White Center Now: The blog about White Center

The Seattle Times is reporting that the road clearing during December’s snow storms was driven by political decisions rather than the clearing of critical arterials.

In previous storms, plow drivers had discretion over how best to clear their assigned routes, said plow driver Chris Stuker. City drivers would traverse main routes in tandem, allowing main roads to be cleared and plows to clear feeder streets as they were able to, Stuker and three other drivers said.

But that system was replaced by top-down decision-making that resulted in trucks being pulled from major streets for special assignments and to help less-experienced drivers, most of them working in the south end of the city, according to two drivers who asked to remain anonymous out of a concern for their jobs.

Your neighbors on the Seattle side of the line are inviting you again to the next Highland Park Action Committee meeting – here’s the announcement from chair Dan Mullins:

This month’s HPAC monthly meeting will include a presentation from Carolyn Johnson from Seattle Public Utilities to discuss the upcoming changes to our garbage, recycling , food and yard waste pick-up.
She will discuss:

What’s Changing
Food and Yard Waste (What’s New)
Recycling (What’s New)
Other Items (Now Collected @ Curbside)
More Options Than Ever (Service Levels)
What to Expect
Why is This Happening
You Can Make a Difference

Question & Answers or Where to Find Answers

And of course we will have reports on the NEC jail proposal, Becca Fong will discuss the King Co. Food & Fitness initiative, Officer Adonis Topacio with the neighborhood crime watch and much more. We will also have a Spotlight on a local business that we feel you should know about and a raffle with a big prize!!

So come for the pot-luck dinner and stay for the meeting, meet some old and new neighbors and bring your Rants and Raves.

The Highland Park Action Committee monthly meeting
Monday, March 23rd. at 7:00 ( potluck dinner at 6:30)
at the HP Improvement Club building
1116 SW Holden

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, so the chronic alcoholics, that live on the streets, felt emboldened.  Two drunks wondered down 16th Ave. SW, malt liquor in hand (no bags).  Clearly having imbibed a good deal already, one of the pair starts screaming at the top of his lungs.  Concerned that a fight was about to break out between these two drunks, I called 911 and explained that there were two intoxicated men, drinking malt liquor and being belligerent.  The dispatcher asked for description and said he would “call it in.”

My friend and I waited outside of the cafe and placed wagers on whether SPD would respond at all and if so would it be within the hour.  “These calls are just one step above noise complaints on their radar,” he said.  One of the drunks finished his liquor and flung the 20 oz can like a baseball.  The other one continued to nurse his beer.  Finally, about a half hour later a Seattle Police Department patrol car shows up with two officers.  Not bothering to get out of the car they pull up to the individual with the can of malt liquor in his hand.   “Toss it out,” they direct, although he had already started draining the can as he saw the patrol car approach.  He flings his can to the ground.  “Now move along,” says the officer.  The drunks get up and start heading south towards Roxbury.

My friend approaches the patrol car and indicates he wants to talk to them.  The police officers look bothered.  He tells them that the other fellow had just tossed his can on top of the roof of building.  “So?”  came the reply from the officer, who had by now exited the car.  “Well, we have lots of problems with these chronic drunks and we are concerned that nothing is being done to rid the area of them.”

“Look buddy, it’s not my issue.  I can cite him for public intoxication, but that’s just a small fine.”  We do not mention that he could have checked their ids and checked for outstanding warrants.

“But they are just going to get another round of malt liquor and continue to blight the area.”

The officer hems and haws and says, “they’re gone ok.  Buddy, we gotta go.”

And as the two drunks cross Roxbury into unincorporated King County, the officer looks over and says, “look, they’re the County’s problem now.”  And with those parting words, the officer gets in his squad car and drives away.

We’ve been covering this story at partner site West Seattle Blog, but turns out it’s on the county side of the line. Deputies tell us the man is expected to survive. Here’s our report.

There’s word of a meeting this Friday, 11 am-noon, at North Highline Fire District HQ, regarding the future of Evergreen Pool — Pat and Bob Price forwarded the note through mailing lists with a plea for a big turnout to show that the pool shouldn’t be shut down to save money. They say Margaret Anthony from King County will be there to talk about the pool. 1243 112th SW is where you’ll find the fire station, if you haven’t been there before.

Just in from Rick Jump at the White Center Food Bank:

Effective Saturday, March 21st the White Center Food Bank will be open on the 3rd Saturday of every month between the hours of 11:00am and 1:00pm. Registration begins at 10:00am. Proof of address is required on each visit. Service boundaries are as follows:

Between SW 140th Street and SW Myrtle Street
Between Highway 509 and Puget Sound

“During these tough economic times local food banks are serving more families than ever. Many of them are first time visitors to a food bank,” said Rick Jump, executive director of the White Center Food Bank. “This increased demand for services is likely to continue over the next several months. To help meet the need we find it necessary to expand our hours to include a weekend distribution for those who are unable to access our services during the week” said Jump.

The White Center Food Bank also welcomes donations to help meet the increased need in our community. Donations may be mailed to 10829 8th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98146. To make a donation online or for additional information about the White Center Food Bank, visit their website at www.whitecenterfoodbank.org or contact Rick Jump at (206) 762-2848.

The Hearst Corporation has indicated that the St. Patrick’s Day edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will be their final newspaper edition. Going forward, the “P-I” will publish as a web-only newssite. Executive Producer Michelle Nicolosi, indicated that the paper will leverage the content of the Hearst newspapers for its online edition. The online edition will have a fraction of its former staff, leading to a blurring of titles and responsibilities.  As articulated by Nicolosi, “We don’t have reporters, editors or producers—everyone will do and be everything. Everyone will write, edit, take photos and shoot video, produce multimedia and curate the home page.” The media word is abuzz with the news as this will be the largest online only newspaper and will certainly test out new business and media models. Let’s hope for the best and wish the new organization godspeed.

From the New York Times, a story of a cafe, not unlike Cafe Rozella:

Vox Pop was “kind of placing a bet on an emerging neighborhood” when it opened, said Sander Hicks, an author and political activist who started Vox Pop with Holley Anderson, his girlfriend at the time. He also published a free newspaper, The New York Megaphone, and was elected president of the merchants’ association. “We always used to say, it’s about smart growth, not gentrification,” Mr. Hicks said.

How different it was just four and a half years ago, when Vox Pop opened. “This was all 99-cent stores and video stores, socioeconomically challenged, surrounded by lovely Victorian houses that people have lived in forever,” Ms. Ryan said.

According to this P-I story, the long-awaited Durham Creek work — $400,000 worth — is now on a list of possible cuts when the city updates its budget crunch in the coming weeks.

If it hasn’t turned to rain already where you are, it should soon. But watch out for possible wind trouble later today – there’s a National Weather Service advisory from noon-11 pm.

5:19 PM UPDATE: The wind’s here. Be safe. Gusts up to 50 mph are possible (and Alki Point in West Seattle had one at 45 mph at 5 pm).

That’s Husbands Love Your Wives, playing live for a capacity crowd at Full Tilt Ice Cream last night.

Till 3 pm at the Salvation Army. Want to see and celebrate the community’s future? Drop in. ADDED MIDDAY SATURDAY: A few photos – good crowd, as you can see above; treats from Salvadorean Bakery! as shown below:

On behalf of West Seattle Blog and White Center Now, we interviewed King County Council Chair Dow Constantine the day he declared he was running for County Executive. One of his council colleagues, Larry Phillips, was already in the race – and we have just published our interview with Phillips on WSB – topics include annexation and a possible area jail — see the story here.

Please contact David Daw at David@wccda.org for a copy of the survey.

King County Food & Fitness Initiative is working to transform the food environment in our area so everyone can have access to affordable, healthy, locally grown food. By completing this survey you will be helping the White Center Food & Fitness Advisory Council select priorities to create a plan and implement changes around food systems in White Center.

*Please return survey by Monday March 23rd to: David Daw- Neighborhood Revitalization Program Manager, White Center Community Development Association, 1615 SW Cambridge Street, Seattle WA 98106 -Phone 206-694-1082 -Email: David@wccda.org.

Damien and his brother Drake have a new band Hoquiam, and they are playing Full Tilt this Saturday with Husbands love your wives, and special guests. The fun starts at 8pm. This will be a packed house, so get there early.

King 5 News is reporting that variation of the illegal drug, ecstasy, known as BZP is making the rounds looking like children’s candy and vitamins.   The drug could be fatal if swalloed by children.  Here are two pictures of the druges taken from the King 5 site.

BZP disguised as children

BZP as reported by King 5

I generally try not to dwell on the issue of crime in White Center because, on the whole, I think WC gets an undeserved bad rep on this issue.  The place has really cleaned up and there are now some very clean stretches where even petty vagrancy will not be found.  Such, however, is not the case for the three blocks of 15th Avenue SW just south or Roxbury.  Here you will find what White Center used to look like 15 years ago.  Vagrants, thugs, drug dealers and chronic alcoholics own these blocks.  On any given night (or day) you will see roving bands of miscreants plying their wares.  Whether it be the sale of black tar heroin, public drunkenness or just vagrants looking to rifle any car window left open.  I know the Sheriff’s Department considers this a high crime zone, as I have both talked to them and seen them on patrol.   More, however, needs to be done.

Looking south on 15th Ave. SW - DSHS Building to Left (google map)

The area suffers these problems because of some structural issues relating to lack of citizen surveillance.  The DSHS building that occupies the block just south of Bartells’ is an architectural crime against humanity.  The designers of the DSHS building (formerly a Safeways) should be indicted in the Criminal Cout at the Hague.  It seems no effort was spared to make this into an insult to the community.   The entrance to the building faces the parking lot and has no sight of anything on the street.  The back walls all face towards the community creating an architectural dead zone; precisely what you don’t want when trying to integrate into a neighborhood (and create public safety).   The hidden spaces created by the building provide sleeping spaces for the homeless and the vagrants.   And the dead zone allows all manner of activity to go undetected.

Looking further south on 15th Ave. SW

Few of the business in this area have street level views (shops that front sidewalks).  As such, the shop owners, even if they were inclined to keep on eye on matters, cannot see what is going on.  It does not help that many of the businesses are run by first generation immigrants, who have some level of distrust for the police.  As well, many are not accustomed to the concept of community policing.  All this adds up to a three block free-for-all for criminals and miscreants.   I will be adding pictures of some of these folks, including at least one who is registered sex offender, obviously using his “homeless” status to keep from registering.

Suffice it to say, that until this last stretch of bad seeds is cleaned up, White Center will continue labor under the unfortunate appellation of Rat City.

Just learned that three teenage kids went to a restaurant last night and tried to pass off a counterfeit $50 and a $20 as legitimate bills.  The cashier became suspicious when one of them tried to pay for a single drink with the $50.  Both bills were checked with the marker and proved to be fakes.  Be careful.

We covered the announcement this morning in North Delridge: Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle City Light now both have the same criteria for low-income assistance – 70 percent of median income, which means about $53,000 right now for a family of four. If you are a customer of SCL and/or SPU, read all about the expanded assistance here; also see our coverage on partner site West Seattle Blog.

If you’re in the unincorporated side of White Center – make sure your pets are licensed, or else you may pay a price. That’s the bottom line on this news release from the county this morning:

King County will take a proven approach to enhancing pet licensing in
2009 with the introduction of a penalty for failing to license cats and
dogs. The $75 penalty is aimed at increasing the number of pet owners in
unincorporated King County who protect their pets with a license.
Penalties will begin to be issued on April 1st.

The introduction of a penalty for failing to license pets is modeled
after the successful City of Seattle program that increased pet
licensing after the agency instituted licensing fines. Owners of
unlicensed pets will first be offered the opportunity to purchase a
license before receiving a penalty. Those who refuse to license their
pet after this opportunity will be assessed a $75 penalty.

“The new penalty will get people’s attention but licensing your pet is
really about being a responsible pet owner,” said Carolyn Ableman,
Director of the Records and Licensing Services Division. “It is simply
a tool that will increase the chances that you will be reunited with
your dog or cat if it get lost by making sure animal control staff have
a record of how to reach you. We’re confident that this new penalty will
increase the number of pets in unincorporated King County that are
reunited with their owner, rather than housed and put up for adoption at
the county’s expense.”

There are many benefits that come with a King County pet license:

* The first time a licensed pet is found running loose, King
County will attempt to give it a free ride home.
* If a licensed pet ends up in a King County shelter, staff will
hold it for a longer period and make every effort to call or write the
owner to inform them that the pet is at the shelter and available for
pickup.
* Owners of licensed pets are eligible for the Vacation Pet Alert
program. You can alert King County when you are on vacation and provide
the number for your pet’s caretaker so that if your pet gets loose,
animal control staff can reach the right person in your absence.
* Your pet can be picked up at no charge at your home should you
need to release it to King County.
* You can use King County’s humane euthanasia service at no charge
if your pet ever needs the procedure.

In 2009, King County Pet License fees increased for the first time in
five years. The fee for a pet license for a spayed or neutered pet is
$30 per year. The licensing fee for an unaltered pet is $90 per year and
both must be renewed each year. Discounts are available for owners of
juvenile pets (under six months of age), and for senior citizens, who
are eligible to purchase a license for lifetime of each pet.

King County Animal Care and Control is striving to become completely
supported by pet license revenue and other fees, and not reliant on
general tax dollars. The agency is about three-quarters of the way
there.

Licenses can be purchased on-line, by mail, and at more than 100
convenient sales outlets in King County’s service area, including many
local QFC stores, local veterinarians, city halls, general licensing
locations, animal shelters, and King County community service centers.
For a complete list of pet license sales outlets or to purchase a pet
license on-line, please visit the King County Animal Care and Control
website at www.kingcounty.gov/pets.

The revenue from pet license sales supports King County’s animal care
and control program, providing shelter, adoption services, and medical
treatment for more than 12,000 cats and dogs that come through county
shelters each year. Licensing revenue also supports animal control
enforcement, and to bring those that abuse animals to justice through
the animal cruelty investigation program.

King County is building a model animal care and control program that
focuses on saving lives through proactive licensing education and
enforcement, enhanced pet adoption programs, and a stronger veterinary
medical program. Pet license sales provide the primary revenue source
needed for this important effort. In the last two years, King County has
used pet license revenue to make significant improvements to its animal
care program, lowering the euthanasia rate to 21 percent, making it one
of lowest in the country. Pet license revenue has also been used to
revamp King County’s animal cruelty investigations program, increasing
the number of cases sent to prosecutors by more then 300 percent.