West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(UPDATED Wednesday morning with two more views of Arbor Heights)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 10:50 PM TUESDAY: If you’ve been meaning to go take a look at what’s left of the former Genesee Hill and/or Arbor Heights elementary schools before they’re completely demolished, you’re running out of time. As of this afternoon, main-building teardown is under way at both sites – above, our photo from GH; below, Tim Eannarino shared the photo from AH this morning:
(Also, a few closeup views caught Robin Adams‘ eye.) The new schools to be built on these sites are both scheduled to open in 2016.
ADDED 9:04 AM WEDNESDAY: Thanks to Mike for sharing these next two Arbor Heights photos:
We checked again with the school district and they still don’t expect to settle on the new AHES’s final size until next spring (they could build it for 500 students or 650; the current school, temporarily housed at the Boren Building, is adding a third kindergarten class, so growth is continuing).
After reporting on Monday that West Seattle Bike Connections is hosting a “parklet” in The Junction on PARKing Day this Friday (September 19th), we asked about anyone else planning one – and heard from Wyatt’s Jewelers (WSB sponsor), which hosted one alongside its Westwood Village storefront last year and is doing it again. Kathy Dunn from WSBC also points out that the citywide map is now available. Her group’s Junction parklet will be in front of Husky Deli and Mashiko, “with a bicycle/ice cream-oriented theme” – where the temporary “no parking” signs are up, as of just before we took the photo atop this update. PARKing Day hours on Friday are 9 am-3 pm.
(Added Wednesday morning: Seattle Channel video of this meeting in its entirety)
New city rules for “microhousing” apartments (backstory here) have just passed the City Council’s Planning, Land Use, and Sustainability Committee. We came in on the meeting broadcast late, but in time to hear the passage of two amendments – one requiring two sinks per unit (food-prep and bathroom areas), one that goes beyond microhousing, requiring a city study of residential-area parking policies, with recommendations to be presented next spring. Seven amendments in all were proposed – they’re all linked from the agenda for the meeting that just concluded. The full council will vote on October 6th. If the new rules pass, they won’t affect projects already in the pipeline, including at least two on the drawing board here in West Seattle, where two “microhousing” buildings are now open – both under the Footprint brand – one on Delridge, one on Avalon.
Tomorrow opens the book on the first chapter of West Seattle’s newest literary series – WordsWest.
7 pm Wednesday (September 17th) at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor), you’re invited to “An Evening with Karen Finneyfrock and Elissa Washuta.” The WordsWest curators – West Seattle writers Katy E. Ellis, Susan Rich, and Harold Taw – describe the series as “a monthly invitation to hear world-class writers from near and far, and to join and nurture the West Seattle literary community.” They plan to present events every third Wednesday “that range from readings by published local and national authors, to craft discussions and guided writing explorations for every experience level.” The events will include a local-business rep reading a favorite poem – starting with Pegasus Book Exchange. Read about Wednesday’s featured writers on the WordsWest website.
A big police response on Puget Ridge late last night had a lot of people wondering what was going on; we’ve just obtained the police report with details. 
A man and woman were arrested for investigation of burglary at a house in the 5200 block of 18th SW (map) where, the report says, they used to live. The landlord’s son told police the former tenants were evicted two weeks ago and did not have permission to be in the house.
Police were called around 11 pm when the landlord found out the in-house security system had detected intruders. Its live video feed was obstructed (later, police discovered the camera on the floor), but two voices were heard. Both alleged intruders were inside when police arrived and came out when ordered to. They told police they had gone back into the house – which they claimed was unlocked – looking for mail they were expecting, though, when asked by an officer where the mail should have been, they said it would have been in the mailbox across the street from the house. Meantime, police discovered one of the suspects was the subject of two arrest warrants, for theft and assault, and they found drug paraphernalia in the house and in possession of one suspect, so the man and woman were arrested and booked into the King County Jail.
(Above, building at Fog-Tite where accident happened)
11:25 AM: Seattle firefighters are at another “heavy rescue” call, this time in the 4800 block of West Marginal Way (map). SFD says it involves “man who has his arm trapped in cement mixer,” and they’ve extricated the patient. We hear from Cathy that traffic is getting by both ways; the emergency equipment is on the southbound side, so take care if you’ll be using W. Marginal in that area any time soon.
12:06 PM: Our crew reports that a 34-year-old man got his arm stuck in a cement-mixer auger; SFD used heavy-rescue tools to free him, over the course of about 15 minutes, and he was taken to Harborview Medical Center. SFD units have now left the scene; we got a quick briefing there from spokesperson Kyle Moore, and will add video when it’s uploaded. the video is above.
(WSB photo from 2011 “Fill the Boot,” taken in Admiral District)
This year’s edition of the International Association of Fire Fighters “Fill the Boot” fundraising drive for the Muscular Dystrophy Association is coming up this Thursday and Friday, 1 pm-6 pm September 18-19, and we asked organizers where in West Seattle you’ll see firefighters joining in. Here’s the list (subject to change) compiled for us by Sandy Elfers of the MDA:
Station #11 – Westwood Village
Station #29 – California and Admiral
Station #32 – California and Alaska
Station #36 – Alki Beach and/or Avalon/Spokane
Station #37 – By the station, 35th/Holden
The IAFF and MDA have partnered for 60 years. Local IAFF members will be among 1,000 citywide participating in the fundraising drive this year.
9:01 AM: Moving this over from our morning traffic watch: Seattle Fire is on the scene of a crash described as a car hitting a building in the 7900 block of 9th SW (map). Everyone got out of the car OK, SFD reports, but it hit the gas meter, so they’re calling in Puget Sound Energy.
9:04 AM: Our crew at the scene reports the aforementioned gas leak is very noticeable in the immediate area – so stay clear of there for now. No major traffic effects, though. This happened at an auto-repair shop at 9th/Kenyon.
9:22 AM: Replaced our original photo with a wider view showing the scene – the black car with the open doors is the one that hit the building, and it’s since been pulled out:
Also, PSE has shut off the gas, and the SFD crews will be pulling back too.
(Monday sunset photo by James Bratsanos)
With the clouds returning, we might not see much of a sunset tonight – so we’re sharing photos received after last night’s show! They’re interspersed with today/tonight highlights ahead from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
TODDLER STORY TIME: 10:30 am at West Seattle (Admiral) Branch Library, bring the 2- and 3-year-olds for stories, songs, and rhymes. Free. (2306 42nd SW)
(Monday sunset photo by Jeff Johnson)
‘DOG DAYS OF SUMMER’: Second of six days in which dogs are welcome to swim in the closed-to-humans-until-next-year Arbor Heights Swim and Tennis Club pool. It’s a fundraiser for youth at the club; details here. 5-7 pm today. (11003 31st SW)
CHAT WITH CHAS: The first City Council candidate actively campaigning for the new West Seattle/South Park district-elected seat, Chas Redmond, continues his open-format community conversations – all listed on his website – 5-7 pm at Westwood Village Starbucks. (9023 25th SW)
YMCA EXPANSION Q/A MEETING: Another chance to meet with reps from the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) to talk about announced its recently announced expansion plan – second of three Q/A meetings open to the community at large as well as members, 6-7 pm, at the Y’s “Studio 5.” (4518 Fauntleroy Way SW)
GATEWOOD ELEMENTARY PTA: 6:30 pm tonight in the Gatewood Elementary lunchroom, first PTA meeting of the year, including officer elections. (4320 SW Myrtle)
(Monday sunset photo by Lynn Hall)
FAUNTLEROY BOULEVARD, MORE @ JUNO: Junction Neighborhood Organization meets tonight, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle. Key agenda items from director René Commons:
We are excited to announce project leaders from the Fauntleroy Way SW Boulevard Project Team will be presenting the first half of the meeting. The second half of the meeting, we will have two Commissioners from the Seattle Design Commission informing us on walkshed technology and opportunities to improve our community.
Commissioners Luis Borrero and Jeanne Krikawa, Seattle Planning Commission – walkshed technology and applications in the Alaska Junction
Design Team Members Therese Casper and Mike Hendrix, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) – brief of early design work for the Fauntleroy Way SW Boulevard Project, an improvement project along Fauntleroy Way SW between SW Alaska St. and 35th Ave. SW.
All welcome. (Oregon/California)
ALAUDA’S 5TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW: Five years of bellydancing, celebrated at this month’s showcase, 7 pm at Skylark. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
MORE NIGHTLIFE OPTIONS: Music, trivia, bingo, karaoke – see the listings on our calendar!
(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
All’s well so far on routes from/through West Seattle.
ROAD WORK: Nightly work on Highway 99 north of the West Seattle Bridge continues – tonight, lane closures in both directions, 9 pm-5 am, and the exit to 99 from the eastbound West Seattle Bridge will also be closed. … Tomorrow is the first of two days for East Marginal Way paving north of the bridge.
HAPPENING TONIGHT: While the official city “open house” meeting about the Fauntleroy Boulevard project is one week from tonight, if you have questions but can’t go, you can get a sneak preview at tonight’s Junction Neighborhood Organization meeting, with SDOT reps for the project on the agenda. 6:30 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle (Oregon/California).
7:54 AM: Kerry tweets that the bridge is “backed up to 35th.” Kerry’s later update: Traffic-enforcement officer’s in view at the offramp to 99.
8:53 AM: Heavy-rescue call in the 7900 block of 9th SW – we’re en route. SFD describes it as “car into a building with the smell of natural gas” and says everyone is out OK. (Note: Full coverage of the incident is here.)
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