(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Good morning and welcome to a brand-new week. No incidents in or from West Seattle, but after a stormy night, things are reported to be slow out there.
VIADUCT CLOSURE NEXT WEEKEND: We’ll be reminding you daily – the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s next twice-yearly inspection closure is next weekend, 6 am-6 pm each day, Saturday (October 31st) and Sunday (November 1st).
ADDED 7:40 AM – STATE FERRY ALERT: Also a reminder of what we reported last night – M/V Salish has replaced M/V Issaquah on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run because the latter vessel has mechanical trouble again, and that means reduced capacity, because the Salish holds about half the vehicles the Issaquah does.
While recent days have brought major cases to West Seattle Crime Watch, the bulk of crimes in our area remain property crimes, and we have three reader reports to share tonight.
CAR PROWL: Rachel reports, “We are in the 8100 block of 24th Ave SW and our truck was broken into in our driveway. Non-damage, but they stole some men’s Ray-Ban sunglasses and our brand=new baby bag that had some clothes and diapers from our newborn. I know it’s a total long shot, but here is a picture of the bag in case anyone finds it. It was a gift and the best bag.”
ANOTHER CAR PROWL: Dale says, “Early Sunday morning, someone broke the side window of our small SUV. The alarm may have scared them off as nothing was taken. This is near 36th and Juneau. We’ve filed a report with the police.”
BURGLARY: From Kayla:
While I live slightly outside of West Seattle limits, I have friends who have seen the suspect vehicle all over Alaska Junction and want to get the word out.
My home (in the 10200 block of) 24th Ave SW was burglarized at 3:30 PM on Wednesday the 21st. My neighbor witnessed a white male, medium build, about 5’11”, in a metallic gold Toyota 4Runner parked in front of my home, which is sheltered and down a long driveway. He smashed my back door window to get in. Stole a safe with Social Security cards, birth certificates, passports, checks, credit cards, and wills. There was also an extensive collection of foreign currency and a key to each of our cars. Outside the safe he stole my class ring- silver with a pink stone and a picture of crossed tennis rackets, and my school’s mascot, an Indian. It was from Sterling High School class of 2003. There was also a medium K-bar knife and a gold ring with purple stones. I would appreciate it being posted in case anyone finds my things.
For those who wondered about the multiple-unit fire callout in the 4500 block of Beach Drive SW, just south of Me-Kwa-Mooks Park: We’re at the scene; small fire inside the house, out very quickly, and the units still here are wrapping up; the front of the house is being ventilated with a fan.
5:11 PM: Seattle Fire has just sent an “automobile rescue” callout to a crash in the 2700 block of 53rd SW, near Schmitz Park\.
5:13 PM: First units on scene say no one’s hurt and everyone’s out of the car, so the response is being scaled back.
5:42 PM: Just checked out the crash scene. As you can see in the photo we added, the car just missed hitting a utility pole – but did hit a car in a driveway on the downhill curve at 53rd SW and Admiral Way.
3:15 PM: More trouble today for M/V Issaquah, the largest of the ferries regularly assigned to the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run. It’s out of the mix for repairs again, leaving the older, smaller, slower M/V Evergreen State and Tillikum, and canceling some runs. Watch the ferry bulletins page for updates.
3:39 PM: WSF just announced they’ll get back to three-boat service soon with M/V Salish replacing the Issaquah – its vehicle capacity is half the Issaquah’s, though.
10:16 AM: We’re in the heart of The Junction – middle of Walk All Ways at California/Alaska – and the West Seattle Harvest Festival is under way! From our spot, if you look north, it’s the Farmers Market(above), and if you look south, it’s harvest activities (cast a line at Emerald Water Anglers [WSB sponsor], below):
The activities continue all the way until 2 pm, as does the market; at 11 am, you can buy a flight of chili ($10, goes to the West Seattle Food Bank) and vote for your favorite; at 11:30 am, it’s the Costume Parade from Junction Plaza Park at 42nd/Alaska; at noon, you can trick-or-treat at Junction businesses! In the meantime, stop by our booth for our Halloween stickers, while they last:
In the costumes we’re seeing so far, “Star Wars“ wins the day. We’ve seen new costumes – Kylo Ren from Episode 7) mingled with the classics – Princess Leia in her Episode 4 gown:
And pint-size Wookiees like this one:
Queen Amidala (Episode 1) showed up too:
Finally, a Jedi!
Plus – space, not so long ago and not so far away:
11:02 AM: The chili competition is under way! Get to the KeyBank corner of California and Alaska, donate $10 (all goes to the WS Food Bank), and get samples of the contenders – here’s who made, donated, and is serving chili for the occasion:
Vote for your fave, and we’ll find out later who won! Activities are continuing, on Alaska and on California south of the Farmers’ Market … and the Harvest Festival Costume Parade is coming up at 11:30, starting from Junction Plaza Park, with the West Seattle High School Marching Band in the lead – it’ll wind through the market and festival. Lots of kids and grownups in costume here from the start:
Business trick-or-treating starts at noon. More to come – we’re reporting live for the duration – but first, stay tuned for parade coverage.
11:39 AM: This is the biggest Harvest Festival Costume Parade we’ve ever seen – by far! – and it’s still winding its way through the market and festival, now heading southbound on the west side of the street. Video:
11:50 AM: Now it’s almost time to trick or treat, as the parade turns the corner eastward onto Alaska and back to the park. Be sure to go see the businesses north of the closed-street zone, too! We still have stickers to give away, and on the other side of our booth is the festival-presenting West Seattle Junction Association team (don’t tell them we told you, but THEY have candy). Speaking of merchants – this is the first Harvest Festival since Thunder Road Guitars (WSB sponsor) moved to The Junction, and look who’s at their storefront on the east side of California between Alaska and Edmunds:
“Plinko” was the game in the Westside School (WSB sponsor) booth:
And more costumes!
All around us, we’re seeing friends and neighbors greeting each other – same vibe as West Seattle Summer Fest here in The Junction – glad the weather has held, after an early morning shower.
1:00 PM: Last hour for the festival and the market – if you haven’t been here yet, hurry! We found some street art:
Also just announced: The chili competition winner – Shadowland got the most votes!
In 2nd and 3rd, Elliott Bay and The Westy. They’re still tallying how much money the chili raised for the WS Food Bank. We can verify it was a hit – not only did we get a steady stream of people asking us where to find it, we’re told they sold out of sample flights long before they ran out of would-be voters.
1:29 PM: Half an hour to go. Rabbit Stew is playing old-time Americana right here at California/Alaska, drawing some dancers and toe-tappers now and then:
Many of the market vendors got into the spirit too. Thanks to the folks who pointed out Whistling Train Farm’s themed signs:
2 PM: The festival flew by! Market’s wrapping up too. Thanks to everyone who came to The Junction, everyone who offered activities and treats, everyone in the parade … Adding more photos when we’re back at HQ.
4:32 PM: Just finished adding more photos, above. Here’s the last costumed child we photographed before the end of the festival, with her non-costumed dad:
Sabrina, daughter of County Executive and lifelong West Seattleite Dow Constantine and wife Shirley Carlson, is just two weeks shy of a year and a half old.
*10 am-2 pm, free “harvest activities” including crafts, photos, more (booths are mostly California south of Alaska)
*10 am-2 pm, Farmers’ Market (California north of Alaska)
*11 am, chili competition benefiting West Seattle Food Bank ($10 flight gets you a taste of each and a vote), SW corner California/Alaska
*11:30 am, costume parade led by the WSHS Marching Band – gather at Junction Plaza Park (NW corner 42nd/Alaska)
*Noon-2 pm, trick-or-treating at Junction businesses (including north of Oregon – so be careful crossing!)
