West Seattle, Washington
20 Saturday
As mentioned in our previous story, this weekend will bring a celebration of artists and their work during the West Seattle Art Tour. Every month brings a smaller opportunity to see local creativity during the West Seattle Art Walk, on second Thursdays. You might not know there’s also a monthly art walk in White Center – the Rat City Art and Food Walk, on third Thursdays. We explored it last night for partner site White Center Now, and you can see the story and photos here.
(WCFB photo when exterior mural was unveiled at new HQ in December 2023)
A milestone for the White Center Food Bank, which also serves southernmost West Seattle: WCFB says it’s paid off the construction loan for its less-than-two-year-old “forever home” and is ready to celebrate – here’s the announcement sent to us to share with you:
Join White Center Food Bank to celebrate the significant achievement of raising just over 10 million dollars to buy their property and turn a former tortilla factory into a beautiful, welcoming space of belonging for the White Center community. To celebrate paying off their construction loan and closing their capital campaign, all are invited to the food bank on October 2nd from 4-6pm for food, drinks and community.
The Capital Campaign to Keep the Community Fed to build White Center Food Bank’s new facility in the heart of downtown White Center publicly launched in September 2022. Almost exactly three years later, the organization is debt free and can focus 100% of their future fundraising efforts on keeping the community fed.
This is especially significant in the wake of cuts to safety net programs and rising costs across all sectors, while White Center Food Bank continues to see a dramatic increase in need. This new facility not only supports people looking for food resources, it provides a dignified, beautiful space built for the community. Also, after being displaced multiple times in their history, they now have a permanent home they own and utilize, not just as a food bank, but also a community gathering space. The White Center Food Bank finally has their ‘forever home’ and the staff, board, volunteers and customers look forward to celebrating this wonderful news on October 2nd, together with the community that supports them.
Please RSVP here: forms.gle/hvdeJrYvCP7N4uzq6
That of course does not mean the WCFB won’t be fundraising for its ongoing work; in fact, it has a major fundraiser ahead on October 10.
(Added: WSB/WCN photo)
9:42 PM: Thanks for all the tips about Guardian One over north White Center. We’re catching up on what King County Sheriff’s Office dispatched as a stabbing and robbery, apparently at or near a bus stop on the White Center side of 15th and Roxbury. More info to come.
9:53 PM: The person who was stabbed has been taken to Harborview Medical Center.
10:06 PM: Deputies have one possible suspect detained; meantime, they’re clearing the original scene.
ADDED FRIDAY AFTERNOON: We checked with KCSO, and they add, “Upon canvassing the area, one deputy located a group of men; he identified one matching the description of one of the suspects; he was taken into custody and then it was discovered there was a felony for his arrest from the DOC for escaped community custody. The deputy found scissors and a box cutter on him.” The investigation continues; if you have any information, you can refer to KCSO case C25027702.”
Those are photos of Miguel R. Rivera Dominguez, 17 years old when he shot a man dead aboard a Metro bus in White Center in October 2023 without saying a word. We first published the photos when he was charged with premeditated first-degree murder weeks after killing 21-year-old Marcell D. Wagner aboard a West Seattle-bound bus that was stopped at 15th/Roxbury.
(WSB photo, October 3)
Two months ago, Rivera Dominguez pleaded guilty as charged, and this afternoon he was sentenced. According to court documents, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office requested a sentence of 21 years in prison; Superior Court Judge Brian McDonald sentenced him to 23 years and four months, after an hour-long hearing, attended by family members of both the victim and the defendant. Case document indicate the sentence is at the midpoint of the state’s standard sentencing range for someone with no record, 20 years to just under 27 years. He’ll get credit for the nearly two years he’s already been in custody, and he will be on probation for three years when he gets out.
1 PM: As reported here yesterday, the new Wendy’s in White Center was expected to open today. And a texter reports it’s indeed open, saying they’ve got “Frosties in hand.” If you missed earlier coverage, it’s at 16th SW/SW 102nd.
