West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
8:52 AM SATURDAY: Just got text and e-mail saying the boys have been found and are OK. No other details.
(original coverage below) Read More
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The Highland Park Action Committee and guests listened on Wednesday night to three women with unique perspectives on how to help people experiencing homelessness: Two advocates who work with them, and one woman who lost her home when she lost her job.
Also discussed: The recent decision not to provide Neighborhood Street Fund money to the roundabout that is seen as a solution to the Highland Park Way/Holden traffic trouble.
First, the panel, which you also can watch/listen to via our unedited video above:
HPAC chair Gunner Scott moderated the discussion, saying he had experienced homelessness in his youth and is still somewhat shocked to realize he is now, in his 40s, a homeowner. He asked for understanding and civility.
The panelists: Read More
For everyone who’s been asking about the work at the 35th/Avalon 7-11 – we caught that photo while driving by this afternoon. Some have wondered if the store itself is being torn down, but online records show the project just involves the gas station. To be specific: “The removal of three 10,000 gallon underground gasoline storage tanks (replacing) with two 20,000 gallon underground gasoline tanks.” (The store itself has had some other work along the way – files also show a permit last year for Slurpee-machine replacement.)
Thanks to Vy Duong for the photo! Perfect day for the Lafayette Elementary Walk-a-Thon, and here’s the cheery crowd of participants afterward. This year’s theme: “Super Silly Fun Land.”
(This is one of our area’s many school fundraisers organized by PTAs/PTSAs – if your school has one coming up and you welcome wider community support, please let us know so we can include it in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar – editor@westseattleblog.com – we include PTA/PTSA meetings in the calendar when we get word of them, too – thank you!)
(WSB file photo from past Harvest Festival)
Just a little over a day and a half until this year’s West Seattle Harvest Festival in The Junction, which runs concurrent with the Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm on Sunday.
The market remains in the street on California between Alaska and Oregon. Festival activities will also be found on California between Alaska and Edmunds, and on Alaska between 42nd and 44th.
*Activities (games, art, crafts, more – more than two dozen providers – all free!) 10 am-2 pm
*Chili competition on the southwest corner of California/Alaska starting at 11 am – buy a flight (nine competitors), vote for your favorite, and your $ goes to the West Seattle Food Bank
*Costume parade 11:30 am from Junction Plaza Park (gather there starting at 11:15 am at 42nd/Alaska), led by the West Seattle High School Marching Band
*Trick-or-treating at Junction businesses starting at noon
We’ll be there throughout the festival, covering it “live” from the heart of The Junction. See you there on Sunday (forecast so far looks like we’ll see some sunshine)!
3:28 PM: The dinosaur and unicorn were dancing inside Admiral Bird, our first stop at this year’s Admiral District Trick-or-Treating event, happening until 6 pm. Just look for the “participating merchant” sign if you don’t see something/someone else obvious – with the sunshine, many merchants are outdoors with the candy bowls. (Added) From Atomic Boys – that’s Kent “Tourist” Sadow below left with friend “Joey Ramone”:
4:09 PM: If you come down, don’t miss the side streets – Admiral merchants are handing out candy beyond California SW and SW Admiral Way. For example, on 42nd just north of Lander (east of Safeway), you’ll find West Seattle Realty (WSB sponsor):
Meantime, as previewed in our West Seattle Halloween (etc.) Guide, Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) is having a costume contest during trick-or-treating:
Admiral trick-or-treating continues until 6 pm.
5:53 PM: Almost over – but we’ve added more photos ahead, from a “presidential candidate” to a pet! Read More
(Photo by Dave Ellifrit, from December 2015 birth announcement of J28’s calf J54)
2:10 PM: We have just left Bell Street Pier downtown, where advocates for the Southern Resident Killer Whales summoned media to hear sad news and a plea for action before time runs out.
First, they announced the death of another local orca, a nursing mom whose calf is dead or dying too. This is the “obituary” read by whale researcher Ken Balcomb:
J28 was born in mid-winter 1992/93 in or near Puget Sound Washington, and was the first of four known calves born to J17 in the J9/J5 lineage of southern resident killer whales (SRKW – see family tree) inhabiting the inshore marine waters of the Pacific Northwest. The iconic and world-famous J1, first SRKW ever to be photo-identified, was her father.
Photographs of J28 that were taken in the summer of 1993 by Center for Whale Research staff and Earthwatch volunteers show that she was a healthy and vigorous ‘calf’’ among six new calves born that year into the SRKW population. In late autumn 2002, when J28 was nine years old she acquired a small nick in the trailing edge of her dorsal fin that made her easily identifiable to whale-watchers and the general public, and she became one of the darlings for a growing fan club of humans that were beginning to raise concerns that this iconic population was precipitously declining from around 100 in 1995 to around 80 in 2003. The SRKW population was declared Endangered under the US Endangered Species Act in 2005, and earlier this year it was listed as a “species in the spotlight” by NOAA for its lack of recovery since then.
Sexual maturity for these immensely popular neighbor animals is typically attained in the early to mid teens, and J28 had her first known calf, a daughter J46, in November 2009 when she was sixteen years old. Gestation is approximately 17 months, so we can estimate that J28 became pregnant at age fourteen and a half. In January 2013 (three years after the birth of J46), a freshly dead neonate calf was found on Dungeness Spit and identified from DNA as belonging to J28 with the father most likely to have been L41. The dead calf was not given an alpha-numeric designation because it had not been documented alive. She subsequently (23 months after the dead calf) had her second live-born calf, a son J54, in December 2015 at the tail end of a so-called “Baby Boom” of 2014/15. Regrettably now that mom has died, he will not survive and may already be dead, along with two other “boomers” (J55 and L120).
J28 was noted to be losing body condition in January 2016, presumably from birthing complications, and by July was clearly emaciated. If her carcass is ever found an examination of her ovaries may reveal how many ovulations/pregnancies she actually had, as well as her proximate cause of death (probably septicemia). We estimate that she died in the Strait of Juan de Fuca sometime between 16 and 18 October, prior to her first noted absence on 19 October.
J28 is survived by her Mother, (J17) two sisters (J35 and J53), a brother (J44), a daughter (J46), and a nephew (J47). Her daughter and her oldest sister (J35) are attempting to care for the orphaned calf, but at ten months of age he is too young to survive without mother’s milk supplement, and he has gone too long with inadequate nutrition. No other lactating females have adopted him and his grandmother is too occupied raising her own newest calf (J53, born in October last year) to care for him. His sister, J46, had been catching and offering salmon to her mother and little brother for several months while mom was ill, but that was simply not enough nutrition provided to three whales by one little female no matter how hard she tried. The family requests that in lieu of sending flowers and cake*, well-wishers please send more wild Chinook salmon to and from Pacific Northwest rivers.
LIVE on #Periscope: Save-the-orcas news conference at Bell Street Pier https://t.co/4IyrXNOmeM
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) October 28, 2016
The SRKWs population is now down to 80, Balcomb said (down from 85 early this year).
The advocates are urging support for one key action to make that happen: Removal of four dams on the Lower Snake River. They say that the dams are losing money anyway, and have been studied ad infinitum, with another study about to be launched – needlessly, they say – and that the dams could be breached/removed by order of the President. 202-456-1111 is the White House number they’re urging supporters to call. They also suggested pressure on Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell as well as Governor Jay Inslee.
Three biznotes – well, the first one actually involves a nonprofit:
COFFEE AND CATS: The Kitty Harbor cat-adoption center on the north side of the Luna Park business district, now part of Emerald City Pet Rescue, has a new feature: Coffee! We just spoke with ECPR founder/president Vivian Goldbloom. She says they’ve added espresso (and tea), with a stand open when Kitty Harbor is open – Saturdays and Sundays for now – but plan to grow it into something more: Emerald Kitty Café, which eventually will also have vegan and vegetarian sandwiches, salads, muffins, etc., and, they hope by next spring, an outdoor seating area (which will be dog-friendly, she says, and will offer wi-fi). The big attraction: While this is NOT a full-blown “cat café” with interaction, you will be able to see several adoptable cats/kittens in special cages on the other side of a glass window behind the coffee stand. All proceeds go back to ECPR’s work, Goldbloom points out. You can go see for yourself this weekend, noon-4 pm Saturday and Sunday at 3422 Harbor SW.
UPDATE ON THE LODGE SPORTS GRILLE: Every time a new restaurant/bar opens, it brings questions about the ones that are still under construction. This week, a couple people asked about The Lodge Sports Grille, in the works for more than a year now at Junction 42. We checked in at the site- they were doing some floor work that kept us from venturing too far in, but we did learn that they have “a few weeks” to go, dealing with deliveries and permits.
NAILS AT 35TH/HENDERSON: The space most recently occupied by The Ripple Café (which closed almost a year ago) is going to be Day Nails and Spa, according to a note in the window.
Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch this morning:
STOLEN CAR #1: Dan Austin of Peel & Press (WSB sponsor) woke up to an unpleasant surprise:
Someone between 12-6 am stole my 2000 GMC Yukon XL from the 7100 block of 44th Ave SW.
I use this rig daily to pick up items for my restaurant and haul my two little ones around. If anyone comes across this vehicle please let me know. Plate # AYL1940 (unless they have been switched out).
STOLEN CAR #2: From Erika: “A maroon 1995 four-door Honda Accord was stolen from the street parking in front of our house on the 2700 block of 44th Ave SW.” Plate ADR 7214.
STOLEN WHEELS: From Duncan:
I came out to take the kids to school this morning and found this:
We had our other car prowled a couple of week ago too. 41st Ave SW between Fauntleroy and Graham.
Duncan has since learned a neighbor’s truck was prowled last night, too. Police reports have been filed.
We hope crime doesn’t happen to you – but if it does, once you’ve reported it to police, please consider letting us know so we can alert your neighbors peninsula-wide – editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!
WSB crime coverage is archived here.
Thanks to Vanessa for the rainbow photo! The forecast promises a partly sunny day, which is great for all the Hallo-weekend events about to happen. First, what’s up for today/tonight as listed in the WSB West Seattle Halloween (etc.) Guide:
HOLY ROSARY SCHOOL PRESCHOOL TRICK-OR-TREATING: An indoor event happening this afternoon: “We are inviting children age 5 and under with an adult to come trick or treat INSIDE at our Holy Rosary classrooms! We will have a mix of candy and non-candy items.” 1-2:30 pm. (42nd SW/SW Genesee)
TRICK-OR-TREAT IN THE ADMIRAL DISTRICT: Trick-or-Treating in The Admiral District, participating merchants – look for this sign on the door or window:
3-6 pm. (California/Admiral and vicinity)
COSTUME CONTEST: Kids’ Halloween Costume Contest, 3-6 pm at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor). Prizes for cutest, scariest, most-creative costumes. (41st/42nd/Admiral Way)
LIGHT SHOW: Halloween Light Show by the folks who bring you West Seattle Yuletide. 5-10 pm. New zombies this year! (38th SW between Genesee and Dakota)
HIAWATHA CARNIVAL: Halloween Carnival at Hiawatha Community Center, 6-8 pm. “Start your Halloween off with a frighteningly fun-filled evening for the family! Wear your costumes and enjoy carnival games, crafts, and spooktacular activities.” $5/family. (2700 California SW)
ALKI CARNIVAL: 6-8 pm, carnival at Alki Community Center, ages 5-11: “Alki’s inviting all the little goblins in town to join us for a howling good time. Enjoy carnival inspired games, and walk through our scream room, if you dare.” $1 per game or $10 unlimited bracelet. (5817 SW Stevens)
THE GREAT PUMPKIN BASH: For kids, free games, prizes, candy, and contests, at Westwood Christian Community, 6:30 pm. (9252 16th SW)
LISTENING PARTY: At Easy Street Records, 7 pm, free, all ages, Stranger Things Soundtrack Halloween Listening Party. “The soundtrack to Netflix’s Stranger Things is coming out on vinyl 10/28 and we’re gonna have a party! We’re gonna hang some Christmas lights, set up a waffle bar, play some Dungeons & Dragons, and host a Halloween costume contest!” (California SW & SW Alaska)
GHOST GAME X: The Cabiri in “Ghost Game X: For Life Eternal” dessert-theater cabaret at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 7:30 pm. Tickets, showtimes, details in our calendar listing. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
And now from the rest of the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
LAFAYETTE WALK-A-THON: Until 1 pm, it’s fundraising walk-a-thon day at Lafayette Elementary.
Thanks to Megan Smith for the photo; she also wanted to shout out to West Seattle Runner WSB sponsor) for their support. Stop by and donate! (California/Lander)
WEST SEATTLE GARDEN CLUB: Until 2 pm, their meeting is on at Daystar Retirement Village in Westwood – you can drop in! Agenda details are in our calendar listing. (2615 SW Barton)
CASUAL WATER: Live guitar music at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. (5612 California SW)
‘BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY’: Second night for the West Seattle High School Drama Club production, at the WSHS Theater, 7:30 pm curtain time. Details in our calendar listing. (3000 California SW)
MUCH, MUCH MORE FOR TODAY, TONIGHT, BEYOND … on our complete calendar page!
