West Seattle, Washington
29 Thursday
First, two stolen vehicles to watch for:
STOLEN DODGE VAN: Reported by Denise: “My dark blue Dodge Grand Caravan was stolen last night near 34th and Roxbury. Distinct paint oxidation on hood.” We’re awaiting the plate and police-report numbers.
STOLEN KIA: Reported by a texter: “I’m currently renting a home (near 32nd/Kenyon( and woke up to shattered glass and no car. It was a 2013 silver Kia Rio with Oregon plates 057GXF.”
Next, two “found,” possibly stolen, Kias – we got these reports this morning, so their location/status might have changed since then:
‘FOUND’ KIA #1: Reported by Rachel:
We found a stolen probable Kia on our walk. It’s missing the back inside windows and the steering column. I have also reported it to the city is a stolen and dumped vehicle. It’s on Thistle as it approaches 16th. If it’s yours, I’m really sorry. We had a car stolen last year and dumped and ditched as well and it stinks.
The plate on it is CFP3006.
‘FOUND’ KIA #2: Reported by Cindy:
This car has a smashed back passenger window, though there is no glass on the ground so it seems that part happened somewhere else. The car has been sitting on 44th near the corner of Graham (southwest part of the street) for a couple of weeks now. Wondering if the car has been dumped.
Going to see Queen B at Lumen Field on Thursday night? Metro has announced extra West Seattle Water Taxi runs for the Beyoncé concert, as it did when Taylor Swift was in town:
The water taxi is scheduled for six trips from Pier 50 at starting at 7:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m. and 12:15 a.m.) The water taxi will also have five trips from West Seattle starting at 8 p.m. (8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.)
Again, that’s tomorrow night (Thursday, September 14th). Metro also says it’ll add “a handful of trips” on unspecified bus routes “to help meet rider demand after the concert.”
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
As community organizations resume regular meeting schedules for fall, the Admiral Neighborhood Association had public safety high on the agenda last night.
The meeting at Admiral Church, facilitated by ANA president Joanie Jacobs, had two major guests – the Southwest Precinct‘s new third-watch commander, and City Attorney Ann Davison.
POLICE: Lt. Joe Hadley now oversees the 7 pm to 5 am shift (“third watch”) and said he most recently worked with the Office of Police Accountability. He said they’re bringing back the Community Police Team (an officer with that assignment accompanied him). Lt. Hadley opened the floor quickly to Q&A.
First question: How’s the staffing? “It’s rough,” he replied. The goal remains to hire about 100 officers a year “but I don’t thin we’re going to make that this year.” The 4/10 schedule change has made SPD more attractive for “laterals” – trained officers coming from other police departments. “Our previous schedule was horrible” (four days on, two days off). “The chief has made it a priority to improve morale, improve retention, entic(e) folks to come work here.” The recent consent-decree announcement isn’t going to change anything short-term, he said.
Thanks to Thomas for sending the tip and photo.
Southwest Library (9010 35th SW) returns to regular hours starting today. It was one of four Seattle Public Library branches around the city that had special summer hours these past three months “to reduce heat-related closures and provide more cooler morning open hours for patrons by opening and closing these branches two hours earlier two days a week.” The highlight of the reinstated regular hours: The branch is open until 8 pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Three business burglaries to report this morning – two early today, one a day earlier:
THIRD-TIME CRASH-AND-GRAB: Global Smoke and Vape at 35th/Roxbury has been hit with its third crash-and-grab burglary in less than three weeks:
This was reported just after 2 am, when remotely monitored video showed a “silver sedan” backing into the store. We went over for this photo and they hadn’t yet tallied what was taken – they were just busy cleaning up. The other crash-and-grabs were August 26th and September 6th. SPD incident # for this one is 23-265197.
CANNA WEST CULTURE SHOP: Thanks for the tip on this. Also hit by crash-and-grab burglars early today, Canna West Culture Shop (5435 California SW):
Staff told us they believe the burglars crashed into the store between 4 and 5 am (added: archived police-radio audio indicates the car, a red Hyundai Elantra, was still in the store when police arrived – the burglars may have gotten away in a “black sedan.”) This is NOT the cannabis shop – that’s Canna West Seattle (WSB sponsor) across the street.
Here too, they are still focused on cleanup and taking stock of what was taken, so the Culture Shop will be closed today. Police incident # for this burglary is 23-265255.
KIZUKI RAMEN: This break-in happened early Tuesday; the shop emailed us about it early today:
(Early Tuesday) at approximately 12:45 am, Kizuki Ramen at 42nd and Alaska was burglarized. A white/fair complexion male, 5’10”-6′ with a slight build, was able to enter a secured hallway to my business through an open loading dock bay. He proceeded to shatter a safety window in our fire exit door. He was able to steal our safe, cash register drawer as well as all of our third-party to-go order tablets. (Doordash, Uber Eats, GrubHub etc). Upon reviewing camera footage from Junction 47 management, we were able to determine that this individual had at least one to two “lookouts.” One heavy-set white male in all white, including shoes and baseball cap and a taller male wearing the same clothes.
After entering my business, he proceeded to go back and forth between Kizuki and The Lodge for nearly 6 hours! The register drawer they took was full of maybe $20 in loose coin change and the tablets are now worthless thanks to our awesome IT department. I’d say that’s instant Karma!
We’ll add the police report # when we get it. (Added: 23-264528.)
9:02 AM: Southern Resident Killer Whales have made their customary fall return. Kersti Muul tells us that orcas from J-Pod are in outer Elliott Bay, “spread across (the bay) from south of West Point,” generally headed southbound. Comment if you see them!
9:42 AM: Donna Sandstrom of The Whale Trail just called and said they’re southbound from Alki Point.
10:03 AM: Donna says the whales are now moving slowly northbound.
Family and friends will gather September 30 to celebrate the life of Dr. Bob Fraser, and they’re sharing this remembrance with his community:
Dr. Robert (Bob) T. Fraser, 76, passed away at his West Seattle home on May 12, 2023. Bob was a loving husband, father, son, brother, and grandfather and dedicated advocate for people with disabilities. Bob was the first born of four children to Hugh and Mary Fraser; July 9, 1946, Staten Island, NY. After graduating Lemoyne College with a BA in English, he served in the US Army as a decorated Sergeant in Vietnam.
He then returned to further his education, earning a MS in Rehabilitation Counseling from University of Southern California, a PhD in Rehabilitation Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a Master of Public Administration from Seattle University. He was a certified rehabilitation counselor and certified life care planner.
Bob’s distinguished professional academic career began at the University of Washington in 1976 as consultant for the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. In 1977, Arthur A. Ward MD hired him as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery, where he established the vocational rehabilitation program. This program grew to become the non-profit Neurology Vocational Services Unit within the UW Epilepsy Surgery Program and now treats people with various neurological conditions. In 1991, he was promoted within these two departments to Professor, and eventually Professor Emeritus.
He has served on the Boards of numerous professional organizations. His scholarly work includes authoring more than 140 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His leadership, competence, and abilities have been recognized by numerous federal grants that span the National Institutes of Health to the Veterans Association to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Not only a scientific scholar, but Bob was also very active in the Seattle community. He was a long-time member and past President of the Emerald City Rotary, as well as contributor to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, and a beloved and well-known local in West Seattle.
He lived life with gusto as an ardent lover of food and culture, especially the language, art, and food of Italy. Most of all, he loved his friends and family, all of whom have been deeply touched by his kindness, modesty, compassion, enthusiasm, wit, humor, drive, and humble dedication to improving the lives of others.
Bob is survived by his wife Nora Gibson (West Seattle), daughter Simone Bruyere Fraser and husband Miles Forgette and grandson Fraser Forgette (West Seattle), stepdaughter Anne and husband Stewart Moore and children (Ethan and Isla) (Edmonds, WA), stepson William and wife Shannon Stabler and son (Christopher) (Portland, OR), brothers John Fraser (Brooklyn, NY) and Tom Fraser (Seattle), and sister Virginia Fraser (Chicago, IL).
Commemorative services for Bob will be held September 30th at 11 AM at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in West Seattle. If you would like to make a donation in memory of Bob, you can do so to the Neurological Vocational Services within the University of Washington Rehabilitation Medicine Department (nvsrehab.org) or the Foundation for Rehabilitation Psychology (rehabpsych.org).
(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)
6:02 AM: Good morning! It’s Wednesday, September 13th.
WEATHER AND SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
Mostly sunny, high near 70. Sunrise today is at 6:43 am; sunset, 7:25 pm.
SCHOOL NOTE
First early-dismissal Wednesday of the year for Seattle Public Schools.
TRANSIT TODAY
Washington State Ferries – 2-boat service on the Triangle Route. Check alerts for changes, and use Vessel Watch to see where your ferry is.
Metro – Regular schedule; check advisories here.
Water Taxi – Regular schedule.
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!
Three West Seattle Crime Watch reports – first, two robberies that happened days ago, but we’re publishing this so they’ll be on the record:
EARLY SUNDAY: This one first came to light when a victim’s parent wrote about it in the comment thread following our report on Sunday morning’s ATM holdup in Morgan Junction, saying, “My daughter and her friends were waiting for an Uber on top of Gatewood Hill area on California Ave [earlier Sunday] at 2:00 AM and two cars pulled over and robbed them at gunpoint.” In subsequent correspondence, we learned the robbery hadn’t been reported to police at the time, but a report was filed Monday. A camera in the area caught one car – a Kia Soul – and one person getting into it:
If you have any information, this incident # is 23-263491.
EARLY FRIDAY: This one came to light in an SPD summary published today. Just after quarter till four on Friday morning, a woman called 911 to say her purse had been snatched at/near the 35th/Avalon 7-11. Two people were involved and got away in a gray SUV with no plates, headed toward the bridge. We listened to archived audio for additional details. According to officers and dispatch, the victim said the robbers tried to sell her drugs, and when she said no, they knocked her down and took her purse. The recorded audio, however, did not yield any description of the robbers, nor any further description of the vehicle. If you have any information, this incident # is 23-259842.
‘PACKAGE DUMP’: That’s how the sender described this:
Neighbors found an array of stolen packages dumped in the vacant lot at 26th Ave SW and SW Juneau. They piled the boxes and items up in a neat pile. If people are missing items, they might be here. I’m not brave enough to go through all the packages.
The general election is eight weeks away, and you’ll be able to vote when your ballot arrives two-plus weeks before that. So if you haven’t already made your decision on the biggest local race – Seattle City Council District 1 – you might be wondering about chances to get another look at the candidates who made it out of the primary, Maren Costa and Rob Saka. We’ve recorded half-hour interviews with both in the past several days and will publish them later this week. And the candidate-forum schedule is taking shape – we’ll be presenting a forum with Saka and Costa the evening of Monday, September 25th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle, start time to be finalized soon. If you can’t make it to that one, we’ve heard of at least two others in West Seattle the first week of October (and if you’re involved with an organization that’s presenting one, please be sure to send us the announcement so we can include it on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar).
6:04 PM: 1 hour and 13 minutes into that video, you’ll see the discussion that ended with the City Council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee approving a much-amended version of the public-drug-use law. The vote was 4-1; the yes votes were Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Andrew Lewis, the two sponsors of the proposal, and Councilmembers Sara Nelson and Alex Pedersen; the lone no vote was Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. Final approval will be up to the full Council, likely at its meeting on September 26th. The basic intent of the bill was to bring city code into line with the new state law making public drug use a gross misdemeanor, but with qualifiers, primarily a declaration that Seattle’s preferred outcome is diversion to treatment and services, in some cases without arrest. One of the approved amendments, sponsored by Herbold and Mosqueda, spotlighted the need for continued funding for the diversion program LEAD to make that possible, though no actual funding was attached – that has to come in the budgeting process this fall. Another amendment that passed, sponsored by Pedersen, called for collecting data on the results of the new law between 2025 and 2030, and ensuring that the council would get updates. (You can see the various documents from the meeting by going here.)
9:54 PM: We asked City Attorney Ann Davison for comment at tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association gathering (full meeting report tomorrow). She didn’t have much to say other than she’s glad something is getting done.
If you wonder what you can do for our planet’s ecological health beyond basic steps you might be taking already, Saturday brings a one-stop chance to find out. It’s the West Seattle Eco-Fair, organized by the Care for Creation Ministry of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Holy Rosary Catholic parishes. Organizers say the event will feature “environment-minded organizations from around the region – including Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, West Seattle Bicycle Connections, Seattle University Center for Justice and Sustainability, Wolf Haven International, and Tilth Alliance.” You can talk with reps of those organizations and others in Walmesley Center at OLG (7000 35th SW), 10 am-2 pm Saturday (September 16th). Organizers say this has been in the works more than three years, “originally planned for April 2020 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day,” but the pandemic got in the way; “the seeming drumbeat of bad environmental news” has continued, and knowledge can empower people to take action that matters.
(WSB photo, September 7th)
You might not notice it today, now that it’s raining, but we’ve long been wondering about that chronically wet spot on California SW at SW Edmunds, as have some readers. After no signs of change, we sent an inquiry to SDOT and Seattle Public Utilities last week, and today SPU spokesperson Sabrina Register replied, “We have (or will be soon) sending a crew to investigate. It appears to be a water issue (not drainage/wastewater issue).” So if you see a city crew at that intersection, that’s what they’re looking into. And if you have any knowledge of an earlier report to the city and/or investigation, please let us know. It seemed like if this went on much longer, we’d be running into the season where the wet spot would become an ice patch.
This month’s West Seattle Art Walk, coming up Thursday (September 14th), again features The Art of Music, this time with two free mini-concerts.
That’s Trevor Ras, who will perform at Welcome Road Winery in South Admiral (California/Charlestown). At CAPERS in The Junction (4525 California SW), you’ll see and hear Guitar Gil:
Both performances are 6 pm to 7:45 pm Thursday, and you can find out more about the musicians by going here. They’re sponsored by neighborhood groups – the Admiral Neighborhood Association and the Morgan Community Association, with funding from the city’s Neighborhood Matching Fund.
P.S. Of course there’s non-musical art on Art Walk night too – all over the peninsula! – find those previews here.
(WSB photo)
Thanks for the tips about a Seattle Fire response on the Arbor Heights side of Fauntleroy Park this morning. Tom Trulin sent the photo below, taken by Karen, showing firefighters at the scene in the park:
We asked SFD about the park fire; spokesperson Kristin Hanson says, “This was a brush fire that encompassed an area of approximately 10 ft x 10 ft. The cause was undetermined.” Meantime, Lynne emailed us to say she was the person who discovered and reported the fire:
I stumbled upon a small fire in Fauntleroy Woods at 8:20 this morning while walking my dog. I was worried about approaching it, fearing an aggressive person, but I couldn’t leave it to burn. After calling out several times, I realized no one was nearby. It was burning just off a less used trail at the base of a big pine tree. A fern and brush were in flames. I tried putting it out with the only thing I had, dirt filled with pine needles, which worked as well as you’d think, snuffled with flames popping up again. I got most of the flames out by stomping on it and pulling branches away, but flames kept appearing and there were too many sparks that would easily reignite. I had already called 911 and struggled through giving them a location. Address unknown and deep in the park, it was hard to figure out what to tell them. I ran up the hill as I heard sirens approaching and ran into my friend as I watched the fire truck go down the wrong road. He chased them down and fortunately we got them to the right location. They put out the obvious fire and sparks and came back up for more water while a second truck showed up. They were still there when I left. Neighbors came and told me this is the 2nd or 3rd fire recently in the woods at the base of big trees. There was talk of possibly an arsonist. This fire was not a campfire. There was no reason for a fire being there or natural causes. Definitely looked human induced for no reason. Makes me nervous about our beloved woods.
SFD did not send its investigator but Hanson is checking whether they’ve been tracking any trends in the area. Fauntleroy Park has multiple potential addresses, so it’s hard to search a log for previous calls, but we did get email on August 19th from an area resident who discovered evidence of a then-recent small fire that “looked like a box was burned, on a main trail.”
(WSB photo – Duwamish River and South Park Bridge)
Here’s what’s happening for the rest of your Tuesday:
FAUNTLEROY FALL FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER: The Birdhouse (35th/Henderson) is donating 30 percent of its proceeds today to the donations-and-volunteer-powered festival – open until 3 pm.
CHESS CLUB: Tuesdays 1:30-3 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon): “Are you looking for a new activity to keep your brain sharp and clear? The Senior Center Chess Club welcomes both novice and experienced players. Join us at 1:30 p.m. for lessons, short tutorials, and chess for all levels of expertise.” (Questions? Email conwell@conwelld.net.)
DEMONSTRATION FOR BLACK LIVES: Long-running weekly sign-waving demonstration at 16th/Holden. 5-6 pm. Signs available if you don’t have your own.
STORYTIME IN THE GARDEN: 6 pm stories and activities for kids at the Delridge P-Patch, weekly throughout the summer. (5078 25th SW)
CAMP SECOND CHANCE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COUNCIL: Got questions/concerns about West Seattle’s only tiny-house village? This 6 pm monthly online meeting has updates and opportunities for discussion.
