West Seattle, Washington

08 Friday

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month : 03/2014 336 results

Happening now: Ladies Night at West Seattle Thriftway
March 6, 2014 6:56 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

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.)

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Followup: Safeway’s buyer uncloaks – Albertsons parent Cerberus
March 6, 2014 5:36 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Thanks to Marlowe and Eric for pointing out the announcement – Safeway‘s buyer is no longer a secret; two weeks after first word the chain was talking with a potential buyer, it’s been announced that buyer is Cerberus Capital Management, parent of Albertsons. The two supermarket chains are describing it as a merger. Together, they’ll have about 2,400 stores, just under the 2,600 owned by Kroger, parent of QFC and Fred Meyer. And so far, they’re saying there are no plans to close any of the stores. West Seattle has three Safeways and no Albertsons. The latter closed a store in White Center (now Saar’s Super Saver Foods) two years ago. Here’s the official announcement.

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Video: Conrad Wesselhoeft @ ‘Words, Writers, West Seattle’ Friday
March 6, 2014 4:59 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle books | West Seattle news

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.”

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Congratulations! Arbor Heights Elementary’s Super Ultimate Nerdy Ninjas make the finals
March 6, 2014 3:00 pm
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   Arbor Heights | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

The semifinals of the Seattle Public Library‘s Global Reading Challenge are under way downtown – and we have our first word of a West Seattle team making it to the GRC’s finals: SPL’s Mary Palmer tells us the Super Ultimate Nerdy Ninjas from Arbor Heights Elementary did well enough today to advance to the March 18th final. One more West Seattle team has yet to have its semifinal round – that’s Roxhill, tomorrow.

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Update: Another West Seattle power outage affected ~2,000 after tree fell into Highland Park Way wires
March 6, 2014 1:34 pm
|      16 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

(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.

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‘Alley vacation’ for The Whittaker? Preview what City Councilmembers will see at Tuesday’s public hearing
March 6, 2014 12:31 pm
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   4755 Fauntleroy | Development | West Seattle news

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…
March 6, 2014 10:03 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle Thursday: Design Review doubleheader; Thriftway Ladies Night; more…
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(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!

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Business news: Staples says it’s closing stores, too
March 6, 2014 9:00 am
|      15 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Another national chain with a West Seattle presence is planning to close stores. Today, Staples – which has an outlet at Westwood Village – said it will shut down 225 stores, which is 12 percent of what it has in North America. As with Radio Shack earlier this week, the news came as part of a report of an earnings drop. And, also like Radio Shack, Staples is not yet announcing which stores it will close. (Thanks to Jon for the tip.)

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: ‘Water, water everywhere’ Thursday
March 6, 2014 6:34 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(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.

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Morgan Junction murder trial: Defense protests ‘surprise,’ calls for mistrial
March 6, 2014 6:26 am
|      9 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

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
March 6, 2014 3:06 am
|      18 COMMENTS
 |   Utilities | West Seattle news

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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Southwest District Council to turn its eyes toward development
March 5, 2014 11:56 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Development | Southwest District Council | West Seattle news

By Patrick Sand and Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog co-publishers

With new development proposals appearing in West Seattle almost daily, the Southwest District Council is ready to keep a closer watch on what’s going on.

At tonight’s meeting, the SWDC – made up of reps from councils and organizations around western West Seattle – took steps toward forming a Land Use Subcommittee.

It’s a tool used elsewhere in the city (Queen Anne, for example), often providing a more consistent way for projects to get an early unofficial community review; right now, it’s literally and figuratively all over the map – sometimes developers engage community councils or round up stakeholders, sometimes they don’t.

SWDC co-chair Vlad Oustimovitch observed that development is one of the most top-of-mind topics in the area right now, along with transportation and public safety, so this is a natural move. He’s hopeful its members also can reach out to other neighborhoods to figure out more ways of collaborating when faced with similar challenges. The subcommittee’s membership isn’t final yet; once it’s up and running, it will provide regular reports to the council.

Also at tonight’s meeting: A farewell from Ed Pottharst, one of the neighborhood-district coordinators who has served this area for three years.

Ed’s not leaving city service, though – not even leaving the Department of Neighborhoods; he says a job came open working with the matching funds that help so many neighborhoods make dreams come true, so he’s moving to that side at the end of the month. His successor is being sought.

Other notes:

*Co-chair Sharonn Meeks brought up the Fire Station 32 rebuild (here’s our newest report) and the suggestion that electricity service be undergrounded in the area as part of the project, lest downed power lines keep crews from responding in case of catastrophe. She plans to talk with the city.

*New Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Steve Wilske came to introduce himself.

*New West Seattle Chamber of Commerce CEO Lynn Dennis came to introduce herself, and said the WSCoC would resume sending a representative to the SWDC meetings, which hadn’t happened regularly for a while.

The Southwest District Council meets first Wednesdays, 6:30 pm, at the Senior Center of West Seattle.

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West Seattle’s surplus ex-substations: Advocates tour with Rasmussen; Andover cleanup continues
March 5, 2014 9:56 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Environment | Utilities | West Seattle news

Two updates on the six former substations in West Seattle that City Light has declared “surplus”:

GREEN SPACE COALITION TOUR WITH COUNCILMEMBER RASMUSSEN: Community advocates including members of the West Seattle Green Space Coalition, who hope to keep the long-deactivated sites as open space, hosted Councilmember Tom Rasmussen this morning on a tour that started at the Dakota site on Genesee Hill:

Rasmussen tells WSB, “I support the efforts of the community to keep the sites as open space. The challenge is finding the funds to do so. I am researching and checking how we can do that.” Some City Light sites have become parks – in West Seattle, those include Dakota Place Park north of The Junction and Nantes Park along Admiral Way – while others in the city have been sold to housing developers. Five of the West Seattle sites are zoned for single-family homebuilding; the one on 9th SW near Westcrest Park is zoned Lowrise 2.

We couldn’t stay for today’s full tour, but organizers were expecting also to visit the Fauntleroy and Andover sites. We reported back in December about what City Light described as “cleanup” work at the latter site on Pigeon Point, work to which the WSGSC had taken exception because of vegetation removal; the city says it’s continuing that work. From SCL’s environmental-compliance manager William Devereaux:

Tree cutting and clearing was completed several weeks ago. The final phase of work involves the actual digging up of the contaminated soil putting clean soil in, reseeding grass, and replanting. NRC Environmental Services, a company from South Park, is carrying out the work. I heard that there were some questions regarding chalk/paint lines outside of the site. Before we dig on any site we have to have all of the utilities located to ensure that we do not disturb them. There will not be any digging outside of our substation site and the SDOT right of way immediately adjacent to the site.

When we start working on the SDOT right of way portion, there will be one-way traffic only, with flaggers between 21st and 22nd Ave SW on SW Andover St and between SW Charlestown St and SW Andover St on 21st Ave. This portion is not anticipated to start until next week. We are anticipating that the entire soil removal and backfill will be complete within 2 weeks.

One of the advocates on today’s tour, Cass Turnbull of PlantAmnesty, contends that “it makes little sense to choose a remediation method before the final disposition of the property is determined.” She says that if it’s determined the sites will be kept as green spaces, there are other ways of dealing with the reported low-level soil contamination that has had the city cutting and digging.

The Green Space Coalition is planning to take its case to the City Council’s Energy Committee next week. It’s up to the council to make the final decision on the ex-substations’ future, once SCL has made its recommendations.

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Memorial set March 15th for Robert ‘Bob’ McCoy, 1933-2014
March 5, 2014 8:29 pm
|    Comments Off on Memorial set March 15th for Robert ‘Bob’ McCoy, 1933-2014
 |   Obituaries | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

From the family of Robert “Bob” McCoy, who died this week at age 81:

Robert “Bob” McCoy passed away March 3, 2014, with his family by his side.

Bob was a resident of West Seattle for 50-plus years. He started his career at Forest Lawn Funeral Home in 1964 and retired in 1998. He was a member of the White Center Eagles.

Bob was born February 2, 1933, in Seattle, to Harold and Jessie McCoy. He was raised in Kent and attended Kent Meridian High School. He is survived by his wife Ilene of 60 years, daughter Debra and her husband Joe Ruskamp, daughter Linda and her husband Michael McGee, daughter Barbara, son John, and daughter Pam and her husband Cary Hood, 10 grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren, and his brother Jack McCoy of Vancouver, Washington. He was preceded in death by his sister Helen and his brother Phillip.

Memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 15th, 1:00 pm at Yarington’s/White Center Funeral Home, 10708 16th Ave SW. Reception follows, 2:30-4:30 pm at the White Center Eagles, 10452 15th Ave SW.

(WSB publishes obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)

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Melding business and creativity: Free event at Click! next week
March 5, 2014 6:50 pm
|    Comments Off on Melding business and creativity: Free event at Click! next week
 |   West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(Photo courtesy Click! Design That Fits/MeganAuman.com)
Designer, maker, educator, and entrepreneur Megan Auman has traveled a path from metalsmith to painter (and now fabric/fashion designer) that has led her to also create “Designing an MBA,” which she’ll talk about at Click! Design That Fits in The Junction next week – focusing “on helping craftspeople and designers actually make a living doing what they love.” The rest of the announcement:

Friday, March 14th, 7 pm to 8:30 pm • “The intersection of creativity and business: a conversation with Megan Auman.” In her talk, Megan will discuss the intersection of creativity and business, what it takes to develop successful business models for the artistically minded, and why profit is essential to creative businesses. Time will be provided for a question and answer period.

