West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(Map added 8:57 pm)
8:43 PM: Thanks for the tips – power outage in north West Seattle. A police dispatch indicates a downed tree in the 2300 block of Harbor Ave SW is to blame. More…
8:51 PM: Don’t know the extent of the outage yet – it has yet to appear on the City Light map. So thanks for your comments with location reports.
8:53 PM: Finally appeared on SCL’s map. More than 3,000 homes/businesses.
9:13 PM: Thanks to Paul for that photo of the fallen tree, pre-dusk; Pep posted the one below in a comment, with crews on scene:
Avoid that area for a while as they work to clear the tree and fix the lines. ALSO IMPORTANT: Though City Light has added an “estimated restoration” time of 2:58 am, please remember those times are just guesses and it could be much earlier – more often before the estimated time than after.
9:37 PM: Some if not all are back on, about one hour after the outage began.
9:44 PM: SCL map has updated, showing 333 customers (homes/businesses/buildings) still out, mostly near the tree-down site.
1:02 AM: Map shows those 333 are still out after 4 1/2 hours.
6:34 AM: Commenter Kalo says the power returned around 4:40 am.
ORIGINAL MONDAY NIGHT REPORT: That map is for another Metro test, this Thursday. Backstory: After weeks of complaints about sluggish travel for buses on 1st Avenue S. during the southbound weekday commute, Metro tried a reroute last Thursday. County Executive Dow Constantine said, as reported here, that the county hoped the test would yield “new information that offers better solutions.” Metro spokesperson Travis Shofner told WSB on Friday that while they were still awaiting that data, with “mixed” reviews so far, “Metro and SDOT teams met to assess technical needs with various pathways, including what impacts reroutes would have on other routes downtown.” So tonight, there’s word of another test this Thursday. Metro spokesperson Torie Rynning sent word of …
… a one-day service revision this Thursday [August 15th] all day, outbound only, and associated bus stop move.
This one-day revision is only for southbound service heading to West Seattle, for the entire service day. Northbound service heading into downtown Seattle is not affected and will operate via regular routes and stops. This one-day revision will allow Metro to evaluate alternate routing designed to save time for West Seattle bus riders while still providing a Pioneer Square area bus stop.
On Thursday, this will affect southbound Routes 21 Express, 37, 55, 56, 57, 113, 120, 125
and RapidRide C Line. The full details are here (PDF).
ADDED TUESDAY: As JCW notes in a comment below, Metro has changed the link for that information. Go here instead.
A nonprofit bar is the plan for Jaimatadi, on the way to 3278-B California SW. We just spoke with Deep Katyal, a tech entrepreneur who’s planning the foray into nightlife. He says that after buying the newly built space he had to figure out what to do with the commercial space. The plan is for a small venue serving beer and wine, with entertainment, and karaoke – in multiple languages. The twist: Proceeds will all go to nonprofits; patrons will have a choice of three charities their tab can go toward. He’s chosen one, CRY, but hasn’t decided on the other two yet – maybe one involving pets, he says, since his wife “loves dogs.” He’s hoping to open within two months, depending on how much longer the liquor license takes.
We’ve written a lot lately about local art for you to enjoy … and now, your chance to be the artist! Seattle Lutheran High School (4100 SW Genesee) is launching a series of evening art classes open to all. You can learn stained glass, oil painting, and/or drawing. The school says, “All courses are beginner-friendly but also include lessons and exercises helpful for intermediate and advanced artists.” You can register by going here.
1:57 PM: Thanks to Dave Brewer for sending the photo! He’s one of several readers who messaged us to say artist Desmond Hansen is painting another signal-box portrait today, this time the late, great Prince, at 47th and Admiral. Dave observes that it’s an appropriate spot, as SW Prince Street is just blocks away! (Checking the artist’s Instagram page, we see he’s also recently painted Dave Matthews.)
7:11 PM: Thanks to Al for this photo of the finished creation:
(WSB photos)
That’s what King County Water Taxi passengers saw this morning as they disembarked at Pier 50 downtown – the new passenger-ferry facility. Not just the Water Taxi:
Since Kitsap Fast Ferries are sharing the space, Kitsap Transit’s board chair, Bainbridge Island Mayor Kol Medina, shared the podium with King County Executive Dow Constantine at a media briefing this morning.
