Update: WSB Forums technical trouble
9:46 PM: If you are a WSB Forums user, you have likely noticed that section of our site is unusable right now. Trouble hit during this evening’s storm coverage, and while the rest of the site has recovered, the Forums haven’t. At some point later tonight, the entire site will be down for maintenance/repairs in hopes of getting that fixed. We’re sorry for the trouble and appreciate your patience.
3:54 AM: As noted in a “sticky” post in the Forum, we have restored the database to a backup that is a few days old. We are still investigating to see if there is any way to get those days’ content back too and hope to have an opinion on that by mid-morning. The threads that had been updated in those ensuing days are still displaying on the forum index page as authored by “anonymous,” but if you click on any one of them, you will see the authors and posts – up to that several-days-old backup. Again, our apologies for this problem, which was internal to the server, NOT caused by anything/anyone external such as hackers or spammers (though spam was displaying on the index for a while until deleted).
West Seattle Weather Watch: Rainbow(s) after the storm
(UPDATED with more photos late Tuesday/early Wednesday)
Thanks to everyone who’s sending beautiful rainbow photos (and other spectacular sky shots from the storm’s aftermath)! Here’s a double rainbow for starters, in unsigned mail from Arbor Heights. Next, looking east to the stadium zone, Carolyn shared this:
Back to Arbor Heights for a panorama from Kane:
The sky to the west, from JayDee:
Another view of the full-half-circle and its companion, this one from Andy Cote:
ADDED EARLY WEDNESDAY: Beth Anderson shared this sunset view via the WSB Facebook page:
She says the view was from Me-Kwa-Mooks Park on Beach Drive. Back to rainbows – Joe says his view showed them over White Center:
And from Dave, looking south:
Thanks to everyone who shared theirs!
West Seattle Weather Watch: Thunderstorm; power outage
5:28 PM UPDATE: After lightning which one WSB crew member happened to see from downtown, we have reports of power out in some parts of West Seattle, including Alki and Seaview. You?
5:36 PM UPDATE: Perhaps we should rephrase the question – who still HAS power?
5:41 PM UPDATE: The City Light map now shows the outage. 4,800 homes and businesses. Screengrab from their site:
The National Weather Service says that heavy rain will continue and that the temperature has dropped six degrees in a matter of minutes.
5:56 PM UPDATE: No estimate yet from City Light on when they’ll be able to restore the power (please let us know via comments or editor@westseattleblog.com when you get yours back!) – the storm clouds look to be easing up a bit. And in Upper Fauntleroy, we’re seeing light mist and some ground fog. The Weather Service now says the storm’s moving eastward.
6:29 PM UPDATE: Thanks for the updates on power returning. City Light says about a third of the original outage is fixed – still more than 3,000 homes/businesses with no power.
7:09 PM UPDATE: And more people report they have power back. As of about quarter till 7, City Light spokesperson Mark Van Oss said, they still had at least six transformers to fix, and crews were traveling the length of the feeder involved in the outage.
7:47 PM UPDATE: Down to a relative handful of homes/businesses affected – about 70 per the SCL map. Meantime, we have had one lingering problem as our server buckled under heavy traffic a few times – the WSB Forums are experiencing a database error right now; topic titles are showing but not the posts within them. Got somebody working on it.
7:53 PM UPDATE: As another heavy rain squall moves through, checking out a crash at 42nd/100th that initially brought a “rescue” response but has been downgraded.
10:13 PM UPDATE: City Light confirms about 75 homes/businesses remain without power, and is hoping to have them back somewhere around midnight.
$75,000 bail also set for 17th/Cambridge crash suspect
This afternoon’s other bail hearing of West Seattle note was for the 26-year-old Seatac woman who police say was driving the van that hit a car in South Delridge early Sunday, sending two people to the hospital with serious injuries. Until today, her name wasn’t on the jail register because, police said, she did not have ID and they had trouble verifying who she was; she is listed as having two aliases (we aren’t identifying her until and unless she is charged). The police narrative says she was one of two people seen running across Delridge by police arriving at the scene; nearby residents told them she was the driver. While one officer was trying to get identification from her, the documents say, she started screaming, “I killed him! I killed him! I’ve never killed anyone before.” Police later were told that, before the crash, she was seen and heard “at a gas station just across the county line … in White Center … physically fighting with two males,” and that when those two drove away, northbound into Seattle, the van driver “drove after them at a high rate of speed in an attempt to continue the fight.” Driving northbound on 17th SW, police say, she ran a stop sign and smashed into the smaller car. One of the officers who talked with her reported “a strong odor of alcoholic intoxicants” on her breath, and that she “was also slurring her speech.” Her bail was set today at $75,000, and she is due back in court tomorrow.
West Seattle Crime Watch followup: $75,000 bail for Alan Polevia
Just in from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office: One day after his arrest less than 24 hours after he was released from jail, Alan Polevia has just appeared at a bail hearing. His bail was set at $75,000. And we’ve confirmed that he was the person arrested in the Seola/Shorewood area at midday yesterday. We received some details of the incident from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Kathleen Larson. She says the break-in was in the 10000 block of 28th SW – a vacant home whose owner was checking the property and discovered a door had been pried open, and a bag “filled with property” was in the back yard. He then saw a man come out of the hedge; the property owner followed him, while calling 911. Deputies brought a K-9 team and set up containment; eventually they found him in the woods, she said – up in a tree. He’s due back in court tomorrow.
Seattle World Cruiser christening Saturday: Your invitation!
That’s the Seattle World Cruiser – whose co-pilot, a former West Seattleite, sent this invitation for us to share with you (and any other aviation/history fans, and dreamers!, with whom you care to share it):
Dr. Diane Weglin Dempster, Seattle World Cruiser co-pilot, educator, and graduate of West Seattle High School Class of 1972, invites YOU–her West Seattle Community, to join in the Fun of Making History at TWO Very Special Events:
Event Number One, FREE and Open to the Public–The Rollout and Christening Ceremony of Seattle II, a full-scale, flying reproduction of the 1924 Douglas World Cruiser aircraft, first airplane to fly around the world. MEET friends, families, and Special VIP Guests at the event! THRILL to the rousing music of The Ballard Sedentary Sousa Band! FOLLOW THE PROGRESS of the 1920’s Model T Truck, proudly towing The Seattle World Cruiser along the taxiway to the ceremony! SIGH with the wistful drone of bagpipes!
REJOICE in the spirit of Chief Seattle and his namesake City and Aeroplane in a special Duwamish Blessing of “Thunder Canoe!”
APPLAUD as World Cruiser Pilot Bob Dempster [pictured above with the plane and below with Dr. Diane Dempster] presents a bottle of Lake Washington water to christen the Seattle World Cruiser, Seattle II, and DANCE with joy for what’s to come! And…If conditions are favorable, there might even be the ROAR of the Mighty 400hp Lincoln Motor Company Liberty V-12 engine and a HOP down the runway…We shall see….
Saturday, June 29th between 10 am and 2 pm, with the ceremony commencing at 10:45, outdoors, airport side, at the Museum of Flight, 9404 East Marginal Way South (info link here)
Also visit the Museum of Flight’s Lobby to see the Rickenbacker coupe automobile and the 10-foot Douglas World Cruiser model airplane…AND the Museum’s newly-installed, Special Exhibit (along the Lobby’s north glass wall) on the Seattle World Cruiser Project.
