West Seattle, Washington
11 Thursday
That’s the Hummingbird, signature cupcake for Indulge Desserts LLC, which is taking over the 9003 35th SW spot vacated by Stuffed Cakes this summer. Proprietor Michele J. Auld tells us Indulge Desserts is a “retail and catering bakery. Our motto is ‘Custom cupcakes because your special day should be your special way.” She started in a commercial kitchen two years ago and now plans to be “creating a community atmosphere where you can satisfy your sweet tooth, grab a cup of joe and socialize with friends.” Along with specialty cupcakes, she sells “cake, Oreo & marshmallow pops, ethnic inspired desserts (I’m Hispanic), and anything my imagination dreams up!” Opening day is set for Saturday, October 20th; she plans to be open 11 am-9 pm Tuesdays-Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays by appointment.
(WSDOT photo: Tunnel’s south portal)
The decision’s in. No Highway 99 closure this weekend, but WSDOT says one IS on the horizon. The announcement:
This weekend’s scheduled closure of southbound SR 99 through Seattle has been canceled. The viaduct will be open all weekend.
There is another full southbound closure scheduled for the following weekend. The road will be closed from 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14 through 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 17 between the south end of the Battery Street Tunnel and South Spokane Street.
Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will be completing pavement work needed for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program. Drivers are encouraged to plan their trip before they go, and expect delays.
Just after 11 am, a very brief power interruption hit us here in Upper Fauntleroy, and we also heard from Gatewood, Westwood, and High Point. Since that means some people might come home to flashing stove clocks (etc.) and wonder what happened, we checked with Seattle City Light‘s Scott Thomsen, who tells us the cause is listed as “squirrel.”
Two closure alerts from Seattle Parks: First, all of its community centers, pools, and teen life centers will be closed on Thursday, September 13th – one week from today – for staff training. The announcement adds, “The only programs that will be operating will be Preschool and School Aged Care; all other programs, lessons and activities will be canceled for the day.” September 13th also will be the start of a monthlong closure for Southwest Pool; it’s scheduled to shut down for a month of upgrades/renovations, primarily to improve accessibility, reopening October 15th.
In case you missed them this morning, Verity Credit Union (WSB sponsor) employees will be back out in The Junction collecting cash donations for the West Seattle Food Bank this afternoon. The photo is from Verity’s Pete Spalding, who says they were out 7 to 9 this morning and will do it again 4 to 6 pm – so if you’ll be passing through The Junction then, consider having spare change handy!
(Osprey, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
TODDLER STORY TIME: 10:30 am at Southwest Library, bring your 1- to 3-year-old(s) for story time. (9010 35th SW)
ARTISTS’ GROUP: Whatever you work in, or are working on, come to the Senior Center of West Seattle 2-4 pm Thursdays. (4217 SW Oregon)
SHERIFF @ NORTH HIGHLINE UAC: The community council for White Center and vicinity hosts King County Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht tonight, 7 pm at North Highline Fire District HQ. Here’s the full agenda preview. (1243 SW 112th)
THREE BANDS: Sundog, Dirty Rugs, The Rainiers at The Skylark. 7 pm. $8 cover. 21+. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
TRIVIA X 2: 7 and 8 pm, two rounds of free trivia at Great American Diner and Bar. (4752 California SW)
The West Seattle Soccer Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a party at Southwest Athletic Complex on Saturday (September 8th), and you’re invited to be there for all or part of it, 12:30 pm-3:30 pm. From the WSSC Board:
If you ever played, coached, supported, served as a referee, or as a league administrator, we urge you to visit the field and celebrate this great milestone with us! Please share this invitation and help us spread the word!
There will be U9 and U10 jamboree games throughout the day, food, music, and soccer activities for players of all ages. We’re excited to announce that WSSC’s founder Joe Smith and Seattle Sounders FC and USMNT player Jordan Morris will be in attendance.
The WSSC will be selling merchandise, including mini soccer balls, youth hoodies, and our brand-new scarves. Proceeds from our sale will fund this event and support WSSC programs and players.
We encourage you to stop by to enjoy the fun — and we would LOVE to see and photograph your players in their new uniforms.
