White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Thanks to Paul for the tip, which we subsequently confirmed with the King County Sheriff’s Office: The White Center Washington Mutual branch was robbed this morning. KCSO’s Sgt. John Urquhart says it happened around 9:40 am today, and the robber got away “on foot” – he was described only as a black man, 35 to 45 years old, and “handsome.”

Last night, our first report brought you the biggest news from the monthly White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting, held at St. James Place (photo above) — King County Parks’ new graffiti-fighting proposal (read about it here). But that was only part of what was discussed at an information-packed meeting. A special presentation on best practices for calling 911 will be featured in our third report later today, but right now – here’s the newest information on crime/safety concerns in the area: Read the rest of this entry »

Just back from the White Center/South Delridge Community Safety meeting, with lots of information that we will break into at least three reports. First one — King County Parks’ draft proposal for dealing with graffiti, in the wake of the latest wave of tagging vandalism at White Center-area parks. The county Parks Department‘s Evergreen District manager Sam Whitman presented the four-point plan: #1, parks staff will try to remove or cover up graffiti “as soon as it appears,” with county painters following up to restore the original color scheme. #2, community members need to report graffiti-vandalism damage as soon as possible by calling Whitman (his number’s at the end of this post), and by helping clean up/cover up graffiti IF parks staff can’t get to it soon enough. #3, extra support for graffiti removal from Community Service officer Vary Jackson and Department of Corrections crews. #4, proactive work to develop and maintain murals in the parks, as a way of discouraging tagging vandalism. Whitman says the goal here is to remove/cover graffiti within 24-38 hours, and adds that the county has hired “seasonal” painting help to support the effort; to report park graffiti, call him at 206/296-0572. More from the Community Safety meeting in separate reports later tonight.

JAIL-SITES FIGHT: The Highland Park Action Committee, the community group leading the fight against two potential city-jail sites in West Seattle — including the Myers Way site close to White Center — has its next meeting tonight, 7 pm, at 1116 SW Holden (map).

HELP MAKE YOUR COMMUNITY SAFER: The monthly White Center/South Delridge Community Safety meeting is at 6 pm Thursday, St. James Place, 9421 18th SW (map). (Free dinner!)

ANNEXATION OPEN HOUSE: Burien is starting a series of
“informational open houses” about its proposed North Highline Annexation Area (which includes part of White Center), and the first one is Thursday night in Boulevard Park (still waiting for word on the first one closer to White Center, so if you’ve got burning questions, you might as well go to this one), 6:30-8 pm @ Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church (1822 South 128th; map).

In a growing and changing area like White Center that’s working to overcome outsiders’ inaccurate perceptions – it helps to have the facts. Here’s a good resource to look up the facts about crime and safety in your neighborhood — the King County Sheriff’s Office Crime Stats online search. You can search by area and date; here are the numbers you need to search by area – K1 is the patrol area from Roxbury to 112th, K2 covers 112th to 116th, N1 is 116th southward. Maps are included, so you can see if you’ve found the one covering your neighborhood.

I just posted this bulletin on West Seattle Blog, and wanted to share it with White Center Now readers since the story had been posted here too: The stolen pugs turned up today at the Kent Animal Shelter. Read the details at WSB.

Ricardo posted about the missing pugs below, and we reported on it at West Seattle Blog, where we now have an update: A witness called police with information indicating the dogs definitely were stolen. Here’s the latest. Call Seattle Police with tips.