West Seattle, Washington
11 Friday
Music Boosters supporting the West Seattle High School music department sent word of this – tomorrow (Wednesday) is the last day to get in on it – and note that if you don’t need all that fruit, you can still help the students while donating your donation to feed those in need!
The WSHS Music Department is currently selling 20-pound boxes of oranges or grapefruits, for $28.00 each. Funds raised will help offset student costs as both the orchestra and band will be traveling to perform in Disneyland this next May. Fruit can be purchased from any WSHS music student, or contact westseattlehsmusicboosters@gmail.com by 11/26, for more information. Boxes can also be purchased for direct donation to the West Seattle Food Bank. The fruit will be delivered around December 5th.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports tonight:
PACKAGE THIEVES, AGAIN: From Jan:
We have found several empty delivery boxes on our parking strips in our North Admiral neighborhood. Clearly, someone is following the UPS trucks today. Please remind readers to have packages delivered to an address where someone will be available to receive: business, school, etc.
LINCOLN PARK CAR PROWL: David explains, “I thought I would send this incident your way to get the word out and maybe help warn others that the car-prowl problems at Lincoln Park (and other park areas) are indeed current and ongoing.” Here’s what David reported to police:
While at work as a dog walker, I left my vehicle at 9:55 am on the date of the incident in the Lincoln Park parking lot across from SW Rose St. I returned at 11:00 am. Later, while driving to a class I am taking I realized my backpack was not in the vehicle. I had left the vehicle locked and saw no signs of forced entry. The backpack was on the floor of the passenger seat. I did leave the vehicle unlocked for under 5 minutes on the street (in the 4100 block of) SW Othello St and (the 9600 block of) 46th Ave SW but the longest period I was away for it was at Lincoln Park.
ABANDONED BIKE: In cases like this, the bike likely was stolen. So if this looks familiar …
… Morgan says it was spotted on the roadside near 16th/Dawson in the Puget Ridge area.
Mark your calendar before checking out for the holiday – if you’re interested in the Highland Park Opportunity Fund project, improving the play area at, and access into, the park at 1100 SW Cloverdale – next community meeting is set for January 13, 2015, at Highland Park Elementary School from 6:30 – 7:45 pm. Above is the presentation from the first meeting (last month); notes from that meeting are online too.
1:48 PM: Via both SPD and a campus source, we’re told some West Seattle High School students have joined the walkout to show opposition to the Ferguson, Missouri, grand-jury decision. Some other schools in the city including Garfield and Roosevelt had hundreds walk out.
2:20 PM: We just missed the walkout but got some reader video we’ll add when back at HQ. Police we talked with just off-campus estimated about 75 participants and say it unfolded peacefully.
2:44 PM: Added the aforementioned video atop this story (recorded by a reader from the top parking deck at Admiral Safeway, looking west), plus our photo of the police who were still at California/Stevens when we arrived. Another texter said some had walked out at Chief Sealth International High School earlier today, but we have not confirmed that. The district’s message about the walkouts is on the SPS home page.
Just in case you are wondering:
*Where you can work out before stuffing (yourself)
*Where you can find a free holiday meal
*Which West Seattle grocery stores are open on Thanksgiving and when
*Which West Seattle restaurants/coffee shops are open on Thanksgiving and when
That’s all in the Thanksgiving section atop the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide (which also continues with dozens more events continuing on to Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s) … so we thought we’d nudge you now.
P.S. If you have information to add to the guide, or see something that has changed – please let us know – editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!
Though the city had said as recently as September that work would start on the 47th/Admiral traffic signal this fall, it won’t be any sooner than winter, since the project is only just now out to bid. The solicitation on the city website and in public notices says bids are due December 10th, which is two weeks from tomorrow. The notice projects the signal will cost up to $350,000. It has long been in the works, with the campaign to improve safety at the intersection tracing back to the death of 26-year-old Tatsuo Nakata, hit and killed by a driver eight years ago this month; in summer of 2013, after then-Mayor McGinn proposed an incremental improvement at the intersection, the City Council found funding for a full signal. Whenever work starts – we have a message out to ask about the new projected timeframe – the city estimates that the signal construction will last about three months.
ADDED: In response to our inquiry, SDOT says that the current plan is to start construction in February.
(Golden-crowned kinglet, photographed by Trileigh Tucker)
A few notes for the rest of today:
ONLY A DRILL: The King County Sheriff’s Office confirms this tactical drill is still on for today despite the murky weather. So just FYI, you might notice some helicopter/maritime traffic passing here en route to Des Moines.
ARTS/CRAFTS AND BAKE SALE: The “mini-Harvest Festival” sale at the Senior Center of West Seattle is under way until 1 pm. (Oregon/California)
WEST SEATTLE LAND USE COMMITTEE: 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle, the still-fledgling committee meant to take a peninsula-wide view of issues related to development and zoning has its next meeting, and it’s still in the formative stages – all are more than welcome, even if just to sit and observe. (Oregon/California)
LADIES SING THE BLUES: 8 pm, special all-star edition of Blues To Do at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) – details in our calendar listing. (6451 California SW)
PLANNING FOR THANKSGIVING? LOOKING AHEAD? The WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide has dozens and dozens of listings and infobits to help you find everything holidayish on this side of the bay.
(Photo by Holli Margell)
Glass art as a holiday gift? That’s one way to support the playground project that Pathfinder K-8 has embarked on. Organizers explain: “Having been awarded significant grants from both the City and County, we are working to raise $50,000 in cash from our school families and broader community. We have a lovely donor recognition program that will be a lasting symbol and legacy of your gift to our community. Please see the giving levels” here. Hint – the glass tiles are part of it; you can fund one (or more) with an inscription to forever be part of the new playground; see the design here.
(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:35 AM: We start with a problem affecting Northbound 99 – a crash has closed the northbound side of the Battery Street Tunnel.
6:55 AM: Still closed, no ETA announced for reopening. Seattle Fire was not dispatched to the crash, which indicates no one was hurt. Here’s the traffic cam that looks southward at the northbound traffic from just before the closure point:
7:08 AM: Per scanner, the tunnel is clear and about to be reopened. A stalled car nearby, though, might still complicate matters for a bit.
7:12 AM: Officially reopened, per SDOT.
7:33 AM: Avalon is “crawling,” reports WS Since 1979 in comments, just before the eastward turn to Spokane/bridge ramp.
1:36 AM: Police and fire are rushing to the 3700 block of SW 106th (map) in Arbor Heights for a report of a man with a gunshot wound to his arm. It’s not known yet if it was accidental.
1:59 AM: The patient, a man said to be around 30, has been taken to Harborview Medical Center. Our crew is just back from the scene. Police there are still sorting it out but believe it was accidental and aren’t seeking any suspects at this point.
11:45 AM: We don’t have followup information from SPD yet, but we did check with SFD regarding the victim’s last known condition – “stable,” we’re told.
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