West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
In West Seattle Crime Watch notes tonight:
ROBBERY SUSPECTS: First, an update on the three men whose arrests we covered late last night in Arbor Heights, believed linked to other crimes around the city: They were not booked into jail until midday today, so their bail hearing isn’t until tomorrow afternoon. We haven’t turned up any information on criminal records yet, but the authorities have access to more tools than we do, so we should find out something definitive when probable-cause paperwork is available tomorrow.
BUSY DAY FOR BURGLARIES: The SPD map, tweets, and scanner traffic total up to (at least) eight burglaries reported in West Seattle today, more than three times the average:
10:22 PM: On our way to check out what was initially dispatched as a “heavy rescue” at 16th and Trenton. At least one private ambulance has been called. More shortly.
10:45 PM UPDATE: As is frequently the case with “heavy rescue” calls, this one involved a flipped vehicle, one of two involved in a collision in the northbound lane of 16th SW just south of Trenton. Police have just reopened southbound 16th.
10:56 PM: Added two photos we took at the scene. One person is reported to have been taken to Harborview Medical Center. If we get any more info later tonight or tomorrow morning, we’ll add it here.
What seems like the endless summer just keeps putting on amazing shows like this, even with the fall equinox now exactly one month away. Thanks to everyone sharing photos – we start with three and expect to add more – above, by Michael Copeland, shows the later stage as the sky glowed pink; next, the orange heart of the sunset, from BCH in Fauntleroy:
And early on, Chas Redmond sent this photo from Alki Point:
ADDED: Even more photos – like this one from Tom, taken on Beach Drive:
***Other views ahead!***
Another military flyby turned some heads on Alki Beach this afternoon: This time, 2 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. Thanks to Danny McMillin for the photo of one of them; he also shared a picture of the four Chinooks that drew attention last weekend. Boeing co-produces the Osprey, which is flown by the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps.
5:12 PM: Just in from King County: The West Seattle Water Taxi is canceled for the rest of this evening.
5:32 PM UPDATE: Now the county says never mind, they’re putting the Rachel Marie into service and the WS WT will resume as of 5:45.
One month after the “closing sale” for Admiralty House Antiques, with owner Fred Dau deciding to fully retire and sell the site (as he told us in this interview), we were asked if there’s any news about what’s happening there now. Here’s what we have found: The building already has a sale pending, according to the online listing ($1,050,000) for the 2,200-square-foot building on a 5,700-square-foot site, recorded as two lots, zoned NC2-40 (mixed-use retail and residential up to 40 feet). We don’t know the buyer’s identity, but city records show a development proposal already has been submitted for part of the site, proposing a 3-unit rowhouse, with its address changed to 4304 SW Walker (Admiralty House is 2141 California SW). The project page on the city website has this notation: “Existing retail building to remain w/ no work or changes.”
In case you wondered about a big police presence in the Genesee area this past hour – Seattle Police are trying to sort out a collision involving one of their cars and an SUV (not pictured) near 48th and Andover. No serious injuries, we’re told, and nobody had to go to the hospital. We don’t know anything at this point about the circumstances of today’s crash, but commenters brought up safety concerns about this intersection back in April, when a crash left a car upside-down.
P.S. Thanks to the WSB’er who texted us about the SPD involvement – otherwise, this was noted only as a “motor vehicle accident” on the Fire Department log, not an indicator of unusual circumstances, and we might have missed it. Text or voice: 206-293-6302 any time.
6:50 PM UPDATE: More info has just been published on SPD Blotter:
A female officer sustained minor injuries in an intersection-related collision today in West Seattle. At approximately 12:26 p.m. today a Southwest Precinct patrol officer was driving her marked police car eastbound on SW Andover Street approaching 48th Avenue SW, an uncontrolled intersection. At the same time a civilian-driven passenger vehicle was approaching the same intersection northbound on 48th Avenue SW. The two vehicles collided in the intersection and both drivers sustained minor injuries.
The civilian was treated and released from the scene by fire department medics. The officer was transported by police vehicle to an area hospital for follow up evaluation and treatment. Both vehicles sustained disabling damage and were towed from the scene.
There were no citations issued at the scene pending further investigation and collision reconstruction.
Traffic Collision Investigation Squad detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.
Three months after we first reported that the six-years-vacant Chuck and Sally’s Tavern in Morgan Junction will be transformed into the new home of The Bridge, the project is entering a new phase – serious exterior work.
We’ve been noticing it all week, especially the upper row of windows revealed by the removal of some of the old siding. So we asked The Bridge’s Rita Dixson how things are going:
We are making great progress … we have re-habbed the transom windows that had been covered up for years – so nice to be able to restore some of the original architectural charm of the building! We are planning on breaking ground (today) or Friday for the kitchen foundations, as well as continuing on with re-vamping the exterior facade.
For a comparison, see the “before” photo in our May story. One of the renderings shown here in June shows how the revealed windows figure into things:
The Bridge is losing its current site on 35th just south of Avalon because of a mixed-use project (about 160 apartments and a roughly equal number of parking spaces, 15,000 square feet of retail) in the works for 4435 35th SW, which had a second Design Review Board meeting in June (WSB coverage here), four years after its first one.
9:56 AM: With early-morning help from Seal Sitters volunteers, a life-size bronze sculpture of a harbor-seal mother and pup is now at its permanent home on the east end of the Alki Beach promenade. The work started early this morning and isn’t done yet – sculptor Georgia Gerber came from Whidbey Island to make sure her creation made it safely into its spot:
The sculpture, funded by grants and donations, is part of the Year of the Seal project, explained here. We’ll be revisiting the installation site later for an update; we’re told it’ll be fenced off for a while so that part of the materials can “set.” More to come.
ADDED: As promised, we went back to check:
We found volunteers Ralph and Betty in the process of what you might call sculpture-sitting; the installation will remain taped off until sometime Friday.
Less than two weeks until classes start at Chief Sealth International High School and other Seattle Public Schools. As announced in early July, Chief Sealth will have a new principal for the new school year, Aida Fraser-Hammer. And she has just announced an invitation to the Sealth community to drop by next Monday (August 26th) for a “meet and greet”:
On Monday August 26th, 2013, the doors of Chief Sealth International High School will be open for you!!!
Come on in anytime between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm to Meet ‘n Greet Principal Aïda Fraser-Hammer and her administrative team, Andra Maughan, Clint Sallee, and Cheryl Sullivan.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME!! BRING THE KIDS!!
The district’s first day of school is Wednesday, September 4th.
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; other cameras are on the WSB Traffic page)
Don’t forget your sunglasses; we’re heading into the 80s today, say the forecasters. Road-work notes:
*The Dumar/Orchard closure is scheduled to continue again today
*The northbound I-5 exit to West Seattle Bridge will be closed tonight overnight to get ready for the weekend-long closure – here’s the latest from WSDOT’s Broch Bender:
*10 pm Thursday (tonight) – 5 am Friday – Crews will close the ramp to mobilize equipment necessary for replacing two expansion joints and resurfacing approximately 550 feet of the ramp.
*7 pm Friday – 5 am Monday, Aug. 26 – Crews will close the ramp to traffic. During the closure they will sawcut out two 50-year-old bridge expansion joints and replace them with modern equivalents. They also will hydroblast off a 550 foot section of rutted out roadway and replace it with new concrete.
Here’s the detour map. And here’s the schedule of other closures ahead for the same area.
9:26 AM UPDATE: A stalled vehicle on the eastbound “low bridge” is slowing things down, SDOT tweets.
Here's a visual of the car stall on the Lower Spokane Bridge pic.twitter.com/3ttJzUDsLa
— seattledot (@seattledot) August 22, 2013
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