White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Following up on the deadly shooting we covered Sunday at a 7-11 in Boulevard Park: This afternoon, the King County Medical Examiner identified the man who was shot – described as having been masked, and armed with a hatchet – as 43-year-old Steven Blacktongue. His cause of death: Multiple gunshot wounds.

Our news partners at The Seattle Times have reported some details of Blacktongue’s criminal record, in this story. They also report that the man who shot Blacktongue, who allegedly had first threatened the customer and then attacked the store clerk, is declining interview requests. He has not been publicly identified.

Besides what The Times reported about the man who was killed, city and county records show that Blacktongue was arrested for domestic-violence assault on February 26th in Seattle and spent a day and a half in the King County Jail before being released. The court documents from that arrest list Blacktongue as living in South Park. While the incident is not detailed in the documents we’ve found so far, the victim is listed as an 18-year-old man to whom Blacktongue is related. Blacktongue was released on personal recognizance and ordered to return to court on March 28th.

More than 34,000 homes and businesses are already out around the Seattle City Light service area, including parts of White Center – see the latest outage map here. If you’re not on it, call 206-684-3000. Trees are falling in many areas and have even killed one person (in Seward Park) when a tree fell on her car – don’t go out if you don’t have to, until this calms down.

(Photo courtesy Alisha)

8:13 AM: The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a deadly shooting in Boulevard Park this morning. KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West tweeted that she was on the way to 8th South/South 110th and that the early reports indicate it involved a “customer shooting hatchet-wielding masked man.”

9:31 AM: Just talked with Sgt. West at the store (will add video when we have it uploaded). She said the call came in around 5:45 am. The man who fired the shot(s) was getting coffee when the masked man came in. The man with the gun was carrying it legally, she said.

(WCN photo)
11:11 AM: While we were at the store, the King County Medical Examiner was on the scene to take away the body. Meantime, here’s what Sgt. West told us:

If you can’t play the video – Sgt. West says there was “no indication of wrongdoing” on the part of the 60-year-old store customer who shot the man – he’s a regular customer who had a concealed-pistol license – but the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will ultimately get the case for review.

11:30 AM: A news release sent by Sgt. West after our interview added two more details: The clerk, 58 years old, has a minor abdominal injury from the hatchet attack; the suspect is believed to be in his 40s but hadn’t yet been identified as of midmorning.

Something fun to get on your calendar for next month and beyond – a new series of “Seattle Icon” flavors that White Center-founded Full Tilt Ice Cream is about to launch. And it starts with a celebration of libraries – especially the new one in the works for White Center! – check the special event mentioned in the announcement:

Full Tilt Ice Cream is launching the Seattle Icon series this spring and summer. This series will pay homage to the people, places, and events that have made Seattle the amazing place that it is. The series will run from April to September, and span both living and existing icons as well as Icons from Seattle’s rich past. The flavors will be available in the 4 Full Tilt scoop shops for one week only.

The first Icon in the Series is going to be Nancy Pearl, Seattle’s librarian. This will coincide with National Library Week. A portion of the proceeds will be going to the White Center Library Guild to help with the new library being built. Nancy has requested a peanut butter ice cream with a fudge swirl. She will also be a guest scooper at Full Tilt’s White Center location April 16th, at 2 pm. The White Center library is also going to unveil pictures of the yet unfinished library. Future Icons in the series will include Mudhoney, the Space Needle, Richard Hugo, Sub Pop, Frances Farmer, Easy Street Records, August Wilson, and many others.

Full Tilt Ice Cream is a family-owned ice cream shop that started in White Center, Washington in 2008. All of Full Tilt’s ice cream is produced using local cows, and as many local ingredients as possible. Now with over 30 flavors in pints available at grocery stores all over the Pacific Northwest, and hundreds of flavor possibilities at the local scoop shops as well as restaurants and hotels around town.

The first special flavor will be available starting April 11th, FT tells WCN.

Governor Inslee has signed SB 5864 into law. That’s the bill that would divert millions of dollars in state sales-tax money to the City of Seattle to cover the costs of annexing unincorporated North Highline (see its history here). We first reported the bill’s passage last week. Seattle’s annexation point person Kenny Pittman had told a West Seattle community council last month that it was progressing through the Legislature and that its finalization had to happen before the city would consider proceeding with the proposed annexation.

Next step: Activating the city’s on-hold application to the King County Boundary Review Board. We’ll be checking this morning on the timeline for that.

(WCN photo, February 18th)

Just in from the King County Sheriff’s Office:

King County Sheriff’s Fire Investigators arrested two teens this morning for the arson that occurred February 18th at Cascade Middle School. The two boys, both 17 years old, were booked in the Youth Services Center for Investigation of Arson, Burglary and Vandalism.

One of the boys was arrested just before 8 am at the Evergreen Campus, where he attends school. The other was arrested at his house in the White Center area.

Detectives said the pair broke into Cascade Middle School after midnight on February 18th, vandalized the school, and started at least 2 fires.

Thanks to Gill for the photo and report about a new White Center eatery: “Saigon Corner on the SW corner of 15th/100th is now open. Nice, comfy space inside. Besides the cooked food, they sell other snack food.”

Two developments regarding the possibility of Seattle annexing what’s left of unincorporated North Highline:

TAX CREDIT PASSES: The bill that would provide funding for the costs of annexation, by diverting some state sales tax to an annexing city, passed the State House on Tuesday, 64-33 (with both representatives from this district, Rep. Eileen Cody and Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, voting yes). It had already passed the Senate – where it was sponsored by the 34th District Senator Sharon Nelson – so the final step is for it to be signed into law.

‘IF’ GATHERING ON MARCH 17TH: We don’t know where this has been officially announced, but we just happened onto it via social media – the City of Seattle’s annexation point person Kenny Pittman is hosting a conversation at Dubsea Coffee in Greenbridge at 5:30 pm on March 17th, “If White Center Were to Become a Seattle Neighborhood.” Here’s the Facebook event page, which says a county representative will be there too – e-mail Pittman at kenny.pittman@seattle.gov with questions. He had told a West Seattle community council earlier this year that the prospect of moving ahead with annexation was on hold pending the passage of the aforementioned tax-credit bill, but that if all factors aligned, the issue could be sent to North Highline voters as soon as next year.

This Thursday, the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council invites you to its March meeting. From NHUAC’s Barbara Dobkin:

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council Meeting
When: Thursday, March 3rd @ 7 pm
Where: North Highline Fire Station (1243 SW 112th Street – parking and entrance is in the back)

Please join NHUAC for an informative community meeting as we learn about an important way to help brighten North Highline’s future. The meeting will begin with videos about the Fair Housing Act and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2015 rule, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. We hope you will join us Thursday night as we begin this educational journey toward community empowerment.

Another new White Center business – Cascade Heights Veterinary Center:

Cascade Heights Veterinary Center has officially opened its doors to the South Seattle community. The clinic is located next to the Hung Long Asian Market and across from Big Al Brewing. The owner and primary veterinarian, Dr. Kathleen Paulson, has been practicing medicine for almost ten years – the last four of which have been under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Kraabel and Dr. Elizabeth Fritzler at Lien Animal Clinic in West Seattle.

Dr. Paulson says, “From the age of 8, my dream was to be a veterinarian. Now that I have achieved that goal, my dream is to help as many pet patients and their families as I can. Opening a practice in such a wonderfully diverse and growing community is an amazing opportunity and one I take great pride in.”

Cascade Heights Veterinary Center is open six days a week, and is equipped to provide high quality medicine to dogs, cats, and small furry mammals. Designated dog and cat waiting areas help ease stress for you and your four-legged family members.

The address is 9832 15th SW.

(UPDATED FRIDAY AFTERNOON with victim’s identity)

ORIGINAL 9:54 PM REPORT: King County Sheriff’s Office reports one person shot near 9th SW and SW 100th. We’re on our way to find out more.

10:53 PM: We just talked with KCSO spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West at the scene – here’s the video:

She confirms the victim is dead – still in the street, wrapped in a tarp. She says he’s a black man who appears to be in his 40s. Detectives are just starting their investigation so the intersection of 9th and 100th will be closed for a while, and they won’t be calling the Medical Examiner to get the victim’s body until they are done with their work.

A nearby resident tells us he heard two gunshots around 9:10 pm.

12:41 AM: Sgt. West now says the victim appears to be “late 30s – early 40s.”

2:41 PM: Just checked with Sgt. West and she says there’s no official new information. (See the comment section for updates from nearby resident RJ.)

3:25 PM: The King County Medical Examiner has identified the victim as 42-year-old James Nickerson, Jr.; cause of death, “multiple firearm injuries.”

6:43 AM: From King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Cindi West:

Just before 1 am, King County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a burglary alarm at Cascade Middle School in the 11200 block of 10 Ave SW in White Center.

When deputies arrived, they found at least 2 windows had been broken out and it appeared the suspect(s) were still inside the school. The suspect(s) ran as deputies entered the school.

While searching the school, deputies found 2 small fires that had been set. (North Highline Fire District) responded to extinguish the fires.

King County detectives are investigating the burglary and arsons and said the school had been broken into once before within the last couple of weeks. A fire had been started at that break-in also.

10:12 AM UPDATE: We went by the school, which is open. Out front, we saw both the “ARSON” sign shown atop this story, and the multiple school-security cars in the photo above this line. We’ll be following up with KCSO later today.

After five years, Company Bar in downtown White Center will close in two weeks, its proprietor Jesse Lovell just announced via this Facebook post:

Ok folks. Here goes. It has been an amazing five years serving this community, being a part of this community and growing with this community and I am endlessly grateful to all of you who have been a part of my life here at Company Bar in beautiful downtown White Center. I’m guessing you know where this is going, if you don’t know already, but it’s true, Company Bar is closing.

This has been an extremely difficult and painful decision for me to make, but it is the right choice for me and my daughter. Anyone who knows me understands that I have given this bar everything I have and more, but the circumstances of my life are such that I can’t give it everything it needs and it is time for me to step away. I am so proud of what we as a community have built here: our softball team, Rat City Recon, Rat City Royals, the concerts, the fundraisers, the art shows, the friendships formed, the eating and drinking and good times and all of the rock and roll. So much rock and roll. It has been a wild ride, to say the least, and it hurts my heart to walk away, but please trust that this is the right thing for me and the right thing for the bar.

I am currently considering some attractive offers and I’m confident that the right person or people will take the reins. February 29th will be our last day and I will do everything I can to facilitate a smooth transition for the bar to reopen quickly under new ownership. Until then, it will be business as usual. A huge thanks goes out to my fiercely loyal crew and together we are going to pack as much fun as we can into these next two weeks and we hope you join us in closing this chapter with a bang.

Love always,
Jesse

Company opened to much acclaim in January 2011.

(WCN photo)
2:03 PM: Big fire response in Top Hat this afternoon, at the convenience store in the 11000 block of 1st Avenue South. Along with North Highline Fire District, the Seattle Fire Department sent help via mutual aid. Our crew is there and says there’s not much damage visible from outside but crews are using fans to ventilate the mini-mart. Also, SW 112th is blocked right now because of the response. Regional media is at the scene too and we’re expecting a briefing shortly with details of what happened.

2:27 PM: Firefighters tell us that the fire involved vehicles behind the mini-mart, which explains why nothing’s obvious from the front. Our crew is finding out more from the chief at the scene right now.

ADDED: From comments – Erik’s video taken early on during the fire:

Thanks to Gill for the tip – we just checked out a crash that blocked northbound 16th SW for a while at the intersection with SW 102nd. King County Sheriff’s Deputies told us at the scene that four vehicles were involved but no one was seriously hurt. Right now, as of 3:40 pm, they’re about to tow the last vehicle, so the intersection should be fully open again shortly.

P.S. Breaking-news tips for White Center (and West Seattle) are welcome at any time – text or call 206-293-6302 – thank you!.

No voting for this area today, but the King County Elections ballot van is at Greenbridge as usual, until 8 pm – just over the line in the Seattle Public Schools district, today is a special election for two levies. We stopped by to photograph Joe and Mary at the van, 9720 8th SW; as of noon, they had received 49 ballots.

From Southwest Little League – it’s signup day!

Registration for the Southwest Little League begins Saturday, February 6th and 13th, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, at the Log Cabin at Steve Cox Memorial Ball Park. All boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 16 are welcome. If your child lives or attends school between SW Juneau St. and 128th St. SW you are probably within the Southwest Little League boundary! Divisions include T-Ball, Coach-Pitch, Minors, Majors, 50/70 and Juniors. Tryouts for Minor & Major divisions will be held Saturday, February 20th, 2016, at Steve Cox Memorial Ball Park. Please visit www.southwestlittleleague.org for more information about signing up for Southwest Little League.

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

Tonight’s meeting of the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council focused on future planning for not only the southernmost part of the area the group covers, but also White Center, since the group – WWRHAH for short – thinks the two areas should be looked at as potentially one, given the possibility of annexation.

During the meeting, new information about that possibility came to light. Kenny Pittman, long a City of Seattle point person on annexation, said it looks like the State Legislature is going to pass a new tax-credit incentive for annexation – higher than the previous one; he said it’s made it out of the Senate and is expected to win passage in the House.

If that is finalized – and if the Seattle City Council votes to pursue annexation – he expected it could go to a vote in North Highline as soon as November 2017. But the council isn’t necessarily a lock; underscoring that, the new West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember, Lisa Herbold, was in the audience. Her position toward annexation during the campaign was less than enthusiastic.

In the meantime, the proposal has been introduced to the King County Boundary Review Board but won’t be moved forward in the process until and unless the tax credit is finalized, Pittman said.

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council president Barbara Dobkin, at the WWRHAH meeting as was NHUAC board member Pat Price, told Pittman he needed to come to this community with an update, since even the tax-credit status was news to them.

The first Thursday of the month brings a board meeting for the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council this month, rather than a full-scale community meeting. Announced by president Barbara Dobkin:

North Highline Unincorporated Area Council will not be holding a regular monthly meeting on Thursday, 2/4. We will instead be holding a board meeting at White Center Pizza at 6:30 – the public is invited. We will resume our regular monthly meetings on Thursday, March 3. Please check the NHUAC website for details: northhighlineuac.org
WC Pizza and Spaghetti House is at 10231 16th SW.

An inspiring and emotional art show is on the way to White Center, per this announcement:

Art Gallery: Stories of Refugees and Immigrants

Dubsea Coffee
9910 8th Ave SW

Reception: February 11th 6-9PM, Gallery: February

The “visual stories” in this exhibit bear witness to the memories, struggles and dreams of refugees, asylees and immigrants of diverse ethnicities who now call White Center home. Their paintings illustrate that emotions conveyed and evoked by a single image can tell a story of a thousand words, build bridges of understanding and promote peaceful coexistence.

Thanks to a generous grant from 4Culture; the leadership of White Center Community Development Association, King County Library System and Network for Integrating New Americans; and the support of our visual storytelling workshop hosts at South Seattle College, New Futures Arbor Heights, King County Housing Authority Seola Gardens, Cascade Middle School and Highline College, we were able to offer a series of eight workshops to representatives of White Center’s foreign-born communities.

Initially, workshop participants questioned why anyone would care about their stories. Yet the more they reflected on the often daunting challenges they had overcome, the more their self-confidence grew. Soon, they began to believe in the power of their (visual) voices. Their stories did matter. In fact, they could help those who would follow in their footsteps as well as those who continue to face human rights abuses and/or extreme poverty in their native lands.

This exhibit offers never-before-seen glimpses into the life-stories of White Center’s refugees and immigrants. Drawn into their inner worlds, we receive clues to what it’s like to leave—or be forced to flee—one’s native land and rebuild one’s life in a foreign country. After reflecting on the paintings and accompanying captions, you too will be moved to honor the courage, resilience and irrepressible hope of those who contributed, often bravely.

At the end of the exhibit you will find a brief feedback form. We would be grateful if you could share your reactions and offer any words of encouragement for the workshop participants.

Finally, we would like to thank Dubsea Coffee for hosting this exhibit through the end of February. Please join us 6:00-9:00 pm, Friday, February 11, for the reception, an opportunity to learn more about the workshops and hear from some of the participants.

Erika Berg
Workshop Facilitator and Guest Curator