West Seattle, Washington
06 Monday
Good luck to Evergreen Science, a 15-member team of 6th-through-9th-grade-age homeschool students from West Seattle and South Seattle who are headed to a big competition this Saturday: The state-level Science Olympiad, to be held at Highline College in Des Moines. If they win, they’ll go to the National Science Olympiad, which will be held at the University of Nebraska in mid-May. Christine Ranegger e-mailed to let us know about Evergreen Science and pointed us to the official SO website for this explanation:
Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in each division (Division B is middle school; Division C is high school). Each year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology. By combining events from all disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved. Emphasis is placed on active, hands-on group participation. Through Science Olympiad, students, teachers, parents, principals and business leaders bond together and work toward a shared goal.
Teamwork is a required skill in most scientific careers today, and Science Olympiad encourages group learning by designing events that forge alliances. In Elevated Bridge, an engineering whiz and a kid from wood shop can become gold medalists. Similarly, a talented builder and a student with a good science vocabulary can excel in Write It Do It, one of Science Olympiad’s most popular events.
This is the team’s third year of competition and second year making it to state, where they placed sixth last year but are hoping to win it all this time. The parent-coached team meets every Monday morning at a home in Admiral, and its subgroups have been getting together inbetween to train in their specific events; Evergreen Science also has been crowdfunding to cover expenses. They’ll know by Saturday night if those expenses will include a trip to Nebraska – Christine promises to let us know how they do!
(Band-tailed pigeon in Fauntleroy Park, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
Flying on into the Tuesday highlights from our calendar:
‘WEST SIDE STORY’ SINGALONG: 2:30-5 pm at Southwest Branch Library, kids and teens are welcome to sing along with the classic musical movie – more info here. (35th/Henderson)
WATER RATE INCREASE? 2 pm at the City Council’s Public Utilities and Neighborhoods Committee meeting, discussion starts on the projected water-rate increases – reported and discussed here last Friday. Watch live via Seattle Channel – or go to City Hall. (600 4th Av., downtown)
‘BEGINNING WINE TASTING’ CLASSES: Three-class series begins at 6 pm at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) – info here, including how to sign up ASAP if there’s room! (6000 16th SW)
JUNCTION NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION: 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle:
Our guest speaker will be discussing RPZ parking and how to request modifications to the current RPZ criteria which do not work for our neighborhood: Margo Polley, Strategic Adviser at Seattle Department of Transportation. We will also be joined by some team members of the Dept. of Neighborhoods to talk about small sparks grants and the PACE program. … JuNO is looking for a webmaster and committee leaders & community event planners.
All welcome. (Oregon/California)
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: 7 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral – agenda includes SDOT briefings on Admiral Way bike-lane plans west of California SW and 20 mph plans in neighborhoods near West Seattle High School. (42nd/Lander)
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: 7 pm business meeting in the conference room at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. (9131 California SW)
NIGHTLIFE TOO … check the calendar!
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Welcome to Tuesday, April 14th. No road work alerts for today beyond continuing projects. Speaking of which …
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION TONIGHT: How’s the 47th/Admiral signal/crosswalks project going? You’re likely to find out tonight when ANA meets at 7 pm, The Sanctuary at Admiral (42nd/Lander). The agenda also includes SDOT briefings on a future bicycle-lane project along Admiral Way west of California and the 20 mph zone planned in the WSHS area.
JUNCTION NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION TONIGHT: JuNO’s 6:30 pm agenda at the Senior Center of West Seattle also includes an SDOT rep, talking about RPZ criteria – of extra interest now in the wake of the citywide parking-study report covered here last night.
Earlier in the day …
CITY COUNCIL TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: 9:30 am at City Hall (or watch live online or on TV via Seattle Channel), with a busy agenda including updates on Bicycle Master Plan Implementation and the Freight Master Plan.
Survey du jour:
QUESTIONS ABOUT METRO: Answer them and be part of an international survey about transit.
Now, on to traffic watch – updates if/when anything of note happens.
Congratulations to frequent WSB contributor “Diver Laura” James and her colleagues on that 2014 KCTS report about the sea-star die-off – they’ve been nominated for the Pacific Northwest Emmy Awards. That’s one of two nominations for Laura – her underwater photography of the sea-star situation also is part of another Emmy-nominated KCTS report, “Is Alaska Safe for Starfish?” Last year, she won one for another public-TV project, about sea otters and climate change. The full list of this year’s regional Emmy Award nominations is here; the winners will be announced in June.
The DPD/SDOT study of the city’s parking policies – and recommendations for if/how to change them – just hit the inbox. Above, read the report. That’s what we’re still doing, and we’ll add toplines shortly. You can also go ahead (after the jump, if you’re reading this from the home page) and read the official news release sent with it:
Read More
In last Friday’s report on the online petition launched by opponents of two key components of the city’s under-development 35th SW safety plan, we mentioned the plan itself had started taking shape in the wake of a very different petition. That petition circulated early last year and was closed after more than 600 signatures and city leaders’ promise of safety improvements, in response to requests that traced back at least six years, to fall 2007.
Today, supporters of the changes SDOT is pursuing – a speed-limit reduction to 30 mph and some form of rechannelization – have reopened the petition from early 2014. Don Brubeck of West Seattle Bike Connections sent the announcement from Seattle Neighborhood Greenways:
If you are FOR safety on 35th Avenue SW, please sign this PRO-safety petition. You may have seen a petition circulating to STOP the safety improvements planned for “I-35″. There are several hundred signers who may be deceived by the petition claims that 35th is safe as is, and speed is needed, or actually saves time. It is hard to believe that they would be more willing to risk their neighbors’ lives rather than lose a few seconds of car travel time due to 5 mph lower speed limit; a signal at Graham; a greenway on 34th; pedestrian safety islands; a left-turn lane to avoid rear-ending and left-hook car crashes.
If you are FOR Safety, please sign this PRO-safety petition, signed by over 600 concerned neighbors in 2014, and re-opened now.
SDOT continues accepting comments about the proposed alternatives, which are outlined in the slide deck below:
The alternatives were presented in two meetings last month, both of which we covered – March 10th here, and March 12th here – as well as at the March 26th West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting. SDOT said it would return to the community with final recommendations in June and is still accepting direct comments – e-mail jim.curtin@seattle.gov.
In case you didn’t already get this via the Metro alert system:
As part of an independent international survey effort by transit agencies serving 11 cities around the world, Metro is inviting customers to tell us their thoughts about the bus service we provide.
The survey is available in English and Spanish. The deadline for submitting it is May 10, 2015.
The 11 transit agencies will compare the results of their surveys in order to learn from one another and work toward providing even better service.
The northbound Battery Street Tunnel is closed for a collision. Use alternate routes. pic.twitter.com/zbRToxcTqT
— seattledot (@seattledot) April 13, 2015
2:03 PM: Don’t know yet how long this will last – but heads up if you are heading north: The Alaskan Way Viaduct might be a trouble spot for a while, because the collision shown in SDOT’s tweet has closed the northbound Battery Street Tunnel. No Seattle Fire callout, which likely means no serious injuries, if any. Updates when we get them.
2:20 PM: The Incident Response Team is on scene, says SDOT.
2:42 PM: Open again.
Making your plans for Earth Day on April 22nd (one week from Wednesday)? Barbara Clabots from the Surfrider Foundation (in our August 2014 photo above) just sent word they’re organizing a volunteer cleanup on Alki Beach, 2:30-4 pm on Earth Day – details on their website. They’d love all the help they can get to remove cigarette butts and other trash from the sand. We’re hearing of some possible warm weather this weekend, so there might be a lot of cleanup to do by then.
P.S. Their Hold On To Your Butts disposal-can campaign continues too – and at least one West Seattle business has signed on.
(5:12 PM UPDATE: Just added archived video of meeting – briefing starts about 1 hour, 9 minutes in)
10:38 AM: Click the “play” button to watch, live, as the City Council gets briefed on the Highway 99 tunnel project. Today’s big focus – as previewed in our morning traffic/transportation-news watch – is on how much settling is happening with the Alaskan Way Viaduct and vicinity. The briefing is accompanied by a sheaf of technical information, from the state and the city, which has done its own analysis (and has already issued a news release declaring that the AWV is safe to use). More to come – we’re adding toplines below, as this continues.
SETTLING:
*WSDOT project lead Todd Trepanier reiterates that the Viaduct is safe and that if any information indicated it weren’t, they would shut it down ASAP. But, he later says, data underscores that “this structure needs to be replaced.”
*Daily “automatic surveys” are “recording information all the time”
*So what would trigger a declaration of “this is unsafe”? Councilmember Bruce Harrell asked. Trepanier insisted there is no numerical answer to that, no “x” cracks or “x” inches, but that they keep monitoring and if something looks close to a trigger, they fix it. “It’s complex,” he insists. OK, says Councilmember Mike O’Brien, but “what are they comparing it to?” No numerical answer results. Trepanier mentions “demand and capacity.”
*WSDOT briefer Dave Sowers goes through the slide deck we’ve added below. Says that as long as a specific building, specific water line, etc., settles at same overall rate, it’s OK. Discussion also underscores that multiple entities are monitoring multiple points and not always finding exactly the same thing in (nearly the) same place; Sowers says they’re not yet sure why.
*March 28th inspection for which the Viaduct was closed: WSDOT says quarter-to-half inch of settlement at monitoring spots in Seneca Street vicinity, since last October. CM Sally Bagshaw asks why that area, since not near tunnel pit; WSDOT says they haven’t figured it out yet – it’s not the area where they’ve had settling near Seneca in the past. “Bent 76” (monitoring point) is where some cracks showed movement, they add, and new gauges have been installed. CM O’Brien asks, is the deterioration getting to any certain point such as, the Viaduct could have survived an X quake a month ago but not now? WSDOT’s very technical answer does not hit a certain magnitude but does mention that despite the “large cracks” they believe it would be OK in a “108-year event” quake.
*Water main on Western in Pioneer Square to be replaced ASAP – design 90% done – will take about 8 weeks
*City’s technical analysis (second slide deck below): Bottom line, the city wants another analysis before tunneling resumes, since some parts of the Viaduct have already hit the inch-or-so of settling that it was expected to be able to withstand. They also would like to know what magnitude of quake the Viaduct is expected to be able to handle, currently, and whether more strengthening might be in order. Are we approaching a point at which the Viaduct would have to be closed? Councilmember Tom Rasmussen asks. Not necessarily, says SDOT.
SLIDE DECKS:
*Here’s the WSDOT presentation:
*Here’s the city’s technical-analysis presentation:
*Here’s the Seattle Public Utilities presentation (including the water-main-replacement plan):
OTHER PROJECT-RELATED POINTS:
*Seattle Tunnel Partners is making progress on machine-repairing project, says WSDOT, but “still too soon” to set or guess at dates for resumption of tunneling. Won’t be the “budget-breaking project” (some have feared), Trepanier says
*No rescheduling yet for the sign-related work that WAS going to shut down 99 lanes north of the Battery Street Tunnel for a while
(Satyr Anglewing butterfly, photographed by Trileigh Tucker)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUP: Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s/dementia? At 1:30 pm, a twice-monthly support group meets at Providence Mount St. Vincent – details here. (4831 35th SW)
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: 6:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. So far, here’s what’s on the agenda – but it’s YOUR community meeting, so if you have an idea, concern, question, be there. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
SW LIBRARY EVENING BOOK GROUP: 6:45 pm, this month’s Evening Book Group at the Southwest Branch talks about “The Painter” by Peter Heller – info (and next month’s title!) here. (35th/Henderson)
ADMIRAL LIBRARY EVENING BOOK GROUP: The West Seattle (Admiral) Branch‘s Evening Book Group gathers tonight too, 6:45 pm; this month’s book is “The Worst Hard Time” by Timothy Egan – more info here. (2306 42nd SW)
BROWSE THE CALENDAR to see what else is up today/tonight – and beyond.
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy spring break to everyone who’s off this week, and welcome back to everyone who’s been away. Our Monday watch is on. And we are looking ahead:
TRANSPORTATION THIS WEEK:
*This morning’s City Council briefing will include a tunnel-project update around 10:30 am (watch live via Seattle Channel – accompanying documents are linked from the agenda, with lots of charts related to Viaduct settling)
*Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting (7 pm, The Sanctuary) will include an SDOT briefing on the early-stage plan for a bicycle lane on Admiral Way between California and 63rd SW. (Also see the document that will be shown to the City Council Transportation Committee earlier in the day.) Plans for a 20 mph speed limit on residential streets around West Seattle High School will be discussed too.
*On Wednesday night, another West Seattle presentation about the draft transportation levy is set for the Delridge District Council meeting (7 pm, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center). Also that night, the agenda for the quarterly Morgan Community Association meeting (7 pm, The Kenney [WSB sponsor]) includes several transportation topics.
