West Seattle, Washington
13 Thursday
Thanks to Gary Jones for the photo from Alki Point as the Bremerton-based aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) headed out, northbound in Puget Sound, late today. According to this post on the Stennis’s website, the vessel and its sailors are headed out for “routine training … scheduled to conduct flight operations, damage control and firefighting training, seamanship training, medical training, and exercises designed to maintain technical and tactical proficiency in a variety of warfare areas.”
In the past few days, several readers with family members at Providence Mount St. Vincent have e-mailed to let us know the center is currently barring visitors because of the flu. One wondered how this was affecting its renowned intergenerational preschool. We checked today with The Mount spokesperson Susan Clark to find out more. Her response:
Like the entire country, Providence Mount St. Vincent is experiencing flu among our residents in both our assisted living apartments and our skilled nursing neighborhoods. There have been no cases of the flu among the children from our Intergenerational Learning Center.
Because the average age of our residents is 94 years, we have a vigilant approach when it comes to protecting this vulnerable population. At this time, we are not allowing visitors, including our volunteers, unless it is an emergency. We are taking additional infection control measures to prevent the spread of flu at The Mount, such as canceling social activities including visits with the children.
Here’s general state Department of Health info about flu.
After the Admiral/California stoplight went into flashing-red mode again over the 3-day weekend – far from the first time – we promised to follow up today to see what SDOT is going to do about it. Here’s what SDOT spokesperson Karen Westing found out from the department’s Transportation Operations staff:
This signal you’re referring to is one of our older ones (circa 1980s), which explains why it’s been acting up recently. Our Transportation Operations team has been troubleshooting the problem and did a fix this weekend that they think will solve the issue. If it doesn’t hold, then we’ll replace the signal in the next few months.
If you do see a problem at this or any other signal, please report it as soon as you can. During regular business hours, SDOT has a hotline at 206-684-ROAD; the rest of the time, the 24-hour dispatch number for urgent problems is 206-386-1218.
(July 2017 Summer Fest early-evening photo by Paul Weatherman)
One month into winter … we have another look ahead to summer! The West Seattle Junction Association is planning the peninsula’s biggest party of the year, Summer Fest 2018 – now less than six months away – and wants to let everyone in the community know that applications are open for:
*Vending – apply here
*Food – apply here
*Performing – apply here
*Sponsorships – apply here
*GreenLife sustainability expo – apply here
*Pet Junction – apply here
*Free community-partnership booth – apply here
(Each of those links also includes qualifications/description info.) The dates for this year’s West Seattle Summer Fest are July 13, 14, and 15, in the street, in The Junction, as always!
P.S. In other big-Junction-event news, the date for the second Wine Walk will be May 18th, and we’re told tickets will be on sale soon.
Next up at the Southwest Design Review Board: Thursday at 6:30 pm, board members will take their next look at the Junction Landing apartment project, 4417 42nd SW [map], a short distance north of the same West Seattle developers’ Junction Flats. The packet for Thursday’s review, from architects Nicholson Kovalchick, is now available – see it (PDF) on the city website, or embedded below:
Junction Landing proposes 58 apartments, 4 live-work units, with 29 underground parking spaces (accessed from the alley), in a four-story building, replacing three houses built in the 1930s. This is its second and potentially final Design Review; the project received Early Design Guidance approval at its first review last May. There will be a public-comment period during Thursday’s meeting, which is upstairs at the Senior Center/Sisson Building (4217 SW Oregon)
She just might be the most famous librarian ever – she even inspired an action figure. Tomorrow night, Nancy Pearl (above right) will be in West Seattle, appearing in the next edition of WordsWest Literary Series, 7 pm (Wednesday, January 17th) at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor). Pearl and poet Susan Landgraf are this month’s headliners. The theme, as described in WordsWest’s announcement, is “‘Broken Promises — Resolutions, Riots, and Repair,’ an unearthing of the stories that lie under promises made to loved ones and to the land, promises abandoned, and the incremental mending.” Pearl has recently added “novelist” to her resumé, with the publication of “George and Lizzie.” Landgraf’s most-recent poetry collection is “What We Bury Changes the Ground.” You can read the full announcement in our calendar listing. Susan Rich, one of WordsWest’s curators, says they’ll also be collecting donations at the event (for which admission is always free) for C & P’s down-payment crowdfund.
(Photo by Chris Frankovich)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, for the rest of your mid-January Tuesday:
BABY STORY TIME: Bring little ones up to 12 months old to Southwest Library, 10:30-11 am. Free and fun. (9010 35th SW)
JUSTIN KAUSAL-HAYES: Live music with a view! Acoustic hits of the last four decades at Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor), 5-8 pm. (1936 Harbor SW)
EVENING BOOK GROUP: 6:30 pm at High Point Library. This month’s title is “The History of Love” by Nicole Krauss. All welcome! (3411 SW Raymond)
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: 7 pm at the Southwest Precinct (meeting room’s next to the parking lot). Bring neighborhoods crime/safety concerns; hear trends and updates from local police. This month’s special guest will discuss drug trends. (2300 SW Webster)
DANCE CLASSES: New series launching at Senior Center of West Seattle – intermediate swing at 7 pm, foxtrot at 8:15 pm. More info in our calendar listing. (4217 SW Oregon)
BASKETBALL: 7:30 pm, home games for the boys-varsity teams at Chief Sealth International High School (vs. Lakeside, 2600 SW Thistle) and West Seattle High School (vs. Seattle Prep, 3000 California SW).
UNPLUGGED, A MUSICAL GATHERING: Acoustic musicians are invited to this session at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. (5612 California SW)
SOUTH SOUND TUG AND BARGE: 8-11 pm at Parliament Tavern, West Seattle group with “… the best in power trio busking Americana folk power love blues with a bunch of punk rock aesthetic.” No cover. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
6:53 AM: Good morning. If you’re headed toward northbound I-5, there might be a bit of a backup, after an SFD medical response just north of the West Seattle Bridge exit – but the call just closed a moment ago. That’s the only in-or-outbound-from-West Seattle incident so far.
Other notes:
-The Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth Washington State Ferries run remains on a two-boat schedule.
-Utility work on 45th SW in front of Madison Middle School will close the street to all but school buses for a few days, starting as soon as today.
Two site notes:
MAINTENANCE DOWNTIME: Our server-management company tells us we’ll be down for a while at some point at/after 11 pm tonight, while they do some semi-urgent maintenance for multiple customers including us. Could be anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. If there’s breaking news and we’re down, we’ll report it in the WSB social media channels.
COMMENTING GLITCH FIXED: Some who use one of our mobile modes have had trouble commenting – it even happened to us: If you tapped the comment window, the keyboard wouldn’t come up unless you hit a formatting key first (bold, yellow highlight, italic, etc.). This has now been fixed. Thanks again to the people who reported this – glitches don’t always affect everyone, because of the differences between the way browsers, operating systems, devices interact, so we don’t always know about problems until they’re reported (editor@westseattleblog.com).
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
West Seattle poet Claudia Castro Luna has just concluded a huge week, and her two-year term as Washington State Poet Laureate hasn’t even officially begun yet.
Consider last Monday: She read two poems at the inauguration ceremony for four citywide elected officials, including West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Lorena González (click the image to see and hear via YouTube):
That same day, she started her fourth year working at Denny International Middle School, teaching poetry to Spanish-immersion students, a four-week series in conjunction with the Jack Straw Cultural Center, where the students will record their poems at the end of the series. Some will be set to music this year, with the help of a guitarist.
The next day – this past Tuesday – she was at Seattle University, teaching a composition class.
Next Wednesday (January 20th), she’ll be at Elliott Bay Book Company, for a reading from her new book “Killing Marias: A Poem for Multiple Voices,” with a classical guitarist who has set eight of her poems to music: “I was floored by what she did – it’s incredible.”
But of all the events on her busy schedule, the biggest will be at 7 pm January 31st, when she officially becomes our state’s new Poet Laureate, succeeding Tod Marshall (who himself followed West Seattleite Elizabeth Austen), in a “passing of the laurels” ceremony during a reading event at the Central Library downtown.
This comes close behind the conclusion of her term as Seattle’s first Civic Poet.
For much of the rest of the week, 45th Avenue SW by Madison Middle School – between SW Hinds and SW Spokane – will be closed to all vehicle traffic but school buses. Seattle Public Utilities says it’s a sewer-repair project, and should be complete by the end of the week. They’ve distributed flyers along the street and talked with the school, but just in case you’re a 45th user who is outside that notification scope, this is an FYI. (Thanks to the person who tipped us to this!)
4:57 PM: A texter told us about a “smell of smoke” at Westwood Village Barnes and Noble just as SFD was dispatching four units that way. They’ve arrived and so far have NOT found a fire but are checking it out as an electrical problem, so they’re calling for City Light (whose map shows some power trouble in the area).
5:16 PM: SFD cited a “widespread” electrical problem, which we’re also hearing about from some in the area, so we’re headed to WWV shortly to check.
5:43 PM: Just spun around WWV. B&N was the only store clearly dark & closed.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
After the first two RapidRide H Line options for Delridge Way SW failed to generate “a lot of enthusiasm,” as SDOT spokesperson Dawn Schellenberg puts it, there’s now a third one on the table. And even if you don’t ride the bus, it will change the road – so you’ll want to take a close look.
“Option 3” (embedded above, and in PDF here) will be in the spotlight at the next RapidRide H Line drop-in info/input event – 5-6:30 pm this Wednesday at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, to be followed by a 7 pm Delridge Neighborhoods District Council discussion of the H Line. You might even have previewed it at one of the H Line open houses in Burien and White Center last week.
We obtained more information via a briefing with SDOT and Metro reps downtown. SDOT is much more closely involved in planning the RapidRide conversion of Route 120 than it was in planning the 2012 conversion of Routes 54/55 into the C Line, for reasons including the money that city taxpayers now pay for more bus service.
Along with Schellenberg, the meeting included SDOT project manager Thérèse Casper, Metro outreach specialist Jenna Franklin, and SDOT communicator Karen Westing.
Before we go through the details, note that this is not necessarily anything resembling a final design. So they want to know what you think. But it is about more than where the bus will stop – it’s about “redesigning” much of Delridge, and it incorporates some other projects that have been discussed in past years. Even before the H Line was announced and named, in fact, some changes were discussed a few years ago under the Delridge Multi-Modal Corridor project umbrella.
“It’s an opportunity to put those pieces together,” Schellenberg said.
The “pieces” potentially include:
(WSB photo taken this morning)
One week after we showed you the long-awaited start of demolition at the former West Seattle PCC Community Markets (WSB sponsor) site – which will become the Luna Apartments/new PCC mixed-use development – we have updates. A spokesperson for site owner/developer Madison Development Group sent an official announcement this morning that the project is under way. It included this new information:
-The 25,000-square-foot store and 108 apartments are expected to open “by late summer 2019”
-The apartments will be a “mix of studio and one-bedroom” units, that will “include 27 apartments available at affordable rates between 50 to 80 percent of area median income under the City of Seattle’s Multifamily Property Tax Exemption program”
-The interior designer is Two 9 Design. (As previously reported, Hewitt is the architect; Chinn Construction is the general contractor)
(From March 2017 Design Review meeting – California SW-facing side of the project proposal by Hewitt Architects)
This is Madison’s third West Seattle project, after Spruce in The Junction and Element 42 in Admiral. (Both of those projects were initiated by other developers, then stalled, and were taken over and built by Madison. Luna/PCC has been a Madison project from the start; MDG bought the site two and a half years ago.)
Two reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch so far today, and a reminder:
CAR BREAK-IN: From Steve:
We had our car prowled overnight, sometime between 11 pm and 9 am. We are on 37th Ave SW between Lander and Stevens [map]. Registration and Title, Insurance, car chargers, special parking permit and shopping bags were taken. The car was completely cleaned out. The registration (etc.) was in a bright-orange vinyl folder.
The tracking number for the incident is T18000652.
(ADDED 1:12 PM) After reading this, Todd e-mailed to say his car window was broken by someone last night just a block west, on 38th SW.
BICYCLE FOUND: A texter found a bicycle at 12th SW and SW Myrtle [map] – near Riverview Playfield – and turned it over to a Parks and Recreation crew that was nearby. The finder didn’t take a photo but described it as a black or gray Trek “commuter bike” that had been purchased at Gregg’s. (The general Parks number is 206-684-4075.)
REMINDER – WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL TOMORROW: 7 pm Tuesday (January 16th) at the Southwest Precinct, it’s the next meeting of the WS Crime Prevention Council, with your chance to bring neighborhood crime/safety concerns to local police. A drug-trend guest is booked this month too.
(Added: Photo courtesy Ian Reid)
8:06 AM: Seattle Fire has a “full response” just arriving in the 4000 block of 39th SW [map] for a possible house fire.
(Photo by WSB’s Christopher Boffoli)
8:12 AM: Per scanner, at least one injured person has been found. They’re calling for more units.
(This and next photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
8:19 AM: This is affecting traffic nearby – SFD is asking for SPD help at 40th/Andover.
8:26 AM: The man brought out of the house is described as around 50 years old and seriously injured, with burns. He will be taken to Harborview. The house is extensively damaged; our crew is there now and we are adding photos.
(This photo and next by WSB’s Christopher Boffoli)
8:42 AM: We’re waiting for an official update from SFD’s public-information officer, who’s at the scene. The fire itself appears to be largely out.
8:58 AM: Capt. Shata Stephenson tells us the man, who is believed to be 55 to 60 years old, was in critical condition as he was being taken to Harborview; life-saving measures started even before the medic unit left. The fire itself was put out relatively quickly, thanks to fast work by neighbors in spotting the smoke and flames and calling 911. SFD’s investigator is working to find out how it started.
9:45 AM: Added above, video of Capt. Stephenson’s briefing. We will update if/when more information about the fire victim and/or cause becomes available.
ADDED TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Commenters say the victim has died (we have contacted the Medical Examiner, Harborview, and SFD to try to confirm this and none have that information so far). Meantime, we also asked SFD about the fire’s cause; spokesperson Kristin Tinsley replied, “The fire started on the first floor of the home, near the side entry door in the kitchen. The fire cause was ruled undetermined by investigators.”
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
7:24 AM: Good morning! Here are the transportation changes for today’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day holiday:
METRO – Reduced weekday service
WATER TAXI – No service
SOUND TRANSIT – Regular weekday service for Route 560; light rail, Saturday schedule
CITY STREET PARKING – No charge at city-run pay stations/meters
SCHOOL BUSES – No school, so no buses
Remember that Metro plans to stop most buses for a “moment of remembrance” at 4:04 pm today.
Also: As announced last night, Washington State Ferries’ Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route is down to 2 boats.
City Councilmember Lisa Herbold is the latest addition to the agenda for the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting Wednesday night (January 17th). She’s scheduled for a briefing on District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) issues close to the start of the 7 pm meeting. MoCA also plans a discussion of HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning – it’s one of 30+ groups citywide appealing the Final Environmental Impact Statement – and potential changes to the city Comprehensive Plan addressing how it conflicts with the longstanding Morgan neighborhood plan. Plus, Seattle Parks is scheduled to update the Lowman Beach Park seawall situation, seven months after a public meeting about the options for replacing it (or not), and one month after releasing this feasibility study:
Wednesday’s meeting is at The Kenney (7125 Fauntleroy Way SW). The full updated agenda is in our calendar listing.
Just in from Washington State Ferries:
The M/V Issaquah is out of service until further notice due to necessary repairs to the engine. The Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route will operate on a 2-boat schedule beginning Monday, January 15. Because there are no vessels available as relief vessels, M/V SEALTH and M/V CATHLAMET will temporarily provide two-boat service to the route. Commuters are encouraged to arrive early and expect delays during peak times. WSF is working to restore full service to the route as soon as possible.
We should also remind you – especially of note to Vashon riders – that both King County Water Taxi routes are out of service tomorrow (Monday, MLK Day, January 15th).
Seattle Fire units are arriving at a house in the 4000 block of 23rd SW [map] on Pigeon Point. The original call was for a short-lived basement fire, already out when SFD was dispatched, and everyone is reported to have gotten out, but crews are checking out a possible gas odor. They’ve confirmed the fire is out and are ventilating the basement. They’re also checking out one person reported to have suffered burns.
That’s Murphy. He was on the loose for a while today until some helpful people rescued him, and his person Gina wanted to go wide with the words of thanks:
We would just like to thank everyone in the Junction and those on the West Seattle Bridge around 2 pm today who helped catch our dog, Murphy. He was spooked by another dog and got away.
I’m so thankful for everyone who assisted in some way.
Gina explained in response to our followup question that Murphy ran all the way from the Junction Starbucks to the bridge!
If you are still planning your Monday – we’ve learned of West Seattle involvement in the 36th annual official daylong Seattle celebration in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The official overview:
Celebration starts at Garfield High School, 400 23rd Ave at E Jefferson, Seattle
Opportunity fair in the Commons 8:30-11:30 a.m.
Workshops in classrooms 9:30-10:50 a.m.
Morning rally in gymnasium 10:40-12:20
March 12:30 p.m.
Afternoon rally downtown, Westlake Park [~1:30 pm]
shared meal back at Garfield High School, Commons
The afternoon rally at Westlake will be co-emceed/moderated by West Seattle High School freshman Noah A. Charleston (right), whose proud dad Lemuel Charleston e-mailed us to be sure that West Seattle Blog readers are aware. He says Noah is co-emceeing after being “voted in by the MLK Jr. Celebrations committee.” (Here’s the program.)
Noah has long been active in the community, he explains: “My family, my wife, and many of our friends and I have been involved with the Seattle community in the way of ministry, feeding the homeless, advocating for civil rights, and seeking to do our small part in making Seattle the best place in the world to live. We have involved our children in as many of these aspects as we can.”
The morning gathering at Garfield High School, meantime, includes 28 workshops, all free and open to the public. At least four include West Seattleites. There will be a session of Bystander Intervention Training, with Admiral UCC pastor Rev. Andrew Conley-Holcom and leaders from Anti-Hate Alaska Junction, Susan Oatis and Jane Westergaard-Nimocks. (They’ve done local workshops, as featured here on WSB.) Also, a workshop preparing for the launch of a new anti-racist coalition will include Chief Sealth International High School student Khaim Vassar-Fontenot and WSHS student Makhari Dysart. And there is local involvement in two other youth-led workshops – one on intersectionality, with Chief Sealth student Maya Garzelli presenting, and another about activism features Olivia Goss, a West Seattle resident who is a Garfield student.
More info about the MLK Day events is here.
We’ve finally obtained a bit of information about an incident last night in The Junction. We knew from scanner traffic that three suspects had been arrested after a search in the 40th/41st/Alaska vicinity around 6:30-7 pm, but didn’t hear what preceded the search/arrests and were unable to find officers afterward to ask; the online information system (including Tweets by Beat) is down, too. So we went back to the precinct today in hopes of tracking down a few details. While the full report isn’t available, we’re told it was a purse-snatching. No injuries. The three suspects who were arrested – two adults, one juvenile – are described as having had run-ins with police before. We hope to get the full report after the holiday weekend.
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