White Center Now: The blog about White Center

5:37 PM: Huge fire callout from multiple departments – North Highline and Seattle, SeaTac, Tukwila, Renton, the port – because of an apartment fire in the 12300 block of Ambaum. Traffic is getting through but very slowly so we suggest avoiding the area.

7:35 PM: No injuries reported, and no cause announced so far. The building is actually at 1224 124th, a 24-unit structure that’s almost half a century old, according to county records.

11:11 PM: KIRO TV reports a baseboard-heater problem is blamed for starting the fire.

Pacwest Softball season is under way, and local signups run through Feb. 9. Here’s info on the next three registration sessions:

Teams are available for children ages 4-18.

What to bring:

Please bring 3 proofs of residency and a copy of your child’s birth certificate.

Signups will be at the following places:

Jan 29th, 6 pm – 8 pm
Highline Christian Church
14859 1st Avenue South, Burien,

Feb 2nd, 10 am – 2 pm
Tukwila Community Center
12424 42nd Avenue South, Tukwila

Feb 9th, 10 am – 2 pm
Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church
1822 South 128th St. Burien

For more information, please contact Kimberly Felix @ crashcat71@hotmail.com

Here’s the story behind the car on the left, which crashed into the pole outside the White Center Taco Time about an hour ago: Seattle Police started trying to stop the driver in West Seattle after detecting that the car was stolen, according to what they told us at the scene. The car didn’t come to a stop until it crashed into the pole at 16th and 102nd. There was scanner talk of at least one other person fleeing the vehicle and being sought; we saw police making one arrest at the crash scene. No word of injuries. This was causing traffic trouble on southbound 16th, but northbound traffic was being allowed through.

The North Highline Fire District’s Board of Commissioners wants to make sure the community hears about this letter of appreciation for its IAFF Local 1810 firefighters – so they have shared a copy for publication. If you can’t read it in the Scribd format below – you can open it here as a PDF.

If you’re heading south today, consider lunch and/or dinner at the Empty Bowls benefit in Burien, helping food banks including White Center FB – full details here!

51 people in White Center were among more than 2,700 counted early this morning by hundreds of volunteers around King County for the annual One Night Count of homeless people. The countywide tally is five percent more than a year earlier, according to a news release:

2,736 men, women and children had no shelter in King County last night, a small increase over those found without shelter last year. Last year, volunteers found 2,594 people surviving outside without shelter.

Teams of volunteers with trained leaders are dispatched from ten locations throughout the county to count every person they see outside overnight on one night in January. Approximately 800 volunteers counted people trying to survive in cars, tents, all night buses, hospital emergency rooms, or curled up in blankets under bridges or in doorways.

The Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, an independent coalition of organizations and individuals that works on homelessness issues in our region, organizes the count, now in its 33rd year.

A breakdown of how many people were found in what circumstances – cars, doorways, etc. – is in the second half of this document, and that includes the 51 people reported in WC as being without shelter when volunteers saw them early today.

While out covering the White Center Art Walk last Saturday night, we noticed a sign is up in the window of the former VN Market, touting Luso Food and Wine‘s new location – it’s moving a few blocks northwest, to the heart of downtown WC, at 9614 16th SW. The announcement on Facebook says the store is scheduled to open on February 15th, with a grand-opening celebration on March 2nd. It’s been a year and four months since Luso opened in its first location on 15th SW.

(Seattle Derby Brats in action; photo by Frank Blau)
Big event coming up this weekend at Southgate Roller Rink! Manya shares the news on behalf of the Seattle Derby Brats:

On January 26th, at 5 pm, the Portland Rosebuds and the Seattle Derby Brats Galaxy Girls will bout at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center. They are two of the best junior roller-derby teams in the country, and they are also ranked #1 and #3 in the world.

The Seattle Derby Brats were started by a Rat City Rollergirl at Pathfinder School in West Seattle. The ‘brats’ now number 103 girls, ages 8 to 18, drawn from all areas of the Northwest.

The Galaxy Girls evolved as the competitive travel team that bouts other teams in the state and country. If you would like to read more on this sport, there’s a video at seattlederbybrats.com, the second part shows some of the girls in an actual bout.

If you enjoy great action and athleticism, come join us at Southgate Skate Center on Saturday night!

Southgate is at 9646 17th SW.

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has just announced that the burn ban in King County is over (here’s the proof), which means no more restrictions on fireplaces/woodstoves, etc. As for when the fog will go – the area forecast says we might finally see rain Tuesday night.

(January 2012 video by Deanie Schwarz for WCN)
Lunar New Year is a little more than two weeks away, and Au Lac Vovinam Lion Dance Team plans to be dancing again – so, adviser Doan Dinh tells WCN, if any business owners are interested in bringing the team in for Lunar New Year, contact them at aulacvvn@gmail.com ASAP! Dinh adds, “This year, we are planning on donating 25% of our profits to Ky Quang temple in Vietnam, which is also an orphanage for children with disabilities and physical defects.” You can find out more about the team via its website.

(Crossposted from partner site WSB) The West Seattle Lions‘ mural at 17th and Roxbury is now officially dedicated – a reader shared photos from the event, including artist Xavier Lopez Jr., above, signing his creation. Last month, Lopez was honored as a White Center Hero for his role in the mural art that’s popping up all around White Center and South Delridge, including the new Lions mural.

(WS Lions president Jimie Martin with Mark Ufkes from the WC Chamber)
A map to all the White Center-area murals can be found on the WC Chamber of Commerce‘s website.

Even if you didn’t make it out to tonight’s White Center Art Walk, you have the whole month to check out the featured works … Above, Amanda Kay Helmick is showing her art this month at the fitness/wellness hub Center Studio (9×11 16th SW). Across the street at 9608 16th SW, it was party time at Company Bar, including the show opening for Mark O’Connell:

Company was rocking to music by DJ Transport:

On the same side of the street, while the artist wasn’t on hand when we stopped in, Proletariat Pizza/Caffé Delia is showing work by Aaron Loidhamer:

Keep watch here for word of the next WC Art Walk – and enjoy the art displays as you visit WC businesses the rest of the month!

Thanks to Gill for the photo and the sighting – the sign in the window at 9632 16th SW, right next to Stan’s Superstore, portends “Rat City Records and Relics.” Subsequently scouring the Web, we found RCRR’s Facebook page, describing the business as: “Used & some new vinyl records, turntables, stereo gear, old guitars and more.” and noting that it could be open as soon as the end of this month. We’ll update when we find out more.

We’ve received an open letter to the White Center community from U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan. You can read it in its entirety here; it’s not in a format where the full text can be cut/pasted, or we’d do that too. Here are the highlights she lists, as “an update on the collaborative public-safety eforts in the White Center area”:

She writes that the 25 federal defendants from 2011’s “Center of Attention” operation have “nearly all … been convicted and sentenced.” 21 of them, she writes, have been sentenced to prison, “including significant prison time for defendants selling large amounts of dangerous drugs and firearms.” She says the total prison time amounts to nearly 115 years.

26 state prosecutions resulted, she said, with “some (resulting) in guilty findings while many are still pending.”

In other federal prosecutions, she mentions last month’s sentencing of former GAME Lounge marijuana establishment owner Brionne Corbray to six onths of federal probation after his guilty plea (here’s our report from partner site West Seattle Blog), and a recent conviction for an armed robber who held up the Chase bank at 100th and 16th.

Durkan closes the letter by lauding White Center for its “engaged residents who care deeply about the future of White Center … an incredibly vibrant and active community …”

ADDED: Thanks to Thomas Bates from the US Attorney’s Office for sending the plain text version, in case you can’t open the PDF – read on: Read the rest of this entry »

The area’s annual One Night Count of unsheltered homeless people will again include White Center, according to the announcement we received today:

Countywide One Night Count of unsheltered homeless people next week

Nearly 1,000 volunteers across King County will participate in next week’s One Night Count of unsheltered homeless people. The annual One Night Count, scheduled for the pre-dawn hours of Friday, January 25, will attempt to make a specific tally of unsheltered people throughout King County. The effort is organized by the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH) with support from the Committee to End Homelessness in King County (CEH) and dozens of local and state nonprofit and government partners.

Teams of volunteers will return to historical and new count areas in Auburn, Bellevue, Bothell, Federal Way, Kent, Kenmore, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, Seattle, Shoreline, White Center and Woodinville. The 2013 One Night Count will also collect information from select hospitals about emergency room usage, and from Metro night owl buses operating throughout the county.

That’s from a media alert which says the count will happen during a period of approximately three hours – 2 am to 5 am, Friday morning 1/25.

Get ready to admire art all around White Center this Saturday night – January 19th is White Center Art Walk night. One participant, Company Bar, has sent word that Mark O’Connell‘s exhibit will open on Art Walk night, with tunes by DJ Transport, starting at 6 pm. If you want to make sure not to forget – join the Facebook event page here.

(Any other venues with announcements, let us know – in comments here, or whitecenternow@gmail.com)

Scary sight on 30th SW, south of Roxbury, on Wednesday evening – this Lexus caught fire. We heard about it from Harmony via Facebook, and she shared this photo of the aftermath, saying the firefighters who were still on scene told her no one was hurt.

With dry weather and stagnating air, a Stage 2 burn ban is now in effect King County – and that means no woodburning unless you have no other source of heat. Here’s the announcement:

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is issuing a Stage 2 burn ban in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties to protect residents from worsening air quality. The bans are effective at noon, Sunday, January 13, 2013 and remain in effect until further notice.

Overnight, many areas around the Puget Sound reached air pollution levels of “UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS”, especially in areas where wood burning is common. Agency forecasters expect the current cold, dry, and stagnant weather conditions to extend well into the week. The Clean Air Agency will continue to closely monitor the air quality and weather situation.

During a Stage 2 burn ban:

No burning is allowed in ANY wood-burning fireplaces, wood stoves or fireplace inserts (certified or uncertified) or pellet stoves. Residents should rely instead on their home’s other, cleaner source of heat (such as their furnace or electric baseboard heaters) for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled. The only exception is if a wood stove is a home’s only adequate source of heat.
No outdoor fires are allowed. This includes recreational fires such as bonfires, campfires and the use of fire pits and chimineas.
Burn ban violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty.

It is OK to use natural gas and propane stoves or inserts during a Stage 2 burn ban.

The Washington State Department of Health recommends that people who are sensitive to air pollution limit time spent outdoors, especially when exercising. Air pollution can trigger asthma attacks, cause difficulty breathing, and make lung and heart problems worse. Air pollution is especially harmful to people with lung and heart problems, people with diabetes, children, and older adults (over age 65).

You might recall the recent controversy over Highline Public Schools‘ security plan – the district said regional-media reports were inaccurate. But the district is consulting law enforcers to talk about security – here’s a news release sent out today:

Superintendent Susan Enfield and members of her leadership team met (Thursday) with the top law enforcement officials of the five municipalities in Highline to discuss recommendations for strengthening school safety.

At the meeting, Burien Chief Scott Kimerer, Des Moines Chief George Delgado, Normandy Park Chief Chris Gaddis, SeaTac Chief James Graddon, and King County Sheriff’s Captain Patrick Butschli all agreed to assist Highline with recommendations.

“We are grateful for the partnership and expertise of our local police officials as we develop security standards that will provide the safest possible environment for our students and staff,” said Dr. Enfield. “We look forward to working with our police chiefs throughout the process of evaluating and updating our security program.”

Since last spring, the district has been in the process of evaluating its current school security program and studying state-of-the-art practices and standards. District staff is currently drafting recommendations for updating the security program. Draft recommendations are expected to go to the school board in the coming weeks. Parents, students, staff, and the public will have opportunities to provide feedback on the recommendations before the school board takes action.

The most recent round of bids to take unincorporated areas off King County’s hands have now gone 0-3: In last November’s election, White Center and vicinity said no to Burien and the West Hill area said no to Renton; tonight, King County’s Boundary Review Board said no to Tukwila’s proposed annexation of the Duwamish Triangle – aka North Highline Area Q – on the south side of South Park. More details on our partner site The South Park News.