White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Lots of news this afternoon, and this is the latest development. We’ve posted the full announcement on our partner site West Seattle Blog; read it here.

We’d spoken with two county executive staffers about this last week and hadn’t even finished the followup yet, but now it’s a moot point – this just in from County Council Chair Dow Constantine:

Constantine: Puget Sound Park no longer under consideration as housing site

“I was pleased to learn today that Puget Sound Park has been removed from consideration as a demonstration project site for King County’s Sustainable Communities and Affordable Housing program.

“I support efforts to create needed additional workforce housing in our communities. At the same time, our public parks—both active and passive—are valuable assets to their surrounding neighborhoods and King County that must be preserved and enhanced whenever possible.”

Out of the White Center Now inbox (whitecenternow@gmail.com), from Larry Winkler:

As a trustee for the White Center Eagles, I am organizing a golf tournament to raise funds which will benefit the Seattle Fire Department’s internationally known Medic II – CPR citizen training program. To be held at Foster Golf Link, 13500 Interurban Avenue, Tukwila … The date is June 14 with the first tee time at 10:00 am, ending around 3:00 pm.

I have asked Medic II – CPR citizen training program to do a CPR class for us at the White Center Eagles to be free and open to all. Medic II is willing to send one of its Pioneer CPR Instructors, Murray Lawrence, to do the class on Sunday, May 17, at the White Center Eagles – free to all.

If you would like to attend this free CPR class contact me at 206-947-3885 to sign up. To sign up for the golf tournament contact Wendel Davis at 206-805-9871. You can also visit us at www.westwoodsummerfest.com

On partner site West Seattle Blog, we’ve been profiling local “shop cats” – who share their owners’ workplaces. Today’s featured cat is Swifty at Roxbury Complete Auto Supply on the West Seattle/White Center line, so we wanted to alert you too – see her story here.

Just in from WestSide Baby, which is headquartered in White Center but helps families in West Seattle and surrounding areas too:

WestSide Baby is opening on Thursday, April 16th from 7-9, for our monthly “After Hours” sorting frenzy. Grab a friend and join us for an evening of sorting donations, socializing and making a difference in the community.

It is very helpful for us to know if you are coming though so we can prepare with staff and projects. Please RSVP to Sarah@westsidebaby.org. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult and it is especially important for us to know if minors are coming so we can prepare appropriate jobs for them.

We also have an ongoing need for larger size diapers (Sizes 4-6) and Pull-ups (Sizes 3t and 4t).

You never know who and what you will see in the artist studios adjacent to the old rink – more info here.

We showed you that video, provided by the King County Sheriff’s Office, while deputies were looking all around the region for the people responsible for that multiple shooting in SeaTac earlier this week. Just got word from KCSO that arrests have been made – read on: Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best things about White Center is the abundance of great food.  The restaurants offer some of the tastiest array of food from around the world.  What many may have missed are the wonderful Asian markets brimming with fresh fish, tasty meats, exotic fruits, vegetables and sauces.  You can wonder around them for hours and pack away enough fresh ingredients for the choicest of meals.  So, I will be posting a listing and review of Asian markets.  If you have a favorite or a question, send it in and I will try and include it.  Bon appetit!

Typical fare in our wonderful White Center markets

To see what’s open and what’s not, go here.

Audrey from White Center Food Bank says last night’s food drive brought in more than 250 pounds! You can donate $ to WCFB online any time through the website, whitecenterfoodbank.org.

(photo added 6:21 pm – Barbara Connor from Rainier Valley Kiwanis, at the donation station)
Till 8 pm tonight, Kiwanis Division 26 volunteers are at the White Center Food Bank, collecting donations. As mentioned before, food-bank donations count for extra through the end of this month because of a special nationwide partial-match program – so if you take food/money to them now, it’s worth even more than face value. Here’s a map to WCFB.

That’s surveillance camera video showing some of the people involved in a multiple shooting Tuesday in SeaTac;

The Sheriff’s Office is looking for any witnesses to yesterday’s shooting in SeaTac. Two men were wounded one critically. In addition, a possible suspect was shot in the groin, and the circumstances surrounding that injury remain unclear.

A video is attached that shows the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The video starts just after about 20 rounds were fired from an AK-47 or similar rifle into a stopped car occupied by four people, include a 2 year-old boy.

(Detectives now believe there were at least two shooters and at least two guns.)

About 8 seconds into the video the victim’s Cadillac can be seen trying to force its way through congested traffic after the shots were fired. Then the suspect’s Ford Taurus comes into clear view as three suspects clamber back into the car and it flees northbound on International Blvd.

➢ Detectives would like to speak with anyone who was stuck in traffic and may be able to identify the suspects. (The Taurus used by the shooters has been located.)

Witnesses are asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 (24 hrs).

The South Park Bridge (seen in our February 2009 video from a Duwamish boat tour) made a cameo appearance during a CBS network news story last night; see it here. Accompanying news release from the county today:

Constantine: National news report spotlights need for South Park Bridge replacement

“Last night the CBS Evening News made a national example of the crumbling South Park Bridge, which, as their story correctly pointed out, is so dilapidated that it may have to be shut down next year. When that happens, we will lose a busy crossing point over the Duwamish River that carries 20,000 vehicles a day, and the too often neglected South Park neighborhood near Boeing Field will suffer further as a result.

“It should never have gotten to this point. Over the past few years, I have worked to identify a funding source for the replacement of this crumbling, unsafe public structure. I successfully lobbied to get this project included in the 2007 Roads and Transit ballot issue, and like the reporter who covered this story, I felt that the South Park Bridge was an excellent candidate for federal stimulus funds. I made sure to get this bridge at the top of King County’s stimulus funding list, and I traveled to Washington, D.C. in December and January to meet with our state’s delegation to spotlight the bridge’s replacement as a worthy stimulus project.

“I will continue to fight for funding to replace this key piece of King County infrastructure. This project would create many new construction jobs and would ensure a brighter future for working-class neighborhoods. Given the possibility of further stimulus spending in the future, I will continue reaching out to our delegation in Washington, D.C. to get this project completed.”

The Puget Sound Business Journal just published a story on the economic effects of the recession on White Center.   Entitled, “White Center Shows Its Diversity,” the article quotes many business owners including this writer.

In the good days, just one year ago, lunch break at construction sites around White Center meant a flood of workers pouring into El Paisano for a taste of home.

Silva’s situation reflects a larger picture in White Center, a struggling, diverse neighborhood with many immigrants on the southwest edge of Seattle. Its downtown is an eclectic mix of Pho restaurants, taquerias, bars, pawn shops, tattoo parlors, and hair and nail salons, and many of these small businesses say they are now teetering on the brink.

At $40,480 a year, the median household income is 24 percent lower in White Center than the countywide average, according to the 2000 Census. The population is 21 percent Asian, 12 percent Hispanic, 6 percent African-American, 2 percent American Indian, and 2.6 percent Pacific Islander.

The article can be accessed online at its website.

Now it’s just two days away, so it’s reminder time – this Wednesday night, local Kiwanians will be at the White Center Food Bank to collect your donations:

Members of the Division 26 Kiwanis in Seattle would like to invite you to bring non-perishable foods to the White Center Food Bank on Wednesday evening, April 8, 2009 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. Members of the Kiwanis will be stationed outside the food bank at 10829 8th Avenue SW [map] under a canopy to collect your donations.

Kiwanis International is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.

The White Center Food Bank says the most needed foods are Hamburger Helper and Rice-a-Roni type products as well as canned meat (not tuna), canned fruit, cereal, and jelly. The White Center Food Bank serves a diverse ethnic population so ethnic foods are always welcome. The food bank also accepts $5 and $10 gift cards from Safeway, QFC or Albertsons. Cash donations can be sent to the White Center Food Bank at 10829 8th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98146. To donate online, go to www.whitecenterfoodbank.org.

Donations to food banks count extra through the end of this month because of the Feinstein Challenge, so everything you give includes a built-in bonus. See you Wednesday night!

Puget Sound Park wasn’t the only park discussed at last Thursday night’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting: Steve Cox Memorial Park updates were discussed, too. Artist Jay Haavik presented his concept – the large, leaning piece is meant to represent White Center, and the short one to represent Deputy Cox, with the community leaning on him. The larger, leaning piece will be an 8-foot basalt column; the smaller piece will be 5 feet tall, with a replica of his badge sandblasted into the side. The next step isn’t quite settled, though; the memorial is to be in a 20 x 37 section of the stadium, but there’s a City Light vault in the area, and if that turns out to be in active use, then the memorial’s area may have to be condensed. Councilmembers approved the design in principle but are waiting for formal word on the vault before a formal decision. There’s also concern about the picnic shelter at the park; county parks rep Sam Whitman says a neighborhood petition would be needed to start the process of possibly removing the shelter, which has drawn complaints about transients and late-night partying. Suggestions were made about better lighting or moving the picnic shelter, but Whitman says all that would cost money, which is in short supply right now.