White Center Now: The blog about White Center

King County’s out with an update on the tree work at Steve Cox Park; read it here.

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Just back from 8th SW north of SW 108th (map), where a car rolled into the front yard of a home whose residents just recently moved in (and narrowly avoided smashing into the house itself). The driver was taken away by ambulance, but witnesses told White Center Now that he walked out of the wrecked car – and reportedly told investigators he had slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a dog in the road. In the video clip above, you see debris in the street – some sports equipment spilled out of the car – just north of the crash scene. The neighbors who talked with us say drivers speed, and crash, regularly on this street – it’s a long straightaway north from 108th, and on 108th itself, with downhill stretches where they say it’s easy to get up to 50 mph very quickly. They would like to see a stoplight or some other kind of traffic-calming measure on 8th SW. The scene is barely a block north of the 8th SW site of King County Public Health and White Center Food Bank, by the way. The residents whose house was hit weren’t commenting while we were there, but investigators made quick work of the scene – a tow truck was arriving as we were leaving, barely half an hour after we heard about the crash on the scanner. We also caught a little slice-of-life of what it’s like to clean up after a crash: first, a short video clip of an officer kicking debris out of the street; second, a photo of the tire the crashed car lost:

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If you haven’t been there before – that’s Hicks Lake, right in the middle of Lakewood Park (map). Dozens of people spent much of today volunteering during the annual Hicks Lake cleanup, like 17 first-year students from Seattle Pacific University:

Among other things, they picked up trash and cleared away invasive plants like blackberries, and fallen tree limbs – over a dump-truckload worth, according to Dick Thurnau from Friends of Hicks Lake. Restoration work is under way both along the lake and in the nearby “bioswale” area that feeds it. They weren’t the only students on hand – Ann Magyar brought some of her students from New Start High School, who repaired damage to murals:

We got Dick Thurnau to stop down for a photo too; his note also thanks King County Parks’ Sam Whitman for providing gloves and tools:

Dick is a longtime advocate for the lake, and knows its history and challenges inside and out, as well as having many personal stories to tell. In his wrapup note about today’s cleanup, Dick provided some of the information we incorporated above, and added, “We asked the students what improvements they thought were needed in Lakewood Park /Hicks Lake; the #1 answer, clean lake water. They also suggested doors on the ladies’-restroom stalls, and complained of no paper towels to dry their hands. Several years ago at a Friends of Hicks Lake free annual BBQ, 50 letters were written by people attending and were sent to our King County Executive. One twelve-year-old girl wrote about the same problems dirty water no doors on the restroom stalls and no running water. A beautiful lady who is a champion Disc Golfer winning many tournaments has attended our meetings and she posted notices and informed the president of the Disc Golf Club; there were many golfers playing the course but only this lady was present for our cleanup day. Several remarks were made that stated the park looked in far better condition then in the past years. Thank you, Sam, for your efforts. There is a lot more work that needs to be accomplished, if we could just get the community’s attention.” The county has several projects in the works that should help improve water quality – we’ll be reporting on them indepth next week; one involves water sampling that could trace pollution back to the businesses from which it originates. The old dock you see in the top photo is scheduled for demolition next month, too.

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We got that video inside the old Southgate Skate Center in White Center around noontime Friday, where crews are working hard to get it ready for the debut of the White Center Swap Meet next Saturday-Sunday. They had planned to put up almost 100 stalls this weekend, but do note that staffer Mandel Medina told us sellers will need to bring their own tables. The stalls will be movable, workers say, to configure the fully renovated space (including restroom upgrades!) for other events. Swap Meet hours for starters are 1-7 pm Saturdays (starting 10/4), 10 am-4 pm Sundays (starting 10/5).

ENERGY FESTIVAL: You’re likely to get a visitor today; here’s what it’s all about.

HICKS LAKE CLEANUP: You’re invited to join volunteers, 10 am-3 pm. Read more about it here; Dick Thurnau tells us that, to get there, you should “use the west entrance on 10 Ave. SW slightly north of SW112 th St. next to Cascade Middle School and meet at the West side Picnic Shelter restroom.”

CONVERSATION CAFE: 2 pm today at Cafe Rozella; read more here. Voter-registration drive all weekend, too, so if you’re not signed up yet, might be handy.

And that’s not all … check the White Center Now Events calendar page for more (including the Geocaching Cup and tonight’s football game)!

A Rep of Chris Gregoire has just told the residents of Nickelsville that they can stay on the adjacent State property for another five to seven days. I will update more soon.

At 1:25 p.m., a couple dozen Seattle police officers moved into NIceckelsville.  Tracy reports 15 arrests so far.  Stay tuned for further developments.

No major headlines from tonight’s White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting, but we’ve got a few toplines for you anyway: Read the rest of this entry »

This morning’s annexation-issues meeting with Seattle reps visiting North Highline Fire District headquarters lasted only half an hour. Kenny Pittman from the City of Seattle said he’d come looking for “continuing discussion,” hoping it would help lead to a “direction.” A document presented at the meeting recapped the concern that had arisen prior to Burien temporarily withdrawing its annexation request, and laid out three potential annexation-related scenarios, one of which would call for a new fire station in White Center – read on: Read the rest of this entry »

From Highline Public Schools – more proof that saving energy isn’t just about the environment: Read the rest of this entry »

Lots of news at today’s North Highline Fire District commissioners’ meeting – including the fact there will soon be fewer meetings. With everything new that’s on the home page, we’ll jump this one ahead – click for the full scoop: Read the rest of this entry »

Word just in from the office of County Councilmember Dow Constantine: A discussion is set to look at the “concept of setting up an Alcohol Impact Area in the White Center business district.” This will happen during the next regular monthly meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, 7 pm October 2 at the North Highline Fire District HQ. According to the announcement, “A representative from the Washington State Liquor Control Board will give a short presentation and will be available to answer questions,” and it further explains, “The Alcohol Impact Area (AIA) program was established by the Washington State Liquor Control Board several years ago. Liquor licensees within the borders of an AIA are subject to special restrictions as to what products they can sell. AIAs were established to deal with the problem of chronic public drunkenness and have been put in place in Seattle and Tacoma. Setting up an AIA requires an extensive neighborhood effort to document a neighborhood’s alcohol-related problems (police calls, aid calls, litter, etc.) along with a government effort to convince liquor license holders to sign “Good Neighbor” agreements. Because the White Center business district is bisected by the Seattle-King County border, we should also consider the concept of setting up adjacent AIAs in unincorporated King County and the South Delridge area (city of Seattle).” The invitation has gone out to “law enforcement personnel, community activists, and crime prevention experts on both sides of the city-county line to attend this discussion.”

That’s Patricia Julio, neighborhood-revitalization director for White Center Community Development Association<, at last night’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting; she and WCCDA’s neighborhood-revitalization program manager David Daw were there to update HPAC on some of the many things WCCDA is up to, including the latest on the Cultural Center at St. James Place, and revitalization work in the WC business district — here are the toplines: Read the rest of this entry »

Just received this announcement – note it’s for an event this weekend as well as a call for playwright participation in an event next month:

The White Center Arts Alliance and DramaQueen Theatre are co-sponsoring a White Center “Future of the Arts” community planning meeting and visioning session on Sunday, September 28th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the White Center ALL ABOUT ARTS studio space at 9444 17th Ave SW.

White Center artists, community leaders and other interested parties are encouraged to attend. The agenda will focus on the short and long-term future of the arts in the White Center community. Phone Nancy Calos-Nakano at (206) 795-0833 for further details.

Also, looking for local playwrights for Live Theatre Week. 5 playwrights to read and present a 10 minute play will be presented on Oct 16,17,18 at ALL ABOUT ARTS studio space. Novice and seasoned writers should turn in a copy of their work to: Nancy Calos at culturalart@msn.com or Karen Kinch jkkinch@msn.com for details, approval, scheduling and entry. There is a small stipend awarded to the writer. Women Writers from all backgrounds are encouraged to enter. Event is called “The Rivers that We Carry – Voices from West of the Duwamish”

The long-closed roller link has been rebranded as the Southgate Event Center (website here), with a weekend swap meet starting October 4th-5th.

Lots going on this week and three to remind you about for starters: The North Highline Fire District commissioners’ regular bimonthly meeting is 8 am tomorrow at district HQ; then at 8 Wednesday morning, it’s the special meeting with Seattle reps re: annexation issues, as announced at the last NHFD commissioners’ meeting. Thursday night, the White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting starts at 6 at St. James Place – tons of important info at these meetings every month, and free dinner too. See you there!

Announced by U.S. Senator Patty Murray’s office (read the announcement here): $20 million in federal funds confirmed for the King County Housing Authority’s Park Lake II redevelopment project. Murray says the White House had tried to cut the HOPE VI funding that included this money. Here’s a financial breakdown of the nearly $200 million going into Greenbridge. UPDATE: Per comments, King County notes that this portion of Park Lake redevelopment is for a project separate from Greenbridge.

Dreaming of a future White Center Farmers’ Market is part of what the PARKing Day “park” is all about. Till 3 pm, you can see the “park” set up by White Center Community Development Association and Technology Access Foundation — with that banner, some greenery, fresh produce, and of course, technology — in the parking spaces by Full Tilt Ice Cream on 16th SW, west side of the street, a short ways south of Roxbury. Staffing the “park” when we stopped by a short time ago — WCCDA’s Sopha Danh and TAF’s Richard Brown:

TAF is also promoting its free TechStart classes – all listed on this handy white board at today’s “park”:

PARKing Day is happening nationwide – with people setting up temporary “parks” like this one to remind us that urban greenspace is vital to healthy, happy city living (among other things!).

WestSide Baby, which is headquartered in White Center and helps families here as well as West Seattle and environs, just put out an urgent call for newborn-size diapers – those shelves are bare! WestSide Baby collects diapers at its headquarters (10032 15th SW) as well as several other West Seattle locations and even one in Burien; full list is here.

That shelf of quirky collectibles (if you’re over 40 like me, the lunchboxes may strike a note of nostalgia!) graces the office of Mount View Elementary‘s new principal Mark Demick, who says they’re just items he’s picked up “along the way.” And what a way it’s been, bringing him from his first teaching job in the farming community of Delano, California — where parent/teacher conferences were sometimes held at vineyard worksites – to this new role in White Center. Read on to find out more about him, why he’s excited about the job, and what he hopes to do: Read the rest of this entry »