West Seattle, Washington
28 Wednesday
That’s Our Lady of Guadalupe first-grader Seville Stoll – seeing her dad 6,000 miles away via Skype just before his long-distance participation in the school’s Veterans Day assembly today. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Kevin Stoll serves with the Army Corps of Engineers and is currently in Iraq. His wife Jen and OLG fourth-grader son Solden also were there for the long-distance reunion, as part of the family’s presentation during the assembly:
Students gathered for the assembly and prayer service heard Lt. Col. Stoll talk about why he serves and what it means to him; the online connection even enabled him to show them a slide presentation. Jen Stoll told the students about what it’s like to be a military family with a parent overseas. During the assembly and prayer service the middle-school choir sang the national anthem:
They also sang “Happy Birthday” to Seville, who turned 7 today. Also there, Lt. Col. Stoll’s parents Leonard and Sheila Stoll – both retired military, Air Force and Army respectively – shown with their grandson, holding photos of his dad:
OLG tells us the fourth graders led today’s gathering as part of the school’s stewardship tradition; they are working with the Veterans Administration and other organizations to support active-duty service personnel as well as veterans.
(VIDEO ADDED 11:08 PM: KCSO video of part of the operation)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 8:17 PM: If you’re seeing police in Highland Park, there’s a search on for possible car-theft suspects who were pursued northbound from the White Center area by King County Sheriff’s Office deputies. We understand Guardian One is on the way or there now. The search area includes 14th and Trenton, according to radio communications. One possible suspect is described as a white male about six feet tall, shaved head and black hoodie, last seen going eastbound on Trenton; the car apparently has been abandoned in the area.
8:36 PM: Our crew in the area says the helicopter is still assisting in the search.
8:44 PM: Added a photo. One person has been found and is being questioned, according to a commenter and our crew on the scene.
9:10 PM: Chopper has left. No other updates.
10:02 PM: KCSO’s Sgt. Cindi West tells us this all started in Burien, around 12th/136th. The car was indeed stolen; it first caught a deputy’s attention because it had plates with two different numbers. Followed to Highland Par, five people abandoned the car and ran; three are in custody, including the driver. She says most if not all are “known” from other cases. Seattle Police worked with deputies to make arrests, she says, including a K-9 team.
11:55 PM: Note that we have added video uploaded by the KCSO Air Support Team – a five-minute stretch of time during which suspects were found in Highland Park. The audio suggests a Taser was used on at least one.
The newly formed West Seattle Green Space Coalition invites you to its meeting tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon. From Mary Fleck:
Tomorrow, 11/9/13 at 3 pm, West Seattle Green Space Coalition will meet at High Point Library. All are invited. Seattle City Light’s surplus substations have great potential benefits for West Seattle neighborhoods. WSGSC is working to find best solutions and to coordinate efforts of neighbors. Please join us! Bring a used book for our book exchange.
The library is at 35th/Raymond. We first reported on the coalition’s formation back in September; the surplus substations mentioned in the announcement include half a dozen in West Seattle, with the city currently formulating its plan for their future.
The old “utility-bill phone call” scam is targeting new victims and would-be victims, so we’re recirculating the alert. A WSB reader told us she was in a local business yesterday and found out the proprietor had been a victim of this; we’re not identifying the business, since we don’t have firsthand confirmation, but we do know an FBI alert is out about a similar scam in the north metro area. The scam basically involves someone calling a small business, saying their Seattle City Light bill is overdue and demanding money immediately to avoid shutoff. SCL issued an alert earlier this year, noting that for one thing, they won’t cut you off for just one overdue payment, and they won’t cut you off without at least two written warnings. If you think the scammers have hit you, or tried, contact police.
(Under-construction microhousing at 3266 Avalon Way SW)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Ten community groups from around the city, including West Seattle’s Morgan Community Association and SeattleNERD (Neighbors Encouraging Reasonable Development), are pursuing an appeal to a city decision regarding proposed new rules for microhousing.
The verbiage and details are about as bureaucratic as it gets, but here’s what it boils down to: What they’re appealing is the Department of Planning and Development‘s “determination of non-significance” (DNS) regarding effects of the new rules (which were reported here last month, weeks AFTER the DNS was issued).
A DNS generally means no environmental-impact review/report is required. Environment, when it comes to land use, includes factors such as traffic and noise – and the groups argue that microhousing brings plenty of both. The original appeal document lists 53 of what the appellants consider environmental impacts (#39, for example, is “Failure to have a reasonable, reality-based discussion of the impact on availability of affordable housing.” Here’s the full document (PDF), or read it embedded below:
Microhousing-rules-related appeal by neighborhood groups by WestSeattleBlog
(Other documents in the case are downloadable from links on this page.) Summarizing, the appellants write that they “object to the DPD’s audacious disregard of the requirements of SEPA [the State Environmental Policy Act] … Its conclusion that the 2,842 units created by the existing, under construction, and proposed micro-housing projects will have no significant environmental impacts … would be laughable, did it not have such tragic consequences for Seattle’s natural and built environments.”
The appeal document also includes a “concern that the current definition DPD is suggesting doesn’t accurately encompass all of the microhousing being built.”
The city’s Hearing Examiner will hear the appeal; if she upholds the DPD determination, the challengers would have the option to go to court. This is scheduled for a pre-hearing conference next Wednesday (November 13), and the actual appeal hearing is set for January 7th.
Separate from this, the proposed microhousing rules need City Council approval before taking effect; no hearing/vote dates are scheduled yet.
SIDEBAR: As noted in our October coverage of the proposed rules, here are the four known West Seattle microhousing projects:
*4548 Delridge (3 stories, 16 sleeping rooms, 2 “dwelling units,” close to completion)
*3266 Avalon Way (5 stories, 56 sleeping rooms, 7 “dwelling units,” top photo)
*3050 Avalon Way (5 stories, 110 sleeping rooms, 14 “dwelling units,” not yet under construction)
*5949 California SW (4 stories, 38 sleeping rooms, 5 “dwelling units,” not yet under construction)
Thanks to Lisa K for sharing that quick video clip of a coho salmon working on a leap in Longfellow Creek, one of six she saw today “working their way upstream, shortly before the fishbone bridge.” Conditions in the creek are a challenge to fish – particularly polluted stormwater runoff – but as we first showed you back on Tuesday night, spawners are there now and thrilling spectators. Lisa also notes some didn’t make it long enough to spawn, like this female that died before releasing her eggs (the ones in the photo, she explains, emerged with “gentle pressure” on the fish’s carcass):
Lisa adds a potential health warning: “May be worth mentioning, as there are lots of off-leash dog walkers on the creek – anadromous fish, like salmon, harbor pathogens that can make a dog very, very ill, so keep dogs away from the fish carcasses.” She points to this link for more info. To find out how to minimize your contribution to the runoff pollution, check out tox-ick.org.
P.S. Expert observers say (as a commenter pointed out following our Tuesday night item) these are hatchery-raised coho – a missing adipose fin is the telltale sign.
2:36 PM: Update from Lisa – she went back to the creek and discovered a Seattle Public Utilities crew “clearing up debris jams resulting from the storm with the specific purpose of aiding spawning salmon. Apparently if you see a jam, you can notify SPU and they’ll rectify the situation.”
ADDED 7:14 PM: From Jake Jaramillo of Seattle Stairway Walks, an under-the-bridge view of the spawners:
If you’re interested in a slice of life from the creek last year – we just happened to find this video during a search, narrated by a student who went out with experts studying the coho last year.
(ADDED 1:42 PM: Updated partial design for Fauntleroy ‘boulevard’ – click for full-size PDF)
The process of shaping next year’s city budget is into the final stretch now, and proposed changes are going before the City Council for discussion. This afternoon, potential transportation-budget changes will be considered, and two involve major roads in West Seattle:
First – City Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen, Sally Bagshaw, and Richard Conlin are proposing adding $1.8 million to the Fauntleroy Way Green Boulevard project, which, the budget document says, would complete its design next year.
It’s been two years since the first council discussion of design funding for the project; the detailed budget document goes into other background (including mentions of Fauntleroy’s “gateway” status that date back to the ’90s), and then:
Currently, Fauntleroy Way SW is a poorly defined street that has numerous curb cuts and paved planting strips. Pedestrian and bicycle safety are cited as major concerns by residents and business owners. It is perceived as a difficult street for pedestrians to safely cross.
The Fauntleroy project will improve the pedestrian environment and crossings, access, traffic safety, lighting, and drainage on Fauntleroy Way SW between 35th Ave. SW and SW Alaska St. as well as implementing the boulevard concept for this section of roadway, as originally discussed in the West Seattle Streetscape Concepts Plan.
The project was first funded in 2012. Additional funding was provided in 2013. The base budget includes sufficient funding for work through July 2014 when SDOT expects to complete 60% design. SDOT reports that it could complete final design by December 2014 if Council added $1.8M to the project’s budget. Construction costs are currently estimated at $11.4M and could begin in early 2015, sixteen years after the adoption of the Neighborhood Plan.
The aforementioned “additional funding” emerged last July, the council added $200,000 more to the design budget, as reported here.
Where would the $1.8 million come from, you ask? More than half is from sidewalk work that the budget document says SDOT can’t do until 2015 anyway); half a million would be moved from “planning work on pedestrian amenities in the vicinity of the Northgate Link Light Rail Station, scheduled to open in 2021 (or potentially sooner). This is work that will have to be done, but it need not be done in 2014.”
Second – This afternoon’s presentations/discussions will also include Councilmembers Jean Godden, Sally Clark, and Rasmussen’s proposal to add $100,000 to the SDOT budget for Delridge Way “multi-modal corridor development” planning. Here’s the detailed budget document, which explains in part:
The Delridge corridor has increasing importance as a priority transit corridor, and funding for the corridor study will support the community’s intense desire to address a number of pedestrian safety, bicycle access and transit priority upgrades. By initiating planning in this corridor in 2014, SDOT can begin the public engagement phase with the community, as well as data collection and an inventory of existing conditions and potential improvements recommended in the relevant modal plans.
The transportation-budget proposals are on the agenda for the council’s 2 pm budget-discussion session today; you can watch via the Seattle Channel, online or cable. If you have comments for the council – e-mail council@seattle.gov. We’ll update later with the outcome on these items.
1:44 PM UPDATE: We have just obtained the newest rendering for Fauntleroy, added atop the story, and explained by SDOT spokesperson Rick Sheridan: “This represents the current design, which has not yet reached 60 percent. To incorporate the recommendations of the draft Bicycle Master Plan, a cycle track is part of this latest design. SDOT will return to West Seattle in early 2014 to collect feedback from residents and businesses on the design.” Cycle tracks are bike lanes separated from motorized-vehicle traffic for safety. They’re the brown-shaded areas in the rendering.
(Alki Point eagle at dawn, photographed earlier this week by Gary Jones)
Looking out over the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, here are some of the highlights we find for today/tonight (check out the calendar itself to find many more!):
BAZAAR: Ready to start holiday shopping? Along with visiting your favorite independent local retailers, bazaars aplenty are happening around West Seattle, and the next one starts today, 10 am-4 pm at Providence Mount St. Vincent, with holiday decorations as well as potential gift items, as detailed in our calendar listing. (4831 35th SW)
WINE TASTINGS: Three are on our calendar for today – Northwest Wine Academy at South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor), 1-4 pm ; Admiral Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) with Thanksgiving-friendly wines as well as cheese and other food samples, 4-7 pm; Bin 41 in The Junction,
INTRO TO YOGA MEDITATION: Special class at 6:30 pm at SoundYoga (WSB sponsor) – details in our calendar listing. (5639 California SW)
THREE SHORT PLAYS ABOUT SHAKESPEARE: Unique presentation of three 1-acts by the Seattle Lutheran High School Drama Club, 7:30 pm in Menashe Gym on campus; details in our calendar listing. (4100 SW Genesee)
‘DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’: The West Seattle High School Drama Club production – previewed here before the run – closes tonight, 7:30 pm, at the WSHS Theater. Details in our calendar listing. (3000 California SW)
School libraries and public libraries would seem like natural partners – so that’s why it was cause to celebrate when Seattle Public Library reps visited the Sanislo Elementary School library this week to mark a pilot program funded by collaboration grant. At left, that’s Sanislo librarian Craig Seasholes. The grant, as explained by Seattle Public Schools, is “aimed at providing expanded library services to students, family, and staff” at Sanislo and Roxhill Elementaries.
It’s a yearlong pilot project, and as part of it, SPL is loaning books and materials that the district says “support Common Core State Standards,” along with other books that students can take home to read – above, the first batch is linked to Veterans Day Sanislo’s participation in the annual SPL Global Reading Challenge competition also will expand as part of the program.
Wednesday’s event not only included in-person visitors (among them, the district’s West Seattle executive director Israel Vela and local School Board member Marty McLaren) but also online guests who have expertise with this kind of collaboration.
P.S. There’s more background on librarian Seasholes’s website, here, and in last August’s announcement by SPL.
As school open-house season continues, Harbor School on Vashon Island, which serves grades 4-8, is sponsoring WSB to reach out to West Seattle families, and is offering special transportation assistance to get interested families to its open house next Wednesday – including a ferry ticket if you RSVP today, and shuttle service from the dock if you RSVP by Tuesday:
On Wednesday, November 13 at 7 PM, Harbor School will be holding an Open House for prospective students from West Seattle and their families on their Vashon Island campus.
Harbor School, a non-profit, independent school, serving Grades 4 through 8, would like to introduce West Seattle families to a vibrant academic environment on Vashon Island – just a short ferry ride from Fauntleroy. Newly positioned to expand their student capacity, Harbor School has begun an active outreach program to West Seattle families.
Read on for specifics:
(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
This weekend’s Highway 99 closure starts late tonight. As for the roads right now, there’s a crash reported on Highway 509 on the way to the 1st Avenue S. Bridge.
VETERANS DAY REMINDERS FOR MONDAY: Metro is on a “reduced weekday” schedule Monday; the West Seattle Water Taxi will NOT be in service.
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