West Seattle, Washington
13 Saturday
That’s how West Seattle mom Holli Margell headed her note, including this photo and report:
At (Southwest Athletic Complex) this evening around 7 pm, my 4th grader found six shells during track and field practice. He put them in a pile to the side so no one would step on them, then he came and told me about them. I had never thought I’d need to tell my kids to never touch bullets or shells they saw on the ground before!
I’m hoping that anyone else who heard or saw something suspicious reported or reports it too.
And, while I have talked to my kids about never touching a gun they find, and the importance of telling an adult if they do, I learned this evening that talk should include bullets and shells.
In a followup exchange, she said the shells were on the turf field near the southern goal. And yes, she reported the discovery to police.
(First WSB photo)
9:17 PM: Big emergency response for a crash, possibly three people with serious injuries, at West Marginal Way and Spokane Street. We’re en route. Avoid the area.
9:35 PM: West Marginal Way SW is partly blocked off just east of the five-point intersection, just under the west end of the low bridge. We’ve just arrived near the scene and have also heard part of the medical reports on the victims. Three people are hurt – two with major injuries, one somewhat less serious. Two are described as men in their 20s; we missed the third description. All three were in the backseat of what’s described as a vehicle that hit a concrete bridge pillar “at a high rate of speed.” Two others were reported to be in the car.
(This photo and next three below, by Christopher Boffoli)
9:51 PM: SPD tells us at the scene that this is on Port of Seattle property, so Port police will take over the investigation. We’ve added a photo of the car atop this report. As for the two other people reported to have been in the car – where they are, apparently no one knows.
10 PM: Traffic is now being allowed past the scene in both directions, and a tow truck has arrived.
10:49 PM: Added photos from WSB’s Christopher Boffoli with a wider look at the scene and closer look at the car, as the tow crew prepared to remove it.
(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
8:21 PM: Thanks for the tips. Guardian 1 is helping look for several people reported to be in Schmitz Park. We do not know why yet but will be there momentarily to look for officers to ask on the ground.
8:27 PM: We just arrived at Admiral Way park entrance; 3 SPD cars here. Looking for officers to get info.
8:34 PM: A park visitor reported seeing someone with a gun. But the person who called 911 was gone and didn’t give a description. No gunfire, no victim(s). The ground and air search turned up nothing, so it’s over now.
Four quick biznotes to share:
FLEURT’S EARTH DAY GIFT: Earth Day is actually Earth Weekend at Fleurt in The Junction. Tomorrow and Sunday the shop will continue its annual tradition – drop off your “gently used vases, containers, pots, and jars,” and every dropoff gets you a free mini-cactus in exchange. The shop is at 4526 California SW.
SIGN #1 – PECOS PIT: The new barbecue restaurant in the remodeled ex-teriyaki joint at 35th/Fauntleroy is hiring – just posted in the WSB West Seattle Jobs Offered section – and now says it’s opening in May. On Thursday, the permanent sign went up:
Thanks to Kendall Jones from Washington Beer Blog for sharing the photo.
SIGN #2 – PEGASUS PIZZA: Also getting hoisted yesterday, the new sign for Pegasus Pizza at 2770 Alki SW:
That’s one of the finishing touches from their remodeling project.
NEW MARKET IN WHITE CENTER: Fans of the departed Phnom Khiev Market may want to check out the new market in its former location starting tomorrow – that’s when the new C & T Asian Market at 16th/17th/100th is scheduled to open, community member Gill tells us.
5:37 PM: Thanks to the texter who sent word of this – it’s not on the 911 log, so apparently no major injuries – a multi-car crash on westbound Fauntleroy Way in The Triangle, just past Oregon. “Slow going,” says our tipster.
6:04 PM: Just went by to check; scene is completely clear.
First update is from a mayoral announcement this afternoon:
NO PUBLIC-SAFETY LEVY, SAYS MAYOR: Tax-watchers have long voiced suspicion that a city public-safety levy was on the horizon. Today, in an announcement about how SPD’s new North Precinct would be funded, Mayor Murray announced outright that he would not be proposing a public-safety levy this year or next. The announcement says that’s because the city’s Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) income remains “strong.” Read the announcement here. (It does not mention the funding plan for additional SPD hires the mayor recently promised.)
Second update is a followup on a story we reported earlier this week:
911 CENTER RENOVATIONS FOLLOWUP: On Wednesday, we reported on the renovations that SPD says have temporarily reduced the number of lines they have for dealing with 911 calls. We couldn’t find information about the project online, so we asked the city’s Finance and Administrative Services Department. Spokesperson Julie Moore explained that no bidding information was available online because “this project did not go through the traditional bidding process. We used the Job Order Contracting (JOC) process, which per RCW 39.10.420-460, allows the City to issue work orders directly to a JOC prime contractor for facility and utility construction projects not exceeding $350,000.” FAS is handling part of the project, while the equipment is being handled by SPD. So Moore is speaking only for the construction work, which she explains “is secondary but necessary to prepare the space for the main intent of the project – replacing the existing 38 dispatch and eight training/back-up consoles with new consoles and equipment. Additional equipment upgrades include large display monitors and software upgrades, all in collaboration and with support from King County E9-1-1, Seattle IT and several City and County service providers. The work is contained in the main call center/dispatch room, training room and nearby hallways on the 2nd floor of the West Precinct Seattle Police Department 911 Communications Center. FAS’ portion of the project is estimated at $348,000 and is being completed by Saybr Contractors, Inc. (a WMBE firm).” She says the scope of the work includes:
· Revise electrical to support new consoles.
· Replace static-dissipative carpet.
· Add new grounding to meet current radio system requirements.
· Add wall supports and electrical for new wall-mounted monitors.
· Add supervisor/chief dispatcher platform.
The first phase of the work updated the training area, and Moore says that was finished by March 11th. What’s under way now, updating the main call-center area for 38 new consoles, started on March 14th and is supposed to be done by the end of May. In the meantime, Moore says, 911 calltakers have been “relocated to the Fire Alarm Center co-located with the City’s Emergency Operations Center/Fire Station 10 at 400 S. Washington St.”
Before the year’s out, the county expects to complete the Murray Combined Sewer Overflow Control Project across from Lowman Beach Park, north of Lincoln Park; our most-recent project update followed the briefing presented last week to the Fauntleroy Community Association. There’s still some major work to be done, and some of it will bring dozens of concrete trucks to the site tomorrow. Here’s the alert:
King County’s contractor will be pouring concrete on-site tomorrow, Saturday, April 23 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to encase an electrical duct bank on the north side of the facility building (see photo). The electrical lines will provide power to the facility building and underground storage tank. The concrete will protect the electrical lines from moisture and heat.
Up to 10 trucks an hour will deliver concrete to the site. One concrete pump truck will be located on the east side of Beach Drive S.W. to pump the concrete onto the duct bank. Trucks delivering concrete will enter the site from Lincoln Park Way S.W. and exit using 48th Ave S.W. Trucks waiting to pour will park on Lincoln Park Way SW. Expect traffic delays and congestion while the pour is underway. Flaggers will be on site to safely direct traffic through the work zone.
Thank you for your continued patience during construction. Please contact the project hotline 206-205-9186 with any questions or concerns.
The million-gallon storage tank that’s at the heart of the project is expected to keep sewage from overflowing into Puget Sound when stormwater overwhelms the system.
P.S. Questions about this project? Next Tuesday (April 26), 5-7 pm, is your chance to drop by the site, look for the info tent that will be set up, and ask!
As Easy Street Records proprietor Matt Vaughan told a gathering in his café this morning, it’s just “ridiculous” that West Seattle has been without a permanent tribute to, and bearing the name of, Frances Farmer, the brilliant and beautiful WSHS graduate who became famous and infamous in Hollywood decades ago. He’s finally fixed that omission with this:
He dedicated that star just inside the Easy Street Café entrance this morning, also recalling Frances Farmer as not just an actress but also as an outspoken woman in a time when females were not supposed to speak out.
(Update: Here’s video of Vaughan’s remarks.)
The star, Vaughan said, was supposed to be in the sidewalk outside the shop, but that didn’t work out due to “politics,” so its place of honor is on private property inside his business. (Ms. Farmer died of cancer in 1970, just 56 years old, and is buried in Indiana.)
The 12th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – Saturday, May 14th – is just three weeks from tomorrow, and as promised, we’ve decided on the deadline for registration. If you’re having a sale and not signed up already, please register by next Wednesday night (11:59 pm), April 27th. You can do it right now by going to the official registration form here.
Garage/yard/etc. sales are a time-honored form of person-to-person recycling, so on this Earth Day, we’re proud to again be getting ready to present the area’s biggest Community Garage Sale Day, founded in 2005 by a community-connection organization called Megawatt; we’ve been coordinating it since the fourth edition, in 2008. If you don’t have enough stuff, or space, for a full-fledged sale, check ASAP with our two multi-seller sites, WSB’s coffee-purveyor sponsors, Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (which for WSCGSD oversees both its courtyard at 4410 California SW and the parking lot across the alley at Ginomai) and C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW).
For shoppers, our tradition is to launch the map a week in advance, so you can check for it here and/or at our official WSCGSD site at westseattlegaragesale.com starting on Saturday, May 7th. Both the interactive web version and the printable/downloadable PDF version will include the up-to-20-words listings for the sales, too. More than 190 sales of all sizes, all over the peninsula, are signed up already. Again, here’s where to go. And if you have questions/problems, garagesale@westseattleblog.com is the official WSCGSD mailbox. Looking forward to May 14th!
Happy Earth Day! Thanks to Gary Jones for the Alki Point orca photos from their brief visit to West Seattle waters yesterday afternoon – so brief that because of other news breaking at that time, we only got a mention out on Twitter, before they turned and headed back north.
Tonight, also, is the first night of Passover. Now – highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar for the hours ahead:
EARTH DAY ART INSTALLATION AT ALKI: We covered this yesterday and now it’s officially on display. Here’s a new photo from our visit to the beach a short time ago:
Among those visiting this morning, our area’s State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, known for environmental/sustainability advocacy.
You can see this until about 7 tonight on the path and the sand east of Alki Bathhouse. Then, a project spokesperson told us, the recyclable clothing will go back into the system of the installation’s sponsor, Value Village. (59th/Alki)
FRIDAY AFTERNOON MOVIE: “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956) is onscreen at 1 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle.
VINTAGE FASHION SHOW AND WINE TASTING FUNDRAISER: 2-4 pm at Bridge Park in High Point, benefiting the West Seattle Food Bank. Details in our calendar listing. (3204 SW Morgan)
SOFTBALL: Chief Sealth IHS and West Seattle HS face off at 4 pm today at Southwest Athletic Complex. (2801 SW Thistle)
PAUL GERARD PERFORMS: Live at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), “Paul Gerard, local singer-songwriter whose songs explore the spirit and soul of the Pacific Northwest waters, woods, and wanderers.” 7-9 pm. (5612 California SW)
‘REEL PADDLING’ FILM FESTIVAL: 7:15 pm-10 pm at Pershing Hall in The Triangle – details here. (3618 SW Alaska)
‘LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE’: 7:30 pm at Kenyon Hall, opening night for Twelfth Night Productions‘ Seattle premiere – details and ticket info here. (7904 35th SW)
ILLUMINATED KAYAKTIVISTS: 8 pm, in honor of Earth Day, activists looking ahead to next month’s anti-fossil-fuel “Break Free” actions plan luminary-lit kayaking off Seacrest Pier. (1660 Harbor SW)
Here’s our first of two reports from last night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting, the shorter one because this project had little critique and little controversy. The three-story, 15-unit apartment building proposed for 1606 California SW in North Admiral won SWDRB approval in the minimum number of review meetings – two – though they were two years apart.
Board chair Todd Bronk and members Don Caffrey, Alexandra Moravec, and Matt Zinski voted unanimously to give their final blessing. On hand for the city Department of Construction and Inspections (formerly Planning and Development) was the project’s assigned planner Katy Haima.
Here’s the design “packet” by Roger Newell Architects, whose Neal Thompson led the presentation, saying the project has a “great site” in terms of its view: Every living space will have a corner window. He said the project hadn’t been idle since its last review in 2014, since they had been working with the city “through four correction cycles” and changing the design to respond to feedback from the preview review.
The exterior will include stucco, paneling, wood soffits, and glass rails. The driveway into the garage (the plan includes 21 offstreet parking spaces) will have vertical planking along its sides, for “texture.”
The lone public commenter was former SWDRB chair Deb Barker, who recalled that she voiced concern about a section of “blank wall” back at the 2014 meeting – specifically the west side of the project, facing California – and it’s still there. She’s hoping for something honoring the “elegant nature of the project.” She said she’s “pleased with .. the palette and the materials.” And she “really, really like(s) the tower” on the building.
That same concern was voiced by board chair Bronk when members deliberated before voting. He and Caffrey both voiced support of the materials chosen. Caffrey also wanted to be sure sightlines for cars and pedestrians were considered in term the ramp to the garage. Bronk added his concern about “stacking” of cars in the alley. Moravec expressed appreciation for some of the landscaping along the ramp. Bronk, a landscape architect, did have a critique of the planned trees, thinking some evergreens would be called for, especially along the “blank wall” section on the building’s west side. Zinski said that with “a lot of corners exposed” on the building, it would be important to ensure the wood siding fit together well. He also said during deliberation that “those stairs [in the tower] had better be really nice if we’re going to see them.” Bronk focused on other details such as trellising shielding the trash area and also lighting being shielded on the alley side. Overall, he called the design “a great package.”
If you have feedback on the project, there’s still time, even if you missed the meeting – e-mail comments to the planner at katy.haima@seattle.gov.
Our report on last night’s second review, the board’s third look at 4532 42nd SW, will be published later today.
It’s reunion-reminder season! This announcement arrived last night:
West Seattle High School Class of 1956 is having their 60th class reunion at Salty’s on Alki on Friday, June 3, 2016. It will be held from 11:00 AM until 3 PM. For more information, contact
Sally Jo Banker Rich at 206 282 4335 or e-mail sjrich99 (at) gmail.com.
That’s the day before this year’s WSHS All-School Reunion.
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:27 AM: Good morning! It’s Friday, and now a week away from the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s two-weeks-or-so closure. SDOT has just reported a crash at 26th and Roxbury. No word on traffic effects but there’s no associated Seattle Fire dispatch so apparently no major injuries.
Updates and reminders, starting with one big one:
FAUNTLEROY EXPRESSWAY WORK POSTPONED: We received and published the news late yesterday – SDOT’s spokesperson for the Fauntleroy Expressway earthquake-safety-pad-re-replacement project says its start will be delayed until at least mid-May. This is the project that will bring overnight closures of the west end of the West Seattle Bridge and lane closures day AND night on surface Spokane St. beneath it. Those closures had been announced as starting next Wednesday.
VIADUCT CLOSURE STARTS NEXT FRIDAY: Early next Friday (April 29th) morning, Highway 99 will be closed between the Battery Street Tunnel and the West Seattle Bridge, for about two weeks – however long it takes for the tunneling machine to go beneath the Alaskan Way Viaduct. (There will be progress reports at least once a day here.) Is your plan all set? Any questions still unanswered?
WHAT’S CHANGED SINCE 2011 ‘VIADOOM’: We’ve been thinking about this one – some major additions to the local transportation scene since the fall 2011 one-week-plus Viaduct closure:
–1st Avenue ramp to/from westbound bridge (opened late summer 2012)
–RapidRide C Line (launched September 2012)
–South Park Bridge open (new one opened in June 2014)
-Larger West Seattle Water Taxi (Doc Maynard, double the capacity of Spirit of Kingston, took over the route in January of this year)
Anything to add? Also notable, SDOT says fewer vehicles use the Viaduct now compared to then, 90,000/day compared to 110,000/day. And conversely, more use transit. But this all means that even if you have a crystal-clear memory of how things went in 2011, it might not apply.
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