day : 14/06/2021 11 results

With 16 days at most until full reopening, here is tonight’s roundup of local pandemic-related information:

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

*111,164 people have tested positive, 58 more than yesterday

*1,615 people have died, unchanged since Saturday

*6,275 people have been hospitalized, 3 more than yesterday

ONE WEEK AGO: Last Monday, the three totals we track were 110,417/1,602/6,231.

STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Check the state dashboard.

WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 176.2 million cases, 3,812,000+ deaths – 599,945 in the U.S. See the other stats – nation by nation – here.

VAX STATS: In King County, 76.4 percent of people 12+ have had at least one dose; 68 percent are fully vaccinated. In West Seattle, the most-vaccinated zip code is still 98136 – 88.2 percent of people 12+ have had at least one dose. (Maps and stats are here.)

2ND VACCINATION LOTTERY TOMORROW: Tuesday brings the second drawing for the “incentives” announced by the governor.

SPEAKING OF THE GOVERNOR … his next scheduled briefing/media Q&A is 10:30 am Thursday. No link yet.

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

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Car deal gone bad; catalytic-converter theft

June 14, 2021 11:26 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports:

CAR AD LEADS TO CAR CHASE, GUNFIRE: The preliminary summary from police says this happened just after 8 pm tonight: “The victims responded to an OfferUp ad to purchase a vehicle. They agreed to meet up in the area of 12th Ave SW / SW Webster St and waited in a park parking lot.” They were using the app to communicate with the seller when a vehicle pulled up. Three people got out and approached the victims, pointing handguns at them “while demanding cash and other items of value.” One robber fired two shots into the air before all three got back in their vehicle and left, the victims said. They followed the car northward, fast, and the reprt adds: “During the vehicle chase, a suspect fired additional shots from the moving vehicle,” which almost hit a third vehicle while continuing to speed away. The victims lost sight of it and pulled over to call 911; by that point, the report notes, “Officers had responded to the initial scene to investigate multiple 911 reports of vehicles speeding and shots being fired.” The robbers, however, were not found.

ANOTHER CATALYTIC CONVERTER TAKEN: The latest report is from Nicole:

Car was parked in the Louisa Boren school parking lot due to construction on Delridge Way. Happened sometime between Thursday late night- Sunday early morning. They sawed the converter right off the car. Police report was filed.

If you’re keeping track of what vehicle makes/models get hit – this one was a Lexus XS

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UPDATE: Power outage in Upper Morgan

June 14, 2021 8:55 pm

| Comments Off on UPDATE: Power outage in Upper Morgan

| Utilities | West Seattle news

8:55 PM: Thanks to Susan for the tip: 10 homes are without power in Upper Morgan, since just before 8 pm. Seattle City Light‘s outage map doesn’t show the cause yet.

1:30 AM: Just checked the map again – it’s over.

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FOLLOWUP: Closer look at Terminal 5’s newly arrived cranes, and current construction

June 14, 2021 7:31 pm

| 13 COMMENTS

| Port of Seattle | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One day after Terminal 5‘s four big new cranes arrived from China, port managers gave us and other media a close-up look. While at T-5, we talked with construction managers about the status of the nine-digit dock-modernization project on West Seattle’s eastern shore.

But first, the most frequently asked question: How and when are they taking the 316-foot cranes off heavy-lift ship Zhen Hua 36? SSA, the T-5 north-berth tenant – and the cranes’ owner – says they’ll be rolled off starting Wednesday and, if all goes well, finishing Saturday.

While we were there this morning, crews were working to cut the cranes free of the supports to which they’d been welded for the cross-Pacific journey.

You’ve probably heard a few stats about the cranes. Here are a few more. T-5 handled cargo until 2014, and the tallest cranes it had previously had a “lift over rail” of 115 feet – compared to 175 feet for the new ones – and a reach of 145 feet, compared to 240 feet for the new ones. Take a look up at them with us:

Which shipping lines will those cranes serve first when SSA opens T-5’s north berth early next year? SSA’s Bob Watters, there today for media Q&A, said that hasn’t been decided yet.

The company deals with all the major lines at its terminals around the world; this terminal will be “ready for the next generation of vessels.” Much of the north-berth work is complete; a major task under way now, as we saw this morning, is paving.

