October 2026

If you have driven past the familiar storefronts of Sound Physical Therapy or Dr. Steven Leifheit recently, you might reasonably conclude that two long-standing staples of West Seattle healthcare have disappeared.

Their former office locations appear empty, leaving some local patients confused about where their long-time providers have gone. However, rather than shutting down for good, these medical fixtures are adapting to major community changes, eminent domain relocations, and evolving retirement plans right across the street.

Dear Editor,

The "flattening" of this landscape—and the gloss over the highly criticized segments of the West Seattle alignment, including the Pigeon Point hillside and its Great Blue Heron rookery—highlight how 3D marketing renderings selectively transform massive, invasive engineering into an unrealistically clean and manicured public amenity.

SEE THE SOUND TRANSIT VIDEO HERE

The severe reality of what is planned for Pigeon Point involves several critical factors:

Duwamish Alive Coalition, whose partners are local organizations with the collaborative stewardship goal of improving the health of our Duwamish River and Watershed.  Community volunteers provide important support in caring for these areas of restored nature and the river by planting native plants, removing invasive plants and mulching to improve soil health.  Community members also help remove debris from the river in kayaks lessening the harmful impacts on fish and marine life.

By Tim Clinton

Sports Editor

Friday gridiron action featured several explosive offensive displays and commanding shutouts. Rainier Beach posted the highest total of the night, defeating Chief Sealth 62-13, while Seattle Prep put up 60 points in a 60-13 win over West Seattle. Dominant defensive efforts were led by Kennedy Catholic, who blanked Mount Rainier 48-0, and Foster, who rolled past Lindbergh 43-0. Additionally, Renton staged an impressive offensive performance, defeating Evergreen 54-14.

Editor's Note: District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka took exception to our story authored by Correspondent Liz Steen and published October 8 and asked if we could let him respond to add corrections and further clarity. What follows is his response and the original set of questions and responses:

The Spokane Street Swing Bridge, also known as the low bridge, will close to motor vehicle traffic from 7 a.m. on Saturday, October 24, until 4 a.m. on Monday, October 26. Crews are closing the bridge across the West Duwamish Waterway to replace center lock components that lock the swing spans together to proactively keep the bridge operating smoothly. Officials noted that additional repairs are scheduled as the year rounds out.

While drivers cannot drive across the bridge during this time, people walking, biking, and rolling will still be able to use the low bridge to cross the waterway. The bridge serves as a crucial link across the West Duwamish Waterway for non-motorized travelers moving around Duwamish Valley communities and West Seattle.

By Liz Steen

Special Correspondent

The city of Seattle budgets like feckless 20-something ordering nightly door dash dinners every night instead of weekly groceries, leaving the city with a $175 million deficit that the council will have to close, or not, by December 2. Now the city council is caught between a mayor determined to avoid new taxes and a Fire Department warning that the city’s unfunded obligations could make that impossible.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson proposed closing the city’s $175 million deficit, but at a cost of overtime for the Seattle Fire Department, among other cuts. The council will vote on the final budget, deciding how to allocate funds before the deadline.

Seattle Fire Department Can’t Do More With Less

By Beth Dayo

Have you ever woken from a dream rattled? You try to shake it off, figuratively, or literally. Bet you didn’t know, you just did energy work.

If you’ve ever taken a walk, run or drive to diffuse anger or stress? That’s energy work. Or participated in sports or activities to redirect restlessness or manage sex drive? Also energy work.

All this time you roll your eyes at “energy work” and never knew you were doing it yourself.

The ways you’ve learned to deal with energy regulate you and keep you functional, but regulation isn’t the same thing as resolution and function isn’t the same thing as thriving. Without complete resolution, the residue of life’s difficulty is like magnetism. You try to do better, be better, heal, feel good, etc. but you always get pulled back into the same problems and patterns.