Till 7 tonight, 12th SW is shut down between Mount View Elementary and Mount View Presbyterian for the Back-to-School Block Party we told you about earlier this week. We stopped by around 4 o’clock to see how it was going; more photos ahead: Read the rest of this entry »

The Music Nights at Cafe Rozella continue with some outstanding performers. Performances start at 7 p.m. on Fridays. Alma Villegas brings her sultry voice to an exquisite and passionate selection of Latin favorites. Friday August 15th at 7 p.m. Cafe Rozella is located at 9434 Delridge Way SW (just north of Roxbury Ave. SW). Admission is free.

As the mercury rises, lots of people – maybe even you, if you read this hours after we write it – are out doing hard work in the heat. While adding links to White Center Now sidebars this past week, we noticed County Executive Ron Sims has a blog (it’s in our Your Government links). He’s got a new entry today, about day laborers, and how he believes they should be treated. Read it here.

If you didn’t see it in the left sidebar’s MORE LOCAL NEWS area (other sites’ White Center mentions) – check out this article declaring Thai Thai a “Dining Deal.”

By Kyla Woodall, New Start student

Over the course of six weeks, my classmates and I worked together to learn about the world around us. We discovered all about invasive plant life and how they affect our community. We broadened our minds in learning about new ways to help our environment by composting, recycling, and picking up the garbage that litters the streets. Even during the summer Samantha Rost came up to Ann Magyar (a teacher at New Start) and said “You know I am almost annoyed with you because now that I learned about native and invasive plants I really see them everywhere”, It was an engaging experience that helped us to develop an interest for improving our community. I feel that by attending this program, we have become more aware of our surroundings and how we make an impact on our global community and the future for our children and our children’s children.

This all started when Mark Farrell, a King County Education Employment Specialist and New Start partner, received a grant from the King County Natural Resource Stewardship Network with funds from The King Conservation District, the Forest Service and King County. As a class, we identified the invasive plants in Salmon Creek Park and removed them. Besides removing the invasive plants, we also did a lot of our own planting in our school’s raised bed planters. Soon New Start and its neighbors will have a crop of tomatoes, bush beans, turnips, beets, and other produce. Throughout the program we worked with people whose careers focus on the environment. People who came to see our final presentation stated, “In the beginning it looked as if it would take five years to finish what you guys accomplished in 6 weeks.” I feel that we really did quality work. We did everything by hand; it was very hard but rewarding at the same time.

Also in the class, we learned about this wonderful thing called compost. Before the program many of us had no prior knowledge as to what compost was, and after completing the program, we were all motivated to have our own compost at home. It was satisfying knowing that we could help to improve our environment just by separating our garbage. We did our part by reusing plastic bottles to drink water from, and when we were down at Salmon Creek Park we looked for trash to separate and recycle.

Some of us are going to return this summer and help build the native plant nursery, to help benefit the community even more than we already have. The New Start nursery will be part of the classes, and the plants will be transplanted to Salmon Creek Park. The students are also going to be doing a composting program on the school campus.

This program has really helped to shape us as individuals, as well as team members. It was a very engaging and worthwhile course that opened our eyes to new experiences and different ways that we could help our community, in more ways that we ever thought possible.

So I went down and tried Al’s beers when everything was quiet. At the moment he has two offerings, an Irish Red, and an Abbey Wheat. Both are non-traditional styles, and it is nice to see something different from a Northwest brewer.

The Abbey Wheat; This is not a pale ale. I think it is awesome that someone is brewing something a little different. Personally, I love Abbey beers and I found this one very light and drinkable. By that I mean I could see drinking a lot of them on a hot day.

The Irish Red; I don’t know a lot about this style. It is very malty and seems more like a brown ale to me, but the only other Irish Red that I have had was a crappy Busch version of the style, and the only thing red about that was the label. Al’s beer is big but not over powering. That is a hard line to walk and he seems to have done it just fine.

The outside is pretty much the same as the old Pac Rim. Not that it’s a bad thing. I loved the Rim, and missed having a patio that I drink on. Inside, it is still a little sparse, but I am sure that will change. The lovely wine accent paper is gone. I wished I could have salvaged it before it went into the dumpster.

So all in all I give Big Al a big Thumbs up. He is having his first tap night at Beveridge Place in West Seattle tonight. Go down and ask him when he is going to make an IPA.

Beveridge Place Pub – Brewer’s Night

big al and the crew will be at Beveridge starting at 7 pm tonight, 8/14/2008. This is Big Al Brewing’s first event outside the brewery, and we couldn’t be more excited. We’ll have both of our beers on tap and there will be raffles for big al give aways.

Location : Beveridge Place Pub map
When : 7 pm until Big Al can’t take any more!

Evergreen Pool is likely to be one of the most popular places in the area today, tomorrow, and Saturday (here’s the pool schedule – there’s a $2 public swim 7-8 pm tonight – and here’s a map), with temperatures expected into the 90s. Breathing may be a challenge for those with asthma and other conditions; the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has just posted a Smog Watch for the entire metro area (all of King County and three other counties). Stay safe! P.S. We checked with fellow WCN Team member FullTilt re: what’s new at their ice-cream/pinball shop (9629 16th SW) – latest flavors: “Horchata flavored ice cream, as well as The Memphis King, peanut butter, banana, and chocolate covered bacon” – open till 10 pm tonight.

Tonight at the 34th District Democrats‘ meeting in West Seattle, guests included Seattle City Council president Richard Conlin. During Q&A, Dr. Arun Jhaveri asked Conlin about the status of potential White Center annexation. Here’s exactly how Conlin answered:

“The Council has adopted a Comprehensive Plan policy that says we are open to the annexation of that area. We have not been able to come to agreement with the city of Burien on how that’s going to work, and unfortunately the Legislature has approved a sales tax credit if Burien annexes … it’s structured so that it doesn’t apply to cities over 40,000 population … The problem is, (for Seattle to annex) we would need to have some kind of credit. The important thing from my perspective is that people in that area should have the right to make the decision on where they want to go, Burien or Seattle.”

FullTilt discussed a thought-provoking P-I article yesterday about small businesses (see his post here). Today, another one from the P-I that deserves attention – we also posted about it on WSB because White Center and West Seattle are both featured – a close-up look at gang life all around the greater metro area, north to south. The accompanying photo gallery follows a group of youths through one night at Evolucion last month.

From Youngstown, a benefit for after-school programs on August 21, 2008.
SKIFFLE: A BENEFIT FOR YOUNGSTOWN’S ALL ACCESS PROGRAM
August 21
Doors open at 6 PM; show at 7 PM
$25 suggested donation

What’s a skiffle? Skiffle, an antiquated slang term for “rent party,” is derived from the fringe American art form comparable to jug band music. “Skiffle” music was developed during the early 1900s in New Orleans. Here in Seattle in 2008, Skiffle means an opportunity for local artists to come together, jam out and present collaborative visual art and musical performances to raise money for Youngstown All-Access, our after school programming in partnership with Rock School, Arts Corps and the Service Board.

During the day, eight teams comprised of community members, local artists and bands will create a work of art out of a blank canvas including guitars and basses. These masterpieces will be auctioned off the same night and accompany performances from The Boogilistics, Camille Bloom & Recovery, Scribes, and very special guests Bison, featuring members from Pearl Jam, The Presidents of the United States of America, Guns N’ Roses, and the Dusty 45’s, as well as artists and students from Arts Corps, Rock School and the Service Board.

Presenting agency Blank Canvas seeks to inspire self-expression and impact communities through art and collaboration, producing “Artist Throwdown” events to bring communities together to create spontaneous and collaborative paintings all in one day, in one place, in the service of charity.

The White Center Library Guild’s inviting you to an evening of “family fun” tonight at the Summer Readers’ Party. Snacks ‘n’ prizes! 7 pm in the library meeting room; more info here.

