West Seattle, Washington
27 Saturday
Seahawks Sunday often means WSB bird-gallery day … so here we go!
Feathered formation! James Tilley photographed that trio of Harlequin Ducks on Christmas Day in the Alki vicinity. Also in that area, here’s a Bald Eagle, from Gary Jones:
Vince Marx shares an uncommon sighting – a Rock Sandpiper, photographed at Seacrest:
This weekend’s rain slicked back the usually spiky crown on this Steller’s Jay, photographed by Jerry Simmons:
Robin Sinner caught a Red-breasted Nuthatch just hanging out:
A splash of color from Mark Wangerin‘s view of a Townsend’s Warbler:
Here’s a Brown Creeper at Lincoln Park, spotted by Mark MacDonald:
And from Mike Burns, a hummingbird:
Big thanks to everyone who sends photos, whether it’s birds, breaking news, Christmas lights, other sightings … westseattleblog@gmail.com (or text 206-293-6302 if it’s urgent).
Thanks to Lori Vonderhorst for the photo – looking north from the Lincoln Park shore on Saturday afternoon – saying in her email, “Something to brighten this dark rainy morning.” The forecast is bright, too, predicting a partly sunny afternoon and more sunshine tomorrow. Looking ahead toward the change of years at the end of the week, New Year’s Eve is expected to be cloudy with a chance of rain. (No fireworks – again – this year, though, so no need to venture outside that night anyway.) Data point: So far, the calendar year has seen three inches more rain than the average year (last year was three inches below average).
Winter break continues this week for Seattle Public Schools, but a second food-distribution event is planned on Tuesday, with two West Seattle sites included. The food boxes that will be available have a week’s worth of breakfast and lunch items. Pickup times are 11:15 am-1:15 pm Tuesday (December 29th); locations are Denny International Middle School (2601 SW Kenyon) and Madison Middle School (3429 45th SW). Regular weekday meal availability resumes Monday, January 4th,
(Christmas Eve sunset, photographed by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
From our West Seattle Holiday Guide and Event Calendar, a fairly quiet between-holidays Sunday:
TODAY’S ONLINE CHURCH SERVICES: Our updated-every-Sunday list of more than 20.local churches’ online services (with a few also offering in-person options) is here.
NO WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Just for today, no WSFM, but it’ll be back next weekend.
WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Open 11 am-4 pm, if you need a tool to fix or improve something. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
EMERALD WATER ANGLERS (WSB sponsor): Reopening post-holiday break, 11 am-5 pm today. (4502 42nd SW)
NEED FOOD? White Center Community Dinner Church will serve free to-go meals at 5 pm, outside, near the Bartell Drugs parking lot in White Center. (9600 15th Ave SW)
Midway through the weekend after Christmas, here are the local pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, the cumulative totals from Public Health‘s daily-summary dashboard – keep in mind that testing availability’s been low the past few days because of the holiday:
*60,000 people have tested positive, 169 more than yesterday’s total
*1,043 people have died, unchanged from yesterday’s total
*4,019 people have been hospitalized, 36 more than yesterday’s total
*730,769 people have been tested, 4,025 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, those totals were 57,129/993/3,825/711,497.
WEST SEATTLE TREND: Here’s our weekly check of this stat, with numbers shown in two-week increments via the “geography over time” tab on the daily-summary dashboard, combining the totals from the West Seattle and Delridge “health reporting areas.” For the past two weeks, 253 positive test results; 426 in the 2 weeks before that; 382 in the two weeks before that.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 80.3 million people have tested positive, and more than 1,757,000 million people have died; U.S. deaths have passed 331,000. Most cases: U.S., India, Brazil, Russia, France (fourth week with no change). See the breakdown, nation by nation, here.
CHILD-CARE ASSISTANCE: Need it? The city might be able to help., as explained here.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
Commenter Emcat8 asked if the nightly lights features could continue through New Year’s. We were out of tips after last night and thinking we’d have to stop there – then more came in tonight, including Pauline W‘s photo above from 42nd/Manning [map]: “Mine aren’t quite Christmas lights but they are still holiday lights. Can’t wait for the New Year!” Us too.
Keeping your lights up this week? We have room to showcase a few more – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you! (Everything we’ve shpwn so far is archived here and listed in our West Seattle Holiday Guide.)
8:20 PM: Avoid California/Admiral for a while. Police are on the scene of a collision between a semi-truck and car; thanks to Andy for texting the photo. Radio exchanges indicate no injuries; eastbound Admiral is blocked right now, though.
8:46 PM: SDOT says the intersection is clear.
SDOT says its contractor will return full crews to the Delridge Way repaving/utilities project next week, after holiday and COVID-safety breaks. They plan to work Monday through Thursday, taking New Year’s Day off. Here are the key points:
Continued demolition and paving on Delridge Way SW (east side)
The remaining paving in Zone A has been scheduled to the week of December 28 in the following areas:
Puget Blvd SW and SW Brandon St
SW Brandon St to SW Findlay St
SW Brandon St intersectionDemolition between SW Croft Pl and SW Myrtle St to begin as early as December 28
Paving is scheduled to begin the week of January 4Demolition beginning on the east side of Delridge Way SW between SW Trenton St and SW Henderson St now scheduled to begin the week of December 28
Paving to begin as early as January 11Sidewalk demolition on the west side of Delridge Way SW between SW Cloverdale St and SW Trenton St beginning as early as December 30
We will begin demolishing the sidewalks in this area to install and upgrade electrical utilities on the east side of Delridge Way SW
This work will last for at least two weeks and will include intermittent driveway impacts
The full preview for next week is here.
Don’t go looking for the West Seattle farmers’ Market in The Junction tomorrow – you won’t find it. Market managers and vendors decided to take a weekend off to recharge for the new year, and they’ll be back the following Sunday (January 3rd), 10 am-2 pm as usual.
2:56 PM: Seattle Fire has a water-rescue response headed to Lincoln Park. According to the dispatch, there’s a report of a possible boarder in trouble off Colman Pool. Updates to come.
3:01 PM: Looks like this might be a false alarm; most units are being dismissed
(Photo by Stewart L.)
Two weeks after launching a crowdfunding campaign, Save The Stone Cottage is almost halfway to its fundraising goal. The group of local preservation advocates and volunteers is aiming to raise $110,000 to move the stone-studded beach bungalow off its site at 1123 Harbor SW before a redevelopment project starts construction. As of today, the campaign has passed $47,000. Save The Stone Cottage is working with building-moving experts Nickel Bros to move the century-old structure to a temporary site next month – likely storage at a Port of Seattle site nearby – until a new permanent site is found. More backstory is in our previous coverage here and here; donations are welcome here.
11:41 AM: This was small enough and deep enough that it may have gone entirely unfelt, but a friend pointed this tweet out to Verne, who emailed us, so for the record: An earthquake of 1.4 magnitude – what’s considered a microquake – happened at 9:48 pm Christmas night, 17 miles beneath the West Duwamish Greenbelt, east of where SW Thistle ends. Here’s the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network page for it; here’s its US Geological Survey page (which includes a link for sending a report if you felt it); here’s a map. The quake was originally estimated at 2.0, but that was revised to 1.4 once it got an official review this morning.
2:11 PM: The microquake’s been reviewed again and now the epicenter has been shifted south to White Center, 14th SW just south of Roxbury.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes this morning:
STOLEN GREEN CR-V: From David:
Honda CR-V 1999 Forest Green stolen at 5:00 am from 8th SW and SW Kenyon.
Front Bug Deflector (stick-on)
Window Visors (front and rear)
Different Lettered CR-V Spare Tire Cover
License plate BQJ2482
$500 reward – 206-679-3182
STOLEN MOUNTAIN BIKE RECOVERED: On Christmas Eve, we published Theresa‘s report of a mountain bike stolen two days earlier. Last night she emailed to say, “Officer Ross found my stolen bike and returned it to us on Christmas Night!! Unbelievable!!!!!” That’s another reminder that filing a theft report is important – police do find stolen items (like this bike and the packages turned up in that Christmas Eve crash) and if there’s no report on file, a recovered item may be unreturnable.
ABANDONED PINK HUFFY BIKE: Anybody missing this?
Christine found it abandoned in Puget Park and hopes to find its owner. If you recognize it, email us and we’ll connect you.
Spend local! Doors reopen today at most of your favorite local independent businesses. Thunder Road Guitars (WSB sponsor) sends this update:
Saturday the 26th [today], 10 am – 6 pm, will be our last day open before our Winter Break. Our Seattle storefront will be closed December 28th – January 4th and will resume normal hours Tuesday, January 5th.
TRG is at 6400 California SW, co-housed with The Bass Shop (also a WSB sponsor).
Yes, even on Christmas night, we have virus news. And first, a reminder that it’s now been 43 weeks since the Friday night announcement of the first King County case of COVID-19. Here’s what’s new:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily summary:
*59,831 people have tested positive, 525 more than yesterday’s total
*1,043 people have died, 11 more than yesterday’s total
*3,983 people have been hospitalized, 9 more than yesterday’s total
*726,744 people have been tested, 674 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, those totals were 56.693/978/3,823/708,641.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 79.8 million cases, 1,750,000+ deaths – see the nation-by-nation numbers here.
TEST SITE REOPENS: After a holiday closure, the West Seattle COVID-19 testing site at Southwest Athletic Complex (2801 SW Thistle) reopens Saturday. Registration for a testing time starts here, depending on whether you do or don’t have symptoms.
GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!
On this Christmas night, a stocking full of lights and decorations:
Brian suggested we check out that music-synched lights display between Andover and Charlestown on 36th SW [vicinity map]. The music is only audible via 99.5 FM low-powered radio, so we had to record from inside the car to pick up the music.
Next house is more a daylight display – 2748 44th SW [map]:
M sent the photo, explaining they decorated with a gingerbread theme.
