West Seattle, Washington
13 Saturday
Though most government offices are closed tomorrow for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the State Legislature will be in session. This year is the “short session,” so legislators have two months to get everything done. Our area is part of the 34th Legislative District (here’s a map), represented by State Sen. Joe Nguyễn and State Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon and Emily Alvarado, all West Seattle residents, though the district stretches beyond, including White Center and Vashon and Maury Islands.
The delegation has notable clout this year, as Sen. Nguyễn is now vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which writes the budget, while Rep. Fitzgibbon is House Majority Leader; Alvarado is vice chair of the Housing and Local Government committees. You can keep track of what they’re doing in Olympia via the Legislature website, though it’s a somewhat daunting task – Sen. Nguyễn, for example, is sponsor or co-sponsor of 354 bills, including 21 for which he is the primary sponsor; for Rep. Fitzgibbon, those numbers are 171 and 18; for Rep. Alvarado, 123 and 15. You can use the lookups on this page to research bills in a variety of ways. Combing through the lists of bills, you’ll find a wide variety of topics; for example, Rep. Alvarado’s bills include renters’ rights (HB2114), pedestrians’ rights (HB1428), and gift-card reforms (HB2094). Most of the measures listing Rep. Fitzgibbon as the main sponsor are procedural because of his role. Sen. Nguyễn’s bills include establishing an AI task force (SB5838), reducing the drunk-driving threshold to .05 blood-alcohol level (SB5002), and lifting the state ban on local governments making gun laws (SB5446). To send a legislator a message, whether to support/oppose a specific bill or about something else, you can use the links on this page.
After multiple 911 calls about suspected gunfire heard in Fairmount Ravine, police went to the area, and officers have just told dispatch the gunfire is confirmed – they’ve found casings. They’re “just past the Admiral bridge,” which dispatch calculates is in the 2500 block of Fairmount Avenue [map]. No word of injuries so far.
5:06 PM: We did get into the 30s today – but the temperature’s below freezing again already, and that’s still causing trouble. Thanks to the readers who’ve reported weather-related problems – for example, the sign up on the door at Spud Fish and Chips on Alki, closed because of broken pipes. We’ve also heard from a reader who reports:
We live on 35th between Brandon and Findlay. There seems to be some kind of water leak nearer Findlay that is running down the street and is now just a sheet of ice.
We pointed them to Seattle Public Utilities (206-386-1800). More weather notes to come.
6:25 PM: Though the weather was very cold, the views were beautiful again today. Above, Lynn Hall‘s photo of the Olympics early this morning; below, Kanit Cottrell‘s photo of the sunset colors and moon at day’s end:
We’ve also received yet another report of pipe trouble – a reader who says an apartment building in the Fairmount Park area is dealing with flooding after a break. And SPU’s water-outage map shows emergency repairs are under way in the 7700 block of 20th SW, with an outage affecting more than 70 homes. (The map also says the situation on 55th SW reported here last night was repaired by 12:30 am.) Today’s official high was 31, official low 19; normal would be 48/38.
7:30 PM: A commenter reports service has been restored in the 7700 block of 20th SW. A new problem has popped up – a reader emailed to say that water is flowing from the northwest corner of California/Juneau (former fitness studio) and down the street, so beware of possible road ice in that area.
Sent by a reader:
My family and I live in Schmitz Park neighborhood. At 3:55 [am] our doorbell rang and we got up cautiously, dogs barking loudly. I looked out the shades and a large man was pressed up against our front door (very well lit front area raised home). I could only see his arm and hand. My husband looked out the peephole and saw a flat top haircut very close to the door. We called 911 and told our kids to get under their beds. He stayed at least 10 minutes, at which point one of our kids said they saw a shadow move.
The resident says that despite multiple calls, police didn’t arrive for two hours: “Police came 6:01. Big response and great guys but understaffed and couldn’t get to us because of another incident.” Listening to recorded dispatch audio, we heard the call mentioned over the air by the dispatcher a few minutes after 4 am, but no officer is heard acknowledging it; an increasing amount of communication takes place off-air, screen to screen, so it’s not clear what else was happening at the time. Meantime, we asked the resident if they found any signs later that the person they saw had tried to break in, and she said they did not, and that none of their neighbors reported anything similar.
(Ferry passing Alki Point last Monday, photographed by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
Wednesday afternoon and Thursday evening (January 17-18), Washington State Ferries will host two online sessions of its next systemwide community meeting. WSF says they’ll “focus on systemwide topics like route service, ferry system electrification, and the latest from recruitment and workforce development (as well as) answering questions from participants.” The Wednesday meeting starts at 12:30 pm, the Thursday meeting at 6 pm, and registration links for both are on this WSF webpage. That’s also where you’ll find a link to send question(s) in advance. (If you’re interested in preparatory reading, the newest WSF “contingency plan” has plenty of it.)
Some community groups haven’t been able to return to in-person meetings since going online because of the pandemic – finding (free or low-fee) places to host an evening meeting with room for at least a few dozen people is more difficult than you’d think. The Morgan Community Association, which meets quarterly, is finally going in-person this Wednesday, and president Deb Barker sent this announcement:
First, there’s all this equipment you need to find – a functioning laptop, a projector, remote speaker, microphone, an auxiliary camera, and heavy duty extension cords. Then you need a public place to set it up. Then you send out invitations. Check, check, and check. What is going on??
It’s the first time in four years that the Morgan Community Association will meet in person. And not just in person, but with a HYBRID meeting.
We are grateful to the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation for letting us use their Social Hall for our meeting on Wednesday, January 17, 2024 from 7 to 9pm. The address is 7141 California Ave SW, and the zoom link is us02web.zoom.us/j/89608491338. Be sure to enter the Social Hall off the small parking lot on California Ave SW. Please do not park in the lot before 6:40 pm.
The meeting features Seattle City Light’s update on the Morgan Junction EV charging station, Seattle Parks’ introduction of Morgan Junction All Wheels Association and their ideas for Morgan Junction Park, welcoming the owner of Alki Arts Gallery and Event Space (newly located in Morgan Junction), and picking the date of the Morgan Junction Community Festival.
Here’s the full meeting agenda.
Everyone is welcome at the Morgan Community Association Meeting on January 17, 2024.
For a snapshot of history, here’s our report on that last in-person meeting, in January 2020. (And here’s our coverage of MoCA’s most-recent meeting, last October.)
(Photo sent by Eric – rain-soaked trees at Lincoln Park last Wednesday)
Here’s what’s happening on this extra-cold Sunday in West Seattle, mostly from our Event Calendar:
KING TIDE: The highest high tide of the day is predicted to be at 13 feet or higher today through Tuesday – 13.0 feet today at 7:40 am.
UK FOOTBALL: Admiral Pub (2306 California SW) opens early so you can watch Manchester United vs. Tottenham at 8:30 am. English breakfast available, too.
WESTIES RUN CLUB: Meet at 9 am at rotating locations – today it’s Ampersand Café (2536 Alki SW).
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, the market is open as usual between SW Alaska and SW Oregon on California, offering early-winter vegetables and fruit as well as cheese, fish, meat, baked goods, condiments, fresh-cooked food, beverages (from cider to kombucha to beer/wine), nuts, candy, more! Here’s today’s vendor list.
DRAG BRUNCH: At Lumber Yard Bar in White Center (9630 16th SW), 11 am-2 pm (show at noon), hosted by Jolene Granby – info in our calendar listing.
FREE CLASSICAL CONCERT: The Ladies Musical Club presents a free concert at West Seattle (Admiral) Library (2306 42nd SW), 3 pm. The planned program is in our calendar listing.
AT THE SKYLARK: Pageant to crown the National Pacific Northwest Bearded Queen, 7 pm. More info and ticket link here. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
LIVE MUSIC AT THE ALLEY: Triangular Jazztet plays The Alley (4509 California SW) as usual, 8-10 pm.
Something in the future for our calendar – one-time or recurring? Please email us the info – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
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