West Seattle, Washington
07 Wednesday
At 7 o’clock this morning, the first attempt will be made to land the space shuttle Atlantis, piloted by West Seattle High School Class of ’72 alum Gregory Johnson, 11 days after its launch. The weather might be dicey; the shuttle has two “landing windows” this morning at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and if things don’t look good for either one, it won’t get to try again till tomorrow. Get the latest here. 11:38 AM UPDATE: Neither of today’s landing opportunities worked out, so NASA decided to try again tomorrow – 6:16 am our time is the first window.
WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is back from covering this afternoon’s rally at Pier 66, outside the EPA’s public hearing on whether to designate climate change as a threat to human health. His first photo shows some of the youngest delegates from West Seattle’s CoolMom chapter to attend; the CoolMom kids spent some time up on stage, and other West Seattleites were there, including a delegation from Sustainable West Seattle. Here’s an overview of the rally:
Among the speakers, Mayor Nickels:
The hearing is scheduled to continue until at least 8 pm; here’s how to listen to live audio. ADDED 5:08 PM: From the mayor’s office, his “written testimony” submitted during the hearing:Read More
SIGN: Amy reports a sign sighting on the Fauntleroy “overpass,” which would be the first one in a long time, since extra DON’T YOU DARE DO THAT-type signs went up … Unfortunately, she says the sign bears an unfriendly message we won’t repeat. Off to check it out as soon as we hit “publish” on this item. (Added later – Nope, it was gone.)
LINK #1: Remember the Cat’s Eye Cafe’ on Fauntleroy north of Lincoln Park, closed after a car hit it three years ago, now the Four Aims Center? Its former owner Julie Malcolm is in the street-food business up north, according to this Edmonds article about Here and There. Sounds a little bit like the Snohomish County version of Skillet
LINK #2: Husky football players visit Roxhill Elementary, and gohuskies.com tells the tale.
(January 2009 photo by C. Simmons)
You just might be hearing from West Seattleite Megan Lingafelter tomorrow — she’s starting a quest for donations to enhance a benefit auction to help a local music producer recover from a devastating loss during that huge fire alongside the Spokane Street Viaduct 4 months ago. (The photo above shows part of the burned wreckage, which was centered at Pacific Sheet Metal.) Read on to see the letter Megan is circulating:Read More
The photos are courtesy of WestSide Baby’s Nancy Woodland, who’s at IKEA in Renton right now for the car-seat safety event that her group is co-sponsoring till 1 pm – first photo, the cars lined up as it began an hour ago, photo below, the car seats that had been brought in for recycling. If you can make it to Renton and are interested, full details are in our original preview on partner site White Center Now.
VASHON PLAN: The link was sent around by the Regional Public Information Network tonight (you can subscribe to its as-needed updates at rpin.org), but since Vashon’s just a ferry ride away, we thought you’d be interested: Here’s the story of how the island’s fire department and volunteer preparedness group are joining forces.
COUNCIL BRIEFING TOMORROW: The Seattle City Council Environment, Emergency Management and Utilities Committee will get a swine-flu update from county health officials (among others) during a special meeting at 1:30 pm tomorrow. You’ll be able to watch live via Seattle Channel, cable 21 or online here.
Only one place in the area that we can find: USPS’s Riverton Station, 15250 32nd Ave. So., a few blocks east of the northeast end of Sea-Tac Airport (Google Street View above; map here).
A regional roundup from WSDOT, including I-5 slowdowns in the city as well as possible challenges elsewhere – if you’re hitting the road this weekend, read on:Read More
From Peg Nielsen at SDOT:
No details except that there is a report of a water main break at 6th Ave S and S Spokane St. Seattle Police are on the scene directing traffic. Avoid the area to avoid delay.
Any later updates, we’ll add to this item.
3:20 PM UPDATE: Just in from SDOT and SPU:
A watermain break in the vicinity of Sixth Avenue South and South Spokane Street this morning prevented traffic that was exiting from I-5 from turning right at Sixth Avenue South. The emergency work will pause by 3 p.m. today and all traffic movements will be restored during the peak period. Crews from Seattle Public Utilities plan to resume work at 10 p.m. this evening and work through the night. They plan to keep all lanes open to traffic tonight, if possible.
WSB’er Joe just e-mailed to ask if we would put up a photo of, and info about, a missing Lake Stevens woman who happens to be the mom of one of his co-workers. No known West Seattle tie but since Joe asked, absolutely. You may already have heard about this from citywide media – the website set up to help the search mentions stories done by TV stations and newspapers. Joe says maybe someone from here happened to be up at Stevens Pass last weekend and might have seen her. Connie Marie Koch is 62 years old and hasn’t been seen since Thursday.
From SDOT, shared in the interest of the many West Seattleites who drive through SODO:
Royal Brougham Way is now closed east and westbound between 4th Ave S and Occidental (map). The closure will continue through to late Saturday, April 4. A signed detour will guide motorists. Pedestrian access will be provided on S Royal Brougham Way. The closure is necessary so crews can relocate utilities and prepare for bridge pier construction for the SR 519 project
This is not West Seattle-specific, but most of these folks probably wrote about/photographed West Seattle at one time or another, so we’re sharing the word: One week after the last Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper went to press, if you are wondering what’s up with the staffers who did not stay on with the new online-only P-I, here’s a list of some of their new endeavors, compiled by former P-I food writer Rebekah Denn, who made news herself today as a James Beard Award nominee. The sites range from very personal (ex-copy editor diarizing about her unemployment) to continuations of the type of work the respective writers did for the paper (like this).
Lots of West Seattleites commute to and through Sodo/Pioneer Square, so we’re sharing this traffic alert – tens of thousands will be in the area tomorrow afternoon/evening for the Seattle Sounders‘ kickoff game.
We know many folks have been waiting for word of a decision on the P-I’s fate, and it’s now been announced: Posted minutes ago at the Seattle P-I website — its final print edition will be tomorrow; an online-only P-I will continue, making the Post-Intelligencer “the nation’s largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product.” For a window into what’s being said about this online right now, go here for a real-time look at notes on Twitter mentioning the P-I. ADDED 11:12 AM: You knew there’d be a West Seattle angle, of course. An item now up at SeattlePI.com talks about the new web-only operation, and it’s by executive producer Michelle Nicolosi, who is a West Seattleite. Meantime, here’s P-I video of the announcement made at their HQ this morning:
Note in the accompanying story that a Hearst executive is quoted as saying, “We’ll also be linking to the great work of other Web sites and blogs in the community.” WSB is among them (as noted in the 7th-to-last paragraph here) – some of the most eagle-eyed WSBers noted a couple weeks ago when WSB was in fact the first such outside site with a link to appear on SeattlePI.com (the link was for our coverage of the City Council’s most recent snowstorm-aftermath hearing) – the P-I has since linked to the work of more than a few “other … sites,” which is really online SOP – as we have linked and will continue to link to sites like theirs when they have notable exclusive West Seattle stories. As fellow journalists, we wish those who are staying on with the online P-I, and those who are not (here’s a PSBJ story about severance plans and other business matters), the best of luck as the world of newsgathering and delivery continues to turn … somewhat like a globe. ADDED 1:23 PM: Speaking at his media event to announce Deputy Chief John Diaz as Acting Police Chief, Mayor Nickels says re: the P-I print shutdown, “Tomorrow will be a very sad day in Seattle.” He cited the importance of local-news coverage. ADDED 2:50 PM: Questions in our comments have included “what happens if you’re subscribing to the P-I?” This FAQ is now posted, confirming what commenters have replied – subscriptions are being transferred to the Times.
So says a news release just in from the city – and it says furloughs are on the way too (following the example of King County, which has implemented some to save $ – including today’s furlough day for the King County Council) – here’s the news release:Read More
(J45 photo added Thursday am, republished courtesy of Center for Whale Research – other whales in the photo: J14 and J1 in the background)
Just got tonight’s edition of the Orca Network e-newsletter, and it includes a report that J-Pod has another new baby – the second one this year. Ken Balcomb from the Center for Whale Research in the San Juans is quoted by the Orca Network as saying a new calf, J45, was spotted with J14, not far from the new calf reported in February, J44, who’s with J17. The newsletter includes a photo, which we’ll add IF we can get permission – or we’ll link it if we find it online. J-Pod is one of Puget Sound’s three resident “pods” – groups of orcas – but it’s not the same one that passed through West Seattle waters last month; as reported here, that was L-Pod. Members of J-Pod DID pass this way in December (as noted here).
In case you are planning on heading east, you should know there is a serious two-vehicle crash not too far away — West Marginal South and South Holden (map) – at least three people reported to have major injuries, including a baby, per scanner traffic from medics rushing them to the hospital. Don’t know the circumstances yet; will add links as we find them, to anyone covering in person. 7:32 PM UPDATE: The P-I has published a short item that says West Marginal has reopened to traffic.
This reminder just in from Metro Transit – changes are about to kick in on Metro and Sound Transit routes related to two projects, the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening work, and the 1st Avenue So. repairs/rebuilding. Read on for the full news release (and, added after it @ 12:35 pm, an East Marginal Way advisory from the city):Read More
Regardless of whether you live inside or outside city limits, the future of King County Public Health affects you. The funding concerns were among the issues we discussed with County Council Chair Dow Constantine in our interview after his County Executive candidacy announcement recently, and we’ll discuss it with his opponent Larry Phillips later this week. Now comes word they and their council colleagues will take it up at a Town Hall meeting next week – read on:Read More
We know more than a few WSBers work in SODO – so you might be interested to hear about a new neighborhood-news/info website we were just tipped to: SODO Agogo (sodoagogo.com). Co-founder Sean tells WSB he and his co-site operators all work at Year of the Monkey but are determined to promote other area businesses and to report on “pretty much anything happening down here, so we can get the information out in front of people, whether it be neighborhood sales, city meetings, transit reroutes, or whatever else.”
Metro is trying to get the word out that road work in Sodo will change some bus routes as soon as Monday – if you use Metro buses that run through that area, here’s the news release you should read.
It’s been some months since our logs showed people landing on WSB by searching Google for “Nicholas Francisco,” the Seattle man who vanished one year ago. (His disappearance was a West Seattle story for a while because he and his wife had attended church here, and friends here put up posters all over the area.) But today’s logs suddenly show a few of those searches, and an e-mailed link explains why: On the anniversary of his disappearance, his wife gave her first TV interview in many months (see it here), claiming she found evidence of a “secret life” – but also saying, she just wants to know, is he still alive? As for law enforcement – the missing-person case is still open.
A major crash (check the cam here) has WSDOT warning that all southbound lanes are blocked:
A police investigation continues to block all lanes of southbound I-5 at Pine Street in Seattle. Traffic is currently getting by on the right shoulder. All exits on the express lanes are open to all traffic. Washington State Patrol, fire, aid and Seattle Police are on scene.
Just in case you’re heading that way or you happen to be on the other side of this and about to head THIS way, we thought we’d better share. (Added: Thanks to Scott B for sharing this link; KIRO says it started with a pursuit following an Eastside carjacking; there’s a closer photo on the KOMO site.) 1:36 PM NOTE: WSDOT sent an update – 2 SB lanes now getting by on the right shoulder.
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