West Seattle, Washington
15 Friday
We’re continuing to publish updates about how local businesses are operating these days. This morning, from longtime WSB sponsor Emmick Family Funeral Home & Cremation Services:
Funeral Homes, Cemeteries, and Crematories have been deemed “essential workforces” by
Gov. Inslee.Although, we are adjusting how we make and arrange for our services: We decided to temporarily stop meeting in-person with people back on March 13th.
We can facilitate funeral & cremation arrangements by mail, e-mail, phone, and/or fax. We are still available and able to bring people’s loved ones into our care. Funeral services are very limited at this time, if occurring at all, but it fluctuates day to day, it seems. Some cemeteries aren’t allowing people to be present for a service; other cemeteries are allowing only immediate family members.
We are doing all that we can do to help our community to the absolute best of our ability, and we appreciate the understanding, patience, compassion, and kindness we have received from the Families we serve.
As explained online, theirs is a “small, local, family-owned and operated company,” based at 3243 California SW.
6:30 AM: The high-rise West Seattle Bridge is now empty for the 22nd consecutive morning. Restrictions remain for the low bridge – transit, freight, and emergency responses; SPD presence continued on Monday.
For general traffic, the main route across the Duwamish River is the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) – that’s also the main way to get to I-5, cutting across Georgetown.
Or use the South Park Bridge (map), which drops you onto East Marginal Way a mile south of the north end of the 1st Ave. South Bridge.
Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed to see if a bridge is opening for marine traffic.
TRANSIT ALERTS FOR THIS WEEK:
As first reported here, the Metro and Water Taxi schedules have been slashed. Use the lookup to see which bus trips are canceled.
ROAD WORK UPDATE:
Permanent striping/marker placement in the Avalon/35th/Alaska project zone is scheduled to continue today, as are parking restrictions. Here’s the latest.
OTHER LINKS
SDOT’s traffic map
Our traffic-cams page
Let us know what you’re seeing – comment, or text (not if you’re at the wheel!) 206-293-6302.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Hours before she gets a firsthand look at the West Seattle Bridge danger zone with SDOT, City Councilmember Lisa Herbold provided an update tonight to the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council. The neighborhood closest to the bridge’s crest held its every-other-month meeting by videoconference/phone, and we dialed in.
One major headline: After SDOT briefed the council on the bridge situation one week ago, it was expected they’d be back on April 27th. Herbold told PPNC that SDOT had asked to move the briefing up a week, to next Monday (April 20th), “I’m hoping there’ll be some news for us” about a time frame and plan for “shoring” the bridge, a necessary step before any permanent repairs can be made.
She said the biggest question she’s getting asked is why the bridge cracked so badly that it had to be closed.
Exactly three weeks until the current expiration date on the “stay-home” order. What will happen then? You might look for clues in what happened today:
WESTERN STATES PACT: Gov. Inslee says he and his Oregon and California counterparts, Gov.Kate Brown and Gov. Gavin Newsom, have made a deal. Their joint statement says that “California, Oregon, and Washington have agreed to work together on a shared approach for reopening our economies – one that identifies clear indicators for communities to restart public life and business.” No reopening date(s) proposed yet.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the data dashboard:
*4,549 positive tests, up 123 from a day earlier
*296 deaths, up 4 from a day earlier
One week ago, the numbers were 3,331 and 220.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
WERE THE PARK CLOSURES A SUCCESS? Yes, according to a short update from Councilmember Debora Juarez – who chairs the committee that oversees parks – at this morning’s City Council briefing meeting. No word so far of any further restrictions. We drove along Alki just after 5 tonight and didn’t see much of a crowd:
SPEAKING OF THE COUNCIL … it gave unanimous approval to a bill by Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Tammy Morales meant to help small businesses. From the announcement:
Council Bill 119766 …. enacts a moratorium on commercial property rent increases for small businesses and nonprofits while the City’s civil emergency is in place. The legislation also requires commercial property landlords to negotiate payment plans for overdue rent for small businesses and nonprofit tenants financially affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
The legislation applies to nonprofits, and to small businesses with 50 or fewer employees that have been closed due to public orders or that have seen at least a 30 percent drop in business.
ALSO FOR SMALL BUSINESSES: The 250 businesses getting $10,000 each from the city’s Small Business Stabilization Fund were announced today. Only a few are in West Seattle.
ONE WAY YOU CAN HELP … The Junction has launched a Small Business Relief Fund for any community members interested in donations to help local businesses. You can even specify exactly which one(s) you want your $ to assist (non-Junction OR Junction).
WHAT ELSE THE JUNCTION ASSOCIATION IS DOING: Light(ing) It Blue starting tomorrow night.
TONIGHT’S SIGN OF THE TIMES: Sent by Noodle and crew, seen on the door of Rick’s Barber Shop, aka The Psychic Barber:
GOT INFO? PHOTOS? Email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!
One of the businesses completely closed by the coronavirus crisis has announced it won’t be reopening. The farewell message for you is from Many Moons Trading Co. (which also provided the photos):
To all the people who have crossed our path over last 33 years, it is sadly time to say goodbye. You have all blessed us in so many ways. I looked forward, as did Terry, to seeing all of you every week.
My daughter Angela Nichols, owned Funky Janes, and we worked side by side for many years. She sold her business last April. Now this April, we say farewell for good. We have decided to retire in the face of this crisis.
We have donated the merchandise to Regina House of Providence. They will be giving it away to those in need of a helping hand.
Thank you, West Seattle, for all the love & loyalty you’ve shown over the past 33 years. Stay well, stay safe and always be kind.
Farewell,
Mary Many Moons & Terry Bell
Owners, Many Moons Trading Co.
If you have somehow never been to Many Moons, it’s at 4461 California SW.
(Thursday night photo courtesy Carolyn Newman)
Remember that scene from Thursday night, downtown, lit blue to honor health-care workers and other heroes of the coronavirus response? ‘Downtown West Seattle’ will join in, starting tomorrow night – the Junction Plaza Park evergreen that serves as the area’s official Christmas tree will be decked in blue by Tuesday night. West Seattle Junction Association executive director Lora Radford explains:
Inspired by the nationwide #LightItBlue campaign that lights up blue landmarks for health care workers, the Junction had an idea to show support for the people on the frontlines during COVID-19. The West Seattle community tree that sparkles with lights during Hometown Holidays, was the perfect choice to show support on behalf of West Seattle community members.
Nucor is sponsoring the lights, which will be installed tomorrow by Fleming’s Holiday Lighting.
(WSB photo, Friday night)
Back on Friday night, we covered what started as gunfire at 35th/Morgan and continued as a search after suspects ran from a car near Avalon/Genesee. One adult suspect remains in jail, an 18-year-old Auburn man for whom bail was set over the weekend at $75,000. Probable-cause documents in his case say witnesses on Friday night heard gunfire in the alley north of Walgreens – where we photographed the shell-casing markers shown above – just before they saw three people get into a red car that then left the scene. An officer on his way to the gunfire scene spotted the car less than four minutes later; three passengers ran from the car. Two were eventually caught, the 18-year-old suspect and a 17-year-old; the 24-year-old woman who was driving was questioned and released. Documents say the two guns found in the car were.38 caliber and .22 caliber, and the latter matched the caliber of the 19 shell casings found at the original scene. During questioning, police were told this was all preceded by a confrontation at the Delridge ARCO/AM/PM with a man in a black Mercedes who allegedly pointed an “AK-type rifle” at the suspects’ car. The passengers apparently spotted that car at 35th/Morgan and that’s what led to the gunfire there. Though there was one report of someone being hit by gunfiire, to date no evidence of that has been found. We don’t know the status of the 17-year-old suspect, who was booked into juvenile detention, but he’s described in the probable-cause document as a convicted felon. The suspect who was not caught is 18.
As you’ve heard us point out multiple times … the coronavirus crisis’s many ripple effects include a double punch for social-service nonprofits: Demand is higher than ever, while at the same time, the event ban has canceled fundraisers that provide a big part of their budget. Some are morphing those fundraisers into virtual events, like the West Seattle Food Bank‘s “Instruments of Change” – and you’re invited!
With the health and safety of our neighbors in mind, we have changed our Instruments of Change Dinner/Auction benefit to an online event.
We are excited to be celebrating our wonderful community and raising funds to help our neighbors through an online Instruments of Change on May 9th at 5:30 pm. This virtual event will include a silent and live auction, fun activities, and a compelling program.
Join the fun for free! Register today to spend a short time celebrating our community, the merge between the West Seattle Food Bank and West Seattle Helpline, and to raise funds to help our neighbors stay safe, fed, housed, and healthy. Plus, everyone who registers and attends is automatically entered into a drawing to win 2 round-trip tickets on Alaska Airlines!
Thank you all! We are so grateful to be part of such a caring community, especially during these challenging times. We can’t wait to see you all (virtually) on May 9th for Instruments of Change.
As we’ve been in years past with the in-person event, WSB is a co-sponsor.
We don’t know how many West Seattle businesses were among the 9,000 citywide that applied for grants from the city’s Small Business Stabilization Fund. But the list of 250 recipients contains just a few we recognize as local businesses. The list is in this news release. Each gets a $10,000 grant. The $2.5 million is from federal Community Development Block Grant money; the city is hoping philanthropy will refill the fund for future grants.
Two food-related biznotes today. First, from Meghan & Mark Hogan, proprietors of longtime WSB sponsor Dream Dinners West Seattle
Unlike many grocery stores, Dream Dinners is not experiencing distribution issues and our full menu is available, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner items. We can help you avoid the grocery store while enjoying free meal assembly by our ServSafe certified team, plus curbside pickup. Do you have family or friends in need of groceries? Are your elderly family members in need of homemade, delicious meals? We are here to help.
To take advantage of our FREE Made for You and curbside pickup, visit our website and select a “Made for You” session and place your order using the coupon code APRILMFY at checkout. We will assemble your order and have it ready for you to pick up at the chosen time slot!
Dream Dinners West Seattle is on the outer east side of Jefferson Square, at 4701 41st SW.
HEARTBEET ORGANIC SUPERFOODS CAFE: This eatery has just opened a pop-up location in The Junction’s otherwise temporarily (mostly) closed Naked Crepe at 4508 California SW. Proprietor Monica Colgan (a West Seattle resident) tells WSB, ” We will be open for take-out/pick up immediately, and over the next couple of weeks will be going live with several third-party delivery services to include UberEats, Postmates, Caviar, GrubHub, and DoorDash. People can pre-order pickup on our website, or call and place phone orders at 206-486-4606.” We’ve also added this to our 140+-establishment ongoing list of local restaurants/beverage businesses.
Got a business update? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you.
10:59 AM: Just announced during the City Council‘s weekly “briefing” meeting, during which councilmembers provide various updates on their ongoing focuses: Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Alex Pedersen will be touring the West Seattle Bridge tomorrow with SDOT leaders. (Pedersen is the chair of the Transportation Committee.) Herbold also mentioned the SFD report due by week’s end – as noted in her Friday post. (She also noted that an extra ladder truck was stationed here during the Spokane Street Viaduct project; that was Ladder 13, based at Station 11 for more than a year in 2011-2012.)
1:29 PM: For those who’ve asked, yes, we immediately asked to cover the tour. SDOT says no but promises a media tour at some future time.
8:29 PM: That decision’s been reversed.
(King County Assessor’s Office photo)
We first reported more than a year ago that Westside School (WSB sponsor) was looking at expanding its preschool by using space next door – the former New Apostolic Chuurch, which moved to Federal Way. Today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin includes approval for changing the site use from church to school; here’s the decision (PDF), which includes this:
Westside School proposes to expand into the neighboring, vacant New Apostolic Church. … Westside School operates on the property to the north, the former Hillcrest Presbyterian Church.
The proposal comprises renovation of the church and grounds to create new classrooms, parking, and playground for Westside School. Westside School would shift approximately 30 students from its current building and add approximately 30 new students. Approximately 8 new teachers and staff would use the building. The proposal would retain the current former church parking lot and vehicle access.
The decision issuance opens a two-week appeal period; here’s more on that (PDF).
5:44 AM: Three weeks ago today, the city closed the high-rise West Seattle Bridge, now empty for the 21st consecutive morning. Restrictions remain for the low bridge – transit, freight, and emergency responses; SPD presence continued on Friday.
For general traffic, the main route across the Duwamish River is the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) – that’s also the main way to get to I-5, cutting across Georgetown.
Or use the South Park Bridge (map), which drops you onto East Marginal Way a mile south of the north end of the 1st Ave. South Bridge.
Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed to see if a bridge is opening for marine traffic.
TRANSIT ALERTS FOR THIS WEEK:
As first reported here, the Metro and Water Taxi schedules have been slashed. Use the lookup to see which bus trips are canceled.
ROAD WORK UPDATE:
Work on the last section of Avalon to be paved, west of 35th SW, is scheduled for tonight, which means that stretch of road will be closed; permanent striping in the project zone continues today, as do parking restrictions. Here’s the latest.
OTHER LINKS
SDOT’s traffic map
Our traffic-cams page
Let us know what you’re seeing if you’re still commuting – comment, or text (not if you’re at the wheel!) 206-293-6302.
(Photo courtesy WSJA)
When the coronavirus crisis eases and businesses are allowed to reopen, how many will be able to? That question is doubly important since the closure of the West Seattle Bridge means our community will have to be more self-reliant than ever. To help small local independent businesses hang on, the West Seattle Junction Association soft-launched the Small Business Relief Fund this past week. As explained on the WSJA website:
Love your favorite merchants? You can support yours through the Junction Small Business Relief Fund. Here you can support your favorite by donating to one or many businesses. Enter the name of the small business, then pick the dollar amount. 100% of the funds will be distributed directly to the business; the Junction will pay the credit-card processing fees.
If you want your donation to benefit a non-Junction business, that’s OK too, says WSJA executive director Lora Radford. The fund is off to a promising start and every additional donation helps give another small business a fighting chance. There are four ways to donate – all explained here.
As we continue into the seventh week since the first King County COVID-19 case, our nightly roundup:
NEWEST LOCAL NUMBERS: Seattle-King County Public Health has now moved to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday news-releawe schedule, but is still updating numbers daily on its COVID-19 page. For today:
*Positive test results: 4.426 (up 164 from a day earlier)
*Deaths: 292 (up 8 from a day earlier)
One week ago, those numbers were 3,167 and 208.
ONE MORE WEST SEATTLE DEATH: The county’s by-zip-code breakdown now shows 98126 with 3 deaths; 98106 and 98146 stlll have 2 each, 98136 has 1, 98116 has none.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Find them here.
MAJOR PARKS’ CLOSURE, DAY 2: We drove along Alki around 5 pm. Few people in view on the promenade or beach. South of Alki Point, though, Beach Drive traffic/parking along Constellation Park (which is officially part of Alki Beach Park too) was busy.
The closures are scheduled to end at 4:30 am tomorrow.
IF YOU HAVE TO DRIVE, IT’S TOO FAR: No, the “stay-home” order does not mean “stay INSIDE your home.” But you shouldn’t be driving somewhere to walk, run, etc., the state Health Department reiterates in a post today:
Do: Walk!
A lovely walk around our neighborhoods with the people (or dogs) who live with us is great for our physical and mental health. We can enjoy the sunshine, clear our minds, and get some exercise.
Don’t: Drive to your walk
Please avoid the areas that crowd easily like playgrounds or walking paths. Stay around your home. If you need to drive to your walk, that is too far away.
FERRIES EXTEND WINTER SCHEDULE: With usage way down, Washington State Ferries has extended the winter schedule until June 20th.
METRO’S REDUCED SCHEDULE CONTINUES … this week and TFN.
WATER TAXI TOO: Its reduced schedule is here.
SPRING BREAK: Since school campuses are closed, you won’t see a change there, but this week is officially “spring break” for Seattle Public Schools.
SEEN IN GEORGETOWN: A “trap” for our times:
(Thanks to John Bennett, the West Seattle entrepreneur who also has a stake in G’town, for the photo.)
GOT A PHOTO? INFO? TIP? Email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice our hotline, 206-293-6302 – thank you!
(WSB photo, last month)
Since we first reported a week and a half ago on West Seattle’s strong>Nucor Steel making face shields with 3-D printers, the effort has scaled up in a big way. Here’s an update Nucor sent us to share with you:
After the initial deliveries, the massive scope of the shortage of appropriate personal-safety equipment became more apparent.
To scale up production beyond its initial capability of 100 face shields per week, Nucor Seattle turned to the community, collaborating with the West Seattle Blog to help elevate the effort in the West Seattle neighborhood, where Nucor Seattle’s mill has operated for more than 100 years. The resulting response included several area high schools, technical schools, and residents, who have loaned idle equipment or are using personal equipment to print components and donate supplies for assembly at the steel mill.
Nucor now estimates its capacity at around 100 face shields per day and growing.
School partners include: Franklin Pierce School District, West Sound Tech, Seattle Christian, the
Chehalis School District, and the Tacoma School District.
The first production of about 20 face shields was donated April 2nd to Providence Mount St. Vincent, a long-term-care facility located around a mile from Nucor Seattle’s mill and with which Nucor Seattle has partnered for the last decade.
Since last week, around 500 shields have been delivered to area hospitals, clinics, and care facilities. The team at Nucor Seattle has so far focused on immediate support for the public health response:
• Donation of excess Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to local area medical centers, including hundreds of N95 dust masks and nitrile gloves.
• Organizing on-site additive manufacturing (3D printing) capabilities and expanding efforts to include teammates, local schools, and community resident-owned equipment to help address critical shortages in PPE.
Nucor Seattle engineers specializing in additive manufacturing have worked around-the-clock to research needs and test designs. Currently, the effort is focused on producing National Institutes of Health (NIH) approved face shields for medical workers and frontline caregivers. Nucor is now printing holders for these face shields and has purchased and received donated plastic and straps under the guidelines issued by the NIH. Nucor is also researching and designing various forms of respirator components that can be fitted with household media such as coffee and vacuum filters.
“Our teammates are working hard to design, optimize and produce materials approved by the National Institutes of Health, as well as reaching out to local medical centers and caregivers to learn how we can best support them on the frontlines of this public health crisis,” said Patrick Jablonski, Environmental Manager. “When our community learned of this effort, they stepped up to help and we have gone from 100 face shields in a week to about 100 face shields per day. We are proud to be able to use our resources to contribute to solutions but we are even more humbled by the response and immediacy with which our neighbors acted to help. We are all in this together.”
More than 300 people work at Nucor in West Seattle, which describes itself as “the biggest recycler in Washington State, using recycled scrap to produce materials used in building projects.”
Before Easter ends, bunny sightings from the inbox:
Along Alki Avenue this morning, Stewart L. saw that skateboarding “bunny.” Later in the day in Gatewood, Troy Sterk saw the more-common kind:
Also caught on video, more running than hopping:
Thanks again for all the photo contributions!
We’ve heard several reports of West Seattle musicians serenading their neighbors – at a safe distance. This one came with video. Singer/songwriter Larry Murante‘s concert for his block in Westwood included percussion by Chris Odell.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this afternoon:
STOLEN CAR AND KAYAK: John‘s silver 1993 Subaru Legacy was stolen last night in the 4800 block of 48th SW, orange-and-white kayak and all. (We’ll add the plate # when we get it.) If you see it, please call 911. (update – found!)
DUMPED BIKE WITH CART: From Rick:
Someone left this bike with tow cart in the 6700 block of 14th Ave SW (near Myrtle and green belt), last night/early morning. Possibly stolen.
