West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
FINAL -West Seattle boys 58-35 over Ingraham. Here's how it ended: pic.twitter.com/RyRrBGcZbd
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) January 12, 2019
11:05 PM FRIDAY: Someone might think of it someday as the Viaduct Victory. At the exact moment Highway 99 was set to start shutting down – 10 pm – the West Seattle High School boys finished their win over Ingraham, 58-35. Aside from a short period of see-saw lead-exchanging at the start, the Wildcats (now 10-5) were ahead all the way. Photos and stats to come!
ADDED SATURDAY: Above, the floor view of the victory jubilation – that’s head coach Keffrey Fazio in the center background, and leading scorer Nuh’Kosi Roberson (#22, 17 points) at right. Below, #24 Abdullahi Mohamed, second in scoring with 11:
#9 Roman Barnet followed with nine. And on hand for the whole night, WSHS’s headed-for-state Cheer Team:
If you haven’t heard the promising news yet: The endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales that visited central Puget Sound on Thursday had a brand-new visitor with them – as announced by the Center for Whale Research, L-Pod has a new calf, L124, born to 31-year-old L77. This is the third calf known to have been born to L77; the first one died in 2010, same year it was born, and the second one is L119, born in 2012. As CWR somberly points out, many calves don’t survive their first year, so everyone is watching and hoping for the best. The Southern Resident population is now at 75.
Ingraham High School is visiting West Seattle High School tonight to play the girls’ and boys’ basketball games, and the girls’ varsity matchup ended with the Wildcats winning, 58-37. They lead their division and are now 11-1, the best overall record of any Metro League team. Tomorrow afternoon you can catch them at home again, playing Port Angeles, at 4 pm. More photos and stats later.
ADDED SATURDAY: Grace Sarver (#20, above) led scoring with 18; next was Meghan Fiso (#32, below) with 12.
Kelsey Lenzie (#4) was right after her with 10, including two three-pointers.
Head coach Darnell Taylor and the Wildcat girls have only one regularly scheduled home game after today’s aforementioned Port Angeles matchup – next Friday (January 18th) vs. Roosevelt, 7 pm.
Are you ready for the Seattle Squeeze? This photo from our Jack Large Photograph Collection shows the view west over the Alaskan Way Viaduct in January 1967. #SpecialCollectionshttps://t.co/w1vjjVX8S6 pic.twitter.com/BTf6BoVNYI
— Seattle Library (@SPLBuzz) January 11, 2019
7:46 PM: A day full of Alaskan Way Viaduct nostalgia ended with a colorful sunset.
It was a beauty. pic.twitter.com/o71a0Z8bqa
— J. Michael Starling (@jmstarl) January 12, 2019
Viaducts final golden rush hour. @westseattleblog @komonews @KIRO7Seattle @KING5Seattle @Q13FOX @wsdot @CityofSeattle pic.twitter.com/DIl50Sb1Co
— anthonyk (@anthonykdrives) January 12, 2019
Now, it’s almost closure time.
No big briefing today but we have new information including responses to reader questions. First, a reminder of the timeline:
-10 pm, Highway 99 officially closes between the West Seattle Bridge and south end of Battery Street Tunnel. WSDOT says the Columbia Street onramp will be the first section closed, around 9:45 pm.
–Here’s how work begins after that.
–Here again is the full timeline.
WEST SEATTLE WATER TAXI: Two-boat service begins Monday (January 14th). While seeking answers to readers’ questions, here’s what we have learned:
-Second boat on the run will be the San Juan Express, capacity 245 passengers, which is close to the size of the regular boat MV Doc Maynard. (The much-smaller Spirit of Kingston will remain available as a backup.) From spokesperson Brent Champaco:
The schedule – which is subject to change – has the San Juan Clipper starting the day’s service with the 5:55 a.m. sailing out of Seattle followed by the 6:15 a.m. sailing out of Seacrest. The Doc Maynard will follow with the 6:15 a.m. sailing out of Seattle and the 6:30 a.m. sailing out of Seacrest. The two vessels will alternate until the 9:25 a.m. sailing out of Seacrest.
We’ll use the Doc Maynard for the midday service between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Both boats will resume service beginning with the 3:25 p.m. sailings out of Seacrest (Doc Maynard) and Pier 52 (San Juan Clipper) respectively, until the final sailing at 7:05 p.m. out of West Seattle.
Please note that the 5:05 p.m. sailing out of Pier 52 in Seattle has been moved up to 5 p.m. This is a slight change to the expanded schedule that’s in our printed brochures.
Here’s the planned schedule including the Sally Fox on the Vashon route, which is not adding capacity:
WATER TAXI SHUTTLES: In response to questions about whether larger buses will be used, spokesperson Torie Rynning says no, they’ve just doubled up here too: Two 19-passenger shuttles on each of the two routes during peak hours, one during the added midday hours. The Pier 2 parking shuttles will use a 19-passenger bus and a 33-passenger bus.
ONE MORE WATER TAXI NOTE: King County Executive Dow Constantine plans to be at the dock for a while Monday morning.
RIDE2 CONTINUES: We asked Metro about the Ride2 usage so far: It averaged 26 passengers a day during last week’s non-holidays. If you missed the original announcement a month ago, this is an on-demand service you can use provided your starting or ending point is either The Junction or the Water Taxi dock. Find out more here.
POLICE OFFICERS DIRECTING TRAFFIC: The plan to have police assigned to certain intersections has been in the works for a while. Now, SDOT has provided the list and maps of where – part of this new post on the city’s recently launched traffic-info website. Here for example is the map showing the plan for 4th/Spokane:
TRAFFIC COVERAGE ON WSB: It’s been a priority for a long time and you can count on us to step it way up during the Highway 99 closure and beyond. Your help is always important – now more than ever. If you see a problem and we’re not reporting it, please let us know when you can (once of course you have reported it to authorities, if they’re not on the scene either) – safely and legally – 206-203-6302, text or voice, 24/7. Meantime, we’ll update later tonight once the closure’s officially in effect. And we’ll be adjusting our standard resources (like the cameras page) to reflect “the new normal.”
10:05 PM: The closure has indeed begun – after a crowd of drivers took to the Viaduct to travel it one last time! Separate report to come, but for starters:
The #Realign99 closure is beginning. Crews have closed the Columbia Street on-ramp. pic.twitter.com/fGSqx5nX0p
— SR 99 (@BerthaDigsSR99) January 12, 2019
11:30 PM: We haven’t published a separate update yet because it’s still not fully closed – it’s taken an hour and a half so far to clear the last vehicles off!
12:07 AM SATURDAY: Finally cleared, says WSDOT.
In West Seattle Crime Watch, one new incident plus two followups:
HIT-RUN DRIVER DAMAGES 2 CARS: P reports this happened on Halleck SW:
Yesterday morning, Thursday, January 10, approximately 615 AM, an off white Jeep Wrangler, probably in the early 2000s era, with hardtop and KC off-road lights mounted on top, smashed mine and my neighbor’s cars while apparently trying to navigate getting out of a parallel park situation. My neighbor heard the sounds and was able to make it outside to see the end of the incident, but was unable to get a license number because of darkness and rain. The driver of the Jeep sped off erratically. Drunk/drug induced driving is suspected because this was no small bumping of cars. My back left quarter panel and bumper is bent in, my fender was completely ripped off, my exhaust was bent entirely vertically down, and my back left wheel is bent in, most likely making the entire rear suspension out of alignment and rendering the car un-drivable. My neighbor’s car was also damaged in a similar way, with easily 1k in damage. A police report was filed yesterday afternoon.
Any help identifying the car/driver would be most appreciated! Most likely the Jeep will have damage to its front, probably more specifically the front right.
We have asked for the police report # and will add it when available. (UPDATE: 19-012991) Now, the followups:
(WSB photo, Monday)
ROXBURY SAFEWAY SUSPECT CHARGED: Charges are now filed against 18-year-old Khalia I. Wimberly, who as reported last night has been arrested in connection with Monday’s incident that sent a King County Sheriff’s Office deputy to the hospital. She is charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, and hit-and-run. Bail on these charges is set at $300,000. The court documents include this:
(Wimberly) committed this offense while on a deferred disposition in Juvenile Court for charges of Taking Motor Vehicle Without Permission in the Second Degree and Trafficking Stolen Property in the Second Degree … Based on the probable cause certification for that case, the defendant and three other females approached a 72-year-old, 5’3’’, 130-pound victim in a Kirkland library parking garage. Without provocation, they attacked the victim, throwing her to the ground at least twice and causing injuries to the victim’s face, arms, and hands. The females then robbed the victim of her car, and also stole her purse, cell phone, and financial documents. According to the Victim Impact Statement, the victim’s daughter and grandchildren were in a car just feet away when the victim was attacked. Originally charged as Attempted Robbery 1, the defendant entered into a deferred disposition to the reduced charges. The defendant has done poorly while on the deferred disposition. The defendant was ordered to participate in “Restorative Mediation,” but repeatedly failed to do so.
The charging papers say Wimberly also has a juvenile conviction for car prowling.
HIGH POINT GUNFIRE SUSPECT’S BAIL SET: The 37-year-old man arrested on Wednesday remains in King County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail. Probable-cause documents quote a witness as saying he was targeted along with friends for unspecified reasons while they were in a car in the Walgreens parking lot at 35th/Morgan. The suspect is alleged to have fired the gun at them, from inside the car, through its windshield/window, after screaming threats.
(WSB photo, Wednesday)
Police found casings inside the damaged car, which belongs to a family member who lives where it was found near 31st/Bataan, but the suspect doesn’t live there. He was arrested after another family member reached him by phone in South Seattle and talked him into giving up. The probable-cause documents also say he is facing an unlawful-gun possession charge for two reasons – one, he is a convicted felon, having been found guilty of assault in 2016, and two, he is the subject of a protection order that bars him from gun possession.
Thanks to Pigeon Point’s Pete Spalding for the photo and word of SDOT work at Delridge/Andover today. We confirmed with SDOT’s Dawn Schellenberg that they were installing a turn signal for people turning east onto Andover from Delridge: “The Delridge/Andover intersection was identified through our Bike and Ped Safety Assessment as a priority location. We evaluated the location in 2016 and determined a protected left-turn phase was warranted to reduce potential vehicle and bicycle; and vehicle and vehicle collisions. This Vision Zero project was completed today.”
Today we welcome Boom Studios, LLC as a new WSB sponsor! Here’s what they’d like you to know about what they offer:
Boom Dance Studios has spent the past 3 years working in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation and the community centers in West Seattle. We have provided a variety of classes locally and have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know you all!
We are excited to announce that starting January 14th, 2019, Boom Studios, LLC (formerly Boom Dance Studios) will have a new home at Mode Music & Performing Arts, 3801 Delridge Way SW, next to The Skylark.
Boom Studios encourages learning in a non-traditional environment through an inclusive, engaging, safe, body-positive and fun atmosphere. Our Boom Team inspires our students to be creative, innovative, explorative and energetic.
We offer classes for all ages: Tots (as young as 6 months old), Kids, Teens, Adults, and Seniors. From Hip Hop to Ballet, Urban Sass to Burlesque, Musical Theatre to Creative Movement … we will have your entire family grooving out of the studio feeling confident, happy, and ready to take on the world!
Registration for Winter classes is open online now. Visit boomstudiosllc.com/register to get involved in out Winter classes starting January 14th, 2019. Use promo code WSBLOG5 to receive 5% off your first class registration; valid for Winter and Spring sessions only.
Make sure to check out our events page for information on our special events – especially our Valentine’s Fever Dance Party & Parents’ Night Out! That’s right, we are opening the studio for you to drop off your children for a night of crafts, dinner, movie, cocoa/popcorn, 30 minute Hip Hop class and dance party!
Want to register for summer camps early? Come visit us at our Boom & Mode Studios Summer Camp Fair on Sunday, January 13th, from 3:00-6:00 pm. Games, entertainment, snacks, and prizes will be provided as well as chances to save big on our half- and full-day camps. More information is available at boomstudiosllc.com/summer-camps.
We thank Boom Studios, LLC for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
1:16 PM: Police are arriving in Arbor Heights for a search centered at 39th SW and SW 105th. Details to come.
1:19 PM: This was an apparently unfounded report of burglars. A neighbor tells police that the people reported as potential burglars were house cleaners who had a key to enter the house. They’ve just confirmed with the homeowner by phone – per the scanner – that she was expecting new house cleaners today. They’re now making contact with the people in the house.
1:25 PM: Per scanner, confirmed, they’re cleaners. Equipment and all.
A new season is about to start for the West Seattle Community Orchestras – and musicians are welcome! Here’s the announcement:
West Seattle Community Orchestras (WSCO) announces the start of what promises to be an exciting Winter/Spring session!
Leading the West Seattle Symphony January through March will be Aaron Hirsch, the second of three conductor-candidates who are “auditioning” to become the group’s permanent conductor.
Ever wanted to play Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony? Here’s your chance! Hirsch has programmed the piece for the orchestra’s March 22 concert, along with a selection of vocal favorites, for “An Evening of Drama.”
