After one day with no big announcements – that changed tonight. Here’s the nightly roundup:

GOVERNOR’S NEW ORDERS, AND MORE: We published these as soon as we received the first email, and you can read it on Gov. Jay Inslee‘s website too:

… “I will sign a statewide emergency proclamation tomorrow to temporarily shut down restaurants, bars and entertainment and recreational facilities.

“Restaurants will be allowed to provide take-out and delivery services but no in-person dining will be permitted.

“The ban will not apply to grocery stores and pharmacies. Other retail outlets will have reduced occupancy.” …

As we wrote this, the King County Executive’s Office sent further information that we’ve added to the same story saying health and fitness clubs and theaters are also part of the order, as well as what the governor mentioned. More details are promised tomorrow at 10:30 am; we will carry whatever livestream is offered (added: here’s the link).

TODAY’S KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the daily Seattle-King County Public Health update:

Public Health – Seattle & King County is reporting the following confirmed cases and deaths due to COVID-19 through 11:59 p.m. on 3/14/20

420 confirmed cases (up 32 from yesterday)
37 confirmed deaths (up 2 from yesterday)

Deaths being reported today include:

A woman in her 60s, a Life Care Center resident, who died at Franciscan Medical on 3/14
A woman in her 70s, a Life Care Center resident, who died on 3/12

Of the 37 deaths reported in King County, 29 are associated with Life Care Center of Kirkland.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.

DONATE BLOOD IF YOU CAN: Today’s SKCPH update also carried the warning that the “local blood supply (is) in danger of collapse”:

Growing COVID-19 concerns and closures have led to canceled blood drives and 2500 lost donations, putting our local blood supply in danger of collapse. While inventories are now holding steady as faithful donors and first-time donors respond to the urgent need, donations will continue to drop in the days and weeks to come.

New donors are needed now to step-up and save a life, and for donors to make this a generous and consistent habit. All types of blood are needed for cancer treatment, trauma cases, and many other situations. The process only takes an hour and actual donation time is about 10 minutes.

Donating blood is a safe activity, and there is no risk of contracting coronavirus from the blood donation process.

To find out how, where, and when to donate, see the Bloodworks Northwest website.

HOW TO HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS, SAFELY: Print out this new guide.

SCHOOL LUNCHES START TOMORROW: Reminder that tomorrow is the first day lunches will be provided to all Seattle Public Schools students who need them, grab-and-go style – 11 am-1 pm weekdays – here’s our story with the West Seattle locations.

WATER TAXI SCHEDULE CHANGE DELAYED: Ridership is down and the annual change to 7-day-a-week service will be pushed back at least a month.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR HELP: WSB always has been a community-collaborative news outlet. Your help matters more than ever – tips, links, what you’re seeing, what you’re hearing. That includes who’s open, how to help, who needs help, what you’re trying to find out but not seeing … westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 as always.

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CORONAVIRUS: Governor orders restaurants, bars to do takeout/delivery only; King County issues other new orders

March 15, 2020 7:30 pm

| 74 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

7:30 PM: Just announced:

Gov. Jay Inslee released a statement tonight that further expands protections against COVID-19.

“Given the explosion of COVID-19 in our state and globally, I will sign a statewide emergency proclamation tomorrow to temporarily shut down restaurants, bars and entertainment and recreational facilities.

“Restaurants will be allowed to provide take-out and delivery services but no in-person dining will be permitted.

“The ban will not apply to grocery stores and pharmacies. Other retail outlets will have reduced occupancy.

“Additionally, all gatherings with over 50 participants are prohibited and all gatherings under 50 participants are prohibited unless previously announced criteria for public health and social distancing are met.

“These are very difficult decisions, but hours count here and very strong measures are necessary to slow the spread of the virus. I know there will be significant economic impacts to all our communities and we are looking at steps to help address those challenges.

“Tonight, after consultations with me and with the Department of Health, King County announced that they will be taking these actions immediately. King County has been the hotbed of this outbreak and has the largest population center in the state. I have spoken to Executive Dow Constantine and I applaud their decision to act quickly. We will do a joint media announcement with more details tomorrow morning.”

8:52 PM: More in a separate annoouncement from King County Executive Dow Constantine’s office

To limit the spread of COVID-19, King County Executive Constantine and Dr. Duchin announced a new Local Health Order that directed public health actions effective Monday, March 16.

All gatherings with more than 50 participants are prohibited until further notice.

All gatherings of 50 participants and below are prohibited until further notice unless previously announced criteria for hygiene and social distancing are met.

Restaurants, bars, dance halls, clubs, theaters, health and fitness clubs, and other similar indoor social or recreational venues must cease operations until March 31, 2020.

Restaurants and food service establishments may remain open only for drive-through, delivery, and pick-up only, until March 31, 2020.

All other retail such as groceries, pharmacies, banks, gas stations, hardware stores, shopping centers, etc. may remain open provided they meet Public Health directives in the previous Local Health Order

The Local Health Order was drafted in coordination with state health officials.

Gov. Inslee and Executive Constantine are scheduling a media availability for March 16 to discuss more about what King County is doing, and the Governor will explain statewide actions. Details to come.

“We are at a critical moment in this crisis. We are leaving the phase of COVID-19 outbreaks in concentrated areas of the county, and entering the phase of potentially rapid and widespread infection,” said Executive Constantine.

“It is time, right now, for people to assume that they and everyone they meet is infected, to avoid any unnecessary interactions that might lead to further infection, and to wait and monitor to see if they have in fact been infected so that they can isolate and recover without presenting a risk to others.

“Go to work if you must. But hunker down if you are able. Postpone anything you can. Treat the next two weeks as a period of self-quarantine, to protect yourself and the lives and health of your loved ones and the entire community.”

MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: Today’s briefing time has been delayed to 11 am.

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SPRING: Alice Enevoldsen’s season-change sunset watch goes online

March 15, 2020 7:12 pm

| Comments Off on SPRING: Alice Enevoldsen’s season-change sunset watch goes online

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news | West Seattle online | West Seattle weather

(Photo by Scott Scowcroft – Alice’s spring-equinox sunset watch in March 2019)

Virus or no virus, the earth keeps turning, and spring will arrive this Thursday (March 19th). Like many other events, West Seattle astronomy educator Alice Enevoldsen‘s change-of-seasons sunset watch will go online this time around. Alice says you’re invited to join it via Zoom – 6:30-7:30 pm on Thursday. She will post the link here (and of course we’ll remind you too) that day.

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BIZNOTES: What Salty’s on Alki and Arthur’s want you to know about their restaurants

March 15, 2020 6:31 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

Two more restaurants have shared their messages to you about ways you can keep safely getting their delicious food while this goes on.

first, from Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor):

We have created a To-Go Menu allowing our guests to do curbside pickup! The simply need to call 206-937-1600 and let us know if they will pick up in restaurant or outside. To add to this, ALL KIDS EAT FREE with order of an adult entrée (this applies to the to-go menu). Please see menu attached (PDF).

We have adjusted hours at Alki, see new times below:

Dinner Hours
Mon-Thurs 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Fri-Sat 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Sunday 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Lunch Hours
Mon-Fri 11:30 am – 2:00 pm
Midday Hours
Mon-Fri 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Brunch Hours
Saturday 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Sunday 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
*Alki closes briefly between brunch and dinner on Saturdays from 1:30 pm-4:00 pm and on Sundays from 1:30 pm-4:00 pm.

Café-Bar
Mon-Thurs 11:30 am – 8:30 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 9:30 pm
Saturday 5:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Sunday 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Happy Hour
Mon-Fri 5:00 pm – Close
Sat & Sun 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Salty’s also has a variety of specials. The restaurant is at 1936 Harbor SW.

