White Center Now: The blog about White Center

You may have seen the smoke from Sunday afternoon’s huge apartment fire in the unincorporated area east of White Center, in a Union Gospel Mission-owned building in the 9800 block of Des Moines Memorial Drive. Dozens of people are without homes as a result; efforts are under way to help them, from a collection being taken up at the South Park-area Red Apple Market, to a Red Cross shelter set up in a West Seattle church so residents have someplace to sleep and to get meals. Citywide media reports say the fire’s cause is still being investigated.

We published this Friday on partner site West Seattle Blog and it turned out to be a hot topic. If you take the bus between downtown and White Center, you might want to speak out while the county is taking comments:

King County Metro Transit and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) are evaluating options to improve traffic flow and transit operations on Columbia Street near the Alaskan Viaduct onramp.

One suggestion is to close the bus stop located on Columbia just east of Second Avenue. It currently serves as the last stop for passengers leaving downtown on Metro routes 21 Express, 54, 55, 56 Express, 113, 120, 121, 122, and 125. If this bus stop closes, riders will need to walk four blocks to Third Avenue just south of Seneca Street to board or exit.

This closure is one of several concepts being considered, and Metro and SDOT are seeking initial feedback on the potential impacts to riders and the general public. They are asking people to provide comments about the possible closure of this stop by Friday, Aug. 12. Send email to: customer.comments@kingcounty.gov with Columbia/2nd Ave in the subject line , or call 206-553-3000.

Even if this bus stop remains open, it may be necessary to temporarily close it without prior notice due to traffic conditions. If that happens, Metro staff and signage will direct bus riders to board buses at the stop on Third Avenue south of Seneca Street.

Hundreds of people are having a great time at Greenbridge Plaza right now, as the White Center Promise celebration continues till 6:30 pm. The poverty-fighting initiative is about education in a big way – and local high-school students are helping underscore that, including the cheer team, above, and the Highline High School robotics team, below:

Plenty of sun, and a chance to learn more from WCCDA about the White Center Promise program – “cradle to college to career strategies,” as explained here.

Couldn’t be better weather for a big celebration at Greenbridge Plaza (8th SW and SW 98th) today – part of the White Center Community Development Association‘s White Center Promise campaign, aimed at eradicating poverty in WC. Be there 4-6:30 pm for free local food and entertainment.

Want to be part of the next White Center Art Walk? Here’s your chance!

Dear Artists & Art Lovers,

White Center Arts and the White Center Art Walk would like to invite you to participate in our 3rd Saturday Art Walk on August 20, 2011 from 6pm – 9pm. Our art walk has been growing at a fast and furious pace in the past two months, and we feel the excitement building. In June, we curated a Mini Short Film Festival with three unique programs shown at Full Tilt, Southgate Skate Rink and Big Al Brewing. Just this past weekend, we curated live painters at 3.14 Bakery, Big Al’s and the sidewalks of 16th Ave SW to great and enthusiastic response.

For August, our theme is Live Performance. We are putting a call out to dancers, dance troupes, spoken word artists, live painters, street performers and musicians. There are many great spaces to accommodate any and all types of performance art in White Center. We have space at 3.14 Bakery, Company Bar, Full Tilt, Big Al’s, Southgate Skate Rink, Triangle Pub, Sidewalks and Crosswalks and more!

Once we get artists’ commitments, we will create a schedule with times and locations.

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, please respond by August 8th, 2011 with:

Your Name
Troupe Name
Contact Info
Type of Performance Art
How many in your troupe
Any special needs (power, lighting, etc)

We are aware of the tight timeline of this ambitious event, but feel confident in you, and our White Center family to make it fantastic!

Please call or email us with questions or comments.

Thank you in advance,

Amanda Kay Helmick & Devrim Ozkan
White Center Art Walk Co-Curators
White Center Art Vice Chair / Secretary
whitecenterartwalk@gmail.com
Amanda: 206.708.5617
Devrim: 206.484.0399

By Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

As you might have seen in the comments following our previous story about the former Thai Thai Restaurant‘s future plans – those plans have suddenly changed.

Just a few days after WCN spoke with grieving family members of the late Thai Thai owner Sam about their plans to reopen as Ped Nin Thai, they told us they now have to find a new location.

In what Choothai Chaiboonruang said was as an unanticipated misunderstanding with the property’s owners, lease talks fell apart over terms that the family said were not what they had thought they’d be. So they are instead looking for a new site, after more than a quarter-century at 16th/112th.

Since they don’t have one in mind yet, they would welcome information regarding potential sites at pedninthai@gmail.com. They hope to find a space with more updated equipment and lease terms that serve the long-term vision the family has for the successful business. Chaiboonruang says the family has already removed the appliances and equipment they wish to keep as they prepare to look for a new location in the White Center or Burien area. He will keep us abreast of the family’s journey to bring the new Ped Nin Thai to its new home.

Parents who want to try communicating with their babies via hand signs – American Sign Language – are invited to join new classes starting up this week at Dubsea Coffee in White Center, presented by Little Creative Hands:

Two Available Beginning Classes:

①. Thursday Classes, at Dubsea Coffee (9910 8th Ave SW, Seattle), 1:30 pm-2:30 pm : July 21, 28, August 4, & 11.
②. Saturday Classes, at Dubsea Coffee (9910 8th Ave SW, Seattle), 11:00 am-12:00 pm : July 23, 30, August 6, & 13.
*For ages 0-2. Attendees are you, your spouse, and/or caregiver, with option to bring your baby/toddler.

Class fees:
Full Session (4 classes) – $100
•
Pay per class – $30
•
*fees include flashcards for each class.

You can find out more, and register, by e-mailing the instructors at LittleCreativeHands@gmail.com. They’re also on Facebook.

From Celia:

This sweet dog was roaming the White Center Carnival at Steve Cox Park. She is obviously well-loved, and has a collar with a padlock on it. Contact us at (206) 528-2443.

(Photos by Patrick Sand for WCN)
Lots of great people to see (and meet, if you don’t know them already) at the White Center Jubilee Days Street Fair along 17th SW – like the Evergreen Cheer team members, there with a fundraiser, and big smiles! Despite the sun-clouds-sun-clouds weather, we saw lots of smiles – North Highline Unincorporated Area Council members Jessica Stoneback and president Barb Dobkin were at the NHUAC booth when we stopped:

Just a few booths to the north, you’ll find White Center Community Development Association team members, making sure you know all about the big White Center Promise celebration, 4-6:30 pm next Friday:

At the White Center Food Bank booth, you can get your photo taken with a classic motorcycle, for a donation:

At the 34th District Democrats’ booth, they’ll sign you up to vote:

Businesses are on hand too – including Alaska USA Credit Union, visiting from nearby Westwood Village:

And vehicles to admire, like the North Highline Fire District’s ladder truck:

Plus the cars at the Jubilee Days Show ‘n’ Shine:

And that barely scratches the surface.

Live music, food, oh – and vendors – need to keep your head and neck warm in this crazy weather?

Then there’s the White Center Art Walk tonight, the carnival over at Steve Cox Memorial Park … All the Jubilee Days info you could possibly want is on the official website.

WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz says more than 20 people joined in a protest this morning organized by Washington Community Action Network, demanding that megabanks like Chase and Bank of America stop foreclosures, among other things. One of those joining the protest was Vera Johnson, the White Center/West Seattle-area Village Green Perennial Nursery owner whose difficulties in dealing with B of A to fend off foreclosure have been reported this past week by WCN partners West Seattle Blog (story here) and the Seattle Times (Nicole Brodeur‘s column here). From Chase, where Deanie shot the video, the group walked along 16th to B of A – where Vera is at left in our photo below:

Washington CAN sent a news release after today’s demonstration – read it after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

(Crossposted from partner site West Seattle Blog)

11:39 AM: A crash on Olson Place heading downhill to Highway 509 from the east end of Roxbury has traffic being diverted at Olson/4th (map) – you’ll have to go southbound on 4th. The crash scene is close to the top of the hill. The Seattle Police Department Traffic Collision Investigation Squad is there, which suggests that downhill (eastbound to 509) Olson will be closed for a while, usually a few hours. Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Rasmussen tells us two people were taken to the hospital.

1:53 PM UPDATE: Per scanner, police are clearing and Olson is now open again.

Rain? What rain? We’re in denial. The Jubilee Days Street Festival is still on, and so’s tonight’s Art Walk. We’ll be checking out both. Jubilee Days info here; Art Walk info here.

When the Burien City Council meets again next Monday, the prospective annexation of the rest of North Highline, including White Center, is back on the agenda – and the report that’s already in the online “packet” for the meeting includes an early report on the financial analysis, which says so far it’s looking like annexation “is financially viable.” Here’s the entirety of the text:

Annexation of the so-called “area Y” in the North Highline, including White Center, has a long history that council is well aware of. In short, Burien and Seattle in 2009 agreed to bi-furcate the North Highline Area into two areas; “X” in the south and “Y” in the north. Each city agreed it could advance annexations in adjacent areas without opposition until January 2012. Burien successfully annexed area X in 2010 and that area is now part of Burien. In March 2011, Seattle declared it was not interested in advancing an annexation in area Y but adopted a resolution stating it might at a later date, perhaps February 2012. The resolution also allowed Burien to advance an annexation in area Y if it wished.

Staff is working with a private contractor, Berk and Associates, to study the financial viability of annexing area Y. Initial, draft data seems to indicates the annexation is financially viable, largely because of a sales tax credit offered by the state as an incentive. The entire study will be available August 1 and presented to council at its meeting that evening. It will not be available for inclusion in the council packet. Staff intends to offer a high-level summary of the document at that meeting, and will return with the authors at your next council meeting, August 15th for a more detailed discussion.

As mentioned previously, while financial data is central to the question of annexation, staff understands it is not the
exclusive one and that the policy question is more complex. In an effort to anticipate additional areas of interest, staff
continues to solict other lines of questioning council would like us to explore.

The annexation discussion will predictably be iterative and require information to be acquired as talks progress. The intent of this agenda item is simply to continue that discussion and ensure it progresses in as linear a fashion as possible.

You can see this along with the rest of the “packet” by going here (PDF). Next Monday’s meeting is at 7 pm, Burien City Council chambers, 400 SW 152nd.

This is what the helicopters were doing over White Center earlier today: A 2-year-old fell out of an open window at the Coronado Springs Apartments. According to the North Highline Fire District, the child got up on a couch and accidentally took the fall, 10 to 12 feet below, onto a porch. His mom went out of the window after him – she has a sprained ankle leg injury, and he has a head injury. Both have been taken to the hospital.

Great show over Steve Cox Memorial Park tonight – the White Center Jubilee Days fireworks, bursting in air over Mel Olson Stadium. We watched from north of the fieldhouse, which provided a unique view – the almost-full moon hanging in the sky right behind the fireworks. Our clip features three minutes from the second half of the show. Much more Jubilee Days excitement to come, including the street fair and parade this weekend, plus the annual pancake breakfast – we received this announcement:

The Jubilee Days Kiwanis Pancake breakfast is being held again this year on Saturday, July 16th, from 8 am to noon.

The cost is $5 for adults and free for kids under 5 years old. There will be pancakes, sausage, and Juice. Raffle tickets are available. All proceeded got to the Kiwanis Club of White Center (Helping Children of the World)

The Pancake breakfast will be at:
Holy Family School:
9615 20th SW

It looks a little more done on the outside than the inside, but community members were invited to come over this afternoon to tour Strength of Place Village, the new 30-unit low-income housing complex at 14th SW and SW 100th. You’d have to use your imagination to think about the possibilities of the still-being-built interiors – this is going to be a community room:

The living spaces are taking shape – note the windows and brightness in this one:

As reported here earlier this month, applications are now being taken for prospective tenants. Strength of Place Village is a partnership between Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association, White Center Community Development Association, and Capitol Hill Housing, whose Kate Gill de la Garza was a tour guide this afternoon. Ground was broken for the project last September.

Early this evening, we strolled through the White Center Jubilee Days carnival, to see the sights – classic rides as always, like the Tilt-A-Whirl, above, and the Zipper:

The poster lists tonight’s end time as simply “closing.” So before, during, after the fireworks (500 shells at dusk!), look for the bright lights, loud music, and classic fair/festival/carnival food at Steve Cox Memorial Park.

12:35 PM: Thanks to Gill for the photos of law-enforcement officers at Asian Bubble Tea, 9835 16th SW. The officers in the photo are city of Seattle and state officers, but according to our friends at KING 5, this is all part of a string of raids around the region today, targeting alleged crimes including illegal cigarette sales. (UPDATE: Alleged food-stamp fraud is also being targeted here by federal investigators, according to KING’s update.) The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is leading the operation, which it describes as “a multiagency law enforcement operation conducted today involving the execution of multiple search warrants pertaining to the illegal trafficking of contraband cigarettes in Seattle and areas of Western Washington.”

ATF plans a media briefing shortly, and we expect to have more information after that.

ADDED 1:24 PM: Click ahead for the full text of the ATF news release: Read the rest of this entry »

Just announced: The longtime principal of West Seattle’s Chief Sealth International High School, John Boyd, is coming to Highline Public Schools as executive director of the north region, which includes White Center. Here’s the story we just published on West Seattle Blog.

(Jubilee Days carnival setup on Tuesday; photo by Deanie Schwarz for WCN/WSB)
Big day, and night, in White Center! Jubilee Days events get into full swing. The carnival at Steve Cox Memorial Park opens at 3 pm and continues till 10; somewhere around that time – dusk – is when the second annual fireworks show will fill the sky over the park. If you want to get ticket books, with discounts, before you go to the carnival, they’re available at Full Tilt Ice Cream and Proletariat Pizza, as well as Albertsons on 16th SW, according to WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz.