White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Just announced by King County DOT, it’s time for weed work in areas including the unincorporated county areas. If you do NOT want them spraying herbicide near your property, read on to see what to do: Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Heidi for forwarding word that the former Brewsky’s is now under new management as Papa’s Pub. The announcement says, “The pub is going through renovations in stages. Our number one priority is commitment to providing a safe and fun environment for patriots in our community. TK’s kitchen is now open too and provides appetizers and meals inside Papa’s Pub. We look forward to hosting live music venues with local artist in the near future as we are currently working on our stage area, please contact us if you would like to perform at Papa’s Pub. We will start booking in the first week of May 2010.”

Update: Kenny Pittman will be at the meeting after all.

From North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president Greg Duff, the official agenda for Thursday night’s meeting. He says Kenny Pittman, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn‘s point person on the potential northern North Highline annexation vote, asked to postpone his appearance till next month:

7:00 p.m. Call to order
Flag salute
Roll call
Approval of agenda
Approval of minutes

7:05 p.m. Public announcements
7:10 p.m. Public comment – 3 minutes for individuals
5 minutes for groups

7:15 p.m. Update from Deputy Jeff Hancock, KCSO
Report from KCSO Gang Unit

7:45 p.m. Update from Mike Martin, Burien City Manager
7:55 p.m. Jan Drago, King County Council
8:25 p.m. Treasurers Report
8:30 p.m. Committee Reports

1. Governance

2. Arts and Parks

3. Public Safety

4. Housing and Human Services

5. Public Outreach

6. Transportation

7. Steve Cox Memorial

8:40 p.m. Old business
8:50 p.m. New Business

Published online late tonight: Seattle Times (WCN news partner) columnist Jerry Large‘s account of his meeting with Burien leaders, to talk about their interest in annexing northern North Highline, instead of leaving it for Seattle. The column ends by saying the Burien council will talk about it “next Monday”; we’re guessing that means Monday, 3/8, as this issue is not on the next agenda.

King County Council staff confirms that our area’s newly appointed County Councilmember Jan Drago, previously on the Seattle City Council, is going to be at this Thursday’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting. Though the agenda’s not online as of this writing, NHUAC leadership also had said that Kenny Pittman, point person for the Seattle annexation-election proposal on Mayor Mike McGinn‘s staff, would be there as well. NHUAC meets at 7 pm Thursday, North Highline Fire District HQ.

Story and photo by Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for White Center Now

Providing clothing, toiletries and showers to those in need are just a few of the goals of “The Clothing Closet,” introduced at Thursday night’s White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting.

Beginning this coming Tuesday, Pastor Timothy Rambo of New Generation Ministries is opening the doors of a new endeavor in hopes of positively impacting the local community. (Photo: Back from left, WCCSC chair Sean Healy, Angela Rambo, youth ambassador Pedro Navaro, Timothy Rambo; front, Timothy Rambo Jr. and Titus Rambo.)

Regular hours of operation will be Tuesdays and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m.

“We already have a lot of clothing for men, women, children and infants,” said Angela Rambo, Pastor Rambo’s wife and chief administrator of the project.

She said they want to target people who are going to job interviews or court appearances, but lack the proper clothing to put forward an appropriate image for the situation.

As the operation grows, she also said they hope to be able to offer resume writing assistance and mock job interviews, as well as other programs which might help develop the life skills of those who utilize The Clothing Closet.

While a website is still in the works, the operation can be reached via their e-mail address: newgenerationministries98106@yahoo.com

The Clothing Closet is located at 9029 16th Avenue SW (map) in the blue house across from the Salvation Army.

By Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for White Center Now

Change and transition were the dominant themes of last night’s meeting of the White Center/South Delridge Community Safey Coalition as the group discussed ideas for how they can continue to foster improvements in the safety of the area though activities targeting community building.

The main thing accomplished in that direction was agreeing to feature a local business on a monthly basis, with the thought being that local business owners and residents will each benefit greatly from improving the overall safety of the community by curbing crime and providing the sort of environment families feel safe visiting.

“We’re transitioning from doing a lot of weeding,” said coalition chair Sean Healy. “Things feel safer. Now we are trying to build on that.”

Coalition members were encouraged to keep track of their positive experiences with local businesses and share them with Healy via e-mail. The group’s goal is to then select a business to be featured and invited to speak to the group in beginning to build a bridge between community leaders and business owners.

The group also discussed hopes to build a website, which would then have a ‘spotlight’ area to help promote the selected establishment, while also hopefully
helping to change the image of White Center to that of a place to shop and dine. Speaking of which:

New Restaurant and Bar coming to White Center:

One of last night’s attendees, Jesse Lovell, hopes to help contribute to the continued growth of the dining scene in the White Center area, having secured a lease at 9608 16th Avenue, where he is working hard to open a new restaurant and bar called “Company.” Although renovation of the space is in extremely preliminary stages, Lovell did say he hopes to focus on locally sourced meat and produce and to provide a safe place that will “bring a different demographic to the area to show what White Center can have to offer.”

From Wes Olsen at Shorewood Foursquare Church:

The youth group at the church is participating in World Vision’s 30-Hour Famine, which is when our youth fast for 30 hours to connect with those who are starving across the world. We also raise money for people who are starving or in poverty during this time too, including where our money is going to this (time), Haiti Earthquake Relief.

Part of what we want to do is to ask people to come to our location this Saturday from 9 am to 12 pm, and donate new or gently used clothing for teens to go to New Horizons Ministry in Belltown, and food donations to the White Center Food Bank.

Our location is 2656 Southwest 104th Street. It is the building just south of Shorewood Foursquare Church, on 28th Ave SW. The drop off location is on the 28th Ave SW side of the building.

By Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for White Center Now

Deputy Gerald Meyer of the King County Sheriff’s Office opened tonight’s White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting with an update on recent crime trends, reporting “a pretty good month without a lot of crime.”

“There were no homicides, shootings, stabbings, armed robberies, bank robberies, home invasion robberies, kidnappings, rapes, or carjackings in King County’s Weed and Seed zone of White Center,” according to the printed report distributed to attendees at tonight’s meeting.

From the city side, Officer Kevin McDaniel of the Southwest Precinct Community Police Team echoed Meyer’s sentiments, reporting that “burglaries are down significantly,” citing a high-profile arrest that took place on the West Seattle Bridge, believed to have taken a prolific burglary suspect out of circulation.

Beyond that, McDaniel reported five robberies last month, three of which took place on the street, prompting him to encourage residents to remain cautious when walking in the area and taking steps to avoid any people who may appear suspicious. He also said there was a recent increase in auto thefts, which seem to be primarily targeting Hondas to be taken out for joyrides.

According to Meyer, there has also been a recent focus on suppression of gang activity in the downtown White Center area, particularly on Saturday nights, which have traditionally seen the most problems.

One successful result of the Saturday night efforts came when Meyer and another officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle occupied by several known gang members, who were ultimately taken into custody upon the discovery of a pair of handguns.

“We will never know for sure what this arrest stopped from happening. This stop and arrest may have saved lives and for sure made our community a safer place.”

Meyer’s message for the group was simple: “Whenever you see something suspicious, call.”

Coalition members raised concerns about recent increases in graffiti around the area. Once member had even taken a photo of a particular ‘tag’ he’d been seeing around and showed it to the officers in attendance.

Detective Aaron Thompson, who works on the gang unit of the King County Sherriff’s Office, explained that gang-related graffiti can be differentiated from that of “taggers” in that the work of a tagger, who is likely trying to build their own notoriety by putting their “tags” in highly visible places, tends to use a lot of curves and “artistic” elements in how they write, whereas a gang “tag” tends to be a little more basic and is meant to be an indicator of claimed territory.

Meyer emphasized that citizens who find new graffiti should call the Sheriff’s Office to report it so it can be documented before any action is taken to remove or obscure it.

(Photo courtesy Dina Johnson)
From left, Seattle annexation supporters Peggy Weiss, Mark Ufkes, Don Malo at last night’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting in West Seattle. Toplines of their appearance are part of the summary we’ve just published at WSB.

The West Seattle neighborhood closest to White Center, Highland Park, has its community association meeting tomorrow night – Highland Park Action Committee, 7 pm at HP Improvement Club HQ. HPAC chair Dan Mullins sent around an agenda update and we noticed the annexation proposal is among the discussion items. Mullins says the scheduled guest is Mark Ufkes of the White Center Homeowners Association. On other topics, Seattle Parks and police reps are expected too.

A reminder – the White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meets in two nights, since it’s the fourth Thursday! 6-8 pm, DSHS building at 9650 15th SW (map). You can expect to hear from King County Sheriff’s Office and Seattle Police reps as well as the group’s volunteer leadership – be ready to hear about and talk about what’s up in your neighborhood.

From Audrey at the White Center Food Bank – an announcement!

Now through March 13, 2010, the White Center Kiwanis will be collecting dog and cat food for the White Center Food Bank.

Pet food can be dropped off at A Place for Pets (431 SW 152nd, Burien), Hotwire Online Coffeehouse in West Seattle (4410 California Ave SW), or the Law Offices of Gerald Robison (648 S. 152nd, Suite 7, Burien) by March 13. On March 13, 2010, pet food can be dropped off at the White Center Food Bank (10829 8th Ave SW, White Center) from 10 am to 4 pm. Volunteers from local Key Clubs and Kiwanis Clubs in the region will be volunteering at the White Center Food Bank to receive donations. On-line donations can also be made online at www.whitecenterfoodbank.org.

The pet food collected during the drive will help low income families to feed their pets. Providing pet food to the food bank allows community member not to have to choose between feeding their pets and paying other bills. The White Center Food Bank feeds 1,700 families each month. During these times of high unemployment, people are coming to the food bank that never needed to come before.

The Kiwanis Pet Food Drive is part of the Governors Project K-9. The project challenges Kiwanis members/clubs or districts to complete a Service Project to volunteer with, learn about or donate to an organization that helps dogs or uses dogs to help people.

For more information about the Kiwanis Pet Food Drive, contact the White Center Food Bank’s Food Drive Coordinator Audrey Zemke at (206) 762-2848 or audrey@whitecenterfoodbank.org

The best “art walks” are full of performance art as well as displayed, completed visual art, and last night, that was the case in White Center. A clear night, not too cold, so the White Center Art Walk excitement spilled onto the sidewalk – Dina Johnson shared her photos, including the Fusion Dance Crew outside the new Dream Community Gallery at 9640 16th SW. On the other side of 16th, Full Tilt Ice Cream filled with music fans:

Art Walk-ers also were serenaded inside Cafe Rozella – that’s proprietor Leticia, applauded by Blair Johnson:

You can see Dina’s full WC Art Walk photo set on Flickr by going here. Watch whitecenterforthearts.org for details on the next Third Saturday Art Walk as soon as they’re available; this edition of the WC Art Walk marks WCFTA’s first “birthday.”

Chances are that you’re in the 34th Legislative District. Your legislators, State Sen. Joe McDermott, Reps. Eileen Cody and Sharon Nelson, are having a town hall meeting in nearby West Seattle this morning – 11 am at High Point Community Center (here’s a map).

Just a quick reminder; lots of info at the White Center for the Arts website.

(SATURDAY MORNING NOTE: The full video of this meeting is now online at Seattle Channel – annexation was the last item.)

Two updates on what City of Seattle leaders are saying today regarding potential annexation of the north section of North Highline:

MAYOR MIKE McGINN: I was invited to one of his periodic group “media brown-bag” question/answer sessions. One of the questions I asked was, after he had laid out various priorities for the city, where did annexation fit in? He gave several reasons for why he was proceeding with the process of seeking a vote – including wanting to help the county, which needs to stop serving unincorporated urban areas. He did say, though, that the city needed to study whether it really makes sense, including finance-wise, and might have to slow down the process at some point.

COUNCIL COMMITTEE: That dovetails with the conclusion of the Seattle City Council Regional Development and Sustainability briefing on the annexation proposal. The committee’s chair, Council President Richard Conlin, said they need to find out before proceeding further whether “this is something that is good for the people of Seattle and good for the people who live in that area.” Councilmember TIm Burgess said what he hadn’t seen yet was a plan regarding why annexation should be considered and how it would work. Bottom line, councilmembers say they’ve got questions and they have asked city staff for answers. One staffer also said that the timeline to proceed with a vote this year might be a little tighter than she’d said previously – she said the council might actually need to vote by mid-July on whether to seek a North Highline vote this November. Side note – during the committee meeting, Conlin said that now-County Councilmember Jan Drago had told him she supports proceeding with Seattle annexation. According to Full Tilt Ice Cream via Twitter, Drago was touring White Center today.

Reminder since Friday is only two days away – Friday is the next public discussion in Seattle city government of the proposal to annex the north section of North Highline. It’s a briefing before the Seattle City Council‘s Regional Development and Sustainability Committee, 2 pm at Seattle City Hall. Here’s the official agenda.

A recent note from Margie at Rebuilding Together Seattle: “Recently, we were approached by a sponsor group to do a special rebuilding day with volunteers. White Center is on our list of geographic areas that we’d like to consider. (Are there) any community centers, schools, facilities, etc. that are in need of our help? Interested individuals can contact our office at 206.682.1231.”