White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Small but spirited group of vendors so far, in the first minutes of Day 1 of the new White Center Swap Meet (in the Southgate Event Center, formerly the Southgate Skate Center on 17th south of Roxbury). Operators asked us to remind you that the authorized participating vendors are all INSIDE – if you encounter anyone trying to sell you anything OUTSIDE, they’re not part of it. It’s open till 7 pm today; day 2 tomorrow is 10 am-4 pm.

At the old Southgate Skate Center, now rebranded Southgate Event Center: Doors open to buyers at 1 pm. Also today, the North Highline Fire Department has a pancake breakfast this morning at Boulevard Park Place as part of the regional “Give Burns the Boot” fundraiser.

The deadline to mail in a new voter registration or changes of voter registration ( change of name / address)  is Oct. 4th. ! Voter registration applications have be postmarked Oct. 4th for the Nov.4th election. Here are two important links: Washington Secretary of State – General Voter Registration Info: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/register.aspx

Voter Registration Form: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/pdf/2007/MI-VRCard.pdf

After Oct. 4th – the only way to register is in person up to 15 days prior to the election at the county election office.

One more story to come after this, from Thursday night’s meeting (an update on the Steve Cox Memorial fundraiser), but first, two quick notes: The vacancy on the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is now filled; Rebecca Lopez got the job. She was the only qualified applicant; council leaders said a second person who applied turned out to neither live nor work in the area. Note #2 – parking changes on the way to Roxbury between 15th and 17th: King County has a plan to remove 10 parking spaces on the south side of the street, it was mentioned on the meeting (we’ll be checking with the roads department to find out more).

Several stories to report from tonight’s meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council at NH Fire District HQ: We’ll start with a summary of the Alcohol Impact Area discussion (previewed here); council member Heidi Johnson has been researching this for about a year, it was noted tonight. The heart of the presentation/discussion was an informational briefing, with Karen McCall from the state Liquor Control Board explaining what an AIA is, how it works, and how to request one. Bottom line: If an area has problems caused by public drinking/drunkenness – from litter to people passed out in doorways and on bus benches – this is one way to go after the problem. It restricts businesspeople in the area from selling certain types of alcoholic beverages, sometimes specifying certain times of day for the restrictions. “There has to be a link from the products to the problem,” McCall stressed. And it requires a lot of documentation — once you’ve proposed an AIA, six months of work to see if you can get local businesses to comply voluntarily with whatever you want them to do (restrict certain products, certain hours, or both) — and you have to document the problem, with photos, notes, etc. After six months, if you “don’t get compliance” as McCall put it, you take it to your local jursidiction – a city council or county council, for example, and say you want to take it to the Liquor Control Board. That process may take another three to six months, but, she said, “The board hasn’t turned one down yet.” Make sure you really want it, though, because “once it’s in, it’s in” for at least two years. McCall also noted one more tool that communities have – when businesses’ liquor licenses come up for renewal, they can request restrictions on sale of certain products (fortified wine, for example) – though again, documentation of neighborhood problems is required. (Note: Liquor-license applications can be tracked online here.) One person who could certainly play a role in that was at tonight’s meeting: White Center-based King County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Hancock. In his year and a half in the area, he said, while he’s seen “a lot of violent crime,” he emphatically declared: “The behavior that stands out, and makes a negative impression, is public drunkenness — from Roxbury to 107th, between 14th and 18th, four or five businesses have single-sale alcohol to individuals, and there are 20 to 30 regulars, any day of the week, you can drive down 15th and 16th, see the cans everywhere, people passed out at bus stops … I personally responded to robberies, assaults between people who are intoxicated. It’s very bad for the image of White Center. What people say – they don’t really see the narcotics deals, or the violent crime you hear about on the news, but they see every day the people stumbling down the street, aggressive panhandlers … Alcohol is not the most serious crime in the area, but the most detrimental to the growth of the area.” He added that he feels if Seattle chooses the nearby Myers Way jail site, and releases people there, they would immediately head toward White Center to “get a beer,” if nothing is changed. McCall said some business owners traditionally protest the potential designation, but revenue reports show they usually increase their business in the year after restrictions are put into place. What’s next? More research, and a decision whether this is to be formally pursued; as mentioned in our preview coverage, area activists also would like to look at whether the Seattle side of the White Center area could be included – apparently that would involve separate requests from the separate jurisdictions. James Bush from the office of County Councilmember Dow Constantine also promised they would stay involved.

A building permit application has been submitted to King County for a new construction project on SW 100^th, between 15^th Ave SW & 14^th Ave SW. Public comments are currently being taken and are due, in writing, this coming Friday, Oct. 3, by 4:30pm in King County‘s Land Use Services – Renton Office.  Comments must be conveyed either by mail or delivered by the Oct. 3^rd deadline. King County cannot accept comments via e-mail.

This is a chance to weigh in on a new proposed development in the neighborhood.

Per King County Land Use Website:

• To learn more about a proposal: Call the planner assigned to the proposal. Names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses are listed with each land use action. Or, visit the permit center, located at 1055 S. Grady Way – 6th Floor, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. weekdays and review the files for the proposal. Phone: (425) 430-7200.
• To comment on a proposal: Send your written comments to the Project Manager listed, Department of Community & Economic Development (CED) – Planning Division, 1055 South Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057, and be sure to include your name and address. (E-mail comments will not be accepted unless they are followed up with written and signed comments.) Comments will be accepted until the time a staff report is prepared for the decision or recommendation, with a minimum comment period of at least 14 days (30 days for shoreline proposals). If you submit a written comment, you will be sent a copy of the decision or recommendation. All written comments become part of the permanent record.
• To appeal a permit decision: Appeals of decisions must be filed in writing together with the required $75.00 fee with: Hearing Examiner, City of Renton, 1055 South Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057. Appeals to the Examiner are governed by City of Renton Municipal Code Section 4-8-110. Additional information regarding the appeal process may be obtained from the Renton City Clerk’s Office, (425) 430-6510.

