White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Just got this job listing – and White Center Early Learning Initiative executive director Stephan Blanford is casting the net far and wide:

This is one (WCELI Program Director) that we’ve posted before and just haven’t yet found the right candidate. The person who takes the position will have a leadership responsibility for integrating many WCELI services into a seamless whole for the benefit of White Center residents. Requires a self starter, a systems thinker, someone that can build relationships in challenging situations – early learning experience would be a plus, but isn’t essential. Pays well – good benefits.

The job listing is here; you can apply online by going here.

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Ice-cream shop by day, music venue by night – a little shadowy last night as Robotic Daily (among others) played Full Tilt Ice Cream. The brightly lit Apple logo on his laptop tells the tale as much as the sound does. By the way, mark your calendar for a rock ‘n’ roll ice-cream party at Full Tilt — including “prizes for kids dressed in rockin’ Halloween costumes” — 4 pm October 25th, featuring the Not-Its.

Old news to many, perhaps, but we hadn’t really heard a lot about the Technology Access Foundation‘s plans for a learning center in Lakewood Park until a conversation with Friends of Hicks Lake’s Dick Thurnau, following up on some other issues he had surfaced recently, both at the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting and during the annual Hicks Lake cleanup (more later on what he and I discussed). His group enthusiastically supports this plan, which you can read all about on the TAF website. TAF is still in the midst of fundraising and hoping now to break ground in summer of next year. The TAF site says that as of this past May they’d raised about a third of the $15 million they need; we’ll check in with them soon to see where things stand now.

tonight is the Official openign for the Dluks Crew art show hanging at Full Tilt.
myspace. com/DLUKS3CREW

The party begins at 8pm with an acoustic performance by sickeversence. The Dluks Crew is an all female artists collective, and they are looking for memebers. Here is the email they are sending out.

We are looking for Members to join our new group,

Here is information on us and what we do:

We are the Dluks Crew (all female) based out of Seattle,WA

myspace. com/dluks3crew (add us on your myspace!)

(There are not many all girl “crews” in the world so here we are…
we are currently seeking members so if your a female writer,urban photographer
or painter and
would like to join our actual crew,
contact us and we’ll let you know the details!)

We are available for:
• Artwork/graphic design for Clothing
• Custom artwork
• Illustrated logos
• Editorial illustration for print media
• Advertising illustration
• Book jackets
• CD art
• Poster illustration
• Murals / Public art Guerilla Art Marketing

Check out our main founders photos and websites to see our work!

Celebrate the new Greenbridge Library and YWCA Learning Center.
Open House on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 11am!
960 Newport Way NW
Issaquah, WA 98027
www.kcls.org

Bring your friends, family and neighbors and help celebrate the new
community building.
Wednesday, November 5, 11am
9720 Eighth Avenue SW
White Center, WA
Questions, call 425.369.3275.

An update on a story originally published on White Center Now on 9/20:

As you know, in June KCHA submitted an application for $20 million in HOPE VI funds to help support the revitalization of the Park Lake Homes II (PLH II) public housing community. The plan calls for the demolition of the 165 existing public housing units and the redevelopment of the site as housing for 306 families. This housing would include the replacement of all 165 public housing units on-site, as well as 12 additional rental units, 17 Habitat for Humanity affordable homeownership units, and 112 market rate homeownership units. There would be several playgrounds, open space and 6,500 square feet of community center space on the ground floor of a residential building in the center of the site. Plans for the community space – a resource sorely lacking on the site – currently include a large community room, the Neighborhood Networks Center, office and classroom space for service providers, and a satellite office for the King County police. The existing Head Start facility would remain in its present location.

The HOPE VI program has become very competitive on the national level. Many applicants apply for two or three years in a row before their projects are funded. In the 2008 funding round, PLH II competed with 23 other projects vying for the six awards that were made.

I’m very pleased to announce that KCHA has been informed by Senator Murray’s office that PLH II was awarded the $20 million grant for which we applied. Our success is attributable to a number of factors. First is the strong support and advocacy of KCHA by Senator Murray’s office. She has been a tireless ally on every issue involving affordable housing. Second, the quality of the application, including the evidence of resident and community support and a solid Community Support Services program with strong partners, was key to our success in receiving funding as a first-time applicant. And last, but by no means least, KCHA’s accomplishments at Greenbridge under the first HOPE VI grant certainly strengthened the application.

Clearly, receipt of the HOPE VI grant is a critical first step, but now the real work begins! The proposed development schedule calls for relocation of the residents to be completed over the coming year and for construction to begin in the spring of 2010. We will also hold a series of community meetings in the next few months as the more detailed project planning gets underway. You will be notified of these meetings and I urge you to attend and continue your participation in the project’s planning and implementation. Thank you for all your contributions to our success to date and we look forward to your continued support of the project and participation in its success.

If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Nikki Parrott, the project manager (nikkip@kcha.org, 206.574.1222).

Stephen Norman| Executive Director| King County Housing Authority | 600 Andover Park W., Seattle, WA 98188 | Office: 206-574-1190 | Fax: 206-574-1189

Longfellow Creek, which stretches almost all the way to White Center, has some amazing natural areas along the way – and the volunteer forest steward for Delridge Natural Area, Mike Arizona, asked us to invite White Center Now readers to join him in restoration work tomorrow. We posted a story with photos and video on our partner site WSB; you can see it here (including information on where to goand how to help, tomorrow).

That’s the source of $ savings included in a budget announcement from the King County Executive’s office late today; read it here.

From last night’s 34th District Democrats‘ meeting: Volunteers will be going door-to-door this weekend in White Center and southern West Seattle. (Disclosure, the 34th DDs are sponsoring our partner site, West Seattle Blog, this month to get the word out about the sample ballot you can access on their site, to see who and what they have endorsed; you can see it here.)

It’s the big “crosstown” game tonight: Evergreen High School vs. Highline High School, 7 pm, Highline Stadium – the Wolverines are going for their second win. Get out and cheer ’em.

We’ve talked about the county’s serious budget woes, including the public-safety budget challenges that will bring the sheriff, prosecuting attorney, and others to White Center for a town hall meeting later this month. If you want to speak out to other county leaders, six public meetings are set; the closest ones are in Kent and Seattle – read on for full details: Read the rest of this entry »

A customer, on my recommendation. is reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ epic novel, “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”  Readers of the novel know that one of the animating characters in the saga is The United Fruit Company, with its history of neocolonialism and gunboat diplomacy in Central American and the Caribbean (hence “Banana Republics”).   The United Fruit Company renamed itself, Chiquita, after its signature product from Central America, the banana.  My friend brought me the label in the picture accompanying this post.

It may or may not be Palin effect, but I cannot imagine that the marketing department at Chiquita meant to be ironic when they decided to brand each Chiquita banana with a logo that states: “The Food that Fights for You! Chiquita.”   Indeed.  Only recently it was disclosed that Chiquita was making payments to right-wing death squads and leftist rebels in Colombia.  Now, that’s what I call truth in advertising.  Or is it humor?Or perhaps ironic truth?

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Bill Gates‘ dad, William H. Gates Jr. (the younger Gates is actually III), was one of the speakers at today’s groundbreaking for the Educare Learning Center at Greenbridge, next to White Center Heights Elementary – as you can hear, he opened with a quick joke about his legendary offspring, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation he was there to represent. We have a few more video clips from the event, just ahead: Read the rest of this entry »

Reminder!  Please join us to speak up for affordable housing at City Hall tomorrow evening!

Homestead has been working in partnership with the Housing Development Consortium & the City of Seattle on Incentive Zoning legislation. A program is currently under consideration by Seattle City Councilmembers that would provide an incentive to developers who agree to build affordable homes within their developments, or near by. According to this new program, when the City of Seattle allows property owners to build taller buildings and earn more profit, in exchange, they would make a portion of the apartments or condos priced so that people making less than average can afford them.

Homestead would like to steward the ongoing affordability of ownership units produced through this program. Over time, this program could generate hundreds of affordable homes that stay affordable through the land trust.
The City Council needs to hear from you about the importance of this program and why they should vote for it. Please join us at this Public Hearing:

Seattle City Hall
Fifth Avenue between James and Cherry, Seattle, WA 98104

Tuesday, October 7, 4:30PM

If you have never attended a city council hearing, don’t worry, we’ll be there to help navigate! Meet at 4:30 in City Hall’s main lobby near the canoe sculpture to the right of the entrance. I’ll be there to answer any questions you have.

Feel free to pass this on to your friends and neighbors! It would be great to see you there.

Thanks,

Kristin

Homestead Phone: 206.323.1227

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After a series of speeches under a big (and yet standing-room-only) tent next to White Center Heights Elementary, those preschoolers from Learning Way helped U.S. Senator Patty Murray – one of the speakers – ceremonially break ground this morning for the Educare Learning Center at Greenbridge. (Official construction work starts tomorrow, according to WCH Elementary principal David Darling.) Lots more video and info to come.

Just in from King County Sheriff Sue Rahr (left) – plans for a series of town-hall-style meetings to talk about how the county budget crisis will affect public safety. She and other county leaders including Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Bruce Hilyer, and King County District Court Chief Presiding Judge Barbara Linde will be in White Center for one of these meetings at 7 pm October 29, Steve Cox Memorial Park. The announcement says, “Because of an estimated $90 million county budget shortfall, the King County Executive has directed the criminal justice system to take an “across-the-board” budget cut of 11.4% for 2009. These cuts threaten the quality of justice in King County and put the public’s health and safety at risk. Your criminal justice elected officials are hosting a series of town meetings to discuss the issue. It’s critical that your voice is heard.” (Before White Center Now launched in August, we covered an early-warning briefing by Sheriff Rahr in SeaTac on June 21st; see that report, which includes video, here.)

You may have heard about this one over the weekend: This morning, the King County Council will talk about a proposal to get the county out of the animal-services business, after a long-running controversy over the quality of what it’s been providing. White Center’s King County Councilmember, Dow Constantine, was one of three council members who spoke with the media yesterday about the proposal. The council is going to want to hear what you have to say about this, since some of the alternatives raise questions — for example, suggesting that sheriff’s deputies handle some animal-cruelty cases and animal attacks might be controversial in a time when the county is facing budget cuts that threaten its basic powers to fight and prosecute crime. You can watch today’s meeting at 9:30, live online or on cable channel 22; here’s the official news release: Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s magazine section of the Seattle Times takes a look at the history of five fieldhouses built by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in King County, including the one at Steve Cox Park. Here’s the article; lick through the photos to the right of the article — it’s shown in #10 and #11. (The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council continues to raise money for a permanent artwork as a tribute to Deputy Cox at the park, and is now selling tickets to a November 14th fundraising dinner and silent auction that they hope will enable them to proceed with the project; go here to find out how to get tickets.)

There may not have been a lot of vendors, but the ones that were there were great! And they’ll be back tomorrow. Check out my new work shoes, only $15!

Small but spirited group of vendors so far, in the first minutes of Day 1 of the new White Center Swap Meet (in the Southgate Event Center, formerly the Southgate Skate Center on 17th south of Roxbury). Operators asked us to remind you that the authorized participating vendors are all INSIDE – if you encounter anyone trying to sell you anything OUTSIDE, they’re not part of it. It’s open till 7 pm today; day 2 tomorrow is 10 am-4 pm.