day : 30/12/2021 9 results

Was Christmas really just five days ago? Rene‘s photo is from The Admiral District, on this fifth snow-blanketed night since the holiday. Lots of snow fun still happening – Stephanie sent this photo of a West Seattle igloo and the crew that built it:

Kim sent video of Georgie‘s sled ride on 51st Place SW:

Looking across the bay from Alki, Gene Pavola captured a state ferry in the shortlived sun glare, with the snowy roofs of Magnolia beyond it:

Not far away, Gary Jones caught a juvenile Bald Eagle high above it all:

Jerry Simmons found a hummingbird trying to stay warm:

And Deb Haller in North Admiral rigged up a shop lamp “to keep the hummingbird nectar warm. It’s been on all week and working great. The birds sit and warm themselves too!”

One chilly snowbird pic – Mark in Arbor Heights photographed this Ruby-crowned Kinglet as it scavenged around in the snow:

Thanks again for all the photos and info … community collaboration is particularly vital in times like these. Year-round, in sun or snow, day or night, you can reach us at 206-293-6302 (text or voice) and westseattleblog@gmail.com.

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IT’S OFFICIAL: No garbage, recycling, yard-waste pickup Friday, double for everyone next week

December 30, 2021 8:40 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Utilities | West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

Seattle Public Utilities made it official tonight – no solid-waste pickup Friday, so that makes it a sweep – double pickup for everyone on their regular days next week. Here’s the announcement:

Due to remaining icy and unsafe conditions on many residential streets, residential and most commercial solid waste collection services are cancelled for Friday, December 31.

Transfer stations and the Household Hazardous Waste Facility will remain open with normal hours.

All collections are scheduled to resume next week beginning Monday, January 3. All missed residential customers are permitted to set out double their normal amount of garbage, recycling, and compost on their collection day for no additional charge. This includes recycling collection, even if it’s not a customer’s typical week for collection. Contractors will attempt to collect this ‘off-week’ recycling, if possible, but may not be able to collect all.

For tips on setting out extra waste, (go here). Customers should be sure to have their containers out by 7 a.m. to ensure collection.

Temperatures are supposed to be close to normal next week.

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Building-burglary attempt; shoplifter sprays store security guard

December 30, 2021 7:17 pm

| 15 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Two incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch – first, a reader report:

BUILDING-BURGLARY ATTEMPT: The report and image were sent by Timothy:

Writing to report an attempted burglary resulting in property damage early this morning (3:50 am, 12/30). This happened on the 3700 block of Beach Dr SW.

There was a driver and at least one other person involved. The passenger, and attempted burglar, was wearing baggy, intentionally-torn, jeans with embroidered back pockets and a bright yellow, construction-style jacket. They were not wearing a mask, so clear pictures of this face are attached. Upon entering our vestibule, they begin yanking at our locked entry doors, resulting in the security glass shattering. This sent the burglar running. They were driving a white, 1998-2005 Mercedes ML class, with black aftermarket wheels. The vehicle has front-end damage including a strap holding the driver fender in place. There is a license plate attached, but it did not come through legibly on camera.

The damage to the glass, door, and locking mechanism is likely to cost $1000-2000 for repair or replacement.

STORE SECURITY GUARD SPRAYED BY SHOPLIFTER: We obtained this report from SPD today after a question from someone who saw the police response outside Jefferson Square Safeway last night, and someone getting their eyes flushed with milk. That was a store-security person, according to the report, who had been pepper-sprayed by someone that store management described as a “known shoplifter.” He sprayed the security person who approached him “with the intention of telling (him) to put back unpaid merchandise he had taken.” The victim was in pain and getting treated by SFD while the officer was investigating, so the report has no information on what was taken, but says the shoplifter was described as a “Black man, 30-35 years old, 5’7″, very thin, wearing a green jacket, green pants, a black backpack, and a plastic Safeway bag over his head.”