3:05 PM: We finally got someone over to verify and grab a couple photos:
No permanent signage outside so far but lots of banners and balloons. Here’s what the franchisee’s spokesperson told us last week the hours would be, once they opened:
Pick-Up Window:
Sunday–Thursday: 6:30 AM – 1:00 AM
Friday & Saturday: 6:30 AM – 2:00 AM
Dining Room: 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM (All days)
(WSB/WCN photo, last week)
Just in from a spokesperson for the Wendy’s franchisee that’s about to open a White Center restaurant in the ex-KFC/A&W at 16th/102nd:
Opening Delay: The restaurant will not open this coming Friday due to final preparations.
New Target Opening: Aiming for Labor Day.
Exterior Work: Pennants will be installed Thursday, and most outside work will be completed—may appear as if it’s already open.
(Added: WSB/WCN photo, today)
As we first reported in June, the former KFC/A&W at 16th/102nd in White Center is becoming a Wendy’s. A spokesperson for the franchisee just sent word of the opening date. From the announcement:
The new Wendy’s location, situated on the corner of 16th Avenue and SW 102nd Street, is scheduled to open on Friday, August 29, bringing Wendy’s signature “Fresh, Famous Food” to even more guests in the community.
The new restaurant is designed with the modern customer in mind, featuring:
-Digital ordering kiosks
-Dedicated mobile and delivery pick-up points
=An enhanced pick-up window experience …In addition to serving great food, Wendy’s proudly supports the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®, which works to dramatically increase the number of adoptions of children waiting in North America’s foster -care system.
Dave Thomas was the founder of Wendy’s, which started in 1969. The franchisee that will operate the White Center restaurant, WTC Ventures, has more than 90 other Wendy’s, including the one in Burien.
Late summer is busy for road crews, trying to get work done before fall arrives. We’ve been including reminders in our daily traffic etc. roundups about White Center road work toward the end of this week. There’s more, according to this alert today from King County Road Services:
Overnight Lane Restrictions:
SW Roxbury St between 26th Ave SW & 15th Ave SW and 15th/16th Ave from Roxbury to SW 110th St
8/13 – White Center
Crews will reduce traffic to a single lane throughout the project limits on SW Roxbury St between 26th Ave SW and 15th Ave SW and on 15th/16th Ave from Roxbury to SW 110th St for crosswalk striping.
Work will take place overnight on Wed. Aug. 13, from 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Thurs. Aug. 14. Striping is a moving operation – flaggers will direct traffic. Expect delays.
This is related to the ongoing curb-ramp work that county crews have been doing in the same area.
Congratulations to the DubSea Fish Sticks for their first-ever Pacific International League championship! We knew Saturday night’s game at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center, vs. the Gumberoos, was sold out, but we didn’t realize a title was on the line until we heard about it from WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen – attending the game as a fan. He sent the video above and the photos below:
The Fish Sticks won 18-1. This was their last home game of the year; their season wraps with a Monday night road game. (The PIL season ends this early because the players have to get back to their respective colleges.) This is the fourth season since team owner Justin Moser rebranded the former Highline Bears and put the Fish Sticks on a course to provide entertainment as well as baseball.
(Photos courtesy Quail Park West Seattle)
That’s Tommy Criswell with the DubSea Fish Sticks‘ mascot Fin Crispy Jr. at Steve Cox Memorial Park‘s Mel Olson Stadium this past Sunday. He got to make a baseball dream come true,explains Betsy Henry from Quail Park West Seattle (WSB sponsor):
A dream 70+ years in the making came true for 78-year-old Tommy Criswell, a longtime Seattle resident and lifelong baseball fan as he threw the ceremonial “first fish” at the DubSea Fish Sticks game against the Redmond Dudes on July 27th.
Criswell, who lives at Quail Park West Seattle, checked off a major item on his bucket list when he took the mound at Mel Olson Stadium in King County’s Steve Cox Memorial Park at the start of Sunday’s game.
