FIRST REPORT, 7:17 PM: Getting word of a power outage in Westwood and South Delridge. More to come.

7:19 PM: Hearing from Highland Park and White Center too. And the SFD log says it’s a vault fire at 22nd and Roxbury.

7:26 PM: On our way to check out the fire scene. Meantime, we’d suggest avoiding Roxbury in that area. And remember that dark stoplights are all-way stops. More than 3,000 customers are out, according to the City Light map.

7:39 PM: Roxbury is blocked by the emergency response, which is near Holy Family. Our crew just arrived in the area. SFD is investigating smoke coming up from a utility-hole cover. For those asking what a “vault fire” means – “vault” in this case is an underground installation of utility equipment.

7:43 PM: The fire is apparently not huge – some units are being dismissed. The City Light restoration estimate is 2 am but PLEASE remember, as we always point out in outage situations (and as SCL itself acknowledges), that is just a guess … could be back on much sooner, or much later.

7:49 PM: Our crew just checked on the detours. If you are headed east, you’ll be rerouted at 21st/Roxbury; if you’re headed west, you’ll be rerouted at 17th and Roxbury.

8:01 PM: We also checked on Westwood Village businesses – the QFC to Marshall’s side is all/mostly out, but other businesses are on. Will also be checking on downtown White Center, which is in the outage zone too, per SCL’s map.

8:14 PM: Per comments, texts, and firsthand sightings in the field, we have word at least some have their power back already. SCL’s map says the outage is down to 1,300+ customers, less than half the initial number.

8:35 PM: As shown on the updated map above, almost everyone still out is south of Roxbury. That includes downtown White Center:

We’d heard police say via scanner that they had been told they could reopen Roxbury. We’ve also just seen a tweet that Route 560 is no longer rerouted off Roxbury – we’re heading back to the zone to verify.

8:41 PM: Just checked the SCL map and it shows just about everyone back on. If you are NOT – please be sure SCL knows – 206-684-3000. Thanks again to everyone for the updates, including first word of the outage – 206-293-6302 is our breaking-news hotline, 24/7.

9:24 PM: We did verify that Roxbury is open again; when we went through, the 16th/Roxbury signal was in flashing-red mode, though, so another reminder, that means stop all ways.

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CRIME WATCH FOLLOWUP: Trial rescheduled for Admiral stabbing suspect Kierra Ward

February 11, 2018 6:55 pm

| 17 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

As we continue to check on high-profile West Seattle criminal cases making their way through the court system – the trial for Admiral stabbing suspect Kierra Ward has been pushed to next month. Online court documents show that her lawyer requested the delay during a hearing on Friday, saying they still had a variety of work to do to prepare. So the trial is now tentatively re-set for a March 21st start, depending on what happens at the next readiness hearing (“omnibus”) on March 9th. It’s been four months since Ward was arrested and charged with assault in the knife attack on an Admiral woman who was walking with her baby. She remains in the King County Jail in lieu of $400,000 bail.

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FOLLOWUP: New signage is up for side-by-side Highway 99 exits

February 11, 2018 4:37 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo taken this afternoon)

As promised, SDOT did indeed install new signs this weekend to replace the ones that had been missing a while just before the side-by-side West Seattle Bridge/Harbor Island exits on southbound Highway 99. The verbiage for the bridge-exit sign is a little simpler, compared to what was on the old sign, as shown below in a Google Maps image from 2014:

(The blurring in that image is Google’s, not ours.) As reported here two weeks ago, the previous signs had been removed due to windstorm damage, the city said, while noting one sign was planned for replacement anyway.

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UPDATE: Car fire by Lincoln Park

February 11, 2018 2:36 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

2:36 PM: Thanks to David Christensen for the photo, and everyone else who sent tips – if you are seeing smoke near Lincoln Park, it’s from that car fire on the southbound side of Fauntleroy Way. No other info yet.

2:40 PM: And thanks to Heather Black for this photo:

3:11 PM: At the scene, which is north of the main LP parking lot. Tow truck is here. We are told no one was hurt and no other vehicles were involved – the driver was just rolling along when he noticed there was a problem.

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VIDEO: Seattle’s golf courses are no longer moneymakers, city says, so here’s what’s being done about that

February 11, 2018 1:21 pm

| 79 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | WS & Sports

That’s Seattle Channel video of this past week’s meeting of the Seattle Board of Park Commissioners, which included a briefing on a subject of West Seattle interest – a study focusing on the future of the city’s public golf courses/facilities, including the West Seattle Golf Course. As explained in the briefing – which starts 44 minutes into the video – the city’s golf program not only no longer generates extra revenue for Seattle Parks, something it did for a long time, but isn’t even covering its expenses. So the city has commissioned a study to help figure out the public golf facilities’ future.

The study is under way, and at Thursday night’s meeting, the Parks Board got an update on how it’s going so far. The briefing document provided to the board included the following findings from early stakeholder interviews and market research:

Preliminary Feedback from Stakeholder Interviews Conducted to Date and Market Research Findings

Seattle’s municipal golf courses provide benefits beyond the game of golf.

o Public golf is misunderstood and stereotyped in a way that is not consistent with the demographics of who plays at municipal public golf-courses. Nationally, 70% of all rounds nationally are played at public golf courses, not private clubs.

o Expanding access and creating new opportunities to experience golf and Seattle’s public golf facilities is desired.

o There are opportunities to build partnerships and to use Seattle’s municipal golf courses to meet the needs of the growing Seattle population who need open space and recreation opportunities within the City. (Seattle’s population grew by 21,000 from July 1, 2015 – July 1, 2016)

The golf program is not meeting financial policy targets.

o The Golf Master Plan strategy has not been implemented as planned and has contributed to revenue challenges.

o Rising labor and utility expenses in the City were not anticipated in budget projections.

Preliminary Market Research Findings:

o A 2007 State golf economic analysis reported that of 280 courses in the state at that time, 219 were public, and 47 were municipally-owned.

o Nationally interest in golf is declining, especially among millennials; however, golf in Seattle and the State of Washington exceeds the national participation rate. (7% of total population nationally, 10 12% in Seattle.)

o Seattle golf participation rates are in the mid-range of popular recreational activities: walking, picnics, bike riding are the most popular and rugby, surfboarding, lacrosse the least popular.

o The 2017 Parks and Recreation Study conducted by EMC found that 43 percent thought the City should spend less on golf, although the survey did not provided information on the revenue contributed by the golf courses to the City Parks and Recreation Budget.

o Nationally, minority participation is about 20%, primarily among Hispanic and Latino Americans. Seattle has not tracked minority participation rates at its courses; however, the first African American and Asian American golf players clubs in the State were founded at Jefferson and are still active, and First Tee and Bogey Bear programs have successfully introduced the sport to diverse youth in Seattle.

o Seattle’s female participation at its golf courses ranges between 10-17 percent while nationally the average is 23 percent.

You can see the full document from the board briefing here. Beyond the discussion at the Parks Board meeting, it does not appear there are any open feedback opportunities related to the study – and in fact, the board was told “it’s not a big public-outreach (opportunity).” They plan more stakeholder interviews later this month and a “focus group” in March, with the final report to be presented in May, including three potential “scenarios” for the future of the city’s golf program.

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SAVE THE SALMON, SAVE THE ORCAS: Whale Trail event Thursday

February 11, 2018 11:48 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | Wildlife

You know the Southern Resident Killer Whales are in trouble. Part of the problem: Their main source of food is in trouble too. But how much do you really know about where things stand, and how to – if you can – help? This Thursday, The Whale Trail invites you to an event that’s certain to educate and inspire you. The announcement:

Saving Salmon in Puget Sound
Presentation by Jeanette Dorner
Thursday, February 15, 7:00 – 8:30 pm.
C & P Coffee Company, 5612 California Ave SW
$5 suggested donation; kids free!
Advance tickets: brownpapertickets.com

Puget Sound is an important producer of salmon for our endangered southern resident orcas (J, K and L pods). Fourteen Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups work with landowners and community partners around the state to identify and implement salmon habitat restoration projects. Join us to learn more about their ongoing work, especially in our own Seattle backyard.

Jeannette Dorner, Executive Director of the Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group, will bring us up to date on salmon recovery efforts in this critical part of the orcas’ range.

The Mid Sound area includes the Green – Duwamish watershed, the Cedar/Sammamish/Lake Washington watershed, the watersheds of Eastern Kitsap County which drain into Central Puget Sound, and all the Puget Sound shorelines in the Central Puget Sound area in King County and Kitsap County.

With the survival of the southern residents at stake, it’s even more important to support and invest in local salmon recovery efforts .

This is the first Orca Talk of 2018, presented by The Whale Trail in West Seattle. The event will also feature updates from Seal Sitters.

Following the presentation, join us for a discussion about the southern resident orcas. Get up to speed about current issues and initiatives, and learn what you can do to help. With just 76 individuals in the population, it’s all hands on deck for the whales!

About the Speaker

Jeanette Dorner has a long history working to recover salmon in Puget Sound. She worked for 11 years as the Salmon Recovery Program Manager with the Nisqually Tribe, coordinating the protection and restoration of salmon habitat in the Nisqually watershed. She played a lead role in helping facilitate with partners major salmon restoration projects including the 900 acre restoration of the Nisqually Estuary. She then worked as the Director of Ecosystem and Salmon Recovery at the Puget Sound Partnership, supporting the work of hundreds of partners around Puget Sound to protect, restore and clean up their rivers, streams and Puget Sound shorelines. In 2017, Jeanette became the Executive Director of the Mid Sound Fishery Enhancement Group.

Jeanette is also the mother to two wonderful kids. Part of her passion to recover salmon habitat and to preserve and protect this beautiful place we call home is to try to pass on to her children a home where they can continue to enjoy the natural wonders of this place with their families – going to watch orcas swimming through Puget Sound, visiting salmon spawning in our local streams, and hiking in the majestic forests of the Pacific Northwest.

About The Whale Trail

The Whale Trail is a series of sites around the region where the public may view orcas and other marine mammals from shore. Our mission is to inspire appreciation and stewardship of whales and our marine environment. Our overarching goal is to ensure the southern resident orcas recover from the threat of extinction.

Through our current sites and signs, including two on every Washington State ferry, we reach more than 30 million people each year. The Whale Trail is currently adding new sites along the west coast, from California to British Columbia, throughout the southern resident orcas’ range and beyond.

The Whale Trail is led by a core team of partners including NOAA Fisheries, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Seattle Aquarium, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and the Whale Museum. Our BC planning team is led by the BC Cetacean Sighting Network.

Many members of the Whale Trail teams met when they worked together to return Springer, the orphaned orca, to her pod. Executive Director Donna Sandstrom was inspired by the project’s collaborative success to found The Whale Trail in 2008.

The Whale Trail is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, registered in Washington State. Join us!