White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Before taking a summer break from the monthly meeting schedule, the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council will take a closer look at one of the area’s hottest topics:

When: Thursday, June 4 at 7 pm
Where: North Highline Fire Station (1243 SW 112th)

We are pleased to be hosting James Paribello and Frank O’Dell from the Washington State Liquor Control Board, who will provide the latest updates regarding legislation, siting, and licensing of recreational marijuana stores (502 stores). We will be discussing the process for potential conversion of the now unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries to 502 stores.

Specifically, we are interested in how this new legislation will impact the greater White Center/North Highline community. With 8 unregulated medical dispensaries and two licensed 502 stores presently in the community, as well as a potential grow/processing operation, how many more businesses will we see?

Plan on attending and bring your questions and concerns for this important and informative community discussion.

Our White Center Storefront Deputy, Julian Chivington, will also be on hand with information on crime trends and general community safety concerns.

All are welcome – see you there!

Questions: contact – bdobkin@northhighlineuac.org

For the agenda please see: northhighlineuac.org

(Please note: NHUAC will not be holding meetings in July and August)

(Photo courtesy Highline Public Schools)
Big congratulations in order for a local teacher – here’s the announcement from Highline Public Schools:

Mount View Elementary teacher Jamie Ewing earned first place in The Henry Ford’s Innovative Nation Teacher Innovator Awards. Ewing is one of ten first place winners in the country.

The award recognizes educators who are using the classroom to inspire innovation, creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking among their students.

“I would like to congratulate this nationwide group of educator innovators who are truly changing the way students are learning in the classroom,” said Patricia Mooradian, president of The Henry Ford. “I look forward to welcoming them here this summer and watching as this program continues to grow.”

Winners were selected by a team of judges based on their original and creative approaches to teaching, their resourcefulness, and the positive impact they make on a daily basis in the classroom. Student engagement, learning goals, and evidence achieving those goals were also taken into consideration.

“Jamie is a collaborative teacher who consistently shares his expertise, commitment, and innovative thinking with our learning community,” said Mount View Principal Lisa Escobar. “He engages students by empowering them to solve meaningful problems using critical thinking and technology.”

First place winners will receive a week long “Innovation Immersion Experience” at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, taking place July 25 – July 31, 2015. The experience includes behind-the-scenes tours with curators and archivists, a teaching innovation workshop, and a special recognition ceremony.

Ewing is a National Board Certified Teacher. Microsoft inducted Ewing into its Expert Educator Program in 2013, and he was named a 2015 Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIE Expert). He has also been named a 2013 Innovative Teacher of the Year recognized by the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Education and 2014 Teacher of the Year recognized by the Museum of History and Industry.

(WCN photo: Veterans’ Triangle Park at 16th/Roxbury/Delridge)

Some helpful information for this holiday Monday:

TRANSPORTATION: Metro is on a Sunday schedule … Sound Transit Route 160 also is on a Sunday schedule.

SCHOOLS: Highline Public Schools are closed, as are most if not all independent schools.

LIBRARIES: King County branches are closed today.

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE HOLIDAY … according to the official USPS list.

MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY AT FOREST LAWN: In West Seattle at 2 pm, all are welcome at Forest Lawn Cemetery for the traditional Memorial Day event with American Legion Post 160 and VFW Post 2713. (6701 30th SW)

(Highline educators demonstrating this morning at 16th/107th)
Today’s the day that Highline Public Schools are closed as the Highline Education Association has its one-day walkout to protest the state of education funding. Picketing is happening in various locations now (including 16th/107th), and then around noon, walks/marches are planned – locations are in this post on the HEA’s Facebook page – the Evergreen campus is one of the starting points. Today’s school day is scheduled to be made up on May 26th.

Interested in the changes planned for SW Roxbury – all the way from 4th Avenue to 35th? The Seattle Department of Transportation plans a public “walking tour” along the entire length tonight, and all are welcome to join at any point along the way – walking the full distance or just meeting up at a certain point with comments and/or questions. Here are the times/places listed by SDOT:

5:30 pm – 4th/Roxbury
5:50 pm – 8th/Roxbury
6:15 pm – Delridge/16th/Roxbury
6:45 pm – 26th/Roxbury
7:15 pm – 30th/Roxbury
7:45 pm – 35th/Roxbury

Just look for team members in brightly colored safety vests!

If you haven’t been following the plan for safety improvements, here’s one of our reports from West Seattle Blog on the unveiling of the plan last month.

All over the region, teachers are staging one-day walkouts to protest the state of education funding, among other things. Today, Highline Public Schools announced that its teachers plan to walk out one week from tomorrow – Thursday, May 21st – so it’s closing schools that day:

All schools in Highline Public Schools will be closed on May 21 due to a teacher walkout.

The Highline Education Association (HEA) — the teachers’ union — has voted to participate in a one-day walkout on May 21. Highline does not have enough substitute teachers to cover all classes that day, so school is cancelled on May 21.

Highline will make up the school day on May 26, the district’s scheduled snow make-up day.

HEA wrote in communication with its members, “The target of HEA’s May 21 Day of Action Walkout is the WA State Legislature, not the Highline School District.”

ORIGINAL 6:24 PM REPORT: According to the Cascade Bike Club‘s map for Bike To Work Day events on Friday, local businesses are presenting a “commute station” in downtown White Center again, 6-9 am.

10:26 PM UPDATE: Apparently not – Caffe Delia indicates the map info is inaccurate. We HAVE direct confirmation of the West Seattle Bridge station, at least, if you’re headed that way.

Thanks to @smokeycretin9 for the tip via Twitter … county crews were out doing some roadside mowing this morning; we caught up with them along eastbound Roxbury, just east of downtown White Center. So if you travel Roxbury later today – you might notice the south side looks neater!

The latest list of license approvals published by the state Liquor Control Board shows one for what would be White Center’s first recreational-marijuana store. As has been discussed often by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council – again just last night – the area has had a relatively sizable number of medical-marijuana outlets for some time, but no recreational-marijuana outlet yet. The LCB’s list says the license is approved for a business to be called Bud Nation, at 9640 16th SW, Suite A. (9640 16th SW is where the Northwest Cannabis Market medical-marijuana enterprise first opened.) We wrote almost exactly a year ago about an applicant at Suite D being among the more highly placed applicants in the state’s lottery. No further details on the newly approved licensee yet, but we’re working to find out more.

If you need a few things … and/or just like to shop garage sales, rummage sales, yard sales, whatever you want to call them … head north and shop West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day tomorrow (9 am-3 pm, Saturday, May 9th)! Our partner site West Seattle Blog presents/coordinates WSCGSD, which this year has a record 340+ sales. The online map is here, and that page includes a link to a printable version (21 pages of sale descriptions and map sections).

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

Hot topics from crime to planning filled tonight’s meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council:

WHITE CENTER CRIME STATS: Storefront Deputy Julian Chivington was at the meeting to present a briefing. He primarily focused on sector K-1, though K-11 and K-7 are also part of the area. He showed hot spots for car thefts and car prowls; Part 1 crimes (homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, rape, burglary, larceny, vehicle theft, arson) are going down, 83 incidents in April, down from 88 in the same month last year and a peak at 106 last July. He said new hires are beefing up the staffing – more incidences of 3 deputies in White Center or even 4, compared to it often being 2 until now. Part II crimes – almost everything else – are down even more significantly 85 in the past month, from a peak of 135 during one month over the winter. Violent crime has dropped dramatically, according to a 3 1/2-year chart he showed. Burglaries and attempts are down from 14 in March to 11 in April.

Deputy Chivington said he talked to the burglary/larceny detective today who “had a whole bunch of success stories” – 5 in custody in the last three weeks for vehicle theft, for example, including “a prolific vehicle thief/car prowler that hit both Seattle and us … he’s looking at some pretty good jail time.” He took a residential-burglary report and collected fingerprints – they’re waiting on the results – and “the neighbors had cameras pointed at the house … detectives went to (the suspect’s) house” and the suspect confessed, Deputy Chivington said. Looking through the reports, he said mail thefts are down; a lot of previous victims “have put up locked boxes for mail” or pitched in for locking mailbox clusters, and that seems to have helped.

The bus stop fight at 102nd on April 26th involved a stabbing, Deputy Chivington said, but the victim was not being cooperative with investigators.

Miscellaneous cases – One that involved the SWAT team recently happened because a stolen vehicle had been stripped and turned up at the “Gypsy Joker clubhouse” at 5th/116th, Deputy Chivington said … the deputy says he’s working on various “problem houses” in connection with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

ASSESSOR’S OFFICE UPDATE: Phillip Sit from the office of King County Assessor Lloyd Hara presented an update, starting with a reminder of the different tech tools you can use online to find out more about your property’s value, taxes, etc. One called LocalScape – recently launched – will show a variety of numbers you might be interested in – appraised values, number of properties, changes in appraised values by residential area, local sales – you can click on a pin to find out more about a specific property, when it was sold, for how much, etc. It also offers demographic data (including areas you can select, not just premapped areas).

“We visit your property every six years, so if something changes, we might not be aware of it,” he reminded everyone.

King County is the “second-fastest-growing urban county in the country right now,” said Sit. That includes 1,500 people moving here from California every month right now, he said. The county’s values has increased 13.9% since last year. 85 of 86 residential areas increased in value for their 2014 valuation, but only 20 of those areas, all on the eastside, “have increased beyond their 2008 valuation.”

The valuation card you get from their audience will show up starting later this May, and the number is set on January 1st. They survey a variety of things in the area – including teardowns and sales – to calculate the value. In an area with many teardowns, most of your assessed value might be on the land, not the house.

The big question: “Does higher assessed value necessarily mean higher property taxes?” Answer: “It depends – factors include assessed value of your property, total taxable property value in your community, budgets adopted by your local governments, voter-approved measures. In Seattle, for example, the amount of property tax per $1,000 of assessed value went down a dollar because of new construction.

P.S. Watch for an Assessor’s Office town hall in the North Highline area this summer.

OFFICE OF PERFORMANCE, STRATEGY AND BUDGET: Karen Wolf from this office, which is part of the County Executive’s department, came to talk about the Comprehensive Plan update – a process that’s starting now, to culminate with finalization next year. She says County Councilmember Joe McDermott has asked for a “sub-area plan” in this area to see if major changes to be made. That’s a “neighborhood plan, a deeper look at a community,” Wolf elaborated when asked by NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin what exactly that meant.

She was asked whether the county is looking at zoning that would require housing for multiple income levels – like Greenbridge and Seola Gardens, for example. Talk to your councilmember, she suggested.

Overall, they’re hoping to plan for a more walkable community, saying the past zoning was “a barrier to having retail businesses come in and create sidewalks so you could walk there.”

What about tax breaks to encourage more businesses, especially tech firms with many jobs, to locate perhaps on underutilized sites like Top Hat’s former Bernie and Boys market site? wondered NHUAC’s Elizabeth Gordon. She also asked what good it does to address economic/social inequity if you can’t really have any effect on what kind of development winds up going where? Wolf acknowledged that’s a conundrum, and went on to mention a New York Times story about commute times being a predictor of getting out of poverty. “So what can we do as planners to help improve that situation? That’s something we’re going to look at.” She said they’re looking not just at the “bad things present in a community” but also “the good things that are lacking. … We’re going to be learning a lot of this with you, as the process goes along.”

She learned a lot just hearing from NHUAC board members and meeting attendees, including the fact that White Center has only one grocery store. It was observed that Wolf shouldn’t have been surprised by what she’s hearing – as she clearly was – and it was pointed out by an attendee that NHUAC “has been de-funded,” which means the county isn’t getting as well-rounded of a view. “How many different groups do you listen to?” she was asked.

NHUAC’s Liz Giba suggested that “too many groups in North Highline don’t have open meetings” (which NHUAC does). Wolf said the next step is to “work with the community to come up with a vision,” and then to “work with professionals to (pursue it).”

Concerns were also voiced that North Highline needs more “economic diversity.”

Wolf tried to reassure concerns that, as NHUAC’s Elizabeth Gordon put it, “the plan (itself) is a silo,” by saying planners would be meeting with people involved in a wide range of components that go into the plan, including housing, safety, and transportation.

Timeline? Right now, Wolf’s department is “developing the scope of work,” which will be followed by developing a draft plan by next winter, and the County Council adopting the updated Comprehensive Plan about a year from now.

BOARD MEMBERS’ ANNOUNCEMENTS included a May 31st health fair “open to the community” announced by Elizabeth Gordon, at Breath of Life Church on 26th SW, 1 pm-5 pm; she also announced a June 26th fun-run fundraiser for the Evergreen campus. … Liz Giba mentioned TAF‘s summer camps – register ASAP! – info here … Barbara Dobkin mentioned a “potential marijuana grow operation” at 1109 1st Avenue S., right across from an I-502 recreational marijuana store, and that a comment period for a conditional-use permit is coming up; she has information about it, for anyone who wants to comment, for/against/otherwise – you can contact her to find out more.

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS: White Center Kiwanis is announcing its pancake breakfast coming up in July during Jubilee Days – “if you buy tickets early, you save $2 at the door” … White Center Library Guild is having plant sales on Fridays and Saturdays, noon-2 pm at the library, throughout the month of May, both vegetable and flower plants.

NHUAC meets on first Thursdays, 7 pm, at the North Highline Fire District‘s HQ. A Liquor Control Board rep is expected at June’s meeting, to talk about cannabis.

Students at West Seattle Academy (11215 15th SW) know the power of something simple. Heather Aquino shared the photo and explains:

Last week West Seattle Academy was up to something AWESOME. They sold scones during morning arrivals to support Big Life Foundation. Big Life is a anti-poaching group in East Africa. Scones were sold for $1 each and these kids raised $750!

Big Life was the first organization in East Africa with coordinated cross-border anti-poaching operations.

As of July 2013, Big Life’s rangers had made 1,030 arrests and confiscated 3,012 weapons/poaching tools since November 2010. Recognizing that sustainable conservation can only be achieved through a community-based collaborative approach, Big Life uses innovative conservation strategies to address the greatest threats, reduce the loss of wildlife to poaching, defeat the ivory trade, mitigate human-wildlife conflict, protect the great predators, and manage scarce and fragile natural resources.

Big Life’s vision is to take the successful holistic conservation model in the
Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem and replicate it across the African continent.

Again this year, dozens of area nonprofits are participating in today’s GiveBIG one-day donate-a-thon coordinated by the Seattle Foundation. The money you give TODAY ONLY to any or all of the participating nonprofits goes beyond face value – it boosts their eligibility for a “stretch pool” of partial matching funds, to be distributed proportionately depending on how much each participating organization raises during GiveBIG, by 11:59 pm tonight.

VERY IMPORTANT: You **must** donate through the special pages all participants have on the GiveBIG website, NOT via the organizations’ own websites. So here’s our list of those special pages for participating White Center, West Seattle, and South Park-based or -founded/-connected nonprofits. The special links take you to pages on the Seattle Foundation website with background information, as well as the donation links to use for this one-day event. Please also note that some organizations require an extra step – the “go here” link takes you to their “fiscal sponsor” or parent organization and then you MUST write the local org’s name in the “comments” area. (P.S. Please let us know if we missed a WC, WS, or SP-based organization – post a comment or e-mail us ASAP at whitecenternow@gmail.com so we can check it out – thanks!)

ART FOR ANIMALS’ SAKE – go here

ARTS CORPS – go here

ARTSWEST – go here

CITIZENS FOR OFF-LEASH AREAS – go here

DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION – go here

DENNY-SEALTH PERFORMING ARTS – go here

DISABILITY RIGHTS WASHINGTON – go here

DUWAMISH RIVER CLEANUP COALITION/TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP– go here

DUWAMISH ROWING CLUB – go here

DUWAMISH TRIBAL SERVICES – go here

EARTH MINISTRY – go here

EMPOWER MENTORING PROGRAM – go here

ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION OF SOUTH SEATTLE – go here

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CENTER – go here

EXPLORER WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL – go here

FAUNTLEROY CHILDREN’S CENTER – go here

FEEST – go here

FREE2LUV – go here

FRIENDS OF SEALTH – IB SCHOLARSHIP FUND– go here

FURRY FACES FOUNDATION – go here

HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE – go here

HOLY ROSARY PARISH SCHOOL – go here

INVEST IN YOUTH – go here

K-5 STEM PTA – go here

KILLER WHALE TALES – go here

KING COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM FOUNDATION – go here

KOL HANESHAMAH – go here

LEGAL COUNSEL FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN – go here

MARRA FARM COALITION – go here

MULTI-COMMUNITIES (M.I.C.) – go here

NATURE CONSORTIUM – go here

NAVOS – go here

NEIGHBORHOOD FARMERS MARKETS – go here

NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE – go here

NONFICTION MEDIA– go here

NORTHWEST CENTER – go here

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE SCHOOL – go here

PLUMBERS WITHOUT BORDERS – go here

PONGO PUBLISHING – go here

PROVIDENCE MOUNT ST. VINCENT FOUNDATION – go here

PUGET SOUNDKEEPER ALLIANCE – go here

REEL GRRLS – go here

ROOTS OF EMPATHY USA – go here

SAFE FUTURES YOUTH CENTER – go here

SCHOOL OF ACROBATICS AND NEW CIRCUS ARTS – go here

SEAL SITTERS – go here and in the comments area, write that you’re donating for Seal Sitters

SEA MAR COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS – go here

SEATTLE CHINESE GARDEN SOCIETY – go here

SEATTLE GLEE CLUBS – go here

SEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATION – go here

SEATTLE POLICE FOUNDATION – go here

SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION – go here

SEATTLE SINGLE PARENT ADVOCACY COUNSELING ENRICHMENT – go here

SEATTLE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS – go here

SENIOR CENTER OF WEST SEATTLE – go here and write “Senior Center of West Seattle” in the “comments” area

SOUTH PARK AREA REDEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE – go here

SOUTH PARK INFORMATION AND RESOURCE CENTER – go here

SOUTH PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION – go here

SOUTH PARK SENIOR CITIZENS – go here

SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE FOUNDATION – go here

SOUTHWEST SEATTLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY – go here

SOUTHWEST YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES – go here

SPORTS IN SCHOOLS – go here

TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION – go here

TECHNOLOGY SERVICES CORPS – go here

THE CABIRI – go here

THE ILLUMINATIO PROJECT – go here and specify in the comments area that it’s for The Illuminatio Project

THE MISSION TO SEAFARERS – go here

THE SALVATION ARMY – KING COUNTY – go here

THE SERVICE BOARD – go here

THE VILLAGE OF HOPE – go here

THE WHALE TRAIL – go here

THEATER SIMPLE – go here

TOTEM STAR – go here

TRANSITIONAL RESOURCES – go here (TR’s board is matching the first $2,500 donated)

TWELFTH NIGHT PRODUCTIONS – go here

VIVACE CHAMBER PLAYERS – go here

WEST SEATTLE BE PREPARED – go here and write the organization’s name in “comments”

WEST SEATTLE BLOCK WATCH CAPTAINS NETWORK – go here and write the organization’s name in “comments”

WEST SEATTLE FOOD BANK – go here

WEST SEATTLE HELPLINE – go here

WEST SEATTLE JUNCTION ASSOCIATION – go here

WESTSIDE BABY – go here

WESTSIDE SCHOOL – go here

WESTSIDE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION – go here

WHITE CENTER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION – go here

WHITE CENTER FOOD BANK – go here – and again this year, WCFB has an added event on GiveBIG day, Dine Out For Hunger:

Dine out on May 5, 2015, and these restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to the White Center Food Bank!

Company Bar
Full Tilt Ice Cream (White Center location)
Mac’s Triangle Pub
Meander’s
Proletariat Pizza
Zippy’s Giant Burgers (White Center AND Georgetown locations)

These wonderful restaurants will donate to us through giveBIG, so their donations will be stretched and matched, too!

WHIT PRESS – go here

YES FOUNDATION OF WHITE CENTER – go here

WEST SEATTLE/FAUNTLEROY YMCA – go to the YMCA of Greater Seattle donation page and write in the comments that it’s for the West Seattle YMCA

YOUTH FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE – go here

YOUTH MEDIA INSTITUTE – go here

YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION NETWORK – go here

YWCA OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY – go here

Tomorrow’s the annual GiveBIG donate-a-thon, and you can help the White Center Food Bank via “Dine Out For Hunger,” as announced by WCFB:

Dine out on May 5, 2015, and these restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to the White Center Food Bank!

Company Bar
Full Tilt Ice Cream (White Center location)
Mac’s Triangle Pub
Meander’s
Proletariat Pizza
Zippy’s Giant Burgers (White Center AND Georgetown locations)

These wonderful restaurants will donate to us through giveBIG, so their donations will be stretched and matched, too!

When GiveBIG starts just after midnight tonight, we’ll also have a list of participating local nonprofits, as usual.

From North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president Barbara Dobkin:

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting:

When: Thursday, May 7, at 7 pm
Where: North Highline Fire Station (1243 SW 112th Street)

Plan on joining us to hear how you can have an impact on the King County Comprehensive Plan update – which will be adopted by the King County Council in late 2016. The Comp Plan sets the groundwork for the continued growth and development of our community (North Highline/White Center). Karen Wolf, Sr. Policy Analyst of the office of Performance, Strategy, and Budget, will provide details on the current plan – and how we can assist in formulating the updated plan.

We are also pleased to host Phillip Sit from the King County Dept of Assessments – housing prices are on the increase in King County – Phillip will be providing information on how housing prices in our community compare with the rest of the county. He will also be showing off the new internet tools that are available on the Dept of Assessments website.

Our White Center Storefront Deputy, Julian Chivington, will be also be on hand to provide updates on crime trends and general safety concerns.

Please see our website for more details and agenda: northhighlineuac.org

(UPDATED EARLY THURSDAY with more video, photos)

The youngest students at White Center Heights Elementary School got a lesson today that will last their whole lives: Finding out firsthand about public-safety personnel and what they do, during the school’s second annual Emergency Services Day. In our video, above, the star of the show was the King County Sheriff’s Office helicopter Guardian One, which landed right on the school’s playfield after circling a few times. Once it had come to a full stop, the students got to go over for a close-up look:

But the helicopter was not the only visitor. Public-safety vehicles including a North Highline Fire District engine and crew rolled onto the WC Heights playground for show and tell:

Ever wonder how a fire engine works and what equipment’s on board? Listen to the explanation and Q/A for this group of students:

An AMR ambulance was there too, with an EMT who has a special connection to the school – David Sonsteng is WC Heights Elementary’s PTSA president:

And a KCSO Gang Unit detective showed the students a patrol car as well as explaining his gear, from weapons to radio:

The students included WC Heights kindergarteners who had been working on their “community helpers” module, and preschool and Head Start students who were finishing up a “transportation” module. Introducing young children to emergency personnel in a non-emergency situation is helpful in case of a future emergency – firefighters, police and others might look scary with their uniforms and equipment unless a child recalls having learned about who they are and what they do. So all these little ones went home today with stories to tell:

(Here’s our coverage of the first WCH Emergency Services Day last year.)
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EARLIER: Below, the short version of our story, originally published Wednesday afternoon:

During a burst of sunshine between showers, White Center Heights Elementary students greeted special visitors for the school’s 2nd annual Emergency Services Day – King County Sheriff’s Office (including the Guardian One helicopter and a Gang Unit detective), North Highline Fire District, AMR (ambulance), and more. Above, a quick bit of video from right after Guardian One’s landing on the school playfield – we have much more to add later this evening.

We found Fred and Joe at the ballot-dropoff van outside Greenbridge Library on Monday, and you’ll find the van there from 10 am-8 pm today – your last chance to get the ballots in for the levy to raise money to replace the area’s emergency-radio system. In the first of its nine years, the rate will be 7 cents for every thousand dollars of property valuation, so if you have a house valued at $400,000, this will cost you $28. If you’re mailing your ballot, remember you need to provide a stamp, and get it postmarked by tonight; if you use the drop van (or another county dropoff spot), you do NOT need a stamp.

Thanks to those who texted and called (206-293-6302) about an incident on 16th near 102nd earlier this evening. At the scene, we talked to a King County Sheriff’s Office sergeant who said it started with a fight/argument between two men at a bus stop, and this is where it ended. One was injured and had to be taken to Harborview Medical Center. Deputies were investigating whether a weapon was involved; witnesses and those involved were reported to be telling conflicting stories.

It’s been an annual tradition for 13 years – the Cambodian New Year Street Festival, closing a block of SW 98th between 15th and 16th, and tomorrow’s the day (Saturday, April 25th). 10:30 am-5 pm, you’re invited to enjoy music, dance, contests, games, and more, free.

Tonight’s the night – bring your concerns and questions to this year’s Community Service Area open house for White Center/North Highline, 7 pm tonight at Seola Gardens:

As the flyer says, those expected to be there to talk with you include County Councilmember Joe McDermott and County Sheriff John Urquhart. Read more about the CSA program here.