West Seattle, Washington
15 Thursday
We’re spotlighting outdoor events even more than usual these next few days, since it’s usually cooler outside in the evening than in a non-air-conditioned house/apartment, so here’s another one: Friday night is the annual Garden Party/Auction for our area’s largest political organization, the 34th District Democrats. This year’s auctioneer is King County Executive Dow Constantine; the auction will include donated items from a Napa getaway to condos in Spain to airline tickets. He’s not the only local political leader you’ll see – prime-time for ear bending while you mingle. The Haggis Brothers – featured at The Mount last Friday – are the musical guests. The food theme this year is “All-American BBQ” – from The Swinery. It all happens at West Seattle Nursery, 6 pm Friday; more info here.
Don Brubeck‘s photo is from Alki last Thursday night, when the weekly drum circle by the Statue of Liberty drew some brass accompaniment. Tonight, even more music at the beach – part of our highlight list from the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar:
TRAFFIC ALERTS: Two closures are scheduled tonight – southbound 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct from Battery Street Tunnel to West Seattle Bridge, 9 pm to 5 am, and eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct, 10 pm-5 am, with the eastbound onramp from Harbor Island reopening tomorrow morning, once the SSV closure is over.
WADING POOLS OPEN IN WEST SEATTLE TODAY: Delridge, E.C. Hughes, Lincoln Park – here’s the citywide schedule with times/locations.
WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG ARTISTS: 10-16-year-olds interested in drawing comics are invited to a free workshop at High Point Library (35th/Raymond) today, 3:30 pm.
THE BRAXMATICS ON ALKI: This is part of the Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series presented by the Admiral Neighborhood Association, but this time around, the show’s on Alki (east of the Bathhouse). 6:30 pm, free! Here’s our preview.
DRUM CIRCLE ON ALKI: And on the other side of the Bathhouse, at Statue of Liberty Plaza, the weekly summer drum circle starts at 6:30.
STRESSED OUT? Get help … free … in a garden setting, at a free seminar at Transitional Resources (2970 SW Avalon Way), 6:30 pm.
‘GODSPELL,’ NIGHT TWO: Presented by the 12-to-16-year-old Theater Conservatory summer students, it’s the second night of “Godspell” at ArtsWest, showtime 7:30 pm.
LOTS more on the calendar – including a preview of the days/weeks/months ahead.
In that video from earlier this year, it’s the funky party band The Braxmatics – playing Thursday night’s show for the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha. HOWEVER – remember that this show is NOT at Hiawatha, but at Alki Beach, near the Bathhouse, perfect night for it since it’ll be cooler by the water. 6:30 pm, free, fun, bring your own chair/mat/blanket (or just stand up to get down). This is the fourth concert of this year’s series – the last two will be back at Hiawatha, with Caspar Babypants on August 23rd and Curtains For You on August 30th.
(WSB photo: Artech’s Shawn Nordfors and Roger Waterhouse)
A few days after the second anniversary of the West Seattle Rotary Viewpoint Park totem-pole re-dedication, the pole got a touch-up today. Visiting West Seattle to get the job done: Roger Waterhouse and Shawn Nordfors from Artech, the Renton-based firm that restored it in 2010, months after the bizarre theft-and-recovery saga ended.
Their work today at the park (35th/Alaska) left it shining in the late-morning sun:
By now, the light preservative they applied has likely soaked all the way in; they cleaned the pole first, and did some paint touchup afterward. We stopped by just as they were wrapping up:
Roger told us the Rotary Viewpoint Park pole is in great shape – evident if you look closely at features like the “paws” toward the bottom:
An even closer look at its base is revealing because of what you don’t see – no moss, no sign that the pole has been permeated with new moisture.
Since it was in such good shape, they needed less than half the 3 1/2 hours they originally scheduled for the job, and packed up, planning to check back on it in another 2 years or so. As reported here after the pole’s brief absence in late 2009, it was carved in 1976 by Robin Young, a Native American who at the time taught woodcarving at Highline Community College, and donated to the city along with the park site by the Rotary Club of West Seattle.
The National Weather Service stepped up the alert level one more notch this afternoon; now that the extra-hot weather is almost here, an “Excessive Heat Warning” will be in effect tomorrow afternoon through late Friday night – see it here. That means a “prolonged period of dangerously hot temperatures,” according to the NWS, which is still projecting highs at least into the mid-90s. If your house is the typical air-conditioning-less Seattle “oven,” as some describe theirs, there are outdoor alternatives both nights – we’ll spotlight them later tonight, or you can skip ahead to the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar now!
