West Seattle, Washington
29 Friday
Their mission is to help those in dire need of emergency assistance – and right now, they’re sending up a flare on their own behalf. Expenses have gone up for West Seattle Helpline, and in order to keep helping the number of families for whom they’ve been able to offer assistance, they have to raise $3,500 by month’s end. Board vice president Brooks Riendl explains:
I am issuing a challenge to our Board, Advisory Board and the West Seattle community to raise $3000 and I will match $500. Our Board President, Katie Plett has offered $250 in matching funds as well. … We have secured a total of $1850 in donations for this challenge to date and need help with the remaining $1650. Donations can be made through our website or by contacting Anna Fern at: (206) 932-2746.
Helpline programs also include Clothesline, which helps match families in need with donated clothing. While this is a cash-donation request from Helpline right now, you can also help by attending their annual fundraiser, the Taste of West Seattle, with dozens of local restaurants donating tasty treats – that’s coming up a week from tomorrow, Thursday 5/19, and you can buy your tickets online right now by going here.
Despite the downpour, about 20 people are out along 35th SW near Juneau – site of a recent deadly motorcycle-car collision – for a rally urging drivers to slow down. As you probably know, the propensity for speeding on the straightaway has given the road the nickname “I-35.” Denise Sharify of Neighborhood House, who led the crusade that resulted in a similar rally almost three years ago, organized this one too.
Also out: Seattle Police, with Community Police Team Officer Kevin McDaniel on hand, and Traffic Unit vehicles in evidence too (our crew saw one chase down a speeder). Plus TV crews in abundance.
Sharify (talking with KIRO’s Graham Johnson in the photo above) says they’ll be out there as long as people concerned about safety are willing to join them – scheduled end time 6 pm.
She also says they may plan another rally, so this doesn’t fall too far off the front burner. (Additional photos added 5:31 pm.)
Going to the Sounders game on Saturday night (after West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day)? Just got word that the West Seattle Water Taxi is adding a late run to accommodate fans afterward – an 11 pm departure from Pier 50 to Seacrest.
Seattle Public Schools‘ interim superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield is coming to West Seattle for a community forum. The Alliance for Education and Neighborhood House are co-sponsoring the event on May 23rd – one week from Monday – 6-8 pm at High Point’s Neighborhood Center, 6400 Sylvan Way. Along with Dr. Enfield, school board president Steve Sundquist and several other district officials will be on hand, and there will be free child care available, along with dinner.
Both the online and “printable” maps for this Saturday’s 7th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – 256 sales, big and small, all over the peninsula! – are available now, as the big day nears. In case you missed the debut of the latter, late last night, you can download it here (12-page PDF). For those who absolutely cannot print it out, we’re distributing a limited amount of pre-printed copies to a few locations later today (they’re being photocopied right now); more on that later.
The biggest value of the “printable” version is the sale list – we have four sections of actual map in it, but 7 full pages of sale listings, coded by the same numbers you’ll find on the online-only map version (which you will find here on its own WSB page – if you have already browsed it and just want to make notes about individual sales, each one is printable from the info-bubble that comes up when you click a line or marker).
Note that we have made notations for the BENEFIT, BLOCK SALE, and GROUP SITE locations – and also, the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day Facebook page continues to amass wall posts from both sellers offering more details on what they have, and buyers who are looking for specific items.
In the meantime, we’ll see you 9 am-3 pm this Saturday, May 14th (cloudy forecast for now but they say that every year, and last year the sun broke out), from Sale #256 in the south, to Sale #99 in the north, from Sale #126 in the west to Sale #249 in the east … and 252 others inbetween!
(Photo by MIKE SIEGEL/SEATTLE TIMES [WSB partner], republished with permission)
Hundreds watched it arrive in Elliott Bay, passing West Seattle shores late last night (WSB coverage here) – and this morning, the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) is in place at Vigor Shipyard (formerly Todd) on Harbor Island for three months of work – also visible from the West Seattle Bridge, as Brian Presser from TouchTech Systems observed while in this morning’s nightmare traffic (WSB coverage of THAT, here):
Hours after the SBX arrival, officials from the Missile Defense Agency and Vigor hosted media reps to get a somewhat closer look, though tours on board the facility itself were not offered. Army Col. Mark Arn, the SBX project manager for the MDA, explained a few things you might not have heard, even if you have been following our coverage over the past week. For one, a little more on why it’s here for the next 3 months: Routine maintenance, upgrades including power and radar – such as, enabling it to hook into shore power so its diesel generators don’t have to run ALL the time – and work on its thrusters, since it’s coming up on a “5-year certification renewal.” That requires a shipyard at a deep-water port (at least 50 feet), and Vigor qualified.
Yes, he reiterated, it won’t be operating while here. So what if somebody just accidentally flipped the switch? That can’t happen, Col. Arn insisted – putting it into operation requires a sequence of processes far beyond just pressing a button or flipping a switch. By the way, up to 100 people can live on board, though they have been closer to 85 lately. How sensitive is it, as a missile (or whatever) detector? He had an interesting analogy in this next minute-plus of video (the main questioner you hear is longtime aerospace reporter Glenn Farley from KING5), along with information on what’s under the dome:
Col. Arn said the SBX arrival here now also has to do with its schedule; it participates in missile-defense tests, including one less than a month ago. It’s the only one of its kind, and he said there are no current plans for another one; he mentioned its total cost in the vicinity of a billion dollars. The work at Vigor is estimated at $27 million.
ADDED 5:33 PM: One more view, from our friend Rebecca Nelson, who runs Ravenna Blog, has some nautical chops, and was first to tell us (about two weeks ago!) that something big was headed this way – a look from the water:
One WSB’er e-mailed to call this the worst traffic he’d seen in five years of living here. We lived the commute too this morning since we were trying to get to the shipyard for the “media availability” regarding the Sea-Based X-Band Radar that was towed in last night (WSB nighttime coverage here, today’s followup here) – and we made it maybe a mile in the first half-hour toward The Bridge. Fauntleroy was backed up, 35th was backed up, Avalon was backed up, Andover to Delridge was backed up. The 911 log showed no incidents anywhere on the West Seattle Bridge; we have called SDOT to see if their systems indicated what made this so much worse than usual. (At least one TV traffic person reportedly blamed an I-5 crash.) More to come. And remember – the Alaskan Way Viaduct has closures this weekend, and next Monday starts “The Big Squeeze” lane reductions. (P.S. Just after publishing this, we headed back into WS up Avalon – and it’s STILL backed up halfway up the hill in the bridge-bound direction – see iPhone photo above.)
11:11 AM: The photo above is from Oliver, showing what the travel-time signs on Fauntleroy said when he passed through. We’ve also heard back from Marybeth Turner at SDOT; she talked with the Traffic Management Center manager in their agency, who also blamed I-5: “He said that there were several accidents on I-5 that backed up traffic.” We don’t see a whole lot on the WSDOT_Traffic Twitter feed but will be asking for their thoughts.
Tonight, principals for both Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School will be among the guests as the Sealth and Denny PTSAs talk about how the schools’ co-location will work starting next school year – the new Denny’s almost done. 7 pm, Sealth library; also from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
SCHOOL BOARD REP CHAT: Seattle Public Schools concern or question? The next informal discussion with board president and West Seattle rep Steve Sundquist is today at Delridge Library (5423 Delridge Way SW), 11 am – 12:30 pm.
SAFETY RALLY ON 35TH SW: Weather permitting, the Community Action Team of High Point is hosting a Traffic Slow Down Rally 4-6 pm, all participants welcome. Demonstrators will be centered along 35th from Juneau.
CANDIDATES’ FORUM: The August primary is approaching fast, so a candidates’ forum is at the heart of the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting, 7 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy (agenda here).
WEST SEATTLE COOLMOM: CoolMom May meeting at C&P Coffee (WSB sponsor; 5612 California Ave SW), 7 pm. Transportation and climate change are the focus
JOB-SEARCH WORKSHOP: Free workshop “Job Interview Basics” at SSCC WorkSource – see full story here.
WEST SEATTLE GARDEN TOUR COMMITTEE: If you are interested in becoming a volunteer member of the West Seattle Garden Tour, tonight’s the monthly meeting and potluck to help plan this year’s 17th Annual West Seattle Garden Tour. The WSGT Committee meets monthly on the second Wednesday of the month at an appointed member’s home for a potluck feast and to review the steady progress of the Tour. 6:30 pm; RSVP to info@westseattlegardentour.com.
Also from Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting: ANA president Katy Walum announced who’s playing this year’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, one of which is actually at Alki:
JULY 28, THE GOTHARD SISTERS They fiddle, they dance, they sing.
AUGUST 4, MASSY FERGUSON: Rockin’ local faves – the clip above is from their West Seattle Summer Fest concert last year.
AUGUST 11, YOGOMAN BURNING BAND (this concert’s at Alki) “Happy hardcore, ska, soul” is how they describe their music online.
AUGUST 18, LEROY BELL AND HIS ONLY FRIENDS. Longtime songwriter now singing his own songs.
AUGUST 25, CASPAR BABYPANTS: Needs no introduction.
SEPTEMBER 1, STAR ANNA AND THE LAUGHING DOGS. “Alt-country, rock, Americana” is their self-description.
The concerts are free, as ANA has rounded up another slate of sponsors (once again including WSB); they’re outdoors, bring your own chair/blanket, and more details, such as available refreshments, will be available as the season gets closer.
The Ratzenberger family and volunteers are planning an awareness event that includes some fun exercise in an effort to educate people that 65% of those diagnosed with lung cancer never smoked cigarettes.
LOCAL FAMILY RALLIES AROUND 31 YEAR OLD NEVER-SMOKER DIAGNOSED WITH NUMBER ONE CANCER KILLER
Seattle, WA (April 29, 2011) – More shocking words had never been heard by the Ratzenberger family. At just 31 years old, Sara Ratzenberger, a healthy and active young woman, never expected to hear that she had lung cancer.
“When I woke up from surgery, I expected to hear everything went well. Instead I saw the teary-eyed looks of my parents and my husband. Then my husband said “it’s not good, it’s cancer, Sara.” To this day, it is still unbelievable that after six months of being misdiagnosed with pneumonia – having been tested several times and having been told I did not have cancer – that my story turned into this” says Sara, shaking her head.
Although smoking is a major cause of this disease, about 65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers. And Sara’s family is committed to educating the community about this and other misconceptions surrounding lung cancer. The family will host Breathe Deep Seattle, Washington’s first 5K event to benefit LUNGevity Foundation and the organization’s mission to fund lung cancer research.
“The key is to raise money for research,” states Amy May, Volunteer Event Coordinator for Breathe Deep Seattle, “Sara’s cancer was found in stage four, which is not uncommon. But that needs to change because only 16% of lung cancer diagnoses happen during the earliest and most curable stage of the disease, making lung cancer the most deadly cancer in America. The 5-year survival rate for lung cancer is only 15% and that is unacceptable.”
May has joined forces with LUNGevity Foundation, one of the largest private funders of lung cancer research to host Washington’s inaugural Breathe Deep Seattle 5K. The organization, like May, is dedicated to ending lung cancer now.
On Saturday August 13, 2011, the 5K will take place in Seattle’s Lincoln Park. The event welcomes runners and walkers and registration fees for the event range from $10 to $30. Runners will be timed. Event participants will receive a free t-shirt and ice cream, provided by Husky Deli, after the event. Event participants will also receive their own web page, which can be used to raise funds toward lung cancer research.
“1 in 14 Americans are impacted by lung cancer and so you have likely been touched by the disease, whether your realize it or not. It’s time to care about lung cancer and those it touches. Sara and I hope the community will support this critical cause by helping us to raise our $15,000 fundraising goal,” shares May.
To register or make a donation, please visit www.lungevity.org/seattle or call the LUNGevity office at 312-464-0716.
The Breathe Deep Seattle walk/run will be a wonderful way for participants to spend a summer morning. Participants will enjoy a beautiful one mile trail run through evergreen forest, with views from a bluff to the Puget Sound below. Then, wind their way down to the beach and run for 2 miles along the water on paved and hard-packed gravel travel. Wildlife, waves, mountain and sound views will inspire!
On our way to the second house-fire call in less than three hours, this time in the 6500 block of 21st SW (map).
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB, added 11:23 pm)
9:43 PM UPDATE: Firefighters at the scene tell us this started as a kitchen fire and spread into the attic (which required crews to “ventilate” the roof). But it too was put out fairly quickly. No injuries reported. Crews are mopping up.
11:22 PM UPDATE: The Red Cross was called out to assist the family. Also note, the address was later corrected to 23rd SW.
(Editor’s note, 11:11 pm: We watched till it passed Don Armeni; have added video and photos)
(Photo by Chris Fruitrich, added at 11:09 pm)
In comments on our morning preview, we’ve been getting reports that the Sea-Based X-Band Radar – the huge platform on its way to Vigor Shipyard on Harbor Island for three months of work, as we’ve been reporting since last week – is now in view from Alki. Photos as soon as available – the one above is a screengrab from earlier as it passed Hansville. (And they’re having a media event first thing tomorrow morning, so we’ll find out even more about this structure that will be a local fixture for months to come.)
(Dusk photo by Christopher Boffoli, added at 9:37 pm)
9:09 PM: On the boardwalk at Alki. If it were brightly sunny, it would be fairly visible now that it’s entering the bay. But at cloudy twilight it’s mostly lost in the dusk. Will likely be most interesting in another hour-plus as it approaches the shipyard, close enough, we’d imagine, that it’ll be visible despite the low light. It’s proceeding fairly slowly.
9:39 PM: Added a photo Christopher Boffoli took at dusk. Most striking thing we notice as it gets closer to Alki is all the flashing blue lights from what must be escort boats, so much lower in the water.
11:13 PM: Back from watching till it made its way past Don Armeni, where we shot the video now embedded above this line, with the structure seeming to eclipse the downtown skyscrapers.
12:12 AM: Adding a few more photos that we’ve received. The one immediately above is from Gary Jones. A later shot from Christopher:
And from Paul Arthur:
Though SBX is not to operate while here, its regular mission is described as “to identify ballistic missile threats and relay that information to the battle management, command, control and communications system for missile defense.” It’s based in the western Aleutian Islands.
We’re at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting, where the sticker/decal you see on the vehicle window has made its debut. They’re available for purchase as of right now – $5 each. You can e-mail ANA president Katy Walum at katy.walum@gmail.com, or come to an ANA event such as the monthly meetings (2nd Tuesday, 7 pm, lower-level meeting room at Admiral Church), upcoming Summer Concerts at Hiawatha in July/August/September, or the 4th of July Kids’ Parade. Katy says, “Show your Admiral pride and support the neighborhood.” More to come from the meeting, including the lineup for this year’s concert series (Thursday nights July 28-Sept. 1st)!
7:12 PM: House fire call in 600 block of SW Othello, which is off Highland Park Way (map). On our way.
7:21 PM: Scanner indicates the fire is small, possibly having started in the curtains. One person is reportedly being treated and may go to the hospital – what the injuries might be, we don’t know yet.
7:45 PM UPDATE: On the scene, firefighters confirm it was a small fire in some curtains inside one unit of a duplex, and extinguished quickly. They are checking someone out, but whatever injuries don’t appear to be serious.
Thanks to the unidentified Electric Train Shop fan who just called to point this out to us: The Junction business has published an announcement on its website – it’s closing in about a month and moving to Burien. The writeup blames the impending move of the state liquor store (reported here in February) for a domino effect forcing the move.
Since Zippy’s Giant Burgers owner Blaine Cook told us last week that today would be the “best-case scenario” for opening the bigger new restaurant in White Center, we just checked back with a visit to the opening-soon location (9614 14th SW). Sadly, a few things still aren’t ready (hot-water heater trouble, for example) so he tells WSB it’ll be at least a few more days.
(Photo courtesy William Khazaal, pictured with son Gabriel)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Inspired by the success of West Seattle for Japan, the multi-business quake-relief benefit organized by West 5‘s Dave Montoure, another communitywide fundraising effort is in the works, and seeking more participants.
It’s World MS Day Seattle on May 25th, and while is meant to be citywide, it is West Seattle-born, and so far, most of the participants are from WS and White Center.
World MS Day Seattle is the brainchild of a West Seattleite, 36-year-old William Khazaal. If his name sounds familiar – maybe that’s because his family runs the popular Alki restaurant Phoenecia.
For William, it’s not just an idea – it’s for the fight of his life, as well as millions of others.
Right about the same time his dad died, William not only was studying at the University of Washington business school, and subsequently using his skills to help his mom and sisters reopen Phoenecia in early 2010, he was dealing with having been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And all along the way, he was also busy as father of two sons, his now-almost-6-year-old, Gabriel, pictured with him atop this story, and Blakely, who is approaching 3.)
With all that, he barely had time to stop and think about what the diagnosis meant.
Thanks to everyone who’s asked about the fire/police response to Seacrest late this morning. A diver got into trouble – but there’s more to the story, as you can see in the photo above, shared by Roger. King County Department of Transportation spokesperson Rochelle Ogershok confirms that as the Rachel Marie was pulling into Seacrest, one of their crew members spotted “someone waving in the water, as though they were in trouble. When they got closer, they could see something was wrong. So the deckhand jumped into the water,” and managed to get the diver out of the water. The Coast Guard was called, and they along with other authorities took over. We know Seattle Fire units responded and are waiting for official word from them; WSB contributor Katie Meyer says scanner traffic at the time indicated the diver was described as a man around 50, believed to have been in distress after a rapid ascent. We’ll add any more information we get about his status.
ADDED 5:31 PM: SFD didn’t have additional information about the diver, aside from the same info we reported above. However, there’s a bit more about the heroism. KCDOT hadn’t heard about this just yet when we called – but now they’ve put together an entire news release:
King County employees participated in the rescue of a distressed scuba diver Tuesday morning as the Rachel Marie water taxi pulled away from the Seacrest Dock for their regularly scheduled 11 a.m. sailing. Several passengers witnessed the rescue operation.
“This rescue is yet another example of our county employees’ deep commitment to public service and their instinct to go beyond the call of duty,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “I thank the crew of the Rachel Marie for their good work, and I wish the diver a speedy recovery.”
Shortly into the trip across Elliott Bay, the ship’s crew noticed a diver who appeared to be in distress. The boat captain, Neal Amaral, maneuvered the vessel close to the diver as he called for assistance over the radio. Crew member Aaron Barnett [county photo at right], quickly dressed in an onboard rescue suit, jumped into the water, and assisted the diver. Barnett was in the water for about 10 minutes while the diver was maneuvered into a sling.
“We knew what we had to do when we saw him. There was no other option,” said Barnett, the deckhand who dove into the water to assist the diver. “We all worked together as a team. I just happened to be the one who went in the water, but the whole crew pulled together to help him. I’m just glad we saw him, and we hope he’s okay.”
The Seattle Port Police responded to the radio call in their vessel, and they, along with the Coast Guard, were able to get the diver to land and to the hospital for medical care. His condition is unknown at this time.
“I commend the entire crew of the Rachel Marie for their quick-thinking and heroic actions this morning,” Ferry District Chair Joe McDermott said. “Their actions and those of the Coast Guard and Port Police helped to secure a successful rescue.”
Barnett and Captain Amaral are both former U.S. Coast Guard members. Barnett plans to graduate from the University of Washington this spring with a graduate degree in Marine Affairs.
Another business expanding to West Seattle from the north end has just announced its opening date. We first told you three months ago that Breathe Hot Yoga was coming to Link (WSB sponsor; 38th and Alaska in The Triangle); this morning Breathe announced it’s opening this Thursday (May 12), with free classes at 4 pm, 5:15 pm and 6:30 pm that day (the first two taught by proprietor Amber Borgomainerio), and the regular class schedule starting this Friday.
A few updates, with the 7th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day just four days away! This Saturday (May 14th), 257 sales big and small all over West Seattle.
MAP UPDATE: The online map has been out for a few days, linked from the sidebar as well as from its own tab in our top navigation (look for Garage Sale Map – here is the direct link). You can also see it full-screen-width at the site of the company we wound up using after Google Maps, for the first time in four years, proved overtaxed by 250-plus listings (scrambling the map after they were entered, oh well!) – so go here to see that version (be sure to choose VIEW then LIST to get the numbers and address list on the right). Benefits of this new map program – you can print individual listings (click on a listing on the list, and the info bubble that opens will have a print icon, as well as a way to plot directions); it still has Google Maps-type controls, for zooming in/out, etc. However, we’ve had to reinvent the way we make the PRINTABLE map, so that is not quite done but we should have it linked here sometime this evening.
LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIFIC? WANT TO PROMOTE YOUR SALE? Go join the conversation on the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day page on Facebook, where both of the above have been happening – between buyers and sellers. We also invite you to use this for uploading photos on sale day. We still have the official website but FB works in this case, if you use it, for faster interaction directly between participants.
WANT TO JOIN IN? Registration closed two weeks ago BUT there are a few spaces left at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (4410 California SW; WSB sponsor) – 10 x 10, e-mail lora@hotwirecoffee.com or drop by the shop – and VFW Post #2713 (3601 SW Alaska) group sites (e-mail rzuber@clearwire.net OR just show up on Saturday morning, he expects there to be some room left). Lora also says that if you have items you’d just like to give to somebody to sell, you can drop them off (gently used) at Hotwire 7 am-7 pm this week and Animals First Foundation would be glad to have them for their Hotwire table.
Remember that most of The Viaduct is closed for most of Saturday, so there’s an extra reason not to leave West Seattle – just stay and shop (if you’re not among the sellers). But still encourage friends, relatives, co-workers to come on over – I-5, 1st Avenue South, etc., are not that tough to navigate! Again this year, we’re promoting WSCGSD outside West Seattle as well, in hopes folks will show up, shop, and then enjoy lunch (maybe even dinner) at our awesome local restaurants.
(Baby robin in Junction-area nest; photo by Katie Meyer)
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar, some of today’s highlights:
SBX ARRIVES: Vigor (formerly Todd) Shipyard on Harbor Island repairs/rehabs/builds a wide variety of vessels, but the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) scheduled to arrive tonight for 3 months of work might be the most unusual one yet. We’ve previewed it here, here, and here; if you want to track its progress through Puget Sound, you can use marinetraffic.com (as of this writing, it’s approaching Port Angeles, at 6 knots).
COUNCIL TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: It’s scheduled for a briefing this morning on the city’s Transit Master Plan – see the briefing document here. The politics site PubliCola previewed it, noting that West Seattle’s light-rail prospects may not be so rosy since WS appears to rate low in the rating criteria for an ideal such corridor. Other agenda items include a bicycle/pedestrian plan presentation (see the document here) with nothing conspicuously showcased from our side of the bay. The committee meeting will be on Seattle Channel (seattlechannel.org, or cable 21) live at 9:30 am.
WESTSIDE SYMPHONY IN CONCERT: This group from the West Seattle Community Orchestras performs Bach and Beethoven selections in concert at Chief Sealth International High School‘s auditorium (2600 SW Thistle Street), 7 pm – here’s our preview with dress-rehearsal video from last night.
ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: The Summer Concerts at Hiawatha lineup, City Council candidate Michael Taylor-Judd, and the debut of the new Admiral stickers are part of the agenda at the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting, Admiral Church basement meeting room (California/Hill), 7 pm
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: Fauntleroy Community Association monthly board meeting, schoolhouse (9131 California SW), 7 pm.
NEW HOURS FOR HIGHLAND PARK COMMUNITY ACUPUNCTURE: The new weekly clinic at Highland Park Improvement Club (12th/Holden) has changed hours to 2-6 pm Tuesdays and will have live (soothing) music today too.
(Shared by a WSB’er during November 2010 snow woes)
Almost half a year has passed since our one notable night of snow last fall/winter. It may be long gone, but not forgotten by some, as evidenced by this note we received and were asked to share:
I need your help. Forgive the dates as this is pretty old but I am having a little trouble at work. I am a Metro bus driver and during the fall shakeup we were hit with the storm that snarled traffic for hours on 11/22/2010. I was driving the 54 leaving 3rd and Pike @ 418p. Four and half hours later we arrived safely at The Junction.
Months later I was notified at work an automobile driver says I hit her car that night. That was a very strange night but our little group developed quite a camaraderie battling the elements and the traffic on our trip over the Duwamish River. The bus was packed and there was a man with a smart phone standing/sitting in the front stairwell checking traffic on the various aerials we tried to get to the first south bridge. We told jokes, took potty breaks, zigzagged through SODO, all the while avoiding the gridlock on the 1st Ave South.
I hope to locate this individual or anyone else on the bus that verify my contention we struck no other cars that night.
Phillip Blake
206-793-4619
Metro ID 5290
Longtime West Seattleite June Kloster will be remembered at 1 pm this Saturday at Emmanuel Bible Church (503 North 50th Street), according to her daughter Patricia Kloster, who wanted to share her mom’s photo and obituary here:
June was born March 26, 1927, the youngest of 5 children of Matthew and Bessie Jarboe. She was very proud of being raised in LaConner, especially after it became such a popular destination for the tulip fields. She married Jens Kloster in Seattle in 1948 and in 1952 they moved to West Seattle where Alki became her favorite haunt!
Most of her married life she was a stay at home Mom and then a school secretary at Alki Elementary (after Ron and Patricia moved on to Madison) and Meany Middle School where she retired in 1992. Also, she was a NASCAR official on weekends with dad for many years at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe.
If you knew June, you knew her smile, jokes and amazing cooking/baking.
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