West Seattle, Washington
15 Monday
For years, the city has been working on a plan to require earthquake-safety retrofits for unreinforced masonry (brick) buildings – the type that sustained the most damage during major earthquakes in 1949, 1965, and 2001. With the proposal getting closer to Seattle City Council consideration, and a presentation is planned in West Seattle at this Wednesday’s meeting of the Southwest District Council. According to documents on the city website, about 1,000 buildings in the city would be affected; they are primarily commercial and housing buildings, usually multiple stories, built with red bricks. According to a preliminary city survey, more than 50 of these buildings are believed to be in West Seattle; reviewing that list, we note that some are on development sites – including the California/Alaska corner building that’s just been demolished. The public is always welcome at Southwest District Council meetings; this one will be at 6:30 pm Wednesday (November 6), downstairs at Southwest Teen Life Center (2801 SW Thistle).
As a followup to last month’s community meeting about youth drug/alcohol-use concerns, a special parent workshop is planned during this Wednesday’s West Seattle High School PTSA meeting, and all are welcome. Here’s the announcement:
Join the WSHS PTSA on Wednesday, November 6th, from 7 pm-8:30 pm in the West Seattle High School library. We will be hosting Mike Graham-Squire from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), who will present a “Power of Parents” workshop – a parent guidebook that will help families talk to their kids while using positive parenting techniques that have been proven to help reduce underage drug and alcohol use will be distributed to attendees.
We’ll entice you with tantalizing details of the upcoming Reaching for the Stars auction! Have you donated your item and purchased your ticket? It will be a very fun night – and the best part is that it will benefit the students and staff at the school.
All are welcome. To access the library, enter the building through the side door in front of the visitor parking stalls.
That’s the main lot, at 3000 California SW. P.S. Regarding the WSHS gala – ticket deadline is just one week away; here’s where to get tickets and info.
The car carrier Tijuca is headed to Tacoma right now after being anchored off Don Armeni for a while yesterday/last night, catching the eyes of some WSB readers who asked us about it; we photographed it this morning. Tijuca wasn’t on the official Port of Seattle schedule, so we’re wondering if it came in to wait out the windstorm. It is passing western West Seattle right now, according to MarineTraffic.com. These types of vessels pass that side of the peninsula fairly often, but not usually after a detour into the bay.
Speaking of the windstorm:
David French shares that beautiful photo of Alki Point Lighthouse, seen from the Seattle-Bremerton ferry on Saturday.
And a scene from Seacrest:
Carolyn Newman caught sight of a sea lion chowing down on her/his catch. Thanks to Carolyn and David, and to everyone who sends photos to share!
Congratulations to Amelia – at right in the photo – who won Overall Champion in the children’s division of the Northwest Congress model horse show last weekend. Proud mom Karen shared the photo of her daughter with a show judge. Karen explains the competition, which, for kids, isn’t about creating the models, but working with them, in intricate detail. The show, held in Kent, involved people bringing their model horses and putting them, Karen said via e-mail:
… into ‘classes’ by what real breed the model is most like. The show is divided into OF (original finish model as you get them from the store) and CM (models that you customize by resculpting and painting.) The children’s portion of this show was only for OF models. But there is a lot that goes into it!! The kids first have to not play with and scratch up the model, which is not easy! Then , they have to assign a breed to the model based on what the model looks like, what color it is and how it’s moving. Often, the box will say it’s one kind of model but the color is wrong for a real horse, or the model is not really representative of that breed. Then the kids must get a show number and create a master horse list of the horse’s individual show number, the breed, the horse’s name (that they make up themselves) and what class the model will show in.
This is a very competitive thing at adult level. We met adult collectors … who had over two thousand models that they show. Shows are held all over the country and they have national championships once a year.
The show was well run and the children’s judge was great! She gave so much helpful advice to the kids and explained why she judged as she did. All of the kids there were such great sports, too! They listened and took in the advice, with good cheer and they all congratulated each other when they placed or won. It was an amazing day!
You can find out more about the model-horse-showing hobby here.
