White Center Now: The blog about White Center

(WCN photos by Patrick Sand)

The results are in and White Center has its new Unofficial Official Mayor – who happens to have run for an “official” political office before (State Legislature, 2010) – the namesake and proprietor of Mac’s Triangle Pub, Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy. If somehow you don’t know Mac, that’s him at the center of our photo above, with, left to right, Justin Cline, a stand-in for Floyd Dog (dogs aren’t allowed at the White Center Eagles HQ), Christine Spencer, and Brian Cooper. Big crowd for the Jubilee Days benefit dinner at which the voting results were announced:

Definitely a White Center who’s-who there tonight – not just the candidates! Look for more fun stuff in advance of Jubilee Days; the festival itself is happening July 19th-July 23rd this year.

(King County photo)

McLendon Hardware, which has stores in White Center and six other Western Washington communities, has a new out-of-state owner. After a tip, we confirmed this with McLendon’s marketing director Steve Miller, who said a news release is forthcoming. The buyer is Central Network Retail Group, whose website says it has 14 brands in 10 states, mostly in the Southeast. Employees were told this morning that the ownership change will take effect next month and that McLendon will keep its name. McLendon’s history dates back to 1926, according to its website, which notes that the White Center store opened in 1993.

10:43 PM: King County Sheriff’s Deputies are currently investigating a shooting, according to scanner traffic. A victim was reportedly found at 15th and 98th, but the shooting is said to have happened near the Roxbury Safeway. Right now they’re talking to a possible suspect. We’ll update if we find out anything more.

10:58 PM: KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West says 15th and 98th is where the victim was shot; the Roxbury Safeway involvement was because of a possible suspect in that area, but “that turned out not to be the case,” and they are continuing to look for the suspect. Sgt. West says the victim is a man whose injury is “serious but not life-threatening.”

11:07 PM: Sgt. West says the victim is being taken to Harborview. He had called 911 to say he was shot, and was in a car when they found him, so they’re not certain about the circumstances so far.

FRIDAY, 10:50 AM: We checked in again with Sgt. West this morning. She says the victim, contrary to rumor, DID survive. As to how and why this happened, investigators still don’t know. Please contact KCSO if you have information.

Your neighbors, and the friendly folks from King County Parks, would love to see you at Dick Thurnau Memorial Park on Saturday (April 1st). Here’s the invitation from volunteer coordinator Lina Rose:

Join King County Parks Volunteer Program staff and fellow community members to help make Thurnau Memorial Park a healthier forest on April 1st! We will begin our event at 9 am and work on digging out an invasive weed called English ivy (not poison ivy!) and wrap up by 1 pm. Our goal is to help increase the plant diversity in the park so it can be a healthier place for people and animals to enjoy. We will also have some environmental education about the important role our forests and parks play in White Center. Event is free and all are welcome!

If you can spare some time Saturday morning to be part of this, please contact Lina for more info and to RSVP – lina.rose@kingcounty.gov or 206.491.5014.

For those asking about the incident at 14th SW and SW 102nd on Wednesday evening: We went to the scene after a tip, but aside from the fact that there were bullet holes in the car shown in our photo, didn’t find out much. So this morning, we asked King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West, who tells WCN:

Yesterday around 5:15 pm we received a call of shots being fired in the area of the 1400 block of SW 102nd. When we arrived, we found an Acura that had crashed into a small concrete wall and a parked truck in the 1400 block of SW 102nd.

Witnesses told us people in the Acura and another (unknown) car were shooting at each other from the vehicles. After the exchange of gunfire, both cars fled in different directions; the Acura struck the concrete wall and truck. The occupants of the Acura fled on foot. There was an unoccupied vehicle that was struck by the gunfire that was parked nearby. Does not appear as though anyone was struck by bullets.

So, no arrests so far.

P.S. If you’re wondering – well, they have the car, did they find its owners? – Sgt. West explains that while the car was not reported as stolen, there is a “report of sale” on file with its new owner “not listed.”

FIRST REPORT, 1:29 PM: Thanks to Matt from Moonshot Coffee for the first tip on this – the US Bank in the 9800 block of 15th SW in White Center has been robbed. We’ve also just received information from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West, who says the robber gave the teller a note and then got away on foot. No description yet. They’re using a K-9 team for the search. More to come.

2:01 PM UPDATE: Sgt. West just sent this:

Suspect is a white male, 20s, last seen wearing black hoody, black gloves, blue jeans, and a red beanie. May have a tattoo on his neck.

Also added a photo from Matt (thank you!).

3:49 PM UPDATE: And another update from Sgt. West – a suspect has been arrested in Burien. “He was found in the Burien Library by one of our detectives. He is a 24-year-old transient man.” Sgt. West says the robber did not get away with any money.

If you don’t already have your ticket(s) for this – hurry! It’s a fun(draiser) for White Center’s Jubilee Days festival:

Who will become the first Unofficial Official Mayor of White Center??

Join us on April 1, 2017, at the White Center Eagles for the election of the first-ever Unofficial Official Mayor of White Center!

The Mayor of White Center will be elected via “campaign donations” raised by each candidate. The final election will be held on Saturday, April 1, 2017, and the winner will be determined by the number of “votes” (i.e. dollars) raised in their name. All proceeds go to support the production of White Center Jubilee Days.

The final candidates for Mayor of White Center are:

• Justin Cline
• Brian Cooper
• Floyd Dog
• Donnie “D” McDermott
• Geoffrey “MacDaddy” McElroy
• Christine Spencer

To “vote” for your favorite candidate by contributing to their campaign, go here.

The April 1st Election Fundraising Event at White Center Eagles will feature:

• Prime Rib Dinner!
• Door prizes!
• DJ Plantkiller!
• Mayoral Debates!
• Last-chance voting and announcement of the election winner!

Tickets are $35 each, and include dinner, or $250 for a table for eight people. Come join us for an exciting election night in White Center!

April 1st White Center Mayoral Election Fundraiser

Saturday, April 1, 2017 – 6 pm

White Center Eagles, 10452 15th Ave SW

Tickets, voting, and more information available at jubileedays.org.

This year’s dates for Jubilee Days, by the way, are July 19-23.

(WCN video and photos by Patrick Sand)

Perfect setting for this year’s White Center 5K, a sunny Saturday morning. Organizers told us at least 370 people were signed up, between preregistration and same-day signups. This year’s theme was again a celebration of superheroes, and many costumed participants joined in:

We also caught some of the runners passing by the north side of White Center Heights Elementary:

As noted here, proceeds benefit three White Center nonprofits. According to the results posted online, first finisher was 27-year-old Samuel Bradley-Kelly, just under 17:57 … first female finisher was 48-year-old Jen Hiner, just under 24:05.

Start your weekend in a big way – at the White Center 5K. It takes off from White Center Heights Park (7th SW/SW 102nd) Saturday morning, with this schedule:

7:30 Doors Opens to the public
8:45 Warm-Up Activity
9:00 Racers Begin
9:10 Walkers Begin
10:00 Entertainment, Race Winners Announced

If you missed out on online registration, here’s what you’ll pay to sign up right before the race:

0-6: Free
7-18: $30
19-59: $40
60+: $30

Your race fees benefit three local nonprofits:

White Center Community Development Association
YES Foundation of White Center
White Center Food Bank

And when it’s all said and done, you’ll find the Saturday race results here.

There are signs … and smiles. We visited the new White Center Family Shelter at midday today as they were expecting their first guests to arrive … a family of nine, according to executive director Marty Hartman of Mary’s Place, which is operating the shelter and has been working intensively to get it ready, with help from what Hartman declared “an amazing community.”

What was a vintage-1961 public-health clinic is now ready to temporarily house families totaling up to 35 people in phase 1 … and then when more features can be added, such as additional showers, they’ll be able to accept a few dozen more. Hartman showed us around between this morning’s job fair and guest arrival.

Welcoming messages are everywhere inside the converted clinic:

It’s remarkable to think about how far this plan has come with community support. Just six months ago, first word of what was at the time going to be a low-barrier adults-only shelter brought furious opposition. Mary’s Place was not involved at that time; they were brought in after King County backpedaled and worked with a community committee to decide how to best use the ex-clinic, and the decision was to make it a family shelter, operated by Mary’s Place. The building needed some modifications, and more are to come, but for now, not only are there places for people to sleep, there are also rooms for kids and teens activities, with murals painted by volunteers:

And lots of storage, with items awaiting those who need them:

Speaking of items, we asked what if anything was needed, in terms of donations? Here’s the current list:

Volunteer help also will be welcome – you can sign up through the Mary’s Place website.

One more thing about the White Center Family Shelter‘s official opening tomorrow – it will be preceded by a job fair:

As mentioned earlier this week, there’s another work party at the future White Center family shelter at 8th/108th tomorrow (Saturday). And today, King County confirms that the shelter is set to officially open on Tuesday (March 21st). More to come.

Next week, Mary’s Place says, they’ll be welcoming families at the new White Center shelter. You’re invited to one more work party there this Saturday (March 18th), 10 am-2 pm, to help get ready:

Last month we had more than 100 volunteers come by to help clean our new family shelter in White Center. Now that it’s spic and span, we’re need volunteers to “Adopt a Room” and help us get beds moved in and assembled, put on sheets and blankets, and be ready to open next week. Bring wrenches and screwdrivers!

If you want to bring something to help, we could use more twin Bed Sheets and Blankets! We also have an Amazon Wish List for all the other items we need to support our new guests!

Questions? 206-621-8474

SIGN UP to help!

(Click Sign In to set up an account and enter join code WCWORKPARTY)

10821 8th Ave SW

Thanks to Gill Loring for photos from the recent work party at North Shorewood Park. He reports that the weather that Saturday morning (March 4th).

“We really lucked out weather wise,” he observed. “Rain had stopped, cool, then some sun and a great group of people including neighbors, volunteers from Capitol Hill and Columbia City as well as Seattle University helping out.”

You can watch this King County Parks webpage for future volunteer opportunities – we see there is one April 1st at Dick Thurnau Memorial Park in White Center.

King County senior engineer Ken Gresset shared this update on a recent cleanup at “The Bog”:

The group “Friends of the Trail” removed 4 truckloads of garbage (down from the last cleanup) from the site, mostly from the cell between the pedestrian bridge and SW 100th Street.

At the same time, some of the vegetation was trimmed to enable easier viewing of anyone who might be hiding in the thicket. At last we have good news to report! The quantity of syringes has dropped almost in half. Many thanks to Deputy Kennamer for his diligent patrolling and enforcement of the no-trespassing areas and to King County Housing Authority for their assistance in helping keep the site trimmed and cleaned up.

Here’s what the area looked like a year and a half ago.

Congratulations to White Center resident Sophorn Sim for winning top honors in Sustainable Seattle’s annual awards. The photo and announcement were shared with us by ECOSS, for whom she works:

Sustainable Seattle announced the winners of their Sustainability Leadership Awards – known as the “Sustainability Oscars” – at their annual dinner March 3rd at the Swedish Cultural Center. The evening’s top prize, the Sustainability Hero Award, went to Sophorn Sim, an environmental educator working with immigrant residents and fishermen in the Duwamish Valley.

Business, organization, and individual award winners in six categories were recognized at the event for their efforts to make the greater Seattle region a more sustainable, resilient and equitable place to live.

“It was such an inspiration to hear everyone’s stories and see the amazing advances our region is making for our future,” said Sustainable Seattle’s Executive Director BJ Cummings. “It was also important to celebrate the people and organizations doing this work, especially now, when we need amplify the voices of our sustainability leaders.”

KNKX environmental reporter Bellamy Pailthorp emceed the event, which was opened by Duwamish Tribal leader Ken Workman, a direct descendant of Chief Si’ahl, and Julie Whitehorn of Sami Searvi, representing the indigenous people of northern Europe.

The awards are competitive. Nominations were solicited from the community and narrowed down to top five finalists in each category. Winners were selected by a panel of 15 independent judges who have significant experience and involvement in sustainable business, agency and local community initiatives.

The 2017 winners are:

SUSTAINABILITY HERO
Sophorn Sim, a former refugee who fled Cambodia in the mid-1970s, for her work in her community and at ECOSS helping build resilient immigrant communities by connecting them to their environment through education and experiences, such as healthy fishing, clean water and access to parks and recreation.

TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE AWARD: SMALL BUSINESS
Fremont Brewing Company for incorporating environmental sustainability and social responsibility practices into their business, including diverting waste streams into clean energy, providing low-cost health insurance and a minimum $15/hour wage to all employees before it was required by law, and more.

TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE AWARD: LARGE BUSINESS
Ikea Seattle for the sustainable design of their stores, active community involvement, product design innovations and partnering to plant 5,000 trees in the Mt. Adams Post-Fire Restoration Area. IKEA is working towards a goal of 100% renewable energy; their new Renton store has the largest rooftop solar installation in Washington.

RESILIENCE: EFFECTIVE ACTION ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY
King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C) for spearheading development, technical assistance and outreach that helped lead to the adoption in July 2014 of countywide greenhouse gas reduction targets of 25% reductions by 2020, 50% by 2030, and 80% by 2050. K4C is a consortium of King County and 11 cities.

TECHNOLOGY: INNOVATIVE CREATION OR IMPLEMENTATION TO ADVANCE SUSTAINABILITY
APANA for its innovative technology that helps commercial and industrial water users save money and manage their water using real-time, automated information. Users, such as supermarkets, carwashes, food and beverage processing facilities, and commercial buildings, have demonstrated an average 22% savings in water use.

ARTS AND CULTURE: BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY
No Gasoline Day – Coltura for helping change cultural norms about the use of gasoline through mobile and interactive live performance, social media, and powerful imagery and videos challenging the cultural status quo. In 2016, they produced mobile theatrical series performed at art festivals and gasoline stations across Seattle.

The Sustainability Leadership Awards, began in 2001 by local non-profit Sustainable Seattle, recognize the accomplishments of those raising the bar for sustainability in the greater Seattle area. The nominations and awards celebrate and encourage positive change as well as appropriately recognize the time and energy invested in transforming the local economy, community and environment, making Seattle a national sustainability model.

The White Center Chamber of Commerce‘s battle against graffiti/tagging vandalism is still getting off the ground. This past Monday night, about a dozen Chamber members and community advocates gathered again at Northmart to talk about it, two months after the previous meeting (WCN coverage here).

Dr. Kathleen Paulson from Cascade Heights Veterinary Clinic (9832 15th SW) led the meeting. Her clinic has forms that residents and business owners can use to identify graffiti vandalism and take to McLendon Hardware (10210 16th SW) to get the Chamber-arranged discount on paint and other supplies to get rid of it. The Chamber also is working to find a go-to person who can be contacted directly to go paint out vandalism when it’s reported, and to locate a storage area for paint and supplies that person will be able to deploy.

As for current trouble spots, the alley east of the east side of the heart of 16th, between Roxbury and SW 98th, was mentioned by several attendees.

(WSB photo, taken Friday morning)

Last weekend on partner site West Seattle Blog, we published an update on the Myers Way Parcels encampment Camp Second Chance, now officially “sanctioned” by the City of Seattle, and starting to get services as it prepares to expand. Tonight, we’ve just received an update directly from the city, mostly in the form of this letter from the city’s homelessness director George Scarola (including some information that was part of our earlier update):

Dear Community Members:

First, I want to thank those of you who could come out to talk with me at the second community meeting on February 1. A lot has happened since then, and I want to provide a status report on opening of Camp Second Chance and on general issues related to the City’s response to homelessness.

Importantly, I want you to know that Camp Second Chance will be ready to accept campers as soon as next Thursday, March 16. The site will ultimately host up to 70 adults. Patacara Community Services will operate the encampment.

Residents moving to Camp Second Chance are referred there by the City’s Navigation Team, comprised of outreach workers and specially-trained police officers, conducting outreach. This site will have ongoing trash-recycling-compost service, drinkable water, portable toilets, security, and pest control. As the camp comes online, Patacara Community Services will also provide case management to the campers to help them access services and housing.

Here is an update on the commitments we made in response to concerns raised at the February 1 meeting. As always, this is an ongoing conversation:

*Seattle City Light will install street lighting on the east side of Myers Way from Olson Place to the King County border starting Monday, March 13.

*The City engaged an environmental firm to do surface soil testing, and the results show safe levels of contaminants in surface soil.

*The City installed a perimeter fence to delineate the site and protect the wetlands.

*Seattle Police Department (SPD) has cited and towed several RVs parked along Myers Way.

I will be organizing a third community meeting in the coming weeks and inviting King County officials, the King County Sheriff’s office, dispatch officers from 9-1-1, WSDOT officials and SPD officers to discuss better coordination, on-going issues with dispatch calls, and improved response to reports of criminal behavior. For those interested, I have also enclosed the transcript of the February 1 meeting.  

Lastly, Patacara Community Services, with Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, will establish a Community Advisory Committee to provide input on the operations of the Camp Second Chance. This committee will be made up of residents, businesses owners, and other community stakeholders. Meetings will be public, and meeting notes will be posted online. If you would like to serve on this committee, an application is attached. The first meeting will be held in early April; more information to come.

