West Seattle, Washington
25 Saturday
In case you haven’t already seen this in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar – it’s now just three and a half weeks away, and you might have something to contribute in advance:
As Schmitz Park Elementary plans its move to Genesee Hill this fall, we thought it was important to celebrate the legacy of Schmitz Park Elementary, which has been open since 1956, having moved into its current building in 1962.
We invite those in the community – especially those that were involved at Schmitz Park as a teacher, student, or parent – to join us on Friday, June 3rd at 6:30 p.m., at the school, to reminisce, walk the halls, view photos, etc.
Those who wish to be involved are invited to:
*Attend the event in June.
*Send in photos or request someone to copy their photos or memorabilia.
*Share an anecdote or memory via email.
*Consider being interviewed by a student.
*Add their email address to the mailing list for more information.
*Spread the word to neighbors and relatives that may have been at Schmitz Park.Please contact Fiona at history@schmitzparkpta.org or visit the school’s web page for more information.
If you’re wondering about the future of the SPE site – it remains up in the air. Seattle Public Schools says there’s no plan to use it for anything next school year, for starters. We’re following up on the process for determining its longer-range future.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:32 AM: Good morning! Second day post-Viaduct reopening, and no incidents so far.
7:06 AM: Second low-bridge closure (to surface traffic) of the morning.
7:26 AM: Open again. We’ve added the link to the “bridge open or closed?” Twitter feed (@sdotbridges) above our highlighted cameras, as we’d done during the Viaduct closure, for a permanent quick morning-commute reference.
8:25 AM: Crash at 35th/Barton. Engine 37 on scene:
It’s mid-intersection so avoid the area for a while.
8:40 AM: We went by the crash scene a second time, headed back to HQ after checking on an unrelated report, and a motorcycle officer was headed that way. As noted also by Sunuva in comments, it didn’t appear anyone had major injuries, and no medic unit’s been called, though Engine 37 is still on the scene. The larger vehicle’s airbag had deployed and a firefighter was looking in when we went by.
9:07 AM: Haven’t gone back to check, but SFD has closed out of the call. Meantime, there’s some sort of a weird spill on the northbound 1st Avenue South Bridge, in the center lane.
5:08 PM: Thanks for the text, which we turned into this tweet:
If you're headed back home up the 1st/Myers/Olson/Roxbury/etc. hill, crash blocking right lane (WSB reader photo) pic.twitter.com/oasMl8KsPl
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) May 11, 2016
Thanks to Don Brubeck for sharing the photo: The Husky crew rowers may be based on the lake, but when it’s team-photo time, they’re here on the bay. Don happened onto tonight’s photo session at Seacrest for the University of Washington rowers, who swept the Windermere Cup on Saturday (congratulations!).
Story by Tracy Record
Photos by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers
Students and stewards are in the midst of a record-setting salmon-release season at Fauntleroy Creek, with more than 800 students participating in 22 release events.
But their work is being jeopardized by vandals, we’ve learned today – painful and criminal in any event, particularly so because this is all work involving students and volunteers, along an urban salmon stream whose survival is by no means guaranteed.
More on that shortly – first, here’s what the work is all about.
That group of 50 fifth-graders from West Seattle Elementary is one of the school groups scheduled to visit Fauntleroy Creek this spring to release coho fry into the creek. Speaking with them in the photo is creek/watershed steward Judy Pickens, who has long volunteered with the Salmon in the Schools program. She and husband Phil Sweetland ferry salmon eggs to local classrooms in one mad dash every school year, and then for the next step, students and teachers bring the fry to the creek.
And off they go, with volunteer Denny Hinton‘s help:
Some classes turn salmon-raising and -releasing into an even larger learning experience. A recent visit by Arbor Heights Elementary included not only a release, but also a presentation by students who are studying the creek:
In our photo are Harriet and Hannah Mae, Arbor Heights fifth-graders who, as Pickens explains, are along with classmates delving into the mystery of what’s happening with the hundreds of thousands of coho salmon that have not come back into Puget Sound from the ocean.”
They gathered on a creekside patio with Pickens, who notes, “The fall 2015 return was nearly non-existent and the fall 2016 return is expected to be at least as dismal. Under the direction of teacher Angie Nall and aided by scientists from Seattle Public Utilities, the students explored El Niño warming off the coast that killed the prey coho need to survive, ocean acidification, and pollution from stormwater runoff.”
There have been glimmers of hope. In fall 2012, more than 200 spawners returned. Every fall, volunteers take up their spots along the creek and watch with hope.
For them and for the salmon, it’s enough of an upstream swim, they don’t need any more challenges. Which brings us to the vandalism. Pickens reports two recent incidents: “One was ripping the net from our smolt trap in the upper creek. We have the trap in place in order to know how many coho have matured to migrate to saltwater – a gauge of both food abundance and water quality. A volunteer checks that trap daily and was able to make repairs within hours of the vandalism so that this important monitoring could continue.
“The other was digging stones out from a derelict section of concrete pipe imbedded in sediment at the salmon-release site. A few days ago, our volunteers discovered a sizable hole in the pipe that was diverting much-needed water from where children release their fish. A volunteer hydrologist temporarily plugged the hole with stones so that flow was restored and releases could continue. Then someone removed the stones, requiring another fix. A long-term fix can’t happen until a period of low flow this summer, so we need the pipe left alone. ‘Volunteer’ appears a lot in this report, an indication of the community’s commitment to salmon in Fauntleroy Creek and the students who cap their salmon study on release day.”
Pickens concludes, “If responsible park users can be on the lookout for destructive behaviors, we can stop this senseless vandalism.”
(UPDATED TUESDAY MORNING with suspect getting out of jail – also, see comments for more info)
3:52 PM: Late Saturday night, we reported on a gunfire suspect arrested near Delridge and Genesee. We have more information this afternoon from both SPD Blotter and the police report. First, just published on SPD Blotter by the department’s Jonah Spangenthal-Lee:
A ride-share driver led police to arrest a convicted felon Saturday night and recover a backpack filled with meth, crack cocaine, cash and a handgun.
Officer Nic Plemel was on patrol in the Delridge neighborhood around 11 PM Saturday when he heard the sound of gunfire several blocks away.
Moments later, a ride-share driver called 911 and reported seeing a man dressed in a white t-shirt, jeans and a red baseball cap firing a gun on the street in the 5400 block of Delridge Way Southwest.
Officers arrived and immediately saw a 29-year-old man, dressed just as the 911 caller had described, standing behind a bus stop at Delridge Way SW and SW Genesee Street.
Officer Plemel and Officer Nathan Worthen approached the man, who was standing right next to a backpack on the ground. He refused to answer any questions, but said the backpack wasn’t his.
When police looked inside the backpack, they found $2,700 in cash, 53 grams of suspected methamphetamine and three containers of marijuana. They later discovered 21 grams of suspected crack cocaine in the man’s pocket.
After a witness confirmed the 29-year-old was the same person they had seen firing a gun on the street, officers also discovered the 29-year-old is a previously convicted felon.
Officers booked the man into the King County Jail for drug possession and unlawful possession of firearms and are investigating.
According to the police report, a gun also was found in the backpack. We’re checking on the suspect’s record and status and will update with whatever more we find.
4:12 PM: The suspect’s background includes multiple felony convictions, according to what we’ve found so far in online records, including previous drug and gun cases.
7:33 PM: We’ve obtained the police-report narrative from the probable-cause documents provided at a hearing this afternoon during which the suspect’s bail was set at $150,000. It has some additional information beyond the SPD Blotter summary:
Two big announcements today regarding West Seattle-based nonprofit Nature Consortium, known for its forest-restoration work and melding of arts and nature, in education and other activities:
Executive director Merica Whitehall (WSB file photo at left) is leaving after a year and a half, departing in mid-May to become executive director of Fontenelle Forest in her home state, Nebraska.
There won’t be a search for a successor because of the other big news – Nature Consortium will become a project of Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, the nonprofit that runs Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, where NC is based. According to DNDA’s David Bestock, NC will be “retaining its own branding and programs, but with operations and finances run through DNDA,” and that’s why it won’t have its own executive director any more.
Bestock adds, “All NC programs will continue as they are, as well as NC staff other than Merica, who was sought out and recruited by the organization she’s moving to in her home state of Nebraska. Willard Brown, DNDA’s Properties and Housing Director, who has been spearheading DNDA’s environmental justice programming in Delridge and partnering with NC, will become even more involved in supporting NC’s staff and programs. … We are still working out details for how this will look structurally, but it made lots of sense to everyone when Nature Consortium approached us with their proposal. Our missions have a ton of overlap in terms of social and environmental justice, preservation of local greenspace, etc. The staff and board of both orgs feel that together we can do more for our shared community by combining our resources to address the educational, health, and economic disparities that exist in Delridge.”
The official news release about all of the above is here.
(Water Taxi boarding @ Seacrest on May 2nd, Viaduct closure’s lone Monday. WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
We just checked on the West Seattle Water Taxi numbers for this morning – first commute post-Viaduct closure – after commenter Elton wondered how ridership had gone. From Greg Lerner of the King County Marine Division:
6:15 am – 52
6:45 am – 81
7:15 am – 115
7:45 am – 94
8:15 am – 78
8:45 am – 62
9:15 am – 45
That’s higher than the pre-closure norm, Lerner says, while about half of the ridership tallied last Monday, a Viaductless day with almost perfect weather, and the highest West Seattle ridership day of the entire closure, according to the county’s overview of how both WT runs did for the shutdown period:
The West Seattle and Vashon Water Taxi routes carried record numbers of riders during the 99 closure. Preliminary tallies from April 29 through May 7 show the two routes carried an estimated 30,000 riders, compared to about 13,500 riders the week before.
“We’re thankful to everyone who looked at other travel options besides driving during the closure, and thrilled to see ridership this high,” said Paul Brodeur, director of King County’s Marine Division. “We hope riders continue to see the water taxi as a good option for their trips to and from downtown.”
The West Seattle route roughly tripled its typical ridership as riders took advantage of additional parking options and regular spring service. The service on that route carried more than 24,000 riders compared to a typical 8,000 riders over the same time period. The single-day peak ridership to and from West Seattle was 3,269 riders on May 2, more than triple the riders compared to the week before.
Vashon route ridership climbed by a total of 900 riders during the 99 closure as riders took advantage of additional round trips. Ridership peaked at 1,100 on May 4 compared to about 900 the week before.
One last reminder in case you used it today: After last night’s earlier-than-projected reopening of the Alaskan Way Viaduct due to tunneling progress (now 342 of the originally announced 385 feet needed to totally clear the AWV), today was the last day of added Water Taxi parking and larger shuttles. The West Seattle Water Taxi runs year-round, weekdays in late fall/winter and seven days a week in spring/summer/early fall; its current schedule continues until October 30th. It’s been four months since the new vessel Doc Maynard took over the run, with a capacity of more than 270 passengers.
(Black-Headed Grosbeak males are “back from Mexico … and singing!” reports photographer Mark Wangerin)
Half a dozen highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION WEST SEATTLE CAREGIVER GROUP: 1:30-3 pm at Providence Mount St. Vincent, the twice-monthly support group meets – details here. (4831 35th SW)
HANG OUT/HELP OUT IN THE ORCHARD: 5-7 pm, the weekly meetup/work party (service-hours opportunity for teens, too) at the Community Orchard of West Seattle. on the north end of the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) campus. (6000 16th SW)
PHYSICAL THERAPY NIGHT: 5:30-7 pm, stop by West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) for a free individual injury assessment with Biojunction Sports Therapy. (2743 California SW)
TINKERLAB DROP-IN: 6 pm at Delridge Library, “work on a fun STEM-based craft or challenge and tinker around with construction and builder kits. There will be something for everyone ages 6 months to 1506 months! Tinkerlab is a weekly all-ages program that introduces science, technology, engineering and math concepts through play, experimentation and discovery.” (5423 Delridge Way SW)
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: 6:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, everyone who lives, works, plays, dines, shops, etc. in North Delridge has a chance to get more involved with the community. Tonight’s agenda includes discussion of the area’s 17 proposed Neighborhood Street Fund grant applications. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
‘SEATTLE READS’: 6:45 pm at Southwest Library, you’re invited to join in “a discussion of the 2016 Seattle Reads featured work, ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves‘ by Karen Joy Fowler.” (35th SW/SW Henderson)
In case you missed it over the weekend: The online map is live for next Saturday’s big event – really, more than 320 big events! – this year’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. You can browse the online map here – click any map marker or any line on the list on the side of the map to bring up the infobubble with its address and highlights. Scroll down the page for tips on using the map, and if you have questions, e-mail us at garagesale@westseattleblog.com.
You’ll find sales all over the peninsula – from the Ocean View Addition Neighborhood Sale, #13, on Marine View Drive SW, southernmost sale this year, to Sale #255 on Palm SW in North Admiral, the northernmost sale; from Sale #316 on SW Austin Place in Highland Park, easternmost, to Sale #290 on Alki Point, westernmost – and hundreds more inbetween. Use the zoom-in button on the lower right of the map page to get a closer look at all the markers; once you open an infobubble about a sale, you can also click the zoom in that bubble to get closer. We’re finalizing the printable/downloadable version of the map today (including all the listings) and that will be linked atop the online-map page when it’s ready, as usual.
The two big multi-seller sites again this year are the Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (4410 California SW) courtyard/Ginomai Art Center (42nd/Genesee) parking lot site and C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW). More spotlights to come, including the benefit sales! Whether you’re selling or shopping, get ready for the 12th annual WSCGSD (biggest community sale day in the region so far as we’ve found!), coordinated by us here at WSB for the ninth year – 9 am-3 pm this Saturday!
(Click any view for a close-up; more cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6 AM: Good morning! The Alaskan Way Viaduct is open again as of last night. As of this morning, Metro is back on its pre-closure routes.
And – our back-to-normal watch starts with a stalled vehicle in the right lane of the eastbound West Seattle Bridge at the crest, per SDOT.
6:35 AM: Cleared.
8:46 AM: Incident-free since then, and light, as commenters point out. If you use the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth state-ferry run, here’s an advisory about vessel downsizing starting in a few hours:
Customers are advised to plan for reduced capacity due to a vessel downsizing on the Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route. Beginning with the Vashon 12:25 pm departure, the 87-car Tillikum will temporarily replace the 124-car Issaquah while the Issaquah undergoes required maintenance. The Issaquah galley will close at 7:30 am and the Tillikum galley will open Tuesday at 5:00 am. We apologize for the inconvenience. Vending machines are available on board the vessel and inside the terminals.
Preparations also are expected to start today for the Fauntleroy Expressway seismic-cushion re-replacement project, with overnight closures of the west end of the bridge starting next Sunday night.
And at the site of the 30th/Yancy/Avalon safety project, the crosswalk striping is now expected to happen as soon as tomorrow, postponed from last week.
Thanks to Chief Sealth International High School principal Aida Fraser-Hammer for the photos and report on the school’s observance of Cinco de Mayo last week:
Chief Sealth students celebrated 5 de Mayo with an assembly that was both educational and entertaining.
The goal of the assembly this year was to educate the Chief Sealth community on the contributions that immigrants make to our country as well as on the plight that undocumented students, who are part of our community, face. At Chief Sealth, 5 de Mayo is used to celebrate Latino culture and foster unity among Latinos and the greater Chief Sealth Community.
Students of all ethnicities participate in the assembly by dancing, hosting, or playing in the Mariachi group.
It’s a celebration that Proyecto Saber and M.E.Ch.L.A students have been organizing for thirty years.
The Taste of West Seattle – your chance to sample dozens of local establishments in ONE place, while helping the West Seattle Helpline – is less than three weeks away. But your chance to get ticket(s) is likely to end much sooner – last time we checked with Helpline executive director Chris Langeler, the number left was down in the double digits. General Admission tickets are $65, and while there’s no limit on food tastes, each GA admission comes with three “drink taste” tickets, with more available for purchase ($2 each, three for $5, unlimited for $20) when you get to The Taste. But you won’t get in without a ticket, so guarantee yours now by going here and support the work of the Westside Award-winning Nonprofit of the Year, 6 pm May 26th at The Hall at Fauntleroy!
P.S. Organizers have been serving up food-and-drink participants’ names in little bites but we’ve noticed the ones revealed so far include WSB sponsors Metropolitan Market (also the presenting sponsor this year), Salty’s on Alki, and Dream Dinners.
As of a few minutes ago, the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct [“live” camera above] has reopened, following the southbound side [“live” camera below] by about half an hour.
And that concludes the almost-ten-day closure, five hours after today’s surprise announcement of an early ending to what was expected to be a shutdown lasting about two weeks. Full backstory in our afternoon report published right after the news broke.
8:18 PM: Carol points out in a comment that the ramp from the EB bridge is still blocked off – the camera verifies – so crews haven’t gotten there yet.
8:51 PM: WSDOT says the ramp is open now. (Here’s the camera view.)
9:18 PM: Thanks again to everybody who helped out by sharing commute reports this past week and a half – and remember that we have long been reporting on the morning commute every weekday, so we’ll be back at it tomorrow (just not quite as early!). And remember, another major project is ahead – overnight closures of the west end of the bridge, starting in a week, for the Fauntleroy Expressway seismic-cushion re-replacements.
9:58 PM: Just in case you missed this earlier: Metro’s plan:
All Metro routes that normally serve the Alaskan Way Viaduct will return to their regular routes and stops at the start of service Monday morning, May 9. … With the start of service on Monday, the bus stop on westbound Columbia Street at Second Avenue will reopen to regular transit service, and Viaduct buses will no longer serve the temporary stops they made in the SODO area on or near S Lander Street during last week’s closure.
All riders should note that Viaduct service will remain on the current reroutes throughout Sunday night and until about 4:30 AM on Monday.
And the Water Taxi will continue its extra West Seattle parking and extra Vashon runs for one last day, tomorrow morning. Then everything is back to normal Tuesday.
Breaking crime news this weekend – and breaking traffic news – has gotten in the way of our usually-daily roundups of West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports. Until now. We have burglary, car prowl, and theft reports – and a followup from someone who has gotten some of their stolen stuff back.
BURGLARY ATTEMPTS: From Anne in Upper Fauntleroy:
We have just reported 2 break-in attempts at our home at 42nd and Thistle. One was on April 21st between 9 pm and 8 am, where they attempted to break off the lower garage door handle to pry in. The next day we had flood lights installed.
The second attempt was made on May 4th, this time the upper garage side door, door knob pried off but our steel door framing holds the extended deadbolts. Our neighbor thinks it was around 3:30 am, because their dog was trying to wake up everyone in the house. They let the dog outside and the dog took off, so the neighbors got in their car and encountered 2 men in a late-model Toyota Sienna minivan that is red or burgundy. They were wearing reflective vests and said they were doing construction work; one had a very thick Slavic accent. They left and then moved the van a few blocks away.
We have security sensors and cameras inside the house, so if they were successful, we will get a good photo to share. I just thought I would let you know, just in case someone else has experienced anything similar, or has seen this van.
CAR PROWL: From Steve in Gatewood:
Add us to your car prowl list. 41st & Holden, underneath bright streetlight. Nothing was left in car, they took a box of Kleenex and some loose change from the center console. We had a couple of CDs in the glovebox; those were still in car. Clear case of someone prowling for money or getting lucky with a hidden valuable.
The car was locked this morning, they may have used electronic means to get in the vehicle – late-model Nissan. Neither of our other two cars was hit, nor were our neighbors’ cars across the street.
‘IT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA TO STEAL AN IDOL’: An Admiral resident texted this on Saturday:
A sentimental piece of yard art was stolen from the front yard of my gray house next to Pizzeria 22 on College Street. It was an Easter Island-style head carved out of wood, about 2 feet tall. This may not sound like much, but it had very sentimental value and has been with me for decades.
Keep in mind, it is not a good idea to steal an idol. The hand-carved head has orange flecked paint on it. Someone now has it in their yard probably, unaware of the danger. And they should know that it is special and especially dangerous when placed in the wrong yard of someone who has stolen it. You still have time to return it to where you found it before your trouble starts. Look for a wooden carved Easter Island head with orange paint flecks.
STOLEN INSTRUMENTS, RETURNED: Back on April 21st, we published Maggie‘s reader report about musical instruments stolen while she and her partner were traveling through West Seattle. Today, we got a followup from her:
I wanted to send a huge thank you for posting our story/photo on West Seattle Blog. A man purchased two of our instruments and, after seeing the cases still had personal items in them, started looking up info on stolen instruments in West Seattle and found the info on your site. He contacted us and has returned both the guitar and the ukulele. We cannot thank you enough!
(7:01 PM UPDATE: The Viaduct is now open southbound)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 2:14 PM: Just in from WSDOT – The Alaskan Way Viaduct will be reopened in time for the Monday morning commute. The first news release:
After 10 days of around-the-clock tunneling, Bertha’s biggest hurdle is now behind her. That hurdle – the Alaskan Way Viaduct she was built to replace – will reopen for the Monday morning commute, bringing an early end to the much-anticipated #99closure.
Structural engineers with the Washington State Department of Transportation completed a thorough inspection of the viaduct on Sunday. Their inspection confirmed what a team of engineers observed throughout the past 10 days of tunneling: continued stability of the ground and the viaduct.
Contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners estimated that tunneling beneath the viaduct would take approximately two weeks. With the ground holding steady, and the most challenging part of the machine’s drive beneath the viaduct complete, WSDOT made the call to reopen both directions of State Route 99 through downtown.
“Closing a major highway is never easy, and the public deserves a big thank you for their patience and flexibility while this crucial work took place,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “I would like to thank the WSDOT and STP project teams and construction crews on a job well done. To finish this piece of the project almost a week early is commendable. The planning and flexibility of commuters, along with strong coordination between WSDOT and partner agencies, ensured commuters had access to real-time information that helped them plan ahead.”
WSDOT temporarily closed SR 99 through Seattle so crews could more closely monitor the structure as the machine passed beneath. The tunnel team originally planned to keep the highway closed until after the machine had completely cleared the viaduct, but the success of the tunneling operation and the continued stability of the ground led to discussions of an early opening as work progressed.
By Friday, the machine had successfully tunneled through complex soils only 15 feet below the viaduct’s foundation – the closest the machine will come to any structure at any point in its drive beneath Seattle. On Sunday, STP completed installation of the rings beneath this critical location, clearing the way for the final inspection and the early opening of the highway. WSDOT’s 24-hour command center will remain open until the machine has successfully tunneled 385 feet, the distance at which it will be completely clear of the viaduct.
WSDOT worked closely with Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Police Department, King County Metro, King County Water Taxi, Sound Transit, Community Transit and the Port of Seattle to keep traffic moving and provide travel options for drivers during the closure.
“Removing traffic from the viaduct was critical to the success of this work, but we don’t want the closure to last a moment longer than it needs to,” said Acting Transportation Secretary Roger Millar. “I want to thank the WSDOT and STP project teams as well as our local partners for successfully managing the closure of a major highway in our system. And, a special thank you to the community for their patience. I hope commuters saw the value of having several transportation choices, and consider using alternatives to driving alone more regularly going forward.”
Millar said the success of STP’s drive beneath the viaduct will help build momentum for the remainder of the tunnel drive.
“The end of this closure marks a new beginning for the SR 99 Tunnel Project,” he said. “Much work remains, but we are encouraged by the contractor’s performance during this phase of the project. Our shared focus now, as it has been, is on delivering this tunnel to Washington taxpayers.”
ADDED 2:32 PM: The 99closure.org website has some additional practical details about how the closure will end – read the post in full here – some key points:
Water Taxi resumes regular service Tuesday morning, May 10
The King County Water Taxi will continue additional parking options at West Seattle (PDF) and additional sailings on the Vashon route (PDF) through the end of the day on Monday, May 9.
Regular West Seattle and Vashon Water Taxi service will start Tuesday morning, May 10.Metro Transit returns to regular routing Monday, May 9
King County Metro Transit service will resume regular routing via the Alaskan Way Viaduct with the start of service Monday morning. At that time, the bus stop on Columbia Street at Second Avenue will also reopen.
Current surface street reroutes through SODO and temporary stops remain in effect for the remainder of Sunday, May 8.Restrictions on city streets lifted for Monday morning commute
With the exception of parking restrictions along Harbor Avenue in West Seattle, temporary city street restrictions put in place for the closure will be lifted before Monday morning.
WSDOT is having a media conference call at 3 pm and we’ll be on it; updates to come.
3:15 PM: Just off that conference call. The big news – the Viaduct actually will reopen TONIGHT, per WSDOT’s Todd Trepanier. The barrier removal will start as soon as 4 pm – they’re calling in crews to get that done.
He said what makes the early reopening possible is the ground stabilization techniques that contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners has been using.
He also said that when the machine gets to the 380-or-so-foot spot, they’ll pause before going on to the next phase – they’ll continue working 24 hours a day until then.
7:01 PM: As reader Kyla reported in comments, the southbound Viaduct is now open. This camera is proof.
(WSB photo)
1:21 PM: If you’ve seen/heard the big emergency response to 42nd/Alaska, it’s an “assault with weapons” call. We’re en route, no details yet, except that the SFD response has been scaled back. More to come.
1:36 PM: A private ambulance was called to Jefferson Square; it and SFD have left and the SFD call on this has closed. A patrol car is still there and we’re hoping to find officers to ask what this was about. Whatever it was, apparently not major.
1:49 PM: Finally talked to officers and got a bit of information. The victim was a man who was slashed in the arm with a boxcutter. He couldn’t tell them anything about who did it or why.
3:36 PM: A commenter says the victim reported trying to stop shoplifters before getting slashed.
(Photo by Dina Lydia Johnson)
The folks at Highland Park Improvement Club want to make sure you know that, post-“eyebrow” trouble, their building is back in business again – they just hosted the monthly Corner Bar on Friday night and have another big event on the way:
The awnings are gone, the building is safe, and we are back in business! Movie Night, Corner Bar, Highland Park Uncorked, and all classes and events are on! More than ever, we need your support to help make this neighborhood gathering place better.
Highland Park Uncorked is Saturday, May 21. Tastings from 8 local wineries, raffle, silent auction featuring local artists – register here.
(Sponsors for HP Uncorked include WSB.) HPIC is at 12th SW/SW Holden.
(Great blue heron with fish, photographed by DLBJ)
Good morning! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar on this Mother’s Day, and night:
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm in The Junction, with free plant starts for the first 10 moms! (California between Oregon and Alaska)
TIDEWALKING: 12:45 pm, it’s a low low tide, -2.8 feet – go check out your favorite beach! (Carefully.)
KANGAROO BOY: Live music at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 3-5 pm. (5612 California SW)
LADIES’ MUSICAL CLUB: Free concert, “Tribute to Cole Porter.” Details in our listing. 3 pm, West Seattle (Admiral) Library. (2306 42nd SW)
PAINT WITH MOM: Special watercolor-painting event at Mind Unwind in The Admiral District, 4-6 pm. Preregistration required so check ASAP to see if there’s room. (2206 California SW)
POSSIBLE AURORA: Tonight’s forecast looks a lot like last night’s forecast, says expert skywatcher Alice Enevoldsen – potential viewing, of course, depends on whether the weather clears. Her dad Keith Enevoldsen caught some of the color from Myrtle Reservoir early today:
And looking a few hours beyond that, another skywatching event:
EARLY TOMORROW – MERCURY’S TRANSIT ACROSS THE SUN: You need a special viewer for this, and Seattle Astronomy plans to be at Seacrest with exactly that, once (providing) the sun is in view around 5:45 am.
11:36 PM: In the past half-hour, we’ve heard by text and by comment from people who heard gunfire in the North Delridge vicinity. Via scanner, we’ve just heard confirmation that police found shell casings, near Delridge and Genesee. No injuries reported; they’re talking with someone at the scene who might have been involved.
11:53 PM: Still from the scanner – the person was reported by a passerby to have been seen “reloading”; he’s being taken into custody.
Two skywatching notes tonight:
AURORA ALERT: Via Twitter, Alice Enevoldsen (of Alice’s Astro Info and periodic Skies Over West Seattle reports among many other things) called our attention to an aurora alert for this area – and shortly thereafter, the National Weather Service tweeted this photo from Whidbey Island:
Skunk Bay Weather camera up by Admiralty Inlet is picking up both green and purple #aurora right now. #wawx pic.twitter.com/3uQQsmMzN2
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) May 8, 2016
SUPER SUNSET: A cloudbank over the mountaintop/island-top horizon glowed with a pink edge for a long time after tonight’s sunset. Not long before that, James Bratsanos got this two-part view:
P.S. Today’s high temperature set a record for this date, 82; previous record was 81 in 1987.
Next Saturday is THE day – West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day 2016, 9 am-3 pm May 14th! And we’ve finished mapping the 330 sales that are signed up – sales of all sizes, all over West Seattle, all sorts of stuff on sale – so you can start planning.
The map’s been linked from the official WSCGSD site for a few hours, as well as from the navigation bar here on WSB, and now that this unexpectedly busy news day has calmed down, we’re announcing it here too – find the clickable online version here, with the printable/downloadable version to follow.
The map page includes info on how to use it, if you’re a WSCGSD first-timer (it’s the same software we’ve used for the map for a few years now), but we also are happy to answer questions – e-mail our special WSCGSD mailbox, garagesale@westseattleblog.com.
A few more notes:
INFO FOR SELLERS: The e-mail and postal-mail “packets” are headed out tomorrow. Speaking of postal mail …
STAMP OUT HUNGER: Every year, since WSCGSD is on the second Saturday in May, it’s also the same day as the USPS letter carriers’ annual door-to-door, mailbox-to-mailbox food drive Stamp Out Hunger. You might even have received a special bag in your mailbox this past week. But you can use any bag to put out food for letter carriers to pick up on May 14th, so please consider doing that before you head out to sell or shop.
BOOK AND TEXTILE DRIVES: WSCGSD is always a big day of giving as well as buying and selling. Along with giving by shopping benefit sales, this year’s donation opportunities (for leftovers and/or items bought specifically to donate) include a book drive and textile drive benefiting students – look for details on those by the start of the week.
More previews to come – but again, the big thing right now is the map, which includes sale descriptions, and you’ll find it here.
Thanks to Morgan Community Association president Deb Barker for forwarding the SDOT alert: The next phase of sidewalk work along the west side of California SW, south of Fauntleroy Way, is set to start next week.
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will replace broken and uplifted sections of sidewalk on the west side of California Ave SW in front of Ivy Court Apartments and the Marnae Apartments in the middle of this block.
This project is immediately south of the sidewalk that SDOT replaced in 2015.
SDOT does not currently plan to remove the seven street trees here.
After the sidewalk is removed and tree roots are examined, SDOT Urban Forestry staff will examine the tree roots and determine if the roots can be pruned or if one or more trees need to be removed.
After the jump, full details on construction hours and temporary effects in the area:
(WSB photos unless otherwise attributed)
4:03 PM: SPD units are converging on 35th/Hudson [map], near Providence Mount St. Vincent, where two men are reported to have run from a crashed car. One, according to scanner traffic, might have a gun. The car was reported to have been speeding up to 80 mph before crashing; Seattle Fire is now being sent to the crash scene. More to come.
4:06 PM: Per scanner, the vehicle is believed to have been stolen in a robbery, “with the gun.” 35th might be closed, at least partially, because of the search.
4:15 PM: No word of arrest(s) yet – if you are in that area and see/hear anything/anyone suspicious, call 911.
4:25 PM: Our crew has arrived in the area and we’ve added photos, including the crashed car, which went into the wall on the east side of The Mount’s campus. Police and fire are talking with/checking on someone who might be a third person who was in the car and did not flee.
Part of southbound 35th is taped off at the crime scene – again, avoid 35th in that area.
4:32 PM: Police confirm the third person from the vehicle, a woman, didn’t flee. Our crew says she seemed extremely dazed. (Added) They also say she was clearly injured, and was taken to the hospital by private ambulance:
Police also tell us the vehicle first came to an officer’s attention because its driver was driving “erratically”; when an attempt was made to pull the driver over, he sped up, then crashed. (We heard this via scanner as it started to unfold, and the officer pursued on foot before backup arrived. The suspects were reported to have split up, one heading east toward Rotary Viewpoint Park at 35th/Alaska, one west toward The Mount’s campus.)
(Reader photo, texted – thank you!)
5:04 PM: Still searching, off both sides of 35th. We still don’t know where the robbery/carjacking happened.
6:05 PM: Just a note since it’s been an hour … no additional information yet. The crashed car was being taken to the SPD evidence facility in SODO. Meantime, police at the scene said they couldn’t comment but that media relations would at some point tonight have an update.
6:17 PM: Our photographer brought back a photo that clearly shows the car’s make and plate.
That enabled us to discover via SPD’s @getyourcarback stolen-car tweets that it was reported stolen two days ago. From where, we don’t know (the tweets don’t include locations or incident numbers), but that will enable a little more sleuthing.
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