West Seattle, Washington
08 Wednesday
Meet the 7 Pirate Pandas – from left, Max, Ethan, Jonathan, Marcel, Lucas, Max. They are the winning Global Reading Challenge team from Arbor Heights Elementary after competition on Friday afternoon. Ten teams of 4th and 5th graders started the afternoon, answered questions about the 10 books that had to be read by this year’s competitors — and the Pirate Pandas, all 4th graders in Ms. Boitano’s class (per a parent volunteer who shared info and the photo), emerged victorious. The GRC is a Seattle Public Library-led program, and seven West Seattle elementaries are among the contenders again this year. The semi-finals are at the downtown library the week of March 11th, and then the finalists face off there on March 26th.
(Northern Flicker photographed in Lincoln Park earlier this month by Mark Wangerin)
Happy weekend! Just some of what’s on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar for today/tonight:
ATOMIC BOYS’ 5TH ANNIVERSARY: The retro toy/candy/more shop in The Admiral District is celebrating its 5th anniversary 10 am-6 pm today with specials including five-cent retro soda. 4311 SW Admiral Way; more here.
THE BRIDGE’S 2ND ANNIVERSARY: Specials and raffles as the drinks-and-food-and-fun place on 35th SW just south of SW Avalon Way turns two. Raffling starts at 8; details here.
BARLEYWINE BACCHANAL: Beveridge Place Pub (6413 California SW) launches its 11th annual celebration, with today’s focus on Washington beverages, as listed here. Starts at noon.
DADDY-DAUGHTER DANCE: 4-6 pm at the West Seattle Christian Church Activity Center on 42nd between Genesee and Oregon. Free admission, but registration appreciated.
RAT CITY ROLLERGIRLS IN WHITE CENTER! Four teams from RCRG will bout at Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th SW), doors open 5:30 pm, skating at 6 pm. Details in our calendar listing.
PURIM CELEBRATIONS: Two local celebrations of the Jewish holiday – 5:30 pm at Kol Haneshamah (62nd and Hinds), details here … 7:30 pm with the West Seattle Torah Learning Center; RSVP requested by e-mail or phone, contact info’s in the calendar listing.
OWL PROWL AT CAMP LONG: Check fast to see if there’s still room! Here’s how. 5:30 pm, 5200 35th SW.
TALK MONEY AND POLITICS: The social-justice committee of WSUU invites you to join the discussion – detailed here – 6 pm at the church, 7141 California SW.
FAUNTLEROY FUNDRAISER: Roo and The Few with Delia Finney, performing a benefit at the Fauntleroy Church Fellowship Hall (9140 California SW), 7 pm.
HA-HA’S FOR TA-TA’S: Help breast-cancer-fighting Team Tracy raise money, while laughing it up with local comedy at ArtsWest (4711 California SW), 8 pm. Ticket info’s on the Facebook event page.
MORE NIGHTLIFE: Live music in more than a few places – see the calendar.
NOT IN WEST SEATTLE, BUT … #1: The Northwest Flower and Garden Show continues today and tomorrow at the Convention Center downtown, and is sponsoring WSB to make sure you get the word about the big show.
NOT IN WEST SEATTLE, BUT … #2: The Seattle Home Show continues today too, with exhibitors including WSB sponsor Potter Construction.
(99 at S. Atlantic. You should see NB traffic on the right through the weekend, but no SB traffic on the left)
WSDOT is scheduled to be closing Highway 99 right now for a weekend of preparations preceding a year-plus of work to rebuild the so-called “Timber Bridge” section south of the West Seattle Bridge. Here’s what’s closed:
NORTHBOUND 99
*Only closed from S. Nevada to the WS Bridge – the exit from the eastbound WS Bridge WILL stay open and you CAN go NB on 99 from here
SOUTHBOUND 99
*Closed from the Battery Street Tunnel to S. Nevada, so this weekend you CAN’T get to the West Seattle Bridge from SB 99
DETOUR MAP
*See it here
TRAFFIC PATTERN WHEN THE CLOSURES END MONDAY MORNING
*The “Timber Bridge” will run two northbound and one southbound lane throughout construction. Here’s a look at how that’s supposed to work.
(First two photos by WSB’s Katie Meyer)
1:04 AM: Most of the units are being canceled, but if you’re west of The Junction in the 48th/Hudson area, the initial response was for a “heavy rescue” call related to a crashed truck. First crews on the scene say the person in the truck got out OK, so there’s no need for “heavy rescue,” which usually means someone has to be cut out of wreckage.
1:30 AM: WSB’s Katie Meyer reports from the scene that the driver is indeed OK; the truck is on its side against a hedge. This is an intersection with a traffic circle, since 48th SW otherwise is a long straightaway – through residential neighborhoods – from Seaview to Genesee (and this intersection also is where you can head west toward Jacobsen for access to Beach Drive). We’re adding a photo from neighbor David atop the story for starters. Katie, meantime, says that the intersection is not blocked, so late-night drivers can still get to/through that area.
2:07 AM: Added Katie’s photos; neighbor David sent new ones as the wreckage was handled by a tow crew, so that’s what you see over this paragraph. Katie was told at the scene that it did not appear to be a high-speed crash – maybe 30 to 40 mph, though that’s fast enough at an intersection with a traffic circle.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON P.S. This has been classified as a DUI investigation.
Two local businesspeople e-mailed to share photos of this afternoon’s rainbow – seemingly at the end of the road(s), east of West Seattle. Above, Jon Daniels of Seattle Fish Company caught the view looking down SW Genesee; below, Anne Higuera of Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) stopped to rainbow-watch along SW Findlay:
Though it’s been a wind-whipped afternoon, the forecast suggests it’ll calm down in the hours ahead – breezy, chilly, maybe showery.
SDOT has just announced the new plan for the Delridge/Trenton intersection closure that’s part of the ongoing Delridge repaving project – but note that it will start with a closure for part of Trenton itself beginning at 7 am next THURSDAY, with the intersection closure starting Friday (March 1st) night. Here’s the announcement:
The Seattle Department of Transportation will close a portion of SW Trenton Street next weekend starting Thursday morning, and the intersection of Delridge Way SW and SW Trenton Street next weekend starting Friday night. This work is part of the first phase of rebuilding Delridge Way SW between SW Orchard and SW Roxbury streets.
SW Trenton Street will be closed between Delridge Way SW and 20th Avenue SW beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday, February 28 for crews to break up and remove pavement on the east side of the intersection. This will reduce nighttime noise impacts during the around the clock intersection work that begins Friday at 7 p.m. and allow the concrete pour to begin earlier on Saturday. All areas are expected to re-open to traffic by 6 a.m. Monday, March 4, at the latest. Local access will be maintained.
For the closure of the Delridge/Trenton intersection, the detour will be as follows:
· Northbound Delridge Way SW to SW Barton Place/Street to 35th Avenue SW to SW Thistle Street to Delridge Way SW
· Southbound Delridge Way SW to SW Thistle Street to 35th Avenue SW to SW Barton Street/Place to Delridge Way SW
· Westbound SW Trenton Street to 16th Avenue SW to SW Henderson Street to SW Barton Place to 25th Avenue SW to SW Trenton Street
· Eastbound SW Trenton Street to 25th Avenue SW to SW Barton Place to SW Henderson Street to 16th Avenue SW to SW Trenton Street
This work is rescheduled from last weekend, when it was cancelled due to inclement weather.
WSB has just confirmed that Allstar Fitness, put up for sale as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy (as first 
reported here February 5th), has a buyer – a company owned by former Seahawks player Sam Adams, who already owns other former Allstar locations.
Allstar’s staff received word of the sale this morning, and a handout about the announcement is available at the club’s front desk, Allstar’s Chapter 11 trustee Richard Hooper tells WSB. Hooper confirms that the prospective ownership company is West Seattle Athletic Club LLC, which state records verify is owned by Adams, who was a Seahawk for six seasons and was then part of the Super Bowl-winning Baltimore team in 2000. The former player owns five fitness clubs under the umbrella of Oregon Athletic Clubs, four including former Allstar locations in southwest Portland and in Tacoma. According to the Portland Oregonian, Adams bought the other three Oregon clubs last fall. (He also was reported in 2011 to have owned a downtown Seattle club that moved into a former Allstar space, though we haven’t been able to verify its current ownership.) Adams is a Kirkland resident, according to this recent story on the Seahawks website. Trustee Hooper tells WSB that nothing will change with West Seattle Allstar – “it’s status quo … a great place to work out” – until and unless the bankruptcy court approves the sale, although he doesn’t expect that to take more than a few weeks.
1:51 PM FRIDAY: Thanks to the WSB’er who texted us about police cars near Camp Long. Just checked with Seattle Police, whose Det. Mark Jamieson says an arrest was made shortly after a neighbor called 911 about a burglary in the 5000 block of 35th SW, which would be just north of the park. The neighbor reported seeing someone break into the back of the house just after 1 pm; an officer arrived quickly and reported a suspect in custody at 1:06 pm. There was some discussion of a possible second suspect, Det. Jamieson says, but officers concluded that the person they arrested was alone. No other details about the case or the suspect so far.
SATURDAY NOTE: The arrest is on SPD Blotter today.
We photographed that big pile of donated food this morning at the West Seattle Food Bank – just part of what’s been brought in as part of the “100th day of school” food drives at several local schools, with more on the way. Marveling at what the local schools accomplished so that WS Food Bank could help its clients, operations director Steven Curry told WSB, “This drive could provide us with the largest food buffer we have ever had at this time, (during the) usual lull in giving after the holidays. What a fantastic story on how something so simple communicated to a community, listening and caring, will serve so many people.”
He says the donated food in the photo is from Schmitz Park and Alki Elementaries – both of whom, in fact, sent in their reports overnight. First, from Schmitz Park, kindergarten teacher Mandy Cook reports:
Schmitz Park Elementary totaled in at 1,193 food items!!! The West Seattle Food bank had to come back and collect overflowing barrels 4 times! Staff and students had fun collecting, competing and tallying by classroom. Thanks again for the wonderful opportunity Arbor Heights. Count us in for next year!
And from Alki, fourth-grade teacher Anna Coghill reports:
Alki Elementary is happy to report we collected 1,319 items for the West Seattle Food Bank. Thank you for the inspiration Arbor Heights students and teachers. It was a great success.
That’s a reference, of course, to AH teacher Marcia Ingerslev and her class, which issued the original challenge to other schools/classes in the area. We reported their results (4 AH classes in all) here; Gatewood Elementary here: Holy Rosary School here; Cometa Playschool here. Still awaiting at least one more report. Congratulations to all!
ADDED 5:53 PM: Robin Graham from the West Seattle STEM PTA reports their donation is part of what you see in our photo from the food bank:
STEM dropped off our food Thursday afternoon … At least 200 items donated from the families at STEM. Thanks, Arbor Heights, for the great idea – we would love to do it again next year!
And from Arbor Heights, Marcia Ingerslev shared a photo of her visit to the White Center Food Bank:
She explains in the comment section below – and expresses her pride at everyone’s contribution, too.
Thanks to Michelle for sharing the photo. She says that car went off the road on Croft just uphill from the Boren campus – and apparently went unnoticed for a while. Right now, she says, the road is closed for repairs and investigation. No word on injuries – by the time the wrecked car was noticed, according to a report on the North Delridge e-mail list, no one was in the car. We’ll be checking with Seattle Police to see whether the car’s driver and/or owner was found.
Still no official weather alert, but we have a stormy Friday on our hands – and a busy one, too! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, and from our news files:
‘LUCKY THEM’ MOVIE CREWS: Thanks to the WSB’ers who tipped us to advance warning in their neighborhoods that the movie “Lucky Them” was coming back to West Seattle to shoot. Here’s what we published last night; the photo was taken this morning in Gatewood, where crews are shooting, as well as in the Alki area. We’ll be checking back later.
CAR2GO: As mentioned here on Wednesday, the new car-borrowing service says it will soon add West Seattle to its coverage area. It’s planning to have a street team here again today, noon-5 pm (check Twitter), to show off one of the cars and answer questions. We took the photo above yesterday while one of their teams (who insisted we only photograph the car, not the people!) was out in The Admiral District.
WEST SEATTLE GARDEN CLUB: Their monthly meeting has just started with registration; there’s still time to get there for a lecture and more, since the meeting continues till 2 pm; all welcome. It’s at Daystar (2615 SW Barton) – details in our calendar listing.
RAINBOW BINGO AND CHICKEN DINNER: Mardi Gras-themed Rainbow Bingo at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon; WSB sponsor) tonight, doors open at 6, bingo at 7. Call for reservations ASAP! Info’s all on the center’s website.
FREE CRIME AVOIDANCE LECTURE: 6 pm at West Seattle Karate Academy (9455 35th SW), you can come hear from Marc “Animal” MacYoung, “author, lecturer, and martial artist known for his street-violence survival courses and personal safety books. … Marc is in town for a seminar and as a public service is providing this free threat recognition and crime avoidance lecture. In ninety minutes, you are going to know more about the way a criminal thinks, and be able use that information for your own safety,” says WSKA head instructor Kris Wilder. “Registration is not required, and there is no cost. This is an interactive lecture and not a hands on seminar. Be cautioned adult themes are going to be addressed, parental discretion is advised. No children.” Questions? WSKADOJO@Gmail.com
SPAGHETTI FOR ROBOTS: Enjoy spaghetti, the knowledge you’re helping the Seattle Lutheran High School robotics team, and a chance to try some of their older robots, all at a benefit dinner tonight at SLHS’s Menashe Gymnasium. 7 pm – details on the school’s website.
FIDDLING AND FOLK: The Lonely Coast and The North Sea, 7:30 tonight at Kenyon Hall (7904 35th SW) – details in our calendar listing.
NIGHTLIFE: Sid Law at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor), 6 pm; hree bands at Skylark Café and Club, 8 pm; Leo Gunn at The Cask, 8 pm; two bands at the Benbow Room, 9 pm; the Flat 5 at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 9:30 pm; more details, including maps, in the listings on our calendar.
(Video and photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
The Whale Trail drew another full house at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) Thursday night – our video above shows the hour-and-a-half “Orca Talk 2” in its entirety. Lynn Barre from NOAA was the spotlighted speaker, with an overview of how the Southern Resident Killer Whales (aka our local orcas) are doing, following the all-star lineup of TWT leader Donna Sandstrom, Seal Sitters‘ Robin Lindsey (who talked about their upcoming volunteer training – we’ll have a separate report on that later today), and “Diver Laura” James on behalf of the Tox-Ick.org anti-toxic-runoff campaign. Joining the lineup this time (but not speaking, so he’s not in our video), photographer Mike Russell:
Also on hand – bags of Whale Tails tortilla chips, which, as you’ll hear Donna mention in the video, is the first “sustaining corporate sponsor” for The Whale Trail, donating six percent of all their Oregon and Washington sales after connecting with TWT through what she described as “the power of the pod” (in this case, “pod” of human supporters):
You can buy the chips here in West Seattle at Husky Deli – the first store in our state to carry them. Donna also announced TWT has four more signs in the works – at Point Roberts along the U.S./Canada border, Lime Kiln Park on San Juan Island, Olympia, and a Kitsap County site. Meantime, watch for word of the third Orca Talk, date TBA, likely late March.
(“Live” cam looking at the eastbound West Seattle Bridge; more cams here)
Though the weather is still expected to be blustery, we’re no longer under a special weather alert, so it shouldn’t be THAT blustery.
WEEKEND CLOSURE REMINDER: As we get going with Friday, we also want to remind you about the Highway 99/Viaduct closure this weekend, and the “Timber Bridge” traffic revision that will follow. As WSDOT explains it on the project page:
4:30 am Saturday, Feb. 23 through 5 am Monday, Feb. 25 -Southbound SR 99 will be closed between the Battery Street Tunnel and S. Nevada Street. Northbound SR 99 will be closed between S. Nevada Street and the West Seattle Bridge.
Monday morning, Feb. 25, the overpass reopens with one lane southbound and two lanes northbound. Traffic stays in this configuration through June 2014.
Here’s the plan for this weekend (click image to get full-size PDF):
The ramp project at the east end of the West Seattle Bridge does NOT have a closure this weekend, but does have one the following weekend.
(Screengrab from City Light map, at peak of outage)
4:28 AM: Another power outage in High Point (thanks to the two residents who just texted us). Not sure how long ago it started, but it’s just appeared on the Seattle City Light map; about 1,000 homes/businesses (aka “customers”) affected. Parts of Gatewood and Morgan Junction are involved again this time too. A similar, though larger (3,200+ customers) area lost power on Wednesday morning; some were out for up to two hours.
4:43 AM: We’re getting reports the power is back, at least for some. Not yet reflected on the SCL map.
5:02 AM: The map now shows the outage over. Since much if not all of the same area was part of the Wednesday morning outage, we’ll follow up with City Light later this morning.
(From left, Lt. Pierre Davis; WSCPC president Richard Miller)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
While the Seattle Police Department‘s in-the-works surveillance cameras have drawn lots of attention lately (WSB coverage archive here), another technological tool that’s about to be deployed came to light at this week’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting: New data-crunching technology to be used for “predictive policing” – anticipating crime before it happens, to make sure resources are deployed in the right places.
Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Pierre Davis mentioned the new system almost in passing while answering questions about various neighborhood trouble spots. He described it as something that will enable officers on the street to get “cheat sheets” as crime trends are crunched on a daily basis; other departments around the country use it and in some areas have experienced a significant reduction in crime.
Lt. Davis told WSB after the meeting that the system is expected to be in use around March 24. It’s known as PredPol for short – that’s the name he used, and that’s even the company’s handle on Twitter – but the company that sells the technology is named Predictive Policing. It originated with the Los Angeles Police Department, according to its website, which describes how it works.
The city website includes a brief mention in a news release about last week’s update on the SPD 20/20 project, with which Lt. Davis has been closely involved.
Ahead, what else he mentioned to the council, as well as other toplines from the meeting:Read More
Just announced by West Seattle Hi-Yu: This year’s queen! From Regina Arceo-Schulz:
Congratulations to April Davis, 2013 West Seattle Hi-Yu Queen. She’s a senior at Bishop Blanchet and an alumni of Holy Rosary School. Some of the activities she enjoys are volleyball, dancing, singing, and working with children. Mark your calendar to see her crowned: West Seattle Hi-Yu Coronation and Auction Event, Friday, May 10, at Our Lady of Guadalupe.
P.S. Hi-Yu can always use more volunteer help – details here.
(Image courtesy KIRO 7 Eyewitness News, used with their permission)
“Stray” gunfire hit a car in an alley off Delridge, according to this report published on SPD Blotter:
A woman’s vehicle window was shot out as she pulled into her apartment complex tonight in West Seattle.
At approximately 6:50 p.m. officers responded to a 911 call of shots fired in the alley behind the 8400 block of Delridge Way SW. A woman who was pulling into her apartment complex had her vehicle’s window shot out but was not injured. Preliminary investigation indicates that the woman’s vehicle was struck by stray rounds and that she was not targeted by the gunfire. The suspect(s) remain at large.
Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identity or whereabouts of the involved suspect(s) is asked to call 911 or Seattle Police and refer to this incident. Anonymous tips are welcome.
You might recall our note January 29th about TV/film actor Thomas Haden Church sighted at Admiral Safeway, while the film “Lucky Them” was shooting in West Seattle. It’s coming back, according to notes from WSB’ers both north and south who both had received visits from production-crew members alerting them to the impending shoots in the next few days: One on Alki, one in Gatewood/Sunrise Heights. So if you see a film crew in either of those areas – that’s what they’re here for. Here’s the iMDB page for the movie, which is directed by Seattle’s Megan Griffiths and also stars Toni Collette.
4:55 PM: Checked out the police/fire response at 44th/Alaska in The Junction – not a major incident but since we’ve received a few inquiries, here’s what was happening: A fight at the bus stop. Two people had to be separated. No major injuries that we are aware of, but we are doublechecking; SFD medics cleared the scene fairly quickly.
ADDED 9 PM: Here’s what a witness tells WSB she saw and heard (and reported to police):
Two teens were heading north in the alley behind Pharmaca, when a man standing with his bike yelled out: “You might want to use the bathroom next time.” The boys ran to the man – charged – I thought they were his sons, but they edged up right to his face and began yelling at him. Then both boys (15-17; one white, one maybe Asian/Native American) began swinging at the man. I called 911, and the RapidRide security guys showed up. The youth headed West; possibly caught a bus. Lots of onlookers. The man said he was fine, was catching a bus to work with his bike, and we were all shocked by the brazen attack.
Who wouldn’t love faster Internet access – if affordable? The cautiously excited reaction on Tuesday was no surprise after we published word that Mayor McGinn announced in his “State of the City” speech that part of the West Seattle Junction area had been added to the planned mega-fast “demonstration” service planned by Gigabit Squared. We promised a followup, and talked this afternoon with Mark Ansboury from Gigabit Squared and the City of Seattle’s Chief Technology Officer Erin Devoto. Here’s what else we found out:
As we’ve noted in previous coverage, the “100th day of school food drive challenge” originated at Arbor Heights Elementary – where teacher Marcia Ingerslev just shared photos and this report on what they collected for the West Seattle Food Bank:
We collected 501 items of food. Rooms 16 (Ingerslev), 12 (Salter), 10 (Fisk), and 24 (Kennewick) participated. Thank you to everyone who participated. We will have to do this again next year. Maybe we can benefit the White Center Food Bank.
Here are just some of the students who took part at AH:
Even if you/your school didn’t participate, you can help local food banks any time – there’s information about how to donate money and/or food on the websites of both – westseattlefoodbank.org and whitecenterfoodbank.org.
This summer, you might be asked to vote for a new King County Parks levy, if the County Council agrees with a recommendation from the County Executive. Here are details on the levy that the county says would cost you $64/year if you have a home worth $340,000:
Acting upon recommendations from a citizen task force, King County Executive Dow Constantine today sent the King County Council a proposed a six-year, $360 million Parks Levy for the August primary that would enable voters to replace two parks levies that will expire at the end of this year.
“This measure is essential to taking care of the extraordinary network of parks and trails our parents and grandparents have left us, and keeping them clean, safe and open,” said Executive Constantine.
“Preserving our last, best places has been a priority for this region for several decades,” he added. “This measure would help us protect areas nearly the size of Discovery Park every year for the next six years.”
If approved by voters, the measure would fund maintenance and operation of King County’s 200 parks, 175 miles of regional trails, and 26,000 acres of open space. It would also:
More results from the “100th Day of School Food Drive Challenge” started by Arbor Heights Elementary teacher Marcia Ingerslev and picked up by several other schools/classes in West Seattle! Jennifer Dempsey shares the photo with this report:
Ms. Schwendeman’s first-grade class at Gatewood Elementary collected over 100 items for the food bank and will be taking a field trip to deliver them soon.
We’ve also published reports from Cometa Playschool (here) and Holy Rosary School (here). Anybody else! editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
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