White Center Now: The blog about White Center

That’s one of our photos from last year’s Block Party, offering free backpacks full of school supplies to White Center students, as well as food and fun. The YES Foundation has set the date for this year’s edition – 3-6 pm August 14th, between Mount View Elementary and Mount View Presbyterian.

Reminder – Thursday night is the special “got annexation questions, ask ’em now” North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting, 6 pm, St. Bernadette’s. We previewed it thoroughly here. You can also get more info at the NHUAC website.

At right, that’s Beth Grieser, honored tonight in West Seattle for her volunteer commitment to the White Center Food Bank (which also serves part of south West Seattle). The Southwest District Council’s Cindi Barker helped present awards to Grieser and six others, the first-ever West Seattle Volunteer Recognition recipients, part of a program sponsored by the SWDC, the Delridge District Council and our partner site West Seattle Blog. You can help the White Center Food Bank too – either contact them about volunteer opportunities, bring in food donations, or donate $ through their website.

You won’t be able to miss White Center for the Arts during White Center Jubilee Days this weekend – they’re planning to be everywhere, according to this update from Shelli:

White Center for the Arts (www.whitecenterforthearts.org) will be heavily represented at Jubilee Days (www.jubileedays.org) this year. For both days of the event, July 18th and 19th, White Center for the Arts will have a booth in the community area where everyone can participate in a future public art project. This will be the first of many community art projects that we will host. It will be a clay mosaic. Do what you want with your piece of clay, sign your name or initials, and we will make sure that your piece is placed in the finished mosaic. Fun for one and all. And you’ll be a famous artist!

White Center for the Arts will also have a float in the parade, which starts at the McDonalds on 16th Ave SW near 114th. The float starts at 1:00 PM. We will be handing out candy and flyers. We will float towards downtown White Center on 16th Ave SW with the rest of the crew. You’ve got to see what we are making this time!

White Center for the Arts is hosting another Art Event this coming weekend in conjunction with Jubilee Days. We will be in the parking lot of the Skate Building on 17th Ave SW. We will be active for our regular hours of 5 PM to 10 PM. Enjoy the nearby Beer Gardens, and the music flowing from the stage while you watch art in action!

That’s one of our photos from the Hicks Lake cleanup last September. A date’s set for this year, according to early word from Dick Thurnau of Friends of Hicks Lake:

We have been informed that Seattle Pacific University is proposing to send 40 students this year on Sept. 26/2009, a Saturday, to Lakewood Park to help clean up this area. The blackberry bushes, Scotch broom and invasive weeds plus litter needs to be removed. They call their project City Quest — it encourages freshmen to participate in giving to the communities.

We ask Friends of Hicks Lake and all parties that enjoy the park to give us a hand in this endeavor. Realize this is an early announcement but will keep you posted. Let’s mark your calendar to volunteer to help make this facility beautiful.

… not to mention the rest of Jubilee Days. On behalf of West Seattle Blog, we’ve been tabling at West Seattle Summer Fest this weekend, and we have a few Jubilee Days guides as well as information on WS events. We’re big parade fans so that’s the highlight for us! Coming up next Saturday afternoon — here are the details.

Just received this:

Enjoy an evening of free live jazz music at Jazz in the Plaza. Thursday, July 23rd from 4-6 pm in the Greenbridge Plaza (in front of the SW Boys and Girls Club) there will be live jazz music as well as other entertainment, prizes, vendors, activities for the whole family and free lightly used books and toys. The sun has come out…. It’s party time! Sponsored by KCHA, WCCDA, Hope VI, Neighborhood House, YWCA, Southwest Boys and Girls Club and the Greenbridge Community. For more information call (206) 574-1167.

Second one so far this summer. See you there!

From King County Council Chair Dow Constantine‘s office:

Metropolitan King County Council Chair Dow Constantine today called for a County hiring freeze through the end of 2009, a step that could save an estimated $15 million, including approximately $1 million in general fund spending.

“We must cut spending immediately to offset costs for essential ‘lifeboat’ programs that were only granted partial-year funding in this year’s budget,” said Constantine. “Leaving positions vacant will provide funds to be used in next year’s budget, which has already been projected to have a shortfall of almost $50 million.”

Due to the public safety and public health nature of their positions, the proposed freeze would not affect the hiring of personnel in four key areas:

· The King County Sheriff’s Office,
· Corrections officers in county correctional facilities,
· Health care providers in county correctional facilities and county health centers,
· The King County Superior Court, King County District Court, or King County Prosecutor’s Office.

Although exempt from the proposed hiring freeze, the legislation encourages the responsible department heads or separately elected officials operating these agencies to consider suspending the hiring process for administrative positions not directly associated with the provision of public safety or public health services.

A provision is also included to allow hires by the County Executive in cases where the department can show that keeping a position vacant would actually increase costs to the county.

“The Council voted last December to ratify the Executive’s declaration of a budget emergency,” said Constantine. “With tax collections in decline and economic indicators showing more hard times ahead, we need to take immediate, decisive action to protect public services.”

FIRST REPORT: We’ve been at the 34th District Democrats‘ meeting all night covering their long-running endorsement meeting (4 1/2 hours so far). Still to come – whether they will endorse the North Highline South Annexation vote. We’ll publish results here as soon as that vote’s done. 11:36 PM UPDATE: Speaking in favor of the annexation proposal, King County Council Chair Dow Constantine says he believes Burien will do a good job handling the extra area. Sharon Maeda is now speaking against it, saying she disagrees that Burien will be able to handle it. 11:42 PM UPDATE: A majority of those who are still here – 66 out of 70 voters – have voted to endorse the annexation proposal. However, there’s a challenge to whether there’s enough of a quorum here for that to count (it’s less than half the number of people who were here earlier in the evening). Update – They do have a quorum, so the 34th District Democrats officially endorse the annexation proposal.

From the White Center Food Bank‘s Facebook page (you can “become a fan” here):

We are currently facing critical shortages of canned fruits & vegetables as well as dry goods such as Hamburger Helper, Rice-a-Roni, Mac & Cheese. Any donations would be greatly appreciated.

So many marathons these days, it’s refreshing to see a “microthon,” which is what’s planned right before the White Center Jubilee Days parade on July 18th – not a 26 mile, not a 13 mile, not a 5K, but a … 1K! Get your entry form here.

While out and about covering 4th of July activities on Saturday, we stopped by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society membership picnic at the Log House Museum in West Seattle, and got a reminder about the White Center History Tour – first mentioned here on June 13, and now less than three weeks away – July 25, 10:30 am-noon. An hour and half during which you’ll get decades of knowledge! See you there.

(Three Tree Point fireworks from July 2008 – one place you CAN see over-water fireworks tomorrow night)
We have reported it repeatedly on partner site West Seattle Blog, and it’s been all over a variety of other media sources too, since it was announced three months ago, but we hear some people still may not have gotten the message, so we’ll say it again: NO ELLIOTT BAY FIREWORKS THIS YEAR. Ivar’s discontinued its longrunning tradition. None next year too unless somebody else takes it over. But plenty of other places – including Three Tree Point.

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s Greg Duff sends word of the next meeting – not early in the month as usual, nor at the usual location, but full of important info and chances to get your questions answered:

The July meeting of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council will be held Thursday July 16 at St. Bernadette’s at the corner of 128th and Ambaum. The time of the meeting is 6:00pm to 7:30pm. This meeting will be an open house intended to inform the public of some pertinent issues. In attendance will be:
The City of Burien
Burien Fire Dept
Burien Police Dept
Emergency Radio Program
King County Code Enforcement
North Highline Fire Dept
White Center Food Bank
Information on the History of Des Moines Drive
and others unnamed at this time.

This is an important meeting for those having questions about the upcoming annexation vote. Ballots for the vote will be arriving in homes around the first week in August.

Any questions can be directed to Greg Duff, President of the NHUAC at 206-235-8966

Just got this word from Linda Holmes at McLendon Hardware:

McLendon Hardware’s White Center location will be hosting a free water conservation clinic on Saturday August 1st from 10:00-12:00. Learn how to easily and inexpensively conserve water and save over $150 per year on your water bill. Scheduled to attend the event will be Seattle Public Utilities, Saving Water Partnership, plumbing vendors, and others who will be helping McLendon’s spread the word on water conservation.

That’s a brand-new flyer for the White Center Community Development Association luau coming up August 29th, 4-8 pm at White Center Heights Park. Island food (an imu-roasted pig!) and entertainment are promised, as money is raised for WCCDA (with an auction, too). Lots more info on the WCCDA site – just go here.

2:48 PM UPDATE: City Light’s Mike Eagan says the outage is over. Checking on a cause.

ORIGINAL 12:57 PM REPORT: Here’s the news release we just received (12:55 pm):

Power went out for approximately 3,671 City Light customers
in Burien, SeaTac and unincorporated King County at 12:36 p.m. today.

The cause of the outage is currently unknown, but City Light crews are
heading to the area to investigate. An estimated time of restoration is
unknown at this time.

The area affected is bordered on the north by So. 96th St., on the
south by S.W. 175th St, between 24th Ave. S.W. and 33rd Ave S.W.

This afternoon at 1:30 Today, the King County Council Budget Committee will take up spending issues including $80,000 proposed to keep Evergreen Pool open two months beyond what at one point was going to be its shutdown date – today. County Council Chair Dow Constantine‘s office says the final vote won’t be till July 13, but that the pool will stay open at least till then. As for what would happen beyond the two-month extension – nothing’s been determined yet.

Pat Thompson from YES Foundation of White Center sends a reminder about the sports camps that start today:

Morning session is 9 – Noon
Afternoon session 1 – 4pm
at Evergreen High School fields, courts and gyms. We are offering football, basketball, soccer, tennis and volleyball.

For athletes, would-be athletes and kids whose parents are looking for things for them to do: Ages 6 -14
The cost is $20, scholarships available.

Here’s the official flyer with full details.

Notes From the Job Search is a group of individuals who gather weekly to discuss job search topics and compare notes with other local job seekers. Did you know that only a VERY small percentage of jobs available, are actually advertised? Helping you tap into the “hidden” job market is just one of the things we do. Weekly topics include resume reviews, mastering the elevator pitch, using online networking resources such as Linkedin, and more! The meetings usually run around 90 minutes, and everyone is encouraged to actively participate! No need to dress up – come as you are. We have nothing to sell! Our services are FREE! This is NOT a job fair. While you will probably NOT find a job at one of the meetings, we GUARANTEE that you WILL walk away from each meeting with a few new job search skills, a better resume, encouragement from your fellow group members, perhaps a few new network connections, and sometimes even a job lead! We continue to “lose” members as they find new positions, and we are always happy to see them leave. Please consider attending one of our meetings and see how we can be of assistance to you in your job search.

Currently we meet: Tuesdays at C and P Coffee in West Seattle at 11 AM Wednesdays at Green Bean Coffee in Greenwood at 3PM

To learn more, or get directions, see our web site at: http://notesfromthejobsearchseattle.blogspot.com/