And heading south to Fauntleroy, this is for everyone who loves Halloween AND Christmas:
Julie explained in her tip that this house on 46th SW between Cloverdale and Trenton [vicinity map] had a major Halloween display that was augmented with Christmas decorations, rather than being replaced by them:
Thank you to the many people who sent tips, with and without photos, this season – all the decorations we have shown remain listed in our Holiday Guide and archived here!
Eight months ago, we featured fiddler Dawn Hepburn joining neighbors in “making a joyful noise” when that was happening during the evenings early in the stay-home days. Today, she brought musical joy to Alki with Christmas songs, and shared a video clip so you could enjoy the serenade even if you weren’t at the beach.
9 months (as of this past Wednesday) after the West Seattle Bridge closed, it’s inspired a gingerbread creation. Mike Shaughnessy sent the photos of his family’s ginger-bridge. Santa even has his choice of destinations:
By next Christmas, we might just be a few months away from restored use of the real thing.
(Photo by Marc Milrod)
Welcome to Christmas Day. It’s our holiday tradition to start the day with information you might find helpful:
COFFEE SHOPS OPEN TODAY: Our (short) list of independent coffee shops that planned to be open for at least part of today is in the Christmas section atop our Holiday Guide. (Anyone missing? Let us know!)
GROCERY STORES OPEN TODAY: Also in the Christmas section atop our Holiday Guide.
RESTAURANTS OPEN TODAY AND/OR TONIGHT: You’ll find that list in the Holiday Guide too.
(Photo by Jerry Simmons)
CHRISTMAS DAY TRANSPORTATION INFO:
*Metro is on the Sunday schedule
*No Water Taxi service
*Sound Transit light rail and buses on the Sunday schedule
*Washington State Ferries‘ Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run is on its regular weekday schedule
*No charge for parking today on city streets in neighborhoods with pay stations
*Traffic cameras: West Seattle-relevant ones here; citywide views are available via this SDOT map
OTHER INFO:
*No trash/recycling/etc. pickup today – if you have Friday pickup, it’ll happen tomorrow instead
*Seattle Parks sites’ status for today
*Seattle Public Libraries services are suspended today
If you see/hear news, please text/call 206-293-6302 – we appreciate your tips 24/7/366!
Thanks to Lola for the photo. That’s the second West Seattle crash in less than 12 hours to have taken out a hydrant. This one happened in the 5600 block of Fauntleroy Way SW, with a driver hitting a parked car, and the hydrant getting hit in the process. The driver was reported to have walked away from the scene, but a medical dispatch indicated he was found some blocks away shortly thereafter.
Even on Christmas Eve, we have virus-crisis news (tomorrow, though, depends on whether there’s a data update):
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*59,306 people have tested positive, up 479 from yesterday’s total
*1,032 people have died, up 9 from yesterday’s total
*3,974 people have been hospitalized, up 65 from yesterday’s total
*726,070 people have been tested, up 4,705 from yesterday’s total
One week ago, those totals were 55,919/976/3,803/704,029.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 79,3 million cases worldwide, 18.6 million of them in the U.S. See the nation-by-nation breakout here.
SITUATION REPORT: The state’s newest situation report is out. It’s mixed, but there’s some positive news, including case-count declines in the state’s largest counties, including ours. Here’s the summary.
GROCERY-STORE COVID CASE: Posted today on the PCC Community Markets website:
PCC learned today that a staff member at its West Seattle store has tested positive for COVID-19. This staff member last worked in the store on December 21, 2020. PCC has been in regular contact with the King County Health Department. They have informed us that our current, rigorous COVID-19 cleaning protocol is sufficient to address the situation and that no store or department closures are required. Additionally, they’ve indicated that no other staff members at West Seattle PCC need to self-quarantine if they are asymptomatic. The staff member who tested positive is receiving care and will not return to work until guidance from public health officials allows it. PCC is following the guidelines of the CDC and federal and local governments to protect the individual to ensure they do not lose wages as a result of these steps.
TESTING: The city’s West Seattle test site is closed again today.
GOT PHOTOS/TIPS? 206-293-6302, text or voice, or westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Another double feature on this Christmas Eve – this time, two corner displays:
That display at 35th/114th in Arbor Heights [map] is so big – occupying an expansive corner – you need video to show it all. Here’s part of it:
Thanks to Cassandra for the tip!
From the north side of the peninsula, Toby sent this photo:
Toby says that’s “our little corner of Christmas Cheer on 47th Ave SW and SW Spokane St.” [map]
Thanks again for all the tips and photos – more than ever, the lights mean a lot here at the end of a challenging year. All the locations we’ve shown are archived here, and listed in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide. More tomorrow night!
(December 17th)
Earlier this month, as reported here, an overnight windstorm destroyed the canopies that Arthur’s in The Admiral District had put up to facilitate outdoor dining. Some asked how they could help the restaurant recover. Rosemary Orr, mom of Arthur’s proprietor Rebecca Rice, has set up a crowdfunding account to facilitate that. Rosemary tells WSB, “She has worked so hard since Spring to keep her business open and viable, and the windstorm and destruction of the canopies was just the worst in a string of challenges. She will need new covers to make enough money to survive another few months.” The GoFundMe page is here.
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