West Seattle, Washington
16 Friday
Congratulations to the 10U Red West Seattle Baseball All Stars – Danny Sizemore sent the photo and report of their big tournament win:
This past weekend they traveled to Yakima to take part in The Golden Glove tournament. There were 7 teams from around the state in their bracket. The West Seattle Reds went undefeated (4-0) to bring home the championship by beating teams from Moses Lake, Wenatchee, and Ellensburg.
Here’s how all the tournament games turned out. The Reds also competed in the all-star tournament WS Baseball hosted two weeks ago.
This isn’t particularly controversial, but if you pay attention to public process, it’s notable: A City Council vote tomorrow is expected to pave the way for the end of a five-year process involving a West Seattle street vacation. That’s the term for a publicly owned right-of-way – whether developed as a street or not – being given up by the public entity that owns it. In this case, both the West Coast Self-Storage facility that opened more than a year ago on Harbor Avenue SW and nearby Nucor are getting something out of the transfer of three-fifths of an acre of land that technically have been undeveloped parts of 29th SW and SW City View. We wrote extensively about the plan back in 2017, when councilmembers approved it. The self-storage company offered a package of “public benefits” estimated to be worth more than $300,000 (originally detailed in 2017), including metal art panels like these two and various pedestrian/bike-trail improvements:
Last Tuesday, the council’s Transportation and Utilities Committee got a presentation how it had all turned out. You can see it about 30 minutes into the meeting recording:
(Added: The slide deck from that meeting is here.) The purpose of this final part of the process is to confirm that the beneficiary of the street vacation has completed their obligation, The committee members who were present signaled their approval with “yes” votes. Tomorrow, the full council has to take one last vote. After that, there’ll be one last step to finalizing the turnover – the property will officially be transferred to WC Self-Storage, which has already paid the city more than a million dollars for it. If you’re wondering about Nucor’s role in all this – it involves part of the railroad tracks.
With one week to go until the Fourth of July, in past years this is when fireworks sales started in White Center and the rest of unincorporated North Highline, just south of West Seattle. Not this year. The fireworks ban in unincorporated King County has taken effect. If you’re outside the city limits – as published previously on our partner site White Center Now, here’s how the complaint/enforcement process will work:
With this year being the first that fireworks aren’t permitted, King County is emphasizing community education about the new rules and is deferring issuing citations for a year. However, that doesn’t mean folks will be able to light fireworks without repercussion. As of June 14th, residents have been able to report violators to the King County Permitting Division:
-Online by visiting kingcounty.gov/reportfireworks (Users will have to sign up for our system)
-Phone: 206-848-0800
King County will issue a warning to violators and include them in our records. If the behavior continues, these violators will likely be the first to eventually receive citations. Local Services is finalizing the details of how violators will be cited beginning in 2023.
Fireworks of course have long since been banned from sale and use on both sides of North Highline, in Seattle and Burien
An accused rapist is in the King County Jail after being arrested in The Junction early Saturday. We first learned of the arrest from this SPD summary:
It has been reported that, every weekend for weeks, a suspect has been terrorizing patrons and employees of various Admiral/Alaska Junction establishments and venues. Officers have become familiar with the subject and staff have formed a loose community advising one another whenever the suspect or his vehicle come into the area. Generally, suspect takes off prior to police arrival. On 06-25-2022 at 0149 hours, officers received a similar call for service. Officers determined that the suspect had a rape warrant with a $1,000,000 bail, formulated a plan and took suspect into custody without incident.
We’ve learned that the suspect is 29-year-old Domanick A. Gaskin; we obtained the photo at right from the state Department of Corrections, which had it because he has served time in state prison. Most recently, that was for a South Seattle case in 2018 that made regional news – in a domestic-violence incident in which he was described as both suspect and victim. Court records show he pleaded guilty to reduced charges in 2020 and was given a three-year sentence with credit for time already served. He had two prior robbery convictions a decade ago, as well as a domestic-violence conviction in 2016. The new rape case against him was just filed Friday and it too involved domestic violence, according to the court documents, in an incident that happened in North Seattle earlier this month. Now that he’s in custody, we’re waiting to hear back from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office about what happens next, and will add anything more we find out.
