West Seattle, Washington
23 Monday
Two local businesspeople e-mailed to share photos of this afternoon’s rainbow – seemingly at the end of the road(s), east of West Seattle. Above, Jon Daniels of Seattle Fish Company caught the view looking down SW Genesee; below, Anne Higuera of Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) stopped to rainbow-watch along SW Findlay:
Though it’s been a wind-whipped afternoon, the forecast suggests it’ll calm down in the hours ahead – breezy, chilly, maybe showery.
SDOT has just announced the new plan for the Delridge/Trenton intersection closure that’s part of the ongoing Delridge repaving project – but note that it will start with a closure for part of Trenton itself beginning at 7 am next THURSDAY, with the intersection closure starting Friday (March 1st) night. Here’s the announcement:
The Seattle Department of Transportation will close a portion of SW Trenton Street next weekend starting Thursday morning, and the intersection of Delridge Way SW and SW Trenton Street next weekend starting Friday night. This work is part of the first phase of rebuilding Delridge Way SW between SW Orchard and SW Roxbury streets.
SW Trenton Street will be closed between Delridge Way SW and 20th Avenue SW beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday, February 28 for crews to break up and remove pavement on the east side of the intersection. This will reduce nighttime noise impacts during the around the clock intersection work that begins Friday at 7 p.m. and allow the concrete pour to begin earlier on Saturday. All areas are expected to re-open to traffic by 6 a.m. Monday, March 4, at the latest. Local access will be maintained.
For the closure of the Delridge/Trenton intersection, the detour will be as follows:
· Northbound Delridge Way SW to SW Barton Place/Street to 35th Avenue SW to SW Thistle Street to Delridge Way SW
· Southbound Delridge Way SW to SW Thistle Street to 35th Avenue SW to SW Barton Street/Place to Delridge Way SW
· Westbound SW Trenton Street to 16th Avenue SW to SW Henderson Street to SW Barton Place to 25th Avenue SW to SW Trenton Street
· Eastbound SW Trenton Street to 25th Avenue SW to SW Barton Place to SW Henderson Street to 16th Avenue SW to SW Trenton Street
This work is rescheduled from last weekend, when it was cancelled due to inclement weather.
WSB has just confirmed that Allstar Fitness, put up for sale as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy (as first 
reported here February 5th), has a buyer – a company owned by former Seahawks player Sam Adams, who already owns other former Allstar locations.
Allstar’s staff received word of the sale this morning, and a handout about the announcement is available at the club’s front desk, Allstar’s Chapter 11 trustee Richard Hooper tells WSB. Hooper confirms that the prospective ownership company is West Seattle Athletic Club LLC, which state records verify is owned by Adams, who was a Seahawk for six seasons and was then part of the Super Bowl-winning Baltimore team in 2000. The former player owns five fitness clubs under the umbrella of Oregon Athletic Clubs, four including former Allstar locations in southwest Portland and in Tacoma. According to the Portland Oregonian, Adams bought the other three Oregon clubs last fall. (He also was reported in 2011 to have owned a downtown Seattle club that moved into a former Allstar space, though we haven’t been able to verify its current ownership.) Adams is a Kirkland resident, according to this recent story on the Seahawks website. Trustee Hooper tells WSB that nothing will change with West Seattle Allstar – “it’s status quo … a great place to work out” – until and unless the bankruptcy court approves the sale, although he doesn’t expect that to take more than a few weeks.
1:51 PM FRIDAY: Thanks to the WSB’er who texted us about police cars near Camp Long. Just checked with Seattle Police, whose Det. Mark Jamieson says an arrest was made shortly after a neighbor called 911 about a burglary in the 5000 block of 35th SW, which would be just north of the park. The neighbor reported seeing someone break into the back of the house just after 1 pm; an officer arrived quickly and reported a suspect in custody at 1:06 pm. There was some discussion of a possible second suspect, Det. Jamieson says, but officers concluded that the person they arrested was alone. No other details about the case or the suspect so far.
SATURDAY NOTE: The arrest is on SPD Blotter today.
We photographed that big pile of donated food this morning at the West Seattle Food Bank – just part of what’s been brought in as part of the “100th day of school” food drives at several local schools, with more on the way. Marveling at what the local schools accomplished so that WS Food Bank could help its clients, operations director Steven Curry told WSB, “This drive could provide us with the largest food buffer we have ever had at this time, (during the) usual lull in giving after the holidays. What a fantastic story on how something so simple communicated to a community, listening and caring, will serve so many people.”
He says the donated food in the photo is from Schmitz Park and Alki Elementaries – both of whom, in fact, sent in their reports overnight. First, from Schmitz Park, kindergarten teacher Mandy Cook reports:
Schmitz Park Elementary totaled in at 1,193 food items!!! The West Seattle Food bank had to come back and collect overflowing barrels 4 times! Staff and students had fun collecting, competing and tallying by classroom. Thanks again for the wonderful opportunity Arbor Heights. Count us in for next year!
And from Alki, fourth-grade teacher Anna Coghill reports:
Alki Elementary is happy to report we collected 1,319 items for the West Seattle Food Bank. Thank you for the inspiration Arbor Heights students and teachers. It was a great success.
That’s a reference, of course, to AH teacher Marcia Ingerslev and her class, which issued the original challenge to other schools/classes in the area. We reported their results (4 AH classes in all) here; Gatewood Elementary here: Holy Rosary School here; Cometa Playschool here. Still awaiting at least one more report. Congratulations to all!
ADDED 5:53 PM: Robin Graham from the West Seattle STEM PTA reports their donation is part of what you see in our photo from the food bank:
STEM dropped off our food Thursday afternoon … At least 200 items donated from the families at STEM. Thanks, Arbor Heights, for the great idea – we would love to do it again next year!
And from Arbor Heights, Marcia Ingerslev shared a photo of her visit to the White Center Food Bank:
She explains in the comment section below – and expresses her pride at everyone’s contribution, too.
Thanks to Michelle for sharing the photo. She says that car went off the road on Croft just uphill from the Boren campus – and apparently went unnoticed for a while. Right now, she says, the road is closed for repairs and investigation. No word on injuries – by the time the wrecked car was noticed, according to a report on the North Delridge e-mail list, no one was in the car. We’ll be checking with Seattle Police to see whether the car’s driver and/or owner was found.
Still no official weather alert, but we have a stormy Friday on our hands – and a busy one, too! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, and from our news files:
‘LUCKY THEM’ MOVIE CREWS: Thanks to the WSB’ers who tipped us to advance warning in their neighborhoods that the movie “Lucky Them” was coming back to West Seattle to shoot. Here’s what we published last night; the photo was taken this morning in Gatewood, where crews are shooting, as well as in the Alki area. We’ll be checking back later.
CAR2GO: As mentioned here on Wednesday, the new car-borrowing service says it will soon add West Seattle to its coverage area. It’s planning to have a street team here again today, noon-5 pm (check Twitter), to show off one of the cars and answer questions. We took the photo above yesterday while one of their teams (who insisted we only photograph the car, not the people!) was out in The Admiral District.
WEST SEATTLE GARDEN CLUB: Their monthly meeting has just started with registration; there’s still time to get there for a lecture and more, since the meeting continues till 2 pm; all welcome. It’s at Daystar (2615 SW Barton) – details in our calendar listing.
RAINBOW BINGO AND CHICKEN DINNER: Mardi Gras-themed Rainbow Bingo at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon; WSB sponsor) tonight, doors open at 6, bingo at 7. Call for reservations ASAP! Info’s all on the center’s website.
FREE CRIME AVOIDANCE LECTURE: 6 pm at West Seattle Karate Academy (9455 35th SW), you can come hear from Marc “Animal” MacYoung, “author, lecturer, and martial artist known for his street-violence survival courses and personal safety books. … Marc is in town for a seminar and as a public service is providing this free threat recognition and crime avoidance lecture. In ninety minutes, you are going to know more about the way a criminal thinks, and be able use that information for your own safety,” says WSKA head instructor Kris Wilder. “Registration is not required, and there is no cost. This is an interactive lecture and not a hands on seminar. Be cautioned adult themes are going to be addressed, parental discretion is advised. No children.” Questions? WSKADOJO@Gmail.com
SPAGHETTI FOR ROBOTS: Enjoy spaghetti, the knowledge you’re helping the Seattle Lutheran High School robotics team, and a chance to try some of their older robots, all at a benefit dinner tonight at SLHS’s Menashe Gymnasium. 7 pm – details on the school’s website.
FIDDLING AND FOLK: The Lonely Coast and The North Sea, 7:30 tonight at Kenyon Hall (7904 35th SW) – details in our calendar listing.
NIGHTLIFE: Sid Law at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), 6 pm; hree bands at Skylark Café and Club, 8 pm; Leo Gunn at The Cask, 8 pm; two bands at the Benbow Room, 9 pm; the Flat 5 at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 9:30 pm; more details, including maps, in the listings on our calendar.
(Video and photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
The Whale Trail drew another full house at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) Thursday night – our video above shows the hour-and-a-half “Orca Talk 2” in its entirety. Lynn Barre from NOAA was the spotlighted speaker, with an overview of how the Southern Resident Killer Whales (aka our local orcas) are doing, following the all-star lineup of TWT leader Donna Sandstrom, Seal Sitters‘ Robin Lindsey (who talked about their upcoming volunteer training – we’ll have a separate report on that later today), and “Diver Laura” James on behalf of the Tox-Ick.org anti-toxic-runoff campaign. Joining the lineup this time (but not speaking, so he’s not in our video), photographer Mike Russell:
Also on hand – bags of Whale Tails tortilla chips, which, as you’ll hear Donna mention in the video, is the first “sustaining corporate sponsor” for The Whale Trail, donating six percent of all their Oregon and Washington sales after connecting with TWT through what she described as “the power of the pod” (in this case, “pod” of human supporters):
You can buy the chips here in West Seattle at Husky Deli – the first store in our state to carry them. Donna also announced TWT has four more signs in the works – at Point Roberts along the U.S./Canada border, Lime Kiln Park on San Juan Island, Olympia, and a Kitsap County site. Meantime, watch for word of the third Orca Talk, date TBA, likely late March.
(“Live” cam looking at the eastbound West Seattle Bridge; more cams here)
Though the weather is still expected to be blustery, we’re no longer under a special weather alert, so it shouldn’t be THAT blustery.
WEEKEND CLOSURE REMINDER: As we get going with Friday, we also want to remind you about the Highway 99/Viaduct closure this weekend, and the “Timber Bridge” traffic revision that will follow. As WSDOT explains it on the project page:
4:30 am Saturday, Feb. 23 through 5 am Monday, Feb. 25 -Southbound SR 99 will be closed between the Battery Street Tunnel and S. Nevada Street. Northbound SR 99 will be closed between S. Nevada Street and the West Seattle Bridge.
Monday morning, Feb. 25, the overpass reopens with one lane southbound and two lanes northbound. Traffic stays in this configuration through June 2014.
Here’s the plan for this weekend (click image to get full-size PDF):
The ramp project at the east end of the West Seattle Bridge does NOT have a closure this weekend, but does have one the following weekend.
(Screengrab from City Light map, at peak of outage)
4:28 AM: Another power outage in High Point (thanks to the two residents who just texted us). Not sure how long ago it started, but it’s just appeared on the Seattle City Light map; about 1,000 homes/businesses (aka “customers”) affected. Parts of Gatewood and Morgan Junction are involved again this time too. A similar, though larger (3,200+ customers) area lost power on Wednesday morning; some were out for up to two hours.
4:43 AM: We’re getting reports the power is back, at least for some. Not yet reflected on the SCL map.
5:02 AM: The map now shows the outage over. Since much if not all of the same area was part of the Wednesday morning outage, we’ll follow up with City Light later this morning.
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