West Seattle, Washington
10 Saturday
Vaccine day 2, and tonight’s other pandemic news:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First the numbers, as shown in today’s daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health – the cumulative totals:
*54,849 people have tested positive, 200 more than yesterday’s total
*948 people have died, 13 more than yesterday’s total
*3,748 people have been hospitalized, 34 more than yesterday’s total
*700,591 people have been tested, 5.711 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the totals were 50,326/905/3,486/662,486.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 73.4 million cases worldwide, 16.7 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.
VACCINE, DAY 2: As of noon today, the Department of Health says, 20,475 doses of vaccine had arrived in our state. Among those who got it today, a Seattle Fire Department paramedic. Another vaccine is expected to get approval by week’s end.
BRIEFING TOMORROW: State health experts continue their weekly Wednesday afternoon briefings. You can watch at 2 pm tomorrow – here’s the link.
SOME SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN-PERSON LEARNING? The district published an update tonight. In short – if the infection rate is a lot lower by February 22nd, the youngest students, through 1st grade, plus some special-education students could return to campus March 1st. The school board would have to authorize this plan at its Wednesday meeting (here’s the agenda).
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
If you travel Beach Drive late tonight and/or tomorrow night, don’t be startled to notice work at Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook. The contractor on the seawall-replacement project, Redside Construction, has a “small crew” scheduled to work at the site during low tide tonight and tomorrow night, according to a project bulletin. It says they will “conduct some minor finishing work on the lower portion of the seawall,” no heavy equipment involved, until 2 am tonight and until 3 am tomorrow night. It’s been five months since major work began. P.S. Low tide tonight is VERY low – -3.4 feet at 11:16 pm.
If you travel on 35th SW, you might have noticed tonight’s spotlight display:
The photo is from the Fox family. Tony explains it’s a family collaboration: “Our 13-year-old (Maddox) does the design, my wife (Shari) does the organizing, and I do power-cords coordination and any high work on the roof.” They’re on 35th between Brandon and Dawson [map]. Thanks to the Foxes and everyone else who’s contributed to our Christmas-lights spotlights this season – more suggestions still welcome, with or without photos – westseattleblog@gmail.com – see the season-long list in our West Seattle Holiday Guide, and scroll through all the photos in our archive.
Tomorrow Nos Nos Coffee House (35th/Graham) in High Point is celebrating its first anniversary. They’re marking the occasion with a giveaway. The announcement:
It’s been a crazy year, so to thank you all for sticking with us, we’re having a little giveaway: 1 Nos Nos Coffee House t-shirt, mug, and gift card for the coffee or tea beverage of your choice.
Two ways to enter: You can drop your name and contact info in a jar at the shop tomorrow (it’s open 7 am-2 pm), or you can enter via Instagram (as explained here). The winner will be notified on Friday.
Two weekend power problems called for a little more followup with Seattle City Light, and today we got responses. First – the “cable failure” blamed for Saturday afternoon’s outage, which at its peak took 3,760 homes and businesses out of power, from Westwood to White Center. Some asked if that might have resulted from a problem such as theft or a collision. No, it was spontaneous, says SCL spokesperson Julie Moore, adding it was a “large primary underground cable” that crews were able to isolate and fix.
Then on Sunday morning, around 7:45 am, a power “flicker” affected a wide area of West Seattle. It was relatively brief, and unlike many “flickers,” no longer-running outage ensued, so we didn’t report on it, but we did ask Moore about it too. She says it “was caused by a breaker, which protects the rest of the line from extra voltage. They are intentionally sensitive and can cause electricity to blink when they are triggered and acting as intended.”
Thanks for the photos and tips. That crash is partly blocking California at Raymond right now, so if you are headed out, avoid that area. No medic unit dispatched, so apparently no major injuries.
(Photo by Jerry Simmons)
The morning earthquake shook up our routine a little and we didn’t publish a “happening today/tonight” roundup. So here are a few last-minute notes:
3;30 PM – ORCA-WATCHING RULES: Will the state make new rules for whale-watching vessels, to protect the Southern Resident Killer Whales? The state Fish and Wildlife Commission gets briefed this afternoon, and the public can watch – here’s how.
4 PM – DEMONSTRATION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE: Scott from Puget Ridge Cohousing is leading the twice-weekly sign-waving at 16th and Holden, 4-6 pm. Signs available if you don’t bring your own.
4:30 PM – SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS TOWN HALL: Updates from Superintendent Denise Juneau, livestreamed on the district YouTube channel.
5 PM – WESTSIDE SCHOOL INFO NIGHT: This time, it’s information about the Westside School (WSB sponsor) lower school. Email tedh@westsideschool.org ASAP to get attendance info.
6 PM – ‘GET FIT’ INFO NIGHT: Online at 6 pm, West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) hosts an informational event about its free fitness program kicking off at the start of 2021 – for beginners, getting you ready to run a half-marathon by summer! Info is in our calendar listing.
(WSB file photo)
From Matt at Grillbird Teriyaki (35th/Morgan):
Every day we are giving out a gift card to a random customer; however, the gift card is not for them to use but for them to pass on to an individual or family in need of a hot meal. We hope to extend the generosity of our customers outward to our community so that no one goes hungry this winter. Many have asked us how they can contribute as well, so we have also come up with a way for customers to add a “Pay It Forward” gift card to their order online. The response has already been incredible.
Here’s how you can contribute.
Today we welcome a new WSB sponsor, a West Seattle-residing entrepreneur who has moved her business closer to home:
Lisa Esztergalyos Jeweler announces the grand opening of her new jewelry boutique located on Findlay St. in
West Seattle.
It was the end of an era for the beautiful jewel box inside Seattle’s 4th and Pike Building. Taking up all of 100 square feet in the first-floor lobby, the tiny boutique was beautifully decorated and popular with customers. Owner and jeweler Lisa Esztergalyos has been welcoming lovers of fine jewelry into her store since 2008. When COVID showed no signs of going anywhere, many small businesses in downtown Seattle felt the urge to relocate their businesses outside of the city center, including Esztergalyos.
From growing safety concerns to infrastructure slowdowns like the West Seattle Bridge and finally new ownership of the 4th & Pike building, the writing was on the wall, and it was a perfect opportunity to move on to something new.
Lisa Esztergalyos is no stranger to West Seattle and has been a member of the West Seattle community since 1998, so when the space came available in West Seattle, she jumped on the opportunity to relocate. Her new space at 4224 SW Findlay Street is larger than the previous downtown location, with a nod to old-world charm in a new building close to popular spots like C&P Coffee Co. She has more than 20 years of jewelry industry knowledge and experience, and brings you a truly customized design and jewelry shopping experience unlike anywhere else in Seattle.
Open Hours are Thursday through Saturday, 10 am-5 pm. Lisa Esztergalyos Jeweler will be offering delivery and pickup in the Greater Seattle area on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. To schedule, go here. For more information: info@lisaesztergalyos.com or 206-447-5747.
We thank Lisa Esztergalyos Jeweler for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
In West Seattle Crime Watch this morning, notes on auto thefts, spiking lately in our area:
STOLEN RED CR-V: From Codie:
My 1998 Honda CR=V was stolen. It’s red – a dull red. Sometime between midnight and 6 AM. This will be the third time I’ve had a car stolen from my driveway. The plates are different; not sure the number, I just got them replaced. The back passenger triangle window is not clear, and the front bumper has a tear in it. 4th Ave SW near 100th.
TRUCK-THEFT UPDATES: Both of the stolen pickup trucks mentioned here last Friday are still missing at last report. Alyssa, daughter of the silver Ford F-350’s owner, says they’ve had numerous sightings in West Seattle and White Center. And we’ve heard from the owner of the gold Chevrolet stolen while he was at Admiral Safeway – he added more info and clarified that the boat was in the truck, not on a trailer. Call 911 ASAP if you see either of these or any other known stolen vehicle.
8:52 AM: We didn’t feel it but several readers tell us they did – that was indeed a small earthquake, 3.2 magnitude, at 8:27 am, epicenter in Kitsap County, north of Bremerton.
9 AM: Here are more details from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (whose map we’ve added above).
9:23 AM: The PNSN site now shows a smaller quake, in that same area, 1.9 magnitude, about half an hour later. So far the reports we’ve had of people feeling the 3.2 quake here are from north West Seattle.
2:34 PM: Commenter aRF points out that the area has had a few more small quakes in the hours since.
6:07 AM: It’s Tuesday, December 15th, the 267th morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
ROAD (ETC.) WORK
Delridge project: Here’s the work plan for this week.
TRANSIT
Metro – Regular schedule. Notice all those alerts Monday? Here’s what happened.
Water Taxi – Regular schedule.
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) – see the closure advisory above. 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? See the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed.
You can see all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
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