day : 20/12/2018 10 results

‘Tis the season to sing. These West Seattle women raised more than $1,000 tonight by doing it – in hopes of saving lives. They perform together as a band called La Fawnduh and, explains member Kelly Malloy, “TWO of our dear friends (one a band member) have had young children diagnosed with brain cancer in the last 3 years.” So they decided to raise money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Fund. They booked some stops in advance; we caught up with them at a home in Arbor Heights, and recorded a holiday medley:

Kelly says they hoped their caroling could be not only a fundraiser but also “could help raise awareness to a cause worth knowing more about.” (Take a minute and look at these eight fast facts – then scroll down that same page to meet kids including Avery and Roarke, the two Kelly mentioned. Consider donating here.) By night’s end, she told us, they “hit 9 spots, ended at Phoenecia, also went to the fire house, and stopped at a UPS truck.”

Tonight’s lights: Tree with character(s)

December 20, 2018 9:30 pm

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| Holidays | West Seattle Christmas lights | West Seattle news

We haven’t shown this yard in a couple years, but it was suggested for a spotlight as we continue showing West Seattle Christmas lights: This tree is in what you might know as the “Skeleton Theatre” yard, site of an amazing animatronic show every Halloween, on the southwest corner of 36th and Hanford. It’s decked with illuminated holiday characters. Thanks for the suggestions; more lights tomorrow, and you can browse the ones we’ve featured before by going here!

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AMR strike deadline suspended as talks resume

December 20, 2018 9:09 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Health | West Seattle news

In case you’d been worried about the prospect of a strike by AMR ambulance crews – the deadline that had been set by the workers represented by Teamsters Local 763 is now suspended, as the union and AMR are resuming talks. The company had said it was bringing in replacement workers, while the city was reported to be working on a plan to have SFD handle more transports, and to call on other departments if necessary. Until today’s announcement of new talks, the AMR workers were planning to walk out at noon tomorrow.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Highland Park arrests; Beach Drive burglar on the run

December 20, 2018 7:17 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

HIGHLAND PARK ARRESTS: An SPD Blotter post explains why we couldn’t find an incident number to follow up on questions about what police were doing outside Highland Park’s Morningstar Deli on Wednesday: It was an Anti-Crime Team arrest rather than the result of a 911 call. The post says the officers were …
“responding to community complaints of auto thefts and abandoned stolen cars in the area” when this happened:

Around 4:30 Wednesday, ACT members were in the 8800 block of 9th Avenue SW when they spotted a reported stolen truck parked in a business lot. Officers watched the female driver walk away from the truck while another woman remained in the passenger seat. Plainclothes officers followed the suspect until uniformed officers arrived and took her into custody. The passenger was also detained and it was determined she had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant. During a search of the suspects, police recovered numerous stolen credit and debit cards, which had been reported stolen during multiple car prowls and burglaries in and around Seattle.

While officers were arresting the two women, a man, who was known to officers to have an outstanding warrant, inserted himself into the situation. Officers recognized the man as someone who had recently fled from patrol officers. He was immediately arrested on his outstanding warrant. The three suspects were later booked into jail.

The driver is a 28-year-old woman whose bail was set this afternoon at $46,000, most of that related to a warrant in a case in which she is charged with trafficking in stolen property. We looked up the case; it involved purse thefts two years ago from the elementary school where her child was a student, followed by fraudulent use of cards from the purses, and pawning or selling other items found in them. We haven’t determined the passenger’s status; the man is 31 years old and being held in lieu of $15,000 – the warrant was for an assault case.

CONSTRUCTION-SITE BURGLARY: From Kyra:

Just wanted to report a crime on Beach Drive this morning.

We are having construction done on our house and this morning, shortly after the contractor arrived, this truck drove up and a man in a camouflage hoody wearing a knit cap hopped out, ran inside and stole the contractor’s computer and printer. The truck is pretty unique with white wheel wells and a large white metal grate over the front grill. There is also a dark scratch/dent on the driver’s door.

If anyone knows who this is, please contact me. It was obvious he was casing the house and knew the contractor’s schedule. A police report has been filed.

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FRIDAY: Watch winter-solstice sunset with West Seattle’s Alice Enevoldsen

December 20, 2018 5:21 pm

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| Skies Over West Seattle | West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(WSB file photo)

The weather should be a lot calmer on Friday afternoon, when winter officially arrives – the solstice “moment” is at 2:23 pm. An hour and a half later, you are invited to the change-of-seasons sunset watch with Alice Enevoldsen at West Seattle’s Solstice Park (7400 Fauntleroy Way SW, upslope from the tennis courts). Be there at 3:45 pm to mark the change of seasons (and to learn about it too).

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FOLLOWUP: Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth schedule revision finalized, will take effect next March 31

December 20, 2018 3:59 pm

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| Fauntleroy | Transportation | West Seattle news

Eight days after a standing-room-only review of the latest proposed schedule revision for the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route, Washington State Ferries says it’s official. Here it is again, in PDF. It was sent by WSF’s Hadley Rodero, whose e-mail adds:

… During the most recent public comment period that ended on Dec. 18, we heard a wide range of comments on the draft schedule. A major theme was a request for WSF to sit down with the authors of the proposed pendulum schedule. This week our schedule planners did meet with the authors, and while they explained how it does not meet the capacity needs and constraints of the route, our planners committed to monitoring the performance of the schedule going forward and encouraged the pendulum schedule authors and others to continue providing feedback. …

This new schedule will begin on March 31, 2019. Once the new schedule starts, WSF will closely monitor the route’s performance in preparation for the busy summer season and beyond. In 2019, we will also be starting work on the Fauntleroy terminal project and looking at other strategies to improve terminal operations, provide additional travel options, and apply advances in technology or other operational efficiencies. We will share a progress report of the route’s performance and how the schedule is working.

Among other reasons, WSF said the schedule needed an overhaul because it will be adding capacity, expanding to three Issaquah-class vessels.

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STORM UPDATES: Wind hits West Seattle – here’s the latest

December 20, 2018 10:01 am

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| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(SCROLL DOWN FOR STORM UPDATES)

10:01 AM: The National Weather Service‘s alert for our area – a High Wind Warning – is now in effect, 10 am-7 pm. From the alert:

* WIND…South to southeast wind 25 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.

* TIMING…Winds will increase rapidly Thursday morning with the strongest gusts expected for a few hours Thursday afternoon.

If you see/experience downed trees, power problems, etc., once you’ve reported it to the authorities, please let us know so we can include in coverage – text or voice, 206-293-6302 is the fastest – thank you!

11:20 AM: First tree report – an alley near 39th/Graham – thanks for the texted photo!

We are currently in the Alki area and a serious rain squall is moving through. Before we rounded Duwamish Head north/west bound, one was visible in the bay, too:

Just south of Alki Point, it’s prime wave-watching, even with high tide still 2+ hours away. (video added)

11:56 AM: More road reports – Signal out at Myers/Olson (the City Light map shows a small outage there) … tree down on eastbound Admiral Way in Alki area (WSB photo added) …

Tree on eastbound Orchard east of Delridge, photo courtesy @SabaGebru:

12:08 PM: Outage mostly south of West Seattle, 4,300+ customers – here’s a screengrab from the SCL map:

12:44 PM: Tree trouble in Arbor Heights, near 37th/108th – thanks for sending the photo:

Close call, they report: “We’re fortunate it didn’t hit anyone AND it landed right in between the two cars.”

1:44 PM: The aforementioned outage remains the only one of note anywhere near us, and some of those customers have their power back – it’s now a 3,400+-customer outage. The NWS, meantime, says the wind will peak in the next few hours. Certainly a storm of many faces – we’re in The Junction right now and the sun has even made an appearance.

2:47 PM: The photo above shows chunks of driftwood on the road alongside Constellation Park after the high tide earlier this hour sent those windwhipped waves even further over the road. Along the quiet north-facing side of Alki, just a bit of slopover:

Alki is getting pretty soggy in this afternoon's windstorm. @westseattleblog @KING5Seattle pic.twitter.com/KyEcYzgwaU

— Podcast West Seattle (@podcastwseattle) December 20, 2018

We’ve been through The Junction, Delridge, points inbetween, and it’s relatively placid. The outage to the south of WS is now down to 1700+ customers.