7-year-old Sophia Thompson is fighting a rare form of soft-tissue cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma – so rare that only 350 cases are diagnosed each year. That means big medical bills, as little Sophia goes through chemo and deals with a feeding tube to help keep her from losing too much weight. Her classmates at West Seattle Montessori School (WSB sponsor) are hoping you will help them help Sophia and her family – by buying lemonade from them at their fundraising stand outside the West Seattle Farmers’ Market this Sunday, 10 am-2 pm. You can find out more about Sophia – and make a donation now – at gofundme.com/sophia. There’s also a benefit at 7 pm August 25th at Bison Creek Pizza in Burien, 630 SW 153rd, with raffles and music, plus of course pizza. But first – lemonade this Sunday!
Just in from SDOT:
The previously scheduled closure for tonight of the eastbound lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct has been canceled; however, the same eastbound lanes from SR 99 to I-5 will be closed tomorrow night, Thursday, August 16, as scheduled.
The Thursday night closure will begin at 10 p.m. and finish at 5 a.m. on Friday morning. During the closure, all eastbound traffic on the West Seattle Bridge will be detoured to northbound SR99. At the end of this closure on Friday morning, the eastbound Harbor Island on-ramp to the Spokane Street Viaduct will be reopened to traffic.
We are updating today’s preview and our ongoing day-by-day closure list to reflect tonight’s cancellation.
Just one month till the last big bash of summer in The Junction – the West Seattle Junction Car Show, which, as first noted here back in April, will show off motorcycles this year too – 8 am-4 pm September 16th in the heart of The Junction. Plus, we’ve learned, mopeds are eligible to be featured, too. If you register your car, motorcycle, or moped before the end of this month, you’ll get the early-bird deal – $15. (It goes up to $20 on September 1st.) You can get the application on the car show’s official website – find the link on this page, next to the logos for show sponsors (including WSB again this year). And full details about the show are on this page.
You can donate to the bake sale at the Delridge Day festival this Saturday without even baking. Francesca Annis from the Delridge Community Center Advisory Board explains:
There will be a bake sale to benefit youth programs at Delridge Community Center during the Delridge Day Festival hosted by the Delridge Community Center Advisory Board. Goodies made by the School Age Care and Teen Programs include snickerdoodles and bacon-chocolate-chip cookies!
Contributions from C&P Coffee Co., Great Harvest Bread Co., Sugar Rush Baking Co., and Zatz a Better Bagel will also be available.
We are also accepting homemade and store-bought items from the community. If you are interested in making a donation you may drop it off at the community center on Friday (please make sure to label it) 11 am-6 pm or bring it directly to the table on Saturday beginning at 9:00 am. If possible, please wrap homemade items individually and mark if the item contains nuts.
Question about the bake sale? E-mail Francesca, wskeekai@gmail.com. For full details about the festival (with co-sponsors including WSB) – check out the brochure, which includes a vendor list/map and schedule of events (music, contests, more).
Two burglary reports in West Seattle Crime Watch today:
The first one answers a few questions we received last night and this morning about police cars rushing Admiral-bound on Tuesday evening and a traffic stop on the bridge: A neighbor told us late last night about a burglary in the 3700 block of SW Grayson in Admiral (map); we weren’t able to get followup information till this morning, but here’s what SPD’s Det. Mark Jamieson could tell us:
Officers answered a “burglary in progress” call that came in at 5:22 pm. The victim came home from work and saw a ladder up against the house, where there shouldn’t have been one; walking around the east side of the house, they noticed a stranger inside – described as a white male in a white T-shirt and backward baseball cap. The intruder saw the resident and bolted, kicking open and destroying a French door in the process. The burglary victim saw a white “Ford or Chevy type” van in the area, and shared that information with police, who subsequently stopped one. However, no arrest was made, Det. Jamieson says, because the resident couldn’t confirm that was the person seen inside the house. (While the available SPD information didn’t include the location where the van was stopped, we received a separate note this morning from a WSB’er wondering why traffic was stopped on the eastbound bridge about that time as police questioned someone in a white van.)
Also in Crime Watch today, a reader report from Mike:
Wanted to inform you that my garage on 31st ave SW near High Point playfield was broken into sometime last Saturday (8/12) between midnight and about 2:00 or so in the afternoon. They broke the latch on the main garage door and took pretty much all of my tools. According to the cop that came over to talk to me, another guy’s truck was broken into across the street as well. The insult to injury was that I was fixing my car at the time – they even took the parts I had just bought for my car.
West Seattle’s smallest public high school has a new home. You may recall that Middle College High School lost its longtime home at South Seattle Community College (here’s our 6/13 report), which says it needs the space; then Seattle Public Schools planned to co-house it at Boren with K-5 STEM (reported 6/15), but neither school community welcomed that, and a new solution was sought (with confirmation 8/6 that MCHS would definitely not be at Boren). Just received from SPS:
Dear South Seattle Middle College and K-5 STEM at Boren families:
As you know, our South Seattle Middle College program lost its classroom space at South Seattle Community College for the 2012-13 school year and we were planning to co-locate the program on the K-5 STEM at Boren campus.
I’m pleased to announce that we have secured classrooms for South Seattle Middle College at the High Point Center Building located at 6400 Sylvan Way SW in West Seattle. As a result, the Middle College and K-5 Stem programs will remain on separate campuses.
The space at the High Point Center is well-suited for our small Middle College Program and is conveniently located with easy bus line access for our high school students.
We appreciate the feedback from our families, and we worked very closely with the Middle College Principal, Cindy Nash, as we developed a solution we believe will benefit both our Middle College and K-STEM families.
We look forward to seeing all of you at the start of the 2012-13 school year.
Sincerely,
Carmela Dellino
Executive Director of Schools, Southwest Region
Seattle Public Schools
(Mt. Constance in the Olympics, photographed from West Seattle by Danny McMillin, shared via Flickr)
That’s a cool view as the temperature starts to rise – though the forecast still says Thursday/Friday are the REALLY hot days; today will be closer to “very warm.” As for what’s hot on the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar – here are selections for today/tonight:
TONIGHT’S **DOUBLE** TRAFFIC ALERT: Two overnight closures tonight – southbound Alaskan Way Viaduct/99, 9 pm-5 am, and eastbound Spokane Street Viaduct, 10 pm-5 am. (Here’s this week’s edition of our day-by-day list.) **2:37 pm update – SDOT has just canceled tonight’s SSV closure**
GATEWOOD READS AT HIGH POINT LIBRARY: 11 am-1 pm, three Gatewood Elementary teachers are there to read and talk with students, looking ahead to the new school year (just three weeks from today).
FRESH VEGETABLES, WHERE THEY’RE GROWN: Wednesday is the day you can stop by the High Point Market Garden Farm Stand at 32nd and Juneau and buy fresh organic vegetables grown and harvested steps away. 4-7 pm.
ASK AND ANSWER: Meet real-estate and home-service professionals, and bring your questions! Presented by Savvy Seattle Women at Prudential Northwest Realty offices in Jefferson Square, 6-7 pm – details here.
THE NOISE GUY AT THE LIBRARY: What? You thought libraries were supposed to be quiet? Guess not at the West Seattle Branch, where The Noise Guy appears at 6:30 pm – details here.
SUNDAY SOCCER ON WEDNESDAY: Did you know the West Seattle Sunday Soccer folks also have a Wednesday night pickup game at Delridge Playfield, 7 pm?
OPENING NIGHT FOR ‘GODSPELL’: The 12-to-16-year-old Theater Conservatory summer students at ArtsWest have been working on “Godspell” and are ready to debut it for you, 7:30 pm.
NIGHTLIFE: Trivia at 7, open mike at 9, at Skylark.
LAST DAY FOR PCC’S BOGO PIZZA COUPON: Haven’t tried PCC Natural Markets‘ take-and-bake pizza yet? The longtime WSB sponsor has a coupon (get it here) you can use to buy one, get one free – and today’s the last day.
(SDOT photos, courtesy Darin Stephens)
Some driving the Spokane Street Viaduct in recent days have asked why squares are being cut from some of its newly paved surface. The questions started in the comment section following our Friday update on the close-to-completion project.
As promised, we followed up with SDOT. Project spokesperson Paul Elliott talked with project manager Stuart Goldsmith and replies that the problem is delamination – some of the new concrete didn’t bond with the old concrete: “Repairing and resurfacing the old bridge deck required a hydro-demolition process to clean and roughen the old deck to ensure a good bond when the new thin lift micro silica overlay was then applied. If there is any oil or other dirt remaining, we can end up with delamination/an inadequate bonding.” (The hydro-demolition process was discussed in our story about a work-zone tour two months ago.)
The delaminated spots were discovered with a low-tech type of testing, which you can see in WSB coverage of the Fauntleroy Expressway seismic-retrofit work back in January – “the best way to determine whether or not the bond is solid is to drag metal chains across the top and listen for problem areas,” as Elliott explains it. The problem spots (we’re checking back to ask how many) were cut out for repairs:
He says the work will not set the schedule back further. Meantime, other work that’s going on includes pouring of the permanent concrete barrier between westbound and eastbound – the green material is the rebar:
And here’s a section after the pour:
Milestones ahead for the project: Friday morning, as noted in our day-by-day closure list, the Harbor Island onramp to the eastbound SSV reopens after its long closure; starting next Monday (August 20th) the 1st Avenue South offramp from the eastbound SSV closes for about 5 weeks, during which time it’ll be repaved.
ADDED 6:18 PM: SDOT’s reply to our followup questions, which included: How much of the resurfaced bridge deck has the delamination problem? Why did it happen? What about concerns of an uneven surface post-repairs?
The percentage of the new roadway requiring repair due to delamination was less than 5% of the total resurfaced area and was well within expectations given the condition and age of the old deck. Delamination repair was anticipated as part of the deck refurbishing process, which is why we test it, and does not delay the project.
Drivers on the roadway, to include motorcycle riders, should not be able to detect the cuts once they are filled with concrete. We will continue to review the contractor’s work to ensure the roadway meets the required specifications prior to the city accepting the work as complete.
The Seattle Glee Clubs – based in West Seattle, performing citywide – start a new season next month, so they’re recruiting singers right now:
Seattle Glee Clubs’ two vocal groups — the Seattle Metropolitan Glee Club women’s choir (the Met) and the Offbeats Vocal Jazz Ensemble — both have openings for the 2012-2013 season that begins in September.
The Met, which performs a combination of traditional choral, folk, jazz and popular music, has openings for all female voice types. The group is led by highly experienced musician and director, John Gulhaugen. An audition and some background in music are required. Rehearsals begin Tues., Sept. 11. 2012. For more information, e-mail John Gulhaugen at: The_Met@Seattlegleeclubs.org.
The Offbeats, performing a variety of jazz styles, including swing, bebop, Latin and contemporary, has openings for tenors and baritones. Acclaimed Seattle jazz singer Kelley Johnson directs the group. An audition and some background in music are required. Rehearsals begin in mid-September. For more information, e-mail Kelley Johnson at: Offbeats@seattlegleeclubs.org.
First of two reports from tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting:
(WSB photo added Wednesday afternoon)
While FCA board members say they’re fine with the Seattle Police plan to install a fixed speed-monitoring/ticketing camera in the Gatewood Elementary school zone on Fauntleroy Way, they say the current southbound warning light needs to be moved. (That point also was made in comments on our Sunday night story about the forthcoming camera.) Ahead, the letter FCA is sending to the city:
The weather alert we mentioned this morning has gone up a notch or two: We are now up to an Excessive Heat Watch alert for Thursday and Friday, which the National Weather Service declares are “likely to be among the hottest days of the year,” possibly the mid-90s here. (The recent mini-heatwave officially peaked at 93.) The warning is currently expected to kick in Thursday afternoon and remain in effect through Friday night. We’ll keep an eye on the forecast as it evolves.
Sometimes WSB commenters, usually referring to quality-of-life issues, wonder aloud if West Seattle is going to hell. It is, literally, said one of the demonstrators who took up positions this afternoon by the 35th SW entrance to/exit from the bridge. We passed by a little while ago and heard the man on the southwest corner using a megaphone to amplify a monologue about his opposition to abortion. Then we got a note from Krista, who sent the above photo and says the shouting was quite audible in nearby businesses, including a nearby martial-arts studio: “This obnoxious man plus 2 others are using the corner of 35th/Fauntleroy to shout anti-abortion and other prosthelytizing rants while my son and other children are trying to do martial arts class at SIMA. He’s been using a loudspeaker and it’s attracting quite a disgusted audience.” She says they called police, who said the amplification would be illegal (obviously otherwise, freedom of speech should apply) so they would send someone by to check it out. The people on other corners appeared to be quietly holding signs, including a woman on the northeast corner with one about choosing between Jesus and the devil. We didn’t see any mention of a particular church or denomination affiliation.
5:36 PM: As of about 10 minutes ago, Krista says, they’re gone.
WSB is proud to be a co-sponsor of West Seattle’s next summer festival – Delridge Day, coming up this Saturday (August 18th). We’ve been bringing you previews, and today we asked organizers if the official vendor list is out yet; turns out they had just finished the brochure, with the list and map and other details of this Saturday’s festival, 11 am-3 pm at the park between Delridge Community Center and Delridge Skatepark (Delridge/Genesee) – see it all here (and we’ll see you there!).
Story and photos by Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Three weeks from tomorrow, the sprawling Seattle Public Schools campus at 5950 Delridge Way SW will reopen as the new K-5 STEM at Boren elementary.
It’s been boarded up for two years, since the end of Chief Sealth International High School‘s two-year stay.
Now, elementary schoolers are moving in, and crews have been working to “make it a respectable place,” as project manager Jeanette Imanishi puts it.
She was our guide for a tour on Monday, along with district communications specialist Tom Redman. Outside, of course, there’s fresh paint. Even the north-side portables, which won’t be used but are staying on the site, are getting a new coat.
Inside, the floors are shining:
Read on to see the rest of our photo tour – from the classrooms to the playground, and beyond:
(Photo courtesy Heath)
12:10 PM: The “car fire” call at East Marginal/South Spokane is a truck fire, according to a caller (thanks!), and causing traffic trouble on the east side of the “low bridge” – so if you’re headed that way, we’d suggest an alternate route for now!
12:14 PM: Adding an image from the eastbound high bridge a few minutes ago – smoke was visible across the top of the screen.
(Photo courtesy Heath)
12:24 PM UPDATE: Thanks to Heath for the fire photos. Harbor Island exit from West Seattle Bridge is going to be shut down because of the fire, per scanner. Fire itself is reported to be “tapped.”
12:51 PM UPDATE: Still snarled at last report.
12:56 PM UPDATE: From SDOT via Twitter, the Harbor Island offramp from the Spokane St. Viaduct (westbound) is reopened, but southbound E. Marginal and eastbound Spokane St. are still blocked.
1:26 PM UPDATE: Traffic is moving again, says commenter NorDel; police are still awaiting the tow truck.
4:38 PM UPDATE: There’s a new, not-related-so-far-as-we-know crash in the same area; meantime, we passed by around 3 and though we weren’t in a position to get a photo, we saw the burned truck on a flatbed, apparently getting ready to be hauled away. And now we have followup information courtesy of SFD’s Kyle Moore:
At noon, Engine 13, and Engine 36 were dispatched to reports of a truck fire on the lower level bridge at East Marginal Way South and South Spokane Street. When Engine Company 13 arrived they found a cargo truck fire with an exposure to an empty gasoline tanker truck.
Firefighters laid a hose line and pumped foam on the fire putting it out. Firefighters evaluated the driver of the cab for his complaints of minor smoke inhalation. The driver declined transport to the hospital.
The cause of the fire is considered mechanical or electrical deficiency due to the driver complaining of smoke coming from the engine and then his cab filling with smoke while he was operating the cargo freight truck.
The cab was a total loss but the damage is still being estimated.
I was told he was hauling frozen fish.
Thanks to Mark for the photo and a heartening tale (tail?) from the West Seattle Bridge this morning: Somehow a dog turned up on the westbound bridge around 9 am. Both directions stopped, Mark says; he and others on the EB side watched as people on the WB side “chased the little thing all around the bridge deck and finally corralled it, to some applause.”
ADDED: Even if you don’t usually read comments, make an exception here – as Laura, who was involved in the rescue, tells the story of saving little runaway Bell.
After a wave of stolen-bike reports, this morning, a stolen car – Ann hopes you can help find hers:
This morning we woke up to find that my 2000 green Honda CRV had been stolen. It was parked outside our home in the 3900 block of SW Austin St. [map] SPD has been notified. It has an aftermarket spare tire on the back and a yellow KEXP sticker on the upper right side of the back window and a worn Rat City Rollergirls sticker on the left side of that same window. We would appreciate everyone keeping an eye out for it.
As of this writing it’s not yet on the SPD @getyourcarback Twitter feed but should eventually turn up there. (The latest tweets from that feed, by the way, are featured on the WSB Crime Watch page.)
(Lincoln Park wading pool, by Michelle Riggen-Ransom via the WSB Flickr group. Its season goes through 9/3 but some pools close this week!)
Enjoy this not-too-hot day – the National Weather Service has published a “special weather statement” warning about the next heat wave, later this week. Just in time for the next round of outdoor music/movie/festival fun … but more on that later. A few highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events Calendar for today/tonight:
LIBRARY STORY TIMES: Three in West Seattle today/tonight! 10:30 am for toddlers at the West Seattle Branch; 11:30 am for babies at the Southwest Branch; 7 pm for families at the Delridge Branch.
LUNCH AND FASHION SHOW: 11:45 am at the Senior Center of West Seattle – details (including reservation number) here.
NIGHTLIFE: Trivia That Rocks at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) with food and drink specials, 8 pm … Baby Ketten Karaoke at Skylark, 9 pm … Starlite Singer-Songwriter Showcase at Shadowland, 9 pm.
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