White Center Now: The blog about White Center

If fitness is in the plan for you for 2017, here’s an irresistible offer: FitBody Solutions in White Center (a new advertiser on our partner site West Seattle Blog) has free bootcamps coming up next week:

January 2nd, 4th, 6th, at 5 am, 6 am, 7 am, 45-minute classes. Call or e-mail to save a space – 253-642-7179, info@fitbody-solutions.com – FitBody Solutions is at 1521 SW 98th, next to Bok-a-Bok.

Can you spare a few minutes? If you’re 18 or older, this survey is for you:

The Coalition for Drug-Free Youth – a community-based alcohol, tobacco, and drug prevention organization – is conducting a short community survey. This survey asks about one’s perceptions of drug and alcohol use and abuse in youth and in the community. The data from these surveys will be used to implement evidence-based prevention programs in middle and high schools in the community.

Adults ages 18 and over, who live, work or frequent the North Highline and Burien areas are eligible to take this survey. Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey!

Survey link (English): surveymonkey.com/r/KIWHON2016

Survey link (Español) es.surveymonkey.com/r/KIWHSP2016

Looking for acupuncture treatment? A new community clinic is open in White Center – Sloth Around Community Acupuncture. Proprietor Lynn Bondi says, “Sloth Around Community Acupuncture exists to provide high quality, affordable, and accessible acupuncture to as many people as possible, and as often as necessary. It’s easy for friends and family to heal together in our comforting, calm, and relaxing community space. Our sliding scale fee of $20-$50 allows you to choose a fee that best fits into your budget.” You can make appointments online at slotharoundtogether.com, where you’ll also find the days/hours; the clinic is at 10223 17th Ave SW.

A new White Center business is having its grand opening this afternoon. Pacific Muay Thai (9654 16th SW) says it’s “one of the few schools in Seattle offering Authentic Muay Thai, (which) combines Muay Thai technique with a strength and conditioning program to help students achieve their goals and prepare them for competition.” Their classes all have multiple instructors, and “provide a comprehensive program that offers pad work, clinch work, heavy bag work, sparring sessions, and experience training in a ring.” Daily hours will be 5-9 pm; today’s grand opening starts at 1 pm, and, says proprietor Kim, “local grub is provided.”

Just out of the inbox today:

Come to the annual Greenbridge Health Fair this Friday, June 17th from 4-7 pm. It will be held at Greenbridge Plaza, 8th Ave SW & 99th Ave SW. There will be free health services and resources to help your family stay safe and drug free! There will also be free healthy food, prizes, entertainment, and giveaways. Don’t miss this fun, healthy, and family-friendly event! For more information, contact Mike Graham-Squire at mikegs@nhwa.org or 206-353-7945.

(Graphic from Puget Sound Clean Air Agency website)

With another day of stagnant air, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has announced a Stage 1 burn ban for all of King County, in hopes of keeping the air quality from getting any worse. That means: “Use of fireplaces and uncertified wood stoves and inserts prohibited. Pellet stoves, EPA certified wood stoves and inserts are allowed. Outdoor burning prohibited.” You can find out more here.

(Photo courtesy Best Starts for Kids campaign)

Though the August ballots are still being counted, the November campaigns are on, including a countywide levy that will be on your ballot: Best Starts for Kids, aka King County Proposition 1. The campaign for your “yes” vote began with a Thursday media event in White Center – here’s the news release shared by the campaign afterward:

The proposed six-year levy would invest in prevention and early intervention strategies to increase the number of children in King County who reach adulthood healthy and ready to contribute to the region’s prosperity

King County Executive Dow Constantine and other elected officials and community leaders from throughout King County urged voters to approve the Best Starts for Kids initiative that will appear on the November 3rd General Election ballot.

Best Starts for Kids is an initiative to improve the health and well-being of King County by investing in prevention and early intervention strategies based on the latest brain science that identifies key developmental milestones.

“Best Starts for Kids is our opportunity to transform the way we invest in our children’s future by focusing on what works,” said Executive Constantine. “This is how we will transition to effective upstream solutions that can prevent negative outcomes, including mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and incarceration – and put every child in King County on a path toward lifelong success.”

Executive Constantine was joined by King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, campaign co-chairs Matt Griffin and Michelle Sarju, and many more. The event was hosted at Educare School of Greater Seattle, an innovative Head Start program in the White Center neighborhood of unincorporated King County.

“Investing in children early in their lives provides the best opportunity to help them make the right choices and achieve their full potential,” said Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus. “The earlier the investment, the greater the return. Healthy kids are more likely to become productive adults, avoiding issues that can put them into the criminal justice system.”

Best Starts of Kids is informed by research by James Heckman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who found that investing early in a person’s development – starting with prenatal services – delivers the greatest return.

Heckman, Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago, has devoted his professional life to understanding the origins of major social and economic problems related to inequality, social mobility, discrimination, skill formation and regulation, and to devising and evaluating alternative strategies for addressing those problems.

“The aim is to make the latest research and tools available to every parent and caregiver, and ultimately to produce talented, creative and successful adults who will help us remain a prosperous region,” said campaign co-chair Michelle Sarju.

The Metropolitan King County Council voted overwhelmingly across party lines to support Best Starts for Kids and place the issue before the voters this November. Approval of the initiative would make King County one of the first metropolitan areas in the nation to adopt a unified, comprehensive plan, based on science, to ensure all children can develop the cognitive, emotional, and social skills necessary to succeed in life.

“This is a great investment opportunity not only in kids but in our community,” Councilmember McDermott said. “Increasing the percentage of healthy children who become successful adults can help reduce spending on criminal justice, reduce homelessness and enable us to target mental-health and drug-treatment options to those who need them.”

Best Starts for Kids will complement Seattle’s preschool program and similar efforts by increasing the number of children who arrive at school each day healthy and ready to learn.

Half the proceeds from the levy will be invested in early childhood development, from birth through age 5 when 92 percent of brain growth occurs. That includes early intervention services that can prevent developmental delays from becoming lifelong disabilities and nurse home visitations that help at-risk mothers deliver healthier babies.

Current community-based programs in King County that increase the likelihood a baby is born at a healthy weight and that help prevent developmental delays from becoming lifelong disabilities are limited in part because the vast majority of the County’s General Fund budget must pay for the criminal justice system, including law enforcement, courts and jails.

The six-year levy, at 14 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, would cost the average King County property owner an estimated $56 per year, or about $1 a week. The levy would be overseen by a citizen’s oversight board and generate an estimated $58.3 million in 2016 for the following allocations:

• 50 percent to early childhood development, from birth through age 5, when research shows that 92 percent of brain growth occurs.

• 35 percent to sustain the gain by providing early intervention services to address problems such as depression and developmental disabilities as the brain continues to develop through age 24.

• 10 percent to reinforce a child’s progress by improving the health, social, and economic outcomes in the communities where they live.

• 5 percent to pay for evaluation, data collection and program improvement.

The levy would immediately fund a program designed to help survivors of domestic violence from becoming homeless. It will be based on a successful pilot project created by the Gates Foundation.

“We all want to live in a place where every child has the chance to succeed,” said campaign co-chair Matt Griffin. “This is a chance to move our community forward and ensure that our children have the fair start to life that they deserve. It’s just the right thing to do.”

(WCN photo from September 2014)
Four months after King County Executive Dow Constantine announced at Greenbridge that the public-health clinic there would be saved thanks to a partnership with Planned Parenthood, PP has officially merged its clinic into that location. Here’s their announcement:

Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest (PPGNW) (has moved) its West Seattle Health Center to a new location at 9942 8th Avenue, just over one mile from the current location. The facility, previously the Public Health Center at Greenbridge operated by Public Health—Seattle & King County, will open as the new White Center-West Seattle Health Center.

In 2014, the Public Health Center at Greenbridge was proposed for closure due to a severe budget shortfall at Public Health—Seattle & King County. However, through partnerships with PPGNW and the City of Seattle the health center will be operated by PPGNW for the next two years, as local leaders pursue longer-term funding.

“We are thrilled to be opening our new facility in West Seattle,” said Chris Charbonneau, CEO of PPGNW. “Our important partnership with King County and Seattle Public Health will bring continued support and service to the local community by providing high-quality, affordable reproductive health care for the women, men, and teens who need it most in West Seattle and the surrounding area.”

The new White Center-West Seattle Health Center will be open five days a week and offer a full range of high-quality reproductive health care, including affordable access to birth control, well-woman visits, breast and cervical cancer screening, emergency contraception, sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, abortion services, and comprehensive sexual health education and information. Planned Parenthood educators will offer comprehensive sexual health education, youth development programming and parent education for schools and community agencies.

In addition, patients can schedule appointments, or receive mail-order contraceptives and test kits for sexually transmitted infections via webcam. This online tool serves as an opportunity to reach individuals living in remote communities across the region.

For more than 30 years, PPGNW has partnered with King County Public Health to provide comprehensive family planning services. PPGNW will continue its partnership and collaboration with the city and county to ensure a smooth transition of patient care.

Update from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, as announced earlier today – you can use your fireplace/woodstove again:

Effective immediately, all burn bans are being lifted in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, as well as Darrington. With the help of rain and wind, air pollution levels everywhere dropped to GOOD or lower Moderate last night.

While agency forecasters do expect only light winds during the day today and into tonight, an approaching weather system should increase winds and rain late tonight and into Sunday. This will again help disperse our air pollution and keep levels low for the next 2-3 days.

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency would like to thank everyone who switched to alternative sources of heat instead of burning wood during these bans. Children, the elderly, and people with chronic respiratory health problems especially appreciate your efforts.

In case you were hoping to use your fireplace or woodstove sometime soon – it’s now OK again. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has lifted the King County burn ban as of this afternoon – no current restrictions.

Until 6 am tomorrow, no fireplace or woodstove use unless it’s your main source of heat – a Stage 2 Burn Ban just took effect at noon. Details here.

The Seattle-King County Public Health clinic in Greenbridge was facing the ax because of county-budget challenges – but it’s been spared, if a plan announced this afternoon in White Center goes through. County Executive Dow Constantine, County Councilmember Joe McDermott, acting Public Health Director Patty Hayes, Seattle Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim, and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest CEO Chris Charbonneau were there – as were we and other media – for the announcement detailed in this news release from the executive’s office:

King County Executive Dow Constantine announced a partnership with the City of Seattle and Planned Parenthood to preserve critical health services for women, children, and families in White Center and surrounding areas.

“Through innovative partnerships like this we can keep providing the important health services our clients need, despite cuts to the federal and state funding that supported those services,” said Executive Constantine. “I want to thank Mayor Murray and our partners at Planned Parenthood for helping us ensure that children are born healthy and able to reach their full potential.”

Due to continual and sharp declines in the federal and state funds that support public health, the Public Health Center at Greenbridge was proposed by the department earlier this summer for closure.

Under the new partnership, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest will provide family planning services at the facility, while Public Health continues to provide Women, Infant and Children (WIC) and Maternity Support services for the next two years. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has committed $400,000 in 2015 to help keep Greenbridge open and preserve a variety of public health services.

Key details of the partnership include:

*Relocation of Planned Parenthood from its current West Seattle clinic to Greenbridge, a King County Housing Authority development.

*Continuation of family planning services at Greenbridge, with Planned Parenthood as the service provider.

*Creation of a family planning “access committee” to provide countywide accountability and oversight, and assurance that all county residents maintain access to the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive methods; services for prevention and treatment of sexually-transmitted diseases for men and women; and screening for cervical cancer.

*Continued provision by Public Health of Maternity Support Services and WIC services at Greenbridge.

“Healthy women and healthy children are vital to a healthy Seattle – that’s why my budget proposal commits $400,000 in City funds in 2015 to ensure Greenbridge continues to provide critical services such as prenatal care and the WIC program to all Seattle residents, in addition to several other important services,” said Mayor Murray. “I look forward to working with the County Executive as we search for a new Director of Public Health who will institute sustainable improvements to our business management of vital public health programs.”

The partnership with Planned Parenthood provides family planning services for all – regardless of ability to pay – at the same location where Public Health has served the White Center community for more than 50 years, primarily assisting women, mothers, and young children.

“As the leading family planning medical provider in the Pacific Northwest, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest is a natural fit to step in and ensure continuity of care in White Center, West Seattle, and surrounding communities,” said Chris Charbonneau, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. “Through this partnership with Public Health – Seattle & King County, we remain committed to providing high-quality, affordable reproductive health care for the women, men, and teens who need it most.”

“As the transition of providers happens at Greenbridge public health center, Planned Parenthood is acutely focused on ensuring that residents in the community continue to receive the same level of comprehensive family planning services. Our goal is that no one falls through the cracks,” added Charbonneau.

Serving the community

The service area of the White Center clinic extends to West Seattle, Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila, and Des Moines. Many of its services are delivered by a team that can include nurses, nutritionists, social workers, and community health workers, who also help clients find everything from housing to an obstetrician.

“White Center families are from many different backgrounds – Latino, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Somali, Samoan – and our Public Health staff helps them navigate important issues like nutrition, breastfeeding, and physical activity,” said King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, who is also chair of the King County Board of Health. “These are all important components of families raising healthy babies and thriving young children.”

“I’ve seen first-hand what a difference it makes when a Public Health nurse visits with an expecting mom and begins to help the mom and the rest of the household prepare a healthy environment for that new baby – so preserving these services wherever possible is a high priority,” said Patty Hayes, Interim Director of Public Health – Seattle & King County.

Executive Constantine will present his 2015/2016 Executive Proposed Budget to the Metropolitan King County Council on Sept. 22, while continuing to work with cities and community partners to preserve critical public health services elsewhere in King County.

One week from Friday – on August 29th – Center Studio in downtown White Center will have its final classes. Proprietor Lonjina Verdugo announced via Facebook that she’s closing up shop after two years. Equipment and fixtures from the fitness business are listed for sale in a CL ad. Though yoga/fitness has been the core of Center Studio’s business, the space also had spotlighted artists and guest vendors, plus multiple editions of the pop-up “Cattywampus Kids” shop with retro kid stuff.

A “grand reopening” is planned next month for a longtime West Seattle martial-arts practice that has relocated to White Center.

Until fall 2012, Restita DeJesus operated the Seattle Wushu Center in a West Seattle facility that now is home to a CrossFit studio. She moved classes to another nearby location while looking for a new facility and found it in White Center, across from Southgate Roller Rink, at what’s now known as Body Movement Arts (9627 17th SW). She says:

The new location has a totally new look, 3000 square feet of studio space, and offers classes in Filipino Martial Arts and self-defense, Kung Fu, Wushu, and Tai Chi. A Personal Trainer on site not only teaches some of the classes but also offers personal training sessions. Classes run from as early as 7:00 am all the way through to 8:30 pm.

The “grand reopening” open house on September 14th will feature a Lion Dance performance as well as free short introductory classes for all ages (4 and up).

Got another question on Friday about what’s going into the former White Center Blockbuster Video at 16th/107th, which closed back in February 2013. County records bring the answer: A dental company from Eastern Washington plans to open a clinic with eight chairs. We’ll be contacting the company to see if we can find out more about the timetable; they just had a “pre-construction conference” with the county three weeks ago.

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has cancelled the burn ban, as of 11 am today, after just 18 hours, explaining that conditions change quickly this time of year.

Christmas Eve fires are OK, but that changes on Christmas night. Just announced by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency:

Due to increasingly stagnant weather conditions, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is issuing a Stage 1 burn ban for King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, effective at 5 pm on December 25, 2013. This ban remains in effect until further notice.

During a Stage 1 burn ban:

No burning is allowed in fireplaces or uncertified wood stoves. Residents should rely instead on their home’s other, cleaner source of heat (such as their furnace or electric baseboard heaters) for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled. The only exception is if a wood stove is a home’s only adequate source of heat.
No outdoor fires are allowed. This includes recreational fires such as bonfires, campfires and the use of fire pits and chimineas.
Burn ban violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty.

It is OK to use natural gas, propane, pellet and EPA-certified wood stoves or inserts during a Stage 1 burn ban.

Just in case you hadn’t heard yet – Puget Sound Clean Air Agency says the air’s expected to clear with wind speed picking up and maybe even some precipitation, so the burn ban put into place at noon Sunday is now OVER.

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has announced a Stage 1 burn ban, in effect throughout King County as of noon today. Here’s what that means:

*No burning is allowed in fireplaces or uncertified wood stoves. Residents should rely instead on their home’s other, cleaner source of heat (such as their furnace or electric baseboard heaters) for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled. The only exception is if a wood stove is a home’s only adequate source of heat.

*No outdoor fires are allowed. This includes recreational fires such as bonfires, campfires and the use of fire pits and chimineas.

*Burn ban violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty.

*It is OK to use natural gas, propane, pellet and EPA-certified wood stoves or inserts during a Stage 1 burn ban.

(Also published on partner sites West Seattle Blog and The South Park News)

As of 2 pm, King County will be under a Stage 2 burn ban, elevated from Sunday’s announcement. Here’s what the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency says that means:

*No burning is allowed in ANY wood-burning fireplaces, wood stoves or fireplace inserts (certified or uncertified) or pellet stoves. Residents should rely instead on their home’s other, cleaner source of heat (such as their furnace or electric baseboard heaters) for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled. The only exception is if a wood stove is a home’s only adequate source of heat.

*No outdoor fires are allowed. This includes recreational fires such as bonfires, campfires and the use of fire pits and chimineas.

*Burn ban violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty.

*It is OK to use natural gas and propane stoves or inserts during a Stage 2 burn ban.

This might not last long – breezes up to 15 mph are in the forecast for tomorrow, and possible rain starting Thursday night.