Thanks for the tip! Two of the peninsula’s Seattle Public Library branches are closed for the rest of the day because of the hot weather: West Seattle (Admiral), which is not air-conditioned, and Southwest, which is partly without A/C. The SPL announcement notes, “Book returns remain open and holds will be extended.” Both are expected to reopen tomorrow, since the heat is supposed to subside by then, with Tuesday’s high expected to be around 70.
While the opportunities for babies/toddlers/preschoolers are all booked up, Neighborhood Naturopathic (5410 California SW; WSB sponsor) just sent word that they have some openings this afternoon to vaccinate 5- to 11-year-olds. If you are interested, call 206-486-8383 ASAP.
If your family will have a kindergartener starting school this fall, this might be of interest, as announced by Holy Rosary Catholic School (WSB sponsor) in The Junction:
Holy Rosary School has a few rare Kindergarten openings for the 2022/23 school year. If you are interested in igniting your student’s spirit and mind, please contact admissions@holyrosaryws.org for a tour.
• Students engaged by enthusiastic teachers with hand-on curricula designed to spark creativity and encourage critical thinking.
• 8:30 am – 3:00 pm school day for K-8th grade
• Before & After School Care available
• STEM+ program
• 2 classes per grade
• Kindergarteners have 8th grade buddies
• MAPS testing – RIT scores are consistently higher than local & national averages for Catholic & non-Catholic schools
(WSB photo)
11:49 AM: Thanks for the tips. Seattle Police are investigating a robbery at the Westwood Village Chase Bank. Investigators were all inside the bank when we went over to try to find out more, so we weren’t able to talk with anyone, but it was dispatched about an hour ago as a “robbery at gunpoint,” involving two robbers; the gun was implied but not seen. No injuries reported. The bank is still closed while the investigation continues. We’re still listening to archived audio for description information.
12:07 PM: Officers told dispatch that the robbers were seen getting away in a silver sedan, likely a mid-2000s Mercedes “S or E class” linked to other robberies. They were described as 20ish Black men, one clothed partly in black and one clothed partly in orange; the car, with no rear plate, was last seen headed northbound on 29th SW from Barton.
3:02 PM: A bit more information from the preliminary police summary – “The (robbers) handed the bank employee a note that requested money and threatened to shoot up the bank if their demands weren’t met. The bank employee gave (them) cash, and (they) left the bank and entered a vehicle that was near Roxhill Park. … The suspects in this robbery are possibly the same suspects from a Robbery that occurred later at a Chase Bank in Des Moines.”
(WSB photo – seen in Gatewood)
Here’s what’s happening today, including ways to cool off:
SHOP! From Emerald Water Anglers (4502 SW Oregon, WSB sponsor), “Monday, June 27th, is National Women’s Fly Fishing Day! We are celebrating with 20% off all women’s apparel and equiptment. Come by and see us!” Open until 6 tonight.
WADE! As noted last night, two more local city-run wading pools open today, so EC Hughes (above) at 2805 SW Holden will be open noon-7 pm; same hours for South Park at 8319 8th Ave. S. And Lincoln Park at 8011 Fauntleroy Way SW is open noon-7 too.
SWIM! Colman Pool on the Lincoln Park shore is also open noon-7 pm.
PORT POLICE CHIEF CANDIDATES: 4:30 pm online, the two finalists for Port of Seattle police chief – Interim Chief Mike Villa and Seattle Police Capt. Eric Sano – will answer questions during a community forum. Info including the registration link is in our calendar listing.
ZEN SITTING/MEDITATION: Free weekly event at the chapel at Fauntleroy UCC (9140 California SW), 7 pm.
FREE-PLAY PINBALL: The Admiral Pub‘s 16 pinball machines are open for free play 7-10 pm Mondays. (2306 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)
Have something that should be listed on our calendar and in our daily previews? Please send info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
The family of longtime West Seattle community advocate Dennis Ross has announced his death. Here’s the remembrance they’re sharing:
Dennis Andrew Ross passed away on February 2, 2022 from congestive heart failure. Dennis was born on March 24, 1939. He was raised in Vinita Park, MO, a small village near the city line of St. Louis. He attended St. Rita’s grade school, Mercy High School and St. Louis University. He served in the US Marine Corps from 1963-1965. Dennis began his career at the Kroger Company, where he quickly established himself as a troubleshooting expert in transportation and logistics for the company. Kroger transferred him throughout the midwest including Peoria, IL, Pittsburgh, PA, Columbus, OH, Nashville, TN, and Cincinnati, OH.
After leaving Kroger with 20 years of service, he took similar positions in Phoenix and Los Angeles. He then lived in Durango, Colorado, where he pursued his love of the natural world. In the early 1990s he moved to Seattle, where he lived until his passing.
Wherever Dennis lived, he contributed to his community, volunteering and leading efforts to better those places and people he befriended, however he could best serve. He was unassuming, totally reliable, hard-working, and as clever as they come in the pursuit of what improved the world around him. West Seattle, where he lived, benefitted for many years from his dedication to improving that unique part of Seattle which he loved. HIs persistence and commitment to his community was most remarkable.
Dennis loved to travel, both throughout the United States as well as abroad. Even in his later years, with modest means, he figured out how to scratch that itch, be it train rides across Canada, bus trips to visit all the major-league parks in the midwest, even China to see the Great Wall and the terracotta soldiers.
He loved his Washington Huskies, attending all manner and number of sporting events, especially the Lady Husky basketball team. His capacity to understand systems, and how to improve them, never left him. He dispassionately surveyed the fate of the Seattle Mariners every Spring and accurately predicted their performance, which unfortunately has been far more dismal than successful. But he still went to Spring Training every chance he got.
His great passion was to walk the streets and parks of Seattle and central Puget Sound. He walked as much and as often as he could until he could walk no more. He was a proud and appreciated member of several organized walking clubs in Seattle. He rode the bus tirelessly throughout the region and railed about how he could fix its problems if only given a chance! And he was spot on … as always.
Dennis received great care from the VA hospital, which extended the quality of his life. His cardiac Nurse Practitioner, Sandy Cruz, looked out for him and was on his team all the way to the end. His final care at the LakeView Adult Family home was compassionate and competent. Dennis was preceded in death by his parents William A. Ross and Blanche Mowry Ross and his wife, Toni Ross. He is survived by his brothers Tom and Bill and his sister Sally. He was loved by many cousins and friends.
If people are moved to remember Dennis, donations to the Sierra Club or the American Diabetes Association would be appreciated. A celebration of Dennis’s life will occur later this summer.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)
6:01 AM: Good morning; welcome to Monday, June 27th.
WEATHER
The heat advisory continues until 11 tonight, and today’s forecast suggests we’ll be in the 90s again (90 was Sunday’s official high).
ROAD WORK
*Pavement work – building concrete road panels – continues at California/Myrtle, with traffic alternating through one lane at times.
*Puget Sound Energy maintenance is scheduled on SW Roxbury between 14th and 15th today, Tuesday, and Thursday. The alert says this is how you might be affected: “Westbound travel on SW Roxbury St: The right lane and sidewalk will be closed from 7 AM to 2 PM. Additionally, the bus stop will be temporarily relocated 250 feet to the east. Eastbound travel on SW Roxbury St: The right lane will be closed from 9 AM to 3 PM. The sidewalk will be open.”
BUSES, WATER TAXI, FERRIES
Metro buses are on their regular weekday schedule; watch @kcmetroalerts for word of reroutes/trip cancellations.
The West Seattle Water Taxi is on its regular schedule.
Ferries: WSF continues on the two-boat schedule for Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth – and WSF says that probably won’t change for many months. Check here for alerts/updates.
BRIDGES AND DETOUR ROUTES
827th 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 (one of four recently installed cameras!):
Highland Park Way/Holden:
The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):
Are movable city bridges opening for vessels? Check the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed; 1st Ave. S. Bridge openings are 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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