West Seattle, Washington
13 Tuesday
This reminder just in from WSDOT regarding southbound I-5 work starting tonight in Tukwila – not far from here, so if you drive that stretch of the freeway, read on:Read More
From SDOT:
A march is currently scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today. The march will start at the Seattle Central Community College on Broadway and will proceed westward on Pine Street to Fourth Avenue, escorted by Seattle Police Officers, ending with a rally at Westlake Park. Up to 500 participants are expected. Drivers should anticipate traffic congestion along the route and in the area around Westlake Park. Drivers are advised to take alternate routes if possible.
(President Obama at the Paramount; photos courtesy Cindy S)
11:58 AM: According to our friends at KING 5, President Obama has just arrived at Boeing Field – which means you might encounter motorcade traffic. (Watch their coverage here.) He’s scheduled to head first to a fundraiser on the Eastside and then to another one at the Paramount Theater downtown. According to Seattle Times (WSB partner) political reporter Jim Brunner via Twitter, the president’s welcoming party at Boeing Field includes King County Executive Dow Constantine as well as Mayor McGinn and Governor Gregoire (among others).
1:03 PM: Roads are open right now since the President is in Medina for fundraiser #1, but he’ll be heading back across the lake before too long, and on to the Paramount event. For minute-by-minute traffic updates, check this KING 5 page; also remember we have an array of West Seattle-and-vicinity “live” cameras on the WSB Traffic page.
3:21 PM: Per KING, the President is headed back to Boeing Field right now, after finishing his speech at the Paramount downtown. (Added above – Cindy S’s photo of NBA Hall of Famers Bill Russell and Lenny Wilkens, who introduced him.)
3:58 PM: After four hours on the ground, Air Force One has taken off and President Obama is off to the Bay Area.
Reports on today’s visit: Seattle Times here; LA Times here
Just so your radar’s up for sonic booms, traffic effects, Air Force One sightings … President Obama comes to Seattle this Sunday. This time around, according to seattlepi.com, he’s raising money for his re-election campaign, with two fundraisers on the schedule – breakfast/brunch on the Eastside, then a lunch event at the Paramount downtown (with a demonstration planned outside). No exact arrival time announced so far. (Photo by David DeSiga, from August 2010 presidential visit)
1:04 PM: One WSB ‘er sent a note a few minutes ago asking if there had been an earthquake – she’s downtown in a high-rise and says they were swaying for several long minutes. We’re just now seeing the reports that indeed, there was a 6.7 quake on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Maybe we’re immune from growing up in Southern California, but we didn’t feel anything here in Upper Fauntleroy. You?
1:21 PM: For those interested – here’s a data-laden page about this quake, courtesy of the U.S. Geological Service Survey. Also just added a Google map showing the epicenter. **NO** tsunami alert, per this link. The Vancouver Sun‘s ongoing coverage (the story is a little longer every time we’ve checked back) can be found here.
1:48 PM NOTE: You might recall that just yesterday, we mentioned that September is Preparedness Month. Can’t pass up another opportunity to implore you to be sure you really are prepared. If we had to point you to just ONE West Seattle-specific resource – it would be West Seattle Be Prepared (in particular, find and memorize your nearest “Communication Hub”). And any time you wonder whether you felt a quake, check here (though ironically, the BC quake is outside its range).
3:26 PM: Commenters asked about the Viaduct’s new automatic quake gates. We then asked WSDOT, which replied that it would take a quake of at least 5.0, “near” the Viaduct, to trigger them. (This one is now estimated at 6.4, but it was nowhere “near” us, relatively speaking.) WSDOT has since issued a news release saying it’s checked key structures to be sure the BC quake had no effects:
Inspection teams from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) are checking key transportation structures in the Puget Sound region after today’s earthquake near Vancouver Island. No damage has been found so far.
WSDOT crews have completed a visual inspection of the State Route 520 floating bridge and report no damage. They will do a more in-depth inspection in the coming hours.
The Alaskan Way Viaduct remains open and has been inspected visually, with no signs of damage. In addition, seismic sensors installed to trigger automatic gate closures to the structure show no impact from the Vancouver quake, now measured at 6.4. The sensors require an earthquake larger than 5.0 in the immediate vicinity before triggering gate closures.
Moveable bridges in the Seattle area, including the Montlake and 1st Avenue South bridges, also have been inspected, with no damage reported.
Due to the location of the quake, WSDOT crews also were sent to Skagit and Whatcom counties, including the Deception and Canoe Pass bridges. No damage has been reported there.
P.S. Thanks to Jim Edwards for pointing out this online seismic-activity tracker from Vashon, which clearly showed the quake.
(Photo substituted 3:01 pm – took this one from Charlestown Hill)
1:58 PM: We’ve gotten a few questions about all the smoke on the east slope of the Olympic Mountains, north of the iconic Brothers peaks, clearly visible from West Seattle. (Our photo is from the hill over south Lincoln Park.) So far we believe it’s this one that’s reported to have closed the Duckabush trail (here’s a map of that area) – still looking for a more comprehensive sense of information.
3:06 PM UPDATE: Substituted a better photo, after checking it out from Charlestown Hill and Beach Drive. Our friends at KING 5 quote authorities on the peninsula as calling this one the “Big Hump Fire.” They report at least 20 firefighters are assigned to it. Also just in – best photo yet, from David Hutchinson on Alki:
4:53 PM UPDATE: First time we’ve seen a cause mentioned – the Peninsula Daily News has a story up now, and says it’s believed to have been sparked by an abandoned campfire.
8:15 PM: The fire’s size has been updated to 50 acres.
3:25 PM: We’ve been getting calls and text messages asking about the column of black smoke that’s been visible for about an hour. The smoke is from a two-story structure fire in the unincorporated area about a mile south of South Park. The Seattle Fire Department has sent a ladder truck and an engine to assist. Our pictures were taken from as close as we could get to the scene. KING5.com has the details here on what turned out to be a three-alarm apartment-building fire.
5:51 PM: Our partners at the Seattle Times say SFD was one of eight fire departments that responded to help fight the fire. At least two people were hurt, but no major injuries are reported.
So far, haven’t heard any reports that today’s big downtown event led to traffic chain reactions, so that’s good news. But WSDOT wants you to know in advance that next weekend, there’s another of those double closures – the 520 floating bridge and the Mercer offramps. “Expect region-wide congestion,” they warn. More here.
In case you missed the repeated mentions here and elsewhere last week – tomorrow’s the day the Lions Clubs International Parade of Nations happens downtown, with road closures, detours, and bus-route changes. Here once again is the city’s official alert. No way to tell if it will cause any sort of domino effect like the motivational-speaker-event jam a month ago, of course, but we’ll be tracking.
No SDOT alert yet, but with the memory of the KeyArena-event-traffic-nightmare day still fresh, we thought you might want early warning (and if you’re off, you might even want to go watch): Next Tuesday, what’s described as the biggest parade in Seattle’s history is set for downtown, 10,000 people parading as part of the Lions Clubs International convention. It starts from Seattle Center at 10 am, proceeding along 5th Avenue, and includes other road closures. It’s complicated, so go here for the full breakdown; the source page is here, including this map of the parade route.
ADDED 4:41 PM: SDOT is now out with its official advisory – read it after the jump:Read More
(Salvaging fishing floats in Minamisanriku: MSNBC.com photo by Jim Seida, used with permission)
If you are a casual reader of world news, it might seem that there’s little reported about Japan, post-quake/tsunami, aside from the ongoing nuclear-power-plant-related concerns. But there’s much more going on, as the disaster’s effects, large and small, are addressed, as survivors fight their way back to something resembling the lives they once lived – like the fishermen whose story is told here.
Their story, and others, has been brought to MSNBC.com readers by a team including West Seattle-residing journalist Jim Seida. He has spent the past two weeks in the hardest-hit areas and e-mailed WSB to share links of the coverage with which he has been involved. Jim is a Gatewood resident who works for MSNBC.com as a senior multimedia producer; he is just wrapping up his work in Japan with writer Miranda Leitsinger. Many of the links to their work are tied together on this Storify page; on their own company’s site, you can find the series here, as well as on the MSNBC.com World Blog and its Facebook page.
(Christopher Boffoli’s video from WSB ‘Liberty Belle’ tour story in 2009)
Thanks to Stephanie for the tip on this story: The restored B-17 known as “Liberty Belle” crashed in Illinois this morning, with all 7 people on board surviving. It was featured here two years ago, when it gave tours from Boeing Field, and WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli went along on one. The Chicago Tribune has details and photos from today’s crash.
7:50 AM TUESDAY: That same link has new photos and information today, bearing out what a commenter notes below – “Liberty Belle” made an emergency landing, everyone got out, and then fire spread through the restored plane.
This one does not directly involve West Seattle’s traffic lifelines (99, 509, etc.) but it includes other major Seattle-area highways and begins with the dire-warning line “Drivers can expect region-wide congestion Father’s Day weekend …” Full details from WSDOT here.
Besides the fact the Alaskan Way Viaduct is scheduled to be closed from late Friday through early Monday – there are a variety of reasons you might encounter traffic snarls this weekend if you head eastward. SDOT is publishing Friday-Saturday-Sunday weekend advisories in advance each week, and we’re getting back to sharing them with you each week – so here’s the one that just arrived:Read More
(Video recorded at a home in Japan during the earthquake)
We’ll leave the information about the huge, magnitude 8.9 Japan earthquake to those who are covering it directly – but a couple of notes: First, the federal websites providing tsunami information are finally working properly (until a half-hour or so ago, they were not reflecting the watch that is in effect for the ocean coast) – here’s where to go for that information. Note that even though any wave generated in a situation like this is technically a “tsunami,” if one actually hits this side of the Pacific, it could be barely a ripple – we have seen that scenario play out time and again – BUT it is never a reason for complacency. “Watch” means lowest level of “keep your radar up.” We’ll be keeping an eye on the situation all night.
Second, until we get information about relief efforts to help the quake survivors, here’s something you can do to not feel so powerless in the face of the horrifying scenes from the Japan quake zones – THINK PREPAREDNESS. Start by knowing your Emergency Communication Hub location. Here’s the West Seattle-volunteer-created, info-rich West Seattle Be Prepared website, as a place to start.
2:50 AM UPDATE: This table has the projected height of whatever “tsunami” might hit the Washington ocean coast. Note the highest is about three feet.
(February 2011 photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Will you be able to visit a space shuttle by driving just a few minutes east? Last month, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited the Museum of Flight, which is hoping to receive a retired space shuttle to put on display. (He’s seen at center in our photo, with museum CEO Doug King and former museum president/retired astronaut Dr. Bonnie Dunbar.) Today, the museum – just over the ridge from West Seattle – announced that Bolding is expected to make an announcement on April 12th. (MoF points out that’s the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle launch.) A new space gallery is under construction at MoF, with completion expected this summer; the museum is one of 27 contenders around the country to be the home of a retired shuttle.
(Photo added 4:53 pm, taken from Upper Fauntleroy)
It’s not West Seattle, but many people can see it from here, so it’s news here too — we have received calls/notes about a big plume of smoke visible from Vashon Island, if you have a view in that direction.
4:49 PM UPDATE: It’s a fire, according to scanner traffic. One source on Twitter says it’s a three-story house. And crews are still actively fighting it. We don’t have location info so far, aside from one crew telling another “come down as if you were going to the Cove Motel.”
5:08 PM UPDATE: KING 5 has posted this video from viewer Brady Miller (note that it is preceded by a short commercial – placed by their site, not ours):
5:23 PM UPDATE: The scanner mentions “Paige Lane” as the command. That’s on the northwest side of Vashon (here’s a map). We’ll add any additional information we find later; moving back on to more WS news now.
The Alaskan Way Viaduct emergency-earthquake-closure-gate system work continues – and that’ll bring some ramp closures next week along Highway 99 on both sides of downtown – read on:Read More
In August 2008, the King County Council paid tribute to Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus, and we published this photo with a short item, even noting the only West Seattle link was the fact that then-County Councilmember Dow Constantine is a WS resident. Glad to have the photo so that we too can offer our tribute to the longtime Seattle Mariners announcer, who died today at age 75; here’s a report from our partners at the Seattle Times. On the day the above photo was taken, Mr. Niehaus was quoted as saying, “”Those magic moments of 1995 will return to Safeco Field. I promise you, they will return.” Maybe they will – sadly he won’t be here to see it.
ADDED 7:35 PM: A statement from Mayor McGinn:
‘My oh My’ – Seattle Lost a Friend Today: Seattle has lost a friend. We invited him into our homes and he was with us when we were joyful about the Mariners and when we were sad. Dave Niehaus will be sorely missed. From now on, there will be just two eras of Mariner baseball: the Dave Niehaus era and everything else. We send our condolences to his family and hope they are comforted by the happiness he brought to our lives.
Governor Gregoire also has issued a statement; we’re told 34th District Democrats chair Tim Nuse shared one of his memories at the start of his group’s meeting tonight in Fauntleroy; and there’s word that people are gathering for an informal vigil outside Safeco Field tonight.
ADDED 9:55 PM: From County Executive Constantine:
King County Executive Dow Constantine tonight joins Mariners nation in mourning the loss of Hall of Fame broadcaster and Mariners icon Dave Niehaus:
“I loved listening to Dave Niehaus from the Mariners’ very first season. His evocative descriptions and obvious love of the game will forever be intertwined with my experience of baseball.
“The timbre and cadence of his calls had a musical quality that will echo in our collective memory for many seasons to come.
“I join all fans in mourning his loss and extending our sympathies to his family.”
As you’ll hear in our video, State Rep. and Sen.-elect Sharon Nelson says this is a day she has awaited for 13 years – a day bringing real hope that a section of industrial-company-owned shoreline on her home island, Maury, will be preserved forever.
She, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and dozens of other state and King County leaders, environmental advocates, and Maury/Vashon residents gathered on the Beach Drive shore across from Me-Kwa-Mooks, with the islands visible to the southwest, to formally announce a deal to purchase that mile of shoreline, and 250 adjacent acres of madrone forest. What’s currently been compiled includes $15 million in state money and $19 million in county money – with about $2 million that will have to be raised from other sources to close the deal by year’s end. The land has been the subject of controversy in recent years, with environmental advocates and nearby residents trying to stop it from being mined. The site holds importance for the ecology of all of Puget Sound, say supporters – West Seattleite Donna Sandstrom of The Whale Trail was at the announcement and told us, “It’s a great day for the whales” – the orcas about whom her group seeks to educate. And for Puget Sound salmon, as underscored by the giant prop brought by the Vashon-based Backbone Campaign:
(You might remember Backbone for the “flash mob” video protest inside West Seattle’s Target store.) According to the county’s announcement, the site is adjacent to the 320-acre Maury Island Marine Park already owned by the county. Opening the news conference, Constantine made a point of saying that the $19 million the county would advance for the $36 million purchase is from the King County Conservation Futures Fund, and that state law says that money can only be used for open-space or resource-land purchases.
The private fundraising work begins now, with various groups involved, and donations being taken at www.cascadeland.org. (Thursday PS: Here’s the official county news release with yet more details.)
SDOT was scheduled to resume guardrail repair on the Alaskan Way Viaduct tomorrow, related to a recent crash. Now you can expect to see repair crews soon in a different spot, after two crashes that closed The Viaduct southbound for a while early today. In the first one, police say a woman was speeding when she smashed into the wall, sending a chunk of its concrete down onto 2 parked cars below. Then one of the fire trucks on the scene – with no one inside at the time – got rear-ended by an allegedly under-the-influence driver. Police tell the tangled two-crash tale on SPD Blotter.
3:44 PM: Various citywide news sources are going into the details of this more deeply than we will. Suffice it to say if you haven’t already heard: Public-safety personnel have closed off (this is changing rapidly) parts of 3rd, 4th, and 5th near the county courthouse and jail on the south end of downtown; they have been trying to rescue a woman who at least at one point was threatening to jump, and has walked atop the skybridge between the two buildings. The street closures are affecting bus routes as well. We will add information here if anything changes.
(For anyone needing help – 206-461-3222 is the 24-hour Crisis Clinic hotline.)
4:43 PM: Onscene reports via Twitter say the woman has been rescued. Metro alerts say streets are open again and buses returning to normal.
This afternoon, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed four charges of vehicular assault against 43-year-old Juanita Wright, an Admiral resident who also uses the surnames Mars and Carpenter, in connection with a crash outside Showbox SODO last Thursday night. Prosecutors allege Wright had a blood-alcohol level of .29 as measured two hours after the crash – more than three times the legal-drunkenness level – and hit seven people who were crossing 1st Avenue South after a concert at the venue. Four of them were seriously hurt, with multiple broken bones, including a 28-year-old woman with a head injury that required removal of part of her skull. Wright’s car is described in court documents as having been full of empty or partly empty 24-ounce cans of 8.2% beer at the time of the crash. has been in jail since early last Friday morning, with bail set at a quarter-million dollars, and is scheduled for arraignment on November 15th. According to the charging documents, her record includes an unresolved drunk-driving charge from Pierce County 20 years ago, and more recent violations including speeding and driving without a license.
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