West Seattle, Washington
10 Tuesday
Though this weekend’s work was scheduled until 5 am tomorrow, a check of the live traffic cameras shows the eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct (left side of the image) has reopened to traffic, so if you have to head outbound overnight, you can take the high bridge all the way to I-5. Reminder that so far, this is the schedule for the week ahead:
TUESDAY NIGHT (AUGUST 6) – one or two eastbound lanes closed, 7 pm-6 am
WEDNESDAY NIGHT (AUGUST 7) – full eastbound closure, 7 pm-6 am
THURSDAY NIGHT (AUGUST 8) – full eastbound closure, 7 pm-6 am
FRIDAY NIGHT TO MONDAY MORNING (AUGUST 9-12) – full eastbound closure, 10 pm Friday to 5 am Monday
Along with overnight weeknight closures beyond that, the weekend-closure schedule announced earlier in July (and subject to change) includes:
10 PM Friday, August 16 to 5 AM Monday, August 19: All eastbound lanes and one westbound lane closed.
10 PM Friday, August 23 to 5 AM Monday, August 26: All eastbound lanes and one westbound lane closed.
10 PM Friday, August 30 to 5 AM Tuesday, September 2: All westbound lanes closed.
We took that photo inside Cherry Consignment (4142 California SW) on the north edge of The Junction last year, when proprietor Nyla Bittermann was celebrating her shop’s 14th anniversary. Now it’s time for a milestone – 15 years! The party starts Thursday – here’s the announcement Nyla sent:
Come celebrate with us Thursday 8/8 through Monday 8/12. We’ll kick off our celebration on Thursday, 8/8, at 5 pm with an after-hours shopping event and the fun will last all weekend. The entire store will be 15% off all weekend, all purchases over $50 will receive a special gift, and we’ll have local makers popping up each day. We’ve also got yummy snacks and sips. Plus! We’re doing a no-appointment-needed “drop and shop” on Monday, 8/12, from 1 to 3 pm. Your chance to drop off 10 or less pristine items that we’ll process as we are able. Thank YOU for supporting Cherry Consignment for the last 15 years – What a gift and honor to be a part of this amazing community. Come shop with us over the weekend, so we can say ‘Thank You’ in person!
Thursday is also West Seattle Art Walk night, so after you visit Cherry, you can move on to this month’s Art Walk venues!
One of summer’s final West Seattle festivals is four weeks away (27 days, to be precise). This year is the 10th anniversary of Alki Beach Pride, a daylong celebration founded and coordinated by Stacy and Jolie Bass-Walden. It’s a street festival as well as a beach party, as the announcement notes:
Alki Beach Pride is happening Saturday, August 31st, 2024, from 12 pm to 8 pm. Join us as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Pride on the beach. The event will feature an exciting lineup of entertainment, a variety of culinary delights from food trucks, an array of offerings from local vendors, a dedicated health and wellness area, and a family-friendly space, plus much more!
Please note that Alki Ave will be closed from 57th to 61st all day, with vendor booths lining the street. Our main stage will be positioned near Alki Bathhouse. For those seeking an elevated experience, limited VIP tents near the stage are available for rent. Get ready to be captivated by performances from headliners such as Mariah Counts, LIVt, iZOHNNY, DJ Zen, and many other talented entertainers!
Also:
We really need some volunteers for the event! An organization called Gay For Good has partnered up with us. They organize volunteers for a variety of LGBTQ events. Here is the link for volunteer signup.
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels get most of the rap for Seafair airshow noise – but if you heard fighter-jet noise in the 1 pm hour this weekend, that wasn’t them. Today, we received multiple reports of an extremely loud, low West Seattle flyover in the early afternoon, beyond what we usually hear from readers. This report is from MB:
I’d like to share this with the WS community.
As a 20yr resident of WS, I’ve heard the Blue Angels practice and perform over our neighborhood literally dozens of times. Their flyovers over are often enjoyable, if temporarily noisy.
But today about 1 pm, as I was walking to the Farmers Market with my daughter and our dog, I experienced the lowest, loudest and most painful flyover I have ever encountered. It was by far the most painful sound I have experienced in my life.
As a professional audio engineer, I can say with certainty that the loudness was at least 140db at our location near Holy Rosary — well above the pain threshold of 125db, and into the range that causes immediate hearing loss.
My ears are still ringing loudly, a certain sign of hearing loss. Since I make my living by listening, this is especially worrying to me. Right now, I am unable to work. Hopefully the ringing will be better tomorrow (but the hearing loss is already permanent and irreversible, unfortunately that’s how it works).
It’s difficult to understand why any plane would ever be allowed to fly so low over a densely populated area. Children were scared, animals were terrified, car alarms were triggered.
Even for people who are not audio professionals, it is not reasonable to ask an entire neighborhood to risk hearing loss for the sake of someone else’s entertainment miles away.
We didn’t hear it, as we’re in the south end of West Seattle and the primary source of noise on Seafair afternoons has been commercial jet traffic temporarily redirected this way. No photos/video but the Seafair airshow schedule shows a Navy EA-18G Growler from Whidbey Island going up at 1 pm, and an Air Force F35A at 1:45 pm; the Blue Angels’ show was scheduled after 3:30 pm. If you have feedback for Seafair – good, bad, otherwise – their contact info is here.
3:13 PM: The other Seattle Fire incident working right now is a two-car crash, one reportedly on its side, at 41st and Oregon in The Junction. Someone is reported trapped in one of the vehicles, with bystanders trying to help before SFD arrives. Updates to come.
3:23 PM: Thanks to Kyle for the photo above. Everyone is out of the vehicles, officers have told dispatch. Avoid the area for a while.
(WSB photo)
3:37 PM: We’re told at the scene that one person is going to be taken to the hospital by private ambulance; their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Police are talking to the drivers to try to sort out how this happened.
3:12 PM: Seattle Fire has two incidents going right now – including a possible fire in a building in the 6700 block of 25th SW. Updates to come.
3:16 PM: Arriving SFD crews say this “appears to be someone grilling in the backyard” and they’ve canceled all but one unit.
While we’re talking about dance – West Seattle-based Seattle Civic Dance Theatre asked us to let you know they’re having free, open auditions later this month for its 34th annual presentation of “The Magical Doll Maker.” The open ballet auditions for ages 8 through 18 will be on Sunday, August 25 – here’s the schedule:
Beginning level dancers 12 pm- 1 pm
Intermediate/Advanced level dancers 1 pm-2 pm
Auditions will be held at 15811 Ambaum Blvd. SW, Suite 160, Burien
To Register: Find the link here or email Allison, SCDT Board President, at scdtboard@gmail.com
There’s more information about the tryouts on this flyer.
Thanks to Peter S. Miller for that video from a Morris dance performance at Duwamish Cohousing earlier this week. He explained:
The group performed at Duwamish Cohousing, then went to Lincoln Park and danced around the troll. All for the Celtic Festival of Lammas/Lughnasadh.
First, if you haven’t heard of Morris dancing (we’ll admit, we hadn’t), here’s a detailed history. As for the festival, that too has a long history (here’s a short summary), but is generally explained as a harvest festival celebrated around August 1, also noting the coming transition from summer to autumn.
10:44 AM: Thanks to the readers who have sent word that if you’re braving the bridge or alternate routes to try to get to Costco on 4th Avenue, don’t do it right now – they’re closed because of a power outage. The City Light map shows a small outage adjacent to a planned-outage area.
1:01 PM: The outage map now shows the unplanned part of the outage resolved. But we weren’t able to get through to a live person at Costco to ask if they’ve reopened.
1:48 PM: Commenter J says they’ve confirmed with employees that the store has power again.
The new season is about to start for West Seattle Junior Football – and there’s room for more to register! Here’s the reminder we were asked to share with you:
West Seattle Junior Football is starting on Monday, August 5th! We need more kids and coaches to sign up so we can have full teams at every age to play this year. It’s not too late to register. Ages 5 to 14. Check out the website for more info – westseattlejrfootball.com
Just texted by Kersti Muul: “Orcas southbound from the lighthouse, mid-channel.”
We start again today with a major traffic alert:
(SDOT camera’s latest look at the Spokane St. Viaduct)
EASTBOUND SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT CLOSED: Another reminder, the all-weekend-long closure continues for the Spokane Street Viaduct – the continuation of the high bridge from the Highway 99 overpass to I-5 – and that’s been backing up the rest of the eastbound bridge, since everyone has to exit to NB 99. This is for the ongoing resurfacing project, and the closure will be repeated next weekend.
Otherwise, here’s what’s happening on your summer Sunday, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar (where you’ll find even more):
SUMMER SCRAMBLE CONCLUDES: Final day for the four-day West Seattle scavenger hunt organized by Alice Kuder – still time to jump in! Solve the clues, get a chance at a treasure chest – as explained here.
GLASS FLOAT HUNT CONTINUES: Fourth day for this, too – continuing into mid-August. 100 handcrafted glass floats were hidden around West Seattle – details here!
ART ON THE CORNER: 8 am-3 pm at 39th/Holden, artist Bonnie sells her work to raise money for the West Seattle Food Bank.
BIG BLUE TRUCK RETURNS: Second day of the Northwest Center‘s donation-dropoff truck‘s return to West Seattle! You’ll find it outside WaFd Bank (4102 California SW). Our calendar listing has info on what items the truck will accept. 9 am-5 pm.
ADMIRAL CHURCH FOOD DRIVE: Continues today – drop off nonperishable-food donations at the church (4320 SW Hill) 9 am-noon.
PLUNGE INTO THE SOUND: At 9 am, you’re welcome to join a group plunge into Puget Sound off Alki – meet at Statue of Liberty Plaza (61st/Alki).
WESTIES RUN CLUB = ORCA COMMUNITY 5K: 9 am, the Westies meet up with other groups for a free community 5K starting from Don Armeni Boat Ramp (1222 Harbor SW) to get ready for next month’s Orca Half.
BEE GARDEN TLC: Can you spare two hours to help at the West Seattle Bee Garden today? 10 am-noon, details here. (Lanham/Graham)
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, midsummer produce, plus beverages, baked goods, flowers, cheese, fish, meat, prepared food, nuts, candy, more. (California SW between SW Alaska and SW Oregon)
SMALL BUSINESS POP-UP MARKET: See who’s selling at Jet City Labs (4547 California SW) today, 10 am-2 pm.
SUNDAYS IN THE ALLEY: Pop-up shopping experience – music and food too – behind Carmilia’s, in the alley behind the east side of the 4500 block of California SW, 10 am-3 pm. More info in our calendar listing.
COLMAN POOL: The outdoor heated-salt-water pool on the shore at Lincoln Park (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW) is open to the public today, noon-7 pm – session times are on the Colman Pool webpage.
LINCOLN PARK WADING POOL: Also at Lincoln Park, the season continues for the 7-days-a-week city wading pool, noon-7 pm, in the central upper part of the park near the north play area.
NO ALKI POINT LIGHTHOUSE TOURS TODAY: U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers are busy with Seafair. But tours will resume next Sunday (August 11).
SHAKESPEARE DOUBLE HEADER: Two condensed “Backyard Bard” free performances by GreenStage at Delridge Playfield (4501 Delridge Way SW) this afternoon – 3 pm, “All’s Well That Ends Well“; 4:15 pm, “Julius Caesar.”
BLUE ANGELS: Scheduled to go up just after 3:30 pm again today. Looking for West Seattle views? This might help.
GONG BATH & NATURE MEDITATION: 7:30 pm at Lowman Beach Park (7017 Beach Drive SW) – ticket link’s in our calendar listing.
(Saturday night’s sunset – photo by Curry Gibson)
LIVE MUSIC AT THE ALLEY: Enjoy Sunday night music with the Triangular Jazztet at The Alley (4509 California SW), 8-10 pm.
Organizing and/or publicizing something that should be on our community event calendar – one-time or recurring? Please email us the basics – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
1:06 AM: Police are investigating an armed robbery reported about 15 minutes ago at the West Seattle Junction 7-11 (4812 Erskine Way SW). So far the only description they have is “two males, masks, black clothing” who got away with some cash from the register, leaving west on Erskine on foot.
1:13 AM: A few more description details that officers just provided to dispatch – both robbers were Black, both with black shirts, one with black pants and medium-length dreadlocks, one with gray pants and red/white Nikes, and they had a black vehicle.
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