West Seattle, Washington
26 Friday
As the last of the new statewide restrictions take effect, here’s tonight’s roundup:
NO MORE INDOOR DINING/DRINKING: For at least four weeks, starting tonight at 11:59 pm, 24 hours after the rest of what the governor announced Sunday. Here again is the full list. The governor repeated the importance of taking action now as he held a media briefing today – you can watch it here.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Meantime, the virus rages on. Here’s today’s daily summary from Public Health – the cumulative totals:
*35,710 people have tested positive, 501 more than yesterday’s total
*833 people have died, 4 more than yesterday’s total
*2,890 people have been hospitalized, 23 more than yesterday’s total
*600,335 people have been tested, 1,689 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the totals were 31,576/816/2,744/575,514.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 55.6 million cases worldwide, 11.3 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.
BRIEFING TOMORROW: State health authorities will talk about the pandemic at 2 pm tomorrow; you can watch live here.
THANKSGIVING TRADITION CANCELED: First The Hall at Fauntleroy was going to make its annual free feast a takeaway event this year – but now because of the pandemic, that’s canceled too.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
West Seattle has seen three confirmed gunfire incidents in the past four days. The first one, early Saturday in The Triangle, didn’t leave anyone with gunshot wounds, but did raise other issues, and we followed up.
First – the police report, with more details on what officers were told happened.
Spend local! With the new pandemic restrictions, your shopping decisions matter more than ever. As we did early in the pandemic, we’re publishing local business updates, and tonight we have this from our area’s only running store, West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor):
If you’ve been in the store since June, you know we take your health and safety very seriously. We have taken measures above and beyond what is required, and we will continue to do so for as long as the governor allows us to remain open. With that being said, we will continue to update our web store for those that want to take advantage of our in store pick up, as well as fill all phone orders for anyone that wants to limit in store contact. If you don’t see what you are looking for on our web store, please call or come in, as we may not have all of our inventory updated.
With the new guidelines, we are limited to 7 people in the store at a time. While this isn’t a number we consistently hit, we ask that if you can order online, please do so. We typically have the order pulled and ready in less than 30 minutes. But, if you need assistance with anything, please feel free to come in and shop, we are happy to help.
We are maintaining our current hours:
M-F 10-6
Sat 10-5
Sun 11-4
shop.westseattlerunner.comThank you all for supporting us through this health crisis. We appreciate all of you, and plan on continuing to be a community asset long into the future.
Lori, Tim, Ferguson, Joe, Addy, Ella, Laura, and Myrtle
Team West Seattle Runner
The shop is at 2743 California SW.
Every year for more than two decades, The Hall at Fauntleroy has hosted a free community Thanksgiving dinner for everyone who shows up. Last month, its proprietors announced a pandemic plan – takeaway meals on the holiday. But since then, COVID-19 has surged, and tonight they’ve announced that plan is now off:
With the recent government orders, the rise in Covid-19 cases in our area and in the interest of the health and safety of our community, we are unable to move forward with our annual thanksgiving meal.
To those of you who have donated thus far, know that your generosity will be distributed via our partners at the West Seattle Food Bank/Helpline and the White Center Food Bank.
Though it is difficult to come to terms with not being able to gather with you all this Thanksgiving, we are overflowing with gratitude for every person who has shown up as a volunteer, contributor, or guest over the past 21 years.
Wherever you may find yourselves on this day of thanks, we will be holding you and yours close to our hearts.
Oh. the stories we will have to share when we gather again in 2021!
We will continue to collect new warm clothes, new blankets, new socks, and new hats throughout the holiday season. If you would like to make a donation, please feel to reach out to Meg Haggerty 206-353-8382 with text or voice questions.
David and Meg Haggerty
Reed Haggerty
David Meckstroth
If you were counting on this because you can’t afford a holiday dinner – three food-distribution opportunities are coming up on Friday and Saturday – we listed them in last night’s pandemic roundup.
5:28 PM: Thanks to Stewart L. for the photo of this afternoon’s rainbow. The National Weather Service‘s wind alert has now officially expired – no trouble reported during the blustery day – but the weather hasn’t settled down yet – if you were out just before dusk, you might have noticed the massive squall line to the west – here’s a view tweeted by @WestSeaWx:
Tonight’s outlook – breezy and showery, with “a slight chance of thunderstorms until early morning.”