Backstory from Dr. Dempster, ahead:
Read More
West Seattle Crime Watch: Custom drum set among loot in apartment-building break-in
That’s Caleb‘s drum set- stolen from the storage unit of his apartment building in the 5000 block of California SW (just south of The Junction) sometime Monday. He and one of his neighbors, Yolanda, e-mailed us early today about the break-in with multiple victims. She said storage units had been broken into and ransacked, with “random valuables” taken. Among the stolen items, Caleb lost his “C&C custom Mahogany drum set, my cymbals, and all my hardware.” He believes it happened between noon and 1:30 pm Monday: “My downstairs neighbor went for a walk around that time and came back to (find the) storage-room door broken open. I’m pretty sure they moved it though the back alley behind my building because I found one of my drum pads back there. Maybe somebody saw something?” The door was locked, Yolanda said, but apparently yielded to being kicked in, and then the burglar(s) broke the locks off the storage units. If you have any information about this, or other crimes, contact SPD.
West Seattle Summer Fest music lineup update: Caspar Babypants on Saturday, not Friday
A followup to our report Monday afternoon about the announcement of the West Seattle Summer Fest music lineup: Susan Melrose from the West Seattle Junction Association says the originally published schedule has a big error – Caspar Babypants is actually performing on SATURDAY, not Friday. His show will be at 11 am Saturday, July 13th, in Junction Plaza Park. While Susan says the website will be fixed, a “pocket guide” that’s already been printed will include the error – so please make a note on your personal calendar and/or anywhere else you can – CB’s on Day 2, not Day 1. (Meantime, as also noted in our Monday report, the Summer Fest website now has the vendor list and map too – we’re not on the list because, as always, you’ll find us helping out in the information booth – see the big question mark on the map above at California/Alaska – we look forward to seeing you there!)
At Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza: First the eagle, then the guy with the hatchet, now …
… a hatchet:
If you are just coming in on this – weekend stories: Saturday and Sunday.
While we were checking this out at Alki about 45 minutes ago, we spoke with a Parks Department crew member who was working nearby. He didn’t know about it until he saw it; he tried calling the local maintenance office but hadn’t reached anyone by the time he had to move on. So we’re checking on their plans, and also the larger question: Is it illegal to place something in a park?
11:16 AM UPDATE: Sandra DeMeritt from Parks tells WSB, “We posted a sign on the object a little while ago stating we will remove the item tomorrow. We like to give the public some notice. We also will have to bring the truck and front loader in to remove it. We won’t save it at the Parks Headquarters this time as it is so big. We will break it up and take it to the Transfer Station. We will also make sure the paint is cleaned up as well. I assume it is acrylic paint and not enamel (hopefully). One of our crew members is supposed to put some spill pads down to keep any paint from running down to the beach.”
12:42 PM UPDATE: And to the big-picture question, Parks spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad replies:
It is not actually illegal to place guerrilla art in a park, unless you consider it litter…in which case it is illegal. We don’t really consider it litter. We consider it guerrilla art, which is sometimes fun, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes beautiful, sometimes not. What we generally do with guerrilla art is post it to let the artist know they have a certain amount of time to remove it. When that time is up, and if the art is still there, we take it away. Guerrilla art is ephemeral, and the artists know that. They don’t have an expectation that the art will stay for the long term.
In this particular case, the guerrilla art is leaning against legitimate and permanent art. The Alki Community Council and the individual donors who raised money for the Alki Statue of Liberty worked closely with Seattle Parks and Recreation to develop the proposal for the redevelopment of the plaza. They also raised funds ($47,000) for its long-term maintenance. It would be unfair to them to allow the art to remain.
West Seattle coyotes: 2 seen in Highland Park
We’ve been asked a few times lately, what happened to all the coyotes? We haven’t heard of any sightings for a while, but that by no means suggests they’re not still out there. And in fact, Tiann just reported moments ago:
Just saw 2 coyotes between Webster and Holden on 14th. … They must be lost. That’s a very odd area for coyotes to be seen.
Not that unusual, actually – coyotes have been discussed before at the Highland Park Action Committee‘s meetings, just a couple blocks from Tiann’s sighting, with a brief appearance this spring by the federal hunter whose rounds made a stir last year (his advice about ensuring we and they keep away from each other was the same you’ll find here).
| 7 COMMENTS