West Seattle, Washington
29 Friday
Tonight’s local pandemic-related toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*31,948 people have tested positive, 372 more than yesterday’s total
*816 people have died, unchanged from yesterday’s total
*2,753 people have been hospitalized, 9 more than yesterday’s total
*579.089 people have been tested, 3,575 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the four totals we track were 28,948/809/2,621/550,631.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.
COVID CLOSURES: Two more local restaurants are temporarily closed as of today after positive COVID-19 tests: Zeeks Pizza told its West Seattle staff that an employee had tested positive; Haymaker said its West Seattle and Eastlake locations are both closed after a staff member’s positive test.
NEED TESTING? West Seattle has one of the major citywide free testing sites, in the Southwest Athletic Complex parking lot at 2801 SW Thistle, open 8:45-5:30 Mondays through Saturdays. Go here to get an appointment.
GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!
A mostly gray day ended with some flourishes of color. Thanks to Gill Loring for the photo above. The sunset arrived as Southern Resident Killer Whales passed by, and Kersti Muul of Salish Wildlife Watch shared the next three photos:
Kersti says the paddleboarder is Brian, admiring K21 aka “Cappuccino.” Some shore-based whale-watchers too, as the day ended:
Now back to the weather – one headline tonight: That possible windstorm we mentioned last night seems to have fizzled, the National Weather Service noted in its evening Forecast Discussion about half an hour ago. The Friday night storm will be windy, they’re predicting now, but nothing out of the ordinary for November in Seattle. The strongest winds that night are expected to be south of Olympia and along the seacoast.
The Seattle-founded outdoor wear/accessories company KAVU has opened a “pop-up” outlet store in South Delridge. In email, the company explained:
Throughout the holiday season (maybe longer) we will have a pop-up location that will serve West Seattle/South Seattle with KAVU at discounted outlet prices. We are really excited to be able to help our south and west side communities, especially with the bridge down and during the holiday season. Great affordable way to support a true outdoor brand born in Seattle and get gifts in this pandemic that is creating a lot of struggle. The pop-up is open every week Thursday-Saturday, 12 pm-6 pm.
The store is at 9064 Delridge Way SW.
Our second report of the day about a West Seattle restaurant temporarily closing following a positive COVID-19 test: The sign at Haymaker in The Junction simply announces a closure for today and tomorrow, but the restaurant explains it online:
Out of an abundance of caution and commitment to do the right thing, we will be closing both Haymaker East and West after an employee tested positive for Covid 19. While the individual has not been in either restaurant for several days, our top priority remains the safety of our guests and team. We are taking this time to assist our staff with testing, and will reopen when it is safe to do so. We will continue to carefully follow all virus safety guidelines, and will be fully sanitizing both locations. We believe it’s important to be transparent in these times and will keep you posted with any updates.
(Haymaker East is in Eastlake, formerly called Le Messe.)
The West Seattle location of Zeeks Pizza would usually be open for the day by now, but it’s closed and dark. No note was on the door when we went by about 2:30 pm, but according to email sent to staff, the restaurant is closed after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. The company has not returned our phone message seeking comment, but its website says the West Seattle location is “temporarily closed.” The email to staff says it’s closed for a “deep clean” and that all staff will have to get tested before they can return to work when it reopens.
12:52 PM: Might be some whale sightings from West Seattle this afternoon – Kersti Muul from Salish Wildlife Watch says Southern Resident Killer Whales are southbound, headed this way, passing Shoreline at last report, and close to this side of the Sound. She says photos indicate they include members of J-Pod and K-Pod.
1:10 PM: Kersti says they’re now south of Carkeek Park, still southbound, “spread east to west across the channel.”
1:34 PM: Now in view from Alki, Kersti reports in a comment.
2:49 PM: Donna Sandstrom from The Whale Trail is at Constellation Park, waiting for the orcas to come into view south of Alki Point. She says visibility and light is excellent. She also has an important reminder: If you’re going to go whale-watch, WEAR YOUR MASK and socially distance.
3:12 PM: Both Donna and Kersti say they’re now stretched out between north Blake Island and south Bainbridge. Donna says the visibility is so good, you can even see them without binoculars.
In honor of Veterans Day, flags are up in the heart of The Junction. The volunteers who placed them this morning were from organizations including Boy Scouts, the Lions Club of West Seattle, Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, and local Key Clubs.
In observance of the holiday, there are some changes today in addition to what was mentioned in our morning transportation watch, including:
*No classes for most schools
*Most government services are closed, including the Seattle Public Library
*Banking holiday
*USPS holiday
One event happening tonight:
LEGISLATIVE TOWN HALL @ 34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS: 7 pm online, our area’s largest political organization meets. A “town hall” with local state legislators is at the heart of the agenda, which is here, and includes a registration link if you’re interested in attending.
10:28 AM: In case you heard the sirens: Seattle Fire has responded to a natural-gas leak in the 5400 block of 36th SW [map], east of Fairmount Park. Firefighters told dispatch it’s a 1-inch line, and they’re closing 36th until the leak is dealt with.
10:47 AM: The incident commander reports they’ve evacuated homes “to the north and south” as a precaution and are still waiting for Puget Sound Energy to come shut off the gas.
11:19 AM: PSE has arrived and stopped the leak.
7:59 AM: Thanks for the tips about a police response at The Whittaker (4755 Fauntleroy Way SW). One texter mentioned “the bomb squad.” We got there just as police were wrapping up a short time ago. Officers getting ready to leave told us a “suspicious package” had been removed. No damage/injuries reported, and no other details so far.
(Added Wednesday evening: Photo tweeted by MTK)
11:31 AM: We’ve just received answers to our followup questions from SPD: “Officers responded and requested Arson/Bomb squad detectives to respond as well after seeing the items on a table in a common area. As a safety precaution, the immediate area was evacuated. ABS arrived and determined the items to be non-threatening, and removed them for further investigation. The owner of the items was contacted and interviewed. It does not appear that there was any malicious intent on the subject’s part, and no charges will be filed.”
ADDED FRIDAY: Just posted today in the SPD Blotter Significant Incident Report files, a summary that explains exactly what the “items” were:
On 11-11-2020 at 0537 hours, a janitorial staff member in a business in the 4700 block of Fauntleroy Way SW called 911 when she discovered several suspicious items inside a freezer located in the 7th floor apartment common area. Among those items she described a hand grenade and a metal pipe. SW patrol personnel arrived, interviewed the apartment staff member and evacuated the immediate area. The Sergeant notified the Arson Bomb Squad. ABS arrived and determined that the grenade was a novelty item filled with ice and that the other items were also benign. SW patrol personnel later located and interviewed the owner of the items, who apparently didn’t understand why those types of items would raise someone’s concern as he uses them to create art and furniture.
6:07 AM: Welcome to Wednesday, Veterans Day, the 233rd morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
TRANSIT
Metro – Regular weekday service today.
Water Taxi – No service today.
State Ferries – No schedule changes, but a moment of silence is planned at 11:11 am, followed by the sounding of vessels’ whistles.
ROAD WORK
Delridge project: No work planned today on the Delridge project.
CHECK TRAFFIC BEFORE YOU GO
West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way:
Highland Park Way/Holden:
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 are two cameras:
The other major bridge across the river is the South Park Bridge (map). Here’s the nearest camera:
Going through South Park? Don’t speed. (Same goes for the other detour-route neighborhoods, like Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge.)
*Note – SDOT has fixed the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed, so you can check it for bridge openings.
You can see all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page (we’ve added the new Highland Park Way cameras).
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
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