(Photo courtesy City Fruit)
Got an apple tree? More than one, maybe? Don’t let its fruit go to waste! City Fruit, which harvested almost 14 tons of homegrown fruit last year, is hoping its new “Save Seattle’s Apples” campaign will keep even more from going to waste. Here’s what City Fruit announced this week – and scroll ahead to find out about the West Seattle event that’ll be part of it:
City Fruit is excited to announce the launch of the organization’s first ever Spring 2015 Save Seattle’s Apples Campaign. In partnership with Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle Parks and Recreation, Recology, Greater Good Granola, and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, this three-month pest prevention campaign will build awareness about Seattle’s urban canopy, the proper care and management of apple trees, and provide opportunities for the public to protect apples. Additionally, the project aims to reduce waste that unnecessarily ends up in the compost bin.
During 2014, City Fruit harvested nearly 28,000 pounds of fresh, edible fruit and donated the majority to Seattle’s emergency food system. During the same harvest season, the organization composted over 12,000 pounds of rotten fruit that had fallen to the ground due to insects, poor tree management, or neglect. Through education, outreach, and direct hands-on assistance to tree owners in protecting their fruit, City Fruit hopes to cut the number of pounds of composted fruit in half in 2015, adding 6,000 pounds of fruit to the emergency food system and feeding an additional estimated 20,000 families.
Barbara Cough Shea, who lived for more than 35 years in West Seattle, will be remembered at a funeral Mass on Wednesday (April 15). Here’s the remembrance her family is sharing, telling the story of the many chapters of her life:
Barbara was born April 23, 1930, in Norridgewock, Maine, to Bernard Ezra “Bun” Cough and Helen Norton Cough. She grew up in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the second oldest and fast friend of her three siblings, Sonny, Janis and Jimmy. Her entrepreneurial and ever-scheming father had the family moving frequently around the town and pitching in on various family ventures. Her mother Helen was always there for her children.
Barbara graduated Bar Harbor High School and went on to attend college in Boston, where she reveled in the excitement and freedom of the city. Back in Bar Harbor during a break from school, she caught the attention of a college boy on vacation from studies in Miami. Barbara’s father was quite impressed to learn the “boy” was Bob Greive, a Washington state senator and law student. Barbara’s father arranged for her to transfer to school in Miami to encourage the romance. Bob and Barbara were married in Miami, just weeks before her 20th birthday. He was 29.
Following his law school graduation, Barbara and Bob settled in West Seattle, where they raised their six children. Barbara and the children were fixtures in the back pew of Holy Rosary Church during Sunday Mass while Bob ushered. She earned a reputation for her grace and elegance even as she wrangled squirming toddlers. She kept up appearances at daily Mass when slacks were taboo, hiding her pant legs by rolling them up above the hem of her long coat. She was a member of the Holy Rosary School Mothers Club for 18 years.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
The final round of games for the first day of the West Seattle Soccer Club‘s spring season is under way, on fields all over West Seattle. We stopped by one of the fields at Roxhill, while players in the youngest division – U-6 – were getting in gear.
With more than 1,400 players and 200 coaches signed up, WSSC has teamed with its counterpart to the south, Highline, for this year’s spring Champions League, with jerseys/team names inspired by the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League.
Along with Roxhill, fields where today’s 92 scheduled games were played included Alki, EC Hughes, Fairmount, Highland Park, Madison, Riverview, and Walt Hundley, plus several fields on Highline’s home turf south of West Seattle. Next Sunday’s schedule is online here; games are scheduled every Sunday afternoon through June 7th, with the exception of May 24th, since that’s Memorial Day weekend.
P.S. Got a great game pic from today? We’d be happy to add it – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
Right before Seattle Public Schools got out for spring break (which lasts all of next week), Gatewood Elementary students got to show off their projects for the 4th annual Science Palooza. Here are some highlights from Thursday night’s event, shared by Nicole Sipila, who chaired the science fair:
We had 69 kids with 48 projects. The kids really stepped up the projects this year and everybody was really impressed.
Simone & Delaney exploring sound with their project, The Pitch of Pipes:
… More than just your average volcano replica, Kailey, Hailey, and Hudson made a model of Mt. St. Helens and showed how much of the mountain was lost and the effects of the lahar:
… We also had some exciting guests. UW Material Advantage was on hand to demonstrate material science applications at a graduate school level. Most popular were the semi-conductors.
… Also, Gatewood’s choir, conducted by Mr. Hall, performed the National Anthem to kick start the evening and then came back later to perform two more songs.
It was an amazing night of science learning & sharing, along with a great community building event. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped put this wonderful evening together.
(Common loon, photographed at Lincoln Park by Mark Ahlness, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Good morning! Some of what’s on our calendar for today:
COMMUNICATIONS ACADEMY: It’s the second day of the big annual regional emergency-communications gathering at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor), with another full slate of presentations, starting with a keynote about amateur (ham) radio’s vital role. For the public, the most noticeable aspect is a passel of communications vehicles parked toward the south end of campus. (6000 16th SW)
WEST SEATTLE ULTIMATE FAMILY FRISBEE: 11 am pickup games on Sunday mornings are now at Fairmount Playfield. (Fauntleroy/Brandon)
WEST SEATTLE SOCCER CLUB: Today’s the first day of “another record-breaking spring season” on fields all over West Seattle, WSSC’s Tim McMonigle tells us: “Over 1,400 kids and over 250 coaches will be out on the pitch today, starting at 1 pm. The theme is Champion’s League again, in which the kids don jerseys patterned after the teams that are still in the Champion’s League over in Europe. This year, we are combining with our sister recreational club, Highline Soccer Club, which serves the Burien, SeaTac and Des Moines area. We normally do that in the fall, but this is the first time we’ve done it in the spring.” Find out more about WSSC, including game schedules, at westseattlesoccer.org.
PRINCESS ANGELINE NATIVE TEA PARTY: The 5th annual event at the Duwamish Longhouse, 1-3 pm, hosted by Princess Angeline‘s great-great-grandniece, Duwamish Tribe chair Cecile Hansen – more info here. (4705 W. Marginal Way SW)
FREE GARDENING TALK: 1 pm at West Seattle Nursery, learn about “Cool Season Gardening” from author Bill Thorness. (California/Brandon)
CATSINO: 2 pm-6 pm at Beveridge Place Pub, bid on silent-auction items and play just-for-fun games to raise money for local animal-rescue organizations – details here. Note that BPP is 21+. (6413 California SW)
UKULELE MUSIC @ C & P: 3-5 pm, Arden Fujiwara performs at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) – read about Arden and his music here. (5612 California SW)
LADIES’ MUSICAL CLUB: 3 pm at West Seattle (Admiral) Library, free classical-music concert with works by French composers. (2306 42nd SW)
Thanks to Scott for sending the link after noticing the West Seattle Trader Joe’s featured on today’s CBS Sunday Morning national newscast. Actually, it’s not about the store so much as one particular shopper – we’ve heard of him before, but had no idea his shopping took him this far south of the border. (For the record, the distance from his store in B.C. to TJ’s in WS is 147 miles.)
That’s 4-year-old Aaron, photographed before a fall off the Alki seawall left him badly hurt. His grandmother Teri has written an open letter both to say thanks to the strangers who helped, and to voice concerns about safety:
On Tuesday, April 7th, at approximately 5:30 pm, my husband David, my 4-year old grandson Aaron and I were riding bikes along the 1300 block of Alki Avenue. We were in the bike lane, with Aaron following David, and I was bringing up the rear so I could keep a watchful eye on Aaron. Part way through the ride, Aaron apparently decided he wanted to ride along the path on the other side of the sidewalk and veered off in that direction. Despite my calls for him to stop, Aaron continued on toward the path and the unprotected bulkhead. He managed to stop his bike before it went over the edge, but he went flying over the handlebars and over the edge of the bulkhead, landing face first on the boulders 6-8 feet below street level.
As I scrambled off my bike and ran, horrified, toward where I had just seen Aaron flying over the wall, passersby had already leapt into action. By the time I got to the edge, there were people down on the rocks lifting the very terrified Aaron up to safety. Others standing around also clamored to help, and one woman was an absolute angel. She sat with Aaron and kept him talking, focusing on calming him down while we waited for the 911 response team that was summoned by still others. I was in a state of shock at the time and can’t tell you enough how grateful I am to all of these people who stepped up to help us.
Fortunately, Aaron was properly outfitted with a Bern bike helmet at the time of his accident. Without it, he would not be with us today. This helmet literally saved his life. It was cracked and dented as a result of the fall, clearly showing us where significant brain damage was avoided. I am now a staunch bike-helmet advocate! I see so many children out riding bikes with helmets that are ill-fitting and barely more than a styrofoam hat in the shape of a shark, unicorn, or kitty and wonder whether one of these helmets would have stopped the significant damage that was avoided by wearing the well-fitting, hard-shell Bern helmet. Our children and grandchildren are irreplaceable, so only the best in protection is good enough for them.
Aaron spent just under 4 days at Harborview, and was helped by many fine, caring doctors and nurses both in the Emergency Room and PICU. Our eternal gratitude goes out to them as well.
At Harborview, we learned that Aaron had fractured his skull. He also had several fractures around both eye orbitals, multiple deep nose fractures, and his upper right jaw was fractured as well. Right now he is back home, and back to playing with his trains and cars, colors and crafts as he continues to heal. The doctors are waiting for the significant eye swelling to subside before they can determine whether he is in need of surgery to repair some of the fractures as there is the possibility that they may be impinging facial nerves and eye muscles. Right now we call him our little puffer fish!
Since the accident, we have heard that there have been several other incidents along the unprotected stretch that runs around Alki Avenue and drops off to large boulders. I walk that path several afternoons a week, and with the warmer weather I am seeing more and more children along the way either walking, running, or riding scooters and bikes. Knowing how the younger ones can rapidly dart away and put themselves in danger, I have to wonder what the City of Seattle can do to make this a safer place for us all. We came so close to losing a precious 4 year old that day. God forbid another child, or even an adult, is lost forever due to a slip or fall and lack of fencing along this area.
We don’t know who any of the people are who helped us on the beach last Tuesday, but we really want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to them for them being there and stepping up to help. I don’t know what we would have done without their help! We are blessed to live in a community with so many caring people.
Teri says they *do* know some of Aaron’s rescuers – the Seattle Fire Department personnel – and that they plan to visit those fire stations soon (the log from Tuesday shows units from 3 stations) to say thanks in person.
While West Seattle was spared power outages during this afternoon’s blustery weather (areas north and west of downtown got hit instead), we often aren’t so lucky. And this brings to mind new outage-response technology that Seattle City Light announced earlier this week. While WS isn’t part of the first round of testing, it might not be far behind if the pilot project works out. Ahead, the SCL news release, and what we found out on followup:
The countdown continues: Four weeks until West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day 2015, which is coming up on Saturday, May 9th. The newest toplines:
–We’ve set the registration deadline – sign up by Thursday night, April 23rd
–More than 120 sales are registered so far – all sizes!
–If you have no room and/or just a little bit of stuff to sell, check directly with multi-seller spots Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (4410 California SW; WSB sponsor) and C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor)
–If you’re just looking forward to browsing – the map (which we make in 2 formats, online/clickable and PDF/printable) will be ready a week in advance as usual, which means you’ll find it here and at westseattlegaragesale.com starting May 2nd
Ready to sign up and sell? Go here! Questions? garagesale@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
2:24 PM: Thanks to everyone who messaged us about this. The situation in Morgan Junction right now with police taking three people into custody at gunpoint involves a stolen car. That’s all we know so far; whenever a felony is suspected, the procedure for a “felony stop” requires guns to be drawn. More details if/when we get them.
3:12 PM UPDATE: We went down the hill to try to find out more. The owner of the vehicle, a black Mercedes SUV, was already back in it, in the parking area north of Cal-Mor Circle (on California north of Fauntleroy).
ADDED: Police weren’t able to tell us where the car was stolen from, but they say that the owner herself spotted it being driven around in West Seattle, and called 911. The driver was booked into King County Jail; two others from the car were questioned and released.
If you were planning to donate items to WestSide Baby via its main HQ in White Center – they’re asking you to wait a few days, because of a power outage caused by a small fire. From WS Baby executive director Nancy Woodland:
WestSide Baby’s White Center Main Operations Center experienced a small electrical fire in an outside meter that has caused us to lose power. We are awaiting landlord-directed repairs and must remain closed until those repairs are made. We hope this will happen quickly and we are exploring other options to continue operations in the meantime. We’ll post updates on our website and/or Facebook. Thank you to everyone for your concern, and please know we are making every effort to be up and running very soon as children are counting on us.
We will have our donation bin out during the regular hours but, if you have item donations and you are able to hold them for us during this time, we would be very grateful. We are in the dark and unable to sort things and a pile up can be difficult to address.
We are hopeful, our landlord will address this quickly but we expect to be closed at least a week at our White Center Donation and Volunteer Center. Our administrative office and our Central Branch location at 23rd and Jackson are both open for full operations!
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