White Center Now: The blog about White Center

We’ve heard from numerous people wondering what’s causing the backup at Olson/Myers, on the way from White Center (and West Seattle) toward Highway 509 and South Park. It’s on the 911 log as a car fire. Some folks tell us they’ve been stuck as long as 45 minutes.

An update this morning from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart, with the cause of the weekend fire and the scope of what KCSO calls a grow operation:

An early morning fire in a single family residence did more than burn up the house. It sent a good-size, illegal marijuana grow operation up in smoke as well.

The fire was reported about 1:00 AM on Sunday morning, January 23rd, in the 10400 block of 10th Ave SW (White Center neighborhood of unincorporated King County).

Responding firefighters called the Sheriff’s Office after they found the marijuana grow operation in the basement of the residence as they were knocking down the fire. There were about 55 medium size plants, lights, timers, ventilation equipment, and other growing supplies in the house.

No one was home at the time of the fire and there were no arrests.

A fire investigator from the Sheriff’s Office believes an electrical malfunction was the likely cause of the fire.

From the WCN inbox:

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, King County Government, Public Safety & Code Enforcement Committee will be having a meeting on Thursday January 27th 6:30pm @ the White Center Library meeting room…

This meeting is open to the public.

Here’s what that committee is all about.

4:15 PM: According to KING5.com, a fire on 10th Avenue SW early this morning has sparked a King County Sheriff’s Office investigation – because of an alleged marijuana-growing operation. Here’s their story. We’ve got messages out to find out more.

6:07 PM UPDATE: A little more information from King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart – The fire was in the 10400 block of 10th Ave SW. A county fire investigator has been to the scene but the investigator’s report isn’t filed yet, so details will have to wait until at least tomorrow, including the size of the “grow op” he says they found. The house was fully involved when fire crews arrived, according to Sgt. Urquhart, who says fire crews called for KCSO around 1:12 am.

From the South Park Arts website – a call for public art for White Center’s Strength of Place Village. Application deadline is a little over a month away. Details here.

Fourth Thursday means the White Center-South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meets – here’s the announcement:

More than 17,000 calls to the Washington Poison Center were about children poisoned by medicines. Washington State needs a statewide take-back program to protect its children.

Teens use medicines to get high second only to marijuana, and they start as early as 12 years old. Washington needs a statewide take-back program so families can keep unwanted medicines out of the hands of our teens.

White Center – South Delridge Community Safety Coalition

Invites you to hear the

Seattle & King County Public Health Health & Environmental Investigator

Will Perry

at our Meeting on Thursday, January 27th 6 pm

White Center DSHS Building, 2nd Floor

9650 15th Ave SW

We first told you about Company, in the works for the central White Center business district, last February, in a story about that month’s meeting of the White Center-South Delridge Community Safety Coalition. Now, it’s just about ready to open. WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz says owner Jesse confirms Thursday (January 27) will be Day 1, starting at 4 pm, serving their Happy Hour menu. Company’s at 9608 16th SW.

Another new restaurant coming to White Center – sharing space with an existing one. After spotting the banner you see in the photo, WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz checked in with the owner of Be’s. She’s going to stay open in the mornings, serving breakfast, says Deanie; then in mid-afternoon, Crawfish Grill will take over the space. Deanie says Crawfish is already a successful restaurant in South King County, serving Cajun-style treats like crawfish and catfish, with fresh fish. She’s working to get in touch with its owner for a followup.

WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz spotted this new Boost Mobile (with Virgin Mobile signage too) store across from Marv’s Broiler, at 9819 16th SW. Nobody around to talk to, she reports, but through the windows, it’s clear the interior is almost complete, and signage says it will be open Mondays-Saturdays, 10 am-7 pm.

Thanks to Gill for the photo and the news that the new multilingual “Welcome to White Center” signs are up in at least two spots – this one’s along SW Roxbury by Holy Family Church/School, and another one’s up at 4th SW/SW 108th. This follows the similarly themed banners that have started to go up around the area (here’s our story from two weeks ago).

ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: The Chamber board plans a photo opportunity by one of the new signs this afternoon, and also included this information about the signs:

The White Center Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Seattle Foundation and the White Center Community Development Association (CDA), has installed two new multi-language “Welcome” signs in White Center. Of the five original signs installed in the early 1990s, all are damaged beyond repair. These two signs are coated with an anti-graffiti material and represent the first phase for replacing all White Center Welcome signs. The Chamber board will gather at the sign located at Holy Family School in Seattle (Roxbury and 19th SW) at 1:00 pm today. The second new sign is located at 4th SW and SW 108th in unincorporated King County. The Chamber will continue fund raising to replace the other three signs in 2011.

ADDED: Here’s the photo!

The WC Chamber reps in attendance included, according to president Mark Ufkes, Mac McElroy, Carlos Jimenez, Jimie Martin (Chamber mgr), Nhan Nguyen, Kathi Wheeler (Chamber board member next year and sign designer) Nancy Calos Nakano, Ray Zombro, Dr. Chris Hill.

It’s official – White Center’s King County Councilmember is leading the County Board of Health. Here’s the announcement we just received:

At its first meeting of the New Year, the members of the King County Board of Health elected Metropolitan King County Councilmember Joe McDermott Board Chair for 2011. McDermott was appointed to the Board of Health after joining the Council last November.

McDermott said the challenge facing public health agencies throughout the region is continuing to deliver health services in the age of shrinking funds. Last week, Public Health – Seattle & King County announced the layoff of over 120 Public Health employees who provide and support maternity support services for at risk mothers so their babies start healthy by reducing low birth weights, which can result in long and expensive hospital stays, life-long health problems or even death.

