West Seattle, Washington
13 Saturday
Good news from the governor starts tonight’s roundup:
GOVERNOR’S GOOD NEWS: At a rare morning media briefing, Gov. Inslee said the number of new cases is starting to decline in much of the state.
The percentage of positive test results is declining too. But don’t get excited yet, he warned – the rate is still 4 times what it should be. You can watch his full briefing here.
BOWLING RETURNS: Also from the governor today, new guidance that means bowling centers can reopen – for league play and practice. We checked West Seattle Bowl‘s website and they’re planning to reopen next month under the new rules.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*18,313 people have tested positive, up 183 from yesterday
*703 people have died, up 6 from yesterday
*2,132 people have been hospitalized, up 2 from yesterday
*330,224 people have been tested, up 2,776 from yesterday
One week ago, those totals were 17,204/685/2,073/307,132.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 22.6 million cases worldwide, and the U.S. has a fourth of them, at 5.5 million. See the nation-by-nation breakout here.
NEW WEST SEATTLE TESTING SITE: Starting next week, the city will offer five-day-a-week testing in the Southwest Athletic Complex lot.
WEST SEATTLE TESTING TOMORROW: Meantime, the weekly South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) COVID-19 testing happens tomorrow – 7 am to 1 pm Fridays.
NEED FOOD? Also tomorrow, 2-5 pm, free boxes of food are available at Food Lifeline (815 S. 96th).
GOT PHOTOS/TIPS? 206-293-6302, text or voice, or westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Two project notes:
1772 ALKI AVENUE SW: A key approval is in for five 3-story townhouses, with 8 offstreet parking spaces, to replace two houses at 1772-1774 Alki SW. The decision opens an appeal period through September 3rd; this notice explains how to file one. We covered the “early community outreach” meeting for this project almost two years ago.
7035 DELRIDGE WAY SW: We first reported on this nine-townhouse plan with nine off-street parking spaces last December. Now it’s going into Administrative Design Review. Go here to see the design packet. This notice explains how to comment.
A couple nights ago, Kay told us about Brooke, working to restore a vandalized bus-shelter mural at 35th/Thistle. Today, Brooke sends an update:
Just wanted to share the (almost) final result. I need to let this dry and then touch up where it was gouged.
Pretty pleased with the progress and hopefully it inspires others in the community and if nothing else is a bit of good news. I had no idea how much this mural meant to folks.
(Added: Seattle Channel video of announcement)
3:47 PM: The city’s been promising for a while that a new COVID-19 testing site was in the works for West Seattle, and the location has just been announced: The lot at Southwest Athletic Complex, 2801 SW Thistle (behind SW Pool/Teen Life Center). Testing will be available there five days a week. Mayor Jenny Durkan is making the announcement in Rainier Beach this afternoon, while visiting one of the city’s three existing sites. We talked with her by phone while she was on the way to that event; she says, “We’re going to have to live with COVID at least another year or so,” which means abundantly available testing will be all the more important. Right now, she says, the city’s three testing sites are accounting for about 15 percent of the testing done statewide – administering more than 128,000 tests since early June. More details from the announcement:
Testing is free at the City of Seattle sites, and clients are not billed regardless of health insurance status. For those with insurance, UW Medicine will handle the billing of Medicaid, Medicare, or individuals’ private insurance. Under Washington state law, insurance companies cannot charge co-pays for COVID-19 testing. For uninsured clients, UW Medicine will seek reimbursement directly from the federal, Families First Coronavirus Response Act Relief Fund for the cost of the test. 
Clients can, and should, register online to keep wait times to 10 minutes or less. Registration for the West Seattle location will be available on Wednesday, August 26, and testing will begin Friday, August 28. Hours across all sites are 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Individuals can sign up to be tested five days of the week. Translation services are offered at all Citywide testing sites and can be requested during the registration process. Individuals should first seek to access testing through their primary care physician.
This testing will be available to anyone, the mayor stressed; appointments are preferred – a West Seattle link will show up soon on this webpage – and they’re working on same-day options for people with symptoms.
5:22 PM: Here’s the full announcement. (Note that although the city’s headline says this is at Chief Sealth, we verified that it’s across the street at SWAC, “behind the pool.”)
(WSB photo, June 19th)
12:56 PM: Two months after the discovery of two murder victims in a suitcase at Duwamish Head, police have just announced an arrest:
A 62-year-old man is in custody for the murder of two people after their remains were located in West Seattle in June. On Wednesday afternoon, detectives arrested the suspect at a residence in Burien. He was interviewed and then booked into the King County Jail.
The victims were 35-year-old Jessica Lewis and 27-year-old Austin Wenner, both from south King County, both shot to death. More info to come …
1:22 PM: The suspect remains in jail. He has not yet been charged so we are not publishing his name. We haven’t found a felony record for him yet in state files, but case documents from a 2016 misdemeanor domestic-violence-assault arrest in Burien describe him as “a convicted felon.” He’s due for a probable-cause/bail hearing this afternoon and we should have more information after that.
5:10 PM: Still awaiting more details, but the jail register shows the suspect’s bail is now set at $5 million.
7:23 PM: The probable-cause document from the bail hearing says the suspect had rented a room at his south Burien home to the victims but had been fighting with them and wanted them to leave. Neighbors told police that on June 9th, they heard gunfire coming from the house, and heard a male voice yelling “Please don’t do this, just let me leave.” Burien Police went to the house but no one answered the door. When Seattle Police served a warrant there yesterday, the document says, they found bullet holes, bullet strikes, spent rounds, and blood in one of the rooms. The rounds were 9mm, same as a gun they found in the suspect’s car at the time of his arrest. He told detectives the victims had been staying with him and acknowledged they had been fighting with him and had been unable to pay the $1,500/month rent he was charging, but he did not have an explanation for the evidence of gunfire in the room. One more note: The probable-cause document says, without details, that the suspect has a record for drugs and DUI.
(WSB photo, last Saturday)
Last Saturday, you might recall, crews working to replace damaged pavement on 44th SW in The Junction, between SW Alaska and SW Edmunds, hit a gas line. We followed up with SDOT to ask how that happened. Spokesperson Kari Tupper says that, as with the Delridge breaks last month, this was a case of a line that shouldn’t have been there, and that in turn forced the extension of the work into this past Monday:
On Saturday, SDOT paving crews discovered a gas line that appears to have been abandoned by someone who did not follow the proper shutoff/ removal procedures. SDOT crews followed all of the proper safety protocols before and after the gas line break, and worked with Puget Sound Energy and Seattle Fire Department to shut off the abandoned gas line.
While our paving crews resolved the situation relatively quickly, the incident forced us to push back our concrete delivery by a few hours and our concrete supplier was unable to provide all of the concrete mix we needed due to commitments with another contractor who had arranged a large delivery that same afternoon. The supplier was unable to open up their facilities to make a delivery on Sunday. Fortunately, our crews adapted to the situation and were able to accomplish other necessary work on Sunday. The concrete was delivered and crews finished the paving work on Monday morning.
The project is now back on schedule and that means two more weekend closures as originally announced: this weekend (August 22-23) and next (August 29-30).
If you’re interested in a closer look at the early-stage potential scenarios for West Seattle Bridge replacement, including an “immersed tube” tunnel, you’re invited to an online discussion/presentation Friday morning. The six scenarios are what the Cost-Benefit Analysis will examine, and sketches were featured in a presentation to the Community Task Force a month ago. The Washington Business Alliance is presenting tomorrow’s event, with speakers including the tunnel’s proponent Bob Ortblad. It’s at 10 am Friday (August 21) and you will have to register to get the link – you can do that by going here.
(Rendering by Ankrom Moisan; 4440 Fauntleroy is the building at right)
Two weeks ago, the Southwest Design Review Board gave first-phase approval (WSB coverage here) to 4406 36th SW, half of the two-building Triangle megaproject planned by the Sweeney family, longtime owners of Alki Lumber. At 4 pm today, online, the board takes its first look at the other half of the project, 4440 Fauntleroy Way SW, described as “a 7-story, 209-unit apartment building with retail (with p)arking for 136 vehicles.” The meeting packet is here; information on watching the meeting, and/or commenting during/before/after it, is here.
6:16 AM: It’s Thursday, the 150th morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
ROAD WORK/CLOSURES
*Major work continues along Delridge Way for the RapidRide H Line prep project – here’s the bulletin detailing where crews are working this week and how that affects traffic/access.
*Weekend reminder: More road work will close part of 44th SW between Edmunds and Alaska again this weekend.
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 – No recent changes – still reduced service and distancing – details here.
Water Taxi – Still on its “winter” schedule, with the 773 and 775 shuttles running – see the schedule here.
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
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