day : 07/07/2021 10 results

That’s the official West Seattle Art Walk poster for this quarter – July, August, September – and you can meet the artist tomorrow night! Jacquie Stock will be at Fogue Gallery (4130 California SW; WSB sponsor) 5-7 pm. Jacquie is an acrylic painter who has devoted herself to art since retiring from health care. Fogue is just one of the venues you can visit Thursday during this month’s Art Walk, all over the peninsula, from Alki to Arbor Heights. See the venue list/map – with not only art sites, but also places to get food/beverage specials during Art Walk – on the official preview page. (WSB is an Art Walk community co-sponsor.)

LAST CALL: Got a West Seattle-specific question for Saturday’s mayoral-candidates forum?

July 7, 2021 9:04 pm

| 12 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Three days until the WSB/West Seattle Junction Association forum with nine of the 15 candidates for Seattle mayor. It’s happening Saturday (July 10th) at noon, an in-person event at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). Questions will be asked by your WSB co-publishers, and this is your last call to suggest one. Thanks to everyone who’s made suggestions already – we want to stress that the focus here is West Seattle issues; certainly the city’s biggest overall issues affect the peninsula too, but the candidates have had dozens of chances already to answer general questions, and this is the first chance to run everything through a WS-specific lens. Email questions to westseattleblog@gmail.com. As for seeing and hearing the candidates’ answers, the forum will be streamed on multiple channels, including here on WSB and WSJA’s social-media channels. About 20 seats are available for vaccinated attendees, first-come first-served – doors will open at 11:30 am and close around 11:50.

Share This

UPDATE: Fire along southbound 509

July 7, 2021 7:11 pm

| 2 COMMENTS

| West Seattle fires | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

7:11 PM: Thanks to Al for the tip. What SFD has logged as a “rubbish fire” response is affecting traffic on the southbound Highway 509 exit to West Marginal Way. So if you have to head this way from points north of West Seattle, you might consider waiting a while.

7:55 PM: The live camera shows the smoke has dissipated, but multiple SFD units are still on scene.

8:30 PM: The camera has moved off the fire zone, so we’re substituting a screenshot from earlier. The incident log still shows three SFD crews on the call.

9:14 PM: The call has closed.

Share This

FOLLOWUPS: West Seattle restroom roundup

July 7, 2021 5:06 pm

| 8 COMMENTS

| Seen around town | West Seattle news

Somehow we’ve wound up with three public-restroom updates this afternoon:

LINCOLN PARK BEACH RESTROOMS: The renovated restrooms toward the south end of the Lincoln Park shore are finally unlocked, reports Troy, who sent the pictorial proof. The renovation project started 10 months ago. We last followed up two weeks ago, when Parks told us the comfort station was close to reopening.

ALKI BEACH RESTROOM REBUILD: Two weeks ago we also looked into why this project had gone idle:

The construction of a new building at 57th/Alki started more than five months ago. The problem here: They were waiting for structural steel so they could add the roof and other elements. As our photo from this afternoon shows, that work is under way. The estimated completion date: End of this month.

JUNCTION PORTABLE TOILET: Seven months after fire destroyed a city-funded portable toilet in the 44th/Alaska spot that’s had one for more than 20 years, a new one has been installed, with a handwashing station too:

Pre-fire, this site did not have a handwashing station (though the short-lived one a block east in Junction Plaza Park did). Concurrently, we noticed the portable toilet and handwashing station that used to be in the Salvation Army parking lot in South Delridge are now gone. We have followup questions out to the city and will update with whatever we hear back.

ADDED: From SPU’s Sabrina Register: “In May 2020, the City partnered with The Salvation Army to site a hygiene station on their property on 16th SW. After careful consideration, the nonprofit decided that the unstaffed hygiene station did not align with its outreach goals for people experiencing homelessness and the hygiene station was removed. The Salvation Army continues to work with us to provide hygiene services and resources that better align with its goals. The City hygiene team will evaluate potential new sites across the City to replace sites that have been closed.”

Share This

SUMMER: Loop the ‘Lupe returns, with your best registration deal through Friday

July 7, 2021 3:10 pm

| Comments Off on SUMMER: Loop the ‘Lupe returns, with your best registration deal through Friday

| Fun stuff to do | High Point | West Seattle news

Call this a summer of transition – some annual events returning this year, some not. Among those that are – Loop the ‘Lupe! Sign up through this Friday night and you’ll get the lowest registration prices. Here’s the announcement:

Loop the ‘Lupe, the only obstacle course race you’ll find in Seattle city limits, is back with in-person racing on August 29, 2021! With Washington state fully open, “The Loop” is an event for the entire family. “Outdoor events like this are just what the doctor ordered this summer when it comes to fun, safe, and healthy recreation,” says race organizer Brian Callanan. “Our race will be a breath of fresh air for anyone looking for a challenging course that’s family-friendly, too!”

Loop the ‘Lupe features seven exciting obstacles on a distance- certified 1K “loop” at Walt Hundley Playfield in West Seattle, which includes an agility course, a wall climb, a mud pit, and more. Participants finish five loops for the full 5K Obstacle Course race. A one-loop Youth Dash with obstacles is available for kids 8 and under (with adult supervision), and a no-obstacle 5K Run/Walk course has been provided for runners and walkers, too. For older participants (age 65+), Loop the ‘Lupe also features the “Senior Saunter,” a 100% flat, timed walk that is one of the most popular senior-focused races in Seattle. Loop the ‘Lupe will also have live music provided by the students of West Seattle School of Rock. Plus, participants can enjoy food, drinks, and a beer garden (age 21+) for additional purchase.

Proceeds raised from the event go toward the costs of social outreach work at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, which operates a safe parking lot for homeless neighbors, coordinates voter registration and racial justice education, holds an annual Day of Service benefitting various organizations in the region, and much more. Through their partnership with the St. Vincent de Paul Conference, OLG supports food distribution and assistance for rent and utilities for low-income families. “We’re reaching out to help everyone in our community, regardless of their faith background,” says Parish Administrator Michelle Scheving. “Payments for rent assistance funding alone have jumped 71% in the past year, so we’re grateful for all our participants coming to the Loop, having a good time, and supporting a good cause.”

Share This

WEST SEATTLE BRIDGE: SDOT plans community meeting July 21

July 7, 2021 1:40 pm

| 38 COMMENTS

| West Seattle Bridge Safety Project | West Seattle news

(WSB file photo)

The next big update on the West Seattle Bridge is due one week from today, when the Community Task Force meets at noon July 14th. Then one week after that, SDOT plans a community update meeting, just announced today. The online meeting is set for 5:30 pm Wednesday, July 21st. From the announcement:

Members of our team will provide updates about the ongoing repair effort on the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge (high bridge), expanded access on the Spokane St Swing Bridge (low bridge), and our work to improve access to and around West Seattle through the Reconnect West Seattle, Home Zone, and neighborhood travel options programs. We’ll also have plenty of time for you to submit questions, which will be answered live at our meeting by a panel of team members.

Participation information is in the SDOT announcement, which also notes that the meeting will be interpreted live in Spanish, Mandarin, and Vietnamese, while the recording posted online later will have subtitles in Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Khmer, Somali, and Oromo.

Share This

WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Cars vandalized; axe-arrest followup

July 7, 2021 12:07 pm

| 21 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Two reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:

CARS VANDALIZED: The photo and report are from Pelicans:

Sometime overnight, someone broke windows in 5 vehicles on both sides of the street on the 3300 block of Beach Drive SW, at Constellation Park. One had five broken, some one, two or three. The perps worked from the street side, as well as the sidewalk side. All vehicles were SUV’s. The only other cars parked there were a Prius and a sedan, which were untouched.

An SPD officer was cruising by sometime after dawn and noticed all the damage and the glass in the road. He took photos and filed a report. The incident # is 2021-171103. He said he thought this was vandalism versus done for the purpose of car prowling.

Apparently no car alarms nor anything else was heard. Please, if any one has overnight video, or heard/saw anything, contact SPD and reference the above incident number.

AXE ARREST FOLLOWUP: We reported Monday on a Fourth of July arrest – a man accused of trying to attack a Junction 7-11 employee with an axe. Here’s what more we’ve found out about the suspect: He’s 29 years old, still in jail as of this morning, and held not only in connection with this incident, but also on a failure-to-appear warrant in an unrelated assault case, We looked up the documents in that one; it’s a Municipal Court case in which he is accused of attacking a man on Capitol Hill in 2019. His prior criminal history includes an assault conviction from a 2018 random attack on a woman and her father walking downtown. Those case documents say the woman tried to defend herself with an expandable baton she pulled from her purse; he took it away and injured both her and her father. The case ended in a plea agreement and a 9-month sentence; he’d already served that much time when the case was resolved, and he was released. In this week’s West Seattle case, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is awaiting a referral from police for a charging decision.

Share This

WEST SEATTLE TURKEY: Sightings continue

July 7, 2021 11:16 am

| 11 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | Wildlife

(Photo sent by FL, near 42nd/Bradford)

Thanks for all the photos! So far no definitive opinions on whether the turkey that’s just turned up in West Seattle (here’s our report from Saturday) is THE turkey who spent a year here before departing, southbound, in April 2020.

(Photo sent by Rose, in The Junction)

This one seems to be a fan of apartment courtyards among other habitats:

(Photo sent by Eric, in Seaview)

It doesn’t seem particularly daunted by people or their pets:

(Photo sent by Dan)

Let us know if the turkey turns up in YOUR neighborhood!

Share This

District 1 Community Network and what else is up for your West Seattle Wednesday

July 7, 2021 8:50 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Ferry passing Alki, photographed by Jerry Simmons)

Here’s what’s happening in the hours ahead:

TERMINAL 5 UPDATE: 9 am online, the Northwest Seaport Alliance‘s managing members’ meeting includes the quarterly update on the West Seattle dock-modernization project. The agenda includes information on how to watch/listen.

POP-UP BLOOD-DONATION DRIVE: 10 am-5 pm, Bloodworks Northwest is at Our Lady of Guadalupe. If you can donate, check to see if appointments are available.

BICYCLE ADVISORY BOARD: 5 pm online, the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board meets, with topics including bus-lane policy. The agenda explains how to watch/listen/comment.

DISTRICT 1 COMMUNITY NETWORK: 7 pm online, the West Seattle/South Park coalition’s meeting includes discussion of community-safety programs. Public welcome – here’s the link; meeting ID 850 4211 4712, passcode 165919.

Share This

ROAD WORK, WEATHER, TRAFFIC: Wednesday notes

July 7, 2021 6:16 am

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

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:16 AM: Good morning, Today’s forecast sounds a lot like yesterday – overcast morning, then sunny, but not quite as hot.

ROAD WORK

Delridge project – Here’s what’s planned this week and a preview of upcoming weekend closures on SW Genesee.

36th/Oregon – Closure continues for heat-damage repairs.

Alaska/44th – More work on westbound Alaska this weekend.

TRANSIT

Buses and ferries are on their regular schedules today. Watch @kcmetrobus for word of bus cancellations, @wsferries for major WSF changes.

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

471st morning without the West Seattle Bridge. Here are the views of other bridges and routes:

Low Bridge: 26th 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.)

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 draw/swing bridges opening for boats or barges? See the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed. (1st Ave. South Bridge openings also are tweeted on @wsdot_traffic.)

See all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also 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.

Share This