White Center Now: The blog about White Center

7 pm tonight (Friday) – come be the talent, the audience, or both, at a new outdoor open-mike night at Greenbridge Plaza. Full details on this Facebook event page.

Hundreds of people are having a great time at Greenbridge Plaza right now, as the White Center Promise celebration continues till 6:30 pm. The poverty-fighting initiative is about education in a big way – and local high-school students are helping underscore that, including the cheer team, above, and the Highline High School robotics team, below:

Plenty of sun, and a chance to learn more from WCCDA about the White Center Promise program – “cradle to college to career strategies,” as explained here.

Couldn’t be better weather for a big celebration at Greenbridge Plaza (8th SW and SW 98th) today – part of the White Center Community Development Association‘s White Center Promise campaign, aimed at eradicating poverty in WC. Be there 4-6:30 pm for free local food and entertainment.

Story and photos by Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

Harlem’s World Children’s Boutique is one of White Center’s newest businesses, open less than a month in a retail space that is part of a live-work unit in the Greenbridge community directly across from the Greenbridge Plaza on 8th SW in White Center, not far south of Roxbury.

Owner Danté Mitchell is a first-time business owner at 30 years old. He is a graduate of the StartZone small business program at Highline Community College and is ready to make his mark as a specialist in new and lightly worn, hard-to-find children’s clothing.

Dante shared his vision for his small, nicely stocked store, tucked between the King County Sheriff’s Greenbridge Office and another live-work unit housing a hair salon.

“I just want to bring something to the community that is contemporary and fashionable, but at a reasonable cost to my customers. I know how it is sometimes for kids if you don’t have the right clothes or right “look” growing up. Children will tease each other. So I want to provide options to help build the children’s self-esteem, so they feel comfortable and confident,” he said. “And I want to help the parents as well by letting them know they can spend in a way that is not too strenuous for their pocketbooks for great clothing and merchandise.“

“But,” he continues, “this is about more than just making money in the community. It’s also about networking with other organizations, such as Cherish A Jewel, which assists single mothers throughout Seattle. We are partnering to impact the communities at large. I will offer her members discounts at our store. And you know, there are times when mothers can’t afford anything, so sometimes we just bless them with clothing for their children just to help them get started.”

Dante also points out an empty case that was to be filled soon with kids’ jewelry.

“I love kids and hope to be a parent one day — I am working on getting married,” he says with a smile. “But I am mentor to a lot of nephews and nieces and kids in my church. I volunteer at missions and homeless shelters with kids too. Harlem’s World is named after my god-daughter Harlem,” he says softly, pointing to Harlem’s picture, proudly centered on the store wall.

Harlem’s World carries sizes newborn to 18. Name brands such as Juicy Couture, True Religion and Baby Couture and Gap are crisply steam-pressed and meticulously arranged on racks in the small, clean and comfortable space. There’s a bargain table as well with stacks of even lower-priced items available to peruse.

Dante has been debating about whether to open the store to consignment agreements, but is not yet venturing in that direction. The hours are currently Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 am– 6 pm, 9830 8th SW, #104, and he invites you to stop by with your kids to say hello and have a look.

From the Boys and Girls Club in Greenbridge:

Southwest Boys & Girls Club in White Center Teams Up With USDA Simplified Summer Food Program to Provide Supper for More Kids

The Southwest Boys & Girls Club announces the sponsorship of the Simplified Summer Food Program for Children. Meals will be made available at no charge to attending children 18 years of age and younger.

All meals are available without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Any person who believes that he or she has been discriminated against should write immediately to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington D.C. 20250-9410 or call toll free (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TTY). The USDA is an equal opportunity employer.

The Southwest Boys & Girls Club is located at 9800 8th Ave SW, Suite 105.

Supper is available Monday – Friday, June 27th – July 1st, and August 15th -September 6th (except on Labor Day, September 5th) from 5:00-5:30 pm.

An announcement we were invited to share:

Greenbridge Community Active Together Forum” is coming up…

What? Bring your ideas to make Greenbridge an even better place to live.
When? This Friday December 17 from 5:30 to 8:30pm
Where? Greenbridge Library/YWCA, 9720 8th Ave SW

Local entertainment, food prepared in Greenbridge, childcare and interpretation will be provided.

Hosted by Greenbridge Community Action Team, Be Active Together, and the King County Housing Authority.

Questions? Jen Calleja (206) 832-9656 or jcalleja@nwha.org

Mai Son (206) 331-7147 Thinquoc.son@gmail.com

Followup on our report that Seattle City Light planned to inspect Greenbridge streetlights and poles after a “contact voltage” discovery in West Seattle’s similarly built High Point neighborhood: Tonight, SCL says the inspections didn’t turn up anything in Greenbridge. Here’s the full story from partner site West Seattle Blog.

It’s what you don’t see in that photo that’s more noteworthy than what you do see. Gill shared photos after noticing that the graffiti vandalism east of the stairs around the 98th Street Corridor-area pond is gone, as is the graffiti on the nearby stone wall.

However, one eyesore remains (we’ve blurred the tag as per our policy):

The graffiti vandalism was a lingering problem after some repairs had been done on other damage nearby so that the corridor could be reopened to walkers (here’s our report from three weeks ago, also courtesy of Gill).

(WCN/WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
First, he got the hoodie – then, it was time to walk:

(WCN/WSB photo by Ellen Cedergreen)
This morning at White Center Heights Elementary in Greenbridge, King County Executive Dow Constantine joined in a Walk to School Month event:

He wasn’t the only celebrity on hand, though:

(WCN/WSB photo by Ellen Cedergreen)
Walk to School Month events are in conjunction with Feet First.

(Top, moderator Jerry Robison, during the forum, with Joe McDermott and Diana Toledo; bottom, Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey right before it began)
It’ll take some time to write the full report since the candidates’ forum presented by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council tonight ran almost two and a half hours, but here’s a really quick summary: NHUAC’s Barbara Dobkin told your editor here (covering on behalf of both White Center Now and West Seattle Blog) afterward that they’re “thrilled” they drew such a huge turnout for the forum – the room at the Greenbridge YWCA Education Center was packed. NHUAC’s Pat Price gave a short introduction, and longtime community leader Jerry Robison moderated the forum expertly. A collection of pre-prepared questions – NHUAC had solicited e-mailed inquiries – and “live” audience questions ranged across a wide variety of topics, from White Center annexation to abortion rights. The first audience question came from the White Center/West Seattle entrepreneur who ran in one of the spotlighted races:

Mac’s Triangle Pub owner Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy would have asked the last question too, but he yielded to a man who hadn’t asked anything yet. (He was the third-place finisher in the 34th District House #2 race.) Other questioners included people from White Center and West Seattle, including several who identified themselves as Greenbridge residents (the development itself was the topic of several questions). Moderator Robison sat at a desk between one containing the 34th District State House Position 2 candidates, Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey, and one containing the King County Council District 8 candidates, Joe McDermott and Diana Toledo. Though the state race was the closest in the primary between its “top two,” those two candidates clashed on virtually nothing, while the county candidates jabbed at each other several times, over items from factual errors to mischaracterizations.

We have the entirety of the forum on video which we will publish as soon as it’s uploaded, both here and on partner site WSB, and we’ll be writing a longer article with overall highlights, too. While Election Day is officially November 2nd, you should have your ballot by now, and that’s the deadline to send it in or drop it off if you haven’t done so already. More to come!

10:38 PM UPDATE: Here’s part 1 of the video:

11 PM: And part 2:

12:50 AM: Part 3:

Again, separate article to come.

Announced today by the King County Sheriff’s Office:

Sheriff Sue Rahr will join other law enforcement leaders on Wednesday, September 15th as a report is released showing that investing in early learning programs reduces crime in the long run and saves dollars on the state’s education budget as well.

The report shows investments in high quality, voluntary early learning programs reduce the need for special education placements and other Kindergarten through Grade 12 education expenses.

“I am in favor of anything that helps kids succeed, and keeps them away from a life of crime. Early learning centers have a positive impact, I’m all for those programs”, says Rahr.

Sheriff Rahr will be joined by Normandy Park Police Chief Rick Kieffer and Burien Police Chief Scott Kimerer at the event.

It’s been almost six months since the Educare center was dedicated – here’s our coverage from that sunny day in March.

3:30 PM: We’ve been covering this on partner site West Seattle Blog but it affects White Center drivers too – by Greenbridge, 8th/Roxbury is mostly blocked by a two-car crash. People have had to be extricated from the wreckage of one vehicle. At least three people are hurt. We’re at the scene and gathering more information now. 3:55 PM UPDATE: One lane is open each way at the intersection but you’ll still want to avoid it if you can, for a while – the Seattle Police investigation team has just arrived, and their work at scenes of major crashes usually takes a while. Here’s the scene once they put up the tape:

We now know that four people went to the hospital (at least one of them, a child, according to the scanner) – two by medic unit, two by private ambulance.

Not everything comes in through e-mail – sometimes, it’s helpful just to get out and wander the neighborhood. Doing so, we learn that Greenbridge‘s next Neighborhood Night is coming up at 6:30 pm May 14th in the Joe Thomas Room at the big complex on 8th SW just south of Roxbury. Info about neighborhood services, board-game playing, and other “free fun activities for all ages” are promised. And if you can’t make it May 14th, Greenbridge Neighborhood Nights are also planned for July 15th, September 17th and November 19th.

Click pic to play video

White Center Now was there a year and a half ago when ground was broken for the Educare Early Learning Center in Greenbridge – our video shows U.S. Sen. Patty Murray helping with the ceremonial shovel-turning – and we’ll be there this Saturday for the grand-opening celebration. It’ll start with speeches at 1 pm, followed by an open house with tours 2-4 pm. It’s adjacent to White Center Heights Elementary. Read on for the official announcement: Read the rest of this entry »

Dubsea’s Joerael Elliott shares the poster:

(Cross-posted at partner site West Seattle Blog)

Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for White Center Now/West Seattle Blog

A joint event between the Southwest Boys and Girls Club, the Red Cross and HOPE worldwide at Greenbridge (map) combined messages of civil rights and disaster preparedness to honor and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.

The event was kicked off by the Seahawks’ Blue Thunder drummers and an opening speech by North Highline Fire District Fire Chief Scott LaVielle. Chief LaVielle spoke about fire safety— which is being highlighted by the Red Cross — and quoted from speeches by John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy to highlight the importance of caring for our communities.

Red Cross Coordinator Beth Jusino notes that MLK Day is viewed by her organization as “A day on, not a day off” in service to the community. After the event, volunteers dispersed into the Greenbridge neighborhood to place door-hangers regarding fire safety and earthquake preparedness at the surrounding homes. The information is printed in both English and Spanish. (In case you’re not in the area flyered – here’s the Red Cross’s infopage on fire safety.)

Jusino adds that in light of the Haitian earthquake, people have opened their hearts to the world community; today, people are focusing on opening their hearts to their local community – and the volunteers who are spreading the word about helping each other, locally and globally.

Greenbridge’s new Dubsea Coffee has announced its second art show, with a reception for artist Kelda Martensen coming up January 16th.