We spoke there with construction manager Jonathan Ohta, who talked about the challenges they’ve faced during the project – the paving’s been one of them, as they’re integrating new construction with the old terminal, and that’s meant grade differentials which in turn have resulted in drainage difficulties.

The past few days’ major rainfall left evidence of that, with serious puddling in spots.

Other technical challenges resulted when crews discovered unanticipated conditions. And in-water work has required waiting for “fish windows” – for example, to drive piles for a new “toe wall” along the berth (an “underwater retaining wall,” Ohta explained) they needed to order a special type of pile driver unlike any used before. The pile-driving has to wait for the next “fish window” in August; that will be followed, if all proceeds as planned in the permitting process, with dredging to make the water at the berth five feet deeper (55′ compared to the current 50′).

Ohta said a major point of pride has been continuing work throughout the pandemic while maintaining rigorous COVID safety standards. Right now, the north berth is on track for “substantial completion” by year’s end. The south-berth work is already under way, too.

Some parts of the project are serving both berths, like the new electricity infrastructure, so ships will be able to plug in to shore power.

The most-recent timeline estimates, beyond the north berth’s opening early next year, include opening the south berth by the end of next year, and completing the dredging by March of 2023. The project is under the auspices of the Northwest Seaport Alliance – the joint Seattle-Tacoma port authority – whose managing members (port commissioners) are scheduled to get the next major project briefing at their July 6th meeting.

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SEEN OFF WEST SEATTLE: USS Gabrielle Giffords

June 14, 2021 5:47 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

Thanks for the photo and tip! Shown above is the US Navy littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), on its way to Vigor Shipyard on Harbor Island. The ship, whose namesake was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives when she survived being shot in 2011, is the first of two ships of this class that will undergo work at the shipyard this year as part of a ~$110 million contract. This announcement from Vigor says about 165 workers will handle a variety of projects including replacement of flight-deck support stanchions, painting the underwater hull, and overhauling jet drives and the main propulsion engines. The littoral combat ship USS Omaha is due at Vigor in September.

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FOLLOWUP: What caused twin West Seattle Junction power outages, and what’ll be done to prevent more

June 14, 2021 3:10 pm

| 9 COMMENTS

| Utilities | West Seattle news

Readers in The Junction identified that pole as epicenter of the two identical-footprint West Seattle Junction power outages this past Friday and Saturday – both taking out almost 500 businesses and homes for hours, both blamed on “bird/animal.” We followed up today with Seattle City Light spokesperson Julie Moore, who tells WSB: “It was indeed crows impacting the same spot two days in a row. We are pursuing installing avian protection at this location, which will require a scheduled outage to perform the work. I don’t have details on timing right now, but impacted customers will receive notification when the work is scheduled.” The City Light website explains avian protection and notes more than 200 known bird deaths a year – mostly crows.

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No summertime street closure for the West Seattle Junction

June 14, 2021 2:02 pm

| 49 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | West Seattle restaurants | WS beverages

Some neighborhoods are getting city permits to close sections of business-district streets for summertime “café streets.” Not the West Seattle Junction, though. Not for lack of trying, says Lora Radford, executive director of the West Seattle Junction Association (who provided the photo above of a north Seattle street as inspiration). The idea has come up in discussions here on WSB and elsewhere, and WSJA was looking to close a small section of SW Alaska – the half-block east of California, to the service alley. Radford says, “The closure request was June 15 – October 15 with the plan to activate the space with picnic tables and umbrellas for outdoor seating. The SDOT planners and permit review team took a long and thoughtful approach to the plan, with the Junction fully appreciative of their ability to think outside of the box. In the end though, the impact across multiple departments was too disruptive.” A major obstacle in this case was Metro; the city told WSJA that among other things, “Closing this stretch would result in significant service delays and degrade reliability” – that half-block stretch of Alaska is used by routes that total 373 weekday trips. The decision only affects the proposal to actually close that part of SW Alaska; curbside/sidewalk extensions of food/beverage establishments elsewhere in The Junction will continue, and WSJA says a few more Junction establishments are considering those.

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Two Crime Watch reports, and why motorcycle officers were at Don Armeni

June 14, 2021 12:06 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

Three crime/police notes:

SEARCH: If you saw/heard a police search after 9 pm last night in the Delridge/Trenton vicinity, police say they were looking for someone suspected of a threat involving a gun. The preliminary summary says, “Officers were waved down … The victim reported that a male suspect crossing the street pointed a handgun at them, causing them to fear for their lives.” A search ensued but no one was found.

BURGLARY: Julia in North Shorewood sent the video and report:

A woman was able to enter our home around 3:30 am, and got halfway through our house before we were alerted. She was eerily calm and my husband was able to get her outside while I locked myself in the baby’s room and called 911. KSCO responded and had a number of officers out looking for her and the “others outside” that she mentioned.

She had checked our car and looked through things in our backyard before coming in. We’re not sure what her intention or mental state may have been. We did capture rather clear footage on our security camera … in case any other neighbors have experienced something from the same person, or she can be identified? We’ll be beefing up our security system with outside alerts, but are also hoping to warn other neighbors.

If you do have any tips, we’ll add the KCSO incident number when we get it.

POLICE AT DON ARMENI: Thanks to Doug for the photo from a few hours ago showing motorcycle officers gathered at Don Armeni Boat Ramp:

We checked with SPD: “Previously scheduled training” was the reply.

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WEST SEATTLE MONDAY: 4 notes

June 14, 2021 10:12 am

| 5 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(It’s Monday – you can do it! Photo by Jerry Simmons)

From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

WOMEN’S PERSONAL SAFETY CLASS: Free online class at 3 pm for 14+. Details are in our calendar listing, including how to register.

BOOK DISCUSSION: At 6 pm online, Frank Abe, Tamiko Nimura, Ross Ishikawa, and Tom Ikeda discuss “We Hereby Refuse,” a graphic novel telling this story: “Japanese Americans complied when evicted from their homes in World War II — but many refused to submit to imprisonment in American concentration camps without a fight.” Free event presented by partners including the Seattle Public Library; registration required to get the link – our calendar listing explains how.

PIGEON POINT NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: Meeting online at 7 pm with an agenda including the Port of Seattle and Sound Transit. See our calendar listing for the attendance link.

WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY: That’s today, so if you can donate, Bloodworks NW asks you to visit their website or call 800-398-7888 to make an appointment to donate.

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YOU CAN HELP: Alki Elementary’s final fundraiser of the year

June 14, 2021 9:00 am

| 5 COMMENTS

| How to help | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

It’s the last week of school, and the Alki Elementary PTA is finishing the year with one final fundraiser in partnership with more than two dozen local businesses:

ALKI LOVES LOCAL marks Alki Elementary PTA’s final and MOST EXCITING community-building fundraising effort for the 20/21 school year!

We are proud to partner with 25 incredible small businesses to bring you our very own community coupon book! Each ALKI LOVES LOCAL coupon book includes coupons for West Seattle local businesses as well as a Pike Place Market Mini Book.

This next time period is a time of recovery for our local business community. Alki Elementary has put together a community coupon book to encourage families to get out and shop local as we begin to reengage in-person and continue to support our local businesses as they rebuild. Coupon Books are available for purchase until June 17th

The books include 32 offers, plus two tickets for a bonus prize drawing. You can see the list of participating businesses, and prizes, at the same site you can buy your coupon book(s) – go here.

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WEATHER, TRAFFIC, ROAD WORK: Monday notes

June 14, 2021 6:03 am

| Comments Off on WEATHER, TRAFFIC, ROAD WORK: Monday notes

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:03 AM: Good morning! Cloudy, possibly showery today, as the last week of school begins.

ROAD WORK

Delridge project – This week’s plan will see, among other things, the Delridge/Henderson/Barton work shifting to the east side of the intersection.

SW Yancy – Last week for the work closing SW Yancy west of 28th.

FERRIES/BUSES

No bus changes. For ferries, the Triangle Route is back to three boats.

(Watch @kcmetrobus for word of bus cancellations, @wsferries for major WSF changes.)

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

448th morning without the West Seattle Bridge. Here are the views of other bridges and routes:

Low Bridge: 23rd 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:

West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way:

Highland Park Way/Holden:

The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):

And the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map):

For the South Park Bridge (map), here’s the nearest camera:

Are bridges opening for boats or barges? The @SDOTBridges Twitter feed is working again. The 1st Ave. S. Bridge openings also are tweeted on @wsdot_traffic.

See all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.

Trouble on the streets/paths/bridges/water? Please let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.

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