While setup went on outside for the Greenbridge Plaza party that’s part of today’s White Center Spring Clean, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott – sporting a maroon Spring Clean T-shirt – spoke to more than 50 people at Dubsea Coffee this morning. His hourlong Q/A touched on topics from Occupy Wall Street to the presidential election to farm subsidies, with much more inbetween. We recorded it all on video and will add that later, along with more toplines.

ADDED 3:23 PM: There’s the video – note it’s a coffeehouse and a casual roving format, so the audio quality varies greatly!

That’s the crew on duty this morning shortly after the Kiwanis Club of White Center kicked off its sale at Greenbridge Plaza, which was on the map for our partner site West Seattle Blog‘s annual WS Community Garage Sale Day, one of 245 sales today from Alki Beach in the north to the Arroyos in the South, with this sale one of four in the WC area. The plaza and the sale layout made for a lovely overview:

The money raised by the WC Kiwanis was earmarked for youth programs.

Join us for our Celebration “Coming Home” which will honor our students, alumni and lifelong supporters of the Southwest Boys & Girls Club

Our Mission: Opening doors to GREAT futures

Why we need your support: It is so important to continue to provide experiences and investment in the future of the kids who rely on the Boys & Girls Club

Our challenge: With reduced state funding, tighter corporate budgets and now so many more families in need, we must rely on the support of people like you who can make a difference.

Thursday, May 10, 2012
7:00 – 8:30 AM
Program promptly begins at 7:30AM

Guest Speakers

Jack Thompson, former NFL quarterback
Evergreen High School Grad, WSU Grad, current banking consultant with Sterling Bank

Gene Woodard
Director of Facilities Services at UW, Club Kid from Portola Boys Club in San Francisco, Southwest Youth Hoops Coach 1998

Justin Cox
2007 Southwest Youth of the Year & King County Youth of the Year & 2011 WSU Grad

Southwest Boys & Girls Club Gymnasium
9800 8th Ave SW, Suite 105 – Seattle, WA

To reserve your seat call 206-436-1911 or email eslagle@positiveplace.org

The aerial view of Greenbridge is courtesy of West Seattle pilot/photographer Long B. Nguyen, who often shares spectacular views with our partner site West Seattle Blog. In this case, his image of Greenbridge landed in our inbox about the same time we received a note from King County Housing Authority project manager James Rooney, announcing a milestone – the first homes sold at Greenbridge.

The development’s status had been a source of some controversy with local community activists, since it was intended to be more a mix of owned and rented homes, like West Seattle’s High Point. Last fall, construction of the first seven homes intended for sale began at 8th and 100th. And now, Rooney tells WCN, they’re done, and sales have closed on four of them, with one more under contract, leaving two up for sale. He adds, “Although these homes are available for all buyers, HomeSight is offering up to $45,000 in down-payment assistance to buyers earning up to 80% of area median income.” (In case you’re househunting – here’s the official flyer.)

Thanks to Eric and Kristen, who both sent word of what looked like a car-bicycle crash at 8th and Roxbury earlier this morning – but was instead a case of a pedestrian hit by a car, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West. Sgt. West says the driver was southbound on 8th, getting ready to turn left (eastbound) onto Roxbury, and was apparently “blinded by the sun” when she hit a 67-year-old woman who was walking northbound across the street. She was driving very slowly, Sgt. West says, so the pedestrian suffered only “very minor injuries.” The bicycle seen on the ground by passersby belonged to a witness who stopped to help, NOT to the victim, according to Sgt. West.