West Seattle, Washington
30 Saturday
Just getting this on your radar for Saturday, if you’ll be out and about and able to donate – it’s the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle‘s annual donation drive for the West Seattle Food Bank. Volunteers and collection bins will be at West Seattle Thriftway (4201 SW Morgan; WSB sponsor) and Junction QFC (42nd/Alaska). If you catch them as you go into the stores, you can get specific wish lists for the WSFB’s Home Delivery and Mobile Food Bank programs, which “deliver nutritious food to the homes of the homebound elderly and disabled neighbors unable to access the food bank.” And if you shop at Thriftway, give them your receipts, too, because the store will donate back 1 percent to WSFB. The drive is set for 9 am-2 pm this Saturday (April 2nd).
Three reports in tonight’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup:
CHURCH BURGLARY: Thanks for the tips. Another non-residential Junction break-in – what was on the Tweets by Beat log as a “commercial burglary” reported Tuesday morning in the 4100 block of 42nd SW was a break-in at Holy Rosary Church, according to police report details we were finally able to obtain today. The report says someone got in through a window and stole items including cash and credit cards, but left behind “evidence” that police have collected and are following up on.
TIRE SLASHING: John reports from North Delridge:
I just want to let you know that several cars including one of my own had their tires cut last night. All the cars were parked on 28th Ave SW across the street from The Dragonfly Pavilion Park Between Yancy and Nevada. I have heard this is a growing problem in West Seattle.
PROWLER ON VIDEO: From the Shorewood/Arbor Heights area:
I wanted to send you a video I caught (Tuesday) at my house of a prowler. We had numerous packages stolen last week and set up this camera.
Nothing was stolen (so far as) we can tell.
The area the man is seen walking into, and emerging from, leads to and from the house’s side yard and backyard. A police report is filed – #2016-108242 – if you have any information.
Thanks for the tips and reports – 206-293-6302 text/voice if urgent, editor@westseattleblog.com if not – as long as you have already called 911/SPD!
That slide deck is from the agenda for a City Council committee meeting tomorrow morning, and it’s the first time we’ve seen an all-in-one-place visual breakdown of a subject that comes up in discussion often – property taxes.
The 9:30 am meeting is actually the entire City Council meeting as the Select Committee on the 2016 Housing Levy, and one of its agenda items is a general discussion on property taxes in the city, as they consider the proposed levy, which is double the one that’s about to expire. If you scroll through the slide deck – or get it here as a PDF – you’ll see that it looks at the taxes on a “median”-valued home in the city (half are worth more, half worth less), valued at $480,000, paying $4,553 a year. As shown on page 5, a little less than a third of that – $1,472 – is from/for the city, and in turn, about half of that goes to 7 voter-approved levies, including the housing levy that is expiring:
*Transportation levy, $279
*Park district levy, $140
*Families/Education levy, $98
*Housing levy, $61
*Libraries, $51
*Preschool, $43
*Campaign financing, $9
If you want to hear how this is presented and discussed tomorrow morning, you can go to the meeting at City Hall or watch live via Seattle Channel, cable 21 or seattlechannel.org.
2:38 PM: A large Seattle Fire response is in the 1400 block of SW Cambridge for a “fire in building” call. We’re en route to see what’s happening.
2:45 PM: The call’s just closed, meaning SFD has left the scene. If we find out anything about the original reason, we’ll add it.
(Reader photo from a brown-water situation earlier this month)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
After months of intermittent but intense West Seattle brown-water incidents that we’ve been covering – going back to last fall – the city is making plans for a major operation to try to attack the underlying problem: Rust in the pipes.
The rust isn’t unusual and isn’t unhealthy, Seattle Public Utilities stresses – but there shouldn’t be this much of it stirred up when something happens such as a hydrant opening or pipe break, and it should clear faster (as commenters have pointed out, it often lingers longer than they were told it would).
So SPU is planning a “unidirectional flush” – something that utility managers say hasn’t been done anywhere in the city in more than a decade.
It’s not one big operation at one time but will play out over the course of months. We got an early briefing during a visit to the SPU Operations Control Center, following up on our recent behind-the-scenes look at how water safety and quality is monitored.
We met there with drinking water quality director Wylie Harper and other SPU water managers, including operations director Dave Muto. First, some context. Two-thirds of the 1,800 miles of pipeline in SPU territory is unlined cast iron – and this is the primary source of what discolors the water in certain circumstances:
Thanks to David Hutchinson for another baby photo from the resident Canada geese. *Scroll to the end of this story for his side note regarding the photo. First – from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
HEALTH AND WELLNESS FAIR: 11 am-3 pm at Daystar – details in our listing. (2615 SW Barton)
CHIEF SEALTH IHS MULTICULTURAL NIGHT: 6 pm, everyone’s invited to the Chief Sealth International High School Galleria: “One of CSI’s favorite community events, Multicultural Night is a fun-filled evening of cultural performances, community information, and free food that represents the ethnic diversity of our student body. This is one of the events that truly make us a global village!” (2600 SW Thistle)
SQUIRREL BUTTER & SCOTT KNICKERBOCKER: An evening of American roots music @ C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. No cover; tips appreciated. (5612 California SW)
‘SAVE A UNICORN’ BENEFIT: 7 pm at The Skylark, benefit to help Amanda Hutchins conquer cancer. Singing, dancing, rope-jumping, more – it’s a variety show. Tickets available here. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
‘ADDAMS FAMILY’ AT WSHS: The new West Seattle High School Drama Club & Music Department musical comedy opens tonight in the WSHS Theater! 7:30 pm; ticket info here, production info here. (3000 California SW)
MORE FOR TODAY/TONIGHT/BEYOND … on our complete calendar.
****
*The side note from photographer David, mentioned above: “I know that Canada geese aren’t the most popular bird on the planet, but this little guy is kind of cute. This is another good reason for compliance with the dogs on a leash rule. These geese are generally terrified of dogs (especially large or active ones), even if the dogs are leashed but the owners approach too close. Over the years I have noticed that when the geese make a break to escape to the water by scrambling over the large rocks lining the shore, the small goslings can’t keep up and frequently fall in the large gaps in the rocks and are then trapped – or injure their legs trying to jump across. My wife and I have taken quite a number of the injured ones to PAWS where they usually end up having to be euthanized.”
One week from tomorrow, the West Seattle Water Taxi starts its spring/summer 7-days-a-week schedule. Two days later, you’ll get to ride the new M/V Doc Maynard – twice the capacity of its predecessor – for free during Community Appreciation Day on Sunday, April 10th, hosted by the King County Marine Division at Seacrest Pier. Full announcement after the jump:
(ADDED: WSB photo)
8:23 AM: Big emergency response for a boat reported to be in trouble off the 10400 block of Maplewood Place SW [map], which is in southwesternmost West Seattle.
8:28 AM: From the scanner, 50-foot boat, “foot of water in the bilge,” three people on board, no injuries, “the boat is secured but not to shore yet.”
8:43 AM: Our crew has arrived. It’s a fishing boat, and this is all taking place on private shoreline. The Coast Guard is helping Seattle Fire.
(ADDED: Photo texted by Kathleen)
8:50 AM: More information from SFD – the boat lost power, ran aground, and sprang a leak. Two of the three people on board were taken to an SFD boat by a small USCG craft, while the third worked to fix the problem and get the boat under way again.
9:04 AM: Added photos. The incident commander tells us the boat will head back toward the Duwamish River, and that a fireboat is following just in case there’s any more trouble.
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:21 AM: Good morning – welcome to the last day of March. No incidents in/from West Seattle so far.
AVALON/YANCY/30TH/ANDOVER PROJECT: As of yesterday afternoon, crews on this pedestrian-safety project had closed Andover at Avalon.
7:54 AM: Matt says via Twitter that lower Spokane St. is jammed east of the low bridge but isn’t seeing why; no incidents that we’re seeing logged, either.
8:46 AM: Crash reported at Olson/Myers – one south/westbound lane of Olson is blocked.
1:01 AM: Lots of questions this past half-hour about a helicopter just south of the city/county border. Flight-tracking showed it was Guardian One but there was little discussion on the scanner and no reports of ground activity, so we didn’t know what it was up to until this tweet just after it left the area: “Assisted White Center patrol on person with a gun call in 18 Ave SW. Led patrol in to person in front yard of house. Subject is detained.” That would be a King County Sheriff’s Office case and we’ll follow up later this morning.
ADDED 5:14 PM: We finally have additional information to share. From KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West: “Around midnight, we responded to the area of the 10400 block of 18 Ave SW for a report of a suicidal man who possibly had a gun. We contacted the man in the area and did not locate a gun. The man was transported to a hospital for a mental-health evaluation. The man is a 66 year old living in the vicinity.”
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