West Seattle, Washington

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day : 29/06/2014 7 results

West Seattle wildlife: Eagles on a crane; coyote on Beach Drive
June 29, 2014 10:18 pm
|    Comments Off on West Seattle wildlife: Eagles on a crane; coyote on Beach Drive
 |   Coyotes | West Seattle news | Wildlife

Two wildlife notes from the inbox tonight – Karen, who lives in The Junction, reports three eagles spent at least 10 minutes on the 4030 California construction crane, “perching, circling, landing again and again … much chirping and activity.” They looked like two adults and a juvenile, she says, perhaps flight lessons for the younger one. Eagle sightings in West Seattle certainly aren’t rare, but this is the first on-a-crane report we’ve received.

In the early evening, Phyllis and Jeff reported, “Coyote sighting – about 50-60 lbs and wandering through our yard in the 5000 block of Beach Drive. Looks like he/she has been searching for food, as our backyard was all dug up. Usually don’t see them during the daytime! Our kitties are inside!” (We have actually had more than a few daylight reports over the years. This info from state wildlife experts explains what to do if/when you see one, day or night.)

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West Seattle traffic alert: Stoplight trouble at 35th/Avalon
June 29, 2014 9:02 pm
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 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

We’ve had two reports in the past few minutes of stoplight trouble at 35th and Avalon – on our way to check it out, but if you’re about to head out, you might consider avoiding it for now.

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West Seattle Grand Parade 2014: Medal of Honor recipient Col. (ret.) Bruce Crandall announced as Grand Marshal
June 29, 2014 7:38 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle Grand Parade | West Seattle news

The Rotary Club of West Seattle, which this year for the first time is presenting the West Seattle Grand Parade, has announced this year’s Grand Marshal:

Medal of Honor recipient Col. Bruce Crandall (retired) will be the Grand Marshal of the 82nd annual West Seattle Grand Parade on July 19, 2014. Crandall was born in Olympia and resides in Kitsap County; his son, Steve, lives in West Seattle.

Crandall is a Master Army Aviator, qualified in both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and a veteran of 900 combat missions in Vietnam. In addition to the Medal of Honor, he is also the recipient of the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster and many other awards. In 2004 he was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame.

In a battle in November, 1965, Crandall, flying a series of three unarmed helicopters through the day and into the night, supplied a surrounded force of 450 US soldiers and evacuated 70 wounded. The battle is depicted in the Mel Gibson film “We Were Soldiers,” where Crandall is portrayed by actor Greg Kinnear.

In January, 1966, in the dark and under intense enemy fire, Crandall twice dropped his helicopter through dense jungle canopy to evacuate 12 wounded solders.

In January, 1968, his helicopter was shot down during another rescue attempt, and Crandall was hospitalized for five months with serious injuries.

Crandall is active in the Medal of Honor Character Development Program, a middle school and high school curriculum designed to build character and promote responsible citizenship.

He travels the country addressing school assemblies about developing a moral compass and having the courage to do the right thing even when it is not popular.

The West Seattle Grand Parade is sponsored by the Rotary Club of West Seattle.

The medal was presented to Col. Crandall by President Bush in 2007; he retired from the Army with the rank of Lt. Col. but was promoted to Colonel (retired) in 2010.

The parade on Saturday, July 19th, will travel down California SW from The Admiral District to The Junction, usually starting around 11 am. More details as we count down to this year’s parade in the almost-three-weeks ahead!

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Celebrating (and walking on) the new South Park Bridge, report #1
June 29, 2014 10:57 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   South Park | Transportation | West Seattle news

(GALLERY ON THESOUTHPARKNEWS.COM: See it here. And report #2 is in the works for WSB)

4:43 PM: The new South Park Bridge is officially open – if you’re on foot (vehicle traffic won’t be permitted until tomorrow morning at 6 am)!

This followed an epic dedication ceremony:

We have it all on video and will have it in a separate story later (lots of photos too, of course). Most importantly, the street party is scheduled to run until about 9 pm, so you have time to get here, walk on the bridge, enjoy the Lucha Libre masked wrestling that starts around 6 pm …

Earlier:

2:05 PM NOTE: We’re heading back to SP for the heart of the party, but we visited in the noon hour and are already building a gallery on The South Park News.

Scroll down here on WSB, meantime, for helpful advance info if you’re planning to go. And watch the WSB Instagram feed between official updates.