There is an article in today’s PI that was brought to my attention this afternoon. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/374509_retail12.html The gist of it is that small business is being shoved out of the Seattle area in favor of “big box” and national chain stores. It mentions West Seattle and other neighborhoods that are being impacted by dense development.

This is not just happening in Seattle. Neighborhoods across the country are increasingly being homogenized with Starbucks, Gaps, and the random Jamba Juice. Developers can get more money out of national chains, and there is little risk of Gap not being able to pay the rent. That leaves small business out of business though.

I was drawn to Seattle because of the amount of small funky shops and restaurants. My first neighborhood that I lived in was Capitol Hill with the Globe Café, and then to Belltown with the Cyclops Café, before it became a yuppie haven with 18 dollar omelets. LA, years before I was born, invented the strip mall. LA’s Sprawl is legendary, and with all those chain stores came the decimation of local flavor. Just like Seattle, LA skipped its “ethnic” neighborhoods, leaving Echo Park, Olvera Street, Venice Beach, and Little Saigon intact. Downtown Seattle is now finally rid of its local business. 1^st ave has rents around 9 dollars a square foot, meaning Mom and Pop are not opening a stand there. Developers rarely want to take a risk on a first time entrepreneur. Look around Ballard and Wallingford and see what has happened there. Bahn 88 would never happen in the new 2600 building downtown.

Even if they could afford the rent, developers would much rather take the sure shot with Whole Foods than gamble on a local business. West Seattle is quickly falling to the same developers’ thumbprint as this article points out.

White Center is one of the last places in the area where individuals are even allowed to open a business. This creates a wonderful potential here. There are rumors of a hipster men’s salon and a funky bakery that now calls Pike Place Market home moving into White Center. With our low density, we are left alone by the condo developing crowds. Our area and its lack of development has actually
fostered the growth and flavors of many ethnic groups, but it is a delicate balance. A balance that could quickly shift if developers are brought in.

Seattle has plans for White Center that are a lot different then the plan they had for Belltown. White Center is a potential site for a jail, and a Cabrini Green style ghetto that would decimate the growth that has been happening around here. No one is going to take a chance of sinking their life savings into an area of Seattle that Mayor Nickels wants to use as his poor folk dumping ground. With annexation will come more payday loan shops, 40 ounce convenience stores, cheap bars, and a few more pawn shops to round out the mix.

In reply to some of the comments regarding my post on the search for the Great Burrito, here is my reply.  Sam, as far as Vegetarian fare goes, almost all Mexican restaurants usually have some nice dishes that fully fill the nutrition bill.  Guaymas has some excellent veggie dishes and also serves whole black beans so that would be my first choice for Veggie food, although you will find some good tortas at La Fondita (taco trailer).   I agree that some of the other restaurants have excellent food as well but I was really interested in the “grab & go” variety.  Given that the burrito is perfect for this purpose, and that I love them, I focussed on them but there are other Latin American restaurants that serve great fare, most prominently  the Salvadorean Bakery. No disrespect meant for those not mentioned.

In my next search I will explore the Vietnamese cousin of the burrito:  the Vietnamese Sandwich (that which feeds those of us with quarters snatched from the sofa cushions).   I invite your observations on the best Vietnamese Sandwich in WC.   Let the games begin!

Ron Richardson, long-time White Center resident, stopped by the cafe and informed me that he had recently posted a history of White Center at the Washington State History website “HistoryLink.” The post can be accessed at the following site: www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=8616. The history is comprehensive and goes all the way to the present. Strongly recommend it.

We just got a note from Roxanne announcing a Back-to-School Block Party this Friday, 3-7 pm at Mt. View Elementary and Mt. View Presbyterian Church, on 12th SW between SW 108th and 110th. Families are invited to come enjoy the party and get school supplies, with a limited number of backpacks available too, courtesy of these community organizations: Yes Foundation of White Center, World Vision, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, Child Care Resources, White Center Community Development Association, Family Connection, Mount View PTA, North Highline Fire Department, Mt. View Presbyterian Church.

