(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
If you heard the sirens about an hour ago – here’s what it was all about: A “fire in residence” call that crews made short work of, in the 6500 block of 39th SW (map). Heading back from a visit to the Arroyos whale, Christopher Boffoli caught the callout and checked it out for WSB. As his photo shows, there was a fair amount of smoke, but the fire itself was relatively small, and nobody was hurt: He talked to one of the residents who was home when it started: “She said she heard a crackling sound coming from the kitchen and went up to find black smoke coming out from under the kitchen sink. She ran and got the neighbors who tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher. They said they thought they were successful but the fire sprang back to life. They’re not sure how the fire started but it was believed to have been electrical and possibly the garbage disposal.”
As first reported March 12, Metro has been considering changing a stretch of Route 22 through Gatewood, to run along California SW between Ida and Thistle, then eastward on Thistle. They’ve just sent word that they decided not to make the change after all, “based on the comments … received from residents and transit riders and further review by (SDOT). … While we are no longer proposing a routing change, Metro will continue working with (SDOT) to find ways to improve bus operations and safety along 41st Avenue—especially the crossing at SW Holden Street.”
We’re back on Arroyo Beach in far south West Seattle right now, along with TV crews, watchful neighbors, and whale experts (plus one news chopper overhead). Jeff Hogan tells us that the gray that beached and died here yesterday afternoon is a female, about 30 feet long, “sub-adult,” and emaciated. NOAA has reps here too and will try at high tide to tow it away so it can be necropsied elsewhere, but if that’s not possible, they may have to do a “limited necropsy” here. NOAA tells us the number of gray whale deaths hasn’t risen to an alarming level yet; this one may be the first found dead in West Seattle waters since 1999 (here’s an article we found about what was happening that year). Here’s a wider view of what’s happening here, looking toward Vashon from our spot beneath a residential bulkhead:
The tide is still receding, with low tide at noon, so nothing’s going to change here for some hours. The whale is cordoned off with a yellow-tape perimeter. We did a video walkaround before that tape went all the way up and will add that shortly. We asked Hogan if there is any way to tell if this (or any of the others that died recently) is the one that West Seattleites watched a few weeks ago – he said photographs would have to be used to make the comparison. 11:32 AM: An impromptu field trip from Westside School just dropped by and drew immediate TV attention:
The rain is falling more steadily now. Again, nothing major is expected to happen here until the tide’s in later – high tide isn’t until 7:15 this evening.ADDED 1:44 PM: Finally able to upload the video walkaround we mentioned earlier:
This week two West Seattle businesses announced they’re leaving their storefronts but want to be clear they are NOT closing their businesses:
AUTHENTIC HOME, which specializes in paint and interior design, will continue to sell their exclusive paint line not only online but also through resellers (listed here); proprietor Kathy Banak is also continuing to book color/interior design consultations at 206-937-3070 or info@authentic-home.com. And she says new products are in the works. (Saturday is AH’s last day at its storefront north of The Junction.)
SOLD HOME DECOR is leaving its storefront on 35th SW across from Southwest Library, and just announced a big sale of the used furniture in its showroom there. But proprietor Maria Groen also notes that – as was her focus before – she will continue to offer real-estate staging/consultation and redesign/interior-design consultation. Her contact info is online at soldhomedecor.com. The store’s last day in Westwood is April 25th.
One more West Seattle biznote – a challenge of sorts:
RED CUP ESPRESSO’S EARTH DAY CHALLENGE: Red Cup owner Tricia DiBernardo says her solar-powered Junction coffee shop has adopted the West Seattle-based Nature Consortium in honor of Earth Day, and they’re encouraging you to volunteer with and/or donate to the nonprofit that’s devoted to restoring the West Duwamish Greenbelt, the largest contiguous forest left in the city. She says Red Cup (4451 California SW) has volunteer sign-up sheets for NC, and if you sign up, you’ll be entered to win a T-shirt or hoodie with the group’s cool logo. DiBernardo adds, “This is a wonderful non profit that we would love to support and hope others will also. All of us Red Cuppers have signed up to volunteer as well as about a dozen or so customers .. but we need more people!”
(Alki photo from Wednesday, courtesy Chas Redmond) POLICE LEADERSHIP AT ALKI COMMUNITY COUNCIL: What’s the outlook for a safe spring/summer at the beach? Southwest Precinct Capt. Joe Kessler and Lt. Norm James will be at the Alki Community Council meeting tonight to talk about it. 7 pm, Alki UCC(6115 SW Hinds). P.S. The spring issue of the Alki News Beacon is available online – get it here.
FREE COMPOST: A six-week giveaway of Cedar Grove compost – recycled Seattle yard waste – starts today. You can find a coupon here for two free bags; some West Seattle neighborhoods will actually find the free compost delivered curbside to their homes (if you don’t want it, just leave it and it’ll be picked up) – those neighborhoods got advance notice in the mail.
WEST SEATTLE RESERVOIR PARK DESIGN: The Seattle Design Commission gets a look this morning at the newest “design concept” for the added park area created by the undergrounding of West Seattle Reservoir next to Westcrest Park. The presentation is scheduled for 10:30 am in the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall downtown. (And a reminder, the next public meeting about the park plan is a week from Saturday.)
WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER AT HIAWATHA: Thanks to Tim McMonigle from the West Seattle Soccer Club for sending word that the next two WSHS home soccer games have been moved to the brand-new field at Hiawatha next to the school. The Wildcats play Nathan Hale today and Ingraham a week from today, both games at 3:30 pm.
TRAIN FOR THE WEST SEATTLE 5K: Six weeks till the second annual edition of theWest Seattle 5K (co-sponsored by WSB), which again this year will kick off a Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets “car-free” day on Alki, May 23rd. Starting tonight at Alki Community Center, a running coach leads a training course for beginning runners to get ready for the WS 5K. Call 206–684–7430 to ask about registration for the class.
SPEAKING OF REGISTRATION: One week left to sign up for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – sales large and small all around the peninsula on May 8, 9 am-3 pm, in a one-day celebration of person-to-person recycling, neighbor-meeting, whatever you love about holding and/or visiting garage/yard sales. Register your individual/group/block sale by next Thursday – here’s where to start.
Quick tip tonight, as we approach the midpoint of Disaster Preparedness Month, with something new here every night to help you finish the month more prepared than you were when it started: Take five minutes to watch this video. The host shows what you could/should keep in your car in case you’re away from home – or need to leave in a hurry – when disaster strikes. (The non-freezing-fluid explanation alone is worth the investment of time.) Certainly there’s lots of advice out there about what to have in kits, but this goes a little further, and offers a few more ideas of practical items to store in your hatch or trunk. If you want to go back and review what we’ve talked about over the past two weeks, it’s all archived here (reverse chronological order). And we have to ask – have you taken the 3 to Get Ready Challenge (WSB sponsor) yet? Why not? Start here. Then make sure you’ve taken the extra steps we’re talking about here all month – know your Emergency Communications Hub (and make sure any family/friends you have in West Seattle know theirs too!) – review the rest of the West Seattle Be Prepared website – and join the WSBP group on Facebook!
Toplines from Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting: Planning marches on for the second annual Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series. Aside from the West Seattle Big Band, the acts haven’t been chosen yet – more than 60 have applied – but right now the focus is on sponsorships to raise the money to stage the series. Some local businesses have signed on (WSB is a co-sponsor again this year), but they’re looking for more business sponsors and also inviting individual/family donations – the six-show series is free to attend but last year some individuals as well as businesses lent their support. If you’re interested in sponsoring or donating, contact Dave Weitzel at dave@weitzelconstruction.com. Also last night, the hardworking volunteers behind West Seattle Be Prepared and the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network explained those efforts to the ANA attendees (the crowd peaked around 20) – Deb Greer, Karen Berge and Cindi Barker. We’ve talked about those sites and campaigns multiple times here before, so we’ll just point you to the online spots – West Seattle Be Prepared is here (if you’re in Admiral, your hub is Hiawatha); the Blockwatch Captains Network is on Facebook here. One vote taken at the meeting: As some unfinished business from last fall’s officer elections, the group voted to drop proxy voting – if members want to vote, they have to be present.
Admiral Neighborhood Association meets the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 7 pm at Admiral UCC Church.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Though the neighbors who discovered that gray whale dying off their beach in The Arroyos (map) this afternoon were sad, some also acknowledged it was exciting in a way, such an unusual sight. And that is why Christopher Boffoli went back tonight to see what the receding tide revealed – low tide is around midnight, though not nearly as low as it will be tomorrow. One of the TV stations that went out to report on the whale after our report this afternoon, KING 5, says experts think starvation is a likely cause of the recent deaths around the region of several grays. As we noted in our earlier report, whale expert Jeff Hogan – from whom we often get first word of local whale sightings – plans to go back at tomorrow’s midday low tide, when the whale can be necropsied. After that, a decision will be made on what to do with its carcass.
ADDED 11:59 PM: Nearby resident Scott has posted video shot by his wife in what apparently were the whale’s final moments, around 4 this afternoon. The video and a few more photos are here. And via Facebook, the whale experts at Orca Network discuss starvation and its role in gray-whale deaths, which they say happen in our region several times a year, so this year may be trending ahead of the average already.
First, a followup on an arrest we reported last week: The 33-year-old man arrested at his High Point apartment one week ago and held for investigation of auto theft, robbery, assault and kidnapping is no longer in jail – he was released Monday night. That day was the deadline for him to be either charged or released, but the case was not referred to prosecutors. Police told WSB today that the investigation is still “active,” but that it’s too soon to say whether they will determine there is enough evidence to send the case to prosecutors for possible charges. Next – two new Crime Watch reports just in, a burglary and a sighting of two suspected car prowlers – read on:Read More
News tonight about “the other viaduct” – the Spokane Street Viaduct, aka the section of the West Seattle Bridge that’s between 99 and I-5. Construction of the new eastbound offramp at 4th Avenue South (SDOT photo above) is running ahead of schedule. Meantime, the closure of the 1st Avenue South onramp to the westbound WS Bridge is now just a month away. Here’s the latest from SDOT:Read More
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli, substituted at 7:11 pm for our original cameraphone photo) ORIGINAL 4:59 PM REPORT: We are on a private beach in The Arroyos where neighbors and whale experts have gathered because of a stranded, likely dead, gray whale. More to come. 5:04 PM UPDATE: Among those here is whale expert Jeff Hogan, who’s been talking to NOAA. He thinks the whale is indeed dead, possibly just within the past hour – neighbors here tell us they saw it moving around earlier this afternoon. It is off a bulkhead in front of homes along this far southwest section of West Seattle shoreline; the whale is mostly submerged but the tide is starting to go out. 5:27 PM: Update, the tide actually is still rising – high tide is in about an hour. Then there’s a minus tide at midday tomorrow, and experts will examine the whale then if it hasn’t floated off overnight. Two TV choppers were over us a little while ago so you may see something about this on tv too. Here’s what Hogan told us a short time ago:
Again, this is happening just off a private beach (we are here by the good graces of the neighbors, one of whom called us about an hour ago to ask who to report this sort of thing to) so not a good idea to come down to try to get a glimpse. If you see a marine mammal in trouble, by the way, this is the hotline (easy to find any time on the Seal Sitters’ website) 800-853-1964. ADDED 6:52 PM: Video from a little more than an hour ago, giving you a little more perspective on where the whale is, in context with the residential shoreline (and Vashon across the way):
Hogan expects to be back in the morning where a low tide would beach the whale so it could be necropsied. We will be continuing to monitor the situation tonight.
When a commenter wondered earlier today when the Wing Domeis opening in The Junction, since it plans to participate in the upcoming Taste of West Seattle on May 20th, we realized we hadn’t checked in with spokesperson Colleen O’Leary for a while – so we did just that. She had said in February that they were awaiting their construction schedule for their section of what used to be part of CAPERS, before estimating a date. They have that now, and work is under way, as you can see in the photo she shared; she says they’re aiming for late June/early July.
A week ago, Chief Sealth High School basketball coach Colin Slingsby accepted the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce “Westsider of the Year” award (WSB coverage here); he’d already been honored as the Seattle Times (WSB partner) “Star Times Coach of the Year.” If you’ve got a 4th-8th grader interested in basketball, here’s a chance for them to work with Coach Slingsby for free this Saturday – the announcement just came in:
Free Youth Basketball Clinic
Hosted by the Chief Sealth Boys Basketball Program
When: Saturday April 17th, 2010
Where: Chief Sealth High School at Boren, 5950 Delridge Way
Time: 10 am-12 pm
(Clinic will run from 10-11:30 and pizza will be served from 11:30-12)
Age: 4th grade through 8th grade
• Pizza and Gatorade will be provided at the conclusion of the clinic for those who attend.
• The clinic will be directed by Sealth Boys Head Coach Colin Slingsby and several current players at Chief Sealth.
Questions? Contact Coach Colin Slingsby at (206) 854-8142 or email at caslingsby@seattleschools.org
Sealth athletic director Sam Reed points out it’s also a good chance to preview what your student might get out of the Sealth basketball/life-skills camp this summer, same age range (brochure here).
(WSB photos and video by Cliff DesPeaux)
That site near the SODO stadiums is a dirt lot now, but it’ll be transformed into a detour route during the heart of the southern Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project is under way. WSDOTjust opened bids today for the south-end project and says all six bids were below the agency’s $152 million estimate – the apparent low bidder (a verification/review process is still ahead) isSkanska USA Civil from Riverside, California, at $114 million. (Next lowest, two bids at $127 million; highest was $142 million, still $10 million below the estimate.)
The work starts this summer – here’s what you’ll see first – and is expected to employ more than 600 people.
Photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux covered the WSDOT announcement event for WSB; Viaduct project leader Ron Paananen and state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond showed off an orange-painted column marking the northern end of the southern replacement zone:
ADDED 4:22 PM: Here’s what Hammond told reporters at the scene (note that despite what’s on the video, the low bid was actually $114 million as noted above):
Three weeks ago, we covered the South Portal Working Group meeting at which Viaduct project managers reviewed the construction schedule five years into the future – until even the central part of the structure is to be demolished – if you missed that story, see it here.
(WSB photos and video by Cliff DesPeaux)
Under one of the LED streetlights that are being tested on a few blocks in the Genesee-Schmitz area, that’s City Councilmember Bruce Harrell, leading a tour last night to talk about the new lights, as the city moves ahead with plans to swap out all streetlights for energy-/money-saving LEDs within 5 years. Click ahead for more details, including a quick video demonstration of the difference between the new lights and the “old” ones, plus information on when they’ll be shining along your street:Read More
Some call the 35th SW straightaway “I-35” because there are times it feels like a freeway. MAS noticed that somebody has put up a sign in hopes of reminding drivers it’s not. (This is by the northbound bus stop, 35th/Webster, Sunrise Heights.)
CANDIDATES’ FORUM AT 34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS: Your next chance to hear from candidates in our area’s main contested, open race is tonight during the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting at The Hall at Fauntleroy. The agenda also includes proposed changes to endorsement rules (full agenda here)
GOT ANSWERS? SKYLARK HAS QUESTIONS! Wednesdays are Trivia Nights at Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor), 6:45 pm (followed by Open Mike time at 9).
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE DAY SIGNUPS: Day 14 of registration for the 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, coming up on Saturday, May 8, 9 am-3 pm. The list just passed 80 sales, big and small, all over the peninsula – eight days left to register yours (start here)!
–West Seattle Be Prepared (resource-laden, WS-specific website here; Facebook group for more discussion here)
-City’s 3 To Get Ready challenge (register for prizes!), which is being advertised on WSB this month
-Your Emergency Communications Hub – know it, know multiple routes to it.
Toplines from a short North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting at Youngstown Arts Center: The Brandon Street Natural Area is part of the Duwamish Alive! series of Earth Day cleanups this Saturday, 10 am-2 pm; volunteers welcome, and here’s the flyer NDNC co-chair Jay Mirro has sent around … A big cleanup is being organized as part of Delridge Day on June 5th, and Delridge Neighborhood District Coordinator Ron Angeles is taking ideas on potential cleanup spots that are not the “usual” locations; Angeles and Nancy Folsom are taking suggestions … Folsom also is continuing to work on the project for public art by the to-be-built-soon Delridge Skatepark, but needs help overcoming the latest bump in the road, a grant requirement for volunteer-work hours or monetary donations from residents … A deputy mayor is expected in North Delridge for a tour next month; Angeles is organizing a list of suggested stops. If you’ve got ideas to help with any of what’s mentioned above, the NDNC e-mail address is northdelridge@gmail.com.
The North Delridge Neighborhood Council meets at 6:30 pm, 2nd Tuesday of the month, at Youngstown.
The first of three sets of notes from community-council meetings we covered tonight: The Fauntleroy Community Association board, meeting at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, was happy about the outcome of this year’s Food Fest/Membership Meeting. Not only was the March 23rd event’s turnout big (as shown in our coverage), board members were heartened by the night’s new memberships and renewals – overall, one of the best in a long time, they said. Also discussed: The county’s controversial list of three options (shown here) for controlling Combined Sewer Overflows at the Barton pump station by the ferry dock (here’s our March 19th report from the first major discussion of the proposals). The county’s still taking feedback; go here. Looking ahead: An update on The Kenney‘s redevelopment plan is expected to be on the May 11th agenda; before then, Endolyne Joe’shosts a Fauntleroy Fall Festival fundraiser April 27, dinner 5-8 pm and live music/happy hour afterward.
Jim Sander and Theresa Hoy led the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council meeting last night as co-chairs for the first time. Before the meeting was too far along, all 20 or so chairs set up in a circle inside the Pathfinder K-8 cafeteria were filled, one by the night’s special guest, Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow. He’s always busy but has been on an extra-intense tour of neighborhood councils recently, as more groups show interest in helping facilitate the growth of Block Watch activism in their respective areas. Kinlow (who is a civilian SPD employee) stressed, “Get your entire block involved in watching out for each other’s homes. … When you see somebody out on the street or the sidewalks (who looks unfamiliar or out of place), think about them being in your back yard … call your neighbors, have everybody stand in the window and watch … if they see that (and are up to no good), they will leave your neighborhood.” More crime-prevention advice and other Pigeon Point notes, ahead:Read More
We got a call today from Daniel … who lives just around the corner on the beach close to the lighthouse property. He said a raft had washed up on the beach and wondered if it was ours. We checked there yesterday and didn’t see it. But it is ours. We’ll try to tow it back to our beach tomorrow, weather permitting. We can’t believe our good luck in finding this raft 3 times after the bad luck of losing it 3 times.
Three generations of the Smiths’ family collaborated a year and a half ago to build the raft, whose story you can read here.
Toplines from Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting: Planning marches on for the second annual Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series. Aside from the 
First, a followup on an arrest we reported last week: The 33-year-old man 
2 months ago, 
The first of three sets of notes from community-council meetings we covered tonight: The 
Jim Sander and Theresa Hoy led the 
| 5 COMMENTS