And earlier still:
EARLIER, 10:57 AM: Few planned activities/events on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar today – the city’s biggest event is downtown, the Pride Parade, starting shortly (11 am). But in the “almost West Seattle” category, our neighbors in South Park are celebrating the new bridge today, on the eve of its official opening tomorrow, exactly 4 years after the old one was taken out of service.

(Added: WSB photo taken after today’s bridge party started at noon)
So here’s what you need to know if you’re planning on, or thinking about, going to the party. First, a map (the party’s on the south side of the bridge, on 14th Avenue South)! Now, today’s schedule, from the King County website:

12:00 – 3:00 p.m. — Street party: music & performances, info booths, self-guided tours of the bridge’s south tower, food & drink

3:00 – 4:00 p.m. — Dedication ceremony with elected officials & community leaders; fireworks

4:30 – 5:30 p.m. — Parade [you can walk on the bridge!]

6:00 – 9:00 p.m. — Lucha Libre; street party continues

Elected officials announced so far for the 3 pm event include U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, County Executive Dow Constantine, Mayor Ed Murray, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott. Info about street closures, parking, and bus changes during today’s party is at the bottom of this page. We’ll be covering the events here and at TheSouthParkNews.com. If you’re just waiting for the chance to use that route across the Duwamish again, take note that the new bridge will NOT be open for regular use until 6 am tomorrow (Monday).

P.S. Browse our photo galleries previewing the new bridge – looking at its exterior (including the new raingarden in the footprint of the old bridge); peeking inside during a behind-the-scenes media tour.

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Underwater video: State of the sea stars near Seacrest
June 29, 2014 10:11 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Seen at sea | West Seattle news | Wildlife

Sea Star Survey 6/26/2014 from Laura James on Vimeo.

From “Diver Laura” James, that’s the latest underwater look at the state of sea stars (aka “starfish”) at Cove 2 near Seacrest. Earlier this week, we featured video from a CCTV report on the sea-star dieoff, with Laura among the interviewees, in her role as a “citizen scientist.” The newest report was published last night on SeattleTimes.com (WSB partner), with a West Seattle focus, though our area is far from alone in experiencing the epidemic. Meantime, Laura summarizes what she observed in the video (from a dive on Thursday) as:

I’d gotten reports of baby stars showing up so figured it was time to go take a peek. It is really only one species that is showing what is hopefully signs of recovery (they still have to make it to ‘large’ size before it counts) the Evasterias or “mottled star”. Only a few pisaster (the purple ones) and zero pycnopodia (sunflower stars).

A reminder – if you spot sea stars on the beach or in the water, your observations can help too: sickstarfish.com.

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Beached-buoy update: King County water-quality outpost floats in, gets towed out
June 29, 2014 9:25 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Environment | West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news

FIRST REPORT, 9:25 AM: Lura shares the photo from the 5400 block of Beach Drive SW. It appears to be the King County water-quality-monitoring buoy placed off Lincoln Park almost a year ago, described at the time as “firmly anchored in about 550 feet of water just less than half a mile off Point Williams.” She was making phone calls in hopes of finding someone to report it to, and just sent an update saying a neighbor has reached somebody. (The buoy, by the way, still seems to be sending readings.)

UPDATE, 4:51 PM: From King County’s Kimberle Stark:

Thanks definitely go out to the residents who reported the buoy was on the beach!!! Staff from the King County Environmental Laboratory are going to try and retrieve it tonight. We’re not sure what happened yet until we get a close look at the bottom frame. Thanks again to the residents who reported it in such a timely manner!

UPDATE, 6:40 PM: Looks like they were able to retrieve it – Lura sent this photo of the buoy under tow:

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West Seattle road-work update: California/Fauntleroy done
June 29, 2014 8:47 am
|    Comments Off on West Seattle road-work update: California/Fauntleroy done
 |   Transportation | West Seattle news

The work ran a little longer than scheduled but somewhere around 8 pm Saturday night, the California/Fauntleroy intersection did indeed reopen – as noted in our tweet, above – after a one-day repaving job. Going back in the archives, we were reminded that the intersection was not part of the big Fauntleroy Way repaving/rechanneling project in 2009 – SDOT told us at the time that it had had more-recent attention than the rest of the stretch, and that it would be repaved at some point in the future, along with other parts of southern California SW. But it was indeed on the 2014 list we obtained from SDOT in January, and it follows block-by-block repaving in the area over the past few years, including Graham to Fauntleroy, Holly to Myrtle, and Frontenac to Mills last year,

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