SCRABBLE NIGHT: 6-10 pm, you can play Scrabble at The Missing Piece (9456 35th SW).
FREE TRACK RUN: Meet at West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) for this free weekly run at 6:15 pm.
THE CLAY CAULDRON: 6:30-9 pm “girls’ night” at pottery studio The Clay Cauldron (5214 Delridge Way SW), sign up in advance or drop in to work on your project(s).
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: 7 pm in-person meeting at Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill), all welcome. The agenda includes local police, City Attorney Ann Davison, recaps of summer events and a look ahead to fall.
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: 7 pm meeting, in-person or online, at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW), with an agenda also including local police as well as ferry-system updates, fall activities, and more.
SING! Singers have an open invitation to join the Seattle Metropolitan Singers – “all treble voices welcome” – just show up for one of their rehearsals, Tuesdays 7-9 pm at Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon).
TRIVIA X 4: Four places to play Tuesday nights – 7 pm at Ounces (3803 Delridge Way SW), free and hosted by Beat the Geek Trivia; 7 pm at Zeeks Pizza West Seattle (6459 California SW), hosted by Geeks Who Drink; 7 pm at Admiral Pub (2306 California SW); also, 7:30 and 8:30 pm Sporcle Pub Quiz at The Lodge (4209 SW Alaska).
BELLE OF THE BALLS BINGO: Play bingo with Cookie Couture at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW), 8 pm. Free, all ages!
You can peek into the future any time via our event calendar – if you have something to include on it, please email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Thanks for the tips about police and crime tape at the Admiral Way 7-11. An armed robbery is under investigation. An officer there told us it happened around 5:30 am and that $250 was taken by three robbers. Archived police-radio audio yields a few more details: It was reported about half an hour after it happened. The robbers are described as male, two Black, one white, all in pulled-up gray hoodies, with masks and blue gloves, one in gray sweat pants, two in black sweat pants, one with a silver semi-automatic handgun. Security video showed they got away in a gray four-door Hyundai sedan.
P.S. If you’re interested in asking local police about this or other recent crimes, they’re expected at tonight’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting (7 pm at Admiral Church, 4320 SW Hill).
10:13 AM: Crash reported at 35th/Holden, two vehicles, no injuries reported so far.
Earlier:
6:02 AM: Good morning. It’s Tuesday, September 12th.
WEATHER AND SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
Mostly cloudy, possible rain, high in the upper 60s. Today’s sunrise will be at 6:42 am; sunset will be at 7:27 pm.
TRANSIT TODAY
Washington State Ferries – 2-boat service on the Triangle Route. Check alerts for changes, and use Vessel Watch to see where your ferry is.
Metro – Regular schedule; check advisories here.
Water Taxi – Regular schedule.
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!
(Photo courtesy Dina F)
West Seattle-based wildlife biologist Kersti Muul is asking Lincoln Park-area visitors to watch for a possibly injured Great Blue Heron. She explains that it got tangled in fishing line:
The heron got caught up in a live line (active fisher). He reeled it in and untangled it. The combat fishing affords no room for wildlife. It also attracts a high number of species (gulls and other water birds, seals, sea lions, crows, and other scavenging sea life) that are at high risk of getting snagged and/or entangled.
The amount of derelict gear and trash down there is astonishing. A lot of snagging going on, especially when people cast into the kelp beds. They will often just cut the line; which means the remaining line with hook and lead weights or lures is in the water. *Lead poisoning is a risk to eagles and loons* both of which frequent the area.
Overall, she says, not just people fishing, but everyone visiting Lincoln Park – including those drawn to see the newly installed troll – needs to help protect wildlife:
I plead to Fisher-people and park visitors to be more aware of their impact, pack out their trash, mind their feet on fragile beach ecosystems… Also, seems like a good time to bring this up. Folks have been stripping the sea spray roses of their rosehips, and taking large amounts of driftwood off of the beach. This is illegal, unethical and destructive to the ecosystem and the species that rely upon these habitats.
Meantime, to try to reduce the risk from fishing line, Kersti also says:
I’m having a derelict fishing gear container installed at Pt. Williams soon. It’s a WDFW container that I will have a maintenance contract with. Others will be going in along Alki. I also do a post-pink season snorkel to look for derelict fishing gear.
