White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Another new restaurant is on the way to White Center. Veronica Weaver, proprietor of the Charlie’s Buns N’ Stuff food truck, is opening a restaurant at 1521 SW 98th St., Suite D, next week. That’s two doors east of Pho Tai. Starting September 25th – one week from today – Charlie’s Restaurant will be open seven days a week, 11 am-7 pm. The food truck has specialized in cheesesteaks and “gourmet half-pound burgers.”

UPDATE: Looks like the hours have changed a bit – Tuesdays-Sundays, 11 am-9 pm.

We know more today about the 36-year-old woman jailed for investigation of multiple White Center arsons – such as, she has “a flame on (her) right arm.” That’s from the section of the police report where suspects routinely are described. She appeared in the jailhouse courtroom this afternoon, where bail was set at $30,000, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Court documents describe the five fires she is accused of setting late Sunday night/early Monday morning. Two were at Samway Market; two others in dumpsters in a nearby alley; and the fifth was in a recycling bin outside the Mac’s Triangle Pub in South Delridge, across Roxbury from the south edge of White Center. Court documents say she was identified via surveillance video that shows her lighting multiple fires, and that she has been arrested for arson in the past; she allegedly told investigators that “voices in her head told her to (set) the fires because they were pretty,” the crime report says. Prosecutors will decide by week’s end on whether to file formal charges.

The new King County Sheriff’s Office Storefront Deputy for White Center, Bill Kennamer – introduced at this month’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting (WCN coverage here) – reports the arrest of an arson suspect. After what he describes as “several” arsons this past weekend, “today at about 11, Master Police Office Spence found and arrested the suspect in these arsons. The Arson Investigators responded and the suspect admitted to lighting the fires. She was booked into the King County Jail on 4 counts of Arson 2nd Degree.” Thanks to a reader tip, we know one of the fires was at the Samway Market on 15th SW late last night. We’re following up in search of more information.

The annual Street Fair at Holy Family Church and School starts at 11:30 am today and continues through 8 tonight, then on Sunday from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. On the west side of the church, 20th SW will be closed south of SW Roxbury, and that’s where you’ll find vendors, entertainment, and more. No charge for admission – but bring $ for food/drink and raffles, among other things.

ADDED 4:38 PM: Stopped by for a few photos! Above, that’s Gabe Alisna from Dignity Memorial. Below, a familiar sight on the Holy Family grounds:

We also found the Seattle Fire Department’s Engine 11 visiting – popular with kids:

From the White Center Eagles:

Open House: The White Center Eagles is open to the public this Saturday, from 12 Noon until 11 PM. Bring the family. We have plenty of parking. 10425 15th Ave SW. 206-248-1400

The Black River Falls band will be entertaining outside from 5 PM to 9 PM. (with Wally Giffin on steel guitar and Larry Broad on fiddle.)

Chicken S–t Bingo from 3 PM on. Horseshoe To Tournament begins at 12 Noon. Free pool all day – we have four pool tables.

Dinner at 4 PM: Country Style Ribs, Baked Beans, Corn on the Cob, Cornbread, and Marionberry Pie ala mode for dessert. All for $10.

By Tracy Record
White Center Now editor

Even with a Seahawks game as competition, the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s first meeting of fall drew a respectable turnout, eight board members and about 20 members of the public.

NEW STOREFRONT DEPUTY: Deputy William Kennamer, who’s been with the King County Sheriff’s Office for 17 years, introduced himself, saying he is “pretty pleased to be here,” having “just got the job” and saying, “I worked hard to get the job.” He’s been most recently with King County Transit Police. He says he is hoping “to be here a while,” not having aspirations such as the ones that have taken a few of his predecessors out of the job before long. “I’m pretty easy to get along with, I have a pretty good sense of humor – if you ask me a question, I’ll tell you if I don’t know, and I’ll get back to you with the answer … If you ask me my personal opinion, I’ll tell you, and it might be different from department policy, but I work off department policy and state law.” He also said he’s fast to answer e-mail, and the phone “if I’m working” – 206-510-7342, william.kennamer@kingcounty.gov – his “core hours” are 10 am-6 pm Mondays-Fridays, but with a “four-hour flex” so that he can change his shift if needed for something such as attending this meeting. He added that he’s a SWAT Team member and that means he’ll be out on training three Wednesdays a month. He’s only been on the Storefront Deputy job since Tuesday so he had no observations to share yet, aside from “White Center’s way better than it was 17 1/2 years ago” – which is when he started, patroling here, as part of KCSO.