Born in Texas but a proud Seattleite for most of his life, Criswell discovered his love for baseball at age six when his father signed him up for Little League. That early passion followed him through decades, even as he built a 30+ year career as a physicist with Boeing.
Criswell is also a devoted Mariners fan—his favorite player of all time? Ken Griffey Jr. “I loved how he’d leap into the air to catch the ball—like Spider-Man!” he says, referencing the iconic outfield catch that earned Griffey the superhero nickname in his mind.
Now, more than 20 years after attending his last Mariners game in person (a victory over the Dodgers), Criswell re-lived the magic of the ballpark in a way he never expected—on the pitcher’s mound. Criswell said it was a thrill to throw the first “fish.” When asked what he thought about the experience, he said with his characteristic sense of humor, “that was a slippery fish!”
Just published on our partner site White Center Now, an update from today’s court hearing for the 23-year-old man arrested in the double shooting early Sunday that killed one man and injured another, including details from the court-document narrative. Read the update here. The suspect’s bail is set at $2 million; a charging decision is expected by Wednesday.
As noted in our calendar and event list on Saturday, the Eazy Duz It Car Club‘s show “Chrome and Community,” with dozens of cars from around the region, lined 16th SW – closed to through traffic – in downtown White Center for much of the day. We sent Dave Gershgorn to photograph some of the cars and people, and you can see the gallery on our partner site White Center Now.
6:52 PM: An Amber Alert just buzzed on cell phones across the region, and it’s for a child reported to have been taken in White Center. We don’t have details yet but here’s the poster:
(update: image removed)
More info shortly.
7:03 PM: According to this post, the child has been found. As is our standard policy with resolved missing-person cases, we’re removing the image. (We still have no other info about the circumstances.)
9:28 PM: King County Sheriff’s Deputies found the car at 6th SW and SW 102nd; the thief/kidnapper is still at large, according to KCSO: “The child was found safe about an hour after the car was taken – she is safe and reunited with her mother … Deputies are currently looking for the suspect.”
Even if you’re not hungry – yet – you should be at the Taste of White Center! It’s a street party that, yes, is primarily to raise money for the White Center Food Bank, but there’s a lot of entertainment and information to be had too!
Mariachi musicians played outside Pho Tai, next to the new Whateke Sports Bar …
Dancers are in the Tim’s Tavern lot … and there’s a kid zone just north of 100th:
Families were also drawn to the visiting North Highline Fire Station crews parked on SW 98th:
But back to the food. Maps show all 35 participating venues – including WSB sponsors Alpine Diner and Big Mario’s Pizza:
Big Mario’s is serving up big slices of cheese pizza for your $5 ticket (buy tickets at the WCFB booth at 16th SW/SW 98th – each one gets you one of the designated dishes or drinks at participating businesses):
Desserts are available too – Puffy Pandy has ice-cream puffys:
Participants are on White Center’s side streets too – even north of Roxbury in South Delridge, Young’s Restaurant, Max’s Triangle Pub, Can Bar, Nacho Mama, and Meat the Live Butcher. You can get a map/list, but not tickets, at the WCFB table on 16th right off Roxbury if you want to decide. All the ticket revenue goes to the WCFB; the participants are being compensated with sponsor funding. This continues until 3 pm!
Story and photos by Hayden Yu Andersen
for West Seattle Blog
As we first reported last week, the Southgate Arcade will open July 11, offering vintage games, rare pinball machines and a greatly expanded private room for birthdays and events. With opening day just two weeks away, we got a sneak peek today inside the upcoming arcade, built inside the former Bank of America just north of Southgate Roller Rink.
Owner Josh Rhoads says it’s been a unique challenge to turn the building, which they had previously used for storage, into a functioning arcade.
“It spent four years as just a storage space, so we focused on trying to make it less sterile and bank-like,” Rhoads said, as he showed off the two-inch thick bulletproof glass protecting the teller’s station, which has since been repurposed into a storage room.
Something he won’t be covering up is the vault. Located to the right of the entrance, the steel vault will be repurposed to hold a rotating cast of more exclusive arcade machines, which visitors will be able to play while inside.
Currently the arcade has almost 30 machines, split between pinball and vintage arcade machines, with a few more on the way before their opening. The machines, much like the music, have been tailored to fit an ’80s and ’90s vibe.
A large portion of the space has been given to the 30-person private room, which is still waiting on finishing touches, including a wall-sized screen projector for games and karaoke. Previously we wrote about how this will expand on the 10-person private room in the Southgate Roller Rink. In addition to the 2-hour rentals, and the option of alcohol from the Southgate Roller Rink’s bar for 21+ events, Rhoads says that on days the room isn’t being used arcade-goers will be able to rent out the room for short, 30-minute intervals to figure out if they’d like to host a party or rent it for longer.
While it’s been a challenge, Rhoads says he’s excited to finally see it come together. Southgate Arcade will be open for all-ages play on Fridays from 5-11 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 7 pm.
Here’s a recycling opportunity of sorts: The White Center Library Guild would love to receive your no-longer-needed books, and asked us to share this announcement on WSB as well as our WC site:
Time to make room for more books? The White Center Library Guild accepts donations of books for our sale shelf.
If you need more space for your books or have left over books from your yard sale, please donate them to the White Center Library Guild. We accept old books, new books, and everything in between.
Just take your donations to the library front desk. Contributions help fund children and adult programs at the White Center Library! Thank you!
The library’s location and hours are here – open until 8 pm tonight.
Two business notes from our partner site White Center Now – we’re linking them here in case you haven’t seen them there:
ARCADE OPENING: We first reported on WCN four years ago that Southgate Roller Rink, on 17th SW just south of Roxbury, was taking over the former Bank of America next door. Now it’s announced a plan to open as an arcade. (1:44 PM UPDATE: We’ve talked to the owner since publishing this and added more info to our WCN item, including the plan to open July !!.)
RESTAURANT CLOSED: Less than two years after opening in the former Zippy’s Giant Burgers space on 14th SW just south of Roxbury, Burger Planet confirms it’s permanently closed.
3:39 PM: Thanks to Andrew for sending photos from the White Center Pride street festival happening on and along 16th SW between SW Roxbury and SW 100th. Many of the venues along 16th are presenting entertainment and/or activities – Lariat Bar, as usual, has a wrestling ring:
There’s a family play area, too:
We have a photographer there now and plan to add more photos.
5 PM: And here they are (WSB photos from here down):
You can meet the people behind White Center Pride at the festival – above, we photographed Eliot Mills and Linda Falcon. Plenty of performances, including DJs:
Interactive activities include axe-throwing!
And bull-riding:
As mentioned above, wrestling – continuing until 6 pm:
The wrestlers are part of a tournament promoted by DEFY.
WestSide Baby board of directors members
Story, photos and video by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
A festive crowd of supporters gathered Thursday night at the WestSide Baby warehouse headquarters in White Center, to kick off summer in style at A Night Out with WestSide Baby 2025, the organization’s iconic annual fundraiser event and celebration. All proceeds from the event will help the organization provide essential items to thousands of local children and their families.
WestSide Baby was founded in 2001 “in a new mom’s garage” in West Seattle, and celebrates its 25th anniversary next year. The group fulfills an average of 400 orders per week, and in 2024 was able to distribute $3.29 million in diapers, clothing, and essential equipment to families in need. The organization won the Not for Profit of the Year award last month as part of 2025 Westside Awards from the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, as we reported here.