If you’re a runner in West Seattle, you probably know Lori McConnell, co-proprietor of West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) and certified running coach. You might not know that she’s also a licensed mental-health counselor. and that’s led her to launch this new program:
RAAD: Run Along Anxiety & Depression – A Running Group
This is a 6-week program designed to help adults dealing with anxiety and depression develop a regular running routine to help with symptom management.
Mondays, November 14th-December 19th, 2016 – 12:30 pm
For the first session, we will meet at Hiawatha Track and Playfield, but we will rotate locations in West Seattle. Participants can expect:
1) Learn how to build a regular running routine
2) One coached session each Monday where you will learn running techniques. Additionally, you will practice skills that are helpful for managing the symptoms of anxiety and depression that are barriers to exercise routines (such as finding motivation, mindfulness strategies, distraction techniques, and overcoming the inner critic)
3) A weekly running schedule to build the new habit
4) Coach Lori is willing to collaborate with your therapist if there is a signed consent form
5) Connection with others
Cost: $120 – register here – e-mail questions to lori@westseattlerunner.com
The first location, Hiawatha, is at 2700 California SW.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
7:02 AM: Good morning! No traffic effects reported from the South Transfer Station fire (which apparently is to blame for the smoky smell in West Seattle) but we’ll be going over to check soon.
Alerts for this weekend:
SOUTHBOUND 99 SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN, DETOUR STARTS TONIGHT: Because of railroad-track work at East Marginal/South Diagonal, if you are on SB 99 between 7 pm tonight and 5 am Monday, you will be detoured onto 1st Avenue S. at Atlantic. To get on the westbound West Seattle Bridge from there, you’ll have to continue to the 1st Avenue onramp. The full explanation is here, from SDOT.
Special-event reminders (from the WSB West Seattle Halloween [etc.] Guide):
ADMIRAL TRICK-OR-TREATING TODAY: Take extra care in The Admiral District 3-6 pm today, when hundreds of kids and their families will be trick-or-treating in the business district.
JUNCTION HARVEST FESTIVAL SUNDAY: 10 am-2 pm Sunday, the usual street closures expand for this year’s Harvest Festival – California between Edmunds and Oregon, Alaska between 42nd and 44th. That means a reroute for Metro Route 128.
7:37 PM: Crash reported at Delridge and Thistle.
8:02 AM: Now there’s trouble on the bridge, tweets SDOT:
A stall is blocking the center lane on the EB West Seattle Bridge. Use caution and expect delays. pic.twitter.com/mwoZBNkz2C
— seattledot (@seattledot) October 28, 2016
8:25 PM: The bridge stall has cleared, SDOT says. So has the Delridge crash scene.
6:30 AM: We’ve received several questions about a strong smell of smoke in West Seattle. No fire calls here but for the past couple hours, SFD has been battling what’s described as a trash fire inside the South Transfer Station on the west edge of South Park (several miles away), and that’s generated a lot of smoke, so we’re thinking that must be what people are noticing. Seattle Public Utilities operates the station and says it will be closed today because of the fire, so if you were planning a dump/recycling run, you’ll have to go elsewhere.
7:45 AM: Update from SFD via Twitter – this is the view INSIDE the transfer station:
Progress approx 70% contained. pic.twitter.com/PWCfqBUTR3
— Seattle Fire Dept (@SeattleFire) October 28, 2016
This has been a stubborn fire – the SFD log shows the first response goes back to 12:36 am.
9:23 AM: More details on the fire and the closure, from SPU:
Seattle Public Utilities’ South Transfer Station is closed today, while firefighters and utility workers deal with the aftermath of a fire on the station’s tipping floor.
The fire at the three-year-old station, in South Park, started around 12:45 this morning. The cause is unknown at this time. Transfer station fires are often caused by materials — such as marine flares or chemicals — that have been improperly disposed of.
For information on where to dispose of household hazardous waste, including station locations and hours, contact www.HazWasteHelp.org or (206) 296-4692.
At 8:10 this morning, the fire was 70 percent contained.
While the station is closed, SPU is asking self-haul customers to take their garbage to the utilities’ old transfer station, at 8100 2nd Ave. S., which is adjacent to the new station. Compost and recycling cannot be accepted at the old station today.
Director of Solid Waste Ken Snipes said fires occasionally occur at garbage transfer stations, and the new station is built to withstand them. Damage to the station—if any—has not yet been assessed.
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