White Center Now: The blog about White Center

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From Amy: “My parrot got out Saturday night in the White Center area (4th/102nd). She got spooked and went in the tree which we couldn’t get her down. She is a very sweet, well mannered, sounds like R2D2 from Star Wars and everyone thinks she is the coolest parrot, she has moved cross country twice with me and has been my best friend for years. I really hope some kind people find her and contact me. She loves pistachios, ice cold water, music, especially guitar. I am offering a reward of $100 to get her home safely. My name is Amy, my cell is 425-445-0761, please text or call anytime.”

Less than two weeks until this year’s local Dining Out for Life benefit, to raise money for Lifelong AIDS Alliance, on Thursday, April 24th. Six White Center/West Seattle restaurants are on the participants list so far, all listed as donating 30 percent of their proceeds during the dayparts noted below:

Buddha Ruksa – dinner
Duos – dinner
Locol Barley & Vine – dinner, late night
Mac’s Triangle Pub – lunch, dinner, late night
Proletariat Pizza – dinner
Talarico’s Pizzeria – dinner, late night

The full area-wide participant list is here (sortable by cuisine, neighborhood[s], daypart).

That’s the rest of our video from last Thursday’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting – the Equity and Social Justice Forum that was the meeting’s centerpiece. Joining the council were County Councilmember Joe McDermott along with Matias Valenzuela and Adrienne Quinn. Their toplines: It’s time to look at the larger systemic issues that create many of the problems that come with poverty. The county is working to look at that larger view and trying to incorporate the social justice and equity perspective into each action. That can also come down to day-to-day activities, such as the benefits of better access to public transportation or small-business loans.

P.S. More about the county’s Equity and Social Justice efforts, here.

North Highline Fire District crews are still at the scene of a house fire on 13th SW south of SW Roxbury. The incident commander tells WCN that no one was in the house when it caught fire before dawn; there are residents in an RV on the property, and the house was full of items being stored. An investigator will be working in the hours ahead to find out what started the fire.

You’ll see more kids out and about all week, since it’s Spring Break for Highline Public Schools. School’s back in session April 14th.

Starting at 7, with live music at 8, Company Bar invites you to come on over tonight and help slide victims, with a $5 suggested donation at the door and other chances to give. Check out the Facebook event page for details on bands (and a promise of “super secret guests”). Company’s at 9608 16th SW.

First of two reports with video from Thursday night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting: Beefy briefing from KCSO Deputy BJ Myers. As he noted, three crimes in the White Center area made news since last month’s meeting, and he had updates on all three, as well some time to answer questions from those in attendance.

Two of the three cases have led to arrests – the shooting death of Ruben Castillo (though the suspect remains charged only with two gun crimes, not with the actual killing) and the corn-stand armed robbery that was followed by a Guardian One search. The third, the rape/beating along Roxbury, remains unsolved, but deputies continue searching; Myers said they believe the person they’re looking for goes by “Antoine.”

He also talked about a new “diversion” program about to be kicked off to get help for “low-level drug and prostitution offenders” in hopes they will break the re-offending cycle.

On Saturday, we’ll publish video from the main event of the night’s forum, taking on the topic of equity.

After almost six months, the new standalone location of Caffé Delia is open in downtown White Center. It’s right next door to Proletariat Pizza, where CD used to time-share. You can go see them until 4 pm today; the rest of the hours are on their website; see more of the new shop’s interior on the CD Facebook page.

Flyer says it all – be there Thursday night!

Just listed on our Lost/Found Pets page on West Seattle Blog, which includes White Center listings too, but in case you just read WCN, we’re sharing the announcement here:

Jonathan wrote, “We lost our long-coat Chihuahua called Buffy on March 12th, 2014. She is 3 years old and Brown and Tan in color and about 7 lbs.She ran away from the dog sitter on 6th Ave SW and SW 104th St. in White Center. Our telephone number is 425-381-9526 and people can call 24 hours a day.” In a followup exchange, he told us there was a sighting in the Lakewood Park area on March 19th, but nothing since then.

Spring is here, and that means it’s time to dig in. Mara Bernard, White Center Food Bank garden coordinator, has a message to share:

Just wanting to get the word out again for this year, that community garden beds are available in White Center Heights Park. Anyone interested should contact gardens@whitecenterfoodbank.org to get more information. Signup ends April 9th.

P.S. Check out the White Center Giving Garden Facebook page!

Thanks to Gill for the initial tip that the Guardian One helicopter was out looking for someone/something – moments after we started trying to find out what was going on, we heard on a Seattle city police radio frequency that it was moving over to the West Seattle side of the line, to help look for a possible prowler, reported by someone who also said she heard shots.

According to subsequent discussion, the shots actually had happened on the county side of the line, related to an incident involving a car. There is no word of anyone actually having BEEN shot. Meantime, Guardian One didn’t find any evidence of a prowler, so it moved on.

And now, as we write this, a texter tells us shell casings were found at 28th/104th by sheriff’s deputies who responded quickly after the shots were heard. They, the texter says, were in the area continuing to try to get the word out about the Roxbury rapist from earlier this month. Still no indication of any shooting victim, or damage.

18-year-old Charles Moimoi, suspected of firing the shot that killed 17-year-old Ruben Castillo Jr. in White Center a week ago, is now charged with two gun crimes – but not charged, so far, in connection with the killing. King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Donohoe says Moimoi is charged with two counts of unlawful firearm possession – having been convicted of burglary, he’s a felon, and not allowed to possess a gun. His bail is now half a million dollars and he’s scheduled for arraignment on April 9th; the homicide case, Donohoe says, remains under “ongoing investigation.” Court documents reaffirm what we reported on Monday – that he confessed to firing the shot that killed Ruben Castillo – and include other details we’ll add to this report.

ADDED: Court documents say Moimoi was found with a gun in his backpack when arrested two days after the shooting, “similar or the same” to the one fired at the car in which Castillo was riding, killing him, loaded with the same brand of ammunition as casings found at the scene. The day after the shooting, he failed to show up for a court hearing in connection with a burglary case in which he is charged. He also is charged in an attempted burglary, according to court documents, in which he led police on a high-speed chase they “terminated because it became unsafe.” That’s just part of his record, prosecutors say, and it’s their reasoning for requesting the half-million-dollar bail.

Almost Spring Clean time – three dates this year, according to this announcement from Vy Nguyen at the White Center Community Development Association:

The White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA) is gearing up for 2014 Spring Clean events to take place April 12, May 10, and June 7. White Center Spring Clean is an opportunity for volunteers and residents to take part in an annual spruce up of White Center through projects aimed at cleaning up and beautifying the neighborhood.

“Spring Clean is a hands-on way to get involved in making your community, literally, a better place. Whether it’s gardening, graffiti removal, bringing in more art or whatever is identified as a community need: everyone in White Center benefits from having a neighborhood with cleaner and improved spaces to show that people in this community care about where they live and/or run a business,” says White Center CDA’s business district manager, Vy Nguyen. “Spring Cleans are fun and a great way to connect with others that care about community, plus a way to score a free I ‘heart’ White Center t-shirt!”

Spring Clean projects come from the community, as WCCDA supports resident-led action in White Center’s development. Each day will start at the White Center CDA office (605 SW 108th St. Seattle 98146) with a light breakfast before volunteers go to their project assignments. Past projects have included: gardening at various sites around White Center, trash pick-up in White Center’s business district, graffiti removal, as well as painting murals throughout the neighborhood. WCCDA’s Spring Cleans brings in close to 300 volunteers for 20-25 projects each year.

If you have an idea or see a need in the White Center community for a Spring Clean project or if you’d like to volunteer and get involved in the community, register online at: http://bit.ly/1nl9Vy8 or contact Vy Nguyen (vy@wccda.org) or Marquise Roberson (marquise@wccda.org).

King County Sheriff’s Office detectives hope that new sketch will help them find the man who beat and raped a woman just west of White Center, at 26th and Roxbury, on March 7th. Here is the latest from detectives:

On Friday, March 7th, just after midnight the victim was walking eastbound on the south side of Roxbury near 24th Ave. She was approached by a black male who asked her for a cigarette. The victim gave the man a cigarette when he suddenly dragged her to a nearby lot where he punched her repeatedly then sexually assaulted her.

After the assault the man fled, taking the victim’s purse with him. The purse was never located and may have been discarded nearby or possibly given to an associate of the suspect. The purse is very distinctive:

The attacker was described as a younger black male, early 20’s, about 5’9″, medium build, wearing a dark-colored hoodie and jeans. The suspect may have injuries to his hands due to the violent assault on the victim.

If you have information about this man or the missing purse, please call the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311 (24 hours). You can also be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 and remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Maybe you’ve seen the sign on the old South End Florist – it has a new tenant: PB&J Textiles, which has been in business for more than seven years in West Seattle. Its new storefront at 10728 16th SW will more than double their space. Their offerings include paper printing, banners, promotional products, embroidery, and screen printing, as well as copiers if you need to make quick photocopies. They’re planning to move Friday, April 4th, through Sunday, April 6th, reopening in the new space on Monday, April 7th, and will be tracking the move via Tumblr.

A judge has set bail at $1 million for the 18-year-old SeaTac man arrested Friday in connection with the Wednesday night shooting at 15th/Roxbury that killed 17-year-old Ruben Castillo of Burien. His bail hearing was Saturday; today, we received documents with a bit more information about what hapepned.

The time was listed as 9:51 pm last Wednesday. The victim was in the back seat of a Honda Accord with friends. They stopped at the Roxbury Texaco station. While fueling up, the driver noticed “a group of males” at a bus stop east of the gas station. “The males were looking at him and he commented to his friends in the car, including (the victim).” The report does not say what was “commented,” but goes on to say, the driver got back into the car and drove out, northbound on 15th and then east on Roxbury, “with intent to go to Alki.”

As the car passed the suspect at the bus stop, the suspect, the report says, “pulled a 9mm pistol from his back pocket, loaded a magazine, and fired three rounds at the vehicle as it drove away eastbound. One round passed through the tail light and trunk and through the seat back of the passenger-side back seat, and into (the victim’s) back.” Mr. Castillo realized he had been shot, and “began to scream”; his friend drove to the North Highline Fire District station, a mile or so away, “where medical aid was rendered” until the victim was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where, the report says, he died in surgery. The report says the suspect admitted he “had the gun and fired the shot” that proved deadly; it also mentions the burglary case we noted in our story on the arrest, and a $25,000 warrant related to it, and the attached police report notes his tattoos, one of which is a well-known regional gang name. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has until Wednesday to file charges.