West Seattle, Washington
04 Friday
Thanks to Amber for the photo from another West Seattle Pride event today, a neighborhood walk in Admiral! Sorry this wasn’t in our daily preview list – we didn’t hear about it in advance, but our list does include the Morgan Junction mini-march for Pride, set to start from Morgan Junction Park, 6413 California SW, around 2:15 pm.
Thanks to Donna Sandstrom from The Whale Trail for calling with word that orcas are northbound off Brace Point, south of Fauntleroy. They’re not currently close to our side of the Sound, though, so take your binoculars.
Though West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) is open for in-store shopping, its long tradition of in-person events will have to wait for a later phase before resuming. But that’s not stopping the next “Get Fit, West Seattle”! WSR proprietors Lori and Tim McConnell are offering a virtual version – and you can get ready by watching their advance video – here’s the announcement:
July 18th would be the day that Float Dodger 5K would have happened, so we are kicking off GET FIT WEST SEATTLE virtually that day to have a little something fun on the running docket.
You start with one mile and you will train to run the Seattle Half Marathon on November 29th 2020! This is a program for BEGINNER runners. We will be providing a training plan, clinics on injury prevention, run nutrition, proper running form, run/walk intervals, and all things that new runners need to know to do it safely and successfully.
Much of this may occur virtually depending on city regulations, COVID cases, and safety measures that need to be taken. We know we will be starting remotely. Once it is deemed safe, we will meet in-person and run as a group. Until then, we will offer suggestions for routes, tips, dialogue and support in an on-line format, with Facebook being our main interactive platform. Learn more about this program by watching our Informational Night video, posted on our facebook group pages: West Seattle Runner and Get Fit West Seattle. It will stay posted on those pages for you to view at your leisure. Furthermore, you can email any questions to: lori@westseattlerunner.com.
If you have trouble finding the video on either of those pages, try this direct link.
(Friday’s sunset, photographed by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
Here’s our list of what’s happening today, starting with updated links for West Seattle churches’ online services, most livestreamed, some not:
ADMIRAL UCC: Worship options are linked here.
ALKI UCC: 10 am online service and annual meeting, via Zoom – info and link on church’s home page.
ALL SOULS SEATTLE (WSB sponsor): Online worship podcasts are here.
BETHANY COMMUNITY CHURCH: Livestreaming for West Seattle here at 9:30 am.
CALVARY CHAPEL: Service will be viewable here, plus 11 am fellowship via Zoom, 6 pm all-church prayer and 7 pm evening worship (info on home page).
EASTRIDGE CHURCH: Livestreaming here at 9 am and 11 am.
FAUNTLEROY UCC: Special service – Music Sunday! Featuring the Fauntleroy Chancel Choir, ensembles, and instrumentalists (Bronwyn Edwards, Music Director). Here’s the flyer. Livestreaming on the church’s YouTube channel at 10 am.
FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH OF WEST SEATTLE: Today’s online liturgy is here.
GRACE CHURCH: Livestreaming here, 10:30 am.
HALLOWS CHURCH: Streaming at 10 am via the church’s YouTube channel.
HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH: Livestreaming in English at 8:30 am, en Español at 10 am, all here.
HOLY ROSARY CATHOLIC CHURCH: Livestreaming at 9:30 am here.
HOPE LUTHERAN: Today’s worship service and children’s story are viewable here.
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Livestreaming at 10 am, both here.
PEACE LUTHERAN: Livestreaming at 10:30 am on YouTube.
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Viewable on YouTube: All Ages Sunday School at 10 am, Morning Prayer at 10:15 am (here’s today’s bulletin), Kids’ Club at 11:30 am.
TIBBETTS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH (WSB sponsor): The video service for today is viewable here. Follow along via the bulletin here.
TRINITY CHURCH: Livestreaming here, 10 am.
WEST SEATTLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: The video service for today is viewable here.
WEST SEATTLE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE: Livestreaming here, 11 am.
WEST SIDE PRESBYTERIAN Livestreaming at 10 am on the church’s YouTube channel.
WESTSIDE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION: Livestreaming via Zoom, 10:30 am.
WESTWOOD CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY: Online worship at 11 am; info here.
Any other churches to add? Please email us – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Also today:
JUNCTION PRIDE FLAGS: Volunteers will put them back up at 8 am, and take them down at 8 pm. Helpers can meet at northeast corner of California/Alaska.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm. Scroll down the page at this link to find the vendor list and map for this week. (Enter at California/Alaska)
WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Open 11 am-4 pm – need a tool to fix or improve something? (4408 Delridge Way SW)
WEST SEATTLE PRIDE MINI-MARCH: As previewed here. Leaving Morgan Junction Park at 2:15 pm. Wear your mask and keep your distance! (6413 California SW)
#SAYTHEIRNAMES: As previewed here. 4:30 pm on the Delridge/Oregon overpass.
FREE TO-GO DINNER: High Point Community Dinner Church will serve to-go meals at 5 pm, outside, near High Point Community Center. (6920 34th SW)
Another local business confirms an employee has tested positive for COVID-19. This time, it’s Duke’s on Alki. The restaurant posted this on social media tonight:
The restaurant was open tonight; an employee who contacted us about the situation says the cleaning was done on Thursday and that employees were notified that day.
If you’re hearing construction-type noise – there’s a Seattle Public Utilities crew working on a water problem at California/Dawson, just south of The Junction. We haven’t heard from anyone whose water service has been affected, but did get a couple tips about the SPU crew (thank you).
FIRST REPORT, 10:12 PM: Thanks to Jason for the photo from a crash scene this past hour in Gatewood, in the 42100 block of SW Othello [map]. The driver is reported to have hit parked cars before crashing into a tree, and was taken to a hospital.
ADDED EARLY SUNDAY: Another crash was reported a few blocks away, at 41st/Austin, just after 10:30 pm:
The owner of a parked F-250 pickup truck that was hit and damaged sent that photo, showing blue paint from the hit-run vehicle. He says it was a “small blue car” that crashed shortly thereafter, according to the police officer who took his report.
A troubling nationwide trend hits our state too, and that’s what starts tonight’s roundup:
HITTING THE BRAKES: Gov. Inslee and state Health Secretary John Wiesman announced today that no county will be allowed, for now, to advance to Phase 4:
Rising cases across the state and concerns about continued spread of the COVID virus have made Phase 4, which would essentially mean no restrictions, impossible at this time.
Eight counties were eligible to move from Phase 3 to Phase 4 before the pause.
This doesn’t affect us right now, as King County just moved to Phase 2 a week ago.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here are the cumulative numbers from Public Health‘s daily-summary dashboard:
*9,819 people have tested positive, 124 more than yesterday
*586 people have died, unchanged from yesterday
*1,574 people have been hospitalized, 10 more than yesterday
*157,623 people have been tested, 1,764 more than yesterday
One week ago, those totals were 9,165/585/1,540/140,894.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: Almost 10 million people have tested positive, and almost half a million have died. Most cases: U.S., Brazil, Russia, India, United Kingdom. See the breakdown, nation by nation, here.
GROCERY SHOPPING: Our periodic check of what’s up with local standalone grocery stores turned up that two chains have reduce their weekly senior/at-risk shopping hours.
ONLINE FARMERS’ MARKET: If you don’t feel ready to wade into the West Seattle Farmers’ Market on Sundays, they’re offering a new shop-online-and-pick-up option – info here.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
If yo have time to spare this summer – local kids need you. The request is from FareStart:
FareStart helps people overcome barriers to employment by teaching work and life skills needed to succeed in the foodservice industry — and in life. By investing in people and building community, we transform homelessness, hunger, and poverty into human potential.
Since early March, FareStart has distributed over 600,000 meals to the community. Over the summer, FareStart will be providing over 2,000 meals a day to families and children at 26 Seattle Public Schools and we need your help!
Volunteers are needed to help distribute meals at Seattle Public Schools including West Seattle High School, Denny International Middle School, and at Concord International School in South Park. Shifts are available Monday-Friday through the summer from 10:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. If you are interested, fill out our volunteer form to learn more: https://www.farestart.org/covid-19-volunteer-opportunities
Thank you for helping us in our mission to transform lives, disrupt poverty and nourish communities through food, life skills, and job training.
Thanks to everyone who has continued to send West Seattle bird photos! Here are 7 more -starting with this one from John Kieltyka:
That Steller’s Jay wandered into a photo shoot for John’s West Seattle-produced guitar podcast, The High Gain.
Kimberly Mickelson spotted this Great Blue Heron on a roof:
From Mark Wangerin, a fuzzy Barred Owlet:
A Red-shafted Northern Flicker visited Steven Sherotsky in Gatewood:
From Hans A. in Delridge, an unusual view of a Crow in flight:
And two from Larry Gilpin near Schmitz Park – first, an Anna’s Hummingbird:
And a Spotted Towhee:
Thanks again to everyone who continues to send photos and tips!
Just as the city encourages more businesses to use outdoor space to make things safer for customers and staff – one West Seattle restaurant’s outdoor area has been hit by theft. The photo is from Itto’s Tapas (California/Genesee), which texted the photo and reports, “Someone stolen a couple outdoor tables and chairs last night after midnight.” A police report has been filed (tracking # T20018446)..
(Photo courtesy Bayfest Youth Theatre)
Still sorting out summer? Got a teen or tween in the household who’s interested in theater? West Seattle-based Bayfest Youth Theatre has an offer for you:
Although we are very sad to have to cancel our in-person West Seattle-based drama camp intensive in August due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are really excited to be able to offer a COMPLETELY FREE opportunity for 15-20 students to train and work on monologues, songs, and original performance pieces with some of our top teaching artists.
The camp will use the ZOOM platform for fun and active group and one-on-one meetings over the course of 10 days (up to 2 hours per day, with additional home assignments for participants to work on, with videos we will be posting on our site), and that it will culminate in a performance video that will be posted online and sent to thousands of our audience members.
The camp will run from August 10-21 and is open to participants ages 10-12 and 13- 19 (in two separate groups). Although it is open to all interested Seattle-area young people and is being supported by grants we have received from the City and County, we would love to have some local kids participate, since we are a West Seattle organization and work in local schools. Please tell your own kids or any others you know who may be interested, and have them get their applications in as soon as possible. Further information and a link to the application is available at www.BAYFESTyouthTheatre.org
Please email us immediately at: BAYFESTyouthTheatre@gmail.com if you are interested in applying for the virtual drama camp and if you have any further questions.
11:56 AM: Today and tomorrow, 60+ rainbow flags line the heart of The Junction, as this year’s Pride month concludes. Volunteers placed them this morning:
Above, West Seattle Junction Association executive director Lora Radford and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott were part of the crew.
This is the second year for the flags, which were all “adopted” as a Junction Association fundraiser (WSB is among the adopters).
The flags will be removed at 8 pm tonight and re-placed at 8 am tomorrow – helpers welcome (meet up on the northeast corner of California and Alaska).
P.S. One more flag for The Junction – muralist Desmond Hansen is painting the Progress Flag on the signal box at the northeast corner of California/Oregon.
ADDED 1:49 PM: The artist and his creation (photo courtesy WSJA):
(Photo courtesy SSC)
The season of drive-up/walk-up graduation celebrations continues! From South Seattle College (WSB sponsor):
South Seattle College kicked off celebrating the Class of 2020 on June 25 with a drive-through “Can’t Stop Us!” event to honor our graduates’ monumental achievement and unstoppable spirit in overcoming historic challenges to earn their degrees and certificates. We are celebrating over 850 graduates this year, and over 100 attended the June 25 event.
A photo gallery from the celebration has been posted to SSC’s Facebook page.
Graduates will also be sent a “Commencement in a Box” later this summer that includes a graduation tassel, Class of 2020 commencement program, diploma cover, a card from SSC President Rosie Rimando-Chareunsap, and other fun gifts and memorabilia.
The celebration continues virtually with an online Kudoboard where anyone can share their congratulations, and a “Class of 2020: You are UNSTOPPABLE” video featuring graduates from across the Seattle Colleges (including North Seattle College and Seattle Central College).
Seattle Colleges originally planned to celebrate the Class of 2020 at T-Mobile Park. To protect everyone’s health during the pandemic, the decision was made to cancel an in-person commencement and create new ways to recognize our amazing graduates.
Additionally, all 2020 graduates are invited to attend the next in-person commencement.
“You are officially a member of the Class of 2020, and on behalf of every faculty and staff member at South Seattle College I want to say we are so proud of your accomplishment, and truly honored to call you an alumni for life,” President Rimando-Chareunsap said. “This is your story, and its one you will share with family and friends for decades to come. It is a story of pushing through in life, work, and education during a deeply tumultuous time. The burden has been massive, and yet here you stand strong: A College Graduate more than ready to write your next chapter and make your mark.”
South Seattle College conferred a total of 855 awards this year, including:
*407 associate transfer degrees that enable graduates to transfer to four-year colleges and universities in Washington and beyond to complete their bachelor’s degrees.
*239 associate of science degrees and certificates that prepare graduates to enter the workforce immediately.
*178 high school diplomas or equivalents, allowing graduates to take a significant step toward future education and employment opportunities.
*31 bachelor of applied science degrees, taking graduates’ careers to the next level and increasing their earning potential.
As the pandemic starts its fifth month locally, grocery shopping remains the major out-of-home venture for many, so we’re still keeping watch on local standalone stores for Saturday-morning updates every week or two. Four updates this time around:
TRADER JOE’S: As of Monday (June 29th), it’s going back to a 9 pm closing time.
QFC: Senior/at-risk shopping hours have been pulled back to two days a week, 7-8 am Mondays and Wednesdays.
WHOLE FOODS: This chain also has cut back on senior/at-risk hours, 7-8 am Wednesdays and Fridays, with regular hours 8 am-9 pm and senior/at-risk shopping.
PCC: Now open 8 am-11 pm. And a note of interest – we missed this when it was announced a month ago, but West Seattle resident Cate Hardy, PCC’s CEO since 2015, is leaving for a new job as CEO of The Wine Group.
Our master list of store info is here. P.S. Don’t shop unmasked!
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
How will Metro bus and Water Taxi service rise to the challenge of increased West Seattle need as people return to work without high-bridge access?
Some insight emerged toward the end of last night’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition meeting. A Metro manager spoke with WSTC after updates from SDOT and the Port of Seattle. (We’ll get to those later in our summary.)
METRO/WATER TAX: Steve Crosley, a West Seattle resident now in charge of “managing the West Seattle Bridge response,” made his first WSTC appearance. He began with the reminder that before COVID-19, Metro carried 19,000 passengers off and on the peninsula daily – plus on-peninsula trips. The ridership crossing the Duwamish River dropped 90 percent during the stay-home months.
17 weeks ago tonight, news broke of King County’s first confirmed COVID-19 case. So on we go into the pandemic’s fifth month, with tonight’s roundup:
MASKS UP: First day of the statewide mask mandate. On our usual early-evening drive around the peninsula, we did notice more mask-wearers than usual, including along Alki.
CELEBRATORY MASKS: A Target shopper tells us they spotted red, white, and blue masks for the upcoming holiday. (That fits in with one of the state Health Department‘s “top 10 reasons to wear a mask.”)
NOT SURE YOU’RE WEARING YOURS CORRECTLY? Maybe this grassroots project will help.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Public Health daily summary:
*9,695 people have tested positive, 83 more than yesterday
*586 people have died, 1 more than yesterday
*1,564 people have been hospitalized, 3 more than yesterday
*155,859 people have been tested, 2,354 more than yesterday
One week ago, those totals were 9,096/584/1,540/137,312.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 9.7 million cases, 493,000+ deaths – see the nation by nation numbers here.
DATA CORRECTION: The state says it’s fixed a problem with hospitalization totals.
MORE OUTDOOR SPACE FOR BUSINESSES: Since we’re still in a phase where outdoor is safer than indoor, the city’s offering businesses the chance to use more outdoor space – temporarily – with less red tape.
NEED FOOD? Free lunch tomorrow. Here’s the announcement:
West Side Presbyterian Church (3601 California Ave SW) is serving a free bag lunch Saturday, June 27, from 12-1 pm. All are welcome but supplies are limited.
OR, IF YOU HAVE FODD TO SPARE: Donation drive tomorrow. The announcement:
Saturday, June 27, 1-4 pm. Food Drive for the White Center Food Bank. 4320 SW Hill St. Sponsored by admiralchurch.org. Attendants on duty to collect food and donations. Our West Seattle neighbors have contributed over 5,000 pounds of food!. Next drive dates are 7/11 and 7/25.
GOT INFO OR PHOTOS? westseattleblog@gmail.com or text/voice 206-293-6302 – thank you!
Thanks to everyone who has tipped us about this: Quality Cleaners in Admiral is closing. Tonight we finally reached a spokesperson for the family that has owned the business for decades. She explained that it’s closing because of a sudden death in the family. They have nothing to announce yet about the future of the building (which is at 2601 California SW). But if you have clothes there, please go pick them up before Tuesday (June 30th), because that’s the last day of business.
SIDE NOTE: The business was a trailblazer in the mid-20th century; we found an old newspaper mention saying that in the mid-1960s, Quality Cleaners was one of the first on the West Coast to have a drive-up window.
Back in March 2019, we brought you first word that MOD Pizza planned a second West Seattle location, in Westwood Village. Tonight, we were driving through the shopping center and noticed people dining inside; stopped to inquire and learned it’s a “friends and family” test run, with the restaurant planning to officially open next Tuesday (June 30th). MOD’s first West Seattle location, at The Whittaker (4755 Fauntleroy Way SW), opened in February 2018. The Westwood location combines the spaces on the center’s west side that formerly held Giannoni’s Pizza and Baja Taco.
Just one engine was left at the scene when we arrived to check a briefly big callout in the 4800 block of 42nd SW. SFD told us it was a small kitchen fire.
South Park isn’t waiting for SDOTs “mitigation plan” to take action to try to slow down traffic detouring through the neighborhood because of the West Seattle Bridge closure. The photos were sent by Robin Schwartz, who explains:
Folks are VERY concerned with speeding, especially on side streets. We are working on immediate/free actions to raise awareness and impede speeding. The (next) photo is a planter put up in “bump-out/curb bulb” at 5-way intersection [just southwest of the bridge]. Cars and trucks have begun driving right through it so we are trying to block it. The rest of the pictures are “slow down” signs that we will put putting up around the neighborhood on Saturday.
South Park is one of the areas that will get a list of projects to vote on starting July 6th as part of a “neighborhood traffic-mitigation plan” related to the WS Bridge closure – the other three are Georgetown, SODO, and Highland Park/Roxhill/South Delridge/Riverview.
P.S. Here’s what South Park neighborhood advocates requested in a letter to the city two months ago.
Two retail-reopening updates, one with a kitten:
EMERALD WATER ANGLERS: In-store shopping has returned to this longtime WSB sponsor on the southeast corner of 42nd and Oregon in The Junction:
We are back to regular business hours!
Stop by the shop Monday through Friday 10 am-7 pm, Saturday 10 am-6 pm and Sunday 11 am-5 pm to take care of all your fly-fishing needs. We ask that shoppers comply with the statewide mask mandate until further notice for the safety of our shoppers and employees. Curbside pickup is also available upon request!
Celebrating National Women’s Fly Fishing Day!
Emerald Water Anglers is celebrating National Women’s Fly Fishing Day on June 27th with 20% off all women’s clothing and equipment! Come get the boots, waders, and clothing you’ve been eyeballing and celebrate yourself and your time on the water. You deserve it!
And meet the new shop cat, Loomis:
EWA’s update explains, “He won’t help you find anything, but he’s cute! Stop by to say hello and toss a string or two. It’s good for the soul!” P.S. You can book guided fishing trips through EWA too. Kitten not included.
ALAIR: Proprietor Shandon says in-person shopping has returned to her gift shop at 3270 California SW: “I reopened Alair today. Hours will probably be Thursday- Sunday 11-4 moving forward, and we still have curbside pickup and local delivery available.”
(WSB photo of Delridge/Findlay. Yes, businesses ARE open!)
Weekend work is ahead for the Delridge repaving-and-more project that’s readying the corridor for next year’s conversion of Metro Route 120 into the RapidRide H Line. Here’s the weekly preview:
Potholing and stormwater pipe work will continue throughout the corridor in the three work zones listed below.
Starting this Saturday, June 27, we will continue demolition work on the roadway from SW Findlay St to SW Juneau St.
In order to keep West Seattle moving and bring RapidRide service to your community as quickly as possible, weekend work and some night work will be ongoing for the duration of this project. Please plan accordingly for this work. We will notify you in advance of planned night work. Night work hours are from 7 PM to 6 AM. We will be obtaining noise variances to complete work outside of normal working hours.
What to expect this weekend
We will work in all three zones at the same time, from north to south on Delridge Way SW. No Parking signs will be posted on both sides of the street in each phase of work to shift traffic around the work zones. We may need to work in front of properties for short periods of time. We will notify residents in advance of any extended access restrictions.
Zone A (West Seattle Bridge to SW Findlay St)
Demolition work from SW Charlestown St to SW Dakota St
For the next few weeks, we will be completing demolition, concrete, and electrical work in the roadway and sidewalk between SW Charlestown St and SW Dakota St. Lanes will be shifted around the work zone. We plan to move to the east side of Delridge Way SW when the west side is complete
SW Genesee and SW Oregon streets
We will continue conducting utility and storm drainage work. Please expect traffic to be shifted to one side of Delridge Way SW.
Zone B (SW Findlay St to north of SW Orchard St)
SW Findlay St to SW Juneau St
We will continue installing utility pipes. Please expect traffic to be shifted to one side of Delridge Way SW.
Zone C (North of SW Orchard St to White Center)
We will finish connecting catch basins throughout this zone
REMINDER: Businesses along the corridor are open during this work. Please follow posted detour signs as you visit these businesses.
Work throughout the corridor
Continued potholing for utility work
In each of the three work zones, travel lanes will be reduced to one lane in each direction with restricted turns. Please follow posted traffic signs.
Upcoming work
New temporary left-turn pocket lanes at SW Orchard St will be installed later this summer to allow people driving to make left turns onto Delridge Way SW. These turn pockets will also be included when we install the final project street configuration.
For full details on the project, you can browse design graphics/documents by going here.
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