Results tagged “seatac”

How dry we are! Only 0.24 of an inch of precipitation recorded at SeaTac for all of June and July, says KING 5's Jeff Renner via Twitter. Old record? 0.48 of an inch. We're told we may see some of the wet stuff by Thursday or Friday, but in the meantime, keep moisturizing.

The worst thing about the headline "6 injured in overnight shootings" is that it doesn't take into account a murder at a Ballard gas station. Just to recap, over this weekend, a man was shot in the leg following an argument at Second and Pine (while the Torchlight Parade was going on), two people were shot at 1 a.m. at 208th and Pacific Highway South in SeaTac, and three men were shot at about 2 a.m. at the 1200 block of Westlake Avenue North. Then at around 6:30 a.m. Sunday came the gas station robbery and homicide.

    

We departed Seattlest world headquarters at 12th and John Street at 11:49 and landed at SeaTac at 12:45. Our trip included a ride on the #10 bus to Westlake, a light rail ride from Westlake Center to Tukwila, and a shuttle bus from the Tukwila station to the airport. For speedphiles, the actual train trip ride from Westlake to Tukwila was 34 minutes. It was also 34 minutes last Friday. It will probably be 34 minutes next week.

An 18-year-old California man believed to be in town visiting relatives was the victim of last night's drive-by shooting at the intersection of 140th Street and Military Road South in SeaTac. His four male friends, all in their late teens and 20s, were in the car when the bullet struck the victim in the backseat. Immediately after, they rushed him from the SeaTac intersection to Highline Community Hospital in Burien, where the shooting victim died from multiple gunshot wounds. So far the King County Sheriff's Office is stumped. The darkly lit area didn't allow for any witnesses to see the suspected second car before it turned off at South 140th Street. However, officers are still investigating and trying to determine whether or not there was a motive behind the shooting.

Whoever keeps flashing their laser lights into the cockpits of airplanes approaching SeaTac, will you please STOP ALREADY? Another pilot reported seeing the mesmerizing green lights last night. They estimate the laser show started around 10:15 p.m., coming from four miles north of Husky Stadium. Port of Seattle police and federal agencies have been investigating, and to date, nearly 30 planes have been lit up with laaazer beams.

Neighbors of Sea-Tac Airport believe they've been bamboozled! The cranky, sleep-deprived neighbors are filing a class-action lawsuit today against the airport, claiming they were led to believe in November that the airport's new third runway was going to be used strictly during inclement weather, only to witness the planes landing regardless of rain or shine. (Hmmm, is that why Alaska Airlines on-time arrival performance improved?) As for the 10,000 who live within the area, they hope the lawsuit will bring resolution in the form of money (shocker) as well as restricted air traffic at night. For now, doesn't sound like much will change; we're guessing the airport may have forgotten to mention they plan on using the third runway until the runway reconstruction project is completed in September 2009.

Seoul-bound Asiana Airlines Flight 271 that took off from SeaTac at 2:35 p.m. has safely re-landed at SeaTac airport, after reporting flames shooting out of one of its engines. With 179 people reportedly on board, the Boeing 777 dumped its fuel over Puget Sound and landed without any troubles around 3:30 p.m.

Over at TechFlash, John Cook reports that Alaska Airlines misspoke when representatives gave what many interpreted as an announcement that they'd be offering free wi-fi to Alaska travelers at SeaTac gates. The airline will be extending the offer to travelers in Oakland for the three-month promotion, but not here. Seriously? Seattle would be the perfect place to run that deal. This reminds us to ask why we don't already have free wi-fi available at our airport. Anyone have a compelling explanation for this pitiable situation?

As of July 22, Icelandair will be offering four direct flights per week between Seattle and Reykjavik, says the Puget Sound Business Journal: "Flights from Reykjavik will be on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and flights from Seattle will be on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday."

A former Husky linebacker is among the football players missing off Florida's Gulf Coast after a weekend fishing trip. Someone was shining lasers at planes at SeaTac last night, and the pilots are all, "Gah! Get that thing outta my eye!" There's no quick fix for the economy, but there's a free fix for your pet. Today is the last day to get your dog or cat spayed for free at Seattle Animal Shelter and it also happens to be the day that Jason the Bachelor hands out the final rose. Here's hoping the loser goes out like a lamb.

We’re pretty sure it isn’t Al Qaeda shining lasers into the cockpits of planes frequenting SeaTac’s airspace. If we were the probable culprits, two idiot fourteen-year-olds living near the runways, we’d be keeping a low profile, because everybody living in Patriot Act America should know that shit is a federal crime. Can you imagine some kid from Seatac in a faded Eminem t-shirt being shipped of to Guantanamo for pissing off a Jet Blue captain on a run to Vegas? Not worth it. Lasers should be limited to scientific uses and trippy concert drug montages--not sinister annoyances. Exceptions can be made for entertaining house cats and tormenting the occasional Belltown sidewalk drunks from the relative safety of your fifth-floor apartment but that’s it. Anything else is completely juvenile.

Lowell's APP program might be splitting up along North/South lines. Sable Verity dives into the controversy surrounding KUOW's coverage of one APP student's description of how she was treated in the program. Over at HugeAssCity, it's mourning time once again for the loss of the Ballard Dennys, now that the monstrous development plans for that space have been revealed. Lake City Live did a bad news (frowny face) round-up, and CHS has an interesting piece on what the light rail ride from Capitol Hill to the airport will really look like (eleven stops...!). Reverb has an update on Renton's Jimi Hendrix Foundation involving a comic book character named Captain Strata. Hmm.

We just got back from biking downtown, and even the flats felt like uphill because of the wind gusts. If they had been sustained, we're pretty sure we would have ended up going backwards. The B-Town Blog, sharing our surprise, has a post up about the 43-mph wind gusts they've recorded at Sea-Tac today. Maybe this is that windstorm from the other week that never showed up. Cliff Mass calls this a "modest Pacific disturbance," which we're not sure we entirely agree with. Anyway, watch out for loose branches and umbrellas for the duration. UPDATE: Also, try not to get sand in your eyes--in the wind canyons of downtown, we hear pedestrians are getting pelted by sand, which is also migrating into buildings.

Ah, the evolution of the public mood! Remember last Wednesday, when we all had a good laugh at the schools' reliance on infamously inaccurate weathermen to shut down schools, giving all the kids a snow day with no snow? The jovial mood that first night of heavy snow-fall, as the kids turned streets into luges, goodwill was in air, and the spirits were flowing freely? Wasn't all that nice?

The B-Town Blog has an ominous Port of Seattle bulletin regarding Sea-Tac operations: "Airport is open--two runways are operational. There are many airline-initiated cancellations. Backlog of stranded passengers awaiting rebooking. Travelers are advised to contact their airline for flight status and to attempt to rebook from home." We're having trouble pulling up the flight status link, and we heard via Twitter earlier this morning that Alaska Air's phone wait was 149 minutes. As you might expect, there's no room at the inn, and many travelers are sleeping in airport. It gets worse: airport stores haven't been getting deliveries, so supplies are scarce.

"Or are you just happy to see me?" Surely at least one person thought to ask Gypsy Lawson that question on her journey from Bangkok back home to Spokane, a plane trip which she made with an adorable and illegal baby Rhesus Macaque snuggled smuggled under her blouse. Bringing the monkey back to the States violated any number of federal laws, as well as the Endangered Species Act, and Gypsy Lawson and her accomplice mother are now in big trouble. Though the duo did have a layover at Sea-Tac on their way to Thailand, the flights back took them through L.A.; they made it through customs before someone caught on to the woman's false pregnancy.

Late last night, the Rainier Valley Post reported that Jose "Angel" Blanco finally returned from Mexico to give himself up to authorities. He had fled south after being charged with murder in the first degree of his ex-wife Noemi Lopez, discovered on November 30th by her children to be dead in her home from 60 stab wounds. Blanco confessed via text message to his daughter on the day of the murder, but immediately went on the run from the police; according to the Times, he is also suspected of theft to the tune of $5,000 from the airport pay phone company where he worked in order to finance his trip to Mexico.

As MvB's previous post proved, you all are hot for Sea-Tac's third runway. After 15 years of waiting, Seattle, we don't blame you for the eager anticipation. So we're pleased to report that we're inching a step (or more aptly, a take-off and landing) closer to the third runway being fully functional. A 737 will test the runway today as part of an FAA certification process. The plane will do several touch-and-go landings on the new runway. And, if the previous 15 years are any indication, we only have 4 or 5 more years until the runway is ready for its grand debut.

There are fewer worse feelings in the world than missing a flight thanks to a traffic jam on the way to the airport. Believe us, we've been there...on Thanksgiving weekend. Missing a flight due to a traffic jam you could avoid or plan for? We simply won't allow that for our dear readers. So if any of you are heading to Sea-Tac, prepare for an even larger traffic clusterfuck than usual. Due to light rail construction, there will be only one lane to the arrivals area, the northern entrance to the parking garage will be closed, and there is a detour from the cell phone waiting lot. So basically, whether you are coming, going, or just picking someone up, schedule a little extra time for your trip to Sea-Tac.

           

Yesterday the Port of Seattle invited a rag-tag crew of media, runway protesters, environmental activists, local residents, and assorted schmoozers on a tour of Sea-Tac's third runway, a project about 20 years in the making, and set to open on November 20, 2008, pending final FAA certification.

We just had to run down to SeaTac, and along the way lost count of the amount of road repair and construction projects going on. August is the Pacific Northwest's official Road Repair Month, on account of its stretches of good weather, and transportation crews work around the clock to get the most paving done possible. SeaTac is always under construction, so nothing new there, but Mercer has a lane closure or two, which ought to make forehead veins bulge a little during hot afternoon rush hours. Here's a map of road construction projects in and around Seattle which will serve mainly to convince you that you're screwed--you can nowhere at no time on no street without running into orange cones and people wearing safety vests doing that "my arm is a tipped over metronome" mime. It's hot out there and your exhaust stinks, so the least you can do is give 'em a brake.

Now that it's really summer, tourists are showing up at SeaTac from all over. And they're taking a Metro bus into town. With gas at $4.50, even locals returning to Seattle are taking the bus. And the 194 should be perfect: service every 15 minutes for a 30-minute, two-buck ride.

Untitled photo by Joshua Longbrake

After what seemed to be the longest winter in Washington history, a weekend full of warm sunshine was just what Seattle needed. Thankfully, this weekend finally delivered--and then some! With tempratures topping the 90's both Saturday and Sunday, Seattle tied high temperature records for those days. What did you do to enjoy the sunshine--was it too hot or just right for pride? Did any of the local drag queens' makeup run? If it was a wee bit too warm for you, as it was for this (still) sweating Seattlest, we want to know what you did to stay cool.

Alaska's struggles continued today, when a plane had to be evacuated due to smoke in the cockpit. This also resulted in the day's unintentionally funny headline (courtesy of the Seattle P-I): "Alaska Airlines 737 evacuated on landing." While "evacuated" wouldn't be the verb you'd usually use, getting off the plane after it lands is pretty much standard operating procedure.

Not too long ago, we were attempting a trip to San Francisco. As soon as we got to SeaTac, we found that our flight was somehow already an hour and a half late. The employees at the ticket counter, civil without being friendly, couldn't get us on another flight, so we got some food and a drink and watched our delay get longer. Eventually, it was time to board (on what was now the last flight to SF), and of course, we ended up sitting on the plane for an hour while there were refueling issues. The pilot announced that the fuel switch could be fixed, but by that time, the crew would be "illegal," and so our flight was now canceled. Lovely. We exited the plane to deal with another unfriendly employee who literally rolled her eyes when we asked for something more than a mere refund of our tickets. All in all, those five hours at the airport were a nightmare. Surely, we thought, there's got to be a better way.

Thieves suspected of stealing hundreds of gallons of premium fuel from stations in West Seattle and Sea-Tac have struck again. The latest incident in a rash of high volume gas thefts occurred last Thursday, when 208 gallons were stolen from a Gig Harbor Shell station. Police believe the same men were caught on tape last month, pilfering fuel from four Shell gas stations in King County.