West Seattle, Washington
16 Monday
(First 3 photos by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
West Seattle’s Holy Rosary School is celebrating its centennial, and as part of that, its 460-plus students gathered today for a group photo in the church. That’s our view of the big picture, above. Here’s Carl Baber, the parent who served today as official photographer:
He had quite the task to wrangle 460-plus photographic subjects at once. But they got a treat after their historic pose – they were all allowed to make goofy faces:
We asked HR if they had a comparable all-school shot from sometime in the past hundred years. Answer: No; but for comparison’s sake, here’s a 6th-grade group shot from 1959:
And for a bonus view of history, an aerial (looking west-northwest, with 42nd SW in the middle, between church and school):
The people we talked with at HR today didn’t know what year that’s from – do you? Meantime – read about the school’s history here.
Another West Seattle business has just received the scam call claiming that City Light will cut off their power immediately if money isn’t handed over. This time, the report comes from Wendy at Flower Lab in Admiral. We’ve reported on two others in the past week and a half – here and here. If you get this (or another) scam call, report it to police! It’s not new – as City Light explains here – but the scammers are gambling they’ll find someone who doesn’t know it’s fake, so spread the word, especially to businesses. (You can use the Share This feature at the bottom of this and every WSB story – mousing over it enables you to e-mail a link or share it via multiple social-media services.)
(Luna/Anchor Park, photographed last weekend by Doug Branch, shared via WSB Flickr group)
As is often the case with Tuesdays, another big day/night to get involved in your community! From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and newly launched Holiday Events and Info Guide – a few highlights:
BAZAAR: Under way until 1 pm, the “mini-Harvest Festival” bazaar at Senior Center of West Seattle; details in our calendar listing. (California/Oregon)
QUESTIONS ABOUT METRO CUTS? Just found out about this one via a retweet from South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor), where Metro reps will be on hand at midday today:
Learn about #KCMetroCuts at @SouthSeattleCC 11am-2pm today. http://t.co/hzh9a0d778
— King County Metro (@kcmetrobus) November 19, 2013
VOLUNTEER NIGHT AT WESTSIDE BABY: Can you help? 6-9 pm; details in our calendar listing. (10027 14th SW)
GREENWAY OPEN HOUSE: 5:30-7:30 pm, get info and/or ask questions about the South Delridge/Highland Park greenway plan-in-progress. Open house @ Salvation Army. (9050 16th SW)
WEST SEATTLE CRIME PREVENTION COUNCIL: Speaking of traffic/pedestrian/bicycling/etc. neighborhood safety, Jim Curtin from SDOT is the scheduled guest at tonight’s monthly meeting. Crime trends and Q/A with Seattle Police reps too, as always. 7 pm, Southwest Precinct. (Delridge/Webster)
COMMUNITY MEETING FOR ‘NO PARKING’ DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL: 6:30 pm at Hope Lutheran Church is the community-requested meeting with city planners regarding 4535 44th SW, proposed for 36 units and no parking. This is separate from the Design Review process, which doesn’t look at traffic and other environmental effects. Details in our calendar listing. (42nd/Oregon)
ZZ WARD LIVE: The next in-store at Easy Street Records is ZZ Ward, tonight at 7 pm. (California/Alaska)
BELLY DANCING AT SKYLARK: Skylark Café and Club‘s monthly Alauda showcase is at 7 pm tonight. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
This year’s edition of the WSB West Seattle Holiday Events and Info Guide is live! Besides following that link, you can find it any time by clicking the HOLIDAYS tab atop every page of WSB. We’ll be adding to it daily (sometimes multiple times a day) as more events, donation drives, and info snippets come in, from now through New Year’s Day; it’s your one-stop shop for all types of holiday-related information, grouped by types rather than dates (if you want to see what’s happening on any given day, our year-round West Seattle Event Calendar remains the place for that.) If your holiday event/etc. isn’t in the guide yet, please send information as soon as possible to editor@wsb.blackfin.biz. Our guidelines, as with regular calendar items, are:
-Information in plain text in the body of your e-mail, NOT in a Word/PDF doc (etc.).
-Doesn’t have to be a big wordy “press release,” just a few basic facts is fine!
-Photos/posters not required but if you send one, please send as a .jpg.
-Please include a Web and/or Facebook link for your event if available; if you’re charging admission and are selling tickets online, a link for that would be great too, to save us the time of looking for it.
-Unless it’s something you’ve scheduled at the last minute, PLEASE send at least a week in advance.
Thank you and happy holidays!
(City cameras are broken again, so here’s a state camera, 1st Ave. S. Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
6:47 AM: No specific incidents so far on the routes through/from West Seattle, but we’re watching as usual, for the morning commute and beyond.
8:05 AM: Thanks to the commenters who pointed out that the SDOT cameras are stuck again. So we’ve switched to two state-run cameras, facing south over the south end of the 1st Avenue So. Bridge, and looking south over I-5 just south of the West Seattle Bridge.
8:33 AM: Tommy and Lindsey have both pointed out that new stop signs are installed on the 26th SW greenway in North Delridge. (Added Tuesday pm: Greenway info/map here) And, not all drivers are noticing. Tommy sent this quick clip:
And Lindsey tweeted:
There's a set of new stop signs up at 26th & Juneau. Beware, a lot of cars haven't noticed them yet. @westseattleblog
— Lindsey Hurd (@lindseyhurd) November 19, 2013
By the way, if you have a question about neighborhood traffic safety, SDOT’s Jim Curtin is the person to ask, and he’s the guest at tonight’s West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting – 7 pm, Southwest Precinct (Webster/Delridge).
P.S. The city traffic cams are working again, so here’s the east-facing one from the bridge:
For more cams, see the WSB Traffic page.
10:32 AM: SDOT reports via Twitter – and commenters have noted here, too – that northbound 99 is closed at Battery St. Tunnel.
4:32 PM: From SDOT – an alert for tomorrow morning:
Tomorrow morning, November 20, the Homeless Advocates March will get underway at 7:45 a.m. after the participants spend the night at Westlake Park. A Seattle Police motorcycle escort will accompany the 100 participants in the street as they make their way east on Pine Street to Fifth Avenue, then southbound on Fifth to the City Hall at Cherry Street. The activists have a goal to “Get 1000 people off the streets by summer 2014.” They will occupy the Committee to End Homelessness in King County (CEHKC) Governing Board Meeting being held at 8:30 a.m. in the Bertha Landis Room of City Hall. Motorists can expect to encounter delays between 7:45 and 8:30 a.m. as the marchers move along the downtown streets. Given the timing of the event, commuters may need to allow for extra time to get to work.
The next greenway projects in West Seattle are set to include a stretch through Highland Park/South Delridge, and tomorrow night is the chance for residents and businesses in the area to find out what’s proposed and share their thoughts. For this greenway, SDOT is working with Seattle Public Utilities to make this a project that improves area drainage – with raingardens in spots – as well as walking/biking safety. See the map here, along with details on tomorrow’s open house (and other background on the project), 5:30 pm-7:30 pm at the Salvation Army building (9050 16th SW).
This Thursday (November 21st), 3210 California SW – the biggest development on the drawing boards for the greater Admiral area – goes back to the Southwest Design Review Board, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon). In advance of that meeting, developer Intracorp has gone public with new renderings that are not in the “packet” published online in advance of the meeting. Above, the full length of the project facade; below,
And this is a rendering of the retail courtyard.
The project’s packet is here; it says they’re currently proposing 149 units, 168 parking spaces, with 3,700 square feet of live-work space, 4,200 square feet of retail space. The last review was in June; our details of that meeting are part of this July roundup. Thursday’s meeting will include a public-comment period, and will be followed by the 8 pm review of 3078 Avalon Way SW.
If you saw a sizable emergency response near Harbor/Fairmount – Seattle Fire and US Coast Guard are saying it was a false alarm. Someone thought they saw a boat taking on water but it was believed to have just been one of the offshore buoys, no vessel in trouble after all.
We’re continuing to follow the case of Michael S. Stanley, 
the convicted rapist who cut off his monitoring equipment in Canada and eventually turned up in West Seattle. He was back in court today for another hearing related to the misdemeanor harassment and resisting-arrest charges filed against him in connection with his arrest in an Admiral alley four weeks ago. City Attorney’s Office spokesperson Kimberly Mills tells WSB that Stanley’s bail remains set at $100,000, the level to which it was raised days after the arrest. However, no charges are filed against him yet in connection with a claim that he sexually assaulted a teenager just before the harassment incident. Seattle Police finished their investigation and forwarded the case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which has to decide whether to charge Stanley; KCPAO spokesperson Dan Donohoe just told us the case “remains under review.” His Municipal Court trial on the harassment charge, in the meantime, is set for early January.
Two notable benefits ahead at West Seattle Bowl:
15TH ANNUAL BEER CHURCH TURKEY BOWL: This Saturday night, the West Seattle-headquartered Beer Church hosts its annual fundraiser and food drive for the West Seattle Food Bank. Checking the website, there might be a lane or two available, but even if there’s not, you are invited to come by, drop off a food donation, enter a fundraising raffle, and try “all three versions of this year’s Beer Church ale.” Read all about it here.
LIVE UNITED, BOWL UNITED PRESENTED BY TEAM AVRIL: Cliff Avril of the 10-1 Seattle Seahawks is hosting a fundraiser for United Way of King County on December 30th – and West Seattle Bowl expects other Hawks players to be there. $35/person, $175/lane (up to six people). Sign up fast if you’re interested!
Story/video by Tracy Record
Photos by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers
As the morning traffic of busy 35th SW – including Metro buses – rolled behind them, three local elected officials joined members of the new grass-roots West Seattle Transportation Coalition to decry the political standoff that could lead to dramatic cuts in bus service, hitting hard in densifying West Seattle.
(L-R, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, County Councilmember Joe McDermott, State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon)
Metro outlined those potential cuts at a briefing a week and a half ago (WSB as-it-happened coverage here) – including a map showing the shrunken local route system that would result:
(Click for full-size view)
WSTC’s board met last week to plan strategy, and the first result was this morning’s rally – 14 minutes, which you can watch in its entirety in our clip above, bookended by WSTC’s Deb Barker (below) and Amanda Kay Helmick.
“We can’t keep putting a Band-Aid on this problem, we can’t keep expecting Metro to find funds and close this gap,” warned County Councilmember Joe McDermott, who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee. He pointed out that Metro already has taken $800 million in gap-closing actions.
City Council Transportation Committee chair, Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, pointed out that his own bus route, 37, is one of those that Metro says will be “deleted” if its proposed cuts have to be made. And the effects go beyond citizens’ commutes, potentially putting thousands of cars back on the roads and snarling traffic further, affecting freight and commerce: “If this region is in gridlock, we are in deep trouble with regard to our economy.”
Also there, State House Transportation Committee member Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, who told WSB before the event that a special session is still not looking likely for later this week (when legislators will be in Olympia anyway), because they’re not close to an agreement yet. A special session would be vital for legislators to pass a package that would at least allow local voters to be asked to approve taxes/fees to replace the transit funding that is expiring next year; the package is not just about transit, it’s been stressed, but would include road funding too.
If legislators can’t do it, said Helmick (below), closing out the rally speeches, WSTC wants city and county leaders to go immediately with “Plan B,” which could include asking voters to approve a license-plate tax up to $100. “We need action and we need it now,” she declared.
They closed with a round of chanting “Save our Metro,” and WSTC members lingered for Q/A with media in attendance, which included three TV crews.
WSTC members are all volunteers and looking for more reinforcements – as explained on the WSTC website.
Meantime, to share your opinion on the Metro cuts – which, if nothing changes, would start taking effect next September – and what to do to avoid them, the county invites you to:
*Take this online survey
*Send e-mail to haveasay@kingcounty.gov
*Come to a meeting December 3rd, 6-8 pm, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW), described as an open house with optional presentation/small-group discussions starting at 7 pm
11:13 AM: Thanks to the texter who reports a two-vehicle crash is blocking much of Delridge Way SW at Puget Boulevard (map). Emergency personnel are just arriving; we’re on the way to check it out.
11:33 AM: Traffic is getting through via one lane, alternating. One person has been taken to the hospital, we’re told at the scene, the driver of a Ford Ranger that collided with a Jeep Cherokee. We don’t know anything about their condition yet but will be checking with SFD.
7:56 PM UPDATE: SFD spokesperson Kyle Moore tells us, “Medics transported a 53-year-old male driver who was T-boned. He was unconscious but gained consciousness before we transported. At transport, he was alert, oriented, and breathing, and taken to Harborview in stable condition.”
Calendar items are running light for today/tonight, but here are three highlights:
EVENING BOOK GROUP: This month, the Southwest Branch Library Evening Book Group is reading Northwest-set “The Living” by Annie Dillard. All welcome, 6:45 pm. (35th/Henderson)
DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES: 6:45 pm at Emeritus-West Seattle (WSB sponsor), advocacy group Getting It Right for West Seattle presents unofficial “alternative designs” it commissioned from an architecture professor for the 4755 Fauntleroy Way site (separate from the design its owners have already taken through the Design Review Board and Design Commission). Public is welcome. (4611 35th SW)
SPORTS TRIVIA: Phillip at Talarico’s is trying it again, 3 rounds of sports trivia starting at 8 pm during Monday Night Football – $2/person, cash prizes, including “$100 if anyone can get all the questions right.” (4718 California SW)
10:10 AM: Pacific Science Center planetarium supervisor, NASA Solar System Ambassador, and WSB “Skies Over West Seattle“ contributor Alice Enevoldsen of West Seattle is anchoring PSC’s live online coverage of the upcoming MAVEN launch to Mars right now. The launch window opens in about 15 minutes; Alice is at the launch site in Florida. Check out the coverage here, and read about the mission here; see the NASA TV feed here.
And lift off of the #MAVEN spacecraft on a journey to Mars aboard an #Atlas5 rocket: pic.twitter.com/kbAWwvMoZE
— NASA (@NASA) November 18, 2013
10:35 AM: The rocket has launched.
9:56 AM: Right after this morning’s West Seattle Transportation Coalition media briefing – full coverage on that is coming up – we spoke with City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen about his proposal to add money to the design budget for the “Fauntleroy Way Green Boulevard” project. As we first reported a week and a half ago, he proposed shifting $1.8 million to the project to finish design next year – it’s a plan that’s been more than a decade in the making.
More than $1 million was to come from sidewalk work that SDOT couldn’t start until 2015 anyway, and half a million was to be diverted from design work for a Northgate pedestrian project related to light-rail service that is still almost a decade away. Advocacy groups including Feet First pointed out that while the service is far away, the project involving an overpass needs to be designed ASAP or else some other parts of the project might be in jeopardy. So this morning, in response to our followup question, Councilmember Rasmussen said he plans to propose leaving the $500,000 in the Northgate budget, and downshifting the Fauntleroy request to $1.3 million, and that he is hopeful his fellow councilmembers will support that. Above is the latest version of the Fauntleroy proposal (click it to see the full-size PDF with details including 2 traffic lanes each way and a “cycle track”); SDOT told us earlier this month that they’ll be seeking community comments early next year – the last community meeting about the “Green Boulevard” was in 2012.
3:10 PM UPDATE: The sheaf of budget-amending “green sheets” attached to this afternoon’s Council agenda does indeed include a revised version for this project, with the $1.3 million we reported earlier.
(East-facing camera on the West Seattle Bridge; see other cams on the WSB Traffic page)
As the Monday commute gets going, two reminders:
WEST SEATTLE TRANSPORTATION COALITION EVENT @ 35TH/AVALON: At 8:15 am just north of the outbound 35th/Avalon bus stop, the West Seattle Transportation Coalition will join local state, county, and city leaders to call attention to how big a bite will be taken from WS-area transit if funding isn’t found to hold off potential Metro cuts. WSTC says you are welcome to be there to show your concern.
SEAWALL WORK: Downtown waterfront drivers/riders take note, the seawall project is starting in earnest, with this advisory beginning today:
Construction of the temporary roadway beneath the Alaskan Wy. Viaduct begins. Work will include: removal of the existing roadway and angle parking spaces under the Alaskan Wy. Viaduct between Madison St. and Pike St; removal of trees and signal poles on the west side of Alaskan Wy; ongoing relocation of utility and communications duct banks. A minimum of one lane in each direction will be maintained on Alaskan Wy. at all times. Local Access will be maintained to the businesses on the east side of the Viaduct at all times.
NEW SOUTH PARK BRIDGE: On our partner site The South Park News, you’ll find video of last week’s informal community “slideshow” event looking behind the bridge-building scenes. To answer the big question right off the top, the county says “next spring” remains the estimated date for the new bridge’s debut – almost four years after the old one was shut down.
TRAFFIC UPDATE, 9:32 AM: In 4th/Occidental/Lander vicinity in SODO, a car and Seattle Police motorcycle officer have collided, and the investigation is affecting traffic. No other details yet.
TRAFFIC ALERT FOR LATER TODAY, 10:47 AM: From SDOT – this might affect you if you’re downtown this afternoon:
This afternoon the Washington State Labor Council will hold a rally to support the Machinist Union at Westlake Park from 4 – 7 p.m. At least 2,000 participants are expected to attend. At this time, no lane or street closures are planned, but motorists should expect congestion around the park during the afternoon commute, particularly on Fourth Avenue and on Pine Street.
12:30 PM: The crash on Lander in SODO is cleared. KING 5 has details.
Along with development, we watch real estate – particularly commercial listings – for hints at where future development might turn up. Tonight, there’s a new listing in The Triangle: 4480 Fauntleroy Way SW, offered for sale for $895,000. It’s home to coffee, computer, and car businesses, and the flyer says that all are on month-to-month leases but all want to stay, while also touting the 6,300-square-foot site’s “great future development potential.” It’s zoned NC3-65 (explained here). Two nearby sites remain listed, as first reported here in August:
*The $2.6 million listing for 17,000-sf Fauntleroy Plaza on the northwest corner of Fauntleroy/35th says a sale is “pending.”
*The $2.4 million (down from $2.8 million in August) listing for 16,000-sf 4441 Fauntleroy Way SW describes it as “available.” Like newly listed 4480 Fauntleroy, it is zoned NC3-65.
Online city records show no current development proposals for any of the three aforementioned sites.
We start West Seattle Crime Watch with notes received today reporting two burglaries last night:
*A resident near 41st/Graham reports someone broke in while she and her husband were asleep: “Must have been a one-person job because they only took a 32-inch Vizeo TV and my husband’s $1500 Toshiba work laptop.”
*A resident near 49th/Brandon reports, “Our house was broken into last night. … They came in through the basement window. Police were here last night. They focused on money, prescription drugs, credit cards, and Seahawks jerseys!”
Checking trends, the Seattle Police crime map shows 16 burglaries reported in the past week – the 49th/Brandon break-in is one of them; the other one isn’t on the map yet:
Ahead, the list of dates/locations for the other 15 shown on the map – last Sunday was by far the busiest day of the week for burglars:
We don’t know for sure whether this is the same American White Pelican spotted hanging around Lincoln Park/Lowman Beach two weeks ago (as seen here), but it’s the first report we’ve received since this stormy weekend, so we’re sharing it. Jon Anderson spotted it during one of today’s sunbreaks, in a pond near the South Transfer Station. Their usual range in our state is around the Columbia River.
