White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Just out of the WCN inbox:

As hot and dry weather conditions continue, the outdoor fire danger has increased. In response King County is issuing a fire safety burn ban in unincorporated areas of the County effective July 29, 2013.
 
This is a Phase 1 burn ban and applies to all outdoor burning except for small recreational fires in established fire pits at approved camp grounds or private property with the owner’s permission.  Recreational fires must:

·         Be built in a metal or concrete fire pit, such as those typically found in designated campgrounds; and not be used as debris disposal;
·         Grow no larger than three feet in diameter;
·         Be located in a clear spot free from any vegetation for at least 10 feet in a horizontal direction, including at least 25 feet away from any structure and allow 20-foot vertical clearance from overhanging branches; and
·         Be attended at all times by an alert individual and equipment capable of extinguishing the fire.
 
For properties located within cities, please contact your local jurisdiction for requirements. This ban remains in effect until further notice.
 
For more information, visit the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review Fire Marshal website at: http://www.kingcounty.gov/property/FireMarshal/BurnBanInfo.aspx
 

Happening tonight at Greenbridge Plaza! Here’s the announcement:

This Friday, July 26th, Cultivate will be hosting our 3rd annual Outdoor White Center Open Mic.

The open mic will be a joint effort by Cultivate, The White Center CDA, The YES Foundation and Dub Sea Coffee and other community members. It’s an open mic but more of a concert feel with established local artist showcasing their talents for the White Center Community.

It’s a fun free event for families to enjoy in our wonderful community of White Center. It’s also a great opportunity to showcase local talent and celebrate the community of White Center.

The event will be on July 26th at 7 pm, Greenbridge Plaza – 9010 8th Ave SW.

For more info, here’s the Facebook event page.

1:05 PM: Thanks to Audrey for the tip about helicopter activity over the area. King Co. Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West says deputies have detained suspects in a burglary near 4th and 107th. They were found to the south, in North Burien.

1:45 PM UPDATE: Just checked back with Sgt. West. She says the arrests were off 4th S. and S. 116th.

2:38 PM UPDATE: Sgt. West says the story gets even better: This all started when an alert neighbor called 911 after noticing something suspicious at a house at 4th S. and S. 107th. Multiple burglars kicked in the back door while the resident was at work; there were lookouts in another car, and that’s what the neighbor noticed. Just so happened a plainclothes detective in an unmarked car was in the area. He observed for a while, saw the burglars coming out of the house with “a pillowcase full of loot,” Sgt. West says, and followed them, radioing for backup. When the burglars realized they’d been spotted, four of them jumped out of the moving car. The one who was driving was caught fairly quickly; two others were arrested shortly thereafter, and two are still at large. Sgt. West says the loot included at least 10 guns and a safe that either hadn’t been locked or was somehow opened by the burglars.

Night Out – THE night to be out with neighbors and friends, celebrating community, in the name of safety – is just two weeks away, Tuesday, August 6th. A big block party has been announced for downtown White Center on Night Out – right in the heart of the business district. Here’s the Facebook invite, which mentions, so far:

-$2 food walk with some of White Center’s most delicious eats
-free bike education classes & emergency preparedness planning for your family at White Center Community Development Association
-beer garden at Big Al Brewing
-live music

And Center Studio will have a free class outside, proprietor Lonjina Verdugo tells us. Stand by for more details on all this.

Lots of new information emerged about White Center’s new library at the first big public meeting about the project – including three potential configurations for the site. The library could be sited on the northwest corner, with the parking lot to its south:

Or, on the northwest corner with the parking lot to its east:

Or, on the northeast corner with the parking lot to its west:

If all goes well, the project team said at Thursday night’s meeting – billed as an open house but really a presentation with Q/A – construction could start in about a year. More than 50 people were there, and these are the key points they heard from project-team reps including King County Library System director Bill Ptacek:

*The library is still planned for 10,000 square feet, likely one story, with at least one large meeting room (the current WC Library is 6,000 sf). “We feel comfortable (10,000 sf) will be a good size for this community,” said Ptacek. It’ll have about 50 parking spaces, about twice what the current library has.

*The project team hopes to build it at least to “LEED silver” for sustainability

*The construction budget – not including design – is $4.2 million for the building and parking lot

*It’s not expected to have anything resembling a coffee shop; just a vending machine, said Ptacek, who noted that they once talked with Starbucks about the possibility of library/coffee-shop partnerships, but Starbucks just didn’t think there was much in it for them.

*Major attraction: It will be close to Mount View Elementary, where the meeting was held; the school is just to the east of the site. And the closer the better, indicated many who spoke.

*The site has its challenges, it was acknowledged, including changes in grade, but the new library’s location is not up for discussion, Ptacek said firmly.

*Staff members – some of whom were at the meeting – do get input into the project, especially the floor plan.

*Future users are getting input too; one librarian said they hope to have focus groups with teenagers, and possibly even talk with elementary students at Mount View once next school year starts.

*One attendee said she had spoken with Cascade Middle School students, who told her that computer access was their highest priority for the new library, and that they hoped it would have room for them to do homework – many, the attendee said, might have large extended families and no room at home to work.

One big caveat about the hoped-for timeline of starting construction around this time next year: Hard to tell how long it will take to get permits. The Vashon library project took more than a year, it was noted. But, KCLS reps say, County Executive Dow Constantine‘s office is “interested in getting the project going as fast as possible.”

In the meantime, they hope to have design renderings ready to show in October.

And once they have the site layout locked in, then they can get busy with another key part of the plan – finding a partner to use the rest of the land on the site, which is expected under terms of the deal to buy it from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. Housing is a possibility on whatever part is not used for the library.

Just found out about that video by Blair Johnson from White Center-neighboring Highland Park – he included some of the Jubilee Days carnival rides on Wednesday night, and then the fireworks show. Great memories – thanks!

The fog hadn’t burned off yet when we stopped by the White Center Jubilee Days street fair earlier today – so Deano the Clown‘s bright makeup and costume really stood out against the gray sky. Another standout element, as always: The volunteers who put in so much time and effort to make your community a better place, like White Center Food Bank board member Jun Tay, photographed at the WCFB booth:

And the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, whose booth was anchored by NHUAC members Liz Giba and Pat Price, along with Bob Price, when we visited:

Also on hand – robotics students from the Evergreen campus demonstrating their frisbee-flinging robot in the KeyBank lot:

Jubilee Days entertainment continues until 6 pm today. This is the 90th edition of the festival!

White Center Jubilee Days 2013 wraps up today with the street fair continuing and the parade at 11:30 am. Do note that means 16th SW will be closed between SW 100th (end of the parade route) and SW 112th (the start) for a while. Today’s full list of events is on the Jubilee Days home page – starting with the White Center Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast at 8 am at Holy Family.

12:28 PM: Thanks to Gill for sharing photos of what’s happening this week at North Shorewood Park – new playground equipment! The installation came shortly after the removal of the old equipment:

We’re checking with King County Parks and will add whatever more we find out.

2:12 PM UPDATE: KC Parks spokesperson Doug Williams tells WCN: “This is a Community Development Block Grant project, officially named the North Shorewood Park Rehabilitation project, in the amount of $117,000. Completion is expected in about mid-August.”

From RatCity ArtCity, which brought live painters to White Center businesses and streets one week ago tonight:

We are hosting another Live Performance Extravaganza in White Center! We place artists all over the streets of White Center to perform for the public during this 3-hour festival.

Looking for:

Dancers-Dance Troupes

Painters-Live Artists

Spoken Word Artists that can perform without a microphone

Poi Dancers

Musicians

Plate Spinners

Interpretive Dancers
One Man Bands

Magicians

Any other live performer you can think of!

The festival takes place on Thursday, August 8th from 6-9pm

Please send a description and any links to your work you may have to be considered to ratcityartcity@gmail.com

It’s not AT White Center Library, but it’s about the NEW White Center Library – tonight’s the open house we first told you about two weeks ago, so you can get a look at what King County Library System is working on, and offer your opinion(s). The open house is at 6:20 pm at Mount View Elementary (10811 12th SW).

Remember when the White Center Library used to have a round-the-clock ballot drop box for elections? So do we. It’s not coming back (so far), but the next best thing has been announced – WC will get a ballot “drop van” for the coming election. Ballots for the August 6th primary go out today.. And in the final days before Election Day, you’ll be able to drop your ballot off at Greenbridge Library (9720 8th SW). There’s also a van in West Seattle, and 24-hour dropboxes in other areas of the county. Here’s the map showing all drop vans and 24-hour dropboxes. The county says the drop vans will be available on Saturday, August 3rd, and Monday, August 5th, 10 am-5 pm, and on Election Day, Tuesday, August 6th, 10 am-8 pm; the 24-hour dropboxes will be ready to use as of tomorrow. Among the issues in this election: A levy to raise money for King County Parks.

Three White Center Jubilee Days notes this morning:

CARNIVAL STARTS THIS AFTERNOON: 3 pm, Steve Cox Memorial Park. The hours for the full five-day run are listed on the WCJD website.

FIREWORKS TONIGHT: Dusk, also at Steve Cox Park.

BUS REROUTES: Sunday brings the Jubilee Days parade, and that means temporary reroutes that day for Metro Route 120 and Sound Transit 560.

After years of work to get Hicklin Lake’s water-quality issues addressed, it’s a triumphant day for Dick Thurnau and his group Friends of Hicklin Lake – its two new 600-square-foot “floating islands” were installed today. As explained by the county, “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 White Center Jubilee Days carnival starts Wednesday at Steve Cox Memorial Park, and by midday today, the Davis Shows Northwest trucks were there, with some of the festive, brightly colored ride components in view.

The carnival opens at 3 pm Wednesday (July 17) – lots of info here. And Wednesday night brings the Jubilee Days fireworks show at dusk, also at Steve Cox Park.

Just checked out a tip about King County Sheriff’s Office deputies in the vicinity of 13th and 98th. Though they were gone when we arrived in the area, Sgt. Kathleen Larson answered our questions about what happened: She says they answered a call about a man with a gun chasing a man and a woman. Fast work led to the suspect being detained and a gun found. No word of anyone being hurt.

Among the lineup of artists who were painting live during Thursday night’s RatCity ArtCity walk – Shannon Kringen, a local legend if you’ve been in the area for more than a few years. Her long history as an artist includes 15 years as star of her own cable TV show. Now she’s focused on off-screen creation. We stopped by to see her appearing as featured artist at Zippy’s Giant Burgers.

Kringen was one of more than half a dozen artists participating in this edition of the monthly art walk.

We checked with the King County Sheriff’s Office this morning after reports of the Guardian One helicopter in action over White Center early today. KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West told us the search was related to an attack involving dogs, and that details would be forthcoming from the county’s Animal Services department. Here’s the news release:

The King County Sheriff’s Office and Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) are investigating an overnight dog attack in unincorporated White Center.

Early Wednesday morning, a 66-year-old man was bitten while walking to his home in the area of 18th Avenue Southwest and Southwest 104th Street. Three dogs were involved in the incident. The victim suffered bites and other injuries, and was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. His injuries are not life threatening, and his name is not being released at this time.

The victim used a pocket knife to try to fight off the dogs. He was assisted by a witness, and the two men were eventually able to chase the animals away. One of the dogs was severely wounded in the incident, and was humanely euthanized this morning.

Neighbors in the area said the dogs were running loose before the attack, and several reported being confronted by the dogs. However, law enforcement and animal control had not been notified before the attack occurred. In addition, there are no prior complaints made to Regional Animal Services regarding these dogs.

“We depend on the community to report threatening animals,” said Dr. Gene Mueller, RASKC Manager. “If you are being threatened by an animal, or see someone being threatened, you should call 9-1-1 right away.”

The two surviving dogs are in RASKC custody pending the outcome of the investigation. Animal control officers will talk to the dogs’ owners to determine if they were properly licensed and vaccinated.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact RASKC at 206-296-PETS (7387).

Followup on the Highway 509 crash early Tuesday – the State Patrol is trying to find witnesses:

The Washington State Patrol’s is investigating a two vehicle injury collision that occurred on Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at about 12:08 a.m. The collision occurred on southbound SR509 MP28, south of the 1st Avenue Bridge in King County.

Detectives and Troopers are seeking witnesses that may have seen the collision or any event leading up to or following the crash. If you have any information or know somebody that does, please contact Detective Greg Wilcoxson at (425) 401-7746.

12:39 AM: If you’re thinking of heading to southbound 509 down Roxbury/Olson/1st Avenue South – you’ll have to wait a while. A rollover crash has closed off southbound 509 at Cloverdale. One person is going to the hospital but is not believed to have major injuries. More details on our partner site West Seattle Blog.

7:37 AM UPDATE: The highway reopened after five hours; the link above has been updated with more information about the crash.