West Seattle, Washington
27 Monday
You might recognize that owl – Wollet the barred owl, born in Lincoln Park, photographed in 2009 by Trileigh Tucker. A few years later, in 2012, concern over Lincoln Park wildlife like Wollet factored into the community challenge to Seattle Parks‘ attempt to allow a commercial “adventure attraction” to take a chunk of the park without significant public discussion. Now, Trileigh tells the – complicated! – story, in an essay just published in Cold Mountain Review, “Love in the Time of Extinction: How a Bad Bird Saved a Good Place.” In case you’re looking for Sunday reading, we’re sharing the link – find it here.
(Photo courtesy Eric Von Flickr)
A “flag roller derby” league for kids ages 4 to 8 – The Littles – is about to launch its winter session, with the first practice on Tuesday (January 9th) so if you have a young skater in the family and might be interested – here’s the announcement from “Coach Betty,” herself a longtime derby skater:
The Littles Roller Derby league is for newer and the youngest of skaters to learn the fun sport of roller derby. We play an adapted version of “FLAG ROLLER DERBY” created by Krista Williams, better known as Betty Ford Galaxy. For the younger minds, this is a much easier version of the game to play. Grabbing flags is an easier concept than offense and defense and power jams and and and…
Also, blockers and jammers earn points so that all the kids are motivated to participate in play. The game is meant to be fun. The league is just one league. At this time we only play ourselves. We split into two teams for practice scrimmages and games. Kids are required to have two league shirts and bring to each practice and games. One is green and one is orange. The kids are ages 4-8 and the league is co-ed.
Your child must be able to skate on their own, meaning they do not hug the wall or need someone to hold their hand. We can teach them the rest but we do not have the staff to be hand holding skaters. If your child is a wall hugger, please take them to some open skates and get them to where they can move on their own. If you are unsure about your Littles level, email bfgsports@gmail.com and we can discuss placement.
Practices are most Tuesdays starting this week through late March at Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th SW), with doors open 4:45 pm, use of the floor 5-6 pm. You can sign up at this Brown Paper Tickets link, which is also where you’ll find more details, including what kind of equipment is needed.
It’s the first post-Seahawks-season Sunday of 2018. Disappointing year, but if you are a dedicated super-fan, here’s something you can do to help your community: Bid on an official game-worn Seahawks jersey that the team donated to the Senior Center of West Seattle. It was worn by #19 Tanner McEvoy; it’s framed and on display at the Senior Center while they conduct a silent auction through 8 pm Friday, January 26th. Opening bid started at $300 – which the center’s Mary Beth Ingersoll says is the value of the frame alone. If the center raises $2,000 for the jersey, for example, she explains, that would pay for:
·80 homebound individuals’ dinners from our Meals on Wheels program for a week
·The gift of membership to the Senior Center for a year to 40 low-income seniors
·240 seniors’ delicious hot lunches in our Junction Diner
·Power to keep our lights on and our activities lively for 2 months
(As reported here, the center has to raise most of its annual budget through donations.) Want to put in a bid? Contact the center’s front-desk receptionist – 206-932-4044, extension 1. (The center is at 4217 SW Oregon in The Junction.)
(Northern Flicker, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
Here are highlights for the last day of the first week of 2018, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES SCHEDULE CHANGE: The winter WSF schedule starts today. (See the PDF version here.)
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm in the street in The Junction. (California SW between SW Oregon and SW Alaska)
‘SUDDENLY IN COMMAND’: U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary presents emergency-preparedness class for inexperienced boaters. 1:30-3:30 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library – more info in our calendar listing. (2306 42nd SW)
CAMP SECOND CHANCE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE: 2 pm at the community room at Arrowhead Gardens, all are welcome at the monthly meeting of the community advisory committee for city-sanctioned encampment Camp Second Chance in southeast West Seattle. (9200 2nd SW)
JANET AND THE CURMUDGEONS: Swing and jazz with this trio at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 3-5 pm. (5612 California SW)
ALL-AGES SHOW AT THE SKYLARK: Featuring DJ Cosmo Rossi, Sam Jenkins, Brennen, Esai. 5-10 pm, $5, all ages. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
SOUND BATH: An hour of “crystal sound bliss” at Bikram Yoga in The Junction, 7:30 pm. More info here. (4747 California SW)
LOOK INTO THE FUTURE … via our complete calendar, here.
It’s an unofficial holiday-season-ending ritual at Alki Beach – rounding up dozens of Christmas trees for a big bonfire. It happened last night, and David Christensen was rollerblading past when he stopped for the photo. Another part of the tradition – somebody usually calls 911, since this is beyond what the rules allow for the fire rings. So Seattle Fire and Police were dispatched; we don’t know what happened from there, but the online incident log shows SFD was there for all of six minutes.
We’ve heard from residents of Highland Park and South Delridge about possible gunfire heard around 12:30 am. 911 calls were made. This time, so far, no word of any shooting victims, and we haven’t heard whether any casings or damage turned up either.
(WSB photos/video)
Historic day at Louisa Boren STEM K-8 in Delridge – the school hosted its first robotics competition today!
17 schools were there for the VEX IQ Challenge. Working in pairs, students had to get their robots to haul more plastic rings than their opponents’ robots. Here’s a bit of video:
If you drove, rode, or walked past the school during the competition, you might have noticed the Seattle Police bomb squad’s vehicle – a texter asked us about it. They were there for a demonstration toward the start of the event:
According to the awards list (scroll down this page and you’ll find the tab to click), the STEM K-8 Bots won the Design Award, which qualifies them to move on in state/regional competition – congratulations! This is the third year of robotics at STEM K-8; last year, you might recall, a team went to worlds.
Thanks to Lisa, Kristin, and Mark for letting us know about this! If something cool is coming up at your school (or business, or community center, or …), we would love to hear about it – editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!
Via e-mail and text, we’ve received multiple reports of something loud that shook homes in northeast West Seattle just after 7:30 pm – North Delridge, Luna Park, east Admiral/south Harbor Ave. areas. Reports were like this one from Steph: “Our house shook so hard things moved a little.” We’ve checked around and there were no SFD emergency responses for explosions, fires, crashes; also, no earthquake reports. So far, officially a mystery, but we’re mentioning it in case you wondered too.
(Camp Second Chance entrance, photographed December 2017 by WSB’s Leda Costa)
If you’re interested in the city-sanctioned encampment on the southeast edge of West Seattle, Camp Second Chance, you’re invited to the next monthly meeting of its Community Advisory Committee, 2 pm tomorrow (Sunday, January 7th) at Arrowhead Gardens (9200 2nd SW). The city-mandated committee gets updates on what’s happening at the camp and what’s happening with its operator (which changed last fall to the Low-Income Housing Institute), which has a contract with and funding from the city for basic camp operations. The camp’s been on city-owned Myers Way Parcels land for a year and a half, but the city approval and funding didn’t start until about a year ago, and could be extended for another year. As of last month’s report, the camp had about four dozen residents.
12:21 PM: Thanks to Mark for the photo from Upper Fauntleroy – the sailboats are part of the Three Tree Yacht Club‘s Duwamish Head Race, which started this morning in Des Moines.
(Photo by Gary Jones)
Speaking about points south – Kersti Muul has been keeping us updated on resident orcas (K Pod) seen south of here, heading this way. Orca Network commenters have seen them off north Vashon as of a few minutes ago, still northbound, so if you’re interested in whale watching, you might grab binoculars soon and head to the west-facing West Seattle shore. It’s murky out there but on the other hand, the whales stand out even more against silver water.
By the way, there’s also word a whale was seen in the area a few hours ago – swimmer Melissa was out and said her group thought it might have been a humpback – if you saw that one, let us know!
12:55 PM ORCA UPDATE: Kersti says they are moving fast, now north of Vashon.
1:04 PM: We can see them from north end of Emma Schmitz Overlook, with binoculars.
1:16 PM: Lost track of them and we’re moving on. Some of the racing yachts are still out there, and the weather has cleared somewhat, so it’s a nice view anyway if you want to try your luck.
(Added: Photo by Monica Zaborac)
2:57 PM: Orca Network commenters say the whales are north of West Seattle now – so our viewing time is probably over. Thanks also to Donna Sandstrom of The Whale Trail for calling earlier to be sure we’d heard.
(Photo by John Saalwaechter)
And thanks to those who’ve sent more photos of the sailboats – we’re adding a few more above. Some of them must have had a great view of the whales!
5:50 PM: Thanks to Kersti for posting orca photos in comments – and to Monica Zaborac for e-mailing some, including this one showing the research boat you might have noticed today:
Researcher Mark Sears talked at last month’s Whale Trail gathering about what they do while out with the orcas.
11:57 AM: Thanks to the texter who let us know about a crash on the eastbound bridge, not far from the Fauntleroy entrance. While there’s no SFD dispatch or SDOT traffic alert yet, we have just heard via scanner that police are reporting two incidents in that area – a crash and a vehicle “with a broken axle” – so if you’re outbound any time soon, you might want to plan to get onto the bridge east of there.
2:17 PM: While there’s been no official update, the closest cameras – including this one – and the traffic-flow indicators on the city map suggest that this has cleared.
(Photo from Brian)
11:26 AM: Thanks for the photos and tips! The tower crane for The Foundry on the northeast corner of Fauntleroy and Edmunds is going up right now.
The crane is going up two months after work began at the 4754 Fauntleroy Way SW site, planned for 100+ apartments, ~10 live/work units, and ~100 underground parking spaces.
2:37 PM: Here’s how the crane-in-progress looked when we went by about half an hour ago:
By the way, this will be the second tower crane currently up in West Seattle. The other one went up last February at Upton Flats (35th/Graham) and won’t likely be up too much longer.
SATURDAY NIGHT NOTE: We drove by the site tonight – the crane installation appears to be complete. We’ll add a photo on Sunday.
(Photo by Robin Sinner, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Here are ways to spend some of the first day of the first weekend of 2018:
GET FIT WEST SEATTLE: First group run for this beginner-to-half-marathon free training program – meet at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) at 8 am to run one mile. (2743 California SW)
KING TIDE: Water-watchers will see a 13-foot high tide at 8:39 am.
CHRISTMAS TREE DROPOFFS: Ready to get the Christmas tree out of your living room? Take it to the Masonic Center parking lot in The Junction and drop it off with the West Seattle Rainbow Girls, 9 am-1 pm. It’s a fundraiser for the youth group, by donation. (4736 40th SW)
WEST SEATTLE LINUX USERS GROUP: 9 am, regular biweekly meeting, at the Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor). More info here. (9140 California SW)
THE HOLY YOGA EXPERIENCE: 9 am-1 pm at West Seattle Christian Church in The Junction. (4400 42nd SW)
LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: Visit the home of West Seattle’s history, noon-4 pm. (61st SW/SW Stevens)
BASKETBALL: Seattle Lutheran High School‘s varsity teams play at home this afternoon, both vs. Evergreen Lutheran. 2:30 girls, 4 pm boys. (4100 SW Genesee)
WEST SEATTLE MEANINGFUL MOVIES: “Dr. Strangelove” is this month’s movie, presented for WSMM by West Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice. Doors open 6:30 pm at Neighborhood House High Point; movie at 7, followed by discussion. (6400 Sylvan Way)
LIVE MUSIC: At The Skylark, 8 pm, with The Science of Deduction, The Almost Faithful, and Smooth Richard. $8 cover. 21+. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
MORE … on our complete calendar.
3:30 AM: An “assault with weapons” response is arriving at an address in the 9200 block of 17th SW [map], where a man is reported to have a gunshot wound to the leg. Police are searching for the suspect, last seen “running southbound in an alley,” though there’s no description yet.
3:34 AM: Now the report is that “two or three black males in hoodies” might have been involved, and this might have happened during “a robbery in an alley.”
3:51 AM: Medics describe the victim over the air as 19 years old with a thigh wound from a 9mm bullet, not believed to be life-threatening. They’re taking him to Harborview Medical Center.
3:59 AM: We’ve talked to police at the scene but so far they’re still trying to lock in some facts such as where the robbery/shooting actually happened. A K-9 is involved in the search.
16th SW is closed in White Center between 98th and 100th after a double shooting (update: one confirmed dead), in the same area where a man was shot and killed eight months ago. We’re updating on partner site White Center Now as information becomes available.
Road games for everyone on Friday night. Here’s the scoreboard:
WEST SEATTLE @ GARFIELD
-The #1-ranked Wildcat girls beat the Bulldogs, 58-48.
–WSHS’s Anthony Giomi was top scorer in the boys’ game, 22 points, but Garfield won, 64-58.
CHIEF SEALTH @ BISHOP BLANCHET
–52-50 was the final score in the Seahawk boys’ win over Blanchet.
–Sealth’s Celia LaGuardia was top scorer with 22 points but the girls lost to Blanchet, 67-47.
UP NEXT
-Sealth plays at Garfield, 7:30 Tuesday for the boys, 7:30 Wednesday for the girls.
-WSHS plays at Bainbridge, 7:30 Tuesday for the boys, 7:30 Wednesday for the girls.
Family and friends will gather on January 14th to remember and celebrate the life of John Frederick William Horner. Here’s the remembrance being shared with the community:
John Horner was born in London, England. As a child, John was part of Operation Pied Piper, the evacuation of children to the countryside during World War II. He spent several years living with families in rural England before returning to his parents in London.
John served for 8 years in the British Army “Royal Signals” in the post-war occupation of Germany and Italy. He was in an Airborne division and made many parachute jumps in training. John immigrated to America in 1954 with his first wife, Maisie, and lived on Long Island, New York until 1967, when he moved to California. He married Norma, his second wife, in 1970, and they moved to Seattle in 1994 to be close to Norma’s family.
In his early years in the U.S., John first worked in a metal-fabrication shop operating a drill press, and then through a family connection got a job in electronics assembly in the home of Saul Marantz, who had recently started his audio products engineering company. (Yes, that Marantz!) He learned electronics, and then switched to software, and became a programmer and eventually an IT Manager in the aerospace industry until he retired in the late 1980s.
In addition to computers and electronics, John had many interests over his lifetime, including art, astronomy, and firearms. He even relived his old Army days by celebrating his 80th birthday with a tandem jump from 13,000 feet! He made a few solo jumps after that, until he broke his leg on a hard landing. But John’s greatest passion was his music. He loved listening to all types of music and loved playing his autoharp every day. John was very active in the Northwest autoharp community for many years, and even wrote a song that was published in the Autoharp Quarterly magazine.
John was preceded in death by his brother Robert Horner, and is survived by his stepson Jon Diemer and wife Martha, his grandchildren Kristin Russell and Neil Diemer and their families, his sister-in-law Nan Allen, and several relatives in England. His many West Seattle neighbors were like an extended family for John, and he deeply appreciated their friendship and support over the years.
John was 89 years old when he passed away, and had achieved his goal of living independently until the very end! A memorial and celebration of John’s life is planned for Sunday, January 14th, from 2-4 PM at his house in West Seattle.
Please share memories and condolences on the online guestbook at emmickfunerals.com. Arrangements entrusted to Emmick Family Funeral & Cremation Services of West Seattle.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
Two reader reports tonight in West Seattle Crime Watch, both including car prowls:
IN NORTH DELRIDGE: After reading last night’s report about tools taken in a Pigeon Point shed break-in, Lauren sent this:
Both of the following incidents happened at our house located very close to Pigeon Point at Delridge and Oregon [map].
Sometime in the very early hours of yesterday, January 4th, both my and my boyfriend’s cars were broken into in our driveway. Nothing of value was inside but items were clearly rifled through and strewn around. I discovered this at 7:30 am. Police report was filed.
This early AM (January 5th) at ~2:50AM, we heard a loud sound like a car door slamming. My boyfriend and I went out to the deck and saw a car part way up the driveway. The car quickly turned into the street and sped away very fast. The car was black or dark blue and either a PT Cruiser or a Mini Cooper.
IN ADMIRAL: From Wendy:
I wanted to report that we had a car prowl yesterday or last night on the 2600 block of 47th Ave SW [map]. We have reported it to the police but wanted to get the word out to the neighborhood to be aware. No signs of forced entry so not sure if we left it unlocked. We don’t keep much in our car, they took a phone charge cord, ice scraper, wet ones, a nearly empty tube of lotion, and a dog harness.
The only thing I care about having back is the dog harness. Brand-new green and brown Gooby.
P.S. The West Seattle Crime Prevention Council is back in session this month – Tuesday, January 16th, 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (2300 SW Webster). Neighborhood crime updates and concerns are always the centerpiece, but this month WSCPC president Richard Miller has also scheduled a guest, Steven Freng from the Northwest High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, who will talk about “recent drug use trends, including specific problem drugs and other emerging issues,” according to the announcement from Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Burbridge.
At Seattle Lutheran High School north of The Junction, it’s a much-anticipated time of year – “J-Term.” This year, the students in our photo above will be participating in the first “J-Term Abroad,” including senior Alex Okabayashi, who wrote this to explain:
After Christmas Break at Seattle Lutheran High School, we swap our regular classes for elective-based block periods for the entire month of January. We call this “J-Term.” This gives the students opportunities to explore their passions and find something new about themselves. My junior year, I took 3 classes in total: fiber clay, creative writing, and team sports. J-Term let me decompress from finals and start the new year off fresh while also letting me pursue some of my hobbies in a classroom environment.
However, when I heard about the first J-Term Abroad trip, I was instantly hooked. A 2-week marine-science course in the Caribbean with 10 other students on a catamaran sounded spectacular. Scuba-diving and marine biology right on the water sounded amazing, but I was a bit reluctant. I’ve never done anything like this before, but once some of my friends started signing up, the window for this opportunity was shrinking super quickly (all of the spots for guys were taken by the first day)! We’ll be sailing along crystal clear waters surrounded by forested islands in less than a few days, and it feels like everything is coming full circle. Have fun in the rain, by the way…
SLHS, by the way, has an open house coming up January 25th.
ORIGINAL JANUARY 5TH REPORT: Early heads-up: One week from tomorrow – on Saturday morning, January 13th – the Alaskan Way Viaduct will close for four hours, both ways from Seneca to Denny, including the Battery Street Tunnel. This is for an inspection related to plans for decommissioning the BST when the Highway 99 tunnel goes into service and takes the Viaduct out of service. The closure is scheduled for 6 to 10 am on January 13th.
JANUARY 8TH UPDATE: The boundaries of the closure, originally published on SDOT’s weekly construction/closure advisory, were wrong, WSDOT tells us today, and it’s basically just the Battery Street Tunnel, so if you are northbound during the closure, you will be able to exit at Western; if you are southbound, you will be able to exit at Denny. And the Elliott Avenue onramp to SB 99 will remain open.
(Sound Transit’s West Seattle-to-Ballard ‘representative’ map – draft ‘alignment’)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
If you care about what’s going to happen with West Seattle’s forthcoming light-rail line, you need to pay attention to and get involved in the process right now, especially for the next year and a half – though it’s not due to arrive until 2030, the timeline depends on key decisions being made in the next year and a half.
That point was made repeatedly during the first meeting of one of the groups that will be involved in the planning process for Sound Transit‘s West Seattle and Ballard extensions, the Elected Leadership Group. Here’s video of the meeting, just published by Seattle Channel:
Another point: The planning process is not ONLY for groups – individual comments will be vital. (But if you want to get involved at a more-intense level, you are invited to apply ASAP for one of up to seven spots open on the soon-to-launch Stakeholders Advisory Group, which has 19 members already announced – more on them, and how to apply, later.)
West Seattle-residing County Council Chair Joe McDermott is co-chairing the Elected Leadership Group with City Councilmember Mike O’Brien. Others in attendance at the group’s first meeting, at Sound Transit headquarters on the south side of downtown, included Mayor Jenny Durkan, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and City Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw, Lorena González, Bruce Harrell, Lisa Herbold, and Rob Johnson.
ST CEO Peter Rogoff opened by speaking of a “certain sense of urgency” and mentioned “how much worse congestion will get … before we can deliver these projects.” He also mentioned the hope of speeding up the projects beyond the current 2030 West Seattle/2035 Ballard opening plans. And he acknowledged the complex logistics – including the bridges to be built over waterways for both lines, and the new tunnel that the Ballard line will use. He vowed to be “responsive” and “straightforward” in the anticipated “back and forth,” and promised that ST would do its best to answer questions thoroughly and transparently.
Two West Seattleites was among the half-dozen people who spoke during the public comment period early in the meeting.
New information today about Thursday’s home-invasion robbery on Puget Ridge. An area resident has provided Seattle Police with images of what police say might be the getaway vehicle – likely a silver 4-door 1999 Buick, with one particularly distinctive feature: Lug-nut covers missing on both passenger-side wheels.
Otherwise, police say there’s not too much more than what we originally reported – it happened just before noon in the 5200 block of 18th SW, and they don’t know why this particular house was targeted. Four people forced their way into the house; at least two had handguns. They are described only as black, male, with dark hoodies covering most of their faces. They demanded cash, and were told the people in the house had none. One resident was “pistol-whipped outside the house” before the robbers broke in; they took “nothing of value,” SPD Det. Mark Jamieson told WSB this morning, and let barely two minutes after they arrived. Robbery detective St. John is investigating – call 206-386-4050; the incident number is 2018-004202.
(“Synchronized” sea lions, thermoregulating! Photographed by Kersti Muul while orca-watching in West Seattle Thursday)
The first weekend of 2018 is on the way. Here’s your list of possibilities, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
LOG HOUSE MUSEUM: The home of West Seattle’s history is open noon-4 pm. (61st SW/SW Stevens)
WORDS, WRITERS, WEST SEATTLE: New location for the Southwest Seattle Historical Society-presented first-Friday author series – Southwest Library. 5-7 pm tonight, drop in to hear from David M. Hansen, talking about his book “Battle Ready,” telling the stories of the coastal forts in the Northwest a century ago. (9010 35th SW)
VISCON CELLARS: Tasting room open 5-9 pm – stop in and enjoy a glass of wine at Viscon Cellars (WSB sponsor); bottles available for purchase too. (5910 California SW)
JAZZ AT SALTY’S: Dave Holo Trio performs, 5-8 pm, at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor). No cover/minimum. (1936 Harbor SW)
SKATE NIGHT: 5:45 pm-7:45 pm, skating at Alki Community Center. $3/person. (5817 SW Stevens)
AT C & P COFFEE COMPANY: 7-9 pm, live music with David Johnson. (5612 California SW)
AT THE SKYLARK: Live music at 8 pm, with Snaketopus, TENRAI, and Hands of Deliverance. $8 cover. 21+. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
AND THERE’S MORE … on our complete-calendar page.
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