Kersti has dealt with other wildlife that suffered injuries from stray fishing line/gear:
That gull eventually lost one of the legs that got bound together as shown in the photo. P.S. If you see the heron, she says, “Even if it’s flighted and ‘seems’ OK, I’d like to visually assess it just in case.” (Kersti’s at kersti.e.muul [at] gmail.com)
One week after state and city crews started clearing the encampment site between northeast Myers Way and southbound Highway 509, Governor Jay Inslee visited this afternoon to see what had been done so far.
It’s one of 30 state highway/freeway-adjacent sites statewide addressed by the Right Of Way Safety Initiative, which Inslee declared “is working.” (Also cleared as part of the initiative was the infamous 2nd/Michigan encampment by the West Seattle side of the 1st Avenue South Bridge.) Before the governor’s arrival, we talked with reps from several departments and agencies to get some numbers.
First: Though outreach workers had previous said more than 50 people were identified as living at the camp, they ultimately revised that number to 36, saying the camp was often “very active” with visitors and they eventually settled on a lower number of residents after early-morning visits gave them a clearer picture. Of those, 30 have been placed in housing, according to outreach workers. Some of that is hotel-room-type housing, some is permanent supportive housing, some is temporary shelter – 1 person was even placed at Camp Second Chance, the (usually full) tiny-house village a short distance south on Myers Way.
The original vehicle count on the site was 43, and three of those were confirmed as stolen. About half the vehicles remain on site, now abandoned and – at least the ones we saw close-up – uninhabitable. We’re told notices have been sent to their registered owners, giving them 15 business days to retrieve them, or else they’ll be either towed or demolished on site.
Another number: 1,000. That’s how many hours the governor was told that workers have put in on the site. Regarding what’s going to be done to keep it from being re-occupied, we’re told the concrete barriers along Myers Way will be put back in place, and a fence will be put up from the north end of Myers Way down to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints property south of the encampment.
Aside from the abandoned, not-yet-removed vehicles (and boat), the site appeared mostly clear, except for small debris like screws and nails visible in the dirt as we walked around. The governor also paused during the tour to make a statement and answer media questions, during which he declared, “This encampment has been eliminated,” adding that the initiative isn’t just about getting “squalor” out of sight, but also about getting people into housing:
Among the next steps is a followup meeting with residents of Arrowhead Gardens, the senior-living complex across the street, which campaigned for many months to get action taken. Resident rep Diane Radischat was there to talk with Inslee:
The followup meeting is planned for September 25th.
(WSB photo, Lincoln Park South Play Area right after July 2017 closure)
Five weeks ago. we reported that a contractor had been chosen for the long-delayed Lincoln Park South and Westcrest Park play-area projects. At the time, Seattle Parks said the “best estimate” was that work would start in “late summer,” though they didn’t know which would be first. So we checked back, with “late summer” running out, and learned that work actually is now still months away. Parks spokesperson Karen O’Connor tells WSB, “For the South Lincoln Park Play Area and Westcrest Play Area replacement projects, we will negotiate a start date with the contractor this fall. The contractor has other park projects under construction now that must be finished before these start. We have also learned the play equipment will be available to ship in March 2024. Construction will likely start in winter 2023/early 2024 to align with the availability of the play equipment.” By that time, Lincoln Park South will have been closed 6 1/2 years, while Westcrest will have been closed 2 1/2 years.
From Les via email:
Sometime last night, my white 2005 Chevy Silverado truck was stolen from in front of my house on SW Canada Drive. The truck plate # is C30524C. The truck is white in color with a regular cab and an 8-foot bed The truck bed contains some demolished white kitchen cabinets. Police report #23-263411.
THURSDAY UPDATE: Les’s truck was found in Gatewood, at 39th/Willow.
(Photo courtesy “Boating Motes”)
Also seen in Elliott Bay – Washington State Ferries‘ M/V Wenatchee, under tow. It’s arriving at Vigor on Harbor Island to make history as the first WSF vessel to be converted to hybrid-electric. (That’s also where the ferry was built 25 years ago.) The Wenatchee’s propulsion system also will be updated during the conversion. When it’s complete next year, it will return to service on the Seattle-Bainbridge Island route, and M/V Tacoma will head to Vigor for its hybrid-electric conversion.
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