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Seattle Public Schools to resume classes Tuesday after offering COVID testing to students, staff on Monday

December 30, 2021 4:29 pm

| 54 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Seattle Public Schools just sent an announcement reiterating that it plans to resume in-person classes after winter break – but the first day of classes will be Tuesday, after the district spends Monday offering COVID testing to all students and staff. Here’s the announcement:

No School for Students Monday, January 3

We are happy to announce that we now have 60,000 rapid antigen tests available for staff and students, which were provided by the Washington State Department of Health. In light of the surge in COVID-19 transmission in our community due to the Omicron virus, we’ll be using these tests to support a healthy return to school.

Seattle Public Schools will offer voluntary, universal testing for SPS staff and students on January 3.

This means there will be no school for SPS students on Monday, January 3. School will resume in-person on Tuesday. There will be no athletic practices. We encourage families to contact their child-care provider to determine if they will be open on Monday.

Our goal in providing wide-scale testing is to minimize the transmission of the Omicron virus and reduce intermittent disruptions to in-person learning. Because 80% to 90% of positive cases are asymptomatic, identifying them before, and quickly after, classes resume will reduce the spread of the virus in our schools.

Meals on Monday, January 3

Buildings will be open during normal hours for those students who need to access meal services. All schools will serve grab-and-go lunches between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. for student meals.

SPS will offer testing in West Seattle at two locations, Denny International Middle School (2601 SW Kenyon) and Madison Middle School (3429 45th SW), both 1-4 pm Monday (January 3rd), on a walk-up basis, More info, including the consent forms, are at the bottom of this district webpage. ADDED: The news release about this adds that after Monday, “Through the week, PCR testing and rapid antigen testing will be available for students and staff at their school.”

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WEST SEATTLE SNOW: Urgent call for blood donors

December 30, 2021 4:12 pm

| 3 COMMENTS

| Health | How to help | West Seattle news

If you can donate blood, our regional blood bank needs you now. The holidays are already a challenging time, and the snow has compounded that, according to this announcement Bloodworks Northwest asked us to publish:

Due to our recent snow/weather, the need for blood for our community is now urgent. Bloodworks Northwest Talking points:

· In the past three days, 55% of our appointments (966) weren’t able to come in due to the winter weather. We are seeing additional cancellations today.

· We have over 1,200 open appointments in the next 10 days.

· With the holidays and winter weather, donations have dropped by 1,400 units in the past 7 days. This is the smallest amount of donations we have seen since the pandemic began.

· Almost all blood types are at Emergency Levels, less than a day supply

If you can get to a Bloodworks Northwest donor center or pop-up safely, please give blood. We have many openings at upcoming West Seattle pop-ups. Please book your appointment at www.bloodworksnw.org

Here’s the list of West Seattle pop-ups – including three days next week at the Masonic Center in The Junction. (Or, if you can get downtown, they have appointments available up through 6:30 tonight.)

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BIZNOTE: Bed Bath & Beyond closing Westwood Village store

December 30, 2021 1:55 pm

| 105 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | Westwood

Thanks for the tips. Bed Beth & Beyond has just sent out promotional emails announcing that its Westwood Village store is closing and that a clearance sale is under way. We went over to the store to confirm the closure. Staff there says there’s no exact date set yet – the closing sale is actually being handled by a contracted firm and the timeline depends on how the clearance sale goes. The chain announced in summer of 2020 that it would close 200 stores within two years, We’re seeking more information from the company as well as from the center’s new management and will add anything more we find out. This is the first major Westwood Village closing since 24 Hour Fitness one year ago.

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CORONAVIRUS: West Seattle testing site to start limiting appointments to people with symptoms

December 30, 2021 1:19 pm

| 4 COMMENTS

| Coronavirus | West Seattle news

A temporary change in policy for UW Medicine, which is the provider for the city’s COVID-19 testing site in West Seattle, among others. Starting Tuesday, testing at these sites will only be available for people who have symptoms. Here’s the announcement:

Beginning January 4, 2022, UW Medicine will be prioritizing COVID-19 testing for people with appointments who have symptoms of respiratory illness or who have a known exposure to COVID-19. Testing for people without symptoms, including before and after travel or gatherings, will not be available due to the high volume of omicron cases that are being processed in our laboratory.

