West Seattle, Washington
19 Friday
(Photo courtesy Jeff Hogan NWFSC, taken under permit #13136)
Jeff Hogan of Killer Whale Tales, first to let us know on Sunday about the latest sightings of orcas in West Seattle waters, shares that photo taken while he was on a NOAA research boat later in the the day. He reports:
We followed them from roughly Alki all the way up to Mukilteo. We had all the members of J Pod, K Pod and a few L-Pod whales as well. Didn’t see any foraging, but just lots of slow travel and socializing. Collected several fecal samples in addition to all the photo identification work.
He identifies the whale in the photo as K21, a male (if you didn’t already know that because of the large dorsal fin) born in 1986, according to this page on the Center for Whale Research website. J, K, and L pods are the “Southern Resident” groups who live in this region, though they sometimes forage much farther away.
(UPDATED 5:11 PM with new information following bail hearing – see end of story)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
A repeat offender who gained regional infamy in 2009 for prolific West Seattle graffiti vandalism involving an anti-gay slur is back in jail right now, under investigation for an alleged hate crime.
While WSB policy is generally to not identify suspects until they are charged, the circumstances of this case and the history of the suspect have led us to make an exception. The suspect is 34-year-old Ryan J. Cox, arrested on Saturday and accused of hitting a man with a baseball bat on Friday as he and the victim were leaving a Metro bus in the Luna Park area. The man told police that he believed he was attacked because of his sexual orientation, and that Cox had been hurling insults at him on board the bus.
Though police could not find a suspect after the attack – in which the victim said he was hit four times, leaving raised welts on his back – they encountered Cox on Saturday at the Solstice Park tennis courts across from north Lincoln Park, an area he has been known to frequent, and the encounter led to the arrest. That part of the story was first told to WSB by a reader who asked for anonymity. He wrote on Saturday:
(Photo of Longfellow Creek, by Laura James)
Fairly quiet day on the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar and the WSB Halloween page … time to recover from weekend activities including the first-ever Harvest Festival (our coverage is here and here), but we have a few things:
DINE OUT TO HELP A SCHOOL: All day/night, Endolyne Joe’s in Fauntleroy will donate part of today’s proceeds to West Seattle’s new K-5 STEM school.
VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE: The final deadline for voter registration is today – details on the King County Elections page.
FERRY DRILL: As mentioned here on Friday, an anti-terrorism drill is planned today on board a state ferry somewhere between Vashon and Edmonds – and if it happens to be off West Seattle shores at the time, you might notice unusual air/sea activity.
SPOOKY STORYTIME: 7 pm tonight at High Point Library (35th/Raymond), Halloween story time! Details here.
NIGHTLIFE: Pub quiz night at Shadowland, 8 pm … Flat Earth Society DJ’ing at West 5 features Jody McKane spinning tonight, 9 pm.
Check the calendar for a few more recurring events!
(Live view from the only WS Bridge camera currently in operation; see other cameras on the WSB Traffic page)
6:52 AM: Wet weather is the main challenge for the morning commute so far. A few notes:
-The West Seattle Water Taxi is on its fall/winter schedule now (and using Melissa Ann for the next three weeks, with Rachel Marie getting some work done)
-Routes 120, 55, and 22 have some changes (see our story from last night)
Let us know what you encounter out there – we’ll also update this story any time there’s a traffic/transit note between now and the end of the evening commute.
8:16 AM: Crash just reported on northbound I-5 at I-90.
8:47 AM: A crash on northbound I-5 just south of the West Seattle Bridge is no longer blocking lanes. Haven’t heard of any trouble from the “near I-90” report.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Report #1, as-it-happened coverage with photos plus parade video, is here)
Thousands thronged The Junction on Sunday for its first-ever Harvest Festival – melding the West Seattle Farmers’ Market with business-district trick-or-treating. We covered it “live” as it unfolded over four hours, but there’s more to show, in these two-dozen-plus photos by WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams. Above, 4-year-old Joseph Cho (“The Flash”) awaits fruit in a market booth. Next, hay was a playground for a little dinosaur, 11-month-old Noah Wootton, and friends:
Grownups and pets got into the spirit too:
That’s Jim Rogers with Olaf, who is masquerading as Al Capone. 19 more festival scenes, ahead:
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“The circle of life” took on multiple meanings at this afternoon’s Fauntleroy Creek “drumming to call the salmon home” event. First – the circle of those who came to celebrate the annual return, about three dozen participants by our count. Second, the phrase was part of a “call-and-response” inviting participants to share a significant event in their lives since last year’s gathering. And third – organizer and creek/watershed steward Judy Pickens noted that while seven spawners had been counted so far, none had made it up the creek – otter(s) had eaten them. Nonetheless, the celebration was on – with drums of many sizes and types:
That provided a mentoring opportunity, too, as Irene Stewart demonstrated:
Singing accompanied the drumming – that’s organizer Judy at center, music leader Jamie Shilling at right:
(video added) The gathering had begun with Judy recalling the first returning salmon (nicknamed “Harry and Louise”) almost two decades ago, followed by Jamie leading a song:
Mary led young welcomers through a recounting of the story of baby salmon’s comings, goings, and growing:
As noted here last week, volunteer watchers will be keeping an eye out for the salmon in the weeks ahead.
(Photo courtesy Krystal Kelley)
A new wine/beer lounge opens Halloween night in The Admiral District – and it’s intended to be a treat, says entrepreneur Krystal Kelley, whose Mind Unwind gallery/gathering space at 2206 California SW will also now be home to the Treehouse Lounge. It’s in the gallery of the loft, previously a “greatly unused space,” and Krystal says she’s been working on it for about a month, with colleagues J. Conrad Nivens and Zac Hutchins. It’ll be open Wednesdays through Sundays, 5 pm to midnight, with Happy Hour 6-8 pm – and Happy Hour all night ($5 house wine/draft beer) on Grand Opening night Wednesday. Read the rest of the Treehouse Lounge story on the Mind Unwind website; Treehouse Lounge also is on Facebook, here.
After you’ve converted a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern – or pumpkin curry, or … – the question remains: What to do with all those seeds? You can simply roast them, or, try what the neighbors on 40th SW near The Junction did again this year, getting together for a Pumpkin Seed Cookoff. Kerry White shared photos and info – above, the winners: Kerry reports, “Bob took the Judges’ Award, Aubrey got the Most Entertaining Seed, Paul was first, Will second, and Brady third.” As for what they created, Kerry says, “The winner was ‘A Sweet Surprise’ that was super crunchy. Second place was Buffalo; third place was a jerk seed. Most entertaining was a candied seed loaf, and the judges’ award was pumpkin-seed-ale caramels.”
Congratulations to the creative cooks of 40th SW!
In case you missed the news last week: Starting tomorrow, Metro adds two am-commute buses and two pm-commute buses to each of two West Seattle routes, 120 and 55, as explained in this news release. The news release doesn’t mention the schedule details, but, from e-mail sent to riders, here they are again:
The two new morning trips on Route 55 are scheduled to leave from the Admiral District at 6:37 and 8:20 AM, and arrive on Seneca Street at Second Avenue at 7:08 and 8:51 respectively. The added Route 55 afternoon trips are scheduled to leave from Blanchard St in Belltown at 4:54 and 5:17 PM.
The two new morning trips on Route 120 are scheduled to leave from the Burien Transit Center at 6:26 and 7:14 AM, from Westwood Village at 6:50 and 7:39, and arrive on Third Avenue in downtown Seattle at about 7:25 and 8:15 respectively. The added Route 120 afternoon trips are scheduled to leave from southbound on Third Avenue at Pike Street at 4:45 and 5:11 PM.
We are continuing to launch a daily “traffic/transit today” story that is open for comments and editorial updates throughout the day as needed – what you’re seeing, and what we’re hearing about – look for it each weekday by 7, and linked throughout the day/night in the BIG STORIES list on the WSB sidebar.
P.S. For those who have been asking about Arbor Heights changes – Metro’s Victor Obeso said at the Sustainable West Seattle Transportation Forum (WSB coverage here) two weeks ago that they’d be working on tweaks – AH resident Vic noticed this up at Junction Bay 6 this weekend and shared the photo:
We have not received a reply from Metro yet about other Arbor Heights changes
(Added Monday: Video by Ed Brooks, shot from Magnolia as the whales headed back north; link discovered via Orca Network Facebook page)
11:41 AM: We are hearing from multiple sources that orcas are headed this way again! First word that we received came from Jeff Hogan of Killer Whale Tales when we saw him here at the West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival – and other tips have come in too. Let us know if you see them!
12:57 PM UPDATE: Donna from The Whale Trail says they’re currently “milling around” mid-channel between Me-Kwa-Mooks and Blake Island.
2:23 PM UPDATE: Just got a text – “On Bainbridge ferry heading into Elliott Bay. Orcas EVERYWHERE.”
10:41 AM: The sun is out for the start of the first-ever West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival – with lots of people already out and about to enjoy the special middle-of-the-street Farmers’ Market, plus homemade carnival-style activities like pumpkin bowling (above), at our booth with WestSide Baby and West Seattle Bowl (dubbed WSB X 3) on the east side of California/Alaska. You’ll find art by Curious Kidstuff:
And the Community School of West Seattle is here with chickens and a turkey!
20-plus organizations and businesses are offering activities – and right in the heart of Walk-All-Ways, get your questions answered by Farmers’ Market folks – we loved the corncob hat:
Lots of costumed kids and adults out already – and we’re still just under an hour away from the costume parade leaving Junction Plaza Park at 11:30 am, followed by trick-or-treating noon-2 pm – and 2 is when the festival ends, so get down here fast.
More coverage to come!
11:24 AM UPDATE: The costume parade is about to start – the WSHS Marching Band has been warming up, and we discovered that someone who has a lot of experience with parades – Jim Edwards, co-coordinator of the West Seattle Grand Parade – is helping this one get off on the right foot. (The parade looped all the way around the festival site – here’s Jim on his motorcycle:)
And part of the band:
And the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Junior Court:
(added) Video of the parade as it began from Junction Plaza Park:
12:25 PM UPDATE: Hour and a half to go – didn’t think it was possible, but there are even more people here now. Costume-watching continues:
And the Batmans helping each other across the street:
Costumed grownups as well as kids. We’ll have parade video later as well as a second roundup of photos beyond the ones we manage to get into this as-it-happened narrative. Come down and hang out with your neighbors! Also check out the RE/MAX Haunted House over on 44th – which has been drawing lines:
1:30 PM UPDATE: Half an hour to go. So many people have come by the booth – pumpkin-bowling, asking questions about WestSide Baby, saying hi, picking up West Seattle Bowl coupons – thank you! (And if you’re still here or stopping by before 2, we have some of our free WSB ice-scrapers left to give away.) The crowd has been terrific. But the weather’s turned cloudy and cooler, so our respite from the rain might only last as long as the festival …
2:04 PM UPDATE: Starting to fold up – the streets have to be cleared so they can reopen within a couple hours. We will have at least one more report later with lots more photos, and parade video. Thanks to everybody who came to the festival – and all the volunteers/businesses/organizations who made the fun activities happen and provided treats, free.
ADDED: A community-contributed photo – Lisa Secord sent this photo of her 11-year-old son, Brendan Lancaster, dressed as “Great Granny” – she reports the reactions were priceless:
One more business-district trick-or-treat event – Westwood Village, 5-7 pm on Halloween.
It’s finally here – the first-ever West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival, 10 am-2 pm – click the map above for the printable PDF version! And we have a break in the rain, for the occasion. But before we get to on-the-scene coverage – a quick overview of the day:
WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION HARVEST FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:
(Market setup, photo taken about 8:40 am)
10 am-2 pm, West Seattle Farmers’ Market in the street (California SW)
10 am-2 pm, free fun activities presented by businesses and organizations
11:30 am, costume parade led by West Seattle High School Marching Band from Junction Plaza Park
12 pm-2 pm, business trick-or-treating
12 pm-2 pm, gently haunted house @ RE/MAX, 4727 44th SW
*Come see us, WestSide Baby, and West Seattle Bowl (“WSB x 3”) for pumpkin bowling and (while they last) ask for your free WSB ice scraper (winter preparedness!).
FREE YOGA: WSB sponsor SoundYoga sponsors free yoga every so often and today’s the day! 11 am (5639 California SW)
FALL WINE RELEASE: Stottle Winery (tasting room at 3400 Harbor SW, street level of ActivSpace) continues its fall wine-release event, noon-5:30 pm.
HALLOWEEN ‘TOXIC TERRORS’ BOAT TOUR: Might still be room – leaves Harbor Island Marina at 1 pm, gate C – details here.
WHITE CENTER BUSINESS TRICK-OR-TREATING: 2-6 pm at participating shops/restaurants in the business district.
HALLOWEEN DOG PHOTOS: Halloween photos of the dog(s) in your life, at The Wash Dog (WSB sponsor). FREE – you take the photo with your own camera; Wash Dog supplies the setting – hay bales, pumpkins, dog costumes to borrow (or bring your own).
LIVE MUSIC: Zarni performs at C & P Coffee (WSB sponsor; 5612 California SW), 3-5 pm.
MARRIAGE-EQUALITY FUNDRAISER: 4-6 pm at OutWest Bar (California/Brandon) – details here.
DRUM TO CALL THE SALMON HOME: The yearly event at Fauntleroy Creek Overlook (SW Director and upper Fauntleroy, across and up the embankment from the ferry dock), 5 pm – bring whatever you want to call a drum (or just bring your voice for chants/songs – all ages welcome)! The coho are already showing up at the creek mouth.
(SDOT “live” camera looking north on California at Alaska)
Just a quick traffic/transit reminder: California and Alaska are closing in the heart of The Junction from early this morning till mid-afternoon, for the first-ever Harvest Festival. That also means Metro bus reroutes. The festival runs 10 am-2 pm, but setup starts early since it includes the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, to be set up in the middle of California SW instead of its usual location, as well as a variety of activities. More coverage to come!
Results from postseason play in two sports on Saturday:
VOLLEYBALL: Busy day for local teams in tournament play at Chief Sealth International High School. First, West Seattle High School lost at 11 am to Seattle Prep, 3-0 , then faced Sealth at 1 pm – that ended with the Seahawks winning, 3-0. WSHS subsequently won over Lakeside at 3 pm, 3-1, while Sealth went on to play Eastside Catholic at 5 pm, falling 3-0. (Added Sunday morning – per the Sealth Athletics Facebook page, the Seahawks “will be back in action next Thursday (5:30 pm) at Sammamish HS vs. Bellevue in the 1st round of the District II tournament.”)
FOOTBALL: WSHS lost to Bainbridge at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, 47-20.
(WSHS senior Brennan Newquist scoring one of the Wildcats’ first two TDs)
Toplines ahead:Read More
Congratulations to more local martial-arts participants! Kris Wilder, owner/head instructor of West Seattle Karate Academy, shares the report and photo:
Several members of the West Seattle Karate Academy traveled to Puyallup to compete in the Washington State Isshinryu Karate Tournament. From left to right, Issac (Bronze in individual kata and Gold in Synchronized kata), Sprocket (Silver in individual kata), Sadie (Silver in individual kata and gold in synchronized kata), Wyatt (Gold in synchronized and silver in individual kata), Brandon (Bronze in individual kata and a Gold in synchronized), center, Master George Shin, and left, Kris Wilder. A good time was had by all the competitors and parents alike.
9:49 PM: There’s a lot of conflicting information circulating right now so just in case you are confused or worried – yes, there WAS a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in B.C. but NO, there is NO tsunami warning for our state, anywhere. Here is the actual warning, ONLY for areas from the northern tip of Vancouver Island northward – Vancouver itself is not even affected. The warnings unfortunately are confusingly written – but “information only” for our area means nothing more than “we thought you might want to know that this warning is in effect SOMEPLACE ELSE.” Also, note that while “tsunami” no doubt conjures images of the terrifying events in Japan, much more often, it is barely a ripple. That said, *IF* there is ever a tsunami alert for someplace you are, do NOT wait around to see if it’s a ripple – get inland! – but once again, NO WARNING AFFECTING OUR STATE TONIGHT. We will of course keep watch. And this is always a great reminder for preparedness. (More on that in a separate story later!)
10:04 PM: To illustrate the above point, Canadian sources report a 44-centimeter-high wave at Langara Island in the Queen Charlottes Haida Gwaii area. Here’s how far away that is from us (and Vancouver):
The newest version of the tsunami alert now includes an ADVISORY for the rest of the B.C. coast – still nothing for our state. Read it here, and watch for updates at tsunami.gov. (We will add that link to the WSB Weather page tonight so it’ll always be there for reference.)
11:12 PM UPDATE: A few more notes – while there is an *advisory* for Southern Oregon and Northern California (here’s the latest update, from half an hour ago), still nothing for any part of Washington. In B.C., they still haven’t seen anything higher than 50 centimeters (not even 2 feet high). As noted in comments, there’s an alert for Hawaii – here’s live coverage from a TV station there.
11:27 PM UPDATE: The alert for parts of B.C. and Alaska is downgraded to an advisory.
12:24 AM UPDATE: We’re continuing to listen to the Honolulu TV stream referenced above. Whatever they are going to get is expected to arrive in about an hour.
1:43 AM UPDATE: Still nothing of note in Hawaii, according to that TV stream. The warning is still in effect; the advisory for Alaska/BC has been canceled.
3:14 AM UPDATE: Hawaii still OK but no “all-clear” yet. No definitive word on how the remote areas near the epicenter fared, but we did hear via the Hawaii live stream a phone interview with a woman who was at a wedding in the area when the quake hit.
Mark Wangerin thinks that might be the same coyote he’s photographed before in the West Seattle Golf Course/lower Camp Long area. This photo is from Thursday. And it leads off the latest list of sightings reported by WSB’ers – read on:
Veterans Day is two weeks away – and this year, it can be more meaningful than ever … if you choose to join in an organized effort to say “thank you” to those who have served. From Andrea Geraghty of West Seattle American Legion Auxiliary Unit 160 – and note that you can visit the Auxiliary at the Harvest Festival tomorrow:
Have you wondered how to show your support for Veterans Day?
Veterans Day is November 11th and honors the men and women who have served in the United States armed services.Who is a Veteran?
Veterans are people who served in the military (U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard) in times of war or peace.Who do you know who is a veteran?
Maybe it is your mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandfather, grandmother, cousin, neighbor, or teacher. You can be very proud of them. Many have given much to keep us safe and free.Have you thanked a veteran today?
This year, considered writing a thank-you card to a Veteran thanking them for their service to our country.The West Seattle American Legion Auxiliary Unit 160 invites children (and adults) to make a card for a Veteran for Veterans Day. Cards can be dropped off at the American Legion Hall 3618 SW Alaska St (through the mail slot at the front of the building) or if your school is interested in doing it as a school project, we would be happy to pick them up.
**We will also be at the Harvest Festival on October 28th; look for the dark blue canopy, cards can be dropped off there any time between 10:00-2:00 and join us for fun activities.**
Please drop off cards no later than Thursday, November 8, 2012. Contact Andrea Geraghty at alaunit160@gmail.com to make arrangements for pickup from schools by November 1, 2012.
The thank-you cards will be distributed to Veterans currently living in the West Seattle area and Veterans at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
(Cards: Please do not include personal address/contact information; this will not be a pen-pal. Cards should be no larger than one 8 ½ x 12 sheet of paper folded in half (cards may be folded smaller). No envelopes.
Thank you, West Seattle; if you’re interested in learning more about the American Legion Auxiliary, please contact us at alaunit160@gmail.com.
In case it still hasn’t hit your radar – the first-ever West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival tomorrow, 10 am-2 pm, is for EVERYONE – it’s not just kid stuff. And even if you are not planning to go, #1 may affect you:
1. The streets will be closed (similar to the Summer Fest/Car Show footprint), which also means bus reroutes (explained here).
2. Farmers’ Market vendors will be set up in the middle of California SW.
3. The costume parade starts at Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska) at 11:30 am.
4. Trick-or-treating is noon-2 pm.
5. Free activities are for the duration, 10 am-2 pm.
Earlier this month, SDOT reps told the North Delridge Neighborhood Council (WSB coverage here) that the process of creating a “neighborhood greenway” – a walking/biking-safe zone, proposed for 26th SW – was slowing down a bit, and that community open houses would be the next step. Today, the West Seattle Greenways group shared the news that the dates have been set for those open houses. As outlined on this SDOT webpage, the first one is at 6:30 pm November 14th at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW), to look at these questions:
How is the experience of walking and biking in North Delridge?
What locations are the most challenging for people when they walk or bike?
Where do people want to walk and bike?
What should be the goals of a Delridge Neighborhood Greenway?
There *will* be a presentation (6:45 pm) as part of the open house. The second one will be on January 15th, featuring city recommendations and information on what happens next.
On a day/night full of fun events around West Seattle, we stopped by two this morning:
MONSTER DASH: And they’re off! The first-ever West Seattle Monster Dash to raise money for local Parent Cooperative Preschools was a spirited sprint (or stroll) along the trails of upper Lincoln Park. We didn’t quite catch them running by, but many took up the invitation to be in costume:
Watch the official Monster Dash website for results/recap.
THRIFTWAY PARTY: Ever wonder what Michele, whose many roles at West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) include being your summer benefit-barbecue host, does in the offseason?
Today, we found Michele and friend over at the in-store dining area for the annual Halloween party, a crafty event:
Next big event at WST: A holiday tasting event next Thursday (November 1st), 4-7 pm.
Thanks to those who have tweeted and texted – there’s a 3-car crash reported on the westbound high bridge, a short distance before the Delridge exit. The “live” camera view is currently showing the fire engines that have responded.
ADDED 12:40 PM: Part of the bridge still blocked. Val sent this photo of the backup a short time ago:
1:08 PM: Cleared.
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
Rain can’t stop Halloween – nor did it stop Admiral Treats and Treasures, the Admiral merchants’ annual trick-or-treat event. We brought you a few early photos as it happened; now, here’s a gallery of some of the people WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams found along the way. Above, two Elvii (Kai Medina, 9, and Flora Medina, 11) wait to cross the street, along with “voting machine” Lauren Howe. Next: Olivia St. Germain as The White Rabbit:
The older “kids” enjoyed it too – check out the smile on Aida Gutierrez‘s face as she helps with candy handing-out at Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (WSB sponsor):
16 more photos ahead!
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