West Seattle, Washington
25 Wednesday
Tonight is the first second Thursday of the new year, and that means it’s West Seattle Art Walk night! The monthly Art Walk has continued during the pandemic as a mix of in-person and online showcases. Three highlights from this month’s preview:
FOGUE GALLERY: The new Junction art gallery at 4130 California SW welcomes visitors to its first Art Walk reception, 4:30-8 pm. Fogue is also an Art Walk co-sponsor (as is WSB).
CAPERS: The Junction shop at 4525 California SW hosts artist Reeve Washburn, 5-7 pm.
SNIP-ITS: The kids’ salon at 4506 California SW hosts artist Edimbo Lekea, 5-8:30 pm.
Some other participating venues are featuring art during business hours all month long – stop in at your leisure – and you also can enjoy a sampling of work by scrolling through this month’s preview.
Tonight’s pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: From the Seattle-King County Public Health daily-summary dashboard, the cumulative totals:
*70,094 people have tested positive, 572 more than yesterday’s total
*1,151 people have died, 3 more than yesterday’s total
*4,494 people have been hospitalized, 6 more than yesterday’s total
*782,443 people have been tested, 2,212 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the four totals we track were 65.631/1,117/4,340/763,306.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: Find them, county by county, on the state Department of Health page,.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them, nation by nation, here.
VACCINATION UPDATES: This was the main topic of today’s weekly briefing by state health officials. Our state has received 624,000+ doses so far, and has administered about 32 percent of them – 201,660. While that’s not fast enough, they say that statewide the rate is getting up to 15,000-20,000 per day, and that’s encouraging. They hope to expand to Phase 1B within a few days but urge everybody who’s eligible in Phase 1A to hurry and get their shots. One big challenge, said Health Secretary Dr. Umair Shah – they need a more consistent supply funneled by the feds. They’re not only not getting a consistent supply, they’re not getting a long-range projection that will further enable planning.
TRENDS: Also at the briefing – last week’s downward trend in cases has ended and many parts of the state are headed back upward, spiking. The hospitalization rate, however, is not spiking … so far. You can see the entire briefing by going here.
GOT INFO? Email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com or phone us, text or voice, at 206-293-6302 – thank you!
Three notes tonight:
TWO BICYCLES STOLEN: From Evan:
I’m reaching out to share an incident that happened sometime between 11:00 pm and 3:30 am at 5640 SW 35th Ave Monday night. The shed in our back yard was broken into and two bikes were stolen.
One is a Fuji Le Club Road bike (silver with red accents and red handlebar tape, older picture below).
The other is a newer Scott Cyclocross bike (dark blue with yellow lettering on the down tube). Doors to the shed were ripped clean off the frame. If you have any information, please text Evan at 617-875-0914.
CAR BREAK-IN: From Samantha and Mark near 49th/Forney:
Someone broke into my car sometime over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately it’s our second car that we have parked in front of our house and rarely use. The car might have been unlocked, but I noticed it when I went to use it to pick up our child from day care. Nothing of value was taken, but all compartments were rifled thru.
POLICE LEADERSHIP CHANGE: Speaking to the Fauntleroy Community Association board last night, Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Sina Ebinger announced she’s retiring. So today we asked precinct commander Capt. Kevin Grossman who’ll succeed her as second-in-command. The role will not be filled, he said, explaining that the units Lt. Ebinger oversaw – Community Police Team, Anti-Crime Team, bicycle squad, detectives – “have been eliminated.” (Police Chief Adrian Diaz reorganized the department last year to assign more officers to patrol/911 response.) If Capt. Grossman is out of town or otherwise unavailable, his backup will be new second watch Lt. Dorothy Kim.
(Alki photo by James Tilley)
The overnight windstorm stole the spotlight from this morning’s “king tide,” but tomorrow’s a rerun – 12.8 feet at 6:40 am. No “coastal flood advisory” alert this time, though, as the weather has calmed down – tomorrow midday is likely to look like this:
(Photo by Troy Sterk)
A mostly sunny Thursday is predicted, high around 50, maybe some light rain tomorrow night, but tonight is expected to stay dry.
Four and a half years after 35th/Graham was mentioned as the potential site of a new signal, it’s about to become reality. SDOT announced today that work will start this month on Phase 2 of the West Seattle Greenway, including the pedestrian/bicycle signal at 35th/Graham. This phase goes from High Point to The Junction, from SW Graham to SW Edmunds, using 38th SW, SW Findlay, and 42nd SW (as first discussed in 2017). The map shows both phases:
The work at 35th and Graham will start seven years after the second of two deaths there, separated by seven years – pedestrian James St. Clair in December 2013 and bicyclist Susanne Scaringi in September 2007.
(The Brothers, seen from Alki this morning – photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
11:18 AM: It’s the near-calm after the storm … but more than 4,500 homes/businesses in West Seattle are still without power after the outages began just before midnight. Here’s a screengrab of the current Seattle City Light map:
South of the big outage in Alki/Admiral/Genesee/North Delridge, most of those markers represent single-digit outages. SCL peaked at 72,000+ customers out and has now halved that, but that still means many hours of work, and as we’ve seen in many other outages, the work can be complicated and take longer, depending on what tree went into what line, affecting what part of the system … etc. Please remember that the estimated restoration times on the SCL map are only guesses – you could get yours back much sooner or much later.
12:54 PM: SCL has provided a detailed update here, including an explanation of how it prioritizes repairs in situations like this. It should also be noted that cable/internet services have been experiencing outages, too – we’ve heard from some customers. Those outages tend to be more hyperlocalized. We did see several Comcast and CenturyLink crews out while we were traveling around the peninsula at midmorning.
1:54 PM: Commenters and texters are telling us the power’s back in most if not all of the large-outage area, after 14 hours. The map should catch up shortly. … Update: About 200 people are still out in scattered outages around WS.
2:24 PM: Still lots of tree-cleanup work to be done, along with the trouble spots we showed earlier. Sarah sent this photo from 39th/Monroe in Gatewood:
And from Aaron, south of Admiral:
Tree trouble led Seattle Parks to tweet this reminder: “Following last night’s windstorm, we encourage all visitors to use caution in our outdoor spaces and please stay out from under trees and avoid forested park areas. To report a downed tree or maintenance issue, contact 206-684-7250.”
6:13 PM: Here’s one of the trees Parks lost – texter just sent this photo of a tree down at Roxhill Park:
6:44 PM: Checking the SCL map again, numerous scattered outages still have almost 500 customers out in West Seattle. Systemwide, nearly 6,000.
8:50 PM: About 300 more people lost power in west Admiral/upper Alki earlier this hour. Though we don’t have any official information beyond the map confirmation, keep in mind that repair work sometimes sparks new outages as crews work on rerouting/reconnection; this is by the scene of the tilting pole and downed wires at 49th/Waite. There’s also a pocket that lost power on the west side of Delridge south of Thistle earlier this evening.
9:20 PM: The Alki/Admiral outage is now at about 500 customers.
8:22 AM: Seattle Public Schools just announced this via Twitter: “Due to a citywide power outage, there won’t be live instruction today, Jan. 13. Please have your student work on independent assignments. Meal sites will remain open.”
11:11 AM: Here’s a district news release addressing what some commenters mentioned – that some educators had already started classes when the “no classes” announcement came out:
– Live remote instruction for Seattle Public Schools students is not occurring today due to storm-related power outages in Seattle.
The outages impacted about 30 percent of SPS staff and families, along with 13 SPS school buildings (where some SPS staff continue to work each day).
Based on the significant impact of the outages, it was determined that district-wide live remote instruction would not be conducted. Some educators had already begun live remote teaching prior to the district’s announcement this morning. Those educators can continue with their live remote teaching. Otherwise, families are asked to direct students to focus on independent assignments.
Meal distribution sites remain open, with the exception of the site at Beacon Hill Elementary School. Meals can be accessed at other SPS meal distribution sites.
6:39 AM: Thousands of people are still without power after the overnight windstorm that hit just before midnight and roared with ~50 mph gusts for hours (here’s our coverage). If you’re headed out this morning, be aware you may encounter streets with downed trees/wires and dark signals. We’ll be tracking those over the next few hours. In West Seattle, most of the 4,400+ without power are in Alki, Admiral, and north of The Junction; even more are out in White Center and points south. The Seattle City Light map shows the areas affected – and also shows that right now, 58,000+ customers throughout its service area are still out, down from 72,000 but still leaving crews with a lot of work ahead. If you encounter a traffic/transit problem, please let us know when you get where you’re going – comment below, or call/text 206-293-6302.
6:56 AM: The East Marginal Way/Ellis problem we reported in overnight coverage continues. Here’s a map; that’s south of the 1st Avenue S. Bridge, but north of the South Park Bridge, so if you were planning to use the latter, heads up. … Most of the trees reported downed overnight were on residential streets, but we do have a report of one this morning on Myers Way just south of West Seattle, near 99th.
7:27 AM: Big Seattle Fire response to the 2200 block of Harbor SW [map] for a reported natural-gas leak. Avoid the area. … Update: Traffic on Harbor is blocked between Florida and Fairmount, while they await Puget Sound Energy.
7:53 AM: Texter reports wires down at 44th/Andover. (Even though some downed lines might be fiber/cable/phone, PLEASE always assume a downed wire is live, and stay away!) Now that it’s light, we’re heading out to check some of the overnight damage locations – we’ll update here but you can also watch the WSB Twitter feed as we go.
8:17 AM: No online classes today for Seattle Public Schools.
8:32 AM: The tree that fell on Marine View Drive at 104th overnight is still blocking the SB lane:
Just passed an SDOT crew doing tree work on southbound 35th SW south of Othello. … Back on Harbor SW, PSE has arrived at the gas leak. Jennifer at West Bay Espresso & Smoothies says it’s their site and the culprit was a mudslide hitting a gas line.
9:08 AM: In Admiral, Waite is blocked east of 49th, near Aegis Living, with a leaning utility pole:
Back in Arbor Heights, Nate reports a tree is blocking 39th at 100th and lines are down on 41st near 100th. And here’s 32nd just south of 106th:
9:45 AM: East of Lincoln Park, two trees are down on 45th SW north of Rose, blocking the NB side.
11:01 AM: Harbor is clear, per a commenter, but the caution tape was left up across the biking/walking path. Meantime, King County Roads says 26th Ave SW between SW 109th St and SW 112th St is closed because of downed trees.
=============
Below, the cameras we usually watch, and a reminder:
LOW-BRIDGE CAMERA ENFORCEMENT: Today is the third day the enforcement cameras on the low bridge are in use, photographing vehicles so that $75 tickets can be sent to owners of unauthorized vehicles crossing between 5 am and 9 pm.
Who’s authorized and who’s not? See our story from Sunday night.
West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way:
Highland Park Way/Holden:
The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):
The main detour route across the Duwamish River, the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map):
The other major bridge across the river – the South Park Bridge (map). Here’s the nearest camera:
To check for bridges’ marine-traffic openings, see the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed.
You can view all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
11:58 PM: The wind started kicking up in a big way a short time ago, and now we’re getting the first power-outage reports. So far we’re hearing from the north part of the peninsula – Alki, north of The Junction, North Delridge, Fairmount …4,391 homes/businesses per the Seattle City Light map.
12:09 AM: Also an outage of more than 4,000 customers just to the south, including White Center. … A tree is reported down across both lanes of Marine View Drive near SW 104th. … Wires are reported down in an alley behind the 3800 block of 45th SW. …. We have not heard wind this ferocious in a long time. City Light says 49,000+ customers are out in its territory so far.
12:34 AM: To the south of us, the map shows two major outages with more than 10,000 customers out [updated map above]. Throughout SCL’s service area, 62,000+ are now affected by what’s mapped as 115 separate outages. The NWS, via Twitter, says, “The worst winds will be over the next few hours & then gradually decrease.”
12:47 AM: This is keeping firefighters busy as well as SCL crews – they’re responding to more reports of downed trees and/or wires. Right now active calls include the 2600 block of 49th SW and 1700 block of SW Austin. Reminder from the NWS, “You might want to venture outside to check for wind damage. But we don’t recommend it as the winds are still gusty and will be for the next hour or two.” It’s not just that this wind is strong enough to take down trees, but that all the recent rain may have destabilized some to start with. … 7900 block of 28th SW, firefighters are at another home where a tree’s toppled …
1:22 AM: At the aforementioned 49th SW block, firefighters are reporting multiple compromised utility poles. The wind is still howling. … Some encouraging news from NWS: “The worst of the winds have passed — but it will still remain gusty for the next few hours on the order of 30-45 mph.” Also via Twitter, KT says the wind blew out their picture window – the glass fell outward, not inward:
Trouble on the east side of the Duwamish River … per radio exchange, pole/wire trouble is closing East Marginal at Ellis, and the 4th Ave. Bridge is closed. … From the aforementioned 49th SW trouble spot, Margo comments below: “We have an entire massive tree that fell down onto our house in the backyard. Plenty of exterior structural damage to house and deck, but luckily didn’t come through into the house itself.”
1:43 AM: Now a report of a tree onto a house, with downed wires, near 32nd and 106th; SFD and SPD are on the way … Also in SW West Seattle – via email, Brandon reports a mudslide blocking Seola Beach Drive. … Here’s a list of highest gusts so far tonight; Seattle’s had multiple ~50 mph reports.
2:23 AM: The wind sounds a bit calmer, after 2 1/2 hours of fury. The new reports of trees/lines down have dwindled, too. But City Light has 70,000+ customers out area-wide, in 168 separate “events,” so if you’re out, it’s likely to be a while before you’re back. (Let us know with a comment or a text – 206-293-6302 – otherwise there’s no online note about restoration time, the outage just vanishes from the map.)
6:06 AM: City Light still has 57,000+ customers out, down from a peak of 72,000. We’re working on a separate trsffic watch but in the meantime, be aware of traffic-light outages and tree blockages – let us know if you encounter any of them (call or text AFTER you get where you’re going) – thank you.
6:42 AM: Our coverage continues here.
Here are the latest local pandemic toplines:
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: First, the numbers, as shown in today’s daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health – the cumulative totals:
*69,522 people have tested positive, 334 more than yesterday’s total
*1,148 people have died, 7 more than yesterday’s total
*4,488 people have been hospitalized, 22 more than yesterday’s total
*780.231 people have been tested, 2,448 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the totals were 65,144/1,110/4,327/760,782.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
NATIONAL/WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: 91.5 million cases worldwide, 22.8 million of them in the U.S. – see other nation-by-nation stats by going here.
VACCINATION TEAMS: The City of Seattle will set them up through SFD to go to small adult care homes and vaccinate residents and staff, starting Thursday. Here’s the announcement.
BRIEFING TOMORROW: State health officials will present their weekly briefing at noon Wednesday – here’s the link.
NEED FOOD? Food Lifeline‘s South Park HQ offers emergency food boxes 2-5 pm Friday (January 15th), at 815 S. 96th.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
9 PM: Thanks to @WestSeaWX for the tip – the National Weather Service decided tonight to issue a Wind Advisory alert, 10 pm tonight through 6 am tomorrow. The alert warns of “southwest winds 20 to 35 mph, with gusts 40 to 50 mph.” Charge everything!
P.S. This will overlap with another alert – a Coastal Flooding Advisory for “minor tidal overflow” as the stormy weather crosses paths with the “king tide” high tide, 12.8 feet just after 6 am tomorrow.
NOTE: The storm arrived just before midnight. We’re covering it here.
Three West Seattle Bridge notes tonight:
LOW BRIDGE CAMERA TICKETING: Two days into the city’s use of automated cameras to enforce low-bridge restrictions, no data yet – we asked SDOT how soon information would be available about citation numbers and traffic value, and the bottom line was, not soon, according to spokesperson Ethan Bergerson. “It will take us a little while to know how many citations have been issued because the photos need to be reviewed by SPD before a citation is issued. We will give updates about Low Bridge traffic and enforcement during future Community Task Force meetings, although it will be too soon to provide any data at tomorrow’s meeting.”
MEETING TOMORROW: The West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force meets online at noon Wednesday. A preview of the presentation shows an even busier agenda than you’d guess by looking at the lineup – timelines for work on both the high bridge and the low bridge, updates on traffic-mitigation projects under Reconnect West Seattle – including what’s being considered for West Marginal Way SW – and more. You cam watch via YouTube livestream here; you can comment via email at westseattlebridge@seattle.gov.
BRIDGE MONEY: As mentioned by two city councilmembers during their Monday morning briefing, the Puget Sound Regional Council is considering routing $15 million in federal money to the city to help with the high-bridge repairs. That’s about a third of the very rough early estimate of the work’s cost. This is a topic on Thursday morning’s meeting of the PSRC’s Transportation Policy Board, 9:30 am online. The agenda includes information on how to watch and how to comment.
Some restriping work has already been done, and tomorrow, pay stations will be installed at the about-to-no-longer-be-free West Seattle Junction Association-operated parking lots. We first reported eight days ago that the change was on the way. At 12:01 am Friday, the lots are officially paid parking. So here’s what you need to know. First, here’s a map:
Medium blue marks the Junction lots that are changing from free to paid – off 44th SW just south of Oregon, off 42nd SW just south of Oregon, on the southeast corner of 44th and Alaska, and off 44th north of SW Edmunds. Dark blue marks lots that are already paid, but are not and have not been managed by WSJA.
Not shown on the map – parking that’s not affected and remains free – street parking as well as some parking spaces adjacent to businesses and marked for exclusive use of their customers, such as the spaces behind Chase Bank and Verity Credit Union (WSB sponsor), plus parts of some garages in the area. WSJA says the lots that are changing over include 228 spaces, a little less than a third of the 720 free and paid parking spaces throughout the business district.
From the WSJA FAQ on the parking change, here are the rates for the lots that are changing, not including taxes and credit-card fees (if any):
$2 for up to two hours
$4 for two to three hours
$6 for three to four hours
$10 for four to ten hours
The charges apply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Plans for an “early bird” special are on hold pending a review of the first few months of paid parking. (Some monthly parking is available – email info@wsjunction.org if you are interested in information on that.)
You will be able to pay via either the pay stations or via CallToPark. Citations for running overtime or not paying will cost $49, and vehicles with multiple tickets are subject to towing. The first week – January 15th through January 22nd – parkers that go overtime will get warning notices; citations start after that.
The change was inevitable. Backstory, as we explained in this report almost three years ago: The WSJA, a nonprofit Business Improvement Area organization, leases the lots from West Seattle Trusteed Properties, a consortium of local business/property owners. In addition to base rent, WSJA has to cover the cost of the property tax for the sites, which has risen sharply in recent years – tripling between 2016 and 2018 – as it’s all prime, developable land in the heart of one of Seattle’s “urban centers.” WSJA had tried various fundraising campaigns in recent years, but none provided a sizable-enough stream. This won’t cover all the costs either, but it’ll help.
As our year gets off to a soggy start – more than twice the normal rainfall as of early today – saturated soil has slid in at least two West Seattle spots:
That slope between the 2000 block of Bonair and the 1700 block of Alki had a slide last Wednesday, witnessed and photographed by Kevin Freitas. He alerted the city, which has since “yellow-tagged” one house on Bonair. Department of Construction and Inspections spokesperson Bryan Stevens told WSB, “The slide was approximately 15 feet wide as it ran down the slope and was contained within the boundaries of this property.”
Stevens continued, “We didn’t observe damage to the home itself (built on concrete piles), but the existing block retaining wall was damaged. Upon inspection, we posted a yellow tag, which allows occupancy of the home but notes the need to repair the wall and hillside. The owner was notified to obtain a Geotechnical Engineer to evaluate and stabilize the hillside.”
We also asked him about another reader report, a slide in the Eddy Street Ravine area northeast of Lowman Beach, north of the 6400 block of dead-end 49th SW: “A surface slide occurred at the top of the slope and deposited debris at the bottom of the unopened street end. We have relayed this to SDOT, and Seattle Public Utilities is taking lead on followup, given the potential impact to their infrastructure.”
If you are on or near a slope, landslide awareness is vital, especially in times like right now when there’s little time for the ground to dry out between storms. City advice on prevention, and what to do if a slide happens, is here.
Three biznotes about food:
LA RUSTICA VALENTINE’S DAY: First announcement we’ve received about Valentine’s Day – now only a month away. La Rustica (4100 Beach Drive SW) tells WSB, “La Rustica is now taking reservations for our outdoor, heated/covered patio for Valentine’s Day. Because space is limited, they will go fast. We are also taking a wait list for people to call should we move into Phase 2 of reopening and be allowed to seat customers inside.”
DICK’S TRUCK RETURNING: One month after drawing a crowd in The Junction, the Dick’s Drive-In burgers-and-shakes truck (no fries) is returning this Friday, 11 am-2 pm outside Easy Street Records (whose café DOES have fries).
(Photo courtesy MilkRun)
MILKRUN: This Portland-founded “farm-to-table” food-delivery service wants you to know it’s now serving West Seattle. MilkRun offers weekly deliveries of produce, meat, and other products from regional growers/makers, as explained here.
(WSB file photo, Fauntleroy WSF terminal)
As with other transit/transportation, Washington State Ferries has seen usage fall during the pandemic. Today WSF went public with its year-end report, showing just how much. Systemwide, 2020 ridership was down 41 percent from a year earlier. That includes 2020 becoming the first year ever – since WSF began operations in 1951 – that the system carried fewer passengers (6.4 million) than vehicles (7.6 million). The two routes serving downtown Seattle, from Bremerton and Bainbridge Island, saw the biggest drops. For Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth, WSF reports that total riders were down 39%, vehicles down 31% (of the three legs of the so-called Triangle Route, Fauntleroy-Southworth saw the biggest drops). The other route serving Vashon Island – Tahlequah-Point Defiance – was the route with the smallest drop. See the full 2020 report here. P.S. WSF says ridership has been rebounding, lately back to 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels, with vehicle usage at 70 percent of 2019 usage levels.
(One year ago today, pre-pandemic: We Sweat’s grand-opening party with teen band Okay-ish)
The pandemic has posed challenges to so many small businesses. We Sweat West Seattle, the infrared-sauna salon that opened in The Admiral District one year ago today, faced an extra challenge – less than two months in business before the first round of restrictions forced it to temporarily close. “What a year to start a new business!” recalls proprietor Athena Frederick. “During the shutdown, we decided to become an infrared sauna dealer for Clearlight Jacuzzi (R)” in addition to offering on-site services. So they’re celebrating the anniversary with a variety of offers: “Any new client can book a sauna session for FREE today only. Follow this link and in the comments write ‘anniversary’.” If you can’t try We Sweat today, or are a returning client, here’s a deal for future bookings: “We are also having a one-day-only sale, with single/double saunas for $21 and our 3/4 person saunas for $31. Follow this link.” We Sweat is at 2705 California SW.
(Photo sent by Arlene Rubin)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and inbox:
PORT COMMISSION MEETING: Noon online, the Seattle Port Commission meets. See the agenda, with viewing/commenting links, by going here.
MAYOR’S VACCINATION BRIEFING: Announced this morning – happening online at 12:15 pm:
Mayor Jenny A. Durkan, Seattle Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins, Dr. Michele Andrasik of Fred Hutch, and Councilmember Lisa Herbold will discuss the City of Seattle’s initial vaccination efforts. The City’s initial actions will focus on reaching residents and health care workers eligible to receive the vaccine in adult family homes not served by federal programs. Seattle Channel will live stream the press conference at seattlechannel.org/watch-live.
DEMONSTRATION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE: From organizer Scott:
Black Lives Matter sign-waving
Tuesday, January 12, 4 to 6 pm, corner of 16th SW and SW Holden
Thursday January 14, 4 to 6 pm, corner of 16th SW and SW Holden
Come show support for BLM and ending systemic racism. Hold signs, meet neighbors and stand for racial justice. Scott at PR Cohousing, endorsed by Hate-Free Delridge. Signs available.
WESTSIDE SCHOOL INFORMATIONAL EVENT: Online at 6 pm, learn about lower-school learning at Westside School (WSB sponsor), with applications for next year due later this week. Our calendar listing includes information on how to register to attend.
HOPE PRESCHOOL OPEN HOUSE: Online at 6 pm, Hope Lutheran School will have an open house for prospective preschool parents. The registration link, and more information, can be found in our calendar listing.
FAUNTLEROY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: Online at 7 pm, FCA’s monthly board meeting is open to community members. The agenda includes results of the recent every-two-years community survey. Go here to register to attend.
Friends and family are remembering Margaret Copher, and sharing this with the community:
Margaret Irene Copher passed on December 30, 2020.
She was born March 12th, 1947 to John Copher and Beulah McJunkins. Irene was a graduate of Lincoln High School in Seattle.
She was a lifelong resident of Seattle and was an active member of Philadelphia Church. Irene was a demolition-car driver in her early years, worked for Northwest Protective Service, and loved her last job as a school-bus driver.
She was a lifetime member of REACT International, and was actively involved as an amateur radio operator (KF7WUD) with Puget Sound Repeater Group and West Seattle Amateur Radio Club. At the time of her passing she was not married, and is survived by cousins and a large circle of friends who loved her.
A memorial service will be held later this summer and memorial donations can be made in her name to the Philadelphia Church, pcseattle.org.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to editor@wsb.blackfin.biz)
5:53 AM: It’s Tuesday, January 12th, the 295th morning without the West Seattle Bridge.
LOW-BRIDGE CAMERA ENFORCEMENT: Today is the second day the enforcement cameras on the low bridge are in use, photographing vehicles so that $75 tickets can be sent to owners of unauthorized vehicles crossing between 5 am and 9 pm.
Who’s authorized and who’s not? See our story from Sunday night.
ROAD (ETC.) WORK
Delridge project – SW Thistle is now closed between Delridge and 20th. Here’s what else is planned this week.
Arbor Heights project – Gas-line replacement work on SW 104th is scheduled to continue.
California and Myrtle – The sewer-repair project continues – if driving/riding on California, watch out for the bumps; a bicycle rider went to the hospital after hitting one of them Monday.
1st Avenue South Bridge – No specific dates yet, but the state now says those southbound lane closures for repair work won’t happen before February.
CHECK TRAFFIC BEFORE YOU GO
West Marginal Way at Highland Park Way is back in alignment:
Highland Park Way/Holden:
The 5-way intersection (Spokane/West Marginal/Delridge/Chelan):
The main detour route across the Duwamish River, the 1st Avenue South Bridge (map) . Here are two cameras:
The other major bridge across the river – the South Park Bridge (map). Here’s the nearest camera:
Going through South Park? Don’t speed. (Same goes for the other detour-route neighborhoods, like Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge.)
To check for bridges’ marine-traffic openings, see the @SDOTBridges Twitter feed.
You can view all local traffic cams here; locally relevant cameras are also shown on this WSB page.
TRANSIT
Metro – On regular schedule – if you’re not subscribed to alerts, you can watch @kcmetrobus on Twitter for them
Water Taxi – On regular schedule (note the WT will not run next Monday, January 18th, for the King Day holiday)
Trouble on the roads/paths/water? Let us know – text (but not if you’re driving!) 206-293-6302.
A prominent West Seattle resident has just announced she’s tested positive, and that tops tonight’s pandemic roundup:
REP. JAYAPAL TESTS POSITIVE: Late tonight, West Seattle-residing U.S. House Rep. Pramila Jayapal announced she has tested positive for COVID-19. From her news release:
United States Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) received a positive COVID-19 test result tonight after being locked down in a secured room at the U.S Capitol where numerous Republican lawmakers recklessly refused to wear masks in the moments after the January 6 attack. Dr. Brian Monahan, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress, advised representatives and Congressional staff on Sunday that those in the secured room could have, “been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.” The duration in the room was multiple hours and several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one.
Jayapal’s news release – which you can read in full here – says she has been quarantining since Wednesday, suspecting that she and others might have been exposed.
NEWEST KING COUNTY NUMBERS: Here are the toplines of today’s daily summary from Seattle-King County Public Health – the cumulative countywide totals:
*69,188 people have tested positive, 716 more than yesterday’s total
*1,141 people have died, 1 more than yesterday’s total
*4,466 people have been hospitalized, 19 more than yesterday’s total
*777,783 people have been tested, 4,273 more than yesterday’s total
One week ago, the totals were 64,912/1,096/4,296/759,558.
STATEWIDE NUMBERS: See them here.
WORLDWIDE NUMBERS: See them – nation by nation – here.
GETTING VACCINATED: We checked with West Seattle care facilities and learned that some are already vaccinating patients/residents and staff, while others will be doing it soon.
PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM: As noted in a reminder today from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, applications are now open for this federal assistance for small businesses.
HELP FOR WORKERS: Also now open, applications for the city program offering $2 million in grants to low-income hospitality workers. Check your eligibility here.
AWAITING YOUR ‘ECONOMIC IMPACT PAYMENT’? Don’t be surprised if it shows up as a debit card (we were).
YOUR TEST MAY BRING A TEXT: In hopes of boosting the effectivenesss of the WA Notify tool, people who test positive are going to get texts with a code – even if they’re not using the tool.
GOT SOMETHING TO REPORT? westseattleblog@gmail.com or 206-293-6302, text/voice – thank you!
In West Seattle Crime Watch – stats, summaries, and reader reports:
2020 CRIME STATS: Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz talked about them in a media briefing today. Here are the stats for the Southwest Precinct – which encompasses both West Seattle and South Park – for this year and the past two years.
The chief focused his citywide comments on the homicide rate, up 61 percent this year, to 50. Two were in West Seattle; both resulted in arrests and charges – the Junction death of Jana Layman in January and the Delridge death of Derrick Lacomb in September. As Chief Diaz noted in his remarks, the Alki Avenue suitcase-bodies murders are not counted as Seattle cases since the victims were killed in Burien.
Also tonight – from the SPD Significant Incident Report summaries, a confirmed gunfire incident last week:
SHOTS FIRED: The SPD summary says this happened just before 10:30 pm last Thursday: “A witness heard two to three shots in the area of the 2500 BLK of SW Findlay St. The witness saw a brown Lincoln Continental, and a black SAAB leave the area. Officers arrived and contacted the witness. Officers recovered evidence of a shooting and checked the area for witnesses, cameras, and additional evidence.”
And two reader reports:
BICYCLES STOLEN: The photo and report are from Erynne:
Somebody broke into the apartments at 4801 Fauntleroy Way SW last night and took a bunch of bikes; pictured here is my boyfriend’s bike that got stolen.
Case # is 21-008373.
CATALYTIC-CONVERTER THEFTS: Still happening, reports Wendy: “Just wanted to get the word out that only a month ago, thieves stole catalytic converters from 2 Priuses within a block vicinity of my house in the 38th/39th and Hanford area, and just a couple of nights ago, they got my 16-year-old Prius.” This too has been reported to police. Back in September, the precinct’s Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner offered some prevention advice.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Though we’ve heard a lot about less-than-rapid rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines in the four weeks since the first doses arrived in our state, people are indeed getting vaccinated, including here in West Seattle.
Last Friday, we briefly mentioned that vaccinations had begun for our area’s largest senior-care center, Providence Mount St. Vincent. So today we followed up with The Mount and some other West Seattle care centers to see where they’re at with vaccinating patients/residents and caregivers – the first groups eligible under our state’s prioritization plan.
(Photos courtesy Providence Mount St. Vincent)
PROVIDENCE MOUNT ST. VINCENT: Vaccination is happening in phases, The Mount’s Molly Swain tells WSB, in this update that even features a playlist:
The team at Providence Mount St. Vincent was thrilled to close out the New Year and welcome 2021 with their initial vaccine clinic held for Long Term Care residents and staff on December 31st. Approximately 90 percent of The Mount’s Long Term Care residents received the vaccine with a few opting out. This clinic was operated in partnership with Walgreens who will be back on-site on January 21st for second doses as well as first doses for Assisted Living residents and additional caregivers. Of The Mount’s nearly 500 caregivers, it is estimated that nearly half have been vaccinated both through the on-site clinic as well as through local Providence hospital resources.
Currently there are no residents who are positive with COVID-19. Through our bi-weekly caregiver testing, we continue to periodically identify a small number of positive caregivers. Following a two-week period of no positive caregiver results, two new cases were recently identified.
(L-R: Kaylea Watkins, BSN, RN, Infection Preventionist; Tanisha Mojica, MSN, ARNP, FNP-BC, Director of Clinical Services; Lester Sauvage, MD; Charlene Boyd, Administrator)
Our team has enjoyed the attached music playlist during the :15-:30 minute waiting period after receiving the vaccine, we thought others might enjoy!
The Mount reported 14 COVID-19 deaths during outbreaks last year.
PARK WEST NURSING/REHAB CENTER: Vaccinations are also under way for this facility in North Admiral, which reported an outbreak late last year that took four lives. Spokesperson Nicole Francois says, “Their first round of vaccinations took place last week. Park West partnered with Walgreens. They report that everything went well. Our staff was particularly impressed with the care team from Walgreens because they were well-staffed, well-prepared, and ready to perform the vaccination process. The vaccinated Park West staff and residents received the Pfizer vaccine.”
QUAIL PARK MEMORY CARE RESIDENCES OF WEST SEATTLE: At this Junction center, vaccination is about to start, says executive director Brian Anderson: “Our first vaccine clinic day is tomorrow! We have 2 more clinic dates following that one, so all that participate have the opportunity to get both shots. The vaccine clinic is taking place in the community for the residents and staff. We have great participation at this time. Everyone choosing to receive the vaccine is very excited.”
BROOKDALE: At Brookdale-Admiral Heights, spokesperson Tina Bendermacher tells us, “Our first round of vaccinations will happen here at our community on January 17th with CVS; our second is February 7th. Residents and staff will be vaccinated.”
THE KENNEY: The senior-living center north of Lincoln Park tells WSB that it “will offer COVID-19 vaccinations to its residents and staff this month.” The Kenney’s nonprofit parent company Heritage Ministries says in its response to our inquiry:
The Kenney will offer the option to receive the vaccine to all of their residents, including assisted living, memory support, and those residing in independent living, as well as staff members. The community will initially receive the Moderna vaccine, and will offer multiple clinics on-site at The Kenney to ensure all those who wish receive the immunization are able to do so. A licensed and COVID-19 vaccine-certified pharmacist will perform all vaccine administration.
AEGIS LIVING: The memory-care-focused complex in west Admiral is also in the planning stage. Spokesperson Nandi Butcher tells WSB, “Our Aegis Living Vaccine Task Force is hard at work scheduling COVID-19 vaccine clinics for residents and staff at every one of our communities. West Seattle vaccine clinic dates are in the process of being confirmed … The vaccine will be a game changer for our seniors and frontline care teams. It can’t come soon enough.” Aegis dealt with a deadly outbreak that we reported in September.
The people getting vaccinated now in our area are in the earliest prioritization phase; this graphic shows who’s next, and the state’s draft plan (page 8) outlines what phases are likely to look like after that – while warning everything’s subject to change.
| Comments Off on TONIGHT: First West Seattle Art Walk of 2021