West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
The county says the Rachel Marie has been repaired and will be back on its regular West Seattle-Downtown Seattle Water Taxi schedule tomorrow. They also say the delay in getting an alert out about this morning’s sudden problem was because it took a while for the crew to figure out what was wrong and how serious it was, and they’ll try to be faster in the future.
We’ll substitute a clearer photo a bit later but for now, that’s a cameraphoto of the latest YarnCore “yarn bomb” in West Seattle – appearing around a tree near Radio Shack in The Junction, during tonight’s West Seattle Art Walk. According to the YarnCore website, the group is part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – #204 – one of the benefit sales. (Sale day is this Saturday, 9 am-3 pm, find the online map and a link to the printable map here. And more on Art Walk, coming up separately.)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Almost four full years ago, the principals of what were then Chief Sealth High School and Denny Middle School stood before a concerned crowd at Southwest Community Center and apologized for not enough community outreach about the plan for their schools to share a campus.
Flash forward to last night. The principals are the same – Sealth’s John Boyd, Denny’s Jeff Clark. The schools are both now “international” schools. And the shared campus is almost complete; a new Denny has arisen next to the remodeled Sealth, which reopened last fall after two years of work, and is scheduled to open this summer.
Last night, not far from SWCC — where they had faced concerned community members in 2007 — they stood together before a group to again talk about the shared campus – this time, about the practicalities, the procedures, the reality of what it should be like next fall, when the middle schoolers and high schoolers are on the same campus, the first co-located campuses in the district.
The meeting yielded new information, such as the schools’ start/end times for next year and expected enrollment.
A beautiful day for some spring cleaning – and that’s what Keller Williams Realty staffers helped with at West Seattle’s Log House Museum today, as part of a nationwide day of service for the real-estate company. We caught up with them in their last hour of six hours of work – dressed in their company-colors white-on-red – during which they handled tasks including cleaning donor bricks, oiling logs, and refreshing garden beds.
(County map showing where the “green stormwater infrastructure” is proposed for the area feeding the Murray pump station; go here for larger version)
King County says its environmental review is complete for the “green stormwater infrastructure” proposal to reduce combined-sewer overflows (CSO) from the Barton pump station – which is actually a few miles downhill from where the “infrastructure” would be built to hold water. The result: A “determination of nonsignificance.” That’s another hurdle cleared for the proposal. You can see the actual “determination of nonsignificance” here (PDF); comments will be taken through May 31st, and the county wants them postal-mailed to:
Wesley Sprague, Supervisor Community Services and Environmental Planning
King County Wastewater Treatment Division
201 South Jackson Street, MS: KSC‐NR‐0505
Seattle, WA 98104‐3855
The proposal would create “bioswales” to hold rainwater, mostly in planting-strip areas, so it can go into the ground instead of into the sewer system. Dozens of them would be installed at various locations in the Sunrise Heights/Westwood neighborhoods shown in the map above. The proposal was discussed again at a community meeting last month (WSB coverage here).
Just in from King County Department of Transportation:
West Seattle-Downtown Seattle Water Taxi service has been canceled for the remainder of the day due to a mechanical problem. Metro DART shuttles 773 and 775 are operating on their regular schedules.
An update about tomorrow’s Water Taxi service will be provided this evening. Please monitor service alerts, check the Water Taxi web site, kingcounty.gov/watertaxi, or call the Water Taxi information line at 206-684-1551.
Metro Route 37 provides service between downtown Seattle and Alki during commute hours. Visit www.kingcounty.gov/metro or call the Metro Customer Information Office at 206-553-3000 for trip planning information.
And of course we’ll have an update here once the outlook for tomorrow is made public. We first reported the problems with the Water Taxi shortly after 8 this morning, thanks to WSB’ers who called/texted/e-mailed, and that was more than an hour before official alerts were issued. If you have news to share, 206-293-6302 any time (other ways to contact us are listed here).
Campaign season is under way. Two Seattle City Council candidates were at Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting – Position 1 candidate Michael Taylor-Judd and Position 9 candidate Dian Ferguson – and last night, one dozen candidates appeared before our area’s biggest political organization, the 34th District Democrats.
Our video shows the entire forum, unedited, with these candidates (two more were on the agenda but didn’t show): For Position 1, Councilmember Jean Godden, Michael Taylor-Judd, Bobby Forch, Maurice Classen, David Schraer; for Position 3, Councilmember Bruce Harrell, Brad Meachum; for Position 5, Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, Sandy Cioffi; for Position 7, Councilmember Tim Burgess (whose lone declared opponent Darryl Carter Metcalf was a no-show); for Position 9, Councilmember Sally Clark, Dian Ferguson (the other declared candidate Fathi Karshie was a no-show). August 16th is the primary, which will narrow to the top two candidates any race that has three or more.
Police have released more information about the case we reported here on Monday, a woman who is in the hospital and told police she was attacked by someone in her Fairmount Springs home. Seattle Police media-unit Det. Mark Jamieson says there is no question the woman was seriously injured – but police do not believe it happened in her home; there is no sign of a struggle or other evidence there indicating an attack. According to the police-report narrative in the case, the original call did not come from the woman’s home; the victim showed up at a neighbor’s house early Sunday morning saying she was “hurt and needed to sleep.” Then the neighbor noticed the woman was clearly injured, and called 911. The victim told police she woke up to find a man in her room; he said nothing but restrained her, then sat on her, and tried to strangle her. She said she fought back, and that she lost consciousness and awoke later to find him gone, at which time she said she managed to get herself free and walked over to her neighbor’s house. Police also confirm they questioned someone yesterday in connection with the case but that no one is currently under arrest. The victim remains at Harborview Medical Center, and because of her condition, Det. Jamieson says, police have been unable to talk more with her yet about what happened and where it happened.
(Final wayfinding kiosk of project’s 1st phase now in place, near Seacrest – Wednesday afternoon photo courtesy Chas Redmond)
Delayed by breaking news, a quick look at tonight’s highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: Monthly event – every second Thursday – at dozens of venues all over West Seattle. Many have the artists on hand and offer free refreshments, too – every venue handles Art Walk night a bit differently, and that’s part of the fun. Here’s the map/list for tonight’s venues. Get the artist highlights by going to the official Art Walk site at wsartwalk.com. 6-9 pm.
STYLE ’11: The annual fundraiser spring fashion show for Northwest Hope and Healing‘s work helping breast-cancer patients, involving West Seattle boutiques and other WS participants, is tonight at Showbox SODO, 7 pm. Tickets available at the door. Lots of info here.
OPENING NIGHT FOR ‘OKLAHOMA!’ West Seattle High School‘s spring musical opens tonight in the school theater, 7:30 pm. Full details in our preview from last night, including special events during the run.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TALARICO’S: Talarico Pizza’s 5-year anniversary party (4718 California Ave SW). Happy hour food and drink specials open till close. Also video DJ that will be mixing music and music videos in real time from 9:30 til close. Party is Mafioso themed so suggested attire is “roaring 20’s.” No cover & food will be served until 1 am.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ll add updates to this story as the morning goes on when new info is available)
8:18 AM: We haven’t officially confirmed it, and no alert has come from the county, but we’ve received two reports now that something is going on with the West Seattle Water Taxi. More to come as soon as we get something confirmed.
8:34 AM UPDATE: Tracy sent a note saying she’s been told it’s out of service for at least two hours. Jim sent the photo we’ve added above, saying it’s in the water south of Seacrest with what he believes is a police boat, lights on, nearby.
9 AM UPDATE: Another photo, from Al, which clearly shows a boat labeled police; SPD isn’t showing anything in the area. A county spokesperson is handling our inquiry but still no official info on what’s going on.
9:07 AM UPDATE: Mechanical problem, Rochelle Ogershok with King County Department of Transportation now confirms. She says they haven’t figured out yet how the schedule will be affected. We’re also asking why the alert system didn’t kick in, since this has been going on for at least an hour and there’s been no text alert for riders to warn them of a problem.
9:42 AM UPDATE: The official text alert has now arrived, saying the boat will be out of service TFN.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
1:42 AM: Right now fire crews are at the scene of a house-fire call in the 7300 block of 35th SW. Scanner traffic indicates it’s fairly small; it appears to be between an exterior deck and a wall, and most of the units that responded have been dismissed. 35th is closed at Webster, though.
2:05 AM: Christopher Boffoli is there for WSB. (A couple of TV crews have come over from downtown to check it out too; it’s been a quiet night citywide till this.) He reports a man and woman were inside when the fire broke out but got out OK; nobody is injured. They also brought out a pet bird but are trying to find their cat. Christopher reports the fire started in a “back corner of the house,” though the actual cause is still being determined.
We’ll check back with SFD later this morning to see what they found out about how it started.
11:16 AM: Lt. Sue Stangl in the SFD communications office says they haven’t received a report yet on the cause.
(Oklahoma! dress rehearsal photo by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
Tomorrow (Thursday) night is opening night for “Oklahoma!” – the spring musical at West Seattle High School. It’s running May 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 20th at 7:30 pm, and the 19th at 8 pm. This is no ordinary run – special events are planned, according to WSHS Drama. For example: On Friday night, “for a small donation, have your photo taken with members of the ‘Oklahoma!’ cast and a very sweet miniature horse” – that would be the famous Jeb – 6:45 to 7:15 pm, before the show. On Thursday 5/19, it’s a special benefit performance, to raise money for the drama program, which is not financially supported by the school district. The fundraiser is a “fun, intimate pre-show event” described as:
Where: Foyer at St. John’s Episcopal Church, right next to the school
Timing: 6:00 pm-7:45 pm – chat with other WSHS Drama supporters and “Oklahoma!” cast
members in an intimate gathering including heavy appetizers and beer, wine & soda. As a special treat, we’ll even have a live miniature horse with costumed cast members for a free photo op!8:00 pm – special reserved VIP seating for the performance of “Oklahoma!”
Cost: just $20! (A no-frills ticket costs $7 with a reservation, $12 without. For just $13 more you get heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer or wine, a chance to chat with cast members, and a picture with a miniature horse! Best of all, you know that you helped support the arts at WSHS!) Yes, it’s a work/school night but there’s a miniature horse photo op AND it’s for a really good cause!! ;-)
Guarantee your spot and make your reservation by Tuesday, May 17th! E-mail PR@westsidedrama.com with your name, phone number, and the number of benefit tickets you want to reserve.
And if you can’t see Oklahoma! but want to donate to WSHS Drama (tax-deductible!), they’re offering an address for that too:
Checks payable to WSHS Drama and mailed to:
West Seattle High School
Attn: Andrew Finley
3000 California Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116
“Oklahoma!” ticket info is here.
Thanks to Monica for sharing the news that the Chief Sealth International High School Jazz Band 1 scored a big win at a regional festival this past weekend – returning from Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, with the first-place trophy from the Northwest Jazz Band Festival. Senior Eric Wolken also won an Outstanding Music Award for his work on lead trumpet. Your next chance to see the award-winning Sealth jazz musicians in action: Jazz Night, May 27th.
(Alki, 1916, from Seattle Municipal Archives)
From the Alki Art Fair committee:
Alki Art Fair T-Shirt design submissions wanted
The Alki Art Fair Organizing Committee is requesting local artists to submit a design for this year’s Alki Art Fair T-Shirt. The theme for this year’s design is the Alki Bathhouse (1911-2011) centennial. Please incorporate the theme in your design. If your design is chosen, besides being emblazoned on this year’s t-shirt, the design is intended to be used on all marketing posters and announcements for this year’s fair. Submissions must be made on or before June 5, 2011. For additional information, please see the art fair website at: alkiartfair.org. Please include your name, phone number, and email address with your submission. The dates for this year’s Alki Art Fair are July 23rd and 24th.
You can mail or drop off your submission to: Alki Community Center, c/o Frances, 5817 SW Stevens St., Seattle, WA 98116 or e-mail to Frances at: alkiartfair@hotmail.com
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.
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