Most of White Center is part of the 34th Legislative District, and its biggest political group – the 34th District Democrats – have a high-profile candidate visiting tomorrow night (the primary election is just one week from today), plus an update on the jail-sites fight. In addition, next Monday, Sustainable West Seattle is holding a regional potluck, extending the invite to not only White Center residents interested in sustainability, but also to members of neighboring Sustainable Burien. Here are details on both: Read the rest of this entry »

Rick stopped by the shop the other night with a request for donations for the up coming food bank auction. He also told me that business was up, which isn’t a good thing in the food bank business. With the economy going down the tubes, and hundreds of our neighbors on the brink of losing their homes, Rick is busier then ever. So if you have a business that can donate goods or services, get in touch with him. Also, think about giving before October. They have a handy little link that will let you donate on line.

http://www.networkforgood.org/donation/ExpressDonation.aspx?ORGID2=91-1167830

Just in from the King County Public Health department – a $2 million grant to help people who live in Greenbridge and High Point expand their physical activity and social connections. Here’s the full news release: Read the rest of this entry »

If there’s anything that I am an expert on it is burritos: the kind of Tex-Mex hearty burritos that come wrapped in white flour tortillas and do not have the pretense of yuppie “wraps.” Hell, I was eating burritos when I was a baby. My mom would dump a cheese & bean burrito into the blender and then feed it to me with a side of jalapeños. Later I was inaugurated to tripe and brain barbacoa burritos. So I know of what I speaketh.

We in White Center are blessed with a bounty of Mexican and Latin American restaurants. Way back in time when White Center actually lived up to its reputation as Rat City I discovered Taqueria Guaymas on the corner of 17^th and Roxbury. Guaymas serves mission-style burritos which, strictly speaking are not actually a Mexican product. Mission-style burritos originated with California’s Chicano community. These burritos are defined by their hefty girth and the prodigious helping of rice and beans. In this regard, Guaymas makes the best mission style burrito around, Spanish rice, whole beans and your choice of fillings. Guaymas has locations in more upscale neighborhoods but the original one is still the best, especially when it comes to authentic meats.

At the other end of the spectrum is the taco trailer between 15^th and 16^th Avenue SW, otherwise known as Taqueria La Fondita. The burritos here leave good grease stain on your plate and hefty piece of lead in your belly. In other words, this is the real deal, Tex-Mex burritos as I recall them. Unlike mission-style burritos, these are not as packed with carbs but what they lack in grains they make up in flavor. You can taste this morning’s huevos rancheros in the grease they use to fry the carnes for your burrito. This is the stuff you eat when you need to cure a Tequila hangover. The salsa they use is nothing to write home about, but the side of grilled carrots and jalapeños is excellent.

More recently El Paisano, WC’s great Mexican butcher shop, has opened a restaurant by the same name close to the intersection of 15^th and Roxbury. The meats used are excellent and include my favorite barbacoa de chivo (goat meat barbeque). These burritos are more authentically Mexican. The red meats are succulent and leave no doubt that these were made with a very fine grade of meat. The roasted chickens are coated in a red adobo sauce that permeates the chicken with a subtle spicy flavor. The red salsa is excellent and is strongly recommended.

If you want to explore there are more Mexican and Latin American restaurants in White Center. I did not review these others, because they are somewhat outside of my orbit and are more in the nature of sit-down restaurants; these include Restaurante Del Rio and Viva Mexico (both on 17^th Ave. SW). In any event, it’s hard to go wrong when it comes to burritos at WC.

From the Seattle Times: King County Public Health authorities have for the first time studied its Pacific Islander residents as a distinct group, and announced the results at this weekend’s festival in White Center. As the paper reported, some of the findings are “grim,” but community advocates hope the study will be a tool to help them move forward with education and prevention.