West Seattle, Washington
30 Thursday
Again this year, West Seattle American Legion Post 160 and Auxiliary are inviting local veterans and their families – all branches, active duty or reserve – to a free dinner commemorating Veterans Day. The gourmet Italian dinner will be served 5-8 pm this Sunday night (November 10) at the West Seattle Veterans’ Center (longtime home to Post 160), 3618 SW Alaska in The Triangle. Here’s more info via the official flyer.
We’ve been hearing for a while about a major slowdown on southbound 99 headed this way, and now we know why – a crash right at the bridge. One WSB’er who passed it while riding Metro Route 55 reports, “There is a three-car accident in the left lane, just before the WS Bridge ramp. An ambulance and cop are on the scene. Avoid the area!”
Almost a year has passed since Life Care Center announced it would close its nursing home at 47th/Admiral, and we finally know a bit about the 1 1/2-acre site’s future, the source of much speculation and more than a few questions. For some weeks, the real-estate listing has had the notation “pending” – as in “sale pending” – but there’s no public information until the sale closes, so we’ve just kept watching public records. Then a WSB reader pointed us to a recent magazine interview in which the CEO of Redmond-headquartered Aegis Living mentioned the company had property in West Seattle. Today, a company spokesperson confirmed that Aegis “has the property under contract.” For further details on their plan – whether renovation or new construction – we’re awaiting an interview with CEO Dwayne Clark later this month; no applications are in city records yet. Aegis Living has 14 locations in the Puget Sound area, in addition to 15 in California and one in Nevada, and describes itself as “a leader in assisted living and memory care.”
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: If you liked last Saturday’s weather – stand by for a possible encore tomorrow. The National Weather Service has just announced a wind advisory will be in effect for our area and the rest of the Western Washington lowlands, 3 am to 8 pm tomorrow. Right now, the alert – read it here in its entirety – forecasts wind out of the south, 20-30 mph with possible gusts to 45. (Last Saturday’s peak gusts were around 60.) We’ll update here if the forecast changes with the NWS’s next review cycle this evening.
THURSDAY MORNING: Overnight, NWS pushed the advisory back, to 7 am-8 pm Thursday – here’s the new text.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB – initial cameraphone photos replaced Wed. evening)
2:12 PM: There’s a report of a crash on the Admiral Way hill north of the bridge, 3500 block, with a major emergency response. We’re on our way to find out more.
2:21 PM: Added a photo. We don’t know yet about the condition of anyone who had been in the vehicle.
2:28 PM: Christopher Boffoli reports from the scene that the driver of the car, a Nissan Z, got himself out of the wreckage and does not seem to be seriously hurt. Both Christopher and co-publisher Patrick Sand, also there, report that some traffic is getting around the scene – but we’d still advise avoiding the area if you can.
5:04 PM UPDATE: The scene cleared some time ago, as noted by a commenter (we have since driven through the area as well).
A second vehicle was involved; we asked Seattle Fire spokesperson Kyle Moore about the drivers’ conditions, and he replied, “AMR transported a male in his 30’s in stable condition with minor scrapes to HMC. He was from the car that was rolled over. The female driver of the other car declined treatment or transport.”
Don’t lose that election spirit yet! Less than 24 hours are left in a quick-and-easy online vote – and one of the three candidates is the West Seattle woman featured in the video you see above, Tari Coffey. She is a finalist to become Verity Credit Union‘s next “Verity Mom” – a yearlong role. And as you can see in Tari’s video, her campaign includes promoting West Seattle! Voting ends at noon tomorrow. The vote has NO strings attached – no requirement to “like” or sign up for anything – just go here.
On the same day that one of King County’s two current combined-sewer-overflow-reduction projects in West Seattle will be the subject of a pre-construction meeting (see our West Seattle Wednesday preview), the other one enters a new phase. As part of the Barton CSO project in Westwood and Sunrise Heights, 24 trees that will be transplanted into new homes – some public right-of-way, some private property – over the next three weeks, as a three-person contractor crew works to dig them up and move them, starting today. The transplants are meant to ensure the trees won’t be destroyed to make way for the bioswales/raingardens that the county is installing, starting next March, to capture rainwater before it gets into the combined-sewer system, therefore helping to keep millions of gallons of raw-sewage-contaminated water from overflowing into Puget Sound when the Barton Pump Station gets overloaded during storms. As shown in the photo we took this morning, the trees that are to be transplanted have been marked with ribbons and notes.
You might have noticed that some demolition work started today at 4755 Fauntleroy Way – aka the Whole Foods (and ~370 apartments as well as other retail) site – but that does not mean the project has its final approvals, and it has nothing to do with the results of last night’s mayoral election (you might recall that the “alley vacation” needed for the project became a campaign issue, when Mayor McGinn told SDOT not to approve it). What’s happening here, a project spokesperson told WSB today, is demolition of the former gas station on the Fauntleroy/Alaska corner, so that its tanks can be dug up and the site can be cleaned up.
This work will take about three weeks, according to the project spokesperson. (Even if the site had remained under its previous ownership, the tanks were slated for removal and replacement – we had been watching permits and processes there for a long time.) As for the aforementioned alley vacation, it still has to go before the City Council Transportation Committee, which wouldn’t happen any sooner than next month. As SDOT’s street/alley-vacation specialist Beverly Barnett told the Junction Neighborhood Organization in September, the proposal remains open for public comment.
(Photo by Mark Wangerin – common loon snacking on a starry flounder)
Before we get any further into Wednesday – highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
MADISON MIDDLE SCHOOL BOOKFAIR: One of the school fundraisers we’re spotlighting is the Madison Middle School Bookfair – and in addition to on-campus purchase opportunities, there’s a way to participate online too – explained in our calendar item.
‘GROWTH BOUNDARIES’ THIRD DRAFT AT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING: While the vote is two weeks away, the introduction of the third and potentially final draft of the “Growth Boundaries” for Seattle Public Schools happens at tonight’s meeting. (Here’s our report from Friday, when the draft was published – read the comments for more info from people who’ve been reviewing it.) The meeting starts at 4:15 pm, but this isn’t until the 6 pm (and beyond) section, which also includes the Intermediate Capacity-Management Plan, featuring the designation of E.C. Hughes as a future emergency site and the change of Boren to be the permanent home of K-5 (future K-8) STEM. Here’s the agenda. (3rd/Lander – comments also are still being taken at growthboundaries@seattleschools.org)
DANCE TIME WITH LAUREN PETRIE: The popular musician plays at the Senior Center of West Seattle tonight for a 6-8 pm dance; details in our calendar listing. (California/Oregon)
MURRAY CSO ‘PRE-CONSTRUCTION MEETING’: Before construction gets going on the Murray Combined Sewer Overflow Control storage-tank project across from Lowman Beach Park, King County Wastewater Treatment Division invites you to a meeting tonight for information and Q/A re: what’s about to happen. Fauntleroy Church, 6:30 pm. (9140 California SW)
SOUTHWEST DISTRICT COUNCIL: Tonight’s meeting includes a briefing on the city’s move toward requiring owners of unreinforced-brick buildings to retrofit them for earthquake safety, as previewed here last weekend. The council also will talk about new leadership for next year. 6:30 pm, Southwest Teen Life Center. (2801 SW Thistle)
‘POWER OF PARENTS’ AT WSHS PTSA: As previewed here earlier, the West Seattle High School PTSA invites the community to a “Power of Parents” workshop during tonight’s meeting, 7 pm in the school library. (3000 California SW)
ALSO AT WSHS – ‘DIARY OF ANNE FRANK’: The West Seattle High School Drama Club production – previewed here earlier this week – continues tonight, 7:30 pm, at the WSHS Theater. Details in our calendar listing. (3000 California SW)
MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROWERS’ MEETING: As noted here earlier this week, the new Association of Cannabis Breeders and Growers – working to keep the medical-marijuana industry from being rendered extinct by the new recreational-marijuana industry – is having its first meeting at 8 pm at the VFW Hall in The Triangle. (3601 SW Alaska)
See our calendar for even more of what’s up tonight, tomorrow, next week, next month, and beyond!
About 100 people came to Hope Lutheran last night for the safety presentation offered to the community in the wake of recent incidents near local schools. Leading it was Kim Estes of Savvy Parents Safe Kids, at center in our photo below with daughter Arden at left and Hope principal Kristen Okabayashi at right:
The heart of the advice: Small conversations you can have with your kids, frequently, as in shorter than a minute, just to help drive the message home.
Key points: Myths about people to be wary of – it’s not always some obviously scary-looking person; it might even be someone known to you. When difficult situations arise, talk calmly with your kids; they will be more open if they know you aren’t panicking and won’t be, and you’ll make more progress.
In particular, Estes promotes 10 rules which she suggests posting on your refrigerator or someplace else that you and your family can easily find and refer to them – see them here (you can download them from that link too).
Q/A after the presentation was dominated by technology-related questions – when is it OK for a child to have a cell phone or e-mail address? for example. Estes pointed out that 13 has been set by many services as the minimum age, and in her view, simple cell phones are a good idea as kids move into their middle-school years. But, she reiterated, it is vital to keep an eye on how your kids use phones/computers/technology.
It’s playoff time for many fall sports – and last night, we stopped by Southwest Athletic Complex as Metro League girls-varsity soccer teams including West Seattle High School played post-season games. The Wildcats – winners of so many shutouts during the regular season – were held scoreless by Seattle Prep, 2-0.
Their postseason continues Thursday; we’re still checking on schedules.
P.S. We appreciate time/place info on any and all playoff games involving other schools and sports; postseason schedules aren’t as easy to track down! editor@westseattleblog.com – and good luck to all!
(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Some spot problems on northbound I-5 downtown in the past hour-plus, but all are reported cleared, and there’s no current word of anything else on the roads from here.
99 CLOSURES THIS WEEKEND: If you missed it Tuesday afternoon, here’s the latest reminder from WSDOT about what’s closing this weekend and when.
3 PM: Avoid the Admiral Way hill between the bridge and the viewpoint – there’s a flipped-car crash. Traffic’s getting through but slowly.
6:19 PM: If you haven’t seen our separate story, there’s a crash on southbound 99 right by the bridge exit.
The election results aren’t going to change, so we’re moving on to a few other things – like this photo texted tonight by John M, two salmon he reports spotting in Longfellow Creek, near Dragonfly Pavilion. Longfellow is tougher on salmon than Fauntleroy Creek (which hasn’t seen spawners yet this fall), but there’s always hope – and it’s a reminder about doing what you can to minimize toxic runoff.
ADDED WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: John has sent two video clips – we’ll work on embedding them later, but for now, here are links to these fairly short clips (which might help with the ID questions that have come up in comments) – here and here. (The end of the second clip shows one fish’s full colors.)
*EDITOR’S NOTE: Though this was published Tuesday night, you can still get the NEWEST results at any point afterward, by clicking the headline for each race*
(ADDED – KIRO-TV raw video of Ed Murray’s speech after 1st round of results)
UPDATE, 8:15 PM: The first numbers are in. Ed Murray has a big lead in the Seattle Mayor’s race; incumbents are leading in the City Council races. Results below.
UPDATE, 8:30 PM: Citywide reporters say Mayor McGinn is conceding. (Or something similar to it.)
SEATTLE MAYOR
Mike McGinn 43 percent
Ed Murray 56 percent
SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 2
Richard Conlin 54 percent
Kshama Sawant 46 percent
SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 4
Sally Bagshaw 83 percent
Sam Bellomio 16 percent
SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 6
Edwin Fruit 12 percent
Nick Licata 87 percent
SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL POSITION 8
Mike O’Brien 64 percent
Albert Shen 35 percent
Next round of results, Wednesday around 4:30 pm. See separate WSB stories for other results.
*EDITOR’S NOTE: Though this was published Tuesday night, you can still get the NEWEST results at any point afterward, by clicking the headline for each race*
8:24 PM UPDATE: Here’s where we’re tracking key ballot measures. Though King County only updates once tonight, the state numbers on I-522 will change throughout the night as multiple counties come in, so we’ll update those as long as they keep changing.
STATE INITIATIVE 522 (GMO labels on food) – 9:02 pm update
Yes 45 percent
No 55 percent
STATE INITIATIVE 517 (changing initiative procedures) – 9:02 pm update
Yes 40 percent
No 60 percent
Other state-ballot-measure/advisory-vote results are linked here
SEATTLE CHARTER AMENDMENT 19 (electing councilmembers by district)
Yes 64 percent
No 36 percent
SEATTLE PROPOSITION 1 (public campaign financing)
Yes 46 percent
No 54 percent
KING COUNTY PROPOSITION 1 (Medic One)
Approve 83 percent
Reject 17 percent
KING COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENT 1 (Office of Public Defense)
Approve 59 percent
Reject 41 percent
Also of interest:
SEA-TAC PROPOSITION 1 ($15 minimum wage)
Yes 54 percent
No 46 percent
Other results from around King County and its cities and other jurisdictions are here – or, in a quick all-in-text page, here.
*EDITOR’S NOTE: While this was published Tuesday night, you can still get the NEWEST results at any point afterward, by clicking the headline for each race*
8:39 PM UPDATE: We’re adding numbers to this story now; meantime, the headline for each race links to its designated results page on the King County Elections website:
KING COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Dow Constantine 78 percent
Alan Lobdell 22 percent
*Note: This is the largest victory margin ever for a County Executive, reports Constantine, who tweeted:
I thank the voters for their overwhelming endorsement of our work to reform KC government and put it back on sound financial footing. -DC
— Dow Constantine (@kcexec) November 6, 2013
SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD POSITION 4
Suzanne Dale Estey 48 percent
Sue Peters 51 percent
SEATTLE SCHOOL BOARD POSITION 5
Stephan Blanford 88 percent
LaCrese Green 12 percent
SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 1
John Creighton 69 percent
Pete Lewis 31 percent
SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 2
Courtney Gregoire 83 percent
John Naubert 17 percent
SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 3
Stephanie Bowman 70 percent
Michael Wolfe 29 percent
SEATTLE PORT COMMISSION POSITION 4
Tom Albro 58 percent
Richard Pope 42 percent
After tonight’s one batch of King County results, the next one isn’t due out until late Wednesday afternoon.
A new name started turning up today on a whole lot of real-estate shingles around West Seattle (and elsewhere). It’s the name you see on the signage with which we photographed Mike Gain today – a year and a half after his company Prudential Northwest Realty announced it had been bought by an entity affiliated with tycoon Warren Buffett. Now, it has a new name, described as “inspired” by that affiliation: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northwest Real Estate. The change was celebrated at a company gathering at the Museum of Flight, where we found local agents including (below, from left) Travis Duty, Sean Jolly, Sonya Wind, Jeralee Knittel, and Steven Henke:
Gain is president/CEO of the newly rechristened company, which includes more than 350 agents working from six offices, in West Seattle as well as Burien, Bellevue, Federal Way, Kent, and Lynnwood, and is a WSB sponsor.
State legislators get another chance to make transportation-money moves that could keep Metro Transit from slashing service as threatened. They’re going back for a special session on Thursday, as ordered today by Gov. Inslee. Main purpose: To pass incentives for Boeing to build the 777X here. And a transportation package is listed as one of the “elements” of those incentives. The State House passed a transportation-funding package last session; the State Senate held it up. Local leaders are voicing their hopes it’ll go through this time; via Facebook, County Councilmember Joe McDermott (a former state senator) says, “I implore the Legislature to find a compromise during the upcoming special session and avert this catastrophe.”
(SDOT rendering of future South Atlantic St. overpass, via Flickr)
We’ve already mentioned this weekend’s planned Highway 99 closure, mostly for work on the Atlantic Street Overpass – but there’s more to it than The Viaduct. Here’s a detailed reminder from WSDOT, including details of a partial closure north of the Battery Street Tunnel:
Crews working above, below and on the ground will close State Route 99 through Seattle this weekend.
In SODO, contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will unveil the permanent concrete shape of the South Atlantic Street overpass above SR 99 by removing temporary steel and timber beams that supported construction.
North of downtown, contractor crews working for the Seattle Department of Transportation will install a sewer line under the road for the Mercer Corridor project and grind the pavement in the southbound lanes of the Battery Street Tunnel.
Unless you’re a brand-new WSB reader, you likely know we have been sharing coyote reports and information here for more than five years (all archived here, newest to oldest). If you have questions – or are just curious to find out more about them – mark your calendar for an event next week at Camp Long Environmental Learning Center (not far from where Mark Wangerin photographed the one shown above, this time last year). Here’s the announcement:
Coyotes live in our neighborhoods and we humans can learn to live with them. Camp Long and the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife team up to give tips and insight into co-existing safely with these wild dogs. Learn how they live and how humans can avoid and resolve conflict with them.
Camp Long Lodge (5200 35th SW)
Wednesday, November 13th
7 PM to 8:30 PM
FREE
SIDE NOTE – RECENT SIGHTINGS: Before receiving this announcement, we had two sightings in queue for publication, so we’ll mention them here:
*This morning, Jason reported: “Saw a fairly large coyote last night, around 8 pm, at 50th ave and Dawson St in Seaview. He ran into an alley between Dawson and Hudson, and 50th and 51st.”
*From Melissa yesterday, “Just had a coyote head up the hill here on Othello, heading up to Riverview Park. And in the time it took me to type that, it just came back down the street. Couldn’t get a picture. It was moving pretty fast. I don’t think it’s full grown, since it isn’t as big as the last one I saw.”
One week after our sneak peek inside sports bar/restaurant Redline WS, it’s officially open as of today. We stopped by for a photo a short time ago, after getting word they’re ready for customers. Here’s manager Chris Ramsey with the beer taps:
They’re open 11 am-2 am for starters; the menu is now online. You’ll find Redline WS on the ground floor of The Residences at 3295, on the southeast corner of 35th/Avalon, with some parking available in the building’s garage.
When you think of scores and schools – you might think of sports. We certainly hear about those numbers far more often than on the ones that come from the classroom. So we were glad to hear from West Seattle Elementary School in High Point, excited to share the news of its ongoing academic success. The following is by WSES Ritchie Garcia:
West Seattle Elementary has had a dramatic turnaround of student performance on state exams since 2010. Over the last four years, science scores have increased from 3% to 70% passing rate.
Fourth- and fifth-grade reading scores went from 41 percent and 32 percent, respectively, to 70 percent and 73 percent passing rate.
Students have made significant progress in math as well:
We have a diverse population at our school as well as 90 percent of students receiving free and reduced lunch. Our success is significant because we are an achievement gap school that is making a difference for its students. Walking through the hallways in the building, you’ll see classrooms full of students completely engaged in learning and enjoying the school day.
How did this happen? Not overnight, would be the best response. Four years ago, West Seattle Elementary received a Race to the Top grant and experienced a restructuring of staff and administration.
Unlike a charter school that can create a new school culture overnight with its bylaws and self-selecting parents who agree to adhere to that school culture, it takes time (sometimes several years) to change the culture of an existing school. To change a culture, it has to be school-wide and requires strong leadership and partnership with the community, which is why there can be schools with great teachers and low-performing students. It takes a vision and intentional effort to redefine the culture of a school.
I have seen many public schools in affluent neighborhoods raise thousands of dollars through their community to procure materials, hire more teachers, etc.; that amount of fundraising makes it hard to communicate to students in impoverished areas that we are either a meritocracy or there is equity in the public school system. We can help bring some equity to our school by raising money through donations that help build capacity.
How did West Seattle attain success? Some teaching staff stayed throughout the four years and some have moved on. What has been consistent throughout is the leadership in the building and an implementation of systems school-wide. We do not teach a scripted curriculum nor to the test, but we do teach to meet state and common core national standards.
It is not all about increasing test scores, either. In K-2, teachers have instilled a passion for learning, and have taught students the roles and responsibilities of being a student as well as meeting learning standards. More students are arriving in the upper grades inquisitive and enjoying the learning process making it easier for all students to succeed. Many schools have great teachers but it takes more than just great teachers to change a culture or climate. It takes time.
Because we are a green school in an urban area and have made significant academic gains, we have been given an opportunity for our population of students to participate in a science field experience at Islandwood, with our students learning from scientists while conducting their own investigations as well as create a service learning project with Nature consortium. This is a learning experience in which students of low socio-economic status rarely get to partake.
WSES is crowdfunding to make sure the Islandwood experience can happen, as mentioned in our recent roundup of school fundraisers in our area (another one’s in the works, by the way). Here’s the link.
(Flicker photographed by Danny McMillin during Saturday’s windstorm, persevering at suet feeder)
Busy Tuesday – highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
ELECTION DAY! Last chance to vote. King County ballot-dropoff vans are at West Seattle Stadium (4332 35th SW) and Greenbridge in White Center (9720 8th SW) 10 am-8 pm.
(Photo added 11:20 am – Tracy & Donnie @ Greenbridge ballot-dropoff van)
You can also get your ballot into postal mail, but if you do that, be sure it has a stamp (which isn’t needed if you drop it off at a van or one of the fixed dropboxes around the county). As usual, one round of results is expected after voting ends, usually about 8:15 pm, and we’ll publish highlights here on WSB immediately. P.S. We’ve heard so far from one venue promising election coverage on the big screen – Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor); calendar listing here.
FASHION SHOW/LUNCH: 11:45 am, have lunch at the Senior Center of West Seattle and see the newest fashions from Chico’s. RSVP – info’s in the calendar listing. (California/Oregon)
FREE HIP-HOP CLASS FOR KIDS – 3 CHANCES TONIGHT! Kids 6-12 are invited to a free hip-hop class at any of three times, at two city-run community centers in West Seattle this evening – 5 pm at Delridge CC (4501 Delridge Way SW), 6 pm at Hiawatha CC (2700 California SW), 7 pm back at Delridge CC.
SAFETY INFO FOR FAMILIES: Tonight’s the special presentation at Hope Lutheran School, organized after recent incidents left many local families worried about kids’ safety and how to talk with them without leaving them more fearful than knowledgeable. 6:30-8 pm including Q/A time. The school is adjacent to the church. (42nd/Oregon)
WESTWOOD-ROXHILL-ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY COUNCIL: 6:15 pm, it’s the monthly meeting of WWRHAH, with this agenda as shared by chair Amanda Kay Helmick:
6:15-6:20: Introductions & Community News
6:20-6:25: Infrastructure Committee Update: Update from Committee Leader, Chris Stripinis.
6:25-6:35: WSTC: Vote/motion to endorse the work of the West Seattle Transportation Coalition by WWRHAH.6:35-7:10: Roxhill Park Enhancements: Brainstorming session of ideas to improve and enhance Roxhill Park with future grants, along with Seattle Parks & the Friends of Roxhill to advise on what may or may not be feasible.
7:10-7:40: Roxhill Park & Westwood Village safety. What can be improved in that regard? With Seattle Parks, the Friends of Roxhill, Daystar Retirement Village, Andy Thompson; Assistant General Manager of Westwood Village, and Officer Flores of the SPD SW Precinct’s Community Policing Team.
RESCHEDULED INTERACT CLUB KICKOFF: Last week’s meeting had an emergency last-minute postponement so it’s on for 6:30 pm tonight at Southwest Youth and Family Services; here’s our original preview. (Delridge/Alaska)
ZONING EXCEPTIONS FOR NEW SCHOOL AT GENESEE HILL? The committee convened to consider “departures” – zoning exceptions – proposed for the new school meets for the first time tonight at 6:30 pm, Schmitz Park Elementary. (5000 SW Spokane)
KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: 6:30-8:30 pm, tour John F. Kennedy Catholic High School (WSB sponsor) in Burien, including the new science lab. Details in our calendar listing. (140 S. 140th)
FAMILY STORY TIME: Tonight, bring the family for story time at Delridge Branch Library, 7 pm. (5423 Delridge Way SW)
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