White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Two and a half weeks after the double murder in downtown White Center, the King County Sheriff’s Office has identified a suspect and is asking for help finding him. The photo and announcement are just in:

King County Sheriff’s Detectives are asking for the public’s help locating a man who is wanted for shooting and killing two men in White Center earlier this month.

Merle Charles Buchanan, aka Chucky, 26, is wanted for 2 counts of 1st-Degree Murder for shooting and killing 51-year-old Jose Angel Garcia and 45-year-old Paul Victor Tapia outside of Club Taradise in the 9800 block of 16th Ave SW on January 6th.

Around 1 am on January 6th, deputies responded to the area after receiving multiple reports of a shooting outside of the club. When deputies arrived they located the two victims in the parking lot. Garcia died at the scene and Tapia was transported to Harborview Medical Center, where he later died.

During the investigation, detectives identified the suspect in the shootings as Buchanan. Buchanan is known to frequent Burien, Renton and Seattle and detectives believe he is still in the area.

Buchanan is 5’9” and 195 lbs. In addition to the murder warrants, he also has a Felony Domestic Violence No Contact Order Warrant. He should be considered armed and dangerous. If you see Buchanan or know of his location, please do not approach him. You can call 911 or you can remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

The court documents related to the no-contact order say that hours before the shooting, he assaulted a former girlfriend while giving her a ride from Skyway to her home in White Center. She got out of the car in Top Hat and called police. Those documents say that Buchanan’s last-known address is in Auburn. Meantime, we are checking with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to see if there are any documents on file related to the double-murder case.

Thanks to Syd for the tip on this – a house fire on 11th SW, south of SW 112th, is under investigation tonight, in the same block where another house caught fire days earlier. The house is vacant, and no injuries are reported. Investigators at the scene weren’t commenting on the possible cause; we’ll be following up tomorrow.

Annexation doesn’t seem to be on the horizon, but unincorporated North Highline (and other parts of the county) still need services. So King County Executive Dow Constantine has announced this new idea:

Executive Constantine today proposed combining the Department of Permitting and Environmental Review (DPER) with various other County functions to create a new department focused on the needs of the unincorporated areas, including Redmond Ridge, East Federal Way, Fairwood and East Renton, North Highline, Skyway, White Center, and West Hill.

Along with DPER, the proposed Department of Local Services could include:
• Road Services and Airport Divisions of the Department of Transportation,
• Community Service Area program of the Department of Natural Resources and Parks,
• On-site Septic System and Plumbing & Gas Piping programs from the Environmental Health Division of Public Health-Seattle & King County.

“The quarter-million people who live in Unincorporated King County make up what would be the state’s second-largest city, with its own particular challenges and priorities,” said Executive Constantine. “The Department of Local Services will improve how we provide direct and contracted services, including roads, public safety, clean water, and access to opportunity. The department director will have a seat on my cabinet to ensure we bring a focus on performance and accountability to all that we do for the residents of Unincorporated King County.”

The Executive named Harold Taniguchi, Director of the King County Department of Transportation, to manage the transition to the new organization pending the appointment of a Cabinet-level leader reporting directly to the Executive.

“We will be reaching out to residents of unincorporated King County to get their insights on how we can improve customer service and develop accountability and performance measures to better serve them,” said Taniguchi. “As we navigate our way through this process, we will be working closely with our valued employees and their respective unions to ensure a smooth and positive transition.”

The proposal calls for establishing the new Department effective Jan. 1, 2019, on the same date that the Executive has proposed Metro Transit to become a standalone department. Existing revenues could fund the Department of Local Services.

“I am excited, eager, and proud to see the Executive respond to residents in the unincorporated areas and reform how we deliver the services they need and deserve,” said King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, whose district serves a wide area of urban and rural northeast King County. “I look forward to working with him on the creation of a department that can oversee the quality of services for our urban unincorporated and rural residents, and monitor to ensure their proper delivery.”

King County is the local service provider for roughly 250,000 people in the unincorporated areas of the county; taken together, Unincorporated King County would be the second-largest city in the state.

Senior Deputy Executive Fred Jarrett led an internal initiative that studied ways to improve how the county delivers direct and contracted services, including roads, public safety, clean water, and increased access to opportunities.

More details will be addressed in the formal legislation the Executive plans to send in February to the King County Council, and in the development of the Executive Proposed Budget for the 2019-2020 biennium. The Council has the statutory authority for establishing Executive departments, and for adoption of the County budget.

Mark your calendar for January 25th! Here’s how:

An exciting opportunity to support local students:

The New Start Alternative High School Key Club in the Highline School District will again, in conjunction with the Kiwanis Club of White Center, hold its fundraiser; a Taco Bar and Baked Potato Dinner complete with loaded baked potatoes, tacos, chili, salad, beverage and dessert. Entertainment will be a student talent show and musical entertainment. (Staging and sound by TommySound)

The event this year will be Thursday evening, January 25, 2018, running from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at New Start High School in the gym (614 SW 120th in Burien)

TICKETS for the event may be obtained in advance and/or at the door. For the General Public ADULTS are $15 or two for $25 or Family for $25. Kids under 17 at $7 and kids under 5 are free. For New Start students and their families tickets are available at discounted prices.

For addition information and/or ticket purchase please contact any member of the White Center Kiwanis and/or Bill Tracy. The latter may be reached at this email address, billnancytracy@aol.com, or 206-248-2441. We look forward to seeing you there.

The New Start Key Club is part of an international student led organization which provides its members with opportunities to provide service, build character and develop leadership. The Club is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of White Center.

The proprietors of A Dog’s Dream Natural Pet Supply tell WCN they’re expanding to White Center. Their original location is in Georgetown; now they’re getting ready to add a WC store at 9620 14th Avenue SW, which is in the same mini-center as Zippy’s Giant Burgers. They’re hoping to open in about a month.

By Linda Ball
Reporting for White Center Now

If the ’70s vibe is your thing, then you are in for a treat when Dottie’s Doublewide opens in White Center.

Nate Rezac, the pit boss and co-owner of Drunky’s Two Shoes, has partnered up with his old bartending friend B.J. Kaiser, to create a new concept where Zanzibar briefly lived at 9609½ 16th SW. We mentioned Dottie’s briefly two weeks ago, and finally got the chance to talk with them this week.)

Imagine walking into a retro, sort of midcentury-modern-looking doublewide trailer with ’70s art and vintage neon signs decorating the interior. That’s Rezac and Kaiser’s vision. Rezac has an old vintage travel trailer that they plan to cut up. The side with the door will become the façade; so to enter the restaurant you’ll be opening the travel trailer door. The other side of the trailer will be used in the back between the restaurant and the kitchen, so the food will look like it’s coming from a food truck. The back of the trailer, where the taillights are, will be used for beer taps.

To add to the fun, they plan to have a CD jukebox as well as a turntable with real vinyl records to choose from – or bring yours, and they will spin them for you! They plan to have house DJs from time to time, mostly on the weekends.

Rezac has been in the restaurant industry since he was 15-years-old, and creates most of the recipes at his restaurants. With family in Mexico, he knows a thing or two about tacos, and Dottie’s Doublewide will feature more than 20 varieties of tacos. Of course there will be traditional Mexican tacos, but also some with smoked meats from Drunky’s, vegetarian options such as portabella-mushroom tacos, avocado tacos, and egg tacos. As Rezac put it, a really “wide net” of tacos. Additionally, the menu will feature Tex-Mex cuisine, marinated carne asada, and al-pastor (boneless pork shoulder with pineapple).

Happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. will be offered seven days a week with two-for-one margaritas. Rezac and Kaiser will have a full bar with an extensive tequila collection, in addition to beer and house wine, plus a selection of better wines. The retro-style bar will seat 20 patrons, with two 65-inch flat-screen TVs behind it. A projection screen will be positioned opposite the bar on a large wall. They plan to show sports or fun video loops – perhaps vintage themed.

Rezac will have a staff of five at Dottie’s Doublewide. He and Kaiser will be in the house as well. Monday through Friday hours will be 3 p.m. to close, with lunch on the weekends and hours of 11 a.m. until closing. Dottie’s will have a capacity of 80 customers.

Kaiser, who is also a general contractor, has built out several restaurants, and Dottie’s is moving along fast since they weren’t changing uses of the building, thereby avoiding many permitting and county headaches. That said, they expect to be open as soon as February 1.

Just in:

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council will be holding a board meeting on Thursday, January 11, 6:30 pm at White Center Pizza (10231 16th Ave SW). Please feel free to join us for food and to share your community concerns as we move into this new year.

COMMUNITY MATTERS
Be Informed
Be Involved
Be Heard

The Community Advisory Committee for Camp Second Chance, the City of Seattle-sanctioned encampment on Myers Way, continues to meet the first Sunday of each month, and we continue to cover those meetings in order to get updated information about the encampment. Updates this month included the camp population (down a few), a new staffer hired by camp operator LIHI, and a request that the city take care of trash that hasn’t been getting picked up along the road nearby. Our full report is published on partner site West Seattle Blog.

It’s a big weekend for openings around White Center, and here’s another one. Four months ago, as the old McDonald’s at 16th/114th was being demolished, we reported that a company spokesperson told us the rebuilt restaurant would provide “a cutting edge and elevated experience.” Now the golden-arches sign outside declares it’s open, and even without an official tour, some components are visible from outside. The drive-thru has two lanes for ordering. Looking inside, you’ll see two touchscreen kiosks for ordering.

They’re not replacing human help, though – employees were still visible behind the counter, and the company made a chain-wide statement earlier this year about the issue.

1:20 AM: From the scanner: Two people have been shot in the 9800 block of 16th SW. One is reported to have been killed. No word of any arrests so far – we’ve heard talk of a chaotic scene and a possible getaway car. More to come.

2:22 AM: Sheriff’s deputies have 16th SW taped off from 98th to just short of 100th. They’re focused in the same area as last May’s deadly shooting. No one at the scene is commenting so far, though.

3:02 AM: Via Twitter, KCSO confirms that “one male” is dead and “another” is in critical condition.

7:18 AM: More info from KCSO early this morning: The man who was killed was 51; the other man, who was in surgery as of a few hours ago, is 35. KCSO says they were shot outside the Taradise Café. “Detectives believe that the two victims knew each other and that they got into some kind of verbal and physical altercation with an unknown age, race, or build male just before the shooting.” KCSO says few witnesses remained on the scene by the time deputies/detectives arrived.

Meet Patrick Choy, the namesake and proprietor of Patrick’s Café and Bakery at 10003 15th SW, where it’s “soft opening” day. You’ll find not just baked treats…

… but also savory hot food including pot pies centered on fillings such as chicken or Portuguese sausage, plus beef stew and chili.

Some of Patrick’s creations (here’s the menu) are inspired by the flavors of Hawai’i, where he was born into a family that, as explained on the new café’s website, “owned and operated Sam Choy’s Kaloko … a James Beard Foundation: America’s Classics Award-winning restaurant.” He’s been baking since childhood and built a distinguished career including corporate food-and-beverage leadership, then a neighborhood bakery elsewhere in Seattle, and now he has moved to a larger space in White Center. Hours are 8 am-5 pm six days a week (closed Tuesdays) but keep in mind it’s soft-open mode for starters.

Your next feedback opportunity for the planned conversion of Metro Route 120 into the RapidRide H Line starts now. Metro’s “online open house” is live, through January 15th. It starts here. (And remember that next Thursday brings an in-person meeting in White Center – 5-8 pm, Mount View Elementary School, 10811 12th Avenue SW.)

King County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes detectives are investigating a carjacking and assault early this morning in the Super Saver Foods parking lot at 16th SW/SW 106th. It happened just after 1 am, according to KCSO Sgt. BJ Myers, who says the carjacker punched the victim in the face and stole his white 2003 Ford F250 pickup truck, WA plates C67286K. Call 911 if you see it.

From the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council:

Just a reminder. North Highline Unincorporated Area Council will not be holding a meeting on Thursday, January 4. We plan on having a board meeting in January that the public is invited to attend, date and time to be announced. Our regular first Thursday of the month meetings will resume on February 1, 2018.

Our NHUAC coverage is archived here – and you can watch videos of NHUAC meetings here.

New Year’s resolution: Spend more time at the library! Here to help you with that is the lineup of White Center Library highlights for January:

Children & Families

Kaleidoscope Play & Learn-Spanish
Tuesday, January 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, 10:30 am
Newborn to age 5 with caregiver.

Have fun singing songs, telling stories, reading books, creating art and playing. Play & Learn is in English and the facilitator is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Family Story Times
Friday, January 12, 19 and 26, 10:30 am
Ages 6 months to 6 years with adult.

Stories, songs and fun!

Tweens & Teens

Anime Club
Thursday, January 4, 4-5 pm
Middle and high school ages.

Come watch Anime with other kids in the library.

Study Zone
Thursday, January 4, 11, 18 and 25, 5:30-7:30 pm
Monday, January 8, 22 and 29, 5:30-7:30 pm

No Study Zone on January 15.

Need homework help? Students in grades K-12 can get free help at the library from volunteer tutors.

Fun with Yarn
Monday, January 22, 4 pm
All ages welcome.

Let’s make something with yarn! Make pom pom key chains and bag charms. Use yarn and beads to make your own creation, a customized charm on your very own key chain. All supplies provided.

Movie: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Monday, January 29, 4 pm
Middle- and high-school ages.

Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident except for a series of events which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

Snacks provided by the White Center Library Guild.

Adults

Drop In to Learn about eBooks
Friday, January 12, 3-4 pm
Wednesday, January 17, 7-8 pm

Get started with KCLS eBooks! Bring your eReader, tablet, phone or just your questions.

The White Center Library is at 1409 SW 107th. And take note, it’s closing early on New Year’s Eve – 5 pm – and will be closed New Year’s Day.

Ever since noticing brown paper over the windows at Zanzibar (9609 1/2 16th SW), we’d been trying to confirm whether it was closure or remodeling (though the former seemed more likely, given it hadn’t been open that long). Now a notice in the state liquor-license application list appears to have confirmed the former. The new establishment seeking a license for the spot is Dottie’s Doublewide, and the applicants are the owners of Drunky Two Shoes BBQ down the street. More to come.

The snow will soon be just a Christmas memory – so thanks to Gill for sharing photos.

2 1/2 inches of snow at Gill’s place. That was also the official White Center total on this National Weather Service list. The NWS says we might see a little more light snow Tuesday night.

Though it hasn’t been a blizzard, the snow has been steady since mid-afternoon. So a few notes: Metro is on snow routes for its south and southwest areas – that includes White Center, the rest of the unincorporated area, and points south. If you need to ride a bus, check for more details here. … The National Weather Service’s advisory for “winter weather” runs through 10 am Christmas Day, and after that, it’s supposed to warm up, with rain entering the mix.

It’s long been lamented that White Center was without a fixed tribute to perhaps its most legendary son, poet Richard Hugo (1923-1982). Now there’s one on the walls of Mac’s Triangle Pub, where 16th, Delridge, and Roxbury meet, placed there Thursday night during a literary event, “Homage to Richard Hugo Night.” Readers included the organizers Nicholas O’Connell, founder of thewritersworkshop.net, read a Hugo poem in the early going:

White Center resident Jeff Smoot read from his essay, “Finding Richard Hugo in White Center,” which will be published in an upcoming online literary magazine.

Triangle Pub proprietor “Mac” McElroy read a Hugo poem particularly apropos to running a bar:

Smoot is hoping this “might become an annual event that preserves Hugo’s White Center legacy in some way.” That legacy includes a 1980 poetry collection titled “White Center.”

Looking ahead to the holiday, we’re checking around for closure info, and thought you might want advance warning that King County Library System branches (including White Center and Boulevard Park) will be closed Sunday (Christmas Eve) as well as Monday (Christmas Day).