Seattle, WA
Some West Seattle business owners in 'limbo' due to light rail plan that would demolish their stores
West Seattle businesses face uncertain future due to light rail project
Several West Seattle businesses are being told their stores will be demolished for the latest Light Rail project, with the city only providing $50,000 in relocation assistance.
WEST SEATTLE, Wash. – A number of West Seattle business owners are reacting to a light rail plan that’s slated to wipe out their businesses sometime within the next four years.
An open house with Sound Transit this week drove the message home, with some owners seeing maps and plans for the first time. Although owners have been anticipating that this would happen, they say there is a lot of uncertainty about what’s next.
“We have 30 taps, all locally brewed beer, wine and cider.
After working hard to get Ounces Taproom up and running with a small, but mighty team, owner Laurel Trujillo says she was devastated to learn about plans to demolish the building to make way for the light rail.
“It’s been eight years of my life, eight years of my blood sweat and tears. So it’s a hard reality to be faced with, it’s no longer going to exist in this specific location,” said Trujillo. “The current phase, 2024, there will be a final route decision decided and then, in the next 3-4 years, property acquisition and with that, unfortunately our business is set to be demolished.”
A West Seattle Link Extension map presented during an open house this week shows that Delridge Station will sit smack dab on top of Ounces Taproom. Mode Music Studios and Skylark Cafe, a popular music venue next door, would also be demolished, along with a daycare and a nearby plaza containing Uptown Espresso.
“Who is going to help a small business like us relocate and survive?,” said Trujillo.
Although business owners say Sound Transit has offered $50,000 in relocation assistance, they say the numbers don’t add up to the total expenses they will incur trying to move their businesses.
“It looks like the relocation package that we would actually be offered by Sound Transit is fairly minimal. So, 50 grand, we get from sound transit, and it costs a million to relocate the business. You can kind of do the math there and that’s a lot of money that we don’t have,” said Trujillo.
“We made it through COVID, we kept our brick and mortar the whole time while we were online, then we dealt with the bridge closure, there is a lot we’ve had to endure,” said Erin Rubin, owner of Mode Music Studios and Founder and Managing Director of Mode Music and Performing Arts.
Rubin says after a tough few years, relocating 500 students and music teachers seems like a daunting challenge. She says her students will also lose the Skylark stage next door, which welcomed them to play all-ages shows.
“It’s a community space for sure, but a place where families can come,” Rubin said. “We have a daycare behind us that has very specific permitting, so there are a lot of families affected here for sure.”
She says additionally, businesses won’t have access to any relocation funds until Sound Transit gives them the green light, leaving them in limbo for the time being.
“We have to wait until they tell us to move and in that time, we may lose the perfect space,” said Rubin.
“Who is going to help a small business like us relocate and survive?”, said Trujillo. “We are committed to relocating ounces, and or us currently, that means when our property is acquired, we would work with Sound Transit to hopefully successfully relocate our business.”
Sound Transit provided a link online for those who have questions about the project.
“If you’re a resident, business or property owner near a potential WSLE route or station alternative, visiting the project’s Online Open House and signing up for email updates are the first steps to ensuring you are up to speed on the project. If you have any questions or you would like to set up a meeting to learn more, contact the project team at westseattlelink@soundtransit.org.
The Sound Transit Board will make a final decision on routes, stations and the project to be built after a final EIS is published for WSLE.”
(QUICK LINKS: Music lineups … vendor list … food and drink … Kids Zone info)
6:04 PM: At West Seattle Summer Fest, the crowd has grown steadily, especially now that the workday is over. Main-stage music continues – here’s the second band of the day, Chico Detour:
That’s their song “Crying at My Party.” As main-stage music continues, The Big Dark Corner is just getting going at California/Alaska by KeyBank, a new space this year – programmed by West Seattle’s The Big Dark Records. And you have a wide variety of choices for dinner and drinks – The Porch in the lot behind KeyBank, stands on that side of SW Alaska, some vendors on newly pedestrian-only SW Oregon, the beverage garden by the main stage ..
… and of course all the year-round local venues, many with outdoor cafés. Coordinators say it’s gone smoothly so far. Updates to come!
6:25 PM: That’s Leonard Jarvey and The Sock Monkeys, opening the night at The Big Dark Corner. Still to come there tonight – Sad Dad Autumn at 7, Across 35th at 7:30. Meantime, over in the Kids Zone, the foam party’s back this year:
7:39 PM: A bit of Zookraught and their dance-punk sound on the main stage:
And Across 35th has a throng at The Big Dark Corner – video:
8:20 PM: Vendors are wrapping up for the day, since the festival’s official end time – not counting music – was 8 pm. Here at the Info Booth, most everything’s rolled up too, except our table, and we’re packing up shortly (after one more band – added, here’s that video of Blackie:)
The night wraps up with Alien Crime Syndicate at 10 pm.
ADDED 11:45 PM: Thanks to WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen for clips from the night’s last two main-stage bands – Caitlin & Brent with the Passenger String Quartet:
And Alien Crime Syndicate:
P.S. Thanks to the many kind people who stopped by our table to say hi – we’ll be back tomorrow, starting at 10 am.
Seattle, WA
Seattle Kraken Sign Goaltender Victor Östman and Defenseman Ville Ottavainen to One-Year Deals | Seattle Kraken
SEATTLE (July 10, 2026) — Today, Seattle Kraken General Manager Jason Botterill announced that the club has signed goaltender Victor Östman and defenseman Ville Ottavainen both to one-year, two-way deals ($850,000 AAV) for the 2026-27 season.
Östman, 25, played his first full professional season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League (AHL), appearing in 36 games and posting a 17-15-3 record, 2.81 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and two shutouts. The 6-foot-4 goalie tallied two assists, leading all rookie netminders and tying for fifth among all AHL goaltenders. He posted a season-high 42 saves in a single game. The Danderyd, Sweden, native made his first NHL career start with the Seattle Kraken on April 16, 2026, stopping 35 shots.
Ottavainen, 23, appeared in 53 games with Coachella Valley in his third season with the Firebirds, recording 17 points (3g/14a). The 6-foot-5 blueliner finished the season with 71 penalty minutes, ranking fourth on the roster, while placing second in assists and fourth in points among Coachella Valley defensemen. During the Calder Cup Playoffs, Ottavainen scored one goal and added three assists. In 193 career regular-season AHL games, the Oulu, Finland, native has totaled 66 points (14g/52a), adding nine points (1g/8a) in 36 career playoff games.
SEATTLE – The husband of a pregnant woman killed in a random 2023 downtown Seattle shooting has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.
The complaint alleges the agency failed to act on clear warning signs exhibited by the suspect, Cordell Goosby, before he opened fire on the family.
Cordell Goosby in the foreground with the crime scene, including the white Tesla the couple were shot in, in the background
King County prosecutors say Goosby shot a married couple sitting in their car on 4th Street in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood on June 13, 2023. It resulted in the death of 34-year-old Eina Kwon, who was 32 weeks pregnant at the time. Her husband, Sung Kwon, was also injured in the shooting.
Goosby was charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder for the act, but he was found not guilty by reason of insanity this year.
The lawsuit, filed by Kwon and his attorneys, claims that Goosby was being supported by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and was provided with other services leading up to the shooting.
In the weeks leading up to the attack, Goosby allegedly told his case worker that he was hearing voices, experiencing paranoia, and thinking of conducting drive-by shootings. The complaint alleges Goosby’s case worker was repeatedly ignored by the agency’s supervisors when bringing up Goosby’s declining mental state.
An employee responsible for initiating psychiatric holds reportedly declined to see Goosby after he texted his case worker he needed to leave Seattle fast before he hurt someone, saying he would get to it in two days. The next day, Goosby carried out the shooting.
What they’re saying:
My wife and daughter should still be here. My family will never be whole again, and every day I think about the life we were supposed to have together. I am bringing this case forward because the people who were supposed to help this man looked away when it mattered most. I don’t want another family to experience the unimaginable loss that I am left with,” said Sung Kwon.
“KCRHA knew their program participant, Mr. Goosby, was in crisis. He asked them for help. He told them, over and over, that he was hearing voices and thinking about shooting people. He was threatening KCRHA employees. The warning signs could not have been more clear. Instead of getting him help or alerting law enforcement, KCRHA told its own staff to wait it out, and discouraged others from contacting police, as well. Eina and Evelyn Kwon paid for that delay with their lives,” said Julie Kline, the Schroeter Goldmark & Bender attorney representing the Kwon family.
What’s next:
The lawsuit seeks damages for wrongful death, the death of a child, and personal injury to be determined at a future trial.
FOX 13 Seattle has reached out to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority about the lawsuit and is waiting to hear back.
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The Source: Information in this story came from a press release from Seattle-based law firm Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, a complaint filed in King County Superior Court by Sung Kwon, and previous FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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