(35th/Webster signal still without power when photographed 2:30 pm Sunday)
11:52 AM: Seattle City Light says it’s down to fixing the smaller outage pockets now, from among the tens of thousands who lost power during Saturday’s storm. Among the hoping-to-be-fixed-soon pockets is a section of east Gatewood, where anyone driving California SW last night would have noticed the streetlights burned out for a two-plus-block stretch. Mariko just e-mailed to say, “We’re in the 7500 block of California Ave. We’re going on over 24 hours now. They’re reporting 1:40 for power to be restored!” This outage area has never been displayed on the SCL map and still isn’t shown, so we don’t know how many homes are affected.
12:26 PM UPDATE: Part of Sunrise Heights is affected too, east of 35th – Brian has been tweeting about it.
P.S. If you spot fire crews in Gatewood – that’s for a gas leak around 39th/Othello, not related to the power outage so far as we know.
3:01 PM UPDATE: 35th/Webster stoplight still out, too. But we just spotted City Light on California in the outage zone – not sure of their eventual destination, though. One resident says the “estimated restoration time” has been pushed back yet again – to 8:40 pm. SCL says via Twitter that fewer than 1,000 homes/businesses remain without power – but they are in more than 100 separate locations:
Crews still working. Still have est 658 customers without power with 119 reported outage locations. http://t.co/eMfXeQ9FPp has latest
— Seattle City Light (@SEACityLight) November 3, 2013
This area is not on the map, SCL tweeted earlier, because it’s part of the area with old 4-kilovolt equipment – as was an outage earlier this fall. We checked with SCL then and they say all that equipment will be replaced by 2015.
6:51 PM UPDATE: Anyone in West Seattle still out? If so, this SCL message is for you:
Crews continue to make progress. 470 left to be restored but have to respond to over 100 locations to complete work. If still without power call 206-684-3000 to make sure we know about your problem. At this stage have to rely on customer calls to know where problems are.
Calmer weather today – but we have two bonus photos from our windy Saturday, before our look at what’s up for your Sunday. Above, a dash through the spray at Constellation Park south of Alki Point, courtesy of Chaucer Wells Photography; below, taken in the same area, Tina Doherty‘s view of kites:
Today, as noted earlier, you just might see whales from that area instead! Now, the calendar highlights:
FARMERS’ MARKET BACK TO REGULAR SPOT: Just a reminder that after last week’s Harvest Festival setup in the middle of the street, the West Seattle Farmers’ Market returns today to its regular location, the parking lot at 44th/Alaska. Year-round, 10 am-2 pm.
WEST SEATTLE ULTIMATE FAMILY FRISBEE: Now at High Point for the fall season, 31st/Myrtle. 11 am, all welcome!
SOUTHWEST LIBRARY ARTISTS’ RECEPTION: 2 pm, it’s the reception for this year’s Community Art Show at Southwest Branch Library. (35th/Henderson)
COOKING WITH BEER: You’re invited to brew up a recipe including beer and bring it to today’s 3 pm meeting of the West Seattle Cooking Club. Find them at Beveridge Place Pub. (6413 California SW)
LIVE MUSIC: Acoustic soloist Zach Bellas at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 3-5 pm. (5612 California SW)
For the third time this week, Puget Sound’s resident orcas are reported to be in the area. Just got an alert from Killer Whale Tales‘ Jeff Hogan; the Orca Network‘s Facebook page has word of the sighting too. They are reported to be visible off Blake Island, across the Sound from west-facing West Seattle, so you’ll need binoculars. Let us know if you see/photograph them!
Early this morning, Mary messaged us from Fauntleroy about some emergency utility work, with water running down Barton near 38th (map). This morning, Bob Powers shares photos of an apparent sinkhole spotted in its aftermath, and writes:
We noticed this morning that a sink hole is developing in the grassy area in front of the water tower at 38th Ave SW and SW Barton Street. Seattle Public Utilities were working on a broken water line situation very early this morning (about 1:00 a.m.) a few yards east of the sink hole. SPU was notified of the sink hole at 7:45 a.m. this morning and said they would send someone right out. The sink hole is about six feet in diameter and about five feet deep.
I don’ know if this will develop any further but I thought it might be good to alert the neighborhood.
We’ll go over to check later this morning.
Playing with a high-wind warning in effect for the area, Seattle Lutheran scored a win at West Seattle Stadium on Saturday afternoon, beating Manson High School – visiting from Lake Chelan – 42-35.
At Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, Chief Sealth International High School got off to a fast start against Bishop Blanchet – but had subsequent trouble handling the ball.
From a 7-7 tie, Sealth’s opponent did the rest of the scoring. Final score was Blanchet 36, Sealth 7.
(Added 1:03 am: Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
11:32 PM: Just outside West Seattle, a driver is reported to be seriously hurt after her vehicle went off the 1st Avenue South Bridge near/at the Michigan exit.
She’s been taken to the hospital, and Seattle Police‘s Traffic Collision Investigation Squad has been called out. SDOT cameras don’t show any effect on the bridge right now, but if you’re headed that way, on surface streets or the bridge, now you know what’s going on.
12:01 AM: Update from SPD via Twitter: “Preliminary investigation indicates excessive speed a contributing factor to crash. S River St will be completely shut down for about 2 (hours).” Police also say the driver was the only person in the car.
1:55 AM: A bit more information has just been posted on SPD Blotter, including:
… On November 2nd at approximately 10:36 p.m. officers responded to a one-vehicle collision in the 100 block of South River Street. Preliminary investigation indicates that a woman was driving her Honda Accord northbound across the 1st Avenue South Bridge. She entered the Michigan Street off-ramp at what appears to be a high rate of speed, lost control of her car and went over the concrete barrier, landing on South River Street below. The female driver was the sole occupant of her car. There were no other vehicles involved in the collision.
Fire department medics responded to the scene and transported the woman to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening head injuries.
Tuesday night is your deadline to vote – and if you want to save the cost of a stamp, you have two more chances to use the King County Elections dropoff van in West Seattle. Today was the first of three days in the West Seattle Stadium parking lot (4432 35th SW); by mid-afternoon, Cindy (above) and Sharon were almost up to 100 ballots. The van will be back 10 am-5 pm Monday and 10 am-8 pm Tuesday; those same days/times, you can also find one in White Center’s Greenbridge, just south of the city/county line (9720 8th SW). All the other options for returning your ballot are listed on this KC Elections webpage.
With everything else happening today – there was post-season high-school football too. In one of three games involving local teams, West Seattle High School played a 4 pm game at Memorial Stadium downtown; final score, Lakeside 41, WSHS 14.
(SCROLL DOWN for new photos, updates … EARLIER COVERAGE from morning/early pm can be seen here)
We’re launching a new report here (see the previous six hours of as-it-happened coverage here) with several updates:
*National Weather Service has now upped our area to “high wind warning” status until 4 pm – warning of gusts up to 60 mph (which Alki Point has seen already) – with the lower-level “wind advisory” remaining in effect until 8 pm
*Mayor McGinn‘s 2:30 pm “town hall” at Delridge Branch Library is canceled because of the power outage caused by the pole problem seen in the photo above (thanks to Anne at Ventana Construction [WSB sponsor] for sending it – shortly afterward, we went through the area and saw City Light working on repairs. Delridge was closed southbound at the time but the crew appeared to be wrapping up.
*Via Twitter, Cam reports a broken/wobbling pole just north of The Junction, with Seattle Police closing Andover between California and 42nd – similar problem is affecting Dakota (many people have been messaging us to ask about this).
*Some in North Delridge and on Pigeon Point who had been without power the past couple hours have just reported they’re back.
*The wind is wreaking havoc with fences in some spots –
(added) That photo was taken at a home along Erskine Way.
Thanks for the storm reports – 206-293-6302 (text or voice) or e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com – more to come.
