White Center Now: The blog about White Center

We heard this from Feet First and have just confirmed with the King County Executive’s office: KCE Dow Constantine will celebrate Walk to School Month by walking from Greenbridge Plaza to White Center Heights Elementary on Friday morning – they’re planning to leave Greenbridge about 8:20, if you’d like to join in.

Writer Chad Newton makes the proposal on his website: What about a new South Park Bridge that’s aligned along South Cloverdale rather than 14th Avenue South? He made the Google Map above to illustrate his idea. You can read about it here. (Of course, as he notes, this would cost a few hundred million dollars more, but his main point is the west-east disconnect in the south sections of Seattle.)

Coming up next month – save the date to find out more about green jobs! Shared by Ian from White Center Community Development Association:

COMMUNITY GREEN JOBS FORUM

Friday, November 12, 12:00pm-2:00pm

YWCA Learning Center – 9720 8th Avenue SW in White Center

Pre-register for this event by calling (206) 290-5136 or e-mail info@gotgreen.org

Light refreshments and language interpretation available

Be a part of Project GreenLight! Project Greenlight is recruiting men and women of color and low-income workers for FREE job training in:

* Deconstruction – Hazardous materials and demolition jobs that reuse/recycle building materials

* Green Building – Entry-level weatherization installation positions

* Green Manufacturing – Manufacturing/assembly of environmentally sustainable products

This event is sponsored by
Got Green: www.gotgreen.org
Workforce Development Council

Still making up your mind about King County Proposition 1? The Seattle Times (WCN partner) takes a look tonight.

(Top, moderator Jerry Robison, during the forum, with Joe McDermott and Diana Toledo; bottom, Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey right before it began)
It’ll take some time to write the full report since the candidates’ forum presented by the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council tonight ran almost two and a half hours, but here’s a really quick summary: NHUAC’s Barbara Dobkin told your editor here (covering on behalf of both White Center Now and West Seattle Blog) afterward that they’re “thrilled” they drew such a huge turnout for the forum – the room at the Greenbridge YWCA Education Center was packed. NHUAC’s Pat Price gave a short introduction, and longtime community leader Jerry Robison moderated the forum expertly. A collection of pre-prepared questions – NHUAC had solicited e-mailed inquiries – and “live” audience questions ranged across a wide variety of topics, from White Center annexation to abortion rights. The first audience question came from the White Center/West Seattle entrepreneur who ran in one of the spotlighted races:

Mac’s Triangle Pub owner Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy would have asked the last question too, but he yielded to a man who hadn’t asked anything yet. (He was the third-place finisher in the 34th District House #2 race.) Other questioners included people from White Center and West Seattle, including several who identified themselves as Greenbridge residents (the development itself was the topic of several questions). Moderator Robison sat at a desk between one containing the 34th District State House Position 2 candidates, Joe Fitzgibbon and Mike Heavey, and one containing the King County Council District 8 candidates, Joe McDermott and Diana Toledo. Though the state race was the closest in the primary between its “top two,” those two candidates clashed on virtually nothing, while the county candidates jabbed at each other several times, over items from factual errors to mischaracterizations.

We have the entirety of the forum on video which we will publish as soon as it’s uploaded, both here and on partner site WSB, and we’ll be writing a longer article with overall highlights, too. While Election Day is officially November 2nd, you should have your ballot by now, and that’s the deadline to send it in or drop it off if you haven’t done so already. More to come!

10:38 PM UPDATE: Here’s part 1 of the video:

11 PM: And part 2:

12:50 AM: Part 3:

Again, separate article to come.

One last reminder about the last major candidates’ forum before the November 2nd election – North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is presenting it, at Greenbridge YWCA, with both candidates in each of the two hot open-seat races – King County Council District 8 (Diana Toledo and Joe McDermott) and 34th District State House Position 2 (Mike Heavey and Joe Fitzgibbon) – expected to be part of it. Doors open at 6 pm, forum starts at 6:30 pm. If you have advance questions, NHUAC is inviting them – e-mail address is on their home page.

Just in from King County:

On Wednesday, Oct. 20, the King County Road Services Division will be making repairs to Southwest 108th Street between 4th Avenue Southwest and 2nd Avenue Southwest. The roadway will be closed from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

ORIGINAL 12:34 AM REPORT: If you have to take Highway 509 this early morning, a traffic alert in Burien: A major crash has closed 509 both ways at South 128th (map), and it’s still closed right now (12:33 am) – that’s all we know, but we wanted to share the traffic alert. 1:31 AM UPDATE: KIRO TV reports one person has died because of the crash. 5:53 AM UPDATE: The highway is now open again. The State Patrol confirms one death, a Federal Way man – read ahead for their account of what happened: Read the rest of this entry »

Received from Julie Dow on behalf of the former Evergreen Pool:

Six months ago, The Highline School District reached agreement with a community group to operate a closed pool in White Center, which was renamed The Evergreen Community Aquatics Center (ECAC). Since that time, hundreds of subsidized swim lessons have been attended by area youth, and dozens of adult and seniors have attended exercise classes. Now (that the pool is) home to The Highline Pirates, Evergreen/Tyee Swim and WhiteWater Aquatic Swim Teams, scores of area youth are swimming daily, along with community outreach programs. Indeed, it’s a very busy place at Evergreen Community Aquatics Center every weekday. The flags of sixteen nations hang over the pool, to honor the diversity of clientele and the many parts of the world that pool users are from.

“We are impacting the community of White Center with a positive, inclusive activity. While childhood obesity is at a national high, we are making strides every day with children and families that thought they could never swim”, said Joel Schweiger, General Manager of ECAC and Head Coach of WhiteWater Aquatics. “Like other pools, we have our building and financial challenges, yet we can see daily the results swimming provides for White Center,” he added.

In addition to swim lessons and swim teams, The ECAC has partnered with community groups for outreach, including SHAG (The Senior Housing Assistance Group) and New Futures, a youth oriented integration and service organization.

As it looks to the future, ECAC is working to ensure that the entire community is informed of the offerings available at the center, by offering free trials. Those who sign up before October 31 for the November youth swim lesson session, receive a pass for a free “family” swim for a family of four.

Morning and evening shallow water exercise classes for adults have also been added to the schedule. Instructed by Aquarobics, water fitness and therapy experts, the new classes are offered every weekday. “Water aerobics classes are fun and offer a safe, effective and quality cardio workout.” says Carolyn Scott, Aquarobics Owner. There is also a water therapy class designed for those with severe arthritis, fibromyalgia, and pre & post surgery, “Water therapy is a great first step for those looking to get fitness back into their lives.” For programming and registration information call 425-894-0045. In November, Aquarobics is offering a FREE first class to all new swimmers!

Looking to the future, “We will have our challenges at Evergreen going forward with an old building and pools are expensive to operate, yet, it’s been a great start. We are really glad to be serving White Center,” concluded Schweiger.

Thanks to Gill for the followup on the SW 98th Pedestrian Corridor, shut down two months ago after vandalism led to safety concerns. He says it’s now open again, with 7 lights in operation, and that came a day after he spotted county crews at work fixing lights and railings:

Last week, some pressure was applied at the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting – King County Housing Authority director Stephen Norman was asked to do something about graffiti along the corridor. At last report, that hasn’t happened yet.

The lineup for tonight’s White Center Art Walk, 6-9 pm:

Salvadorean Bakery (1719 SW. Roxbury St.): Fall photography show of the New Start High School students!! Ann Magyar’s crew of talented photographers.

Café Rozella (9434 Delridge Way SW): Christian Thorkildzen. Featuring The Indian Prince / Siddhartha Cautama.

Bakery 3.14 (9602 16th Ave SW): Fritha Strand-Davern. Expressionistic landscape paintings.

Proletariat Pizza (9622-A 16th Ave SW): Casey Brennan. Glass Art. “I’m inspired by poster art and bright colors. Each piece is hand made with love & a little blood. Thanks & have a great day!”

Dzul Tattoo (9622-B 16th Ave SW): Dzul Family. We’re showcasing prints of our most recent work, and new Day of The Death art paintings.

Uncle Mike’s Barbecue (9640A 16th Ave SW): Come see Uncle Mike’s personal collection of original paintings and lithographs. A fine collection of art!

Full Tilt Ice Cream (9629 16th Ave S): AAAAAAARRRRRRRTTTTTT… Still.

Big Al Brewing (9832 14th Ave SW): Devrim Ozkan. Photography, prints and paintings. If you missed this last month, PLEASE check it out.

Dubsea Coffee (9910 8th Ave SW): Alexander Chamas, “True individuals”. Photography. A show of portraits with a sense of community.

We’ve been covering it at partner site West Seattle Blog but it’s big news for White Center and environs too: It was announced this afternoon that the South Park Bridge has full replacement funding – since the federal government has given a $34 million TIGER II grant. (The first TIGER was the round of funding in which King County had sought $99 million and been rejected; this time around, funding pledges were sought from a variety of regional sources, and that means the $35 million is only about 1/4 of the tab, instead of 3/4.) Sen. Patty Murray, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn were among the many dignitaries on hand for the midafternoon announcement by the south end of the old bridge, closed 3 1/2 months ago for safety concerns. The county says that if all goes as expected, construction will start next year and the new bridge is projected to open around May 2013 (we confirmed that date with the county, though the official news release says “late” 2013).

A reminder, in this county news release:

Council Committee to host final evening public hearing on 2011 County Budget in Kent
More than 300 people attend meetings in Seattle, Bellevue, Snohomish

The Metropolitan King County Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee will go to Kent to hear from the public on the 2011 Executive Proposed Budget:

Tuesday, October 19
6:30 p.m.
Maleng Regional Justice Center,
Jury Assembly Room 2E – 401 4th Avenue North, Kent

This is the last of four special evening public hearings hosted by Councilmember Julia Patterson, Chair of the Council’s Budget Committee, on the Executive Proposed 2011 King County Budget. The special evening hearings are an opportunity for the public to discuss their budget priorities. More than 300 people have attended the meetings held at the County Courthouse, Bellevue and Snoqualmie.

County Executive Dow Constantine presented his proposed $5 billion County Budget to the County Council on September 27. Over the last three weeks, the Budget Committee has reviewed the proposal, which includes $60 million in cuts to the $612 million General Fund budget. More than three-quarters of the General Fund is directed toward law, justice and public safety services, and those agencies are facing significant cuts.

Day-after coverage of the hearing will be available both online and on King County TV, seen on Comcast and Broadstripe Cable Channel 22. You can also sign up to follow the deliberations through the Council’s 2011 Budget Blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Tonight at South Seattle Community College in West Seattle, as covered on partner site West Seattle Blog, about 200 people showed up for a Seattle City Council budget hearing – and almost half of them spoke to the council (with, eventually, all nine members on hand). Among them, White Center Food Bank executive director Rick Jump – not speaking against a proposed cut by Mayor McGinn, but instead, in favor of the $35,000 he has proposed giving the WC Food Bank. Jump noted that a third of his agency’s clients come from within Seattle city limits, another third from unincorporated areas, and another third from Burien, and he does get funding from both the latter city and from the county. P.S. He’ll be back at SSCC’s Brockey Center, same site as tonight’s hearing, this Saturday night for the food bank’s annual Harvest Dinner and Auction, 5:30 pm.

It’s just been brought to our attention that while we’ve mentioned this several times on partner site West Seattle Blog, we haven’t mentioned it here! In case you haven’t already heard – the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council is presenting the biggest candidates’ forum between now and Election Day, with both the State House Position 2 and King County Council District 8 races featured. **Doors open at 6 pm** (corrected) October 21st at the Greenbridge YWCA, you will hear from all four candidates in those races – House candidates Mike Heavey of West Seattle and Joe Fitzgibbon of Burien, and KC Council candidates Diana Toledo and State Sen. Joe McDermott, both West Seattleites.

Countywide Community Forums are coming to the area – not White Center, but close. Here’s the invite, with an offer of free food, and a request for your RSVP:

OCTOBER 14: Countywide Community Forums event, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Freedom Church of West Seattle
9601 35th Avenue SW
Tel:206-937-1417
Community-wide forum and dinner hosted by the Freedom Church in West Seattle. Join us for dinner with Dick’s Drive-In burgers and shakes and for a stimulating discussion about the county’s $63 million shortfall and how it impacts you and your community. Please RSVP through the website or by calling (206) 937-1417, so we know how much food to provide.

You can find out more about the CCF organization by going here.

From Proletariat Pizza‘s Facebook page:

Starting tomorrow- White Center Mondays!!! Bring in your receipt from ANY White Center business from the last week, and receive FIVE DOLLARS OFF your Proletariat purchase of twenty five dollars or more! This includes 3.14 Bakery, Full Tilt, Stan’s Adult Superstore, Taboo Video, Restaurant 88, and all of your other favorite White Center businesses!

From the South Park Library, via the SP Yahoo! group:

South Park artist Amaranata Sandys shows us how to make sugar skulls, a traditional Day of the Dead craft, using sequins, color paint and paper flowers. A Day of the Dead altar will also be on display. For ages 5 and up.

Saturday, October 23, 12-2 p.m.
@ South Park Library

Amaranta Sandys de South Park enseñará como hacer las calaveras de azúcar, una tradición del Día de los Muertos; ultiizando lentejuelas, pintura de colores y flores de papel. Un altar de los Días de los Muertos estará en exhibición. Para niños de 5 años y más.

Sábado, 23 de octubre de 12-2 de la tarde
@ la biblioteca de South Park

8604 8th Ave. S. & S. Cloverdale St.
206-615-1688

As previewed last weekend – noon-2 pm today, quite the party at Full Tilt, with live music, a new ice-cream favor, and general revelry. P.S. If you haven’t voted yet for Full Tilt and some other White Center faves like Proletariat Pizza in the Best of Western Washington online polls, just a couple days left – it starts here.

Caught that photo on our way to another story in White Center this morning – apparently job applications are being taken at the site of the new Dollar Tree.