SURVEY: Senior Center of West Seattle wants to hear your thoughts about its future
Despite its name, the Senior Center of West Seattle is about far more than serving seniors. It’s also a public gathering and event space, a community service provider, and it has ground-floor business space, too. Now the center is at the crossroads of envisioning its future, and would like your thoughts on both what it’s doing now and what it should do in the future, via a strategic-planning process. Explains center executive director Amy Lee Derenthal, “Our board and staff are thinking big and long-term as we imagine the future of our organization and the community as a whole.” We previewed the survey, and it has open-ended questions, not just checkboxes; when you have a few moments, consider participating – the survey starts here.
InterConnection: Welcoming a new WSB sponsor
Today we’re welcoming InterConnection as a new WSB sponsor. That means they get to explain to you what they do:
InterConnection is a Seattle-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization building digital equity by providing affordable computers and internet service to underserved groups. Digital inclusion is critical in today’s society, where access to information, education, health care, and employment opportunity is increasingly difficult without a computer and the internet. Since 1999, InterConnection has provided affordable computers to more than 300,000 people and prevented more than 6 million pounds of e-waste from entering landfills through environmentally sustainable computer refurbishment, re-use, and recycling.
Become a Business Partner, Enable Digital Equity in Seattle
Computers are often retired before their usable life is over. By partnering with InterConnection, businesses ensure that their computers are refurbished for reuse, or recycled instead of reaching landfills.
As the first U.S. nonprofit to earn R2 and ISO 14001 certification status, InterConnection provides sustainable IT asset disposition solutions for companies large and small. We follow industry best practices ensuring the confidential data and private information existing on IT assets is never compromised. InterConnection’s standard data destruction procedures are compliant with NIST 800-88 Guidelines for Media Sanitization and the Department of Defense 5220.22-M.
Drop Off Your Used Electronics for Reuse & Recycling
InterConnection proudly offers a secure, environmentally friendly way for community members to dispose of unwanted electronic devices and accessories at our Loading Dock in Fremont, Monday through Friday from 10 am-3 pm.
Shop
InterConnection has great deals on locally refurbished desktops, laptops, and tablets – complete with a 1-year warranty and free shipping nationwide!
Donate | Shop | Connect
We thank InterConnection for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
New traffic cameras for West Marginal/Highland Park Way area
As discussed in comments following this morning’s traffic watch, the traffic camera that’s long shown West Marginal and Highland Park Way suddenly moved to another part of the city. Responding to our inquiry, SDOT explained that the move is part of an upgrade – that was a long-in-place portable camera, but now the permanent ones are activated, explains spokesperson Ethan Bergerson:
We have installed four new permanent traffic cameras in this general area (two intersections, each with two camera viewing angles). All of these cameras will now have the option for live video streams. We’re in the process of updating the Traveler’s Map (at this moment the view from the University District is still appearing in addition to the correct camera feeds, and you can use the “prev” and “next” buttons to switch to the correct cameras.).
Here are the locations:
W Marginal Way SW & Highland Pk Way SW (two camera angles):
2nd Ave SW & Highland Pk Way SW (two camera angles):
(To get the video feeds, you have to access the cameras via the SDOT map; the cameras and where they point are controlled by SDOT’s traffic center.) We’ll be adding these cameras to the WSB Traffic Cameras page too.
Weary of robocalls? New way to report them
The state Attorney General’s Office is offering a new way to report robocalls – an online complaint form that is “specifically designed to assist attorneys and investigators to quickly react to complaints and stop the calls.” Along with that, they’ve also set up a new website “with descriptions of robocalls and telemarketing scams, including strategies for combating them.” Previously, you were only able to use the AG’s general consumer-complaint form to report suspicious calls. The new form is aimed at gathering information that will help state investigators “better track and discover patterns for robocalls in the state — and prevent other Washingtonians from getting more illegal calls.” Next time you get one, here’s the new form. Read up on robocalls (some of which ARE legal) and scams here. And if you want to report non-robocall types of scams/illegal telemarketing, you can do that here. And yes, the state has taken robocallers to court – today’s announcement notes three cases, including one in which a $10 million penalty was ordered.
WSB REMINDER: Free local job listings
Time for one of our occasional reminders that WSB has a section where local businesses can post job listings for free, so if you are looking for a new employee – or if you’re looking for a new job – check it out. The section is accessible via the JOBS link in the menu, whether you’re reading WSB in desktop/laptop or mobile format. It’s part of the WSB Community Forums, so you do need a login to post there. If you don’t have one, look for the box on the right sidebar in desktop/laptop/landscape-portrait view, or otherwise go to westseattleblog.com/log-in. If you post a job listing, please include direct contact info for applicants, as our software doesn’t offer direct messaging. If you’re looking for work, there are a dozen new listings just this week, from automotive-service adviser to kayaking guide – go look!
ALSO TONIGHT: Online town hall with four local elected officials
Lots of government-related news today. Just received one more announcement – an online event to which you’re invited tonight:
Your representatives in the State Senate, State House, and U.S. House of Representatives – all West Seattle residents – are inviting yo8u to a live online town hall at 6:30 tonight:
Join Sen. Joe Nguyen, Rep. Eileen Cody, and Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, for a virtual town hall–featuring Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal!
The town hall will begin with an introduction by each participant, move into a conversation about the issues facing Washington in the build up to the 2022 Legislative Session, and end with questions from the audience.
The Legislators will also answer participant questions during the stream, but if you would like to submit a question ahead of time, please send an email to sdc.media@leg.wa.gov with the subject line “34th Town Hall.”
You can see the stream here.
OUTAGE: CenturyLink internet down in multiple West Seattle spots
3:20 PM: CenturyLink service is down for us here in Upper Fauntleroy, and we’ve heard from other areas too, as far north as North Admiral. Private utility outages are harder to quantify – officially – than public utilities, so no official word of its boundaries so far. Let us know if you’re out too.
3:33 PM: See the comments – fairly widespread, outside West Seattle too. We’ve also heard in other channels from Sunrise Heights and Fairmount Park.
3:48 PM: A texter from Gatewood reached CenturyLink customer service online and got both confirmation of the outage and that they’re working on it, with an estimated restoration time of 7:17 pm (caveat, we don’t know if their restoration times are fact-based).
7:40 PM: Thanks for the updates in comments. Our service has returned in Upper Fauntleroy (not sure exactly when, as we switched to Comcast when it went out – have to have redundancy for the business). We’ll follow up with CL on Monday.
FOLLOWUP: Southbound 26th SW reopens
Thanks for the tips (including Mark, who also sent the photo): Southbound 26th SW has reopened between SW Barton and SW Roxbury. That’s the first time in almost four months that the stretch of 26th has been open both ways. It’s been rebuilt – one direction at a time – to better withstand the constant pounding it takes from buses. It’s been a years-long problem, with neighbors complaining their homes shook when buses passed on the flimsier pavement.
Poet with West Seattle roots wins national award, plans online reading Thursday
National Poetry Series winner Teresa K. Miller, who has deep West Seattle roots, has an online reading coming up Thursday (October 7th) and wants to let the community know. Miller is a graduate of Tilden School and while she now lives in the Portland area, her mother still lives in West Seattle. Miller was chosen last year as a winner of the National Poetry Series for her second full-length collection, “Borderline Fortune,” which will be released by Penguin this Tuesday. She will be launching the book Thursday via a virtual event hosted by Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Company. The announcement says Miller’s new book “explores the ancestral legacy of the climate crisis,” and that the poet “seeks through these beautifully crafted poems to awaken from the intergenerational trance and bear witness to our current moment with clarity and attention, refusing the mind’s limits.” Thursday’s online event is at 6 pm; you can register here.
LABOR DAY: Looking for work, or workers?
Today seems like a good time to remind you about the West Seattle Jobs Offered section of the WSB Community Forums. This is where West Seattle, South Park, and White Center businesses are welcome to post job listings, free of charge. So if you’re looking for a local job, drop in and check once in a while! You don’t have to have a login to read the Forums (or any other section of WSB) but you DO need one to post – so here’s how to get yours: If you’re visiting WSB with a desktop or laptop, look for the box on the right sidebar to show you how to get one; if you’re mobile, go to westseattleblog.com/log-in. When posting a job listing, please include contact info, so prospective applicants can contact you directly.
LABOR DAY: West Seattle writers collaborate on newsletter about ‘work, expertise, and stories of women’
Meet Niki Stojnic (left) and Nia Martin (right). We’re spotlighting these West Seattle writers on Labor Day because they are collaborating on a project that “focuses on the work, expertise, and stories of women in the greater Seattle area and how we impact and shape the city and Pacific Northwest region.” It’s a twice-monthly newsletter called Parts & Labor. Martin says, “We’ve gotten some great interviews over 31 issues — featuring accomplished women across the spectrum, from the new executive chef of Canlis, Aisha Ibrahim, and her partner on how they’re changing kitchen culture, to how Vivian Hua helped keep Northwest Film Forum going during the pandemic.”
Martin and Stojnic launched Parts & Labor just as the pandemic began, in fact – March 2020. Since both are West Seattleites, Martin says, “We frequently feature West Seattle women’s small businesses in our ‘She Made It’ short feature section and our ‘Attn’ section, which calls out timely events, businesses and organizations.” After almost a year and a half, they stopped down during August for a break but are now getting ready for their next issue – scheduled publication date, September 16th. You can browse past Parts & Labor issues here (that’s also where you can subscribe, free!). They also publish “featurettes” on Instagram.
SURVEY: Quick questions for you from Seattle Public Library
If you use the Seattle Public Library, there’s a quick way you can help with the search for the system’s new leader. The announcement:
The Seattle Public Library’s Board of Trustees is conducting a local and national search for a new Executive Director and Chief Librarian to lead the organization.
Koya Partners, the consultant firm hired to lead the search, has developed a short survey to help inform the position profile of the job. The position profile is a recruiting document which helps potential candidates learn more about the position, institution and community. The position profile will be used to help recruit a pool of local and national candidates for the Library Board to consider.
The survey will run through Wednesday, Sept. 17. More information and a link to the survey can be found at spl.org/ChiefLibrarianSearch. For people who may lack access to computers or the internet or who may need staff assistance or language translation, paper surveys are available at all open Library locations and Library staff are ready to assist. Find a list of open Library locations at hours at spl.org/Hours.
The Library’s previous Chief Librarian, Marcellus Turner, took a new position with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library in Charlotte, N.C. at the end of March 2021. Tom Fay, the Library’s Director of Programs and Services, has since served in the role of Interim Chief Librarian.
Here’s what happened to the Highland Park Way/Holden traffic camera
Thanks to Ingrid for noticing that SDOT‘s Highland Park Way/Holden traffic camera has been showing a very non-West Seattle scene for at least a few days. We’ve had the camera image in our traffic-cam lists for months, and hadn’t changed the link; investigating further, we found the SDOT Travelers’ Map has also changed the view for that location:
So we checked with SDOT. Spokesperson Ethan Bergerson responded:
The portable camera was moved last week to NE 45th St and Roosevelt Ave NE in the U District to monitor detour traffic during the WSDOT Montlake Bridge closure. We plan to move it back to West Seattle when that construction project is completed in a few weeks. We had actually purchased a new portable traffic camera so that we could monitor conditions in both locations, but unfortunately the parts did not all arrive on time due to supply chain issues. So there’s some possibility we may be able to re-install a camera Highland Park Way SW & SW Holden St sooner depending on when the new camera components arrives.
The camera’s description as “portable” refers to its technically temporary status – it was placed at the intersection after the temporary signal was rush-installed the week after the West Seattle Bridge closure almost a year and a half ago. A permanent camera with upgraded technology is expected to be part of the permanent signal, now on hold until after the bridge reopens next year.
NEXT WEEKEND: Delridge Grocery Co-op teaches you how to can
(Photo courtesy Delridge Grocery Co-op)
Whether you’re a grower or a shopper – or both – you know we’re at that point in the summer that you might call Peak Produce. Perfect time to learn how to can. The Delridge Grocery Co-op is offering an online class next weekend. Here’s the announcement:
Get ready for preserving the tastes of summer to use during the gray Seattle winter with an online Fall Canning Class hosted by the Delridge Grocery Co-op on August 21 at 5 pm (next Saturday). The class covers water-bath canning techniques that are applicable to preserving other fruit into jams and jellies, most tomatoes, pickles, chutneys, and more.
If canning fruit jams, tomatoes, or pickles has always seemed daunting, this introductory class is just for you. Kerri Cacciata (DGC Board Treasurer, Tilth Alliance Market Programs Director, and all-around canning badass) will guide you through the basics of water bath canning with this 1.5-hour class. You’ll get a start-to-finish processing demo, recipes and tips, and time for questions.
Kerri’s demonstration will focus on making peach jam, using a 10-pound box of “freestone” peach seconds from Collins Family Orchards in Selah. These peach seconds come slightly bruised or very ripe, and they’re ideal for processing into jam, sauce, beverages, baked goods, or freezing for smoothies. If peaches aren’t your jam, the DGC is also offering 10 pounds of stewing tomatoes and 10 pounds of green beans from Wright Brothers Farm in Ferndale.
The online zoom class (register here) costs $20 and takes place at 5 pm that afternoon (8/21). The class is available for everyone, but DGC owner-members will receive a 50% discount. The 10-pound boxes of peaches, tomatoes, and green beans are priced at $24.99 and can be picked up at the DGC (5444 Delridge Way SW) on Saturday morning (8/21).
P.S. DGC continues with three-days-a-week operations at its storefront, 5444 Delridge Way SW – 3-7 pm Fridays, 9:30 am-1:30 pm Satureays, 11 am-3 pm Sundays. You don’t have to be a member to shop there, but if you’re interested in membership – go here.
OUTAGE: Some parts of West Seattle report CenturyLink trouble
Internet-service outages are generally not as simple to quantify as oh, say, power and water, but we’ll mention them here when there are reports from multiple areas. Molly said CenturyLink is out atop Genesee Hill and that it appeared to be a wider outage; she’s had trouble getting through to CL by phone. The crowdsourced site DownDetector shows trouble, and we checked around on Twitter; others who say it’s out for them are in areas from Admiral to Lincoln Park. (We’re just east of LP and ours is fine.) Anyone else?
TONIGHT: Planning the future of Seattle’s maritime/industrial lands
(Terminal 5 and vicinity, photographed by Long Bach Nguyen)
One major event of West Seattle significance is on the calendar for tonight: As previewed here earlier this month, it’s the next step in reviewing/updating Seattle’s policies regarding maritime and industrial lands. (See background on the process here.) West Seattle is home to a major stretch of those lands, from Terminal 5 and Harbor Island south along the Duwamish River. Before changing policies, the city has to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement; tonight, it’s having what’s called a “scoping meeting” as part of the process, to determine what should be studied regarding four alternatives (including “no action”) for proposed changes. Here are three concepts they’re looking at:
But first, the question is – what should be considered before changes are made – and should changes be made at all? Tonight’s online meeting is at 6 pm; the participation/viewing link is on this page. Whether or not you attend the meeting, once you’re ready to comment, you can do that by email at PCD_Industry_And_Maritime_Strategy@Seattle.gov by August 9th. You can also offer input via this survey, which includes maps and toplines on the potential alternatives.
FYI: King County says some services will stay virtual for a while
Some services provided by King County will continue online-only for a while. In case you missed that announcement this week, here’s the explanation:
Most of the restrictions implemented as the COVID-19 pandemic swept into King County and Washington State in early 2020 were lifted as of June 30. Gov. Jay Inslee recently unveiled the “Washington Ready” plan that will help the state reopen and get back on track after 15 months of shutdowns.
While the Washington Ready framework does allow government services to reopen to in-person customers, King County is in the midst of a project that will close the King County Administration Building in downtown Seattle and relocate the services that had been provided there prior to the pandemic. Until the project is finished later this year, services provided by the King County Records and Licensing Services (RALS) Division will continue online, by phone, and by mail or dropbox, depending on the service.
The RALS services that will remain virtual are:
*Marriage licensing
*Document recording
*Certified copies of recorded documents
*Real estate transaction recording
*Restrictive covenant modifications
*Vehicle/vessel and pet licensing services that were once provided at the Administration Building
(Licensing subagents, which are independent small businesses that contract with King County to provide vehicle and vessel licensing, will continue to set their own policies for in-person service)
*For-hire driver licensing, including Transportation Network Company (TNC) permitting
*Process server registration
In addition, pet adoptions and other services at the King County Pet Adoption Center in Kent will remain on an appointment-only or will-call basis
For more information on how to obtain Recorder’s Office services, please visit kingcounty.gov/recorder. For information about vehicle and vessel licensing, including the locations of licensing subagents, kingcounty.gov/vehicle. To learn more about for-hire licensing and permitting, go to kingcounty.gov/ForHire. For animal services, kingcounty.gov/pets.
Jessica has been leading volunteer cleanups at Alki Beach on first Saturdays for more than a few months. When she sent us the announcement of the next cleanup this Saturday (October 2nd), she mentioned something more – the launch of a new coalition for volunteer cleanup groups, and a website where you can browse all their events. They’re welcoming others – “West Seattle, and ultimately beyond” – to get their cleanups on the list. The site is 
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