West Seattle, Washington
12 Sunday
West Seattle-based Captive Eye Media produced that short promotional video for one of tonight’s big events, cancer-fighting fashion show “Style ’12” – part of our highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
STYLE ’12: West Seattleite-led Northwest Hope and Healing‘s annual fashion show to raise money to help breast-cancer patients. West Seattle businesses participating too! Survivors take to the runway to model spring fashion – and you’ll hear inspiring stories, too, including that of keynote speaker, West Seattle three-time survivor Tracy Dart. Tickets available at the door – more info on the NWHH site. It’s at 7 pm at Showbox SODO (1700 1st Avenue S.).
Also today/tonight:
HOPPING TO FIGHT M.D.: The kids from Tiny Tribe Preschool plan a hop-a-thon at Junction Plaza Park this morning around 10:30 “to raise money and awareness about muscular dystrophy.”
MAYOR’S TOWN HALL: For the second time in less than two months, Mayor Mike McGinn is holding a Town Hall in West Seattle. This time, it’s at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon), 5-6 pm; here’s our original preview.
ALKI ELEMENTARY ART SHOWCASE: You’re invited to Alki Elementary tonight, 6-8 pm (3010 59th SW) – our calendar-listing page has details on what you’ll see.
ROXHILL ELEMENTARY MEETING ABOUT BEX-IV: It’s at Roxhill Elementary, but the entire community’s invited to come talk about West Seattle’s priorities for the BEX-IV Seattle Public Schools levy – which so far has included a potential proposal to close Roxhill and “merge” it into Arbor Heights Elementary, among other proposals. West Seattle’s school-board rep Marty McLaren will be there, among others. 6:30-8 pm, 30th/Roxbury; details here.
NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER: The annual observance by Alki’s Statue of Liberty Plaza is planned for 6:30-8 pm; details on the calendar-listing page.
JOE CROOKSTON IN CONCERT: Tonight at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW), 7:30 pm.
Every few months, WSDOT convenes the “stakeholders” known as the South Portal Working Group to get a briefing on what’s up with the south end of the Highway 99/Viaduct/Tunnel project and everything that ties into it. They got together again late today at the usual meeting spot, Sound Transit‘s board room at King Street Station. Ahead, toplines of potential West Seattle interest:
SPOKANE STREET VIADUCT WIDENING PROJECT:
*Approaching 90 percent completion, says SDOT project manager Stuart Goldsmith. The project is now expected to be done in “early September.” The new westbound 1st Avenue South ramp won’t fully open till then.
*May 22nd is the date expected for reopening the 4th Avenue eastbound exit, and then closing the 1st Avenue South eastbound ramp for another 6 to 8 weeks.
*Exit confusion where the bridge meets 99 (and truckers going rogue): They’re still working on signage – covering the ones that point them to the Spokane St. Viaduct for I-5.
NEW HIGHWAY 99 BRIDGE (ELEVATED STRUCTURE) WHERE THE VIADUCT USED TO BE:
*WSDOT’s Matt Preedy says the first set of girders for the northbound bridge was set last night – right now both directions are running on the semi-recently-completed bridge that will eventually carry southbound traffic. They have met the milestone of “100 percent up out of the ground,” said Preedy, and are on track to complete the bridge and shift traffic onto it by fall of this year – earlier than what they thought last year.
SOUTH ATLANTIC STREET OVERCROSSING FOR 99
*Bids will be opened later this month; this overpass bridge is to be complete by end of next year. How will bicycles get along? Preedy was asked. The path back to West Seattle will be “detoured a little further to the west” during construction.
EAST MARGINAL WAY SOUTH REBUILD
*On track for completion by June.
AIRPORT WAY SOUTH BRIDGE
*Still expected to reopen by the end of the year.
HOW WOULD SODO BASKETBALL/HOCKEY ARENA AFFECT TRAFFIC?
*One group member pointed out that the possibility completely tousles what’s been under discussion here for a very long time – 4 extra “events” a week – and wondered if it had been adequately discussed among transportation managers.
*The arena came up, by the way, in a new “what’s on your mind?” section of the meeting. Some members including West Seattle’s Pete Spalding had suggested the group’s meetings needed more time to listen to actual concerns regarding the south end traffic situation, and less on presentations that might or might not directly affect them.
ALASKAN WAY – NOW, FUTURE
*Wednesday or Thursday of next week, the detour announced last week – with the demonsration video repeated above – will take effect, and will be in effect until at least early 2014, “possibly longer, depending on the city’s seawall-replacement schedule,” Preedy says. Traffic will be under the Viaduct all the way to Madison. If continuing north, you veer over, and by Spring Street, you’re back in the current Alaskan Way lans. Through traffic will be southbound one lane; northbound, part two, part one. They will implement “bumper to bumper” ferry queueing on the dock, which means 100 more cars, with the help of an on-dock supervisor. There’s 100 extra potential spaces using some street/curb space.
*East/west, they will feed people directly off the dock with more options including going straight through and accessing 2nd Avenue Extension. The bike path will be on the east side of the viaduct path from Jackson to Yesler, but north of that, the bike path will cross the detoured Yesler then cross again at Madison. West Seattle group member Vlad Oustimovitch worried that would be creating a lot of “bicycle/vehicle conflicts” in the short run. He called the detour-and-detour again plan “convoluted.” WSDOT says they’re most concerned about safety. The sidewalk on the west side of Alaskan Way will remain open, but it’s not wide enough to be the primary route.
ALASKAN WAY WIDENED FOR STREET PARKING
*About 66 on-street metered parking spots are being created between Spring and Pike along Alaskan Way. That’s about a third of the 200 lost under The Viaduct.
Chief Sealth International High School‘s spring-sports program now has two division champions!
SOCCER DIVISION CHAMPS: Tonight, the boys-varsity team clinched the Metro Sound Division title:
They shut out Nathan Hale 1-0 – with Kristian Nilssen on goal – at Southwest Athletic Complex tonight. (Stats here, from our partners at the Seattle Times.)
It was also seniors’ night; the graduating players were scheduled to be honored at game’s end – before the game, we caught up with students and parents who were putting together the postgame celebration (food, balloons, etc.):
From left, Noele, Tasha, Ryan, Claire, and “Coach Mom” Rosario.
SOFTBALL DIVISION CHAMPS: Even before tonight’s soccer victory, Sealth already had a division winner. Athletic director Sam Reed reports that the girls-varsity softball team concluded its regular season Monday by defeating Roosevelt, ending with a 15-5 record, the Sound Division title, and a look ahead to the playoffs starting next week.
GiveBIG TILL MIDNIGHT: If you’ve donated already, you’re part of a big philanthropic outpouring. Here’s the tally as of around 5 pm:
We’re thrilled to report that #GiveBIG has now seen more than $5 million raised for 1150 organizations! Nearly 23,000 donations in all!
— Seattle Foundation (@TheSeattleFdn) May 2, 2012
If you haven’t given yet, you still have time. This one-day donate-a-thon with participating organizations having a potential chance at some matching funds through the Seattle Foundation goes till midnight. You have to donate through a link on their site, but the money all goes to the nonprofit – we made a list early this morning of the West Seattle, White Center, and South Park participants, with their special donation links – see (and use) the list here. Speaking of WC:
‘DINE OUT FOR HUNGER’: In connection with this big day/night of giving, Proletariat Pizza and Zippy’s Giant Burgers are giving a share of tonight’s dinner proceeds to the White Center Food Bank. We found WCFB executive director Rick Jump at Zippy’s:
His organization went all-out today; Jump and others were at WC coffee shops 7 am-10 am to facilitate donations via laptops. By the way, Proletariat Pizza and Zippy’s are members of the new WSB sponsor we just welcomed this afternoon – the Rat City Business Association (meet the RCBA businesses here).
