West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
Cheryl hopes you can help find her stolen pickup truck:
Our white 2004 Ford Super Duty pickup truck with a rack on it was stolen from in front of our house today between 4 PM and 4:30 PM. We filed a police report. We are on 4th Ave. SW. close to the dead end below Westcrest Park, in the 9000 block. We just got it back last week after it was in the shop because the catalytic converter was stolen a couple of months ago. The license plate number is C66307J.
The pickup looks like the one in this stock photo.
7:51 PM MONDAY: A year and a half after installing a public electric-vehicle charging station in The Junction, Seattle City Light is proposing another one in West Seattle – this time, at a former substation site in Morgan Junction.
That’s an outline of the proposal, from the city webpage set up for the project. The site is at 4118 SW Morgan, kittycorner from the east side of West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor). As shown, it could hold up to eight charging stations, which SCL says would be accessed from the north side of the site, off Fauntleroy Way SW. The description adds:
Anyone with an electric vehicle will be able to use the charging station. Drivers will need to pay a fee to charge. The fee is designed to pay for the electricity and the cost of building the station.
Construction could begin as soon as the 4th quarter of 2022. The project will take approximately three months to complete.
This is considered a good location for an EV charging station because it is close to neighborhood retail, services, and major arterial roads. There are currently no public EV fast chargers in the Morgan Junction neighborhood.
The substation was decommissioned 20 years ago and the city says the site is planned for cleanup first, with its existing trees to be removed and replaced. For the next month – until April 22nd – the city is running a survey to see what the community thinks about the plan – you can answer it here.
3:57 PM TUESDAY: We asked SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang about the project’s cost. She responded that “at this juncture it would be premature for us to assign a number to costs. There are many variables yet to be determined before we could form a concrete estimate.”
Two notes in West Seattle Crime Watch today:
ATTACKER FOUND GUILTY: Thanks to those who let us know that a case on which we reported in 2020 has gone to trial. Almost two years ago, Abdikadir A. Khalif, then 27, was arrested for sexually assaulting, beating, and robbing a 49-year-old woman in her car in High Point. He was charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, and attempted indecent liberties. He chose to go to trial in the case, and at the end of last week, a jury found him guilty on all charges, after deliberating for less than a day and a half. As we reported in 2020, Khalif’s criminal history went back 13 yeqrs, with more than 20 convictions. He’s been in jail since days after the attack, arrested after he was identified through security video recorded when he used one of the victim’s cards at a local store. King County Superior Court Judge Janet Helson, who presided over the trial, is scheduled to sentence Khalif on April 29th.
WEEKEND GUNFIRE: SPD summaries from the weekend include one local incident:
On (Saturday at 2:09 am), officers responded to the 2200 block of Alki Ave. SW to a report of shots fired. Upon arrival, officers spoke to the complainants, who reported that they were on foot in the area when a dark blue sedan drove by. As the car passed, unknown passenger fired 2 shots into the air. The car drove off and was not located.
3:55 PM: From Metro: “The West Seattle Water Taxi is delayed this evening while crews swap vessels due to a mechanical issue aboard the MV Sally Fox. We hope to resume normal service shortly. Apologies for the inconvenience.”
4:28 PM: Metro’s Al Sanders says the crews are still working this out and he has no update yet on which vessel is taking over which route.
5:18 PM: The Spirit of Kingston is taking over the West Seattle run for the rest of the day and will resume service at 5:25 from Pier 50 downtown.
Just back from checking out a sizable police response outside the Bank of America in Admiral. The situation was already wrapping up when we arrived. Police on scene told us it was a “person in crisis” situation – and the person in question was being taken to Harborview Medical Center via private (AMR) ambulance.
We got a few questions Friday night about a power outage on Avalon Way, but the Seattle City Light map had conflicting information about its start time, extent, and cause – so we didn’t have enough information to report it at the time. We did follow up today with SCL spokesperson Jenn Strang, who explained:
The cause of Friday’s outage was an underground transformer failure. The outage began with a smaller group of customers earlier in the day. When crews arrived to assess the situation, they determined that they would need to de-energize the vault in order to safely access equipment. This caused the outage to grow to 94 customers. The transformer was replaced and power was restored around 10 pm.
The outage was centered in the 3200 block of Avalon.
(SDOT photo)
That’s one of the new signs SDOT has put up as part of a new safety campaign to remind drivers that they need to stop for people crossing the street. As explained here:
… (W)e began unveiling “driver report cards” signs at certain crosswalks to show the percentage of drivers who stop for people waiting to walk or roll across the street. This is the start of a larger $350,000 public-education campaign focused on the benefits of following the speed limit and making sure drivers understand that all intersections are crosswalks – and that state law requires them to stop for pedestrians and people in wheelchairs or other mobility assistive devices who are attempting to cross the street.
Per Washington State law, practically all intersections are legal pedestrian crossings, whether or not there is a painted crosswalk, unless a sign officially says that people are not allowed to cross the street in a certain location. That means drivers are legally required to stop for people crossing the street at nearly every intersection in Seattle and throughout the state.
Two of the first signs, including the one in the top photo, are in High Point, at 34th Ave SW and SW Morgan St (where there’s a painted crosswalk) and at Sylvan Way SW and SW Sylvan Heights Dr (an unpainted crossing). While the former has the 46 percent stop rate – as observed by a high-school-student volunteer, SDOT says – the latter has a 0% rate (out of 25 passing drivers). SDOT plans to use signs like these at 13 intersections around the city, for starters.
ADDED 4:40 PM: We asked SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson for a little more detail on how these signs will be updated: “The data will be collected and updated weekly for a total of six weeks. Typically we would collect data on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, and then an SDOT crew member will update the signs on Fridays. The high school students assisting with this have an internship with Delridge Neighborhood Development Association and will receive a stipend for their time. In addition to helping to collect data, they helped us to choose the locations and were involved with other aspects of the exercise in order to make it an enriching experience for them.”
(Look closely for another sign of spring – robins! Photo by John Skerratt)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
PERSONAL SAFETY CLASS: The next free online class is at 11 am today – if you don’t see this reminder in time, our calendar listing has other upcoming dates, as well as registration information.
CITY COUNCIL BRIEFING MEETING: 2 pm online, councilmembers preview the week ahead and recap recent highlights. No public-comment period, but the agenda explains how to watch/listen.
SPORTS: High-school soccer and baseball home games today: 4 pm at Walt Hundley Playfield (34th/Myrtle), West Seattle HS soccer hosts Lakeside; at 4:30 pm, Chief Sealth IHS soccer hosts Cleveland, and at 7 pm, CSIHS baseball hosts Bainbridge, both at Southwest Athletic Complex (2801 SW Thistle).
LINE DANCING: 6:15 pm class at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW) – drop-ins welcome. Details are in our calendar listing.
OPEN D&D: Drop in to play 6:30 pm-10 pm Mondays at Meeples Games (3727 California SW).
TRIVIA X 3: Three scheduled options tonight for trivia players – 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)
Something coming up that should be on our calendar and in our daily previews? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Looking for a preschool for your little one(s) this fall? A Child Becomes Preschool (WSB sponsor) in North Admiral has announced it’s still accepting new students for fall:
A Child Becomes Preschool still has openings for preschool this fall!
About Our School
Founded in 1989, A Child Becomes Preschool offers three part-time educational programs for students ages 2 ½-5 years old. Each program is age appropriate and supports the developmental needs of the students. Our self-developed curriculum is rooted in building strong emotional intelligence and social and emotional skills.Caterpillar – ages 2 ½-3. Two day a week program.
Butterfly – ages 3-4. Choice of 3 or 4 day a week program.
Sunbeam – ages 4-5. Choice of 4 or 5 day a week program.
You can see activity highlights by going here; application information is here.
6:02 AM: Good morning! Welcome to Monday, March 21st.
WEATHER
Rainy, high near 50.
ROAD WORK:
The 35th/Findlay sewer work is expected to continue.
BUSES, WATER TAXI, FERRIES TODAY
Metro is on its regular weekday schedule – but remember, the twice-yearly service change took effect Saturday. Watch @kcmetrobus for word of reroutes/cancellations. (NOTE: Saturday is Metro’s next “service change”; here’s our story with West Seattle changes, plus there’s an addition since then.)
Water Taxi‘s on its regular schedule.
Ferries: WSF continues the two-boat schedule for Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth. Check here for alerts/updates.
BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES
727th morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
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.)
1st Avenue South Bridge:
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? Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed; 1st Ave. S. Bridge openings are also tweeted by @wsdot_traffic.
All city traffic cams can be seen here; West Seattle and vicinity-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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