Night Out in White Center: Scenes from a block party

August 8th, 2012 at 3:03 am Posted in Crime, Neighborhoods, Safety, White Center news | Comments Off on Night Out in White Center: Scenes from a block party

Thanks to North Highline/White Center neighborhood advocate Gill Loring for sharing photos from one of Tuesday night’s Night Out block parties – 20th SW between 102nd and 104th. The host was another neighborhood advocate, Ron Johnson (who also serves as a member of the all-volunteer North Highline Unincorporated Area Council). Here’s Ron chatting with one of the King County Sheriff’s Office team members who visited, Community Service Officer Peter Truong:

Also spotted at this party, White Center Storefront Deputy B.J. Myers:

Neighbors got a chance to talk with the officers as well as with each other:

Gill reports the party went on until dark.

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Hunger-fighters’ mega-barbecue fills Greenbridge Plaza

August 8th, 2012 at 2:06 am Posted in White Center Food Bank, White Center news | Comments Off on Hunger-fighters’ mega-barbecue fills Greenbridge Plaza

One more big event Tuesday night besides Night Out – thousands of people invited to the annual hunger-fighting summertime mega-barbecue at Greenbridge Plaza, with partners including the White Center Food Bank and the Vertically Integrated Partnership to End Hunger.

The menu included summer-barbecue favorites, even corn on the cob:

The partnership includes food-service companies, distributors, farmers, processors, and others collaborating to fight hunger in ways big and small – and as with the previous two years, this was definitely big, with fun as well as food:

This gets bigger every year; here’s our coverage of the first one back in July 2010.

It’s so big now, KING 5 even sent a crew Tuesday night! Here’s photojournalist Lorenzo at work:

(Here’s the online version of their story.)

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Election Day – which means tonight’s your deadline to vote

August 7th, 2012 at 9:16 am Posted in Election, Politics, White Center news | Comments Off on Election Day – which means tonight’s your deadline to vote

checkbox.jpgDon’t skip voting in today’s election – two major ballot measures, and the judicial races (as explained here), will be settled today. You can take your ballot to the dropoff box at Burien City Hall (400 SW 152nd), or the “dropoff van” at West Seattle Stadium (off 35th SW south of Avalon Way). Or, if you’re mailing your ballot, make sure it’ll be postmarked today. For your online sample ballot and last-minute info about candidates and races, here’s the official pamphlet.

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White Center Arts needs you to help grow the WC Art Walk!

August 5th, 2012 at 6:00 pm Posted in Arts | Comments Off on White Center Arts needs you to help grow the WC Art Walk!

Just in from Shelli Park – details of what and who they are looking for, to help the White Center Art Walk grow. Read on:

White Center Arts (WCA), the producer of the White Center 3rd Saturday Art Walk, is seeking a new infusion of energy for the 3rd Saturday Art Walk. We are looking for a few good volunteers who have a vision to take this program to a new level. We want to continue to grow the Art Walk into an event that is unique to White Center, and a regional draw.

WCA has developed a few auxiliary programs that dovetail with Art Walk that need to be established in our annual schedule. Any volunteers would be supported by current supporters and the Board of Trustees.

Read the rest of this entry »

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North Highline Unincorporated Area Council: Working through the summer, and through uncertainty

August 5th, 2012 at 5:17 pm Posted in North Highline UAC, White Center news | 3 Comments »

(NHUAC’s booth at Jubilee Days two weekends ago)
By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

Summertime often brings a much-needed break for volunteer community councils. Their meeting calendar skips a month or two; council leaders might take a vacation without a neighborhood crisis summoning them back to action.

No rest for the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council – despite the fact they’re working in a sort of limbo.

Two weekends ago, you might have seen NHUAC members volunteering at their White Center Jubilee Days booth. Its table was full of information about myriad community issues. That included crime prevention, an issue of special focus for the council – which has sponsored two public-safety forums (in February and in May) and has another one scheduled for September 13th, with not only crime updates, but also a forum featuring the King County Sheriff candidates, appointed incumbent Sheriff Steve Strachan, and recently retired longtime sergeant John Urquhart.

The council also has long worked on issues of community blight and beautification. At 16th and 100th, they worked for months to arrange for a planting area, but the actual planting wasn’t the end of the work – it was in ways only the start. The area is not irrigated, so it has to be wandered by hand – and that requires a major “bucket brigade” sort of effort:

The big barrels are filled at NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin‘s home every few days, loaded onto a pickup truck, and carried over to the site.

One recent evening, we stopped by as Dobkin, with help from NHUAC’s Christine Waldman (not pictured), watered and weeded the site.

They also patrol nearby areas for litter (which recently, Dobkin mentioned, included roadkill – a dead raccoon, left for somebody unspecified to handle). No grant money or donations for this – NHUAC members are doing it out of their own pockets, and on their own time, as community volunteers. NHUAC used to have a modest operational budget from the county, but that ended last year, as the county decided it would stop supporting the unincorporated-area councils, and move into a different sort of system, focusing on “community service areas.”

Though county material touting the “community service area” approach uses the language of “expand(ing) opportunities to seek input, listen, and respond to residents,” the new plan will offer only annual meetings for each “service area,” while councils such as NHUAC – one of six councils that the county had recognized – meet monthly. (We’ve covered NHUAC most months since WCN’s launch four years ago, as we have done with community councils/associations in West Seattle since launching our site there five-plus years ago; our WCN reports on NHUAC meetings and other activities are archived here, newest to oldest.)

North Highline will now be, in the county’s view, simply part of the “West King County Areas,” a collection of non-contiguous chunks of unincorporated land – see them on a county map here – pending approval of the boundaries proposed by King County Executive Dow Constantine.

While that system was supposed to be implemented about the same time as the end of funding and support, there’s been a lag which has left NHUAC in more of a limbo than ever. This has all been trickling out for almost a year; last October, a county rep came to NHUAC’s meeting to discuss the concept, and as we reported, that didn’t go very well.

Since then, there have been related announcements here and there – in April, for example, the county announced a “point person” for the new Service Area program. A grant program (for some of the types of work NHUAC is currently doing, unfunded) is described online, with a deadline in September.

Then last month, the boundary proposal, which also seeks to further remove NHUAC and the remaining UACs from any sort of official advisory involvement in county matters. From the news release:

A companion ordinance also proposed today would amend several sections of the King County Code to change or remove references to the participation of unincorporated area councils on various County advisory bodies – to help ensure representation by unincorporated area residents without limiting it to specific organizations, and to expand the pool of residents who can engage in County volunteer opportunities.

The CSA program will enable the County to engage with community-based organizations and provide regular opportunities for those organizations – and all residents outside of those organizations – to meet with King County elected officials and senior management.

The point made at NHUAC’s discussion last October of the county “Service Area” change – with those making it including a Burien City Council member – is that until the area is annexed, which, pending this November’s election outcome, could be sometime next year – another interim change in the community-engagement process was confusing at best.

But this council isn’t stopping, county support or no county support. At the Jubilee Days booth, for example, they were discussing a new petition to get something done about what just might be the biggest eyesore in White Center, the overgrown, graffiti-vandalism-coated former restaurant on 16th north of 112th:

It’s been years since that property’s last incarnation as a Peruvian restaurant, preceded by a fried-chicken restaurant and a fast-food joint. The graffiti – long a NHUAC-tackled issue – and weeds have continued to grow. Will its owners, or the county, do anything about it? Nobody else has shown up to take it on, NHUAC members say, so they’re circulating a petition.

As for their own future, they’re just doing what they’ve been doing – volunteer community advocacy. Keep an eye on northhighlineuac.org for information on upcoming meetings and ongoing issues. We’ll also be tracking the county service-areas proposal; the County Council is just now starting a two-week summer break, so nothing’s listed regarding any upcoming meetings at which it’ll be discussed.

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White Center Food Bank: Open house, starring the chickens

August 4th, 2012 at 12:30 pm Posted in White Center Food Bank, White Center news | Comments Off on White Center Food Bank: Open house, starring the chickens

(Also posted to partner site West Seattle Blog)

ou too can make friends with the fabulous fowls of the White Center Food Bank. Both named Henrietta. That’s Linda, in our photo, with one of the Henriettas. They’re both meeting visitors right now during the WC Food Bank’s summer open house – and they’re the inspiration for a program that you can be part of, to provide fresh eggs to more of WCFB’s clients. Till 2 pm, you can meet the H’s, tour the demonstration gardens, and get to know some cool people, at 10829 8th SW.

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Update: Man killed in White Center crash, pulling out of his own driveway

August 3rd, 2012 at 10:19 am Posted in King County Sheriff's Office, White Center news | 17 Comments »

10:19 AM: The King County Sheriff’s Office reports a fatal crash at 9th and 106th SW (map), with one person dead. We’ll update from the scene shortly.

11:07 AM UPDATE: The crash is in an off-the-beaten-path a residential neighborhood. Two vehicles are involved; we’ve just added photos (blurring one otherwise-visible plate, as is WCN policy). Investigators from the Major Accident Response and Reconstruction team are at the scene now; they’ve deferred comment to KCSO’s media liaison, Sgt. Cindi West, from whom we expect more information later.

11:28 AM UPDATE: Commenter Beverly says the victim is a neighbor who lives on the street where this happened.

11:55 AM UPDATE: That’s confirmed by Sgt. West, with whom we just spoke; she says the victim is in his early 70s and was pulling out of his driveway onto SW 106th, when an eastbound vehicle hit him. The woman and child in that car were not seriously hurt, she said, and neither driver appeared to have been under the influence, nor does it seem speeding was a factor, according to Sgt. West, though the final determination of the crash’s cause will be up to the MARR’s findings.

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Rat City Recon music festival brings ‘7 killer bands’ to White Center on August 18th

August 3rd, 2012 at 1:26 am Posted in Music, White Center news | Comments Off on Rat City Recon music festival brings ‘7 killer bands’ to White Center on August 18th

‘7 killer bands, 3 great venues’ is how the announcement late Thursday night on Facebook describes the upcoming Rat City Recon music festival. Those venues are Company Bar (9608 16th SW), Full Tilt Ice Cream (9629 16th SW), and Mac’s Triangle Pub (9454 Delridge Way SW). The music will run approximately 6 pm-1 am, and the announcement includes this lineup:

6:00 No World (Triangle Pub)
7:00 Vanguard (Full Tilt Ice Cream)
8:00 Skerik Trio (Triangle Pub)
9:00 Screens (Company Bar)
10:00 Tacos! (Full Tilt Ice Cream)
11:00 Perfect Bombs (Company Bar)
12:00 Diminished Men (Company Bar)

It’s free – but: “A suggested donation of $5 will get you a wrist band that is good for happy hour drink prices at each venue all night. Exclusive, limited edition t-shirt and wrist band bundles are available for pre-purchase at: brownpapertickets.com/event/264989

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Salvation Army day campers meet a sports hero: Seattle Storm’s Katie Smith

August 1st, 2012 at 4:18 am Posted in Sports, White Center news | Comments Off on Salvation Army day campers meet a sports hero: Seattle Storm’s Katie Smith

(Photos by Nick Adams for WCN)
She is the all-time leading scorer in women’s professional basketball, with a career in two leagues – and on Tuesday, Seattle Storm guard Katie Smith came to the White Center Salvation Army Day Camp for some one-on-one time with day campers like Aricel Perez (above). The whole group of 6- to 13-year-olds got to hear from her too:

Did we mention Smith is a three-time Olympic gold medalist?

While she signed autographs for the kids, some of them wanted to show her a thing or two as well – in the case of 7-year-old Kelsey White, a stuffed animal:

Even the staff got a chance for a photo to remember the day:

The Storm are in the midst of the WNBA’s Olympics break and resume play on August 16th (here’s the schedule).

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Followup: White Center Chase Bank holdup suspect charged

July 30th, 2012 at 3:06 pm Posted in Crime, White Center news | Comments Off on Followup: White Center Chase Bank holdup suspect charged

(WCN photo from July 25th)
A charge of first-degree robbery is now filed against 30-year-old Bryan Allen Hill of Everett, the man arrested by police shortly after last Wednesday morning’s robbery at Chase Bank in White Center. Charging documents say he entered the bank, banged his gun against a teller’s glass window, then pointed it at the teller and ordered her to give him “All the money, all the money from the drawers.” She pushed money at him through the window, investigators say, and he scooped it up before bolting southbound on 17th SW, even as another bank employee was activating an automatic call to 911. After he left the bank, a citizen saw him drop his gun, bend over to pick it up, and keep running. That citizen, the court documents say, got into his car and followed a ways, but lost sight. Then, detectives say, a sergeant about four blocks from the bank spotted Hill carrying something and alternating between a jog and a fast walk. The sergeant yelled for Hill to stop, yelled again, and then, on the third try, got him to stop. He was found to have a Glock handgun and $1,865 in cash, and witnesses from both inside and outside the bank identified him. He’s jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail and is scheduled to go to court to answer the charge next week.

