West Seattle, Washington
24 Wednesday
4:32 PM: Thanks to the tipster who called to let us know about a traffic tie-up at Highland Park Way/Holden because of work crews. This is where SDOT told us on Wednesday that a temporary traffic signal would be installed because the high-rise West Seattle Bridge’s closure has put added stress on the already-busy intersection. We just got here to check and SDOT is in the southbound lane of HP Way on both sides of Holden. Avoid the area.
5:29 PM: We checked with SDOT regarding status. Spokesperson Ethan Bergerson replied, “We started work for the signal installation yesterday and are continuing today. We expect to be done sometime next week depending on weather. To give you a better sense of the timing, we began electrical work yesterday and are working on striping today.”
West Seattle’s Westcrest Park is one of six sites where the city is planning “hygiene stations” to help unsheltered people stay healthy. From the announcement today:
Building on the 1,900 new sites across the City to help individuals experiencing homelessness, the City of Seattle announced the deployment and maintenance of six hygiene facilities throughout the City, which augment the more than 128 Seattle Parks comfort stations that remain open for hygiene needs. This expansion of resources is a continuation of ongoing work by the City and County to bring critically needed resources to those most in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beginning tomorrow, the City will deploy and maintain 14 toilets and 6 handwashing stations near City Hall Park, Lake City Community Center, Jefferson Park, Westcrest Park, Cal Anderson Park, and Benvenuto Viewpoint. All areas are in close proximity to individuals experiencing homelessness. This is in addition to the more than 128 locations in parks throughout the City, available to all residents, and are currently being serviced by Seattle Parks and Recreation. The new facilities will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days per week. Daily maintenance will be provided including sharps disposal, waste removal, and supplemental cleaning.
In addition to the portable toilets, the City expects to soon deploy at least four hygiene trailers with showers, toilets, and hand-washing stations. Currently under procurement, the trailer locations and staffing will be determined by Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) in partnership outreach teams and other departments and Public Health – Seattle & King County.
The announcement – which you can read in its entirety here – also says:
SPU has partnered with HSD’s Navigation Team and local stakeholders to address public health and safety in unmanaged encampments. Increased litter and trash collection services will be delivered at unmanaged encampments over the next several weeks. In addition, the SPU encampment trash program that delivers trash bags and collects them, currently in 14 locations, will increase to 16 sites by March 31, 2020. SPU will also increase their pump-out services for RVs, expanding their initial pilot of two events per week.
We asked the city where exactly in Westcrest Park the hygiene station would be placed, since it’s a sprawling park; the reply was that it would be “installed on the SPR property across the street from 9063 Henderson Place SW.” That maps to one of the entrances on the west side of the park.
The photo is of a poster at Highland Park improvement Club – we’ve reported on the community effort there to get food to kids, and now they’ve sent word:
We need volunteers!
We need to get all this generously donated food to our students by having a daily distribution. If you are healthy and not at risk, please help us reach families by signing up at the link below. Social-distancing protocols are in place. Thank you!
HPIC is at 1116 SW Holden.
(WSB photo, last week)
For kids who can’t make it to one of the Seattle Public Schools distribution sites, volunteers are distributing sack lunches at Highland Park Improvement Club again today. Here’s the announcement we received:
Bag lunches will be provided Wednesday, March 18th, and Friday the 20th, at Highland Park Improvement Club for kiddos in the area from 11-2. Friday, a weekend bag of extra staples will also be provided. In order to keep volunteers and families safe by practicing social distancing we will be using the same model as SPS. Folks in cars will have lunches handed to them in their cars. Folks on foot will be able to take their lunches from a table on the patio. All students are welcome.
HPIC is at 1116 SW Holden.
The Highland Park Elementary PTA is working to ensure community members stay fed. If you need help – or can offer help – here’s what Laura Olson, co-president, sent us along with the photos:
We are here at Highland Park Elementary, handing out grocery bags of food and sack lunches to our school families. We’ll be here all day, until 7 and again tomorrow.
Food is available to our community members in need; please stop by. We are taking donations of food or volunteers, and donations can be made via PayPal to hpemustang@gmail.com. Thank you for your help! The more support we receive, the more families we can help during this school closure.
HPE is at 1012 SW Trenton [map].
Toplines from last night’s meeting of HPAC, the community council for Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge:
DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS OVERVIEW: Osbaldo Hernandez Sahagun is the South Region community-engagement coordinator for this city department (one of 4, where years ago there were 14). He presented overviews of key DoN initiatives such as the department’s funding opportunities – Your Voice, Your Choice (more on that later); the Healthy Food Fund (funded by the Sweetened Beverage Tax), Small Sparks Fund (for small community-building projects up to $5,000), Community Partnership Fund (up to $50,000, three application deadlines a year). Leadership training, too:
The morning swept by without a chance for our usual daily highlights – you can always check the full WSB West Seattle Event Calendar – but we did want to remind you about one major public event, the February meeting of HPAC. This is the community council recently expanded to span South Delridge and Riverview as well as Highland Park. During the 7 pm gathering at Highland Park Improvement Club (1116 SW Holden), as previewed last weekend, the big topics will include what you need to know about the city Department of Neighborhoods, voting for new HPAC leadership, and strategizing what to propose for Your Voice, Your Choice parks/streets grants. Maybe there’s a community concern you’d like to bring up? Be there!
If you live and/or work, study, shop/dine in Highland Park, South Delridge, and/or Riverview, HPAC‘s for you. Here’s what this month’s gathering has on tap, Wednesday (February 26th) at 7 pm. 3 agenda highlights:
Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods
Osbaldo Sahagun Hernandez, Community Engagement Coordinator, South and West Seattle
Meet the Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods Community Engagement Coordinator for South and West Seattle: Whether you want to connect with your neighborhood, learn more about City Services, or share an idea that will benefit your community, the team of Community Engagement Coordinators is here to help. Come learn about New Seattle Department of Neighborhoods programs coming in 2020.Elections! Come elect the 2020 HPAC Executive Committee
Executive Committee consists of three to seven members elected at the annual meeting with at least one representative from each neighborhood (Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge). We are electing a Chair, Vice Chairs, Secretary, and At-Large members. Nominations are still open!Discussion: Your Voice Your Choice
What should we apply for?
Community members brainstorm and submit potential project ideas to be funded throughout the city. Project ideas will be collected February 18 – March 18, 2020.
HPAC meets at Highland Park Improvement Club (1116 SW Holden).
The Highland Park Elementary PTA invites you to step right up and join the party under the big top at Highland Park Improvement Club on March 21st. Here’s why:
We’ve worked hard on this event! Last year we turned HPIC into Alice and Wonderland with a full-size rabbit hole and fantasy land that blew guests away. The parents have outdone themselves this year with an amazing big-top-based off the book “Night Circus” and we are really hoping to reach our $20K fundraising goal to support the enrichment activities for our kids that our Title 1 school can’t regularly provide as well as family nights that provide culturally inclusive events and community building – the heart of what our school values.
Join us for at the Night Circus!
Highland Park Elementary Fund the Future Auction
Single tickets: $40Saturday, March 21, 2020 – Highland Park Improvement Club
Tent opens at 5:30 PM…
This after-dark extravaganza brings the magic of the big top to Highland Park. Step right up to the center ring for an evening of midway games, spectacular performers, tasty carnival treats, and a show-stopping auction!
Although this fantastical circus is just for grown-ups, all proceeds go toward much needed enrichment activities for the amazing students of Highland Park Elementary. As a Title 1 school, we have a rich diversity of cultures, languages and socioeconomic backgrounds but need community support to help fund the additional academic programs and vital community engagement events that our students deserve.
Circus apparel highly encouraged but come ready to be entertained and inspired, all for a good cause!
Get your ticket today here!
Can’t attend but would like to help fund our students’ futures? Donate here!
We appreciate our local business support! If you’d like to make our auction even more amazing by donating an item and be recognized as a community sponsor, visit here!
Also meeting this week for the first time since October: HPAC (which now encompasses Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge). For one, the group voted on a new logo, created by Dina Lydia of Digital Genie:
:
Other topics:
DISCUSSION WITH POLICE: Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand was there, and encampment-related issues were a big topic, as was traffic.
(WSB photo, October)
In December, we reported on a local case that went before the city Hearing Examiner, related to the upcoming Seattle Parks project that will close the Westcrest Park Off-Leash Area for an estimated six months of drainage work. Park neighbor Inge Anderson appealed the Parks decision that an environmental-impact study wasn’t needed, saying that among other impacts, it will affect many users of West Seattle’s only off-leash area because the planned temporary replacement OLA is small. Five weeks after Anderson and Parks manager David Graves argued their respective sides before Hearing Examiner Ryan Vancil (WSB coverage here), his decision is in – read it here (PDF).
While Vancil reiterates points he noted during the December 16th hearing – such as, that appellants face a tough challenge because it’s on them to prove a city department made the wrong decision – he sided with Parks. He said Anderson “did not introduce evidence demonstrating any significant impacts that are reasonably likely to result from the proposal.” The key word there is “significant”; Vancil agreed that the plan would have some impacts, just not enough to require a full environmental study. His decision is the city’s final word on the matter, and any further challenges would have to be done in court; when we contacted Anderson to ask if she intends to do that, she said yes.
If you live, work, shop, and/or study in Highland Park, Riverview, and/or South Delridge, Wednesday’s the big night – the next meeting of HPAC, which spans all three of those eastern West Seattle communities. Get updates on big projects including the Highland Park Way/Holden safety improvements; discuss where HPAC’s energy is best focused; and vote on a new logo. See the full plan here. All that and more awaits you if you are at Highland Park Improvement Club (1116 SW Holden) next Wednesday (January 22nd).
Highland Park Elementary hopes you can help their donation drive to help youth in need. Here’s the announcement:
WE Care for YouthCare!
Looking to clean out your closets this 3-day weekend?!
Our 5th-grade WE Care team (leadership/community activism) is working on gathering supplies for homeless youth in Seattle via the organization YouthCare.
We are specifically looking for:
Blankets/bedding/pillows
Socks
Hats (beanies)
Jackets/hoodies
Mittens
Shoes
Gloves
Gift cards (Target, Fred Meyer)
Pots/pans/utensils/dishes
Hygiene products
Non-perishable snacks
Umbrellas/rain gear
Gently used clothingIf so, please bring them to the Highland Park Elementary front office at 1012 SW Trenton St.
Leave them with Patti at the front desk.
She’ll be there until 3:30 pm today and then, after the Monday holiday, 7:15 am-3:30 pm weekdays.
(WSB photos)
Education is a vital part of saving Northwest salmon and the creatures who depend on them. Once again this year, Salmon in the Schools teachers and volunteers are making sure it happens. This year’s work began today, with hundreds of salmon eggs delivered to participating local schools.
We were there for two deliveries – West Seattle Elementary (top photo) and Highland Park Elementary (above photo). Volunteers Judy Pickens and Phil Sweetland delivered the hatchery-raised eggs and explained what happens next.
The schools each have a tank in which the salmon grow until the fry can be released into Fauntleroy Creek in the spring.
Salmon are being raised this year by 10 schools, from Alki Elementary in the north to Arbor Heights Elementary in the south. Roxhill Elementary is a new participant this year. At all of them, the students get a front row seat on delivery day:
Seven schools got their eggs today; Judy and Phil are scheduled to visit the other three tomorrow morning. P.S. Salmon in the Schools isn’t just a West Seattle program – here’s the most-recent annual report on citywide participation and impact:
(WSB photo from 2016)
At 8822 9th SW, that former substation’s saga is getting closer to development, four years after it was declared “surplus” by the city in the same group of properties that included:
-5601 23rd SW, becoming a park under DNDA stewardship as the Delridge Wetland
-50th/Dakota, which a community group wants to buy ($650,000 current asking price) and turn into the “Dakota Homestead” (here’s our update from last week)
-2100 SW Andover, sold for $185,000 and redeveloped into 8 rowhouses
-4520 SW Brace Point, sold for $352,000 in 2017 but still vacant (with a proposal for a house)
-16th/Holden, still vacant
8822 9th SW has changed hands already since the city sold it for $279,000 in 2017; records show a subsequent 2018 sale for $158,000. Now 12 townhouses and two “accessory dwelling units” are proposed, a change from the 9 units planned when a community Early Design Outreach site tour was offered a year ago (there’s still a project website at the9seattle.com); the proposal includes 14 offstreet parking spaces. Today, the official application has opened a two-week comment period. You can download the notice from this page; it explains how to comment.
(WSB photo from October, site currently planned as temporary off-leash area at Westcrest)
A Westcrest Park neighbor who says the planned temporary replacement for the dog park is too small will argue her case downtown tomorrow.
West Seattle’s only dog park is closing for up to six months next year because of a drainage project; we first heard about it when Inge Anderson‘s appeal was mentioned at an HPAC meeting in August. At the time, as we subsequently reported, the city only planned to keep the “small/shy dog area” open during the closure, but it has since – as reported here in October – planned to cordon off some extra space north of the Westcrest P-Patch. Not big enough, Anderson says, so she continued to pursue her appeal of the Determination of Non-Significance filed by the city in relation to the drainage project. Anderson contends Seattle Parks should create a much-bigger temporary dog park with some of the space further north at Westcrest, atop the underground reservoir. When that came up at an October community meeting about the temporary dog park, a Parks rep said it wasn’t possible, but Anderson communicated separately with Seattle Public Utilities, which told her it was. (We asked Parks Friday about the discrepancy and have not yet received an answer.)
Her hearing before the city Hearing Examiner, previously set for September, is now scheduled for 9 am tomorrow in the HE’s hearing room on the 40th floor of the city Municipal Tower (700 5th Ave.). There’s not likely to be a decision immediately, as the HE usually issues a written ruling a few weeks after a hearing. The drainage project that will close the permanent off-leash area is expected to start next spring.
3:21 PM: SFD has a “full response” on the way to a building in the 1200 block of SW Holden. Updates to come.
3:24 PM: The call has just been downsized. We’re still en route to find out more.
3:36 PM: Firefighters at the scene tell us it was a kitchen fire. Out now, no major damage, no one hurt.
Before year’s end, we’re checking back with a long list of coming-soon businesses. Today – Crowfoot Café, which as we reported in September is in the works for the former mini-market at 7789 Highland Park Way SW. We asked proprietors/founders Steven Baird and Maureen Clark how things are going:
We are in that magical in-between phase where the Health Department says they like our plan but we still await permission from Labor & Industries…
We hope to open in a month so; in the meantime we are practicing and perfecting our procedures. We will let you know our soft-open date after we hear from L&I.
We are excited to share our pizza and continue to build community in our wonderful Highland Park neighborhood, and hope we have visitors from all over West Seattle!
The photos and report – with a community invitation – are from the Highland Park Elementary PTA:
Art has arrived on the Highland Park Elementary playground! Thursday morning HPE PTA volunteers and some of our fifth graders began forming a Salmon Mural made up of wooden “fish” painted by students, staff, and community members.
This is just the beginning of a permanent art installation that will be added to every year as our school family grows; a visual representation of how we all swim together. Big thank you’s to Principal Dysart for supporting the PTA’s vision, art teacher Monika Kuhlmann for bringing this project to life, and everyone who has given their energy and support to our school. Come celebrate with us on November 23rd [tomorrow] at 9:30 am for a fun Kickball Saturday where we’ll continue to build our community and play!
(WSB photos)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
As a community-owned-and-operated neighborhood center, Highland Park Improvement Club is one of a kind in West Seattle.
Statewide, it has a rare designation too. In a proclamation read at HPIC’s 100th-birthday party today, the Secretary of State’s Office noted that it’s one of fewer than two dozen 1919-founded corporations still in existence (out of 3,000+ founded that year).
But what the centennial celebration was truly about was heart – HPIC’s mission “to be the heart of the neighborhood.”
The party was open-house style indoors at HPIC (1116 SW Holden) except for about 45 minutes of presentations, appreciations, and reminiscences, which we recorded on video:
Becca Fong emceed – here she is with newly re-elected City Councilmember and Highland Park neighbor Lisa Herbold showing a mayoral proclamation that HPIC’s 199th anniversary of incorporation (originally the Dumar-Outland Improvement Club), November 28th, will be Highland Park Improvement Club Day in Seattle:
(“That’s Thanksgiving,” somebody called out. “We have lots to be thankful for!” was the rejoinder.)
The stories shared were not just warm memories but tales of how the club was revived ~20 years ago when an aging, dwindling membership had trouble figuring out how it could sustainably carry on into the future. But they did, and HPIC’s current standard-bearers are confident it’ll last “another hundred years.”
HPIC trustee Kay Kirkpatrick acknowledged HPIC’s presence on Coast Salish land and thanked Duwamish board president Lupe Barnes for her presence at the party.
Newly re-elected County Councilmember Joe McDermott, a third-generation West Seattleite, recalled early in his political career driving someone to vote at HPIC, briefly expressing nostalgia for the days of in-person voting.
He also congratulated HPIC for a King County 4Culture grant facilitating some of the renovations/repairs that have helped the building weather the years.
The speaker who really brought down the house was grande dame Martha Mallett, who said she got involved in the late ’50s at age 30, “you do the math.”
“I’ve got so much I want to tell you,” she said after ascending to the stage.
She singled out old friends in the crowd, and paid tribute to HPIC leaders before and after her, from the founders who she said bought the site for $10, to the current leaders who have overseen improvements including a kitchen upgrade and wi-fi.
She also spoke of connecting with now-retired city neighborhood-district coordinator Ron Angeles, who followed her onstage:
His own Highland Park roots go back to moving there as a 5th-grader. He lives outside West Seattle now, but he assured HPIC, “You guys are the ENVY of other neighborhoods.”
HPIC’s current president Nicole Mazza was the final speaker.
She recalled moving to Highland Park a dozen years ago and having since met at least a hundred neighbors she knows by name. “That happens in Highland Park. … This place has a heart, has a soul.”
This is a party that was a year in the making (as well as, obviously, 100 years in the making!), with HPIC counting down by spotlighting a different decade each month at the first-Friday Corner Bar events.
The decades of history were also detailed in banners by Highland Park’s own Digital Genie, Dina Lydia Johnson, displayed during the party along with other exhibits looking back.
News of the decades was captivating – like a clickbait-style headline from the early 20th century, “Sicko Hearing About Flappers? Then Don’t Rea This.” Other headlines and document excerpts on display were a reminder that “the more things change, the more they stay the same” – meeting notices circa 1940, with “Highland Park district transportation problems to be discussed.” In 1967, a mudslide on Highland Park Way, which was hit with one again in just a few years ago.
Historic events of the past decade were noted as well, including the late-’00s fight against a proposed misdemeanor jail that the city ultimately agreed with Highland Parkers didn’t need to be built.
The 75th and 90th anniversary parties were noted as well – though nothing was likely as grand as today’s centennial celebration. As emcee Fong said onstage, “Through it all, (the club) has been there to sustain the neighborhood.”
And the sustenance will be mutual as long as people keep walking through the doors. With the neighborhood continuing to evolve – across the street to the west, modern townhouses replaced a small church – they no doubt will.
HPIC membership info is here.
The folks at Highland Park Improvement Club know how to have fun – it’s the neighborhood community center with events from a monthly pop-up bar party to an annual noisemaking New Year’s Eve parade. And they are excited to be getting ready for a really big event – HPIC’s centennial celebration this Saturday. What you see above is one of the games you’ll be able to play at the party. It won’t be a pretentious past-centric sitdown … but rather an 11 am-3 pm open house (with a few “short talks” at 1 pm) with lots to see and do. HPIC has been counting down all year, with each monthly first-Friday Corner Bar event celebrating a specific decade. Those banners will be on display, along with other items from HPIC’s history. No admission charge. Just bring yourself, your family, friends, neighbors, and help HPIC honor the past while looking to its future. HPIC is at 1116 SW Holden.
8:59 PM: Police are investigating a shooting reported at 15th SW/SW Holden, and they’re closing Holden after finding at least two shell casings. One person is reported to be injured, but she’s not at the scene – she either was in, or got into, a car, and is at 4th/Michigan, just off the north end of the 1st Avenue S. Bridge.
9:09 PM: Police are searching the area near the shooting scene, with a K9 team. Meantime, the victim, reported to have been shot in the hip, is being taken to Harborview Medical Center.
9:32 PM: Police say the victim’s injuries are not life-threatening. They expect to reopen Holden shortly.
ADDED MONDAY MORNING: SFD tells us the victim is a 20-year-old woman, assessed as being in stable condition when taken to the hospital.
1:03 PM: If you’re seeing/hearing a big police response near Riverview Playfield – police were trying to catch two suspects in a reported auto theft and it turned into an on-foot chase.
One person was caught by police, another by a bystander. (updated) A vehicle related to this was abandoned nearby on SW Austin.
1:21 PM: 2 juveniles have been arrested. This turns out to be a somewhat complicated case related to the theft of a car that has been reported ditched near 11th/Kenyon. (added) Here’s that car, a Jetta:
Two other suspects reportedly were in it so now there’s a search for them, with a K9 team involved.
2:16 PM: The other car, abandoned on SW Austin, was being sought by Tukwila Police, apparently also stolen. The two people who left the stolen Jetta on 11th SW are at last report still not in custody. We’ll request the report on Monday if no further details emerge sooner.
ADDED SUNDAY: SPD Blotter has a few additional details:
Police arrested two teens after they carjacked a woman in the High Point neighborhood on Saturday afternoon.
A woman was driving through the High Point neighborhood in the 7100 block of 32 Ave Southwest at 12:50 pm Saturday when two teenage boys got into her running vehicle. The two teens then assaulted the woman before pushing her out of the car and driving away.
Officers flooded the area and spotted the car fleeing. The suspects ditched the car near Riverview Playfield. The two suspects ran across the field where a youth soccer game was taking place. Officers caught one of the suspects and the second was stopped by two parents and held until officers could take control of the situation.
Officers booked the 14 and 15-year old boys into the Youth services center for investigation of robbery.
No mention of the other car and the other 2 suspects, so we’ll still be requesting the report tomorrow.
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