West Seattle, Washington
02 Saturday
(Photos courtesy Delridge Grocery Co-op)
Healthy food at low prices! Go to the Delridge Grocery Co-op (5444 Delridge Way SW) starting at 3 pm today for major produce deals – the DGC announcement explains:
This weekend, the Delridge Grocery Co-op (DGC) is partnering with Cascadia Produce to offer its neighbors some special deals on produce. Owned and operated by Delridge residents (and DGC owner-members) Jillian Moore and Jeremy Vrablik, Cascadia is part of the Seattle Good Business Network’s Good Food Exchange program, which is working to distribute surplus or recovered food to businesses and organizations.
These produce items are sent to Cascadia after being rejected by groceries for a number of reasons — peppers were too small, stores were overstocked, or temperature was off by 1-2 degrees. Yet these are still usable, healthy packages of fruits, vegetables, and greens, and Jeremy and Jill are passionate about keeping good food on plates and out of the landfill.
The DGC will be offering a selection of items that Cascadia has procured this week and selling them at discounted prices, including:
• Strawberries (Foxy brand, 16-ounce) — $2.99 (compare at $8.99)
• Raspberries (Driscolls brand, 6-ounce) — $2.99 (compare at $5.29)
• Organic Spinach and Arugula (Earthbound Farm brand, 16-ounce tubs) — $2.99 (compare at $6.99)
• Sweet Mini Peppers (Dolce brand, 16-ounce) — $1.99 (compare at $4.99)
All are welcome to shop at the DGC, but this is also our monthly Discount Weekend when Co-op owner-members (who have paid into their ownership share) receive a 10% discount on all in-store purchases (December 1-3). You can also shop for holiday gifts from local artisans, including pottery from The Clay Cauldron and hot sauce from Bootsie’s Sauce Co.
Come check out your neighborhood grocery and #shopthecoopfirst this weekend! The all-volunteer DGC is located at 5444 Delridge Way SW, and is open Friday 3–7, Saturday 9:30–3, Sunday 11–3, Monday 3–7, and Tuesday 3–7.
Thanks to Jay for the tip. Seattle Public Utilities crews are working on a water break in the 4700 block of 26th SW. More than 50 customers are affected, according to the SPU outage map.
1:15 PM: Jay says the water is back on. SPU tells us the leak was in an 8-inch cast iron distribution main but they don’t know what caused it.
(Recent video of salmon spawners in Longfellow Creek by Betsy Bertiaux)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“Don’t be depressed, be optimistic.”
That was the advice of one panelist during a West Seattle discussion of Longfellow Creek – its status, its future, its challenges. He was only speaking about one of the latter, but his advice was an appropriate exhortation for all in attendance.
The attendance itself was cause for optimism – all the chairs set out in the Duwamish Longhouse‘s main hall, and some of the benches around the room, were filled with people there “to learn about and celebrate Longfellow Creek,” as Elizabeth Rudrud of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society said in her introduction. Its Log House Museum has been hosting an exhibit about the creek, and one of the reasons for the November 8 gathering was to springboard off that.
Sharon Leishman of the Duwamish Alive Coalition also said she was heartened “to see this many people interested in our wonderful creek,” one of only two salmon-bearing tributaries in the Duwamish River watershed.
Photojournalist Tom Reese began his presentation with an update on those salmon – that day, he said, Longfellow Creek had seen “at least 17 live adult coho spawners,” and he had also noted three dead ones, as well as “about 40 baby salmon living in the creek almost a year now.” He declared, with wonder, “There are salmon spawning in the city of Seattle less than four miles from the Space Needle!” But most of the salmon who make it into the creeik die before thy can spawn because they’ve been poisoned (more on that later).
Still, it’s better than the years in which Longfellow – which Reese imagined had once been a “magnificent salmon stream” – was a “ditch, an open sewer,’ barren of salmon for perhaps half a century. Now the creek is “back from the dead” and the salmon are arriving each year, even though, as Reese described, “to get to Longfellow Creek they have to choose to go into a pipe that travels 2/3 of a mile underground” before daylighting.
He held the audience in rapt attention as he showed photos and video of the salmon, other wildlife, and the human-made features along Longfellow Creek, like the fishbone bridge. If you haven’t been to the Log House Museum to see his images in the Longfellow exhibit, don’t miss it.
The human influence on the creek was at the heart of the next speaker’s presentation. Seattle Public Utilities‘ Katherine Lynch spoke of impervious surface covering more than half the Longfellow watershed – and that has resulted in overflows like this.
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Received from Joel:
Just wanted to let West Seattleites know that a disgruntled neighbor threw garbage, including glass bottles, into the Delridge skatepark this evening. He was upset about the refuse being left behind on a daily basis.
I cleaned up what glass I could, and notified the police, but I’m sure there are small shards left that could hurt someone if they were to fall.
We suggested also calling the Seattle Parks after-hours maintenance number (206-684-7250).
3:58 PM: Thanks to Manuel for the quick clip of leaping salmon at Longfellow Creek – he reports, “It’s ideal conditions to watch the salmon jump over a beaver dam at Longfellow Creek by the West Seattle Health Club. The heavy rain helped them.”
P.S. This gives us reason to remind you of this week’s big event – a celebration with information – about Longfellow Creek, 5:30 pm Wednesday (November 8th) at the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse and Cultural Center (4705 West Marginal Way SW)
4:50 PM: Manuel caught another one on video – an even higher leap!
(WSB photo, last month)
With Daylight Saving Time ending this weekend, we’re about to enter the months of early sunsets. That’s bad news for some sports programs – newly resurfaced Delridge Playfield is unusable after dark right now, because of wiring theft, and that’s apparently not going to change in time for the time change. When we first asked Seattle Parks about the theft last month, they told us they hoped to fix it within “a couple of weeks.” After hearing from a coach this week that it’s not fixed yet – almost three weeks after our previous report – we checked back. Parks’ reply: “We are still working on reinstalling and securing the new wiring. We don’t have a timeline on when the work will be done.”
Got something to say to the city about the streets and sidewalks of Highland Park, Riverview, and/or South Delridge? Don’t miss the chance to get your feedback in for the Seattle Transportation Plan – comments on the draft version are due Tuesday. That’s one of the community reminders that emerged this past Wednesday night when HPAC, the area’s community coalition, met in person.
The meeting, facilitated by (corrected) HPAC co-chairs Craig Rankin – who is leaving that position, with Barb Biondo succeeding him – and Kay Kirkpatrick was held in person, at the Southwest Precinct community room. City Attorney Ann Davison was a spotlight guest (as she had been at another West Seattle community-council meeting last month, the Admiral Neighborhood Association).
Davison gave a general outline of how her office works. She talked about her initial work of getting backlogged cases handled and her lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai regarding the flaw that allows so many to be so easily stolen. That led to a discussion among the group about the number of dumped Kias/Hyundais in Highlad Park. One question came up – whether stolen and recovered cars are tracked. SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon said his department has data tools and does map where cars and taken and where the cars wind up.
Davison used that example and a question over the city’s new drug law to remind people to report the things they see. Rather than get bogged down in “the police won’t come” preemptive pessimism, she said, call and report, and let the next step happen. That way there’s at least data on where and when crimes might be occurring.
Regarding the city’s new drug policy – she presented some background on that, and said she’s in favor of getting people into treatment, so she’s working with her staff to ensure that’s a priority for people whose cases are referred to the City Attorney’s Office under the new law.
HPAC attendees also heard an update on the progress toward building a new Highland Park Improvement Club building. HPIC’s Rhonda Smith said the latest period for project comments to the city is over. But the permit process still has a ways to go, and that’s why the fire-damaged building hasn’t undergone any demolition work yet. HPIC still has fundraising to do to ensure they can cover the cost of the new building, and they’re working with professional fundraisers to advance that effort. (Here’s how to donate.)
Speaking of money, HPAC co-chair Rankin, who’s active with the West Duwamish Greenbelt Trails group, said grant money is available for forest-restoration and trail improvements. (You can find out more about the WDGT group here.)
NEXT MEETING: HPAC meets fourth Wednesdays most months – watch for updates here.
That’s the long-vacant-and-vandalized house at the far north end of Delridge Way, officially known as 3804 23rd Avenue SW, in our photo from late Thursday afternoon. Earlier this month, thanks to a reader tip, we reported on an “emergency order” by the city, as part of a longrunning investigation of violations, telling the owner to “close” the house immediately, among other things. It’s since been boarded up and cleaned up, but not because the owner took action.
A reader sent us that photo on Tuesday. An accompanying photo showed a junk-hauling truck with a company name we recognized as a city contractor we’ve seen before at encampment cleanups. We subsequently asked the Department of Construction and Inspections about the property’s status; here’s the reply from spokesperson Bryan Stevens:
An Emergency Order (EO) was issued on October 10 under case 1056926-VI for a vacant building open to entry, outdoor debris, and vegetation. The EO required compliance from the property owner by October 16. The required maintenance was not completed by the property owner, so SDCI commissioned a contractor to secure the lower openings and complete the cleanup to close out the EO condition. The cost will be billed to the property owner along with related inspection fees. The building will continue to be monitored via monthly inspections through our Vacant Building Monitoring Program. However, the public should continue to file a complaint if they notice the building open to entry or additional debris. Complaints can be filed online or via phone at 206-615-0808.
We asked about the amount that’ll be “billed to the property owner”; Stevens said he wouldn’t be able to get that for us until next week. The site has had various development plans under various owners over the year; most recently, there was a proposal to renovate the house, but that plan doesn’t appear to have advanced beyond an early stage.
6:52 PM: Before sunset, we passed Seattle Public Utilities crews working on Delridge Way, just south of Louisa Boren STEM K-8. We checked the SPU water-outage map, and no problems – nor planned work – were listed. But now after a tip from Sam, who is without water in the Sylvan Way area, we’ve checked again, and SPU has an outage listed, affecting at least 59 customers – as shown on the map, and apparently a bit beyond.
UPDATE: Per the SPU map, service was restored at 7:21 pm.
Thanks to the texter who tipped us about this today. The owners of West Seattle’s most-visible vacant house – 3804 23rd SW, along the Delridge onramp to the West Seattle Bridge – are under an “emergency order” to seal it up by tomorrow morning. The texter noted this order tacked up at the property:
It orders the building to be “closed” by 8 am tomorrow. We went by late today and didn’t see any sign of work to do that. We’ve mentioned this house many times over the years, most recently half a year ago, when we discovered a plan to remodel it. That plan does not appear to have advanced past pre-application stage so far. Meantime, the violation that has led to the “emergency order” to seal the house by tomorrow is related to at least four prior violations of the city’s Vacant Building Standards. Here’s the full notice; it says that if the owner doesn’t comply by the deadline, they can be fined up to $1,000 a day, and: “the [Department of Construction and Inspections] Director may take corrective action and recover the costs of that action (and) the City may file a lawsuit against you to collect the penalties and costs.” We’ll watch to see if anything comes of it; the house has been a problem spot for many years, even called out on a community-organized tour of problem properties in 2009, with city councilmembers and department heads in attendance.
(SDOT camera image)
The alert is just in from SDOT, for repaving work next week:
Delridge Way SW between SW Genesee St and SW Dakota St
8 AM Mon. October 16 through 5 PM Mon. October 23 *
*Weather permittingï‚· SDOT will replace several damaged concrete panels in the northbound lanes.
ï‚· The northbound bus and travel lanes on this section of Delridge Way SW will be closed 24 hours a day from 8 AM Mon. Oct. 16 to 5 PM Mon. Oct. 23
o During this time, the two southbound lanes will be temporarily converted into one northbound lane and one southbound lane.
o No detours will be in place. Traffic will continue using Delridge Way SW.
ï‚· Some on-street parking in the area may be temporarily closed for use byconstruction equipment.
o Any parking restrictions will be posted prior to taking effect.
ï‚· Sidewalks will remain open at all times.
This project is comparable to the project SDOT crews completed earlier this year in the southbound lanes of this same section of Delridge Way SW.
Police are dealing right now with what’s described in radio exchanges as a flipped silver Lexus RX SUV. It was reported in the lot downhill behind Ounces at the north end of Delridge – apparently having come down that slope. Dispatch said two people were trying to right the car and the person who called 911 was told “don’t call police.” Took a while to get officers there – initially no one was available, so they had to dispatch from another precinct, but canceled that when West Seattle officers became available. The first on scene reported finding the flipped vehicle, empty, no one in sight. It had temporary plates, and when dispatch ran them, they checked to the appropriate car, but we haven’t heard whether it turned out to be stolen or not – will have to check on that later this morning.
Thanks to Jay for the photo! The fencing is down at newly resurfaced Delridge Playfield. As reported here earlier this week, the turf work was scheduled to finish today, with official reopening tomorrow. This comes three months after work began – one month faster than the original estimate. (The project had a few non-turf components that readers have noted aren’t quite done yet, though.)
(WSB photo, Sunday)
If you’ve noticed that the turf-replacement project at Delridge Playfield looks almost done … that’s because it is, Seattle Parks confirms. We asked about its status, and a Parks spokesperson responded that the work will be complete on Friday (October 6th) and the field will open to users the next day (Saturday, October 7th). The project started three months ago – that’s less time than the four-month estimate. The contractor for the project is Ohno-Touchdown JV. The Delridge field is reopening one month after Hiawatha Playfield, which also has new turf.
The first fall meeting of HPAC – the community coalition for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge – tonight lasted less than 40 minutes, as one guest was a no-show. But the online meeting’s first scheduled guest was there – on behalf of the Southwest Precinct, second-watch commander Lt. Grant Ballingham. He answered a variety of questions from attendees.
One was whether there’s anything new in the search for Jim Price, the 86-year-old Pigeon Point man who’s now been missing for nine days.
Lt. Ballingham said officers had responded to a few possible sightings, and in two of those cases, they found and talked with the person who was the subject of the sighting, but it wasn’t Jim. Otherwise, he said, all officers have the bulletin flyers with them and are on the lookout.
The Kia/Hyundai thefts aren’t slowing down, he said, though he didn’t have numbers. He said the cars often are stolen where others are dumped. The most-concerning trend, he said, is the “bump-and-rob” carjacking attempts. He said both people who were targeted for those in West Seattle one day last week escaped by simply driving away. He echoed the advice about driving to a safe place rather than getting out of your car.
As we’ve already added to our earlier story, he said Junction TrueValue had to deal with two incidents today, a “robbery by force” and then later the harassment/death threat incident we reported. He said a suspect had been arrested in the latter. And while he acknowledged there are many serious incidents, he said that judging by the number of Significant Incident Reports he sees from around the city each day, the Southwest Precinct has the least amount of violent crime in the city. He also voiced optimism about city leaders’ plans to supplement police with alternate responders. And finally, he thanked community members for their watchfulness and for reporting things (like all those stolen/dumped cars).
ALSO AT HPAC: Next month, HPAC will again join with Highland Park Improvement Club and Highland Park Corner Store for a combination tree giveaway and Halloween event (with a pet-costume contest!), Trick or Trees, noon-4 pm at the store (7789 Highland Park Way SW). … HPIC will soon have another Town Hall to update the community on the rebuilding project and the fundraising to facilitate it.
NEXT MEETING: HPAC usually meets online, fourth Wednesdays, 7 pm – watch hpacws.org for updates.
86-year-old Jim Price of Pigeon Point is still missing, for a fifth day. Again this afternoon (Saturday, September 23) volunteer searchers will fan out to look for him. If you can help, please meet up at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW; map) at 2 pm. His family says, “Please come. We cannot express the appreciation enough.”
Just received from a family member via comment on a previous story: “There is a Search Group meetup again today at 2 pm to continue to search for Jim. Meet at the Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW) for quadrant assignments. Please show up if you are able! Thank you so much!” Jim Price, 86, has been missing since leaving his Pigeon Point home Monday night, on foot, possibly headed for The Junction. A community search Thursday afternoon yielded no new clues as to where he might be.
Today is scheduled to be the end of a nine-day closure for Delridge Community Center. According to Seattle Parks, the shutdown since September 2nd has been for “re-flooring and front entrance construction.” Monday and Tuesday, the community center is scheduled to be open “but no showers or programs.” Full operation is to resume Wednesday (September 13).
Thanks to Manuel for the photos and report: “A tree fell from the Longfellow Creek area and is blocking the small Nevada Street bridge in Delridge. SDOT is on the scene.” (Here’s a map.)
This was about an hour ago, so it might be clear now, but still noteworthy; readers also reported a tree down earlier this week by Dragonfly Pavilion, but that one did not appear to be blocking anything.
From the West Seattle DAV chapter, headquartered at 4857 Delridge Way SW, a message for all veterans:
Do you need help filing a claim for disability?
The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) West Seattle Chapter #23 has trained Service Officers to help you with your claim. There is no charge , we are available on a first-come first-serve basis every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 AM to 1 PM.
If you have questions, the chapter’s phone number is 206-933-8604.
The volunteer-powered Delridge Grocery Co-op has, against all odds, created an oasis of healthy food in a neighborhood where mini-mart shelves of snacks are pretty much the only other options. The team needs to grow to keep the momentum going and the store open (right now they’re up to five days a week). If you are open to the idea of spending three hours, once a month, helping the shop stay open so neighbors can buy food – or maybe you’d be interested in helping pack/deliver DGC’s Essential Boxes on Saturdays – come chat with the current crew this Wednesday night. They’ll be at Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW) 5-8 pm Wednesday (August 23rd). No obligation – stop by, ask questions, find out how the DGC works. “We’ll even bring some goodies to share from the store!” the DGC team promises.
P.S. If you haven’t shopped at the co-op (5444 Delridge Way SW), you do NOT have to be a member – it’s open to all,
12:15 PM: That was the traffic-camera view a few minutes ago as a collision response blocked northbound Delridge north of the Genesee intersection. This was dispatched as a pedestrian hit by a driver. We haven’t heard anything about the pedestrian’s condition so we’re headed to the scene to try to find out more.
12:20 PM: NB Delridge traffic is being diverted onto WB Genesee, and officers just told dispatch that this will last “for a while.”
12:30 PM: Contrary to that, our crew has been told the street will be reopened shortly – though there’s compounding trouble on the southbound side in the same area (bus-lane repair). The pedestrian, described as an “adult male,” was taken to a hospital for “observation.” No other information on circumstances.
12:46 PM: The northbound lane has reopened. Because of the construction on the southbound side, one northbound lane is being used for southbound traffic.
1:44 PM: SFD says the pedestrian is 87 years old; our contact is waiting for info from the medic-unit crew on his condition when transported. … (Added) SFD says he was in stable condition when taken to the hospital.
(Seattle Parks photo)
Right now, Delridge Community Center is open Mondays-Fridays, 9:30 am-6:30 pm. The city announced today that its hours will expand starting Monday, September 11th, to Mondays-Fridays, 9:30 am-9 pm, plus Saturdays, 9:30 am-6 pm. It’s one of eight community centers around the city that will get added hours with Seattle Park District funding; it’s one of West Seattle’s only two city-run community centers currently in operation, as Hiawatha CC is closed for eventual renovation and Alki CC has only been in use for child care.
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