West Seattle, Washington
01 Friday
As usual on Mondays, Seattle Public Schools updated its COVID-19 case-numbers dashboard this evening. Districtwide, the cumulative SPS case total for this school year is now 5,682, 1,095 more than a week earlier. Here’s the local school-by-school breakout (as always, these totals also are cumulative):
West Seattle High School – 140, up 87
Chief Sealth International High School – 122, up 20
Madison Middle School – 88, up 15
Denny International Middle School – 77, up 29
West Seattle Elementary – 75, up 23
Arbor Heights Elementary – 74, up 14
Fairmount Park Elementary – 69, up 14
Louisa Boren STEM K-8 – 57, up 9
Highland Park Elementary – 54, up 8
Concord International (Elementary) – 51, up 10
Gatewood Elementary – 49, up 18
Genesee Hill Elementary – 48, up 9
Sanislo Elementary – 47, up 8
Lafayette Elementary – 43, up 12
Roxhill Elementary – 42, up 6
Pathfinder K-8 – 39, up 8
Alki Elementary – 32, up 3
BRIDGES @ Roxhill – 2, unchanged
TESTING & VACCINATION AT SCHOOLS: Denny IMS (2601 SW Kenyon) continues to serve as a regional testing site for SPS students, families, and staff, 4-8 pm weekdays. …
From Brenda: “My 1997 green Honda CR-V was stolen last night. License plate AIZ6066. North Arbor Heights.” Call 911 if you see it.
8:10 PM: Big Seattle Fire response for Terminal 5 – the first crews to arrive are telling dispatch that someone has a head injury and needs to be pulled out from “inbetween cargo containers.”
8:19 PM: The victim is aboard the cargo ship that’s at Terminal 5 right now (that would be MSC Monterey). Radio exchanges indicate the firefighters are facing tricky logistics to get to him.
8:29 PM: They’ve told dispatch the victim is a 51-year-old man hit from above with a heavy object. He’s described as “alert and oriented.” They’re working toward being able to lift him off the ship. (added) The incident commander tells dispatch that may take another 20 minutes or so.
8:43 PM: Dispatch has just been told “patient extracted.” (added) SFD medics are taking the victim to Harborview.
Another West Seattle closure announced by email today (thanks for the forwards!) – Spira Power Yoga is closing its Admiral location after almost 11 years. Online classes will continue, and Spira Power Yoga’s Issaquah studio will remain open, but proprietor Dora Gyarmati is ending her business’s physical presence in West Seattle. In the email announcement, she says that “we did not make this decision lightly. I have been working, literally without a single day off, including weekends for two years now. We also carry a very large financial overhead. Something had to give. Closing West Seattle brick-and-mortar is the right step to provide financial stability and emotional balance for my family life.” And she notes that “it is not so much closure as moving the business online. Since 80% of current West Seattle yogis prefer online classes, truly, it will be business as usual.” She goes into more of the details behind the decision in this essay. Spira Power Yoga opened in the space at 2332 California SW in the summer of 2011. The announcement says the “last class in the brick-and-mortar West Seattle studio will be on February 28th.” (Image from Google Maps’ Street View)
Three incidents in West Seattle Crime Watch, all from SPD summaries:
SOUTH DELRIDGE GUNFIRE: 911 callers reported hearing what sounded like gunfire around Delridge and Trenton at 1:17 am. Moments later, someone called 911 to say bullets had hit his vehicle as he was turning onto Trenton from Delridge. No injuries, but police found evidence, including three bullet holes in the rear of the victim’s vehicle. He thought a “dark-colored vehicle” might have been involved.
ANOTHER 7-11 ROBBERY: For the second time in three days, a West Seattle 7-11 was held up. This time it happened at the 35th/Barton store, just before 5 am Sunday. Before the robbery, the clerk told police, the robber was in the parking lot, handling his handgun. Then he came into the store and said he wanted beer and a hot dog. The clerk said it was too early to sell alcohol. Eventually the man grabbed a hot dog while continuing to display his gun and left the store with it.
STOLEN CAR RECOVERED: Police say this started at 2:42 pm Friday, when “officers observed a suspicious vehicle with subjects loading up copper in the area of 29th SW / SW Brandon.” They determined it was a stolen car, but it left the area before they could take action. Later, the summary says, “Officers located the vehicle at a West Seattle recycle center and detained the driver as he exited the business. The driver denied any knowledge of the vehicle, but then asked to retrieve his cigarettes from inside the stolen vehicle …” Officers identified him as the same person they saw driving it from 29th/Brandon, and arrested him. Since the owner of the stolen car had given consent to search it (something you’re asked when reporting vehicle theft), they searched it and found stolen items inside – including a handgun and construction tools. The suspect was booked into the King County Jail.
Ten days after the state launched a website for ordering free COVID-19 rapid-test kits – and quickly ran out – they’re back in stock. Go to sayyescovidhometest.org to order up to 5 free tests. The state’s announcement says, “Recipients will get those tests delivered at no cost, but only while supplies last. When more supplies become available, the state will open the portal again.” They served 340,000 households the first time around and have enough more for about 120,000 this time around, so if you’re interested, hurry.
1:34 PM: Thanks to the many people who emailed and texted about this: West 5, the beloved restaurant/bar in the West Seattle Junction, is closing after 19 years. From the email West 5 sent out at midday today:
Last Call
Closing Saturday, February 12thUntil then: Mon-Sat 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Fixtures & Auction Preview 2/13 Fruit Cocktail Collectables
Thank you, West Seattle
The uncomplicated story is, we lost our lease and after eighteen years we must say farewell to the old Speedway and Hobby Shop on California Avenue. Covid and omicron brought haste to our closure and sadly took away options for future revival. Thank you West Seattle, and beyond, for your support of this modest venture. It’s been a ride.Looking Back
West 5 Opened as a “Non Smoking Cocktail Lounge”, the first of its kind in Seattle, Feb 8th 2003.Our only televised event was West Seattle Little League’s appearance in the 2018 LL World Series Regionals.
Since opening, we’ve served up (give or take) 24,738 Mai Tais, 31,968 orders of Mac N Cheese and 17,298 BLTs.
Through the years we’ve tried to remain true, through trend and folly, as a “great place to meet,” a quaint conceit, badly bruised by two years of unpredictability.
Thank you for gathering under our crown to create and provide memories.
Great Neighbors and Partners
We are thankful for our deep community partnerships: WS Senior Center, WS Food Bank & Helpline, Chamber, Historical Society, ArtsWest, our local schools and many others. Thank you for continuing to make WS special.And to our five-star peers in the WS indie restaurant community – you know who you are – thank you. Keep serving it up and signing those checks. The end to perpetual pivot is right around the corner.
The email goes on to thank current and past employees, and then continues:
Souvenirs
We have some fun old and new school stuff to sell off. Much of it will be available via Online Order as well as in-store starting 1/31. You will see a few blasts from the past, get ‘em while they last.Grab a tee shirt or two when you’re in for that final Mai Tai or picking up a To Go order of Mac N Cheese. We could really use the revenue (hint, all tips go to employees).
Memories, Tall Tales, Lost & Found
Got something to say? We’ll do it old-school. Here’s a place to drop a memory, share a story or settle a score. We may or may not reply, connect you to that “I Saw You” crush from 2005, or find a way to stitch together a storybook. But not a podcast, we promise. Never a podcast.WEST 5 Memory Hotline
206-525-1511
(recorded messages only)
West 5 was founded by West Seattle natives Dave Montoure and Dean Overton. We featured some of the backstory in this 2011 report about the establishment’s 8th anniversary.
5:56 PM: Commenters asked about the lease situation and the space’s future. The building is owned by Tom Henry, former proprietor of JF Henry & Co. retail store (which was at 4445 California SW). Reached by email, he told us:
(We) heard about this the same time everyone else did. His current lease option is actually up in August and since he chose not to renew, we were not surprised about his announcement. West 5 has been an incredible tenant and a long-time loved business. We firmly believe that vacancies are not good for the business community, so we have plans for a great new tenant coming this year.
West Seattle Junction notes from above:
YEAR-ROUND LIGHTS: No, the workers in the trees along California SW in The Junction today are not trimming them – they’re installing year-round lights, West Seattle Junction Association executive director Chris Mackay tells us.
NEW BANNERS; Someday soon you’ll see another set of workers aloft in The Junction, putting up new banners to replace the faded ones that have been up for several years.
FLOWER BASKETS: Adopted one yet? Some of The Junction’s flower baskets are still awaiting adoption for this year. Individuals, businesses, organizations all welcome. Here’s how to sign up.
11:46 AM: Midday whale-watching opportunity: Kersti Muul says a “small group of orcas” is milling off the north end of Vashon Island. No travel direction known yet. Let us know if you see them!
11:54 AM: Kersti says the whales are now headed north, slowly.
4:41 PM: They’ve stayed in central Puget Sound most of the day. Kersti just texted to say they’re now southbound off Emma Schmitz Overlook/Me-Kwa-Mooks (4500 block Beach Drive SW).
(Rendering from 8415 Delridge design packet)
Almost three years ago, we reported on an Early Outreach for Design Review meeting about a 14-unit rowhouse project at 8415 Delridge Way SW [map]. The project is now reactivating, with a formal land-use application to the city. That opens a new comment period. The project is described on the city website as two 3-story, 7-unit townhouse buildings, with 14 offstreet-parking spaces. (See the most-recent design packet here.) Comment deadline is February 14th; today’s notice explains how.
(Photo by Jerry Simmons)
Here’s what’s happening in the hours ahead:
VOTER-REGISTRATION DEADLINE: If you want to vote in the February 8th Seattle Public Schools levy election, today’s the deadline for registering online. (You can register up until Election Day in person.)
CITY COUNCIL’S WEEKLY BRIEFING: 2 pm, councilmembers brief each other and the public on what they’re up to and what’s coming up this week. They’ll also get a State Legislature briefing from staffers. Watch live at seattlechannel.org.
TRIVIA X 3: Here are tonight’s three options – 7 pm at Best of Hands (35th/Webster), 7 pm at The Good Society (California/Lander), 7:30 pm at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW)
DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE: Though it’s not set in West Seattle, “Roosevelt High School: Beyond Black and White” has citywide relevance, supporters say in extending an invitation for you to watch the documentary’s premiere online tonight at 7, followed by a panel discussion. Attendance info is in our calendar listing.
Another shopping event ahead, with Valentine’s Day approaching – this one’s on Friday (February 4th), 4:30 pm, at longtime WSB sponsor Wyatt’s Jewelers:
Wyatt’s Jewelers in Westwood Village is hosting a private event! Bring a friend, sip some bubbles & check out our baubles! It’s time to create a wishlist of your favorite jewelry for future occasions! Does your partner struggle to find you the perfect gift? Whether it be an anniversary, birthday, holiday or just because … we will create and store your new personal wishlist for your friends and mates to shop from! Enjoy delicious charcuterie from Heritage Restaurant, some special bubbly or wine, and check out our large selection of both modern & vintage jewelry. Limited to 15 guests! RSVP today by emailing socialmedia@wyattsjewelers.com or by calling us at 206-937-9200. Proof of vaccination or negative Covid test required for entry.
6:02 AM Good morning!
WEATHER
Today’s forecast is cloudy and breezy, potentially showery, with a high in the 40s.
BUSES, WATER TAXI, FERRIES
Metro is on the regular weekday schedule. Watch @kcmetrobus for word of trip cancellations.
West Seattle and Vashon Water Taxi routes are on regular schedules.
Ferries: WSF continues a two-boat schedule on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run. Check here for alerts/updates.
BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES
678th morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
Low Bridge: Automated enforcement cameras are still 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 vessels? The @SDOTBridges Twitter feed can tell you; 1st Ave. S. Bridge openings are also tweeted on @wsdot_traffic.
See all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also on this WSB page
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Text or call us (when you can do so safely) – 206-293-6302.
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