day : 12/04/2021 12 results

Our nightly roundup of local pandemic information:

STILL PHASE 3: No change for King County when the governor announced the first county-by-county every-three-weeks status check today.

NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health daily summary:

*91,715 people have tested positive, 277 more than yesterday’s total

*1,483 people have died, unchanged since Friday

*5,449 people have been hospitalized, 3 more than yesterday’s total

*992,006 people have been tested, 319 more than yesterday’s total

One week ago, those totals were 89,643/1,472/5,381/981,183.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 136.6 million cases, 2,946,000 deaths – 562,000 in the U.S. See the other stats – nation by nation – here.

LOOKING FOR A VACCINATION APPOINTMENT? Two more days until everyone’s eligible. Here’s our ongoing list – updated when we get tips or find new links:

*Check for West Seattle city-run site appointments here; sign up for the city’s notification list for all four of its sites here.
*Health-care providers (particularly bigger ones like UW Medicine (one reader specifically recommends Valley Medical Center), Franciscan, Swedish, Kaiser Permanente, Neighborcare, etc.)
*covidwa.com (volunteer-run aggregator) – you can also follow its tweets for instant notifications
*The state’s Vaccine Locator (as mentioned above)
*The CDC’s Vaccine Finder
*Pharmacies big and small – Safeway, Rite Aid, QFC, Pharmaca, Costco
*Sea Mar clinics

NEED FOOD? This week’s nearest Food Lifeline distribution is 2-5 pm Friday (April 16th) at 815 S. 96th.

GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!

Share This

SEEN OVER WEST SEATTLE: Army helicopters with something extra

April 12, 2021 10:10 pm

| 16 COMMENTS

| Helicopter | West Seattle news

Thanks to David for sending the photo. We got questions about those helicopters when they flew past Alki this evening, but no visual down here, and they didn’t show on the flight tracker we use, so they were a mystery until the photo came in. Discussion on Twitter notes that not only are they U.S. Army Chinooks flying out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, they have booms in front for mid-air refueling, which means they’re MH-47 special-operations helicopters.

Share This

WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Catalytic-converter thieves strike again, again, and almost again

April 12, 2021 8:57 pm

| 12 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch, all involving catalytic converters:

PRIUS: Steve in Upper Alki reports, “My catalytic converter was stolen from my 2008 Prius, parked in my driveway in front of my house, sometime between Wednesday evening and Saturday morning.”

BUSINESS TRUCK: Someone stole the catalytic converter from a work truck at a West Marginal Way SW business over the weekend.

ELEMENT ATTEMPT: Rachel in Gatewood reports, “Came out to my Honda Element this morning for work and noticed the car was running loud. Looked under the car & there was one Sawzall cut – not all the way through the pipe – near my catalytic converter. Could have happened last night or Saturday night – did not drive car all weekend.”

SIDE NOTE: This continues to be a coast-to-coast problem (international too). In Northern California two weeks ago, according to this report, two people were arrested for possession of hundreds of stolen catalytic converters, and investigators say they have made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling them. Tips for preventing this type of theft include parking your car in a secure garage if you can, parking it somewhere brightly lit if you can’t, setting your car alarm to go off if it detects vibration, or adding a protection device/shield.

Share This

SEEN OFF WEST SEATTLE: Ferry inspection

April 12, 2021 7:52 pm

| Comments Off on SEEN OFF WEST SEATTLE: Ferry inspection

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

Thanks to the readers who sent photos of M/V Tacoma this afternoon, off west-facing West Seattle, further south than it would usually sail; the photo above is from Greg. We asked Washington State Ferries spokesperson Ian Sterling about its status; he explained, “It was in for its annual USCG inspection and maintenance.” Once it passed sea trials, it returned to its usual spot on the Seattle/Bainbridge Island run.

Share This

YOU CAN HELP: Duwamish Alive! on Saturday

April 12, 2021 6:07 pm

| 1 COMMENT

| Environment | How to help | West Seattle news

(WSB photo from spring 2018 Duwamish Alive!)

The twice-annual Duwamish Alive! event is back, and you have two ways to be part of it this Saturday (April 17th):

This Saturday, communities in the Green-Duwamish watershed will be celebrating Earth Month by participating in restoring habitat along the Green-Duwamish River and offering the self guided Green-Duwamish Journey. Several volunteer opportunities are still available, including the Heron’s Nest site:

Volunteer at Heron’s Nest restoration site in West Seattle, stewarded by the Duwamish Tribe and Shared Spaces as they restore native habitat on this site along with additional activities. Volunteers will be weeding, mulching, planting, and helping Seattle Tool Library build needed items. Email: heronsnestoutdoor@gmail.com

2021 Green-Duwamish Self Guided Journey

Community members are also encouraged to learn more about the Green-Duwamish River by visiting many of its environmental, historical and culturally significant sites on the Green-Duwamish Journey, provided in a booklet with activities families can enjoy while visiting the sites. The booklet can be downloaded from DuwamishAlive.org, with coordinating learning packets from Nature Vision for grades K-12.

Share This

WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE: Tagging vandalism cleaned up

April 12, 2021 4:36 pm

| 7 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle Bridge Safety Project | West Seattle news

Thanks to Conrad for sending the photo! City crews were out today cleaning up some of the tagging that vandals have been doing on the West Seattle Bridge. Conrad (who has organized recent volunteer cleanups on the ground in the area) told us, “I wanted to shout out SDOT and SPU for spending the morning removing several audacious graffiti tags on the WS Bridge. These tags were a highly visible stain on our peninsula that has already been tested so greatly over the past year with the bridge closure. Huge kudos to all involved in the removal!!” We have some followup questions out to SDOT and will add anything more we find out.

Share This

UPDATE: Woman in hospital, man in jail after collision that police say was domestic violence

April 12, 2021 2:49 pm

| 9 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news | WS breaking news

2:49 PM: Seattle Fire has a big response headed for the 2400 block of SW Holden [map], on a “rescue extrication” call. Updates to come.

2:54 PM: SFD says this is reported as a driver-pedestrian collision with the pedestrian possibly “pinned under the vehicle.”

3:08 PM: The victim is being taken to the hospital. We have a crew on scene trying to get more information.

3:11 PM: SFD says “bystanders” helped get the victim, who is female, out from under the car that hit her.

3:17 PM: Added a photo of the car atop the story. Police have taken the driver into custody. Holden remains closed from 24th SW about 100 yards westward uphill.

3:31 PM: SFD says the victim, a 24-year-old woman, was in stable condition when transported.

7:26 PM: A commenter/witness said there was more to the story, and police have confirmed that to us, saying this was a case of domestic violence. SPD says the driver was arrested for felony domestic-violence assault and also investigated for DUI.

9 PM: We have since received a far more detailed police report. Here’s the narrative as written by police:

Several calls came in about a collision, a fight, and a possible domestic disturbance. Officers arrived and found all three reports were correct.

The suspect and his girlfriend (Victim) were in a verbal disturbance and then the suspect began to strangle the victim. A bystander (W) intervened and broke up the assault. The suspect then got into the victim’s vehicle and planned to drive away. The witness got into the car and told the suspect not to drive as he was drunk and high. An argument began between the S/ and the W/. The victim went to the passenger side and attempted to get her car back from him. The witnesses reported that the suspect then put the car in reverse and purposefully struck the victim and ran her over.

W/ and the S/ got into a physical fight directly after the S/ assaulted her. After the S/ was rendered unconscious the witness and another community member physically lifted the vehicle off of the victim. The suspect was taken into custody without incident. … The victim is in critical but stable condition at HMC with numerous broken bones and injuries.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call/text 911 if it’s happening now – but also be aware of this 24-hour helpline: 800-799-7233 or 800-787-3224 (TTY)

Share This

REOPENING: King County stays in Phase 3 for at least three more weeks

April 12, 2021 1:56 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

As noted in last night’s pandemic-news roundup, today’s the day the state planned to announce which counties qualified to stay in Phase 3 and which would have to roll back. The decision is in:

As shown on that map from Gov. Inslee‘s office, only three counties have to roll back to Phase 2 – Pierce, Cowlitz, and Whitman. King County will stay in Phase 3. (King County was close to flunking one of the requirements, as shown here.) The next evaluation is due in three weeks – Monday, May 3rd.

Share This

Why Seattle Police were out in force along Alki Beach on Sunday

April 12, 2021 12:01 pm

| 41 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle police

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

If you were at Alki Beach on Sunday afternoon/evening, you might have noticed a significant police presence. While driving Alki Avenue between 5:30 and 6 pm, we noticed at least half a dozen police vehicles – including unmarked and marked SUVs patroling, as well as a parked van and specially equipped SUV in the Don Armeni Boat Ramp parking lot.