He was asked about crime stats. His sectors, he said, include White Center, Top Hat, and the unincorporated area of South Park, K1 and K7; he’s not accountable for Greenbridge, which is K11, handled by its own deputy, and promised to bring stats for those areas to future meetings. He had some – 15 residential burglaries in August of last year, 7 in August of this year, for example; the violent-crime index (robberies and assaults) were 14 in August of last year, 5 in August of this year. Major crimes, Part 1, numbered 96 last August, 80 this year; Part 2 numbered 116 last August, 95 this August. Ten auto thefts in August (no comparison number), he added; 16 fourth-degree assaults, 3 aggravated assaults, 4 commercial burglaries, 6 vehicle recoveries – “none of them were stolen from this area,” but they were abandoned here.

One more note – his position as a transit deputy “will not be replaced any time soon.” Board members wondered how that would affect area bus stops. He said he spent most of his time in White Center and Burien patroling for things such as people drinking at stops, so there likely will be more of that in the wake of his move. Recruiting is tough, he noted, when asked – fewer people apply to even take the test.

WHITE CENTER BOG: Two King County reps, John Taylor and Ken Gresset, came back with an update, following up on a promise to launch a community-outreach process about improving the situation there. Taylor was asked to give some background: “It’s a stormwater facility and future Housing Authority development site … there are two stormwater-detention ponds .. that are managing all the stormwater that’s coming from up on the slope.” When it was developed, it was planted as a wetland with buffers around the edges, but the plantings have grown, created screening, areas where people can “camp out and hide and conceal themselves,” overgrown areas that attract a lot of campers during the summer. Gresset noted that about $137,000 has been spent on three major cleanups in the past few years. It’s bounded by Roxbury, 100th, 12th/13th. “When I went out it was basically anarchy there, (lots of) camps, screams in the middle of the day … basically what we did was we went into remove the brush and increase the visibility on the site, built an access road for deputies to use to access the site.” He said lighting provided by the Parks Department has helped and might be expanded. Some cutting’s been done, but more needs to be done, Gresset said. The area had in the past generated hundreds of calls to King County Sheriff’s Office per year, and Gresset said that’s way down this year, but people still have been camping there this summer.

“We’ll keep cutting brush and cleaning it,” Taylor said, and promised they’ll be cleaning out the junk and garbage before winter. But he said the conversation needs to go further – what more could be done to keep people from coming back? Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, or activities, or … ? Ideas floated so far, he elaborated, included building a perimeter trail, maybe even a fitness trail; perhaps a small soccer field in a flat area on the site; a disc golf course that had been mentioned before, though, might not work out, because the area is wetland so much of the time and is bisected by a path that might be incompatible. “If we had an idea, how would we go about trying to make it happen?” asked an attendee. While the stormwater department is spending a lot of money, maybe a partnership with parks and community members would be helpful, the county duo suggested. At that point, a neighbor of the site got up and offered some more backstory, including an offer to trim some of the trees “so we can have vision through the whole area” – she said she’d like to see it kept natural, but “this summer was the worst, it’s just been horrible” in terms of overgrowth.

Brainstorming ensued. Bottom line, Taylor said, none of the departments with a stake in this have big budgets to do something, so it has to be a creative solution. NHUAC board member Elizabeth Devine pointed out that the questionable activity isn’t necessarily the fault of homeless people camping in areas like this but often of those who prey on them. “When there’s an underground bunker, though – that’s pretty chilling,” Taylor observed, referring to what was discovered during an earlier cleanup.

Nearby resident Gill Hodges urged people to “just use it … we’ve had fewer problems (in the area) because people are just using it. Walk through it.” The county reps said a volunteer cleanup is planned in the not-too-distant future.

MYERS WAY GREENSPACE: Cass Turnbull of Plant Amnesty noted that she’s “new to the political process” – she’s a gardener by trade, and has run the nonprofit for about 20 years. A few years ago she and some others started TreePAC, another nonprofit. “One of our first jobs was to try and save some City Light surplus substations.” She showed a slide deck with photos of the 38-acre Myers Way greenspace, a long-ago gravel pit, currently owned by the City of Seattle, “currently in the disposition process,” which she says means they believe it would be best sold off for commercial development. (We wrote about this in February on our partner site West Seattle Blog.) It includes wooded areas and wetlands, as well as Hamm Creek, she said, showing some photos, including even an unofficial concrete pond and stairs someone built. “It was originally 50 acres Nintendo bought to build an office park, then sold to the city for a training center” – which was built on part of that land. Then, she told the story of John Beal and his interest in the Duwamish River, starting with his cleanup of Hamm Creek. “What feeds Hamm Creek is the Myers Parcels (area),” she said. At one point, she said, the site was to be sold to Lowe’s – not for a store, but for offices, etc. – and the deal fell through, so the city has it back in the “disposition process.”