Constantine, a longtime Water Taxi champion, said he was “amazed” by how well the project turned out, “way better” than he had imagined. Here are some of the highlights:
We asked King County Marine Division director Paul Brodeur for his favorite features. Above, the Douglas-fir ceiling – “sustainably harvested,” he noted – as well as the many accessibility improvements, including a tactile path from Alaskan Way to the facility entrance:
Here’s the spot where a person following that path will turn to go into the facility:
Brodeur also expressed appreciation for the “1 Percent for Art” feature inside. It’s subtle, and we wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t pointed it out:
The posts – meant to emulate pilings with tide lines – are by artist Leo Berk; his many other public-art sites include Highland Park Spraypark. Also part of the new facility, digital signage and 9 ticket machines:
One feature that’s not ready to go yet – new connections to the main terminal – the connections should be complete within a month or so. (Important because, as one question toward the briefing’s end revealed, there’s no restroom in the new facility.) Wondering about the cost? From the news release:
The total cost of the project is $45 million, which includes the new building and the new float for boats to dock. Approximately 80 percent of the funding came from a grant from the Federal Transit Administration.
If you travel through the new facility today, you might still have a chance at opening-day swag, including little foam boats and decorated cookies:
So now that the downtown dock is upgraded, what about West Seattle, which is still using the Seacrest fishing pier after 20+ years? Constantine had nothing concrete to announce but replied that the new Pier 50 will “show the way” and that it’s proof that the region’s commitment to passenger ferries – not always a sure bet – “is past the point of no return.”
We’ll add briefing video later.
We took that photo Sunday afternoon after multiple tips that the BECU ATM in Morgan Junction was out of service and damaged, as well as smeared with what looked like blood. We followed up with Seattle Police today to see if it was a theft attempt, or vandalism, or … Here’s what the police report says:
A 911 call Sunday morning brought officers to the freestanding outdoor ATM, where they found a man who said his card got stuck in the machine, so first he called the BECU phone number on the machine’s side, but didn’t reach anyone. Then, the police report says, he tried “to remove the card from the machine using a pair of pliers, but ended up accidentally breaking the card reader and cutting his finger in the process.” He told the officers that he called 911 himself because he “had no intention of causing property damage to the machine.” They offered to summon medical help for his finger injury, but he declined.
P.S. Police then tried to contact BECU to let them know about the damaged machine but, the report says, they couldn’t reach anyone either.
(Black-throated Gray Warbler, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, highlights as a new week begins:
WADING POOLS & SPRAYPARK: Since the forecast is for sunshine and 70s later, they’re expected to be open: Lincoln Park (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW) wading pool is open 11 am-8 pm, Delridge wading pool (4501 Delridge Way SW) is open noon-6:30 pm, South Park wading pool is open noon-7 pm. And the Highland Park Spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale) is open 11 am-8 pm.
FREE SUMMER MEALS: Three weeks until schools reopen, so local efforts continue to make sure no kids/teens go hungry. Various locations and times – use this lookup to find them.
SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE TOUR: Find out more about West Seattle’s own college duing this 1 pm tour:
Get to know the people, programs, and services available at South Seattle College! Tours include visits to departments and classrooms including our Academic Programs, Professional/Technical Programs, Enrollment Services, Student Life, Diversity and Retention, and Campus Resources. Enjoy a leisurely walk around our beautifully-landscaped campus and learn what makes South Seattle College a great place to fulfill your educational and career goals!
FOSSIL HUNTERS: Join visitors from the Burke Museum at High Point Library, 5:30 pm, to learn about the clues fossils give us into the world of long ago. All ages welcome. (3411 SW Raymond)
EVENING BOOK GROUPS: 6:45 pm, at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW) and West Seattle Library (2306 42nd SW). SW is reading “The Moor’s Account” by Laila Lalami, WS is reading “Old Filth” by Jane Gardam.
QUIZ NIGHT: Are you the person with all the answers? Or at least most of them? Go play! 8 pm at Parliament Tavern, $2/player. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
7:11 AM: Good morning! No alerts/incidents so far. The Water Taxi is back in service as promised, with the Doc Maynard, and the new downtown facility at Pier 50.
8:32 AM: We are on the eastbound bridge & just noticed an SDOT crew coning off the outer lane before the crest.
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