2:39 PM UPDATE: The photo above is from SW Dakota at California, blocked off because of downed lines. Any place you see police/yellow tape, today it’s more likely to be that type of problem than a crime scene. Meantime, we’ve just received photos of somebody going surfing near Alki Point – first photo is from John Legge:
Bryan Jones says the surfer caught at least one wave, briefly, not long after this:
3:29 PM UPDATE: Two updates with photos shared via the WSB Facebook page – Trileigh Tucker reports trees down inside Lincoln Park, blocking paths in some cases:
And from “Mt. Hood’s Most Wanted” – the aforementioned surfer, actually catching a wave:
Some West Seattleites are still without power – the biggest pocket, as shown on the Seattle City Light outage map, appears to be in the Lowman Beach vicinity. City Light says it’s hoping to have three-fourths of those without power around its service area – North Seattle’s been hit the hardest – back by 8 pm.
4 PM UPDATE: Traffic note, though we’re not sure if it’s storm-related – southbound I-5 at the West Seattle Bridge exit, there’s a one-vehicle rollover; scanner traffic indicates no one’s hurt.
5:35 PM UPDATE: The alerts/advisories have all expired – our area is now “in the clear” on the National Weather Service/Seattle home-page map. However, the Lowman Beach/north Lincoln Park area outage isn’t fixed yet. And that’s brought a generator to Lowman Beach’s Murray Pump Station:
We’re checking with the county to see if there was any overflow because of the outage.
7:01 PM UPDATE: Just went around to see how things looked as night fell. Dusk at Constellation Park – still blustery/choppy, as our quick Instagram clip shows:
A section of south Gatewood Hill was still out, with traffic lights dark lining both sides of California SW for a few blocks. That part of the outage isn’t shown on the official map, though.
(Click image for larger view)
Trileigh Tucker has shared some beautiful bird photos here in recent years – but these are the first ones of an American White Pelican!
Even brown pelicans are seldom seen here in the Puget Sound area (though one visited West Seattle last winter). This one turned up in the Lincoln Park/Lowman Beach area; we also have a photo of the white pelican on the water, courtesy of Emily Austin:
Emily says this is the second consecutive day she’s seen the pelican. According to the Seattle Audubon website, their range in our state is usually closer to the Columbia River.
This morning’s gusty wind and occasional rain didn’t daunt hardy volunteers who showed up to clean up the bike trail beneath/north of the West Seattle Bridge. This is the cleanup organized by Dave Winters of Swedish Automotive (WSB sponsor), an avid bike rider, who’s at right below with his bike-riding partners Scott and Valerie Schorn:
A few other cleanups were scheduled today elsewhere in our area – including one at WSHS until 1 pm, and a Green Seattle Day hub in the West Duwamish Greenbelt; haven’t been able to check on those yet, but we did get word (thanks, Mark!) that the Friends of Lincoln Park event was postponed.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This was our coverage from 8 am until almost 2 pm; our current storm report is here)
(Thanks to Michael de Haan for the whitecaps/falling-leaves view of Elliott Bay!)
8:05 AM: If you’ve looked, or been, outside, you know the wind has kicked up as predicted. The alert from the National Weather Service is still a “wind advisory,” in effect until 8 pm, with sustained wind expected up to about 35 mph out of the south-southwest, gusts to 45 or so. We’ll update if the forecast changes; please let us know if there’s major weather-related trouble where you are, or if any scheduled events are canceled/postponed by the weather – 206-293-6302 text or voice if it’s urgent, editor@westseattleblog.com otherwise. Thanks!
8:30 AM UPDATE: Getting the first power-outage reports of the day – so far, from Highland Park, from Puget Ridge, from Riverview. Traffic light is reported out at 8th/Roxbury. (As of 8:45 am, these outages are NOT yet on the City Light map; please be sure to call SCL if you’re out.)
9 AM UPDATE: City Light says the outages are at least in part related to a vehicle hitting a pole. A commenter says that crash is on Highland Park Way. More than 2,000 homes/businesses affected so far. Meantime, weather readings at the top of the hour include a 52-mph gust at Alki Point (K91S on this list).
9:13 AM UPDATE: 1-car crash reported on the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct @ Seneca offramp. Per scanner, the Seneca offramp will be closed for a while because of it.
