White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Two updates today on Saturday night’s deadly fire on 28th SW: First, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West, it’s been ruled an accidental electrical fire; though no crime was believed to be involved, Sgt. West was dispatched to the scene to help coordinate communication. Second, the sister of the home’s resident, 71-year-old Peggy Munsen, has spoken with WCN news partner The Seattle Times and confirmed that Ms. Munsen is the woman who died in the fire; that’s the same information given to us that night by a friend, but we withheld the name until officials and/or family confirmed it. Ms. Munsen’s sister is former West Seattleite, now Bremerton resident, Kay Trepanier, long known for her business Cruises By Kay. As she told The Times, her sister went into the cruise business too. There is no word yet of memorial plans.

From a morning stroll on 16th:

The new restaurant TT’s Soul Kitchen, at the site of the former Pho Lynna (southeast corner of 16th/Roxbury), plans its grand opening tomorrow (Tuesday, November 27th), according to handwritten signs put up on both sides of its corner location. We’re checking on hours.

And right across Roxbury, the banner’s up for this Saturday night’s tree lighting:

Veterans’ Triangle Park, right in front of Mac’s Triangle Pub, is the place to be at 5 pm this Saturday (December 1st).

5:44 PM: Seattle firefighters are assisting North Highline/Burien firefighters at the scene of a house fire in the 9800 block of 28th SW, just south of Roxbury Lanes and the Roxbury Safeway. We are at the scene and will have more information shortly.

5:51 PM: Just talked with the incident commander, who says a woman was found dead in the bathroom of the home, possibly overcome by smoke. All they know is that she is in her late 60s or early 70s. The house itself was not that badly damaged, but it was a very smoky fire. Investigators are starting work to see what caused it. 28th SW will be shut down in the area for a while.

6:50 PM: Acting Battalion Chief Ernie Brown briefed media at the scene (this has drawn several TV crews as well) a short time ago:

We’ll update with anything else we find out later.

8:35 PM UPDATE: A friend of the 71-year-old woman who lived at the home, a longtime local business owner, tells us her friend is the fire victim, and that her family mostly lives out of town but will be contacted. Our policy is to not publish names until it’s been confirmed by either authorities or relatives that next of kin has been notified. The victim’s friend remembers her as “a wonderfully sweet and kind lady with a wicked sense of humor; a dear friend who will be greatly missed.”

10:16 PM UPDATE: Just went back to check – 28th SW is reopened. One fire vehicle and a TV truck remain at the scene.

The two county-side corners of 16th/Roxbury are getting TLC today to prepare for a tribute to community advocate Margaret Ryan, murdered a week and a half ago. Above, Vera Johnson and Aileen Sison, who convened a planning meeting last Monday night, are among those fixing up the planting areas; we photographed them on the southeast corner – here’s the work site on the southwest corner:

The tribute is expected to be dedicated next Saturday night (December 1st) before the White Center tree lighting, around 4:30 pm (the lighting’s at 5 at Triangle Park across Roxbury). Meantime, Ms. Ryan’s son, 42-year-old Brodie Lamb, is charged in her death, and awaiting arraignment next week.

5:50 PM: Until just a few hours ago, an all-ages “rave” dance party at the former Club Evo in downtown White Center – first reported here two days ago – was still on. But now, it’s been announced on the event’s Facebook page that due to permit problems, it’s canceled. One person discussing the cancellation on that page says the organizer “was told the new building had permits and it didn’t.” (“New” building refers to the fact the event had previously been scheduled for another location.)

Separate from the moratorium that expired in August regarding nightclub licenses in the area, there also had been a permanent injunction against the site opening without problems including fire-safety concerns being issued. We don’t yet know the specific circumstances of how this got canceled at the last minute – or why it was even scheduled at the almost-last minute in the first place – but will add whatever else we find out.

6:10 PM UPDATE: County Councilmember Joe McDermott, who we’d contacted two nights ago after getting a tip about the planned party, said the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office confirmed to him that “the lack of business license precludes events such as tonight’s party at Club Evo” and says the Sheriff’s Office had contacted building owner Alfredo Lopez after hearing about the plan, “informing him that the club could not operate.” KCSO is keeping close watch on the situation tonight, Councilmember McDermott adds.

From West Seattle’s Avalon Glassworks – their always-popular glass apples to raise money for White Center Food Bank are back:

Support White Center Food Bank with your purchase of a limited-edition glass apple. Support small business by shopping locally!

We open Friday at 10 am with a fresh crop of green apples (and a few red ones). When you purchase just one apple, we give enough cash to White Center Food Bank to purchase 200 pounds of food for the community.

Buy yours online here or call 206-937-6369, or visit our West Seattle gallery, 10 am-6 pm weekdays and 10 am- 5 pm weekends.

They’re at 2914 SW Avalon Way, in the Luna Park mini-business district just south of the West Seattle Bridge.

For the first time in more than a year, downtown White Center’s former Club Evo (9625 16th SW) is apparently on the verge of opening again – as an event venue.

A tip tonight called our attention to an invitation/information page on Facebook for an all-night event there this Friday/Saturday.

It’s desrcribed as an all-ages party 7 pm Friday to 5 am Saturday, with multiple DJs in two separate areas of the venue, and more than 700 RSVPs on the Facebook page (though anyone who uses FB more than occasionally knows that RSVP numbers seldom translate to actual attendees, whatever the event). In discussions between dozens of attendees, it is repeatedly referred to as a rave. One exchange indicates no alcohol is expected, though attendees are sharing information on nearby White Center establishments that do sell alcohol. Tickets are going for $15 to $40 on Brown Paper Tickets, where the venue is described as El Reventon, the South Seattle venue that holds the name once proposed for the Club Evo site. (According to discussion on the Facebook page, the venue had to be changed at the last minute.)

You’ll recall that in August of 2011, with the venue’s owner and a business partner seeking a new license to reopen the 16th SW space that some had criticized for , County Councilmember Joe McDermott led the charge to get a one-year emergency moratorium on nightclub-type businesses passed. That, and the rejection of a business-license application, kept the space closed and idle. Months before the license application, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had summarized previous action that shut down Evo, describing it as an “unlicensed youth dance hall (that) became a magnet for gang activity.”

But the moratorium ended this past August, no renewal, McDermott confirms in response to our inquiry tonight. At the time, local leaders pleaded for some help from the county, at least until Burien potentially annexed the area; now that’s been defeated, and White Center remains under county rule TFN.

So is this event a now-permissible use of the space? McDermott is checking on permit requirements, also in response to our inquiry. Meantime, a bare-bones Facebook page for Club Evo itself appears to be under construction as of less than a day ago.

We went to the site tonight to see if there’s any signage or permit-related posting related to this advertised event, checking both its 16th SW and alley sides, but found only a notice from Seattle Public Utilities saying “sorry we missed you” regarding an appointment this afternoon to turn on the water (and instructions on how it could be done without official help).

ORIGINAL 6:48 AM REPORT: From Seattle City Light:

Seattle City Light Crews are responding to a power outage in Burien, SeaTac, and Riverton-Boulevard Park affecting 2,892 customers. The cause is not known at this time. The estimated time for restoration is 10 a.m. The outage started at 6 a.m.

You can see the boundaries here.

7:37 AM UPDATE: Some of the affected customers are back online, says SCL:

Seattle City Light Crews have restored power to 1,331 customers from an original outage affecting 2,892 customers in Burien, SeaTac, and Riverton-Boulevard Park. The outage was caused by a vehicle running into a pole. The estimated time for restoration is 10 a.m. The outage started at 6 a.m.

8:57 AM UPDATE: From City Light:

Power has been restored power to all but 43 customers from a 6 a.m. outage affecting 2,892 customers in Burien, SeaTac, and Riverton-Boulevard Park. The outage was caused by a tree landing on wires in the 15500 block of Second Avenue South. An earlier press release incorrectly said that it was the result of a car/pole accident.

Scenes from Monday’s power outage in part of downtown White Center, photographed by Nick Adams for WCN … After a while, all the newly opened Meander’s Kitchen could do was put up a sign and hope today will be OK. Inside the Locker Room, meantime, the outage didn’t stop the revelry:

City Light listed the cause as “equipment failure.”

Just announced today: “White Center’s first ever 5k Walk & Run on 2/16! Proceeds go to the White Center CDA and YES Foundation. Price: $30, Seniors $25 (55+). Kids 10 and under free!” Here’s the official flyer, via Twitter. You can register online by going here – where you’ll find the full schedule and other details, too.

Thanks to Athena at Meander’s for flagging us on this – it wasn’t on the Seattle City Light outage map till a short time ago: There’s a power outage in downtown White Center. 65 customers (one customer = one business or home) affected, says SCL. Might not be back on till 4 pm. Looks like it’s affecting the north side of Roxbury around 16th, 17th too.

Mount View Elementary in White Center needs your help – and it’s really easy.

Shoshanna Cohen, the ELL Interventionist at Mount View, explains that the school “has an incredibly high Hispanic population and very limited books in Spanish for them to read,” so: “We entered a contest through Santillana where the grand prize is $5000 grant for Spanish books for the school. The entire contest is based on votes and you can vote every day.”

Here’s how:

Go to this webpage and click the lower-right link that says VOTAR/VOTE.

You’ll go to a page with the entries – look for the student in the Cat in the Hat-striped hat, and that’s for Mount View. You can watch their video – same one embedded above here – or just click “vote for this video.” It’s fast and easy – NO registration, NO signing up for anything.

