West Seattle, Washington
14 Monday
As a Chief Sealth International High School team parent described it in an email to us, “Huge win for the baseball team last night.” Sealth beat O’Dea for the first time in years, the parent explained – and the Seahawks were the visiting team. Final score Sealth 11, O’Dea 8. The parent added, “Fans were wild with the win! It was about 47 out and with a 7:00 start we all waited for the almost 11:00 finish!” According to the game notes logged with GameChanger, the Seahawks took the lead in the ninth inning, breaking an 8-8 tie when Teo Perala singled to bring in a run. The game’s hitting star for the Seahawks was Seth Clark, going 3 for 5. It’s early in the season but Chief Sealth has a 5-1 overall record and will play next at Nathan Hale, 3:30 pm Friday. O’Dea, meantime, will be visiting West Seattle High School (6-0) at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex at 7 pm Friday. We appreciate sports updates and tips – westseattleblog@gmail.com any time!
Thanks for the tips. Since the gas station/mini-mart at 35th/Henderson has been hit by robbery multiple times before, it’s no surprise that a police response there this past hour had some people worried. We went over to find out what had happened. Police told us they responded to reports of a sighting of a stolen vehicle – this pickup truck:.
So they’ve recovered the pickup, and are questioning two people.
Two updates related to the ongoing modernization work at Terminal 5 in West Seattle:
QUIET ZONE CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN: SDOT is overseeing the construction of T-5’s “Quiet Zone“ – which involves modifying railroad crossings in hopes of reducing the need for train operators serving T-5 to blow their horns. Back in January, we reported that the project had gone to bid and wasn’t expected to be complete before 2024. Today SDOT says the succssful bidder was Merlino Construction and that they could start work as soon as the first week in April, with construction lasting about a year.
NO SHORE POWER YET: Ships using T-5’s north berth still aren’t plugging in. Various reasons have been given for the delays; Melanie Stambaugh from the Northwest Seaport Alliance, which oversees the Seattle and Tacoma cargo operations, gave us another update this week:
Unfortunately, the system is still experiencing technical difficulties. As a reminder, this is the first international cargo facility in Puget Sound to install a shore power system, so we are still very much in the learning phase. The large number of stakeholders involved are anxious to get it working as soon as possible and The Northwest Seaport Alliance is doing all that we can to expedite the process.
Last time we checked in, the delay was attributed to “administrative” problems. But it’s something else now, Stambaugh told us: “We’re glad to say that the previous administrative problems have been resolved. Currently, the NWSA, alongside our partners, are working through some technical challenges with both the hardware and software.” Shore-power-capable ships originally were supposed to be able to plug in from the start of T-5’s modernized operations early last year.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reports:
ANOTHER COLLISION LEADS TO ARREST: Less than an hour before last night’s deadly West Seattle Bridge crash, SPD and SFD were dispatched to an unrelated crash on West Marginal Way SW. Today, SPD says that crash resulted in an arrest for investigation of DUI and a firearms violation. Their summary says it happened in the 4500 block of West Marginal [map] around 11:30 pm, and: “The first arriving officer found a heavily damaged pickup truck which struck and bounced off a utility pole, then came to rest on nearby railroad tracks.” The driver, a 23-year-old man, was found nearby. Police say he told them he had fallen asleep whiled driving, and denied having consumed alcohol – but they spotted an empty beer can in the truck, and noticed “signs of impairment.” So they did a field sobriety test, and after taking him into custody based on those results, they found “a loaded and concealed full-size handgun” in his pants pocket (SPD photo). He didn’t have a concealed-carry permit. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center for evaluation of possible injuries.
SHOPLIFTING TURNS VIOLENT: Just got a reader tip on this and have only preliminary details – if you saw police at Jefferson Square around 1 pm, they were investigating a case of shoplifting turned violence. According to the tip, three people “tried to leave the [Bartell Drugs] store with a basket filled with items.” They are reported to have assaulted and knocked down someone who tried to stop them. We’ll add whatever more we find out. (added) The description of the main assailant was, according to exchanges between dispatch and officers: Black, female, wearing a black top, gold chain, black and white shots.” She is reported to have punched a woman and pulled her hair; the victim declined medical attention. The attacker was last seen “turning the corner into The Junction.”
Two months after the city Office of Planning and Community Development announced the South Delridge Action Plan by launching a survey, you can find out more about it at tonight’s monthly meeting of HPAC. At centerstage during the community coalition’s 7 pm online meeting will be OPCD reps led by David Goldberg. HPAC’s announcement says they plan to discuss:
-Their partnerships with SPU and other City Departments
-Engagement that’s already completed to help guide their understanding of priorities
-Ideas about what the Outcomes of the work might be
-Rough phases of work moving forwardThey’re interested in hearing ideas on engagement for 2023 and any opportunities to partner and hearing about outcomes of interest to HPAC members.
All are welcome at tonight’s meeting, to listen/watch and/or ask questions. You can get the video/call-in info by going here.
(SDOT camera images unless otherwise attributed)
12:30 AM: A crash involving at least two vehicles is closing the westbound West Seattle Bridge to traffic near the crest. SFD is sending a “rescue extrication” response. Dispatch says this involves a wrong-way driver – there was a report shortly before the crash of someone going eastbound on the westbound side. At least one person is reported injured. Updates to come.
12:40 AM: Firefighters report they’ve extricated the person who was trapped in one vehicle (which appears to be a pickup truck). They’re reporting a second injured person.
12:52 AM: Responders also have blocked the two inside eastbound lanes of the bridge, as shown on the traffic camera.
12:59 AM: And now they’ve cleared, so the eastbound side is fully open again. Westbound still closed.
1:24 AM: Traffic Collision Investigation detectives have been mentioned, which means the closure won’t end any time soon.
3:06 AM: Investigators are still on scene. No updates so far on the victims’ condition.
3:37 AM: We’ve just learned this crash was deadly; SFD has been dispatched back to the scene to remove a body from one of the wrecked vehicles.
4:12 AM: The victim is now being taken away to the Medical Examiner’s Office. They were in what appeared to be the smaller of the two vehicles, a light-colored car shown closer to the median.
4:43 AM: Police have just said two people are dead. Here’s what they’ve just posted:
Police received multiple 911 calls of a white pickup truck traveling the wrong way in the westbound lane of the West Seattle Bridge Wednesday morning. Prior to arrival, witnesses advised the pickup truck collided with another vehicle.
Police arrived at approximately 12:20 a.m. and found a sedan and the pickup truck in the westbound lane of the bridge. Both vehicles had extensive damage. Seattle Fire Department personnel arrived and pronounced the male driver and female passenger of the sedan deceased. Both victims were 18 years old.
The male driver of the pickup truck was transported to the hospital for serious injuries. Based on the investigation, the male driver of the pickup showed signs of impairment and is under investigation for vehicular homicide.
5:54 AM: After 5 1/2 hours, the scene has been cleared, and the westbound bridge has just reopened.
11:56 AM: A company that records traffic-camera video has tweeted video from the same SDOT camera that we used for the screenshots above. You can see it here; it briefly shows a vehicle described as the wrong-way pickup just before the crash, and then shows Good Samaritans who rushed over to try to help before SPD and SFD arrived. (Added: Commenters have suggested this merits a content warning, as while it is not bloody, it is intense, and does include a brief flash of the crash impact.)
2:02 PM: While the victims’ age was made public, the pickup driver’s age was not. We followed up with SPD and spokesperson Det. Judinna Gulpan explained, “We have not yet been able to identify him yet, therefore can not confirm age.” He will be booked into jail, she said, when “medically cleared.”
6:12 PM: The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has released the crash victims’ names via its daily media list: Khalea Thoeuk and Riley Danard, both, as police had said, 18 years old. While the KCMEO announcement did not include information on the victims’ cities of residence, KING 5 TV reports the two were current and past Snohomish High School students.
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