West Seattle, Washington
21 Wednesday
The report and photos were sent by Lynn Shimamoto of Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network:
Seal Sitters is happy to announce that three seal pups rescued from West Seattle beaches have been successfully returned to the wild.
Back in August, Zach Ward happened to see Seal Sitters responding to “Cascade” at Alki across from Starbucks, and he took this photo of the emaciated newborn. Cascade still had an umbilical stump and was estimated to be 2-3 days old. Knowing the pup would die without immediate help, Seal Sitters captured Cascade for treatment at SR3’s marine wildlife hospital in Des Moines.
(Photo of Cascade by Zach Ward)
Seal Sitters took two more pups to rehab because of unsafe conditions. “Piccolo,” another very young pup prematurely separated from her mother, was picked up at Lincoln Park. “Sprinter” kept hauling out at busy spots from Alki to Seacrest where she was harassed by a dog. On Tuesday, all three were deemed healthy enough to go back in the wild. SR3 released the trio at a secluded beach on Vashon Island, along with a fourth pup nicknamed “Maury.”
(Photo by Lynn Shimamoto – Cascade at top, Piccolo at bottom, Sprinter and Maury not pictured)
Seal Sitters is thrilled that these pups were nursed back to health and given another chance at life.
If you see a marine mammal on a local beach, or one offshore that appears to be in distress, please call Seal Sitters MMSN at 206-905-SEAL (206-905-7325).
Thanks for the tip. Seattle Public Utilities is repairing a water problem on Genesee Hill, near 52nd/Dakota (map). They’re hoping to have it fixed around 8 pm, according to the water-outage map. Reminder that if you experience water trouble and it’s not on the map, the number to call is 206-386-1800.
Three weeks later than originally announced, the drainage project at Westcrest Park has begun. We had been checking on it after reader reports that the work wasn’t happening, even though the city had announced it would begin in mid-October. Today a reader texted that the main off-leash area is closed and the temporary OLA is open. The work is expected to continue until spring of next year.
The second round of election results is out. Last night, King County Elections had counted ballots from 22 percent of voters countywide; today, that’s up to almost 26 percent – that’s two-thirds of what’s been received so far. The only race with a change of note is the last one on the list below, Port Commission Position 4, in which the challenger has now taken the lead.
MAYOR
Bruce Harrell – 97,763 – 64.2%
Lorena González – 53,965 – 35.4%
CITY ATTORNEY
Ann Davison – 85,543 – 57.7%
Nicole Thomas-Kennedy – 61,430 – 41.4%
CITY COUNCIL POSITION 8
Teresa Mosqueda* – 77,149 – 53.2%
Kenneth Wilson – 67,123 – 46.3%
CITY COUNCIL POSITION 9
Sara Nelson – 89,059 – 59.8%
Nikkita Oliver – 59,497 – 39.9%
KING COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Dow Constantine* – 195,342 – 57.1%
Joe Nguyen – 142,582 – 41.7%
SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 1
Ryan Calkins* – 233,099 – 73.2%
Norman Sigler – 82,699 – 26%
SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 3
Stephanie Bowman* – 165,053 – 50.4%
Hamdi Mohamed – 161,033 – 49.1%
SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 4
Toshiko Grace Hasegawa – 163,338 – 49.79%
Peter Steinbrueck* – 163,063 – 49.70%
Next count is planned for tomorrow afternoon ~4 pm.
(SDOT camera image during morning closure)
3:21 PM: As covered in our morning traffic watch, the low bridge was out of service for about two hours this morning, reopening to vehicle traffic just after 10 am. Here’s what SDOT says happened:
Early this morning, one of the three pumps needed for the bridge’s operation started to lose pressure and exhibit atypical noises, requiring SDOT to cease bridge operations while our crews inspected the issue and performed the necessary actions to restart the bridge.
Over the course of the next few days, we will determine if the pump should be replaced or can be repaired. During that time, SDOT will station electrician and mechanical crews at the low bridge during the morning and afternoon peak periods in the event the pump requires additional attention.
On Tuesday, November 9, SDOT planned to replace a different pump on the bridge. There will be no traffic impacts to vehicles when replacing this pump on Tuesday. Any repair or replacement activities required for the pump that malfunctioned today can be performed at that time.
7:35 PM: SDOT says the same pump is having trouble tonight and they’re working on it, but the traffic cam shows it’s still open.
7:57 PM: SDOT says that while it’s open to vehicle traffic, currently the low bridge cannot open for marine traffic.
10:21 PM: SDOT’s latest update:
At approximately 5:30 pm this evening, the same pump on the Spokane Street Bridge (West Seattle Low Bridge) once again began experiencing mechanical issues preventing the bridge from being opened for maritime traffic. This only affected ships, and authorized vehicles were able to continue driving over the bridge as normal.
SDOT mechanical crews responded to the situation quickly and were able to open the eastern side of the bridge, allowing ships to pass through. We plan to expedite repairs of the malfunctioning pump as soon as possible, and will only swing open and close the eastern side of the bridge until these repairs are complete (normally, both halves of the bridge swing open). This will only affect certain marine traffic, and will not impact vehicles authorized to drive over the bridge.
Three reader reports:
HALLOWEEN NIGHT GUNFIRE: This happened on 34th SW in Sunrise Heights and the victim’s hoping you recognize the shooter:
Halloween night we had an incredibly scary situation take place in front of our home in West Seattle. We need the help of West Seattle residents identifying the culprit.
We were cleaning up from a small gathering we had in our front yard for neighbors and trick and treaters. At around 11 PM, one neighbor and I during the cleanup witnessed a prowler in his car. We confronted the culprit, who exited the car and walked away from us while my neighbor dialed 911. The culprit was incredibly casual and slowly made his way to 35th Avenue SW as we followed him while talking to the 911 responder. The culprit turned up 35th Avenue SW and eventually we turned around to head back to our homes when he was out of sight. We then heard a bang that we assumed was a firework.
An hour later, I was in our backyard locking up when I heard footsteps again. I looked over our gate and saw the same culprit this time by my vehicles. I began yelling at him in an effort to get him away from the cars and out of our neighborhood when I shockingly realized he had a gun in his hand. My wife heard the yelling and opened our door thinking I was in trouble. As soon as she opened the door — he fired at her twice thankfully missing her but very close to where she was standing.
It was a scary situation and hard to take in. We really questioned for a while whether the gun was real but the Police did confirm it was. There are bullets lodged into our house and we found an unused bullet and shell casing outside of our house.
The Police responded quickly after the shooting and also came the next day to take statements and gather additional evidence.
What’s crazy about the whole experience is how casual the shooter was. He never seemed in a hurry. He also never said a thing.
Thankfully our neighbor caught him on video just before I encountered him a second time that night when he entered the neighbor’s carport in the alley in an effort to find items to steal.
We need help identifying the shooter — please contact the Police Department and reference this incident number (2021-290133) if they know anything additional about what happened that night or can identify the shooter or can offer anything to assist in his arrest. He’s incredibly callous and the police and we are worried it could happen again.
One of our neighbors who saw the video recognized him as a shoplifter she saw at the Westwood Rite Aid in September. She also believes he was a frequent shoplifter based on the reaction he received from the Rite Aid manager.
The first incident with the shooter was around 11 PM. The second incident when he fired at my wife took place around midnight. And then later that night we heard a shot again at about 1:30 AM/2:00 AM.
ANOTHER CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFT: Kyre‘s Toyota Highlander hybrid was hit Tuesday;
I would like to report a picture of the car that carried the thieves who stole my catalytic converter in the middle of the day, at a brazen 10 min to noon, on a well=traveled street near Fairmount Park Elementary.
People can keep an eye out so it won’t happen to them. Red Audi, blacked out windows, black license plate. Took 3 minutes!
STORAGE BREAK-IN, KEEPSAKES STOLEN: From Samir:
I just learned that someone was able to break into the storage unit of my (Harbor Avenue) apartment and steal my backpack full of my gear. While the gear can be replaced, I was wondering if you could put out a notice for Philmont bag tags that were attached to the bag.
I got these tags when I was 16 with the Boy Scouts. There will be 2 blue ones and 1 yellow one (2 belonging to me, 1 belonging to my dad). The backpack itself was a blue backpack with orange straps. If the tags are still on the bag they would be attacked to the outside by a carabiner.
The backpack contained items including a sleeping bag and pad, an inflatable pillow, and a water filter.
The photo and report are from Chief Sealth International High School athletic director Ernest Policarpio:
Congrats to the Volleyball team for a huge upset win vs #3 Lincoln 3-1 in the first round of the Metro Championships. They play Seattle Prep on Thursday at Prep, 7 PM.
The team’s head coach is Desiree Johnson.
(Lincoln Park photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
Now that the low bridge has reopened, we’re moving on to a quick look at what’s up for today:
SOUTHWEST SEATTLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ONLINE AUCTION: Bidding continues. Details in our calendar listing.
QUESTIONS ABOUT RAPIDRIDE ROAD WORK? The King County project team working on the RapidRide H Line-related projects, such as 15th/Roxbury, 26th/Roxbury, 26th north of Roxbury, and White Center/Burien areas, has every-other-week online “office hours” if you have questions – just drop in between 4 pm and 5 pm – here’s how:
We hope you’ll join us to learn more about the project and to ask questions! These are informal events; we welcome you to come and go as you please.
Meetings will be held from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the following dates:
November 3, 2021
November 17, 2021To join online, click the following link: Click here to join the meeting
To join by phone, call: 206-485-0017; Conference ID: 343 764 643#
FAUNTLEROY FERRY TERMINAL MEETING: The Community Advisory Group for the Fauntleroy ferry-terminal-replacement project has its third meeting tonight, online at 6 pm. This page has information on how to watch/listen.
DISTRICT 1 COMMUNITY NETWORK: This coalition of community advocates/groups from around West Seattle and South Park has its monthly meeting online at 7 pm. Our calendar listing has information on watching/listening.
8:26 AM: Thanks for the tips. The low bridge is having trouble and traffic is being diverted.
8:37 AM: Here’s the traffic camera view from above:
8:51 AM: No estimate yet on how long this will take, but we have an inquiry out to SDOT.
9:27 AM: No ETA yet per SDOT spokesperson: “Our repair crew is working with urgency to assess the issue and determine next steps to reopen the bridge to traffic as soon as possible.”
10:02 AM: We are at the bridge. WB vehicles are crossing now. WB too.
10:30 AM: We’ll have a separate followup whenever we hear from SDOT what caused this. As you might recall, various repair/maintenance projects are in the works for the low bridge as well as the high bridge (detailed here).
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Earlier:
6:07 AM: Good morning.
WEATHER
Another day with some rain, some clouds, maybe some sun, maybe even a 60-ish high.
FALL BACK
Time to start reminding you that this Saturday night/Sunday morning, we “fall back” an hour.
BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES
592nd 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.)
The 1st Avenue South Bridge (map):
South Park Bridge:
West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way:
Highland Park Way/Holden:
The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):
Are movable bridges opening for boats or barges? The @SDOTBridges Twitter feed is working again as of early this morning; 1st Ave. South Bridge openings are tweeted on @wsdot_traffic.
See all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also on this WSB page.
ROAD WORK
26th SW – Continuing southbound closure between Roxbury and Barton for RapidRide H Line prep work. Also, new work at 26th/Roxbury is starting. This flyer has full details.
15th SW: Still closed at Roxbury, on the south side of the intersection.
Admiral Way: Crews have been working on the stairway on the downhill slope, just before the Avalon cutoff.
BUSES, WATER TAXI, FERRIES
Regular Metro schedule, except for the rerouting in RapidRide H Line work zones – on 26th and 15th SW in particular. Watch @kcmetrobus for word of trip cancellations.
For ferries and Water Taxi: WSF continues a two-boat schedule on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run. Check here for alerts/updates. The Water Taxi continues on its new schedule (no weekend or off-peak shuttle buses).
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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