day : 09/09/2021 10 results

In the heart of The Junction tonight, bassist/vocalist Marina Christopher brought The Art of Music back to the West Seattle Art Walk. (In our clip, she’s performing Warren Zevon‘s “Carmelita” with Andy Short.) The pop-up performances coordinated by John Redenbaugh returned to the WS Art Walk starting tonight, also featuring harpist Alyvia Miller at Welcome Road Winery in South Admiral. Here’s who’s booked for next Art Walk:

October 14

Verity Credit Union — Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter Larry Murante
Sopranos Antico — Byron Street Swing: A Quartet Performing Hot Club Jazz and Early French Swing Music

And of course, there was art tonight, at venues around the peninsula. Our Art Walk wanderings were cut short by breaking news but we did see West Seattle mixed-media artist Linda McClamrock at Windermere:

We have one more story to tell from tonight’s Art Walk, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. The Art Walk happens on the second Thursday, every month year-round, so the next one will be October 14th.

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ELECTION 2021: Seattle Mayor candidate Bruce Harrell’s West Seattle Junction visit

September 9, 2021 9:31 pm

| 53 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

As announced, Seattle Mayor candidate Bruce Harrell visited the West Seattle Junction this afternoon/evening. When we arrived shortly before 5 pm, he was talking with potential constituents at KeyBank Plaza (California/Alaska), including Husky Deli‘s Jack Miller:

(WSB photos)

Shortly thereafter, he embarked on a walking tour with West Seattle Junction Association executive director Lora Radford. She led him behind KeyBank to the parking lot and pitched him on the merits of a potential purchase of the four WSJA-leased parking lots by Community Roots Housing, with city-backed funding (reported here in April).

Harrell asked her how the community would react to the loss of the parking lots; Radford said the expectation is that redevelopment would include some public parking spaces, as well as affordable housing and commercial storefronts. From there, they stopped in a few of the businesses open for Art Walk (included Wlld Rose’s and Capers Home, where he did a little shopping).

We had to break off shortly thereafter because of breaking news. Harrell, a former City Councilmember, faces Lorena González, current City Council President, in the November 2nd election, just under eight weeks away. Voting starts as soon as you get your ballot, which King County Elections plans to mail on October 13th.

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: North Delridge gunfire

September 9, 2021 7:50 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Crime | Delridge | West Seattle news

After getting some texts this afternoon about suspected gunfire in North Delridge, we looked around but didn’t see evidence of a shooting scene. We checked back with SPD tonight, and Det. Valerie Carson tells WSB that officers did confirm there was gunfire:

Several witnesses reported a drive-by shooting at 26th Av SW and SW Juneau St. Upon arrival five shell casings were located in the street. Through the investigation it was determined that there was a disturbance associated with a house in the 5600 block of 26th Av SW. A male approached a woman and began yelling at her. The female fired five shots either at his car or in the air. Both vehicles fled the scene in different directions. No victims and/or property damage were located.

This happened shortly before 4 pm.

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UPDATE: ‘Scenes of violence’ response in Gatewood for shooting victim

September 9, 2021 5:42 pm

| 11 COMMENTS

| Crime | Gatewood | West Seattle news

5:42 PM: Big emergency response near California/Portland [map] in Gatewood; the call is classified “scenes of violence.” We’ve just arrived to find out what’s happening.

5:47 PM: According to police, one person was shot in the leg. Officers on the scene tell us they believe it happened somewhere else “south of here”; the driver of the vehicle the victim was in pulled over in this neighborhood to call for help. They’re still trying to find out more about the circumstances.

6:05 PM: If you’re noticing a helicopter, that’s just TV, not law enforcement.

6:17 PM: SFD says the victim is an 18-year-old man who’s been taken to Harborview Medical Center and was in stable condition when transported.

6:56 PM: Update from SPD:

At 5:23 p.m., a woman in the 7800 block of 44th Avenue Southwest called 911 to report her 18-year-old son had been shot in the leg. When police arrived, the victim told officers the shooting had happened in Burien and he then drove himself home to West Seattle. He refused to provide any additional information about the incident. SPD officers coordinated with King County Sheriff’s Office deputies, but a shooting scene was not located.

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Registration open for bicycle tour of West Seattle’s musical history

September 9, 2021 4:15 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle history | West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

Just announced: A limited-participation ride that’ll take you on a tour of local musical history:

The Southwest Seattle Historical Society is delighted to announce the return of Cycle History in partnership with West Seattle Bike Connections for the fifth year in a row. Cycle History, Sound Spots is happening Saturday, September 18 2021! Please plan to arrive at 9:15 am and be ready to ride at 9:30. Registration is required to participate in this ride. This program is limited to 25 participants.

Join us for an in-person ride through West Seattle’s Admiral District starting and ending at Hiawatha Playfield and Community Center. This year, we’ll be exploring highlights of West Seattle’s musical history. From jazz to grunge, we’ll have stops to please music lovers, bike enthusiasts, and everyone in between!

Seattle is famous for its grunge scene, but our music history goes far and wide. Some of the best hits were created right in West Seattle! We’ll explore locations where music was made, where historic artists performed, and talk about the local and national impact of West Seattle on music history.

To register, please visit loghousemuseum.org/exhibits/cycle-history-sound-spots-bike-dont-run/. For more information, please contact Maggie Kase, Curator, at maggiek@loghousemuseum.org.

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BIZNOTE: Paper Boat Booksellers’ 2nd-anniversary party

September 9, 2021 2:05 pm

| 6 COMMENTS

| West Seattle books | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

Independent bookstore Paper Boat Booksellers in Morgan Junction (6040 California SW) will celebrate its second anniversary on Saturday and invites you to the party. Here’s the announcement from proprietors Desirae and Eric Judy:

The last year and half have taken everybody by storm – we’ve done so many things we never thought we’d have to do, yet it seems like we’ve done nothing but try to survive! But we did it…and we are grateful and excited to be celebrating our 2nd year anniversary with our community, right where we belong.

We hope you’ll join us on Saturday, September 11th, from 10 am-6 pm as we ring in year 2 with a special 20% discount on purchases over $50, a raffle with prizes including signed books by local author Susanna Ryan (Seattle Walk Report, Secret Seattle), a book launch and signing with Danitra Hunter, author of Purrdie Burrdie (the cutest children’s book around), and we will be handing out ice cream from Full Tilt while supplies last. It’s going to be a fun day, so come on down and join us – we can’t wait to see you!

Danitra will be joining us at 12:00 and will be set up just as you enter the store. We will have copies of her book Purrdie Burddie: I Love Myself, Can You See? available for purchase and signed copies will be at the shop after the the event.

(We featured Danitra and Purrdie Burrdie here last year.)

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City’s property-tax-break program for apartment buildings up for extension, including two in West Seattle

September 9, 2021 12:24 pm

| 15 COMMENTS

| West Seattle housing | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

Almost all the sizable apartment buildings that have gone up in West Seattle in the past decade-plus are participants in the city’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) program. It’s a voluntary program that enables building owners to not pay property tax on the residential portion of their projects, as long as they provide a certain number of units at lower rents pegged to tenants’ income levels. Tomorrow (Friday, September 10th), the City Council’s Finance and Housing Committee looks at legislation that among other things would extend the program – otherwise, nine participating properties will expire this year, after 12 years, including two in the West Seattle Junction, Mural and Altamira. (For an example of how the exemption works, you can look at Mural on the King County Assessor website – the property’s assessed value is $47.7 million, but it’s taxed on $5.7 million of that.) The slide deck for tomorrow’s meeting says 28 apartments at Mural and 32 at Altamira have MFTE-restricted rents. The proposed MFTE changes also could mean lower rents for tenants if they meet new, lower-income levels; otherwise, they’d be grandfathered in at the current rent level. The city says the proposed updates are the result of recent changes in state law. Tomorrow’s committee meeting is at 9:30 am, online; see the agenda for how to comment and how to watch.

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West Seattle Art Walk; Words, Writers, Southwest Stories; and more for your Thursday

September 9, 2021 10:30 am

| Comments Off on West Seattle Art Walk; Words, Writers, Southwest Stories; and more for your Thursday

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Lincoln Park – photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)

Lots to leap into for the rest of today/tonight, if you haven’t already seen the highlights via the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

GOV. INSLEE’S BRIEFING: This one’s not on the calendar as it was just announced this morning. Gov. Jay Inslee will answer media questions about the pandemic and other topics at 2:30 pm; you can watch live here.

MAYORAL CANDIDATE: As previewed yesterday, Seattle Mayor candidate Bruce Harrell plans to visit The Junction and will be available for questions at 4:30 pm at Walk All Ways (California/Alaska).

NEW TIME/LOCATION FOR PICKUP ULTIMATE FRISBEE: The weekly Thursday night “drop by and play” Ultimate Frisbee fun moves location/time starting tonight, to 5 pm, Walt Hundley Playfield (34th/Myrtle).

WEST SEATTLE ART WALK, WITH MUSIC: 5 pm “until late,” you can visit venues all over the peninsula to see art and/or enjoy food/drink specials – plus, tonight, The Art of Music, 6-7:40 pm at locations in The Admiral District and The Junction. See our preview for details plus the venue map; tonight’s previews are on the Art Walk website here.

WORDS, WRITERS, SOUTHWEST STORIES: West Seattle writer and historian Judy Bentley will talk about “New Historic Trails” as featured in her book “Hiking Washington’s History,” 6 pm online – details here; register to watch by going to the Southwest Seattle Historical Society website.

BOARD GAME NIGHT: You’re invited to Meeples Games (3727 California SW) to play, 6:30-10 pm Thursdays.

Something for our calendar/daily previews? westseattleblog@gmail.com is the best way to get us non-breaking-news info – thank you!

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Play dodgeball, save lives!

September 9, 2021 9:31 am

| 1 COMMENT

| Health | How to help | West Seattle news | WS & Sports

On September 25th at Riverview Playfield, you’re invited to play dodgeball for a cause – saving children’s lives. The organizer is Dennis Williams Jr., who explains:

The inspiration for this fundraiser is our 5-year-old son Isaac. He was diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk Neuroblastoma at 18 months old. He spent the next 15 months being treated by Seattle Children’s Hospital for a disease that had a 50% mortality rate. Without the innovation and improvements in treatment protocols, especially with immunotherapy, who knows what the outcome would have been. We are eternally indebted to Seattle Children’s and every child who comes behind Isaac. Only 4% of government funding goes to pediatric cancer research, so we have to do more to increase the odds of success for our kids. They are the most important thing on earth.

Teams are still being recruited for the tournament – this flyer has information, and the tournament’s fundraising page explains how to set up a team. You can simply donate at that same link. Spectators will be welcome on the day of the tournament too – 11 am to 3 pm September 25th, with vendors, food trucks, and a DJ, lower fields at Riverview (7226 12th SW).

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ROAD WORK, TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, WEATHER: Thursday notes

September 9, 2021 6:05 am

| 14 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:05 AM: Good morning! Another sunny forecast, with a high in the 70s (Wednesday’s high was 80).

BACK TO SCHOOL

Almost every school is back in session – today’s returnees include Seattle Public Schools kindergarteners and Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor).

ROAD WORK

26th SW & beyond – Northbound 26th SW is still closed between Roxbury and Barton.

Delridge project – Curbs, medians, and landscaping this week.

Tunnel closure Friday – 10 pm Friday (September 10th) to 6 am Saturday, the Highway 99 tunnel will be closed for maintenance.

TRANSIT

Buses are on regular schedules today – except for the rerouting in RapidRise H Line work zones. Watch @kcmetrobus for word of canceled trips.

For ferries and water taxis, regular schedule today. Watch @wsferries for ferry updates.

BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES

535th morning without the West Seattle Bridge. Here are views of other bridges and routes:

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

West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way:

Highland Park Way/Holden – The camera’s back, now pointed west:

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

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? The @SDOTBridges Twitter feed will tell you. (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.

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