White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Thanks to Dick Thurnau from Friends of Hicks Lake for keeping White Center Now updated on the progress of the years-in-the-making dock removal; after he tipped us about the huge crane that’s been brought in, we went by this afternoon for photos – as the second one shows, the dock surface is gone, but the pilings are yet to be pulled out:

I just noticed a new salon opening up on Roxbury. Right now there is just a small sign in the store front, but I was able to track down the owner.

It’s Casanova, a full service salon for Men. Owner Neyirys says, “It is a full service shop for men manicure, pedicure, massage, hair cuts, braids, shaves, facials, shoe shining, all services exclusively for men. It will open mid-November and we will rent chairs and also hire.” It is near the corner of Roxbury and 16th, next to Pho 54 on Roxbury.

At this point they are still in the construction phase, but I will post pics as things progress. They have a limited website up at the moment. casanovallc.com

Just back from the 34th District Democrats’ get-out-the-vote rally with Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray in West Seattle; they’re doorbelling in White Center today too, as are the 34th District Republicans, and at least one ballot issue (Sound Transit Proposition 1 supporters had a flyer on our stoop when I returned home). Just another heads-up. Rally coverage to come.

They lost to Foster tonight by just a touchdown, 13-6. Next week they play Renton (Saturday 10/25, 7 pm).

In the last month, the sandwich board signs for Village Green Nursery, Cafe Rozella and the 16th Avenue Halal market have been stolen.  Apparently, one of the signs was found at the Home Depot dumpster which indicates that these thefts are plainly malicious.  These signs are not cheap and for a small business, especially businesses like Village Green and Cafe Rozella that are not conspicuous, they are important in driving traffic.  Accordingly, Cafe Rozella is offering a $50 coupon reward for anyone who fingers the dirty rats behind these thefts.  Call (206) 763-5805 or email guarnero@caferozella.com. 

Can’t promise that there will be any big stars but this Sunday afternoon there will be a film crew using Cafe Rozella for one of their scenes.  Customers can still patronize the cafe but they will have to quiet down for the dialogues.

Two things, really – first, Evergreen High School football director Alfred Johnson sends word that it’s Homecoming Week:

This week is HOMECOMING!!!

I want to get the word out to any and all Evergreen Alumni, if you live in the area or not, to come out and cheer the boys on to victory for the 2008 Homecoming.

There will be a Homecoming Assembly at Evergreen on Friday 10/17/08, I believe that it will start @ 2:00 pm, but call the school to be sure if anyone plans on attending.

The Homecoming Football game will be at Highline Memorial Stadium @ 7:00pm, Friday 10/17/08.
We will be duking it out with the new addition to the Seamount League, The Foster Bulldogs.

Alfred also sends word there’s a new website for Wolverines football. See it here.

Just over the line from White Center, the Highland Park Improvement Club is planning a Dia de los Muertos bash November 1st, and everyone’s invited. See the flyer here.

Dick Thurnau from Friends of Hicks Lake sent word that work on this long-anticipated project has begun in earnest; we went to Lakewood Park to get that photo this afternoon. As he points out, the railings are now off the soon-to-be-ex-dock, and work crews are setting up on the eastern shore. According to the county website, this project is costing about a quarter-million dollars. Meantime, Dick also says Friends of Hicks Lake will meet at 11 am October 27th at the west picnic shelter (10th SW entrance) of Lakewood Park, with the Pomegranate Center scheduled to, as Dick says, “give us insight on how to utilize people and organizations for funding available for Lakewood Park / Hicks Lake improvements.”

One of the unknown duties of running an independent cafe is maintaining a wireless network.  Unlike Starbucks, we have no IT department to turn to when we have computer problems.  We have to learn to manage our networks much as we do the espresso machines.  Not that I mind, I love tinkering in the bowels of these neat machines. In addition to maintaining the WiFi, we also keep a terminal for use by the community.  (So stop by if you need to check your email.)

Like nearly everyone else, we were running our computers on the Microsoft Windows operating system.  About two years ago one of our machines bit the dust.  In an effort to salvage what I could of the computer’s remains, I switched out some parts and decided to load the Linux operating system on the old pc.  Techy customers had told me that Linux consumed much less resources and was much more reliable.   I took the plunge and loaded the Mandrake version of Linux on our public PC.  The system worked great!  Reliable and, unlike Windows, it never crashed.