Below are phone numbers that may be helpful for you: 
•         Police-Fire-Medical Emergency: 9-1-1
•         Police Non-emergency: (206) 625-5011
•         Patacara Community Services – Encampment operator: Polly Trout at (206) 465-6342
•         Seattle Public Utilities 24-hour line to report trash, illegal dumping or needles: (206) 684-7587 
 
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me or Patacara.

George Scarola

(Photos courtesy Village Green Nursery)

Village Green Nursery is reopening under new ownership. One year after its longtime proprietor Vera Johnson closed it and moved, we received this announcement from its new owner, Noah Trutzschler, who plans to open next month:

Announcing the grand re-opening of Village Green Perennial Nursery, White Center’s premier provider of organic herbs, veggies, fruit & plant starts.

HI, I’m Noah, the new owner of the Village Green Nursery. My partner, Sarah, and I are in the process of setting up the nursery to its former beauty, and plan on continuing the tradition of providing the community with healthy and beautiful plants. Both of us love to garden, but have never tried anything as ambitious as starting our own nursery before. We have big shoes to fill, but are looking forward to journey.

We will be specializing in organic herbs, veggies, fruit, plant starts, and small ornamentals. We’re in love with heirloom tomatoes and think you’ll love them too, which is why we have 12 different types of heirloom tomatoes. Want fresh basil for pesto, edible flowers to add a little zest to your plate, or Italian herbs for your latest culinary creation? We’ve got you covered. In fact, we currently we have over 70 different varieties of edible plants to choose from, and will keep our website up to date with the complete list as we continue to add more.

Prefer to start your own plants from seeds? We not only have local organic seeds, but are the only nursery we know of in the area that has Cow Pots. Haven’t heard of Cow Pots? We hadn’t either until we started research for the nursery. These are a biodegradable, natural, and sustainable method for quickly transplanting plants because it’s the biodegradable pot you plant. We’ve tested them in our garden, and are seeing amazing root growth (just as promised).

Our Grand Re-Opening will be April 22nd and April 23rd, 2017 from 10:00-6:00:

– The first 10 customers will get a free gift.
– We want to encourage kids to get outside, dig in the dirt, and eat healthy. So, the first 50 kids 12 and under can pick their very own free organic fruit or veggie start (think rainbow carrots, kids sized cucumbers, or edible flowers).
– For the adults, we’re offering 1 free plant with the purchase of 10 plants.
– We are also featuring the work of 3 Seattle artists:

*Peggy Johnson creates oil paintings of garden scenes, meant to invoke feeling, awaken memories, and nudge the viewer to see things in a new way.

*Dehanna Jones is a native Seattleite who specializes in colorful blown glass floats.

*Jessica Wilkinson’s creative spin on ceramic pots is sure to put a smile on your face.

For a sneak peek at the featured artists’ work, take a look at the Garden Art section of our website. Every month we plan to feature new art, and new artists. If you’re a local artist that would like to be featured, contact us at agentsarahy@yahoo.com and share an example of your work.

Please visit VillageGreenGarden.com for more info, or better yet, come see us in person April 22nd or 23rd!

Noah Trutzschler
Sarah Young

Village Green is at 10223 26th SW.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has just charged the man arrested for attacking a woman in White Center early last Friday. 21-year-old Robert J. German is charged with first-degree assault with sexual motivation. The charging documents say the 55-year-old victim remains in the hospital in a “medically induced coma” with major head injuries. German “almost killed her,” prosecutors allege, saying he pulled her behind a wall and attacked her, kicking and beating her in the face and head, as she “lay on her back, kicking and fighting to get away,” and that he apparently tried to sexually assault her. The charging papers say he first accosted her near a bus shelter on the east side of the 9600 block of 15th SW. A witness heard what happened and then found the victim unconscious in a pool of blood and called 911. German was found minutes later in the 10200 block of Ambaum and was later booked into jail, where he remains held in lieu of $750,000 bail. The court documents say the victim “lives on the streets” in White Center and that German works at a Burien restaurant but has been homeless for “about a month.” He has no felony criminal history, according to prosecutors, but has a misdemeanor conviction for theft two years ago. The court documents say that after life-saving treatment at Harborview Medical Center, the victim is expected to survive. German is due to answer the charge at a March 20th arraignment hearing.