day : 15/06/2020 12 results

Ready for Phase 2? King County leaders say we are, and that tops tonight’s virus-crisis local roundup:

SEEKING PHASE 2 PERMISSION: King County leaders announced this evening that they’ve asked the state for approval to move from “modified Phase 1” to Phase 2. That would mean more sit-down dining, among other things – see pages 20, 21, and 22 in the application for more details on what Phase 2 would mean. (It contains lots of information about the state of the outbreak, too, if you haven’t been sifting through the county dashboards in search of that already.) How soon could the state decide? Likely sometime this week.

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here’s today’s daily summary – the cumulative totals:

*8,797 people have tested positive, 46 more than yesterday

*574 people have died, unchanged for a second day

*1,521 people have been hospitalized, 1 more than yesterday

*125,323 people have been tested, 1,815 more than yesterday

One week ago, the cases/deaths totals were 8,507/567.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them – nation by nation – here.

MASKS MATTER: State health authorities held a “telebriefing” focusing on the importance of face coverings, especially for workers. You can hear what they had to say by going here.

PREMIUM PAY FOR FOOD DELIVERY: A bill co-sponsored by West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember Lisa Herbold passed the council unanimously today, mandating premium pay for food-delivery “gig workers,” while the pandemic continues.

BACK TO REGULAR HOURS: Transfer stations.

GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!

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BUSINESS UPDATES: Cherry Consignment, VAIN, La Rustica

June 15, 2020 9:11 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Three more business updates:

CHERRY CONSIGNMENT: Reopening tomorrow, hours noon-5 pm to start with, open Tuesday-Wedneday and Friday-Saturday-Sunday this week for starters, closed Thursday. (4142 California SW).

VAIN: The salon/boutique in The Junction reopened today. Check here for their policies in this phase of reopening. (4513 California SW)

LA RUSTICA: This update came in today:

La Rustica will be open for Dine-in service starting tomorrow with our patio at 50% capacity and dining room at 25%. We also have a private dining room for up to 5 which can be reserved for parties of 5.

Hours will be Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday 4-9 – Friday & Sat 4-Close

We will also still be offering minimal contact take out service with online ordering only at larusticawestseattle.com

(4100 Beach Drive SW)

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REOPENING: King County applies to move to Phase 2

June 15, 2020 6:31 pm

| 55 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Just in from King County:

King County Executive Dow Constantine and King County Council Chair Claudia Balducci submitted an application to the state Department of Health to move King County to Phase 2 of the Safe Start recovery plan following approval of the plan by the King County Board of Health.

“After two weeks in what has been called Phase 1.5, our case counts, health care system capacity and other metrics are holding steady, and we are ready to move to Phase 2,” said Executive Constantine. “But make no mistake – successful economic recovery will depend on everyone in King County carefully following the recommendations of our Public Health experts, including wearing face coverings and avoiding unnecessary contacts, so together we can keep re-opening our community while holding the line on the pandemic.”

Under Phase 2, businesses can operate at twice the indoor capacity permitted in the modified Phase 1, provided they meet all re-opening requirements set out by the state’s guidance. Businesses with questions about their operation can also call the Public Health Business Compliance Line at 206-296-1608.

P.S. For more specifics, here’s the application.

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Why Guardian 1 was over Arbor Heights

June 15, 2020 5:47 pm

| 36 COMMENTS

| Crime | Helicopter | West Seattle news

Sorry that took a while to sleuth – we had to drive over and look around for an officer on the ground to find out why the Guardian One helicopter was over Arbor Heights. They were looking for a domestic-violence suspect in connection with a protection-order violation.

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WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE CLOSURE: How to watch second Community Task Force meeting on Wednesday

June 15, 2020 5:19 pm

| 18 COMMENTS

| West Seattle Bridge Safety Project | West Seattle news

(WSB file photo)

This Wednesday, the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force meets for the second time. With the get-to-know-each-other session last week (WSB coverage here) out of the way, this time around, the advisory group’s focus is expected to include (according to a preview on last week’s agenda):

– Engineering update
– Repair/replace bridge decision
– Recommendations for traffic mitigation/traffic plans
– Low bridge policy

Readers interested in watching live asked for an earlier heads-up on the link this time, so we’ve just obtained it from SDOT – you’ll be able to watch here, 1-2:30 pm Wednesday (June 17th). A link to an online comment form will be part of the meeting.

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FOLLOWUP: Seattle City Light project still planned for Brace Point, hit by 36+-hour power outage

June 15, 2020 4:20 pm

| Comments Off on FOLLOWUP: Seattle City Light project still planned for Brace Point, hit by 36+-hour power outage

| Utilities | West Seattle news

Back on May 21-22, an underground-cable failure left hundreds of people south of Fauntleroy, mostly in the Brace Point area, without electricity for a day and a half. It wasn’t the first failure in the area. But it led to the question of whatever happened to a planned Seattle City Light project to fix the ongoing problems. We found some online documentation – such as the draft below, from early last year – which said the project was originally expected to start early this year.

Obviously, it didn’t. So we asked SCL about the project’s status. We got the reply today from spokesperson Julie Moore:

The Brace Point Cable Replacement Project is still active. It is in the project manual/specification preparation process for public work advertisement. The project was delayed during the project design development/SDOT permitting stage; that process took longer than originally expected. Construction is tentatively scheduled to start Q1 2021 and could last two years.

Brace Point property owners paid for the original underground project completed in the early 1970s (ordinance attached). As with such voluntary underground projects, the property owners pay for the initial installation and City Light is responsible for all maintenance, and in this case, the rebuild that should start next year.

A similar project in The Arroyos/south Arbor Heights has been under way for about two years.

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NEED FOOD? 2 chances this week @ Food Lifeline

June 15, 2020 3:04 pm

| Comments Off on NEED FOOD? 2 chances this week @ Food Lifeline

| Coronavirus | South Park | West Seattle news

Again this week, Food Lifeline is offering free emergency food boxes to anyone who shows up. From the announcement:

The standard emergency food boxes each contain 22-25 lbs of shelf-stable food items like canned fruits and vegetables, canned meats, non-meat protein items, and bread and grains. There will also be fresh produce and select dairy items for those attending the distributions. (While supplies last)

Those wishing to take home boxes can receive a drive-up no-touch distribution, and there will also be walk-up distribution …

Food Lifeline – 815 South 96th Street (2 this week)
Wednesday, June 17, at 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Friday, June 19, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

FULL SCHEDULE: foodlifeline.org

ANYONE can have access to this food. This is a confidential distribution, so there will be no paperwork or qualification. Food Lifeline is only asking for zip codes to track its efforts.

Food Lifeline encourages everyone to take home this nutritious food. We are all struggling during this crisis, and no one should hesitate to accept this help.

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WHALE-WATCHING: Orcas traveling this way again

June 15, 2020 1:03 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news | Whales | Wildlife

1:03 PM: Heads-up for whale lovers – Kersti Muul shares the news that southbound orcas were reported mid-channel off Shilshole about half an hour ago, so unless they change their direction, they could be in view now, or soon, off West Seattle. Let us know if you see them!

1:57 PM: Kersti says they’re “Visible with binocs from Alki and Sunset overlook.”

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City returns transfer stations to regular hours

June 15, 2020 12:01 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Coronavirus | South Park | Utilities | West Seattle news

Announced today by Seattle Public Utilities – the reduced schedule at transfer stations is over:

Seattle Public Utilities’ North and South Transfer Stations are open (as of June 15, 2020) normal operating hours, seven days a week from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm. We want to thank our customers for understanding that while the stations are operating at their normal schedule, that visits to the stations should be for essential trips only (urgent and perishable waste) in an effort to reduce potential spread of COVID-19.

For more on that, here’s the full SPU announcement. The South Transfer Station is just east of West Seattle, at 130 S. Kenyon.

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TODAY/TONIGHT: New West Seattle food-truck site, and 2 more events

June 15, 2020 11:17 am

| 12 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

Three notes for the hours ahead:

(Photo courtesy Sunny Up)

NEW FOOD-TRUCK SITE: Food trucks are visiting the Alki Masonic Lodge parking lot in The Junction at 40th/Edmunds this week, according to an announcement from Broadstone Sky across the street. Above is Sunny Up, there until 2 pm today; then, 2-4 pm, it’s Delfino’s Pizza. Here’s the schedule for the rest of the week (daily through Saturday, different trucks each day). UPDATE: A commenter says today’s time for Delfino’s Pizza has changed to 4-8 pm.

Also happening on this damp Monday:

‘TAKE A KNEE FOR JUSTICE’: As noted previously, Admiral UCC Church is continuing this weekly in-person – but distanced – event on Mondays:

Admiral Church will be sponsoring weekly “Take a Knee for Justice” events on the church lawn at 8 pm on Monday evenings through the end of June (June 15, 22 and 29). We will kneel in silence for 8 minutes to grieve together the deaths of all those persons of color who have been murdered by white supremacy, and to protest racial injustice. Then we will sing a song together; no speech-ing, no preaching, just coming together as a community. Bring masks and protest signs if you have them; we will also have some available.

The church is at 4320 SW Hill.

LIVESTREAMED MEDITATION: From the Puget Sound Zen Center:

Puget Sound Zen Center holds a West Seattle meditation and service each Monday, which, when it begins in person again, will be held at St. John the Baptist Church at 3050 California Ave SW. For the moment, however, it is held on Zoom from 7 – 8:30 PM each Monday. The website is pszc.org – and it provides the Zoom link (as well as the password) for the livestream.

Got something coming up, online or in-person? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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SCHOOLS: Genesee Hill Elementary’s ‘end of year’ parade planned Thursday

June 15, 2020 10:20 am

| 1 COMMENT

| Coronavirus | Genesee Hill | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

It’s become a tradition by which many will remember this pandemic spring – the car “parade” for school staffers and students to see each other even though the campuses have been closed since March. Next West Seattle school planning one, Genesee Hill Elementary, which just sent the map (full-size version is here in PDF) for its Thursday plan:

Thursday, June 18th, at 11 am: Virtual Field Day and Teacher Parade

While students are completing their Field Day activities, the Genesee Hill staff will be having an end-of-the-year parade. Wear your GHES shirt or tie-dye and get ready to make some noise, play, and celebrate all of the hard work put into this school year! The parade will weave through our service area and we encourage families who are outside our service area to join us on GHES’s surrounding sidewalk, using appropriate social-distancing measures. For safety reasons, please remain on sidewalks and yards. We will end the parade with a final victory lap around the surrounding GHES block!

Neighbors are welcome to join us in celebrating our students.

Friday (June 19th) is the last day of the school year, and the day Seattle Public Schools plans to announce its plan for next year.

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ROAD WORK/TRAFFIC/TRANSIT TODAY: Monday notes, 13th week of West Seattle Bridge closure

June 15, 2020 6:05 am

| 9 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:05 AM: Good morning – the 84th morning without the high-rise West Seattle Bridge.

ROAD WORK

The Delridge Way repaving-and-more project has begun – here’s our latest update – and if you’re parked by a NO-PARKING sign, you might need to move your vehicle ASAP!

TRAFFIC

On to the cameras for the 5-way intersection, and the restricted-access low bridge just east of it:

The main detour route across the Duwamish River is the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) – which has up to 14 overnight closures planned next month, as announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, here’s that camera:

The other major bridge across the river is the South Park Bridge (map) – this camera shows the SP-side approach:

Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed for info about any of those bridges opening for marine traffic.

You can see all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.

TRANSIT

Metro – Check the Twitter feed for any breaking service changes. Otherwise – still on the reduced schedule and reduced capacity; check here for next departure. Note that Metro service will increase next Monday, June 22nd.

Water Taxi – Reduced schedule continues until next Monday

Trouble on the roads/paths? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.

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