West Seattle, Washington
15 Sunday
(INFOLINKS: Traffic cams here … SDOT plowed/salted map here … Metro on snow routes … Photo to share? editor@wsb.blackfin.biz)
(First photo of tonight’s snow, from Trileigh Tucker, Lincoln Park area)
6:04 PM: Snowing here in Upper Fauntleroy – are you seeing it too? The National Weather Service’s alerts don’t stretch this far, so far – see the current ones here – its updated “forecast discussion” doesn’t think this will get past an inch. We’ll be updating.
6:34 PM: From the WSB Traffic page – where you’ll find many more cameras – that’s the camera pointing at the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct. But we hope you don’t have to go out; slippery out there already.
6:54 PM: Sticking on the road up here – the view is from a moment ago, looking east on Thistle from California. (added) From the westward view on the high bridge – note the snowy Harbor Island ramp below, on the right side:
7:20 PM: Wondering if SDOT will be out, since it’s sticking on streets? Here’s Joe‘s view from Arbor Heights
On Twitter a few minutes ago, the department said plows are standing by:
Plow operators ready if needed. Road temps fairly warm prior to sunset but will monitor surface conditions closely.
— seattledot (@seattledot) February 9, 2014
7:35 PM: Apparently some city equipment IS out and about. Cheryl reports, also via Twitter: “SDOT ice/plow trucks going both directions on the Bridge just now.”
8:01 PM: Two hours now, still hasn’t stopped. An Alki view via Twitter:
59th and Alki Ave. pic.twitter.com/9Q5RUzMeHa
— Scott M Alki Wa. (@KayakScottNW) February 9, 2014
Road conditions are increasingly dominating the discussions on the scanner; dispatchers say SDOT is definitely out and hitting arterials around the city. (Few minutes later …) checked outside, about 1″ of snow so far.
8:16 PM: Seattle Fire dispatched to a crash reported at California/Frontenac, western bottom of Gatewood Hill. Reported on scanner to be car vs. tree. And just off Delridge, two crashes reported at Orchard/Dumar. If you really, REALLY have to go out, here’s the SDOT map of where they’ve plowed recently – added to the resource links at the top of this story.
8:44 PM: Metro now says its buses are all on snow routes; find yours here. More crashes – via scanner, SPD says it’s blocking 36th/Thistle after a crash.
9 PM: David sent the clip above from California near Andover. We just did the car-hood check again – about an inch and a half here. Couple miles south of David, here’s our latest pan:
Via Twitter, KFT reports a RapidRide C Line bus got stuck downtown.
9:18 PM: The photo above was texted (206-293-6302, any time!) from south Admiral, where they’re reporting more than two inches of snow. A few blocks east, Crystal just e-mailed (editor@wsb.blackfin.biz, any time!) this photo from Hiawatha:
As MetPatrick tweeted a while ago, this does seem to have an end – check out the KING5.com radar.
9:31 PM: Heavy-rescue call on the SW Genesee hill between Avalon and Delridge, at 30th SW. (Added – photo by Christopher Boffoli:)
(A few minutes later …) also 14th/Holden, car vs. street sign. And police are still trying to keep people off Orchard/Dumar/Delridge intersection & its attendant hills. Overall advice: Avoid ANY hill, arterial or side street. **UPDATE ON FLIPPED CAR** No injuries, Christopher was told at the scene.
10:24 PM: From David:
Roxbury neat 26th Ave SW looking sticky. #westseattle @westseattleblog pic.twitter.com/zZHf16CpBK
— David S. Hogan (@SeattleActorDSH) February 9, 2014
Also now a blocking crash at 9th/Roxbury. (UPDATE: 3 people hurt, per scanner.) Screengrab from SDOT map shows Roxbury hasn’t been plowed between 9th and 35th.
As for the forecast, seems the NWS finally issued a Winter Weather Advisory at 8:44 pm for this area, almost 3 hours after it started snowing, and it’s in effect until 4 am.
10:53 PM: Bonair, between North Admiral and Alki, is “blocked at the top … Car in ditch, another car in road. Police tape is up at the top of the road,” David reports via e-mail. Back to that 30th/Genesee heavy rescue on the hill east of Avalon, here’s another view from WSB’s Christopher Boffoli:
Again, the driver wasn’t hurt. Heading back from the scene, Christopher noted RapidRide buses having difficulty at 35th/Avalon:
He says neither had chains. Meantime, snow looks to be about 3″ by now.
11:08 PM: And via scanner, we hear SPD asking Metro to just stop sending buses southbound on Avalon, saying four articulated buses are stuck in that area now. Meantime, near Westwood Village, Khang tweeted about a car that got stuck and just kept getting hit – until help was rounded up. Note to those who’ve sent fun snow photos – we’re building a separate gallery and will link it here when available.
12:01 AM: The snow is now very light, and that matches the radar view.
1:34 AM: Still hearing from people re: bus woes – RapidRide in particular. No new info from Metro.
2:07 AM: National Weather Service measured 2.9″ of snow at Sea-Tac – new record for February 8th (more than 2″ over the old record, 0.4″ in 1957).
One week from today, you have the chance to join West Seattle sisters Mary Ellen Cunningham and Libby Cunningham in a drive to assist a project described as part of an “unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate women’s leadership in the context of conflict and disaster zones” – the City of Joy, helping Congolese women and girls heal from unspeakable violence. Next Saturday, February 15th, in the Junction parking lot at 44th/Alaska, they’re hoping you will help fill their U-Haul truck with essential items. But first, their detailed explanation (if you can’t see the window below, here’s the PDF version):
And here’s the list of what they are asking you to donate:
* The preference is for new items (definitely make-up, toiletries and skin care products.) Gently used items are also greatly appreciated.
Necessities
Solar-powered flashlights
Solar-powered radios
Umbrellas
Reading glassesSkills
Garden/work gloves
Garden trowels
Small garden shovels
Sewing supplies – thread, buttons, needles, scissors, embroidery thread
Muslin fabric
YarnWomen’s Clothing
Skirts, tops, & light pants (all sizes) NOTE: It is hot & humid in Congo. We need clothes in bright colors and light fabrics. NOT Seattle clothes! ☺
Durable flip-flops
Sneakers (size 7-10)
Socks (bright colors to fit shoe size 7-10)
Underwear & bras (all sizes)
Scarves
PursesToiletries & Personal Care
Towels – bath, hand and wash cloths (bright colors)
Makeup
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Traumeel
Moisturizing lotion
Again, the collection event is next Saturday (February 15th), 10 am-2 pm, so you have time to gather up items and be ready to drop them off.
Two West Seattle Crime Watch notes this afternoon:
PLAYGROUND VANDALISM: Got a text about something poured on/applied to the Hiawatha (map) playground equipment, rendering it unusable – and Christine sent the photo at left, saying the slides were “un-slideable.” She reported it to the community-center staff just in case they hadn’t heard.
MAIL THEFT/ATTEMPT: From Sheridan: “Found our mailbox lock drilled out this morning in 8600 block of 24th Ave SW (map). People should keep an eye out for prowlers.”
SIDE NOTE: These types of crimes can be reported online – go here.
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
1:02 PM: If you’re wondering why multiple Seattle Fire Department units rushed to West Seattle Athletic Club – it’s dispatched as a fire alarm having gone off, but described on radio communications as involving a suspected sprinkler-pipe problem. We have a crew checking it out.
1:16 PM: Christopher Boffoli reports that while an alarm bell is still sounding at the club, and staff confirms a broken pipe, they “say otherwise they are open and things are business as usual.”
1:46 PM: Adding a few more photos, including this one as a side note – the icy/salted SW Yancy hill just west of the club:
The call is now closed out on the 911 log, meaning SFD crews have departed.
(WSB photo from February 2013 pancake breakfast at Hiawatha)
No cooking to do, no dishes to wash, but you get a full belly and a warm feeling you’ve helped your community … all that can be yours for $6 or less tomorrow (Sunday) morning at Hiawatha Community Center. It’s the annual pancake breakfast to raise money to help make sure rec-program participation is within everyone’s reach. $6 is for age 13 and up, $5 for ages 3-12, $4 if you’re 65+, free for 2 and under. Breakfast is served 8 am-noon tomorrow; Hiawatha is at 2700 California SW, just north of West Seattle High School and its sizable parking lot.
3 West Seattle art notes today, starting with an invitation to local high-school-student artists:
STUDENTS INVITED TO CREATE ART FOR FAUNTLEROY/ALASKA: Tracy Cilona of Twilight Gallery and Boutique in The Junction shares this open invitation to student artists, to create work to showcase on the fencing at the future development site of The Whittaker:
Open to students of West Seattle High School, Chief Sealth International High School, and Seattle Lutheran High School interested in the Arts. Twilight Gallery & Boutique is excited to partner with the development team of Lennar and Weingarten, along with local community members, to curate the surrounding area of Fauntleroy and Alaska, to feature some of our emerging local student artists. We are always thrilled to have the opportunity to extend the reach of art outside of the gallery and into the community.
Many emerging artists find wonder and inspiration in the area in which they live. The Pacific Northwest has been a muse for many artists as they reflect on the landscape, the history and the culture in which they grew up or migrated to. With that in mind, we seek artwork inspired by the surrounding landscape that we view and experience in our daily lives here in West Seattle. We encourage work that speaks to the spirit of adventure, exploration and wonder – from our local neighborhood parks, beaches, trails and stunning city view – to our scenic mountain views of the Olympic Mountains and the Cascade Range. What inspires you about the local landscape? What are some of your favorite scenic views? Do you have a secret trail that you love to explore? Which local beach makes you happy and inspired? Where do you return to again and again with family and friends? What do you discover just out walking in some our most vibrant neighborhoods?
Chosen artwork will be professionally scanned, printed and featured on the fencing at 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW. 25 student artists will be chosen to participate. Artwork will be featured for the duration of the development project.
Full details, including size and other guidelines and how to submit them – deadline March 1st – can be found on the Twilight website.
‘LUNA GIRLS’ SITE WORK UNDER WAY: On the grassy berm just west of Salty’s on Alki (WSB sponsor):
You might have noticed this work while heading to or from the West Seattle Water Taxi on Parade Day … installation preparation is under way for the privately funded Luna Girls on Alki sculpture by West Seattle artist Lezlie Jane, once planned for the seawall near Alki Bathhouse, before a more-appropriate site was identified last fall, nearer the project’s historical inspiration.
LOCAL ARTISTS AT NORTHWEST FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW: Going downtown to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show (sponsoring WSB to get the word out) this weekend? Two local artists e-mailed WSB to share the news that they have creations incorporated into the display garden for Redwood Builders Landscaping:
As shown in that photo provided by the artists, the display garden includes dye-infused-aluminum images by Deb Cibene Photography – all details from poles and carvings near Sequim – and a six-foot-long ceramic-tile globe by Terri Goodwin of Bright Water Studio that “when viewed through a frame will appear round.” The show at the Convention Center downtown is open until 8 pm tonight, and again 9 am-6 pm tomorrow.
Thanks for the tips – if you’re heading eastbound, you might not be able to exit onto northbound 99 because of a multiple-vehicle crash at the ramp. Traffic cameras don’t show a major backup so far.
(Near the beaver dam at Longfellow Creek; by Flickr member “old desolate,” via WSB Flickr group)
Happy Neighbor Appreciation Day! Here are some ways you can get out into your neighborhood today, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
LIVING LONGER, LIVING SMARTER: Free community forum for women 9 am-1:30 pm at Fauntleroy UCC Church – details in our calendar listing. (9140 California SW)
‘HAVE A HEART DAY’ AT ILLUSIONS: The annual haircut-fundraiser day at Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) raises money this year for Pencil Me in For Kids and ArtsWest. 10 am-2 pm; all to see if they have any appointments left – ALL proceeds go to the nonprofits today! 206-938-3675. (5619 California SW)
WEST SEATTLE CHESS TOURNAMENT: Hundreds of kids will be playing chess today at Schmitz Park Elementary, from all over West Seattle, starting at 10 am, in this second annual peninsula-wide tournament. (50th/Spokane)
COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF WEST SEATTLE OPEN HOUSE: For parents only this time, 10 am-2 pm. (9450 22nd SW)
FIRE STATION OPEN HOUSES IN HONOR OF NEIGHBOR APPRECIATION DAY: As noted here last night, you are invited to visit Fire Stations 11, 32, and 37 in West Seattle as part of the city’s Neighbor Appreciation Day, 11 am-1 pm. (16th/Holden, 38th/Alaska, 35th/Holden)
VOTING-RIGHTS DEMONSTRATION: Noon-2 pm in The Junction, a local demonstration is planned as part of a national show of support for a march happening today in Raleigh, North Carolina, protesting voting restrictions that are now on the books in almost half of the USA’s states. (California/Alaska)
ARTIST RECEPTION AT THE LONGHOUSE: Meet artist Earl Livermore at the Duwamish Longhouse opening reception for his exhibition, 1-3 pm. (4705 W. Marginal Way SW)
METRONOMY AT EASY STREET: 1 pm “sign and spin” session at Easy Street Records in The Junction for British electronic artists Metronomy. (California/Alaska)
ALKI ELEMENTARY PRESENTS ‘DISNEY’S ALADDIN JR.’: Students perform again today at 2 pm in the West Seattle High School Theater – details in our calendar listing, including how to check on whether tickets are still available. (3000 California SW)
‘SOUL JAMBALAYA’: The annual musical celebration tonight in the auditorium at Chief Sealth International High School includes gospel, blues, jazz, and funk with the world-famous Total Experience Gospel Choir, Westside Blues, Figgins and Halbert Jazz, and Denny International Middle School Jazz. Free; donations support the Denny/Sealth music programs. 7 pm. (2600 SW Thistle)
LIVE FOLK MUSIC: Singer/songwriter Bill Davie plays at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7-9 pm. (5612 California SW)
FIRST TIME AT THE FEEDBACK: Tonight West Seattle’s Roo and the Few play the Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) for the first time – details on the FL website. 9:30 pm. (6451 California SW)
…more on the calendar!
From Roxhill Elementary School, Chellie Lafayette shares reports and photos from “two cool events”:
We had the pleasure of welcoming two of the U of W women’s basketball players, who came to teach our 3rd-5th graders about basketball and Girls and Women in Sports Week. Kassia Fortier and Mathilde Gilling (top photo) were the student athletes that joined us.
And on wheels …
We also have a primary grade morning sports group that is run by a Coach Across America volunteer from the U of W, Steven Truong. This week he brought in coaches from Skate Like a Girl. I am excited to extend this partnership in the future.
News at YOUR school? Share it here!
(Neighbor Appreciation Day at Station 37, photographed in 2011 by Cliff DesPeaux for WSB)
Going through football withdrawal? There’s lots to keep you busy this weekend. One thing we’re reminding you about quickly right now: Three West Seattle fire stations are open for tours 11 am-1 pm Saturday as part of the city’s Neighbor Appreciation Day: Station 11 in Highland Park at 16th/Holden, Station 32 in The Junction at 38th/Alaska, and Station 37 in Sunrise Heights at 35th/Holden. It’s your chance to get an up-close look WITHOUT having an emergency in your neighborhood!
In West Seattle Crime Watch tonight – first, a bicycle stolen late today:
Frank at Thunder Road Guitars (WSB sponsor) says that bicycle belongs to one of his customers and was taken from outside his shop at 3916 California SW about 4:30 pm today: “It’s a pretty expensive bike and a big loss for a 14-year-old kid.” If you find it, please contact police.
Meantime, Sarah reported finding this bike last weekend by her home on 106th SW near the Shorewood Grocery:
She was considering turning it in to the King County Sheriff’s Office last we heard. If you recognize it, comment here.
Back on Monday, you might recall, early-morning runs were canceled on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route, which then was on a one-boat-short schedule until noon, leading to backups. It wasn’t a case of post-Super Bowl sickout, and it was no last-minute surprise, confirmed WSF boss David Moseley in his weekly “newsletter” today:
I want to apologize to customers of the Fauntleroy/Southworth/Vashon Island (triangle) route for the service disruption experienced on Monday morning when we went to a two-boat sailing schedule due to a lack of available crew. We had vessel maintenance and crew training scheduled for Monday and when we realized that we could not cover shifts, we should have canceled training and asked that the crews to report to the vessel. I have made it clear that should this same situation occur in the future, we need to prioritize service.
WSDOT tweeted that morning that 200 calls had been made but fill-ins couldn’t be found. The tweet mentioned maintenance but not training.
Thanks to the Madison Middle School parent who just shared the memo from Superintendent José Banda: Seven months after becoming interim principal at Madison, Dr. Robert Gary Jr. now has the permanent job.
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Gary, Jr. has been appointed the permanent Principal for Madison Middle School. He has been serving as Interim Principal since July 2013 and has quickly built a good relationship with staff, students and families who have described him as hard-working, fair, kind, organized and with high standards.
Dr. Gary originally came to Madison from the District’s Interagency Academy and Skills Center, where he served as co-principal during the 2011-13 school year. Robert Gary immediately demonstrated his commitment to building a multi-tiered system of support to ensure that every student is ready for high school after his or her eighth grade year, proving to be a great fit for the Madison community.
2:16 PM: We’re in the courtroom of King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer, who is presiding right now over the sentencing hearing for 21-year-old Sean Jeardoe. We first reported on his case after his arrest in a stolen truck in the West Seattle Thriftway parking lot last summer; he was not charged immediately, but was arrested again in connection with multiple other cases. As reported here in December, he confessed to 22 burglaries, not just in West Seattle, but in other areas of King County, and struck a deal to plead guilty to 14 charges – eight of them residential burglaries, plus three auto-theft-related charges and three gun-theft charges. The recommended sentence is eight and a half years. We’ll update as this goes.
2:20 PM: The prosecutor says some of his victims are in court and six letters have been submitted to the judge as well. (This was originally scheduled for a different judge, but as we noticed while covering another case last week, the sentencing calendars sometimes move around.) There’s now a short delay because the judge has ordered the defendant be unshackled for the proceedings. A second courthouse deputy had to be called; he said that it’s policy for the restraints NOT to be removed for this type of hearing, but she ordered it anyway.
The prosecutor says Jeardoe actually eventually confessed to 31 burglaries. “Coming into this from a negotiation standpoint, the state acknowledges he has no (felony) history. He appears to have a drug addiction….” He mentions that Jeardoe pointed out much of what he did; the judge asks if he helped them get some victims’ property back. Some, yes, the prosecutor says, but “there are still countless pieces of jewelry that have been melted down or gone off into pawn shops …” He now mentions that a residential burglary affects a victim forever, with sense of security, separate from whether the items can be replaced. “Based on the number of crimes and magnitude of this crime spree, the state is NOT recommending the low-end sentence or a prison-based (drug treatment) DOSA sentence.”
Before hearing from victims, the judge says she has something to say: “Mr.Jeardoe by operation of law gets credit for the time he’s already served – six months – so the maximum sentence I have to impose is 8 years … and (he will be) eligible for up to 50 percent ‘good time,’ so his sentence could be as low as 4 years. … So whatever age he’s going to be when released, I have to think about … what will protect the community.” She says she’s “looking seriously” at the drug-treatment-sentence request of the defense, which would be a mid-range sentence, and once he’s out, if he messes up again, he will have to go back for the rest of the full term. Now, she says, she welcomes victims to speak, now that they know what she’s thinking.
2:30 PM: Now a man whose home was broken into and vehicle stolen last August is speaking. “I hope Mr. Jeardoe realizes that not all the damage he’s done can be expressed in dollars and cents.” He speaks of losing items that were of great sentimental value, as well as financial records, house and vehicle keys, information that could make him vulnerable to ID theft. That said, he says he realizes that Jeardoe is a young man and hopefully can turn his life around.
The defense lawyer says Jeardoe’s history of addiction “was based in his childhood.” She calls attention to the fact his crime spree was over a matter of months but says his addiction is a serious problem and if not dealt with, he could wind up back in these straits again. Now Jeardoe’s father is speaking. He thanks victims for coming to court. He says they adopted him as a baby and he was subject to alcohol and drugs “in utero” but says that is no excuse. He has long been getting counseling for substance abuse, Jeardoe’s father says, and also mentions he spent a year in intensive treatment out of state and ‘did very well’ but relapsed upon returning here. He says his son needs to pay for his crimes but also needs some sort of “mandatory drug treatment.”
2:35 PM: Jeardoe speaks, turning to the gallery and saying “I know it’s not enough to say I’m sorry …” as he apologizes. Judge Shaffer says she has seen many burglary victims: “It’s always devastating, always. …There’s this destroyed sense of security – people never really feel they can sleep securely after that.” What he was doing “was devastating,” she admonishes him. Especially stealing some items that “can’t be gotten back.” She mentions that one victim for which this was particularly devastating was a West Seattle man who he used to live across the street from, “and they couldn’t believe he would do this to them” – it roiled the whole neighborhood. “This is a big deal, you’ve done a lot of wrong here.” She tells him “the work of getting clean and sober” is the best way he can apologize. She asks him to prove to his victims he can do that hard work. She says, “I want all the victims to know the court takes what happened very seriously but I want to make sure there are no more victims in Mr. Jeardoe’s history.” She says DOSA is “not an easy way to go” and that if he doesn’t do well he will go right back into prison. And she orders it. So this means, according to what the prosecutor just said, his prison time will total less than half of what prosecutors had sought – 44.7 months. He would then be on probation (community custody) for a roughly equal time once he gets out. The treatment, she explains, will likely start closer to release. (DOSA – drug offender sentencing alternative – is explained here.) There also will be a hearing on restitution – “all the restitution the state can prove within (the next six months, per law)” – for victims.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We briefly reported the decision, immediately afterward, last night; now, the meeting details)
(Click image to see larger view)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The Southwest Design Review Board seemed to have six and a half years on its all-volunteer members’ shoulders by the time its two-project meeting hit the four-hour mark last night, before a fifth review was recommended for 3210 California SW.
No one seems to have an easy role in Seattle’s unique Design Review program. It often provides the only public meetings regarding sizable developments, and that frustrates community members who want to speak out about more than the design, considering they are the ones who ultimately will be living with the results. Architects and developers bring a project to the table without knowing what changes will be recommended and whether the process will run months or more than a year, costly in more than one way. The five volunteer board members get conflicting messages about how much authority they have to order changes, and have to make their decisions in a theater-in-the-round environment, with affected parties usually staring daggers at them from all sides. (Those aren’t even all the stakeholders.)
And then, some projects have long, controversy-pocked backstories, like this one, rooted in a block-long upzoning requested in 2007 (hence our “6 1/2-year” allusion above), contested by neighbors, finalized in 2010 (all WSB coverage is reverse-chronologically archived here), then affected by a Department of Planning and Development rule change in 2012.
That rule change, as well as the backstory, was discussed extensively last week at a community meeting outside the Design Review process, a meeting scheduled after neighbors petitioned the city for it. (Here’s our report on that meeting, held January 29th at the Senior Center of West Seattle, same location as last night’s Design Review session.)
Last week’s meeting did not involve the SWDRB, though at least one member reported attending. But it included a discussion of the board’s role/authority, and last night there was more muscle-flexing as the board told the project team to come back for a fifth review – something that hasn’t happened here since the Admiral Safeway project, which came before the board (different membership then, though the same city planner was on that project and this one, Michael Dorcy) five times between September 2008 and February 2010.
At one point during the board deliberations last night, architect Boyd Pickrell from Nicholson-Kovalchick implored the board to offer directions and conditions so the project could move ahead.
Board members, however, indicated they saw shortcomings too big to do that.
Here’s how it unfolded:
(Photo courtesy Theresa Beaulieu, from 2013 “Denny-Lincoln Classic” ride)
It’s a matter of health, safety, and fun! Denny International Middle School parent Theresa Beaulieu is trying to get more kids on bikes – and is hoping you’ll chip in:
For the last couple of years, I have been working hard in trying to get more students to ride their bikes to school. We have a very long backup of cars that pull in and drop their kids off in the front of the school every morning and I would like to see less cars and more bikes and walkers. We have been awarded Safe Routes to School mini-grants through SDOT for the last two years that have given us the funds to host Doughnut and Fruit days for kids who ride their bikes. These days are to encourage them. We also were able to have our new annual Denny-Lincoln Classic family bike ride that we started last year, that included t-shirts for each rider, designed by a sixth grader.
I have been working with the Major Taylor Project coordinator to get a cycling after-school program started to teach students the rules of the road, how to ride safely, and bicycle maintenance. This would be a similar program that they have going on at Chief Sealth, our shared-campus high school. This could also lead into an earn-a-bike program in the winter months. The idea is to start the kids off at Denny on Mountain bikes and then they could transition to the road bikes they have at Sealth. I was encouraged after reading the reports about the Kimball Elementary teacher who raised over 20K in funds to purchase the whole school with Seahawks jerseys so I started my own GoFundMe site. … Our school consists of many students from low-income families who don’t have access to bikes. This would give those kids and other kids the opportunity to ride. The bikes we want to purchase will be used for the after-school program and offered for the Denny-Lincoln Classic bike ride to students who have taken the after-school class. They would be stored at the school and maintained by the students themselves.
So if one community could raise $25,000 for jerseys, certainly ours can muster $8,000 for bikes! Here’s the link again. And there’s a deadline now – the money needs to be raised by March 15th to get the program started this spring.
Thanks to Mark Wangerin for the photo of sanderlings; he says, “Now that the tide is lower during daylight hours, sanderlings are frequently seen south of the Alki Lighthouse. They are perhaps the most common and frequent sandpipers to visit our shores.” Might be a little cold for beachwalking today, though. Here are seven indoor highlights from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
TODDLER INDOOR GYM: Too cold to run around outside? Bring your toddler to Southwest Teen Life Center 11 am-2 pm. (NOT a drop-off situation – you’ll need to stay with her/him.) Details in our calendar listing. (2801 SW Thistle)
LYANDA LYNN HAUPT @ WORDS, WRITERS, WEST SEATTLE: The ongoing first-Friday series of author events presented by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society at West Seattle’s Barnes & Noble bookstore is 4-6 pm today, featuring Lyanda Lynn Haupt and her newest book “The Urban Bestiary.” It’s all about our lives co-existing with urban wildlife. Here’s our preview. (Westwood Village, Barton side)
‘ROBBIE BURNS NIGHT’ AT HPIC CORNER BAR: First Friday of the month is always Corner Bar night at Highland Park Improvement Club, and this one is extra-special, with a Scottish theme – in food, drink, and music, starting with bagpipes @ 6 pm. Details in our listing. (12th/Holden)
SWING DANCING, WEST SEATTLE BIG BAND @ MADISON: Tonight’s the night – the West Seattle Big Band joins musicians at Madison Middle School for a night of swing dancing and music, starting with lessons at 6 pm; more details here – fun for the whole family. Benefit for Madison Music Boosters.
ALKI ELEMENTARY PRESENTS ‘DISNEY’S ALADDIN JR.’: Students perform at 7 pm tonight in the West Seattle High School Theater – details in our calendar listing, including how to check if tickets are still available. (3000 California SW)
‘THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED’: 7:30 pm curtain tonight for ArtsWest‘s current production; details in our calendar listing. (4711 California SW)
BEARD BROTHERS: They’re live tonight at Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), 9:30 pm. FL website says: “Not only are they world-class musicians playing classic rock in a semi acoustic setting, they’ll blow your mind with how three guys can pull off Led Zeppelin’s epic ‘Kashmir.’ Standing ovation every time.” (6451 California SW)
Good morning! No out-of-the-ordinary incidents so far; we start with the bridge cameras:
More cameras, including Viaduct views, are on the WSB Traffic page.
Buses from the Fauntleroy ferry dock will likely be fuller today because the Vashon Water Taxi isn’t running this morning.
The weather’s still colder than usual – mid-20s right now – but the National Weather Service has canceled its weeklong alert for our area, and says we’ll be warming toward more-normal conditions as the weekend proceeds.
8:29 AM: Crash reported on northbound 99 around the south end of the elevated section. Doesn’t sound major but we’re monitoring.
In an intense second session of the night, the Southwest Design Review Board expressed as much frustration as neighbors of the proposed 430-foot-long, five-stories-in-a-“40-foot”-zone 3210 California SW, with both groups saying the project team hadn’t addressed concerns about height/bulk/scale – especially making the project look like three different buildings in truly distinct ways, with more space between them. So they told the project team to bring it back for a fifth meeting – at which they want to see options for a shorter building or a building with upper-level setbacks. More to come (Friday – eta 12:30 pm – update: here’s the full-length story).
(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
8:23 PM: Sizable fire response in the 3400 block of 37th SW (map); scanner indicates it’s a basement fire. More to come.
9:03 PM: The fire wrapped up quickly. Christopher Boffoli went to the scene for WSB and reports that it was indeed a small basement fire, tapped quickly, blamed on the furnace. Firefighters were working to get smoke out of the house.
Kitty-corner from the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, that image is what you’re going to see – with a few changes – if Isola Homes goes ahead with 4400 SW Alaska, 36 residential units and four live-work units that got thumbs-up from the Southwest Design Review Board tonight. As noted in our first report last May, it will replace this:
And though you don’t see it in the renderings, you will see brick, as part of the conditions laid out by the board.
Early in the review, board member Daniel Skaggs expressed some concerns about the green/white colors, and noted that Isola had been building projects all around the area and “they look just like this.” What about some brick? he wondered. Steve Fischer from Nicholson-Kovalchick Architects mentioned the nearby brick project (4535 44th SW, which passed Design Review in December) and said this one just didn’t seem to be the right kind of project for that. But he also said the project green might not be as “apple green” as it was showing on the projection screens in the meeting room.
Here’s a look at the courtyard area of the front of the building, which evolved from some suggestions given by the board last summer:
You can see the full set of renderings in this “packet”). The project passed Early Design Guidance – the first round of the city’s design-review process – seven months ago, in July (WSB coverage here).
Fischer said tonight that the materials would include an aluminum composite that bends and facilitates “a clean transition” (where you see white and black) and then “Hardie panel” where you see the green color in the design. Board member Laird Bennion pointed out via a sample that he was able to write on it using a key – raising concerns about graffiti vandalism. The project has two streetfronts, and the landscaping along Alaska will have a much different feel than the landscape off Glenn, the project team said. Bennion wondered about the “vine wall” shown up the middle – what if, like other projects, the vines fail to thrive – what would it look like?
PUBLIC COMMENT: First to speak was Diane Vincent, who said she “love love love(s) the green and … the angles,” as well as “the open stairway.” The white color, though, she’s “not thrilled with.” She echoed concern about the projected “green wall,” pointing out that Admiral Safeway’s planned green wall has never happened. But overall, she voiced appreciation for the “creative” aspects of the project.
Next, Deb Barker, who said she is “very glad to see … that this project has transitioned and addressed some concerns” from its first review. She said she hopes that retail can be successfully attracted to the spaces penciled in as live-work. She said she was “fine with the color scheme, less thrilled with the treatments along the Alaska facade.”
A man identifying himself as “living a block away on 46th” said there’s “no warmth” in the colors/materials, and “no texture … everything is smooth.” It won’t match anything in the area, he said. “I will walk by this building every day … I want to be able to enjoy it, because this is a neighborhood.” He wondered what kind of signage it would have – saying he didn’t want to see neon – and also feared the spaces are too small for retail. Offering a few comments of appreciation, he said he did like the fact it’s not a “flat facade.”
The next person to comment said he hopes the board will strongly encourage retail instead of live/work in those spaces.
“Maybe the two at the corner could be retail, and the other two could be live-work,” he suggested.
Another nearby resident said he likes some aspects including the use of wood along the stairway, the “boldness” of the green.
A man who said he was representing the developer said they are hoping to get retail on the corner – maybe even before construction so they can “build to suit” – and that there will be a beam so that a wall could be knocked out in the future for a bigger space.
BOARD DELIBERATIONS: The first major point of discussion involved the lighting that had been shown in the renderings
Board members thought the “podium level”/corner should be lit more than the residential windows. The colors came around again. Todd Bronk said at one point that if the colors were taken off, the building had the right proportion, but there needed to be more details and he thought that being entirely devoid of brick didn’t necessarily work for a building that’s part of The Junction. Other board members agreed it needed to have some brick, as part of the base getting a “finer texture, more human scale, more timeless” feel. Their recommendations also reinforced expectations that the corner spaces will be retail-focused rather than the not-so-retail uses that “live-work” have been taking on lately – at one point they were going to suggest, rather than require, but Bennion said, “Let’s go big or go home.” The “aggressive” conditions of approval, as the board put it, also include a “more substantial entry canopy at the corner to promote retail use.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Until the project gets final land-use approval, you can still send comments to its assigned city planner, Lindsay King – lindsay.king@seattle.gov.
Another set of Seahawks Super Bowl victory-related numbers is in – the numbers from the special West Seattle Water Taxi schedule on Wednesday to help people get to and from the historic parade/celebration downtown (more photos in our Wednesday morning coverage).
Today, we asked King County Ferry District administrator AJ McClure for the totals, and he provided this one-sheet. Its introduction:
On Wednesday, February 5, the King County Water Taxi transported a record number of passengers for both its Vashon and West Seattle routes to view the Seahawks Championship Parade. The Vashon route, running its regularly scheduled service, carried 928 passengers. The West Seattle route, aided by an announcement by King County Ferry District Chair Joe McDermott to the West Seattle Blog the previous afternoon that we would provide midday additional service for the event, carried 4,587 passengers for the day. Chair McDermott also proclaimed that the Spirit of Kingston would be known as the M/V Steven Hauschka for the day in honor of the Seahawks placekicker.
Breaking it down – 2,289 passengers total on the West Seattle Water Taxi’s a.m. sailings, 2,298 on the p.m. sailings, adding up to that 4,587 total (with an added boat in the morning, once M/V Melissa Ann finished its a.m. Vashon route sailings).
Last time we remember lines like these was for the famous “Viadoom” Highway 99 closures – but the county also says this BEAT that, big time:
Forgot about Viadoom already? That was the multi-day October 2011 closure for the start of Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition. And remember, whenever the Highway 99 tunnel-digging gets going again, we’re facing a multi-day closure when the machine gets directly beneath what’s left of the elevated Viaduct, so stay tuned.
A plea for support – or, a change of habits, if you are part of the problem – from Denise Dahn and Trileigh Tucker, who co-chair the Alliance for Seattle Park Nature:
Help! Schmitz Preserve is in trouble.
This rare old-growth remnant forest has become the go-to place for people who let their dogs run loose through the forest understory. The forest floor is being stripped bare throughout and it’s getting worse by the day. The forest floor is a delicate and essential part of the habitat — it cannot withstand this type of mis-use. Recently, 1500 new plants were planted and a large section of the forest was fenced off to prevent them from being trampled, but still the problem grows. Please help by writing the City Council, the Mayor, the Parks Department, or your local community association and ask them to do something to help preserve the Preserve.
Thank you,
Alliance for Seattle Park Nature
Read about Schmitz Preserve Park history by going here.
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