West Seattle traffic alert: 4 nights of 99 closures next week to finish ‘Timber Bridge’ project
If you’re a late-night/early-morning driver, here’s a heads-up: Highway 99 will be closed both ways between East Marginal Way and South Atlantic Street for 4 overnights next week – 9 pm to 5 am each night, Monday through Thursday (in other words, Monday/Tuesday 3/10-11, Tuesday/Wednesday 3/11-12, Wednesday/Thursday 3/12-13, Thursday/Friday 3/13-14). It’s to finish the Spokane Street Overcrossing, aka “Timber Bridge,” project on 99, which has been under way for about a year just south of the West Seattle Bridge. WSDOT spokesperson Kris Olsen tells WSB, “The closures are needed so we can do the final striping and complete the traffic shift onto the new bridge at Spokane Street. When the work is done, traffic will be back to two northbound and two southbound lanes. Work is weather-dependent, so if we can’t get it completed, the week of March 17 is our backup.” The project info page is here.
In case you wondered: Big Seattle Fire response on Avalon
It was canceled fairly quickly, but it was so big that it caught a lot of attention, so here’s what emergency-radio traffic said about that big callout at Avalon/Bradford this past hour, in the Luna Park business district near the West Seattle Bridge: Someone reported that people were coughing inside a Metro bus because of some substance someone released – possibly mace or something like it. A “hazmat multiple casualty incident” response, with many units, ensued, but didn’t last long. Apparently the person who did it got off the bus, and the substance dissipated, and the bus continued on to 35th SW; no contamination was found. Seattle Police were reported to be looking for the person responsible.
West Seattle Crime Watch: Double trouble; vandalism alert; counterfeit cookie lovers
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes tonight:
A burglary followed by an auto theft meant double trouble at K‘s home:
Our house on 47th and SW Hinds was broken into Wednesday morning when we were out for about 40 min. Rock thrown through the back window. Thief took all of the usual items; MacBook, small electronics, jewelry box. What we didn’t realize was that they’d also taken the spare key to my car and came back last night to help themselves to that too! Car was found totaled in Holly Park by police at 3am.
Car vandalism is the problem in Antonio‘s neighborhood:
I just wanted to submit that the Cottage Grove area has seen some car vandalism lately. My neighbor on 26th has recently had one of his car windows bashed out or shot out parked on 26th and there is an apparent BB shot targeted at the window of my mother in laws car on the same street. This same car was a victim of a hit and run very recently while parked on the same street. I remember too a few months back a neighbor on the corner of 26th and Hudson had the side of his car tagged up but I’m unsure if he reported it or not. I guess long story short, people should be parking in their driveways or garages until whomever is responsible is apprehended. It’s quite pathetic whomever is doing this vandalism and awfully costly for those who have go through the hassle of insurance claims and out of pocket deductibles.
And a quick mention – beware of counterfeit bills; a local Girl Scout mom told us a troop selling at Admiral Safeway was given a fake $100 bill while selling cookies earlier this week.
Happening now: Ladies Night at West Seattle Thriftway
Hottest ticket in town tonight – Ladies Night at West Seattle Thriftway – check out the line waiting to get in at 6 pm, perhaps enticed by the promise of 125 “swag bags” for the first to arrive – and they went fast!
Joining in providing the swag, local merchants, many of whom had reps on hand, including Menashe and Sons Jewelers
Cheryl is wearing a necklace from Menashe and Sons, that is being offered as a prize tonight:
Also on hand: Illusions Hair Design – that’s Heather in our photo:
You have until 8 pm to go check out “Ladies Night,” with food and wine among the enticements; Thriftway is at California/Fauntleroy/Morgan. (Disclosure P.S. – Thriftway, Menashe and Sons, and Illusions are all WSB sponsors.)
Video: Conrad Wesselhoeft @ ‘Words, Writers, West Seattle’ Friday
Not only does West Seattle have excellent readers – see our previous story – but there’s a growing community of successful authors, too. The Southwest Seattle Historical Society-presented series “Words, Writers, & West Seattle” has had a stellar monthly lineup going since last year, and tomorrow is the next chapter: Conrad Wesselhoeft at Barnes and Noble/Westwood Village, 4-6 pm (Friday, March 7th). Along with his acclaimed “Adios, Nirvana,” Wesselhoeft has a new book due out next month, “Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly.”
Update: Another West Seattle power outage affected ~2,000 after tree fell into Highland Park Way wires
(Looks like the early-morning outage map, but this is the NEW one)
1:34 PM: It feels like déja vu to those who were up for the two-hour power outage in the middle of the night – because the footprint is just about the same. About 2,000 homes and businesses are without power right now, according to the City Light map.
(ADDED: Highland Park Way closure; photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
1:53 PM UPDATE: From City Light:
A large tree fell into wires near Highland Park Way SW and SW Othello Street. It broke several of the tie wires that keep the power lines attached to the insulators on the poles.
Crews are working to reroute power around the damage. This will bring about 75 percent of the affected customers back into service in the next 60-90 minutes.
Crews will then remove the tree and re-hang the wires in order to restore service to the remaining customers. We estimate being able to get that done about 5 p.m.
2:20 PM: One commenter reports power coming back. A few hundred customers have dropped off the City Light map.
2:39 PM UPDATE: We’ve added a photo from HP Way, which is indeed closed; Metro is sending messages about reroutes, including Route 131.
5:21 PM UPDATE: Back open, per Datamuse, in comments.
‘Alley vacation’ for The Whittaker? Preview what City Councilmembers will see at Tuesday’s public hearing
As we’ve been reporting for a month, next Tuesday is the official City Council Transportation Committee public hearing on the “alley vacation” request by the developers of The Whittaker, the 370-apartment, 600-parking-space project at 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW, with Whole Foods Market the only announced tenant so far. Two days ago, we showed you the SDOT memo sent to the committee by the staff that’s been reviewing the request for months. Now, the committee meeting’s agenda is out, and it includes other documents:
*Slide deck explaining the Seattle Design Commission‘s four reviews of the project before it voted last June to approve the “public benefits” that are required for alley/street vacations – see it here or via the Scribd viewer below:
*The Whittaker’s presentation – see it here or via the Scribd viewer below:
Again, the SDOT memo and an attachment were featured in this WSB story on Tuesday (and are also linked in the meeting agenda). Toward the end of that story, we noted we were reading the 22-page memo so we could post excerpts for those who didn’t want to go through the whole thing. We never got to add them so we’re doing so now, after the jump:
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West Seattle Thursday: Design Review doubleheader; Thriftway Ladies Night; more…
(Great Blue Heron photographed at Seacrest by David Hutchinson)
A half-dozen highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
FIRST THURSDAY DEMOCRATS: 11:30 am, it’s the monthly lunch meeting at Daystar. (2615 SW Barton)
WEST SEATTLE LIONS: The weekly meeting will feature King County Assessor Lloyd Hara with an update on local property values. Noon, Senior Center of West Seattle. (California/Oregon)
LADIES NIGHT AT WEST SEATTLE THRIFTWAY: 6-8 pm, West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) plans an event with fun and giveaways – with a “swag bag” for the first 125 to arrive. (California/Fauntleroy/Morgan)
DESIGN-REVIEW DOUBLEHEADER: Two projects go before the Southwest Design Review Board for the first time tonight, with time for public comment: (updated) At 6:30 pm, 1606 California SW, and at 8 pm, 3257/3303 Harbor SW. Details on both, along with links to their “packets” so you can preview what will be presented, can be found in this story we published last week. Both reviews are at the Senior Center of West Seattle. (California/Oregon)
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN COMIC BOOK: Next session of this weekly class for 6-to-12-year-olds starts tonight at Delridge Community Center. (4501 Delridge Way SW)
‘THIRD’: Second night for ArtsWest‘s new production “Third,” written by Wendy Wasserstein. 7:30 pm performance. (4711 California SW)
LOTS MORE … check out our calendar!
TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: ‘Water, water everywhere’ Thursday
(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
The relentless rain continued overnight, along with some wind, so be careful during your commute – besides standing water/puddles, you might encounter downed debris. A two-plus-hour power outage affecting more than 2,000 homes/businesses/buildings in Puget Ridge, Highland Park, South Park, and White Center is now over, so you’re not likely to encounter non-working traffic lights. Our area is under a flood watch, with at least another half-inch of rain expected today.
Morgan Junction murder trial: Defense protests ‘surprise,’ calls for mistrial
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The jury in the Morgan Junction murder trial never did re-enter the courtroom after lunch on Wednesday.
While they waited behind a closed door at the back of Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle‘s courtroom – the door bailiff Nyoka Maraire opens multiple times each session before calling out, “Please rise for the jury!”– a drama played out just yards away, with the case’s future at stake.
Defense attorney Ben Goldsmith announced he wanted the judge to declare a mistrial – or, to at least have the jury be told to ignore the testimony of Seattle Police CSI Detective Kim Biggs, who had been on the witness stand all morning and part of the preceding afternoon.
Just before the noon break, Det. Biggs had been testifying about what she saw in defendant Lovett “Cid” Chambers‘s blue BMW, which has been in the SPD evidence-processing facility since hours after the January 21, 2012, fatal shooting of Travis Hood. She talked about going back for a look at its door locks recently. (They figure into the defense’s version of what happened that night.)
“Two weeks before the trial started, (prosecutor Margaret) Nave asked Detective Biggs to re-check the locks of the BMW. The defense was never told about this. We learned at 11:40 this morning when (Biggs) was testifying … that came as an enormous shock to us.”
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Update: Overnight power outage for more than 2,000 homes/businesses
It’s been a blustery night so far, and now more than 2,000 homes and businesses are without power in eastern West Seattle – parts of Puget Ridge and Highland Park – as well as South Park and White Center. City Light‘s map shows the extent but does not mention a specific cause yet – simply, “investigating.” (The image above is a screen shot of what the map shows right now.)
5:13 AM UPDATE: SCL now says a tree was to blame for the outage. Commenter Jen says the power’s back on in Riverview – that’s not reflected on the SCL map yet.
6:06 AM UPDATE: The map now shows everyone’s back on (please let us know if you’re not!).
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