West Seattle, Washington
22 Friday
Another local business confirms an employee has tested positive for COVID-19. This time, it’s Duke’s on Alki. The restaurant posted this on social media tonight:
The restaurant was open tonight; an employee who contacted us about the situation says the cleaning was done on Thursday and that employees were notified that day.
If you’re hearing construction-type noise – there’s a Seattle Public Utilities crew working on a water problem at California/Dawson, just south of The Junction. We haven’t heard from anyone whose water service has been affected, but did get a couple tips about the SPU crew (thank you).
FIRST REPORT, 10:12 PM: Thanks to Jason for the photo from a crash scene this past hour in Gatewood, in the 42100 block of SW Othello [map]. The driver is reported to have hit parked cars before crashing into a tree, and was taken to a hospital.
ADDED EARLY SUNDAY: Another crash was reported a few blocks away, at 41st/Austin, just after 10:30 pm:
The owner of a parked F-250 pickup truck that was hit and damaged sent that photo, showing blue paint from the hit-run vehicle. He says it was a “small blue car” that crashed shortly thereafter, according to the police officer who took his report.
A troubling nationwide trend hits our state too, and that’s what starts tonight’s roundup:
HITTING THE BRAKES: Gov. Inslee and state Health Secretary John Wiesman announced today that no county will be allowed, for now, to advance to Phase 4:
Rising cases across the state and concerns about continued spread of the COVID virus have made Phase 4, which would essentially mean no restrictions, impossible at this time.
Eight counties were eligible to move from Phase 3 to Phase 4 before the pause.
This doesn’t affect us right now, as King County just moved to Phase 2 a week ago.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here are the cumulative numbers from Public Health‘s daily-summary dashboard:
*9,819 people have tested positive, 124 more than yesterday
*586 people have died, unchanged from yesterday
*1,574 people have been hospitalized, 10 more than yesterday
*157,623 people have been tested, 1,764 more than yesterday
One week ago, those totals were 9,165/585/1,540/140,894.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Almost 10 million people have tested positive, and almost half a million have died. Most cases: U.S., Brazil, Russia, India, United Kingdom. See the breakdown, nation by nation, here.
GROCERY SHOPPING: Our periodic check of what’s up with local standalone grocery stores turned up that two chains have reduce their weekly senior/at-risk shopping hours.
ONLINE FARMERS’ MARKET: If you don’t feel ready to wade into the West Seattle Farmers’ Market on Sundays, they’re offering a new shop-online-and-pick-up option – info here.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
If yo have time to spare this summer – local kids need you. The request is from FareStart:
FareStart helps people overcome barriers to employment by teaching work and life skills needed to succeed in the foodservice industry — and in life. By investing in people and building community, we transform homelessness, hunger, and poverty into human potential.
Since early March, FareStart has distributed over 600,000 meals to the community. Over the summer, FareStart will be providing over 2,000 meals a day to families and children at 26 Seattle Public Schools and we need your help!
Volunteers are needed to help distribute meals at Seattle Public Schools including West Seattle High School, Denny International Middle School, and at Concord International School in South Park. Shifts are available Monday-Friday through the summer from 10:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. If you are interested, fill out our volunteer form to learn more: https://www.farestart.org/covid-19-volunteer-opportunities
Thank you for helping us in our mission to transform lives, disrupt poverty and nourish communities through food, life skills, and job training.
Thanks to everyone who has continued to send West Seattle bird photos! Here are 7 more -starting with this one from John Kieltyka:
That Steller’s Jay wandered into a photo shoot for John’s West Seattle-produced guitar podcast, The High Gain.
Kimberly Mickelson spotted this Great Blue Heron on a roof:
From Mark Wangerin, a fuzzy Barred Owlet:
A Red-shafted Northern Flicker visited Steven Sherotsky in Gatewood:
From Hans A. in Delridge, an unusual view of a Crow in flight:
And two from Larry Gilpin near Schmitz Park – first, an Anna’s Hummingbird:
And a Spotted Towhee:
Thanks again to everyone who continues to send photos and tips!
Just as the city encourages more businesses to use outdoor space to make things safer for customers and staff – one West Seattle restaurant’s outdoor area has been hit by theft. The photo is from Itto’s Tapas (California/Genesee), which texted the photo and reports, “Someone stolen a couple outdoor tables and chairs last night after midnight.” A police report has been filed (tracking # T20018446)..
(Photo courtesy Bayfest Youth Theatre)
Still sorting out summer? Got a teen or tween in the household who’s interested in theater? West Seattle-based Bayfest Youth Theatre has an offer for you:
Although we are very sad to have to cancel our in-person West Seattle-based drama camp intensive in August due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are really excited to be able to offer a COMPLETELY FREE opportunity for 15-20 students to train and work on monologues, songs, and original performance pieces with some of our top teaching artists.
The camp will use the ZOOM platform for fun and active group and one-on-one meetings over the course of 10 days (up to 2 hours per day, with additional home assignments for participants to work on, with videos we will be posting on our site), and that it will culminate in a performance video that will be posted online and sent to thousands of our audience members.
The camp will run from August 10-21 and is open to participants ages 10-12 and 13- 19 (in two separate groups). Although it is open to all interested Seattle-area young people and is being supported by grants we have received from the City and County, we would love to have some local kids participate, since we are a West Seattle organization and work in local schools. Please tell your own kids or any others you know who may be interested, and have them get their applications in as soon as possible. Further information and a link to the application is available at www.BAYFESTyouthTheatre.org
Please email us immediately at: BAYFESTyouthTheatre@gmail.com if you are interested in applying for the virtual drama camp and if you have any further questions.
11:56 AM: Today and tomorrow, 60+ rainbow flags line the heart of The Junction, as this year’s Pride month concludes. Volunteers placed them this morning:
Above, West Seattle Junction Association executive director Lora Radford and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott were part of the crew.
This is the second year for the flags, which were all “adopted” as a Junction Association fundraiser (WSB is among the adopters).
The flags will be removed at 8 pm tonight and re-placed at 8 am tomorrow – helpers welcome (meet up on the northeast corner of California and Alaska).
P.S. One more flag for The Junction – muralist Desmond Hansen is painting the Progress Flag on the signal box at the northeast corner of California/Oregon.
ADDED 1:49 PM: The artist and his creation (photo courtesy WSJA):
(Photo courtesy SSC)
The season of drive-up/walk-up graduation celebrations continues! From South Seattle College (WSB sponsor):
South Seattle College kicked off celebrating the Class of 2020 on June 25 with a drive-through “Can’t Stop Us!” event to honor our graduates’ monumental achievement and unstoppable spirit in overcoming historic challenges to earn their degrees and certificates. We are celebrating over 850 graduates this year, and over 100 attended the June 25 event.
A photo gallery from the celebration has been posted to SSC’s Facebook page.
Graduates will also be sent a “Commencement in a Box” later this summer that includes a graduation tassel, Class of 2020 commencement program, diploma cover, a card from SSC President Rosie Rimando-Chareunsap, and other fun gifts and memorabilia.
The celebration continues virtually with an online Kudoboard where anyone can share their congratulations, and a “Class of 2020: You are UNSTOPPABLE” video featuring graduates from across the Seattle Colleges (including North Seattle College and Seattle Central College).
Seattle Colleges originally planned to celebrate the Class of 2020 at T-Mobile Park. To protect everyone’s health during the pandemic, the decision was made to cancel an in-person commencement and create new ways to recognize our amazing graduates.
Additionally, all 2020 graduates are invited to attend the next in-person commencement.
“You are officially a member of the Class of 2020, and on behalf of every faculty and staff member at South Seattle College I want to say we are so proud of your accomplishment, and truly honored to call you an alumni for life,” President Rimando-Chareunsap said. “This is your story, and its one you will share with family and friends for decades to come. It is a story of pushing through in life, work, and education during a deeply tumultuous time. The burden has been massive, and yet here you stand strong: A College Graduate more than ready to write your next chapter and make your mark.”
South Seattle College conferred a total of 855 awards this year, including:
*407 associate transfer degrees that enable graduates to transfer to four-year colleges and universities in Washington and beyond to complete their bachelor’s degrees.
*239 associate of science degrees and certificates that prepare graduates to enter the workforce immediately.
*178 high school diplomas or equivalents, allowing graduates to take a significant step toward future education and employment opportunities.
*31 bachelor of applied science degrees, taking graduates’ careers to the next level and increasing their earning potential.
As the pandemic starts its fifth month locally, grocery shopping remains the major out-of-home venture for many, so we’re still keeping watch on local standalone stores for Saturday-morning updates every week or two. Four updates this time around:
TRADER JOE’S: As of Monday (June 29th), it’s going back to a 9 pm closing time.
QFC: Senior/at-risk shopping hours have been pulled back to two days a week, 7-8 am Mondays and Wednesdays.
WHOLE FOODS: This chain also has cut back on senior/at-risk hours, 7-8 am Wednesdays and Fridays, with regular hours 8 am-9 pm and senior/at-risk shopping.
PCC: Now open 8 am-11 pm. And a note of interest – we missed this when it was announced a month ago, but West Seattle resident Cate Hardy, PCC’s CEO since 2015, is leaving for a new job as CEO of The Wine Group.
Our master list of store info is here. P.S. Don’t shop unmasked!
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