West Seattle, Washington
19 Tuesday
We spotted the garland-hanging crew in The Junction earlier this morning – getting ready for Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored by WSB again this year) starting this weekend (schedule here!) This IS another good day for decorating if you can, since the rain might be back by tomorrow. Here are a few highlights for today from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide:
AUTUMN POTPOURRI FESTIVAL: “A little of this ’n that” at Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon) now till 1 pm. Gift items, jewelry imports, collectibles, decorations, crafts, desert plants, Santa Claus, bake sale, jazz with the Ellis Brothers, lunch at 11:45 am.
PEPS ORIENTATION: 1:30 pm for new/expectant parents at Bright Horizons (38th/Alaska, lower floor of Link). Details here.
OPEN ARMS ‘SHORT AND SWEET AUCTION’: West Seattleite Sabrina Urquhart is on the board of Open Arms Perinatal Services, which helps low-income women and their families, with results including increased breastfeeding-initiation rates, decreased C-section rates, and fewer cases of low-birthweight babies, and shared the news that they are raising money through an auction and entertainment event at 6:30 tonight at SANCA in nearby Georgetown – details here.
WEST SEATTLE STEM ELEMENTARY PTA MEETING: 7 pm tonight at the school (aka K5 STEM at Boren), 5940 Delridge Way SW. More info on the PTA website.
4TH ANNUAL JIMI HENDRIX TRIBUTE: Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) welcomes you tonight to celebrate the rock legend. Special guest: Another local legend, Pat O’Day, with his personal collection of rare Hendrix photos. 7 pm, 6451 California SW – more info here.
(WSDOT image showing underside of deteriorating expansion joint – explained here)
Monday, we reported on the Spokane St. Overcrossing/Timber Bridge project ahead for Highway 99 south of the West Seattle Bridge (here’s the story). Today, we have new information on another new WSDOT project that will affect local drivers starting early next year – currently known as “Spokane Street Interchange Vicinity – Special Bridge Repair.” This one involves replacing more than two dozen deteriorating half-century-old expansion joints on and around the West Seattle Bridge/I-5/Columbian Way interchange (here’s an aerial view of the segments), and it will require a series of weekend closures involving various ramps.
We’ve been watching this one for a while and just got word from WSDOT that the closure schedules are now online. See them here, along with detour maps. The closures are currently scheduled to start with the weekend of January 4-7, late Friday night through early Monday morning, when WSDOT will close the I-5 northbound, I-5 southbound, and Columbian Way ramps to West Seattle Bridge. Subsequent weekends will NOT be the same pattern – every weekend closure has a slightly different configuration. As you’ll see on the closure-schedule page, this is expected to continue into next spring; it’s a $4.5 million project, to be led by Eastside-headquartered Mowat Construction.
A famous bakery is going against the grain: While the trend has more typically been for successful businesses from other Seattle neighborhoods to expand west, West Seattle-founded Bakery Nouveau is expanding to the northeast, six years after its low-key arrival here. Our friends at fellow independent neighborhood-news service Capitol Hill Seattle have broken the news this morning that BN “has launched plans for a new shop on Capitol Hill.” No, it’s not moving there – it’ll be a second location, according to the CHS story, for which editor Justin Carder interviewed BN proprietor William Leaman. Read all about it here. (2011 WSB photo)
(Live view from the only WS Bridge camera currently in operation; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:50 AM: Another chilly morning – but dry, at least until tonight, according to the forecast. No problems on the routes from/through/to West Seattle so far. Reminder for bus riders: Till 8:30 this morning, Metro says, its reps are on hand near four northbound bus stops to listen to your thoughts about West Seattle service – as noted here.
ADDED 11 AM: We stopped by the northbound California/Fauntleroy station just before the mingling window ended at 8:30 am and found KCDOT’s Ashley DeForest:
She hadn’t kept count of how many people she’d spoken with but said things had been pretty busy. Also there, interviewing her: Transportation reporter Mike Lindblom from The Seattle Times (WSB news partner) –
Reminder from the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival team: “The Hi-Yu Junior Court will be at the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast, Saturday, December 1, 7 am-11 am. Add or start your collection by getting your unique blown-glass ornament for $20. Ornaments will also be available for purchase at certain store locations, Junction Hometown Holidays events, and online. Check out westseattlehiyu.com for details.” Ornament sales benefit Hi-Yu programs. And one more reminder that applications are being accepted for this year’s Senior Court until Friday – more info in our story from last month.
Two shoreline scenes to share tonight: First, thanks to Alki photographer David Hutchinson for tonight’s vivid late-fall sunset. According to the current forecast, we have one more clear day ahead – then clouds might start moving back in around this time tomorrow night, with an anticipated return to wet weather. Temperatures are expected to stay a bit above normal, though tonight, with the clear sky, will be cold. Looking ahead to the big holiday events next weekend – all listed in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide – might be rainy, but you know what they say about making predictions this far out …
Second, just received while we were processing David’s photo, Aaron Baggenstos shares this view of harlequin ducks photographed at Lincoln Park:
(Click image for larger view)
Aaron tells us he leads wildlife-photography tours throughout the state via his business Aaron’s Photo Tours.
(Crowded RapidRide bus boarding downtown 11/20/12, photo courtesy Ben Blain)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“The change we did was big – probably too big.”
So acknowledged Metro Transit planning supervisor David Hull during this month’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, which itself swerved back and forth along a list of topics that, too, was probably too big.
The change to which Hull referred was the September 29th Metro service change affecting numerous West Seattle routes, taking effect the same day as the launch of RapidRide C Line, replacing the 54/55 buses.
Metro’s received an earful and then some ever since, and is offering another chance tomorrow (Tuesday, November 27th) morning for West Seattle bus riders to sound off – at four stops along the RapidRide route, as detailed here.
At the WSCPC meeting, the changes’ effects on public safety – on board the buses, at the stations, along the roads with more buses and new features such as curb bulbs – were supposed to be the subject. But some attendees brought up gripes about reduced or changed service, too.
In the end, much was vented, little solved – but the venting itself might lead to something down the road. Metro reps again noted that some tweaks were in the works, likely for the February service change.
Ahead, what came up, what was said, and what’s next:
5:38 PM MONDAY: The photo and report are from Monica:
There is a lot of good stuff happening in Highland Park and there is the bad stuff, like this dumped, smashed RV, located at 12th SW & SW Myrtle….such a “gift” for our neighborhood. A neighbor stopped by as I photographed the “thing,” mentioning that he saw this heap of junk over by Westwood Village earlier in the week.
Monica says it has been “tagged” by the police, so it should be a candidate for removal soon. Here’s one way to report this type of thing online.
ADDED TUESDAY MORNING: We went by at 9 am and it was still there, though the tag was from 11/21, warning that it needed to be gone by 11/24. Here’s the view of its east side – right along Riverview Playfield:
(WSB staff photo)
If it’s still there tomorrow, we’ll start checking with the city to see about a timetable.
Some restaurant news on this quiet post-holiday-transition Monday: Walking along 16th SW in downtown White Center this morning, we noticed a sign up in the window of TT’s Soul Kitchen, at the former site of Pho Lynna (southeast corner of 16th and Roxbury): It’s scheduled to open tomorrow at 11 am, with live jazz for the first official lunch crowd from noon-2 pm. The proprietors are a White Center couple, Tony and Trina – they were out when we stopped by, but a staffer told us they’ll be open 11 am till 10 pm Tuesdays through Sundays (we’ll doublecheck as soon as we hear back from them). There’s an image of their menu on Facebook – with lunch and dinner items including sandwiches, burgers, gumbo, fried chicken and fish, and more.
This morning, we mentioned that King County expected to resume work today on 26th/Barton-area changes related to Metro Route 120, including bus-bulb installation. This afternoon, KCDOT spokesperson Jeff Switzer sends word that the work is postponed another two weeks:
King County Metro Transit is adjusting the schedule for the next round of construction in West Seattle. The contractor for the project is tentatively scheduled to start bus zone and sidewalk improvements Dec. 10 and focus work on the south side of Southwest Barton Street.
The city’s Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project is all but done … the state’s Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project has moved from the south-end work to focusing on the preparations for tunnel-boring … but another project on the horizon is of potential interest to West Seattle/White Center/South Park drivers: 
At the Spokane Street Overcrossing on Highway 99, south of the West Seattle Bridge (here’s a map), WSDOT will replace the “Timber Bridge.” It’s been mentioned in passing a few times over the past year-plus, and now it’s finally gone to bid; WSDOT is scheduled to announce the successful bidder any day now, and work is expected to start in February, lasting more than a year. The official info-page is here. As WSDOT spokesperson Broch Bender puts it, the structure “predates the Space Needle.” While the work is under way, WSDOT says, it will “maintain two lanes of northbound and one lane of southbound SR 99 traffic throughout construction by rebuilding the east and west halves alternately.”
If your family includes a current 8th grader planning to attend, or considering attending, West Seattle High School, here’s your invitation to an event next week:
West Seattle High School is hosting a Department Fair on December 4th for families with a current 8th grader.
6-6:30 pm: Meet department heads and review course offerings
6:40-7 pm: A 9th-grade panel discusses readiness and support and extracurricular activities
7=7:30 pm: A college and career-prep panel gives an overview of course offerings, AP and Honors classes, and requirements
Find out more on the WSHS website.
(Cross-posted from partner site White Center Now)
(WSB/WCN photo from Saturday night)
Two updates today on Saturday night’s deadly fire on 28th SW, just south of Roxbury: First, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West, it’s been ruled an accidental electrical fire. (Though no crime was believed to be involved, Sgt. West was dispatched to the scene to help coordinate communication.) Second, the sister of the home’s resident, 71-year-old Peggy Munsen, has spoken with WCN news partner The Seattle Times and confirmed that Ms. Munsen is the woman who died in the fire. That’s the same information given to us that night by a friend, but WSB policy is to withhold names until officials and/or family confirmed it. Ms. Munsen’s sister is former West Seattleite, now Bremerton resident, Kay Trepanier, long known for her business Cruises By Kay. As she told The Times, her sister went into the cruise business too. There is no word yet of memorial plans.
12:19 PM: We’ve just obtained some information on an incident that caught some attention on Fauntleroy Cove Sunday afternoon. A sailboat ran aground, and Seattle Fire Department crews helped make sure the person on board got to shore safely, according to SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore, who says, “Our engine company waded out in 1 foot of water. The lone occupant of the sailboat leaped to the firefighters and they took him to shore. He was uninjured.”
ADDED 5:49 PM: We’ve added photos just sent by Peter Hogan (thank you!).
We mention them in every WSBeat report, and every time our reporting touches on the issue of suicide. Today, we’ve received an announcement that Crisis Clinic – a life-saving resource for people all over the region – is looking for volunteer help:
Crisis Clinic has been helping individuals and families in need since 1964. From the beginning, volunteers have been the heart of our organization, providing caring and confidential support to callers on the 24-Hour Crisis Line.
Our programs have expanded greatly over the years, increasing our need for community volunteers. We now offer a variety of opportunities for both youth and adults, suited to meet each person’s interests and availability.
New volunteers are currently needed to:
· Answer calls on the 24-Hour Crisis Line or WA Recovery Help Line
· Respond online via Crisis Chat
· Mentor youth volunteers with Teen Link
· Make quality assurance calls for King County 2-1-1We provide volunteers with professional training and supervision, ensuring they have the knowledge and skill to make a difference in the lives of our callers.
Applications are now being accepted for the next training session starting in January.
To learn more, please call Crisis Clinic at (206) 461-3210 ext. 697 or visit our Volunteer page online at:
(WSB photo, taken this morning)
Two months after demolition of the old houses on the site, construction work is now ramping up at the site of DESC’s future 66-unit Delridge Supportive Housing complex in the 5400 block of Delridge Way, north of SW Findlay. As noted in the project FAQ, onstruction is expected to last about a year.
And tonight, the nonprofit that is likely to open a co-op grocery store in the DESC building’s retail space has its next monthly meeting – with big issues including: How about a new name?
Name the Co-op!!! The Delridge Produce Cooperative idea has evolved from a plan for a co-op produce stand to a small, but full-service, community-owned multi-stakeholder grocery store! This means the store will not only be a source for healthy food, including meat, eggs, dairy and seafood but a support network and financial opportunity for large, small, and backyard farmers. The Co-op’s employees will also have an equal stake in the store. Our current name is misleading for some and we have received feedback regarding a name change. We wish to make another round of reusable strawberry bags and founding member t-shirts!! So, we need to choose our name! Please help.
They’re taking suggestions via their Facebook page. And whether you have an idea for a name, or not, you’re welcome at their meeting tonight:
We invite anyone with the time and inclination to join us at this very exciting step of the grocery store creation. We are welcoming founding Board Members and still looking for core volunteers to help at this stage.
Our November meeting is this Monday evening! All interested volunteers are needed to help plan our next steps. Teresa Young, Organizational Development Specialist from the Northwest Cooperative Development Center will join us to find out how the NWCDC can assist us at this stage. We are making final edits to our business plan and reviewing the first draft of our bylaws. This special meeting will be from 5:30-7:30pm, Monday November 26th at the Delridge Library.
Out of the WSB inbox, from Andy:
Our red 1996 Subaru Impreza Outback was stolen from in front of our house [6500 block of 37th Ave SW] last night. The license plate read AJX3354. Any help getting her back home would be appreciated.
If you need a reference, Andy says it looks something like this. Meantime, as SPD advises via its @GetYourCarBack Twitter feed (where this has been posted too), if you see what you think is a stolen car, call 911 to report it.
(Live view from the only WS Bridge camera currently in operation; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
Especially if you’re just plugging back in after the long holiday weekend, three notes:
‘BIKE BOX’ IN PLACE ON ANDOVER WEST OF DELRIDGE: Here’s our Sunday afternoon report about the just-installed road feature.
GATEWOOD SPEED CAM TO START TICKETING: Today’s the day the grace period for the camera in the school zone on Fauntleroy near Gatewood Elementary is officially over, per the city.
ROAD WORK TO RESUME: Today is also the day the county is to resume work in Westwood related to the Route 120 bus line.
ADDED 10:30 AM: Emergency crews are responding to an incident that’s on the 911 log as “Northbound I-5 at Spokane,” so if you’re experiencing eastbound bridge, or I-5 in the area, slowness, that might be it.
ADDED 2:44 PM: The above-mentioned road work in Westwood is now pushed back another two weeks.
ADDED 4:51 PM: Metro will be out in four West Seattle locations to talk with bus riders – details here.
5:36 PM: If you’re headed down 1st through SODO to get to the West Seattle Bridge – Jana reports a crash – so it might be slower going than usual.
The Sunday sunshine was a boon to many who wanted to get their Christmas lights up – including the small army of family and friends working on West Seattle’s biggest and brightest display at the Menashe family’s home in the 5600 block of Beach Drive. They started work at 8 this morning, Josh Menashe told us, and by the time we stopped by about five hours later, they’d made a lot of progress. We got to meet two exuberant helpers – two of Jack and Linda Menashe‘s grandchildren, Jacob Menashe‘s daughters Sophia and McKenna, who were riding in the cherry picker:
The girls helped show us some of the new/newer decorations waiting in the yard – including candy canes taller than they are:
Here’s the biggest of the light-laden stars waiting to be put up around the property:
And while some of the shrubbery already was decked with bulbs, more lights – in boxes and tubs – waited to be added to the mix:
The Menashes will continue working on their display throughout the week, and they’re expecting to officially turn the lights on at 7 pm this Saturday (December 1st) – if you want to be there, that’ll give you (and us!) time after the West Seattle Junction Christmas Tree Lighting celebration, (5 pm Saturday). Another date to note – the evening of December 15th, Santa will be at the house for photos, as a benefit for the West Seattle Food Bank.
School resumes tomorrow for tens of thousands of Seattle Public Schools students after a holiday break of at least 4 days (longer for the younger students whose schools spent the week in parent/teacher-conference mode). Just before the break, more than 20 Madison Middle School students enjoyed a first-of-its-kind high-tech field trip; counselor Lauren Divina shared the photo and report:
On November 20, 2012, 21 Madison MS female 8th graders went to Microsoft as part of the IGNITE [Inspiring Girls Now In Technology Evolution] program.
Students got hands-on experience at Microsoft with the programming language “Small Basic.” Women from high-tech careers at Microsoft helped students learn to code. They also presented about their careers, followed by a Q & A session. Students had a chance to speak with the volunteers directly over lunch, which was provided. The students were accompanied by technology teacher Mr. Rockwell, and school counselor Mrs. Divina. This is the first year that Madison MS has participated in the IGNITE program, which was introduced to the middle school counselors in June 2012.
IGNITE is a Seattle Schools program, created for Seattle Schools in November 1999. Funding is provided by federal Carl Perkins dollars, which is federal funding for non-traditional education for women and minorities. IGNITE now contributes to the funding of IGNITE as well.
The program has been running in all of the 12 Seattle High schools since 2000. We have expanded to middle schools, more each year. After winning the National Best Practice from the National ACTE, Association of Career and Technical Education organization, the Directors of the National ACTE, the National Women’s law Center, and NAPE, National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, in 2007, many other schools both nationally and internationally created IGNITE programs of their own, using the comprehensive toolkit created by the founder of IGNITE, Cathi Rodgveller M.S. Ed. Cathi has been a teacher and School Counselor for 30 years. She has taught every grade level, and doing IGNITE is her passion.
Seattle Schools now views IGNITE as a Premier program and best practice for educating young women about STEM careers. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) educators from anywhere, both nationally and internationally can contact the founder, Cathi Rodgveller, for information on how to start their own IGNITE group.
Here’s how to reach that organization.
(35th/Barton 7-11 has power but its sign and nearby intersection do not. WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
7:25 PM: We’re getting multiple reports of a power outage in Westwood – 35th and Henderson is our most recent report – and at least as far south as 9800 block of 31st SW. More to come.
7:33 PM UPDATE: Fauntlee Hills is also affected, according to some we’ve heard from. This outage is NOT on the Seattle City Light map yet (lately, they seem to take a while to show up there) but we have a message out to SCL.
7:37 PM UPDATE: While waiting for word from SCL, we have a crew out checking on the extent of the outage. For starters – stoplights are out on 35th between Thistle and Barton, though the homes on both sides of the street seem to have power. Just got a call back from City Light – they say at least 600 customers (homes/businesses) are affected but they have no idea about the cause, yet.
7:47 PM UPDATE: The City Light outage map is starting to show the outage boundaries. Looks like part of Arbor Heights is affected too, and part of the unincorporated area east of 35th/south of Roxbury.
7:59 PM UPDATE: Our crew is just back from surveying the area and it’s as spotty as it looks on the City Light map – streets where one side is out and the other is not, for example. By the way – if you are reading this via a mobile device, WSB’er Jono reminded us recently that City Light has a mobile-optimized site – find it here.
8:37 PM UPDATE: City Light has now upped the total of affected homes/businesses to almost 1,000. But no update on the outage’s cause, yet.
8:57 PM UPDATE: And … just received a few messages about power coming back on (one was from 31st/Henderson). If after a while yours is still out, let us know.
9:04 PM UPDATE: John Gustafson at City Light says that almost everyone should be back on shortly if they’re not back on already. The outage was traced to “equipment failure,” a piece of overhead equipment called a “jumper,” though he says they’re not sure why it failed.
Thanks to Chris for the tip – he tweeted this morning that SDOT was out painting West Seattle’s first “bike box” along with the bicycle lane on eastbound Andover at Delridge, so we went over to get the photo. The “bike box” plan was mentioned during the September meeting of the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council (WSB coverage here), and may well come up when DNDC meets jointly with Highland Park Action Committee next Wednesday (November 28th), 7 pm, at HP Improvement Club (12th/Holden).
If you’re not familiar with bike boxes, here’s the SDOT explanation:
The bike box is an intersection safety design to prevent bicycle/car collisions. It is a painted green space on the road with a white bicycle symbol inside. In some locations it includes a green bicycle lane approaching the box. The box creates space between motor vehicles and the crosswalk that allows bicyclists to position themselves ahead of motor vehicle traffic at an intersection.
That’s from this SDOT webpage, which has information for both drivers and bicyclists on how the bike box works – what to do, what not to do. One particularly important note – you must stop behind the bike box, whether there is a bicyclist using it at the time or not:
When the traffic signal is yellow or red, motorists mush stop behind the white stop line. Don’t stop on top of the green bike box. Keep it clear for cyclists to use. Typically at bike box locations, right turns on red will not be permitted .
A memorial is planned tomorrow afternoon for longtime North Delridge resident Dan “Danny” Murphy. His family shares this remembrance:
Dan (“Danny”) Murphy, a.k.a. W. C. A. Keeler Wacet, longtime resident of North Delridge in West Seattle, passed away unexpectedly in his home on November 14.
Danny was born in Seattle on December 9, 1947. He graduated from Nathan Hale High School, where he excelled in mathematics and journalism, and was co-editor of the school newspaper. While attending high school he created his own newspaper, a satirical publication titled “The Swamp Fly.” During high school Danny worked and volunteered in the broadcasting rooms of KOL and KJR radio stations. He attended the University of Washington, studying advanced mathematics and Russian. At night he attended Broadcasting School. He became active in the “alternative” movement in the late ’60s and early ’70s, and spent time in San Francisco. He was a founding member and writer for the ’60s Seattle underground paper “The Helix.”
A traumatic life event in his early 20s triggered a schizophrenic break and he withdrew, surrounding himself with an eclectic world of his own making. His brilliant, creative mind never rested. He continued to write prolifically, creating an estimate of over 10,000 hand-written pages. He pursued photography in-depth, with a particular focus on chronicling evolving gentrification. He enjoyed being an early innovator of electronic music.
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