West Seattle, Washington
25 Monday
(WSB photos)
As changes in the Duwamish River cleanup plan have been proposed in recent months, the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition at first offered information and urged community members to participate in the comment process. But now it’s turned up the pushback a few notches – including a community rally tonight in South Park.
After gathering at South Park Plaza, nearly 100 river supporters of all ages, with signs in many languages, walked up onto the South Park Bridge‘s pedestrian path.
As participants stood along the bridge, passing drivers – from scooters to industrial trucks – beeped their support.
DRCC’s executive director Paulina López, engagement manager Adrienne Hampton, and Superfund manager James Rasmussen got to the heart of the reason for the rally – holding government and industry accountable for keeping their cleanup commitment: “This is not just a river for Georgetown and South Park. This is a river for the whole city. … Imagine what it could be like when we get the reast of the job done.”
DRCC sounded the alarm because of what it calls a “triple threat” to the river – including proposed changes to allowable pollutant levels as well as proposed changes in the cleanup itself – all explained here. (We also covered one of the proposals here.)
Their decision for a more visible form of resistance appears to have already had results. This afternoon, hours before the rally, the city, county, and port announced a letter to the EPA urging that cleanup commitments be met. We asked López about the letter; she said she was glad to see more pressure on the EPA, because “they are not listening to us.” DRCC is hoping that will change with more voices – “stay involved, keep fighting … continue to advocate for the Duwamish River” was the request at rally’s end.
Wherever you were, that was a sunset to remember. Above, Stephen Nielsen photographed it from Lowman Beach; below, a texter was at Alki Beach:
But you didn’t have to be on the water – Mike Burns sent this view from The Junction:
On our way back from breaking news, WSB’s Patrick Sand stopped for this look at the Olympics from a viewpoint in Upper Fauntleroy:
And one more view from the beach – this one’s from Jen Popp:
Thanks to everybody who emailed, texted, and tweeted photos!
After leaving the 14th incident, we went by this crash scene on Roxbury west of 8th. At least 3 cars involved. No medic unit sent so apparently no major injuries but we will follow up wirh SFD.
ADDED: SFD confirms no one was hurt.
6:54 PM: SPD and SFD have a ‘scenes of violence’ response near 14th/Barton. We are en route.
(WSB photo)
7:09 PM: Police and fire are on 14th south of Barton. They tell us this actually turned out not to be an assault, but rather a person with a pre-existing medical condition who’s been taken to a hospital.
Get a close-up look at the local art scene this weekend by visiting stops on the West Side Artists studio tour! 10 am-5 pm Saturday and 11 am-4 pm Sunday, the tour features more than 30 artists, at nine stops:
From Admiral to Arbor Heights to White Center, the tour is free and self-guided. Also note: “In an effort to have a spacious environment as a COVID precaution, each stop has set up an outdoor display for viewing. The mapped destinations are working artists’ studios and each will have multiple people showcasing their artwork – From ceramics to weaving, encaustic painting to forged jewelry, and from colored pencil to tin collage – We have it all!”
Thanks to David Hutchinson for the photo. The small cruise ship American Constellation sailed into Elliott Bay today. It carries up to 175 passengers – a tiny fraction of the other ships that sail from/to Seattle. The ship is scheduled to sail out of Seattle tomorrow on a 10-night “Grand Puget Sound Cruise” (see the itinerary here). Four other sailings from Seattle are on its schedule in October and November.
That’s Herman Meyer, who you might see around West Seattle tomorrow attempting an intense atyletic feat. Herman’s friend Riley Nachtrieb tells the story:
West Seattle High School senior Herman Meyer (17 years old) is attempting to complete a solo Ironman around West Seattle on Saturday, September 25th. This is an unorganized event.
Not only is he doing his first Ironman triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run), he is doing it alone, competing only with himself.
Herman will be attempting this as a personal endeavor. It is purely driven by his determination to finish the 140.3 miles. He says, “I talked about it with a friend and I thought it would be fun to do. I have always wanted to do something like it, so I committed.”
He’s going to start the swim at 8 am near the Alki Bathhouse. Around one and a half hours later, he will be transitioning to his bike, riding loops around West Seattle until he reaches the 112-mile mark at his house- This will be around seven and a half hours later. From there, he will continue onto his 26.2 mile run. If everything goes according to plan, he will finish his solo Ironman around 12 am.
Herman will be accompanied by friends and family for safety, support, and pacing. West Seattle High School friends will be following on paddle boards; His parents, Kathrine and Wesley Meyer, will be following on bikes; And WSHS alum Riley Nachtrieb, who attempted to run the first 140mi Olympic Discovery Trail FKT, will be running with him.
On Saturday, if you see a person swimming alongside paddle boards, a cyclist wearing a pink helmet, or a couple people running on Alki at zero dark thirty, that is Herman! The public is always welcomed to show support publicly and virtually throughout this amazing effort.
On Saturday, you can follow along live on Instagram: @hermanasaurus_rex and @rileyknachtrieb.
Five reader reports:
TRAILER-TOWING BIKE THIEF: Aaron reports, “Some guy came down our dead end road and stole my wife and 10-year-old son’s bikes that I had just moved outside to work in my shop.” This clip shows him loading them into a pickup trailer:
Closer look at the pickup and the thief:
Aaron says this happened near 46th and Roxbury.
(added 2:39 pm) ANOTHER BIKE THEFT: Mike sent this – suspected to be the same person in Aaron’s report:
I wanted to report a bike theft that happened in my carport on Monday afternoon. The thief pulled into my driveway about ten minutes after I left to take my son to his Kung Fu class. He browsed the bikes I had hanging on the racks and took my younger son’s (7 y/o). My wife’s bike was locked, but I’ve never locked the kids’ because it’s never been a concern.
Video:
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(back to original roundup) AND ANOTHER BIKE THEFT: Texted report:
I am heartbroken; my 2019 red Kona Lava Dome with side bags/saddle bag, says Support 32 on them, bike serial number BIKO19LDL, was stolen from my work place [Providence West Seattle] between 10 pm Wednesday night and 4:30 am Thursday
BEACH DRIVE BURGLARY ATTEMPT: Walt reports this happened to his tenant around 12:45 am Tuesday in the 4800 block of Beach Drive SW – the tenant was awakened “by front doorbell ringing continuously along with door knocking.” The resident did not respond, thinking they’d go away.When the knocking/doorbell ringing stopped, the resident got up to check and found two people trying to break in through the kitchen window, The resident “screamed and yelled and they ran away.” Police incident # is 21-250910.
CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFT INTERRUPTED: Carolyn in Highland Park says this happened at “almost 5 am, on a 2006 Toyota hybrid Highlander. I ran out when I heard it and yelled at them- it was actually hilarious, I was kicking his legs hanging out from under the car with my bare feet. It was enough though to make them take off in their light gray Mercedes. I unfortunately didn’t get a good look at both of their faces, it all happened so fast- I was out there in seconds, but they still got through a quarter of the pipe.”
GATEWOOD CAR PROWL: Texted report:
Last evening, probably between 5 and 7pm, during broad daylight a BMW’s window was smashed in on the corner of SW Austin Street and 41st Avenue SW. Criminal took items from the vehicle. This is the 3rd vehicle to have its window broken in the last 3 weeks on the same intersection. This time in the broad daylight! Police report was filed again too.
10:16 AM: Thanks to Kersti Muul for word that orcas are passing again – southbound this time, between Bainbridge and Blake Island, “a larger group.” Let us know if you see them!
10:55 AM: Thanks for the updates in comments!
(Art by Machel Spence)
Fall’s first weekend is almost here! Here’s what you can do in the hours ahead:
TASTE OF WEST SEATTLE: Third-to-last day of the weeklong dine-out benefit for the West Seattle Food Bank. 27 food/drink establishments are participating – some by donating a percentage of proceeds, some with specific menu items. The venue list and other info can be found here.
NAME CHANGE? The City Council’s Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee meets at 2 pm with the proposal to change “single-family area” to “neighborhood residential area” among the items on the agenda, which explains how to comment/watch.
DUWAMISH RIVER RALLY: 5-7 pm at South Park Plaza (8456 Dallas Ave. S.), all welcome to come show support for keeping the cleanup on track, as previewed here.
FREE OUTDOOR MOVIE: At dusk outside Grace Church (10323 28th SW), all welcome to come watch “Secret Life of Pets,” free.
TRIPLE BILL: Live music at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW) with 31 Nights, Montlake Traffic and First Saint Street, 8 pm.
LIVE MUSIC AT THE BEACH: 8:30 pm at J&J Public House (2808 Alki SW), live music led by Grammy winner Andrew Gouché. $10 cover.
ON THE BIG SCREEN: Music Video Fridays with VJ Lacefront, 9 pm at Admiral Pub (2306 California SW)
Third- through eighth-grade basketball player in your household? The West Seattle Reign (WSB sponsor) is registering players for a new league. Here’s the announcement:
In addition to our travel teams, we are hosting an in-club basketball league during the Fall and Spring seasons!
Registration is open to all athletes 3rd grade to Middle School and all skill levels. All teams are co-ed.
Fall 2021 – 10/19/21 to 12/18/2021
Spring 2022 – February–JuneThere will be 8 weeks of play with one practice and one game per week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) times TBD.
More information can be found on our website: westseattlereign.com
6:03 AM: Good morning!
WEATHER
Today’s forecast has more sunshine and another 70ish high (Thursday’s high was 69).
ROAD WORK – TODAY, THE WEEKEND, BEYOND
26th SW – Northbound 26th SW remains closed between Roxbury and Barton but King County has set the date for directions to switch – October 4th, they expect to reopen northbound and close southbound for the month of October.
25th SW & Barton – More county-led RapidRide prep work.
Delridge project – “Punch list” tasks continue – next week’s preview is expected later today.
West Marginal – SDOT says, “This weekend, we’ll continue working on the new pedestrian signal at the Duwamish Longhouse as part of the West Marginal Way SW Improvements project. We’ll begin work as soon as 8 AM and finish as early as 4 PM on Saturday and Sunday. This work is anticipated to have minor traffic impacts, but you may see traffic slowdowns and lane reductions in the area.”
23rd SW trail repair – Also from SDOT: “On Saturday, we’ll also be performing trail pavement repair work on the 23rd Ave SW bike trail between SW Charlestown St and SW Spokane St. The trail will be completely closed between 8 AM and 4 PM. There will be no traffic impacts; however, please practice caution while in the area.”
Not in West Seattle, but – All weekend, “Weekend lane and ramp closures on SB I-5 between I-90 and S. Spokane St.”
TRANSIT
Buses are on regular schedules today – except for the rerouting in RapidRide H Line work zones. Watch @kcmetrobus for word of canceled trips.
For ferries and water taxis, regular schedule today; the Spirit of Kingston has replaced Doc Maynard on the West Seattle Water Taxi run until further notice. Watch @wsferries for ferry updates.
BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES
549th 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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