White Center Now: The blog about White Center

The White Center Food Bank is asking for more support as it deals with more need. “While SNAP/food stamp benefits have been temporarily restored, uncertainty remains and the demand on our services continues to grow. We were stretched thin even before these shifts, and we are actively working to ensure we can continue meeting the evolving needs of our community,” writes WCFB’s Randy Nguyen in the food bank’s “end-of-year appeal.” They’re thankful for “incredible support, from hosted food drives to financial donations and volunteer hours, all of which have helped us keep our community fed,” but now is the time to step it up: “This season is a crucial time for nonprofits, and every gift helps us meet the growing needs of families, seniors, and individuals who rely on our services, while ensuring we can keep the community fed into the new year, when donations decline but demand remains steady.” Last year, WCFB distributed more than 1.6 million pounds of food, and this year’s total will be higher. They’re asking you, if you can, to make a tax-deductible gift before year’s end – just go here.

Eight months before the 2026 primary, eleven months before the 2026 general election, our area’s King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda is launching her re-election campaign. Mosqueda left the Seattle City Council to join the County Council after winning 55 percent of the vote in November 2023. She’ll be running for re-election after three years rather than four years because voters approved changing the county charter so that these are even-year elections rather than odd years as in the past. Mosqueda’s announcement came in a news release that says she has “strengthened housing stability, expanded public health services, protected workers, and delivered meaningful investments to communities from West Seattle, to Capitol Hill, Downtown Seattle, South Park, the Duwamish Valley, White Center, Burien, Tukwila, and of course Vashon-Maury Island.” It also says: “A Campaign Launch event is scheduled for January 8th in White Center.” We just checked the state website and it does not appear anyone else has registered a campaign for this position yet.

4:25 PM: King County Sheriff’s Deputies are investigating a shooting near the former Bartell Drugs building at 15th/Roxbury. They got the first call a few minutes before 4 pm; one person was subsequently reported to have a gunshot wound to their finger, not life-threatening. No description of the shooter so far other than “unknown-race male in dark clothing.”

4:48 PM: Most deputies have cleared the area (our photographer just saw the ones shown above) and the street has been reopened. Here’s the early info from KCSO:

Deputies responded to the area of SW Roxbury St & 15th Ave SW after reports of shots being fired came into the Communications Center just before 4 PM today. Preliminarily, deputies have located one adult male with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. They’re working to locate surveillance footage and witnesses that may provide information about a suspect.

(WCN photos)

Gift-shopping? Enjoy rummage-sale-style treasure-hunting? You have one more chance to catch the White Center Library Guild‘s sale, on Saturday. Books, of course:

But also trading cards:

And unusual items:

Plus handmade items:

The sale continues 11 am-4 pm Saturday in the community room at WC Library (1409 SW 107th)

Seen today. If you’re looking for a tree – particularly a non-plastic type that can be reused in later years – this just might be what you’re looking for! Other fresh trees are due in next week.

White Center is alive with art tonight (Thursday, November 20) – it’s time for the third Thursday Rat City Art (and Food) Walk! Here is the participant list that organizers posted:

Your holiday shopping can also serve as reusing/recycling – buy gently used books and other items at the White Center Library Guild‘s bazaar and book sale, coming up next Friday-Saturday:

With the next two years’ King County budget nearing the final stages of review, tonight brings a “town hall” hearing in which you can participate either in person or online.

The King County budget is expected to total more than $19 billion over the next two years. It’s a wide-ranging budget – including services from transit to wastewater treatment (as shown in the pie chart above).

To comment on any budget topic(s), tonight’s 5:30 pm hearing is on the 10th floor at 516 Third Avenue downtown, or accessible via this Zoom link, using Webinar ID 867 1228 9077. You also can comment via this online form or email budget.council@kingcounty.gov.

First Thursday of the month is usually when the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council convenes an information-filled community gathering. But not this week, nor the rest of the winter. Here’s the announcement NHUAC sent us to share with you:

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council will not be holding a November meeting. We will be taking a winter break and will resume meetings in February 2026.

In the meantime:

Thanks to everyone who attended the informative Oct 2nd NHUAC meeting with guests, King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall and King County Executive candidates Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay. If you missed the meeting, please see the excellent report and video from whitecenternow.

Election Day is November 4th. The ballot drop box has moved from the White Center Library to Steve Cox Memorial Park.

Road Concerns: Contact King County 24/7 Road Helpline @ 206.296.8100

To report Illegal Dumping: Contact King County Illegal Dumping Hotline @ 206.296.7483

Stay safe; see you in February.

(Photo courtesy Evergreen Aquatic Center)

White Center’s only community pool, Evergreen Aquatic Center, continues to appreciate your support! Its annual fundraiser, the Fall Harvest Bingo Bash, is happening Saturday, November 15. Ticket sales are on right now for the event, which organizers tell us “will feature bingo games, refreshments, an auction, and more, with all proceeds supporting Evergreen Aquatic Center and its continued service to the community.” That means free or lower-cost swim lessons for hundreds of local families! The Bingo Bash is 6-9 pm at Seahurst Banquet Hall (14700 6th SW, Burien), and you can get your ticket(s) right now by going here.

Reminder – you’re invited to this community festival today at 20th/Roxbury!

(WCN/WSB photos)

Just take an umbrella along with your trick-or-treat bag, and you’ll be fine! White Center’s trick-or-treat-and-more block party is defying the wet weather.

Smiles and treats abounded during our visit. Even pets were in costume.

Creative decorations, too.

And a reminder that Halloween is followed immediately by Dia de los Muertos:

Trick or treating continues until 7.

Downtown White Center is where to be on Halloween afternoon/evening:

We’ve been showing reader photos of Halloween displays all month on partner site West Seattle Blog – and this one is in White Center:

Lacey sent the photos and info for tonight’s spotlight Halloween display!

I wanted to let you all know about my display The Last Resort Hotel. I am planning on having my yard open to walk through on Thursday Oct. 30 from 4-8 pm and on Friday Oct. 31 from 4-9 pm. White Center Trick or Treat goes from 4-7 pm, so that is a great time to come and visit! We are located on 18th Ave SW between Roxbury and SW 98th St. I will have a bin for people to drop off nonperishable items for White Center Food Bank as well as a link for people who would like to donate online. I would really love to make this an annual tradition. It is a lot of work to set this up and I want to share it with people and find a way to give back.

Every year I decorate the inside of my yard for my son’s birthday, and this year we have taken on a new theme The Last Resort Hotel. Inside the yard you will find The Last Gasp Gift Shop with zombie snacks and tombstones for sale. The Witch Way Cafe hosts a bubbling cauldron and a creepy doll party. You can visit Zombie Place on the way to the Morgue, but watch out for dangling body parts!

It is definitely more fun to visit at night with all of the lighting on, but during the day there is still lots to enjoy and may feel less scary for the little ones.

Story and photos by Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for White Center Now

Fall was in the air at the October Rat City Art and Food Walk, and Halloween was front and center. Almost every artist there paid Halloween homage in some way or other. Here were some of the spooky sights we managed to catch a glimpse of:

The highlight of the night was “Madame B’s Dark Bazaar” at Mr. B’s Mead Center – 13 separate vendors both inside and outside the meadery, all offering a unique selection of goods. DJ StarTropic also played a long set for Mr. B’s. Here were some highlights:

Trusty John of Trusty John’s Junk Shop made an appearance as a swashbuckling buccaneer, even offering to play liar’s dice with anyone stopping by. He is a local artist, working mostly in ceramics. Part of his display were these lovely ‘dragon eggs’ done in the style of Japanese Raku ceramics. He’ll be hosting an event where you can get one of these eggs custom-made at Mr. B’s next month.

Christy Badillois a local terrarium designer. She was offering a wide variety of her self-contained glass terrariums for sale.

Eli Wolff is a pop artist who had a whole host of pop culture and horror-adjacent work available. His process, he said, was mostly acrylic paint on wood, often then copying over to stickers – but he also had some full art on display as well. If you’d like another chance to get his work, he said he also regularly appears at the year-round Haunted Farmers Market in Tacoma.