We’ve also heard from Arthur’s (2311 California SW):

As we all know, the impact of COVID-19 has had a devastating effect within our community. People are sick, people are panicking, people are shutting down. We want everyone to stay safe, and as such, we have taken every precaution available to us to ensure the health and safety of each of our guests that are forging on and coming out to dine with us. Hourly cleaning and sanitizing schedules, combined with our house made sanitizers at every table, alcohol wipes available upon request, hand washing and sanitizing stations in each bathroom, as well as an over abundance of cleaning and sanitizing all surfaces and door handles, makes Arthur’s an incredibly safe space to visit.

As well, we know how tough it has been on our families with children out of school for the next month, at minimum. We understand how difficult it can be to prepare food for everyone every day this pandemic carries on, and we want to help. Starting today we will be offering a free kid’s meal to every parent who purchases an adult entree. We want our parents to know we can help them during these tough times, both with nourishing food and a safe place to escape the isolation that comes with our current situation.

In addition, if guests are concerned about coming into the store, we’re offering curbside service to anyone who wants to order food to go. Just let us know you’d like to take advantage of the offer when you call in – 206-829-8235 – and we’ll get your payment squared away and have instructions as to where to park—the perks of having a parking lot out back are shining bright!

What’s YOUR business doing – delivery, pickup, online, phone, text, gift cards, etc.? Keep letting us know – westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!

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BIZNOTE: Tony’s Market now open

March 15, 2020 3:47 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

(WSB photos)

Another locally owned independent business where you can buy vegetables and fruit right now – Tony’s Market has just opened for the season.

Never been there? You can’t miss the red, green, and white tent at 35th/Barton. Proprietor Joey Genzale tells us he’ll be open daily 9 am-6 pm.

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PRINT THIS: Guide to safely helping, checking on neighbors

March 15, 2020 2:59 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | Health | How to help | Safety | West Seattle news

For everyone who is ready to help … the best place to start is your own immediate neighborhood, especially if you know of older or otherwise high-risk people who live nearby. In that spirit, volunteers have developed a guide for what to do to avoid inadvertently spreading the virus (or any others) while you’re getting or receiving help. Thanks to Cindi Barker of the Neighborhood Emergency Hubs for sharing this. We suggest printing if you can (here’s the PDF version).

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Suspect sought in bizarre incident

March 15, 2020 1:45 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

First we received this report from Ryan via email:

At 8 am this morning at the intersection of Roxbury and 16th Ave – a man was in the middle of the street sitting down with his hands in the air – his feet, hands, and mouth were duct taped – he was signaling – asking for help – he looked like he was a hostage or something snd was dumped on street. Another citizen called 911 and pulled over for him – very scary to see that – police were driving around everywhere on Roxbury.

We didn’t hear about this in realtime but shortly after seeing Ryan’s note, we heard a detailed alert via police radio. Police were seeking a car, stolen from South King County, whose trunk the duct-taped man reportedly had been in. (How he got out wasn’t mentioned.) It was described as a black 4-door 2012 Toyota Camry, plate BHL2715. If you see it, call 911.

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WEST SEATTLE WATER TAXI: Spring schedule change postponed; ridership down

March 15, 2020 12:30 pm

| Comments Off on WEST SEATTLE WATER TAXI: Spring schedule change postponed; ridership down

| Coronavirus | King County Water Taxi | Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo from earlier this week, MV Doc Maynard at Seacrest)

The West Seattle Water Taxi was originally supposed to change to the 7-day-a-week spring/summer schedule one week from tomorrow. But that’s now delayed at least a month. Here’s what the King County Department of Transportation says:

We will now postpone the start of peak season service and reevaluate a new start date in one month. We’ll maintain our current winter schedule through April 20, 2020, continuing to provide morning and afternoon commute service from downtown to and from West Seattle and Vashon Island.

Our ridership has decreased 23 percent over the last two weeks as more people are practicing social distancing by staying home or telecommuting. Our vessels are not at capacity and riders who do come on board are able to maintain safe distance in accordance with Public Health guidelines. At this point, it is not a good use of taxpayer resources to add additional service.

