West Seattle, Washington
08 Friday
ORIGINAL REPORT, 11:12 PM THURSDAY: Police are investigating a carjacking reported just under an hour ago in West Seattle. The carjackers are reported to have arrived in a 2013-2014 Lexus hatchback with no plates; they’re described as “two unknown-race men, 20s, 6 feet, about 220 pounds, wearing masks.” The stolen vehicle is described as a white 2019 Porsche Cayman. Police were pursuing for a short time but last saw the car headed southbound on 35th SW, around Barton. (added) The carjacking happened at 53rd/Alki. If you have any information, the SPD incident # is 24-191246.
UPDATE, 11:14 AM FRIDAY: We asked SPD about this – here’s their report summary:
Seattle police responded to the area of 53rd Avenue Southwest and Alki Avenue Southwest for the report of an armed robbery/carjacking. The incident occurred at about 10:25 p.m. The victim, a 26-year-old man, reported he was opening the trunk of his Porsche Cayman when he was approached by two suspects demanding his car keys. One of the suspects was wearing a face mask and said he had a handgun. The suspect grabbed the keys and drove the Porsche southbound on Alki Avenue Southwest. The second suspect left in a second car, a Lexus, in an unknown direction. Other Seattle police officers spotted the suspect driving the stolen Porsche on Southwest Avalon Way and tried to conduct a vehicle stop, but the suspect drove away from police at a high rate of speed and officers lost sight of the vehicle near 35th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Barton Street. The victim had minor injuries and was treated on-scene. It does not appear the vehicles have been recovered at this time.
(Photo by Earving Marquez, courtesy Junction FC)
In addition to West Seattle Summer Fest, other big events this weekend include the final two home matches of the first season for West Seattle Junction FC. They’re playing rival clubs Midlakes United (7 pm Friday) and USL League 2 defending champion Ballard FC (1 pm Sunday). They’re offering merch deals for both, and that’s not the only bonus features for attendees, per Junction FC’s preview:
Leading up and through the (Friday) match, fans will get 30% off all of Junction FC’s West Side Best Side merchandise, including select t-shirts, flags, hoodies and scarves. Additionally, Friday’s game will be Román Torres Foundation Night. The former Seattle Sounders legend will be in attendance signing autographs and selling his book, with all the proceeds going toward his foundation. Fans can learn more about the foundation online.
… Sunday afternoon’s game will double as Fan Appreciation Night, where all remaining merchandise will be on sale, as well as special giveaways and surprises throughout the duration of the match.
Tickets are available online for $10 for both matches, which will be played at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex (2801 SW Thistle).
6:16 PM: In the heart of The Junction, the streets are closed and you can truly Walk All Ways, in more areas than usual … it’s Summer Fest Eve, with setup starting for the Friday-Saturday-Sunday festival.
Some signage is hinting at what’s ahead, such as reusable cups, plates, etc., for all festival vendors this year (as previewed here):
As usual, Summer Fest Eve coincides with the July West Seattle Art Walk. That’s happening all over the peninsula, but Junction venues are in an extra spotlight because of Summer Fest Eve. Among tonight’s artists, Bonnie Katz Sailors is showing her work at Fitness Together-West Seattle (4546 California SW, upstairs; WSB sponsor), the studio she used to own:
Preview other artists with shows/receptions tonight by going here. Most Art Walk events are happening at least until 8 pm; here in The Junction, one big event is the “flash mob” DancePowered practice at California/Alaska around 7 pm. The Art of Music – three venues around West Seattle with mini-concerts – has a Junction show at Verity CU (4505 California SW) with Birch Pereira and the Gin Joints until 7:45 pm.
6:46 PM: Artist Billy Kincaid is in the house at West Seattle Windermere (4526 California SW):
7:15 PM: No sign of dancers … Summer Fest Eve does evolve sometimes! The Dip has started their set in Easy Street, though.
UPDATE: 8 pm dancing, we’ve just learned!
9:07 PM: Adding video now that we’re back at HQ. First – the DancePowered megamedley:
Here’s another angle of the first 3 1/2 minutes. DancePowered’s leader Jennifer Cepeda is in the beanie:
As an encore, the dancers brought bystanders into the circle to dance – we even spotted one with a pup:
You can see the official performance at noon Saturday during the second day of West Seattle Summer Fest. The festival runs 1-8 pm Friday (music and beer garden until ~11), 10 am-8 pm Saturday (music and beer garden until ~11), 10 am-5 pm Sunday. We’ll be joining the Info Booth crew for the 15th year; say hi if you’re in the Walk All Ways vicinity!
4:55 PM: The Rally for Relocation is happening now, in support of businesses that are expected to have to move because they’re in the path of West Seattle light rail’s likely routing and station locations. Their message is not anti-light rail, but rather, they want better relocation compensation, and they want to ensure customers will keep coming even as all this results in a few years of uncertainty. They’re marching back and forth along Delridge, from Ounces to the Andover corner, intermittently – chanting “SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS” – with a rally/speeches planned at Ounces around 6 pm.
ADDED: We asked two of the business owners, Laurel Trujillo of Ounces and Jordan Crawley of Alki Beach Academy, about the message they hoped the demonstration would convey:
Crawley is also a member of the 34th District Democrats‘ board and is moderating the “Transit Town Hall” they’re co-presenting with the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce on July 23.
(Sunday photo courtesy Brandon Sparks)
Sometime last weekend, before Sunday’s Junction FC match, people setting off fireworks did damage to the synthetic turf at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex. The field was cleared for play, but Seattle Public Schools had to fix the damage. We inquired with the district Monday morning about the damage and the repair plan, and finally received a reply this afternoon:
Seattle Public Schools aimed to prevent issues like this by activating the LED field lights (low-energy bulbs) from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. from July 3 through July 7. Despite these efforts, turf damage still occurred. Repairs to the synthetic turf at the Nino Cantu SW Athletic Complex were completed on July 8. This damage did not require us to close the field or cancel events.
Our security department welcomes any tips regarding the damage. If you have information, please contact 206-252-0707.
The field is used by private groups as well as area schools. Junction FC, meantime, has the final home matches of its season on Friday and Sunday (we’ll have more on that tonight).
Even if you voted for West Seattle light rail – and the rest of ST3 – eight years ago, it’s OK to change your mind. So said John Niles, co-founder of Smarter Transit, which had a media briefing at Jefferson Square today to call attention to its quest to put the brakes on ST3. The group has launched an online petition seeking to pause planning for Sound Transit projects that aren’t already under construction, and to ask the Legislature to make Sound Transit’s board – currently comprised of various regional elected officials – directly elected. But Niles says they’re not planning a ballot initiative or lawsuit – they’re hoping that people will “rise up” and demand that this be stopped. He was one of the speakers at the briefing this morning – here’s our video, which started with Smarter Transit member Conrad Cipoletti, a West Seattle resident who says he lives car-free but thinks people need to take a second look at the light-rail plan before it’s too late, because of its financial and environmental costs:
Speakers also included people who aren’t Smarter Transit members but did voice various concerns about the project, including business owners whose current locations face demolition if the current proposed routing and station locations are finalized – the group provided aerials of what’s currently in the future stations’ locations:
(Images courtesy Smarter Transit/Guenther Group. Above, Junction station’s proposed location)
(Above, area near Avalon station’s proposed location)
(Delridge station’s proposed location)
Though she has reiterated that her business is not anti-light rail, Laurel Trujillo of Ounces in North Delridge was among the speakers (hers and other area businesses are hosting in a coincidentally timed “Rally for Relocation” 4-7 pm today). Other participants included West Seattle resident Kim Schwarzkopf and Marilyn Kennell of Rethink The Link, a group which thinks – as does Smarter Transit – that more buses would cover area’s transit needs without a multibillion-dollar construction project. Kennell and others held signs declaring themselves BIMBYs – advocating for more “buses in my backyard.”
The Smarter Transit petition is here; the group says the goal is to present it to the Legislature. Meantime, as for the project itself, Sound Transit is expected sometime in the next few months to release the final Environmental Impact Statement, after which its board would vote on final routing and station locations.
(Rendering of new Alki Elementary entrance on north side of school)
As we reported July 1, a deputy city hearing examiner has ruled against area residents’ appeal of the Alki Elementary rebuild‘s zoning exception for parking. That means the city’s decision to approve a zoning exception for the 15-space redesign – 33 spaces less than what zoning requires – is affirmed. The appellants’ only potential avenue to challenge that would be via taking it to court within three weeks of the decision. So will they? We inquired immediately after the ruling, and have finally heard back from Steve Cuddy, an Alki resident and lawyer who led the appeal by Friends for a Safe Alki Community. Cuddy tells WSB, “I do not personally plan to appeal the Alki Elementary case further. It is possible that others in our ‘Friends’ group may decide to appeal to Court, but so far no one has, and I would be surprised if anyone does.” If no challenge emerges, that clears the way for the city to finalize the permits for the project to build a larger new Alki Elementary on the same site (3010 59th SW) where the original school was demolished a year ago. (The old school’s capacity was 371; the new school is designed for 500, plus two preschool classrooms estimated to potentially hold 40.)
The appeal was argued in a three-day hearing that we covered in the Hearing Examiner’s chambers downtown in May and June; we recapped the backstory here, with links to hearing coverage. The wheels were set in motion for this appeal when the same deputy examiner, Susan Drummond, ruled in favor of a different group’s appeal of the original plan, which had no offstreet parking (while dismissing that group’s appeals of several other zoning exceptions).
Cuddy’s response to our request for comment arrived in a long letter explaining the most recent challenge; you can read it in its entirety here. He cites what he considers “positive results” of the appeal, despite the outcome: “The members of our group who filed the first successful appeal gained 15 off-street parking spots, which will be available to more safely accommodate ADA and special needs students than the dangerous on-street parking for them that was originally proposed by the School District. -The second appeal forced the School District to finally admit that Alki Elementary’s past traffic and parking problems were serious, and that its previous traffic management arrangements at the school were inadequate and dangerous. As a consequence of that admission, for the second appeal, the District created a draft traffic management plan in advance of school construction. I do not believe this has ever happened before. The District’s draft traffic management plan has significant problems … but it is at least an advance start on what will be a difficult task.” He says “continued community involvement” will be vital as the project proceeds. If permits are granted soon, the school could open in fall 2026, by which time Alki will have spent three years in temporary quarters at the former Schmitz Park Elementary.
Three West Seattle Crime Watch notes:
ASSAULT INVESTIGATION: Several readers have asked about video seen on TV news showing a woman attacked on Saturday at California/Charlestown. As we’ve explained to those who emailed us to ask, the victim texted us at midnight Sunday night saying she had been assaulted on California Avenue SW a day and a half earlier and that her car rolled away and hit other cars. We responded immediately, with a followup question to try to find out more. She did not reply, and has not replied to a followup inquiry. So we don’t have what TV has shown, and without location information could not find a correlatory police report. We did finally get an incident number with the help of a local officer at a community meeting, and this is the information SPD Public Affairs subsequently provided:
On July 6, Seattle police responded to the area of California Avenue Southwest and Southwest Charlestown Street for a report of a road rage incident that turned into an assault. The incident was first reported to dispatchers at about 4:36 p.m. Seattle police were dispatched by the Seattle CARE Department at about 7:26 p.m. (A full timeline is here). The victims, a 22-year-old woman driving a car, and a 26-year-old woman riding in the passenger seat, told police they were turning on to Southwest Charlestown Street from California Avenue Southwest when they inadvertently cut off another driver.
It was reported the suspects in the cutoff vehicle, 2 women, got into an argument with the victims. Then, one of them stepped out of their vehicle to confront the victims. The 22-year-old victim was dragged from the car and then assaulted by both suspects.
The 26-year-old victim passenger said she tried to stop the car from rolling away, but she was attacked by one of the female suspects and pulled out of the car. The rolling victim car hit another car. The occupants of the third vehicle weren’t hurt. The unknown suspects left the scene. The 22-year-old victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center for injuries sustained during the assault. The 26-year-old victim had minor injuries.
The incident is classified by SPD as an Assault 4 and has been assigned to a detective in the Major Crimes Task Force for follow-up. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.
There is no descriptive information in the SPD account; full reports are only provided with a PDR (which we’re filing), they told us.
BUSINESS BURGLARIZED: Todd at Swedish Automotive (35th SW & SW Kenyon; WSB sponsor) sent this report this morning:
This morning at 5 am – in full daylight – two people in a black Kia Forte drove in, turned around and parked next to the shop.
They exited and tried to get into the nearest door using a large Crescent Wrench-type of tool but only succeeded in destroying a (pretty expensive) security door handle before giving up and quickly driving off.
I’m attaching two photos that I captured from the videos. The visible person has pretty distinctive hair color and clothing, but the other one stays off-camera pretty much. The license plate isn’t readable, but since it’s a Kia, I’m assuming it’s stolen, so maybe somebody local is missing it? Maybe someone recognizes this individual with the dyed hair? It’s a longshot, I know, but the more we make these criminals out there in the public eye, the better chance we have of making them think twice.
Here’s links to 3 of the videos:
Two people attempting to get in
The incident’s been reported; we’ll add the number when available.
ABANDONED CAR: Matt is notifying police about this, but in the meantime, perhaps you recognize this car:
There’s an almost certainly dumped/stolen vehicle in the 9800 block of 34th Ave SW. Interior completely stripped (seats gone, hard top gone), tube still hanging out of the gas tank. From my security camera I could just make out 3 vehicles arriving at 1:30 am and 2 of the vehicles leaving around 1:45am. At least 4 people involved. They left the lights on and the passenger side door open; the battery is now dead.
VIN: ———-7067
Plate: BTV1865
Make: Red 1995 Honda Civic del Sol
Big night to be out and about in West Seattle – here are two major reasons:
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: 5 pm “until late,” all over West Seattle, it’s the first West Seattle Art Walk of summer! From North Admiral to Morgan Junction, here’s the list of businesses welcoming you to stop and see art and/or enjoy food/drink specials.
For details on who’s where, see the venue-by-venue previews on the Art Walk website! Tonight you’ll also find three Art of Music mini-concerts:
They’re all playing 6 pm-7:45 pm. Find info about the musicians – and samples of their work – here.
SUMMER FEST EVE: In The Junction, streets will be closed for festival setup on what’s become known as West Seattle Summer Fest Eve, the night before summer’s biggest party. Along with the aforementioned Art of Music performance, Easy Street Records has a 7 pm in-store concert with The Dip, and a Summer Fest Eve favorite – Jennifer Cepeda‘s DancePowered dancers will practice this year’s flash-mob-style festival performance – approximately 7 pm at Walk-All-Ways. Come down to The Junction tonight and see what else you find!
Meantime, here’s what else is happening for the rest of your Thursday, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
FREE SUMMER MEALS FOR KIDS: Multiple locations and varying times in West Seattle – here’s the list.
SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE GARDEN CENTER: Still prime time for summer gardening – so if you need plants, the center is open Thursdays-Saturdays 10 am-3 pm, north end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus. Annuals, perennials, sun, shade, natives, edibles, ground covers … wide variety!
SPRAYPARK: Highland Park Spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale) is open every day, 11 am-8 pm, free.
COLMAN POOL: The season continues for this outdoor heated-salt-water pool on the shore at Lincoln Park (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW), noon-7 pm – session times are on the Colman Pool webpage.
LINCOLN PARK WADING POOL: Also at Lincoln Park, the 7-day-a-week wading pool is open today noon-7 pm, in the central upper part of the park near the north play area.
DELRIDGE WADING POOL: Also open today, next to Delridge Community Center, noon-5:30 pm. (4501 Delridge Way SW)
HIAWATHA WADING POOL: This pool is also open today, next to Hiawatha Community Center, noon-5:30 pm. (2700 California SW)
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. Food too – stop by to sip and nosh!
STRONG BODIES, STRONG BONES: 2:30 pm yoga class at what’s now the Center for Active Living (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 Bella M’Briana.
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 features Shin Yu Pai. Our calendar listing has the link for registering to view this online presentation.
WALKING FOR WELL-BEING: Meet at 6 pm at 47th/Fauntleroy to walk in Lincoln Park – details in our calendar listing.
WESTIES RUN CLUB: Meet at Good Society (California/Lander) at 6 pm for a 3-mile run.
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.
TRIVIA: 7 pm at Burger Planet (9614 14th SW).
Planning an event that should be on our calendar and in our daily preview lists? Please email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
(WSB photo from 2023 Admiral Funktion)
The Admiral Neighborhood Association wants to be sure potential vendors – both businesses and nonprofits – know that the deadline is coming up for registering for space at this year’s Admiral Funktion Block Party. It’s happening on California SW north of Admiral Way on Saturday, August 24, 11 am-10 pm. ANA says limited spaces are left, so go here to save your spot before July 25!
6:03 AM: Good morning! It’s Thursday, July 11.
WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES
The heat wave is over, though Wednesday’s 88-degree high was still 11 degrees above normal. The forecast: Still sunny, high in the low 80s. Today’s sunrise was at 5:23 am, while sunset will be at 9:05 pm.
ROAD WORK
*The Admiral Way Bridge seismic project has begun; here are more specifics. Fairmount Avenue is now closed under the bridge for the duration of the project, likely into early 2025.
*SDOT’s Delridge pedestrian-bridge earthquake-safety project also continues, with narrowing at Delridge/Oregon.
*Beach Drive: Gas-pipeline work continues at spots along the southern stretch.
SUMMER FEST AHEAD
For West Seattle Summer Fest, road closures and parking restrictions start as early as this morning, according to the West Seattle Junction Association – California Avenue SW closes between Edmunds and Oregon and for much of the block north, and Alaska closes between 42nd and 44th. This page has bus reroute notices from Metro. Come stroll in the streets tonight for West Seattle Summer Fest Eve plus the July Art Walk!
TRANSIT NOTES
Metro today – Summer Fest reroutes as mentioned above, otherwise a egular schedule; check for 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, and the unscheduled third boat may still be out per WSF.
SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS
Low bridge: Here’s the main view:
Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Orchard), cameras are also at Delridge/Genesee, Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Henderson, Delridge/Oregon, and video-only (so you have to go to the map), Delridge/Holden and Delridge/Thistle.
High Bridge – Here’s the main camera:
High Bridge – the view from its southwest end (when SDOT points the 35th/Avalon/Fauntleroy camera that way):
1st Avenue South Bridge:
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 open 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!
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