The event is free, but you need to go here to RSVP.

P.S. Megan will be at Click! the previous evening (Thursday, March 13th) too, for West Seattle Art Walk, 6-9 pm.

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High Point murder: Jose J. Gonzalez-Leos charged with murdering Nga Nguyen
March 5, 2014 3:11 pm
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

A charge of first-degree murder is now filed against 20-year-old Jose Jesus Gonzalez-Leos of White Center in connection with the killing of his ex-girlfriend’s mother in High Point last December. He is the man arrested last Saturday on suspicion he killed 46-year-old Nga Nguyen, found dead in her closet on December 14th, from strangulation and blunt-force head injury. Charging documents say he broke into Nguyen’s apartment through a second-story window on December 14th after going there in hopes of speaking with the victim’s daughter. The documents allege he killed her with a motive including sexual gratification; evidence described in the charging papers includes DNA found on the victim’s body that matched Gonzalez-Leos’s saliva. He is described as having no apparent felony history, though, as we reported last Saturday, online records indicate he is facing charges of stolen-property trafficking in south King County, and court documents say he told investigators he is addicted to meth and marijuana. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 19th to answer the charge; his bail remains set at $2 million.

ADDED 9:18 PM: More information from the charging documents:

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West Seattle wildlife: Sea lion apparently ‘rafting’ ‘sailing’ off Lincoln Park
March 5, 2014 1:37 pm
|      13 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | Wildlife

Injured seal

1:37 PM: We’ve heard from a few people about that sighting off Lincoln Park – and just got the photo from Paul via the WSB Flickr group. He and others wondered if it’s in distress; we pointed them to Seal Sitters – our area’s and Paul reports they suggested it might be a “rafting” sea lion, which, now that we’ve seen the photo, we would tend to agree. Paul points out the apparent injury on the sea lion’s fin. We’re not sure what if anything can be done to check on whether it’s in distress, but did want to publish this to share some information for anyone else who notices it – the photo makes it clear it’s not a whale, which some had suspected. (Here’s a 2011 story featuring photos of sea lions rafting and fishing, also off Lincoln Park; rafting is also explained toward the end of this page on the Seal Sitters website.)

11:59 PM: See comments for a vigorous discussion and more information, including the correction that this was “sailing” rather than “rafting.”

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‘Don’t throw the world away’: Plastic pollution’s the focus for this year’s World Water Week @ Chief Sealth International HS
March 5, 2014 11:51 am
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

That’s the trailer for “Midway,” a film by photographer/filmmaker Chris Jordan telling the story of plastics pollution in the Pacific through birds whose stomachs are filled with it. On Tuesday, March 25th, Jordan will be the public keynote speaker for this year’s World Water Week at Chief Sealth International High School – plastics pollution is the focus of the fourth annual edition of the weeklong “idea festival” organized by social-studies teacher Noah Zeichner and his students, as explained here:

We started WWW four years ago during our first year as an international school. We chose the theme of water because we thought it would be relevant to students and teachers and of course, it is one of the most critical global issues on the planet. WWW is a weeklong series of assemblies, synchronous lessons, a student conference, evening keynotes, service learning, and celebration. Each of the four years has had a sub-theme. The first year it was global scarcity and local conservation. The second year was food security. Last year was sanitation (toilets). This year’s theme is plastic pollution. We wanted to help students see the interconnections between all of these complex global issues, with water at the center of it all.

Students leading WWW this year are 11th graders Aisaya Corbray and Paloma Robertson with the support of senior Tasha Addington-Ferris, with dozens of others working in support. World Water Week also is tying in this year with the Sealth 9th graders’ Water, Ecology, and Sustainability Team (WEST) Project, which they will be presenting to 8th graders at adjacent Denny International Middle School. The WEST Project work will be on display during a resource fair preceding Chris Jordan’s appearance on March 25th, and the WWW team hopes you will join them that night. Here’s the full schedule of what they will be working on, including a student conference all day Wednesday, March 26th. Stand by for more as WWW gets closer.

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West Seattle Wednesday: Reasons to come in out of the rain
March 5, 2014 9:31 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

A flotilla of ducks

(Barrow’s goldeneyes, photographed by Flickr member “old desolate,” shared via WSB Flickr group)
With an inch of rain reported overnight, it’s excellent weather for waterfowl. All of the following, meantime, happens indoors, so you don’t need feathers, webbing, or even an umbrella. From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

‘FAMILY LOVE LETTERS’: A free workshop described as “estate planning with a heart,” 11 am at Alki Community Center. (5817 SW Stevens)

SUPPORT GROUP FOR PARENTS OF BABIES: The “Early Days” drop-in support group meets Wednesdays in the classroom at Nurturing Expressions (WSB sponsor), noon-2 pm. Details here. (4746 44th SW, upstairs)

DRAZE AT WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL: Not a public event, but worth noting in advance – WSHS students will be hearing today from a local musician whose newest song/video addresses a topic relevant to our area and others around the city (and beyond) – neighborhood changes. Announced by teacher Rebecka McKinney:

Seattle rapper, Draze, will be at West Seattle High School to talk about racism and gentrification to hundreds of WSHS students as a follow up to their recent units on racism through the plays Fences (12th grade) and A Raisin in the Sun (9th grade). Draze will also perform his recently released song, “The Hood Ain’t the Same.”

In a time when gentrification is receiving national and local attention, this is a great opportunity for WSHS students to think critically about the issue and how racism continues to impact equity.

(3000 California SW)

SOMALI STORY TIME: All are invited to the High Point Library for stories, rhymes, and fun entirely in the Somali language, 5 pm. (35th and Raymond)

MINIMUM WAGE HEARING: The City Council’s Select Committee on Minimum Wage and Income Inequality officially kicks off its work at 6 pm tonight with a public hearing at Town Hall downtown. Full details here. (1119 Eighth Avenue)

SOUTHWEST DISTRICT COUNCIL: This group of reps from community councils and other organizations around western West Seattle has its monthly meeting at 6:30 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction. All welcome. (California/Oregon)

JIM PAGE AT C & P: Singer-songwriter Jim Page performs live tonight at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7 pm. (5612 California SW)

‘THIRD’: Opening night for ArtsWest‘s new production “Third,” written by Wendy Wasserstein. 7:30 pm curtain. (4711 California SW)

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West Seattle High School baseball team ready to follow up second-in-state season
March 5, 2014 9:04 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | WS & Sports

Remember that splash of sunshine on Monday afternoon? It arrived at just the right moment for the West Seattle High School baseball team, parent Greg Slader reports:

High School Baseball started on Monday and West Seattle enjoyed a brief glimpse of sunshine at Monday’s practice. This year’s team returns 10 seniors from last year’s team, which made a fantastic run in the state tournament to 2nd place. The pre-season jamboree is scheduled for March 15th in Liberty @ 10 am.

After that, the WSHS team has two games at home at Hiawatha, hosting Garfield on March 18th and Ballard on March 20th. Two games against crosstown rival Chief Sealth International High School are on the schedule for April 30th (at Southwest Athletic Complex) and May 2nd (at home).

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Drenched Wednesday
March 5, 2014 6:30 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
At least at the moment, the rain’s a lot lighter than it was just a few hours ago. But the overnight deluge has left “standing water” – aka big puddles – in many a place, so please be careful, however you’re getting around.

I-5 WORK THIS WEEKEND: More expansion-joint (earthquake safety) work is happening late Friday through early Monday – this time, resulting in collector-distributor lane closures on northbound I-5; full details here.

7:43 AM UPDATE: Thanks to the texter (206-293-6302 any time) who reports the roadway is “totally under water” on West Marginal Way SW, just north of Highland Park Way.

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Morgan Junction murder-trial jury hears from police and a passerby
March 5, 2014 5:58 am
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Crime | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Punctuating two Seattle Police witnesses’ testimony about evidence, a passerby witness was put on the stand Tuesday by the prosecution in the Morgan Junction murder trial.

They started the day listing six witnesses they thought they would get through – but in the end, only three of them were heard from, the first one a holdover from Monday, the third one to continue today.
Between legal arguments and breaks, total testimony time tends to add up to about 4 1/2 hours a day.

As Tuesday began with SPD fingerprint examiner Betty Newlin continuing on the stand, questioned by deputy prosecuting attorney Mari Isaacson, the subject was fingerprints and their presence or lack of same on pieces of evidence in the case.

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Update: Crash on west end of West Seattle Bridge, no injuries reported
March 4, 2014 10:22 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle news | WS breaking news

(Substituted for original “live” picture: Image captured when SFD was still on scene)
10:22 PM: As the “live” camera shows – there’s an emergency response near Walking On Logs alongside the west end of the West Seattle Bridge. It started as a heavy-rescue call, but that was reduced; one caller tells us it’s a rollover – we have a crew en route to check.

(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB – note the vehicle on its side, at left)
10:35 PM: No injuries reported – the fire units have all been canceled, and a tow truck is being summoned. The scene is all but inaccessible from the West Seattle side but we note via the traffic camera’s live picture that the car is still visible, on its side. At the top of this story, we’re substituting a frame grab from about 15 minutes ago, when fire units were still on scene.

11:08 PM: Added photos by Christopher Boffoli, who said public-safety personnel at the scene mentioned the vehicle’s occupants had crawled out – which explains why the “heavy rescue” call was canceled. The vehicle’s been towed and traffic is again flowing normally in the area, described by Christopher as about 30 feet from Walking on Logs.

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