White Center Now: The blog about White Center

From partner site West Seattle Blog: King County says the final consultant review of the South Park Bridge’s condition is in, and it reaffirms the county decision to close the deteriorating bridge on June 30th. Full story here.

Just four days till the 6th annual – and biggest ever – West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – and White Center Alliance is part of it – look for sale #193, at 18th SW and SW Cambridge. If you’re interested in wandering even further north to shop, here’s the direct Google Map link). We also have a more packet-like printable map. It’s a 12-page Word doc (6 pages if you print both sides). If you’d rather print from a PDF, use this link. The sales are all open for business 9 am-3 pm this Saturday ONLY.

Seattle CIty Light says it’ll have energy-conservation experts at McLendon’s Hardware in White Center this Saturday, 10 am-1 pm, to help you learn about saving money as well as energy. Here are the full details.

Seattle Channel‘s “Inside/Out” show focuses this time on the South Park Bridge, its impending closure, and the community members who hope it won’t be as devastating as their fear. You can watch the entire program in the video window above (or you can watch it this week on the Seattle Channel, if you have it on your cable system).

With not just the snip of ceremonial scissors but also shouts of THANK YOU! – the former Evergreen Pool, closed 7 months ago, formally reopened at midday today as Evergreen Community Aquatic Center. King County Executive Dow Constantine was there to help, and he called the public/private endeavor to get it reopened “a shining example … of new partnerships” – here’s his speech:

Also speaking, with proud words at the end of a long, determined effort to make this happen, were WhiteWater Aquatics vice president Bryan Hastings and ECAC general manager “Coach” Joel Schweiger:

A free public swim followed the dedication. The pool’s schedule, as linked here a few weeks ago, can be found here.

Two big events in White Center today:

*Evergreen Community Aquatic Center‘s official ribboncutting, with King County Executive Dow Constantine scheduled to be on hand, 10:30 am, followed by a free community swim till 1 pm. The pool – reopened thanks to the work of WhiteWater Aquatics and community support, after county budget cuts closed it last fall – is at 606 SW 116th (map)… West Seattle Montessori School and West Seattle Academy are raising money with a plant sale today, and you’ll find more than plants: Student performers, Master Gardener Q/A opportunities, even an espresso bar. 11215 15th SW (map), 9 am-2 pm, full details on the school website.

Today is the final day of the annual Feinstein Challenge – and that means any help you provide to the White Center Food Bank, today, counts for extra, as part of the match that’s involved. So think about contributing some cash, or dropping off some food, or checking in to see if there’s anything else they need. Donation links and lots of info can be found at whitecenterfoodbank.org. (And while you’re at the WC Food Bank site, don’t miss the “blog” section – lots of interesting tidbits about programs and ongoing efforts “behind the scenes.”)

About an hour ago, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Sheriff Sue Rahr, Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg and others unveiled a new proposal to reduce the amount of budget cuts faced by the criminal-justice and human-services systems: They will ask voters if they would OK a sales-tax increase of 0.2 percent. Among other things, the explanation of where the money would go says that storefront deputies would be preserved – right now, their jobs are on the chopping block because of impending budget disaster. Read more here.

If you haven’t already seen it on partner site West Seattle Blog, here’s the link to our full-length article – with one video clip from a particularly impassioned community member – about last night’s meeting on the “draft closure plan” for the South Park Bridge. The plan itself also is available online, and is linked in the story.

It won’t be final until and unless Teamsters Local 174 members approve it, but they’re voting Sunday on a proposed contract deal with Waste Management. That’s according to our regional-news partners at the Seattle Times. No details of the deal have been made public yet.

Seattle Police confirm that a victim in last week’s crash on the hill toward 509 (at 3rd/Olson; map) has died, and they are looking for witnesses. Here’s the update.

Got this from Kent Horton, who’s hoping you can help::

Two host families are needed for foreigh exchange students who will attend Evergreen High School (HS3 and TEC) for the coming school year. (2010/2011) A potential host family can choose from the following students: a girl from Germany who likes dancing, gymnastics, and snowboarding, or a boy from Kuwait who loves playing soccer and plays on competative teams, or a girl from Brazil who enjoys bowling and participating in family activities like watching movies and playing board games; or a boy from Belgium who enjoys hiking, backpacking, and playing tennis.

New students are constantly added to my list of exchange students available for placement. If you have a particular country or student interest in mind – please give me a call.

Students come here with good English skills, their own insurance and spending money, and mainly a desire to be a member of an American family. Host families do not need to have teenagers of their own; young families as well as empty nesters are excellent ISE host famiolies this year.

For more information about the students and the program, contact Kent Horton at 206-242-4432 or sciman3@comcast.net

This is the next major public meeting about the impending South Park Bridge closure: 6-8 pm Tuesday night at the Machinist Union Hall in South Park. But this isn’t about the hopes of a new bridge – it’s about the plans proposed to help residents, businesspeople and other bridge users get by once the bridge closes on June 30th. This is the “draft” plan, with tweaks to be made after public comments are heard, so it’s important to be there if this is an important issue: Here’s the official announcement; here’s a map.

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council has four positions to fill, and the filing period is open for just three days – this Monday through Wednesday. The districts are described on the NHUAC website’s home page, which is also where you’ll find a link to the filing form. Election Day for NHUAC is May 20th.

At the Joint Training Facility just east of White Center on Myers Way South, Seattle Fire Department personnel and Fire Explorers/Cadets rallied this morning to get into a high-spirited mood right before the “Fire Muster” competition. The 14- to 21-year-old future firefighters are facing off by showing off a variety of skills, and it’s continuing till 4 pm, so you’ve still got time to go watch – the public is invited.

Couple notes about White Center-headquartered Full Tilt Ice Cream. Their live music series has added a monthly folk/bluegrass night (as noted here on the FT Facebook page) – last night was the first installment; we happened onto the performance by Squirrel Butter when we stopped in for ice cream after dinner at Pho My Loi further south on 16th SW. Watch the aforementioned FB page for news of future installments. Meantime, Full Tilt also has signed on for a big, tasty benefit coming up next door in West Seattle – the WS Helpline’s Taste of West Seattle, co-sponsored by our partner site West Seattle Blog, now has 33 food/beverage participants signed on, including FT. It’s happening May 20th at The Hall at Fauntleroy in south West Seattle – not too far from WC – and you can buy tickets online here.

If you get trash pickup from Waste Management, you can stop worrying about what’ll happen if the Teamsters’ strike drags on – it’s over as of late this afternoon, after just a day and a half. The drivers offered to return to work, and the company accepted the offer. They’re due to resume contract talks on Monday. Here’s the latest from our regional-news partners at the Seattle Times. If you’re among those whose pickups were missed, put out up to double the usual amount next week, and you will not be charged extra, according to Seattle Public Utilities.

We’ve covered its trials and tribulations in recent weeks and now there’s one final note from the proprietors of the Hang Around, at the spot of the former Wall, left as a comment on an earlier story:

The Hang Around is not Around no more!

As of this Sunday, the doors of The Hang Around Bar & Grill will be closed forever! The owners want to express their thanks to everyone for their help in this situation with the landlord and now we are in the process of moving things out. Unfortunately we can’t find another rental property around the area, If anyone knows of one where we can reopen, please let us know through our e-mail or phone at Joeglennis@gmail.com and/or 206-571-7006 /206-571-7003
Thank you all and God Bless!

What’s happening – or not happening – in local crime trends? How can you help make your neighborhood safer? those are just a few of the things you can expect to hear about at 6 pm tonight, White Center DSHS office, for the next meeting of the White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition. All welcome.