White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Update to the Puget Sound Park situation (reported here late Friday) – Talked Saturday with Joe Woods from King County Executive-elect Dow Constantine‘s team. He says Constantine is asking that outgoing King County Executive Kurt Triplett not proceed with any deals before the change in command on Tuesday afternoon; Woods is short on specifics of what the “deal” involving Puget Sound Park might be, but he says it appears to be “something the current executive was pursuing to plug the budget hole and help fund the rest of the unincorporated parks that were at risk, according to his plan that came out this summer” – and whatever this is, it progressed further than other possibilities had. Woods says they’re hopeful the soon-to-be-ex-county-executive will appreciate the about-to-be-county-executive’s request not to strike a deal. We’ll be checking in with various parties Monday to see where all this stands.

Audrey Zemke had told us there’d be somebody at White Center Food Bank today to accept food donations in this critical pre-Thanksgiving time – and in fact, we found Audrey and Mike there this morning. Turkeys are particularly welcome – and you can buy ’em cheap at Safeway (1 limit) or QFC (2 limit) with $25 purchases and Club or Advantage Cards. Or, donate $ online – whitecenterfoodbank.org.

Two violins were stolen from a patron at Cafe Rozella.  They are not super-valuable but have great sentimental value for the owner.  If you see someone “odd” carrying or trying to peddle them please call Mike at (206) 767-4222.  It has been reported to the Seattle Police which may also be contacted at Incident Number #09-406085 Patrol M. Waters 206-733-9800, so Pawn Shops should not accept them.   Help if you can.  Owner is distraught.  More details to come.

We previewed it recently here – tonight, it’s happening. 6-9 pm. Have a blast!

Seven months ago, Puget Sound Park in White Center was reported to be in danger of being sold by King County for a housing project. A citizen outcry resulted in county promises that it would not be put up for sale. Now suddenly, its future appears to be in play again; we got a call this afternoon from Greg Duff of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, who’d worked hard to save the park last spring, saying he’d learned it might suddenly be on the brink of sale after all. We’ve been working since then to see what we could find out. Here’s what we know so far:

King County Parks won’t elaborate on exactly what is in the works. Jessie Israel, who’s returned to her parks division management job fulltime after a run for Seattle City Council, says they might have news next week – but for now, all she can say is: “We’re not selling a park – we’re looking for partners who will work with us to keep parks open to the public.” She said “several parks in North Highline and White Center” are being looked at in this regard; we asked repeatedly why the county would be looking at anything right now involving a park like Puget Sound Park that’s about to be turned over to the City of Burien, and Israel would only say “there are a good number of conversations that have started with the intent of keeping all White Center parks open. We are looking forward to working with Burien … our goal is really to figure out how to keep parks open to the public as public assets.”

“Working with Burien” did not seem to have been going on before we spoke with city manager Mike Martin earlier in the afternoon (after putting in the first call to King County Parks). He told us, “We don’t have a lot of information – what I know is that we have been told that the county intends to sell that property to a buyer, we don’t know who, we don’t know how firm that is.” He stressed that he too was still working to find out more, but what he’s heard so far indicated, “(The county) basically asked for anyone willing to buy the property to step forward … apparently they have a buyer. It would be nice to know (more). I am told they want to use some of the money, some would go to Burien, some of the money … to spread among some of the remaining (county) parks, for what purpose, I don’t know.”

Then he took on an even more grim tone: “I can tell you for certain that selling a five-acre park two and a half months before we’re supposed to annex, flies in the face of anything that might be interpreted as good public policy, or good for the North Highline residents … so what we’re doing is sending a letter to the County Council, and to (County Executive-elect) Dow (Constantine), asking what their intentions are.”

Martin went on to say that if he doesn’t get an assurance that the park is not about to be sold, Burien might push back the date when it actually officially annexes the “North Highline South” area. “At Monday’s Burien City Council meeting, we were to have set the date for annual annexation, March 2nd. Until we get clarity (regarding the park), I will recommend that we delay. It’s not something I recommend lightly, but I can’t make a proposal when I don’t know what the game is. I hope the county understands that if we have to delay annexation, it will cost them money” — in urban services they will have to provide longer than they planned.

Martin went on to reiterate that this turn of events is “a big deal.”

We also sent messages to Constantine and key staffers, but did not hear back from anyone; he had made the announcement last time that Puget Sound Park was off the table. He’s to be sworn in to his new job on Tuesday.

We’ll keep working to find out what’s happening and will report when there’s an update.

ADDED 2:50 PM: A reward’s now being offered to solve this crime. Here’s a flyer with information about that and about the victim:

FROM 9:27 AM: Another followup to Tuesday night’s crash – this just in from the King County Sheriff’s Office:

The help of the public is needed to find the vehicle that struck and critically injured a pedestrian in a crosswalk two days ago.

The incident occurred about 5:20 PM on Tuesday, November 17th.

A 36 year-old White Center man was crossing 16th Ave SW in the crosswalk at SW 106th. The suspect vehicle was southbound on 16th Ave SW and struck the man. The vehicle slowed but did not stop and was last seen driving off southbound on 16th.

The victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.

A driver’s side exterior mirror was found at the scene. There will also be damage to the left front fender.

The vehicle is probably maroon in color, a Chevrolet or GMC product. It is one of the following models:

GM or Chevrolet full size pick-up 1988-1989
Blazer or Jimmy 1992-1994
Suburban 1992-1999
GMC Yukon 1992-1999
Chevrolet Tahoe 1995-1999

If anyone recognizes the suspect vehicle they are asked to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hours) or 911.

We checked with King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart this morning for more official information on last night’s crash – here’s what he tells us:

This was a Hit & Run at about 5:33 PM. A 36 year-old Seattle man was crossing 16 Ave SW in a marked crosswalk. Suspect vehicle was driving southbound on 16 Ave SW. The vehicle struck the victim while he was in the crosswalk. The vehicle slowed down and then drove off southbound on 16 Ave SW. The suspect vehicle is described both as an SUV, and a truck. Victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center with serious injuries.

Sgt. Urquhart says that’s the only description they have. If you have any information, call 911.

Thanks to tipster Mona for sending word that somebody had been hit while crossing 16th SW near the Albertson’s store; traffic is a mess there while King County Sheriff’s Deputies investigate what they tell us is an apparent hit-and-run crash. One man was hurt and is being taken to the hospital. No description so far of the suspected hit-and-run vehicle – investigators are trying to sort out what happened – but traffic is likely to be troublesome in that area for a while.

Since we’re into the holiday season, the schedule changes a bit for the White Center/South Delridge safety and crimefighting meeting – they’ve just announced it’ll be December 10, 6 pm, location = St. James Place as usual.

Some White Center homes/businesses were out of power earlier today – Seattle City Light says all but a few hundred have it back now:

Seattle City Light lineworkers restored power about 2 p.m. to most of the 4,000 homes and businesses affected by an outage in Burien and unincorporated King County today.

The outage started about 12:40 p.m. as the result of an equipment failure that started a utility pole fire on SW 104th Street. The repair crew expected to restore service for the remaining 360 customers without power by 5 p.m.

The general boundaries of the remaining outage were SW 100th Street on the north, SW 108th Street on the south, Occidental Way SW on the east, and 10th Avenue SW on the west.

Next Saturday night, it’s the Third Saturday Art Walk for White Center for the Arts – the official poster’s just out with the lineup.

We stopped by on Saturday morning and this java joint was jumpin’. Beautiful space, as you can see from our photo showing just part of its interior. Today’s the second day of Grand Opening weekend – Dubsea Coffee is on 8th SW in Greenbridge, about a block south of Roxbury. ADDED SUNDAY NIGHT: Someone sent this cell-phone photo of amazing latte art from Dubsea today – wow!

From the WC Food Bank website, Grace Church has a food drive today at Roxbury Safeway – give generously!

From Aviva at Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle:

As gardening season slows down, Community Harvest is thinking about plans for next year. This group, who sponsored the Edible Garden Fair and Tour, is considering partnering with Seattle Tilth to bring some of Tilth’s popular classes to our neighborhood in 2010. The location would be St. James Place. The Community and Food Bank Garden which is forming at this location would provide the space for hands-on learning. In addition to Tilth classes, there is a possibility for classes in food preservation, cooking, and fruit tree care.

If you live in or close to White Center, help them decide which classes to offer! Please take a moment to complete this brief survey – click here.

From Marlene:

… last night my son and I went to Thai Thai’s in White Center on Ambaum. The owner told me that she has to close the restaurant in a few days because her husband is having cancer surgery in Bangkok. She stated that the restaurant will be closed for two months, but will re-open. She was quite upset about her husband.

Thai Thai’s has fabulous food, and has been in business for twenty years. I’m just happy that they aren’t closing for good.

Got a reader report or a tip? whitecenternow@gmail.com any time.

Right over the line in southern West Seattle, your neighbors at Highland Park Elementary invite you to their holiday bazaar coming up in a few weeks:

Highland Park is having its 2nd annual Holiday Bazaar – it is going to be on December 5, 2009 from 10am to 3pm.

Come and enjoy shopping from over 30 vendors selling an array of items (Jewelry, crafts, baby items, candles, soap, ornaments, children’s books and t-shirts and more) In addition there will also be a bake sale and a table with wonderful items to be raffled off donated by our vendors and local businesses (Menashe Jewelers, Magic Lanes, Cupcake Royale, M3 bodyworks, family fun center, Red Robin, Cafe Revo, Mcclendon’s and more. and you don’t need to be present to win – if you win we will notify you). So you can come, shop till you drop, sit down and have lunch, and then start shopping all over again.

This is also a food drive for the West Seattle/White Center food banks each person that brings in one non-perishable food item will receive one free raffle ticket! (one per person only).

Thanks for making this a great event! See you on December 5th!!
We are located at:

Highland Park Elementary
1012 SW Trenton
Seattle, WA 98106

A couple of notes for Veterans Day and its local effects – school’s closed; Metro Transit runs a “reduced weekday schedule.”

Services will be held at the Salvation ARmy Senior Center 9020 16th Ave sw.  November 12, 2009 from 4pm to 6:30pm

You’ve probably noticed the signs in the window in recent months – now it’s time to open the doors. It’s grand opening weekend this Saturday and Sunday for Dubsea Coffee in Greenbridge. We had the pleasure of meeting its proprietor Sibelle earlier this year; she plans for her coffee shop to be not just a place to get espresso, but also a place to enjoy local art — with a local artist serving as Dubsea’s curator — and a place for youth to gather in a safe space. Dubsea is just a few doors down from the Greenbridge Y/Library complex, at 9910 8th SW. According to the Dubsea website and invitations that have been sent out, the shop will be open 7 am to 7 pm as it swings open its doors on Saturday. ADDED THURSDAY NIGHT: Commenters wondered, and Dubsea responded – Stumptown is the coffee they’ll be using. See you there!

This from the White Center Community Development Association site – with incentives for attendees. Read all about it here.