day : 12/08/2020 11 results

Here’s what’s new in the virus crisis:

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:

*16,979 people have tested positive, 149 more than yesterday

*680 people have died, 1 more than yesterday

*2,068 people have been hospitalized, 15 more than yesterday

*345,323 people have been tested, 5,173 more than yesterday

One week ago, the four totals were 15,946/657/1,992/312,168.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.

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

CHANGE IN STATE DATA REPORTING: From the state Department of Health:

Today the Washington State Department of Health announced COVID-19 testing data will soon be reported using the total number of tests completed. This is a change from the current reporting, which reflects the total number of unique individuals ever tested.

For example, someone who has a negative COVID-19 test result in May then another negative result in July would only be counted once in the current reporting approach. The most recent test would not be included. That means testing data does not fully reflect the actual testing volume or the current test positive rate, since only the first negative result for each person is included.

“This new approach will give us the most complete and current picture of the actual amount of COVID-19 testing happening in our state,” said Secretary of Health John Wiesman. “This also becomes important when comparing Washington state to other states.”

During this transition, the COVID-19 testing dashboards will not be updated and will show preliminary data through August 10 using the old methodology. We estimate this will take at least one week.

FREE TESTING TOMORROW: 8 am-3 pm Thursday, anyone who wants to be tested for COVID-19 is invited to the basketball courts behind Neighborhood House-High Point (6400 Sylvan Way) for free walk-up testing with Neighborcare Health‘s mobile assessment team.

WEST SEATTLE YMCA REOPENING: Announced for next Tuesday.

HOPE LUTHERAN SCHOOL’S PLAN: Some in-person, some online.

GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!

Share This

SCHOOLS: Hope Lutheran’s reopening plan

August 12, 2020 9:03 pm

| 23 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Since the state has not issued a universal directive for what schools should do this fall, the plans vary. In addition to Seattle Public Schools – which finalized more details in a meeting this afternoon (followup to come) – other local schools are making their plans official too. So far this week, we’ve heard from Hope Lutheran School in The Junction, which “plans to begin the school year on September 2nd with an in-class learning model for grades preschool through fourth grade, and a hybrid model for fifth grade through eighth grade. … In addition, any K-8 student may choose to enroll instead in the virtual learning model.” Also from the webpage with full details about Hope’s plan is this explanation:

While we considered opening up with the in-class learning model in all grades, the reason for the difference in models is due to three factors: the ability of older students to manage their work with more independence, parent confidence in leaving older students home without supervision at times, and Hope’s overall higher class sizes in the upper grades. While we have the ability to move upper classrooms around to larger spaces, we feel the current class sizes in upper grades are higher than are safe to be together at one time. On the other hand, educational research tells us again and again of the importance of in-class learning for most students, particularly in younger grades where students’ reading skills are less developed and where students are not able to be as proficient in independent learning.

Hope is asking families who want to opt for the all-remote model to do so by next Monday.

Share This

Big call in North Admiral = dryer fire

August 12, 2020 8:16 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

Seattle Fire had a full-size response headed for the 1500 block of 44th SW – and it turned out to be a dryer fire in the basement, per radio exchange. Most of the dispatched units have been dismissed.

Share This

WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stolen red CR-V; license-plate thefts

August 12, 2020 6:07 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Two reader reports:

STOLEN CAR: From John: “We had a 1999 red Honda CR-V stolen in the last day from SW Stevens St and 46th Ave SW. License BHY9500.” If you see it, call 911.

STOLEN LICENSE PLATES: From Leah, who says this all happened on 40th SW between Edmunds and Hudson:

My daughter’s car had the license plate stolen late evening on 7/31. She has an AZ plate only on the back with tabs expiring in 11/2020.

I talked with a neighbor a few days ago who was outside while I was walking my dog and mentioned his back plate was missing and asked if it was stolen. He said yes and said it was an out of state plate (didn’t say which state) but said the tabs were expired because he was trying to sell it. I told him about my daughter’s stolen plates and told him to report to SPD …

While walking our dog this morning, we saw another car parked that had both plates missing which my daughter says she saw last night with both plates still on. Looks like the car of a student from out of state (parking pass for Warren Wilson College-NC).

This now makes three cars with stolen plates on the same street.

Share This

REOPENING: West Seattle YMCA’s plan

August 12, 2020 4:45 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| Health | Triangle | West Seattle news

The West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) has announced its reopening plan:

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be welcoming our members back starting the week of August 17th! We’ve adjusted available services, reduced capacity, and launched new policies and procedures to ensure the safety of you and our staff and adhere to the governor’s Safe Start guidelines. Here’s everything you need to know about coming back to the Y.

The Triangle facility (3622 SW Snoqualmie) reopens next Tuesday; the Fauntleroy facility’s reopening date is not yet set.

Share This

FOLLOWUP: SDOT sets dates for more West Seattle road repairs, with closures and bus reroutes

August 12, 2020 3:00 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

Last weekend, we reported that in addition to the just-completed repair of a bus-battered block of SW Alaska in The Junction, SDOT had plans to do the same at/near 44th/Edmunds. While the work wasn’t scheduled then, it is now. Just in from SDOT’s Kari Tupper:

This work is scheduled for three weekends, beginning this Saturday, August 15th through Sunday August 16th, Saturday, August 22nd through Sunday, August 23rd and Saturday, August 29 through Sunday August 30th. We will also close 44th Ave SW between SW Edmunds and SW Alaska to all traffic including Metro buses during construction and re-open late Sunday afternoons.

That work will take three weekends because at least 14 concrete panels – street sections – need to be replaced.

Share This

BIZNOTE: West Seattle Junction BINGO – everybody wins!

August 12, 2020 1:27 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Fun stuff to do | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

There’s a new game in town. The West Seattle Junction Association has launched Junction BINGO, riffing off a return of the fondly remembered “We Have That!” campaign. The basics:

Pick up your Junction BINGO card. Bring your BINGO card with you when you visit the participating locations. The location will initial the square once you complete your purchase. Once you have completed one line across, one line down or a diagonal line (including the free space), drop off any participating businesses by Wednesday, October 21st for a chance to win gift cards to some of your favorite stores. FIVE LUCKY WINNERS will each receive $250 in gift cards and you’ll be receiving discounts along the way. One entry per person.

More than 20 merchants are participating, with deals you can see on the Junction BINGO webpage, where you can also find out about a bonus component – extra games played online.

Share This

NEED TESTING? West Seattle pop-up has room for walk-ups today, tomorrow

August 12, 2020 11:59 am

| Comments Off on NEED TESTING? West Seattle pop-up has room for walk-ups today, tomorrow

| Coronavirus | Health | High Point | West Seattle news

Just got word that a health fair offering free COVID-19 testing in West Seattle today and tomorrow has room for more walk-ups, so they asked us to share a public invitation. It’s happening on the basketball courts behind Neighborhood House in High Point (6400 Sylvan Way), until 3 pm today and again 8 am-3 pm tomorrow (Thursday). Neighborcare Health‘s Mobile Assessment Team is doing the testing at this site (NOT their nearby clinic), and Neighborcare’s Kate Greenawalt tells WSB that everyone is eligible, no charge, just show up.

Share This

UPDATE: Orcas in our area

August 12, 2020 11:18 am

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | Whales | Wildlife

11:18 AM: The photo and report are from Kersti Muul: Orcas southbound off south Bainbridge Island, so they could be visible off west-facing West Seattle with binoculars. Let us know if you see them!

3:39 PM: Now they’re northbound, says Kersti – most recently reported between Blake and Bainbridge Islands.

Share This

YOU CAN HELP: Pencil Me In For Kids hopes to pencil you in

August 12, 2020 10:12 am

| 4 COMMENTS

| How to help | West Seattle news

In just a few weeks, school starts again for thousands of local kids. Though the pandemic means “school” will look different – at least for the fall – some things haven’t changed: Many kids still need a helping hand to ensure they have supplies.

This is where Pencil Me In For Kids comes in – and has done so for almost a quarter century – with West Seattle community support, for West Seattle students. This year, that too looks different.

Sue Lindblom – who you might know as the proprietor of longtime WSB sponsor Illusions Hair Design – explains PMIFK:

We started as a fundraiser at Illusions in 1996 raising just over $1,800 and in 2002 West Seattle Rotary helped take it on as a project. Our goal has always been to get the specific small items where each school knew they would have a shortage, not just what we ‘thought’ would be helpful. This has always made PMIFK different from other fundraisers. In all this time, we have been able to purchase supplies at discounts from then-Morton’s Drugs to more recently from Staples in Westwood that have totaled tens of thousands of dollars if not much more.

Through the years, we have done raffles with prizes donated by local businesses, had a booth at the Street Festival for many years, had all our printed material donated by Liberty Bell Printing, held dinners at the West Seattle Eagles, held haircutting events at Illusions, received cash donations from Fauntleroy Church and the West Seattle Helpline, many donations from Illusions clients sometimes in the manner of our “Round Up’ pricing in August, donations from West Seattle Thriftway summer BBQs, along with money from the WS Rotary annual fund raising events.

Obviously, things have changed this year. Many events had to be cancelled and there is need everywhere.

Along with limited funding this year, each school is still in the throngs of figuring out exactly how the school will look in a month from now. We have decided to buy a few of the most needed items that are requested each year and hold back most of what we have for right now. We want to find out from each school, after a few weeks, what is needed in this year of the pandemic. The problem is there aren’t many funds this year. We are asking for help. We are asking anyone who can afford a few dollars to help us out this year to please donate.

There are two ways you can help:

#1 – An online donation page has just been set up through GoFundMe.

#2 – Send a check to send a check – for the West Seattle Rotary, noting that it’s for Pencil Me In For Kids – care of Illusions Hair Design, 5619 California Ave. SW, 98136.

Share This

ROAD WORK, TRAFFIC, TRANSIT: Wednesday watch, 21st week of West Seattle Bridge closure

August 12, 2020 6:07 am

| 5 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:07 AM: It’s Wednesday, the 142nd morning without the West Seattle Bridge.

ROAD WORK/CLOSURES

*Ongoing – major Delridge road work to get ready for the RapidRide H Line – here’s where they are focused this week. Remember that SW Genesee is scheduled to close between 25th and Delridge again this weekend, starting at 9 am Friday.

*Another 1st Ave. S. Bridge northbound closure tonight – 10 pm-5 am. (Here’s our update on the project.)

*Southbound Highway 99 tunnel is scheduled to close for maintenance 10:30 pm Thursday-4 am Friday.

CHECK THE TRAFFIC BEFORE YOU GO

Here’s the 5-way intersection camera (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):