day : 28/05/2021 13 results

Tonight’s pandemic headlines:

KING COUNTY NUMBERS: We start with the daily stats from the Public Health daily-summary page, cumulative totals:

*109,380 people have tested positive, 184 more than yesterday’s total

*1,591 people have died, 3 more than yesterday’s total

*6,139 people have been hospitalized, 10 more than yesterday’s total

Now our weekly check of key numbers on the COVID Vaccination Among King County Residents dashboard:

*1,436,146 people have received one dose (73.6% of everyone 12+)

*1,193,113 people have received both doses (61.1% of everyone 12+)

One week ago, the first three totals were 108,103/1,572/6,081, and the vaccination totals were 1,383,084/1,102,810.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 169.4 million cases, 3,523,000+ deaths – see the nation-by-nation numbers here.

ANOTHER POP-UP CLINIC: Announced today – next Thursday (June 3rd), 11 am-3 pm, people 18+ are welcome to get vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine at South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor). Make an appointment here.

SECONDD-TO-LAST SATURDAY FOR WEST SEATTLE HUB: As announced last week, the city will close West Seattle’s vaccination hub after June 9th. So tomorrow’s your second-to-last Saturday to get vaccinated at the hub, open 9 am-5:30 pm at 2801 SW Thistle.

GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!

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UPDATE: Fire response near Delridge/Thistle

May 28, 2021 10:47 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Delridge | West Seattle fires | West Seattle news

10:47 PM: Seattle Fire is on the way to a possible residential fire in the 8400 block of Delridge Way. Updates to come.

10:52 PM: The fire is out (“tapped”) and SFD is downsizing the response. No injuries reported.

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BIZNOTE: Alair Gift Shop taking over Coastal Surf Boutique space

May 28, 2021 9:51 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Alair Gift Shop – the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s latest Business of the Year – is expanding, taking over the space next door. Proprietor Shandon Graybeal made this announcement tonight:

A year and a half ago, I was welcoming (Coastal) as our new neighbor at Alair. I was so excited to have those smiling girls next door, and have another place on our block for y’all to shop.

Recently, I got a call from our amazing landlord that our neighbors at Coastal made the difficult decision to close their doors permanently. We know that making this decision probably wasn’t easy and we are sad for them and wish them the very best with the new dreams they will start building now. You can follow along with them as they make any announcements and let you know what’s next for their brand.

While we are sad about the loss, we also get to celebrate the future- a future we weren’t sure we would have many times over the past year.

So, we are excited to announce that we are taking over the space next door! This is all very new, and we will make announcements as we figure things out and as we start the expansion of our storefront into their current space. For now, I can say for certain that there will still be clothing offered on that side of the building for everyone: women, men, and kiddos!

The loss of any business is devastating for our community, but I also think that nobody takes these decisions lightly. I hope you join me in wishing Coastal the very best and following along with what’s next for them.

Step one for us: we are opening the doors over there starting tomorrow for a huge clearance sale. We are selling pretty much everything at 50% off and will continue to announce open hours as we figure it all out. So tomorrow at 11, the doors will be open! Hope to see you there!

Alair and Coastal are at 3270 California SW. Coastal, which moved there from Alki in fall 2019, has been closed for some months; we have had an inquiry out to its proprietor for a while asking about its status, but to date, no reply.

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UPDATE: Protest at California/Fauntleroy

May 28, 2021 7:43 pm

| 46 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle protests

7:43 PM: Just happened onto a traffic-stopping protest at California/Fauntleroy. Protesters have circled cars to block the intersection. Police are here telling them to move. The protesters are yelling about housing affordability. (Added) Looking at their signage, it’s a police-defunding demonstration.

7:50 PM: They’ve moved on and the intersection is open again.

8:02 PM: This is the City Council legislation the protest was about. It’s a police-funding bill that’s been debated for months; it’s due for a vote at the Tuesday afternoon council meeting (here’s the agenda). It basically would cut $5 million from SPD’s budget though in numerous discussions there has been some contention SPD doesn’t need the money anyway because it’s spending less on salaries after so many departures, but SPD contends it needs the money for other things.

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City vs. beavers on Longfellow Creek

May 28, 2021 5:15 pm

| 17 COMMENTS

| Delridge | West Seattle news | Wildlife

That’s a photo sent recently by John, showing a beaver along Longfellow Creek, which parallels much of Delridge Way. In some areas along the creek, beavers are just part of the ecosystem – but Seattle Public Utilities says their work is posing a potential problem in one area, and is pursuing this project, announced in a recent Land Use Information Bulletin (note that the same notice covers the West Seattle proposal and a similar one elsewhere in the city):

Beavers have recently constructed dams immediately upstream of the pedestrian footbridge over Longfellow Creek … and dams in SPU’s Meadowbrook Pond Stormwater Detention and Flood Control Facility in the Meadowbrook neighborhood.