Reminder – the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meets tonight at 7 pm at North Highline Fire District headquarters, and the idea of a possible Alcohol Impact Area in White Center is on the agenda. (We wrote about this last month.) Read the full agenda for tonight’s meeting here; other topics include graffiti, King County Sheriff’s Office storefronts, and the upcoming Steve Cox Memorial fundraiser (here’s our most recent update).

Click pic to play vid

We first told you here at White Center Now (Monday report here) and at partner site West Seattle Blog (Monday report here) two days ago about an urgent call for help from the White Center Food Bank. Executive director Rick Jump says thanks to WCN/WSB readers for stepping up – hundreds of dollars in donated $, plus food donations, have come in as a result, and citywide media have come by to do reports – but much more help is still needed. While we visited Jump at WCFB earlier this afternoon for a followup, he gave us the newest statistics — the number of people seeking help from WCFB this September was 50% greater than last year, almost 1,000 in ’07, almost 1,500 in ’08. And as commenters pointed out on both sites, WCFB has a unique challenge – since it is not within the boundaries of a city, it doesn’t get any kind of city funding, as do its fellow food banks in incorporated areas. You can help WCFB right now by donating $ online, right from this page. While we were at the food bank this afternoon, a steady stream of people came in – Rick explained, it’s the first of the month, and food stamps are still days away; we didn’t photograph the clients because we believe they’re entitled to dignity as they seek help, but trust us (and listen to the sound as we shot the video you see above), the volunteers were working hard to distribute what they had. P.S. One more way you can help – the WCFB annual fundraising auction/dinner is coming up October 18th, 5:30 pm at South Seattle Community College’s Brockey Center; this event raises up to half the WCFB’s annual budget funds – check out the invitation here and RSVP by October 10th (read more in this previous WCN post).

Homer Angel’s building is on the sale block. The historic building, whose address is 9601 16th Avenue SW, sits at the corner of Roxbury Ave. SW and 16th Ave. SW. The building was owned for eons by Homer Angel, who was a great person but did little to invest in the building’s infrastructure. The building has an interesting history, having served is hotel, bordello, theatre and pharmacy. Current occupants include a Halal market, pharmacy, tax preparation business and a Lucky Nails salon. The corner space has an outstanding view of the heart of White Center. Homer passed away this summer and a couple of private sales fell through. The building is being shopped as an estate sale with an asking price of $1,700,000. The White Center Community Development Association previously attempted to buy the property but the asking price was above their means. This is actually a very lovely building in desperate need of a loving owner who appreciates its charms and is willing to invest in sprucing it up to its great potential.

We broke the story last week that Sen. Patty Murray and others would be in White Center on October 6th for the Educare Learning Center (rendering above) groundbreaking as part of the White Center Early Learning Initiative. Now, we’re getting more details. Joan Tritchler at the Puget Sound Educational Service District has just sent more info about the event next Monday, including: “Senator Patty Murray, Bill Gates Sr, state legislators and county officials will celebrate with White Center community members and children from neighboring Head Start and child care centers in this milestone for the many agencies and public and private funders that worked so hard to make this exemplary early learning facility a reality.” White Center Heights Elementary principal Dave Darling also is scheduled to speak, and some of his kindergarteners are scheduled for a performance at the event, which starts at 10 am Monday at the International Plaza at WCH Elementary (“steps away” from the learning-center site).

When we stopped by the former Southgate Skate Center last Friday, we were told the sign declaring it the Southgate Event Center would be up within a few days – and indeed, it’s up now. Saturday’s the first White Center Swap Meet at the historic, newly rechristened venue on 17th SW. (Previous White Center Now coverage here and here.) WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The rink’s sign was being painted over today – here’s a picture we caught early this afternoon:

We mentioned last week that the date is set for the fundraiser for the Steve Cox Memorial. Here’s the official announcement with details from Heidi at NHUAC:

Steve Cox Memorial Art Project Dinner & Auction

Please join us as we reach for our goal to have an artist create a memorial
for Steve Cox that will be installed at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White
Center.

“A fitting tribute to a man that made a difference“

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council Invites You To A Benefit
Dinner & Auction For The
Steve Cox Memorial Art Project

November 14, 2008 – 6:00 p.m.

St. Bernadette’s Parish School Hall
on 128th and Ambaum Blvd. S.W.

Catering by: Galliano’s.

Oral & Silent Auction
Auctioneer: Deputy Roy Galusha

Tickets are a donation of $40.00 per seat and are tax deductible

To RSVP
Please send check or money order payable to: 4culture by November 3rd, 2008 to:
NHUAC P.O. Box 66900 Burien, WA 98166

4culture is the fiscal sponsor for NHUAC
Credit cards not accepted

To learn more about 4culture, visit www.4culture.org

For additional information please contact Barb Peters at 206-242-0934 or Heidi Johnson at _hjohnson@northhighlineuac.org

This is also posted at our partner site West Seattle Blog; we don’t make a habit out of crossposting verbatim (instead, we will link back and forth occasionally when warranted), but this is urgent – White Center Food Bank serves both areas – so here’s the note we just got from WCFB executive director Rick Jump:

Our numbers are up (way up) and donations are down. We are currently experiencing critical shortages of food which will begin to impact services in the next week or two. Our inventories are shrinking fast and we need almost all types of non-perishable food. Canned fruits and vegetables, soups, tuna, cereal, dry variety foods such as Hamburger Helper, Rice-a-Roni and Mac & Cheese are especially needed at this time.

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

Click pic to play video

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:

Click pic to play video

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.

Click pic to play video

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).