Don Armeni has been the focus of frequent reports of drivers racing/doing stunts; Southwest Precinct Lt. Dorothy Kim told the Alki Community Council last month that she and a colleague were tasked with drawing up a plan for addressing seasonal recurring problems.

Wondering if Sunday’s show of force was a preview of that plan, we asked precinct commander Capt. Kevin Grossman for comment this morning. Here’s his reply via email:

SPD received information last week that the car racers that have been problematic throughout the Puget Sound—including an impromptu event in the U-District on Friday that resulted in a car being flipped were planning to gather in Des Moines and travel to Alki and the Don Armeni Boat Ramp to assemble and race.

With that information, I directed Lt Kim to put together a plan to deter racing and criminal activity using a combination of on-duty and off-duty SPD resources and in coordination with our partners, including the Seattle Parks Department, Washington State Patrol, and the Port of Seattle Police Department. Although the Community Response Group was initially tasked with responding to a demonstration downtown, when that event concluded, some CRG resources were redirected to Alki to assist the Southwest Precinct and WSP.

While the Don Armeni parking area was held mostly empty as shown in our photo, we noted driver groups parked along stretches of Alki and Harbor Avenues. No major incidents were reported.

As for the longer-term spring/summer plan, with warm weather on the way later this week, Capt. Grossman told WSB:

We are in the process of putting the final touches on a plan for Alki for this summer. This has been a larger challenge than in previous years due to SPD’s staffing: the Southwest Precinct is down by one-third from last year, we no longer have our bike squad or our Anti-Crime Team to dedicate to Alki, and overtime is hard to come by. That being said, we will finalize and implement our Alki plan, and we will continue to monitor events on Alki throughout the summer in a joint effort with the Seattle Parks Department.

As reported here last month, Southwest Precinct had 58 patrol officers at year’s end, down from 70 three months earlier.

Share This

FOLLOWUP: What would you like to see at Highland Park Elementary’s playground?

April 12, 2021 10:55 am

| Comments Off on FOLLOWUP: What would you like to see at Highland Park Elementary’s playground?

| Highland Park | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

(Rendering identifying ‘opportunity areas’ at existing HPE playground)

Even if you couldn’t be at last week’s planning meeting for the next phase of Highland Park Elementary‘s playground improvements, it’s not too late to have a say. The community coalition working on the plan is continuing the online questionnaire through this Thursday – you can answer it by going here. Organizers note, “We want this space to be fun and engaging for all the families in the community” – and offering ideas in this early stqge is one way to ensure that.

Share This

YOU CAN HELP: Food-truck fundraiser for Friends of Roxhill Elementary

April 12, 2021 9:40 am

| Comments Off on YOU CAN HELP: Food-truck fundraiser for Friends of Roxhill Elementary

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

School-support groups have continued fundraisers even through the pandemic, with the help of generous local businesses, Here’s the next one: Friends of Roxhill Elementary will benefit from 10 percent of the proceeds at the Thai-U-Up truck at 30th/Roxbury on Monday and Tuesday evenings for the rest of the month – 5 pm to 8:45 pm tonight, tomorrow, April 19-20, and April 26-27. You can order online at thaiuup.com.

Share This

WEATHER, ROAD WORK, TRAFFIC: Spring-break Monday watch

April 12, 2021 6:12 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:12 AM: Good morning! A sunny, warmer-by-the-day week is ahead, with 70s predicted by next weekend.

SPRING BREAK

School’s out all week for Seattle Public Schools (and independent schools on the same calendar), as well as Highline Public Schools to the south.

ROAD WORK .

Delridge project – Here’s this week’s plan.

TRANSIT

Metro is on its regular schedule; next Saturday, it will increase the number of passengers allowed on buses.

The West Seattle Water Taxi is on its regular schedule; next week, the spring/summer all-day, 7-days-a-week schedule begins.

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

385th morning without the West Seattle Bridge. Here’s how it’s looking on other bridges and routes:

Low Bridge: 14th week for automated enforcement cameras; restrictions are in effect 5 am-9 pm daily – except weekends, when the bridge is now open to all until 8 am Saturday and Sunday mornings. (Read about other changes ahead, here.)

Here’s a low-bridge view: