West Seattle, Washington
20 Wednesday
Even if you haven’t seen them, you’ve probably heard them over the past two hours – today is the day the Blue Angels have two rounds of practice for the upcoming Seafair airshow. Kory Love at Alki Lumber shares the photo of the lumberyard’s flag and a Blue Angel flyby. We also received this link from Kevin Freitas, who photographed the practice from West Seattle. The I-90 bridge is scheduled to reopen again shortly while the Blue Angels take a break, and then close again 1:15 to 2:40 pm for more airshow practice.
Please be on the lookout for these two stolen vehicles reported by WSB readers, and call 911 if you see either:
STOLEN CAR: From Thad, “… my 91 Blue Honda Civic 4-Door was stolen last night between 10 pm and 5 am from around 34th and Trenton st. It has been reported to SPD.”
STOLEN MOTORCYCLE: Justin just let us know about a motorcycle stolen from the Link Apartments garage (38th/Alaska) in The Triangle two weeks ago, “silver 2003 Harley Davidson V-Rod motorcycle, MN plate, license #88-686MD,” July 14 or 15th, when, he says, the garage door at the building was broken and stuck open overnight. Police have a report on this too.
Another beautiful crescent-moon dusk last night – this time, the photo is courtesy of JayDee. Our calendar highlights include several ways you can enjoy what’s forecast as another perfect evening tonight:
DINNER WITH ‘ELVIS’: Acclaimed Elvis Presley tribute performer Bret Wiggins headlines a benefit dinner tonight at the Senior Center of West Seattle – happy hour at 5:30, dinner at 6, show at 6:30, details (including reservation information) here. (Oregon/California)
SW ROXBURY SAFETY PROJECT MEETING: 6 pm at Southwest Branch Library (upstairs meeting room), be one of the first to see what the city is proposing to help make SW Roxbury safer. Here’s our original preview. (35th/Henderson)
DUWAMISH RIVER KAYAK TOUR: 6 pm, the first of this year’s community kayak tours with the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. No kayaking experience required! Tour departs from T-107 Park in West Seattle. RSVP details and other info here. (4700 W. Marginal Way)
CASPAR BABYPANTS AT HIAWATHA: West Seattle’s own kid-rock star is onstage tonight for the second of six Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association (with co-sponsors including WSB). 6:30 pm, bring your own blanket/chair to the sprawling lawn on the east side of Hiawatha Community Center – admission is free. (2700 California SW)
SHABAZZ PALACES: Another free concert, this one in-store at Easy Street Records in The Junction, which declares, “Absolutely no one like them on the planet….new album on Sub Pop out this week is called ‘Lese Majesty’.” 9 pm; Facebook event page here. (California/Alaska)
DAUGHTERS OF THE DEAD SEA: Local rockers onstage tonight at the Benbow Room in The Admiral District, 9 pm. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
SOMETHING FOR THE CALENDAR? If it’s a West Seattle/White Center/South Park event, please send us info in plain-text e-mail (NOT in an attachment – thanks!) at least a week in advance for calendar consideration – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
P.S. – WHAT’S *NOT* HAPPENING: We previously mentioned that the USS Constellation was expected to pass West Seattle today, under tow to be broken up in Texas. Not happening today, per the Kitsap Sun.
West Seattle’s next roadside-raingarden project, officially dubbed the Delridge Natural Drainage System, is in the “early design” process. Next chance for neighbors to get updates and ask questions has just been announced – a “project-design walk-and-talk” event on Tuesday, August 12th, starting at the corner of 17th and Elmgrove (map) at 6 pm. The updates, according to this postcard that’s on its way to nearby mailboxes, will include a chance to “review proposed design concepts and plantings.” Like the county-initiated “green stormwater infrastructure” raingardens under construction in Westwood and Sunrise Heights, the goal is to reduce the stormwater going into the combined-sewer system, which in turn should reduce overflows at the end of the line. Construction is scheduled for next year.
(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:16 AM: As today’s traffic watch begins, four things you should know:
1ST OF 4 BLUE ANGELS/I-90 CLOSURE DAYS: Today’s the only day with two closure windows – 9:45 am-noon, 1:15-2:40 pm.
NEW BIKE CORRAL READY TO USE … SE corner of California/Alaska in The Junction.
SW ROXBURY SAFETY MEETING TONIGHT: Whether you bike it, bus it, drive it, walk it, you’ve got a stake in the city’s proposals. 6 pm, Southwest Library.
HIGHWAY 99 AUGUST CLOSURE REMINDER: Today, the state starts an awareness campaign (including advertising here and elsewhere) about the August 22-27 Highway 99 closures. Here’s the official infopage.
6:40 AM UPDATE: Thanks to the person who just texted that the low bridge is “stuck open.” SDOT confirms this via Twitter and says a crew is en route to fix it.
7:20 AM UPDATE: SPD has tweeted that the low bridge is “back in service.”
5:13 PM UPDATE: In case you find this before the related news story, a fire and police investigation in the 7300 block of 16th SW has closed 16th in that area and 125/128 buses are being rerouted. No estimate on how long this will last. The fire might have been arson and investigators are on scene to try to determine if that’s so.
It’s the road with two of West Seattle’s three most-crash-plagued intersections – and after two neighborhood councils said, “Enough!”, the city committed to making changes on SW Roxbury. As announced a week and a half ago, tomorrow’s the night you can get the first look, and offer some first comments, at the first round of possibilities. 6 pm, Southwest Library (35th/Henderson), upstairs meeting room – early enough you can still get out in time for a sunset walk/ride/drive.
(ADDED THURSDAY MORNING: 2002 mug shot from state Department of Corrections, at right) 37-year-old Duane Atwood, arrested in connection with a “flasher” incident on Beach Drive last week, is back in jail, charged with two felonies – indecent exposure and failure to register as a sex offender – and court papers say he is expected to be charged in another case soon. We first reported on his arrest last Saturday; his bail was set at $100,000 and, after posting bond, he was released that night, with a court date set for this afternoon. At today’s appearance, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office tells us, Atwood’s bail was increased to $250,000 and he was re-arrested. Court documents include more information on this case and on the conviction that led to his status as a Level 2 Registered Sex Offender, and they say he is under investigation for the two recent, similar incidents – both also reported here (July 15th report here, July 18th report here) – as well as an unrelated crime last year.
West Seattle’s first city-installed bike corral is in place today in The Junction, one month after this open letter expressing concern that the city and the adjacent developer were delaying a project that had been in the works for more than a year. Less than two weeks after that letter, SDOT and West Seattle Bike Connections announced a breakthrough would lead to the long-awaited on-street bicycle-parking zone being installed by month’s end – and today, it’s done. It’s on the east side of California just south of Alaska, in a spot that was already off-limits to vehicle parking.
Just in from Seattle Parks, following our Tuesday report:
Seattle Parks and Recreation will turn on the showers back on at Alki Beach Bathhouse today, and have the showers at Seacrest Park open by Thursday, July 31.
The water had been turned off temporarily after Seattle Parks received notice from Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) that the two showers were draining directly into the Puget Sound, which is not allowed under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NDPES) or Seattle City Code.
Parks and SPU have jointly developed a temporary solution to the problem while a more permanent one is created. Seattle Parks and Recreation will install a charcoal or vitamin C treatment system to address the chlorine in the water, and post signs that say “no soap, no chemicals, no dumping.”
Parks will work with SPU to develop a method and schedule for the long-term fix, which will likely include connecting the showers to the nearby sanitary line.
Parks and SPU are still working on a solution for how to bring the fish cleaning sink into compliance.
Thanks again to Paul for the tip on the shutoff – he e-mailed us over the weekend, we inquired Monday, and published the first report after Parks replied Tuesday morning, updating the story late yesterday following a conversation with SPU. We welcome news tips 24/7 – if breaking, text or voice to 206-293-6302; otherwise, editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
(UPDATED Wednesday evening with more photos plus clip from the aircraft “parade”)
(Updated video: 1:35 pm)
1:05 PM: We’re on Duwamish Head, where the Seafair Parade of Ships – led by the USS Essex, an amphibious-assault ship you might mistake for an aircraft carrier, is about to come into view after passing Alki. The ships will sail past here on their way to the downtown waterfront, which also will get a series of flyovers. Here again (from last night’s preview) is what you’re looking at/for, on the sea and in the sky – see the PDF here, or embedded below via Scribd:
Updates and photos to come!
(USS Essex, courtesy of Greg)
1:42 PM: Behind the USS Essex came the USS Chancellorsville, USS Howard, Coast Guard Cutter Mellon, and now, from Canada, HMCS Brandon.
(USS Chancellorsville, from Lynn Hall)
(USS Howard with fireboat Leschi, from Mark McAndrews)
(USCGC Mellon, courtesy of Greg)
(Chancellorsville and Howard, by Gary Jones)
1:54 PM: While the Parade of Ships has passed West Seattle – and the Essex is Magnolia-bound – the Parade of Flight is under way, with aircraft passing the downtown waterfront, fairly low, flying north and then turning west (added: video of two of them, passing over the entire ship parade):
2:15 PM: Show’s about over.
The Essex is docking over at Smith Cove. Info on tours over the next four days (all the Parade of Ships visitors) is in the brochure embedded above, if you’re interested in. We’re headed back to HQ to add photos and video to this.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Two of the three businesses told to clear out of 4480 Fauntleroy Way in The Triangle have found new locations nearby.
We first reported Sunday night that Diva Espresso, Maestro Motors, and Ace 1 Computer Repair had been told by the new owner of 4480 Fauntleroy Way that they had to be out by the end of August.
Though the new owner, a SODO real-estate broker, didn’t respond to our inquiry, we discovered a document on file with the city indicating that Rudy’s Barbershop, long seeking a West Seattle location, would be the new tenant.
Rudy’s has since confirmed that to WSB. But first – an update on the longtime businesses that have to move.
Just this morning, Maestro Motors’ owner Richard Reed signed a lease for a spot barely a block to the west, where he tells us that Ace-1 is moving to, too. We found out the news while stopping by 4480 Fauntleroy to photograph him as part of our planned followup (even before we learned about the new location).
In case you haven’t noticed it while passing by – there’s a hydroplane in West Seattle! On display in the Les Schwab Tires parking lot in The Triangle (Fauntleroy/Alaska). Read about it here. By the way – there’s more of a connection than just the hydro’s current location – its sponsor, Red Dot, has its roots in West Seattle, as CEO Randy Gardiner explained, keynoting last year’s West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Awards Breakfast.
Before we get to the events … first, the sights:
(Tuesday evening photo by Christopher Frankovich)
Just in case the crescent moon looks like that again tonight, go see the sunset. But even here in the daytime, the morning fog has made things pretty spectacular:
(Wednesday morning photo by John Skerratt)
And so much yet to see today! (And to hear – as a loud flyover reminded us, while we typed those very words …)
SEAFAIR PARADE OF SHIPS/FLIGHT: We’d recommend watching (from Alki Point eastward) starting around 1 pm from here, though 1:45 pm is the official downtown time. Here’s the guide we published last night. As noted there too, we’ll update in all our channels, here as well as social media (the icons atop the right sidebar are linked), when we see it begin. (P.S. As that same story notes, one Blue Angels jet is out on VIP flights today, too, between 11 and 5. *Added – the Museum of Flight‘s Instagram clip from the first takeoff*)
(Also added – thanks to Gary Jones for sharing the view as the Parade of Ships fleet heads out of the bay:)
From the rest of the calendar:
CLASSIC MOVIE AT THE SENIOR CENTER: Today it’s 1934’s “The Purchase Price,” 1 pm, Nucor Room at the Senior Center of West Seattle – details in our calendar listing. (Oregon/California)
HIGH POINT MARKET GARDEN: Fourth of 12 Wednesdays this summer/fall when you can visit the High Point Market Garden Farm Stand 4-7 pm to buy organic produce grown by local gardeners, just steps away. (32nd/Juneau)
34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS’ PICNIC: From 34th Dems chair Marcee Stone-Vekich:
Please join us for a beautiful Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. at our annual picnic. We’ll be in Lincoln Park at Beach Shelter No. 3 near the Fauntleroy ferry dock. We will provide the barbecued burgers, hot dogs, and veggie options with all the trimmings (including non-alcoholic beverages). Please bring a dessert or side dish. Enjoy your fellow democrats and elected officials and candidates.
FOR MORE … today, tonight, and beyond … see our calendar.
You never know what, or who, you’ll find in the Sanislo Elementary School library. On Tuesday, students in the summer program found vegetables among their books, as the Readers to Eaters program – whose mission is “to promote food literacy from the ground up” – made a stop, with co-founder/publisher Philip Lee:
Just two days earlier, the Readers to Eaters book “Sylvia’s Spinach“ was featured at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market (where we photographed its author Katherine Pryor). At Sanislo on Tuesday, Lee didn’t just talk about food and reading, but also about publishing (he was a co-founder of Lee and Low):
The students learned that books aren’t just written – they’re published, and there are entirely different jobs involved with that part of the process. We’re told they’ve been working on e-books of their own.
If you’re wondering what students are doing at school when it’s the middle of summer break – Sanislo librarian Craig Seasholes explains that the library “has been hosting students twice a week through July for reading, gardening and Minecrafting their way to a summer of learning.” He says the Seattle Public Library has partnered with them, too.
(WS bridge and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
It’s Seafair Wednesday, and while the Parade of Ships/Flight probably won’t affect your surface-road/trail/etc. travel, it’s worth keeping in mind, especially if you’ll be on the move at its peak early this afternoon (lots of info in our preview, here). Then tomorrow’s the first of 4 days with I-90 closures because of Blue Angels practices/performances – details here. Meantime, we’re watching today’s travels, with one advisory – workers under the bridge.
Be careful under the bridge for the next week and a half or so. SDOT is working under the Fauntleroy Expressway – the west end of the high bridge – to do a “condition survey,” spokesperson Marybeth Turner confirms. The plan for this was mentioned at a City Council briefing earlier this month, as reported here, following the disclosure that hundreds of cushions installed just a few years ago need to be replaced. Turner says the survey work “will likely” continue through next week, and might affect some of the park-and-ride spaces beneath the bridge.
While crews were working under the westernmost end at Harbor/Avalon/Spokane on Tuesday afternoon, a RapidRide bus had a close call, as documented by Hannah Letinich, who was on board at the time.
She texted us video and photos to show how close the bus came to actually making contact with the bridge – close enough that it needed tow help to get around the corner without making contact. Traffic was blocked a while and riders were taken off the bus until this was solved.
Once the bus was moved far enough away from the edge to move on safely, she said, the passengers got back on board and continued downtown.
Thanks to Leslie Allen for that photo of the Seattle fireboat Leschi off Alki during tonight’s sunset. Leschi is scheduled to be out again during the Seafair Parade of Ships tomorrow afternoon, which kicks off Fleet Week, including ship tours on the downtown waterfront. Details are in the official guide (see the PDF here, or embedded below via Scribd):
Still not sure what you’ll be seeing Wednesday afternoon? Check some of our previous years’ coverage – last Parade of Ships, in 2012, we were on board the USS Bunker Hill, so our perspective was from the middle of it all (thanks to community-contributed photos, though, we had views from the shore, too). Year before that, 2011, we covered it from Duwamish Head.
Again this year, the official time is 1:45 pm, but that’s calculated for downtown-waterfront viewing, so, based on those previous two years, we’d expect to see something from Alki around 1 pm. We’ll be out watching much sooner, of course, and will give heads-up, especially on WSB Twitter, WSB Facebook, and WSB Instagram, once ships are in view. And thanks in advance for any photo(s) you care to share!
ADDED: Navy sighting on Alki tonight, courtesy of Elain:
If you watch the Parade of Ships with binoculars, look for the sailors out on deck as they approach downtown. Meantime, you will also see one of the Blue Angels jets on Wednesday, flying with three “influencers” and one media rep, one at a time, between 11 am and 5 pm. They are Dennis Fraser, Civil Air Patrol squad commander (and a Marine Corps veteran); former Seahawk Marcus Trufant, Seafair’s current King Neptune; Sounders FC goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann; and Channel 7 anchor Michelle Millman.
Midway through her summer between leaving Denny International Middle School and entering Chief Sealth International High School, 14-year-old Jasmine Smith has achieved something big – winning the “Spell It Like It Is” competition at a national summit for youth mentors.
The news comes from Denny principal Jeff Clark and from mentoring leaders Hazel Cameron and Donald Cameron from the 4C Coalition. They took a group of six youth, two mentors, and two parents to Orlando, Florida July 18th-21st for the National Alliance of Faith and Justice‘s 6th annual “Take a Stand to Keep a Seat” National Youth Mentoring Training Summit, held in collaboration with the 41st Annual Conference and Training Institute of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice.
The official announcement explains that, “This summit/conference and training institute officially launched a multi-year national collaborative focus on the cooperation of law enforcement, incarcerated parents, mentors, and youthful stakeholders in reducing the ‘school to prison’ pipeline from America’s classrooms, particularly for African American males.” A key focus is preventing summertime “learning losses” when school is out, and that has led to the Pen Or Pencil Movement (POP). Jasmine studied for the “Spell It Like It Is” spelling competition as part of POP. Last year’s national winner was also from Seattle and also a 4C mentee, Rainier Beach High School student Savannah Bell. Congratulations to 4C, its mentees, and mentors!
One more nudge: One week from tonight, thousands of people all around the city will be out having block parties, as part of Night Out 2014 – the official time slot is 6-9 pm Tuesday, August 5th. Provided you’re not on a major arterial, if you’d like to close your street for the occasion, you need to sign up – here’s the place to start. As we do every year, we’ll be out covering West Seattle’s Night Out, and we’re always happy to hear where you’re having your party, so we can stop by for a photo and add your neighborhood to our coverage – editor@westseattleblog.com.
(UPDATE EARLY THURSDAY: Advocacy group suggests city continue the hearing; its statement is added to end of story)
(July 18 WSB photo)
A new development late today in the fight over a Morgan Junction house that’s been the subject of a showdown over foreclosure and eviction. Eight days ago, Mayor Ed Murray announced he was telling police to stand by until the circumstances Byron and Jean Barton‘s legal fight over the house was clearer; this afternoon, we received the following announcement from a law firm representing the company that bought the house at foreclosure auction in April:
Triangle Property Development has taken legal action to force Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and the Seattle Police Department to uphold the law by removing the illegal trespassers from a West Seattle house.
The company filed the document, formally called a writ of mandamus, in King County Superior Court more than a week after Murray ordered police officers to stand down rather than remove Byron and Jean Barton from the house, which they had broken into after being legally evicted by King County Sheriff’s deputies. Triangle Property Development bought the house at a foreclosure auction in April, more than two years after the Bartons stopped making mortgage payments.
“Mayor Murray’s refusal to uphold the law is undermining the legal process by preventing a property owner from lawfully using and possessing its property,’’ said Synthia Melton, legal counsel for Triangle Property Development. “The legal issues the mayor refers to in this case have already been determined by the courts. The Mayor’s inaction is supporting criminal trespass, and can set dangerous precedent for how court-ordered evictions will be executed, making it more difficult for law enforcement to perform its job.”
Last stolen car reported in Crime Watch here was found by a reader – so maybe it’ll happen this time too. Keep watch for the car stolen from Michael, who sent this note today:
Yesterday I found that my car was stolen from the front of my house on the 5000 block of Beach Drive SW [map] between 11:30 am-8 pm. A report has been filed already. The car was a white 1998 Acura CL 3.0, license 609-MMM. If anyone notices anything, could they please contact me at satwick@mindspring.com, or police.
1:19 PM: Water-watchers know the regular Bainbridge and Bremerton Washington State Ferries routes by heart, so it’s not hard to see when something digresses from the usual pattern. Right now, M/V Sealth has diverted from the Bremerton route to go check out trouble reported with M/V Tacoma, which is reported to be stalled by Bainbridge Island. You can track both via WSF’s VesselWatch.
1:26 PM: Update via Kitsap Sun reporter Josh Farley on Twitter:
The Bremerton ferry is going to tow the Bainbridge ferry, which is adrift in the water: pic.twitter.com/DpqFd6xaxp photo by @Van_Bad
— joshfarley (@joshfarley) July 29, 2014
The person whose photos he has re-tweeted is Van Badzik, who also tweeted this:
Starting the tow. pic.twitter.com/wn0Xlv1yxW
— Van Badzik (@Van_Bad) July 29, 2014
That’s West Seattle in the backdrop, east of where the ferry-towing is happening alongside Bainbridge.
1:39 PM: As noted in comments, and also now reported by the Kitsap Sun, the tug Thea Foss is headed over to help.
2:46 PM: The Tacoma is en route to Bainbridge to offload. WSF says the Bainbridge/Seattle run is one boat only TFN.
Stopped by Youngstown Cultural Arts Center at midday to check on the progress of this year’s mural project – and we discovered the young artists are officially starting work on the mural today! They actually have been working on the 210-foot retaining wall along Delridge for a while now, but first job was to get it primed, and now that that’s done, it’s mural-painting time. That’ll take about two weeks – the grand unveiling is planned for August 14th. As noted here last month, this is part of the same city-funded summertime program that resulted in more than a dozen mini-murals on signal boxes along Delridge last year. The youth are working with professional artists, and according to this online update, they welcome community volunteers, too.
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