West Seattle, Washington
18 Monday
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
5:59 AM: If the forecast comes true, it’ll be soggy instead of foggy by tomorrow morning’s commute. But for now, one more round of murk, with a dense-fog advisory in effect till noon. Plus, a traffic-alert for tonight: Southbound 99 is closed again from Battery St. Tunnel to West Seattle Bridge, 10 pm-5 am, for SODO overpass work.
8:10 AM: Last week, you’ll recall, Metro went public with results of its online and in-person surveys of West Seattle riders, and crowded buses comprised the top complaint. Christian just sent an inside-RapidRide photo from about half an hour ago:
“There were more people standing then sitting,” Christian noted.
9:03 AM: If you take the 1st Avenue Bridge northbound from southeast West Seattle (or points further south), heads up from WSDOT via Twitter:
Heads up, crews are closing the right lane of NB SR 99 on the 1st Ave Bridge starting. …now, until about noon.
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) January 22, 2013
1:34 PM UPDATE: WSDOT says the work’s not over yet – the bridge had to open for marine traffic, among other complications. They’re now hoping to be done by mid-afternoon.
First – no arrest so far in this afternoon’s armed robbery. We do have 3 Crime Watch reader reports. First – Melissa asks that you be on the lookout for this stolen car:
My boyfriend’s car was stolen today in Westwood between 2 pm and 7:15 pm. It’s a blue 1991 Toyota Camry with the plate 695-ZHJ. There’s noticeable damage to both the front and back bumper. It’s scratched up and pretty much black on the corners. Nothing valuable inside, just hoping to locate it.
Call 911 if you see it, as advised by SPD via @getyourcarback.
The other two are car prowls. From Amie:
Car was rummaged through. Nothing valuable taken because nothing valuable was in the car, but papers were strew on the seat from the glove box. Seaview neighborhood.
And from Conor:
We live on 47th SW between Charlestown and Spokane and had our car window smashed (early Monday) at 2 am. Cameras show a man and a women team working each side of the street. They wiped the fog off nearly every car on the block looking for stuff.
Cameras are in fact on the agenda for our area’s next crime-fighting meeting: West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meets Tuesday night, 6:30 pm, Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster), all welcome, even if you’re not a BW captain or even (yet) in a BW.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Chief Sealth International High School 1275, West Seattle High School 968.
It’s no sports score; there’s much more at stake with that tally, the 2012-2013 enrollment stats for our area’s two major public high schools.
That’s why it was on the WSHS PTSA‘s agenda for this month’s meeting, with two high-ranking district reps on hand – the Southwest Region Executive Director of Schools, Carmela Dellino, and the elected School Board director for West Seattle/South Park, Marty McLaren.
Neither was in her current position when district staffers and board members crafted and approved the Student Assignment Plan blamed for the current state of enrollment inequity – something the then-board was warned would happen – and did.
4:17 PM: Police are searching right now for someone reported to have held up a business in the strip mall on the northeast corner of 35th and Roxbury. The robber is described in scanner traffic as black, male, about 25 years old, red bandana over his face, 6 feet tall, slender, black beanie, dark puffy jacket. He was reported to be armed with a 9-mm handgun. He was last seen headed northbound on 35th. The address given for the robbery is the smoke shop at 9650 35th; we have a crew en route.
4:52 PM: Adding a photo. Not much additional information at the scene – police confirmed Discount Smoke and Beverage is the store that was robbed; they got conflicting reports about which way the robber was seen running, so they’re searching in all directions. They were also still working to find out what the robber got away with. No injuries reported.
It would have taken an impossibly high tide to carry that crab pot to where it was found during this afternoon’s West Seattle Spokespeople-organized cleanup under the bridge. That’s the most unusual item they’d found when we stopped by midway through the cleanup.
It was a multi-generational cleanup – Theresa and her daughter were among those out along the bike path, photographed near the West Marginal Place access point:
Tools for the cleanup were provided by the West Seattle Tool Library.
(Seattle Derby Brats in action; photo by Frank Blau)
So almost everybody’s talking basketball today. But roller derby is making news too – not just because the Rat City Rollergirls‘ season is under way, but because of this big event coming to Southgate Roller Rink on Saturday. Manya shares the news on behalf of the Seattle Derby Brats:
On January 26th, at 5 pm, the Portland Rosebuds and the Seattle Derby Brats Galaxy Girls will bout at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center. They are two of the best junior roller-derby teams in the country, and they are also ranked #1 and #3 in the world.
The Seattle Derby Brats were started by a Rat City Rollergirl at Pathfinder School in West Seattle. The ‘brats’ now number 103 girls, ages 8 to 18, drawn from all areas of the Northwest.
The Galaxy Girls evolved as the competitive travel team that bouts other teams in the state and country. If you would like to read more on this sport, there’s a video at seattlederbybrats.com, the second part shows some of the girls in an actual bout.
If you enjoy great action and athleticism, come join us at Southgate Skate Center on Saturday night!
Southgate is at 9646 17th SW, less than a block south of Roxbury.
Just in from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: The burn ban in King County is OVER (here’s the proof) – so no more restrictions TFN. The fog isn’t expected to be around too much longer – the newest forecast projects rain as soon as tomorrow night.
(Global Cities Education Network visitors in the Sealth library)
On this MLK Day holiday meant for contemplation of understanding, collaboration, and diversity, among other things, we have an update on one way that’s happening across borders, right here in West Seattle. Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clark shares news of a delegation that visited Denny and adjacent Chief Sealth International High School last week as part of the Global Cities Education Network‘s meeting.
Clark explains, “The first GCEN meeting took place in Hong Kong on May 10-12, 2012, and included participating cities: Chicago, Denver, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Toronto. Participants identified several common, high-priority problems of practice and agreed to initially focus on two: the need to develop and sustain a high-quality teaching force, and the need to improve educational outcomes for low performing and linguistically and culturally diverse students.” He adds, ““We were very pleased to have the chance to welcome educators from around the globe to see the powerful things happening with our scholars at Denny International. The opportunity to network and discuss global educational issues is important and was insightful.” The visit report includes an observation from Sealth principal Chris Kinsey: “Chief Sealth International High School continues to open its doors to the world. Collaborating with international educators to create new opportunities for our students is a core element of who we are as an International School.” Here’s Sealth teacher Noah Zeichner, involved in many of their internationally focused initiatives (such as World Water Week), with a colleague from Hong Kong:
The visiting educators also checked out John Stanford International School while in Seattle.
The big citywide story today is the deal to bring NBA basketball back to Seattle – and elected officials from West Seattle are hailing the deal. From King County Executive Dow Constantine:
The return of our hometown team is now within reach. I was a high school kid in the spring of 1979 when I joined 300,000 fellow fans on the streets of downtown Seattle to celebrate our Supersonics winning the NBA Championship. Those were great days for our community.
Thanks to Chris Hansen and his investment partners Steve Ballmer, Peter and Erik Nordstrom, and the strength of regional partnerships and our collective can-do spirit, we can now look forward to celebrating the day we can say, ‘Welcome home, Sonics!’
ADDED 10:23 AM: From another West Seattle-residing elected official, County Councilmember Joe McDermott, who chairs the council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee:
I’m thrilled Mr. Hansen and his partners acquired a team. We are closer than ever to having the Sonics play in Seattle again.
Yet, this is just one step in many left before the new arena will be built. As we agreed last year, an economic impact analysis and a full environmental review must be completed before the arena deal is finalized. The County, City and Mr. Hansen will continue to work together until the opening tip-off.
More to come.
(Live view from the east-facing WS Bridge camera; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
We know this isn’t a day off for everyone, so here’s the transit and traffic tracker, with a few notes:
METRO: Reduced-weekday service
WATER TAXI: No service
SOUND TRANSIT: Regular service
WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES: Regular service
Tonight’s traffic alert: Southbound 99 is closed from Battery St. Tunnel to West Seattle Bridge for four nights again this week, 10 pm-5 am, tonight, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights.
(Seal Sitters photos by David Hutchinson)
From Robin Lindsey @ Seal Sitters:
Every year, Seal Sitters’ hotline (206-905-7325) receives hundreds of calls. Most are local, but many others come from surrounding areas of Puget Sound. As part of NOAA’s Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Seal Sitters responds to all reports of marine mammals on the beaches of West Seattle – both live and dead. Usually, the calls concern vulnerable harbor seal pups resting and warming up on shore. However, with a 50% mortality rate their first year, Seal Sitters deals with many dead pups annually.
Saturday afternoon, we responded to our first mortality of 2013. The hotline received a report of a “sick” pup at Lowman Beach Park, being watched over by a young girl until volunteers could arrive. Responders discovered that the pup was in fact dead. As is the norm in these cases, the location was noted, photo ID taken, a brief visual examination was made, and the length was recorded (35 ½ inches).
Because the dead pup was in such good condition and a prime candidate for necropsy, a call was made to WDFW Marine Mammal Investigations. The pup was bagged and removed from the beach. Transport will be made to the WDFW lab in Lakewood, in hopes that the cause of death can be determined. Thanks to Schmitz Park Elementary student Lunabella who called the hotline.
Seal Sitters recently received an award from Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods matching fund program to implement our project for 2013, “Year of the Seal.” To receive and expend these funds, our volunteers are required to put in an equivalent number of matching hours of work on the educational project, culminating with the installation at Alki Beach of a bronze sculpture depicting a harbor seal mom and pup. The most numerous marine mammals in Puget Sound, harbor seals are the most likely to be encountered on our beaches, as they spend about half of their lives on shore. Harbor seals do not migrate. Seals born in our area stay year-round their entire lives. For this reason, they are considered to be an “indicator species” of the health of our waters. Throughout the year, Seal Sitters will be placing an emphasis on educational outreach to inform local school children and the public about important issues regarding our fragile marine ecosystem.
In the coming months, public meetings co-sponsored by Seattle Parks & Recreation, will be held to present our Year of the Seal sculpture concept and site location and will welcome your input. Stay tuned for further details. Read more about the project on the Seal Sitters website.
If you are interested in getting a look at some of our local pinnipeds, you might visit Jack Block Park. Quite a number of harbor seals have been hauling out there since mid-December.
(That’s where the top photo was taken.)
In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s birthday, today is the MLK Day of Service – but tomorrow (Tuesday) you have multiple opportunities to carry on that spirit of service, by participating in community meetings. Here’s one more from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar that we’re making sure you see ahead of time:
Sustainable West Seattle‘s annual membership meeting is Tuesday, January 22nd from 7 – 9 pm at the West Seattle Senior Center.
You’ll hear about SWS programs for 2013 and ways that you can get involved as a volunteer. We’ll be introducing our new and returning board members plus appreciating our outgoing board colleagues.
You will also learn about the kick-off of our 2013 SWS Green Project Incubator Grant with $1000 generously donated from the CoHo Team of Windermere Agents. SWS will offer this grant to a West Seattle resident who applies with an idea to foster sustainability in our neighborhood. Come to the meeting for more details.
Monday is a federal holiday to commemorate the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – here’s what’s closed/changed (and what’s not):
SCHOOLS: Closed.
TRANSIT: Metro is on a reduced-weekday schedule; Sound Transit buses are on a regular schedule. The Water Taxi will NOT run. Washington State Ferries are on their regular weekday schedule.
GOVERNMENT OFFICES/FACILITIES: Mostly closed – including all Seattle Public Library locations.
TRASH/RECYCLING/YARD WASTE PICKUP: Normal service, and transfer stations are open.
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: Holiday – no delivery, etc.
BANKS: Holiday.
PARKING HOLIDAY: Yes, for spaces with the City of Seattle’s pay stations/meters.
MLK DAY OF SERVICE: We’ve highlighted two events – the Nature Consortium work party and the West Seattle Spokespeople under-the-bridge cleanup. Anyone in need of volunteers tomorrow? Let us know with a comment or e-mail and we’d be glad to add the mention.
OFFICIAL CELEBRATION: Not in West Seattle but not far – rally, march, workshops; details here.
If everything goes according to plan, a major new bicycling event in this area will include West Seattle on its route. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is planning its first-ever fundraising bicycle ride, 
called Obliteride, coming up in August. Obliteride organizers e-mailed WSB to let us know about some points of West Seattle interest, including the route possibility – too soon to say for certain because they are still working on permits. One of the main point people for the ride is a West Seattleite – Mark Grantor, senior events manager; his background and interest in the cause are detailed in a story on the Obliteride site. They’re planning four routes – 25, 50, 100 miles on August 10th, 180 miles with an overnight stop in Tacoma, August 10-11. There’s an entry fee plus a fundraising commitment. Details and registration links are here. If you’re not ready to ride but would like to help, they’re also enlisting an army of volunteers.
If you noticed the police and fire response under the bridge, west of the marina: They’re investigating the discovery of a body. Police at the scene told us they’re looking into whether it’s linked to a vehicle found and towed off the bridge early this morning – possibly a case of suicide. After getting a reader report about this investigation with a mention about a car abandoned on the bridge, we went over to ask if it had anything to do with the Walking on Logs vehicle, but police said the vehicle in question was found on the high rise.
(As we note whenever reporting confirmed or possible suicides, they are an epidemic, five times the homicide rate, and shouldn’t be ignored. There **is** help available: Crisis Clinic has online resources and a 24-hour hotline, 206-461-3222.)
Thanks to the WSB reader who shared photos from the West Seattle Lions‘ mural dedication today at 17th and Roxbury – that’s artist Xavier Lopez Jr. above, signing his creation. Just last month, he was honored as a White Center Hero for his role in the mural art that’s popping up all around the area, including the work dedicated today.
(WS Lions president Jimie Martin with Mark Ufkes from the WC Chamber)
A map to all the White Center-area murals, including this one on the West Seattle side of Roxbury, can be found on the WS Chamber of Commerce‘s website.
Two people have e-mailed us wondering how this vehicle managed to wind up on the slope along the Fauntleroy Way end of the West Seattle Bridge, just north of Walking On Logs. Nothing obvious on the police/fire logs – so we don’t know; do you? We went over for a look and a photo; no damage visible so far as we could see.
SIDE NOTE: Noticed while there that the sculptures themselves are sporting new red and blue garb to promote Camp Fire candy sales:
According to the regional Camp Fire council, you’ll see Camp Fire youth out and about selling candy starting Friday.
4:41 PM NOTE: The vehicle is still there, as is another one parked in the pullout by it (facing the correct direction) with its emergency flasher lights going. That car was parked there when we first went by at noon but, though it appeared unoccupied, we didn’t pay much attention – till noticing just now that it’s still there.
6:45 PM: Mystery solved. See Andrew’s comment; also, we received this note from another reader:
I was leaving WS at approximately 9.30 this morning and saw the silver Toyota – traveling westbound – hit the central reservation pretty hard (rear end bucked up in the air, thought for a moment it might actually bounce over). Saw other westbound vehicles braking in my rear view mirror – embarrassed now but didn’t feel in a position to stop and call it in safely, and by the time I got to work had already forgotten about it.
There is nothing on the fire 911 log, so apparently – as Andrew’s comment suggests – the driver didn’t need attention from medics. The SUV was gone by 6:45 pm tonight (we passed the area again heading outbound on the bridge).
Student chess player in the house? Don’t miss the chance to sign up for the West Seattle Chess Tournament, just announced for February 23rd at Schmitz Park Elementary, presented by the Chess Mates Foundation. Full details and registration link ahead:
(Male Anna’s Hummingbird, photographed by Danny McMillin, shared via WSB Flickr group)
If you haven’t checked the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar yet today – you’re missing a double-digit list of things to do in the hours ahead. Venues with live music this afternoon and evening include C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) and Skylark Café and Club; health-care reform is the topic of a 2 pm community forum at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church; wellness author/practitioner Tierney Salter signs her new book at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor). And that’s not even half the list – see it all (and peek at the days/weeks ahead) by going here.
2:47 AM: Police are investigating a stabbing in the Delridge/22nd SW area (map) right now. According to radio traffic between medics and Harborview Medical Center, the victim is a 27-year-old man described as having a “single stab wound to the left flank.” He is being taken to HMC; no other details so far.
3:28 AM UPDATE: Southwest Precinct Lt. Alan Williams says officers “are currently attempting to gather information as to exactly what occurred” – so far they know that the victim himself called 911 to report that he had been stabbed by someone he didn’t know, but didn’t make the call until about 15 minutes after it happened. They found him near Delridge and Graham. Early information from medics, Lt. Williams says, is that the stab wound was not life-threatening.
11:13 AM UPDATE: A few more details this morning via SPD Blotter – but what happened remains a mystery. (For the commenter who asked, police clarify the wound location as “lower left back.”)
If you look closely, you’ll see another dimension to our frosty, foggy weather. Jason Gift Enevoldsen shares his photo, and this explanation:
A result of the recent slow freezes in WS this week, thin ice crystals (needle ice) lift up small rocks, dirt, and plants in unusual arrangements. It has been fascinating looking for these miniature landscapes and watching how they change from day to day.
And in a larger context, Jason adds:
My wife, Alice (alicesastroinfo.com), and I disagree about whether this should be properly called frost heave, needle ice, or soil creep. But in any case, she found that there’s evidence for a similar process (soil being moved by ice formation and thaw) on Mars:
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
The origin of this feature is not known for certain, but it resembles Arctic features on Earth called pingos. A pingo develops when ice lifts part of the ground, making a giant frost heave. This image, about 4 km wide, is part of image P15_007033_1915_XI_11N045W taken by the Context Imager (CTX) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The orbiter’s website, by the way, is showing even more wintry imagery right now.
The first competition for the first Westside School (WSB sponsor) middle-school robotics team went well, says adviser Erik Christensen, sharing this report:
Way to go, Monkey Wrench Gang!
Westside’s inaugural Middle School FLL Robotics team, The Monkey Wrench Gang, participated in the State Qualifying Competition for the Seattle region. Final standings haven’t been posted, but the team placed in the top third out of 35 teams.
In addition, the team took home the “Programming Award” for developing the best program to run their specific robot design – quite a coup considering it’s the team’s first year of competition.
Congratulations, Blake, Grant, David, Luke, Emilio, Coach Erik Christensen, and Team Manager Julie Jetland.
Teachers at a second elementary school in our area are voicing their support for others around the district who are declining to give the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) tests. As with Sanislo Elementary School‘s teachers (see their letter here), Schmitz Park Elementary teachers are sending a letter voicing support without going so far as to say they won’t give the tests. We received this tonight:
Dear Superintendent Banda,
The staff of Schmitz Park, by a nearly unanimous vote, joins in its support of Garfield High and all other schools and individuals around the district that boycott the MAP test. We agree with Garfield’s position about the harmful, ineffective, and wasteful nature of the MAP test and its deleterious impact on instructional time and consequently student achievement. We join SEA in asking you to not discipline our colleagues for standing up and speaking the truth.
We also agree with the Sanislo Elementary letter of support, which points out a deep concern around MAP. Apparently, district officials told Garfield staff the test was “not valid” because the margin of error can exceed the expected growth score. Given this information, it seems unthinkable that these scores would be used to determine the “effectiveness” of teachers. The teacher’s collective bargaining agreement allows the use of low scores to impact the placement of teachers into more comprehensive evaluations, en route to performance improvement plans and termination. The threatening of teachers with invalid data simply is not right.
There is a similar problem brewing in the elementary schools. Not only are our teachers concerned about the time taken away from instruction to administer the test, but the current version of the MAP test is aligned with the old state standards and it is clearly an unsuitable vehicle for evaluating students currently being taught the new required Common Core Standards. So not only are the results of little instructional value, but this discrepancy between what is taught and what is measured will yield falsely low scores making the MAP test invalid for the purpose of measuring student growth/teacher effectiveness.
The idea of using MAP scores as a component of teacher evaluations is disconcerting and needs to be addressed. As such, in response to Superintendent Banda’s e-mail of January 14, we recommend suspending the MAP requirement until the promised review has been completed.
We hope you will interpret the “boycotts” around the district not as disrespect but as a sign of deep concern and needed change.
Sincerely,
Schmitz Park Elementary School Staff
Here again is Superintendent José Banda‘s published message about the MAP revolt from earlier this week, saying the district will review it, but needs right now to proceed with it.
ADDED 11:25 AM MONDAY: The Schmitz Park teachers have revised their letter to add the word “nearly” before “unanimous,” and at their request, we have also added that word (toward the start of the letter) to reflect the change.
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