With First Lutheran Church of West Seattle pastor Rev. Ron Marshall in that photo is a newly dedicated statue he commissioned, as a tribute to Danish theologian/philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, whose bicentennial is being commemorated today at the church. It began with a lecture this morning and concludes with a mid-afternoon reception, including folk dancing and this array of treats marked with tiny Denmark flags:
Commemorative glass mugs are available:
And distinguished visitors are on hand, including musicians, a poet, and the Kierkegaard statue’s artist, Dr. Rita Marie Kepner of Marrowstone Island (south of Port Townsend):
A pamphlet about the statue includes her memoirs about the process of creating it. She explains that Rev. Marshall contacted her more than five years ago “about finding a student to create a small ceramic portrait” of Kierkegaard … but she herself became intrigued, learning about Kierkegaard’s connection with the Lutheran Church. As she wrote, like many people, he is remembered more “as the father of existentialism.” Talking with the pastor, she eventually realized “the project was important enough that we should do it in bronze, not ceramic.” The brochure, which includes many more musings on her artistic process, notes that she is not only an internationally acclaimed artist but also an appointed federal disaster-response reservist and licensed boat captain. First Lutheran, by the way, is at 4105 California SW, north of The Junction.
One of the organizations working right now with typhoon survivors in the Philippines is ShelterBox, which specializes in kits and portable equipment specially designed for rapid relief in disaster zones. West Seattleite Dave Nichols, who works as a response-team member for ShelterBox, visited Emeritus-Admiral Heights (WSB sponsor) to talk with residents about how the nonprofit organization is helping not only with typhoon relief but also with recovery from the big mid-October earthquake. He showed a few of the items that ShelterBox provides, from cooking utensils to building tools to a school-supply box that can get school going again for up to 50 kids.
The components of one ShelterBox cost about $1,000, according to Nichols, and the organization is accepting donations to help with its work. So far, according to this online ShelterBox update, they’ve brought personnel and supplies with the potential to help up to 4,000 families.
Going grocery shopping in the next few days? You might not be ready to buy your Thanksgiving turkey yet, but it’s the perfect time to shop for one (or more) to donate to the West Seattle Food Bank – which has a special donation event coming up this Wednesday (November 20th) in The Junction. The announcement:
The West Seattle Food Bank is looking for 500 donated 10 lb. turkeys to help all of our clients in need have a delicious turkey on their table for Thanksgiving. It’s even more difficult now, with the recent SNAP (Food Stamp) cuts, for our clients to provide healthy meals for their families. Help us by bringing a frozen 10-pound turkey to Easy Street Records in the Junction, Wednesday, 11/20, 4-7 pm! No need to park – we’ll be outside, ready to grab your turkey, or donate cash and we’ll buy the turkey for you! PLEASE HELP US provide all of our clients with a happy Thanksgiving meal!
If you would rather give money than a turkey, WSFB’s Judi Yazzolino tells WSB that $10 is their approximate cost for a 10-pound turkey. They’re asking for that size because “we have a lot of single people and small families, and it’s easier for us to store.” (You can also donate $ online – just go here.)
Mark your calendar for a free movie at the historic Admiral Theater – Thursday, December 5th. This isn’t a fundraiser, but rather an awareness-raiser. We learned about it from Dawn Clark, who says her high-school-senior daughter Keely and friend Angelica are so concerned about the captive killer whale known as Lolita – the last surviving Puget Sound-captured orca – that they are renting space at The Admiral to show a documentary made about her, “Lolita: Slave to Entertainment.” Here’s the trailer:
Activists around the world have been campaigning for Lolita to be set free. The awareness campaign even succeeded in getting a ferry being built right now at Vigor Shipyard on Harbor Island to carry her previous name, Tokitae. You can support the students’ efforts by coming to the movie on December 5th; doors open at 6:30 pm, movie at 7 pm. It’s not a movie for young children, so they’re promoting it for teens and adults; if you need an incentive besides free admission, they’re offering free desserts. “We’re not raising money, only awareness for her,” says the announcement Dawn shared. “Her story will touch your heart. There is a sanctuary waiting for her in the San Juan Islands. Help us get the word out.” (You can read about the proposed retirement sanctuary on the Orca Network‘s website.)
| 6 COMMENTS