Next I tried Linux Ubuntu on one of my pcs.  I was hooked.  I liked it so much that I had the Ubuntu folks send me a bunch of disks (they normally run about $2)  and I distributed them to interested customers.  In the interim I became much more adept at Linux and its particular foibles (some of which can be maddening).  I have to say, I am a convert.  Not only can you do anything on Linux that  you would on Windows — it’s all FREE and more reliable.

So, if you are interested in dipping your toe in the open source operating system world, try out Linux.  It will load on top of Windows so you can play with it without actually burning it onto your hard drive.  I recommend Ubuntu but there are other very user friendly interfaces.  And they are almost all Free.  So give it a whirl and maybe you won’t have to shell out $500 for an operating system next time you need to upgrade.

Lots to read through in the county budget proposal from Executive Ron Sims, and some White Center-centric notes already have been featured here. We are continuing to read through the documents (which you can find here) and just hit on one in particular — in the proposed Parks budget, Evergreen Pool could face shutdown at the end of next June unless, as the budget summary language puts it, “King County secures sufficient flexibility and revenue tools from the state legislature to sustain (it).” For now, the $172,000+ that would be saved by closing Evergreen Pool is considered to be in the “lifeboat” — afloat unless that $ doesn’t come through.

Word is that the King County financial crisis is worse than has been represented by Ron Sims. Cuts to the King County Sheriff’s Office will be much more severe than represented. One of the casualties may be Deputy Jeff Hancock, who took over after the death of Steve Cox. The White Center Sheriff’s store-front and Deputy Hancock’s beat may well be on the chopping block. Expect to hear conflicting accounts from the Sims Office and the Sheriff’s Department.

Ok, this is a heavily Democratic neighborhood but there seem to be some Rossi supporters in White Center land?  I am inviting comments on who would be better for White Center, Dino Rossi or Christine Gregoire?  Obviously, we have issues of housing, jobs, health care, affordability, crime, education, sustainability, greenspace etc… And I will gladly share my views.  Forum’s open.  Speak your mind.

After a Democratic get-out-the-vote rally in West Seattle on Saturday morning, canvassers will fan out toward White Center, Burien, and South Seattle, with U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell joining them. More info on the 34th District Democrats’ site.

King County’s current budget woes will have substantial impact on a number of levels, not the least of which is the present and future of unincorporated King County, which is to say White Center. In today’s PI article on the subject the piece end with this, “To keep 39 parks open in urban unincorporated areas, Sims asked the council to maintain those parks for three years with $7.7 million currently set aside as incentives to cities that annex such areas.“

Checking with Audrey at White Center Food Bank, we found out (also posted at partner site WSB) that reservations for this Saturday’s annual Harvest Dinner and Auction for WCFB need to be in by 5 pm today so they can get the catering order in. The Saturday event starts with the silent auction @ 5:30 pm, SSCC’s Brockey Center. Full details here; $60/person, 206/762-2848, or rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org. (A week later, on 10/25, it’s the White Center Community Development Association five-year-anniversary gala – details and ticket info are on the WCCDA site.)

Ricardo first reported this almost two weeks ago – the 16th/Roxbury building, on the market. At the time, he reported it was being “shopped” at $1,700,000. Just happened onto the latest version of its listing – and now the price is $1,400,000.

(Burien Council members, seated tonight in “study session” mode)
From tonight’s Burien City Council meeting: Councilmembers voted to once again proceed with the planned annexation procedure — targeting part of White Center — that ended with the withdrawal of the proposal about a month and a half ago. They described the process as to some degree starting over again from the same point at which they were last spring. Here’s the map of the proposed annexation zone. We’ll be following up tomorrow with Seattle reps and others about what happens next from their standpoint. ADDED LATE MONDAY NIGHT: More details on tonight’s Burien proceedings: Read the rest of this entry »

King County Executive Ron Sims has officially unveiled his budget proposal, and says it balances an expected $93 million-plus deficit. Here’s his news release; you can read the budget summary here. Meantime, County Councilmembers — with elected county leaders including Sheriff Sue Rahr at their side — came out swinging, saying Sims’ plan doesn’t do the job, and relies on money that may not even exist (including future “legislative relief” and concessions in labor contracts). Their statement’s not online yet – read it here: Read the rest of this entry »

Another reminder, 5 days till the White Center Food Bank‘s annual Harvest Dinner and Auction this Saturday @ SSCC – but don’t wait to make a reservation – call or e-mail now. 206/762-2848, rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org – see the full invitation here!