day : 20/01/2017 12 results

(WSB photo)

As the day came to a close, Seattle Public Utilities crews were on both sides of the Fauntleroy slide – up on the dead-end section of California SW where part of the road itself washed away late last night (WSB coverage here), and down on the SW Cambridge street end, which is what you see in the next two photos, sent by Jeff VanGilder:

SPU spokesperson Katie McVicker told WSB they still don’t know why the 2-inch water line broke. Two customers were without water this afternoon, with others on California SW likely experiencing lower-than-normal water pressure, but SPU expected service to be fully restored tonight. As for the road, we asked SDOT’s Sue Romero:

SPU is taking the lead on the cleanup efforts. Currently, the west side of the street is impassable due to damage, however, there is enough room to keep one lane open to allow local access to residents. SDOT is continuing to support SPU efforts. We are working to add sand bags to divert any surface water from the undermined/washed out area.

We will continue to monitor the anticipated weekend rain. There is a possibility that we may need to close the road to vehicle access if the road is further undermined. If that occurs, we would assess and determine if it would be possible to provide pedestrian access to homes. Any final restoration and mitigation measures proposed by SPU’s team will be reviewed and approved by SDOT.

And then there’s the question about safety of structures in the area.

Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections spokesperson Wendy Shark said inspectors had been sent to check out “buildings” in the slide area, but by day’s end she hadn’t heard back on whether they had needed to take safety action, so that’s information we might not get before Monday.

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West Seattleite to speak before Womxn’s March tomorrow

January 20, 2017 7:27 pm

| 11 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle people

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

If you are going to the Womxn’s March on Seattle tomorrow, get to the starting point at Judkins Park in time for the pre-march speakers.

One is a West Seattle neighbor – Aneelah Afzali.

Afzali is executive director of MAPS-AMEN, the recently launched American Muslim Empowerment Network, launched through the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, which is based in Redmond.

She will be one of five speakers at the rally before the march, and her speech will be about combating Islamophobia. “Essentially,” she told us during a phone conversation, “getting people to understand that Muslims were part of America even before it was a country, despite the demonization we are seeing in the media.” She’ll be talking about what people can do to help combat Islamophobia.

What CAN you do? “Each circumstance will vary,” Afzali says. The important thing is to not just stand by in silence – use your voice, use your body if you have to, or tell the story – if you see or hear something, posting about it on social media can be an important way of fighting back. “Standing up for the victim, letting them know they have an ally … there are a variety of things that people can do.”

In the bigger picture, her work “has four areas of focus – coalition building … with other minority groups as well as our friends and allies of any kind of background. That’s important during troubling times. (Also) education about Islam and Muslims – unfortunately, most people in our country don’t know Muslims, and something is easy to demonize when you don’t know much about it.” Another area of focus: “Leveraging media properly – Islam is the most mentioned religion (in media),” but most of the mentions are negative, Afzali says. The final focus: “Youth empowerment – helping build the future leaders of our country.” Last weekend, MAPS-AMEN had a youth-advocacy workshop with more than 100 young participants learning about Islamophobia and using the “power of the pen” to combat it.

MAPS-AMEN plans to have more than 100 American Muslims marching tomorrow; an announcement of that is how we found Afzali – we received a news release about the group’s participation, and asked if there were any West Seattleites with whom we could speak.

ABOUT THE MARCH: Marchers are gathering at 10 am at Judkins Park, with the speakers (including Aneelah Afzali) scheduled at 10:30 am, marching instructions at 11. Full details, including maps, are here.

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INAUGURATION WEEK: West Seattleites’ chance meeting in D.C.

January 20, 2017 4:54 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle people

Inaugural Parade today, Women’s March tomorrow. Big weekend in D.C., and some West Seattleites have traveled from here to “the other Washington.” The photo was just sent by one of them, Kerry Murphy:

We (the 3 on the left: Kristen Meyer, Kerry Murphy, Megan Jasper) were standing at the inaugural parade (in our pussyhats) today, feeling a little overwhelmed, and a woman and her teenage daughter (Tessa Surface and Kristina Dahl, in the pic) wandered up, also looking a hair overwhelmed. We started chatting, and it turns out we all are from West Seattle. Small world! I had 4 West Seattleites on my plane yesterday, too (that I know of – maybe more?).