Thanks to those who have flagged us to this today via e-mail and phone, and it’s also under discussion at Seattle Schools Community Forum, with the exhortation, “Now is the time to pay attention”: Tonight’s Seattle School Board meeting includes the first look at a “Revision to Transportation Standards.” That means changing the scheduling of school buses, which in turn means changing the scheduling for schools’ start and end times.
You might recall, this all came up just last year – when another round of transportation changes and ensuing bell-time changes meant that some schools were starting as late as the 9:30 am vicinity; Sanislo Elementary, in particular, tried to fight it (here’s one of our stories from May 2011).
Last year’s changes were supposed to save money. However, it didn’t work out that way, according to district documents in tonight’s meeting packet – so now they’re looking at a new three-tier system, with bus arrivals at schools as early as 7:10 am, 15 minutes earlier than the earliest ones now, and longer bus rides. Here’s a screen grab:
No specific “which school would be in which tier” list already that we can find (and we’re asking the district just to be sure). The report on tonight’s agenda says this could save $1 million next year. For the current year, “transportation expenditures” may be almost $3 million over budget, the School Board has been told. Tonight’s board meeting (agenda here) is at 6 pm at district headquarters in SODO.
Two quick West Seattle Crime Watch notes this afternoon: First, a business burglary – a concerned customer texted us this morning to say they had heard Tony’s Market, the produce stand at 35th/Barton, had been hit by crime; we stopped in to check and the staff confirmed they had been burglarized overnight, but, they told us, the burglar(s) didn’t get away with much.
Second, police had to be called to the Youngstown Flats construction site at 26th/Dakota on Sunday night, according to the development team, when young trespassers were caught trying to climb the crane. The developers’ update says they broke through a “perimeter chain-link fence” to get to the crane, and so site security is being beefed up including “an additional barrier around the crane.”
(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
Chief Sealth International High School‘s Cinco de Mayo assembly this morning included a high-profile guest: At right, that’s Washington Supreme Court Justice Steven González (with Seattle Police Officer Adrian Z. Diaz). Marta Sanchez in the Sealth office has known Justice González for years and arranged for him to speak at today’s assembly. He joined the state Supreme Court earlier this year, previously serving in King County Superior Court, where, just weeks before his move, we covered then-Judge González presiding over sentencing in a high-profile West Seattle case, that of “prolific burglar” John Novotny.
(Student journalist Nicholas Trost, on assignment for WSB, shot this video tour before ex-FS 37 was vacated)
Seven months after the City Council gave final authorization for the sale of city-landmark former Fire Station 37 at 35th/Othello – vacant for a year and a half – it’s on the brink of being bought. We’ve tracked the sale process through the listing and the March/April open houses; April 20th was the deadline for offers – but senior vice president Arvin Vander Veen from Colliers International, handling the sale of ex-FS 37 and another one elsewhere in the city, tells WSB they asked a small number of prospective buyers for a second round of offers, and those are due today. Why a second round? we asked. His reply: “Because several offers were high and very close to each other, so we went back to a few for a best and final offer.” (They had said they wouldn’t accept offers less than $250,000.) The circa-1925 building is expected to become a private residence, in no small part because – as pointed out in a city report we excerpted last year – the site is zoned for single-family housing. Proceeds from the sale are to go back into the city’s Fire Levy program.
(Thanks to Doug B for sharing his osprey photo with the WSB Flickr group pool – it’s linked to his original, on Flickr)
A few things of note as the day goes on, and then into the night, from the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
TRAFFIC ALERT: Admiral Way paving continues north of the West Seattle Bridge; the bridge itself has inspection work happening today – details on both are here.
‘GiveBIG’ ONE-DAY DONATION DRIVE: Early this morning, we published a list of the special links for West Seattle, White Center, and South Park nonprofits that are participating in this one-day donate-a-palooza – with The Seattle Foundation offering a “stretch pool” that will make your donations go further. The list is here. Also note that your favorite nonprofit(s) may have extra matches going on – we know of at least two, West Seattle Helpline with a dollar-for-dollar match up to $2,500, and ArtsWest has its own matching fund too. And tonight if you dine at Proletariat Pizza or Zippy’s Giant Burgers, as part of “Dine Out for Hunger,” they are donating part of their dinner proceeds to the White Center Food Bank, which serves part of West Seattle too.
VIADUCT UPDATES: The every-few-months meeting of the Alaskan Way Viaduct South Portal Working Group is at 4 pm today, Sound Transit Board Room at 401 South Jackson downtown, with working-group members to be briefed on a variety of projects, including the waterfront-traffic reroutes reported here on Monday, transit routing during 99 construction, and how the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project is going.
ALSO TALKING 99/VIADUCT … and transit routing, will be the Southwest District Council, reps from community groups and other organizations around western West Seattle, meeting at 7 pm tonight, board room at South Seattle Community College (6000 16th SW).
DINNER/HAPPY HOUR EXPANDS AT LA ROMANZA: The newly renamed La Romanza Bistro Italiano (WSB sponsor) in The Junction is now serving dinner on Wednesdays, too, starting tonight. Happy Hour too, says proprietor Aimee Pellegrini!
PRIDE SKATE TONIGHT: At Southgate Roller Rink, 9-11 pm – here’s the Facebook event page.
Get a jump on the days and weeks (and months!) ahead – browse the full calendar here.
Dozens of local nonprofits are participating in today’s Seattle Foundation‘s one-day-only GiveBIG donate-a-thon. The foundation is offering a “stretch pool” of partial matching funds, to be distributed proportionately depending on how much each participating nonprofit raises on this single day, by 11:59 pm tonight. One BIG catch: You **must** donate through the nonprofit’s special page on the foundation’s website, NOT via the nonprofit’s own website. So we have gone through the foundation’s directory to find all those special pages for participating West Seattle, White Center, and South Park-based or -founded nonprofits (and a couple parent organizations). You can also use the special “go here” links below to find out more about any of these organizations – the links take you to pages on the Seattle Foundation website with background information and links to the organizations’ own sites, as well as the donation links to use for this one-day event. (P.S. Please let us know if we missed a WS, WC, or SP-based organization – post a comment or e-mail us!)
ANUNNAKI PROJECT – go here
ART FOR ANIMALS’ SAKE – go here
ARTS CORPS – go here
ARTSWEST – go here
CHIEF SEALTH PERFORMING ARTS – go here
COOLMOM – go here
DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION – go here
DUWAMISH RIVER CLEANUP COALITION – go here
DUWAMISH TRIBAL SERVICES – go here
ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF SOUTH SEATTLE – go here
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY – go here
FRIENDS OF SEALTH – go here
FULL LIFE CARE – go here
KNIT FOR LIFE – go here
KOL HANESHAMAH – go here
LOG HOUSE MUSEUM/SOUTHWEST SEATTLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY – go here
LUNGEVITY FOUNDATION – go here
MARRA FARM COALITION – go here
MULTI-COMMUNITIES – go here.
NATURE CONSORTIUM – go here
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE – go here
NEIGHBORHOOD FARMERS MARKET ALLIANCE – go here
NEW FUTURES – go here
NORTHWEST CENTER – go here
NORTHWEST HOPE AND HEALING – go here
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE SCHOOL – go here
PONGO PUBLISHING – go here
PROVIDENCE MOUNT ST. VINCENT FOUNDATION – go here
SAFEFUTURES YOUTH CENTER – go here
SANISLO PTA – go here
SEATTLE CHINESE GARDEN – go here
SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION – go here
SENIOR SERVICES – go here
SOUND CHILD CARE SOLUTIONS – go here
SOUTH PARK AREA REDEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE – go here
SOUTH PARK INFORMATION AND RESOURCE CENTER – go here
SOUTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION – go here
SOUTHWEST YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES – go here
TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION – go here
THE SERVICE BOARD – go here
TRANSITIONAL RESOURCES – go here
THE VILLAGE OF HOPE – go here
WEST SEATTLE FOOD BANK – go here
WEST SEATTLE HELPLINE – go here
WESTSIDE BABY – go here
WHITE CENTER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION – go here
WHITE CENTER FOOD BANK – go here – and note, WCFB has added events today, as reported on our partner site White Center Now, including a portion of proceeds donated tonight if you dine at Proletariat Pizza or Zippy’s Giant Burgers in WC
YES FOUNDATION OF WHITE CENTER – go here
YMCA OF GREATER SEATTLE – go here
YOUTH MEDIA INSTITUTE – go here
YWCA OF SEATTLE – go here
Over the past few days, we’ve received multiple reports of door-to-door solicitors – or people claiming to be – working this area. Ahead, some of those reports, and a reminder about the rules, in case somebody turns up at your door:Read More
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
ORIGINAL 5:29 PM REPORT: Even before seeing the 911 call, our crew saw the smoke from miles north – a house-fire call in the 8400 block of 20th SW (map). We’re on our way.
(Photo courtesy Lisa)
5:34 PM UPDATE: From the scanner – “heavy fire in the basement” of a one-story home; everybody got out of the house safely.
5:40 PM UPDATE: Our crew has arrived and is seeing the flames in the basement, plus lots of smoke, and firefighters on the roof working on ventilation. Via the scanner, we hear two more engines being requested. Adding photos as we get them.
(Photo courtesy Amber, view from the alley)
5:55 PM UPDATE: Flames have broken through the roof. We have two crews on scene.
(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
SFD says its crews are in a “defensive position” on the fire now – basically, making sure it doesn’t spread, and taking precautions to ensure firefighters’ safety. The department’s public information officer and investigators are being sent now too.
(Video by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
6:09 PM UPDATE: Not out yet. Firefighters are going back into “offensive” mode, per radio traffic.
6:21 PM UPDATE: One hour after crews arrived, the fire is now deemed under control, but that doesn’t mean it’s out. They’re asking for the Red Cross to help two residents, described as a woman in her 80s and a man in his 50s. Too soon to say how the fire started. (Thanks to those who have shared photos and who texted/e-mailed to be sure we’d heard about this!)
6:33 PM UPDATE: Our crews at the scene have just talked with SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore, who says the residents are an 85-year-old woman and her 59-year-old son. He was taken to the hospital with minor burns suffered while trying to put the fire out himself. (added) Here’s video of his briefing, in its entirety:
6:56 PM UPDATE: The fire is finally declared “tapped” after an hour and a half. According to Moore, crews will likely have to keep “fire watch” through much of the night, which means a crew will remain at the scene just in case of flare-ups.
9:13 PM NOTE: No word yet on the fire’s cause. In comments, Deborah says the fire survivors are her grandmother and uncle, and she is thankful to those who called 911, because her grandmother couldn’t get the call to go through when she tried.
10:27 PM UPDATE: SFD says its investigation determined that “improperly discarded smoking materials” sparked the fire; damage is estimated at $250,000. Here’s the department’s summary, via its Fire Line website.
Meantime – We have more visuals to share, both from neighbors and from our crew; click ahead if interested:Read More
(Police presence downtown – photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
As promised, we’ll be publishing updates on whether May Day marching/rallying is affecting the commute through downtown, and this way. (Right now, a bout of wild weather has hit – with a hail-infused deluge hitting West Seattle about 10 minutes ago and headed east – though it looks like the sun will return once it moves through). Stay tuned for toplines.
ONGOING COVERAGE: Our partners at the Seattle Times have been publishing quick, short updates here. … The Seattle Police SPD Blotter has published a roundup of vandalism damage and arrests (2 as of 3 pm) ad promises updates … (added 4:21 pm) KING 5 also has ongoing online coverage incorporating tweets, photos and other quick updates from their staff and other local media. … To check on Metro delays, you can watch their commute-updates website (we’re checking it too).
4:28 PM UPDATE: KING reports via Twitter that a group of marchers is at 1st and Bell. This would be separate from the prescheduled march that was to gather south of downtown half an hour from now. One other note: The Times mentioned school-bus delays; we checked with Seattle Public Schools and that’s ONLY the buses running in downtown/Capitol Hill – no effects here.
4:37 PM UPDATE: Only “minor” delays downtown for transit, Metro reports.
UNRELATED TRAFFIC UPDATE AT 4:57 PM: Just got a tip from Lisa that there is a car vs. semi crash at the west end of the “low bridge,” no injuries reported so far. We’re en route to check.
(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand – car is up against right side of the semi, right side of photo)
5:22 PM UPDATE: That incident is causing some trouble coming off the low bridge, but traffic’s being routed around it. Adding a photo in a moment. Meantime, we just got a text from someone saying southbound 99 is actually LIGHTER headed this way than usual. (Here’s a new SDOT camera we will be adding to the WSB Traffic page – looking north at the southbound Viaduct flow at King St.)
And from downtown, we are adding photos taken by WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli, who says the biggest effect he noticed while downtown was the increased police presence.
5:46 PM UPDATE: Police now report eight arrests so far since this morning. The city, meantime, says it’s activated its Emergency Operations Center to help with public-safety concerns. The prescheduled march is heading eastbound on Pike from 4th as of right now.
6:25 PM UPDATE: The rally downtown is under way. We’ve been monitoring the scanner and the ongoing coverage from citywide media. Metro says marchers are northbound on 4th and that some buses are stuck in a jam downtown.
In our Monday followup on 4724 California, the 7-story, 100-unit mixed-use project proposed for the ex-Petco site in The Junction, we reported that the development team hoped to have its first Southwest Design Review Board session on May 24th. Today, the city’s online schedule has been updated, and that is indeed the date set for the meeting – 6:30 pm Thursday, May 24th, at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW).
In Fauntleroy Park this morning, Westside School (WSB sponsor) second-graders were the first to visit Fauntleroy Creek this spring to release salmon fry they’ve been raising. The students arrived in vans; the salmon, in a bucket:
Another bucket nearby held a few of the smolt that had been released into the creek a year earlier; watershed steward Judy Pickens explained that they have been transporting smolt downstream that way because last year, so many of them died somewhere between the park and the fish ladder near Fauntleroy Cove. She joined teacher Laura Holmes (center) for a briefing at the park’s north-central entrance before everyone headed down to the creek:
Judy was presented with student art and poetry about the fish, and read the poems aloud before they were tacked up in the kiosk nearby:
Back to that first fish – as was the case with each student in turn, the boy in the black/white hat was instructed to hold his hand over the cup once volunteer Dennis Hinton had scooped up a fry to set free – then to carefully empty the cup into the creek, by a small footbridge a short walk from SW Barton … and then, off went the fry:
Each spring, Judy, Dennis, and other volunteers watch for smolt heading outbound – this spring, 105 so far – and then each fall, they watch for salmon returning home after about 3 years away.
Crews have been working on bus stop, roadway, and sidewalk changes along the West Seattle RapidRide route for the past few months – almost everywhere but at the Fauntleroy ferry dock, but the date for that work to start is now set. Just in from Metro:
Some big transit improvements are coming to the Fauntleroy Ferry Dock in West Seattle.
Beginning May 11, King County Metro Transit will begin a month-long project to install a variety of improvements to accompany the start of the RapidRide C Line this fall. Those improvements will include two new RapidRide stations, lighting, information kiosks displaying real-time bus arrival times and 5 electric charging stations for vanpool and public use.
Improvements will also make boarding the bus easier. An additional bus bulb will be added at the northbound RapidRide station to provide for a larger boarding platform. Other amenities will provide better access to and from the ferry terminal area for pedestrians and people with disabilities.
Construction work is expected to occur weekdays between the hours of 6:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. and may cause periodic traffic disruptions. During intensive construction periods, flaggers or police officers will be on hand to keep traffic moving, especially during peak travel times.
While construction is underway, bus riders will be directed to a temporary southbound bus stop on Southwest Wildwood Place. While the northbound bus stop will be less affected, riders will occasionally need to use the bus stop just to the north on Fauntleroy Way Southwest at Southwest Trenton Street.
New features, such as shelters, benches and lighting, will be available for immediate public use when construction is complete. Other improvements, such as electric vehicle plug-ins and real time bus arrival information, will be phased in over the next several months.
The RapidRide C Line begins operation Saturday, Sept. 29.
ADMIRAL DISTRICT’S EX-BLOCKBUSTER … is about to be surrounded by paid parking on all three sides. Thanks to Eric for the tip on this one – he e-mailed last night to say he and his wife noticed orange striping delineating spaces around the building, and WELCOME painted on the pavement at each entrance. Public records showed no sign of a new owner/tenant at the building, so we went by this morning to look for clues, and found a man doing more painting around the lot. “All I know is, it’s going to be paid parking,” he told us – which had been our guess once we saw the freshly painted numbers on each of 33 parking spots around the building (our photo was taken at the northeast corner, by the alley). No pricing sign or pay station as of our stop; we’ll check back.
MORGAN JUNCTION’S EX-BLOCKBUSTER … is tentatively scheduled to open as Super Supplements‘ new home on July 13th, according to a company spokesperson. We first reported back in January that it would be the new home of the store that has to move out of The Junction since it’s on the future Equity Residential development site; banners went up on the Fauntleroy site last month. Super Supplements tells us the Junction store isn’t scheduled to close till July 7th, 6 days before the new one opens. Note that those are tentative dates; watch the store’s official webpage for updates.
The “fishbone” bridge along Longfellow Creek in North Delridge is always a beautiful sight … even with something startling at one end, which was the case for a while this morning, as Rose e-mailed us to report:
As I was walking along the path from All-Star Fitness in the Dragonfly Park, I saw a tow-truck. Kinda strange. I kept walking and found another tow-truck at the bridge and asked what was going on….the nice young man pointed out to me the stolen car. It was missing the front bumper and hood. The front tires were taken off but left behind. Seattle’s finest in blue were there also.
Rose also shared the photos (thank you!).
Drove up Admiral Way hill north of the bridge a little while ago to confirm that the repaving work has begun – it has. (Here are the details from SDOT; it’s scheduled to continue through Friday.
Meanwhile, turns out SDOT didn’t inspect the Fauntleroy Expressway section of the bridge as expected yesterday – so the work is rescheduled for the next two days:
The Seattle Department of Transportation previously announced that they would be inspecting the Fauntleroy Expressway bridge deck (the raised roadway at the west end of the West Seattle Bridge) on April 30th. Due to unexpected mechanical issues, the work has now been rescheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, May 2nd & 3rd between 8 am and 3 pm.
The inspection team will establish short-term lane closures of the right-hand lane, beginning on the westbound side, using truck-mounted traffic warning devices. The inspection team will make short-term (15 minutes) stops at any given location along the bridge deck. After completing the westbound route the team will then inspect eastbound, toward Downtown Seattle, also along the right-hand lane. The entire inspection will be completed by 3 p.m. on the given day. (When working during the morning commute period, activities will take place in the lanes of travel that are in the opposite direction of peak traffic flows.)
These closures are required as part of the seismic retrofit of the Fauntleroy Expressway, to make it more likely to withstand the force of a major earthquake. The work is funded by the “Bridging the Gap” transportation levy approved by Seattle voters in November 2006.
(Thanks to the WSB’er who sent this photo of an eagle dining – on a smaller bird, they wrote – near Lowman Beach)
What’s up today/tonight, including highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
ADMIRAL WAY PAVING: An SDOT paving crew is scheduled to work on Admiral Way north of the West Seattle Bridge for the rest of the week. They promise one lane in each direction will stay open. Here’s last week’s detailed announcement.
FERRY FARES RISE: Washington State Ferries fares have gone up as of today – details here.
MAY DAY MARCH/RALLY TRAFFIC REMINDER: If you missed it yesterday, here’s the SDOT alert about a protest march/rally coinciding with the evening commute.
DREAM DINNERS OPEN HOUSE: No time to cook from scratch, but takeout/dineout doesn’t work either? Dream Dinners is a different way to answer “what’s for dinner?” and if you’ve never checked out DD, tonight’s open house is your chance, with a chance to try the May menu and more. 5:30-7 pm at 4701 41st SW (east side of the Jefferson Square main building, fronting 41st); more info here.
LIVE ART BASH: At Mind Unwind in the Admiral District, Tuesday evenings are the chance for you to bring in an art project that you’re trying to finish, start, make progress on … and work in a collaborative atmosphere. 6-9 pm, 2206 California SW – more on the M/U calendar.
(added) SUP SEASON STARTS: Received this afternoon from Mountain to Sound Outfitters/Alki Kayak Tours:
Join us for our first night of the season at Alki Kayak Tours as we start the third annual Stand Up Paddleboard race series and product demo event. Starting tonight Tuesday, May 1, 2012 through the middle of September, we will meet at Seacrest Park at 1660 Harbor Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98106 EVERY Tuesday for an evening of fun. Hosted by Alki Kayak Tours, we are featuring an impressive fleet of boards for you all to try! The details: Product demo from 6:00pm to 8:00pm for $10 come and try any SUP we have available. The race has a roundtrip distance of 1.5 miles race that travels from Seacrest Park to the Duwamish River channel marker at the North point of Alki with a start time of 7:00pm. Entry fee is $5 with prizes given to top finishers. We have an official time keeper and will be recording your name, board details, and finishing time. Let’s get on the water together! Call Alki Kayak Tours direct for more information: 206.953.0237.
‘BASIC HOME TILING’ WORKSHOP: As of this writing, still a few spots left in this 7 pm workshop at the West Seattle Tool Library (4408 Delridge Way SW, northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center) – sign up here.
Cups around candles to shelter the flames from the wind, dozens of people gathered last night for a vigil at West Seattle’s Vietnamese Cultural Center, remembering and honoring those lost in the Vietnam War, on the 37th anniversary of its April 30th, 1975, conclusion.
They paid tribute to not only the more than one million South Vietnamese lost, but also the 58,000 Americans who died. Center director Lee Bui spoke words of remembrance and reflection in Vietnamese, with pauses for English translation by Phuoc Huynh:
Earlier this year, the center dedicated its Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial (WSB coverage here), which served again last night to honor heroes:
Visitors are welcome at the center (2236 SW Orchard) every Saturday, noon-3 pm.
Almost a year ago, we reported on the Kickstarter campaign for “Film Festival: Rwanda,” a work in progress by Inflatable Film, a local production company with West Seattleites in prominent roles, including executive producer Leah Warshawski. Tonight, scenes from the documentary (the video clip above is its trailer) will be part of a free 7 pm program at SIFF Film Center, 305 Harrison Street (on Queen Anne – here’s a map), “Beyond Borders: An Evening of Film.” Also featured, Stir It Up Productions, also with a documentary in progress, “Oil and Water.” More details in their full media announcement.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports from the WSB inbox.
First, Nicole e-mailed to report that she and her sister are looking for a blue Element backpack, and contents, stolen at Lincoln Park during a birthday celebration last Saturday night. On Sunday morning, she says, joggers found it “in the woods” at the park, found her sister’s ID and credit card and contacted the family, promising to mail the cards but leaving the backpack on a bench to be picked up – and before Nicole’s sister got there, “it had been stolen yet again. It had a new dress inside, and makeup that both of us had spent hundreds of dollars on over the years and some sentimental items we’d really like to get back.” If you find anything that you think might have been part of the backpack contents she’s seeking, contact police – she’s filed a report – or e-mail her at nicole12541254@gmail.com.
And Lance reports a Sunday car prowl at 16th and Cloverdale: “Nothing seems to be missing… Everything tossed about.”
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