We’ve been saving up these contributed photos (THANK YOU!) over the past week:
Above, from Mindi Katzman; below, from Jeffrey Jones:
Below – if you saw this, you might think it’s a passing orca, but it’s not:
That’s a sea-lon behavior known as “sailing” (explained here in the past). Above, from Jim Spraker; below, from James Moore:
Later today, some great bird photos from the past week (not The Turkey, who by the way is still in Burien at last report!).
(Art by Tara J., photographed by Ann Anderson)
Good morning! Notes for the day ahead:
ONLINE EASTER SERVICES: Two dozen West Seattle churches are on our list – with services as early as 6:30 am.
DONATION DRIVE: Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds) invites you to be a helper on this holiday:
The COVID19 pandemic is disproportionally hurting our most vulnerable neighbors. Here’s how you can help!
This Easter Sunday, there will be donations barrels outside Alki UCC, for your donations of clothing and non-perishable foods. Social distancing observed! The bins will be available from 10 am to 5 pm.
Food donations will be distributed by the White Center Food Bank. Top requests include Canned Meat/Soup/Fruit (pop-top cans, if possible); Rice, Noodles, Peanut Butter, Oats, Toilet Paper; Diapers, Similac Formula, Baby Wipes, Cleaning Supplies and Hand Sanitizer.
Clothing Donations will be distributed via the West Seattle Clothesline and the King Country Drug Court, which serves our neighbors receiving treatment for minor drug offenses. Many men have been moved into supportive housing during the current crisis; they need shirts, jackets, pants, shoes, underwear, socks, etc. for a smooth transition back into our community. Alki UCC’s Easter Service will be streaming live beginning at 10:00 am. If you’re in the neighborhood before 11:30 am or so, you’ll be able to enjoy a bit of the service music as you walk or drive by.
GROCERY SHOPPING TODAY? Some different hours for the holiday – see our Saturday story.
EASTER TAKEOUT: We’re continuing to update our West Seattle (etc.) restaurant list – some are even offering Easter dinners.
FREE TO-GO DINNERS: High Point Community Dinner Church will serve to-go meals at 5 pm, outside, near High Point Community Center. (6920 34th SW)
(added) MORE FREE MEALS: This offer is from the West Seattle Eagles (4426 California SW):
2 FREE MEALS at your West Seattle Eagles !!!
First up, Gabby and her Mom Debbie will step into the Kitchen from 12 – 2 pm. Our delicious Easter Brunch menu offers up Eggs Benedict, Potatoes and Fresh Fruit.
Round 2 begins at 5.30 pm, when John hits the kitchen to prepare his WORLD FAMOUS SMASH BURGERS !!! You can’t just eat one…
As always, all meals are FREE and open to the PUBLIC !!!
Please enter through the blue door located at the SE corner of the building. We adhere to all CDC Social Distancing Guidelines, so please follow the 6 feet rule. Donations gladly accepted.
And two reminders:
THREE PARKS CLOSED: Stay out of Alki, Lincoln Park, and West Seattle Stadium, which are closed until early Monday.
NO FARMERS’ MARKET … though it apparently almost happened.
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) April 11, 2020
If you’re a fan of actor LeVar Burton – you might know he’s reading stories live on Twttter/Periscope these days. Last night, the story he chose to read was “Magnificent Pigs,” by West Seattle-based writer Cat Rambo, immediate past president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (among other accomplishments). She explained that the SFWA “arranged for people on this year’s Nebula Awards ballot (I am on there for a novelette, CARPE GLITTER) to send stories in for consideration for LeVar. He called yesterday morning and said he was reading my story last night, which absolutely flabbergasted me. I’m so happy my story got a chance to entertain that many people, and holy cow, having your work read by LeVar Burton is about as good as it gets.” (Click above to see/hear him read it.)
That’s the plate on Tamara‘s niece’s car. She just arrived in West Seattle – and on her first night, her car was stolen. It has a UW sticker on it. Some stolen cars are abandoned miles away, but some are dumped near where they were taken, so we publish these reports in hopes you can be on the lookout too. If you see it, call 911.
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