We’ll appreciate photos tomorrow too – editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!

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Memorials planned for Kaarisa Karlten (Keitheen Nichols), 1959-2017

January 20, 2017 3:49 pm

| 12 COMMENTS

| Obituaries | West Seattle news

Kaarisa Karlten, originally known as Keitheen Nichols, has died at 57, and family and friends will gather soon in two cities to remember her. Here’s the remembrance her family is sharing:

Born Keitheen Ione Nichols on January 28, 1959, the middle child of five to Keith and Thomasine Nichols of Seattle, she passed away on January 12, 2017, battling breast cancer. Memorial celebrations will be held on January 28th at 3pm at Fauntleroy Church in West Seattle, and in LaGrande, Oregon on February 4th at 3 pm at LaGrande’s Marketplace, 1101 Washington Avenue.

A West Seattle High School graduate, Keitheen went on to study Interior Design at Bellevue College. She used her education in many creative endeavors from interior design, painting, drawing and murals.

Keitheen also attended Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington, and further studied Entrepreneurship, Business, and Multimedia. She lent her artistic talents to creating a backdrop and set for a local television production of “Storytime,” featuring local storytellers. And she put her education to use forming a business, Cottageware, putting her drawings and designs to work on aprons and kitchen dishtowels, selling them at local shops.

At 50 years old, she decided to change her legal name to Kaarisa Karlten, tired of her name being mispronounced her whole life.

She moved to LaGrande, Oregon in 2003, where she channeled her artistic talents with her husband, Wyatt Williams in their custom metal work business, Williams and Karlten Design and Fabrication. Their work can be seen among many businesses in LaGrande and surrounding areas.

Kaarisa believed in always leaving a place better than you found it, and her life is a legacy of that belief, whether you knew her for years, briefly, online or in person. She volunteered in many community events, even Delridge Day (photo at right) to help her daughter’s community. She was a vibrant soul who believed in living life to the fullest as your truest self.

She is survived by her husband Wyatt Williams; three children, Holli Margell, Hance Edwards, Hannah Jane Winn; two stepchildren: Garrett Williams and Kasey Lathrop; three grandchildren; her brothers Stephen Nichols and Michael Nichols; and sister Heidi Henry.

Photos by Holli Margell.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)

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INAUGURATION DAY: West Seattle High School, Madison Middle School students march

January 20, 2017 1:06 pm

| 56 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

1:06 PM: West Seattle High School students are marching in The Junction right now. The photo above came in via text – and our crew is catching up with them as they arrive at California/Alaska. Police are monitoring the march, according to what we’re hearing via scanner.

More photos later – also, Madison Middle School students are expected to head that way soon.

2:07 PM: The Madison students didn’t go to The Junction after all. They left the school around 1:45; we recorded them walking toward California a few minutes later (see Twitter video here – it’s not embeddable today for some reason). We saw them cross paths with returning WSHS students shortly thereafter, and went further down California – but instead of heading toward The Junction, they headed back to school, where we saw the group back outside the entrance a few minutes ago.

4:49 PM: Thanks to the reader who texted this video of the Madison group as they walked along California earlier:

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BIZNOTE: Coworking deal next week for West Seattle Office Junction’s 4th anniversary

January 20, 2017 12:59 pm

| Comments Off on BIZNOTE: Coworking deal next week for West Seattle Office Junction’s 4th anniversary

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(WSB file photo: Marco & Christine @ Office Junction)

Happy 4th anniversary to our area’s only coworking center, West Seattle Office Junction. As is often the case for businesses, they’re offering customers the gift – one week of coworking for $99:

Do you feel easily distracted? Would you like to get your work done in less time? At the West Seattle Office Junction you get all the benefits of an office, nice coworkers, and no boss ;) **For an extra charge we offer a slap in the face every time you check Facebook!**

Give Coworking a try during the week of 1/23-28. Risk-free; if you come in every day and you were not satisfied with the experience, we’ll give you your money back. Just show up on Monday morning to get started. You can also come in for a tour every day from 10 am-3 pm, if you have not had a chance to see our office space or learn about Coworking.

If you decide to stay productive and sign up for one of our month-to-month plans by the end of the week we’ll waive the $50 signup fee! See details here.

West Seattle Office Junction is at 6040 California SW.

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INAUGURATION DAY: Westside School walkout

January 20, 2017 9:58 am

| 37 COMMENTS

| Arbor Heights | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

9:58 AM: Though much of the discussion of possible Inauguration Day student walkouts has focused on Seattle Public Schools, the first walkout of the day turned out to be from an independent school. A tip from a parent (thank you!) led us to Westside School (WSB sponsor) in Arbor Heights, where some of the preK-8 school’s older students walked out at 9 am, heading along 35th SW to SW Roxbury, then east for a bit and back to the school. More photos later.

ADDED 11:59 AM: Two more photos:

According to a letter sent to Westside families (shared with us by parents), middle-school students approached teachers and administrators yesterday with their plan for a demonstration. Here is an image of the letter – we are asking the school for a copy:

Also see comments below for explanations from students.

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What’s happening on your West Seattle Friday

January 20, 2017 9:46 am

| Comments Off on What’s happening on your West Seattle Friday

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Pelagic cormorant, photographed by Mark Wangerin)

From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, we start with today’s inauguration-inspired events:

ALKI BEACH CLEANUP: Under way until 11:30 am, so you’re welcome to join in. Details in our calendar listing. (61st SW/Alki SW)

KID FRIENDLY FOOTWEAR CLOSURE: Kid Friendly Footwear/Again and Again (WSB sponsor) in The Junction is closed today – the store’s statement explains.

TIBBETTS INAUGURATION MEDITATION: 10 am-4 pm and again 6 pm-8 pm, the labyrinth is open for walking at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor). Details in our calendar listing. (3940 41st SW)

‘I SURVIVED INAUGURATION DAY’: 4-10 pm at Ounces in North Delridge. (3809 Delridge Way SW)

POSITIVE POLITICS POTLUCK: 6-9 pm at The Community General Store. (5214 Delridge Way SW)

Also happening today/tonight:

MOVIE NIGHT: Double feature at Highland Park Improvement Club, free. Doors open at 6 pm. (12th SW/SW Holden)

FAMILY CONNECT @ THE Y: 6:30 pm, come try the newly expanded West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) as its grand-reopening celebration continues – nonmembers welcome too, for tonight’s focus on nutrition. (36th SW/SW Snoqualmie)

5 MINUTES OR LESS FLY FISHING FEST: 7 pm at Emerald Water Anglers (WSB sponsor) – RSVP ASAP to be sure there’s still room. (42nd SW/SW Oregon)

JAN MANDRYK: Live music at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. (5612 California SW)

MOTHERS AND SONS: 7:30 pm curtain for the second night of ArtsWest‘s new production. (4711 California SW)

LIVE MUSIC AT THE SKYLARK: 9 pm, Red Sea, General Vicinity, and guests. (3803 Delridge Way SW)

Got an event for the calendar? Send info in plain text in the body of the e-mail, editor@westseattleblog.com, with as much advance notice as possible – thanks!

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@ Delridge District Council: Looking ahead to ‘State of Delridge,’ and more

January 20, 2017 9:09 am

| 1 COMMENT

| Delridge District Council | West Seattle news

Both of West Seattle’s neighborhood-district councils have now had their first meetings since the city’s official severing of ties and financial support.

The Delridge Neighborhoods District Council met Wednesday night for the first time this year, continuing its third-Wednesday meetings but changing the location for the first quarter – it’s meeting at Highland Park Improvement Club through March rather than at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

One of the biggest topics of the meeting was another meeting – 7 pm next Wednesday (January 25th), also at HPIC, several local community councils are co-sponsoring the “State of Delridge” (as in, eastern West Seattle) with City Councilmember Lisa Herbold. Read More

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YOU CAN HELP: Food drive at Elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, with 2 special events Saturday

January 20, 2017 9:04 am

| Comments Off on YOU CAN HELP: Food drive at Elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, with 2 special events Saturday

| Delridge | How to help | West Seattle news

In North Delridge, Elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu of Seattle (WSB sponsor) is in the midst of its annual food drive, and hoping you can help. While the drive continues through January, two special events are planned tomorrow (Saturday, January 21st). Here are the updates from BJJ’s Sonia Sillan:

FOOD DRIVE FOR THE WEST SEATTLE FOOD BANK

We are doing our annual food drive for the West Seattle Food Bank from now until the end of January. As an added bonus, for every ten nonperishables or ten dollars, you will receive one raffle ticket (for example, $30 or 30 nonperishables = 3 tickets). You can enter for a chance to pie your favorite coach in the face. The drawing will be at the end of the month.

MIRIAM CARDOSO SEMINAR

In support of the food drive, we are putting on a community Brazilian Jiu-jitsu seminar by our founder and 5x-world champion, Miriam Cardoso. Entry for the seminar is a minimum of 25 nonperishable items or $25 for the WSFB. The seminar will take place January 21 from 2-4 pm. All levels, ages 10+, are welcome to attend. Please RSVP on the Facebook event by clicking “Going.”

PARENTS NIGHT OUT

Also in support of the food drive, we are sponsoring a Parents Night Out at the gym – Nerf Wars style. Children ages 5-13 are welcome to attend for fun, movies, and games. You provide the Nerf gun, we will provide the ammo! Entry fee is $30, payable through cash for the WSFB or through donations of nonperishable items. Each nonperishable item is worth $1 toward the fee (for example, 30 nonperishables = free entry). Please RSVP on the Facebook event by clicking “Going.”

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TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Friday watch

January 20, 2017 7:28 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

(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)

7:28 AM: Transit alert just in from Metro – “Route 57 to downtown Seattle due to leave the Alaskan Junction at 7:38 AM will not operate this morning.”

7:36 AM: Here are the alerts for potential traffic effects later, related to Inauguration Day:

-School walkouts: So far, Madison MS remains the only one we’ve heard directly about, ~1:30 pm, but Seattle Public Schools says multiple middle/high schools may have walkouts this afternoon.

-Marches/rallies elsewhere in the city today/tonight: Here’s the SDOT alert.

7:42 AM: Then looking ahead to tomorrow, the city’s biggest scheduled event is the Womxn’s March on Seattle from Judkins Park to Seattle Center. Here’s the SDOT alert on that; here’s what Metro told us earlier this week when we asked, on behalf of multiple readers, about extra service.

8:27 AM: No commute problems reported so far.

8:50 AM: Now there’s a problem. Multiple reports of a truck losing its load – asphalt and/or concrete – on NB 99 just after the West Seattle Bridge exit, blocking a lane.

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UPDATE: Slide, water break, road closure near Fauntleroy Park

January 20, 2017 12:10 am

| 22 COMMENTS

| Utilities | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

12:10 AM: A water break in north Arbor Heights has led to a slide that’s taken out part of a dead-end section of California SW north of SW Roxbury and forcing residents of one house to evacuate.

(Broken pipe, exposed where part of road washed out)

A sizable Seattle Fire response is here and Seattle Public Utilities crews have arrived too. No report of injuries.

12:18 AM: Police are on scene too and as you can see, California SW is taped off – we are being kept back for safety. “West of Fauntleroy Park” is probably a better description of this area – here’s a map.

7:57 AM: We’re following up on multiple fronts now that it’s light – look for an update later.

ADDED 12:30 PM: We’re still awaiting information from SPU, and checking with other agencies too, including SDOT, since a road is involved. Meantime, some midday photos showing the scope:

We’ll update with anything more we find out.

4:30 PM: SPU says it doesn’t know what caused the 2-inch water-line break. We just went back again to the slide zone and they have lots of heavy equipment at work. We’ve been talking to SDOT about the road and SDCI about the stability of the home(s) in the area – that’ll be in tonight’s story. As pointed out in comments, the slide is in an embankment on what would be the SW Cambridge street end, between 44th SW and California SW.

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