Hirsch began his conducting career while working on a bachelor’s degree in organ performance at the University of Minnesota. During this time, he founded Young Musicians of Minnesota, an intensive summer program. Other groups he has conducted include the Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon Bach Festival Baroque Orchestra, the University of Oregon Chamber Choir, and the Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.
Aaron currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Orchestral Studies at Central Washington University where he is much in demand as a collaborative pianist and serves as vocal coach and pianist for the CWU opera and opera scenes programs. He is also the Cover Conductor for the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.
Hirsch holds degrees in conducting (M.M., Central Washington University) and organ performance (B.M., University of Minnesota).
Don’t forget that we have three other performing groups you can join—the Debut Orchestra, the Intermediate Orchestra, and the Wind Symphony. In addition, WSCO offers classes for adults who wish to learn (or relearn!) an instrument: flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, trombone, percussion, violin, viola, or cello.
WSCO especially encourages student musicians to sign up. PARTICIPATION IS FREE for students through grade twelve.
Rehearsals for all groups and classes begin January 15. All are held Tuesdays at Chief Sealth International High School.
It’s not too late to join us! Sign up at wscorchestras.org/registration. Specific start times for the rehearsals and more details are listed on our website, www.wscorchestras.org, or you can contact info@wscorchestras.org.
From Shalimar Gonzales, executive director of the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor):
As the partial government shutdown continues, we are concerned for our friends who are federal employees. With mounting stress that comes from meeting basic needs (food, housing, utilities) while not receiving a paycheck, we want to help. If you are a member who has lost pay, due to the shutdown, bring your government ID to either West Seattle or Fauntleroy Welcome Centers in January and we will waive one month of your dues. We want to make sure you continue your well-being journey, especially now. If you are not a current member, feel free to bring in your government ID and be our guest for free during the month of January. The Y is about creating a place where we can meet goals, make friends and find a place to belong; it is where we can lean in and find help when we experience unplanned challenges.
The West Seattle Y is at 3622 SW Snoqualmie; the Fauntleroy Y is at 9140 California SW.
If you missed last weekend’s first chance to test bicycling between here and downtown with West Seattle Bike Connections and Cascade Bicycle Club – they’re offering another chance this Sunday (January 13th). Meet at Junction Starbucks at California/Alaska by 9:15 am; the ride starts at 9:30. Free, but advance registration is requested – do that, and get more info, here.
8:50 AM: Received late last night from community-preparedness advocate Cindi Barker: Word that four spots are suddenly open in a special free “Stop the Bleed” class tomorrow (Saturday, January 12th), 10 am-noon, at Hope Lutheran in The Junction. Interested? Register here ASAP.
Stop the Bleed, a national program developed by trauma experts, is designed to teach people with little or no medical training simple techniques to stop life-threatening bleeding. A one-hour presentation is followed by hands-on practice packing wounds and applying tourniquets on dummies. The presentation includes a 10-minute video on surviving an active shooter situation. While active shooter situations are on everyone’s mind these days, you are more likely to use these life-saving skills because of accidents in your home, on a hiking/camping trip, or on the highway. We encourage anyone of high-school age and up to sign up. Some images on the slides and the video are graphic, so we ask that no younger children accompany you to the class.
The class site (Hope) is at 4456 42nd SW.
4:39 PM: Cindi says in comments that the spaces are now filled.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:15 AM: Good morning. No incidents or transit alerts right now for our area. But the headline is – the Alaskan Way Viaduct closes permanently tonight, and Highway 99 between the West Seattle Bridge and the Battery Street Tunnel will be closed until the tunnel opens in about three weeks.
WHAT HAPPENS, WHEN: WSDOT says the Columbia Street ramp will be first to close tonight, around 9:45 pm. Also: Because a small section of the Viaduct has to be removed so the NB ramp into downtown at Dearborn can be built, Railroad Way South will be closed all weekend. (The rest of the demolition won’t begin until after the tunnel is open.) Here are the details.
7:38 AM: Still quiet. If you’re thinking of trying bicycling because of the closure – and/or because of the permanent changes ahead – another “Survive #Realign99” ride is planned (corrected) SUNDAY, JANUARY 13. Details here.
7:48 AM: Just sent by Metro via text and tweet:
Transit Alert – The first Route 21 Express to Downtown Seattle due to leave Westwood Village at 7:57 AM did not operate this morning.
— King County Metro🚏🚎⚓️ (@kcmetrobus) January 11, 2019
7:52 AM: Live WSDOT traffic cam showing the spot on 99 where rampbuilding will ramp up once the highway’s closed tonight:
| 1 COMMENT