day : 26/09/2024 11 results

Another victory for West Seattle High School volleyball has them now leading the Metro League Mountain Division. Here’s the team’s report on tonight’s contest:

Tonight WS varsity volleyball beat Seattle Prep in five hard-fought sets. With our win tonight, WS varsity volleyball leads the Metro 3A Mountain division. Thanks to all the students and families that came out to cheer on the team. Our next home game is this Saturday afternoon at 2 pm against Eastside Catholic.

So far this season, the team is 4-0.

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WEST SEATTLE WEATHER: Curvy clouds

| West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

Thanks to Helle Jensen for the photo taken from North Delridge just before sunset. According to @westseawx, they’re a type of undulatus clouds.

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WEEKEND PREVIEW: 2024 West Seattle Eco-Fair will spotlight action you can take – plus Jeff Renner

| Environment | High Point | How to help | West Seattle news

Think global, act local. You’ve probably heard that many times. It especially rings true for things you can do to help the environment – for example, catching rainwater with a cistern, like the one above that we saw last night outside Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. It was installed via RainWise, one of the programs and organizations you can learn about at this year’s West Seattle Eco-Fair, set for 10 am-2 pm Saturday (September 28) at Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s Walmesley Center (35th/Myrtle). The fair also will feature a talk at noon by retired KING 5 TV meteorologist Jeff Renner; organizers say he’ll discuss “the impact that climate change and other environmental issues are likely to have globally and in the Pacific Northwest, and what he believes we are called to do in response.” The Eco-Fair is presented by the Care for Creation Ministry of Holy Rosary and OLG Catholic parishes, with assistance from Peace Lutheran Church and other congregations. Here’s the list of exhibitors – which might be even longer by Saturday, we’re told:

A Cleaner Alki
Climate Reality Project — King County
Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition
Earth Ministry
Nordstrom BEAUTYCYCLE
Plant Amnesty
RainWise
Ridge to River Project
West Seattle Bike Connections
West Seattle Food Bank
Wolf Haven International

Admission is free and everyone’s welcome. One of the organizers, Vince Stricherz, adds, “Our hope is to make this an ongoing event with an organizational base that grows well beyond our two Catholic parishes to involve other churches and possibly even civic groups. The environmental issues we see today aren’t going away any time soon, so we hope to keep everyone in West Seattle connected with good information and ideas of how they can make a difference.”

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WEST SEATTLE CRIME WATCH: Car-top carrier stolen

September 26, 2024 6:40 pm

| 17 COMMENTS

| Crime | West Seattle news

A reader sent this from southwest Morgan Junction:

On Wednesday night we (my 9-year-old and I) came upon this guy attaching my rooftop carrier to his own car. Stolen from top of my car with a tool that he left at scene. Fauntleroy at Holly SW. He was late 20s/early 30s with a woman in the car too. Sped away in a very loud Mercedes, all-black super-tinted. No front plate, rear was obscured in image.

Police report # is 24-940633.

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ALERT: Water-safety warning after Harbor Avenue facility malfunction leads to 58,000-gallon overflow into Duwamish River

September 26, 2024 5:10 pm

| 11 COMMENTS

| Environment | West Seattle news

Stay out of the water near the west mouth of the Duwamish River. That’s the health alert from Public Health Seattle and King County because of a combined-sewer overflow reported by the King County Wastewater Treatment Division:

As rainfall hit the region, the King County Wastewater Treatment Division had an unpermitted overflow of combined wastewater and stormwater near the Duwamish West Waterway on Wednesday night, Sept. 25.

At around 7:50 p.m., the Harbor Avenue Regulator Station at 3432 Harbor Ave. SW in West Seattle malfunctioned and released a mixture of stormwater and wastewater from a <strong>combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfall near Chelan Avenue Southwest, an industrial area by the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5. CSO outfalls are specific relief points into nearby bodies of water to prevent backups into homes and businesses. The regulator station, which controls flow between sewer lines, has resumed normal operations. We are looking into the cause of the equipment malfunction.

The overflow stopped within 12 minutes as levels in the system went down. Early estimates show approximately 58,000 gallons of combined flow were released into the Duwamish Waterway. This water typically contains about 90% stormwater and 10% wastewater.

We reported the overflow to the Washington State Department of Ecology and are notifying nearby businesses. We are also working with Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC) and are following its guidance. As a precaution, PHSKC advises the public to avoid contact with the water in the Duwamish West Waterway and Elliott Bay (east of Jack Block Park View Point) for seven days (until Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 8:05 p.m.).

A county document (page 10) explains what the regulator station does: “The Harbor Avenue regulator station regulates flow from the north and northeast areas of West Seattle into Delridge trunk. Wastewater flows directly through the station into the trunk. High flows can also be sent to West Seattle pump station.”

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SPD, CARE and leadership updates @ Alki Community Council

September 26, 2024 3:53 pm

| 5 COMMENTS

| Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

The Alki Community Council met online last week for their September meeting, with an abbreviated agenda as the group winds up its summer activities and prepares for the fall.

The meeting was facilitated by president Charlotte Starck, and began with an introduction of the group’s two newest leaders: Kevin Kramer (Board Chair of Operations) and Robyn Fritz (Board Chair of Parks). Kramer has a background in technology and operations, and will help the council ramp up their efforts in those areas. Fritz will help foster the council’s partnerships with Seattle Parks, and she joked that she is best known for walking her dog in the area, and meeting people (including Parks representatives) in that way.

Next on the agenda was a police update from SPD’s Southwest Precinct, with Officer German Barreto and Captain Krista Bair (who became the precinct’s leader in June) both in attendance. They discussed recent events such as the RV sweeps near Westwood Village, the Alki shootout on September 6 and an incident on the 2100 block of Harbor SW. Barreto gave an overall update similar to what he presented at last week’s meeting at the Admiral Neighborhood Association, and emphasized that citizens should call 911 (not the SPD non-emergency number) if they see anything suspicious. Bair talked about the challenges related to “encampment sweeps” on the peninsula, and commended Barreto for his ongoing work on that. For Alki specifically, Bair also noted that she recently talked to a long-time Alki resident who said that while increased traffic and “cruising” has always caused added issues on Alki in the summertime, in recent years the activities have often been more “destructive” and invasive in the summer months, and Bair agreed that it takes a strong partnership between the community and the police in order to make things better.

The next portion of the regular meeting was an update from Sean Blackwell from the city’s CARE Department (Community Assisted Response and Engagement), which includes a team of community crisis responders as well as a 911 call center, as we’ve reported previously. The department’s leader, Chief Amy (Smith) Barden, had attended and participated in the Alki council’s May meeting, and Blackwell provided some additional context in last week’s meeting regarding the department’s mission. He said that the team has their own mobile units and can respond promptly to calls, and because team members have expertise in social work and community engagement, they can be a resource to free up time for SPD officers to handle more urgent calls. Blackwell said that in the time since the team launched in October 2023, it has handled 767 call events (with an average of 40 minutes per visit), with 37% of those resulting in the team transporting someone to get needed services. The team started with 6 officers, and based on current plans will be expanding to 18 officers and 9 response vehicles, eventually serving West Seattle (their current focus is downtown).

To close out the regular meeting, attendee and neighbor Barb Richter gave a quick update on the Alki Point Healthy Street revision that was installed last June, saying that it’s been successful in reducing speeding and other issues, giving residents and visitors “a safe place to walk, ride and roll.” She acknowledged that there have been some concerns about parking (some of which we reported on in August, as it relates to the northern portion of the street) but she said that in her observation, legal parking was readily available during the summer months.

Following some closing remarks, the ACC group then transitioned into a virtual “executive board working session” to discuss organizational growth, strategy and other updates.

The Alki Community Council can be contacted at hello@alkicommunitycouncil.org. The group meets on the third Thursday of each month, with upcoming meetings as follows:

Oct 17 at 7 pm – hybrid format, Zoom and onsite at Alki UCC
Nov 21 at 7pm – hybrid format, Zoom and onsite at Alki UCC
December – No member meeting

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WEEKEND PREVIEW: West Seattle’s community Alzheimer’s walk set for Saturday

September 26, 2024 2:07 pm

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| Health | West Seattle news

Again this year, on the same day as the Seattle Walk to End Alzheimer’s downtown, West Seattle caregivers are organizing an informal walk here on the peninsula. Here’s the invitation!

Saturday…September 28…10:00 am…Holden and 39th

For those who don’t want to go to the big walk (at Seattle Center), the Alzheimer’s Caregivers’ Support Group has a local walk and welcomes anyone affected by the disease. We will meet at 39th Ave SW and SW Holden and walk together…usually under an hour and at a very social pace.

It’s FREE and FRIENDLY…wear purple if you have it.

No need to RSVP – just show up! (Here’s a map to 39th/Holden.)

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COUNTDOWN: 1 month until West Seattle Monster Dash 2024. Sign up now for less $!

September 26, 2024 12:01 pm

| Comments Off on COUNTDOWN: 1 month until West Seattle Monster Dash 2024. Sign up now for less $!

| Halloween | How to help | West Seattle news | WS & Sports

(WSB photo, Monster Dash’s mascot in 2023)

Fall’s fun costumed 5K, the West Seattle Monster Dash, is exactly one month away. Organizers just sent the announcement, and we notice that you have only a few more days to sign up at lower rates. The Monster Dash – set for Saturday, October 26, at Lincoln Park – is a fundraiser for West Seattle’s Cooperative Preschool program. As organizers describe it, “This event is a costumed 5k trail run/walk, Kids Dash, and Kids Zone featuring games, activities, and prizes. Paid registration includes a T-shirt featuring our iconic Monster (all races) and bib with timing chip (5K only).” The 5K starts at 9:30 am, and the Kids’ Dash at 10:30 am. Adult and youth 5K registration is at the lowest price if you sign up before next Tuesday (October 1) – to register, go here. The Monster Dash (in its lucky 13th year!) is also still welcoming sponsors – go here.

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Barbecue with jazz, volleyball, new book club, homebuying class, more for the rest of your West Seattle Thursday

September 26, 2024 10:30 am

| Comments Off on Barbecue with jazz, volleyball, new book club, homebuying class, more for the rest of your West Seattle Thursday

| West Seattle news | WS miscellaneous

(Great Blue Heron, photographed near Salty’s by David Hutchinson)

If you haven’t already checked the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, here are the highlights for the rest of today/tonight:

SEATTLE PARKS CLOSURES: Many programs and facilities – including Southwest Pool – are closed today for staff training.

SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE GARDEN CENTER: Shop fall plants at the center, 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!

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 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!

WEST SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL: A presentation on the newly published West Seattle Link Final Environmental Impact Statement is on the agenda for the Sound Transit Board meeting at 1:30 pm, as is a motion addressing planning how to deal with the project’s ballooning costs. Here’s the agenda, with info on how to comment and how to watch online.

STRONG BODIES, STRONG BONES: 2:30 pm yoga class at 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 C. Davis Texas BBQ making its last visit to HPCS – and bringing a jazz band!

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!

HIGH-SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL: One home contest on the schedule – the West Seattle High School Wildcats host Seattle Prep, JV and JVC at 5:30 pm, Varsity at 7. Fans are invited to dress in white. (3000 California SW)

WALKING FOR WELL-BEING: Meet at 6 pm at 47th/Fauntleroy for a group walk in Lincoln Park – details in our calendar listing.

WESTIES RUN CLUB: 6 pm weekly run from The Good Society (California & Lander).

GET READY! Free emergency-preparedness party with Just In Case – 6:30 pm at Whisky West (6451 California SW); our calendar listing has the RSVP link.

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!)

HOME-BUYING CLASS: As previewed here, West Seattle Realty (2715 California SW; WSB sponsor) invites you to a free class tonight for prospective homebuyers. RSVP appreciated (info@westseattlerealty.com) but not required.

BOOK CLUB LAUNCH: Morbidly Curious Book Club‘s West Seattle chapter launches tonight at Beveridge Place Pub (6413 California SW), 7 pm. .

TRIVIA: 7 pm at Burger Planet (9614 14th SW).

‘GUARDS AT THE TAJ’: Third week for the “dark comedy” at ArtsWest (4711 California SW), 7:30 pm.

Planning an event that should be on our calendar and in our daily preview lists? Please email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

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WEST SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL: What’s before the Sound Transit Board today; what we saw at ‘drop-in session’ last night

September 26, 2024 9:32 am

| 99 COMMENTS

| Sound Transit | West Seattle news

Two notes related to the West Seattle Link Extension light-rail project:

BOARD MEETING: The routing/station-location decision is expected at next month’s Sound Transit Board meeting, but two related items are on the agenda for the board’s 1:30 pm meeting this afternoon. One is a presentation about the newly released Final Environmental Impact Statement. The other addresses its revelation that the projected cost is now as high as $7.1 billion; at last week’s Executive Committee meeting, board chair King County Executive Dow Constantine mentioned he’d be making a motion for a “workplan” to address that. The motion was available on the ST website yesterday but the list of documents for today’s board meeting seems to be temporarily unavailable, so we’re requesting the motion via email to link here in case that doesn’t get fixed quickly. (Update: Here it is.) The agenda explains how to attend this afternoon’s meeting, either in-person or online.

DROP-IN SESSION #1: We got to Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in the final half-hour of last night’s two-hour drop-in session offered for people with questions about the Final EIS. ST says next Tuesday’s session in The Junction will offer the same components, so we made note of those during our visit. First, of course, easels:

Of the ~20 boards on easels and tabletops, only a few focus on specific segments of the route. Most are more big-picture, such as showing the West Seattle spur’s place in the regional network, both when it opens in 2032 and when the Ballard extension opens in 2039:

You can browse a hard copy of the Final EIS:

And if you have questions about the property-acquisition process, there was a table for that:

Since the release of the Final EIS did not trigger the same type of formal comment period as the Draft EIS in 2022, this meeting isn’t geared toward commenting, although ST’s Rachelle Cunningham told us whatever’s received will be shown to the board. We saw scattered sticky notes:

The two remaining drop-in sessions – no presentations, just the opportunity to view materials like these and ask questions one-on-one – are set for Tuesday, Oct. 1, 4:30-6:30 pm at Alki Masonic Center (4736 40th SW), with Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation available, and Wednesday, Oct. 2, 11 am-1 pm at Gallery B612 (1915 First Ave. S. in SODO).

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TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, WEATHER, ROAD WORK: Thursday info

September 26, 2024 6:03 am

| Comments Off on TRAFFIC, TRANSIT, WEATHER, ROAD WORK: Thursday info

| West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

6:03 AM: Good morning. It’s Thursday, September 26.

WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES

Partly sunny, chance of pm showers, high in the mid-60s. Today’s sunrise will be at 7:02 am, while sunset will be at 6:57 pm.

SPOKANE ST. VIADUCT, AND OTHER ROAD WORK OF NOTE

*Work IS scheduled tonight on the Spokane Street Viaduct resurfacing project – the two left eastbound lanes are scheduled to close 7 pm tonight to 6 am Friday, with all eastbound offramps remaining open. (Then all three EB lanes are scheduled to close all weekend.)

*Speaking of the weekend, the 1st Avenue South Bridge has southbound lane closures both mornings.

Other projects:

*For the Admiral Way Bridge seismic project, the north half of the bridge remains closed, with one lane each way on the south side, until the project switches sides next month; Fairmount Avenue remains closed under the bridge.

*The Delridge pedestrian-bridge earthquake-safety project also continues, with narrowing at Delridge/Oregon.

TRANSIT

Metro buses today – Regular schedule.

Water Taxi today – Regular schedule.

Washington State Ferries today – 2 boats on the Triangle Route, plus the “unscheduled third boat,” now available on weekends too. Check for alerts here.

SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS

High Bridge – Here’s the main camera, followed by the Fauntleroy-end camera:

Low Bridge – Looking west:

Spokane Street Viaduct – This view usually looks westward, with eastbound lanes at left and westbound lanes at right:

1st Avenue South Bridge:

Delridge cameras: Besides the one below (Delridge/Genesee), cameras are also at Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Henderson, Delridge/Oregon, and video-only (so you have to go to the map), Delridge/Holden and Delridge/Thistle.

MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: All functioning traffic cams citywide are here; West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras are on this WSB page.

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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