West Seattle, Washington
27 Thursday
The city Office of Labor Standards announced today that it has settled with Chipotle over alleged labor-law violations at eight area restaurants. We confirmed with the city that the West Seattle location (opened nine years ago at 4730 California SW) is one of them. First, from the city announcement, here are the basics:
The Office of Labor Standards (OLS) investigated Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. for alleged violations of the Secure Scheduling and Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) Ordinances throughout Chipotle’s eight operations in Seattle.
Chipotle settled the allegations and agreed to pay a total financial remedy of $2,895,716.73 to 1,853 employees and $7,308.63 to the City of Seattle. Chipotle also agreed to develop and implement a written Secure Scheduling Ordinance (SSO) policy.
This is the largest SSO settlement since the ordinance’s creation and the fourth largest overall in the history of the office. …
Under the Secure Scheduling Ordinance, OLS alleged the employer:
-Failed to consistently provide premium pay for schedule changes when required;
-Retaliated against an employee for declining to work or consent to a shift change made with less than 14 days’ notice;
-Retaliated against an employee for requesting not to be scheduled at certain times in conflict with a second job; and
-Failed to maintain records of original work schedules, as required by the Secure Scheduling Ordinance.Under the Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, OLS also alleged the employer:
-Failed to provide PSST accrual at the correct rate;
-Lacked a compliant written PSST policy; and
-Retaliated against an employee for calling out sick.
We asked the OLS how the West Seattle Chipotle factored into this. The response: “There were 99 employees who worked at that location during the relevant violation period, of whom 79 were aggrieved parties under the Agreement. 12 received civil penalties for Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance violations and 78 for Secure Scheduling Ordinance violations.” The OLS also provided the settlement document; it lists the workers but does not match them to which restaurant they worked at. Reviewing that list, we note the largest sum awarded to any one employee appears to be $23,083, which includes back wages, interest, damages, and civil penalties.
We have more information tonight about what the burglar who hit Fauntleroy Schoolhouse earlier this week did across the street on the Fauntleroy Church campus. According to a church representative, he didn’t break into that building, but “took items from the exterior of Hazelwood Preschool which were of low value and very strange.” The preschool is on the lower level of the church building, off the parking lot. The church representative says the items stolen from the preschool included these:
Outdoor mat
Acorn birdhouse
Rainbow whale windsock
Rainbow fish windsock
Wind Chimes and Windcatcher
Sign
Garden gnomeHe also took daffodils from the planting done by the students.
A security camera shows him leaving via Junction-bound RapidRide C Line – which stops in front of the schoolhouse (9100 block California SW) – after bringing the stolen items (including larger ones from the schoolhouse businesses) onto the bus via a stolen hand truvk. If you have any information about the burglary/theft, the SPD incident # is 24-095013.
Thanks for the photos!
Ann Adachi‘s image of the pre-sunset rainbow is the most vivid one we received. … Earlier in the day, before those glimpses of blue sky, clouds presided over a low-low tide:
Thanks to Lynn Hall for that view over Duwamish Head. Tomorrow’s low-low tide will be out to -2.0 feet, almost as low as today, at 2:19 pm. If you can’t get out to beachwalk until Saturday, it’ll be -1.4 feet at 3:07 pm. And all this is just a warmup for next month’s low-low tides – including -3.2 feet at 12:24 pm on May 9.
6:09 PM: We’re out visiting a few of the three-dozen-plus venues participating in tonight’s West Seattle Art Walk:
First stop, ArtsWest (4711 California SW; WSB sponsor), where, until 7 pm, you can meet artist Audineh Asaf, whose work is on display in the gallery through May 13. Her work features “a blend of materials and techniques including collage, acrylic transfer, embossment, sewing, and digital art.”
7 PM: Robert Kinsey is exhibiting, as is Emily Criswell, at Kingtide Ink (4222 SW Walker) until 8 pm:
(It’s Kingtide’s Art Walk debut!) … B Line Dot is at West Seattle Grounds (2141 California SW):
Also in Admiral, you’ll find Autumn Tranquilino at West Seattle Realty (2715 California SW; WSB sponsor) until 9 pm:
And at Hawthorne Massage and Self-Care (2237 California SW) – the artist whose work is featured on this quarter’s Art Walk poster, Aude Arutunian:
Though we spent most of our time in Admiral tonight, you’ll find displays in neighborhoods from Alki to Morgan Junction – see the previews (including venues offering food and beverage specials) here!
Just out of the inbox, from the Corner Pocket in The Junction: “A vendor of ours at the Corner Pocket just had ‘Iron Maiden’ pinball machine stolen off the back of his truck. They stole the machine and a dolly that he had in his truck.” This happened in the lot off the north side of 44th/Alaska between 1:30-2 pm. We’ll add the SPD incident # when we get it.
The Sound Transit System Expansion Committee‘s monthly meeting just wrapped up. The only formal mention of the West Seattle Link Extension was this brief update toward the end of the meeting:
While presenting that slide, ST’s Don Billen mentioned another possible stretch in the timeline, saying – without elaboration – that the time between the Final EIS and the Record of Decision (which follows the board’s final vote on the exact routing and station locations) might be “longer than we’re used to.” They’re also waiting for final federal signoff on the plan recently approved to start the process of “early acquisition” of some properties in North Delridge and SODO.
At the start of the meeting, during open public comment, the only person to speak about West Seattle light rail was King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. She pleaded with the board members to consider slight “refinements” in the Delridge station location and route that she said could save money and businesses. Along Yancy, for example, a short distance west of the Delridge station, she said a 20-foot shift in pillar locations could prevent some demolition. Same for moving the station location about 100 feet. “Use surface streets and parking lots” rather than going over existing businesses on which a thriving community – including her family, North Delridge residents – relies. She told the board that, to be clear, she and the businesses are all very much in favor of light rail – “we WANT light rail” – they just think that “refinements” could make it more of a win-win. (Added: Here’s everything she told, and wanted to tell, the board members, in PDF.)
Meantime, two of the businesses in the current path of the station location, Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and The Skylark, both have sent open letters to their mailing lists in the past 18 hours, asking for community help. We’re working on a separate followup about that.
Saturday, May 11, is this year’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – coordinated by WSB – so we are exactly one month away! Another date to note if you are planning on having a sale – registration, which opened last week, will continue for two more weeks, until April 25. Almost 200 sales are already registered – in every West Seattle neighborhood, offering an amazing array of items … and sales pitches, like “Come say hi to our cute dog,” “We are fun to hang out with,” “Two storage units worth of stuff,” “Everything is $1,” and most curiosity-piquing, “Ephemera, flotsam, forgotten dreams.” The listings are all in the printable guide as well as attached to their respective spots on the map, and that will be ready one week in advance of WSCGSD (which runs 9 am-3 pm May 11, though some choose to start early and/or end later). Ready to register your sale? Go here!
Today we’re welcoming Devonshire Landscapes as a new WSB sponsor. When new sponsors join us to advertise their local businesses to you, they get the opportunity to tell you about who they are and what they do – here’s what Devonshire Landscapes would like you to know:
Devonshire Landscapes is a full-service landscape company located near White Center, exclusively serving our neighbors in West Seattle, Burien, Normandy Park, and Des Moines. Our local small business has earned a well-established reputation over 25 years. Please see our many 5-star reviews from your neighbors on Google!
We offer landscape design and installation including patios, decks, fences, and much more. We can help with ECA and steep-slope projects including permitting for retaining walls and native-plant restoration. We have a team dedicated specifically to irrigation, drainage, and lighting.
Devonshire Landscapes‘ maintenance services differ from others in that we send the same crew on the same day around the same time. We can even send them a text-message reminder the morning of service visit days. Clients pay the same amount each month and can pay online or set up automatic credit card payments, AND they can cancel anytime if they are not happy. We use Organic fertilizers and little/no pesticides to protect pets, children, and our environment/ wildlife/ Puget Sound. We use electric equipment to minimize disruption of our clients’ lives, and their neighbors, and to reduce emissions. We don’t just “mow, blow, and go.” We weed, rake, prune, fertilize, maintain irrigation and low voltage lighting systems, and can help with lawn renovations, mulching, gutter cleaning, and pressure washing.
We invite you to see why 350+ of your neighbors LOVE our service. Comments include “We see your trucks everywhere!”, “We never knew when the ‘other guys’ were gonna show up.”, “Your employees are so nice and professional.”
We treat people and the environment with respect and integrity. In community involvement, we are active partners with the PREP community garden in Puget Ridge. We have teamed up with West Seattle Nursery and Zenith Holland Nursery to create award-winning display gardens at the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival. We are also active members of the Washington Association of Landscape Professionals, the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, and the Master Builders of King & Snohomish County. Our management team is Eco-Pro certified, which means we hold preserving the environment and soil health top of mind in what we do.
Devonshire Landscapes is online at devonshirelandscapes.com, and contact information is here!
We thank Devonshire Landscapes for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here; email patrick@wsbsales.com for info on joining the team!
(Reader photo from High Point branch closure last Sunday)
You’ll soon see signs like that one more often at local libraries – at least for a while. One year after the Seattle Public Library expanded schedules, resulting in all four of the branches in West Seattle opening seven days a week, it’s cutting back. SPL has just announced a temporary cutback that will leave only one local branch open every day. SPL says staffing shortages, combined with the city hiring freeze, will lead to cutbacks for at least the next eight weeks. According to this SPL update, 22 of its 27 branches will be affected, including these three in our area:
High Point Branch
Closed Sundays through June 4Southwest Branch
Closed Saturdays from April 20 through June 4West Seattle Branch
Closed Fridays through June 4
SPL explains, “Several factors have impacted the Library’s staffing capacity, including changes to the Library’s minimum staffing levels and increased leave usage. Our impacted staffing capacity has led to unplanned closures, as the Library must redirect staff from one location to another if a branch doesn’t have the right number, or right mix, of staff to open and operate a building safely and with full library services.” The minimum staffing has increased, SPL says, to “help ensure staff are able to provide full library services and are supported and prepared to manage any challenging or disruptive situations in and around our libraries.” In addition to simply deploying more staffers, SPL spokesperson Laura Gentry explains, “We are looking for a certain mix of position types to be present as well. For example, we have staff identified as ‘building leads,’ and at several locations have identified that at least two lead staff need to be present to open.”
While they are affected by the city’s budget-related hiring freeze, “Chief Librarian Tom Fay has approved several exemptions, allowing the Library to hire temporary staff to help stabilize operations.” Will everything go back to seven days a week on June 4? Gentry tells WSB, “We’re hopeful that this will resolve most unplanned closures during this period of time, but we don’t yet know what our schedule will look like past the June 4 date. We’re working on it and will have more info on that in May.”
Starting our preview for the hours ahead – it’s the first West Seattle Art Walk of spring 2024, which means you can meet artists and enjoy food/drink specials at these 40+ venues:
The Art Walk’s “official” hours are 5 pm to 8 pm, but artist receptions may start/end at different times, so browse the April previews here to get venue-by-venue details on artists and schedules. Here are the other highlights of what’s up today/tonight, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
EXPANDED FAUNTLEROY YMCA HOURS: Second week of the Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) soft-opening its newly expanded hours – 9 am to noon and 4 pm to 7 pm, Mondays through Thursdays.
FREE PLAYSPACE: Drop-in space open at West Seattle Church of the Nazarene (42nd/Juneau) until noon.
SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE GARDEN CENTER: Now open Thursdays-Saturdays 10 am-3 pm, north end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus.
WEST SEATTLE UKULELE PLAYERS: All levels welcome to this weekly 1 pm gathering. Email westseattleukuleleplayerswsup@gmail.com for info on where they’re playing today.
NORTHWEST WINE ACADEMY: Tasting room/wine bar now open Thursdays-Saturdays 1 pm-6 pm, north end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus.
THE LAST DINNER PARTY AT EASY STREET: 2 pm meet-greet and signing for album buyers – info in our calendar listing. (4559 California SW)
STRONG BODIES, STRONG BONES: 2:30 pm class at Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon).
HPCS FOOD-TRUCK VISIT: Every Thursday, 4-8 pm, Highland Park Corner Store (7789 Highland Park Way SW) gets a food-truck visit. Tonight it’s CocinaMX32 (last-minute change from what’s on the HPCS website).
(added) UNDER-21 OPEN MIC: 5 pm signup, 6 pm start for the Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) under-21 open-mic night at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW).
FREE ECO-ARTS CLASS: New time – 5-7 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW) – you’re invited to drop in!
VISCON CELLARS: The West Seattle winery’s tasting room/wine bar is open 5-9 pm (5910 California SW; WSB sponsor) for wine by the glass or bottle.
WORDS, WRITERS, SOUTHWEST STORIES: 6 pm online, the Southwest Seattle Historical Society presents Kestrel Smith on “Fish Wars.” RSVP here to get the link.
WESTIES RUN CLUB: Meet at Good Society (California/Lander) at 6 pm for a 3-mile run – more in our calendar listing.
HIGHLAND PARK RUN CLUB: 6:30 pm, meet at Highland Park Corner Store (7789 Highland Park Way SW) for a 3-mile run through the neighborhood. (Walking option, too!)
BLUES NIGHT: 6:30-9 pm at The Spot West Seattle (2920 SW Avalon Way), every Thursday you can listen to the blues.
OPEN MIC: All genres! 7 pm at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor).
THURSDAY NIGHT TRIVIA: Burger Planet (9614 14th SW) in White Center now has Thursday night trivia at 7 pm – prizes!
SECOND WEEK FOR ‘ENGLISH’: The new play at ArtsWest (4711 California SW; WSB sponsor) takes the stage at 7:30 pm. See our calendar listing for info, including the ticket link – just a few seats left for tonight as of publication time.
Planning an event that should be on our calendar and in daily preview lists like this one? Email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
9:41 AM: Seattle Fire has several units near 50th and 97th in Brace Point [map] after an excavator ruptured a gas line. They’re awaiting Puget Sound Energy to help handle it.
9:48 AM: Responders told dispatch they’ve cleared the affected buildings, but PSE isn’t expected for another 15+ minutes.
10:17 AM: Firefighters just told dispatch that PSE has arrived but is still figuring out the best way to shut off the gas to the broken 1 3/4″-inch line.
10:33 AM: They’ve revised that to a 5/8″-inch line, but they’re “still working on the solution,” firefighters told dispatch.
10:44 AM: SFD says PSE has clamped off the line and stopped the leak.
(Photo courtesy Arbor Heights Elementary PTSA)
Even if you don’t attend the gala dinner/auction events that benefit local nonprofits, you often can help their fundraising anyway by bidding in the online auctions that precede the galas. Right now, the Arbor Heights Elementary PTSA is welcoming your participation in theirs, for items from local-business gift cards to the superstar-autographed musical instrument shown above! Here’s the announcement:
It’s that time of year again – the Arbor Heights Elementary PTSA‘s online silent auction is officially underway! From now until April 19th, you have the chance to bid on an array of incredible experiences and items, all while supporting our beloved school community.
There are so many incredible items and we are so grateful for all of the donations. However, we are very honored to offer a ukulele signed by Eddie Vedder.
This auction is vital to our school. The funds raised provide critical support for music, art, classroom materials, transportation for field trips, 5th-grade camp, and other essential elements that make school fun and engaging for our students.
So, let’s come together as a community and make this year’s auction a resounding success! Bid early, bid often, and help us continue to provide enriching experiences for our Arbor Heights students.
Thank you for your support and happy bidding!
6:03 AM: Good morning. It’s Thursday, April 11, West Seattle Art Walk night, and second-to-last weekday of spring break for Seattle Public Schools and independent schools with similar calendars.
WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
Cloudy, rain expected tonight, high in the mid-50s. Sunrise will be at 6:26 am, sunset at 7:54 pm.
(Wednesday evening photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
ROAD-WORK ALERT
Repaving work today is scheduled on 22nd/23rd east of Delridge – details here.
TRANSIT NOTES
Metro today – Regular schedule; check advisories here – lots of trip cancellations this week.
Water Taxi today – Regular schedule. Check the real-time map if you need to see where the boat is. Reminder, NO WATER TAXI this weekend – April 13-14 – to prepare for the spring/summer season (which adds Friday/Saturday later-evening sailings starting Friday, April 19). The shuttle buses WILL run, though, Metro says.
Washington State Ferries today – The usual 2 boats on the Triangle Route. Check WSF alerts for last-minute 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 – remember, it’ll be closed to surface traffic April 19-28:
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 our hotline (when you can do that safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities if they’re not already on scene) – 206-293-6302. Thank you!
| 9 COMMENTS