White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Highline Public Schools superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield decided she wasn’t going to wait for the state to fund all-day kindergarten for all – the district was just going to go ahead and do it, no matter what. Here’s the announcement, on the HPS website.

9:46 AM: Traffic alert: A car hit a tree in the 15th/Roxbury vicinity and eastbound Roxbury is blocked for a while. Two people were taken to the hospital, according to deputies on the scene. Buses are being routed off Roxbury in the area.

10:31 AM: Metro says buses have returned to their regular routes, which indicates the scene has been cleared.

Tuesday morning, a WCN reader who just wants to be identified as a “concerned citizen, White Center/Top Hat area” spotted a suspected case of casing:

I believe I caught someone casing my home (Tuesday) morning. I backed out of my driveway around 7 am and saw a clean but older white Chevrolet 2 door pickup truck creeping slow with his lights off behind me a few houses. Ours is not a through street so the truck should have been coming up behind me. Turned the corner but the guy never showed so I went around the block and saw him walking down my front door steps back to his truck. I pulled up next to his driver side window and rolled down my passenger window, he avoided eye contact until I honked my horn. I asked what he was doing and he said his “job,” so I asked what his job was and he said he worked for “the city.” I asked why he wasn’t driving a city truck and he said it was one. I backed up and took a pic of his license plate B89—H. Then he started driving, so I followed him out of the neighborhood and he didn’t stop at a single other house. I confirmed with the non-emergency report operator that this is not a city vehicle and she put me in touch with the sheriff.

Just a reminder, if you leave your house in the morning and someone suspicious also sees you leaving it doesn’t hurt to go around the block and double check that they have continued on down the road.

Police say time and time again, alert citizens are their best weapon against crime.

An update from King County on the Hicklin Lake floating-islands project – which now is described as including two “floating islands” to be installed within the next few months. The big news in this update is that the contract has been awarded:

King County is moving forward with its innovative plan supported by the local community for cleaning up Hicklin Lake by using vegetated floating islands to improve water quality.

Seattle-based Herrera Environmental, representing the international firm Biomatrix Water, will design and install two 600-square-foot floating islands early this summer in Hicklin Lake, which is located in Lakewood Park in the White Center community.

Covered with native wetland vegetation, the islands are designed so that the plants’ roots extend below the waterline. The roots and accompanying biofilm take up excess nutrients from the water column – one of the main causes of the ongoing algae blooms that bedevil the small lake’s water quality.

The project is being managed by the Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, and was made possible through a combination of surface water funds and a $50,000 grant from the Washington Department of Ecology.

Hicklin Lake water quality has been a concern for years, with a history of harmful algae blooms that have posed potential health threats to people, pets and wildlife.

The plan for installing the floating islands isn’t the only step King County has taken to improve water quality in Hicklin Lake. Staff from WLRD have been tracking down and eliminating illegal and inadvertent sewer connections that discharge pollutants into the stormwater system that flows into the small lake, as well as updating and improving the stormwater infrastructure that serves the area.

The county says installation is likely to happen in July.

Thanks to Gill Loring for photos and news about a weekend event to beautify North Shorewood Park – organized by King County Parks and featuring Seattle Works volunteers as well as Friends of NSP:

We had a great time. The weather was perfect for working. Cleaned out around trees planted last year, added a few more and barked them to help keep down the weeds.

Cleared out along the trails and picked up trash. Several kids from the neighborhood showed up to use the basketball hoop and found it “busy” with a truck parked under it.

A wonderful thing happened – they volunteered to help, pulled on some Seattle Works tees and dug right in. According to Mark from KC Parks, they wanted to know if they could come back (Sunday) and help some more! Nope, just a one-day event.

Just reported:

Sunday, May 19 – my neighbor’s small black Pomeranian (uncut hair) missing from outside Bartell Drugs at 15th & Roxbury at approx. 5:23p.

Last seen on #128 bus heading east on Roxbury. Owner is devastated!! Will post picture soon. Please contact 206.992.1692 if you have any information.

The Bike To Work Day party is just wrapping up in downtown White Center – bet you recognize the renowned crew there to provide encouragement, incentives, and treats! Here’s a wider shot of the setup:

For downtown (and vicinity) events on the pm-commute side of Bike To Work Day, check this page on the Cascade Bike Club‘s website.

Big sale tomorrow at Greenbridge! The official announcement:

White Center Kiwanis Rummage Sale (or garage sale whichever you prefer)

Saturday, May 18

Greenbridge Plaza (near DubSea Coffee)

9800 8th Avenue SW

9:00 am to 4:00 pm

You will be assisting our efforts in supporting local non-profits who focus on families & youth; West Side Baby, White Center Food Bank and the Southwest Boys & Girls Club.

–

Caffé Delia‘s Facebook post says it all. Big party Friday morning in downtown White Center in honor of Bike to Work Day?

All you need to do is bike to your fricking job on one day. And that day is tomorrow.

Get those Bikes out! Tomorrow is Cascade Bicycle Club F5 Bike to Work Day.

Rat City is having an early morning party. 6-9am. We’ll be set up right in front of our shop at 9622A 16th Ave SW.

Free Ice Cream by Full Tilt Ice Cream
Free Pizza by Proletariat Pizza
Free breakfast sammies by Zippy’s Giant Burgers
Free bike repair tips, thoughts and bike-powered smoothies by Aaron’s Bicycle Repair
Free cameo appearance by King County Sheriff’s Office Storefront Deputy BJ Myers. (He will be punishing non-cycling freeloaders
Discounts and passes to Center Studio
Oh, and free coffee by us.

And, while you’re down here love, ride a few blocks to the always awesome Dubsea Coffee and mooch free coffee and stuff off them too.

This is the greatest thing that can happen at 6 am in the morning on a friday. Besides maybe a huge snowstorm that makes it so you can’t go to work at all.

Just out of the inbox:

May 25 roller derby rematch: Derby Liberation Front vs. Jet City’s Pink Pistols

Join your favorite roller derby revolutionaries for an evening of rink riots and pistol whips as Rat City’s Derby Liberation Front (DLF) battles its neighbors to the north, the Pink Pistols of Jet City Rollergirls on Saturday, May 25th. The last time this rivalry met on the track in 2012 it came down to an epic final jam with DLF chalking up a win and the Pistols pleading for more. Well, they got what they asked for – another chance to see if the revolution can hold its ground when the Pistols come to town. First whistle is at 6:20 – don’t miss a second of this bitter rematch!

Who? Rat City Rollergirls, Derby Liberation Front vs. Jet City Rollergirls, Pink Pistols
What? Roller derby
When? Satruday, May 25th @ 6 PM
Where? Southgate Roller Rink in White Center: 9646 17th AVe SW
Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/364685

Some slow going this morning on the hill to and from the Myers Way/1st Avenue South ramp for Highway 509: A semi-truck with trailer wound up on its side – no way to get a close-up photo, but it’s in the backdrop of what you see above. Nobody hurt, we’re told, and traffic was being directed around it while a tow truck got ready to right it.

Again this year, local nonprofits are participating in today’s GiveBIG one-day donation drive coordinated by the Seattle Foundation. The money you give to any or all of the participating nonprofits helps them be eligible for a “stretch pool” of partial matching funds, to be distributed proportionately depending on how much each participating nonprofit raises during GiveBIG, by 11:59 pm tonight. The BIG catch: You **must** donate through the special pages that participants have on the foundation’s website, NOT via theirs own websites. So again this year, we made a list of all those special pages for participating West Seattle, White Center, and South Park-based or -founded nonprofits (and a couple parent organizations) – see that list here; below, we’ve broken it down further to a White Center-relevant list. The special links take you to pages on the Seattle Foundation website with background information and links to the organizations’ own sites, as well as the donation links to use for this one-day event. (P.S. Please let us know if we missed a WC-based organization – thanks!)

HIGHLINE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE – go here

KING COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM FOUNDATION – go here

SOUTHWEST YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES – go here

TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOUNDATION – go here

THE SALVATION ARMY – KING COUNTY – go here

WESTSIDE BABY – go here

WHITE CENTER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION – go here

WHITE CENTER FOOD BANK – go here **Note, again this year, WCFB has added events on GiveBIG day, including a portion of proceeds donated this morning if you have breakfast at Meander’s Kitchen, and tonight if you dine at Proletariat Pizza, Zippy’s Giant Burgers, or Company in WC. Caffé Delia (WSB sponsor) and Dubsea Coffee also will have “donation stations” set up in the morning.**

YES FOUNDATION OF WHITE CENTER – go here

YWCA OF SEATTLE-KING COUNTY – go here

The White Center Chamber of Commerce and White Center Community Development Association are teaming up for a Power Lunch and Power Mixer today – two times, two locations, so that businesses can make it no matter what their schedule. At noon, they’ll be at Chemo’s (xx); at 7 pm, they’ll be at TT’s Soul Kitchen (xx). Topics will include business-district lighting and the push to make sure White Center doesn’t lose its Storefront Deputy. Speaking of which – have you signed the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s online petition yet? (It was first reported here, on Monday.)

4:25 PM: Thanks to the tipsters who let us know about a tree down on Ambaum around SW 116th. We’re en route to check it out. Not sure yet how much it’s affecting traffic. Updates to come.

4:57 PM UPDATE: The tree is down in the southbound lanes just south of SW 116th. When we were there a short time ago, people were being diverted around that area. In our photo above, that’s the tree to the left of the view – you can’t see the trunk, just the big leafy top.

Want to help convince county leaders to keep the White Center Storefront Deputy position in the King County Sheriff’s Office budget? At the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s recent public-safety forum (WCN coverage here), Sheriff John Urquhart warned that, while he supports continuing to fund the position, budget pressure could mean trouble – so he urged citizens to voice their support to leaders including County Executive Dow Constantine and County Councilmember Joe McDermott. And they in fact are the leaders to whom NHUAC’s petition on change.org is directed. You can sign it 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.

The recent pet-food donation drive by White Center-headquartered West Seattle Montessori/West Seattle Academy brought in 2,471 pounds of food! Heather Aquino shares photos and a report:

The West Seattle Academy’s 7th graders collected more than a ton of dog, cat, and even bird food for their school-wide pet food drive. The drive lasted three weeks and was a spirited contest between all of the classes in West Seattle Montessori and West Seattle Academy. The Yellow Room donated the most food, with a whopping 724 lbs donated to the cause. They were treated to an ice-cream party hosted by the 7th graders on Thursday, May 9th.

The report continues:

On Friday, May 3rd the 7th graders loaded up the school van with all of the large bags of dog and cat food and headed to the Humane Society of Seattle to drop it all off, take a tour of their facilities, and learn about how their donations help local families, senior pet owners on limited incomes, and people with terminal illnesses lacking the essential resources needed to tend for their furry companions.

With the bulk of the collected food being donated to the Humane Society, there is still a substantial amount that will be dispersed to smaller, local animal shelters in our community. The drive was an overwhelmingly huge success. Thank you to the Yellow Room and all of the students of West Seattle Montessori and Academy for an amazing experience that benefited not only the Humane Society, but that also inspired the giving spirit of our 7th graders.

Announced by Mark Ufkes:

Alex Campbell (Evergreen High School senior) and other community volunteers will be serving free Taco Time tacos in Steve Cox Park tomorrow at noon to our homeless community. We can always use more volunteers. They should arrive around 11:45 at Steve Cox Park near the White Center Chamber of Commerce office.

Tomorrow’s the night – 6-9 pm … here are the places you can go!

Big Al Brewing (9832 14th Ave SW)
Chris Doelling: Acrylic on Panel

Chris does mostly ‘vaguely landscape or organic abstracts’. Her work is wrought with depth and contrast found in the work pulls people in for a more prolific eye journey.

Center Studio (9611 16th Ave SW)
Jennifer Forland Lately: Installation

“Lately, I’ve been working on very small art – jewelry. For this project, I am really excited about creating something on a large scale, installation style. My current job at an eco-friendly remodeling company inspired me to use mostly repurposed materials for the project, something I’ve always done to a point because of budget, but now want to do with more intention. I’m inspired by people who evoke feeling with their art – whimsy, nostalgia, longing. This project has made me think a lot about creation (science, religion or art) and whether the process is ever finished. I am intrigued by the time it takes to recreate nature (using man-made materials) and the level of success actually achieved in the attempt.”

Company (9608 16th Ave SW)
Unknown

Dubsea Coffee (9910 8th Ave SW)
Unknown

Full Tilt (9629 16th Avenue SW)
Simon Campbell

Simon first adopted photography as his creative outlet of choice. He has been taking photographs for 20 years, after receiving a cheap 35mm point and shoot camera in his early teens. Ever since then he has been developing an eye for things artistic; color, light and balance. Other than art classes at senior school in his native England, he didn’t pick up the paintbrush again until 2005 into his mid-twenties.

Already experienced in photographic composition a steady stream of collages, mixed media, and paintings emerged. Influenced by many genres of visual arts, from classic photography to modern contemporary painting, he paints in sporadic bursts and can never tell when a painting is going to be finished or exactly how its going to look…..he just kinda flows with it.

Travel Photography has remained a creative spark. He would still consider himself just as much a photographer as a painter, his work can be found at www.2700art.com

Full Tilt will also be featuring a musical set by Jody Mckane (solo acoustic) and the band Ache (guitars, cello and singing).

GnuOrganics (9988 15th Ave SW, Ste G)
Always supporting multiple artists:

Brent Holland –
Morgan Smalley – no web presence
Kelly Sorbel
Devin Norris – no web presence

and holding over is:

Guy Lindenmuth

Herban Legends (9169 16th Ave SW)
Joseph Brooks – Painting, Drawing, Coloring

I love the process of making stuff with my hands. I really like creating a new style or a new way of working with materials that I normally wouldn’t use for a certain application. I make things I guess because it is my way of understanding this life. As long as I can remember I was always drawing. There is nothing like the way I feel after finishing something new. Some times the feeling is more prominent than others but it always makes me feel good, like I left something of me behind. It’s more than esthetics, because even pieces I don’t like as much still have something of myself in them.

King County Sheriff’s Office (9609 16 Av SW)
Daffodil paintings by Ms. Sager’s Roxhill Elementary 1st Graders

Luso Food & Wine (9614 16th Ave SW)
Unknown

Mago Signs (10032 16th Ave SW)
Unknown

Meanders (9635 16th Ave SW)
Unknown

Proletariat Pizza/ Caffe Delia (9622-A 16th Ave SW)
Art from the personal collection of Mike and Stefanie Albaeck

Salvadorean Bakery (1719 SW Roxbury St)
Unknown

Zippy’s Giant Burgers (9614 14th Ave SW)
Mike Mullins:
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Mike Mullins is a Seattle artist whose love of pop culture and graffiti is combined in his work. He has worked in many mediums but his current obsession is recycling old records by putting monsters and pop culture icons on them. Everyone from Frankenstein, to Darth Vader, to Mr T, and Jack Skellington is represented in his work. You can view and purchase his work at etsy.com/shop/spookydesigns.

Fire did major damage to a house on 28th SW just north of Explorer West Middle School late Tuesday night. A King County fire investigator was on scene early this morning trying to find out what started the fire; the incident commander from North Highline Fire District told WCN that the homeowner wasn’t home when it started – though he had arrived by the time we got there – and nobody was hurt.