White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Highline Public Schools leadership has gone public with recommendations for how to balance the budget (see them here). Now, they want to hear from you, and will be accepting comment at this week’s School Board meeting. It’s at 6 pm Wednesday, 15675 Ambaum in Burien (map); see the agenda here.

Stephen Lamphear wanted to share this information:

f you are a customer of Seattle City Light — you do not have to be senior or disabled to get reduced rates.

Low income customers can get a 50% rate reduction. That means what it says — LOW INCOME. Stop struggling to pay utility bills — get help. This is not temporary or one-time help to pay the bill. This is long term rate reduction. Eat better, pay less for electricity.

Discounted Rates for Seniors, Disabled and Low-Income Customers
Qualifying customers can save 50% on electric, water, sewer and garbage bills. Customers living in federally-funded public housing and Section 8 housing are not eligible.

* Seniors and persons with disabilities – If you are a senior citizen or a person with disabilities and your income is at or below 70% of the state median level, call the Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens at (206) 684-0268.

Income Guidelines.

* Low-Income – Customers with household income at or below 70% of state’s median income may call the Seattle Human Services Department at (206) 684-0268 to qualify and enroll.

This message brought to you by Stephen Lamphear, former Burien City Councilmember!

Click pic to play video

That’s some of our video from last October, as U.S. Sen. Patty Murray helped break ground for the new Educare Learning Center at Greenbridge. Construction’s going well, according to Linda Carr at Educare/Highline Head Start, who asked if we would share this with you:

The construction of our new Educare Learning Center at Greenbridge is on schedule – we hope to move in the last week of December and welcome Head Start students on January 4, 2010!

We are recruiting children to fill our 9 part day classes, our 1 extended day class and our full day child care classroom. We encourage every low-income family with a 3 or 4 year olds to apply. We give priority to homeless children, children with a disability and 4 year olds. If we are not full by late August, we will invite some eligible 3 year olds to join us. We have great bi-lingual staff and a large pool of interpreters to help parents who ELL to apply and enroll.

Families can call us at 206/762-6070 to get an application in a variety of languages. Alternately, they can stop by our current locations: 501 SW 110th Place in Park Lake II Homes or 10014 Sixth Ave SW to pick up an application.

Our staff are busy getting training and finishing degrees as we become an Educare Center.

Our Park Lake II center will close for 2 years starting this August. We will have classrooms temporarily at Burien Community Center and at Coronado Springs Apartments until our new building opens.

(North Highline Unincorporated Area Council officers from left, Vice President Christine Waldman, Treasurer Ron Johnson, Secretary Jessica Stoneback, and President Greg Duff)

By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for White Center Now

The art installation at Steve Cox Memorial Park has hit another snag – dirty dirt.

Contaminated soil near the entrance of the ball field could be stirred up by digging needed to install the artwork and may have to be removed before the project can continue, the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council learned Thursday night.

More than $18,000 has been raised for the art that is the last piece needed to finish the tribute to the fallen King County Sheriff’s deputy.

Meantime, the new slate of councilmembers looked a lot like the old group. In the recent election, none of the council incumbents had a challenger, and all were easily re-elected by the 25 voters who participated — compared to 900 people who voted in the council’s first election.

Re-elected were Ray Helms, Heidi Johnson, Ron Johnson, Doug Harrell and Greg Duff.

Outgoing President Russ Pritchard complimented the council on its work ethic. “This is the most workaholic council I have ever been president of. You have accomplished more than any other council I have seen.”

Duff was elected council president, and Christine Waldman was elected vice president. Jessica Stoneback was re-elected secretary and Ron Johnson was re-elected treasurer.

Duff said he is excited to serve as president “in a year when we hope part of our area will go to Burien. It is very significant.” The annexation vote is set for August 18.

Burien City Manager Mike Martin told the council that they are meeting with various community groups to “make our intentions clear” and push forward with the annexation. Martin said they have been meeting with various community groups, which each have unique questions about what the annexation will mean.

A recent meeting with the Latino Leadership Community raised questions about business licensing and police presence, for example, he said.

Martin also gave an update on the King County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to Burien who was seriously injured in an accident while responding to a burglary call. He will be home soon, but will still need a great deal of recovery time.

The council also considered several new proposals, activities and invitations.

Ray Prentice asked for support in his effort to apply for funds to update the cinder running track at Evergreen High School to an all-weather rubberized surface. The Evergreen track is used by students, but also by members of the community to socialize, walk, jog and play.

Prentice also led the earlier effort that modernized the track at Mt. Rainier High School. The council voted to support the effort at Evergreen, but were also cautious that no funding that could possibly be used to keep the community swimming pool open would be jeopardized by the track request.

Council members also took a tough vote, following some discussion, deciding not to participate in the Burien Fourth of July parade. Some first considered the possibility if a convertible car was available.

“I have a pickup; you can ride in the back,” said Councilmember Doug Harrell.

Ultimately, because several council members are going to be out of town, that the group would be unable to participate. Brochures providing information about the council will be set out at the Emerald City Smoothie booth.

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council members will turn out for White Center Jubilee Days and the Burien Strawberry Festival on June 20 and 21.

The NHUAC usually meets the first Thursday of each month, 7 pm, North Highline Fire District HQ.

6 pm, Steve Cox Park, help shape the new playground that’s in the works. 7 pm, North Highline Fire District HQ, attend the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council’s meeting to find out about the latest work on hot community issues (including Evergreen Pool, as reported here earlier).

Boogie Wonderland

Put on those dancing shoes
Come one, come all
to the
Community School of West Seattle auction

Bid on a no-host stay in an English house,
a flight to Friday Harbor,
a song written just for you by a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter,
mountain getaways, kids’ amusements, theater, yoga, dance, baby sitting, beach outings, adopt-a-wolf, art from local artists and students.

Disco attire is encouraged.
Free food.
Cold drinks.
English auctioneer.
Bring a nice bottle of wine for the “wine cellar” we will be auctioning off.

Love is in the air!

for complete catalog see: http://www.landkammer.net/csws_auction

Saturday, June 6 6:30 p.m.
Community School of West Seattle
9450 22nd Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98106

Just received from King County Council Chair Dow Constantine‘s office:

Today, I co-sponsored legislation for a supplemental appropriation ordinance that includes two additional months of funding for pool operations. This money will keep the pool open through the warm summer months—the facility was originally slated to be closed at the end of June; this funding extends operations through the end of August.

I am currently working with Councilmember Larry Gossett, the chair of the Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee, on finding funds to keep the pool in operation for the remainder of the year.

Obviously, these are just temporary solutions, but they give more time to community members who are working on a proposal to keep the pool open permanently by transferring it to private or non-profit operation.

I am also coordinating with the 34th District state legislators (Rep. Sharon Nelson, Rep. Eileen Cody, Sen. Joe McDermott) to set up a strategy meeting in the near future to continue this community discussion.

MargL noticed signs for a major closure coming up on Ambaum – so we checked with King County DOT for the details, and here’s what Linda Thielke sent:

* Ambaum Boulevard Southwest at Southwest 120th Street
* Scheduled closure is from 7 a.m. Monday, June 15 through 5 p.m. Friday, June 26
* During the closure, crews will be replacing a drainage pipe underneath Ambaum
* Motorists can detour via 12th Avenue SW to SW 116th Street and back to Ambaum
* This is a joint project between the City of Burien and King County

The National Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory Alert for the Puget Sound area.

Heat Advisory

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
305 AM PDT WED JUN 3 2009

WAZ505-507>509-032300-
/O.NEW.KSEW.HT.Y.0001.090603T2100Z-090605T0100Z/
EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-EVERETT AND VICINITY-
SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA-TACOMA AREA-
305 AM PDT WED JUN 3 2009

...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM PDT
THURSDAY..

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SEATTLE HAS ISSUED A HEAT
ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 PM
PDT THURSDAY.

OFFSHORE FLOW...WARM AIR ALOFT...LONG DAYS...AND A HIGH EARLY JUNE
SUN ANGLE ARE COMBINING TO PRODUCE VERY WARM CONDITIONS IN THE
SEATTLE-TACOMA-EVERETT AREA. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES ON TUESDAY ROSE
WELL INTO THE 80S TO AROUND 90. EXPECT TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON
AND THURSDAY AFTERNOON TO BE ABOUT THE SAME AS TUESDAY...NEAR
RECORD LEVELS.

THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT AND AN OFFSHORE BREEZE MOVING DOWN
OFF THE CASCADES IS NOT ALLOWING TEMPERATURES TO COOL OFF MUCH AT
NIGHT. LOW TEMPERATURES THIS MORNING AND AGAIN THURSDAY MORNING
WILL ONLY BE AROUND 60 DEGREES.

DEWPOINT TEMPERATURES...A MEASURE OF HOW MUCH MOISTURE IS IN THE
AIR...HAVE BEEN IN THE COMFORTABLE LOWER 40S. THEY WILL RISE TO
THE LOWER 50S ON THURSDAY...MAKING IT FEEL A BIT MORE MUGGY AND
UNCOMFORTABLE. LIGHTER BREEZES ON THURSDAY WILL ALSO MAKE IT FEEL
MORE UNCOMFORTABLE.

THE EARLY JUNE WARM SPELL WILL COME TO AN ABRUPT END THURSDAY
EVENING AS A STRONG MARINE PUSH ALLOWS COOL AND MOIST PACIFIC AIR
TO SURGE INLAND.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS..

A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS
EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND RATHER HIGH
HUMIDITY CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE.
DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS. STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM IF POSSIBLE.
STAY OUT OF THE SUN...AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.

REMEMBER THAT AREA LAKES AND RIVERS ARE STILL COLD. ESCAPING THE
HEAT BY JUMPING INTO A COLD LAKE OR RIVER CAN LEAD TO DEATH BY
HYPOTHERMIA OR DROWNING.

The Seattle weekly has a photo series of an afternoon in White Center.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/slideshow/view/14941289

The info available on the White Center Jubilee Days website continues to grow – and now there’s more info about this year’s parade, Saturday afternoon, July 18th. The theme: “Living the Dream.” Hard to believe the heart of summer festival season is just a little more than six weeks away!

They represent you – until and unless you are annexed by someone – so you don’t want to miss this week’s monthly meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council. It’s at 7 pm at the North Highline Fire District’s HQ, and the agenda is now available online, by going here.

Context: As Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels prepares to officially file his re-election campaign documents on Monday, we were granted an interview with him Saturday morning, for partner site West Seattle Blog. We asked one question on behalf of White Center Now: With the Seattle City Council having turned thumbs down on the Memorandum of Understanding his office worked out with Burien (and others) regarding annexation (February WCN coverage here), what happens now? This video includes the entirety of his answer – mostly prefaced with background on the sales-tax incentive vote, which he thinks was the council’s only real sticking point:

If you’re interested in the rest of our interview, we’re parceling it out in multiple reports on WSB; watch the West Seattle Politics archive, where two stories are already posted as of this writing early Sunday.

Teresa posted some on her site – and in a comment here on WCN, Mike shared a few dozen more.

We caught up with the parade at 15th SW and SW 98th — our main camera choked and we had to pull out the trusty backup, but if you didn’t get to see it in person, this video (and music!!!) still suggests the flavor of the fun. If you see this before mid-evening, there’s still time to get over to Cafe Rozella for the concert that followed the parade. Scroll down the WCN home page to read Ricardo‘s earlier reports to find out more about the history of this tradition. ADDED LATER: We did manage to get a short clip of the end of the parade at Cafe Rozella, with a clearer view of the dancers in the shade:

Here are some more pictures from last night’s performance of Afro-Peruvian music and dance at Cafe Rozella.

Poetry and music at Cafe Rozella

Devil

Preparing for the Performance

Choreographer instructs troupe before performance

Last night at the White Center-South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting, an attendee mentioned getting a letter from Metro regarding the potential end of a program in which trash cans are provided for bus stops if someone promises to keep them empty and maintained. We checked today with Metro’s Linda Thielke to see what’s going on, and she explains:

If you’ve ever been to a White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meeting, you know that’s Kathy Kaminski, one of the WCSDCSC’s energetic co-facilitators (along with Karen Greene). At the end of Thursday night’s meeting, Kathy had a personal announcement: Next meeting will be her last, as she is leaving Seattle Neighborhood Group in July to return to school, seeking a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. She says she hopes to return after her two years of studies; she’s been with SNG for five years (per its staff page).

The first of several stories we’ll be publishing from Thursday night’s White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting: You’re invited to a meeting next Thursday to talk about the new playground that’s on its way to Steve Cox Memorial Park. King County replaces play equipment every decade or so, it was explained, and this one’s due – plus, besides being safer, the new equipment apparently will have less tag-attracting surfaces. The meeting’s at 6 pm Thursday 6/4 in the community center rec room at the park. (Right before the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting just a few miles away, it was also noted; the art project for Cox Park is expected to come up at the NHUAC meeting.)

‘Son de los Diablos,’ originated in the Corpus Christi celebrations in Lima during the Colonial Period. As the ruling elite in colonial Peru framed it, blacks represented evil forces in a religious drama. However, by the time of slavery’s abolition in 1854, Afro-Peruvians had appropriated this dance as a symbol of cultural resistance and practiced it especially during carnival in the barrios where these were relocated. The Son was banned from the streets 1940s when President Manuel Prado prohibited carnival celebrations in Lima. In the 1980’s the Movimiento Negro Francisco Congo, a collective dedicated to the recovery and revalorization of Afro-Peruvian traditions, approached Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani to recuperate the tradition of this street dance and to perform it on the streets once again. The group of Francisco Congo would teach the dance, and Yuyachkani would contribute their maskwork. Yuyachkani considered this dance a master dance for young actors because it includes codification of the body, maskwork, dancing, and an active and playful relationship with the audience. Peru’s most important theatre collective, Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani (www.yuyachkani.org) has been working since 1971 at the forefront of theatrical experimentation, political performance, and collective creation. ‘Yuyachkani’ is a Quechua word that means ‘I am thinking, I am remembering’; under this name, the theatre group has devoted itself to the collective exploration of embodied social memory, particularly in relation to questions of ethnicity, violence, and memory in Peru. The group is comprised of seven actors (Augusto Casafranca, Amiel Cayo, Ana Correa, Débora Correa, Rebeca Ralli, Teresa Ralli, and Julián Vargas), a technical designer (Fidel Melquíades), and an artistic director (Miguel Rubio), who have made a commitment to collective creation as a mode of theatrical production and to group theater as a life style. Their work has been among the most important in Latin America’s so called ‘New Popular Theater,’ with a strong commitment to grass-roots community issues, mobilization, and advocacy. Yuyachkani won Peru’s National Human Rights Award in 2000. Known for its creative embrace of both indigenous performance forms as well as cosmopolitan theatrical forms, Yuyachkani offers insight into Peruvian and Latin American theatre, and to broader issues of postcolonial social aesthetics.

May 29th, (Friday) 6pm
Devil’s Dance Parade in White Center

followed by concert at Café Rozella
7pm   9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, WA 98106 (206) 763-5805

Cafe Rozella brings the hottest Latin music to Seattle:
Afro-Peruvian Dance and Music: El Son De Los Diablos

Parade Route: Parade starts at El Paisano, on the corner of 15^th Ave. SW and Roxbury, proceeds to La Fondita at SW 98^th St., and then to Full Tilt Ice Cream at 9629 16th Ave SW and then to triangle at Roxbury and Delridge and from there to Café Rozella at 9434 Delridge Way SW.

That’s our first photo from the groundbreaking less than an hour ago at the site of White Center Square; members of the Vong family, whose supermarket will anchor the new shopping center, participated along with contractors, architects, the head of King County Economic Development, and King County Council Chair Dow Constantine. We also spoke at the site with Soona Vili from White Center Community Development Association, who agreed it’s a “great day” for White Center. Rika Vong explained today was chosen for the groundbreaking because it has good feng shui – though the actual construction itself, according to the contractors, won’t start until sometime next month. Before the shovels turned dirt, the site was blessed with incense:

Here’s video:

ADDED 12:49 PM: Our video of Constantine’s remarks:

Others who spoke at the event included Rika Vong (that’s not her in the screengrab but she’s the first person you’ll see if you hit “play”):

We talked on the sidelines with the contractors, who are from Bellevue-based Buchanan; they also worked on Meridian Station, with the same architect. And we spoke with a member of the Mullen family, which owned the property for a century before selling to the Vongs; they’re just happy to see something finally being done with the land. ADDED THURSDAY NIGHT: Here’s the official news release from King County:

Ground broken at White Center Square

$11 million project uses public funding, will create 60 jobs

The revitalization of the White Center community received a major boost this morning with the groundbreaking for an $11 million retail plaza in the neighborhood’s business district that utilizes a $6.25 million federal loan.

“There is very tight competition for these federal funds. This project won support from a review panel that includes representatives from across King County—and for several good reasons,” said Metropolitan King County Council Chair Dow Constantine, who represents the White Center neighborhood. “This project will create new retail space and new jobs, while providing a new home for a longtime community business, the Vong family’s Asian market.”

This retail project will bring 60 new jobs to White Center.

Legislation approved by the King County Council in March authorizes the Executive to borrow $6.25 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and re-lend those funds to the White Center Investment Fund, LLC. The legislation also pledges the County’s Community Development Block Grants funds as additional security for the loans. The White Center Square project will also benefit from a federal tax credit.

The investment Fund will use the loan to leverage the additional funding needed to complete a new 26,500 square foot retail/office plaza near Greenbridge. Greenbridge is a mixed-income community built on the site of the former Park Lake Homes, the King County Housing Authority’s oldest and largest public housing development

“We have seen major public investments nearby—most notably in the form of Greenbridge project, White Center Heights Elementary School, and White Center Heights Park,” said Constantine. “King County has been a big part of this effort. I am proud to celebrate another step forward for the White Center neighborhood.”