurred). As soon as SPU determines the source of the leak, a repair will be made.”
Moving on with some other news now that the big power outage is mostly over:
A major real-estate deal in West Seattle has closed. Eastside-headquartered Aegis Living has completed its purchase of the former Life Care Center site at 47th/Admiral, for $3,650,000. We first reported almost two months ago that Aegis was the prospective buyer; then Aegis CEO Dwayne Clark talked with WSB just before Thanksgiving, saying they’re planning to tear down the old building and build a new complex with 72 to 80 units, some assisted living, some memory care. No city permit applications yet; Clark told us last month that they expected to finish design work within three months or so of closing the deal. His company has 30 senior-living complexes in three states.
(TOPLINE as of 10:15 pm – The last outage pocket in Seaview/north Morgan appears to be back on at last, per comments and tweets. The map below shows outage zone at its peak around 11 am:)
9:43 AM: We’re checking on the extent of the power outage that has just hit areas of West Seattle. Let us know if it’s out where you are. So far we’re hearing from Admiral and The Junction; here in Upper Fauntleroy, our power flickered but did NOT go out. More to come.
9:49 AM UPDATE: First word is that the outage affects more than 4,300 homes and businesses. City Light is estimating 1 pm restoration but PLEASE keep in mind that at this early stage, that is just their guesstimate – not a guarantee, could be earlier, could be later. We’re hearing from people in many more areas, including High Point, North Delridge, and Fairmount Springs – thanks for commenting with your location report; the City Light map wasn’t updated as of a few minutes ago.
9:56 AM UPDATE: City Light now says more than 11,000 homes and businesses are affected. There is no word yet on the cause. We’re now switching our request – let us know if you still HAVE power. (We still do, in Upper Fauntleroy.)
10:11 AM UPDATE: City Light still hasn’t announced what it believes to be the cause. If you see a truck in your area, let us know – 206-293-6302 text or voice. Meantime, please remember that if you have to drive and the light’s out, treat an intersection as a four-way stop!
10:18 AM UPDATE: Just added a screengrab of the outage map that City Light now has up. Also got a text from Katrina, who says SCL told her a transformer blew; the restoration guesstimate is now 1:30 pm, but again – could be earlier, could be later. We’re checking out some areas including The Junction, where one side of California is out, co-publisher Patrick says, and one is not. (California/Alaska photo added:)
10:29 AM UPDATE: Scanner indicates police are assigning traffic-control officers to some key intersections (among them, 35th and Avalon). Keep in mind that by our very rough count, 11,000 homes/businesses would be at least a fourth of every place on the peninsula! If your area is NOT shown in red on the City Light map we added atop this story, let us know – boundaries are often approximate.
10:38 AM UPDATE: Kent from Atomic Boys notes that the Admiral business district DOES have power. Note that these outages can be spotty – Patrick says the light at California/Lander is out.
11:03 AM UPDATE: Still don’t have official word on the cause; we’re still out chasing reports of City Light sightings. Meantime, more businesses are sending word of their status. For example, WSB sponsors Hotwire Coffee in The Junction and Zeek’s Pizza in Morgan say they have power. On Twitter, we’re retweeting updates from other businesses (see our stream at twitter.com/westseattleblog). Melissa at Barnes & Noble says Westwood Village appears to be “untouched by the outage.” We’ve also heard from Tammy at Alki Juice and Java near Seacrest, who says that area is OK. (Other businesses open – especially restaurants/coffee? – let us know. Update: Chaco Canyon Café, WSB sponsor, in The Triangle, has power. And there’s a coupon here too.)
11:11 AM UPDATE: If you are seeing TV helicopters, no, there are no additional incidents – they are just looking for any signs of outage-related trouble that they can see from the air. At least one has already been going around, and we hear via the scanner that another is headed this way.
11:27 AM UPDATE: Cause finally found – tree branch into wire:
Crews found the cause of the W. Seattle outage. A tree branch fell into power lines near SW Hanford and 46th Ave SW.
— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) December 30, 2013
We noticed a sudden wind gust shortly before the power flickered here and went out elsewhere. (By the way, if you can’t place 46th/Hanford, here’s a map.)
11:56 AM UPDATE: On Twitter, we’re hearing about some who have lost their cable/Internet services – not 100 percent sure it’s related but anecdotally, seems to happen with major outages. Meantime, co-publisher Patrick is back from the outage epicenter at 46th/47th/Hanford; adding photos above and below this line.
Let us know when your power is BACK! However, we’d still caution that the 1 pm estimate is JUST an estimate – identifying the cause doesn’t mean the fix is simple.
12:36 PM UPDATE: Some power is back in some areas – see comments. Restoring it can be complicated too, with multiple “feeders” involved, so that doesn’t mean everyone will be back immediately – let us know when you are, though! So far, we’ve heard from parts of Junction, Admiral, North Delridge, (added) Alki areas, and (added) Junction businesses, Camp Long area (35th/Dawson) …
12:45 PM UPDATE: Some are reporting Comcast-service restoration too. Thanks, meantime, to EVERYONE who has been sharing information – in the early moments, for reasons as simple as that it meant we knew this was a very big outage, long before City Light information revealed the numbers. Also thanks for photos and info from what turned out to be the origin of the outage in 46th/47th/Hanford area – Kate Kaemerle just sent several photos including this one of the crew installing new poles:
Kate also sent this photo of neighbor Richard Rohde, who she says is holding the apparent culprit branch here:
More reports have come in of areas with restoration, including High Point and Fairmount Park.
1:17 PM UPDATE: Yet more areas continue to get power back. Mark suggested we remind people about food-safety issues caused by the refrigerator being without power for hours – here’s the official government advice.
2:07 PM UPDATE: According to City Light’s map, about 750 homes and businesses are still out – though the map does NOT show some people north of Morgan Junction who say they are too.
2:49 PM UPDATE: City Light just told someone in that general area via Twitter that the estimate remains 3:30 pm for those still out.
3 PM UPDATE: Subsequently, Colleen says in comments that she got an estimate of 9 pm for the California/Juneau pocket. Meanwhile, we asked SCL spokesperson Scott Thomsen to answer the question that many have asked – how can one tree branch leave 11,000 homes/businesses/etc. without power? His reply:
The branch that fell hit a pole carrying two feeder lines (large power lines that carry electricity for about 3,500 customers each).
When it crossed the lines and created a short circuit, the power surge not only tripped the breakers for those two lines, but also tripped the breakers back at the Delridge Substation for the entire feeder bus — a series of connections for five feeder lines. (Imagine a giant power strip where the main plug is the substation, the strip is the bus and each outlet connects to a feeder.)
When all five feeders dropped off, we had about 11,000 customers without power.
4:57 PM UPDATE: Some people just north of Morgan Junction are still out. City Light tells us that if you are, keep calling to be sure they know (and to get the latest on restoration prospects).
7:41 PM UPDATE: Ten hours into the outage, commenters in a few areas – north side of Morgan Junction, west side of High Point, among them – say they’re still out and it’s going to be a while. City Light’s map is not precise, since the utility does not have direct connectivity with all its customers (that “smart meter” system is still in the pipeline).
10:04 PM UPDATE: While City Light declared more than an hour ago that the outage was over, the Morgan Junction-area pocket remained out – until just now.
(Thanks to Vanessa for the photo from Sunday sunset at Lincoln Park!)
Looking for something to do in West Seattle on this quiet between-holidays Monday?
ORIGAMI FOR TEENS: At Delridge Branch Library, 2-3:30 pm, Teen Space presents a chance for 12-18-year-olds to make origami masterpieces; more info here. (5423 Delridge Way SW)
EXTRA SWIM SESSIONS AT SOUTHWEST POOL: With school still out and many others on holiday vacation, Southwest Pool has two bonus swim sessions again today – lap swim from 3-4 pm, public swim 4-5:30 pm. (2801 SW Thistle)
SEAHAWKS STAR HOSTS BOWLING BENEFIT: At West Seattle Bowl, tonight’s the night for the United Way benefit first mentioned here last month – hosted by Cliff Avril of the Seahawks. Some of his teammates are expected to be part of it. Looks like the bowling lanes are sold out for the two sessions, 5-7:30 pm and 8-10 pm, but spectator tickets are still available. (39th/Oregon)
FAMILY STORY TIME: High Point Branch Library hosts it tonight – bring the kids, all ages, free! 7:30 pm. (35th/Raymond)
LOW-LOW TIDE: -2.4 at 9:10 pm tonight, if you’re up for a late-night low-tide walk. (New Year’s Eve, it’ll be even lower!)
(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Transit reminder again today – if you ride Metro, remember that the regular schedules don’t resume until AFTER the New Year’s holiday; today is again the “Reduced Weekday/No UW” schedule. Same thing tomorrow; then Wednesday (New Year’s Day), it’s a Sunday schedule (and no Water Taxi). Hoping for another quiet semi-holiday commute today, but we’re on watch just in case.
(UPDATED MONDAY MORNING with police announcement that pedestrian died)
(WSB photo by Patrick Sand, looking southeast from 35th/Graham)
9:34 PM: A car-pedestrian crash at 35th and Graham has closed 35th, at Morgan on the south.
(This photo and next one by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
9:41 PM: The pedestrian has been taken to Harborview. Injuries are serious enough that the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad is being called out, so 35th may be closed a while, between Morgan and just north of Graham.
10:25 PM: Christopher Boffoli is at the scene now for WSB and says police tell him the victim is in surgery with injuries including broken leg, broken pelvis, and internal bleeding.
12:44 AM: Just went back over to check; 35th is still closed between Morgan and Raymond.
8:21 AM: Seattle Police say this morning that the pedestrian died. From the update on SPD Blotter:
At around 9:15 pm, a Ford sedan was traveling northbound on 35th Avenue SW. As the Ford entered the intersection of SW Graham Street, the Ford struck a pedestrian. The Seattle Fire Department responded and transported the man to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Unfortunately, the man succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
As is routine, a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) officer responded to the scene and evaluated the male driver of the Ford. There were no signs of any impairment on the part of the driver.
This is the same intersection where a bicycle rider was killed in 2006 after colliding with a van.
8:55 AM: SPD did not have ages for either the driver or the pedestrian at the time of its update. Seattle Fire tells us the pedestrian was 69 years old.
5:58 PM: The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identifies him as James R. St. Clair.
The West Seattle High School Wildcats boys-basketball team is back from its holiday-weekend road trip, and WSHS staff shares this report:
The West Seattle varsity boys-basketball team traveled and played in the Wenatchee Holiday Basketball Classic this past weekend.
The Wildcats played the host school Wenatchee on Friday night and lost to a very good team 71-65.
Senior DeAndre Love scored 27 points and had a game-high 14 rebounds, also adding 3 blocks.
WSHS then played Eastmont High School Saturday and again played tough, but fell 60-46. Eastmont was a state finalist last year in class 4A and have a team primed for yet another trip to Tacoma.
The Wildcats’ next game is Friday, Jan. 3, at Chief Sealth.
AC Seattle, the Italian/American cultural-exchange soccer club that was based in West Seattle for its debut season last summer, will be back – and is expanding. Its 2013 women’s team (photo above) won the Northwest Conference of the WPSL and the Evergreen Cup; for 2014, AC Seattle tells WSB it will add a men’s team and a summer camp. You won’t find many details on their website yet but AC Seattle says camp registration is open, so they’re taking inquiries at soccer@acseattle.com, which is also the address where soccer professionals are invited to send resumes if they are interested in joining a staff expanding to cover the new team/camp (players too).
Almost exactly six years ago – on New Year’s Day, 2008 – we took a quick “past/present” look at 4808 SW Alaska, thanks to neighbor Bill pointing out its past identity as Fraker’s Grocery. Today, the building is pretty much what it was at the time of that WSB story – vacant and rundown:
But its days are finally numbered. We’re mentioning it today because our latest routine check of city Department of Planning and Development files turned up new applications for demolition and construction permits. A new single-family house is proposed for the site, which was separated from an adjacent lot in a land-use action three years ago. But it’s noteworthy given its history, still hinted at by this shadow of a Coca-Cola sign on the south-facing window:
County records show the market’s former proprietor, Dean Fraker, owned the site until 2001; he died in 2009. It was sold again two weeks ago to a real-estate-investment LLC.
Movies can be fun, frightening, inspirational, educational – and the latter two are the key qualities for the West Seattle Meaningful Movies series that kicked off this fall. If you haven’t been to a WSMM screening/discussion yet, consider making it a New Year’s resolution; it will be one you can fulfill quickly, because, on the first Saturday of the New Year, January 4th, WSMM will screen “Dirt: The Movie” (trailer above). From the official announcement:
Time: 7:00 PM
Come early, at 6:30, for (free) dessert and a chance to meet your neighbors.Where: Neighborhood House High Point Center, 6400 Sylvan Way SW
Bus numbers 21 and 128No charge, but donations gratefully received.
There will be refreshments and discussion.
Help us minimize waste — bring your own mug.Local gardeners and restoration workers (including you, we hope) will report on how they are caring for soil (and more) in West Seattle. They will answer questions about caring for the “dirt” in our neighborhood and in our own backyards. We can learn from each other, join together, and preserve this aspect of our local environment.
The full winter quarter of monthly WS Meaningful Movies is listed here. Find out more about the series’ genesis here.
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