West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
Quick note – if you happen to find WSB inaccessible at some point in the next few early-early mornings – we’re expecting a bit of after-midnight downtime for technical upgrades. Our 24/7 news commitment continues regardless, so if any breaking news happens during those downtimes, you’ll find info on our social-media channels, primarily Facebook and Twitter. Thanks, and sorry in advance for the inconvenience!
Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch tonight:
BREAK-IN ATTEMPT: From A in Arbor Heights:
I live near the intersection of 35th & 102nd in Arbor Heights. When I got home from work today, my crawl space door was wide open. Fortunately, there is no access to the inside of the house from the crawl space. The intruder may have had other motives, including theft, but was disappointed as everything of value is kept secured. A neighbor driving by stopped to comment that they’d found a knife lying in the street outside my entry, and had thrown it in the bushes. Police and Block Watch have been notified.
MISSING A BICYCLE LOCK? We haven’t received any reader reports of bicycles stolen/found in the past few days, but this morning Vanessa found this snipped lock that might be of interest to someone:
Found this morning at 40th SW and Dawson in the middle of the road. The metal U locks would be a better preventative lock.
The most-recent bicycle theft shown on the police-reports map was reported to have happened in the 3900 block of SW Bradford on Monday night.
(UPDATED FRIDAY AFTERNOON with children’s condition – scroll down)
6:54 PM: Major medical response under way right now at 34th and Morgan – two children are injured and being rushed to Harborview. Scanner traffic indicates a fall from a window.
7 PM: We’ve arrived at the scene. This is actually closer to 34th and Holly and apparently happened in an alley behind a cluster of townhouses on the west side of 34th.
7:04 PM: Via Twitter, SFD confirms a 1-year-old boy and 2 year-old boy fell about 30 feet from a window and are both in serious condition.
7:10 PM: SFD medic units have now rushed both children to Harborview and the remaining SFD units are clearing from the scene.
9:19 PM: We’re not likely to get any further information tonight but will follow up tomorrow.
2:11 PM FRIDAY: We’ve just heard back from Harborview Medical Center, with whom we inquired this morning in hopes of getting an update on the boys. An HMC spokesperson tells WSB they are both in intensive care, both still listed in serious condition.
(WSB photo)
Thanks to everyone who messaged us to ask about police and the medical examiner at the Roxhill Park/Westwood Village bus stop. Here’s what we found out at the scene: Somebody died on a RapidRide C Line bus. The bus driver was going to go take a break when he discovered that a passenger who wasn’t getting off the bus, couldn’t – he was dead. It’s not being investigated as a crime, as there’s no evidence suggesting foul play. All we know at this point is that the dead person is a man, no age estimate.
West Seattle food-and-drink-world notes, starting with tidbits of info about two new establishments:
NEW LEAF BISTRO: That’s the new name shown in public records for the ex-Royal India Grill space that’s been vacant in Admiral since spring of last year, at 2342 California SW. According to a tip from a reader who had encountered the prospective operators (we’ve been going by and haven’t found anyone there yet), it’ll be a Vietnamese restaurant.
DUMPLINGS OF FURY: “Rumors of dumplings” in The Junction erupted in a recent comment thread. Now a liquor-license application tells the tale – Dumplings of Fury, coming to the ex-Quadrato spot at 4302 SW Oregon. The names on the application: The team from Shadowland, almost just across the street.
We’ll be working to find out more about both of those (both of which are seeking beer/wine licenses, not full bars). Also of note:
‘EVENINGS’ AT JUNCTION STARBUCKS: Less than a week ago, when the new Junction Starbucks opened, the company was still saying it hadn’t made a decision about whether it would feature the “Evenings” concept, despite applying for a liquor license two months earlier. Today, John e-mailed us to mention signs up in the shop, and confirmation from a barista, so we checked again with company spokesperson Haley Nieman, who says it’s official – the new store “will begin offering the Evenings menu in late September.” That involves an “expanded menu of shareable small plates” as well as “hand-selected wines and craft beers.” The concept was premiered on Capitol Hill five years ago and is currently in more than 75 stores.
REPAIR CLOSURE AHEAD FOR ELLIOTT BAY: Elliott Bay Brewing Co. manager Amy sends word that EBB will be closed for a few days next week: “Elliott Bay Brewery will be closing for repairs at 9 pm on Sunday 8/23. We will reopen for lunch at 11:00 am on Thursday 8/27.”
Just out of the WSB inbox:
Providence Mount St. Vincent’s Aug. 21st concert featuring Danny Vernon as The Illusion of Elvis has been RESCHEDULED for Thursday, Sept. 10th. All the details are the same; just the date has been changed. Food, beer and wine will be available for purchase beginning at 5:30 pm. Danny will perform from 6 to 7:30 pm.
Our Aug. 28th concert featuring STRUM (Seattle’s Totally Relaxed Ukulele Musicians) will take place as scheduled.
The Mount apologizes for any inconvenience due to this rescheduling.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“I’m not here to promise we’ll fix everything you tell us about,” warned new Seattle Parks Superintendent Jesús Aguirre as his citywide “listening tour” made its third West Seattle stop last night, at Alki Community Center.
Alki CC coordinator Katie Fridell introduced him to the 20+ or so in attendance (not counting the half-dozen-ish other Parks Department managers and staffers, including Aguirre’s predecessor, longtime acting superintendent Christopher Williams, who is now deputy superintendent).
The bullet-point slide deck with which he began spelled out Parks by the numbers:
(WSB photo from 2014 Alki Beach 5K)
Signed up already for summer’s last big walk/run in West Seattle, the Alki Beach 5K this Sunday? Great! Not signed up yet? Today’s the final full day of online registration – so you can do it here right now. This walk/run benefits West Seattleite-founded-and-led Northwest Hope and Healing, which helps breast-cancer patients, and it’s open to everyone! If you would rather register in person, stop by West Seattle Runner (2742 California SW; WSB sponsor) on Saturday, 10 am-2 pm, during the packet-pickup session, and you can do it then and there, or right before the race, starting at 8 am Sunday by the Alki Bathhouse (60th SW & Alki).
(Peregrine falcon Osprey, photographed by Jordan Petram, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Lots of options for your Thursday afternoon/evening – including:
DELRIDGE GROCERY FARM STAND: Thursday is Farm Stand Day for the Delridge Grocery Co-op (WSB sponsor), 4-7 pm – come see what’s fresh! (5355
SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE PICNIC: 5-9 pm at Community Orchard of West Seattle on the north side of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus, come celebrate summer with SWS and friends – all welcome! (6000 16th SW)
AYRON JONES & THE WAY @ SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: Don’t let the clouds scare you – it’s NOT supposed to be rainy at showtime, 6:30 pm on the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center, with Ayron Jones & The Way onstage as the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s free concert series continues. (Walnut & Lander)
WEST SEATTLE TIMEBANK POTLUCK & MEETING: 6:30 pm potluck, 7 pm meeting at a residence in Arbor Heights. Curious about Timebanking? This is a great time/place to start finding out. Details in our calendar listing. (3523 SW 112th)
UNPLUGGED! Open-microphone at 7 pm at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) – details in our calendar listing. (5612 California SW)
THE ILLUMINATIO PROJECT: During the aforementioned SWS picnic, The Illuminatio Project will perform an excerpt of their newest work at the Community Orchard of West Seattle, around 8 pm. Details in our calendar listing. (6000 16th SW)
SEE WHAT ELSE IS UP … by checking our full calendar.
It’s a tax-break offer that many developers have long accepted from the city: If your project’s being built in certain areas, and you allot a certain percentage of units to a certain number of tenants at a certain income level, you can get the residential portion of your building (not the land) exempted from property taxes for 12 years. It’s called the Multi-Family Tax Exemption, and the council soon will have to decide whether to renew it for the fourth time since its inception in 1998. That discussion officially starts with a briefing during the end of this morning’s 9:30 am meeting of the council’s Housing Affordability, Human Services, and Economic Resiliency Committee. It’s a lead-up to a meeting next month at which the committee will consider legislation renewing the program.
Here’s what the committee will be shown and told this morning – first, the slide deck with stats on the program, which it says involves almost 2,000 rental units now, with almost 2,000 more “in the pipeline”:
Here’s the council-staff memo:
Wondering which West Seattle projects got the MFTE? From the newest list on the city website, dated August 14th:
*Altamira
*Blake
*Element 42
*Footprint Avalon (microhousing)
*Footprint Delridge (microhousing)
*Link
*Mural
*Nova
*Oregon 42
*Vue
*Youngstown Flats (WSB sponsor)
The list does NOT include under-construction projects that will be getting the MFTE – the program’s annual report included an expanded list that does, but only as of last December, so some might be missing. The additional projects on that list are:
*Spruce (open now so we’re not sure why it’s not on the first list)
*Admiral East Apartments (on the list as 3210 California)
*3050 Avalon (microhousing)
*Footprint’s Morgan Junction project (microhousing)
*4730 California
*Junction 47
*Trinsic West Seattle
*Lofts at The Junction
*The Whittaker
*Broadstone Sky
*6917 California
*Junction Flats
Right now, September 20th is the date for the committee to look at renewal legislation. If you’re interested in watching this morning’s discussion, the meeting will be live on Seattle Channel, cable channel 21 or online stream; it’s the last item on the agenda.
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
7:23 AM: No incidents in, or headed out of, West Seattle, but showery weather is back and slowing things down in some areas. One big reminder:
HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE: WSDOT is closing Highway 99 in both directions between the Battery Street Tunnel and Valley St. in lower Queen Anne from Friday night to early Monday, to move traffic onto a new section of road – details and maps here. The Alaskan Way Viaduct will remain open, but if you’re heading north, for example, you’ll have to exit at Western.
ADDED 7:42 AM – ‘TRAFFIC THROWBACK THURSDAY’ PHOTO: From the Seattle Municipal Archives, an August 1962 view of the then-under-construction Fauntleroy approach to the West Seattle Bridge:
Click the image for a larger view. The archives have a wide variety of related images, including this gathering labeled as groundbreaking at 34th/Fauntleroy just under a year earlier, in September 1961.
8:32 AM: Problem on northbound I-5 downtown:
NB 5 at Mercer a collision blocks 2 right lanes; traffic getting one on ramp. pic.twitter.com/F1xvV0ieWF
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) August 20, 2015
4:25 PM: Just in case you’ll be on 99 south of the Aurora Bridge this pm:
SR 99 just south of Aurora Bridge, a collision is blocking the left lane in both directions. https://t.co/nFS52sIgvH
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) August 20, 2015
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