3:15 PM: The NWS’s afternoon Forecast Discussion confirms it’s “settling down,” so we’re going to move on to some other news. We’ll update this story as warranted, of course, or launch something new if any major incidents are reported.

4:45 PM: All’s still relatively well. The outage to the south is now down to 110 customers; there’s a few scattered one-customer outages mapped for West Seattle, and a group of 9 south of Westcrest Park, otherwise things have stayed stable on the power front.

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West Seattle Crime Watch: Hit-and-run on camera; dumped blue-and-green bicycle

December 20, 2018 9:44 am

| 14 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports this morning:

HIT-AND-RUN: The photo, report, and video clips were sent this morning by Kendra:

My Jeep was hit hard by a navy blue Jeep (or ?) just before 8 am this morning. Hit so hard it jumped my Jeep onto the curb and grass. Our neighbor witnessed it and they backed up and sped off turning right on Erskine. She said she wasn’t sure how they were driving as they were pretty damaged as well. Called in police report. Be on the lookout of a crashed-in Navy Blue Jeep (or ?).

The crash/vehicle was caught on two security-video views nearby:

Police report # is 18-473833.

BIKE FOUND, LIKELY STOLEN/DUMPED: The photo is from Sean, who says it was found “in the woods”:

If you recognize it, let us know.

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Highlights for your West Seattle Thursday

December 20, 2018 8:40 am

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| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Pigeon Guillemot, photographed at Jack Block Park by Mark Wangerin)

Still awaiting the forecast wind. If the weather leads to any changes/cancellations/postponements, as it did last Friday, we’ll include updates in our coverage (text/voice 206-293-6302 is always the quickest way to reach us), but in the meantime, from the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide and Event Calendar:

SANTA! 10 am-7 pm at Westwood Village (2600 SW Barton) – info here, and magically he’ll also be at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor), 4-7 pm. (4201 SW Morgan)

LAST ‘SHOP LATE THURSDAY’ BEFORE CHRISTMAS: Shop as late as 10 pm – many Junction retailers will be open until 8, 9, even 10! Here’s a list of who’s in.

DON’T PUT THAT SWEATER AWAY YET! Ugly Sweater Night at Ounces with Fremont Brewing, 5:30-8 pm. Contest at 6:30 pm, with prizes! (3809 Delridge Way SW)

GARY BENSON: Holiday music at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor), 5-7 pm. (4201 SW Morgan)

‘HOST HOMES’ INFO AT THE Y: If you’re up for considering providing some stability in the life of a young adult who really needs it, this program might be a fit. Here’s our preview. Come hear about it at the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor), 6 pm. (3622 SW Snoqualmie)

ALKI LIGHT SHOW: You’re invited to the Uehara-Bingen Xmas Lights Show on Alki! Be there at 6:15 pm for the 30-minute show that starts at 6:30 pm. More info in our Holiday Guide. (1736 Alki SW)

‘BLUE CHRISTMAS/LONGEST NIGHT’ SERVICE: A tradition at Tibbetts United Methodist Church (WSB sponsor), 7 pm:

Not everyone is up and cheery for the Christmas holidays. Dealing with the death of a loved one, facing life after divorce or separation, coping with the loss of a job, living with cancer or some other disease that puts a question mark over the future, and a number of other human situations make parties and joviality painful for many people. If you are blue this holiday season, join us for a reflective service where we will focus on accepting where we really are, and holding out for healing and hope.

(3940 41st SW)

WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL CONCERT: Second Winter Concert at West Seattle High School, 7 pm, free and open to the public. Details here. (3000 California SW)

AT C & P: Singer/songwriter/poet Bill Davie performs at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. No cover. (5612 California SW)

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VIDEO: Arrowhead Gardens residents’ surprise presents for Duwamish Valley Youth Corps members

December 20, 2018 12:39 am

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| Holidays | West Seattle news

Members of the Duwamish Valley Youth Corps were guests of honor at a surprise Christmas party at Arrowhead Gardens on Wednesday. They visited the senior-living complex without knowing gifts awaited them. Diane Radischat explained what it was all about: