White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Sorry for the “outage” here – not related to the City Light power outage – our server-management company detected a problem that required emergency maintenance, taking White Center Now (and many other sites) down for a while. Looks like it’s done now. We posted some news on partner site West Seattle Blog in the meantime – we use separate server managers for the two sites to dramatically reduce the chances both will be down at the same time, so if ever you notice this site down, please check there or check our Twitter page at http://twitter.com/whitecenternow.

Here are the updates, linking to the full stories on WSB:

-Power outage: All but a few hundred homes/businesses are back on. More here.

-Evergreen Pool: It WILL close September 1st, according to King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, who hopes that will be temporary while the agreement for WhiteWater Aquatics to take over the pool is negotiated. More here.

-Hicks Lake: Warning signs are posted because of an algae bloom. More here. Also, here’s the entirety of the note we received from King County’s Doug Williams:

We just got results back from the state Department of Ecology that confirms a blue-green algae bloom at Hicks has surpassed the safety threshold. While there aren’t likely too many people swimming there right now, it’s possible that people could let their dogs swim and/or drink from the lake. Not a good idea!

We’ve posted signs that ask people to stay out of the water, and don’t let their pets swim in or drink from the lake.

Toxic algae can have some nasty effects on people and pets. In minor cases, it can cause a rash, eye and throat irritation, etc. It’s a neurotoxin that, in serious cases, can cripple your liver, mess with your nervous system, etc. Those are pretty rare situations; you’d have to ingest a lot of the stuff to get that sick. But it’s still important for everyone to heed the warnings and keep out of the water – pets, too.

When will the algae bloom go away? That’s a good question. We’ve seen blooms last for weeks; sometimes they don’t go away until the weather cools down and the sunlight becomes elusive.

We will collect water samples weekly for analysis by DOE. Once we have two weeks where the samples come back below the established acceptable threshold for human contact, we’ll take down the signs.

Thanks to Laura for the tip. Seattle City Light’s hotline lists two outages, one in the general White Center area and one in Burien – the boundaries listed on hotlines are always a bit broad so we hesitate to include them here, but the Burien outage is blamed on a fire, the cause of the one in White Center listed as unknown. 4,000 homes/businesses affected in the White Center-vicinity outage, 3,000 in Burien. More to come.

4:27 PM UPDATE: Here’s the full news release from City Light’s media-relations team:

A fire associated with a power outage in Burien and unincorporated King County has increased the number of customers affected by the outage to about 7,100 homes and businesses.

The fire is burning in a wooded utility right of way south of S 96th Street and west of Des Moines Memorial Drive. Power lines were reported on the ground in the area and at least one utility pole was burning.

Seattle City Light deenergized the power lines to allow firefighters to put out the blaze. City Light crews were dispatched to restore service once the fire was extinguished.

The cause of the outage was not immediately known. City Light expects to restore service to most of the affected customers by 5:30 p.m. by routing power around the damaged area. An estimate for full restoration of service will not be available until crews are able to inspect the damaged equipment.

The general boundaries of the outage are SW Barton Street on the North, SW 167th Street on the South, Glendale Way S on the East and Puget Sound on the West.

Just follow the audio links from this page. We’ll add some more notes later; before the discussion ended, talk turned to the fate of still-unannexed White Center — Burien City Manager Mike Martin said he and the City Council are still discussing next steps, and he also noted that the Seattle mayoral race would have quite an impact, given that ousted Mayor Greg Nickels was an annexation supporter. We’ll be checking with both candidates, Joe Mallahan and Mike McGinn, to see where they stand.

If you’re near a radio – or near a computer with speakers! – in the 9 am hour tomorrow, check out KUOW, which will take a closer look at the North Highline South Annexation. I’m scheduled to be among the guests on behalf of WCN; according to KUOW’s website, Burien City Manager Mike Martin and former NHUAC president Gerald Robinson will be on the panel too. Any points you think should be made? Anybody else you know will be on the show? Please post a comment (or e-mail us at whitecenternow@gmail.com) – thanks!

7 am-7 pm Saturday, the South Park Bridge is closing for repairs, so if you use that route to get between northern White Center and South Park/other areas, you’ll need to plan an alternative. Here are full details on the county’s website.

Café Rozella

“Alma Villegas”

“We always enjoy playing at

this lovely cozy Café Rozella

in the heart of White Center. “

August 28th

7pm-10pm

Cafe Rozella
9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, WA  98106
(206) 763-5805

Realized that we published this info on partner site West Seattle Blog, where food fans had been discussing it in the forums, but hadn’t cross-published it here: Proletariat Pizza has set the date – September 11th. More info here.

By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for White Center Now

The votes are in; the southern portion of North Highline says it wants to annex to Burien (56 percent yes, as of the latest count).

Now the work begins.

Myriad details have to be sorted out in the next few months before the Burien City Council officially adopts an ordinance annexing the new area to the city.

It might be early spring before the council is ready to officially approve the annexation.

In the meantime, nothing changes as far as public safety, sewer or water service.

During a special meeting of the city council Monday night, there were already hints of just how complicated working out all the details will be.

For example, as vacancies arise on boards and commissions, should citizens of the soon-to be annexed area be eligible for appointment? Or do they have to wait until annexation is official to apply for a seat?

City Manager Mike Martin said he is already working on the steps leading up to the annexation, including modifying contracts with police and fire.

“We need a little bit of time, then we will name the date that we plan to bring the new area into the city,” said Martin.

But Martin already had some good news for residents of the unincorporated area, it looks like the county parks, threatened with closure because of King County budget cuts, will remain open and maintained while the annexation is made official.

Annexation will be a topic on the city council agenda throughout the next few months, giving incoming citizens a chance to comments as the process moves along. Council members encouraged citizens to be active.

We still need to get a handle on costs and revenue, put it all into the hopper and see what comes out the other end,” said Councilmember Gordon Shaw.

“Burien already has a vision; we have to see how to accommodate the new ideas into this vision and bring them all together,” said Shaw. He reminded the crowd gathered for the special meeting that about 40 percent of the voters opposed the annexation.

“We don’t want them to be disgruntled citizens of Burien,” he said.

Mayor Joan McGilton encouraged residents to stay involved as details including sewer and water are worked out.

Citizens like North Highline Unincorporated Area Council member Ray Helms, who will be annexed into the city, said councilmembers can count on seeing him.

“Welcome to Burien,” said Ed Dacy (above), a Burien resident, active on the Parks and Recreation Commission.

You can find out more about Burien city government at burienwa.gov.

(Photos by Christopher Boffoli; added 11:07 am)
Just got a news release from the Seattle branch of the Red Cross saying it’s helping seven people whose home was gutted by fire this morning at 10044 20th Ave SW (map). We’re checking to see what more we can find out about this fire. 10 AM UPDATE: Photojournalist Christopher Boffoli is at the scene now for White Center Now and West Seattle Blog and tells us investigators are still there. They tell him it started just before 5 am. Everyone got out OK, no injuries. Christopher adds, “Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire but as of right now it appears the origin was the kitchen.”

Here’s the official invitation, from Karen Greene at Seattle Neighborhood Group:

The White Center-South Delridge Community Safety Coalition Meeting
Thursday, August 27, 6-8 pm,
St. James Place,
9421 18th Avenue SW

Guest Presentations:

* Code Enforcement – from both Seattle DPD & King County

And: If you have a specific concern, you may email or call me and let me know before the meeting and I will pass on the information to SPD or KCSO or the appropriate city/county department. With advanced notice, law enforcement officers are able to find out more information about specific incidents and concerns and share that information at the meeting. Everyone is welcome to bring up concerns at the meeting, but if we know the concerns ahead of time, we may be able to find out more information for the community. Thanks!

Dinner will be provided. Please call Karen at 767-0760 if childcare or interpretation is needed.

You can also e-mail Karen, karen@sngi.org

One week from today’s the big day – check ticket availability at the WCCDA website.

We’ve received this City of Burien notice from two people, via People for Burien (peopleforburien.org), asking that we share it:

On behalf of the Burien City Council we welcome you to Burien! The early election results show that voters in the southern portion of North Highline have approved the measure to annex to Burien. Many of you supported this measure and we thank you for your efforts. If you did not support the annexation measure we still thank you for your interest and hope that you will continue to engage with us. We intend to serve the entire community to the best of our abilities.

The Burien City Council has scheduled a Special Meeting on Monday, August 24 at 7:00 p.m. to take a moment to congratulate ourselves and welcome our new residents to Burien. The meeting will be held at Burien City Hall located at 400 SW 152nd St. in Burien [map]. We invite you to attend the meeting or you can view the meeting online at http://www.burienmedia.org. You can also learn more about the City of Burien by visiting our website at www.burienwa.gov.

One segment of our plan moving forward will be to conduct a community visioning process sometime in 2010. You can play a role in uniting North Highline with Burien by thinking about what you would like to see in your neighborhood and community. If you have any questions or suggestions before that time please feel free to contact me at 206-439-3165 or jenniferr@burienwa.gov.

King County has just released today’s vote count; annexation remains ahead, 58 percent “yes.” And in the King County Executive race, it’s still Susan Hutchison-Dow Constantine, but she’s slipped a bit and he’s gained a bit – she is now at 36 percent, he’s at 23 percent. More votes to be counted tomorrow.

Highline Public Schools asked if we would help get this message out to its families before school starts – versions of this letter will be going out, with customized information for each school, but this is the basic message:

We want you to be aware of a change in our school schedule. This year, school will be dismissed 90 minutes early on most Fridays. This will replace the half-day Wednesday schedule and most of the non-student “waiver” days we have had in past years. Overall, the amount of time students will spend out of the classroom is comparable to past years.

After students are dismissed on Fridays, teachers will use the time for training, professional development, and collaboration. The 90-minute sessions, called Professional Collaboration Time (PCT), will include activities such as learning new and better ways to deliver instruction, analyzing student work together, and sharing ideas and plans that will improve student performance. While you might not expect that giving time off school could lead to increased student learning, research shows that time invested in teacher training and improvement of instruction does indeed result in improved student achievement.

Students must be dismissed early in order to provide time for teacher learning and collaboration within teachers’ state-funded work day.

We recognize that shortened school days impact families and parents’ work schedules. The school district surveyed parents and teachers, and the majority preferred a weekly early release of less than two hours, versus a less frequent but longer block of time as we have had in the past.

The most significant impact will be to families of half-day Kindergarteners. Morning and afternoon classes will alternate attending school every other Friday. On Fridays, Kindergarteners will be on the same schedule as students in grades 1-6.

For example, on September 18, morning Kindergarteners will attend school the same hours as grades 1-6; afternoon Kindergarteners will have no school. On the following Friday, afternoon Kindergartners will attend school with grades 1-6; morning Kindergarteners will have no school.

We hope the consistency of the weekly early release will be beneficial for students, families, and teachers.

You can find out more at the Highline website – hsd401.org. Wednesday, September 9, is the first day of the school year – three weeks from today.

We dropped in on the victory party tonight for annexation supporters, who you can imagine are jubilant. The second and final vote total of the night is out:

FOR ANNEXATION 862 58.84%
AGAINST ANNEXATION 603 41.16%

For King County Executive, the results haven’t changed – Hutchison in first, Constantine second, Jarrett third.

ADDED 11:23 PM: When we dropped in on the pro-annexation victory party, we got a written statement from North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president Greg Duff. Here’s the transcription:

This is a great day for the citizens of North Highline. By casting your votes and choosing to annex to Burien, you have exercised your most basic right as citizens of this great country. By annexing to Burien, you have chosen to be a part of one of the best cities in the State of Washington.

No longer will North Highline be at the mercy of a county government who threatens to sell off our parks or our services to balance an inflated budget.

In choosing to annex to Burien, residents of North Highline confirmed the survey conducted by the NHUAC. A majority of the council supported the wishes of the North Highline residents.

Many people participated in this victory tonight. I would like to thank a few of them. To Mike Martin, Burien City Manager, and the Burien City Council, thank you for having the vision to see North Highline as an asset.

To the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, each member has worked tirelessly for this annexation. Your belief in the system has not faltered.

The victory tonight is only the first step. The northern half of North Highline is still waiting for annexation. We believe the citizens have spoken loudly in the survey and at the polls. We will continue to work hard to serve North Highline and support their wishes.

Now is the time for the public to get involved. Visit our website at northhighlineuac.org. We hve a long hard fight ahead of us and we need you.

(ballot box getting locked at White Center Library at 8 pm)
Results here.

First ballot run just after 8 pm – 59 percent for annexation, 41 percent against.

9 PM UPDATE: Another race of huge interest to White Center – King County Executive. We are covering it for partner site West Seattle Blog, and I’m at Dow Constantine’s party at Pike Place. He gave a stirring speech – since it appears he is making it to the general election, since he is in 2nd, relatively far ahead of 3rd place runner Fred Jarrett – and he said, “We must keep King County Parks open.” Here’s the first minute of his speech at Kells Irish Pub, around 8:40 pm:

Approximately 12:20-12:40 pm today, KUOW Radio will take a look at the King County Parks mothballing proposal – and we’ll be among those participating, on behalf of White Center Now. The folks at KUOW are encouraging community members to call in with their thoughts and concerns – the number will be 206 221 3663. Or, if you want to post a comment here, we will be talking about what we’ve been hearing from people.

That’s the ballot dropoff box outside White Center Library. If you don’t want to vote until the absolute last moment, that’s where to take it – till 8 pm (or another dropbox – here’s the full list). Then, the vote-counting begins. According to the Monday night update from King County Elections, 23.35% of the ballots have been received – that’s 1,492 of the 6,390 ballots issued in the proposed annexation area. Be heard – get yours in. On ballots in this area, the King County Executive race is huge too – county government is in a financial crisis among other challenges. Since it’s an all-mail election, we won’t get final results tonight, but vote totals will go public starting shortly after 8 pm, so check back here for results.

(photo of White Center Heights Park – which is on the list – added 7 pm)
ORIGINAL REPORT, 12:06 PM: As part of the county’s budget woes, County Executive Kurt Triplett has just proposed “mothballing” – keeping them open but no longer maintained – more than three dozen parks in urban areas of the county, including White Center. The list is on the right sidebar here. Though the parks will technically remain open, the announcement says that playground equipment will be fenced and restrooms locked in December, if no one steps up to take over the parks. We’re pursuing reaction and will add to this story. ADDED 12:53 PM: County Council Chair (and County Executive candidate) Dow Constantine‘s office says he’ll have a statement shortly — you’ll see it here as soon as it’s out — and adds that the Council will have to sign off on this because it involves next year’s budget.

4:01 PM UPDATE: Just received Council Chair Constantine’s statement:

“I am opposed to Executive Triplett’s proposal to cut all funding for King County parks in the urban unincorporated areas.

“Parks are important to the health and quality of life of everyone in the communities in which King County provides basic services—especially to our young people. To eliminate these parks with the stroke of a pen when economic times get tough would be short-sighted.

“We need to look at all other possible cuts and explore innovative budget solutions—including reductions to administrative staff—before we consider the elimination of direct services to King County residents. I have laid out a set of ideas to serve as a starting point for substantive discussions by the King County Council to create a balanced 2010 budget without raising taxes or cutting funding for urban unincorporated parks.

“It should be noted that Executive Triplett’s proposal addresses only parks whose upkeep is financed through the general fund, and would not affect King County’s regional parks and trails, which are funded through the County Parks levy.

“I am committed to keeping our parks open in the urban unincorporated areas of King County and will work with Executive Triplett and the Council on accomplishing this goal.”

ADDED 6:41 PM: We also asked North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president Greg Duff for comment, and he replies:

The mothballing comes as no surprise to me. The county has been telling us that they want all of the unincorporated areas to be annexed and that they would begin cutting services to those areas. The people who think they can hold out and not vote to annex to Burien or Seattle better wake up. I see this as just the first step in the county telling us to get on the ball and get the annexation done. I hope the people who have not voted yet see what the county is doing and will vote yes to annex to Burien.

We got the chance to chat with Audrey Zemke from White Center Food Bank on Saturday while covering Picnic at the (Southwest) Precinct on behalf of partner site West Seattle Blog, and she gave us some scoop on WCFB’s upcoming annual Harvest Dinner/Auction: It will be held at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center, 5:30 pm October 17th. North Highline Fire Chief Scott LaVielle will emcee; media personality Cindi Rinehart (a West Seattle resident) will be the auctioneer. Invitations will go out in about two weeks, but if you want to lock in your tickets now, you can call or e-mail White Center Food Bank – contact info’s all online, whitecenterfoodbank.org.