See you on Saturday!
SWAC is at 2801 SW Thistle.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
6:39 AM: Good morning! Day 2 with just about everyone back to school; no incidents reported in/from West Seattle.
POSSIBLE HIGHWAY 99 CLOSURE THIS WEEKEND: WSDOT says they’ll decide today whether to go ahead with tentative plans to close SB Highway 99 between the Battery Street Tunnel and the West Seattle Bridge from Friday night until early Monday. We’ll have a separate update when that word is in.
6:56 AM: Remember that EC Hughes on 34th SW between Holden and Kenyon is now back in service as a school, home to Roxhill Elementary. Just heard a scanner dispatch for people speeding in the area despite the “presence of children.”
7:06 AM: Scanner – crash response for Fauntleroy/35th end of eastbound West Seattle Bridge. Awaiting further details. (added) Police say 1 person has minor injuries – the crash is closer to where the bridge passes by Nucor.
7:16 AM: If you have to get to the bridge, avoid the Fauntleroy end, as this response is blocking all EB lanes at that end.
7:35 AM: One lane’s now open, per both a reader and SDOT. Photo added – showing the crash scene is closer to the overpass.
7:47 PM: SDOT says the crash scene is now clear. But of course, be mindful of residual backups.
Last weekend, we noted that the state-champion West Seattle Little League 12-year-old All-Stars were to be honored before tonight’s Mariners game. #13 Miles Gosztola‘s mom Brooke Gosztola sent the photo and tells us how it went:
West Seattle’s 12-year-old Little League back-to-back state champs were recognized at tonight’s Mariners’ game. The boys were honored by gathering several M’s players’ autographs during batting practice and were named individually on the field prior to the game alongside the state and regional championship 12’s girls from Kirkland! Thanks to the M’s for hosting a night the boys won’t forget!
The M’s, by the way, won tonight’s game, 5-2 over Baltimore.
Three reader reports in West Seattle Crime Watch:
CAR BREAK-IN: Mike reports, “My Chevy Equinox was broken into (Monday) night right in front of my house on 51st Ave. They took a box of cleaning supplies, and my old Samsung tablet.”
PURSE THIEF ON VIDEO: This is a followup to Lynette‘s report of a car prowler taking her purse and keys. She has the thief on video making off with the purse. It’s not embeddable so you’ll have to click here to see it.
BICYCLE DUMPED/LIKELY STOLEN: The photo was texted along with the report:
Spotted in alley around the corner from Central Park Condos at California/Alaska.
(ADDED 6:52 PM: Full presentation with evaluation information on all 4 segments, West Seattle at end)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
5:30 PM: Just past the halfway point in the process of coming up with a “preferred alternative” for the West Seattle and Ballard light-rail extension, Sound Transit has just gone public with an avalanche of evaluation information about the options on the table.
The information is being presented to the project’s Stakeholder Advisory Group at the ST board room downtown. We were invited to an advance media briefing this afternoon, with the details embargoed until the SAG briefing began for this meeting.
Three of the five potential routes that are in the second of three phases of review involve tunnels – and the newly released evaluation information makes it clear that tunneling will cost extra money and time.
The document’s not online yet but we have a paper copy and are starting with a few highlights:
The documents are densely packed, evaluating the alternatives on hundreds of points. Cost-wise, ST says the Pigeon Ridge/West Seattle Tunnel alternative would be $1.2 billion more than the originally drafted “representative” project; the Golf Course/Alaska Junction Tunnel alternative would be $700 million more; the Oregon Street/Alaska Junction Tunnel alternative would be $500 million more. Those all would require “third-party funding” to cover the tab, ST says. And while specific time wasn’t cited, the agency says adding tunneling would “affect the schedule” – meaning it would take longer than the 2030 opening goal.
Also from the document, while we wait for a digital version in its entirety (we’ll add it when it’s available added above at 6:52 pm), here are the ST-provided overviews of what differentiates the alternatives:
The above “Duwamish Crossing” differentiating factors refer to the alternatives for getting the light-rail route across the Duwamish River on a new bridge. Also of note above – when you see “low guideway,” that means no higher than 60′ tall; “high guideway” could be up to 160′ tall.
Next, the overview on differentiating factors between possible locations for the three West Seattle stations:
Again, the Stakeholder Advisory Group is being briefed on all this – plus the fine points – for the West Seattle segment, SODO segment, Downtown segment, and Ballard segment of the light-rail extension project. Its members are not being asked to make their resulting recommendations today on what will advance to the next level, but will be asked to do that at their next meeting on September 26th. In the meantime, the next public touchstone in the process is Saturday (September 8th) at the West Seattle neighborhood forum, 9-11:30 am at the Seattle Lutheran High School gym (4100 SW Genesee).
The briefing here at the meeting has started with the Ballard segment and is working its way south; we’ll add to this story when the discussion gets to the West Seattle segment.
6:52 PM: They’re not at West Seattle yet – but it’s coming up after 7:15. Meantime, we’ve received the full PDF with all the evaluation points on all four segments, 113 pages, and you can see it above, or here (10 MB PDF). It’s not yet on the ST website.
7:15 PM: And now, the West Seattle briefing. ST’s Stephen Mak is leading it. It begins on page 87 of the full presentation (now added atop this story, with a PDF link in the paragraph above this one). Note that when it gets to the grids, red means an alternative performs “low” on that datapoint; beige, “medium”; green, “high” performing.
Among the many datapoints are environmental effects; ST singles out the Pigeon RidgeWest Seattle Tunnel option as having a major effect on the (West) Duwamish Greenbelt forest, essentially bisecting it at one spot, they say. The Junction alternatives’ datapoints include concerns about potential for future extension of the light-rail line – where exactly it ends will make a difference in that. (The Golf Course/Alaska Junction/Tunnel alternative is described as best accommodating future light-rail extension beyond West Seattle.) Mak’s briefing is moving quickly now that the meeting is approaching its final half-hour, so by reading the pages above, you’re in essence getting the same thing. The summary page is 106, mentioning all of the key points – cost differences, schedule, differentiators.
7:31 PM: Sloan Dawson, who works on station-related planning, is discussing the results of the charrettes that discussed station possibilities. The Delridge group, he said, preferred the “Genesee Elevated” option. The “West Side Delridge” option might have overwhelming height and bulk, he noted; the 25th SW Elevated option would put the station in the middle of a current single-family-house neighborhood. One group member asked if the cost estimates included more than just building the route and station – did it include other potential features? The answer to that: No.
The Avalon options, which were coupled in a daylong charrette with Junction options, didn’t have a clear favorite. And on to Junction station options: Putting one at Fauntleroy was seen as too distant from the business district; the one with the most potential, at 42nd/41st, especially as a connection in a network that could run between California and Fauntleroy.
We’re listening in on one group which among other things is wondering about effects on the port if the crossing of the Duwamish is routed north of the West Seattle Bridge. It would affect T-5 and T-18, says a port rep, who also noted that they’re hoping to announce a new T-5 tenant by the end of the year. The group also wondered about mixing and matching parts of existing alternatives – ST has said previously that
“This next three weeks is going to be critical for reviewing” all the new information, the Stakeholder Advisory Group was told in summation. And apparently there’s even more information beyond what’s in the presentation we posted above, so we’ll be checking into that too – they include new ST-produced visualizations and those will be available online, ST just said (though they weren’t shown at this meeting). Again, September 26 is the next meeting for this group, at which they’ll recommend what they want to see move forward; that recommendation then goes to the Elected Leadership Group on October 5th.
But before then – if you care about where this is going (and if you read this far, you probably do), don’t miss Saturday morning’s West Seattle “forum.”
(Terminal 5 photo from portseattle.org)
Thanks for the tips. The Port of Seattle confirms it has been notifying community members about a military resupply operation that’ll be happening at West Seattle’s Terminal 5 in the next few weeks. Port spokesperson Peter McGraw explains:
Foss Maritime, through its lease with the Northwest Seaport Alliance, is mustering U.S. Army equipment, supplies, and provisions at Terminal 5, as part of a scheduled unit rotation of U.S. Forces to Korea. The military equipment is arriving via train and truck at Terminal 5 and is expected to ship in the next couple of weeks. There will be approximately 800 pieces of equipment, none of it munitions, including oversized cargo such as tanks as part of the vehicles.
Utilizing Terminal 5 allows all parties to gain operational experience and training in the event we must use the terminal because of a regional emergency, like a major earthquake. Moves such as this occur with regular frequency though NWSA South Harbor (Port of Tacoma) facilities.
McGraw adds that a “non-military vessel” related to this operation is due in next week. If you have a question, the port says you can take it to Nick Demerice, Director of Public Affairs for the Northwest Seaport Alliance, at 253-428-8624 or ndemerice@nwseaportalliance.com. T-5, meantime, remains slated for future modernization, once a new tenant is found; the next public update on that is likely to be at the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s “State of the Port” lunch (11:30 am September 13th at Jack Block Park – here’s how to register).
If you read SDOT’s “What’s Moving Seattle” roundup of events and road work, you might have noticed a SB Highway 99 closure mentioned for this weekend. That’s not listed on the WSDOT websites anywhere, so we checked with 99 spokesperson Laura Newborn. She says the final call on whether the closure is on or off will be made tomorrow.
(Southern Resident orca, photographed in 2015 by Gary Jones @ Alki Point)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The plight of the dwindling Southern Resident Killer Whale population is in a brighter spotlight than ever, as action to save them is debated.
Local advocate Donna Sandstrom, executive director of The Whale Trail, will provide an update at tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting (6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle, 4217 SW Oregon).
Last night, her organization started a new season of Orca Talks – opening with an update from Sandstrom, who is also a member of the orca task force set up by Governor Inslee, and moving on to a featured guest’s presentation about a more-abundant, and mysterious, cetacean – the harbor porpoise.
(Glaucous-winged Gull with a snack, photographed by Mark Ahlness, shared via the WSB Flickr group)
Highlights of what’s ahead this afternoon/evening:
HOT TOPICS FOR SENIORS: Be at Southwest Library, noon, to talk about issues in the 2018 elections, as explained in our calendar listing. (9010 35th SW)
WALK IN ROXHILL PARK: Join Sound Steps at 3 pm: “Join your neighbors for a walk on the Longfellow Creek Trail, through Roxhill Park on a .5 mile loop – stop there or continue on for another loop for 1 mile total. Meet at the trail entrance on Barton.”
HIGH POINT MARKET GARDEN FARMSTAND: 4-7 pm, buy fresh-grown organic produce right next to the mini-farm in High Point. (32nd SW/SW Juneau)
WEST SEATTLE LIGHT RAIL: 5-8 pm at the Sound Transit board room downtown, it’s the next meeting of the Stakeholder Advisory Group for the West Seattle and Ballard light-rail extensions. Public welcome to observe, but be aware that there’s no open-microphone comment period. Today’s highlight: The SAG is expected to get technical-evaluation information about the potential routes/station locations under consideration. (401 S. Jackson)
AVALON PROJECT, WHALE TRAIL @ SW DISTRICT COUNCIL: 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle, all are welcome to join the Southwest District Council – reps from groups and organizations around western West Seattle – for this month’s meeting. The agenda includes an SDOT update on the Avalon repaving/rechannelization project plus Donna Sandstrom from The Whale Trail. (4217 SW Oregon)
TRIANGULAR JAZZTET: Live music at Whisky West (WSB sponsor), 7 pm. No cover. 21+. (6451 California SW)
JIM PAGE: Singer-songwriter at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), 7 pm. (5612 California SW)
OF COURSE, THERE’S MORE … see our complete calendar to find out what else is up.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
Today marked the third year of a unique welcome for West Seattle Elementary students on their first day back to school – community members greeting them with a “Be There Rally.”
It’s a tradition in many places around the U.S., where the call goes out for community members to “be there” for the students as they start a new year of studying.
The students get high-fives and cheers as they enter the school on a red carpet.