9:27 AM UPDATE: The outage is now on City Light’s map; screengrab above. Though they are referring to it as “Delridge,” that’s only in the sense of the city’s description of ALL of east West Seattle as “Delridge” – the outage areas, as already mentioned here, are east of Delridge. Meantime, we found the crash that is blamed for at least some of the outage – it’s in the 7000 block of Highland Park Way:
9:40 AM UPDATE: Beth says the Admiral Way exit off the bridge is closed. Don’t know why – we’re monitoring scanner and other channels, haven’t heard anything.
10:08 AM UPDATE: If you’re reading this on your phone, here’s the mobile link to the City Light outage map. Note that the 2,000+ customers without power in our area stretch past Roxbury into White Center. We’ve just been down to Alki Point, which is recording the strongest wind:
Also note that the hardy cleanup crew along the bike trail beneath the bridge IS out – we found them too! Our event list for the day has been delayed because of storm coverage but our calendar is open 24/7.
10:20 AM UPDATE: Multiple reports of power coming back ON in areas where it’s been out for about two hours. Cool link shared by Beach Drive Blog: Wind speeds noted on the “ferry weather” map.
10:47 AM UPDATE: Power flickers at 41st/Genesee, according to @JunctionMeg via Twitter. City Light map, meantime, shows most of the West Seattle/White Center outage zone no longer out, confirming what commenters are saying (but let us know if you’re experiencing otherwise!).
11:24 AM UPDATE: Scattered outages continue to happen – just received e-mail about power just going out in the West Marginal/17th SW vicinity. Shortly thereafter, also heard from Lowman Beach and Pigeon Point, where Pete Spalding reports, “We have lived in our house for 14 years this month and for the very first time we have lost power.”
11:48 AM UPDATE: Part of North Delridge, too. And a reminder – don’t assume somebody already called in your outage; City Light requests calls at 206-684-7400 or 206-684-3000. Also out, part of east Gatewood, per commenter Tony. The City Light map doesn’t appear to have caught up with the latest West Seattle outage reports yet, so be cautious in using it to judge where you should travel. Also, if you aren’t tracking citywide reports, the 520 bridge is closed because of big waves. *added* Also, reports of wires down in the 6700 block of Murray near Lowman Beach, plus 14th/Holly.
12:24 PM UPDATE: Per scanner, traffic signal at Delridge/Oregon is out.
1:57 PM UPDATE: We’ve just launched an afternoon report with new developments – please go here for further updates and to share comments from here on out – thanks!
A special West Seattle showing of the inspirational film “Girl Rising” 
is planned for 4 pm Monday, November 11th, at the historic Admiral Theater – but organizers have just a few days for ticket sales, so you need to buy yours ASAP by going here. The trailer’s on YouTube; see it here. In short, the film “directed by Academy Award nominee Richard Robbins journeys around the globe to witness the strength of the human spirit and the power of education to change the world”; it will introduce you to the memorable girls you’ll glimpse in the trailer. Buy your ticket(s) by Sunday to help the organizers finalize the screening!
This year’s last Halloween hurrah is Saturday night at Chief Sealth International High School – and while it’s student-organized and publicized, it’s not just for high-school age youth – all ages are invited. Here’s the announcement:
This Saturday at 5 PM, Chief Sealth will be hosting a carnival/party to bring together and unify kids with and without disabilities. The event is also a fundraiser, with all of the profits going to Chief Sealth Club Unify! To get in, it costs $5, if you bring a cake or any other kind of dessert for the cake walk. Without a dessert, it costs $10. Kids under the ages of 10, get in for $3. There will be a cake walk, relay races, dancing, movies, and more! There will also be a costume contest (with prizes) so make sure to dress up! It will be a lot of fun and the more the merrier!! So spread the word to whoever and bring a friend! (:
(Light area is proposed Fairmount Elementary attendance area; click image for full-size view)
Seattle Public Schools has just released the third draft of its “Growth Boundaries” proposal. We’re going through it now but didn’t want to wait to put up the link so you can review it too. One key section starts with the map showing the proposed Fairmount Park Elementary attendance zone, which would take effect next school year. More later.
Five reader reports in this West Seattle Crime Watch roundup – starting with a business burglary. Louise at Life in Balance Physical Therapy and Pilates says:
Life in Balance was robbed last night and an assortment of items were taken including 2 laptops, iPad, iPod, Biofeedback and stim machines. A cervical traction unit, a printer and many other smaller items.
They’re at 5410 California SW. Further north, in The Junction, Marjorie at Ma’Ono Fried Chicken and Whisky reports vandalism/theft, with plantings taken from the tree wells outside the restaurant sometime Wednesday night/Thursday morning. “We had several succulents in our planting area stolen … It’s very sad that someone would do this.”
On to Lincoln Park, where Jesse reports a car prowl this week:
Just wanted to pass along that we had our window smashed out at Lincoln Park (Wednesday night) between 5 and 6 pm and purse stolen from the trunk. Someone must have been sitting in the lot watching us arrive and get out of the car, because they went straight for the trunk release and the purse we tried to hide. Definitely an unpleasant surprise but we’ve had exceptional service from 911, SPD, and the credit card companies. So, that’s a silver lining.
Janna e-mailed to report a burglary in Arbor Heights, near California/104th:
Tuesday (Oct. 22nd), sometime while we were at work (during the day), our house was robbed. When I arrived home we found the house completely ransacked, glass everywhere from the shattered slider, and the “guard dog” shaking like a leaf.
In the end nobody was hurt, they really didn’t take anything of value – house was staged, electronics were unplugged and all lined up – but we think they got spooked and ran off without the loot. They did get away with jewelry, cameras, change jars, and some other weird stuff…etc.
My concern, is them coming back. We do have an alarm system, but these thieves are smart and know how to avoid tripping the alarms. And gave the dog treats to keep her quiet, which ultimately made her super sick – not awesome!
And Meg in the 4200 block of Beach Drive reports vandalism and theft, with stolen items to watch for:
On Saturday, Oct. 19, I was leaving my condo building at about 5 pm and noticed that the right panel of the door buzzer system had been loosened (that’s the vandalism part) and was not secure. I attempted to correct it, but it came off in my hand, so I placed it inside the building. This was finally corrected Monday, Oct. 28.
In the meantime, a package was delivered by UPS on Tuesday, Oct. 22 and brought inside by my neighbor and placed on my doormat (which is not visible from any exterior door). My neighbor said it was no longer there when she left her unit on Saturday morning, Oct. 26. On Monday the 28, she came home to find the buzzer repairman working on the door unit, and saw the opened package down by our mailboxes (inside the front door). The package had been opened with a sharp instrument and the contents and packing slip removed (the burglary part). It contained one of a kind collectible stones and a metal specimen valued at over $700.
The seller will be sending me photos of the 3 stones and the metal specimen that I’ll provide to the police, but in the meantime I would appreciate anyone who may have received either offers to sell these to them or gotten them as gifts to be aware they are stolen property. I will offer a reward for their safe return.
Here are photos she just sent – click any image to see a larger view:
(8/14 note: To check whether a business is still a current WSB sponsor, please go here)
Today we welcome West Seattle Women’s Health and Midwifery, PLLC, one of the newest WSB sponsors. As is traditional when a new local sponsor joins the team, we offered Dr. Shari Luchino the opportunity to let you know more about her work:
A Place for Women! Welcome to our lovely location in the West Seattle Junction. Dr. Shari Luchino, DNP, ARNP, CNM, Nurse Practitioner-Certified Nurse Midwife, is providing compassionate, personalized care for all women’s-health (gynecology), pregnancy, homebirth and birth-center needs, caring for women throughout their lives. Easy access, free parking, generous appointment time. Shari has raised her family in West Seattle and is excited to offer the supportive, woman-centered care of a Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwife to her community.
West Seattle Women’s Health and Midwifery, PLLC, is at 4727 44th Ave SW, Suite 207. Call 206-588-2976; online, find out more at westseattlewomenshealth.com.
We thank West Seattle Women’s Health and Midwifery, PLLC, for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
(Beautiful leaves that might not be on the tree much longer! Photo by Karen Sykes)
First, a “special weather statement” warned it might get windy … now, the National Weather Service has just upped that to a wind advisory, in effect as of 8 am tomorrow. It predicts south-southwest wind 20 to 35 mph, with 45 mph gusts possible. See the full alert here.
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