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White Center Food Bank summer open house next Saturday, starring The Henriettas

July 29th, 2012 at 11:56 pm Posted in White Center Food Bank, White Center news | Comments Off on White Center Food Bank summer open house next Saturday, starring The Henriettas

We’re now less than a week away from the White Center Food Bank‘s next open house – which, WCFB notes, will star its chickens The Henriettas:

White Center Food Bank would like to invite everyone in our community to Meet the Henriettas, our food bank chickens. at our Summer Open House on August 4, 2012 from 11 am until 2 pm. It will be an opportunity to learn about volunteering, tour our facilities and demonstration gardens, which should be in full growing glory.

We love our Henriettas even though they only lay one egg a day per girl – we enjoy the delight on children’s faces when they see where eggs really come from. We will also be launching Team Henrietta – a new giving program to assist us in providing eggs to all our clients. Open to all, no RSVP required. For more information, contact Ann Kendall at ann@whitecenterfoodbank.org.

The food bank is at 8th and 108th in White Center.

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Update: Missing dog in White Center now back home

July 28th, 2012 at 6:39 pm Posted in Pets, White Center news | 1 Comment »

Be on the lookout:

Friendly small (male) pit bull with red harness. No tags, but is micro chipped. Last seen on 24th Ave SW, near SW 110th, 3 pm. 53 lbs, brownish/gray brindle, white chest, white front paw, small hematoma on right ear.

MONDAY UPDATE: Back home!

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Cultivate’s open-mike night: Perfect summer evening in Greenbridge

July 28th, 2012 at 3:50 pm Posted in Arts, Greenbridge, White Center news | Comments Off on Cultivate’s open-mike night: Perfect summer evening in Greenbridge

We stopped by Cultivate‘s open-mike night on Friday at Greenbridge Plaza, just long enough to see the crowd gathering on a perfect summer evening – not too hot, not too cool. Among the first performers, Celestine:

The event was a co-promotion with White Center Community Development Association and YES Foundation, and a chance for everybody to celebrate the summer. Cultivate has a photo album up on Facebook; see it here.

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Open mike tonight at Greenbridge Plaza!

July 27th, 2012 at 4:47 pm Posted in Arts, White Center news | Comments Off on Open mike tonight at Greenbridge Plaza!

7 pm, the plaza will be full of sights and sounds as Cultivate, YES Foundation, White Center Community Development Association, and your artistic friends and neighbors team up for Open Mike Night. Need more info? Check out this Facebook event page.

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Video: Suspect arrested after White Center bank robbery

July 25th, 2012 at 10:33 am Posted in Crime, White Center news | 3 Comments »

(Photos by Patrick Sand for West Seattle Blog/White Center Now)
10:33 AM: There’s a search after a robbery was reported at Chase Bank in White Center. Seattle Police are helping search. There’s word of a possible suspect found to the south, but the search will continue until and unless that is verified. Updates to come.

10:46 AM UPDATE: A suspect was taken into custody at 19th/104th; we were there and will add photos. Right now we’re back at the bank to gather more information.

10:58 AM UPDATE: KCSO Sgt. Cindi West says deputies spotted the suspect “jogging” in the area. He was found to have a gun and a bag in his possession. The robber was reported to have shown a gun. So he remains in custody. Added a photo from the bank; arrest-scene photo shortly.

11:35 AM UPDATE: Just added the above clip, with Sgt. West explaining what happened. This is the second White Center bank holdup in less than two weeks. Just yesterday, we reported on the charge filed against the suspect arrested days after the one at KeyBank on July 13th.

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Feed the Children brings special delivery to White Center Food Bank

July 25th, 2012 at 2:11 am Posted in White Center Food Bank, White Center news | Comments Off on Feed the Children brings special delivery to White Center Food Bank

Volunteers and staff are always busy at the White Center Food Bank, but Tuesday brought something extra to keep them hopping – a big delivery from the national nonprofit Feed the Children. Boxes with food and personal-care products, destined for 400 families, arrived via FTC’s “Americans Feeding Americans Caravan”:

Along for the occasion was Feed The Children media liaison Mark Opgrande:

White Center is one of three stops FTC is making this week – tomorrow they’re in Bremerton and on Thursday, in Des Moines.

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White Center holdup suspect charged; may be a suspect in 2 other robberies

July 24th, 2012 at 5:02 pm Posted in Crime, White Center news | Comments Off on White Center holdup suspect charged; may be a suspect in 2 other robberies

The man arrested in connection with the July 13th holdup at White Center’s KeyBank is now charged with attempted first-degree robbery, and court documents say he may be a suspect in two other robberies. Now that he is charged, we will identify him by name – Justin Schupp. Court documents say he entered the bank that afternoon and gave a teller a note saying, “You have 10 seconds to calmly give me all the $100’s in your drawer. This is not a joke. I will f***ing shoot you.” The teller looked at him, the investigator’s narrative says, and “pushed the note back to him,” then “stepped backward in fear.” With that, he “grabbed the note and fled on foot … no cash was taken.”

The robbery attempt was captured on video surveillance, and, according to the court documents, a deputy who saw that video recognized Schupp in a set of photos at the Burien Police precinct, depicting “known criminals” operating in the Burien/White Center area. Turns out the same deputy actually spoke with Schupp two hours before the bank incident, because he was a witness to a car crash at Roxbury/17th – just a block from the KeyBank. And, the charging papers say, once the photo of Schupp was circulated to other officers on July 16th, within half an hour, a deputy recognized him as someone he’d dealt with a year earlier. Then last Wednesday, once the photo also was distributed to media (we published it here), a near-deluge of tips came in, identifying the robber as Justin Schupp, including some from people close to him. The court documents note that of all the tips they received, he was the only person mentioned. They arrested Schupp at 6 pm Wednesday, at which time, court documents say, “he was wearing the same gray fleece hooded jacket and the same tennis shoes as seen in the video the day of the robbery.”

The King County Jail Register says he’s being held in lieu of $35,000 bail. Just ten days before his arrest, he got out of jail after six days related to a case of trafficking in stolen property. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office says he is due for arraignment on August 6th.

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White Center Field Day! Summer fun on Thursday afternoons

July 24th, 2012 at 9:49 am Posted in Fun, White Center news | Comments Off on White Center Field Day! Summer fun on Thursday afternoons

No shortage of summer fun – check this out for each of the next four Thursdays, 1-3 pm:

Classic Sports Games this Thursday at White Center Summer Field Days – Steve Cox Memorial Park

THURS. JULY 26TH – SPORTS CLASSICS @ STEVE COX MEMORIAL PARK (Special Guests KCLS Book Mobile & Hope Heart Institute)

THURS. AUGUST 2ND – KARATE CLASS @ STEVE COX MEMORIAL PARK

THURS. AUGUST 9TH – EAT RIGHT, MOVE MORE @ GREENBRIDGE

THURS. AUGUST 16TH – BEST OF THE BEST SPORTS/GAMES + COMMUNITY BBQ @ GREENBRIDGE PLAZA

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Male Shiba Inu found in White Center – know whose it is?

July 23rd, 2012 at 8:03 am Posted in Pets, White Center news | Comments Off on Male Shiba Inu found in White Center – know whose it is?

This was sent in for the lost/found-pets section on partner site West Seattle Blog, but he turned up in WC:

Unaltered male Shiba Inu found this afternoon around 4:30 in White Center east of McLendon. No collar or identification (I added the red collar for manageability), friendly and good natured. Fetches and sits like a champ. I have no doubt someone owns and loves this guy, likely he pulled out of a collar or escaped from an open door or gate. Please contact me … if this is your dog or you know who’s it is. If I don’t hear from anyone I will take him to Animal Control (this) morning to see if he is chipped. 206.234.7445, ppeerman@gmail.com

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Gunfire reported in White Center early today – but no evidence found

July 22nd, 2012 at 4:56 pm Posted in Crime, King County Sheriff's Office, White Center news | Comments Off on Gunfire reported in White Center early today – but no evidence found

We got some calls/messages early today about the law-enforcement helicopter Guardian One over the White Center/Highland Park area, and finally found out from King County Sheriff’s Deputy BJ Myers what happened. Talking with us at Jubilee Days, Deputy Myers said it involved a report of gunfire near 17th and 98th. No evidence of the reported gunfire, though, he said – nobody hurt, no property damage, no shell casings found. A suspect was reported to have been seen running; one person was arrested and said to have had a gun, but Deputy Myers said no one has identified him as having been involved with the alleged gunfire.

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