White Center Now: The blog about White Center

ORIGINAL 12:34 AM REPORT: If you have to take Highway 509 this early morning, a traffic alert in Burien: A major crash has closed 509 both ways at South 128th (map), and it’s still closed right now (12:33 am) – that’s all we know, but we wanted to share the traffic alert. 1:31 AM UPDATE: KIRO TV reports one person has died because of the crash. 5:53 AM UPDATE: The highway is now open again. The State Patrol confirms one death, a Federal Way man – read ahead for their account of what happened: Read the rest of this entry »

If you are in the recently annexed North Burien (North Highline) area and have lived there at least a year, you’re eligible to run for the suddenly opening Burien City Council seat, according to this news release:

The City of Burien is accepting applications for City Council Position 6 which is being vacated on Dec. 31, 2010. Incumbent Councilmember Kathy Keene recently announced she is leaving the position in order to retire in Florida next year.

Applicants must be a registered voter and have lived in the City for at least one year. Residents of the North Highline area that was annexed to Burien in April 2010 are eligible if they have lived in their North Highline residence at least one year.

Prospective Councilmembers should have an interest in City government and in serving their community. Councilmembers typically attend three or more evening Council meetings a month and participate on local and regional governmental organizations. Councilmembers are paid $600 per month.

The City Council will review the applications and interview top candidates. Councilmembers will vote the appointment at the Jan. 3, 2011, Council meeting after which the successful applicant will be sworn into office. The newly appointed Councilmember will fulfill Keene’s term which expires on Dec. 31, 2011. The Councilmember will have to run for the office at the next General Election, in November 2011, to continue in the position.

Applications are available at City Hall, 400 S.W. 152nd St,, Ste. 300, online at www.burienwa.gov or by calling (206) 248-5517. Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m. on Oct. 27.

We’re at the 34th District Democrats‘ monthly meeting in West Seattle’s Fauntleroy neighborhood, on behalf of White Center Now and partner site West Seattle Blog, and Burien City Councilmember Brian Bennett – toddler daughter in arms – is currently speaking to the group. Among the topics he’s touched on: Annexation of the rest of North Highline, including White Center. Bennett told the group he feels that “North Highline has the potential to be one of the most thriving, dynamic communities in our region, and they need strong representation – we need to make sure they get that. Personally, I favor giving them the opportunity to join Burien … I think they would have a strong voice, and that we can provide strong services to them … but we’re going to have to provide a strong voice (in making that happen).” (Bennett says he grew up on what is currently the line between North Burien and the remaining unincorporated area.) Currently Seattle is on a not-too-fast-track to pursuing a possible annexation vote next year; Burien considered fast-tracking one some months back, but ultimately pulled back.

Wishing you a safe and happy 4th of July. Till midnight, it’s legal to use fireworks within the unincorporated area – but just the type that are sold here, not the heavy-duty kind. No fireworks show in White Center itself, nor in Burien – but there’s one in Three Tree Point. Burien does have a 4th of July Parade – starts at 3 pm (more info here).

Just a quick reminder: Though fireworks have been for sale in the unincorporated area since Monday, using them is ONLY legal 9 am-midnight on Sunday. And if you are within the Seattle or Burien city limits, they are NOT legal at all.

Thanks to Steve for the photo, which we’ve cropped so it doesn’t give away sensitive information – he e-mailed to let us know about a police standoff in the area of 14th/124th in Burien (map), involving threats between family members in a nearby residence. Since he shared the info with us, we’re letting you know in case you’re planning to head through that area. No word of any injuries so far.

Toplines from last night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council< meeting: Council members voiced concerns about the county’s public-safety cuts – which elected officials say will have to be made unless new revenue is found, such as the sales-tax increase that’s being proposed for the August ballot. Heidi Johnson proposed writing to County Executive Dow Constantine to voice the NHUAC concerns, and her fellow councilmembers agreed. They’re already worried about a perception of lower King County Sheriff’s Office presence in what remains of the unincorporated area. Other councilmembers are suggesting that KCSO Major Jim Graddon come to a future NHUAC meeting to discuss the staffing situation.

The upcoming election was another big topic. If you’re eligible to vote in the NHUAC elections – check complete information on the council’s home page – you can come to the North HIghline Fire District headquarters between 6 and 8 on Tuesday night, May 20th, to cast your ballot. (Candidates also are listed on that page.) Council members who are not on the ballot this time will be there too, to listen to community concerns.

As usual, the council heard from Burien City Manager Mike Martin. His briefing included news of an opening ceremony at 10 am next Tuesday for the satellite City of Burien office at 11846 Des Moines Memorial Drive (map). The ceremony will include dedication of a plaque honoring the late NHUAC member Barb Peters.

The approaching June 30th closure of the South Park Bridge is on the council members’ minds too – they’ve sent a letter to the federal Department of Transportation, cc’d to Sen. Patty Murray and County Executive Constantine, expressing support for finding money as soon as possible to replace the bridge.

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council regularly meets the first Thursday of the month, 7 pm, at North Highline FD headquarters; find them online at www.northhighlineuac.org.

Two notes: First, it’s the start of the Highline Public Schools weeklong spring break; second, tonight’s Burien City Council meeting will be preceded by a reception for new North Burien residents (aka the former North Highline South annexation zone) at 6:30 pm – the full council agenda is here.

Beneath the flag, that’s Greg Duff, who’s presiding over his last meeting as North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president – 2nd from left in the photo, it’s council member Ray Helms. As tonight’s NHUAC meeting began, Duff and Helms were honored by Linda Robson on behalf of King County Councilmember Jan Drago‘s office, lauded for their service (both are now Burien residents). Otherwise, the “North Burien” transition for the south section of the former unincorporated area is of course the big news; right now, Burien city manager Mike Martin is briefing the group on various matters. Martin has just announced Burien will seek a $150,000 Community Development Block Grant for playground equipment in Puget Sound Park, acknowledging he’s telling this group before telling the council (although at least one member is here and said, “You’re forgiven”). He also says that preliminary projections from the US Census that’s under way indicate North Burien may have 16,000 people, not 14,000 (and he says that if the “original” Burien goes past the 31,000 expectation, this could make it a city of nearly 50,000).

Earlier, NHUAC member Pat Price announced that volunteers will be very much welcome at Evergreen Aquatic Center next week (Highline Public Schools‘ spring break) as they get ready to reopen the pool. More to come as the meeting unfolds.

That’s the bright and cheery image you’ll find on the City of Burien website’s informational page about the North Highline South Annexation that officially takes effect tomorrow. There’ve been so many outreach efforts that we doubt anyone in the area hasn’t gotten word of it yet, but just in case you’re left with any questions, the page is link-laden. And of course there’s a map:

If you open the map from the Burien site, you can zoom in to follow the borders of the annexation zone. In the West, from Seola Beach Drive, it follows SW 112th to 15th SW, jogs south a bit, then heads eastward on SW 114th to 10th SW, heading south again to SW 116th; east of 509, it jogs northward to 112th again, then at 16th S, north yet again to 107th and 108th the rest of the way. So it may take a while to memorize exactly who’s in the city limits and who’s not. Meantime, there’s also a “frequently asked questions” page here.

8:02 PM: That’s Mark Ufkes, president of the White Center Chamber of Commerce and supporter of Seattle annexing northern North Highline, speaking to the Burien City Council a short time ago. He’s part of a full house there to talk about annexation among other hot topics. As we mentioned earlier, the meeting’s being streamed live online as usual. It’s an hour into the meeting now and they’re still in the public-comment period, before councilmembers vote on a resolution that would formally indicate interest in annexing most of the rest of North Highline. “Burien needs all of North Highline to make the city complete,” North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president Greg Duff has just told the council, which is hearing impassioned pleas from people on both sides. This process took on a new light last Friday when it was suddenly announced that Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn no longer wanted to move toward an annexation vote in northern North Highline this year, but maybe one in November 2011 instead. More later.

8:18 PM: The public-comment period finally just wrapped up.

8:23 PM: Burien city manager Mike Martin has just noted something that was hinted at in a WCN comment — Comcast now has Burien’s cable channel in “Area X,” the North Highline South area that will join the city next week, though Martin acknowledged the cable company had previously said that might take at least a year.

9:11 PM: The motion to indicate interest in annexing northern North Highline has just been withdrawn – so that ends that, TFN. Councilmembers decided to resolve the issue that way rather than actually taking a vote on it; they noted that since the resolution first came up two weeks ago, Seattle’s decision to pull back on pursuing a 2010 annexation vote has changed the game. Councilmember Gordon Shaw said, “Given the everchanging state of affairs … it doesn’t seem to me (the resolution) is necessary at this time.”

ADDED: More notes from our reporter at the meeting: Read the rest of this entry »

7 pm at Burien City Hall – here’s the agenda; here are the supporting materials. They’re talking about both current annexation issues – more details regarding the almost-complete annexation of North Highline South, plus a resolution to indicate interest in moving ahead with annexation of northern North Highline. If you can’t attend the meeting in person, it’ll be streamed online – you’ll find that link here once the meeting begins.

These are excerpts from this week’s e-newsletter from the City of Burien:

City Census Under Way in N. Highline Annexation Area
The City currently is conducting a house-to-house census in the North Highline annexation area. Households are being visited by a census worker wearing a City of Burien identification badge between March 12 and April 25. Information from the special census will ensure that the City receives a full share of state funds for essential public services. Households are only asked to provide the number of people living there and their names. The southern segment of North Highline officially becomes part of the City of Burien on April 1. This special annexation census is in addition to the U.S. Census being conducted by the federal Census Bureau this spring.

…City Reaches Out to North Highline Businesses
The City recently sent a letter to approximately 1,250 business entities located or working in the North Highline annexation area to provide the newly annexed businesses with an overview of some of the opportunities available in Burien, such as the Taking Aim at Graffiti (TAG) program or the “pre-submittal meetings” offered by Community Development. The letter also provided businesses with notice of some of their responsibilities, such as getting a business license and updating their tax code on Department of Revenue forms.

NOTE: Comcast subscribers in the annexation area should be able to view Burien Channel 21 and Puget Sound Access on Channel 77.

Not on the city e-newsletter list, but want to be? Sign up here.

The impending Burien annexation of North Highline South got a TV-news spotlight this morning, with live reports from KING 5’s Tim Robinson. The video of his story is embedded above (KING 5 makes its video clips available for embedding on any website – just click the “share” symbol on their video window). Interviewees included Burien city manager Mike Martin.

From Thursday night’s meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, held as usual in the North Highline Fire District headquarters on SW 112th – The meeting included discussions of both the impending Burien annexation of North Highline South (NHS), and the possible Seattle-annexation vote in what we suppose we can call North Highline North (NHN).

BURIEN ANNEXATION UPDATE: Burien City Manager Mike Martin took centerstage to provide updates to NHUAC – first, what’ll be happening before the scheduled April 1st date for NHS. During “the last three weeks of March,” Martin said, there’ll be a survey in the area, including door-to-door canvassing, to make sure residents know what’s ahead. City finance managers will be presenting an “annexation budget” soon. Burien leaders plan to “sit down with the community and talk zoning” soon, since obviously moving into a new jurisdiction means different standards and different jurisdictions. Martin also said Burien is pursuing money in the “second round of (federal) stimulus” to repave “most of the streets in the annexation area”; that could cost up to $5 million, he said, but it’s a “shovel-ready” project, so they are hopeful they’ll get the grant: “It would radically change many of the roads up here almost instantly.”

He also said the King County Sheriff’s Office is “doing some reorganization to meet the needs of the annexation,” but overall vowed to keep a promise made during the public forums that preceded the annexation vote – “This is going to be seamless … the level of service up here will be equal to or better than it was before,” with policing services likely featuring “the same people driving the same vehicles, just with new decals on them.”

Not so seamless, he said, is the transition for the parks, following the kerfuffle over Puget Sound Park, plus some transition issues, he said, involving the new county administration. And he noted that for the first time in years, Burien is hiring a fulltime city attorney. (Side note, Martin was not the only Burien leader present at the NHUAC meeting; City Councilmember Kathy Keene was there too.)

SEATTLE ANNEXATION? Martin spoke to this a bit before finishing his NHUAC briefing: “Just buckle up … this is going to be one of those times when rumors fly.” He alluded to being a bit mystified as to how this suddenly emerged on a Seattle front burner, with a move under way to have an election in the north section of North Highline as soon as this November, since his perception from previous conversations was that it “wasn’t really high on Mayor McGinn’s agenda. … But I think the (Seattle) council for whatever reason wants to take a shot at it, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Later in the meeting, NHUAC members discussed the new twist during the “new business” section — a more formal briefing/discussion is planned at the March 4 meeting, when the point person for the Seattle mayor’s office, Kenny Pittman, will attend the North Highline meeting. A considerable amount of semi-heated discussion centered over what NHUAC could officially say/do to remind the Seattle government that it’s on record as recommending the entire North Highline area become part of Burien; the contents of a letter reportedly sent to Seattle a few years back was the topic of intense discussion between members Russell Pritchard and Heidi Johnson, until some research could be finalized, and it was determined that it wouldn’t be a violation of NHUAC’s contract for them to remind Seattle that after community surveying and research, they had recommended the Burien alignment, so a letter to that effect will go out. (While Pritchard wanted to be sure the message was sent in the strongest possible terms, Johnson reminded her fellow councilmembers that they are required to stay away from whatever could be construed as political advocacy.)

ELECTIONS: It was noted along the way that the day the annexation is to take effect, April 1st, is a meeting day for NHUAC; part of its membership, including president Greg Duff, lives in the area to be annexed. The public vote for councilmembers will be coming up in the third week of May, and an official announcement will go out soon.

HICKS LAKE NAME CHANGE? Dick Thurnau from Friends of Hicks Lake briefed NHUAC about efforts to change the lake’s name back to its original name, Hicklins Lake, in honor of Leonard Hicklin and family, who settled in the area in the 1880s. They have a hearing before the Washington State Board on Geographic Names in Olympia on May 21st and Thurnau would like to receive e-mails supporting the name change – you can write to him at:

hdthurnau@juno.com

The sooner the better!

*A few more items were on last night’s agenda – we’ll write about those a bit later.

From South End Neighbors for Peace:

Is military escalation the path to peace? What would victory in Afghanistan, look like? Come find out why one brave woman is stepping up her work educating Afghan boys and girls. Find out what she thinks of the troop surge. Julia Bolz will update us and show slides of the schools she’s built, the charming kids who attend them, and the village elders who work with her in rural Afghanistan. Friday evening at 7, January 22, at Saint Francis Parish Hall, on 152nd Street and 21st Avenue in Burien. Enter parking lot from 20th Ave. Refreshments will be served, and there’ll be a bake sale. More items for bake sale are welcome! (come early)…and bring ball-point pens, which are hard to get in Afghanistan, for us to mail to students there. Learn more about Julia’s work and how you can get involved: www.aynieducation.org. Donations are tax-deductible.

Contact: Annie Phillips, 206-275-1393
Sponsored by Southend Neighbors for Peace, and St Francis of Assisi Parish Social Justice

It is with a very heavy heart that we write to inform you of the passing of our dear friend Cherisse Luxa, the founder of Burien Drinking Liberally. Cherisse lost her fight with stomach cancer this morning.

If you have ever attended Drinking Liberally, you almost certainly know of Cherisse’s incredible energy and her unstoppable drive to make our community a better place. From her decades as a King County Sheriff’s Deputy to her impressive track record as an activist an advocate, Cherisse made a huge difference, both for Burien and for the broader community.

Cherisse touched thousands of lives and was a role model for many of us. We will sorely miss her.

We will be in touch with memorial information. In the meantime, if you know of or are able to provide a home to two of Cherisse’s much-loved cats (Howard and Harris, who are four years old and would prefer to be adopted together), please let us know as soon as possible.

(Via Liz Giba) Photos from Flickr

From Kristina:

Hope For Robin Car Wash Fundraiser!

October 10th & 11th, 11am – 3pm at Vision Collision in Burien
(801 SW 154th Street)

We will also have baked goodies, coffee, tea, and cocoa available for a donation. Please come out and support our worthy cause and get your rig washed. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to wash cars, please contact Kristina Todd at mctodd1976@yahoo.com.

Here is Robin’s story – hope to see everyone this weekend at Vision Collision:

Robin Hoof has been a teacher and swim coach with the Highline School District for 20 years. At Evergreen High School she is a French teacher, and a swim coach for the boys and girls teams at Highline High School.

In April 2007, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After undergoing chemo and a mastectomy she was considered in remission. In early 2009 she noticed a lump in her neck and was diagnosed for the second time in February. She again underwent chemo and then in the Spring she took her students to Europe. When she got back from that trip, she noticed she had a rather bad cough. Then in August she was admitted to Swedish Hospital where she continued chemo treatments, but her health was rapidly declining. Due to her compromised immune system, the doctors gave her the last chemo treatment on September 18th and told her and her mother, “any day now.” That day has come and gone.

Alternative forms of treatment are being explored by her family, as those closest to her refuse to give up. Robin’s words to her mother at Swedish were, “I’m not going to let this get me mom.” She’sin the fight of her life, and willing to beat this disease.

A Facebook page has been created in her honor titled simply, “Hope for Robin”. It is dedicated to giving updates as they come in as well as any and all charity functions for her. The charities include:

A local AVON rep giving 30% of TOTAL sales to her cause. A site has been built for the specific purpose. It’s a live site and tracks the sales thus far. Our total sales goal is $5,000. Visit:

http://mfogerty.avonrepresentative.com/online_event/view.php?rep_spnsr_evnt_id=8631

Shop and help!

Car washes to be held at different times through out the year by the Driscoll family at Vision Collision.

And the big Kahuna …a charity climb in her honor to the summit of Rainier Summer ’10.

Many have rallied around Robin by way of well wishes, donations, and offerings of volunteer work for her. But it’s not enough. More people are needed. Her medical bills are through the roof already, and as a person who’s touched as many people as she has, don’t we owe it to her? Isn’t it our job to give back. And giving Robin hope, is the best gift any human being can give to another.

Because ONE person can make a difference! Be a part of the Army of HOPE!

That’s a photo from “Psycho Beach Party,” in its first weekend at Burien Little Theatre. The folks at BLT e-mailed WCN to say that since part of North Highline is becoming part of Burien, they thought it a good idea to start expanding their horizons. So here’s their invitation to you to come see what their website calls “‘Gidget’ meets ‘The Three Faces of Eve’ …” Find out more here; there are shows tonight and tomorrow afternoon ($7 matinee!), and the run continues weekends through November 1st.

Bret the Brat, star of that quick clip, is the mascot for the Burien Brat Trot, coming up October 4th and benefiting White Center-based WestSide Baby. No, no, no, not THAT kind of brat – think “rhymes with trot.” Goes with beer. Oom-pah music. Etc. (But not till AFTER you run.) Register online, for solo or relay, by going here.