Cohen adds, “I love my school and my students are amazing -there is so much research showing that by promoting the student’s first language, their growth in their second language (English) is astronomical.”

The competition runs through next weekend – so no time to waste, vote for Mount View today!

(Also posted on our partner sites West Seattle Blog and White Center Now, as this tragedy touches all three communities)

Last weekend, a one-car crash in South Park took two young lives and changed three others. We are gradually learning more about those involved – including some with White Center ties.

One of the teenagers killed in the crash has been laid to rest: After her viewing in White Center and funeral Mass at Holy Family, 13-year-old Lucie Hernandez, a Denny International Middle School student, was to be buried at a cemetery in Tukwila Friday afternoon.

Viewing is Sunday and a funeral Mass on Monday at St. Mary’s in the Central District for 16-year-old Luis Martinez, who was a student at TEC High School on the Evergreen campus in White Center.

The two boys who survived the crash are also Evergreen campus students, according to Highline Public Schools, at TEC and at the Arts and Academics Academy, while the third survivor has been identified as Lucie’s sister Karla, a ninth-grader at Chief Sealth International High School.

We had previously reported an account to help Luis’s family with expenses, accessible via any BECU branch, in the name of Victor Herrera, account number 3579847581. Donations were accepted at this past Wednesday’s Denny/Sealth concert in West Seattle (coverage here from WSB). And now, there’s a benefit planned Monday night (November 19th) to help both Luis and Lucie’s families:

The event will be at Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant in Renton from 5 pm-9 pm. There will be a $10 buffet fee and a chance to drop off additional donations. Radio Variedades radio host Mercedes Garcia will be hosting the event live on the radio and encouraging the community to come and support. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to spread the word.

The restaurant is at 540 Rainier Avenue South (here’s a map).

Just in from King County Sheriff’s Office, that sketch created from the description of the man who raped a woman in her Top Hat home during a home-invasion attack Monday night that also injured her partner. He is described as black, around 20 years old, medium complexion, 5’5 to 5’6, 170 to 180 pounds, wearing a dark gray hoodie at the time. There is no sketch of the other man sought in the incident – he was wearing a mask – but King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West did include a description – black, medium-to-darker complexion, also around 20, six feet tall, “real slim,” wearing a black hoodie at the time and gray shoes, possibly Air Jordans. If you know anything about either one, please call 911.

The citizens who have long fought to get some water-quality help for White Center’s Hicklin Lake share word of progress at the county level. Dick Thurnau and Marcia Wollam from Friends of Hicklin Lake received this update from Kevin Brown of King County Parks:

Earlier this year we spoke with many of you about a proposal to make improvements to Lake Hicklin within Lakewood Park. With your support, enthusiasm and a tremendous amount of volunteer assistance we are going to be starting our efforts to restore Lake Hicklin to a more natural functioning wetland. As part of this process we will be working with volunteers on two occasions this coming winter to install new and more appropriate vegetation along the shores of Lake Hicklin. The first event which will take place the last week in November will result in willow stakes being planted along the shore. A second effort will be scheduled in February in which we will again work with volunteers to plant additional plant species via potted stock. These efforts will be led by Tina Miller, a wetland biologist and volunteer coordinator with the Parks Division – and we have AmeriCorps assistance as well.

An additional project aimed at improving water quality in the lake will install floating islands planted with native wetland vegetation in several areas around the lake during the spring and summer of 2013. Although new to this area, such islands have been used throughout the world to control algae blooms and to reduce pollutants. Two to four islands will be installed, depending on the success of a grant proposal to the Washington Department of Ecology. The island project will be managed by Sally Abella, a senior engineer with the Water and Land Resources Division.

We look forward to implementing this community project with your support and we would greatly appreciate your letting others within your organization know about the upcoming work being done. Should you have additional questions or want to see how your organization can get involved please contact Tina, Sally or myself.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has announced that it’s charged 42-year-old Brodie Lamb with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his mother, White Center writer/community advocate Margaret Ryan. He is in jail, bail now set at $2 million, with arraignment scheduled on November 29th at the King County Courthouse downtown.

Court documents say that after he called 911 to say he had killed his mother, the operator told him to put the knife in the freezer – and that’s where deputies found it. He is reported to have told detectives that he became frustrated when his mother would not let him in her apartment – from which he had been “trespassed,” in other words, officially ordered not to return, months earlier. So he kicked in the door, got a large kitchen knife, and killed her. Deputies say the door frame was broken completely away. Autopsy results show that Ms. Ryan, 69 years old, was stabbed 18 times, and had wounds on her hands and arms from trying to protect herself against the attack. Court documents say Lamb was found guilty of assaulting his mother in 2008, punching her in the face while she was driving him home. He also, as we reported earlier, has a record of other attacks, with victims including a jail guard and an elderly landlady.

As reported here earlier today, a gathering is planned Monday night for community members to start planning a tribute to Ms. Ryan – details are here.

Monday night, you’re invited to a meeting to help plan a tribute and memorial for Margaret Ryan, the local writer and community advocate murdered at her apartment earlier this week.

On Monday, November 19th at 6:30 pm we are meeting at Mago Signs on 16th SW to begin planning a dedication and memorial planting in honor of Margaret Ryan, who was murdered this week.

This week we lost a very passionate active member of our community. Please join us. Share with us any ideas, suggestions or contributions to honor one of our active members of this community. Potluck dinner. Please bring an item to share. …

This kind of violence happens randomly, in no particular demographic, and to no particular single type of person. This is the result of a disease/illness of the mind and spirit, not a reflection of the community.

Please help us to build strong community by coming together again to honor one of our local fallen heroes who was a victim of violence and say no-we will not let this go by unnoticed and we will unite, standing up against judgement and criticism.

The meeting is at 10032 16th SW. You can RSVP via the Facebook event page, here. Meantime, Ms. Ryan’s 42-year-old son remains jailed in connection with the killing; prosecutors are expected to decide today whether to charge him.

ORIGINAL REPORT, 12:26 PM THURSDAY: Quick update, longer story to come – the King County Library System’s Planning Committee has just been briefed by staff on its recommendations on what to do with White Center library services now that annexation to Burien has been turned down by voters. The recommendation: Find a new site slightly to the north, still on 16th/Ambaum, and build a new library for White Center. They believe they have the money and that they can be under construction by 2014 on a yet-to-be-determined site. The new library would be about 10,000 square feet – up from the current 6,000 square foot branch, which could remain open while the new one is under construction, since it won’t be torn down for a rebuild. Many details to be worked out, but planning committee members expressed initial support for the idea. They also wanted to hear more from the jurisdictions that have interest in that area – King County and potential future annexers Seattle and Burien. More to come.

ADDED EARLY FRIDAY: More details from the meeting, though this was only one item on the agenda and it lasted less than 20 minutes: Read the rest of this entry »

Just announced by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission:

Green Canopy Homes, a Seattle company, purchased three existing homes today to be rebuilt with quality, energy efficiency, and today’s lifestyles in mind. The company has the tradition of naming their homes upon purchase. Clara, Zelda, and Louise are neighboring homes which were up for sale at the same time in White Center.

“This was a great opportunity for us,” says Aaron Fairchild, CEO of Green Canopy, “and our first opportunity to save the character of a neighborhood by purchasing three homes side by side. We will make these homes more efficient, more livable and comfortable as well as lower the carbon footprint.” Green Canopy re-uses and remodels homes in local neighborhoods using leading efficiency methods and materials, while keeping the original charm and character intact. Even though these homes will use 50% less energy, the prices will be at market with no “premium in price” for the energy costs savings.

Green Canopy Homes was able to borrow funds from the Sustainable Energy Trust (“SET”) at an interest rate well below market. “We are glad that Green Canopy Homes was able to borrow from this fund,” explains Karen Miller, Chair of the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. “The legislature created the authority for the Commission to create and administer the SET; however, we received no state or tax-payer money. The Commission was able to raise dollars for the fund to meet the legislative directive ‘to provide financing for qualified improvement projects.’ This is the first of hopefully many projects that will demonstrate the economic benefits of energy efficiencies and renewables.”

The homes to be retrofitted currently average 850 sq. ft. In addition to the improvements of ductless heat pumps, water efficiencies, new windows, and upgraded insulation, all three homes will have “great” rooms added bringing them in line with life-style expectations. Mr. Fairchild adds, “We think long-term about our work’s impact on the environment, and seek to create a community of urban dwellers who care about their neighborhood and their footprint within it. We are happy to partner with the Commission and SET to bring better and more efficient homes to Seattle.”

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission is a publicly accountable, self-supporting team, dedicated to increasing housing access and affordability, and to expanding the availability of quality community services for the people of Washington. The Commission accomplishes this by working with the investment community, nonprofit organizations, developers, first-time homebuyers, and beginning farmers and ranchers to bring private investment dollars to benefit families and achieve public goals in Washington, including energy efficient development and renewable energy resources.

We’re checking to see if we can find out more about where these homes are located.

(Recent aerial view of bridge construction, by Long Bach Nguyen)
If you are among those waiting eagerly for the new South Park Bridge to reopen, you have probably heard that it’s months behind the original schedule, and now not expected to open before early 2014. (The news first came to light during this month’s meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, when president Barbara Dobkin asked a county roads rep about the bridge timeline during a briefing on other topics; we subsequently highlighted it on partner site The South Park News, and the county made a formal announcement the next day.) Tonight, you can find out more directly from King County reps during a community meeting at the South Park Neighborhood Center, 8201 10th Avenue South, 7 pm.