The dams may lead to localized flooding of nearby residential properties during the rainy season. This proposal would deploy beaver dam management interventions at the dams at both sites. Specifically, the proposed work would install four pond levelers by notching the dams and then installing exclusion fences. The fencing would extend 16-feet upstream from the top of the dam. Notching assists in
preventing beavers from detecting stream flow through the dam and the fencing prevents them from effectively plugging the notch.

These interventions are intended to control water levels and flows in Longfellow and Thornton creeks and are preferred alternatives to relocating the beavers or removing or breaching an established beaver dam that maintains hydrology of a nearby wetland or pond. The proposed design provides unimpeded fish passage while preventing beavers from constructing effective dams at the pedestrian \ bridge at the Longfellow Creek site and in Meadowbrook Pond at the Thornton Creek site.

The Project includes the following major work elements:

1. Creating a notch in the beaver dam
2. Installation of metal t-posts and welded-wire fencing with a mesh size of 4 inches by 6 inches to create a box in the notch of the beaver dam.
3. Extend the wire fencing box 16-feet upstream from the beaver dam.

This is in/near the 2500 block of SW Graham [map], according to the city notice. What the city published, specifically, is a Determination of Non-Significance, meaning it doesn’t believe a formal environmental-impact study is needed for this. Here’s the full-length “checklist” document, below and here:

You can comment by June 3rd by emailing Kevin Buckley at SPU, kevin.buckley@seattle.gov; you can also formally appeal the Determination of Non-Significance, deadline June 10th, as explained in the notice.

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UPDATE: About the helicopter over Fauntleroy

May 28, 2021 3:56 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Fauntleroy | Helicopter | West Seattle news

3:56 PM: You might have guessed this already, but if not, the helicopter’s here for the traditional holiday-weekend-getaway-day flyover over the Fauntleroy ferry dock. No extreme backup, though, at last report from Washington State Ferries.

4:17 PM: Shortly after we published that, WSF tweeted that the Fauntleroy terminal now has a 90-minute wait. The helicopter, meantime, has moved on.

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DELRIDGE PROJECT: Here’s where work will focus next

May 28, 2021 2:23 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Delridge | Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo – Delridge/Orchard earlier this week)

Just in, the weekly preview of what’s next for the Delridge repaving/utilities work in advance of RapidRide H Line‘s launch next year. Crews will be off Memorial Day. Here’s the highlight list after that:

Final channelization and lane striping is beginning!
*Trucks will complete this work at night over the course of the next month starting at SW Dakota St and moving south
*Parking restrictions will be in place as a result of this work

Overlay paving between the West Seattle High Bridge and SW Dakota St is complete

Intersection upgrades at SW Orchard St and Delridge Way SW are complete

Roadwork paving and electrical upgrades between SW Holden St and SW Thistle St continue

Intersection upgrades at SW Barton Pl and Delridge Way SW continue for several weeks
*SW Barton Pl and the 21st Ave SW slip lane from Delridge Way SW will remain closed during this work

Though SDOT had told us SW Thistle would reopen east of Delridge by now, that’s not happening: “The work has fallen behind and the east side of the roadway intersection remains closed. However, we still anticipate wrapping up this work soon – there are just a few outstanding tasks remaining.” As for other details – here’s the complete preview.

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Vaccination pop-up on Alki

May 28, 2021 1:02 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

Thanks to Stacy for the photo and tip! Between now and 2 pm, the Seattle Fire Department’s Mobile Vaccination Team has a pop-up on Alki, just south of the bathhouse. We didn’t get advance word of this but as we’ve mentioned a couple times, they will be at two local brewpubs later this afternoon/evening.

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Here’s how much property values have risen in 2 West Seattle neighborhoods

May 28, 2021 12:14 pm

| 10 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

The King County Assessor’s Office says two more areas of West Seattle will get property-valuation notices soon. These are valuations as of January 1st of this year, which will be used for the tax bills that property owners will get next year. The Assessor’s Office announcement says, “Median residential property values rose by 9.2% in Fauntleroy, and by 8% in North Central West Seattle,” adding, “Data indicates that home sale prices and overall home values have risen sharply in most King County neighborhoods, despite the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. No one knew what to expect a little over a year ago when this public health emergency began. Now it is clear that a primary impact on property values has been caused by homeowners not wanting to sell at this time, leading to reduced supply and big price and value increases.” (You don’t have to wait for the postcard to arrive by mail – if your new valuation has been finalized, it’ll show up online; one way to look it up is to use the King County Parcel Viewer to check – once you’ve gotten to the page for your address, click through to the “property detail” page.)

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READER REPORT: Missing a float, post-storm? This might be it

May 28, 2021 11:02 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news

The photo and report are from Peter:

In case anyone is missing a float from yesterday’s weather, one has washed up at the very north end of the new seawall at the foot of SW Jacobsen, where the wall meets the rockery.

(For smaller lost-and-found items, we have this section of the WSB Community Forums.)

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WEST SEATTLE FRIDAY: Pre-holiday notes

May 28, 2021 10:21 am

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Peekaboo rainbow, photographed Thursday by Susanna Moore)

The holiday weekend is in sight! But first …

LOW-LOW TIDE: At 12:58 pm the tide will be way out, to -3.9 feet, again today, before the low tides start getting higher. Today volunteer Seattle Aquarium beach naturalists will be out at Constellation and Lincoln Parks 11 am-3 pm.

NEED FOOD? Grab-and-go drive-up/ride-up distribution outside Highland Park Elementary, 2-5 pm.

GET VACCINATED AT A BREWPUB: A city Mobile Vaccination Team will be at The Good Society (2701 California SW) 3-5 pm and Future Primitive (9832 14th SW) 5:45-8 pm. All three vaccines. Free beer or non-alcoholic beverage for those who get vaccinated.

(This morning’s sunrise, photographed by Lynn Hall)

SUNRISE/SUNSET: Just a few weeks until the shortest nights of the year. Tonight’s sunset is at 8:55 pm; tomorrow’s sunrise, 5:17 am.

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Celebration of Life planned this summer for Brian R. Casey, 1939-2020

May 28, 2021 8:50 am

| Comments Off on Celebration of Life planned this summer for Brian R. Casey, 1939-2020

| Obituaries | West Seattle news

Family and friends will gather this summer to celebrate the life of Brian R. Casey. Here’s the remembrance they’re sharing with the community:

Brian Richard Casey
June 9, 1939 ~ November 24, 2020

Brian Richard Casey of Seattle passed away in his sleep and at peace on Tuesday, November 24, 2020, two days before Thanksgiving, from natural causes at the age of 81. He is survived by his wife Peggy and their three children, Karen (Terry Burke), Chris (Lisa Casey), and Kelly (Dan Steen), as well as four grandchildren, Sean, Matthew, Bonnie, and Tyler.

Brian was born June 9, 1939, in Burns, Oregon, to Margaret and John Casey. They moved to Portland, Oregon, when Brian was four and lived there until he was married in 1963.

He attended Central Catholic high school, and went on to the University of Santa Clara and University of Oregon law school. He also became an Eagle Scout while in high school.

Brian practiced law for 10 years at his father’s law firm before going into sales while working with Lou Tice of Pacific Institute in Seattle. Peggy and Brian moved their three children to Seattle and gradually phased out of Pacific Institute in 1994. In November, 1994 with permission of Archbishop Thomas Murphy of the Archdiocese of Seattle, set up Good News Ministries of Seattle, a nonprofit charitable corporation for purposes of facilitating parish mission work throughout the country.

He wrote a book, ”Our Walk in His Footsteps,” and made recordings of his parish sessions. He also served on the board of regents for the University of Portland. Brian had been growing in his spiritual life for quite a few years when he began to feel the Lord calling him into full ministry.

There will be a Celebration of Life in Brian’s memory on Friday, July 16th at 11:30 a.m. It is located at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 7000 35th Avenue SW.

Then after the service, there will be a gathering at Christo’s on Alki, 2508 Alki Avenue SW. It starts at 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. We will serve pizza, salad, and drinks (2 tickets for 2 free drinks of beer/wine only). We will post the last-minute details of that special event and burial-site information as we get closer to that date.

Please join us to celebrate the life of Brian R. Casey.

To share your memories of Brian with his friends & family, please visit his Online Memorial: emmickfunerals.com/obituary/Brian-Casey

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)

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ROAD WORK, TRAFFIC, WEATHER: Pre-holiday-weekend Friday notes

May 28, 2021 6:03 am

| 7 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:03 AM: Good morning. Still on our way to a sunny holiday weekend, says the forecast, but still some cloudiness today.

ROAD WORK UPDATES

Delridge project – This week’s plan includes work closing the west side of the intersection closure at Delridge/Barton/Henderson; we’re expecting the weekly update later today.

SW Yancy – Still closed west of 28th SW because of drainage/utility work related to construction.

FERRIES/BUSES, WITH HOLIDAY PREVIEW

Regular schedules today. (Watch @kcmetrobus for word of any bus cancellations, @wsferries for any major WSF changes.) The West Seattle Water Taxi will run on a reduced schedule Memorial Day – see it here; Metro will be on the Sunday schedule.

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

432nd morning without the West Seattle Bridge. Here are the views of other bridges and routes:

Low Bridge: 20th week for automated enforcement cameras; restrictions are in effect 5 am-9 pm daily – except weekends, when the bridge is open to all until 8 am Saturday and Sunday mornings. (Access applications are available for some categories of drivers.)

Here’s a low-bridge view: