June 2020

Mulitple black lives marches and protests set for Friday and Saturday
Make posters for the events on Friday 2-6pm at Walt Hundley Field

West Seattle is now a little less accessible due to the closure of the West Seattle Bridge but the protests that call for more social equity and  an end to police brutality and oppression have been taking place in a small way. Now a larger event is planned for Saturday June, 6 at 12:30pm. It's only one of several in the area with one on Friday, another on Saturday based in the Junction, and yet another in Burien on Saturday.

The first West Seattle protest march/event description reads:

This is a peaceful march from the Anytime Fitness in the Admiral Junction to support our brothers and sisters protesting police brutality and the systems that support the oppression of the black communities in West Seattle and around the world. 

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Vigor Shipyards gets conditional go ahead with environmental clean up
Site will see pier and pile demolition, removal of contaminated soil and creation of new aquatic habitat

Vigor Industrial on Harbor Island has been in the process of designing a shallow-water intertidal estuary near the mouth of the Duwamish River taking charge of the process instead of simply paying for the government to handle it. The result is that salmon hatchlings will be able to rest as they migrate.

When Vigor purchased the former Todd Shipyards they took on the liability for the natural resource damage done over the site's long history of industrial production. 

The site AIM2FLOURISH has a much more in depth look at the project and the philosophy of the company that is driving it.

The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections has now issued a conditional permit to proceed.

Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections

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Seattle ends curfew after Mayor meets with protestors

information from the City of Seattle

 After meeting with community leaders today, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan and Chief Carmen Best announced that the citywide curfew will end effective immediately. The curfew was originally recommended by the Seattle Police Department as a way to aid in crowd control and preserve public safety after violence on Saturday. However, the Mayor and Chief chose to rescind the curfew following feedback from community leaders and protestors who wanted to ensure no peaceful individuals who were demonstrating were arrested. The Seattle Police Department did not make a single arrest for violation of the curfew.

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West Seattle sees protests and preparations

Rumors swirled on social media about potential protest demonstrations to be staged in West Seattle which alarmed certain retailers including two of the largest at Westwood Village. Target closed early at put a line of shopping carts outside the front door, while QFC chose to board up their windows completely. The row of businesses just north of QFC also boarded up. 

Target store closed
A row of carts blocked the entrance to Target in Westwood Village, which closed early on Tuesday. Photo by Patrick Robinson.
 

The Seattle Police were on hand "just making our presence known" said one officer but acknowledging that no specific threats had been made.

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Curfew in effect again for Monday; Demonstrations continue downtown

The Seattle Emergency Operations Center sent out a reminder that a 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will be in effect tonight in the City of Seattle. During this time, residents and visitors should avoid travelling through the city, to the extent possible. You can find out more details at seattle.gov/curfew. 

Protestors were marching through downtown Seattle, peacefully by all reports on Monday evening. Those participating told reporters that they did not plan to stop at the curfew time of 6pm.

In a news conference earlier in the day, Mayor Durkan said that the curfew was "one more tool" available to police to maintain order but that it would not be enforces as long as demonstrations remained peaceful.

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Seattle Police share timeline of events on May 30; Events include violence, looting, fires and injuries

information from Seattle Police Blotter

Timeline of Events on May 30th, 2020

The Seattle Police Department managed a series of demonstrations throughout the day on Saturday, May 30th, 2020.  In the early hours of the day, many of these groups were demonstrating peacefully, but by midafternoon several incidents quickly devolved into situations that endangered the lives of those demonstrating as well as our officers.  At approximately, 2:45 pm Saturday, a peaceful demonstration at Westlake Park continued as groups in the vicinity of Westlake at 5th and Pine began to escalate. At approximately 3:55 pm, demonstrations began to grow across the entire city to approximately 10,000 individuals.  

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SPS Superintendent Reaffirms District commitment to black excellence
“This most important moment” requires action “to dismantle…racist practices.”

NOTE: Following is a letter from Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau to all SPS employees. Sent Monday morning, June 1, 2020.

Dear SPS staff,

I am sure that all of us have been struggling with how to deal with our feelings of anger, weariness, frustration, and sadness. It has been a week of horrific images and a replay of many incidents in our country’s racist history. It has surfaced long standing trauma for many and brought up past scars of historical suffering and pain.

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The Tomorrow Project: Born from a seminar about citizenship and social action

What started as 4 high schoolers' goal of a sustainable future became The Tomorrow Project, a non-profit organization powered by 75+ youth volunteers. “The Tomorrow Project was born from a seminar about citizenship and social action that they took last school year but quickly grew into a passion project.

Identifying the climate crisis as an issue that desperately needed to be addressed in our communities, the Tomorrow Project was born. We wanted our reach to extend beyond just our school, and into our local community. By working with elementary schools in our area, we were able to take our project to students throughout the region.

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