August 2021

information from Seattle Department of Transportation

by Katie Olsen on August 31, 2021

The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved the City of Seattle’s request to use “Priority Hire”, requiring that the contractor repairing the West Seattle Bridge hire from local economically distressed communities as it works to reopen the high-bridge by mid-2022.

“Our top priority is supporting our residents and neighborhoods most affected by the bridge closure. Through Priority Hire, now we can support our communities in another way by providing high-quality, family-wage construction career access and direct opportunities to small businesses that have been disproportionately impacted over the past year.” 

Mayor Jenny Durkan

The White Center Block Party on Aug. 29 raised more than $20,600 to benefit seven businesses that were damaged in an arson fire on July 5. That fire which began at the Lumberyard Bar, quickly spread through the all wooden structure to the others in the building through the ceiling. That meant fire fighters could not enter the building to fight the flames from inside. The result was either total destruction or heavy smoke damage.

A series of GoFundMe pages were set up to help and they quickly drew donations. But more was needed to aid the employees suddenly out of work.

If you've ever had a meal or drinks at West 5 in the junction, or if you are of a finer vintage, and recall dining at the Vann Brothers Restaurant a couple of decades ago, you will likely recall a large painting, a mural in fact of the HMS Discovery. The Discovery was the ship upon which Captain George Vancouver first sailed into Puget Sound. 

Ever since 2002 when the painting was rescued from the Vann Building basement it has hung in the back of West 5, on the south wall where it's provenance and meaning were known to only a few.

Now it has been moved to a place where it can be seen more readily and the story of the ship, and it's Captain and crew can be learned and remembered. It was moved on Sunday to the north wall near the entrance of West 5 “Discovery” was painted by Fred Oldfield in the early 1950s. The new location is visible to the general public from the sidewalk.

information from the Seattle Police Blotter

Police seized two guns after a road rage incident led to a shooting that caused a flat tire, just west of the lower West Seattle Bridge on Tuesday afternoon. 

At approximately 4:50 p.m., police responded to a road rage incident near West Marginal Way Southwest and Southwest Spokane Street. Two vehicles – a Honda and a Subaru – were involved and occupants of both vehicles (each car had a male driver and one female passenger) called 911 to report the incident. Accounts of the incident differed from car to car, as did several witness accounts. Police developed the following approximation of the events: