White Center Now: The blog about White Center

On Monday, we shared a Seattle Department of Transportation announcement that the detour direction on Delridge Way, for its repaving work just north of White Center, would change tomorrow. Late today, SDOT changed its mind – for now:

The plan to reverse the Delridge Paving Project phase five detour is delayed. The Seattle Department of Transportation is working with the contractor to ensure safe implementation of the change. Until further notice, Delridge Way SW southbound traffic between SW Henderson to SW Roxbury streets will continue to be detoured at SW Henderson Street. Northbound traffic will continue to be maintained.

We apologize for any inconvenience this alteration in plans causes! Safety is SDOT’s primary goal and the reason behind the detour reversal delay. More information will be released as it is confirmed.

You don’t have to work for the federal government to be affected by its shutdown. King County Executive Dow Constantine and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott are coming to Greenbridge at noon tomorrow (Wednesday) to make that point; they’re planning a media event at the county Public Health clinic there, also including someone the announcement describes as “a client of Public Health services,” and plan “to detail specific pending impacts of the continuing federal government shutdown.”

Just north of White Center, the City of Seattle Department of Transportation is changing the detour direction for the final phase of Delridge Way repaving – southbound traffic will keep flowing, northbound traffic will be detoured, instead of the other way, which is how it’s set up now. The city hopes the change will:

· Simplify traffic control measures for ease of understanding for the traveling public

· Eliminate the buildup of excessive traffic at the intersection of Southwest Roxbury Street and 16th Avenue Southwest due to the detour

· Allow for a more natural traffic flow – southbound on Delridge Way in the original right lane

· Reduce the possibility of someone driving in the wrong direction.

The new detour will direct northbound Delridge Way Southwest traffic at Southwest Roxbury Street onto northbound 16th Avenue Southwest and then onto westbound Southwest Henderson Street to return to Delridge Way. This detour will remain in place until the project is complete at the end of the year.

To ensure the safety of drivers and pedestrians and to allow enough space for the crews to conduct this work, curb-side parking on Delridge Way will be inaccessible between Southwest Henderson and Southwest Roxbury streets until project completion.

Tomorrow night, you can ask an SDOT rep about this during the White Center Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly evening mixer at 6 pm at Bahn 88, 9418 Delridge Way SW.

Just announced – the Rat City Business Association‘s Trick-or-Treat Festival, 2-5 pm Sunday, October 27th. Be there!

(Top two photos by WCN co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Big excitement at Cascade Middle School on Friday afternoon – a visit from the governor. Not only did principal Diana Garcia and her students enthusiastically welcome Governor Jay Inslee, who has White Center roots, but so did leaders from throughout Highline Public Schools, including Superintendent Susan Enfield. The governor joined State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn at Cascade to talk about the new science standards. But before they spoke, he spent some time with students, asking if they like science and wondering what new ideas they’re working on. Student Ming Tong volunteered one:

He told the governor that we should be working on low-polluting or even non-polluting aircraft fuel. Gov. Inslee said there’s some work under way at Washington State University, but was so impressed by Ming’s suggestion, he gave him a pin (an apple he says he hands out daily to someone with a good idea).

As for the new standards, read Superintendent Dorn’s announcement here; read about the standards themselves here.

To see more of today’s visit – check out this clip put together by the district:

ORIGINAL REPORT, 5:58 PM: In case you’re noticing a stepped-up King County Sheriff’s Office presence – there’s a search under way in the Boulevard Park area for a shooting suspect. We don’t yet have details of the shooting, but KCSO is circulating photos:

Suspect photo from shooting pic.twitter.com/rdJatcFMiJ

— Cindi West (@kingcosoPIO) October 5, 2013

Another photo of suspect pic.twitter.com/G0Kxth2ZbN

— Cindi West (@kingcosoPIO) October 5, 2013

KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West has mentioned search locations including 22nd S./S. 106th and S. 106th/Des Moines Memorial Drive.

UPDATE: According to seattlepi.com, the man is being sought in a shots-fired case; no one was hurt.

7 PM: Metro alerts say Des Moines Memorial Drive is open again in the area. Don’t know yet if that means the search succeeded or was just suspended.

7:04 PM: And we have the answer from Sgt. West via Twitter – suspect arrested:

Suspect in custody! Found hiding in apartment! Woohoo! Good job guys!

— Cindi West (@kingcosoPIO) October 5, 2013

In case you hadn’t gotten around to reading County Executive Dow Constantine‘s proposed 2014 budget – here’s what his office says are the highlights for unincorporated areas, including ours:

King County Executive Dow Constantine has proposed a 2014 Budget that enhances funding for a range of local services for residents of unincorporated King County – including public safety, parks, and the environment.

“Through the reforms we’ve put in place that have created new operational efficiencies, we are able to propose a budget that sustains essential functions and restores some critical services lost in the recession,” said Executive Constantine.

The 250,000 people who live in the unincorporated portions of King County are spread over 2,200 square miles. If taken together, they would by far comprise the county’s second-largest city.

The Executive’s 2014 Proposed Budget maintains funding for the popular Sheriff’s storefront deputies in White Center and Skyway/West Hill, calls for reopening of the Hicks-Raburn Precinct in Maple Valley, and restores four uniformed officers – three patrol deputies and a sergeant. The proposed budget also calls for:

· Improvements sought by residents of White Center for Steve Cox Park, including artificial turf for the athletic fields, lighting of outdoor basketball courts, and rehabilitation of the stadium roof.

· Rehabilitation of Dockton Dock on Maury Island, including work with the State to remove or wrap existing creosote pilings, and the acquisition of more open space on Vashon-Maury Island.

· Investments in trail projects to extend the Green to Cedar River Trail, as well as construction of trailhead parking lots at Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park and Pinnacle Peak Park in the Enumclaw area.

· Development of stormwater projects that include improving release of flows from Allen Lake to reduce flooding at NE 8th Street on the Sammamish Plateau; removing sediment and improving stream habitat at May Creek and Long Marsh Creek in the Four Creeks and Renton area; and repairing a conveyance line of Molasses Creek at Fairwood, east of Renton, to mitigate major flood risks.

This budget completes the County’s transition from hourly charges for new building permits to the new fixed-fee model that improves predictability and consistency for customers, while lowering the cost of issuing permits and opening the door to future e-commerce permitting options.

The proposed budget also maintains the Community Service Area grant program, which in 2013 funded 25 grants for grassroots community projects throughout unincorporated King County.

ABOUT THE UNINCORPORATED AREAS

Unincorporated King County has a population of 250,000 scattered over a broad geographic area with a very limited tax base, creating significant challenges in providing services.

King County is the only one of the state’s nine largest counties to have so completely implemented the state Growth Management Act, which calls for urban areas to be annexed into cities. The legacy system for funding county general services and county roads does not contemplate growth management, as evidenced by the fact that in the eight other counties, an average of 44 percent of their people live in the unincorporated areas and they pay into their Roads funds – whereas in King County only 13 percent pay for the roads that one-million cars drive on every day.

Even more significantly, there is almost no commercial tax base in unincorporated King County. Only 3.6 percent of the total taxable sales within the county take place in the unincorporated area, versus 21 percent in the other eight counties. The resulting tax base is almost entirely residential and agricultural.

Big day tomorrow for Cascade Middle School in White Center. Governor Inslee and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn will visit for an event described in a media advisory as follows:

Governor Jay Inslee, State Superintendent Randy Dorn and invited guests will appear at 12:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 4, at Cascade Middle School in (White Center) to speak about the Next Generation Science Standards.

It is important that every Washington student is prepared with the strong science skills they need for the future. Science education is pivotal in growing Washington’s innovation economy and preparing our kids for a lifetime of opportunity and success.

Not a public event, but we’re planning to be there; we’re checking to see if it will be shown live on TVW. Meantime, you can read more about the science standards by going here.

2:46 PM: Thanks to Gill for the tip on the signage that suddenly appeared on the former NAPA Auto Parts building at 9841 15th SW (our photo shows its west side facing 16th), sold to a Southern California buyer earlier this year. We’ve been working to track down information on Northmart, and the most information so far has come up in a help-wanted ad, which says the store is the company’s first in this state, and that it will be an 11,000-square-foot “retail warehouse” that will “sell a variety of products.” We’ll update when we find out more.

3:51 PM UPDATE: Just talked with the leader of the team setting up the store. He says so far, this company has one in Los Angeles, but in addition to the White Center store, is working on one in Shoreline, and then plans to set some up on the East Coast. It is both a wholesaler and a retailer open to the public – right now, while they are sending out merchandise to national customers, they are not yet open to the public; that’s still likely a few weeks away. They will stock and sell a variety of merchandise from luggage and backpacks to clothing, shoes, accessories, and the quantity of merchandise sold is up to the customer – they can sell you a trailer full or just one. No food – just manufactured merchandise, much of which is made by associated companies. This location is going to be their wholesale/shipping hub in this area as well as on-site retail, and that’s why it’s so much bigger, 11,000 square feet compared to the 2,000-square-foot store they’ll have in Shoreline.

As announced in a news release, Highline Public Schools is one of the latest districts statewide seeking to authorize charter schools:

The State Board of Education (SBE) received notices of intent from Tacoma, West Valley (in Yakima) and Highline school districts that they plan to submit applications to become charter school authorizers in 2014.

Charter authorizer notices of intent were due October 1, 2013, and charter authorizer applications are due December 31, 2013. The SBE will rigorously evaluate the applications and approve or deny them by April 1, 2014.

A charter school authorizer is an entity with the powers and duties to review, approve or reject charter school applications; enter into, renew or revoke charter contracts with nonprofit corporations seeking to operate charter schools; and oversee the charter schools the entity has authorized. Eligible authorizers are:

· School district boards of directors that have been approved as authorizers by the SBE, for charter schools located within the school district’s own boundaries;

· The Washington Charter School Commission, for charter schools located anywhere in the state.

Last month the SBE approved Spokane Public Schools as the first school district authorizer. Spokane is now soliciting applications from nonprofits to operate charter schools within their district.

More information about charter schools can be found on our website at: www.sbe.wa.gov/charters.php.

On our third day of wild weather, rain and sun alternated for much of the afternoon – after morning downpours including the one Gill captured in that photo! No warnings in effect right now but the weather is still unsettled, to say the least, according to the newest forecast.

In the Boulevard Park area? Maybe you know whose dog this is:

Found this evening in the rain in front of Boulevard Park Liquor Store. Healthy and happy neutered male…warm, fed and dry now …very friendly….black and white… Wasn’t happy about meeting our dog so is in our heated garage for now. My name is Stephanie #206-234-7814

As part of the annual regional Mayors’ Day of Concern for the Hungry, White Center Food Bank ‘s Audrey Zemke tells us that Key Club members from the Evergreen Campus will collect food, money, and gift-card donations 10 am-2 pm today at Roxbury Safeway and North Burien Albertson’s on SW 128th. Drop by and give!

11:40 PM: Thanks to everyone who has texted and e-mailed about a helicopter that was apparently over White Center/Highland Park for a while – and then, we’re told, has just left. Not sure yet what was going on but we’re checking. There was a Seattle Fire dispatch to the 9400 block of 15th SW and the arriving engine reported via scanner that there was no patient at the scene plus “all the deputies and police have gone somewhere else.” If you’re seeing the law enforcement response on the ground, please let us know! We’ll continue to check.

12:01 AM: Guardian One, the King County Sheriff’s Office helicopter that assists other agencies too, says via Twitter that it was “over White Center assisting with a robbery call.” No further details so far.

One week from tonight – the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council hopes to see you at its next public-safety forum:

Save the Date

Thursday, Oct 3
7pm
North Highline Fire Station
1243 112th Street, SW
(entrance in the back)

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is pleased to be hosting a Public Safety Forum

Want to know more about the King County Sex Offender Registry and Community Notification Program? Then plan on joining us for an informative presentation and discussion with Detective Michael Luchau of the King County Sheriff’s Department Sex Offender Unit.

Share your concerns regarding community safety with White Center Storefront Deputy, BJ Myers and Deputy William Kennamer of Metro Transit Police.

All are welcome!

OUR COMMUNITY MATTERS
BE INVOLVED
BE INFORMED
BE HEARD

SEE YOU THERE!!

Since opening two years ago, Caffé Delia has been based inside the Proletariat Pizza storefront, in a time-sharing/space-sharing environment – open during hours when PP wasn’t. But now there’s big news, announced on the CD Facebook page:

It is with legitimate excitement and some degree of “holy shit!” that we are posting to tell you all that Caffè Delia will be moving into its own cozy little space in the heart of White Center.

It’s going to be right next door to where we are now. It will be very easy to find.

We have said this many times, but it bears repeating: We love White Center, and love to work at making great coffee for you all.

We had one goal when we started: make delicious coffee in Rat City. That is what we are going to keep doing.

One thing, and you are going to have to bear with us on this one. In order to open up our new joint, we are going to have to close our little coffee stand. Caffè Delia, Inside Proletariat Pizza, will be open every day until October 13. Then we will be closed until we open again right next door.

We’ll see you around for the next 3 weeks. And then, we’ll see you in a few.

The new space is part of the former Dzul Tattoo storefront, immediately south of PP; Proletariat, as reported here previously, has already taken the other part.

We haven’t broken it out for White Center and the rest of North Highline yet, but for starters, here’s the official news release from King County Executive Dow Constantine’s office regarding his budget proposal unveiled this morning:

Building upon reforms put in place over the past four years, King County Executive Dow Constantine today proposed a balanced 2014 Budget with no new taxes that sustains essential functions and restores some critical services lost in the recession.

“We are reforming from the inside, forging ahead even as other levels of government are paralyzed, to construct local solutions to complex problems,” said Executive Constantine in his annual budget address to the Metropolitan King County Council.

With cities and metropolitan areas fast becoming the engines of innovation, prosperity and social transformation in the United States, the Executive outlined several initiatives for the County to chart its way forward:

· A $500,000 Catalyst Fund to lead the transformation of the regional health and human service system from reactive crisis response to proactive preventive strategies and services. These one-time funds are intended to kick start the best new ideas and advances, attract other investments and revenue sources, and lead to better outcomes, particularly in the treatment of those with mental health and addiction issues.

· A two-year Regional Veterans Initiative to embark upon the first-ever comprehensive mapping of the labyrinth of federal, state and local services for veterans. Programs and community agencies would be connected to a King County Veteran Services Network so that vets seeking services can immediately be directed to the right program, and all agencies can use the same assessment and screening tools. The project is funded with $388,000 from the voter-approved Veterans and Human Services Levy.

· Support for the community-wide campaign to enroll 180,000 uninsured adults who will become newly eligible for free or low-cost health coverage on October 1 under the Affordable Care Act – connecting them to effective preventive care early, rather than expensive treatment later.

Savings and efficiencies

By creating operational efficiencies, the Executive’s reform agenda has saved, over the past four budgets, a cumulative $111 million in the General Fund, including $2.9 million in new savings in the 2014 General Fund.

Other efficiencies created in this budget in both General Fund and non-General Fund agencies include:

· Reducing energy use by replacing outmoded equipment and changing old operating practices has saved $2.7 million a year over the past four years, and earned another $2.8 million in utility rebates.

· Consolidating office space saves $8.6 million over ten years in the General Fund, and nearly $17 million in non-General Fund agencies.

· Consolidating the County’s computer servers, physically and in the Cloud, saves $1.4 million over the next two years.

Restoring some critical services

· Reopening the Sheriff’s Hicks-Raburn Precinct in Maple Valley, bringing Sheriff’s deputies closer to the people they serve, and to have a place in Southeast King County to restore the vital practice of roll calls with the sergeants and deputies.

· Restoring four uniformed officers in the Sheriff’s Office: three patrol deputies and a sergeant.

· Funding at current levels for prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault, and aid for victims.

· Restoring counter service over the noon hour at the Superior Court Clerk’s Office in Kent and in Seattle, so that customers can once again file a document or view court cases when they were free during lunch time.

Budget overview

With the continued transition to a biennial, two-year budget for nearly all agencies except those in the General Fund and a few others, the published total budget for 2013/2014 that includes all funds dedicated to specific purposes is a hybrid annual/biennial number of $9.0 Billion. On an annual basis, spending in 2014 is expected to be about the same $4.5 Billion as in 2013.

The proposed General Fund budget for 2014 is $714.4 million, an increase of 4.2 percent from $685.3 million in 2013. Inflation plus the cost of population growth account for 3.1 percent of that increase. Nearly all the remainder is attributable to the transition to a new Department of Public Defense, which was driven by a class-action lawsuit and state Supreme Court ruling, and the addition of contract work paid for by the City of Seattle and the State of Washington.

As a consequence of the severely constrained revenues authorized for counties, and despite having aggressively controlled costs in partnership with employees and unions, the Executive said that General Fund revenues are expected to fall short of the cost of services by about $36 million dollars in the 2015/2016 biennium, with a further gap of about $16 million dollars in the subsequent biennium. Most of the $36 million dollar gap arises because revenue sources for counties are based on only a property tax and a sales tax, both of which are strictly limited for counties under state law.

All County agencies will complete the move to biennial budgeting for 2015/2016, so this 2014 Budget represents the last annual budget to be developed by King County.

The Metropolitan King County Council plans a number of public hearings on the budget and is set to adopt a final King County Budget in November./blockquote>

A funeral Mass is planned at Holy Family this Wednesday morning for 84-year-old Theodore (Ted) John Wiese:

Ted went home to the Lord 9-19-13 at the age of 84. Born in Woodburn, Oregon, in 1929, he married Doris Marie Prinslow on October 2, 1954, after being honorably discharged as a corporal from the Marine Corps and attending OSU. He retired from The Boeing Company after 26 years and was ordained to the Diaconate, serving the Archdiocese of Seattle for the past 24 years at Holy Family Parish in White Center.

He is survived by his wife Doris, sister Jeanette Moore, his children Connie (Richard) Sanders, Larry Wiese, Greg Wiese, Julie (Bruce) Hanson, Lisa (Karl) Hansen, Tom (Wendy) Wiese, Margaret (Jeff Haack) Wiese, and Paul Wiese, 10 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild. Mass of the Christian Burial will be at Holy Family Church at 11:00 am September 25. To leave an online condolence, please visit Yaringtons.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ted’s memory to Catholic Community Services or Holy Family Parish.

(WCN publishes obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to whitecenternow@gmail.com)

It happened just this past hour in downtown WC, says a family that doesn’t want to be identified but hopes the thief will do the right thing:

Tonight around 7:15-7:30 pm, our family was eating at Proletariat Pizza in White Center. Our orange and brown BOB single stroller was stolen.

Our family is sad as we use it every day. If found, please return to Proletariat Pizza, they know how to contact us.

Highland Park Family

SUNDAY NIGHT UPDATE: The family and stroller are reunited – as explained in this comment on the West Seattle Blog version of this story.

Details of Metro‘s next “service change” are now available on its website, including changes to Route 22, which will no longer loop through Shorewood, and Route 120, which is adding service. The changes can be seen by clicking the route numbers on this page; below, the same text you’ll get by doing that:

For Route 22:

Route 22 will be extended further west and south in Arbor Heights. It will operate a counter-clockwise loop via SW 100th St, 44th Ave SW, Marine View Dr SW, SW 106th St, 39th Ave SW and 35th Ave SW to SW 106th SW and regular routing to the Alaska Junction. It will no longer operate a clockwise loop via 26th Ave SW, SW 106th St, 35th Ave SW and SW Roxbury St in Shorewood.

The schedule will be adjusted for the added running time of about 7 minutes.

For Route 120:

On weekdays, one northbound trip to downtown Seattle leaving the Burien Transit Center at 10:34 pm and two southbound trips to Burien leaving 3rd Ave & Virginia St at 10:33 and 11:39 pm will be added. On Saturday, four northbound trips at 7:27 am and 5:36, 6:07 and 6:37 pm, and four southbound trips at 9:08 am and 6:38, 7:08 and 10:54 pm will be added. The northbound trip leaving the Burien Transit Center at 7:20 am will be revised to leave 8 minutes earlier at 7:12 am.

On Sunday, a northbound trip at 6:32 am and a southbound trip at 10:54 pm will be added. The northbound trip leaving the Burien Transit Center at 6:11 am will be revised to leave 10 minutes earlier at 6:01 am.

Metro’s info page also includes sections with information on which days this fall will include holiday-related changes. Metro says printed timetables will be available this Friday, and that you should be able to preview changes right now using the online Trip Planner.