The event on Thursday featured food and drink, music, games, guest speakers, a silent auction and “raise the paddle” fundraising, with attendees getting an inside look at WestSide Baby HQ during the festivities:
Organizers emphasize that, yes, providing diapers for kids in need is crucially important to the group’s mission, but they also provide much more than that: think clothing, books, toys, wipes, baby food, car seats and all manner of baby supplies. To that point, taped to the back of every action paddle on Thursday night was a printout of an actual order fulfilled by WestSide Baby just in the past week! One example:
And those paddles were put to good use at the event, with attendees bidding generously to support WestSide Baby’s mission, including this high-participation “raise the paddle” round in which bidders could hold up their fingers to indicate how many boxes worth of size 6 diapers (the group’s most high-demand diaper size) they’d be willing to help buy:
Here is our video of that “raise the paddle” round, which is just one of the many giving levels that attendees participated in, ranging from $45 (the cost of a single box of size 6 diapers) to $5,000, with multiple levels in between. Organizers also announced that someone had also made an anonymous donation of $10,000 to the cause, bringing cheers from the crowd. The silent auction and raffle were big hits, too, with organizers announcing the lucky winners as bidding concluded. The emcees for the evening were WestSide Baby board members Amy Biancofiori (with the paddle in the photo below) and Nicole DeCario:
Read MoreWe’ve received two reader reports about similar incidents. First one was sent today by Nancy:
Last Thursday a senior friend of mine and her husband were walking up Alaska from Avalon to Whole Foods at 10:30 am.
At 37th and Alaska a passing van asked for directions and then started a conversation meant to engage them on a personal level including a hug from the car window during which they then cut or somehow removed a gold chain and gold bracelet from the senior gentleman.
A police report was filed. Redmond Police posted an alert about this last year. Essentially people in rental SUV’s are approaching older individuals and asking for directions and/or offering to sell or trade jewelry, and robbing the individual after contact is made.
The other one was reported in mid-May in White Center – Jennifer said her parents, 73-year-old mom and 81-year-old dad, were approached while getting into their car outside McLendon Hardware:
… Male/female offered gifts, jewelry and were making physical contact (holding dad’s hand & kissing it) but I believe they were trying to distract both of my parents in an attempt to rob them. The female was standing outside of the driver’s side window where my dad was and the male was standing outside my mom’s window telling her to roll it down. Each person intentionally dropped a piece of jewelry inside of the car in hopes mom/dad would retrieve it and open their doors to hand it back, but luckily mom sensed that something was wrong. She started shouting that she was going to call 911 and the male/female then left in a hurry. … Male and female were driving a small Chevy sedan similar to (this picture).
We asked for descriptions:
Male:
About 5’ 10” tall
Slim build
Short black wavy hair
Dark brown complexion
Was wearing a cream short sleeve floral shirt.Female
About 5’ 5”
Slender figure
Couldn’t make out hair color because it was wrapped up in a bandana/scarf
Light brown complexion
Wearing a long skirt
We don’t have police-report numbers in either case (the first would be SPD, the second would be KCSO), but the primary goal of both readers was to suggest warning vulnerable relatives/friends.
Two fun ways to help your local food banks:
WEST SEATTLE FOOD BANK’S SUMMER RAFFLE: Tickets are available now!
The West Seattle Food Bank is thrilled to announce its annual Summer Raffle, a triple win for everyone involved. Not only does every raffle ticket support local families in need, but each stub doubles as a coupon good for 10% off one visit at each of our 6 fantastic partner businesses! This summer, your ticket to doing good comes with real perks — because when neighbors support neighbors, everyone benefits.
Here’s How It Works:
Tickets: $10 each, only 500 printed
Available: Until Sept. 12, or until they sell out.
Drawing: Sept. 12 – winners notified by phone
Prizes Include: 1st ) $150 gift card to West Seattle Thriftway, 2nd ) $100 gift card to Supreme Pizza and tickets for 4 to the Museum of Flight, 3 rd ) $50 gift card to Mioposto. Every Ticket Stub Is a Coupon For:
o 10% off one visit to each of our 6 generous partners:
The Neighborhood
Peninsula Soul Food
The Roll Pod
The Westy Sports & Spirits
Viscon Cellars
West Seattle Wine CellarsReady to Play Your Part?
Buy Tickets Now: Available in-person from the West Seattle Food Bank (35th/Morgan), at our booths at summer festivals or ask WSFB board members and staff!
TASTE OF WHITE CENTER: The White Center Food Bank, whose service area includes south West Seattle, has just announced its annual fundraiser for June 28, 11 am-3 pm, at venues throughout WC. (you buy “taste” tickets for any or all of 30+ restaurant/bars, and get a map, at a central booth). Full details are on our partner site White Center Now.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
In a White Center warehouse full of baby and kid gear from diapers to car seats, two elected officials and others gathered this morning to decry the president’s tariffs as “Trump’s Baby Tax.”
WestSide Baby‘s warehouse hub was the setting for U.S. Senator Patty Murray and King County Executive Shannon Braddock (a former WS Baby board member) to warn about the bite tariffs will take out of young families’ budgets, among others.
“The baby tax is not just expensive, it’s dangerous,” warned Sen. Murray, first elected 33 years ago as a “mom in tennis shoes” (and sporting that type of footwear for the occasion, as was Braddock).
She urged anyone and everyone concerned to urge Congress to take back its power over tariffs, which she said are not supposed to be something presidentially decreed.
Braddock noted the recent presidential comment that tariff costs might just mean a kid gets “2 dolls instead of 30,” and observed that many families can’t afford any gifts. “Working families should not be collateral damage in a trade war … we need a federal government that works for us, not against us.” Here’s the entirety of how she and Sen. Murray opened the briefing:
Allie Lindsay Johnson, starting her second year as WS Baby’s executive director, said the nonprofit that assists tens of thousands of families has already noticed many baby-item brands raising their prices. But “car seats, strollers, cribs are not luxuries, they are absolute necessities.”
But, Sen. Murray observed in her opening remarks, most of them are made in China, currently facing a 145% tariff as ordered by the president. Lindsay Johnson suggested at least “tariff exemptions” should be considered for items like these.
Speakers also included a Ballard store owner who said her suppliers were trying to hold off major prices as long as they could but can’t hold off much longer, and a mom of four, ages 1 through 14, holding her youngest, saying she wanted to speak out “because if not me, who?”
In Q&A, we asked Lindsay Johnson for more specifics on what WestSide Baby has noticed so far. She named several manufacturers/suppliers. We and another reporter also asked Sen. Murray for specifics on what Congress could do and what people could do to express their opinions:
Afterward, we also asked Lindsay Johnson about any other financial hardships they had faced or expected to face as a result of changes in D.C. She said that half of WS Baby’s bulk diaper purchases are federally funded and the grant covering that for a few more months is not likely to be renewed.
Meantime, this is the bipartisan bill to which Sen. Murray referred, co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
West Seattle Blog/White Center Now photos/video by Dave Gershgorn
More than 150 runners and walkers were on the move this morning as part of the comeback edition of the White Center 5K, benefiting three nonprofits and returning after a pandemic-and-then-some hiatus. The participants – some costumed – started and finished at Steve Cox Memorial Park, traveling along White Center streets along the way:
Results are now browsable online; 42-year-old Joe Creighton was first finisher, chip time 17:59:
Rounding out the top ten finishers was 36-year-old Abby Polley, chip time 21:29:
Other finish-line sights included an entire family:
And more costumes:
Speaking of costumes, the DubSea Fish Sticks‘ mascot was there cheering finishers across the line:
Before the race, Tiltshift CrossFit from Top Hat led a warmup:
Race proceeds will benefit the White Center Food Bank, White Center Community Development Association, and the YES Foundation of White Center. (Added Sunday: Video of start and finish highlights!)
P.S. Another big benefit run/walk in our area is just two weeks away – the West Seattle 5K, presented by and benefiting the WSHS PTSA, is Sunday, May 18, on Alki; you can register here right now!
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