West Seattle, Washington
12 Tuesday
OK, so last night’s election results suggest nobody’s in much of a mood to give government more money. However, as we have reported here previously, this is the time of year when local governments are deciding what to do with the money they already have (or are slated to get) – and Seattle Public Library supporters have an urgent call for library users to help make sure the library’s needs are “on the books” if you will:Read More
One wrecked motorcycle, two hurt people, four-plus hours of commute-tastrophe on The Bridge. If you got caught up in it yesterday afternoon/evening, you might be interested in the semi-witness account posted here.
1:20 AM UPDATE: Yet another update from King County’s elections dept., which appears to be finally calling it quits for the night after one more vote update. Now 99% of precincts are counted, but of course thousands of votes mailed as late as Election Day will still be trickling in. According to the county site, the votes counted so far represent 25% of registered voters in King County. One shift in the latest count: Incumbent Alec Fisken is now behind Bill Bryant in the race for Seattle Port Commission Position 5.
11:55 PM UPDATE: Yet another new count is out in the past half-hour. The Seattle Port Commission results are worth watching, given West Seattle’s ties to port operations. Incumbent Bob Edwards is losing; incumbent Alec Fisken is barely ahead in a squeaker.
11 PM UPDATE: The second batch of King County votes is in. No changes on the races mentioned below. Steve Sundquist looks to be on his way in as West Seattle’s next school-board rep, still ahead of Maria Ramirez 60%-40%. And Roads & Transit Prop 1 is losing 44%-56% — back to the drawing board (again) for the people trying to work out transportation solutions. Next big transportation issue to be tackled here in King County, remember, is the Ferry District, which includes Water Taxi operation, with that major public hearing coming up Thursday.
9:40 PM UPDATE: If you are waiting breathlessly for the next round of updated vote counts — King County says it’s not planning to release that next round till about 10:30. (But you can keep checking the links below just to see if it happens sooner!) Other notes from the first round of results: The City Council turned out to have a couple interesting races. Venus Velazquez (who has WS ties) is well behind Bruce Harrell; David Della is losing in a big way to Tim Burgess. In the school board districts outside West Seattle, the incumbents who are behind, at least in the first round of returns, are Sally Soriano (who has WS ties) and Darlene Flynn.
8:20 PM UPDATE: First results are in. King County voters are going against Roads/Transit, 45-55%. Steve Sundquist leads Maria Ramirez for West Seattle’s school board seat, 60%-40% (and two incumbents are losing in other races). Incumbent Dow Constantine leads challenger John Potter for West Seattle’s King County Council seat, 75%-25%. Here are the direct links for the latest numbers in races of particular West Seattle interest:
Roads & Transit Proposition 1 and statewide ballot measures
King County Council including District 8 (West Seattle/Vashon Island)
Seattle School Board including District 6 (West/South Seattle)
Seattle Port Commission (two races)
Seattle City Council Positions 1, 3, 5 (including West Seattle’s Tom Rasmussen, who had no opponent)
Seattle City Council Positions 7 & 9
All other results from King County & its cities/districts
Between the end of tonight’s bridge backup and the start of tonight’s election results … we wanted to take a moment to share this happy e-mail from Kathy Harper:
West Seattle Blog readers should know that West Seattle’s own Junior Football Team, the SWAC Cougars, won the Puget Sound Junior Football League Championship in the Bantam Division (Ages 9 to 12) with a victory over the Benson Bruins (7-6) this past Sunday in Auburn. These boys went nearly undefeated in their division with a final record of 9 and 1. They will go on to play the Puyallup Rough Riders in the Junior Football Super Bowl this Sunday in Sumner. Our season is almost over for this year, but join us next fall for another exciting season of football. Home games are played at the Southwest Athletic Complex on Thistle, across from Chief Sealth High School. SWAC is a nonprofit community organization that provides a healthy environment where youth learn teamwork, sportsmanship, and athletic skills. For more information, go to www.swacfootball.org.
We wish the Cougars good luck in Sunday’s big game!
6:35 PM UPDATE: All westbound lanes of the high bridge are open again, after being closed for 4-plus hours just past Admiral because of a motorcycle accident that injured two men. Check the “live” cameras in the post below for the latest views of the backup that will take a while to clear. EARLIER: We also have received e-mail about an accident on Delridge near the currently empty ex-Boren Junior High – the 911 site shows crews have cleared but that doesn’t mean the road is cleared, so if you are planning to head that far on Delridge, beware.
The SDOT camera that points west shows the backup being directed off at the Admiral/Avalon exit right now (the bridge is still closed westbound just beyond that point because of the motorcycle crash). Here’s the link; refresh this page for the latest image – NOTE: the city moves this camera from time to time so if you are seeing a blank image, we have no control over that – if it doesn’t come back soon, we’ll take the camera off this page but you can keep checking the WS CAMS tab at the top of this page, which has links to freeway cameras all over the area:
One report quotes the city as saying the westbound closure just past Admiral is expected to last a few more hours — so alternate routes are highly encouraged. Remember that you can head south on 99 and then up through White Center to double back into West Seattle, in addition to other alternates such as the “low bridge.” (If you have other advice for your fellow westbound drivers, please leave a comment on this post! We’ll keep it at the top of the page till this is all cleared up, with updates as available.) ADDED 5:30 PM: The city bridge cam looking east (toward 99 and I-5) is important too – showing what a mess this still is, and is likely to be until at least 7:30 pm, according to the latest reports:
Thanks to reader tip: The Seattle woman held in a European murder case (British newspaper story here) lists West Seattle as her hometown on MySpace. One public database check would seem to correlate.
Bad accident, involving two motorcycles, west end of westbound, between Admiral exit and “Walking on Logs.” 3:45 PM UPDATE: Our traffic spotter just went by in the other direction and says eastbound is open, though busy, but the high bridge westbound is COMPLETELY closed just past the Admiral/Avalon exit, so if you’re heading west, you have to get off there. If you have to get to south West Seattle, get off sooner – take the Delridge exit – or take the low bridge.
That’s the scene after the morning voter rush at Peace Lutheran @ 39th/Thistle, with poll worker Frank at right. Conventional wisdom among poll workers seems to be that this is probably not the very last in-person election after all — looks like they’ll be working the presidential primary in February — but most likely the last “big” election, if King County really gets mail-only voting in gear for November 2008, with President, Governor, and more on the ballot. (More info on today’s election is in this earlier post; you can check here for local results and West Seattle-specific notes once the counting begins @ 8 pm.)
Two weeks have zoomed by since we brought you the West Seattle Food Bank’s request for your help this holiday season. Lots of great response so far – and room for more – literally … take a look inside the WSFB cooler; we did, during a visit to interview WSFB executive director Fran Yeatts, who narrates:
Frozen turkeys and other Thanksgiving-dinner donations will help the most people if you get them to the Food Bank by the end of next week. Meantime, Fran also told us something you probably don’t know about the people the WSFB serves:Read More
Peter McKay, the West Seattle bicyclist who survived getting shot on Delridge last week, updated his blog early today. He writes that he rode to work and back yesterday, and also shares many gracious words of appreciation for the people who took care of him, as well as for the vast majority of drivers who share the road with him without actions such as those taken by whoever shot him (still no arrests reported). P.S. The City Council has now approved the Bicycle Master Plan. This map shows what’s in it for West Seattle.
What a day for High Point, with a big event this morning to officially celebrate the global award just given to the Seattle Housing Authority‘s grand experiment. Citywide media dropped in too; check out this tv clip with a few familiar folks (Wendy Hughes-Jelen, who has two sites on our Other Blogs in WS page, and neighborhood activist Miranda Taylor). We stopped by to check out an expected appearance by the mayor, but the crowd was told he had to cancel at the last minute for a funeral. Instead, Al Levine from SHA (photo right) emceed. High Point is amassing quite the trophy case. If you haven’t been through the area lately, make time for a drive, or a stroll. The sheer scope is something to behold.
5:30 PM UPDATE: Observers say the net is now gone.
ORIGINAL POST FROM EARLIER: Concerned observers say this boat spotted off West Seattle’s northern shores at midday today is believed to be a tribal boat involved with the net they are worried about (as we reported this morning), which could even be a gill net, which they say is “very damaging to wildlife.” They still suspect it’s linked to the Suquamish tribe but say it could be related to the Muckleshoots. Also, they say they have heard from beach patrollers that other nets are in the area — “that there are multiple nets now, including purse seine nets far offshore off Seacrest … These nets are not as lethal to marine life and farther away from pups.” They are again hoping that the tribal fishing crews will pull the nets away from the potential danger zone, or at least monitor them to get quick word if any marine mammals such as seal pups get entangled. They say Suquamish leaders had previously posted a note asking fishing crews NOT to place nets near “known rookeries” (which Alki and “Anchor Park” are), and they are continuing to ask concerned citizens to call the Suquamish at 360/598-3314 to ask questions and express concerns.
Within the past hour, the King County Council confirmed Sharon Nelson a short time ago as State House Representative for the 34th District (West Seattle/Vashon Island). Rep. Nelson was appointed to the seat left open when Joe McDermott was confirmed as State Senator, succeeding Erik Poulsen, who resigned for a job in the private sector. Congratulations, Rep. Nelson! (Photo showing Rep. Nelson being sworn in by King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu is courtesy of the Office of King County Councilmember Dow Constantine.)
One week till the parts-inventory auction at the ex-GEE (previously Huling) lots — and now it looks like the vehicles are heading out (as we reported 2 weeks ago, the Gees said in court documents that the inventory was being repurchased). Thanks to Andy S for the tip and pic. We also are working on another update about the latest back-and-forth in the court battle related to the Gees’ suit against the Hulings; short version is, the Hulings say the dispute should be arbitrated per a clause in their original agreement, the Gees say no.
For a while, it looked as if the fishing nets vs. seal pups situation from last month might have been resolved. Maybe not. This alert just in from the same folks who sounded the alarm about that:Read More
As we noted a couple months ago in a slightly different context, “‘arterial’ doesn’t mean ‘open somebody’s arteries’.” Many people who have to deal daily with 35th SW (one small section shown above), whether as pedestrians or drivers, bike riders or transit users, would probably agree. Two recent accidents have put the 35th SW problems back in the spotlight – the one that killed 85-year-old Oswald Clement weekend before last, and the one that shut down a section of the road this past Friday night. The High Point Neighborhood Association has been lobbying for safety improvements on this busy straightaway and hopes to gain some traction from two high-profile visits this week: Mayor Nickels will be in High Point this morning to celebrate the development’s recent award, and City Council President Nick Licata is coming Thursday night for a walking tour focused on the safety concerns. The group’s been working on these issues for quite some time, and here’s where they stand and what they are trying to get the city to do:Read More
A new city notice is posted at the half-century-old Thistle Street staircase (shown above) that leads down to Lincoln Park from Northrop in Upper Fauntleroy: Seattle DOT now plans to keep it closed for 4 to 6 weeks of “stairway restoration.” It had been closed a week already because of the work to fill the Thistle/Northrop sinkhole/gully that opened during last December’s storm.
After seeing this article warning this time we really might be on the way to $4, we thought it was high time to survey the West Seattle stations again. Current range: from $3.05/gallon for regular at Arco on Delridge (photo at left) to $3.26/gallon for regular at the 35th/Holden Chevron (which back in May had this year’s highest-posted price for regular, $3.49/gallon). Both of those stations are up 22 cents/gallon since our last check 2 1/2 weeks ago.
Just out of the WSB inbox, Betsy writes:
Someone sprayed graffiti on the end of the guard rail on the beach side of the road at the corner of Alki Ave. and Beach Drive recently, and today I discovered that they’d also tagged the slope of the retaining wall on the beach just down the sidewalk of the boat landing area. I really hate this stuff. It’s Seattle Parks property, but if I call them will they just come out with some gray paint and cover it? That’s just as ugly and attracts new taggers just as the original graffiti does. Do any of your readers know if paint remover will work on metal and concrete?
Pic from the torch rally on Alki this afternoon — featuring a symbolic Olympic Torch that’s making its way around the world to raise awareness about what activists want China, host of the next Olympics, to do to help end the genocide in Darfur (detailed explanation here about why it goes on; info here on how to take action):
9:30 PM UPDATE: Info about the man in our photo, thanks to Ruth from Save Darfur/Washington State:
His name is Marial Nhiel – he is from Yirol, Sudan, and is 27 years old. He arrived in Seattle as a refugee in August 2007. Marial’s leg was deliberately shot off by a Northern Sudanese soldier when he was a seven year old boy. He is married with twin children, age 5 years, one boy and one girl, who are currently living in Kenya. He was brought to us by Maury Clark, a local Sudanese advocate. Marial was here to carry the torch for his countrymen and women, to show his support for their safety.
2 things noted on a pass through Jefferson Square‘s northwest corners: first, West Seattle’s sixth not-in-a-grocery-store Starbucks (first mentioned here in August) is progressing rapidly in the ex-Infinity Espresso spot:
Second, looks like some progress on the Junction Plaza Park site, with the green-gray of spray-on grass, just in time for the holidays:
Frank Coluccio just e-mailed this update on the Gators’ championship game, played today and mentioned here last Tuesday night:
After a very well played game that went into overtime, the final score, after regulation and the two overtime periods (a total of 70 minutes), was 2-2. CYO doesn’t have a penalty kick shootout after the overtime period so Holy Rosary and Sacred Heart will be Co-Champions for this year’s CYO 7th grade girls division. Holy Rosary jumped out to a 1-0 lead and Sacred Heart tied it up 1-1. Then the Gators went up 2-1 on a corner kick. Sacred Heart tied the score on a penalty kick with about 10 minutes to play. Both teams played their hearts out.
| 2 COMMENTS