day : 18/09/2023 9 results

Both City Council District 1 candidates campaigned over the weekend, walking in South Park’s Fiesta Patrias parade, as our photos show. One week from tonight, Rob Saka and Maren Costa will be at the next WSB-presented candidate forum, Monday, September 25th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). Starting tonight, we invite you to email questions – the candidates will have more time to answer than during our primary forum with eight candidates, but we still appreciate very specific questions. If you have a question to suggest, please email westseattleblog@gmail.com.

Same goes if you have any suggested questions for the candidates we’ve just added to the forum – we’ll open the night by talking with the two candidates for King County Council District 8, which includes West Seattle, White Center, Vashon and Maury Islands, and Burien. We haven’t seen many planned forums in this race, so we decided to add one to our event. We will talk with candidates Sofia Aragon and Teresa Mosqueda at 6:30 pm, and will switch to the City Council candidates at 7:15 pm. Again, this is all happening next Monday night, September 25th, at the Senior Center – you’re welcome to come watch either or both. And if you can’t get there in person, we’ll be recording and publishing video of both shortly after the event.

WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Two more stolen cars, dumped together

September 18, 2023 4:39 pm

| 22 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

Police are at Roxhill Park right now dealing with two more stolen-and-dumped cars.

(WSB photos)

They are a Hyundai and Kia, one stolen while its owner was shopping across the street from the park at Westwood Village QFC – police reached her by phone and were bringing her over to the scene. The now-notorious hotwire-via-cord was visible inside:

The other car belonged to someone in Burien.

Police reported at least one of these cars eluding them earlier today elsewhere in West Seattle. Radio exchanges indicated officers apparently arrived at the park shortly after the occupants got out and bolted into the park. Last we heard, the search hadn’t turned up anything.

P.S. If you have one of the theft-prone Hyundai or Kia models, we confirmed today with acting Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Mark Solomon that free steering-wheel locks ARE available even though the giveaway sessions are over – email him at mark.solomon@seattle.gov to arrange to get one.

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Chief Sealth IHS says no cell phones in class. Talk about it at Tuesday night’s PTSA meeting

September 18, 2023 4:21 pm

| 47 COMMENTS

| West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

A new policy at Chief Sealth International High School this year – no cell phone use during class. Under the hashtag #AwayForThe Day, it’s explained: “The expectation is simple. Students will need to keep their phone away for the day. This means that during class time, phones will be in their backpack or bag and remain there until the end of class. Teachers will also have cases, lockers or something similar where phones can be safely stored if the student would prefer that.” After a survey, an FAQ was sent out, with most student questions answered the same way: “You can use your cell phone before and after school, and during lunch.” It’s going to be a topic at the first Chief Sealth PTSA meeting of the year, Tuesday night at 7 pm in the school library, PTSA leaders say guests will include Sealth principal Ray Morales as well as “a presenter from our Building Leadership Team talking about the research that went into making the phone decision.” Community members are welcome at the meeting too, even if you’re not a Sealth parent, teacher, or student. Other topics include discussing “key issues the PTSA will focus on this year.” P.S. We’ve asked Seattle Public Schools if any other schools have a similar cell-phone policy; haven’t heard back yet.

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DEVELOPMENT: Junction project changes to half-hotel; Aegis Living gets next Design Review date

September 18, 2023 2:20 pm

| 55 COMMENTS

| Development | West Seattle news

Two development notes:

(Rendering of 4448 California by Atelier Drome)

JUNCTION DEVELOPMENT CHANGES TO HALF-HOTEL: What’s expected to be the next West Seattle Junction redevelopment project to start construction, 4448 California SW, is open for comments again because of a change in the plan: What was going to be a 7-story building with commercial spaces under apartments is now changing to ground-floor commercial plus three floors of hotel, three floors of apartments. We’ve had a message out to the project team since this appeared in the city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin last Thursday; they haven’t responded, so we went digging through a virtual sheaf of documents to try to find out more. The documents show the hotel rooms are proposed for floors 2, 3, and 4; this document explains the rationale, that developers believe West Seattle needs more hotel rooms since right now there’s only one hotel (The Grove in The Triangle), and that The Junction is the perfect place for it. They are proposing 45 hotel rooms, roughly equal to the number of apartments the revised plan would have (when the project went through Design Review, 90+ apartments were planned). The original plan had no offstreet parking; so far we haven’t found anything in the file suggesting a change in that. The developer’s webpage for the project does not yet reflect the proposed change. If you’re interested in commenting on the new plan, this notice explains how. September 27th is the deadline.