*Noon-2 pm, haunted house and pumpkin giveaway at RE/MAX (4727 44th Ave SW)
WSB is a sponsor and activity provider again this year – see you at the festival!
GREYHOUNDS AT THE MARKET: Greyhound Pets Inc. is scheduled to be back at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market; go meet a hound while you’re at the Harvest Festival! 10 am-2 pm. (California SW between SW Oregon and SW Alaska)
CLOTHING EXCHANGE: 3-5 pm at Admiral Bird, “Bring in the clothes you love but don’t wear anymore, the ones you don’t want to let go but want to see go to a good home. Then look around and see if there is anything that needs to go home with you.” Anything left over will be donated.
Before we get to today’s calendar highlights, these reminders:
WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION HARVEST FESTIVAL: The Sunday road closures in The Junction are expanded today because of the Harvest Festival – SW Alaska between 42nd and 44th, California SW between Oregon and Edmunds. The festival itself runs the same hours as the Farmers’ Market (which is part of it), 10 am-2 pm, but the closures have already begun and will continue until everything’s broken down in late afternoon.
ROAD WORK: City crews were expected to continue work today on the 5-way intersection safety improvements west of the low bridge and on the surface repairs toward the Fauntleroy end of the high bridge (please let us know if you go through either of these areas and discover the work has ended early).
NEXT WEEKEND – ALASKAN WAY VIADUCT INSPECTION: And while we’re talking weekend traffic alerts, remember that NEXT weekend (Saturday and Sunday, October 31st-November 1st) is the next twice-yearly Alaskan Way Viaduct inspection closure, scheduled for 6 am-6 pm each day.
A photo posted by Center For Whale Research (@centerforwhaleresearch) on
Just last Wednesday, it was announced that the federal drone survey of Puget Sound’s Southern Resident Killer Whales suggested more orca babies were on the way. And tonight, the Center for Whale Research shared news of one! This is the sixth orca calf reported in the three resident pods – J, K, and L – in less than a year, dating back to last December. As you can see in the Instagram post embedded above, they’re promising more info soon.
Thanks to Kristin Gibson for the photo and report:
Four members of the WSHS Varsity boys’ golf team qualified for the 3A Metro/King Co. District tournament after competing in the Metro League Golf Championship last week. Tony Flores, Bailey Fuentes, Alex Nguyen and Zach Gibson finished in the top 39 to earn a place to compete Tuesday at Riverbend Golf Complex in Kent. Zach Gibson medaled for the Wildcats with a 6th-place finish and a two-round total of 149.
Good luck to them next week! Sports reports are always welcome at editor@westseattleblog.com.
Our video shows the starting-line scene in just under a minute, as the annual West Seattle Monster Dash got going at 9 this morning in what was at the time the spooky, semi-foggy forest of Lincoln Park. Check out the costumes! Organizers say it was the biggest turnout ever for this family-friendly 5K – accompanied with a kids’ dash afterward – which raises money for the West Seattle Cooperative Preschools. Almost 200 people are listed in the official timed results. ages 6 to 65!
(UPDATING to add third West Seattle collision reported in less than an hour)
FIRST CRASH, 1:52 PM: Big Seattle Fire response on the way to 42nd and Findlay for an “automobile rescue” call.
1:55 PM: The response is being scaled back because, according to emergency-radio traffic, everyone’s made it out of their vehicles.
2:06 PM: Adding a photo. One person’s going to the hospital via private ambulance; injuries are not serious. The reason this originally was called out as a “rescue,” police tell us, is that the airbags deployed on one car and they were concerned about possible major injuries and getting the person out quickly and safely. This is the second crash at the intersection in three days; the previous one happened Thursday morning and was mentioned at the time in our morning-traffic coverage.
SECOND CRASH, 2:17 PM: Another crash – this time reported to involve 3 vehicles, at 35th SW and SW Thistle. SFD is arriving and SPD is on the way; we’d suggest avoiding the neighborhood for a while.
2:23 PM: Our crew reports this is actually south of Thistle on 35th, between Thistle and Cloverdale, and the northbound side is blocked by not just the vehicles but also the emergency response.
THIRD CRASH, 2:41 PM: Delridge and Henderson, just reported, partly blocking the intersection, injuries reported. On the way to check.
3:01 PM UPDATE: No major injuries here, either. Delridge traffic is getting through, albeit slowly; if you’re headed east on Henderson, you’ll have to divert for now.
3:29 PM: Let us know if you see any of these still blocking – we were able to check Thistle/Cloverdale/35th on the way back from Delridge/Henderson, and it was all off to the side.
Pumpkin-painting and face-painting are happening in the West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) Deli right now during the store’s annual Kids’ Halloween Party continues.
This is the first year for face-painting; your artist is Annie. Party’s on until 1 pm – costumes encouraged!
That’s the Fauntleroy end of the high bridge, where Seattle Public Utilities is scheduled to be doing road repair all weekend following recent sewer work. The second traffic alert is for the 5-way intersection just west of the low bridge, where crews are working this weekend and next on safety improvements, as described and shown here. (3rd alert added 9:27 am; thanks to Kim) Also – 34th SW is closed near High Point Community Center for paving work.
Now, on to the event highlights, in two sets, starting with WSB West Seattle Halloween Guide listings, as the first of this year’s two Hallo-weekends continues:
WEST SEATTLE MONSTER DASH: Get your costume on and get to the Monster Dash in Lincoln Park. 9 am 5K, 10 am kids’ dash, 10:30 am awards and costume contest. More info in our listing. (Fauntleroy/Cloverdale)
PCC PUMPKIN-DECORATING PARTY:9 am-noon at PCC Natural Markets-West Seattle (WSB sponsor). PCC provides the pumpkins for the 12-and-under participants as well as and decorating supplies. (California SW & SW Stevens)
THRIFTWAY HALLOWEEN PARTY:Annual kids’ party at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor), 11 am-1 pm. Ages 1-10 – decorate a mini-pumpkin, get the chance to win a treat bag, more! (Fauntleroy/Morgan/California)
CLEANUP PARTY: Join Seattle’s Tree Ambassadors 9 am-noon to clean up the triangle at 36th/Genesee/Fauntleroy. Tools, gloves, training provided. Treats from businesses across the street – coffee and snacks from West Seattle Brewing; barbecue lunch afterward from Jones BBQ. More info here.
CARAVAN PACIFIC TRUNK SHOW: 10 am-5 pm at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in The Junction: “Shannon Guirl, the designer / maker behind Portland-based Caravan Pacific, will be bringing her full collection of handmade lighting and home accessories for a one-day trunk show.” (4540 California SW)
WEST SEATTLE SKI/SNOWBOARD SWAP: Get ready for winter before it gets here. Day 1 runs 10 am-6 pm at the VFW Hall in The Triangle – details here. (3601 SW Alaska)
SEATTLE WRITES: GET READY FOR NANOWRIMO: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is eight days away. Get ready with a free class at 3:30 pm at the High Point Library – registration required, so check our listing ASAP. (35th SW & SW Raymond)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 5:19 AM: Two people were shot in West Seattle early this morning; one did not survive. It happened before 2 am in the 6900 block of 23rd SW (map). Multiple 911 callers reported hearing gunfire; police say officers found the victims lying in the street. One was dead at the scene; the other was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. No arrests reported so far; homicide detectives ask that anyone with information call 206-233-5000.
This is the first deadly shooting in West Seattle since December 31st, 2013, when 40-year-old Stephen Jeffries, Jr., was killed in the 9200 block of 16th SW, a murder that remains unsolved.
5:46 AM UPDATE: Detectives are still at the scene (photo above), where we just spoke with Homicide Unit Capt. Steve Paulsen. He tells WSB the victims are both men in their 20s, and that investigators believe an “altercation” preceded the gunfire. They’re still looking for others who might have been involved.
11 AM: More than two hours after a SWAT operation at 26th and Holden – less than a mile from the shooting scene – that resulted in one man being detained, police are confirming that a suspect in the shooting is in custody. We’re still working to confirm details.
1:44 PM: As we noted in the comment discussion, we’ve since found via other court documents that the 25-year-old man in jail right now for investigation of homicide lives or has lived at the 26th/Holden house where police converged this morning. He does not have a felony record; he was charged in connection with a nearby street robbery in 2009 but the case was dismissed. We might not find out much more before Monday but we’re still looking.
ADDED LATE SATURDAY NIGHT: We have learned a little about the man who was killed. We don’t know whether next of kin have all been notified, so we aren’t identifying him at this point, but he was 24, had a culinary career – working at a downtown restaurant – and was an alum of West Seattle High School. We are also told the man who survived is 34, not in his 20s as police had told us, but we don’t yet know anything more about him.
A first-of-its-kind event is happening next Wednesday at West Seattle Office Junction (WSB sponsor): It’s an orientation/networking meetup for the Women’s Business Incubator, described as “a nonprofit business center for women starting locally focused businesses and for local women business leaders, with the goal to offer micro-loans, nurture leaders, connect with mentors, training and business services for women-led small business owners, professional office space, business services and start-up assistance; as well as quality drop-in child-care services for infants thru pre-K.” Those services are available for the 7-8:30 pm Wednesday (October 28th) meeting, if you need to bring along one or two children, plus there’s a small admission charge; see the ticket options here and sign up ASAP. The Office Junction is at 6040 California SW.
(WSB photo from the first Harvest Festival in 2012)
You ARE going to the fourth annual West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival on Sunday, we hope? It’s not just kid stuff. Everybody’s welcome to join the costume parade, vote in the chili contest, shop the Farmers’ Market … the festival is about 37 hours away (not that we’re counting)! Here are your essential festival facts. First, the schedule:
*Early morning-late afternoon: California closed between Oregon and Edmunds, Alaska closed between 44th and 42nd
*10 am-2 pm: Farmers’ Market
*10 am-2 pm: Harvest activities (most booths south of Alaska)
*11 am: Chili competition (fundraiser forWest Seattle Food Bank, buy your “flight” – which entitles you to vote – at SW corner of California/Alaska)
*11:30 am: Costume parade from Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska), led by West Seattle High School Marching Band, directed by Ethan Thomas
*Noon: Trick-or-treating at Junction businesses
Next, some of the activities (all free), presented at booths on and south of Alaska:
*Putt-putt golf – West Seattle Eagles
*Spooky tree photo-op – West Seattle Nursery
*Giant Tic-Tac-Toe and hay bales to play in – Hotwire Online Coffeehouse and EQ Fitness
*Cotton-candy maker – Eastridge Church
*Origami and puppies – West Seattle See Dogs
*Scary-face photo ops – WSB
Full list of activity providers: Alki Art Fair, Bitter Cherry Tree, City Mouse Store, Cupcake Royale, Dream Dinners, Eastridge Church, Emerald Water Anglers, Endolyne Children’s Choir, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Holy Rosary School, Hotwire Coffee and EQ Fitness, Infinite B Canvas Creations, Pagliacci Pizza, PCC Natural Foods, School of Rock, Snooter Doots, SSC Coop Preschools, St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, The Little Gym of West Seattle, The Office Junction, West Seattle Art Nest, West Seattle Blog, West Seattle Calvary Chapel, West Seattle Hi-Yu, West Seattle Kiwanis, West Seattle Nursery, West Seattle See Dogs, WestSide Baby, Westside School
And thank you, sponsors, for helping to produce this event: Bakery Nouveau, West Seattle Blog, Westside School, Curious Kidstuff, Pagliacci, Eastridge Church, Easy Street Records, Elliott Bay Brewery, Swanson & Seepersad Chiropractic & Massage Therapy, WestSide Baby
Forecast so far – cloudy but dry. See you in The Junction on Sunday!
(:15 of Instagram video looking north on 35th toward Trenton, recorded 6:20 pm tonight)
More than a month after SDOT rechannelized 35th SW south of Upper Morgan, work on the full plan finalized in July is “essentially done,” project manager Jim Curtin tells WSB. We checked in with him today because the topic came up at last night’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting, with a short discussion of the signal timing in the rechannelization zone. Curtin says they are “still doing some fine tuning of the signal timing,” adding, “We actually had a signal malfunction at Trenton a few weeks ago, which threw us off schedule a bit. We have a temporary fix in place with a permanent repair scheduled to be completed in the next few days. We will continue to tweak the signal timing until it’s ‘dialed in’.” He says there’s one other issue remaining: “We’re also having some trouble getting a few folks to comply with the new parking restrictions for the short segment of BAT lane at Holden. We’ll make another attempt to reach these folks on Monday morning. We’ve knocked on doors and sent three letters to no avail. This time we’ll leave a note on their windshield.” Curtin says he is out on 35th daily – as he has noted publicly many times, he lives in Arbor Heights – and that a new round of data has been ordered, so that SDOT can “provide another update before the end of the year.”
Checking what’s new in the city’s online permit files, we happened onto a new proposal for a familiar address: 4439 41st SW in The Junction.
Last year, a proposal to replace its single-family house with a 40-unit, 5-offstreet-parking-space apartment building drew neighborhood concern, which led to a special city meeting for comments on the project in May 2014. DPD records indicate that reviews for the apartment-building project continued into the early part of this year – and then the activity stopped.
Now there are two new early-stage land-use applications shown for the address, one for a “lot boundary adjustment” – the site currently consists of three lots zoned Lowrise 2 – and another for a four-unit rowhouse building facing 41st, with four offstreet parking spaces off the alley to the west.
This is the third proposal in three years for the site; the 40-apartment plan had been preceded by one proposing eight townhouses.
SDOT crews plan to start work on Thursday, November 5th. We will start near Starbucks and work our way south. To minimize disruptions, we will only remove as much sidewalk as we can fully replace within four business days.
This week’s quarterly Morgan Community Association meeting was so wide-ranging (as usual), we’re breaking it into two reports. This first one is something you’ll be hearing more about soon:
(WSB file photo)
You might recognize that mural from the back of the commercial building on the southwest corner of California and Fauntleroy. Dan Austin, who owns one of the businesses in that building – Peel and Press – told MoCA on Wednesday night that he’s leading a project to save the mural, painted by Bruce Rickett a quarter-century ago, as mentioned in this 1990 Seattle Times story. And “save” is the word, not just “restore” – Austin said it’s falling apart, and one more winter of rain/wind against the west-facing mural – which depicts the mid-1920s Morgan Street Market – might just peel some of it away.
He told MoCA he’s consulted with Peter Malarkey, who – as we showed you last month – recently restored the mural inside the Colman Pool building. Austin said there’s “a game plan” that he’ll be presenting to various civic organizations. He said that if this works, he would hope it would lead to a “blueprint” for action that could be shared with others in West Seattle to maybe get more of the local murals restored, especially the ones in The Junction.
The first sum of money that would be needed, $2,500, would stabilize the mural to get through the winter. From there, Austin said, there’ll be various price points for various stages of saving the mural, with the total restoration cost around $35,000. And yes, he confirmed, he’s talking to other tenants, including the building’s biggest one, Starbucks.
After Austin spoke, MoCA passed a motion in support of the project and lauded him for taking it on.
First – plan ahead for Halloween-season activities today through November 1st, by checking out the WSB West Seattle Halloween 2015 Guide, full of events like these four that are happening tonight:
Have you voted yet? If not – please don’t let it slide. You have 
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