November 2014

The Menashe Christmas display located at 5605 Beach Dr SW kicked off their annual lighting ceremony on Sunday, November 30, 2014. The display will last until New Years.

A crew of eight spent six days putting up the largest light display in West Seattle.

New this year is a Santa mailbox where kids can deposit mail for Santa and they will get a response from a crew member. There is a new train display, a biplane hanging from a tree and this year there are an estimated 150,000 lights all assembled under the direction of Josh Menashe.

A woman was struck by a hit and run driver in White Center near 15th SW and SW Roxbury on Sunday evening around 5:15 pm and was taken to the hospital to be treated for her injuries.

Seattle Poiice said the suspect vehicle was a blue SUV.

The scene was marked off as a crime scene as the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad did its work.

Witnesses are urged to call 911 with any information on this incident.

Seattle Fire Department is responding to a house fire at 7305 26th Ave. NW in Ballard.

At 25 degrees Fahrenheit outside, water from the fire hoses froze on the streets.

The fire was reported at approximately 7:50 a.m. Over 15 SFD units responded to the blaze and the scene remained active until at least 11 a.m.

“This was a was a standard response to a house fire. Way take house fires very seriously,” said a SFD representative.

The fire started from an appliance in the kitchen. The kitchen was a total loss and the rest of the house sustained major smoke damage.

No residents sustained injuries, however SFD advised the residents to find a place to stay because of the smoke damage. One of the residents is visiting from Idaho. Red Cross of Seattle assists SFD with findings displaced fire victims alternative lodging while damages are repaired.

By Jeremy Martin

On a day when a cold dusting of snow covered the whole of Seattle, the gym at Chief Sealth International High School was hot with some the of the area’s best basketball talent.

With the regular season tipoff less than a week away, the 14th annual Sealth Jamboree brought 11 teams together for a day long preseason showcase that allowed coaches a chance for their squads to measure up against future completion as well as a way to make early year tweaks before any meaningful contests.

“We beat up on each other for weeks and now we get a chance to go up against other kids. It’s fun, it’s a good learning experience,” West Seattle Head Coach Keffrey Fazio said. I like it, this is good for the coaches too, you’re playing one ten minute quarter, you have one timeout so you try to coach your guys on the fly a little bit, and you don’t have a whole game to set things up.”

The wildcats went 0-2 on the night, dropping a close one to Kent-Meridian followed by a buzzer beater loss to Auburn-Riverside in its second game.

Update 3:45pm Dec 3
Information from the Seattle Fire Dept.
A Seattle Fire Investigator determined a West Seattle two-alarm apartment fire was accidental caused by combustibles placed too close to an electrical baseboard heater.

On Saturday November 29th, dispatchers at the Fire Alarm Center received a 911 call reporting an alarm going off inside a 4-story apartment building located in the 3800 block of Beach Drive SW. A second caller reported smelling smoke inside the building. All of the residents safely evacuated the complex.

Engine Company 29 arrived first to find flames shooting from a ground floor unit. Firefighter took an aggressive attack to knock down the fire. One of the major challenges was the high winds which were driving the flames inside the building. The Incident Commander called for a two-alarm to bring in additional resources to help battle the apartment complex fire.

Two members on the hose line for Engine Company 29 suffered minor burns while fighting the fire. Both were treated and released from Harborview Medical Center for their injuries.

Karen S. Robbins and illustrator Sally Marts will demonstrate the combination of their talents in their presentation of “Shoe Print Art: Step Into Drawing” (Hide and Seek Press, 2013). Robbins is an award-winning author, teacher, and TV celebrity and Marts is a freelance designer/illustrator, both now living in Seattle. Children from across the country were found to do drawings for the book, following steps provided in the book and adding their own creative touches. The children's photos were used inside the book alongside the diagrams which are said to be “simple enough for almost any age, even adults”. Robbins and Marts will discuss how the resulting creations can be turned into greeting cards, note cards, or even foam refrigerator magnets.

The public is invited to this FREE presentation on Friday, December 5th from 5 to 7PM at Barnes & Noble/Westwood Village
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information from Metro Transit

Metro Transit customers are encouraged to prepare for possible snowy or icy conditions this weekend

Weather forecasters are predicting colder temperatures and an increasing possibility of snow in parts of King County over the coming weekend. Metro Transit advises bus riders to plan ahead for rapidly changing travel conditions throughout the weekend..

All transit customers are advised to check the timetables for the routes they use to find out what the snow routing is in case it is implemented.

If you live in an outlying or hilly area, Metro encourages you to go to transit centers, park and ride lots or more heavily traveled flat arterials that are likely to be plowed, and where there is more transit service available.

While Metro sends Transit Alerts about service disruptions they know of, rapidly changing road, traffic and weather conditions make it impossible to know about every service interruption. It may not be possible to report on service that is affected on a per-trip or per stop basis.

A combination of a 12.3 high tide and storm surge from the rain storm that poured over Seattle on Friday Nov. 28 resulted in the temporary flooding of the Alki Beach promenade and the area around the Alki Bathhouse.

The flooding was only temporary with the water receding reasonably soon after the tide receded.

The temperatures were set to drop however with snow predicted in the region for Saturday Nov. 29.

On a day better suited to ducks and seagulls, than a parade, the holiday season got off to a soggy but rousing start with the staging of the Macy's annual Holiday parade on 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle.

West Seattle was very well represented with groups from around the neighborhood taking part.

Rain ponchos were the dress of the day as the weather would not let up.

The Chief Sealth International High School marching band, always in top form, proved again they are one of the best in the region as they performed. West Seattle High School's marching band looked and sounded sharp too. Explorer West School offered their musical stylings too.

Salty's Seafood Grill had a large crew of people pushing their now famous nutcrackers for the full parade route, bringing an especially festive touch to the proceedings.

The event was topped off as usual by the arrival of Santa himself who arrived on an earthbound sleigh and went into Macy's to greet his adoring fans.

At around 9:30 am on Friday, Nov. 29 a tractor-trailer flipped on it's side on a ramp near the Duwamish River temporarily trapping the driver in the cab.

Seattle Fire Department crews responded to Duwamish Avenue South and South Spokane Street and managed

No cause for the accident was released.