West Seattle, Washington
26 Friday
Police are investigating a confirmed gunfire incident on Pigeon Point. It was reported shortly before 9 pm in the 4500 block of 21st SW. Responding officers found shell casings; no injuries reported. Whoever fired the shots was in a vehicle; one texter tells us they “saw a blue SUV speed away.” If you have any information, the SPD incident number is 24-074883.
Another community coalition with a lot going on …
That’s a photo by Alki Community Council president Charlotte Starck from last week’s personal-safety seminar, hosted by the ACC and presented by Seattle Police at West Seattle (Admiral) Library. She reports, “SPD Officer German Barreto presented, with Seattle Police instructor Sarah Lawson, who brought experience as a 911 operator and a victim of crime herself. She shared her own experience getting out of an attempted robbery and stabbing when a knife-wielding attacker came at her and she used her metal water bottle to defend herself and her loud commanding voice.” Speaking of loud voices, Starck recounts a memorable moment from the seminar: “There was one point when the basement meeting room at the library was anything but quiet as attendees found their voice in calling for help from police at the top of their lungs.” She also says participants learned about texting 911 and Smart 911, plus the overall importance of contacting 911 when something’s happening. “The message was clear, call 911. They are the experts in determining a response for emergency or non-emergency. Instructors said don’t ever assume that someone else called in any obvious emergency. It is better to have more calls on emergencies than to have few or even none because people thought someone already called.”
COUNCILMEMBER SAKA AT NEXT ACC MEETING: The ACC’s next meeting is this Thursday (March 21), 7 pm at Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds), and City Councilmember Rob Saka is the main guest, as he continues making the rounds of community groups. (Here’s our coverage of his three recent West Seattle appearances: District 1 Community Network, Admiral Neighborhood Association, and a small-business mini-roundtable.) Though ACC meetings are usually hybrid, this one is in-person only.
Spring arrives tomorrow night. Spring weather showed up a few days ago. Want to be ready to enjoy all the outdoor fun the warm season offers? Fitness Together West Seattle (longtime WSB sponsor) has reopened its expanded studios (4546 California SW) and is offering deals! The announcement from proprietor Bryan Habas:
We’ve expanded our facility and are thrilled to welcome you to our new space. It’s the perfect time to kickstart your fitness journey with us. Choose from two incredible re-opening deals:
-Get 50% off your first month of membership, or
-Save 15% on packages of 10, 25, or 50 sessionsIf you are thinking about getting back into shape, let us help make your fitness goals a reality!
Fitness Together’s offerings include personal training, either in-studio or online. And small-group classes start next month!
(Photos/video by Tom Trulin)
Shown above is the first outbound salmon smolt of the season spotted in one of Fauntleroy Creek‘s new traps this morning, and released to saltwater moments later. This year’s smolt research will use traps designed, built, and installed as part of an Eagle Scout project. Judy Pickens of the Fauntleroy Watershed Council tells the story:
Every spring, coho smolts leave Fauntleroy Creek to feed in Fauntleroy Cove before heading farther afield for their two years in saltwater, and every year since 2003, volunteers have been counting them as they leave.
This annual research requires designing two soft net traps, building them, installing them in the upper and lower creek, and monitoring them twice daily to count and release the smolts.
Ben Vornbrock ably accomplished three of these tasks for his Eagle Scout project, and being from a family that builds helped (Vornbrock & Sons Construction). After consulting with creek volunteers Dennis Hinton and Tom Trulin about trap design, he reviewed it with dad Dan and granddad Greg and assembled the materials. Other Scouts from Troop 284 joined them creekside last Wednesday (March 13) to assemble and install the traps.
Monitors will check the traps twice daily into mid May. The upper trap will catch smolts from school releases last spring in Fauntleroy Park. The lower trap will catch those coming out of the middle reach of the creek, as well as home hatch from fall 2022 spawning in the lower creek.
“Because this is important research, we ask everyone not to tamper with the traps,” Dennis advised. “If you happen to see one of us checking a trap, we’ll be happy to explain what we’re doing and why.”
(WSB photo, Sunday morning)
After more brown water this weekend – including at WSB HQ – blamed on hydrant testing, which stirs up “sediment” (mostly rust) in the lines, we checked with SFD to see if they had any stats on the number of hydrants tested, and if they could recap the policy. Here’s the reply we received from SFD spokesperson Kristin Hanson:
Per our department policy, hydrants are not inspected when temperatures are below 35 degrees to comply with cold weather procedures, so many stations likely saw a “bright” opportunity with the sunshine this weekend to get started. We inspect all hydrants on an annual basis, typically between the hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hydrant inspections within neighborhoods is dependent on when the fire station is able to work it into their schedule (with call volume, scheduled training, etc.).
We do keep an internal dashboard for hydrants that tracks the completed hydrant inspections for each fire station district. At this time it isn’t available to the public, and is not updated in real-time so it wouldn’t be of use to alert residents in advance to inspections in their neighborhood. To that point, you mentioned that you saw Engine 37 testing hydrants yesterday; however, that has not been updated in the dashboard. For 2024, it appears the majority of our stations have yet to begin (or not yet recorded) hydrant inspections. We do however, have crews contact the SPU Hydrant Inspection Messaging Line prior to flowing water into the barrel of a City-owned hydrant for non-emergency purposes, including conducting annual hydrant inspections, drilling, refilling the booster tank, or flow testing for the Fire Prevention Division.
Hydrant testing isn’t the only potential cause of brown water, though, so even if you think that’s the cause, please notify Seattle Public Utilities’ hotline – 206-386-1800 – it may be first word of a line break or other problem.
(Photos courtesy John Bennett)
A milestone birthday for a West Seattle restaurant! Luna Park Café (2918 SW Avalon Way) is celebrating 35 years in business. Owner John Bennett sent photos, including the ones below “from 1988 when I gutted Pat and Ron’s Tavern to build the restaurant.”
You can read more Luna Park history – including its namesake amusement park, located a short distance north more than a century ago – on the LPC website. The café is currently open for breakfast and lunch, 8 am-3 pm daily, but Bennett says they’re “hopefully opening for dinner this spring.”
(Weekend early-early-morning moonset over Elliott Bay, photographed by Robert Spears)
Here’s the list for the rest of today/tonight, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
CITY COUNCIL BRIEFING MEETING: 2 pm at City Hall, the weekly meeting in which councilmembers talk about their plans for the week ahead. Here’s the agenda. Watch live via Seattle Channel.
TODDLER GYM PLAYTIME: Free indoor drop-in playspace 3-5 pm at the Salvation Army Center. (9050 16th SW).
GET CRAFTY: 6-10 pm, Monday brings “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.
MONDAY NIGHT COMEDY: The monthly show at Otter on the Rocks (4210 SW Admiral Way) is tonight, headlined by Kermit Apio, with some tickets still available as of publication time – 7 pm, 21+.
MONDAY NIGHT TRIVIA! Three options tonight – 7 pm at The Good Society (California/Lander); 7 and 8 pm Sporcle Pub Quiz at Three 9 Lounge (4505 39th SW); 7:30 pm with QuizFix at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW)
MEDITATION IN FAUNTLEROY: Free weekly Zen sitting/meditation at the chapel at Fauntleroy UCC (9140 California SW), 7 pm-8:30 pm.
MEDITATION ON ALKI: The Alki Dharma Community invites you to Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds) for meditation. 7 pm.
MUSIC AT THE ALLEY: Live music with The Westside Trio, 8 pm at The Alley (behind 4509 California SW), 21+, no cover.
KARAOKE: 9 pm, Monday night karaoke at Talarico’s Pizzeria (4718 California SW).
Have a West Seattle/White Center event to add to our calendar and/or Holiday Guide? Please send info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
One of our area’s volunteer-powered nonprofits could use more help. Here’s what the Senior Center of West Seattle asked us to share with you:
The Senior Center of West Seattle is currently looking for volunteers to fill several different vacancies at their Junction location. Current volunteer needs:
–Café attendant (take and fill soup/sandwich/food orders): Wednesdays from 8:30 to 12.
–Stop and Shop (retail clerk): various days/times
–Kitchen assistant (chop/prep/run a commercial dishwasher): various dates/times
–Westside Friends (in-home visits to seniors to socialize and/or assist with simple home tasks) various days/times
For more information contact their Volunteer Coordinator, Danny, at dannyp@soundgenerations.org or complete a volunteer application at Volunteer – Senior Center of West Seattle.
No previous experience necessary, training provided.
6:04 AM: Good morning! It’s Monday, March 18th, last full day of winter.
WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
A slight cooldown after a weekend with record warmth in the 70s both days. More sunshine expected today, but temps are projected to top out in the low 60s. Sunrise will be at 7:14 am, sunset at 7:20 pm.
(Sunday sunset – photo by Dan Ciske)
TRANSIT NOTES
Metro today – Regular schedule; check advisories here.
Water Taxi today – Regular schedule. Check the real-time map if you need to see where the boat is.
Washington State Ferries today – The usual 2 boats on the Triangle Route. Check WSF alerts for changes. Use the real-time map to see where your ferry is.
SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS
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:
Highway 99: – northbound side at Lander:
MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: All functioning traffic cams citywide are here; 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/water, please text or call us (when you can do that safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities if they’re not already on scene). Thank you!
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