“More than a third of all pregnant women in King County depend on the County for their health care, so these cuts will have a long-term impact on the health of our communities,” said McDermott. “I will be working with the state Legislature to protect these critical services.”

“With his clear commitment and experience in working for healthier communities, I’m very much looking forward to working together with Councilmember McDermott in his new role as Board Chair to address our current crisis in public health service funding and other serious health threats,” said Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County.

McDermott will replace Councilmember Julia Patterson, who is stepping down after five years as Board Chair.

“As the legislator who introduced the first Clean Indoor Air Act, I have been concerned about public health issues my entire career,” said McDermott. I look forward to continuing the work of Councilmember Patterson and the entire Board as we work to promote health around King County.”

McDermott joined the County Council in November 2010. He left the Washington State Legislature after joining the Council, where he served seven years in the state House

before being appointed and later elected to the state Senate. He was Senior Budget Analyst with the Seattle School District and has worked for former Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney John Ladenburg. McDermott has a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from Gonzaga University.

The Board of Health is responsible for setting county-wide public health policy, enacting and enforcing local public health regulations. The Board also plays a role in enforcing state public health statutes, preventing and controlling the spread of infectious disease, abating nuisances and establishing fee schedules for licenses, permits and other services.

Just in from Sgt. John Urquhart with the King County Sheriff’s Office:

A party at a house in White Center “went bad” early Sunday morning (January 16th). Numerous shots were fired about 3:10 AM by one suspect and one man was hit. He is at Harborview Medical Center after undergoing emergency surgery.

The house is in the 600 block of SW 107th St (map). A number of people were at the party and a fight broke out when one of the party-goers apparently grabbed the butt of one of the female guests. Her boy-friend took exception and there was a fistfight. The grabber was summarily ejected from the house.

About an hour later several men came back to the house, pounded on the front door, and then fired several rounds from a handgun into the house. A 20 year-old Seattle man was hit in the torso. The suspects fled.

The Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the shooting by neighbors.

Friends of the victim drove him to Harborview where he remains in critical condition. The friends remained and were interviewed by detectives.

There have been no arrests and the case is under investigation today.

Metro’s on a “reduced-weekday” schedule for the holiday. Most government offices/facilities are closed – no school, no mail; banks are closed too. MLK Day is also a Day of Service for many, and King County United Way tells us White Center-headquartered WestSide Baby is one of those places, with volunteers helping out at its newly expanded HQ today.

King County Sheriff’s Deputies say the black pickup in the photo hit a pedestrian crossing 26th SW south of 106th SW about 12:30 pm. We were at the site around 2 and the Major Accident Response investigators had just arrived – deputies told us that meant the road is not likely to reopen till early evening. (We will check back.) No word so far on the circumstances, nor on the condition of the pedestrian. This is a busy area for traffic, since 106th SW runs between White Center and the West Seattle neighborhood of Arbor Heights, and 26th SW runs north of the scene all the way to the Westwood Village shopping center. We have two reports, neither official (one is from someone saying he was a witness at the scene right after the crash), that the victim is a juvenile male, and we will be trying to find out more.

5:31 PM UPDATE: The road is open again; investigators have finished and departed.

6:40 PM UPDATE: King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart has sent a brief news release on the crash, but the only additional detail it contains is that the victim, described as “around 15 years old,” is in serious condition.

Big field trip for young singers from White Center’s Holy Family School – they were at Harborview Medical Center downtown on Thursday for its 19th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., celebration. Third from left in the back row, that’s Eileen Whalen, executive director of HMC. The Holy Family Youth Choir members sang during the celebration, under the direction of Anca Wilson:

Thanks to Harborview for sharing the photos!

Some have fretted they can’t attend the meetings when they’re held in the morning – so here’s your chance. The North Highline Fire District commissioners meet at 6 pm next Tuesday, January 18th. Location: NHFD headquarters, 1243 SW 112th. Open to the public, and you’re encouraged to come find out what’s happening in your fire district.

The snow’s been melting for a few hours but the slushy aftermath has lingering effects this morning:

METRO: On snow routes till 9 am.

SCHOOLS: Highline Public Schools is 1 hour late … Seattle Public Schools and Holy Family School have both announced 2-hour delays. … Kennedy High School starts 10:30 am.

TRASH/RECYCLING/YARD WASTE: Seattle Public Utilities is on its regular schedule. Allied has announced some changes.

More as we get it.

Hit “refresh” for the latest image from that “live” traffic camera the county has in White Center. Hope you don’t have to drive anywhere till after daybreak Wednesday, because by all accounts, it’s just plain nasty out there. More than an inch of snow has fallen by late evening around the Seattle metro area, including White Center. But the forecasters insist it will change to rain by morning – the question is, how much of a sloppy, slushy mess will you have to slog through during the am commute? We’ll have updates, including the early-morning word on what local schools plan to do. Also note that as of right now (10:45 pm Tuesday), Metro has all buses on snow routing.

Local utilities say there’s help for people who can’t pay their utility bills – but few people manage to get that help, because they don’t know it exists. That’s why Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle City Light are putting on a special event this weekend in West Seattle – find out about it here (and that link also will help you find out if you qualify for assistance).

In a special election on February 8th, voters in the Highline Public Schools district will decide the fate of a levy to raise more than $40 million a year, replacing a levy that’s expiring. (You can read about it here.) If you need to register to vote, or change your information, the deadline for doing so online – in order to make sure you get your ballot in the mail in time for that election – is this Monday. You can get it all done by going here.