NEXT DESIGN REVIEW DATE FOR AEGIS LIVING: As we’ve been reporting for more than a year, Aegis Living plans a senior-living complex on the site of long-abandoned, much-vandalized commercial buildings at 5252 California SW (and vicinity). Back in February, the Southwest Design Review Board approved the “early design guidance” stage of the 5-story, 100+-unit plan. But the process requires at least one more meeting, for final recommendations, and the city has now set a date for that meeting: 5 pm Thursday, October 19th. Links and design packet will eventually be available here.

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Late-night spree including robbery and carjacking

September 18, 2023 12:04 pm

| 21 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

12:04 PM MONDAY: Police are investigating a crime spree late last night that likely involved the same three people.

Around 10:15, they got a call about a street robbery/carjacking attempt near 39th/Oregon. According to what police were initially told, three people – described as “juveniles, possibly Hispanic,” all armed – robbed the victim of their watch and phone, and got away in a black Toyota Prius, that turned out to have been stolen in a Kent carjacking.

Not long after that, they answered a call about car windows breaking in the 4800 block of 47th SW and found that had happened to at least two cars, a Kia Sportage and a Subaru Outback – the suspects were described as three young Hispanic men, and a “black sedan” was seen.

Then just before 11 pm, a carjacking was reported in the 1600 block of Sunset Avenue. The three carjackers took a blue Kia Sportage at gunpoint. They were initially described as three “unknown-race males,” wearing black masks. A gray Camry was “caravanning” with the stolen car, and an officer spotted them on Beach Drive a short time later. A pursuit ensued, but he reported losing sight of them around 48th SW and Holly. Not long after that, the stolen black Prius associated with the first incident was found abandoned at 47th/Dawson.

If you have any information related to all this, the robbery was incident # 23-270527, and the carjacking was # 23-270558. The SPD tip line is 206-233-5000.

ADDED 9:09 PM: From Liz in comments: “So our son was in the blue Kia Sportage that was carjacked at 11 pm last night in North Admiral. He and his friend are shaken but doing ok. The police last night were great — I had Apple-airtagged the car, so they livetracked it with me and were pursuing it every time the AirTag updated. The cars were found in south Burien 4 mins after they were dumped — both the Sportage and the Camry were recovered.”

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Water Taxi to skip one October weekend to prepare for winter season

September 18, 2023 11:53 am

| Comments Off on Water Taxi to skip one October weekend to prepare for winter season

| King County Water Taxi | West Seattle news

As we first reported on September 3rd, Metro plans to continue seven-days-a-week West Seattle Water Taxi service through the fall and winter again this year (and beyond). County Executive Dow Constantine officially announced it today. One key point in the announcement: No Water Taxi service the weekend of October 14-15, so maintenance can be done to get ready for the winter season.

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From candidates to comedy to CPR, here’s what’s up for your West Seattle Monday

September 18, 2023 10:12 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Lincoln Park – photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)

From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, highlights for the hours ahead:

FOR VETERANS: If you need help filing a disability claim, the DAV offers free drop-in assistance 9 am-1 pm. (4857 Delridge Way SW)

LEARN CPR/AED: 2-4 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon):

Come learn adult hands-only CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) use through Seattle Fire Department’s Medic 2 CPR training. The focus of this training will be on contacting 9-1-1, practicing proper compression techniques and how to apply an AED in the event of a cardiac arrest. No previous experience is required. Advance RSVP requested.

CITY COUNCIL BRIEFING: 2 pm, councilmembers talk about the week ahead. The agenda explains how to attend or watch.

SUMMER EVENING PADDLING: Monday nights all summer long, get out on the water with Alki Kayak Tours, 6 pm. (1660 Harbor SW).

GET CRAFTY: 6-10 pm, this is “Crafting and Creativity Night” at The Missing Piece (9456 35th SW), info here.

D&D: Open D&D starts at 6:30 pm at Meeples Games (3727 California SW), all welcome, first-time players too. $5.

COMEDY: Monthly “Routine Killers” show at Otter on the Rocks (4210 SW Admiral Way), 7 pm, with headliner Phil Kopczynski. Tickets still available when we checked.

CANDIDATES: Seattle City Council candidates from all districts will be participating in the Seattle Fair Growth forum online tonight, with co-sponsors including West Seattle’s Morgan Community Association. Topics include density, affordable housing, and tree canopy. It’s separated into two sessions; District 1 candidates will be part of the 7-8:15 pm session – you can find the viewing link here.

MONDAY MEDITATION: Free weekly Zen sitting/meditation at the chapel at Fauntleroy UCC (9140 California SW), 7 pm-8:30 pm.

BEDHEAD OPEN MIC: Weekly BedHead Open Mic at West Seattle Church of the Nazarene (4201 SW Juneau), 7 pm (signups at 6:30) – info in our calendar listing.

MONDAY NIGHT TRIVIA! Three weekly events – 7 and 8 pm Sporcle Pub Quiz at Three 9 Lounge (4505 39th SW); 7 pm at The Good Society (California/Lander), 7:30 pm with QuizFix at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW)

MUSIC AT THE ALLEY: Live music with The Westside Trio, 8 pm at The Alley (behind 4509 California SW), 21+, no cover.

Have a West Seattle/White Center event to add to our calendar ? Please send info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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UPDATE: Power outage in southwest West Seattle blamed on branch

September 18, 2023 9:09 am

| 5 COMMENTS

| Utilities | West Seattle news

9:09 AM: Thanks for the tip! 23 homes in southwesternmost West Seattle have been without power since just before 6:30 this morning. No cause listed yet; we’re checking with Seattle City Light; a screengrab of SCL’s outage map shows the outage location.

3:36 PM: The outage has ended since we last checked the map earlier this afternoon. Here’s what SCL’s Jenn Strang tells us about the cause: “Crews found a blown fuse caused by a tree branch contacting wires near 47th Ave SW and Maplewood Place SW. Additional vegetation management and overhead line crews needed to be called in to clear multiple spots of branches growing into the lines in this area before reenergization.”

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TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, WEATHER: Last Monday of summer

September 18, 2023 6:02 am

| 1 COMMENT

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:33 AM: WSF says the Fauntleroy terminal is “out of service due to unplanned maintenance.” WSF says it can’t offload vehicles because of a transfer span problem but hopes to have it fixed within an hour.

6:59 AM: WSF says this is now fixed.

Earlier:

6:02 AM: Good morning! It’s Monday, September 18th.

WEATHER AND SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES

Cloudy start to the day, rain possible, sun later, high in the mid-60s. Sunrise today is at 6:49 am; sunset, 7:17 pm.

TRANSIT TODAY

Metro – Regular schedule; check advisories here.

Water Taxi – Regular schedule.

Washington State Ferries – 2-boat service on the Triangle Route. Check alerts for changes, and use Vessel Watch to see where your ferry is.

SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS

Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Henderson), cameras are also at Delridge/Genesee, Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Orchard, and Delridge/Oregon.

High Bridge – the main camera:

High Bridge – the view from its southwest end (when SDOT points the 35th/Avalon/Fauntleroy camera that way):

Low-bridge cam:

1st Ave. S. Bridge – alternate route across the river:

Highway 99: – northbound side at Lander.

MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: See all working traffic cams citywide here, most with video options; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are on this WSB page.

BRIDGE INFO: The @SDOTBridges Twitter/X feed shows whether the city’s movable bridges are opening for vessel traffic.

If you see trouble on the bridges/streets/paths/bay, please text or call us (when you can do it safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities). Thank you!

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