West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(Direct link to draft West Seattle Junction rezoning map)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
This Thursday (January 26th), people living and working in the West Seattle Junction Urban Village have their first official city-organized meeting entirely focused on the proposed rezoning for the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda component called Mandatory Housing Affordability.
(The city-organized Morgan Junction workshop previously announced for tomorrow, we should note, has been postponed TFN, but the February 11th Admiral workshop is on.)
In the same room where next Thursday’s Junction workshop will happen – upstairs at the Senior Center/Sisson Building – the area’s community council, the Junction Neighborhood Organization, had a briefing and Q/A session to help interested Junction community members get ready.
That briefing/prep session this past Thursday was led by JuNO’s new Land Use Committee, which debuted a rallying cry for the HALA rezoning process:
“Too much … Too fast … Please put us last.”
The Junction already has taken on a lot of density, noted Carl Guess, the committee co-chair who opened the meeting – currently at more than 300 percent above what planners originally expected to be added by now.
From that declaration ensued a detailed, albeit unofficial, primer on Junction growth and HALA: Read More
5:21 PM: A main route between North Delridge and Puget Ridge, 22nd SW, is blocked right now because of a crash and what’s described as a resulting “spill” for which an SDOT cleanup crew is being called. That’s the route between Delridge/Oregon and 21st [map]. We’re on the way to check it out.
5:43 PM: Photo added. Police tell our crew at the scene that a driver headed uphill (south/eastbound) hit a utility pole. Wreckage and fluid spill ensued, but no injuries of note. The vehicle’s been towed, the spill dealt with, and the road is reopening.
(WSB photo)
4:57 PM: A sizable Seattle Fire Department response is arriving in the 10200 block of 38th SW [map] in Arbor Heights for a possible house fire. First crews are not seeing anything, though. We’re on our way and will be updating.
5 PM: SFD crews have radioed that this was a kitchen fire and is now out, so many of the units are being canceled.
5:06 PM: Our crew on scene confirms this. Firefighters say it was a grease fire and the resident(s) extinguished it. No significant damage, no injuries.
Trying to get a meeting with City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, like the person who started this WSB Forums thread? If you haven’t already heard via e-mail or via her blog-format website, next Friday brings Herbold’s next “district office hours” event. She’ll be at the Southwest Neighborhood Center (same building as SW Pool), 2801 SW Thistle, on Friday (January 27th), 2-7 pm. “Drop-in friendly” as usual, she says, but if you want to make an appointment, she says you can do that by e-mailing alex.clardy@seattle.gov.
Two incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch:
BANK INVESTIGATION: We’re still working to get details on a pre-dawn police investigation at US Bank in The Junction. After a texted tip that SW Edmunds was blocked off there, we found police putting a small forklift-type vehicle on a flatbed tow truck (top photo). They declined to elaborate on the investigation; we went back later and noted that the drive-up ATM is gone, with debris in view along with severed wires, and even what appeared to be a scorch mark on the pavement:
Whether it was stolen, removed after a theft attempt, or some other circumstance, we don’t know yet. One bystander said he noticed police there as early as 5:45 am. We’ll add whatever more we find out – but in the meantime, if you need a US Bank ATM, you won’t find one at the Junction drive-thru.
ADDED 2:16 PM: One more clue – the call is classified as “theft.”
ADDED 5:23 PM: Police confirm the ATM was stolen, and the forklift was used in the crime. No further details likely until we can seek the incident report Monday.
(back to original story) Also in Crime Watch:
PACKAGE THEFT THWARTED: This happened Thursday afternoon in Riverview – caught on security-cam video that was texted to us:
If you have any information on the would-be thief/vehicle, let SPD know and refer to case number 2017-023139.
On Saturday, while tens of thousands of people were marching downtown out of concern over the newly inaugurated administration, the White House transition was also a topic of discussion at the Duwamish Longhouse. The day was in part a celebration of the longhouse itself – completed and dedicated eight years ago – but it began with a focus on the Duwamish Tribe‘s continued quest for its treaty rights. Our video above is from a Q/A session that followed the Longhouse’s first screening of the new documentary “Promised Land,” which is about the Duwamish and Chinook Tribes’ struggle to get the federal government to honor those rights.
In our video, after lauding the filmmakers for their work, Duwamish chair Cecile Hansen answered questions (others were fielded by James Rasmussen and Ken Workman, also of the tribe). Hansen said she is “not too encouraged about the new administration, but you never know what could happen.” Rasmussen said they also are dealing with a change in who represents Seattle in the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, who just retired, was a longtime champion of the Duwamish pursuit of federal recognition; his newly elected successor, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, hasn’t been to the Longhouse, Rasmussen noted, and they don’t know whether she is supportive or not. He also explained, when asked for details of what would be different if they had treaty rights, that Duwamish youth are not recognized as Native Americans when enrolling in college – they have been offered the chance to do so if they enroll with a recognized tribe, but, Rasmussen said, usually decline.
Other tribes in the area have opposed Duwamish treaty rights, Rasmussen went on to say, because of concerns over casino competition. The Duwamish have “no plan to build a casino – never has been a plan,” he said, but he also said that when once offered the chance at recognition if they permanently renounced that option, they put the question to their membership and they said no, “we’re not giving up anything.”
Hansen, by the way, says she’s writing a book. She’s been fighting for the treaty rights for more than 40 years; the tribe briefly gained recognition in the final days of the Clinton Administration, saw it subsequently canceled by the Bush Administration, and then came another denial, from the Obama Administration, in summer 2015.
(August 2015 WSB photo)
As you will also hear her say in the video – and as we reported here a year and a half ago – she took the Duwamish’s case directly to now-former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, a West Seattle resident (photo above). While Jewell touted the department’s work with tribes in her farewell, that didn’t include any progress for the Duwamish, Hansen noted. “If she had brought the tribes together, we would not be suffering with this non-status. … She should have done more for the Duwamish people.”
(Harbor seal, photographed at Lincoln Park on Saturday afternoon by Steven Director)
Six ways to enjoy your day, from our calendar:
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS MARKET: See what’s fresh! 10 am-2 pm in the street, in The Junction. (California SW between Alaska and Oregon)
COMMUNITY SERVICE TO SERVE THE GOD OF MOTHER NATURE: Grab your gardening gloves, maybe a weeding tool too, and meet up with naturalist Stewart Wechsler at Lincoln Park, 11 am – explained on his website. (Fauntleroy Way/SW Rose)
‘NETRUNNER’ MARATHON BENEFIT: Noon-10 pm, you’re invited to play at Meeples Games (WSB sponsor), as part of a benefit to help New Beginnings end domestic violence. Or – donate without playing! Here’s our preview. (3727 California SW)
LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: The Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s Alki museum is a great place to visit today, noon-4 pm. (61st SW/SW Stevens)
CHORO TOCANDO: Live Brazilian music at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 3-5 pm. (5612 California SW)
‘MOTHERS AND SONS’: First matinee of the run, 3 pm @ ArtsWest Playhouse. (4711 California SW)
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