August 2013

The White Center community will be alive with activity on Aug. 6, national Night Out with two events to choose from.

King County Night Out Against Crime
The Annual King County Parks Night Out Against Crime Picnic will take place from 5-7pm at Steve Cox Memorial Park (1321 SW 102nd 98146). The White Center Teen Program has participated in the National Night Out event for over a decade. In addition to the traditional Night Out crafts, games and hotdogs, the Teen Program will also be offering tours of their new demonstration garden at the Southeast corner of the park.
The new garden was installed in the Spring of 2013 in an attempt to replace an ongoing safety concern in the park with a new, improved amenity.

White Center Block Party

The Howden-Kennedy Funeral Home, a fixture in West Seattle since the 1920's is preparing their new temporary and eventually permanent home facility at 7601 35th Avenue SW. The West Seattle Herald was the first to report the move. Office Manager Stuart Johnston shared that "The interior is being renovated by a local contractor, PRR Construction, and will be finished by Friday. The signage will also be finished by COB Friday.

The sign painting is being done by a local sign painter, Glenn Case. We will then get furniture and phone lines installed over the following three weeks. Phones and services will be switched from the 3909 SW Alaska St facility to the 7601 35th Avenue SW facility on the morning of Monday, August 26, with all telephone numbers remaining the same. This will allow for a seamless transition from one place to the other, creating no inconvenience for the families we serve.

Seattle police, with the aid of King County Sheriff's deputies and King County Metro police, arrested a 26-year-old man on July 31 for investigation of indecent exposure involving a 15-year-old girl.

According to Seattle Police Det. Jeff Kappel, the incident occurred on the evening of June 3 when the suspect boarded a Metro bus in White Center that was traveling north into West Seattle.

He allegedly sat down across the aisle from the 15-year-old victim, made "some strange noises," and when the victim looked over he had exposed his genitals and started masturbating while asking her for a date.

The victim smartly photographed the suspect on the 6000 block of 16th Ave. S.W., contacted police, and SPD's Sexual Assault Unit put out a bulletin to all area law enforcement to be on the lookout.

According to Kappell, two King County Sheriff's detectives spotted him at a bus stop on the corner of 15th Ave. S.W. and S.W. Roxbury St. where they detained him until Seattle Police arrived to arrest him.

Currently home to The Bridge bar and eatery at the corner of 35th Ave. S.W. and S.W. Avalon St., a land use application submitted to the city shows there may be plans in the works to turn the current Huling family-owned property into another sizable apartment building for West Seattle.

The application for 4435 35th Ave. S.W. appears to consist of The Bridge building and parking lot, and calls for “a six-story structure with 150 residential units above eight live-work units (10,615 sq. ft.) in an environmentally critical area. Parking for 158 vehicles will be located at and below grade. Existing eating and drinking establishment will be demolished. Project revised since original application.”

Partners at The Bridge (Ahmed Almukhtar, Rita Dixson, Jenny Almukhtar and Trevor Garand) already have plans in place to move to the old Chuck and Sally’s Tavern in the Morgan Junction on California Ave. S.W.

This is election season in Burien, neighboring cities and King County. The candidates are hard at work notifying all of us of the upcoming election and why we need to elect them to office. We see their colorful signs along every street, seemingly, wherever they or their helpers can pound a stake in the ground.

As you would expect, the City has chosen to control all of this exuberance by declaring what is and is not acceptable.
According to the Burien Municipal Code (BMC) Chapter 19.30, these signs may be placed on “private property” or public “right-of-way”, subject to a few exceptions. You had better get the Owners permission before adding signs to Private property. The signs are also prohibited from utility poles, lampposts, traffic signals or signs, and public property other than public right-of-way. Like any other sign in the city, they must not obstruct the traveling public or create unsafe conditions.

Considering the time and expense the candidates have put forth installing their signs, I'm sure they would like to be informed of any that have been improperly placed, so they can take corrective action.

Press release:

Adventurous Volunteers Needed
We are hoping for even more volunteers than last year – even people who can only survey every now and then. Please share this email with anyone you know who might want to volunteer.

Be part of Miller/Walker Creek Stewardship
How many adult salmon return to Miller and Walker Creeks in Burien, Normandy Park, and SeaTac each year? This program is teaching us that the numbers can vary a lot! We also investigate how many of these fish are stricken by pre-spawn mortality each year, and thus how many are surviving long enough to lay the eggs of the next generation.

Friday, August 2

Emerald Contra Dance

What: All dances taught. No partner necessary. Please, no cologne, perfume or other scented products. $8 General Admission; $7 Seniors, PNA
members, SFS members; $5 Students.

Where: Phinney Neighborhood Association Community Hall-lower brick building (6532 Phinney Ave N)

When: Beginner’s workshop 7 p.m., dance 7:30-10 p.m.

More info: 206-440-9839 or emeraldcitycontra@pobox.com

Comedy Sportz

What: ComedySportz is improv comedy played as a sport. The show pits two teams of comedians against each other in a variety of games, in which they compete for audience laughter.

Where: Ballard Underground (2220 NW Market St)

When: 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

More info: http://comedysportzseattle.com/

Saturday, August 3

Coffee Cupping at Tony's Coffee Bar

What: Try different coffees from around the world, learn about the complexities of each coffee, become a knowledgeable coffee genius in an hour. For free!

When: Noon

Where: Tony’s Coffee Bar (7001 3rd Ave NW)

Do kids ride bikes anymore? I see scores of school kids walking through Burien coming from Highline High but rarely any on a bike. Do they have them and only ride after school?

I got my first bike when I was ten. My 12-year brother did not own one but on my 10th birthday, a Saturday, he pushed me out of our bed and told me to get dressed and that he had a surprise.

I scrambled up, followed him down to the kitchen where Mom gave us each a bowl of oatmeal porridge and a hunk of home made bread with oleomargarine on it.

I then followed him out the door where we set out walking, barefooted, up to a shopping center on Killingsworth Street. On the corner, we went into a bike shop. Oh, how glorious bike shops smell. I don't know why. Maybe the rubber tires.

He talked with a man and pretty soon Russ handed him $10 and we left. I learned our dad had a ten-dollar bill in his wallet and my brother just "borrowed" it for a good cause. To buy me a bike!

South Seattle Community College Heavy Diesel and Automotive Instructor Doug Clapper and select students from the college have been working very slowly on something very fast.

The U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing, set to race in the Seafair Albert Lee Cup race Aug. 2-4 has needed extra work following an end over end flip in a race in Tri-Cities July 28.

The U-37 is owned by legendary former driver Billy Schumacher who won back to back hydroplane championships (1967-1968). The SSCC students have been coming to Schumacher's workshop in Ballard to gain valuable hands on experience by working on the speed machine. Clapper who is also the team driver, taking the boat across the nation its eight US races is close to Bill Cahill – owner of Beacon Plumbing, the boat's primary sponsor. The arrangement with the students came about when Cahill needed some work done on the truck and asked Clapper if he and his students could help.

“We started a relationship with Schumacher and the race team’s truck,” Clapper explained. “And then the next thing, the boat was up here.”

On his blog, www.reuvencarlyle36.com, Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-Queen Anne) lauds the scope that the environmental impact statement will have on the proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point, north of Bellingham.

Carlyle has been a strong opponent of the proposed terminal, which would bring 18 or more trains more than a mile long through downtown Seattle. In Ballard, the trains would go over the Ship Canal on the west side of the Ballard Locks, through Golden Gardens and through Carkeek Park.

In his blog post, Carlyle writes, "My constituents in Seattle, and communities statewide impacted by the proposal, are demanding this serious and in depth level of analysis. This is not about one town or city, one philosophy or policy framework, it is about a systems approach to an international issue. Proponents and opponents should not fear a robust public process and examination."

Specifically, under the EIS, Whatcom County and Ecology will require: