West Seattle, Washington
09 Saturday
10:57 AM: For the third time in a week, we’re hearing from multiple West Seattle CenturyLink customers – via e-mail, Twitter, and comments – that their fiber Internet service has gone out again this morning. Locations mentioned in the messages we’ve received this morning include Admiral, Genesee Hill, North Delridge, and Beach Drive – sharing your general location in a comment, or message to us, helps, since otherwise there’s no mapping available along the lines of, say, a power outage. Some customers say CL has told them to expect service to return “sometime over the weekend.” Our previous reports are here (some were out all of last weekend) and here (an outage on Wednesday). We have a message out to CL’s media department again and will update when we hear back.
11:54 AM: Some customers are reporting they’re back up.
12:02 PM: A CenturyLink spokesperson replied to our inquiry:
CenturyLink has isolated the outage in West Seattle and continues to monitor the system to assure service availability. If customers are continuing to experience interruption to their high-speed internet or Prism TV services they should contact customer service 877-837-5738 and submit a trouble ticket.
They didn’t answer our question about what’s causing the outages, so we’ve asked it again.
5:36 PM: CL says “a hardware failure” is to blame.
(Photos courtesy Elite BJJ of Seattle)
Congratulations to Coach Sonia Sillan of Elite Brazilian Jiu-jitsu of Seattle (5050 Delridge Way SW; WSB sponsor) for her achievement in her first competition as a purple belt. At the recent IBJJF Seattle Open, she took third place in her division (at right in the top photo). From sister school Elite BJJ of Redmond, black belt Professor Jessica Dos Santos took second place in her division and first in open weight class – she’s in the next photo along with Elite BJJ founder/head Professor Miriam Cardoso:
Elite BJJ of Seattle is one of the local organizations and businesses you’ll see at tomorrow’s Delridge Day festival (11 am-3 pm at Delridge Community Center park) – look for their booth! (And look for one more big Delridge Day preview here on WSB – a festival co-sponsor – this afternoon.)
Less than four weeks until the first day of the 2016-2017 school year, and there’s lots to do to get ready. Some local students could use your help. From Nicole Sipila with the Chief Sealth International High School PTSA:
It’s almost back to school time and Chief Sealth International High School can use your help. We’re looking for donations of new or gently used clothing for our Clothing Closet, which provides clothing, toiletries and school supplies for students with low incomes.
We need:
* Plain white t-shirts (part of the Physical Ed uniform)
* Athletic shorts (also for PE)
* Athletic pants — soccer, sweat, running
* Men’s boxer brief underwear
* Men’s dark suits and jackets
* Socks – athletic, men’s dress and women’s styles tooDonations can be dropped off at the school during the weekday. Or please send an email to chiefsealthptsa@gmail.com for other arrangements.
Thanks to our great West Seattle community that has provided us with so much good stuff and cash donations! Students appreciate and are greatly touched by your generosity. Sometimes knowing that there are people out there that care about them is as valuable to our students as the things they get from the Clothing Closet.
CSIHS is at 2600 SW Thistle [map].
(WSB photos)
FIRST REPORT, 2:38 AM: Big Seattle Fire response to a commercial building in the 6900 block of West Marginal Way SW [map]. What we’ve heard via scanner so far is that it “came in as an automatic fire alarm” and then some kind of heat/fire was found inside. We’re on our way.
2:45 AM: Still en route, but hearing via scanner that what firefighters are describing as a “small fire” is “under control.”
2:52 AM: We’ve just arrived in the area. West Marginal is completely blocked by fire equipment and police just south of the bottom of the Highland Park Way hill. We’ve parked as close as we can get and our photographer is heading to the scene on foot from here.
3:08 AM: Some of the units are being dismissed; SFD’s investigator is on the way. Some of the discussion has mentioned marijuana growing inside the building, and city and state records indicate that it was remodeled earlier this year to be a licensed “urban farm.”
(The building is the former HQ of United States Seafoods, which moved to Lake Union more than a year ago, though its signage is still on this building, as you can see in the photo above.)
3:33 AM: We’ve talked with the SFD public-information officer battalion chief on scene. (Added: video of the quick briefing.)
The fire was in a small room, contained, and extinguished.
SFD crews will stay here for a while on fire watch; the cause remains under investigation. No injuries.
4:06 AM: West Marginal is reopening both ways.
1:33 PM: SFD says an “overheated electrical installation” was to blame for the fire.
As of this writing, approaching midnight, the sky remains as clear as it was when JayDee took that sunset photo in Upper Alki a few hours ago, and that means that if you can get away from some of the city lights, you should have a good chance of seeing tonight’s Perseid meteor shower. Here’s the advice from Seattle Astronomy (recommended by our resident Skies Over West Seattle expert Alice Enevoldsen). And the sky will be even darker soon – if you have a view to the west right now, you can see the moon will soon set “behind” Vashon (the moonset/moonrise/sunset/sunrise times are always on the WSB West Seattle Weather page, and 12:19 am is the official time tonight). Let us know if you’re having meteor-watching success!
It’s been four months since we first told you about Seattle Public Utilities‘ plan for a large-scale flush of West Seattle water pipes, to tackle a persistent problem with “brown water.” Crews have been out many nights over those four months, methodically conducting flushing operations, and they’ll be out again tonight – which, SPU’s Ingrid Goodwin tells WSB, will be of particular note:
SPU is approaching a major milestone with the West Seattle flushing project. After tonight’s flushing, we will have completed unidirectional flushing for the entire area shaded in purple on the [above] map. This amounts to 21 miles of water pipes in West Seattle that have been flushed to remove sediment and build-up and minimize the occurrence of discolored water for many West Seattle customers.
Next week we will start reviewing and evaluating all of the data from this first phase of unidirectional flushing in West Seattle. This will help us determine our next steps and focus areas for other neighborhoods in West Seattle that might benefit from flushing.
We are also looking into utilizing some new technology that will allow us to flush certain parts of the water system discharging a minimal amount of water.
Tonight’s flushing is happening at three locations in Admiral. This May followup includes photos from a flushing site we visited late one night, to show you how the process works.
We first met Akiko Masker during last April’s West Seattle Art Walk, when we stopped by the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) gallery, where she’s the coordinator. She’s also an artist, and during tonight’s Art Walk, we photographed her at ArtsWest, during the artist reception for “Works,” her exhibition with Junko Yamamoto. Masker’s work is inspired by the Japanese “ukiyo-e” (“floating world”) art form, but a more “modern take,” as explained on the exhibition page: “I start with a material object such as a canvas. I then take a digital picture, manipulate that image, print it, and overlay it onto the surface. Finally, I incorporate industrial materials such as spray paint or string to give the object a sense of being both two and three-dimensional. In this way I attempt to create a world that is both alien and familiar where one exists both within and outside of us.” The exhibition continues at ArtsWest through September 4th; the gallery is open 1:30-7:30 pm Fridays and Saturdays, 11 am-3 pm Sundays, at 4711 California SW – admission is free.
Total Experience Gospel Choir is here with longtime accompanist Lou Magor, who you might know from Kenyon Hall. pic.twitter.com/prwLHbv644
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) August 12, 2016
If you need an energy boost, get yourself down to the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center (along Walnut, south of Lander) and catch the rest of tonight’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha performance by the Total Experience Gospel Choir, led by Pastor Patrinell Wright:
On piano is TEGC’s longtime accompanist Lou Magor, who you might know for his West Seattle venue Kenyon Hall!
They’re just a few songs into the show, which should go until at least 8 pm. Free – just bring a blanket or chair, lots of folks here but still lots of room. The Admiral Neighborhood Association presents the series, and we’ve co-sponsored it since the start – great place to be on a summer night.
ADDED: A few more photos. Including this one – part of the crowd that the ANA tallied at 600+!
Plus, we should mention that next Thursday (August 18th) is this year’s second-to-last concert: Duke Evers (here’s a sample).
(WSB photos)
It’s move-in week for Shiloh Henderson and her teacher colleagues at brand-new Genesee Hill Elementary, where the September 6th dedication day is now less than four weeks away. The new school housing what had been the Schmitz Park Elementary program could have more than 700 students by the time classes start on September 7th, principal Gerrit Kischner tells WSB.
History will be honored at that spot in the spacious entrance area – the bricks are from the old Genesee Hill school, demolished to make way for this one, and the squares will hold tiles from Schmitz Park. A plaque here will honor the history of what led to the new campus, which, we noticed while visiting, is full of light:
That’s the library, where books from Schmitz Park were awaiting unpacking, with additions on the way. Also in the library: Read More
3:15 PM: Thanks for the tip on a crash at 8th and Roxbury. Metro has just sent an alert that Route 128 is routed off 8th at the intersection; that generally means other traffic is too. We’re off to check.
3:36 PM: 8th/Roxbury just fully cleared as we went through a few minutes ago. Vehicles hooked to tow trucks were visible to the south on 8th but weren’t blocking.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this afternoon:
ATTACKED ON 35TH: Mike says his mother-in-law was attacked while walking to a bus stop on 35th SW near SW 99th in Arbor Heights [map] around 9:20 this morning. Someone “violently knocked her to the ground, from behind,” he says, but she didn’t see the attacker, so there’s no description. Nothing was taken from her. He says she’s “not badly hurt, but was dazed from hitting her head on the sidewalk and she has cuts and scrapes on her face and body.”
ADDED 4 PM – MORE DETAILS: We had asked Mike a few followup questions. He says his mother-in-law, who’s 68, is at the hospital now being checked out. To be more specific about where this happened, he says she “was walking north on 35th Ave SW between SW 100th St and SW 99th St, on the sidewalk on the eastern side of the street. An assailant ran up from behind, striking my MIL from behind, knocking her to the sidewalk, then ran off. As my MIL’s glasses were knocked off her face during the fall, she did not see the assailant. There was no apparent robbery, as she still has her handbag and cellphone.”
(back to original Crime Watch roundup) DUMPED AT 32ND AND TRENTON: From David – “Just reporting recovery of possible stolen property. Today found a Franklin badminton and ping pong set including four rackets, paddles, shuttlecocks, net and instructions (Frankin item #3944, Intermediate BM Set) but without box. Looks new, old stock, never been used or used very lightly. Just left by our car. We’re at the corner of 32nd & Trenton.”
Along with the ongoing environmental review of the big proposal to “modernize” the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 in West Seattle, a parallel process is under way for possible deepening of the water nearby. One week from tonight, a public meeting is planned for information and comments about the tentative plan announced recently by the port. From the official announcement:
The Army Corps of Engineers and the Port of Seattle have agreed on a tentatively selected plan of -57’ Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) for both the East and West Waterways. This depth will allow the Port of Seattle, part of The Northwest Seaport Alliance, to handle the current and future generations of ultra-large containerships. Comments on the Draft Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment may be submitted by email, at the upcoming public meeting, or in written form.
Details of the plan are here; the meeting is at 5:30 pm Thursday, August 18th, at South Seattle College‘s Georgetown campus (6737 Corson Ave. S.) If you want to comment by e-mail – the address is SeattleHarbor@usace.army.mil and the deadline is August 31st.
(Steller’s Jay, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
FAMILY STORY TIME: 10:30 am, for kids 1-5, at Southwest Library. (35th SW/SW Henderson)
LITTLE CRITTERS: 11:30 am at High Point Library – “educators from Woodland Park Zoo teach you about an animal through puppet stories, and then let you meet and touch that animal in real life!” (35th SW/SW Raymond)
DELRIDGE GROCERY CO-OP FARMSTAND: 4-7 pm, the Delridge Grocery Co-op sells fresh-picked produce next to the Delridge P-Patch. (Delridge Way/Puget Boulevard)
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: Here’s the map/venue list for tonight’s West Seattle Art Walk, 6-9 pm:
Among the venues spotlighted tonight:
ARTISTS’ RECEPTION AT ARTSWEST: During tonight’s Art Walk, 6-7:30 pm at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery, you can meet artists Akiko Masker and Junko Yamamoto and see their new work. (4711 California SW)
Music tonight, too:
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: 6:30 pm on the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center, this week’s free concert features the Total Experience Gospel Choir. Presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, with sponsors including WSB. Bring your own chair/blanket, and picnic dinner if so inclined! (Walnut/Lander)
And theater:
‘MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG’: 7:30 pm at ArtsWest Playhouse, the musical-theater students’ production debuts – details in our calendar listing. (4711 California SW)
YES, THERE’S MORE … for today/tonight/beyond, on our complete calendar.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:58 AM: Good morning! Not only are there no incidents in/from West Seattle so far, things are even looking better than usual around the region.
ONGOING ROAD WORK: The lower Spokane Street and Endolyne Triangle projects.
10:50 AM: Commenters are noting that the eastbound bridge is jammed. One says a C-Line bus is stopped by the 99 exit.
3:10 PM: Crash at 8th and Roxbury, a somewhat frequent trouble spot. No serious injuries reported so far.
[Wednesday night photo at Alki, by Don Brubeck]
4 big days/nights coming up, with excellent weather forecast – the West Seattle highlights include:
THURSDAY – SUMMER CONCERTS @ HIAWATHA: 6:30 pm Thursday on the east lawn at Hiawatha Community Center, the mighty sound of the Total Experience Gospel Choir will fill the park. Free, presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, with sponsors including WSB. (Walnut/Lander)
THURSDAY – WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: 6-9 pm at venues all around West Seattle – listed and mapped here.
FRIDAY – MUSIC AT THE MOUNT: 6 pm at Providence Mount St. Vincent, The Haggis Brothers, live and free, with dinner and drinks available for purchase at 5:30 pm. (4831 35th SW)
FRIDAY – OUTDOOR MOVIE @ DELRIDGE CC: “The Peanuts Movie” screens in Delridge Community Center Park on Delridge Day eve, free, 8:30 pm. (4501 Delridge Way SW)
SATURDAY – DELRIDGE CC FUNDRAISING RUN: “Race for Recreation” is set for 10 am at Delridge Playfield, a perfect pre-funk to Delridge Day. $25 to enter. (4458 Delridge Way SW)
SATURDAY – DELRIDGE DAY: 11 am-3 pm with two stages – music, cultural performances, vendors, community organizations, food, law-enforcement demonstrations (including K-9s and horses), more, in the park by Delridge CC, and skating competition at Delridge Skatepark. Here’s our most recent preview with schedule updates. The festival is presented by VIEWS, with sponsors including WSB – see you there! (Delridge/Genesee)
SATURDAY – LAST OUTDOOR MOVIE @ HOTWIRE COURTYARD: This is the grand finale at the original home of West Seattle Outdoor Movies, which as of August 20th, and the 2017 season, is moving to the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) Festival Street. At dusk – 9 pm-ish – it’s “The Lego Movie.” Free; bring $ for nonprofit-benefiting raffles and concessions. (4410 California SW)
SATURDAY & SUNDAY NIGHTS – ‘BLOOD WEDDING’ @ ROXHILL PARK: As previewed earlier this week, a first-of-its-kind drama/dance/music performance at 6 pm at Roxhill Park. (28th/Barton)
This is not AT ALL a comprehensive list of what’s going on – just a few highlights as we head into summer’s last few weekends – see our calendar for more.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The relationship between local police and communities of color was explored during a panel discussion that was the centerpiece of tonight’s 34th District Democrats meeting at The Hall at Fauntleroy.
The 34th DDs also heard from three candidates in the 7th Congressional District race – King County Council chair Joe McDermott, the group’s primary-election endorsee, who came in third and will not be advancing to the general, and the two candidates who will, State Sen. Pramila Jayapal and State Rep. Brady Piñero Walkinshaw. Video of all three, later in our story.
First, the panel (update: here’s the video):
On the policing panel were activist Bobby Alexander, retired judge and Office of Professional Accountability auditor Anne Levinson, Seattle Community Police Commission executive diredctor Fe Lopez, White Center Community Development Association executive director Sili Savusa, and King County Sheriff John Urquhart. Moderator was the 34th DDs’ state committeeman Chris Porter.Read More
6:18 PM WEDNESDAY: Just days after the CenturyLink fiber Internet outage that lasted all weekend for some West Seattle customers, we’re getting word of another one. The company doesn’t make official outage announcements, but starting around 4 pm – via comments on our previous item, and via e-mail – we started hearing about this. If it’s affecting you too, let us know, and please include your neighborhood.
10:01 AM THURSDAY: We sent an inquiry last night to local CenturyLink media liaisons. Here’s the reply just in from Caitlin Birkenbuel: “On August 10, CenturyLink experienced an outage in a West Seattle neighborhood, which impacted high-speed internet and Prism TV customers. The outage lasted 2.5 hours and was resolved at 7:05pm yesterday evening. We apologize for the inconvenience and would like to thank our customers for their patience during the service delay.”
Thanks for the tips about a big police response at the AM/PM store at Delridge/Orchard. We just went over to find out what was happening. We’re told two people got into a fight right outside the store; one was hurt and had to be taken to the hospital. No robbery involved, just a fight/assault, police say. The store is closed temporarily while officers talk with witnesses inside and outside of the store, but the gas station remains open.
Summer school is more than you might remember it to be. Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clark shares photos from the summer program that’s wrapping up at his campus:
As August began, the Westside Scholars at Denny International Middle School are finishing up five weeks of academics and enrichment classes. Over 200 scholars participated in Denny’s summer program this year.
The Westside Scholars Program is intended to offer extra academic support to incoming 7th and 8th graders as well as serve as an introduction to middle school for incoming 6th graders from all of Denny’s feeder elementary schools. The program is an excellent opportunity to become familiar with the building and future teachers as they transition to the next level of their education.
Amongst the many enrichment opportunities such as Mariachi, Cooking and Cartooning, sixth graders participated in a unique Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) class twice a week that made science alive and active. A tremendous staff of educators and community partners led and guided the scholars’ instruction and development. Congratulations to our scholars and thank you to our staff and partners for making this happen for our community!
First day of school for Seattle Public Schools students is exactly four weeks from today – September 7th.
12:47 PM: Thanks for the tip! Another long-in-the-works demolition has just begun – this time, on the former market/cleaners building at the Morgan Junction Park expansion site. Both of the businesses closed earlier this year, months after the demolition permit was issued. The city bought the site two years ago for $1.9 million. The plan for the site has yet to be designed, but the Park District levy will provide money for design and development, along with more than a dozen other “landbanked” sites including two others in West Seattle (40th SW in The Junction and 48th/Charlestown)
2:29 PM: They’re making fast work of it – just passed by again a few minutes ago:
Close to half gone.
If you’re following the plan for ~112 apartments and a new PCC Natural Markets-West Seattle (WSB sponsor) store at the site of the current store, 2749 California SW, you’ll want to know that the date is set for the Southwest Design Review Board‘s second look at the project: September 1st.
This is a second round of the first phase, known as Early Design Guidance, as requested by the SWDRB at the conclusion of its first look at the project on July 21st (WSB coverage here), so it’s still in the phase focused on “massing” – the building’s size and shape. The revised design “packet” is not available online yet, but keep watching the project page as the review gets closer. It’s set for 6:30 pm Thursday, September 1st, at the board’s usual meeting place, the Senior Center of West Seattle/Sisson Building (California/Oregon).
The newest reader reports (editor@westseattleblog.com):
CDs TAKEN IN CAR PROWL: From Serena:
Just wanted to send a quick note that my son’s car was broken into Sunday night. This happened in the 2700th block of 38th Ave SW. No damage to the car but about $400 worth of CD’s were stolen. It is an eclectic collection of CD’s (heavy metal, reggae, Hindu music). If anyone sees a bunch of discarded CD’s, please let us know, he would love to have them back.
CAR PROWL #2: From Adam:
Victim of car prowl last night near Genesee. Car was parked in driveway off the alley between 46th and 47th. Criminal got nothing but a couple bucks in coins and a Starbucks card that was deactivated before they could use it.
BIKE THIEF DEFIES DOG: Dave says it took a lot for someone to steal a kids’ bicycle from his residence:
A 24″ kids Specialized Hot Rocks bicycle was stolen from the side of our house on the 7300 block of 17th Ave SW between the hours of 9 am and 1 pm. Here is a picture of what it looks like.
The thief had to deal with a barking dog and multiple gates to get into the yard so must have been determined. The bike was under a tarp and other bicycles. This was reported to the police and I believe is call 16-286935. The serial number is WSBC71104. Please contact Dave at 206-409-3439 with any leads, thank you.
ABANDONED, LIKELY STOLEN: Sue found this “dumped in our side yard on 47th.”
If it’s yours, contact her at suebhounz@gmail.com.
P.S. – HOW TO FIND ARCHIVED CRIME WATCH COVERAGE: Two ways. One, everything categorized as “crime” automatically goes into the newest-to-oldest archive here. We also manually add the links to the WSB Crime Watch page, but it can lag a little; that page is also where you’ll find all the West Seattle-area Tweets by Beat and some resource links.
(WSB photo: Planting-strip garden we noticed during last night’s 35th SW walking tour)
Happy Wednesday! Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar for today/tonight:
NETWORKING MEETUP: Noon at West Seattle Office Junction (WSB sponsor), drop in to meet local entrepreneurs and other nontraditional workers. (6040 California SW)
STEEL-DRUM PARTY: 2 pm at (updated – the library is presenting, but it’s at the community center) Delridge COMMUNITY CENTER – “Dance, clap, and stomp along to live steel drum music with musician Ian Dobson! This rhythmical journey inspires resourcefulness and interest in exploring other languages and cultures. For all ages.” (4501 Delridge Way SW)
HIGH POINT MARKET GARDEN FARM STAND: 4-7 pm, visit the farm stand to buy produce grown and harvested by local residents on a mini-farm that’s just steps away. (32nd SW/SW Juneau)
ALKI CRIME/SAFETY/POLICING FOCUS GROUP: Something to say about crime, safety, and/or policing in the Alki area? Tonight is your focus group with researcher Jennifer Burbridge, 6 pm in the community room at the Southwest Precinct. (2300 SW Webster)
34th DISTRICT DEMOCRATS: Our area’s largest political group meets tonight at 7 at The Hall at Fauntleroy, with this agenda highlight:
7:15 Program: The Relationship between Our Police and Our Communities of Color
· Moderator: Chris Porter.
· King County Sheriff John Urquhart
· Judge Anne Levinson (Ret.), Office of Professional Accountability Auditor, newly appointed to the PDC
· Fe Lopez, Executive Director of the Community Police Commission, City of Seattle;
· Sili Savusa, Executive Director of the White Center Community Development Association; and
· Bobby Alexander, MPA, Activist (1st year Michigan State Law)
· Question and Answer Period
Initiative endorsements also will be considered. (9131 California SW)
AMERICAN LEGION POST 160: Monthly meetings are now being held at 8 pm. (3618 SW Alaska)
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