White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Just in from King County Parks via Facebook, that photo and this invitation for you:

Tennis, anyone? Please join King County Parks for a special ribbon cutting ceremony to rededicate the improved tennis courts at Steve Cox Memorial Park. Tomorrow @ 2:30 pm.

It’s been almost exactly a year since the work began (September 2011 story here), and much of the work was done by May (story here).

It’s been exactly three years since Mike and Stefanie Albaeck opened the doors to Proletariat Pizza (9622 16th SW). And what a time it’s been! They’re not only busy, they’ve received regional raves for their pizza. And as is traditional for so many community-minded businesses in WC, though it’s their anniversary, they’re giving the gifts: Tonight they are donating almost a third of the take to the White Center Food Bank; Proletariat is open till 9 pm. (For a look back to their first night, here’s our 9/18/09 report on partner site White Center Now.)

Mikel Davila from the White Center Community Development Association sends word that the next business mixer is set for Monday, September 24th, 6-7:30 pm at one of WC’s newer businesses, San Fernando Roasted Chicken (9809 16th SW). Appetizers will be provided.

Make plans to have Proletariat Pizza for dinner (etc.) this Tuesday, because you’ll not only be helping them celebrate their third anniversary – you’ll also be helping the White Center Food Bank. Proletariat’s proprietors posted on Facebook that they’ll donate 30 percent on Tuesday to WCFB. (Here’s the story we published on their first night, 9/18/09.)

It’s White Center Art Walk night, 6-9 pm! One of the places you can stop for art and treats is Center Studio (9611 16th SW), whose proprietor Lonjina Verdugo sends word of what she has in store:

September Artist: Sarah Barrick at Center Studio

Please join us every 3rd Saturday of the month during Art Walk and enjoy what Center Studio has to offer. This month, Sarah Barrick’s photography based visual interpretations of the ratios and proportions found in the study of sacred geometry examine the perspective of the mandala principle where existence is described as ‘orderly chaos.’ She hopes that the beauty of her circular images give pause and create a space for the mind to wander, to wonder, and to appreciate what she sees as inseparable parts of a total vision of reality. www.sarahbarrick.com

We will be enjoying snacks and sips from 6-9 pm tonight with specials on classes if you sign-up while at the studio. Plus, if you have been wanting to try us out, we are offering our first Community Yoga night Sunday, 9/16, at 5:30. Cost is donation only. All are welcome!

Anybody else part of Art Walk tonight? Send info! whitecenternow@gmail.com

Thanks to Alice Haury for the sunset view from White Center, looking toward Vashon (the forested foreground) and then the Olympic Mountains!

We reported this tonight on our partner site West Seattle Blog – but in case you don’t read WSB, we wanted to make sure you heard about it here too. Another popular West Seattle restaurant is planning to open in White Center. Meander’s Kitchen proprietor Miranda Krone says she is taking over the former Papa’s Pub space, which shut down seven months ago in the wake of a federal raid. Her WS diner, which started primarily as a breakfast spot and now even serves dinner, is consistently mega-busy, with patient fans waiting outside. No timetable for the move – she says she’s signing the lease Saturday. She tells us she feels like her restaurant is a good fit for the White Center community, as it continues to grow and evolve, and is full of people who care intensely about their neighborhood.

The two candidates for King County Sheriff on the November 6th ballot came to White Center tonight and spent a spirited hour trying to win votes. They are current Sheriff Steve Strachan – appointed when Sue Rahr resigned – and challenger John Urquhart. The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council invited them for a forum-within-a-forum at tonight’s quarterly Public Safety Forum, and we have it all on video.NHUAC’s Richard Miller introduced them.

The agenda for tonight’s forum also included disaster preparedness and a crime update, delivered by White Center’s storefront deputy BJ Myers, whose 12-minute appearance is also on video. Among other things, he talked about the strong-arm robberies that led to recent arrests (as reported here):

Both happening TONIGHT (Thursday):

*Burien’s monthly pre-election annexation information session: Beverly Park Elementary, 1201 S. 104th, cafeteria, 6 pm

*North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s public-safety forum, featuring crime/safety updates as well as a forum with the two candidates for King County Sheriff, 7 pm, North Highline Fire District HQ, 1243 SW 112th

One week from tomorrow, the White Center Community Development Association celebrates its 10th annual dinner/auction at South Seattle Community College, with keynote speaker King County Councilmember Larry Gossett. WCCDA shares this update:

Born and raised in Seattle, Larry Gossett has been a dedicated servant of the people for more than 40 years. He is currently serving his seventh term on the Metropolitan King County Council and serves on several committees including Law, Justice, Health and Human Services; Government Accountability, Oversight and Financial Performance; and Growth Management Planning Council.

In 1993 he was elected to the King County Council, representing District Ten (currently District Two), which encompasses most inner-city neighborhoods in Seattle and unincorporated King County in the Skyway neighborhood. He was overwhelmingly reelected in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. In 2007 Gossett became just the second African American elected to be chair of the King County Council.

In 1999, 13 years after the 1986 change of the County’s name to honor the slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Councilmember Gossett spearheaded the campaign to change the King County logo from an imperial crown to an image of Dr. King. In 2007, the King County Council unanimously adopted the change, becoming the only governmental entity in the nation to have as its logo the likeness of Dr. King.

Councilmember Gossett is a highly respected community leader who has advocated for the underrepresented and underprivileged in King County for his entire career. He has long been an advocate for programs that help inner-city youth and reduce racial and class disparities in our local criminal-justice system. He has also led efforts to eliminate black-on-black violence and other manifestations of self-hatred by poor and disenfranchised populations. White Center CDA Executive Director Sili Savusa is excited to welcome Gossett, saying, “We feel it is fitting that Councilmember Gossett is our keynote speaker with our theme of ’10 Years of Action’; his actions over his career are what we as an organization aspire to!”

The mission of the White Center Community Development Association is to promote a vibrant neighborhood and high quality of life for White Center residents and stakeholders through the development of authentic leadership opportunities and community-led, neighborhood initiatives. This is accomplished through three lines of business: neighborhood revitalization, family development, and community building.

Tickets for this event are still available for the price of $65. To learn more, please visit at wccda.org/tickets.

The King County Medical Examiner has identified the woman found dead at Mallard Lake in White Center last Friday as 22-year-old Victoria McMullen. The KCME says the cause of death is still under investigation. We also checked with King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West; she says KCSO investigators did not find any obvious signs of trauma, but they won’t know the cause of death – and whether it was accidental or homicide – until toxicology reports come in (which could take weeks). She said the victim is believed to be from out of state.

We’ve mentioned this Thursday’s event before – but now it’s just three days away. Here are the full details from the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council:

NORTH HIGHLINE UNINCORPORATED AREA COUNCIL

Invites you to a

PUBLIC SAFETY FORUM

Thursday – September 13, 2012 – 7pm
North Highline Fire Station
1243 112th Street, SW
White Center

Meet the King County Sheriff Candidates:

Steve Strachan – was a police chief, city-council member and state
legislator in Minnesota before he became chief in Kent for more than
four years. Sheriff Sue Rahr named him chief deputy in January 2011.

John Urquhart – a resident of King County for 54 years, served as a
commissioned police officer for over 36 years, the last 24 full-time with
the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Police Reports/Neighborhood Concerns:

BJ Myers, King County Sheriff Deputy, White Center Storefront,
will give an update on crime trends in the North Highline area. Deputy
Myers will also take questions regarding neighborhood concerns.

Community Emergency Response Team – CERT:

Mechee Burnett, King County Community Service Officer, will give
a presentation on the CERT program, Emergency Preparedness for
your community and sign up for fall classes.

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Additional information is available on the NHUAC website:
www.northhighlineuac.org

Brightening up our first gray day in a while – cups of fresh fruit are among the treats you’ll find at the Holy Family Street Fair on 20th SW (which is closed for the occasion) south of Roxbury. Fun for kids includes the pony rides:

And a bouncy house:

And for all ages, entertainment – Gary Benson was performing while we dropped by:

It’s continuing till 4 pm today.

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

Exactly two months before the election that could change the remaining unincorporated area of North Highline forever, the Burien annexation proposal came up more than a few times during Thursday night’s meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council:

ANNEXATION FORUM: NHUAC is planning to have one instead of next month’s regular meeting – Thursday, October 4th. Councilmember Liz Giba says they’re inviting reps from the county and Burien, as well as the state, to “get the information (voters) need to make good decisions.” They haven’t set the location yet – still looking for one. Once it’s set, it’ll be published on the NHUAC website. NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin emphasized, “It’s going to be informational – not a debate.”

BURIEN CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mike Martin opened by pointing out that he’s been coming to the NHUAC meetings for five years now. Regarding the upcoming annexation vote, he says City Hall hasn’t received many requests for information about it, and “I don’t know what to make of that” – since ballots arrive about three weeks ahead of time, he said, voting really will start in five weeks or so. He said the city went to area schools today and handed out pamphlets in hopes kids would take them home to parents to invite them to the upcoming forums. “Regardless of which way the annexation goes, that will be ‘go time’ for the question of the libraries,” he reminded everyone, referring to the proposal that King County Library System tabled – under pressure – about consolidating the White Center and Boulevard Park library branches. He also said a general discussion about the libraries is on an upcoming Burien City Council agenda.

He also noted that at annexation forums, he often stresses how much things are NOT going to change if it’s approved, but then again, he had an anecdote about the kind of action he said demonstrated that Burien fights for what it needs: The city is getting more federal money for an offramp that they want to build in the future auto-business zone north of the Sea-Tac 3rd runway – that’ll at least help Burien finish design of the ramp. “To get enough money to actually design this project is huge,” he said. “It means that area is going to turn around much faster than I thought it was.”

September and October are the months to get ready for emergencies, he added – particularly weather, “something that shuts down life as we know it, at least for a day or two.”

And last but not least, on a hot Burien topic, he says Town Square “is coming along nicely” and the city is negotiating with the property owner to get going with Phase 2 – he says it “will not be condos, the market right now won’t support condos anywhere.” They “expect to see a concept in the next 30 or 45 days.”

COUNTY ASSESSOR LLOYD HARA: “You’re the 4th group I’ve spoken to today,” he began, noting he has made about 500 public appearances since being elected in 2009. He says properties “in this general area” have lost value again in the latest round of assessed valuations. There’s been “a good number of foreclosures” in the area – good as in “large,” not “positive” – and he says that’s put a drag on property values. You have 60 days from the postmarked date on your assessment postcard to appeal them. He said there were 13,000 appeals the year he was elected, and now it’s down to 8,000, and he hopes that means “the values are closer to what you believe they should be.” January 1, 2012, was the valuation date for the 2013 property tax, he explained. In general, he said, more than half the property tax you pay goes to local schools. Giba asked Hara if he could comment on a contention that homes would be worth 35 percent less with a Burien address than with the current county address if annexation is approved. Hara said he couldn’t really comment on that, but since the school district isn’t changing, and the district is the primary driver of tax rates, he doesn’t think that kind of drop would be likely. Regarding how much your tax bill comes out to – he reminded the meeting that for the next 8 years, the levy for the new youth-justice center will be added to tax bills, since it was approved in last month’s election.

Overall, White Center-area property values dropped 12 percent for the current cycle, and Burien-area values went down 9 percent, Hara said.

CODE ENFORCEMENT: Al Tijerina from the county came to update the hot spots. Asked about the county’s code-enforcement staffing situation, he acknowledged the enforcement officers are still burdened with hundreds of cases each, and are “very much overworked.” The council inquired about a specific case of a messy property on 16th SW (cross-street was not mentioned), and Tijerina detailed efforts to work with the property owner to get it cleaned up. They also asked about the former Wendy’s/Ezell’s/El Chalan on 16th – Tijerina said that even with the overgrown weeds and graffiti vandalism, there’s nothing there at this point that he has jurisdiction over. Several other boarded-up abandoned properties were brought up.

Another question he fielded: Are roosters allowed in the county? While other jurisdictions ban them, the county does not, according to Tijerina. He does try to talk to property owners about getting rid of the roosters, when complaints come in, he says.

If you have a complaint to file, by the way, send it online – “it’ll come directly to me,” he said.

COUNCILMEMBERS’ ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Liz Giba returned after recovering from illness and thanked everyone for the good wishes.

*NHUAC vice president Pat Price reminded meeting-goers that on September 17th, the North Highline Board of Fire Commissioners meets at 6 pm at NHFD headquarters.

*NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin reminded everyone of the White Center Food Bank fundraising dinner October 20th at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center. Also, NHUAC’s public-safety forum is next week – 7 pm September 13th – with both candidates for King County Sheriff, appointed incumbent Sheriff Steve Strachan and retired KCSO Sgt. John Urquhart. That same night, she notes, is also the next Burien informational forum about annexation.

*Mikel Davila from the White Center Community Development Association announced from the floor that the WCCDA fundraising gala would be September 21st, 6-8 pm at Brockey Center.

Though he couldn’t be at last night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting (our meeting report’ll be up by Saturday morning) for the customary crime report, White Center’s King County Sheriff’s Office Storefront Deputy BJ Myers has since shared this news of arrests related to a recent crime spree:

Roughly between July 21st and August 14th we had 6 robberies in the downtown White Center area that involved suspect(s) snatching jewelry (necklaces), and in one case a purse, from female victims walking down the street. These were robberies, not thefts, because some measure of force was used to steal or retain the items. SPD was also experiencing a large number (about 9) of similar MO crimes. On August 15th KCSO Major Crimes Detectives were able to identify potential suspects and eventually, with SPD assistance, positively identified a group of 4 male individuals who had been committing a large share of the robberies in both jurisdictions.

So far, we’ve arrested three of the four, who are still in custody, and will be charged with multiple counts of Robbery 2nd and Trafficking Stolen Property 1st. A fourth suspect has an outstanding warrant and is being sought. Most of the suspects live in the greater North Highline area. They were operating in two groups, although members of each group were either friends or blood related. One suspect in the first robberies in July was later arrested and charged with Manslaughter for a fatal shooting in Skyway on August 1st, which the Major Crimes Unit also investigated.

The Major Crimes Unit is continuing to investigate and monitor activity in the area to determine if there are any remaining suspects still outstanding. I know I have noticed the higher than normal number of robberies in the area this summer and I am very pleased that the KCSO Major Crimes Unit and SPD detectives have done such good work.

(Added: Photos by WCN co-publisher Patrick Sand)
10:49 AM: King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West reports a body’s been found in the Mallard Lake area of White Center, near the Coronado Springs Apartments. That’s why you’re seeing a helicopter. We’ll be there shortly.

11:01 AM UPDATE: Co-publisher Patrick Sand has talked with Sgt. West at the scene, where investigators are working right now to find out what happened. The body is female, she says. They got the call about an hour ago.

11:30 AM UPDATE: Sgt. West says the body was found floating in the water. They don’t know for sure yet whether this is a crime, or an accident, and they have no idea about identity/age, either. But Major Crimes investigators are there to do their best to find out. Above, we’ve added video of Sgt. West’s brief interview with WCN.

From Highline Public Schools:

More Highline Kindergarteners will learn a second language at school starting next fall. Highline will open new dual language programs at White Center Heights and Madrona elementary schools. Each school will have two dual-language Kindergarten classes starting in fall 2013.

Madrona will offer Spanish immersion. At White Center Heights, there will be one Vietnamese immersion and one Spanish immersion class. Half of the students in each program are native English speakers and half are native speakers of the other language. Students spend 50 percent of every day learning in English and the other 50% learning in the second language.

Each year, the schools will add a grade level as students progress through each grade and new Kindergarteners enter the program every fall.

Hilltop and Mount View elementary schools were the first two schools in the district to offer Spanish dual language programs. The first cohort at Hilltop will enter 7th grade in 2015. Highline plans to expand dual language to middle school at that time.

Demand for dual language classrooms in growing in Highline. “We anticipate expanding to other elementary schools in the next three to five years,” said Bernard Koontz, Director of Language and Cultural Arts.

Big smile from Holy Family Parish School principal Frank Cantwell – it’s the first day of school and the first day of a new program that will continue growing over the years. Holy Family is debuting its dual-language program. The principal explains, “We have hired seven bilingual teachers from Mexico, South America and Spain. Our Pre-School, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten students will be learning half their subjects in Spanish and half in English. Each year, we will include the next grade up. For now, all the students in Grades 1 through 8 will be taught in English, but learning Spanish in the more traditional approach.” One of the new teachers is Flori Muñoz from Argentina:

Here’s her kindergarten classroom from another angle:

Assistant principal Anca Wilson was conducting parent orientation:

Also happening this week at Holy Family – the annual Street Fair is coming up Saturday and Sunday (September 8-9). Principal Cantwell says, “We will be having Mexican, Filipino and Vietnamese foods, as well as hot dogs and hamburgers. We will have pony rides again this year, and we have built a water slide that I am sure will be a big hit with the kids. We will also be having a variety of ethnic music and dancing. We expect it to be bigger and better than ever.”

Labor Day’s here, summer’s over, and meetings resume for local community councils and other organizations. In this area, that starts with Thursday’s meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council – and the agenda’s up on its website:

7:00 pm Call to Order – Flag Salute – Roll Call –
Approval of Agenda – Approval of Minutes

7:05 pm Public Announcements
7:10 pm Public Comment
3 minutes for Individuals
5 minutes for Groups

7:15 pm Mike Martin, Burien City Manager

7:20pm Deputy BJ Myers

7:30 pm Lloyd Hara, King County Tax Assessor

8:00 pm Treasurer’s Report

8:15 pm Committee Reports
1. Governance
2. Arts and Parks
3. Public Safety
4. Housing and Human Services
5. Public Outreach
6. Transportation

8:20 pm Unfinished Business/Old Business
· Flower Bed Planting (100 ST & 16th Ave, SW)

8:30 pm New Business
· NHUAC Annexation Information Forum

Avoid 26th/Roxbury and vicinity for a while – while the crash in our photo did not result in injuries serious enough for anyone to have to go to the hospital, according to investigators, it did block eastbound traffic on Roxbury and all but one westbound lane. We’ll check back on the traffic situation a bit later to see if it’s cleared.

UPDATE: It’s clear now.