West Seattle, Washington
02 Wednesday
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Will West Seattle get back some of the bus service it’s lost? And what’s the deal with some of the most-challenged policies post-West Seattle Bridge closure? Those were the two big topics at this month’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting, online this past Thursday night.
METRO’S FUTURE: King County Councilmember Joe McDermott and Metro planner Graydon Newman were the guests for this topic. McDermott said it’s a subject with which he has personal experience, since he took the 56/57 to downtown pre-pandemic, though now his commute route is a set of stairs in his home. However, he said, the council doesn’t get into the details of route planning – it sticks to big-picture issues. With that, Newman took centerstage. Having just launched the spring service change, he said, Metro is now in the thick of “service restoration planning” for September – “making a big effort” to restore some suspended service.
Tonight’s pandemic news:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: After two Sundays without updates on the King County Daily Summary Dashboard page, tonight they’re back.
*87,382 people have tested positive, 270 more than yesterday’s total
*1,461 people have died, unchanged from yesterday’s total
*5,288 people have been hospitalized, 32 more than yesterday’s total
*959,558 people have been tested, 440 more than yesterday’s total
WEST SEATTLE TRENDS: Time for our weekly check. These numbers are shown in two-week increments via the “geography over time” tab on the daily-summary dashboard; to determine WS status, we combine the totals from the West Seattle and Delridge “health reporting areas” (HRAs): For the past two weeks, 95 positive test results; 83 in the 2 weeks before that; 64 in the two weeks before that. … We also are noting WS death totals each week. The total deaths for the entire pandemic in the two HRAs comprising West Seattle: 64, unchanged from last week.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 127 million cases and 2,783,000+ deaths, 549,000+ of them in the U.S. – see the nation-by-nation breakdown here.
BACK TO SCHOOL: The first Seattle Public Schools students to return to campuses will start tomorrow.
TWO MORE DAYS OF TESTING AT SWAC: As we first reported last Monday, the Southwest Athletic Complex city-run site (2801 SW Thistle) stops testing and goes vaccination-only this Wednesday (March 31st). City Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s latest newsletter includes a list of local testing alternatives.
LOOKING FOR VACCINE? Eligibility expands Wednesday – but if you’re eligible now, here are links to try:
*Check for West Seattle city-run site appointments here; sign up for the city’s notification list for all three of its sites here.
*Health-care providers (particularly bigger ones like UW Medicine, CHI Franciscan, Kaiser Permanente, etc.)
*covidwa.com (volunteer-run aggregator)
*The state says it’s improved its own lookup tool
*Here’s another multi-provider search to try
*Pharmacies big and small – Safeway, Rite Aid, QFC, Pharmaca, Costco
*Sea Mar clinics
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
Tomorrow’s a big day for many Seattle Public Schools students. First, bell times change for all elementary and K-8 students, as announced:
New Elementary and K-8 Bell Schedules
Elementary and K-8 schools will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m. for students in both the remote and hybrid, in-person model (part-time in person and part-time remote).
This change does not include 6th-8th grade comprehensive middle schools. Comprehensive middle schools will continue to begin at 9 a.m.
Bell Schedule
8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Morning Block: 8 – 10:45 a.m.
Afternoon Block: 11:45 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.8 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Wednesday
All students will be remote
The district says the change will make it possible for them to offer more bus service as more students return to in-person learning. Tomorrow, meantime, is the first day of that for the first wave of returning students – preschoolers and students enrolled in elementary special education Intensive Services Pathways. Other district updates on returning to in-person learning are here. No word of a deal yet for bringing back 6th-12th graders.
(Photo by David Hutchinson)
After 5+ blustery hours, the weather has calmed, without reports power outages or downed trees this time around. The National Weather Service says it’ll stay breezy for the hours ahead – and dark clouds on the horizon suggest the rain might return – but one thing has vanished from the forecast – the mention of possible snow mixed in. The weather is getting drier faster than predicted, and should be clear by the early morning hours, when temperatures will drop into the 30s. And then – sunshine is on the way,
(2013 WSB photo by Nick Adams – firefighter training at to-be-demolished property by Lowman Beach)
Planning to demolish a house soon? Let the Seattle Fire Department have at it first! They’re looking for to-be-demolished houses for an upcoming round of training. Here’s the announcement:
The Seattle Fire Department is actively looking for single-family dwellings scheduled for demolition to help secure live-fire training for our newest Seattle firefighters on May 3-6, 2021. We are also open to discussing the use of duplex and apartment buildings on a case-by-case basis. The project must have a demolition permit in hand, and the owner would need to allow access to the structure a week ahead of the training for set-up.
If interested, please fill out our intake form online and email it to SFD_inservicetraining@seattle.gov. Questions can also be directed to this email address.
Live-fire training is an opportunity for our new fire recruits to work with our company officers and face real fire scenarios in a controlled setting. This experience is vital to the development of new recruits, as these fires act as a final evaluation of what they have learned over the past 12 weeks of training. The training focuses on fire attack, teamwork and communication.
That’s the Caron Architecture design packet (also viewable here) for 9218 18th SW [map], a South Delridge mixed-use project that goes back before the Southwest Design Review Board in an online meeting this Thursday (April 1st). The project is described as a 5-story, 58-unit apartment building with commercial space, plus offstreet parking for 28 vehicles and 63 bicycles. This is the second Early Design Guidance meeting for the project, after the board told the project team in October to try again. Thursday’s meeting is at 5 pm, with viewing/listening info here; here’s how to comment on the proposal before, during, and/or after the meeting.
That short video is from the West Seattle High School students who organized the second annual Dine-Out Day for this Wednesday (March 31st). These four Admiral/Alki establishments are donating part of their proceeds to the WSHS student government that day:
Ampersand Café (2536 Alki SW)
Circa (2605 California SW)
Mission Cantina (2325 California SW)
Matchbox Food Hall (delivery only)
Be sure to mention you’re ordering in support of WSHS Dine-Out Day.
(Early-spring flowers, photographed by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
Last Sunday in March – besides the weather alert, here’x what’s happening:
TODAY’S ONLINE CHURCH SERVICES: It’s Palm Sunday; as we do every week, we’ve updated our list of more than 20 local churches’ online Sunday services (a few offer in-person options too), with the newest links – see it here.
PASSOVER: Tonight is the second night of Passover. West Seattle synagogue Kol HaNeshamah is celebrating – details here.
FAUNTLEROY EGG HUNT: Go look for the eggs hidden by the Fauntleroy Community Association! Details are here.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm in The Junction, the market’s open. Scroll down the page at this link to find the vendor list and map for this week. (Enter at California/Alaska; pickups for online orders are at California/Oregon)
POETRY IN THE JUNCTION: Typewriter poet Sean Petrie plans to be outside Pegasus Book Exchange (4553 California SW) during the market, weather permitting.
WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Open 11 am-4 pm – need a tool to fix or improve something? (4408 Delridge Way SW)’
THEATER: Four comedy shorts from “All in the Timing” will be performed live online by Twelfth Night Productions again today, 3 pm. Our calendar listing has ticket/viewing info.
FREE TO-GO DINNER: White Center Community Dinner Church will serve to-go meals at 5 pm, outside, near the Bartell Drugs parking lot in White Center. (9600 15th Ave SW)
TONIGHT’S SUNSET: 7:34 pm!
Got something for our calendar? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
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