Running commute and peak service requires more crew, and we must preserve our crew in order to maintain core commute service in the event that our workforce is affected by COVID-19.

At this time, the water taxi team does not intend to reduce service beyond current service levels.

Most immediately, we’re putting safety first by cleaning and disinfecting our vessels several times daily, including sanitization of handrails, tabletops and seats.

Wondering just how much ridership has dropped? Some stats on both the Water Taxi and Metro buses were published Friday. Between March 2nd and March 12th, daily ridership fell by almost two-thirds.

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HELPING, & HOW TO HELP: Lafayette Elementary PTA offers books, games, toys

March 15, 2020 11:51 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

11:51 AM: The photo and announcement are from the Lafayette Elementary PTA in The Admiral District:

Lafayette Elementary families have been donating food, books and games for our community. All are located in tubs in the front of our school daily M-F from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm. We’d like to invite anyone in need to visit and to help themselves. If you would like more information, you can email the PTA at lafayette.pta.seattle@gmail.com.

Lafayette is at 2645 California SW [map]. We are checking on whether they’re accepting more donations.

1:26 PM: The reply: “The bins are on the smaller side so we will have volunteers to come and collect excesses and check on the amounts in the containers periodically. If they would like to donate but don’t want to drop off at the school, they can email the lafayette PTA address and we can organize a drop-off location.”

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Online church services, and what else is happening (or not) on your West Seattle Sunday

March 15, 2020 6:03 am

| 9 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle religion | WS miscellaneous

Good morning. We start with that adorable harbor-seal photo by David Hutchinson, who explains, “This latest young harbor seal, nicknamed “Dandelion,’ was being watched over by Seal Sitter volunteers. Pups are born in south Puget Sound from late June – September each year, so a good guess would be that Dandelion is about 6 – 9 months old. Harbor seal pups are only with their mothers for 4-6 weeks and are then on their own.”

On to our list of what is/isn’t happening – first, what’s planned by local churches that we heard from or found online:

ADMIRAL UCC: Sermon will be posted online here.

ALKI UCC: Testing a livestream – info on lower right of this page.

ALL SOULS SEATTLE (WSB sponsor): Pastor’s message here

ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY CHURCH: Planning to livestrream here.

BETHANY COMMUNITY CHURCH: Livestreaming here.

CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS: Meetings canceled

EASTRIDGE CHURCH: Livestreaming here.

FAUNTLEROY UCC: Livestreaming here.

FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF WEST SEATTLE: Online liturgy here.

GRACE CHURCH: Livestreaming here.

HALLOWS CHURCH: The video service for today is here.

HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH: Livestreaming en Español here.

HOLY ROSARY CATHOLIC CHURCH: Livestreaming here.

HOPE LUTHERAN: Services online and updated here, or listen to sermons here. “Youth group will be virtual as well and can be found online.”

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Video resources including weekly homilies here.

PEACE LUTHERAN: Pastor’s message.

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Livestreaming here, viewable later on YouTube.

TIBBETTS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (WSB sponsor): The video service for today is posted here.

TRINITY CHURCH: Livestreaming here.

WEST SEATTLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: The video service for today is here.

WEST SEATTLE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE: Livestreaming here.

WEST SEATTLE PRESBYTERIAN Plans are explained here.

WESTSIDE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION: Livestreaming here.

Any other churches to add? Please email us – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

What else IS happening:

WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Open 11 am-4 pm – go check out something for that at-home project you suddenly have time to do. (4408 Delridge Way SW)

JAMTIME: Old-time/bluegrass music, live at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor). No cover; all ages. (5612 California SW)

FREE COMMUNITY DINNER TO GO: High Point Community Dinner Church will serve to-go meals at 5 pm at Walt Hundley Playfield, as previewed here. (34th/Myrtle)

What’s NOT happening:

CANCELED: West Seattle Farmers’ Market (announcement)

CLOSED: Libraries, Parks facilities, Log House Museum

Got something for our closures/changes/cancellations page, or our calendar, or some other kind of announcement/news? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!

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