6:04 PM: Daniel reports deep water on Harbor Avenue by Seacrest – beware! Also, the NWS says today’s high temperature was a record – 63 degrees at Sea-Tac.
ADDED 7:19 PM: Crews responded to handle the flooding. Meantime, Jon McAllister sent another view of the afternoon rainbow:
(Photo by Dennis Hinton: Mark Sears led other volunteers in breaking up log jams under the ferry pier so that any spawners might get through)
By Judy Pickens
Special to West Seattle Blog
Despite perfect conditions, salmon watchers on Fauntleroy Creek recorded only two coho spawners this year, both at the mouth.
The watch began October 18, when a record 60 people attended the annual drumming to call in spawners. Nearly 30 volunteers kept watch through November 15.
“We had more singles and doubles and families watching this year than in any year I can remember,” said veteran watcher Dennis Hinton. “We even had an artist who came many times in search of the right light for a painting.”
Without the spawners needed to host an “open creek” event, watchers nonetheless welcomed 45 visitors to get a close look at the fish ladder and spawning habitat.
The two spawners they documented were at the mouth near the ferry pier, not in the spawning reach on the east side of Fauntleroy Way SW. He speculated that the female may have ventured into fresh water, then fallen back to the tidepool where she died, near where a male carcass was later found.
High winds and tides caused logs to jam tightly under the ferry pier, which may have prevented fish from reaching the creek. Volunteer Mark Sears led two work parties to untangle the logs (photo above) and checked every day when tides were especially high to see of more logs were blocking.
The last time the creek had zero spawners was 2015. Coho and chum numbers were also low in Longfellow and Piper’s creeks, as was the sport catch in the Sound.
Last year’s count was 19; in 2018, 18. A record was set in 2012, when watchers counted 274.
(WSB photos)
11:41 AM: Big police/fire response for ‘scenes of violence’ incident in the 6900 block of 24th SW. One person is reported seriously hurt. We just arrived in the area and will update shortly.
11:46 AM: Police tell us the victim is a man shot multiple times. They are trying to talk a possible suspect out of a house.
11:48 AM: Officers have entered the house.
11:59 AM: They’ve brought out two people for questioning. Neighbors tell us this is an ongoing nuisance house so they are not surprised. This is near the scene of last week’s RV fire and they say that RV used to park by this house. Detectives are expected to be on scene a while.
12:20 PM: The search isn’t over – police are now using a K-9 in the area.
12:51 PM: Checking city files, this address has been the subject of 12 code-violation complaints in the past 8 months, most recently less than a week ago, for trash, vehicles, camping, alleged illegal activity of various types. At least two resulted in citations.
1:27 PM: SFD says the victim, a man in his late 20s, was in critical condition when transported. SPD says the man was “exchanging gunfire with another man” and adds:
Around 11:30 AM, the suspect arrived at a house in the 6900 block of 24th Avenue Southwest. After an altercation in the home, the suspect and at least one other person in the home exchanged gunfire. The suspect fled the home and collapsed in the street, while the other person believed to have fired shots fled. … Officers are now searching the area for the person who fled the home.
The location where this incident occurred is known to officers in the Southwest Precinct, and SPD has been working with multiple city departments and neighbors to address ongoing community concerns at the home.
3:42 PM: We’re checking back with SPD to see if anyone’s been arrested yet. We’ve also asked the City Attorney’s Office Precinct Liaison for this area, Joseph Everett, about the ongoing situation; he says, “We are in the process of reviewing whether SPD can legally declare the property to be a chronic nuisance under SMC Chapter 10.09.” (Here’s what that means.)
4:37 PM: No arrests yet. CSI is still on scene:
Thanks to everybody who’s been sending business updates in the wake of rule changes – we’re updating/creating lists – and we have some roundups too, including these three food/drink announcements from The Admiral District:
PIZZERIA 22 (4213 SW College): From proprietor Cary:
Pizzeria 22 is reopening tonight for business after a brief shutdown due to COVID-19. We are happy to report that all employees have tested negative for the virus. We will reopen tonight for business at 4 pm offering takeout, free delivery, and the last night of inside dining.
YEN WOR VILLAGE (2300 California SW): Received via text:
With so many positive cases in and around West Seattle, we have decided to close for the next 2 weeks out of concern for our own safety and to help prevent spread in our community. We hope everybody has a safe holiday and we hope to see you again when we reopen in early December for takeout and delivery.
FRESHY’S (2735 California SW): From proprietor Amber, with word of what’s in the works:
We will definitely be open for takeout 7 am-7 pm. We have online ordering through square and The Joe app. My staff and I are currently working on making bulk (or family-style) homemade soups for delivery, and putting together a system for customers to be able to order a daily, weekly, or monthly subscription for a variety of soups (like the farmer’s drop boxes of vegetables/fruit) that are different each time and will accommodate to dietary needs or restrictions for that customer. We will deliver (or they can pick up) ready-to- go soups or packages of soup that can be frozen and heated up when ready. We are also looking into putting together cold brew growlers as well as curbside pickup for a variety of coffee orders. With a great fall/winter season upon us, we are super stoked to provide hot, healthy, and delicious soup/sandwiches for the community.
Got biz info? westseattleblog@gmail.com is the best way to get it to us – thanks!
What’s left of the fall colors might be gone if today’s Wind Advisory bears out; thanks to Jerry Simmons for the photo. A few notes for the day ahead:
GOVERNOR’S MEDIA BRIEFING: 11:30 am, Gov. Inslee announces the new state health secretary. He’ll also have media Q&A, undoubtedly mostly about the COVID-19 response, so if you’re interested, you can watch/listen to the stream here.
COVID-19 TESTING: In addition to the regular 6-days-a-week city testing at Southwest Athletic Complex until 5:30, all are welcome at a special testing event at Greenbridge Plaza (9839 8th SW), noon-4 pm.
SIGN-WAVING: The weekly announcement from organizer Scott:
Black Lives Matter sign-waving
Tuesday Nov 17, 4 to 6 pm, corner of 16th SW and SW Holden
Thursday, Nov 19, 4 to 6 pm, 16th and Holden
Come show support for BLM and ending systemic racism. Hold signs, meet neighbors, and stand for racial justice. Scott at PR Cohousing, endorsed by Hate-Free Delridge. Signs available.
HOPE LUTHERAN SCHOOL VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE: 6 pm online, learn about Hope Lutheran School (WSB sponsor), which serves preK-8th grade students. Go here to register to get the link.
VIRGINIA V & MOSQUITO FLEET HISTORY: 7 pm online, you’re invited to a free presentation about Puget Sound’s small-passenger-vessel history – including the still-sailing Virginia V.
More details in our calendar listing, including how to register to get the viewing link.
Many fundraisers and other donation/volunteering requests we’ve featured in recent months have drawn heartwarming support. That’s the case for the fundraiser to help Roxhill Elementary families – here’s an update, with a new goal:
Thank you so much for the generosity you’ve shown in helping our families get food to eat. Because of your outpouring of support, we not only met, but exceeded our original goal. So now we’re dreaming big! Our original $8k ask met the immediate and urgent need for food this fall. Now we’re looking at what it would take to close the food gap for our families for the whole year. And with COVID on the rise, the year keeps getting harder for a lot of our families. If you’ve already made your tax-deductible donation, thank you! Please consider sharing to your social networks and donating again. We’re already over halfway there, and with your support we know we can make it! Much love West Seattle. <3
Here’s the link for donating.
6:16 AM: Welcome to Tuesday, the 239th morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
ROAD WORK
Delridge project: Here’s the weekly bulletin
16th SW: Paving work near SSC was expected to continue into this morning – possibly longer because of the weather.
CHECK TRAFFIC BEFORE YOU GO
West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way:
Highland Park Way/Holden:
The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):
Restricted-daytime-access (open to all 9 pm-5 am) low bridge:
The main detour route across the Duwamish River, the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) . Here are two cameras:
The other major bridge across the river – 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.)
Checking for bridges’ marine-traffic openings? The @SDOTBridges Twitter feed is working again.
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).
TRANSIT
Metro – Fare collection has resumed.
Water Taxi – Also charging again.
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
Be sure everything’s charged! The National Weather Service has a “Wind Advisory” alert for our area, 8 am-5 pm today, with the possibility of 25-35 mph wind from the south, gusting to 50 mph. Could be notably warmer, too, possibly reaching a high temperature in the low 60s.
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