Be’s just opened on 16th in the old Entourage space. It is the same folks who have the Be’s on California. I will post some pics and a review soon.

Knowledge is power, they say. So if you want to stay in touch with who’s building what in your neighborhood, here’s a page to keep an eye on: King County public notices. Checking it today, you’ll see there’s one notice in the White Center area – a decision announced 8/8, allowing a .42-acre lot at 10249 26th SW (map) to be subdivided into three parcels. One more handy link you can use any time to find out who owns a certain property: King County Parcel Viewer.

Happened onto this while chasing something else: The Technology Access Foundation‘s annual Geocache Cup — described by TAF as a “high-tech treasure hunt” — will start at White Center’s Lakewood Park. The Geocache Cup is set for 1-6 pm Sept. 27; registration is open NOW for participants and sponsors – here’s the place to start. If you’re not familiar with TAF, its mission includes “prepar(ing) underserved children of color for higher education and professional success.”

Vashon resident, author and contributor to the Crosscut.com blog, Daniel Jack Chasan, has a couple of informative posts on current developments in White Center. The first post, “Gentrifying White Center” deals generally with the issue of affordable housing and how it is being impacted by gentrification and more specifically by the Greenbridge Project. Greenbridge is housing development of mixed income community taking shape in the old Park Lake housing project site. The model for Greenbridge is the Holly Park development in the Rainier Valley. Chasan points out the paradox that bedevils the economic revitalization of previously poor areas such as White Center. In the process of providing new jobs, businesses and higher income residents the area pushes out the very people who it was designed to assist. In the process, the area loses the flavor that the refugee and immigrant community imparted to the neighborhood. As well, Chasan takes King County to task for reducing the number of affordable housing units. I am not sure that I feel quite as pessimistic about gentrification destroying the character of White Center but Chasan’s concerns are certainly valid.

The second post by Chasan, “Social Progress in White Center” deals more broadly with the various social initiatives by foundations such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The White Center Early Learning Initiative is nicely described. As with the first post, Chasen voices some concern for the changing character of the community. This post is a good primer for anyone wanting to understand some of the dynamics at play in White Center. Unlike the housing issue, it is hard to fault a program that invests heavily in the betterment of children. All the more so, as success would mean that the Initiative would become a model for other communities. In any event both posts are highly recommended reading.

If you vote in person instead of by mail, tomorrow’s the day – 7 am to 8 pm. The “Top 2 Primary” system is now in effect; the county has an FAQ explaining it here. If you’re not sure where to go to vote, look it up here. In state legislative race (all candidates listed here), the 34th District (map) legislators are all running unopposed, but the 11th District (map) races all have at least two candidates each.

Now you can say you’ve seen a 200-pound halibut. Posing with it, Seattle-based fisherman Bill Curtin, husband of Village Green Perennial Nursery proprietor Vera Johnson. He’s back home from fishing in Alaska, and Village Green is selling some of the catch – plus inviting you to a halibut barbecue next month. They’re also selling red snapper (rockfish) – we stopped by for some today and followed Bill down to the basement freezer:

More of the story, just ahead: Read the rest of this entry »

Have you heard about the King County Food and Fitness Initiative? It’s a ten-year program, and White Center is one of the focus communities, along with the neighboring Delridge area in West Seattle. As part of KCFFI, volunteers have surveyed area grocery-store pricing and food availability — and today we have the results of the most recent findings, which include White Center supermarkets as well as others from West Seattle to Burien: Read the rest of this entry »

I miss Lou’s burgers. There, I admit it, I was addicted to their greasy little packets of nutrition. These were not the picture perfect chemical concoctions that passes for sustanance under the rubric of corporate fast food. Sure, White Center now has some genuine burgers. I’m thinking of the cheeseburger and onion ring platter at the Triangle Pub. And not too far away is Zippy’s, where they grind their own chuck. Lou’s satisfied a different need, that primal urge for grease. After consuming a Lou’s burger you knew that you would survive another winter. Plus they had these tasty things that were made from pods that they pull out of the ground in Eastern Washington. I think they call them potatoes. Yup, those were good little burgers.

Spotted this while checking for “next steps” on the ongoing annexation issue: King County’s Boundary Review Board plans a public hearing on the city’s North Highline Annexation proposal at 7 pm September 2, at Riverside Residences in Tukwila (11244 Tukwila International Blvd.; here’s a map). Read the official public-hearing notice by going here.

Click picture to play the video

That’s Alma Villegas, live Friday night on the patio outside Cafe Rozella. More music is ahead for the White Center venues of two other WCN team members – the Rozella schedule is here, the Full Tilt schedule is here. (Any others for us to add to the WCN Events Calendar? Send the info to whitecenternow@gmail.com!)

Just drove by and found that the burger stand is now becoming a Pho joint and a Little Caesar’s. I have no idea when they are opening, I will try and find out more Monday.

.

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.