Seattle Parks doesn’t want it, she said, while declaring that she believes the city should keep it. Ideally, as a “natural park” – with a visitors center, rangers on site, fenced and gated, with guided nature walks and areas for free play – “Myers Park.” It would also be good for the seniors who live in housing nearby, she suggested. At the very least, it could be greenbanked – saved for the future, when the money would exist for it to be bought, improved, maintained. “Once the land is gone, you’ll never get it back – this is the largest unbuilt piece of property for miles and miles around, and if we don’t save it, it won’t be there in the future.”

What can supporters do to help? Sign a petition at TreePAC.org, she suggested. Also e-mail Seattle City Council members to ask that surplus land not be sold for development, council@seattle.gov, 206-684-8566. And, she said, tell your neighbors and friends.

She was asked what the status of its ownership is, within the city. She believes the city is paying off an “interdepartmental loan.”

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES: Two are still open, an attendee noted, wondering why, since the time when it was suggested they should close – by King County Sheriff’s Office and King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office – has long passed. After several scheduled agenda items, the topic came up again, and NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin pointed out that there are two licensed recreational-marijuana stores already in the unincorporated areas, and a proposal for a processing/growing facility, and said there’s concern that those stores will proliferate. (One attendee said three licenses are already granted in the unincorporated area; looks like the third is at 10825 Myers Way S. in Top Hat [map], not far from the Nimbin shop, under the name “West Seattle Cannabis Company.”) Dobkin proposed asking county leaders to put some restrictions on how many stores could be in the area. “Why would we put all the pot stores in a community with a vulnerable population? … It doesn’t speak to equity and social justice.” An attendee said a short time later that it’s too bad White Center can’t make its own rules. “I wish White Center could be its own city, but it doesn’t have the tax base,” noted Dobkin. “More marijuana stores!” quipped someone in the audience.

NEW BOARD MEMBER: NHUAC’s board approved a new member at the start of the meeting, Dominic Barbera.

RENAMING LAKEWOOD PARK IN HONOR OF DICK THURNAU: Board member Liz Giba said the County Council is advancing this. (Here’s our most-recent report, from mid-August.)

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Giba announced that Rich Miller of Poor Boys’ Auto Repair, “a longtime lover of White Center,” had died of a stroke last month. “He was a friend to me and a friend to White Center.” … Giba also announced that October 17th is the date for the White Center Food Bank‘s fundraising dinner; tickets are on sale, at a reduced rate until October 1st. … The White Center Library Guild is collecting petition signatures to have a room at the new library – under construction on SW 107th – named after longtime library advocate Rachael Levine. … Application period will start the day after Labor Day for the county’s Community Service Area grants, according to county rep Alan Painter.

NHUAC usually meets 7 pm first Thursdays at the North Highline Fire District HQ – watch northhighlineuac.org for updates on the next meeting; Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg is scheduled to be at the November meeting …

It’s the first day of the 2015-2016 school year for most local students, as noted here last month, so just a reminder to be careful out there! In addition to Highline Public Schools, in the White Center area, Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School is back in session too. West Seattle Montessori (in WC) will be starting next Wednesday (September 9th).

3:37 PM: Thanks to the person who texted to let us know about the power outage in downtown White Center and vicinity – 262 homes and businesses, according to the Seattle City Light map. We’re checking on the cause.

4:12 PM UPDATE: City Light’s map does not seem to be accurate – we just drove down 16th and 17th SW downtown and saw illuminated OPEN signs on both sides of both streets.

7:12 PM UPDATE: The outage is entirely over now, according to the online map. We’ll be asking SCL tomorrow about the cause.

While the weekend windstorm inconvenienced many, cutting the power for hours, one nearby family suffered an unimaginably heartbreaking permanent loss: A falling branch killed a 10-year-old girl, a student at Burien’s Cedarhurst Elementary, while she was at a friend’s house in Federal Way. A reader asked if we would share the link to an online fund set up to help Samara‘s family cope with their loss – here’s the link.

Big agenda as the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council resumes its monthly-meeting schedule this week. NHUAC president Barbara Dobkin has just shared the agenda for the September meeting this coming Thursday – and it includes news of a new storefront deputy for White Center:

Mark your calendars and plan on joining the discussion at the next North Highline Unincorporated Council meeting on Thursday, Sept 3rd at 7 pm at the North Highline Fire Station: 1243 SW 112th Street.

Cass Turnbull, founder of Plant Amnesty, will be providing information on her efforts to preserve 32 acres of city of Seattle surplus land on Myers Way South (located between White Center and Highland Park – adjacent and south of the Joint Fire Training Facility, and Arrowhead Gardens senior housing). Seattle’s intention is to sell the land for commercial development. The area is steep, with wooded slopes, wetlands and a meadow that could very well be “Discovery Park South”.

We will also be addressing the issues that seem to continually arise at the White Center Bog/Pond. John Taylor and Ken Gresset from the King County Water and Land Resources Division would like to hear from the community on how this area can be best utilized for community enjoyment.

We have been fortunate to have wonderful, dedicated storefront deputies over the years. Our current storefront deputy, Julian Chivington, is no exception. The good news is Deputy Chivington has accepted a promotion, and the other good news is that Deputy Bill Kennamer will be taking Deputy Chivington’s place. Deputy Kennamer is very familiar with the White Center community, having served as a Metro Transit Deputy for a number of years. Both Deputy Chivington and Kennamer will be at the meeting to provide crime stats as well as information and answer questions regarding general community safety concerns.

See the agenda at: northhighlineuac.org

Questions – contact bdobkin@northhighlineuac.org

A reminder today from Highline Public Schools: Students in grades 1-12 start classes one week from tomorrow, on Thursday, September 3rd. Kindergarteners start almost a week later, on Wednesday, September 9th (which is also the first day of school for neighbors to the north in Seattle Public Schools).

Thanks to everybody who flagged us to this post from the Crawfish House‘s page on Facebook:

Last night at 11:45 pm…someone came into the back alley of Crawfish House and stole our truck. It’s a 2005 TOYOTA TUNDRA ACCESS CAB SR5. The license plate is B90959S. It’s a dark blue but a little lighter than navy blue truck. It’s our only transportation for the restaurant.

If you see it – call 911. While it’s a King County Sheriff’s Office case, anywhere it turns up, including north of the city line, they should have a record of the theft and be able to arrange to recover it.

If you’re retiring, you typically would be the recipient of any gifts involved in the celebration. Not so in the case of King County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Dan Shaw. KCSO sent the media this announcement of what Deputy Shaw just did in honor of his retirement from a career focused on patroling the White Center area:

Dan Shaw, who worked as a KCSO deputy in White Center for the last 27 years, completed his final service to the community by feeding homeless people.

The Sheriff’s Office hired Shaw in 1988 after he left the US Air Force. Shaw happily worked the vast majority of his career serving the citizens of White Center. On August 23rd, his last day as a deputy, Shaw bought eight buckets of chicken and all of the sides to feed homeless people in the community where he loved to work.

In a letter to some of his coworkers upon his retirement, Shaw said, “Thanks for the many wonderful memories ….. especially to all of my cop friends …… and to the wonderful dispatchers and call receivers that have their hands and (foot), literally on the heartbeat of patrol …… thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wish I could just ramble on about the people that have helped me throughout my career. It is a team and a family that I will miss. If you have any kind thoughts about me in any way, shape, or form, it is because of your partnership with me.“

Deputy Dan Shaw’s call sign was 1-King-12 with the King County Sheriff’s Office, truly a class act until the end. The Sheriff’s Office wishes Citizen Dan Shaw the absolute best in his retirement.

Thanks to Stefanie at Proletariat Pizza for the photo and tip – the sign went up this weekend at Noble Barton, taking over the former Papa’s Pub (and briefly Meander’s) space at 9635 16th SW. It’s long been in the works – we saw the name on a liquor-license application many months ago. An early-stage website declares it to be a place for “comfort food, comfort mood.”

(Above, the White Center/Top Hat section of the outage)

2:08 AM: Thanks to Alisha for the tip: The Seattle City Light map confirms a big power outage – in two distinct areas, primarily east White Center, Top Hat, and north/northwest Burien. More than 3,500 customers (homes and businesses) are affected. No word yet what caused it; it started around 1:45 am. We’ll update when we find out more.

2:46 AM: Most of the Burien customers have their power back, according to SCL. Still no word on the cause.

4:36 AM: The cause is now listed on SCL’s site as “tree.” No elaboration. And the number of customers out of power is down to just under 700.

UPDATE: Here’s the final word from City Light (with whom we’ll follow up on Monday to find out about WHERE the tree went into the lines):

Tonight’s the night!

King County’s full announcement with details:

Grab your blanket, low-backed chairs, and your friends and family and take in “Película Bajo las Estrellas” or “Movie Under the Stars,” at King County’s Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 22. The event will open at 6 p.m., with the movie starting about 8:30 p.m. Don’t forget to bring your own seating.

King County, with support from White Center Community Development Association will screen the popular comedy “El Padrecito.” Similar to the popular outdoor movie series King County Parks hosts at Marymoor Park, this fun, family-friendly outdoor movie event will also include live entertainment and food trucks.

“Our outdoor movie nights at Marymoor are extremely popular, so we decided to broaden the opportunity for this fun experience to more of our community,’” said King County Parks Director Kevin Brown.

While there is no cost to attend, a food donation to the White Center Food Bank is suggested.

The movie will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles, and offers a chance for King County and community partners to share information with Spanish speaking residents about the programs and services available to them.

Steve Cox Memorial Park is at 1321 SW 102nd St in White Center.

Entertainment is provided by Los Relucientes del Norte and Seattle’s Mexican Folk Dance Group the Joyas Mestizas. Food trucks include: The Mayas Restaurant and Fiesta Time Catering Mobile Mayan food truck.

Two felony charges are now filed against the driver found hiding after crashing his car on Ambaum just south of White Center early last Friday, killing his passenger. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged 24-year-old Thuan A. Phan of Kent with vehicular homicide and hit-and-run. Charging documents say Phan was driving the “recently purchased” 2013 BMW southbound on Ambaum at high speed when he lost control at the “S” curves around 119th and slammed into the jersey barrier. 26-year-old Benjamin J. Smith was wearing his seat belt in the front passenger seat but suffered deadly head injuries because of how the car hit the concrete barrier. Nearby residents told deputies that they saw a man climb out of the car after the crash and run away screaming; the Guardian One helicopter spotted him hiding under a pickup truck at a home a few blocks away, his only injuries described as scratches on his legs and neck abrasions. He claimed he had been in the passenger seat and also said he remembered leaving a club; a deputy noticed he smelled like “intoxicants.” Prosecutors asked that Phan’s bail remain at a quarter-million dollars because he had left the crash scene and was reportedly trying to get friends and family to come pick him up.

In case you haven’t heard – Rat City Recon is back for 2015, a dozen bands on four White Center stages the night of Saturday, August 29th. From the Facebook event page for RCR:

In addition to the venues we’ve used in previous years (Mac’s Triangle Pub, Full Tilt Ice Cream, Company Bar), we are excited to announce the addition of an outdoor main stage behind Company Bar to the event. All venues are free admission, but we are requiring a wristband to enter the outdoor area. Wristbands are $5 and are available for purchase at each venue and as part of our VIP preorder package. …

Here is the schedule:

Full Tilt Ice Cream (all ages):

Perfect Bombs (7:15)
Manson’s Girls (8:00)
CFA (8:45)

Mac’s Triangle Pub:

Swampy Draws (7:30)
Post/Boredom (8:15)
Nasalrod (9:00)

Company Main Stage (outdoor):

Lb! (7:45)
Dryland (8:30)
Blood Drugs (9:15)

Company Bar (after party):

Old Iron (10:30)
Glose (11:30)
Mirror Gloss (12:30)
POSTS

More on Facebook here.

Bail has been set at $250,000 for the 24-year-old Kent man arrested in connection with the deadly crash at SW 119th and Ambaum early last Friday. Probable-cause documents say he was driving “at three times the posted speed” and “admitted (he had been) drinking.” The passenger in his car, 26-year-old Benjamin J. Smith, was dead at the scene from what the documents describe as a severe head injury. The suspect, who could be charged with vehicular homicide, ran from the scene and was found – with the help of Guardian One, as shown in our Friday coverage – hiding under a vehicle in a nearby driveway. He’s scheduled to return to court tomorrow afternoon, unless prosecutors file charges by then, in which case his next appearance would be for arraignment.

(WCN photo of Dick Thurnau from 2008)
More than a year after the death of longtime community advocate Dick Thurnau, the King County Council will soon consider an ordinance renaming Lakewood Park in his honor. Councilmember Joe McDermott just sent a copy of the ordinance that he put together “with a number of White Center community groups … They see this as an opportunity to create a legacy for someone who worked so hard to improve a struggling aspect of the community into something that could be widely enjoyed by many.” Mr. Thurnau lived steps from the park and worked tirelessly to both tend it personally and advocate for it and its little lake, plagued by water-quality problems that have been lessened via remedies for which he fought. Councilmember McDermott says the park-name proposal “will likely go before the King County Council not long after our summer recess, which concluded this week.” We’ll keep an eye on the council calendar to watch for a meeting date and comment opportunities. Meantime, read the proposed ordinance here, or below: