West Seattle, Washington
26 Sunday
Police are checking on possible gunfire that has been heard – according to reports we’ve received – in North Delridge, High Point, and Puget Ridge. We haven’t heard anything yet indicating whether they’ve determined if it was shots or fireworks, but we do know that so far, no one has turned up anywhere as having BEEN shot.
Going through the city’s development files, we discovered another building with history is back in queue for demolition and replacement: The Charlestown Court Apartments at 3811 California SW (map).
We first wrote about the brick Tudor fourplex in 2007, when a mixed-use building was proposed to replace it. A landmark nomination ensued, and while it was deemed not worthy of landmark status, a new development proposal that emerged in 2008 would have raised and preserved the 1920s-built complex’s facade.
2008, of course, was the year of the building bust, and the new plan went nowhere; the apartments have stood as-is ever since. Now, we find an early-stage proposal to tear them down and replace them with eight townhouses. The proposal – attributed to a Snohomish County firm – appears to have been in the city system just a few weeks, so no formal comment period has opened yet.
SIDE NOTE: Charlestown Court is right across California from the former Charlestown Café, where a 30-unit development of townhouses and live-work units is planned and makes its Design Review debut two weeks from tonight.
Though this might not have been a crime, in the context of recent unsolved incidents, a West Seattle mom wanted to report what happened to her daughter this afternoon. E-mailed by Kezia:
I wanted the WSB readers to know that a man tried to give my teenaged daughter an unsolicited ride this afternoon. She refused but it made her uncomfortable.
She was walking to pick up her younger sibling at Roxhill Elementary after school.
She described the stranger to me as looking middle-aged, either white or light-skinned Latino driving a gray or silver car “that was like a station wagon but not.” Maybe a hatchback? I will need to talk with her more when I return home from work.
I just wanted to let West Seattle folks be aware. Hopefully parents are talking about these kind of situations with their kids. Fortunately we have (done so) in my house, so my daughter felt prepared. We discussed walking home along a busier route.
We will update later if there is more information to share. Seattle Police, meanwhile, have published these suggestions for talking to kids about staying safe outside, and inside, their homes.
(SYSO photo: Musician mentors student as they prepare to perform together onstage)
Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday is back again this year – a great day for enjoying the work of outstanding young musicians and inspiring kids who might want to follow in their footsteps. WSB is proud to be a media sponsor again this year. Here are the details:
On Saturday January 25 from 10 am- 1 pm, a free community event, Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday at Chief Sealth International High School at 2600 SW Thistle Street, kicks off with an inspiring performance by one of America’s premier youth orchestras, the Seattle Youth Symphony.
Following the performance, young violin, viola, cello and bass players from Southwest Seattle schools fill Chief Sealth IHS with the sound of their hard work and dedication. This event celebrates the elementary and middle school string players who are receiving coaching by professional musicians hired by the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras.
The free public performance by Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra features Serge Prokofiev’s powerful ballet score for Romeo and Juliet – a work that has become one of the most revered orchestral scores composed for dance. The mini-concert continues with Carl Maria von Weber’s Overture to the Der Freischutz, a Romantic-era opera inspired by German folk music.
After the public concert, violin, viola, cello and bass students from Southwest elementary schools (Concord, Roxhill, Sanislo, Arbor Heights, West Seattle, and Highland Park) and Denny International Middle School participate in an array of activities including instrument technique clinics led by top-level Youth Symphony musicians and SYSO coaches and learning how to play in a chamber music ensemble. Then the excitement builds as the string students join the Youth Symphony musicians on stage and are mentored by their high school-aged musical counterparts. All the musicians play “side-by-side” in this large orchestral setting, with the younger students inspired by the level of performance demonstrated by their older peers.
This is an event for the entire family and includes an “instrument petting zoo” organized by the West Seattle Community Orchestras introducing younger children to string instruments, and SYSO coaches and school music teachers on hand to discuss how parents can support their child’s musical learnng. Refreshments and resources are also available.
This event showcases Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras’ Southwest Seattle String Project, an initiative that provides professional musician “coaches” to work alongside public school music teachers and lead small group and individualized instruction.
(SYSO photo: Double bass musician Todd Gowers coaches Denny IMS students)
This service is provided by SYSO at no cost to the schools or the families because SYSO is committed to enabling equitable access to arts education, especially in areas which historically have had lower participation rates in instrumental music due to economic barriers.SYSO provides this program free to the Southwest Seattle public schools because of generous support from national and local funders. In fact, last month Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras was one of just twenty-three American orchestras selected by the League of American Orchestras to receive a 2013-14 Getty Education and Community Investment Grant specifically to fund SYSO’s school programs. To learn more about how to donate to SYSO’s school programs, contact info@syso.org.
West Seattle Blog and Classical KING-FM are Media Sponsors for this event. For information about the Southwest Seattle Super String Saturday event, please contact Kathleen Allen, Director of Education, Communications and Partnerships at Kathleen@syso.org.
Here’s our coverage of last year’s SWSSS event.
West Seattle’s easternmost arterial has two items of note today – not related aside from the street they share:
3601 WEST MARGINAL WAY ‘URBAN FARM’: Last month, while the state was taking applications from prospective recreational-marijuana businesses, we mentioned that two applicants were seeking to produce marijuana in a building at 3601 West Marginal Way, alongside the West Seattle Bridge.
(King County Assessor photo)
There are now two permit applications in with the Department of Planning and Development – one filed in December to “change use of a portion of existing floor and mezzanine from heavy manufacturing to urban farm in existing commercial building,” one filed this week for an interior wall. The state has not yet announced its final licensing decisions.
7116 WEST MARGINAL WAY DECISION NEAR: Four months after the homeless encampment cleared out, this partly-city-owned site’s future might become clearer next week. We just checked with Food Lifeline to see if its proposal to build a regional center there for its hunger-relief work was still in play; the organization tells WSB this is one of two sites it has been reviewing and that its board is expected to make a decision this month about which to pursue.
(WSB photo added 5:24 pm: New Chamber CEO Lynn Dennis with past chair =Dave Montoure)
The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce has just announced its new board lineup and its newly hired CEO, successor to longtime leader Patti Mullen, who left two years ago. Here’s the announcement from the Chamber’s new chair Nancy Woodland:
Today the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors is pleased to announce the hiring of Lynn Dennis as its full-time Chief Executive Officer.
The Chamber of Commerce is the leading advocate for the business community in West Seattle, connecting business owners, providing networking and educational resource opportunities and supporting the vibrancy of the diverse local business community.
“The CEO is the first person many new employers, business owners, developers, citizens and legislators contact when investigating the many economic strengths of our region. Lynn has exactly the right skill set to represent the Chamber as we continue to move forward to provide even more value to our members and the West Seattle community,” says Nancy Woodland, 2014 Chamber Board Chair.
Ms. Dennis served for the past year in an interim capacity, with the Chamber, focused on strengthening the Chamber’s infrastructure, establishing systems and setting the stage for future growth. She comes with more than 30 years’ experience in management positions with expertise in strategic planning, operations management, marketing, community outreach and systems implementation. As Ms. Dennis moves into the role of CEO, Mary Cropley will continue as the Chamber’s part-time Financial Manager.
“The Chamber is a sought-after voice with local government, community leadership.and our local business community,” shares Dave Montoure, immediate Past Board Chair. “Lynn’s experience as both a small business owner and in corporate management strengthens the voice of our local Chamber. We know we are in good hands as we work towards bolstering our engagement with local businesses, government and the greater West Seattle community. ”
In addition, the Chamber announces its 2014 Board of Directors and Executive Officers
Officers
Chair: Nancy Woodland – WestSide Baby [WSB file photo at left]
1st Vice Chair: Hamilton Gardiner – Holmquist & Gardiner
Treasurer: Ryan Letson – Jackson, Morgan & Hunt
Secretary: Paul Prentice – Prentice Design
Past Chair: Dave Montoure – West 5Directors
Wendy Damoth – Flower Lab
Sally del Fierro – Port of Seattle
Patrick Jablonski – Nucor Steel
Dana Perreault – Red 27 Engraving
Michael Pivar – Cornerstone Financial Group
Elizabeth Pluhta – South Seattle Community College
Trish Throop – Eldercare ConsultingTo learn more about your West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, please contact Lynn Dennis, CEO at lynn@wschamber.com or call 206-932-5685. The Chamber’s next After-Hours event is at the Fast Signs Grand Opening on Thursday, January 16, and the 2014 Member Annual Meeting luncheon will be Thursday, January 30 (location TBD).
(Photo tweeted Wednesday night by @Russell_News)
With two days until The Game, Seahawks fever is intensifying. Again last night, as visible from West Seattle’s northeast-facing shores, the Russell Investments building displayed #12 – tweaked since the Friday test shown here. The photo above is from Russell’s Twitter feed (we took a photo from Seacrest earlier in the evening, but that was before the display reached its final configuration). Update: Russell says this will be repeated FRIDAY night. Meantime, some of what’s happening today/tonight:
MICROHOUSING-RULES-RELATED APPEAL HEARING CONTINUES: Starting at 1:45 pm, testimony resumes in the Hearing Examiner’s chambers downtown, in a community-activist-led challenge to a city decision that the proposed rules for “microhousing” don’t need environmental review. This picks up where Tuesday left off. (Municipal Tower downtown, 40th floor)
CHALLAH BREAD-MAKING WORKSHOP: 5:30 pm at Delridge Community Center. Details in our calendar listing – contact the center to see if there’s room. (4501 Delridge Way SW)
Tonight’s peninsula-wide event:
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK, JANUARY EDITION: 6-9 pm, 18 venues around West Seattle welcome you to see local art and, in many cases, meet the artist(s) whose work is on display. Here’s the walking map/venue list for the winter quarter, which includes WSB sponsors Chaco Canyon Organic Café, Click! Design That Fits, Hotwire Online Coffeehouse, Wallflower Custom Framing, West Seattle Cyclery, West Seattle Office Junction, and a dozen other local businesses supporting the arts; see artist previews on the official WS Art Walk website.
COLLEGE APPLICATION SUPPORT: Tonight’s event offering support for college and financial-aid applications is at Chief Sealth International High School, but it’s open to all local 12th graders and their families. Details in our calendar listing. 6 pm, Sealth Library. (2600 SW Thistle)
MINI-OPEN HOUSE ON METRO CUTS: Tonight Metro reps will be at the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s monthly meeting in White Center, which will start half an hour earlier than usual – 6:30 pm, to facilitate Metro’s mini-open house on the proposed cuts. (1243 SW 112th)
READ THE KORAN IN 4 WEEKS: The next session led by First Lutheran Church of West Seattle pastor Rev. Ron Marshall, who’s been teaching this class for more than a decade, starts tonight at 7 pm – details in our calendar listing. (4105 California SW)
(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:03 PM: As Thursday begins, we look ahead to next Tuesday (January 14th), your chance to show you care about West Seattle’s transportation challenges, just by being there when the WS Transportation Coalition hosts reps from all levels of government. They plan to talk not only about the problems, but also about what can be done to tackle them. 6:30 pm in the theater at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center – details on the WSTC website. Meantime, today’s traffic watch continues…
7:52 AM: In Georgetown, what SDOT says is a medical response is blocking the two center lanes of 4th S. at Front St., and Metro has rerouted the 131 and 132 off 4th between Michigan and Lucile
8:09 AM: If you are/were commuting with Danielle McGarrityvia the Seattle-Bainbridge ferry, you might have seen this:
Thanks to Danielle for sending photos! P.S. The Georgetown scene on 4th is clear and 131/132 are back to their normal routes.
5:48 PM: If you’re heading onto southbound 99 from north of downtown – note there is a vehicle reported to be blocking one lane in the Battery Street Tunnel.
Add another project to the Southwest Design Review Board‘s schedule for the first few months of 2014: A North Admiral apartment project first reported here last October, 16 units replacing a fourplex and house at 1606 California SW (map), is tentatively set to debut before the board on March 6th. The project site is zoned L(owrise)-3 and is proposed as three stories, with 21 offstreet parking spaces. (It’s not in a frequent-transit zone, so parking is required.) This is the eighth West Seattle project scheduled for design review in the next eight weeks.
Four local-business notes to share tonight:
WEST SEATTLE FABRIC COMPANY STREAMLINES: North of Morgan Junction, you might have noticed the former Stitch and Sew Studio location at 5910 California SW has a “for lease” sign in the window. After 14 months, proprietor Monica Skov tells WSB she has decided to streamline and host classes out of their ongoing flagship retail location, West Seattle Fabric Company in The Admiral District. Monica tells WSB, “The Stitch & Sew Studio was a great experience for us to know exactly what our customers want – and simple, small, ‘learn to sew’ classes are what are needed.” So that’s what they will be offering, out of WSFC from now on, at 2210 California SW.
NEW OWNER FOR SMALLCLOTHES: The children’s store smallclothes at 3215 California SW has a new owner, Anne Thompson, who invites you to stop in and say hi. If you haven’t been there before, Anne says smallclothes is known best for “very well maintained, brand name, used clothing” for kids. She is a mom of two daughters and was looking to return to work outside the home after four years “when this opportunity came across my lap … I just couldn’t pass up the chance to own my own business.” She says smallclothes is now open on Sundays and while it’s under new ownership, its popular staffers are still there, and she’s added an additional staffer to help with logistics.
BENI HOSHI FOLLOWUP: We first noted in Monday night’s business roundup that Beni Hoshi Teriyaki by the 35th/Fauntleroy bridge entrance had suddenly gone out of business and removed its signs. We have since checked with the property owner, Seattle City Light, whose spokesperson Tyson Lin says the building was leased by the owner of a prior business and subleased to Beni Hoshi, so SCL has no direct knowledge of what happened. He also says the 2011 mention of studying the site for low-income housing development didn’t go anywhere: “(The site) was considered, but in the end was not included as an opportunity for this purpose.” So we still don’t know what happened and what’s next for the building.
ZIPPY’S TRIBUTE/BENEFIT: While writing this roundup, we noticed the following, posted on Facebook by Zippy’s Giant Burgers:
Our special burger (not really a burger in the traditional sense) for the month will be the pork tenderloin. This special is to honor Rahel’s father, who passed away over the weekend. He was an Iowa boy and the pork tenderloin sandwich is an Iowa favorite. On a trip to Wapello Iowa last spring we met with the local butcher and he gave us the lowdown on how to make this deep-fried treat. Simple and tasty.
*pounded out and tenderized piece of center cut pork loin. marinated in seasoned buttermilk over night. coated in cracker crumbs (we were directed to make our own cracker crumbs using regular old saltines)
*deep fried.
*served up on a bun simply dressed with yellow mustard, pickles and lettuce.
$8 – one dollar from each sandwich sold will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association Washington State Chapter.
Zippy’s is at 9614 14th SW.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch reader reports tonight – first, from Patrice:
Thought you might like to know that my catalytic converter, muffler, tailpipe were all stolen right off of my car sometime Monday night.
Turns out I have a wanted item. I drive a ’97 Toyota 4-Runner and the Cat converter is full of precious metals. I looked up info on a 4-runner blog and learned that some cities get rashes of these thefts and it only takes about 30 seconds to cut it off. Which is what they did to my car. Cut it all clean off.
I live in the Admiral District on Walnut. [map] The car was parked in the street. Other folks may want to know so they can try preventive measures. I’m just sick about it.
And from Lori:
Monday early a.m. (between 3:30 and 5) and early evening two incidents of a person with a flashlight outside houses in the 50th and Alaska [map] neighborhood. Possible mailbox thefts. Police have been notified.
More than five years after voters passed the Parks and Green Spaces Levy in 2008, Seattle Parks and Recreation is expected to bring a new measure to the ballot this year. First, it’s holding three community meetings, one here in West Seattle, to see what you think of the work done by a citizens’ advisory committee to get to this point. The meeting is set for 1 pm Saturday, January 25th, at High Point Community Center (free child care provided); read on for the Parks announcement of what it’s about, and how to offer your thoughts even if you can’t be there:
A big sunspot is acting up, and that’s led to solar-storm activity, with the possibility of aurora sightings if the sky clears at all. First word came from our Skies Over West Seattle correspondent Alice Enevoldsen, and we also received tips from Mike and Mat. The best explanation is at spaceweather.com; you can also watch the Space Weather Prediction Center. According to a chart shared by Alice, the peak activity should be between about 10 pm our time tonight at 4 am tomorrow. She says it’s “worth driving out from under the clouds for.” (Unfortunately we’re not seeing anyplace cloud-free, even on the longer-range weather radar. But there’s always hope.)
(Click image to see full-size map)
Residential streets in Arbor Heights and Fauntleroy will get a bit of a facelift this summer – with a process called microsurfacing that SDOT is using instead of chip seal. The map above shows the general project area, but that does NOT mean every block of every street will get this treatment. But some preparation work is starting now:
To prepare the streets for microsurfacing, SDOT crews will make minor repairs such as filling potholes, depressions and cracks. Locations identified as candidates for such repairs may be marked with white paint.
Trees and vegetation will be trimmed as necessary to allow the microsurfacing crews to complete their work.
The project area is divided into five sections. The northeast section will be prepared first, and SDOT will prepare each section before moving onto the next.
The prep work will begin as early as January as weather permits and may continue into the summer. This work is expected to occur intermittently as SDOT deploys crews for this project and for other maintenance projects throughout the city.
Full details about the project are here, including contact info at the end of that page if you have questions.
11:08 AM: The official announcement has just been made at City Hall: Mayor Ed Murray has appointed a new interim Chief of Police, retired former assistant chief Harry Bailey. 
The previous interim chief, Jim Pugel, returns to his previous assistant-chief role. The mayor is appointing a committee to help find a permanent chief and hopes it will happen fast – by April. More details are in this report from our partners at The Seattle Times (we’ll update the link when they publish a longer story later). Though Chief Bailey retired more than five years ago, he worked as a liaison/consultant for SPD and the mayor’s office as they worked through reform, ethics, and community relations in the past few years, as did Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Joe Kessler, who is with Bailey in the 2012 photo at right, shared with us during Night Out coverage, when the two visited SW Precinct Advisory Committee rep Pete Spalding (who shared the photo that night) and neighbors on Pigeon Point. First reaction in is from the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, which calls the appointment an “excellent decision,” adding, “Chief Bailey is highly respected by the rank and file officers and the communities of Seattle.”
12:10 PM: The official news release is out and it includes word of a new city website related to the search for a permanent chief; there we find that community forums are set as part of the search, including one in West Seattle, 6 pm January 30th at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW).
ADDED: The mayor has also sent a letter to the SPD rank-and-file – see it here (PDF).
(From “old desolate” via the WSB Flickr group – captioned, “The blackberries always win”)
Happy Wednesday! Lots on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar today – here’s a sampling:
NEW YEAR, NEW BABY? The drop-in support group for parents of babies up to 1 year old, Early Days, meets Wednesdays, noon-2 pm, at Nurturing Expressions (WSB sponsor) in The Junction. Details in our calendar listing. Just show up! (4746 44th SW, #201)
ENTREPRENEUR/CO-WORKING MEETUP: Noon-1:15 pm, drop by new WSB sponsor West Seattle Office Junction to meet and talk with other local entrepreneurs, telecommuters, etc. – get feedback and inspiration. (5230-B California SW)
SOUTHWEST DISTRICT COUNCIL’S NEW MEETING SPOT: The council that includes reps from groups around what the city calls the Southwest District – mostly western West Seattle – has changed meeting locations, starting tonight. 6:30 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle, the big upstairs meeting room. Topics include the possibility that city leaders might seek to re-map districts to correspond with the new City Council districts – reducing 13 districts citywide to 7 – here’s an overlay map of how the current city districts correspond to the new council districts:
Tonight’s full SWDC agenda is here. The council usually meets on the 1st Wednesday, but that of course was New Year’s Day. (California/Oregon)
34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS: As previewed here last weekend, a big agenda here too – awards, legislative update, health-care-reform progress report. See the agenda on the 34th Dems’ site here. Meeting starts at 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy, south side of the historic schoolhouse. (9131 California SW)
PUNK ROCK AEROBICS: 7 pm at Hiawatha Community Center, a new series starts, for ages 11 and up. More in our calendar listing. (2700 California SW)
FOOTNOTE: Did you know the location of Elm Place SW, in today’s featured photo, without looking it up? We didn’t! So here’s the map.
If hummingbirds spoke, we imagine these two might have sounded like the seagulls in “Finding Nemo“ – “mine, mine, mine, mine.” The feeder fight between these two Anna’s Hummingbirds was captured by Vlad Oustimovitch in Gatewood, and we thank him for letting us share it. (The local Audubon Society talks about Anna’s hummingbirds and their feeder behavior here.)
(Latest bridge and Viaduct views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:03 AM: Here we go again. Hoping everyone will get to work, school, etc., more easily than Tuesday. As always, we’ll update as necessary …
8:37 AM: No news is good news, in this case.
Close one last night for West Seattle High School, whose athletics staff shares this summary:
The West Seattle HS boys basketball team traveled across town to play Seattle Prep, the #10-ranked team in the state, on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats played hard throughout the game and were prime for the upset on the road, but a few late turnovers cost them the game, falling 60-56.
The Wildcats took the lead in the early stages of the fourth quarter and held that lead until the five-minute mark, but empty possessions let Prep jump ahead for good.
WSHS senior DeAndre Love was game-high scorer with 30 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds and added 5 blocks. Freshman point guard Nate Pryor and sophomore guards Andre Moore and Carter Golgart also played well for the Wildcats.
WSHS travels to Franklin on Friday to play the Quakers in a grudge match after WSHS beat the then-#4 -ranked Franklin team a year ago. Varsity tips Friday at 8 pm.
The WSHS girls face Prep tonight.
(Photos courtesy WSDOT, shared via Flickr)
That’s one of three photos WSDOT shared late today along with an update on what’s being done to figure out how to get “Bertha,” the Highway 99 tunnel machine, going again, one month after it got stuck. The update says the steel and boulder are some of the items that passed through Bertha and onto its conveyor belt before it stopped moving forward in early December; this section of pipe was removed, too. They still aren’t sure the widely reported pipe is the whole problem. So they’re drilling to continue investigating, as you might have noticed to the west what’s left of the Alaskan Way Viaduct:
Read the entire update here. What this will cost in terms of time and money has not yet been determined, since they say they don’t know yet what it’ll take to get tunneling back on track, but KIRO TV quotes the state Transportation Director as suggesting the tunnel contractor could be held responsible for not clearing the way first.
The family of the late Lucille Brisky Dodd is sharing this remembrance:
Lucille Brisky Dodd, 82, passed away on November 21, 2013, while recovering from hip surgery.
Lucille was born in Mount Vernon, WA on December 13, 1930, the youngest child (“Babe”) of John and Ella Lowman Brisky, and the sister of Maryl, Charlotte, and Billy. Beloved mother of Steve Dodd of Downers Grove, IL, John Dodd, Tom Dodd, Lynnea (Kirk) Manahan, and Donna Oslin, all of Seattle. Grandmother to Christy, Dani, Morgan, Emily, Cole, Clara, Tony, and Heather. Lucille was an independent and unique woman and will be greatly missed.
Special thanks to Admiral Heights Merrill Gardens and to the medical staff at Highline Hospital for their exceptional care and kindness. Remembrances may be made to the Humane Society or an animal charity of your choice.
As per her wishes, there will be no public service.
(WSB publishes obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
Thanks to Joe Szilagyi from the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council (which meets tonight) and the West Seattle Transportation Coalition (which meets a week from tonight) for the photo – long-awaited sidewalk construction is under way on 30th SW, between SW 97th and SW Roxbury. It’s part of a safety project focused on helping kids get to and from Roxhill Elementary; the full scope of the project is described on this SDOT webpage. Joe says the crews on scene estimate the work will last four to six weeks, depending on the weather.
(Photo tweeted by @shermanscorner)
4:05 PM: Thanks to the caller who reported a crash at the 1st Avenue South ramp to the westbound West Seattle Bridge, just as the Seattle Fire medic call appeared on the log. The caller said a motorcycle rider had gone down; radio communications from SFD confirm that, and describe the rider as “conscious and alert.”
4:10 PM: Just announced via radio: “The on-ramp from 1st to the West Seattle Bridge is going to be entirely shut down.”
4:21 PM: Update – sounds like the ramp will NOT be closed for long. Added a tweeted photo; @shermanscorner says the people who were on the ramp when the crash happened (we don’t have info on the circumstances) were directed to back up to clear it.
4:36 PM: Fire units have cleared from the scene – we haven’t heard official confirmation but the ramp was expected to reopen once that happened.
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