With not just the snip of ceremonial scissors but also shouts of THANK YOU! – the former Evergreen Pool, closed 7 months ago, formally reopened at midday today as Evergreen Community Aquatic Center. King County Executive Dow Constantine was there to help, and he called the public/private endeavor to get it reopened “a shining example … of new partnerships” – here’s his speech:
Also speaking, with proud words at the end of a long, determined effort to make this happen, were WhiteWater Aquatics vice president Bryan Hastings and ECAC general manager “Coach” Joel Schweiger:
A free public swim followed the dedication. The pool’s schedule, as linked here a few weeks ago, can be found here.
UPDATED SUNDAY: Our video is from just after protesters stretched into a “human chain” all the way across the South Park Bridge. But thanks to Dale Rowe for sending the photo we added Sunday:
Meantime, the people opposed to the bridge’s closure did get hoped-for media attention during their demonstration today – we saw a couple TV crews. And awareness is what it was all about, according to Bill Pease:
The county’s plan for closing the bridge remains 7 pm June 30th, and there’s no hard-and-fast plan for a replacement yet, though the money search continues. County Councilmember Jan Drago talked about it while speaking before participating in the waterborne work party that was part of the Duwamish Alive! Earth Day effort this morning – this next clip is by visual journalist Cliff DesPeaux, who covered Duwamish Alive! for our partner site West Seattle Blog:
As reported here earlier this week, the first meeting to review the county’s draft closure plan – addressing everything from traffic to business impacts – is set for 6 pm April 27 at the IAM Hall in South Park.
With that ribbon-cutting ceremony a little more than an hour ago – check out the little boy jumping for joy! – the Educare Early Learning Center at Greenbridge is now open, a year and a half after the ceremonial groundbreaking. (Lots of background here on the facility designed to serve at least 134 children, birth-5.) Big crowd on hand:
Among the crowd of hundreds, all three 34th District state legislators – from left, Rep. Eileen Cody, Sen. Joe McDermott, Rep. Sharon Nelson:
Those attending also included Bill Gates Sr. and Mimi Gates. The event started with about 45 minutes of speeches – we’ll add video of highlights – and then, the gala ribboncutting, followed by tours.
ADDED: Two speech excerpts from the pre-ribboncutting event in adjacent White Center Heights Elementary School. The most memorable speaker was Beatrice Harper, a White Center mom whose son Angelo has attended precursor programs for the past two years:
And on behalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which made a major contribution to get the center built, Greg Shaw said he had a request for everyone present:
Through White Center Early Learning Initiative, WC is one of two “demonstration areas” in the state for early-learning initiatives; the other is East Yakima. Also, our regional-news partners at the Seattle Times take a closer look in this article that’s just gone online.
Participants at Sunday’s Democratic caucus for the 34th Legislative District had so many decisions to make, some got extra-comfortable to make them. The gathering was in the cafeteria at White Center’s Mount View Elementary School – part of the unincorporated area that might be in Seattle’s sights:
Liz Giba brought her sign to the event, and spoke with inquiring parties about her belief that Burien would be a better match for all of North Highline. Meantime, the caucus’s 70 or so participants heard from all three of their state legislators:
That’s Rep. Sharon Nelson, who intends to run for the State Senate job that Sen. Joe McDermott wants to leave to run for County Council – he was there too:
The only 34th District legislator not currently planning to run for something else is Rep. Eileen Cody:
Others who addressed the caucus participants included a 34th District-residing Democrat who currently has a mega-high-profile job, King County Executive Dow Constantine – we got his entire three-and-a-half-minute speech on video for earlier coverage on partner site West Seattle Blog:
In addition to choosing delegates to the state convention, caucus participants heard from candidates in upcoming elections. Among them, Kirk Prindle – a West Seattleite who is one of five people running for one seat in the King Conservation District board election this Tuesday:
The KCD election isn’t conducted like other countywide votes. No voting by mail; no close-to-everyone polling places. You have to go vote in person at one of several polling places; the nearest are Des Moines and Downtown Seattle – they’re all listed here. Back to the caucus: The 34th District Democrats’ website should have the final results of voting up soon.
A local student from Evergreen College just finished a short film about White Center. Some cool stuff about the history of White Center and its landmarks are included:
Young swimmers like those two were among the Evergreen Pool supporters who spoke eloquently and energetically Monday night at the rally on the eve of the pool’s closure, aimed at gaining attention and momentum to make sure the closure — which starts today — is not permanent. (Here’s our first report on the rally.) Young swimmers also were on the mind of Ed Marrs, a North Highline Fire District firefighter and board president for WhiteWater Aquatics, which hopes to take over pool operation if it can strike a deal with King County Parks and Highline Public Schools, who own the site and building respectively:
The pool is lifesaving in another way, declared one of its dedicated senior swimmers, Lucy:
As noted in our earlier report, NHUAC has its regular monthly meeting this Thursday night, 7 pm at North Highline FD HQ (1243 SW 112th), and you can bet the pool’s future will be a hot topic.
Context: As Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels prepares to officially file his re-election campaign documents on Monday, we were granted an interview with him Saturday morning, for partner site West Seattle Blog. We asked one question on behalf of White Center Now: With the Seattle City Council having turned thumbs down on the Memorandum of Understanding his office worked out with Burien (and others) regarding annexation (February WCN coverage here), what happens now? This video includes the entirety of his answer – mostly prefaced with background on the sales-tax incentive vote, which he thinks was the council’s only real sticking point:
If you’re interested in the rest of our interview, we’re parceling it out in multiple reports on WSB; watch the West Seattle Politics archive, where two stories are already posted as of this writing early Sunday.
We caught up with the parade at 15th SW and SW 98th — our main camera choked and we had to pull out the trusty backup, but if you didn’t get to see it in person, this video (and music!!!) still suggests the flavor of the fun. If you see this before mid-evening, there’s still time to get over to Cafe Rozella for the concert that followed the parade. Scroll down the WCN home page to read Ricardo‘s earlier reports to find out more about the history of this tradition. ADDED LATER: We did manage to get a short clip of the end of the parade at Cafe Rozella, with a clearer view of the dancers in the shade:
Here are some more pictures from last night’s performance of Afro-Peruvian music and dance at Cafe Rozella.
That’s surveillance camera video showing some of the people involved in a multiple shooting Tuesday in SeaTac;
The Sheriff’s Office is looking for any witnesses to yesterday’s shooting in SeaTac. Two men were wounded one critically. In addition, a possible suspect was shot in the groin, and the circumstances surrounding that injury remain unclear.
A video is attached that shows the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The video starts just after about 20 rounds were fired from an AK-47 or similar rifle into a stopped car occupied by four people, include a 2 year-old boy.
(Detectives now believe there were at least two shooters and at least two guns.)
About 8 seconds into the video the victim’s Cadillac can be seen trying to force its way through congested traffic after the shots were fired. Then the suspect’s Ford Taurus comes into clear view as three suspects clamber back into the car and it flees northbound on International Blvd.
➢ Detectives would like to speak with anyone who was stuck in traffic and may be able to identify the suspects. (The Taurus used by the shooters has been located.)
Witnesses are asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hrs).
We stopped by last night just in time to catch Tyson Ballew‘s last two songs. Lots going on along 16th the next few days/nights too: 8 pm tonight, Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death plays Full Tilt; tomorrow, the first Rat City Rummage, 10 am-6 pm in the old skating rink; Sunday, Full Tilt Ice Cream hosts its beer/ice-cream tasting event, 3 pm.
That’s King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, who represents White Center and West Seattle (among other areas), announcing he’s running for County Executive. More details at our partner site West Seattle Blog.
That’s White Center Now/West Seattle Blog video of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels joining in the Clean and Green cleanup this morning, helping give a kiosk a new coat of paint. More than two dozen people joined in the cleanup that launched from just outside the White Center Community Development Association, including WCCDA reps and volunteers from the Boys and Girls Clubs, and volunteers were treated to fresh coffee from nearby Cafe Rozella.
That’s White Center Now/West Seattle Blog video of the Seattle Fire Department Pipes and Drums Band and the Walter Kilgore Memorial Honor Guard tonight at Holy Family School (20th and Roxbury; map). They helped pay tribute to the four firefighters who lost their lives 14 years ago tonight in Seattle’s notorious Pang warehouse arson; the memorial was part of a benefit dinner will be held to raise money for scholarships to be awarded at HF by the Randy Terlicker Endowment Fund, named after a Holy Family alumnus who was one of those four lost heroes (the others: the Honor Guard’s namesake Lt. Kilgore, Lt. Greg Shoemaker, and firefighter James Brown).
That’s video provided byShorewood Christian School from its bell choir’s performance at Southcenter last week – and Hope Kerkof says they’ll be there again this Wednesday, 1 pm at the dining terrace!
Thanks to Shorewood Christian School for e-mailing to call our attention to that clip they posted on YouTube after 5th graders went to work at the Burien-Highline Food Bank; we told you earlier about the school’s food drive to help the White Center Food Bank (which you can help anytime by donating online; here’s the link). Here’s the full news release about their latest project: Read the rest of this entry »
What he had to say was almost as intriguing as what he had to play; maybe that’s why the show listing called it “White Center Weird Fest.” That’s Calvin Johnson, Saturday night at Full Tilt Ice Cream.