Misfit Strength Studio offered aerial silk performances from students in their own studio, as well as hosting belly dancing. The bellydancers were from the Seattle group ‘Sirens of Serpentine‘ [], as one of the troupe members also teaches at the studio.

Outside the Lariat Bar, Joseph Hill had interesting offerings for anyone still looking for a costume. He had leather caps and medieval garb for sale, which he said were old costume stock from his days performing with the Seattle Knights, a local medieval-theater troupe. He also had a variety of chain-mail goods, ranging from purses to keychains, all hand-made.

Appropriately, the recently opened Trove of Treasure also had artists with a distinctively macabre theme.

Danni Maika’i was there with a selection of their more horror-themed sketches and prints. Danni primarily works as a tattoo artist. If you’d like to see more of their work, you can find them here.

Arpeggio Romiti offered a selection of dark bead-embroidery work, with a rendition of the elephant man from David Lynch‘s eponymous movie, and a series of skulls and flowers. They also had pieces from their series “Swimming with the Fishes,” featuring the faces of unidentified persons attached to various sea creatures. If you’d like to see more of their work, you can find their website here; they also mentioned that they have some of their embroidery on display currently at Doll Parts Collective in West Seattle.

Even though the weather is getting colder, many participating artists were on the street. Moony of Kitty’s Kandis had a display of impressive bead work for sale, inspired by rave culture.

Naomi Benson, sporting season-appropriate vampire fangs, was offering various pieces ranging from psychedelic collage to nature-inspired prints. She said she’ll be at the West Seattle Art Walk in December, featured at Canna.

Even with much of the art walk focusing on the holiday, there were still many artists there with a focus on social justice in between their more seasonal work.

Kristel Chua of Centipede Zines was in the lobby of Misfit Strength Studio with a selection of her zines available for sale. Much of her work focuses on contemporary political critique, tackling larger issues of decolonization and resistance against capitalism. She said also that there’s a visual component to it as well, hand-designing the artistic assets for her zines. If you’d like another chance to get some of her work, she’ll be at the Zine Fest at Woodland Theater on December 6th.

The Rat City Art Walk occurs on the third Thursday of every month. The next one will be on November 20th. If you’d like more information, visit their website here.

15 days remain to vote in the general election. If you hadn’t heard, you need to know that King County Elections has moved the White Center ballot drop box. Above is our photo of its new location on SW 102nd outside Steve Cox Memorial Park; previously, it was outside the White Center Library. We asked KCE spokesperson Halei Watkins about the reason for the move; she replied, “Due to its popularity! We are so grateful to KCLS and the White Center Library for hosting that location for many years. However, we’ve heard that in busy elections in particular, the parking lot just couldn’t safely accommodate the number of voters looking to use that box. That’s a great problem to have – we needed more space for folks returning their ballot!” Here’s the county map of all drop box locations; they’re open until exactly 8 pm Tuesday, November 4. Meantime, as noted after ballots were mailed last week, KCE says you should get yours by today, so if you don’t, call 206-296-VOTE.

The Rat City Art and Food Walk happens every third Thursday. So here’s where to be this Thursday night (October 16)!

Halloween is less than three weeks away and the spooky season is on. Here’s a haunted happening today in White Center:

Handmade and Vintage Haunted Marketplace from 12-6 at Cher Baby Vintage, Tomb of Treasure, Puffy Pandy, and Tim’s Tavern

Marketplace 12-4 at Lumberyard with a Daytime Discotek to follow 5-8 pm

Punk bands playing at Tim’s Tavern

Live DJ and Artist Highlight at 2 Fingers Social

Go wander!

Tonight’s the night for a community grand-opening celebration at the new Evergreen High School (630 SW 116th), 4-7 pm, including self-guided tours.

The White Center Library says the Pride Family Book Club is coming up later this month – here’s the announcement we were asked to share:

Join your local children’s librarian and members of the White Center Pride Committee to socialize with other rainbow families and allies. Play board games, make a craft, and share your favorite children’s books celebrating LGBTQ+ pride at a fun family book club. October 18, 2025 – 2:30 pm-4 pm.

The library is at 1409 SW 107th.