Because each positive sample must undergo additional testing, the recent surge in positive tests limits the total number of samples that we can handle. We apologize for this inconvenience and will continue to monitor testing capacity and adjust prioritization as this current surge of COVID-19 evolves.

Again, this affects UW Medicine’s community testing sites, including the one at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex in West Seattle. In a media briefing this morning, UW Medicine explained that with the additional testing that positive samples require, it can only handle about half its current volume in a timely manner. But they also say this could change quickly so they may be able to start testing asymptomatic people again soon.

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WEST SEATTLE SNOW: Thursday closures/changes

December 30, 2021 9:00 am

| 14 COMMENTS

| West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

Another day of closures/schedule changes. We’re updating as info comes in – please let us know if you have something/someplace to add:

CLOSED/CANCELED

Facilities/services:
–West Seattle YMCA
–Senior Center of West Seattle
–West Seattle Food Bank
–All Seattle Public Library locations
–All Seattle Parks facilities
-City residential solid-waste pickup (here’s the current plan for tomorrow & beyond)

Businesses
Admiral Theater
Alki Bike and Board
Alki Mail & Dispatch
Cherry Consignment
C & P Coffee (closed for COVID exposure)
Illusions Hair Design
Grillbird
Head To Toe Day Spa
McDonald’s (Admiral and Morgan Junction, per readers)
Paper Boat Booksellers
Pecos Pit BBQ
Rambo Total Pest Control

OPEN BUT WITH CHANGES

Facilities/services:
City-run COVID testing site at Nino Cantu SW Athletic Complex opens at 10:30 am
West Seattle Golf Course (“snow activities” and walking allowed, but no golfing)

Businesses
Bakery Nouveau (10 am-3 pm)
HomeStreet Bank (closing at 4)
Metropolitan Market (closing at 8)
The Birdhouse (open until 1 pm)
West Seattle Animal Hospital (open until 4:30 pm)
Youngstown Coffee (10 am-2 pm)

If you have info to add, westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302 – thank you!

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WEST SEATTLE SNOW: Thursday morning traffic/transit/weather updates

December 30, 2021 5:26 am

| 19 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts | West Seattle weather

(Current image from SDOT camera at 5-way)

5:26 AM: Good morning. The snow (re)started just after 9 pm and is still falling. We start with info links:

ROAD/TRANSIT INFO
-City map of plowed/treated/closed roads, here
-City map of traffic cams, here
-Our page with West Seattle-relevant cams, here
-County map of traffic cams (choose “south” tab for White Center), here
–Metro continues Emergency Snow Network reduced service
–West Seattle Water Taxi is running (with Spirit of Kingston)

WEATHER
-Just below freezing right now. The Winter Weather Advisory is now only in effect through 2 pm

Tips/pics to westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302 – thank you!

(Current image from SDOT camera at Holden/Highland Park Way)

6:17 AM: Still quiet on the streets.

6:43 AM: The snowfall has stopped, for now.

7:18 AM: As pointed out in comments, the SDOT real-time “winter response” map is currently blank. We’re checking to see if they’re working on it.

7:51 AM: No reply yet. But a check of cameras around the peninsula shows arterials have been addressed. Meantime, light snow has resumed.

8:07 AM: We’re assembling a closures/changes list again today, planning to publish around 9 am (with updates throughout the day as info comes in), First major new closure just in – the West Seattle YMCA.

8:22 AM: Reader photo just in:

Texter reports, “Here’s a pic of Cali Ave looking south at College near Admiral Junction. Taken at 8 am. Mostly slushy with pavement visible.”

8:50 AM: Another photo, this one sent by Sandy and Vanessa:

The Olympics’ peaks made a brief appearance, glowing pink, before clouds moved back in.

8:58 AM: The SDOT real-time map is now working, but slow to load (wait a moment or two), Paul texted to point out. Its road-closure info is suspect, though – for example, it shows SW Alaska east of California as closed, but the cameras for that stretch clearly show it open. (P.S. For non-road matters, we’ve launched today’s closures/changes page.)

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