White Center Now: The blog about White Center

A man was found with a gunshot wound this afternoon outside the 15th/Roxbury gas station – and investigators believe the bullet that hit him was fired from the other side of Roxbury, outside the Walgreens, where they reported finding 19 casings.

Because the gunfire originated on the city side, Seattle Police and Fire were initial responders, so we are updating details on our partner site West Seattle Blog.

The state Department of Licensing is has announced the new location of its West Seattle driver-licensing office, and it’s not as close to White Center as the current one is. DOL is moving because its current location east of Westwood Village is slated for redevelopment. Today they announced the office is moving to 2420 SW Dakota, Suite 100 [map], adjacent to other state offices. A DOL spokesperson tells us, “Our last day at the current location will be on Saturday, February 24. We’ll open the new location on Friday, March 1.” Days and hours will be the same.

If you enjoy garage/yard sales, tomorrow’s a big day – via our partner site West Seattle Blog, we coordinate the annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, and this year more sales are registered than ever – even with a few last-minute cancellations, we have ~400 this year. They’re all on this map (as well as this printable list with addresses and descriptions). And four of them are in North Highline:

Sale #5: 10913 26th SW
Sale #18: 822 SW 104th
Sale #20: 10009 20th SW
Sale #390: 9858 26th SW

Official hours for the Saturday sales are 9 am-3 pm, but check the map/list for possible changes. Whatever you vhoose to do, have a great Saturday!

Been a little quiet over here as we work on the biggest project of the year over on partner site West Seattle Blog – we are the coordinators of the annual (except for the pandemic hiatus) West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. Tomorrow (Saturday, May 14th, 9 am-3 pm) is the big day, and we wanted to invite everyone. If you’re interested in shopping, find the map and list here.

1:04 PM: Big power outage affecting parts of White Center as well as South Park and West Seattle – more than 14,000 customers, according to Seattle City Light. Under investigation is a report that this might have been caused by a tree being cut and falling onto wires in central Delridge.

2:15 PM: About a third of the originally affected customers are back on, including South Park and parts of West Seattle. SCL has in the meantime confirmed that a tree is to blame, and says it took out “two feeders,” which is why this was such a large outage.

2:21 PM: And as we typed that, most of the rest of the outage zone was restored – now down to fewer than 400 customers.

Among the sections of local roadways where potholes have emerged and/or worsened since the recent snow, ice, and record rainfall is SW 106th. This weekend, Seattle DOT plans to repave two blocks of that street – here’s the alert:

On Saturday and Sunday, we will be repaving two blocks of SW 106th St between Seola Beach Drive and 32nd Ave SW. [map] We’ll begin this work as early as 7 AM and expect to be done by 3 PM. If you are driving on SW 106th St during this work, impacts include single lane reductions. Please anticipate traffic delays. We do not expect impacts for people walking and biking in the area.

Though this is within Seattle city limits, it’s a much-used route between White Center and West Seattle, so we thought you’d want to know.

8:39 AM: A power outage is affecting parts of White Center and south West Seattle. City Light map shows 2,100+ out. We’re checking out an apparently related crash in Highland Park.

9:37 AM: That’s the car whose driver went off the road on the Highland Park Way hill. No serious injuries reported. Meantime, most affected by the outage are back on; just under 300 customers in West Seattle’s Puget Ridge neighborhood remain out.

10:21 AM: Everybody’s back on.

(Originally published on partner site West Seattle Blog)

(File photo)

Camp Second Chance, the city-supported tiny-house encampment that’s just over the Seattle city-limit line from North Highline, remains COVID-free. That’s one of the updates from this afternoon’s monthly online meeting of the Myers Way encampment’s Community Advisory Committee. Meeting toplines:

CAMP UPDATE: Eric Pattin, co-founder and site coordinator, said 55 people are living at CSC right now, 20 women and 35 men. Two people have left for housing in the past month, and three people have arrived. One person was required to leave for violating the camp’s “no weapons” rule by bringing in a gun. Pattin said that “residents took action without anyone getting hurt,” confiscating the weapon until authorities arrived. That was one of four 911 calls to the camp in the past month; he said the others were medical. In Q&A, Pattin said the camp is using the former tiny-house-building tent (left behind when Sound Foundations NW moved that operation to a SODO facility) for meetings, and planning to add flooring in the future so it can be used more of a rec/community center. How they’re going to get that flooring hasn’t yet been worked out.

CITY UPDATE: Shawn Neal from the Human Services Department was the first City of Seattle rep to attend the CAC meeting in several months. He noted that the Navigation Team has been replaced by the HOPE Team, though the latter will mostly work with providers rather than directly with camps and campers. They’re still working out how concerns can be referred to that team. An request-for-qualifications process recently was conducted with the goal of opening more shelter spaces soon, Neal said, including adding hotel rooms, enhanced shelter, villages (tiny-house encampments), as many current places at capacity.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS’ UPDATES: Cinda Stenger said Alki UCC is providing a hot breakfast to the camp on Christmas morning and is interested in anyone who’d like to help; contact the church. … Chair Willow Fulton plans to talk with other CACs around the city about “building a network” to help former encampment residents who have moved into housing but need ways to “stay connected” after losing the support systems that the camps provide. “It just helps folks in that next step,” Fulton said. “Just getting into housing doesn’t necessarily cover everything you need.” … Fauntleroy UCC continues its involvement, recently providing electric blankets for camp residents. … Nearby area concerns shared by multiple CAC members included: Some signs of renewed unsanctioned camping in the greenbelt across Myers Way, and some trash concerns in the area, including illegal dumping by people who come to the area specifically for that. Street racing, too – speeding drivers at all kinds are a threat to campers and others walking in the area. Neal said he’d have city colleagues look into it.

PANDEMIC: Since this topic hadn’t come up as the meeting was winding down, we asked about it. Still no positive COVID-19 tests among campers, Pattin replied, adding that he’s working on arranging for everyone to be tested again in the next week.

NEXT MEETING: 2 pm Sunday, January 3rd, online; if you’d like to be on the announcement list, email c2ccacchair@gmail.com.

Enjoy garage/yard/rummage sales? Today’s the 15th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, which we coordinate via our site West Seattle Blog, and everyone’s invited to come shop the hundreds of sales happening all over the peninsula. We have mapped them two ways – interactive/clickable/zoomable and downloadable/printable. Each sale has a number and is matched with a classified-ad-style description. Three are in fact in North Highline:

Sale 5: 11622 23rd Ave SW
Sale 120: 9810 28th Ave SW
Sale 278: 9810 26th Ave SW

Official sale hours are 9 am-3 pm, though some are starting earlier and some ending later. Happy shopping!

8 PM UPDATE – WSB is functioning again so we have resumed updates there. Thanks for your patience!

UPDATED 6:58 PM: While our main site West Seattle Blog is still accessible, a technical problem temporarily has us unable to update its pages. While we work on fixing it, this site runs on a different system so here are important updates beyond what we have up on WSB already:

SCHOOL CLOSURES FOR TUESDAY:
Seattle Public Schools
Highline Public Schools
Vashon Island SD
South Seattle College
Hope Lutheran
Seattle Lutheran HS
Holy Rosary
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Summit Atlas
Holy Family Bilingual School
Kennedy Catholic High School
Taproot School
Community School of West Seattle
Westside School
Fauntleroy Children’s Center

Also:
O’Dea HS

POWER PROBLEMS

Almost 1,000 customers are out in southeast West Seattle

ROAD PROBLEMS
Currently numerous. Buses stuck on Avalon – photo from Gwen:

Delridge onramp to eastbound bridge, tree down across Jacobsen Road, Highland Park Way hill closed. Tree down on 35th SW southbound south of Morgan. Thanks to Brian for this photo:

Utility pole down on California between Dakota and Genesee. Thanks to Jeremy for this photo:

Don’t go out if you don’t absolutely have to. The city will need a while to catch up with this heavy snow.

We’ll add here as needed until we can update WSB links.

The Salvation Army invites you to join an awareness-raising march this afternoon (September 24th). From Capt. Lisa Barnes:

The Salvation Army is hosting a march down 16th Ave this Sunday. We will be walking just 4 blocks each way as we raise awareness for those currently enslaved around the world. We will start at The Salvation Army at 1:15 and be finished by 3:00 at the latest. This is a free event and we will be providing materials for signs.

Organizers add, “This will be the kickoff event for a group of people who are justice minded, and ready to make a difference for trafficked people in our neighborhoods. … This is not a political march. This is a march for freedom, for unity, for awareness, and for community.” The Salvation Army is at 9050 16th SW; the march will be on sidewalks, not the street.

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).

11:53 PM: Still trying to unravel exactly what happened, but Seattle Police tracked a suspect into White Center tonight and have just taken him into custody near Marv’s Broiler in downtown White Center. The call apparently started with a report of a man with a knife in South Delridge; SPD was searching, and then found their suspect, who was reported to have been on a bicycle. King County Sheriff’s Deputies were on the case too. We’ll add anything more that we find out.

12 MIDNIGHT: Photo tweeted by Katt:

ORIGINAL REPORT: If you’re seeing Seattle Police and helicopters, there’s a search under way in White Center after a man who stole a vehicle with a baby inside ditched the vehicle, a black Ford Edge. Searchers are looking in an area including the 13th/100th vicinity. The baby is OK. If you see anyone suspicious, call 911 ASAP. More details on our partner site West Seattle Blog; the SUV was stolen in Highland Park.

UPDATE: A suspect is in custody, arrested at 17th/Roxbury.

Student(s) in your family, or someone you know, in need of school supplies? Check out this event just north of White Center tomorrow (Wednesday):

Just a quick invitation to head north and shop West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day tomorrow (9 am-3 pm Saturday, May 10th) – more than 280 sales of all sizes, just a few miles away. In Arbor Heights and Shorewood, they’re even closer – just to the west – check out the online and printable versions of the map, including classified-ad-style listings for each one highlighting featured items, by going here.

Just north of White Center, it’s the 9th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – which your co-publishers here coordinate/present on behalf of partner site West Seattle Blog. 280 sales are on the WSCGSD map this year. You are cordially invited to check them out between 9 am and 3 pm – find the online, printable, and mobile versions of the map on this WSB page.

White Center and West Seattle organizations and community leaders are gathering this Saturday for the annual Gathering of Neighbors, and you’re invited – the first half includes conversations on topics including WC history; the second half is a resource fair with community organizations, and entertainment. Here’s the announcement:

Gather with your West Seattle/White Center neighbors this Saturday at Chief Sealth.

On Saturday, May 4th, at 9:00 am at Chief Sealth International High School, VIEWS (Visualize Increased Engagement West Seattle), Southwest Youth & Family Services, the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council, and the Southwest District Council will present the 2013 edition of the Gathering of Neighbors. GON has also partnered with the City of Seattle, Seattle Public Utilities, Rainwise Program to offer Delridge residents the opportunity to learn how water barrels and rain gardens can help improve the environment. SPU and their contractors will be available to demonstrate and answer all your questions.

This year’s event will feature several plenary sessions that we hope will encourage residents, schools, agencies, and community leaders to create new partnerships to meet the changing and challenging needs in the community:
· 9:00am – Social/Refreshments
· 9:30 am – Welcoming Ceremonies
· 10:00am – Honoring our Diverse Northwest Culture
· 10:20am – Sessions
Ø Should We Elect Our Seattle City Council by Districts?
Ø Rain Gardens and Other Creative Way to Improve and Make Your Neighborhood Beautiful
Ø Working Together to Build Stronger Communities
Ø Connecting Resources to Needs When a Major Disaster Hits – Emergency Communication Hubs
Ø Diaries of White Center – A Historical Documentary
· 11:05 – Repeat Sessions
· Noon – The State of West Seattle/Wrap-up
· Resource Fair/Entertainment

During the afternoon the GON Resource Fair will feature neighborhood councils, non-profits and social service providers, a selection of representatives from various city and county departments, plus local entertainment to celebrate the Gathering of Neighbors and the connections we have made. Will you join us? Starting at 12:30 the entertainment will feature:

Ø 12:30 pm – Twelfth Night Productions – Broadway show tunes
Ø 1:00 pm – Ellis Brothers – Middle schools trio of Jazz playing brothers
Ø 1:45 pm – Trackademics – Sealth group
Ø 2:15 pm – DK Dwyer – Chicago style blues (acoustic)

Chief Sealth IHS is at 2600 SW Thistle in West Seattle.

They are well-known in West Seattle, and now on their way to a permanent location in White Center: The young dancers of Gildenfire and their leader Jenna Lutton. We got the word from reader Megan Kelton-Rehkopf (who also shared the photo from their latest performance):

On Neighborhood Appreciation Day (Saturday), Jenna Lutton’s Gildenfire Dance held their annual performance for the residents at The Kenney [in West Seattle]. At the end of the performance, Jenna announced that Gildenfire has found a permanent home and she’s launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $5500 for a dance floor and mirrors to transform the space into an amazing dance studio. The new home of Gildenfire will be in White Center, located behind McLendon’s.

The Gildenfire fundraising page on IndieGogo reveals that as of this writing, they’re already 80 percent of the way to the goal.