West Seattle Elementary continues to grow, with a projected enrollment of more than 450 this year. And principal Pamela McCowan-Conyers says its students’ successes continue growing too:
That’s Mayor Jenny Durkan standing next to her – also there in support of the students, School Board president Leslie Harris:
But this was an event where the real VIPs were the students and everyone there to show them the community cares:
Side note: While Wednesdays are usually early-release days at Seattle Public Schools, today is a full day around the district.
(SDOT MAP with travel times/video links; is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE)
6:58 AM: Good morning! So far, no incidents reported in/from West Seattle.
BACK TO SCHOOL: Almost everyone who isn’t back already goes back today, including Seattle Public Schools.
STADIUM ZONE: The Mariners host Baltimore again tonight, 7:10 pm.
A problem that’s been before the City Council off and on for more than 10 years is back in the spotlight at a council-committee discussion tomorrow (Wednesday).
The problem: Vacant buildings. It’s been 9 1/2 years since the issue gained some attention when a Delridge community advocate invited councilmembers, department heads, and others on a tour of problem properties in eastern West Seattle.
The vacant-building problem has been addressed with incremental legislation over the years. But it’s still a problem. Stats prepared by Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s staff for tomorrow’s meeting of the Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee show that West Seattle/South Park District 1 had the most vacant-building-related complaints last year of any of the city’s seven council districts – 95.
95 complaints – but only 2 properties in D-1 were enrolled in the city’s vacant-building-monitoring program. Beyond that, Herbold’s staff found that 44 District 1 addresses accounted for 284 Seattle Police responses last year alone, while 66 houses in West Seattle are signed up for SPD’s criminal trespass program. The slide deck (48 MB PDF) to be presented by Herbold assistant Alex Clardy also shows multiple examples of vacant, deteriorating properties in West Seattle and South Park.
The point of tomorrow’s briefing is to look at what might make the vacant-building-monitoring program more effective; this report from the Department of Construction and Inspections looks at a variety of possibilities, including changing the standards for enrolling properties in the program. For example, the report notes that properties slated for redevelopment usually aren’t enrolled because they’ll be demolished before long. (The report does not address the length of time that can elapse between the initiation of a redevelopment plan and demolition – sometimes years.) Another possibility addressed by the report is a “temporary caretaker” program in which good-quality vacant properties could be made available through nonprofits/social-service agencies identifying people who could live there until demolition is imminent.
You can see how the discussion goes by going to City Hall, or watching Seattle Channel, for tomorrow’s 9:30 am PLUZ committee meeting.
Short week, so we might as well look ahead to the weekend already. It’ll start with a beer-and-bowling benefit at West Seattle Bowl, on behalf of the families helped by the Seattle Ronald McDonald House, which tells WSB that lanes remain for Bob’s Bowl-A-Rama, 7-10 pm Friday (September 7th):
Gather your friends, family, or coworkers for an awesome night of bowling, beer, and raffle prizes! Proceeds from lane sales, raffle tickets, and Bob’s Ales will all go toward supporting RMHC.
Tickets? Tickets are sold per bowling lane. For $200, you and up to 7 others get bowling shoe rentals, 3 hours of unlimited bowling, and tickets for Georgetown Brewing Co’s beer! Pre-payment is required. To purchase tickets, call Jeff Swanson at West Seattle Bowl, 206.932.3731 or email him at jeffs@wsbowl.com.
Who Can Attend? This is an all-ages event! Not a great bowler? No worries! Turn on the bumpers or ask for a ball-roller.
Who was Bob? Bob was a child fighting cancer at the House who came to us all the way from Alaska. During his stay, he went to a local camp for seriously ill children where he met his camp counselor, Manny Chao, the brewmaster of Georgetown Brewing.
The two hit it off and an instant friendship was formed. When Bob passed away, Manny decided to brew a beer in his honor every year on May 14th, Bob’s birthday. Georgetown Brewing donates 100% of the proceeds of Bob’s Brown Ale to RMHC.
5:12 PM: Thanks for the tips. A crash at 38th and Fauntleroy is at least partly blocking the road. No SFD callout so apparently no injuries but SPD is on the scene. One driver apparently hit a streetlight pole.
5:20 PM: Texted photo added. The texter says at least two vehicles were involved. This is on the westbound/southbound side of Fauntleroy. (Per SDOT, those lanes have since been blocked by police, along with one lane going the other way.)
5:26 PM: Metro says Routes 116, 118, and 119 are rerouted off Fauntleroy because of this. And per scanner, this is going to be “shut down for a while” because City Light can’t get a crew there quickly.
5:40 PM: That photo is from SDOT, which reports all lanes of Fauntleroy are now blocked at the crash scene.
5:52 PM: Another photo added, tweeted by @michaelkmason. S/WB traffic is being diverted up Oregon.
7:02 PM: The live camera on the city map shows the closure continues; City Light doesn’t appear to be on site yet.
7:42 PM: SDOT camera shows that City Light is now on scene to repair the pole.
9:04 PM: Just went by. They’re still working.
11:00 PM: Live SDOT camera shows still closed, SCL still working.
12:18 AM: Fauntleroy has just reopened, more than 7 hours after the crash.
Even more reader reports. Hope you can help make reunions happen. Maybe even arrests.
STOLEN BLACK CR-V: From Scott:
My car was just stolen (less than 2 hours ago) from Schmitz Park School area. Its a 2003 Honda CRV black, black wheels, All Terrain tires, lifted about 3 inches over stock so NOT your average CRV. Plate # BCK 6863. Police have been notified.
Scott adds that the CR-V “didnt have carrier basket on top when stolen.”Call 911 if you see it.
And two more bicycles in the “found, likely stolen/dumped” files:
FOUND RED BICYCLE: From Jenny:
Outside my apartment this morning. Westhaven Apartments at 2401 SW Holden Street.
FOUND GREEN BICYCLE: From PM:
This bike has been sitting near by house for almost 2 days now and I think it was likely stolen and dumped here (High Point, off of Cycle Drive). Looks like it is a Fuji Supreme (green).
If you think a bicycle shown here might be yours, let us know.
It’s been a couple weeks since we first mentioned this, so one more reminder before Wednesday arrives … the new school year starts at West Seattle Elementary at 7 am tomorrow (Wednesday, September 5th) with the “Be There Rally.” You’re invited to be part of the line of people “dressed for success” and welcoming students with high-fives, applause, and cheers as they arrive. More backstory in our August preview. The school is at 6760 34th SW.
On this date 92 years ago, Seattle Public Schools‘ Tom Redman told the 100+ people gathered to celebrate Roxhill Elementary’s new home, the Sunrise Heights school opened its doors as EC Hughes Elementary. Now, after $14 million in upgrades, it’s Roxhill at EC Hughes, and classes start tomorrow. “Welcome to THIS Roxhill,” declared principal Tarra Patrick, exuberantly.
While this morning’s ceremony honored the past – including an invitation to Hughes and Roxhill alums to stand (Redman noted the presence of a 1949 Hughes alum) – it also looked to the future. Not just the school’s future, but also the levies that SPS will send to the city’s voters in February. School Board president Leslie Harris (who represents West Seattle and South Park) lamented “levy confusion” among voters.
She also noted that one of the levies, BEX V (which has yet to be finalized – more on that in a separate story), is expected to include money for playgrounds, something that hopefully will alleviate the problem that forced the independent community group Friends of Roxhill to raise money to upgrade the Hughes playground, which wasn’t part of the renovation project. Friends of Roxhill president Shawna Patterson Lystra, a second-grade teacher at the school and parent of a third-grader, was also a speaker at today’s ceremony.
She hailed the school/community partnership, saying she was “excited about today and excited about what the future has in store for us.” New SPS superintendent Denise Juneau – attending what we believe was her first Seattle ribboncutting – also voiced excitement: “We are excited for this new chapter in the life of your school … Go, Roxhill Stars!”
We recorded all the speeches on video (added Tuesday evening):
Then it was on to the ribboncutting, with all the kids in the room invited to join the dignitaries (who included members of the project team, too):
Tours followed, starting along the hallway displaying reminders of Roxhill’s history as well as the renovations readying its students for a bright future:
We didn’t tag along for the rest of the tour – we brought you a look inside after the work was done earlier this summer. (Backstory on the Roxhill-to-Hughes move was also part of our preview published Monday.)
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