White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Both happening TONIGHT (Thursday):

*Burien’s monthly pre-election annexation information session: Beverly Park Elementary, 1201 S. 104th, cafeteria, 6 pm

*North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s public-safety forum, featuring crime/safety updates as well as a forum with the two candidates for King County Sheriff, 7 pm, North Highline Fire District HQ, 1243 SW 112th

One week from tomorrow, the White Center Community Development Association celebrates its 10th annual dinner/auction at South Seattle Community College, with keynote speaker King County Councilmember Larry Gossett. WCCDA shares this update:

Born and raised in Seattle, Larry Gossett has been a dedicated servant of the people for more than 40 years. He is currently serving his seventh term on the Metropolitan King County Council and serves on several committees including Law, Justice, Health and Human Services; Government Accountability, Oversight and Financial Performance; and Growth Management Planning Council.

In 1993 he was elected to the King County Council, representing District Ten (currently District Two), which encompasses most inner-city neighborhoods in Seattle and unincorporated King County in the Skyway neighborhood. He was overwhelmingly reelected in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. In 2007 Gossett became just the second African American elected to be chair of the King County Council.

In 1999, 13 years after the 1986 change of the County’s name to honor the slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Councilmember Gossett spearheaded the campaign to change the King County logo from an imperial crown to an image of Dr. King. In 2007, the King County Council unanimously adopted the change, becoming the only governmental entity in the nation to have as its logo the likeness of Dr. King.

Councilmember Gossett is a highly respected community leader who has advocated for the underrepresented and underprivileged in King County for his entire career. He has long been an advocate for programs that help inner-city youth and reduce racial and class disparities in our local criminal-justice system. He has also led efforts to eliminate black-on-black violence and other manifestations of self-hatred by poor and disenfranchised populations. White Center CDA Executive Director Sili Savusa is excited to welcome Gossett, saying, “We feel it is fitting that Councilmember Gossett is our keynote speaker with our theme of ’10 Years of Action’; his actions over his career are what we as an organization aspire to!”

The mission of the White Center Community Development Association is to promote a vibrant neighborhood and high quality of life for White Center residents and stakeholders through the development of authentic leadership opportunities and community-led, neighborhood initiatives. This is accomplished through three lines of business: neighborhood revitalization, family development, and community building.

Tickets for this event are still available for the price of $65. To learn more, please visit at wccda.org/tickets.

The King County Medical Examiner has identified the woman found dead at Mallard Lake in White Center last Friday as 22-year-old Victoria McMullen. The KCME says the cause of death is still under investigation. We also checked with King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West; she says KCSO investigators did not find any obvious signs of trauma, but they won’t know the cause of death – and whether it was accidental or homicide – until toxicology reports come in (which could take weeks). She said the victim is believed to be from out of state.

We’ve mentioned this Thursday’s event before – but now it’s just three days away. Here are the full details from the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council:

NORTH HIGHLINE UNINCORPORATED AREA COUNCIL

Invites you to a

PUBLIC SAFETY FORUM

Thursday – September 13, 2012 – 7pm
North Highline Fire Station
1243 112th Street, SW
White Center

Meet the King County Sheriff Candidates:

Steve Strachan – was a police chief, city-council member and state
legislator in Minnesota before he became chief in Kent for more than
four years. Sheriff Sue Rahr named him chief deputy in January 2011.

John Urquhart – a resident of King County for 54 years, served as a
commissioned police officer for over 36 years, the last 24 full-time with
the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Police Reports/Neighborhood Concerns:

BJ Myers, King County Sheriff Deputy, White Center Storefront,
will give an update on crime trends in the North Highline area. Deputy
Myers will also take questions regarding neighborhood concerns.

Community Emergency Response Team – CERT:

Mechee Burnett, King County Community Service Officer, will give
a presentation on the CERT program, Emergency Preparedness for
your community and sign up for fall classes.

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Additional information is available on the NHUAC website:
www.northhighlineuac.org

Brightening up our first gray day in a while – cups of fresh fruit are among the treats you’ll find at the Holy Family Street Fair on 20th SW (which is closed for the occasion) south of Roxbury. Fun for kids includes the pony rides:

And a bouncy house:

And for all ages, entertainment – Gary Benson was performing while we dropped by:

It’s continuing till 4 pm today.

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

Exactly two months before the election that could change the remaining unincorporated area of North Highline forever, the Burien annexation proposal came up more than a few times during Thursday night’s meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council:

ANNEXATION FORUM: NHUAC is planning to have one instead of next month’s regular meeting – Thursday, October 4th. Councilmember Liz Giba says they’re inviting reps from the county and Burien, as well as the state, to “get the information (voters) need to make good decisions.” They haven’t set the location yet – still looking for one. Once it’s set, it’ll be published on the NHUAC website. NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin emphasized, “It’s going to be informational – not a debate.”

BURIEN CITY MANAGER’S REPORT: Mike Martin opened by pointing out that he’s been coming to the NHUAC meetings for five years now. Regarding the upcoming annexation vote, he says City Hall hasn’t received many requests for information about it, and “I don’t know what to make of that” – since ballots arrive about three weeks ahead of time, he said, voting really will start in five weeks or so. He said the city went to area schools today and handed out pamphlets in hopes kids would take them home to parents to invite them to the upcoming forums. “Regardless of which way the annexation goes, that will be ‘go time’ for the question of the libraries,” he reminded everyone, referring to the proposal that King County Library System tabled – under pressure – about consolidating the White Center and Boulevard Park library branches. He also said a general discussion about the libraries is on an upcoming Burien City Council agenda.

He also noted that at annexation forums, he often stresses how much things are NOT going to change if it’s approved, but then again, he had an anecdote about the kind of action he said demonstrated that Burien fights for what it needs: The city is getting more federal money for an offramp that they want to build in the future auto-business zone north of the Sea-Tac 3rd runway – that’ll at least help Burien finish design of the ramp. “To get enough money to actually design this project is huge,” he said. “It means that area is going to turn around much faster than I thought it was.”

September and October are the months to get ready for emergencies, he added – particularly weather, “something that shuts down life as we know it, at least for a day or two.”

And last but not least, on a hot Burien topic, he says Town Square “is coming along nicely” and the city is negotiating with the property owner to get going with Phase 2 – he says it “will not be condos, the market right now won’t support condos anywhere.” They “expect to see a concept in the next 30 or 45 days.”

COUNTY ASSESSOR LLOYD HARA: “You’re the 4th group I’ve spoken to today,” he began, noting he has made about 500 public appearances since being elected in 2009. He says properties “in this general area” have lost value again in the latest round of assessed valuations. There’s been “a good number of foreclosures” in the area – good as in “large,” not “positive” – and he says that’s put a drag on property values. You have 60 days from the postmarked date on your assessment postcard to appeal them. He said there were 13,000 appeals the year he was elected, and now it’s down to 8,000, and he hopes that means “the values are closer to what you believe they should be.” January 1, 2012, was the valuation date for the 2013 property tax, he explained. In general, he said, more than half the property tax you pay goes to local schools. Giba asked Hara if he could comment on a contention that homes would be worth 35 percent less with a Burien address than with the current county address if annexation is approved. Hara said he couldn’t really comment on that, but since the school district isn’t changing, and the district is the primary driver of tax rates, he doesn’t think that kind of drop would be likely. Regarding how much your tax bill comes out to – he reminded the meeting that for the next 8 years, the levy for the new youth-justice center will be added to tax bills, since it was approved in last month’s election.

Overall, White Center-area property values dropped 12 percent for the current cycle, and Burien-area values went down 9 percent, Hara said.

CODE ENFORCEMENT: Al Tijerina from the county came to update the hot spots. Asked about the county’s code-enforcement staffing situation, he acknowledged the enforcement officers are still burdened with hundreds of cases each, and are “very much overworked.” The council inquired about a specific case of a messy property on 16th SW (cross-street was not mentioned), and Tijerina detailed efforts to work with the property owner to get it cleaned up. They also asked about the former Wendy’s/Ezell’s/El Chalan on 16th – Tijerina said that even with the overgrown weeds and graffiti vandalism, there’s nothing there at this point that he has jurisdiction over. Several other boarded-up abandoned properties were brought up.

Another question he fielded: Are roosters allowed in the county? While other jurisdictions ban them, the county does not, according to Tijerina. He does try to talk to property owners about getting rid of the roosters, when complaints come in, he says.

If you have a complaint to file, by the way, send it online – “it’ll come directly to me,” he said.

COUNCILMEMBERS’ ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Liz Giba returned after recovering from illness and thanked everyone for the good wishes.

*NHUAC vice president Pat Price reminded meeting-goers that on September 17th, the North Highline Board of Fire Commissioners meets at 6 pm at NHFD headquarters.

*NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin reminded everyone of the White Center Food Bank fundraising dinner October 20th at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center. Also, NHUAC’s public-safety forum is next week – 7 pm September 13th – with both candidates for King County Sheriff, appointed incumbent Sheriff Steve Strachan and retired KCSO Sgt. John Urquhart. That same night, she notes, is also the next Burien informational forum about annexation.

*Mikel Davila from the White Center Community Development Association announced from the floor that the WCCDA fundraising gala would be September 21st, 6-8 pm at Brockey Center.

Though he couldn’t be at last night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting (our meeting report’ll be up by Saturday morning) for the customary crime report, White Center’s King County Sheriff’s Office Storefront Deputy BJ Myers has since shared this news of arrests related to a recent crime spree:

Roughly between July 21st and August 14th we had 6 robberies in the downtown White Center area that involved suspect(s) snatching jewelry (necklaces), and in one case a purse, from female victims walking down the street. These were robberies, not thefts, because some measure of force was used to steal or retain the items. SPD was also experiencing a large number (about 9) of similar MO crimes. On August 15th KCSO Major Crimes Detectives were able to identify potential suspects and eventually, with SPD assistance, positively identified a group of 4 male individuals who had been committing a large share of the robberies in both jurisdictions.

So far, we’ve arrested three of the four, who are still in custody, and will be charged with multiple counts of Robbery 2nd and Trafficking Stolen Property 1st. A fourth suspect has an outstanding warrant and is being sought. Most of the suspects live in the greater North Highline area. They were operating in two groups, although members of each group were either friends or blood related. One suspect in the first robberies in July was later arrested and charged with Manslaughter for a fatal shooting in Skyway on August 1st, which the Major Crimes Unit also investigated.

The Major Crimes Unit is continuing to investigate and monitor activity in the area to determine if there are any remaining suspects still outstanding. I know I have noticed the higher than normal number of robberies in the area this summer and I am very pleased that the KCSO Major Crimes Unit and SPD detectives have done such good work.

(Added: Photos by WCN co-publisher Patrick Sand)
10:49 AM: King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West reports a body’s been found in the Mallard Lake area of White Center, near the Coronado Springs Apartments. That’s why you’re seeing a helicopter. We’ll be there shortly.

11:01 AM UPDATE: Co-publisher Patrick Sand has talked with Sgt. West at the scene, where investigators are working right now to find out what happened. The body is female, she says. They got the call about an hour ago.

11:30 AM UPDATE: Sgt. West says the body was found floating in the water. They don’t know for sure yet whether this is a crime, or an accident, and they have no idea about identity/age, either. But Major Crimes investigators are there to do their best to find out. Above, we’ve added video of Sgt. West’s brief interview with WCN.

From Highline Public Schools:

More Highline Kindergarteners will learn a second language at school starting next fall. Highline will open new dual language programs at White Center Heights and Madrona elementary schools. Each school will have two dual-language Kindergarten classes starting in fall 2013.

Madrona will offer Spanish immersion. At White Center Heights, there will be one Vietnamese immersion and one Spanish immersion class. Half of the students in each program are native English speakers and half are native speakers of the other language. Students spend 50 percent of every day learning in English and the other 50% learning in the second language.

Each year, the schools will add a grade level as students progress through each grade and new Kindergarteners enter the program every fall.

Hilltop and Mount View elementary schools were the first two schools in the district to offer Spanish dual language programs. The first cohort at Hilltop will enter 7th grade in 2015. Highline plans to expand dual language to middle school at that time.

Demand for dual language classrooms in growing in Highline. “We anticipate expanding to other elementary schools in the next three to five years,” said Bernard Koontz, Director of Language and Cultural Arts.

Big smile from Holy Family Parish School principal Frank Cantwell – it’s the first day of school and the first day of a new program that will continue growing over the years. Holy Family is debuting its dual-language program. The principal explains, “We have hired seven bilingual teachers from Mexico, South America and Spain. Our Pre-School, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten students will be learning half their subjects in Spanish and half in English. Each year, we will include the next grade up. For now, all the students in Grades 1 through 8 will be taught in English, but learning Spanish in the more traditional approach.” One of the new teachers is Flori Muñoz from Argentina:

Here’s her kindergarten classroom from another angle:

Assistant principal Anca Wilson was conducting parent orientation:

Also happening this week at Holy Family – the annual Street Fair is coming up Saturday and Sunday (September 8-9). Principal Cantwell says, “We will be having Mexican, Filipino and Vietnamese foods, as well as hot dogs and hamburgers. We will have pony rides again this year, and we have built a water slide that I am sure will be a big hit with the kids. We will also be having a variety of ethnic music and dancing. We expect it to be bigger and better than ever.”

Labor Day’s here, summer’s over, and meetings resume for local community councils and other organizations. In this area, that starts with Thursday’s meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council – and the agenda’s up on its website:

7:00 pm Call to Order – Flag Salute – Roll Call –
Approval of Agenda – Approval of Minutes

7:05 pm Public Announcements
7:10 pm Public Comment
3 minutes for Individuals
5 minutes for Groups

7:15 pm Mike Martin, Burien City Manager

7:20pm Deputy BJ Myers

7:30 pm Lloyd Hara, King County Tax Assessor

8:00 pm Treasurer’s Report

8:15 pm Committee Reports
1. Governance
2. Arts and Parks
3. Public Safety
4. Housing and Human Services
5. Public Outreach
6. Transportation

8:20 pm Unfinished Business/Old Business
· Flower Bed Planting (100 ST & 16th Ave, SW)

8:30 pm New Business
· NHUAC Annexation Information Forum

Avoid 26th/Roxbury and vicinity for a while – while the crash in our photo did not result in injuries serious enough for anyone to have to go to the hospital, according to investigators, it did block eastbound traffic on Roxbury and all but one westbound lane. We’ll check back on the traffic situation a bit later to see if it’s cleared.

UPDATE: It’s clear now.

(Photos by Nick Adams for WCN)
Closely fought football-season opener at Southwest Athletic Complex in West Seattle tonight – but in the end, the Evergreen High School Wolverines lost to the Chief Sealth International High School Seahawks, 26-20. Before that, though, it had been a 20-20 tie, and the Wolverines kept fighting.

Two events of note: The White Center Community Development Association‘s White Center Promise celebration is today, 4-6:30 pm at Greenbridge – full details on the WCCDA website. Also, high-school football season opens – Evergreen is in West Seattle at the Southwest Athletic Complex to play Chief Sealth, 7 pm.

(Photos by Nick Adams for White Center Now)
White Center Heights Elementary kindergartener Roeesah Thanh not only started school today – she met new Highline Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield. WCH was the first of three schools Dr. Enfield visited this morning; for White Center Now, photojournalist Nick Adams joined the tour. Dr. Enfield rode the bus to get to the first stop:

Lots of smiles as students including Ana Marie waited:

WCH 4th grade teacher Megan Foster‘s class got a visit:

And Dr. Enfield talked with parents in a community room at the school:

Amid the back-to-school clamor, there were quiet scenes too:

Mount View Elementary in White Center is where Edwin Campbell read to 1st grader Angelita Espinoza while waiting to finalize enrollment. Mount View students are wearing uniforms today; at least one teacher also showed up for school in something distinctive:

That’s fifth-grade teacher Jamie Ewing, one of 16 educators in the nation honored by Microsoft’€™s Partners in Learning U.S. Forum earlier this year.

Accompanying Dr. Enfield on this morning’s tour was the district’s communications director, Catherine Carbone Rogers:

You can keep track of district news this year via the HPS website.

(Photo by Nick Adams for White Center Now)
Be careful out there! It’s the first day of school for Highline Public Schools. In our photo, that’s new Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield at a bus stop this morning, headed for White Center Heights Elementary; she’s also scheduled to visit Mount View Elementary and Shorewood Elementary. More later.

P.U.S.H. Radio (Positive Urban Sounds of Hope) will be hosting a Last Day of Summer Street Fair in White Center this Saturday (September 1st) from 5-9 pm, at Greenbridge Plaza, 9800 8th SW. All ages welcome – there will be games, face art, live DJ, food – and a free movie (and popcorn) for children ages 3 and up. Learn more about P.U.S.H. Radio on their Facebook page here.

Just in:

We found 2 young golden retrievers this morning by our store. No collars on them.

Sandy Simmons
White Center
McLendon Hardware
206-762-4090

We’re at the scene of a shooting that caused a lot of commotion – then turned out to be accidental. A man has gone to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West, who talked with us at the scene. She says it appears he was walking with a gun in his pocket; he reached into his pocket, and the gun accidentally went off, with a bullet hitting him in the leg. The wound is not believed to be life-threatening.

Cleanups come in all sizes. The most important thing is who participates – and that means you. This invitation is just in from Lea at Neat Street (featured here on WCN back in June):

My business Neat Street is having a neighborhood clean-up event to be held on Saturday, September 8th from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Gloves, garbage bags, and litter grabbers will be provided. We will be picking up the litter and garbage along the sidewalks and streets in the White Center neighborhood. Join us to show some love to our amazing neighborhood! Meet us in the alleyway behind 9229A 17th Ave SW between 9:45 -10:00 a.m. to get your supplies!