day : 13/11/2020 12 results

37 weeks now since the Friday night announcement that King County had its first case of COVID-19 – and tonight’s case total sets a record:

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily summary:

*33.368 people have tested positive, 798 more than yesterday’s total

*828 people have died, 2 more than yesterday’s total

*2,791 people have been hospitalized, 19 more than yesterday’s total

*587,735 people have been tested, 4.255 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, those totals were 29,997/811/2,633/564,082.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 53.3 million cases, 1,302,000+ deaths – see the nation-by-nation numbers here.

TRAVEL ADVISORY: Last night, Gov. Inslee mentioned “additional measures” in the days ahead. He made one announcement today via news release:

Gov. Jay Inslee issued a travel advisory for Washington today, recommending a 14-day quarantine for interstate and international travel and asks residents to stay close to home. Inslee joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in urging visitors entering their states or returning home from travel outside these states to self-quarantine to slow the spread of the virus. …

In addition to urging individuals arriving from other states or countries to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival, the states’ travel advisories recommend individuals limit their interactions to their immediate household. The advisories define essential travel as travel for work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care, and safety and security.

Read the full advisory document here.

NEED TESTING? Our weekly reminder – the city-operated testing site in West Seattle – south side of the Southwest Athletic Complex parking lot (2801 SW Thistle) – is open Saturdays (as well as weekdays). Go here to choose an appointment time before you go.

IF YOU CAN HELP … here are two more local donation drives, one through the holiday season, one this Sunday.

GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!

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Car-tab fee for bridge maintenance? Councilmembers’ proposal

November 13, 2020 10:01 pm

| 49 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

One of the issues brought up in the process of deciding whether to repair or replace the damaged West Seattle Bridge is the cost of future maintenance. Tonight, three councilmembers including West Seattle/South Park’s Lisa Herbold are proposing a car-tab fee to help pay for bridge maintenance citywide, replacing part of a fee that’s about to expire. From the announcement we just received:

With support from labor and business communities, Councilmembers Alex Pedersen, Lisa Herbold, and Andrew J. Lewis today proposed legislation to use Vehicle Licensing Fees to boost maintenance of multimodal bridges throughout Seattle. Vehicle Licensing Fees, which were previously set at $80, would move from $20 to $40 under the new legislation, as authorized by RCW 36.73.065 and RCW 82.80.140. The legislation would raise an additional $3.6 million in 2021 and an additional $7.2 million in subsequent years. The Councilmembers propose to direct the additional funding to bridges with high-frequency public transit.

The Seattle City Auditor recently published a report on the city’s bridges indicating high unmet needs for bridge maintenance. The engineering standard for bridge maintenance in Seattle ranges from $34 million to $102 million per year, and yet the current level for is only $10 million approximately. The city needs to add $24 million at the very least to meet the lowest estimate of maintenance needs. The City Council Budget Chair’s initial balance package restores or funds several transportation projects while adding $4 million to bridge maintenance. By tapping the adjusted vehicle license fees, this legislation would invest another $3.6 million to double the Council’s addition to $7.6 million. This represents an incremental increase to begin meeting a clear need.

So to recap – the current city car-tab fee is at $80 (going toward transit) and scheduled to drop to $20, but this would drop it to $40 instead. The proposed legislation (read it here) is on the council’s “introduction and referral” calendar for the coming week; it likely won’t be voted on until after the council wraps up its budget work just before Thanksgiving.

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Local legislators preview ‘virtual session’ @ 34th District Democrats, with another local Town Hall next week

November 13, 2020 9:08 pm

| Comments Off on Local legislators preview ‘virtual session’ @ 34th District Democrats, with another local Town Hall next week

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Next Wednesday, your state legislators and local city/county councilmembers will join forces for an online Town Hall.

The three legislators gave a preview in their appearance at this past Wednesday’s 34th District Democrats meeting.

It began with updates from each: Read More

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DEVELOPMENT: Next step for two-building West Seattle Triangle project

November 13, 2020 7:05 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| Development | Triangle | West Seattle news

From the latest city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin: Now that both halves of the Sweeney family’s West Seattle Triangle project have applied for land-use permits, a new comment period has opened.

(Renderings by Ankrom Moisan)

4406 36TH SW: The first Southwest Design Review Board meeting for this building was in early August (WSB coverage here). It’s planned as an 8-story, 273-unit apartment building with retail and 163 off-street parking spaces. The application notice is here.

4440 FAUNTLEROY WAY SW: The first SWDRB meeting for this building was in mid-August (WSB coverage here). This is planned as a 7-story, 217-unit apartment building with retail and 153 offstreet parking spaces. The application notice is here.

Deadline for this round of commenting on both projects is November 25th; both notices linked above include information on how to comment. Each building also will have at least one more SWDRB meeting, at which more-complete designs will be presented (what you see above are just the “massing” concepts – size/shape), dates TBA.

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FOLLOWUP: West Seattle will have a vehicle-licensing office again

November 13, 2020 4:54 pm

| 15 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | Westwood

Almost a year after the sudden shutdown of the West Seattle vehicle-licensing office, a new operator is getting ready to open in a new location. As noted in our coverage of last year’s closure, though licenses are issued by the state, the offices are “sub-agents” whose contracts are administered in this area by King County, which subsequently launched a search for a new West Seattle sub-agent. Last June, the county told WSB they had chosen six applicants for interviews. Now, there’s a winner: We spoke today with Randy Lais, who already runs a licensing sub-agency in Port Orchard. He hopes to open in West Seattle next March and has a location already – the former liquor-store space on the north side of Westwood Village.

The county confirms they’re finalizing the contract and reminds us that these offices handle vessel licensing as well as vehicle licensing. Until the new West Seattle office opens, you can get licenses online, or at not-too-distant offices including Georgetown and Burien.

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WEST SEATTLE SCENE: ‘King tide’ swamps seawall at Alki, and beyond

November 13, 2020 3:23 pm

| 11 COMMENTS

| West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news

3:23 PM: Just in – video and photos from Alki, where this afternoon’s high tide has swamped the seawall. The video above is from Kersti Muul of Salish Wildlife Watch; below, photos from Stewart L. further east:

That’s Don Armeni Boat Ramp, and here’s Luna/Anchor Park:

Also, another angle of the Alki promenade from Kersti:

Today’s high tide was 12.3 feet at 2:43 pm; tomorrow will be 12.4 at 3:18 pm. Next week the highest high tides will be in the morning; the chart shows 12.6 at 6:52 am Tuesday and 7:48 am Wednesday. These are the so-called “king tides”; they’ll be even higher in a month, with 12.9 high tides in mid-December.

ADDED 7:19 PM: Aimee pointed out via Twitter that atmospheric conditions caused a high tide well above what was predicted:

And we have one more photo – this one from David Hutchinson at Alki:

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UPDATE: New Luck Toy announces 6-month closure

November 13, 2020 1:36 pm

| 8 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants

ORIGINAL POST, FRIDAY 1:36 PM: Thanks for the tips. New Luck Toy has just announced that as of Sunday, November 22nd, it will close for six months. The announcement elaborates, “We’re pretty confident at this point you know what’s going on so we’ll spare you the lengthy post. We will be hunkering down for about 6 months so we can make it out of this.” The bar/restaurant has been open in north Morgan Junction (5905 California SW) for four years.

UPDATE 4:36 PM: New Luck Toy has now decided to close after tonight.

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Stolen blue Legacy wagon

November 13, 2020 1:19 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Crime | Delridge | West Seattle news

Megan emailed to ask that you be on the lookout for her boyfriend’s stolen car: “He parked it outside our apartment at 26th Ave and Dakota St. SW last night. It was stolen sometime between 8 PM last night and 11 AM this morning. … I don’t have any pictures of the car but the description is a ’95 dark blue Subaru Legacy wagon. It has a basket-style roof rack on top. WA plate BGC7565.” Please call 911 if you see it.

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WEEKEND ROAD WORK: 16th SW & West Seattle low bridge

November 13, 2020 12:27 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

We asked SDOT about weekend road work. Here’s what they’re planning:

Crews will continue paving work on 16th Ave SW near the north entrance to South Seattle Community College and, weather-permitting, add striping on the Low Bridge. You can expect:

Paving work on 16th Ave SW: Southbound lanes of 16th Ave SW to be closed from 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 5:00 a.m. Monday. During this work, one lane will stay open to traffic in each direction on the eastern half of the street.

(Image: SDOT camera, 5-way intersection)

Striping on the low bridge: Crews will restripe the left-turn only lane to Terminal 5 where the markings have faded on the two lanes used to exit the low bridge and approach the 5-way intersection at SW Spokane St. One lane will be maintained in each direction during this work.

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3 West Seattle winners in Neighborhood Matching Fund’s newest round of grants

November 13, 2020 11:07 am

| 3 COMMENTS

| Highland Park | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks | West Seattle schools

Three West Seattle orgaqnizations are getting money in the city’s latest round of Neighborhood Matching Fund grants. To qualify for these, you have to demonstrate a match – of donations and/or volunteer time. As announced by the city, these are the three local grants in the fall cycle:

$49,500 to Highland Park Elementary PTA for Phase 2 of the Highland Park School Playground Project. This will support updating their 2016 Playground Master Plan to reflect current community needs and develop construction documents. (Community match: $31,000)

$25,840 to Highland Park Improvement Club for Community Gathering & Performance Space Renovation to provide HVAC work, ceiling repair, and new lighting and proscenium in the interior gathering/performance space, a popular venue for community meetings, arts and cultural events. (Community match: $28,380)

$40,650 to Seattle Nantes Sister City Association for Nantes Park Beautification to transform the pocket park into something more kid-friendly, more accessible, and more reflective of our sister city relationship with Nantes, France. The project will take designs through a community review and produce final construction-ready plans. (Community match: $21,300)

Citywide, 23 organizations are receiving a total of $756,000 in this round of grants. The next round of applications will be due in February; watch here for more info.

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YOU CAN HELP: 2 ways to help people stay warm

November 13, 2020 9:40 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| How to help | West Seattle news

It’s the season of giving, if you can. Here are two ways to help people stay warm (and more):

ANNUAL COAT DRIVE: The State Farm office of Dave Newman (longtime WSB sponsor) has launched its annual coat drive:

Donations of Clothes, Coats and Shoes in full swing as West Seattle residents give generously.
:
Week one of our annual clothing drive in support of the West Seattle helpline is now under way. So far we have one full barrel of much-needed winter clothing to help our less fortunate friends and neighbors.

Dave Newman State Farm Insurance agency will continue to collect clean donations of clothes, coats, and shoes until January 1st. For undergarments and socks please donate only new and unopened packages of clothing items.

The drop-off location is 3435 California Ave SW. For those who have donations but are unable to transport their clothes, coats and shoes to the donation location, pickup may be available. For further information, contact the State Farm office at (206) 932-1878.

The office’s regular hours are 9 am-5 pm weekdays.

SOCK DRIVE ON SUNDAY: Alki UCC is collecting socks as well as food this Sunday (November 15th):

It’s never too early to share the holiday spirit. Alki United Church of Christ (Alki UCC) is hosting an in-person socially-distanced Thanksgiving food Drive this Sunday, November 15 between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Collections are being taken outside the church’s main entrance at 6115 SW Hinds in West Seattle.

Priority items, distributed through the White Center Food Bank, include Boxed Stuffing Mix, Instant Mashed Potatoes, Turkey Gravy, Yams, Cranberry Sauce, Canned Veggies, Cornbread Mix, Canned Fruit Pie Filling, Pie Crust Mix, etc. Donations of personal care items and (clearly labeled) packets of pet food are also welcome.

Donations of Men’s Casual/Work Clothes are also welcome, as well as SOCKS, SOCKS, SOCKS — the clothing item most requested by our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

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