West Seattle, Washington
21 Thursday
6:22 PM: According to radio exchanges between dispatch and police, Guardian One is over the Don Armeni Boat Ramp area because it’s assisting King County Sheriff’s Office deputies with tracking suspects in a Burien-area carjacking. Avoid the area.
6:29 PM: King County and SPD units are now pursuing the vehicle, described as the gold Suburban that was stolen in the carjacking, southbound on Harbor.
6:31 PM: According to radio exchanges, the vehicle is still on the move but one suspect is in custody at or near Harbor/Spokane.
6:39 PM: The stolen vehicle is now reported to be stolen in a fiery crash at West Marginal Way/2nd SW. Law-enforcement officers and the helicopter were reported to have lost track of the vehicle before this happened. At least one person may still have been in the vehicle, which is now reported to be engulfed in flames.
(Image from nearest SDOT camera)
6:44 PM: SPD says SFD is telling them no one is in the vehicle. … The Suburban reportedly collided with a semitruck, though we don’t know if it was moving or parked. … And now police are saying the other suspect IS in the vehicle.
7:07 PM: One person is going to be taken to Harborview, per SFD. Note that streets are closed and buses (routes 131 and 132) rerouted in this area because of the crash investigation.
(WSB photo)
7:35 PM: Above, that’s the Suburban, in a photo sent by our crew just after they arrived. And this is the semi:
(WSB photo)
7:51 PM: We and a few other media crews are awaiting an SPD public-information officer. Meantime the officers and firefighters at the scene are awaiting an SDOT incident-response team to clean up an extensive fluid slick and other debris.
7:56 PM: The official briefing hasn’t happened yet but SFD spokesperson David Cuerpo is there too and has told us that the 53-year-old truck driver was checked out and OK, while the driver of the stolen car was in critical condition when transported.
8:44 PM: Both SFD’s Cuerpo and SPD spokesperson Officer Brian Pritchard have briefed us. The only major details beyond what we’ve reported above are that the first suspect, (updated) 21 years old, was arrested when he jumped out of the stolen vehicle at Harbor/Spokane; the person left behind in the vehicle, a juvenile, decided to drive off, and that’s the person who crashed the Suburban and was pulled from the wreckage.
10:31 PM: Police at the scene just told dispatch that the streets are cleared and reopened.
4:27 PM: Thanks for the tips. Flag-waving demonstrators are blocking the westbound lanes of the West Seattle Bridge at the crest. The only image we have so far is from a distance but it appears to be the Palestinian flag:
4:37 PM: It may have been a short-lived demonstration – 911 dispatch reports traffic is moving again. We can’t independently verify via traffic cameras as the video feeds remain broken (SDOT has no ETA on a repair). One reader says the demonstrators were in cars, not on foot.
(Added: Photo texted by Aaron)
4:42 PM: We’ve verified from the Fauntleroy end of the bridge that traffic is moving again, no further sign of the flag-wavers.
If you can donate blood, Bloodworks Northwest hopes you will sign up for a spot in their West Seattle “pop-up” starting next week. Here’s the announcement they asked us to share:
The month of January is usually a period of critical blood shortages. People stop donating blood during the holidays and when they get sick during cold and flu season. Blood drives can also get snowed out during the winter months.
More than 50 years ago — on December 31, 1969 — the president of the United States signed a proclamation designating January as National Blood Donor Month. The new monthly observance was meant to honor voluntary blood donors and to encourage more people to give blood at a time when more blood is needed.
This January, the need has never been greater. 1 in 7 people entering a hospital will need blood and local hospitals are at capacity. In fact, blood is being transfused in local hospitals faster than it is being donated. Your donation this month is critical to health of our community.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in West Seattle (4001 44th Ave SW) is hosting West Seattle pop-up blood-donation days on Tuesday, January 2, Wednesday, January 3, Thursday, January 4, Monday, January 8, Tuesday, January 9, and Wednesday, January 10, in the gym. Please sign up to give blood! Appointments required. Bloodworks recently switched to a new appointment portal. If you need help booking your appointment, please e-mail schedule@bloodworksnw.org or call 800-398-7888.
All donors in January can enter to win a $2,000 spa and wellness gift card. For information about eligibility, recent FDA updates, and more, please visit Bloodworks website BloodworksNW.org
(Reader photo)
1:12 PM: Thanks for the photos. Seattle Fire and Police are on the scene of a car-on-side crash in the 1300 block of Alki Avenue SW.
(Reader photo)
1:16 PM: SFD says firefighters have extricated one person from the crashed car.
(Reader photo by Rick)
1:24 PM: Firefighters just told dispatch that one person is going to the hospital by private ambulance, which indicates injuries are not life-threatening.
1:35 PM: We’ve confirmed at the scene that the driver, a woman, was transported. One lane of traffic has just reopened at the scene. … Two parked vehicles were damaged – one hit by the driver and pushed into the other one.
4:05 PM: SFD tells us the 77-year-old driver was in stable condition when she was taken to the hospital.
We’re catching up with the files in some long-running criminal cases. First: A reader tipped us that the case of a quadruple shooting at Alki Beach in June 2021, killing one person and injuring three others, has ended in a plea agreement.
(June 2021 photo by David Hutchinson)
Milton Arnold III of Des Moines, now 21, originally was charged with second-degree murder for killing 22-year-old Tilorae Shepherd of Federal Way and two counts of first-degree assault for wounding a man and woman (the fourth victim was a friend of Arnold, hit accidentally). The gunfire followed a confrontation over fireworks, as detailed in our first report on the original charges. At some point Shepherd reportedly displayed a gun but did not pull it. Arnold claimed he fired in self-defense, and prosecutors cited that as the reason for reducing the charges; he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault. He had no prior convictions, and court documents show that last month King County Superior Court Judge Ken Schubert sentenced him to a total of four and a half years in prison. That will include credit for time served since his arrest two and a half years ago.
(Cormorants, photographed in mid-December by Steve Bender on the Duwamish River at T-107 Park)
The low-key week-between-holidays continues, but you do have some options in the hours ahead:
SCRABBLE CLUB: Play 12:30-1:30 pm at Margie’s Café inside the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon).
NORTHWEST WINE ACADEMY: Tasting room/wine bar on the north end of South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) is open 1 pm-8 pm.
BUSINESS FESTIVAL DURING KWANZAA, DAY 1: 2-7 pm, workshops and vendors at the Washington State Black Legacy Institute (2656 42nd SW), as previewed here. Today’s lineup is on this RSVP page.
VISCON CELLARS: Tasting room/wine bar open – wine by the glass or bottle – 5-9 pm at Viscon Cellars (5910 California SW; WSB sponsor). Viscon’s first-ever sparkling wine is available in time for New Year’s!
ASTRA LUMINA: One more week for the celestially inspired light show on the grounds of the Seattle Chinese Garden at the north end of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus continues tonight, 5 pm. Timed tickets and pricing info here.
LIVE MUSIC AT C & P: Art Frankel performs at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm.
SHOWCASE AT THE SPOT: Fridays are Live Artist Showcase nights at The Spot West Seattle (2920 SW Avalon Way), 7-10 pm.
LIVE MUSIC AT WEST SEATTLE BREWING: Mercury Black, 8 pm. (4415 Fauntleroy Way SW)
DJ NIGHT AT REVELRY ROOM: Music 9 pm-1 am on Fridays! Tonight’s DJ: Lady Coco. (4547 California SW)
Something to add to our calendar? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Cozy Comedy, run by two West Seattleites who produce shows here and around the region, has big news:
We have our FIRST charity comedy show coming up on January 11, 2024, benefiting the Lafayette PTA! Cozy Comedy will not be making a penny of profit from this show; all proceeds are going to the Lafayette PTA. Otter on the Rocks has graciously agreed to let us have an additional evening of entertainment in their business for this great cause!
Tickets are available at this link – eventbrite.com/e/laughing-for-leopards-comedy-fundraiser-for-lafayette-pta-tickets-759136446547
Date and Time – Thursday, January 11, 7 pm show start!
Where: Otter on the Rocks, West Seattle
Benefitting the Lafayette PTA
Otter on the Rocks (4210 SW Admiral) is one of the venues where Cozy Comedy – whose backstory we told last year – presents shows each
(Photo by Maya Sears, NMFS Permit 27052)
Back on Tuesday, we published photographer Brittany Noelle‘s report about discovering a new baby orca with the Southern Residents’ J-Pod. Now whale advocates are excited about the calf’s relatively speedy gender reveal. He showed himself to West Seattle researchers Mark and Maya Sears, and The Whale Trail‘s Donna Sandstrom sent us their photos and details last night:
Mark and Maya Sears were out with J pod again (Thursday). They encountered J60, and confirmed he is a male! They encountered the whales near Point No Point on the north end of Bainbridge Island.
It can sometimes takes a while to determine gender of an orca – when they are young, the only way to tell them apart is by the markings on their underbellies. A whale has to roll over so the markings are visible – which J60 did (Thursday), twice!
(Photo by Maya Sears, NMFS Permit 27052)
J60’s mom is J40 (aka Suttles), a 19-year-old female. This is her first calf (that we know of). Maya said that J46, a 13-yr-old female named Star, spent a lot of time around the new calf too.
An interesting bit of history – Mark and Maya were the first people to spot J40 in 2004, when she was a newborn calf. The Sears encountered J40 and her mom J14 (Samish) mid-channel between Lincoln Park and Blake Island on December 21, 2004:
(2004 photo of then-newborn J40 and J14, by Mark Sears)
Nearly nineteen years to the day after they spotted J40, they spotted her first calf (J60).
There’s long been speculation that central Puget Sound is a calving ground for the southern residents. At least for J pod, that appears to be true!
(Photo by Maya Sears, NMFS Permit 27052)
There are now 10 calves under five years old in the southern resident population, and six of those are female. The future of the population is here! Whether they survive and thrive into adulthood is up to us.
Here’s how people can help:
-Give the orcas the acoustic space they need to forage, rest, and socialize.
-Watch southern residents from shore, and stay 1000 yards away from them at sea..
-Take the pledge at givethemspace.org and encourage your friends to take it too.
-Download the free app Whale Alert to learn when southern residents are near. Share any whale sightings with the app too..This year Washington State passed legislation to establish a 1000-yard acoustic buffer around the orcas. The setback will become mandatory in 2025 – a welcome step forward. But the orcas need our help today. Take the pledge and help us give J60 a fighting chance!
J60’s birth brings the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales’ population to 76.
6:00 AM: Good morning. It’s Friday, December 29, and we’re headed for another three-day holiday weekend.
WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
Mostly cloudy, chance of rain, high in the mid-50s. Today’s sunrise will be at 7:57 am, and the sun will set at 4:24 pm.
TRANSIT UPDATES + HOLIDAY PREVIEWS
Holiday previews – Here’s the announcement about most transit services going fare-free on New Year’s Eve (until 3 am New Year’s Day) … On NY Day, Metro buses will be on a Sunday schedule; the Water Taxis will be out of service (despite the big hockey event at T-Mobile Park).
Water Taxi today – Regular schedule. Check the real-time map if you’re wondering where the boat is.
Metro today – Regular schedule; check advisories here.
Washington State Ferries today – 2-boat service on the Triangle Route. Check alerts for changes, and use the real-time map to see where your ferry is.
SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS
(If you’ve noticed that the video options on SDOT’s camera map don’t work, SDOT tells us they’re working on it, but no ETA for the fix.)
Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Orchard), cameras are also at Delridge/Genesee, Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Henderson, 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:
1st Ave. S. Bridge – another 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 feed on X (ex-Twitter) shows whether the city’s movable bridges are opening for vessel traffic.
If you see a problem on the bridges/streets/paths/bay, please text or call us (when you can do that safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities if applicable). Thank you!
David sent this as an open thank-you letter for Thursday evening help:
At around 5 pm, my old 1984 gray Chevy Cavalier station wagon’s transmission finally died while waiting to make a left-hand turn on 35th Avenue SW and SW Thistle westbound with a load of groceries from the White Center Safeway.
I’d like to publicly thank the unknown young lady and unknown female driver of a big white pickup truck who came to my assistance and gave me a “heavenly shove” out of the left-turn lane onto westbound SW Thistle so I could safely wait for a tow to my residence in Upper Gatewood.
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