Christmas Eve crashes: Car through fence in Highland Park; Fauntleroy & Oregon collision
ORIGINAL REPORT, 10:42 PM: An unpleasant Christmas Eve surprise for a Highland Park household – a driver crashed through their fence in the 8600 block of 20th SW and partway down the embankment into their yard. Our photo shows the car and the driver of the tow truck that pulled it up the embankment shortly after we arrived. No injuries reported; the car’s driver was being evaluated for possible DUI.
ANOTHER CRASH, 10:55 PM: Now another crash, with traffic effects: Southbound Fauntleroy Way is blocked at Oregon because of a multi-car crash. Injuries are reported.
11:53 PM: That crash cleared shortly after we arrived in the area. No major injuries. SFD crews at the scene did have to deal with a person reported to be “in crisis” – per the scanner, a “nude man” approached firefighters, who quickly found a blanket for him. It’s not clear whether he had anything to do with the crash.
Scenes from West Seattle Christmas Eve 2015, night and day
On this Christmas Eve, we have a few scenes to share – first, from West Seattle Lights, the music-synched show at 3908 SW Charlestown:
Tonight is special – with free hot chocolate served up starting at 6 pm.
That’s Debbie, who described herself as “sidekick” to WS Lights mastermind Jim Winder, who we talked into posing for a photo while we visited.
He was busy answering questions about the lively display – including one about how he knows how many lights are involved – “do you count them?” we heard him asked. Why, yes, he does. West Seattle Lights continues through New Year’s – see the schedule here (running late tonight, until midnight!) – and you’re invited to show your appreciation by helping out the two nonprofits it benefits, West Seattle Food Bank and Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation. You can bring nonperishable food to drop in the bin in front of the house and/or donate money to WSFB and/or NWPF via the WSL website.
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If you were out and about before sunset – last-minute shopping was busy as ever. Especially grocery shopping, which is where our anonymous Arbor Heights correspondent found this elf and her folks:
Check the reindeer socks on 3-month-old Veda, spotted at Roxbury Safeway. Also this morning, shoppers at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) were serenaded:
West Seattle Christmas Eve photo to share? editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks as always!
West Seattle Crime Watch: No holiday for car prowler(s)
Just a reminder to not leave anything in your vehicle because car prowlers don’t take the holiday off – and if you have visitors, remind them too. We have one West Seattle Crime Watch reader report, from Steve in the 2700 block of 37th SW:
My 2003 Toyota Camry was car-prowled sometime between 10 pm last night and 5:30 am this morning. When I went out to the car at 5:40 the glove box was open and stuff strewn around, but they didn’t take anything! They left my registration and insurance, my cell phone charger, my business parking pass. Either they didn’t go into the trunk or decided to not steal (a relatively heavy box containing a present for a relative). I can only guess that they got spooked and left quickly.
We’re hoping for a quiet holiday for all. If news does break, though, we remain on call – text or voice, 206-293-6302.
How the Water Taxi will factor into Viaduct closure: Remember October 2011?
With the Highway 99 tunneling machine restarting, WSDOT has been loudly banging the warning drum about the anticipated two-week Alaskan Way Viaduct closure, once the machine starts digging beneath it. Remember, we survived a one-week closure four years ago during the demolition of its southern mile in October 2011. As part of that, the West Seattle Water Taxi got heavier usage than ever:
(WSB photos, October 2011)
Some runs were at capacity. But this time around, the run will have a bigger new boat, as the M/V Doc Maynard is scheduled to finally take over next month. We asked Rochelle Ogershok from the county Transportation Department what’s being discussed so far to maximize the Water Taxi during the anticipated closure, potentially as soon as March, and that was the first thing she mentioned:
Specific to West Seattle the following plans are:
Vessel Schedule and capacity: The Winter Water Taxi schedule will be operated with increased capacity on commute hour sailings. Doc Maynard has a capacity of 278 passengers as compared to 147 passengers on Spirit of Kingston. This is an increased capacity of 786 passengers in the morning and 917 in the afternoon.
Water Taxi Dock Access: The Marine Division is coordinating with the City of Seattle on parking options along Harbor Ave and Don Armeni boat launch similar to what happened during the 2011 closure. Those actions included:
*Additional all-day street parking along Harbor Ave.
*Additional parking at Don Armeni Park
We are also investigating the feasibility of operating larger shuttles to accommodate more passengers.
Again, specific plans have not been finalized – we will continue to coordinate with WSDOT and City of Seattle on closure details and will share with riders as this information becomes available.
The extra spaces at Don Armeni went fast during the October 2011 closure:
Meantime, the state is promising ongoing information about the expected closure via this WSDOT webpage. The real test of the tunneling machine will come when it resumes work early in the New Year.
FOLLOWUP: Two bidders for West Seattle’s years-delayed Fire Station 32 rebuild
(From Fire Station 32 “schematic design” packet dated August 2013, by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson)
When the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy went to Seattle voters in 2003, it included a full rebuild of West Seattle’s Fire Station 32 – projected at the time to be complete by the end of 2007. As we first reported back in October, after numerous schedule revisions and then a decision to rebid the project, construction hasn’t even started yet, though the units and crews were moved out of the original station more than 10 months ago. But there;s new hope the work will get going in a few months, now that it’s received two bids as of this past Tuesday’s deadline. Howard S. Wright bid $11.6 million and MJ Takisaki bid $12.7 million. City documents say the project is budgeted at $18.6 million, with $3 million of that spent so far. Now that bids are in, we asked Julie Moore from the city’s Finance and Administrative Services Department what happens next:
The next step is for City Purchasing and Contracting Services (CPCS) to ask the apparent low bidder to submit a Supplemental Bidder Responsibility Criteria (SBRC) form. Capital Development and Construction Management (CDCM) will review the completed form. If CDCM finds the contractor meets all required criteria, it will then ask CPCS to award the contract to the bidder, starting the contract-execution process in which insurance and bonding information and all other requirements will be reviewed by CPCS before the contract can be executed. If there are no surprises during this process, we anticipate final execution of the contract could take place before the end of February.
The city already has a building permit for the new station, which will be built on the same footprint as the current one at 37th/Alaska, with work expected to take about a year. Until it’s ready, temporary FS 32 remains on the future city park site on 40th SW between SW Alaska and SW Edmunds.
P.S. Looking at the two bidders – Howard S. Wright built the Space Needle, and more recently, for SFD, Fire Station 39 in Lake City. MJ Takisaki worked on the recent upgrade of Fire Station 26 in South Park.
Merry Christmas Eve! West Seattle Holiday Guide notes for today/tonight
(Menashe Family Lights panorama by Mike Swartz)
Christmas Eve is here. Here’s how to find lots of info you might find useful:
RESTAURANTS OPEN TODAY/TOMORROW: Our list is here.
GROCERY-STORE HOURS TODAY/TOMORROW: Our list is here.
Those two lists have proven to be of the most interest over the years, so we devote a significant amount of time to gathering the information (which generally requires a lot of phone calls). For the next two lists, we put out an open invitation, “send us your schedule and we’ll include it,” so if there’s someplace you don’t see, it’s because they didn’t send theirs:
CHRISTMAS CHURCH SERVICES: In the guide, if they sent their schedule.
COFFEE FOR TODAY/TOMORROW: Same.
Also in the guide:
LAST CHANCES TO SEE SANTA: Three today.
HOLIDAY LIGHTS: Our guide has a list including West Seattle Lights (3908 SW Charlestown), where they’ll be offering hot cocoa tonight, starting at 6. Throughout the season, WSL collects food for the West Seattle Food Bank, so bring something to drop in the bin! (And/or donate to WSFB and the NW Parkinson’s Foundation via the WSL website.)
P.S. If you’re interested in Christmas Eve swimming, Southwest Pool has two sessions this afternoon.
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