West Seattle, Washington
09 Tuesday
Tonight’s virus-crisis news, late edition:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*15,946 people have tested positive, 167 more than yesterday
*657 people have died, unchanged from yesterday
*1,992 people have been hospitalized, 8 more than yesterday
*312,168 people have been tested, 4,718 more than yesterday
One week ago, the four totals were 14,879/644/1,935/285,305.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.
EDUCATION RECOMMENDATIONS: The governor is NOT making a statewide order on what schools should do, but today he issued new recommendations. The key metric for determining a county’s risk status can be checked here (thanks to Lura for the link).
TESTING: West Seattle’s weekly drive-up testing site is shifting its hours earlier starting this Friday.
REOPENING: After a 4-day COVID closure, Mioposto Admiral has reopened.
GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!
A major closure is coming up as part of the Delridge Way work paving the way for converting Metro Route 120 to the RapidRide H Line – and SDOT has clarified the hours: SW Genesee St will be closed between 25th Ave SW and Delridge Way SW, 9 am Friday (August 7) until 5 am Monday (August 10). During the weekend closure, crews might work as late as 10 pm, SDOT says. The Delridge Community Center parking lot entrance on Delridge south of SW Genesee will also be closed to vehicle access for what SDOT describes as “several weekends,” starting this Friday night. It will be accessible on weekdays.
Starting this Friday, hours for weekly COVID-19 testing at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) will be earlier. Here’s the announcement:
UW Medicine and the Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods are changing mobile COVID-19 testing site hours to 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at South Seattle College’s main campus in West Seattle, effective Aug. 7. The testing site, located in SSC’s north parking lot, is open on Fridays only. This change was made to avoid the hottest hours of the day during summer.
When: Fridays only from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: South Seattle College’s North Parking Lot, accessed by Entry 1 (campus map link)
Please Note: Visitors should only use Entry 1/North Parking Lot entrance. South Seattle College’s physical campus is otherwise closed to the public in response to COVID-19 with very limited exceptions for essential staff and programs approved by the state. The college is operating remotely until further notice and will run fall quarter classes in accordance with public health guidelines.
Testing Site Details
Anyone experiencing the following symptoms can come to the site, speak with medical staff from UW Medicine and, if qualified for testing, get tested on-site:
Cough
Shortness or breath or difficulty breathing
Fever
Gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
Muscle Aches
Headaches
Chills
Sore throat
Runny nose
New loss of taste or smellThere is no cost to be tested. If you have health insurance UW Medicine will bill your insurance.
Walk-up and drive-up visitors are welcome. Please note due to King County Metro bus service reductions in response to the pandemic, the college does not currently have Route 128 service to campus. Route 125 is currently running. Visitors should only use Entry 1/ North Parking Lot Entrance where UW Medicine staff will direct you.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The city-convened advisory West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force met this afternoon for the sixth time, but no big headline emerged.
Here’s video from the first section of the meeting, before members split into two groups for discussion:
LOW-BRIDGE ACCESS UPDATE: SDOT’s Heather Marx said that in addition to who’s allowed to use the low bridge now, they’re recommending adding 2 more “essential vanpool” permits (bringing the current total to 10) – “serving hospitals, primarily” – and 13 permits for two local business associations (West Seattle Junction Association and WS Chamber of Commerce) to distribute to members – a Task Force suggestion at a previous meeting.
After a 4-day closure, Mioposto Admiral has reopened. Here’s the announcement we received:
Last Saturday we closed the restaurant upon hearing the news that one of our team members tested positive for Covid-19. That same day, we had a professional cleaning crew come in and disinfect the entire restaurant while all staff got tested and awaited results (we will be paying for lost wages during the closure). We are happy to announce that the entire crew has tested negative for Covid-19 and we are reopened for dine-in as well as take-out.
Just announced by U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal‘s office:
Today, our country is facing a pandemic, an economic crisis, and justice system that needs reformation, but we also have the opportunity to make positive systemic change as we address these challenges. We invite you to plug in with your Congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, on these issues and whatever is top of mind for you. The Congresswoman will host a Zoom call for you and your neighbors from West Seattle on Thursday, August 13th from 10:30 am – 11:30 am. This will be a time for conversation with Congresswoman Jayapal and her district office staff. Space is limited, so please RSVP here to reserve your spot. Once we reach capacity, we will put interested participants on a waitlist.
When not in D.C., Rep. Jayapal lives in West Seattle.
1:18 PM: Even before last Sunday’s double shooting, Alki Beach residents say the nighttime state of things at the beach has been getting worse – the video above was sent by one reader just hours before the shooting, around midnight Saturday night. Among the problems, illegal beach fires have continued and seem to have grown in number many nights since Parks removed the fire rings (which had been locked anyway) two weeks ago, drawing SFD responses, as we noted last week. Another beach resident sent this photo showing some of the fires on Saturday night:
Fireworks are reported nightly, too.
Alki Beach Park is supposed to be closed at 9:30 pm; residents say a Parks crew makes that announcement but it’s inevitably ignored.
After the shooting last weekend, Southwest Precinct commander Capt.Kevin Grossman explained that SPD no longer has money for the “emphasis patrols” that had been sent to the beach in the past. But today, he announced an update: “The Parks Department has generously agreed to fund a three-officer detail to support Parks staff in closing Alki Beach and the Don Armeni Boat Ramp at night, starting tomorrow (Thursday), August 6th. The officers will work three hours, from 8-11 pm, every Thursday through Sunday night for the remainder of the summer, until Sunday, September 27th. We hope that this partnership between SPD and Parks will address some of the issues neighbors have been experiencing with noise, fires, alcohol use, and other parks violations at Alki and Don Armeni.” However, he added, don’t assume this detail will see everything, so keep calling 911 for emergencies.
On followup, he confirmed to WSB that the three officers will be on overtime (as were past “emphasis” patrols), with Parks footing the bill. We have a question out to Parks regarding how much money it’s providing, and whether that department has any other changes planned for Alki.
ADDED 12:37 PM THURSDAY: Parks spokesperson Rachel Schulkin replied, “Parks and Recreation is paying by shift but the amount will not exceed $27,000 for the remainder of the summer, the funds are coming from our Partnerships Division.”
(Click to watch live via Seattle Channel)
10:07 AM: The City Council has reconvened as the Select Budget Committee, with proposed SPD cuts first on the agenda, right after public comment, which has just begun. Here’s the agenda, with documents.
10:32 AM: Public comment (with all but the last of two dozen-plus speakers voicing support for “defunding”) is over. Budget chair Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda is now addressing the turmoil over the issue. She’s followed by council president Councilmember Lorena González. Both take issue with the mayor’s contention that the council is taking action without a plan. “The simple fact is that the mayor does not like our plan,” she declared. “It’s easier to be critical of other people’s plans than to be creative with your own.” She extends an “open public invitation” to the mayor and chief to collaborate. Both stress that a larger process/conversation begins with next year’s budget process, launching in a matter of weeks. Councilmember Kshama Sawant then spoke to say her colleagues need to do more; Councilmember Debora Juarez suggested the speeches be held until the specific items are considered.
10:58 AM: And with that, they’re on to the actual proposals. They can’t vote on what’s under agenda item #1, they’re told, before next week. First item is one co-sponsored by Councilmember Lisa Herbold that would break individual precincts back into individual SPD budget items, as they used to be before SPD combined them into one “patrol operations” item. This among other things could be a pre-emptive strike against an individual precinct closure such as the chief’s mention weeks ago that budget cuts could lead to closing the Southwest Precinct.
11:53 AM: Voting has begun. We won’t be able to monitor because we are moving on to the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force meeting at noon, but will catch up later – and you can still tune in via the stream above.
2:20 PM: Checking back on the council, they’ve reconvened after a break; they’re on Amendment 45 (again, here’s the agenda).
4:53 PM: The meeting is wrapping up. No final votes yet – the council meets again as the Select Budget Committee at 10 am Monday. (added) What’s advanced so far does not amount to a 50 percent cut, but it does include some major changes, including cutting police-brass salaries and ending the Navigation Team.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT NOTE: Media briefing announced for 10 am Thursday: “Council President M. Lorena González and Councilmembers Lisa Herbold, Tammy J. Morales will hold a press conference on Thursday at City Hall to clarify with the public the Council’s plan for meaningful community investments this year to improve public safety for everyone, especially Black, brown and Indigenous communities in Seattle.”
9:55 AM: SFD is arriving at a house-fire dispatch in the 8200 block of California SW. So far, they believe it’s just a dryer fire.
9:58 AM: Most of the units are being dismissed. Our crew confirms the dryer itself has been pulled out of the house.
10:03 AM: Added above – photo of dryer. No one hurt.
(Rufous Hummingbird bathing, photographed by Trileigh Tucker)
Four meetings of note today:
CITY COUNCIL BUDGET VOTES: The council meets again as the Select Budget Committee in two sessions today, 10 am and 2 pm, online. They’ll be voting on cuts to the 2020 budget, including police-related proposals. Here’s the revised agenda packet (including viewing information), which has the SPD discussion up first.
WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE COMMUNITY TASK FORCE: Noon meeting online; connection information is in our Monday preview. Here’s the agenda.
SCHOOL BOARD WORK SESSION: As noted in our report yesterday, the board is meeting at 12:30 pm to talk about the district’s plan for the new school year. Here’s the agenda (including viewing information), with the slide deck and other supporting material.
DISTRICT 1 COMMUNITY NETWORK: This coalition of West Seattle community-organization reps has its monthly meeting online at 7 pm. We haven’t yet received the agenda/viewing information yet, but will add it here when it’s available. (added 2:30 pm) Here it is.
6:16 AM: It’s Wednesday, the 135th morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
TASK FORCE MEETING TODAY
Get the latest on the bridge situation by watching today’s Community Task Force meeting, noon-2:30 pm.
ROAD WORK/CLOSURES
*The RapidRide H Line project continues major work along Delridge Way, with weekend closures ahead – here are the updates for this week.
*Another 1st Ave. S. Bridge northbound closure is scheduled tonight, 10 pm-5 am. Note that we followed up on the project’s status and learned that work had started later than announced, so it apparently will continue into next week.
CHECK THE TRAFFIC BEFORE YOU GO
Here’s the 5-way intersection camera (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):
Here’s the restricted-daytime-access (open to all 9 pm-5 am) low bridge:
The main detour route across the Duwamish River is the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) . Here’s that camera:
The other major bridge across the river is the South Park Bridge (map). Here’s that camera:
Going through South Park? Don’t speed.
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 – Still reduced service and distancing – details here.
Water Taxi – On its “winter” schedule, with the 773 and 775 shuttles – see the schedule here.
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
| Comments Off on CORONAVIRUS: Wednesday 8/5 roundup