The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has implemented temporary flight restrictions for drones over portions of Tukwila and Renton from June 1 through July 20 in connection with FIFA World Cup activities, according to the City of Tukwila.

The restrictions apply to both recreational and commercial drone operators within designated areas identified by the FAA. City officials said the affected airspace is being actively monitored and urged residents and businesses not to launch drones within the restricted zones during the enforcement period.

According to information posted by the City of Tukwila, the temporary restrictions remain in effect from 12:01 a.m. June 1 through 11:59 a.m. July 20.

The FAA said drone operations within the restricted airspace are prohibited unless they are conducted in support of law enforcement operations, fire or search and rescue missions, or by commercial operators holding a Special Governmental Interest waiver as government contractors.

The City of Tukwila encouraged drone users to review the FAA’s drone resources and temporary flight restriction maps for the latest information before operating unmanned aircraft.

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This month, the world’s biggest sporting event comes to our region, and there’s no better place to kick off the excitement than at the Tukwila United Block Party on Saturday, June 13.

On June 13, the City of Tukwila invites residents and visitors alike to gather on Baker Boulevard in Tukwila’s Southcenter District for a free, family-friendly celebration of soccer, culture, and community. From 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., the street will transform into a vibrant festival filled with live entertainment, great food, and activities for all ages.

The Tukwila United Block Party is more than a watch party—it’s a celebration of the diverse cultures and communities that make Tukwila so special. Guests can enjoy live match viewing alongside fellow fans.

Live Match Schedule: 

• Qatar vs. Switzerland: 12 p.m. 
• Brazil vs. Morocco: 3 p.m. 
• Haiti vs. Scotland: 6 p.m.

Throughout the day, attendees can explore a variety of local food trucks serving up delicious eats, enjoy live music performances, and experience cultural dance presentations that showcase the global spirit of the game.

Families will find plenty to keep kids entertained with interactive activities and hands-on fun designed for all ages.

Guests 21 and older can also relax and enjoy the beer garden while soaking in the festival atmosphere.

Whether you’re a lifelong soccer fan or simply looking for a fun way to spend the day with friends and family, the Tukwila United Block Party offers something for everyone.

Wear your team colors, bring your cheering spirit, and join fellow fans in celebrating the sport that brings the world together.

The event is free and open to the public – learn more at:

https://www.tukwila26.com/event/tukwila-united-block-party/

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sponsored Posts like this are paid, “Native Advertisements” that help businesses and organizations improve their internet presence and all-important SEO. South King Media also underwrites fundraisers from local nonprofits. To learn more about how your business or organization can directly reach our expanding, engaged audience in South King County, please email Theresa Schaefer at vtheresa@comcast.net.

A free community celebration marking America’s 250th anniversary will be held Friday, July 4, at Hazelnut Park in Tukwila.

The event, presented by the Tukwila Historical Society, is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hazelnut Park in Tukwila (map below).

Organizers said the event will celebrate Tukwila’s history, community and America’s 250th anniversary while bringing together residents, families and visitors for an afternoon of activities.

Attendees can enjoy food, music, arts and crafts during the free event. Community members are also encouraged to attend wearing their best 4th of July-themed outfits.

The event is being promoted as a family-friendly gathering and invites residents to “bring your friends, family, and neighbors.”

Sponsors listed for the celebration include 4Culture, the Rotary Club of SeaTac-Tukwila and the City of Tukwila.

The Tukwila Historical Society is presenting the event as part of local commemorations recognizing America’s 250th anniversary while highlighting the city’s history and community spirit.

More info here: https://tukwilahistoricalsociety.org/

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No one flies into SeaTac expecting an international food destination. San Francisco has its sourdough, New York has its pizza, and Los Angeles has its street tacos, but a mere three miles past the parking lots and rental car returns, SeaTac boasts a culinary capital that has been quietly thriving for decades; the rich, aromatic world of authentic East African cuisine. 

Though the food is excellent, these places aren’t simply a stop for a wonderful meal. Each restaurant is paired with its own market, where the ingredients, spices, and pantry staples of East African cooking are yours to explore.

Zain Restaurant & Bakery Cafe

Zain Restaurant & Bakery Cafe is family-owned and operated and home to the best gyros you’ve ever had in your life.

Choose from lamb, beef, or chicken, and be served a bursting gyro stuffed full of bright, fresh vegetables, tzatziki sauce, and mild spicy mustard next to a pile of hot golden fries.

The medley of flavors in Zain’s gyros is sensational, the spices of the meat blending with the fresh peppers, cucumber, and tomato to find a perfect balance, married perfectly to the neutral backdrop of soft pita bread.

The fries come lightly sprinkled with seasoned salt and crisped to perfection, with an outside that has a satisfying crunch and an inside that melts in your mouth.

While Zain Restaurant Bakery & Cafe is a prime lunch spot, it’s also an excellent choice for breakfast.

Zain’s pastry case is full of tempting confections, including coconut cake, baklava, and donuts (come early for these, they will be sold out by the afternoon!).

All pastries are made fresh in-house every morning, and you can tell as soon as you take your first bite.

The baklava in particular bursts with sweet flavor. Layers of carefully-crafted flaky pastry are stuffed with ground pistachio and almond and soaked in a sweet syrup for a final touch. Enjoy with a coffee or a hot cup of aromatic Somali tea for a fully rounded sensory experience.

Tawakal Mini Market

Directly adjacent to Zain Restaurant & Bakery Cafe is the Tawakal Mini Mart, owned by the same family as the cafe and in operation since 1999.

Once you’ve tasted the brilliance of your East African breakfast or lunch, hop on over to the mini mart and pick up some ingredients to experiment with in your own kitchen.

Tawakal serves its East African community with well-stocked shelves of pantry staples, including Ugali, Injeria, grains, and legumes in large rough sacks piled against the wall, and boxes of pasta ready for the freshly prepared meat butchered directly in-shop.

The walls are lined with spices imported from over a dozen countries, making them a perfect item to pick up as a useful souvenir from your travels.

Choose from Tandoori, Kenyan curry, lemon pepper, cardamom, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, niter kibbeh, Berbere spice mix, and so many more.

SeaTac Cuisines

SeaTac Cuisines is a bustling place. Packed with diners catching a late lunch, the restaurant serves as a community hub, with nonstop comings and goings as neighbors greet each other at the door, pull up a chair, and start happily chatting over their plates of lamb, rice, and pasta.

When asked what his favorite thing on the menu is, the smiling server points to the Injera Ethiopian Combination Dish. When asked why it is his favorite, his smile widens, and he says, “It’s simply delicious!”

The description is apt. The Ethiopian Combination Dish is served on a large piece of Injera bread, a spongy, flexible flatbread meant to easily sop up sauces and grab meat and vegetables. 

The platter includes a generous portion of lamb shank smothered in a spicy tomato sauce. Tender and falling off the bone, the lamb’s spiciness is perfectly mellowed by the Injera and the toasted, nutty spinach served on the side.

The lentils blend with all other foods in the dish, creating a pleasing variety and excellent balance to the overall meal.

The portions at SeaTac Cuisines are generous and filling, so come with an appetite and bring a friend!

Tabarak Market

Like the Tawakal market next to Zain Restaurant & Bakery Cafe, Tabarek Market is connected to SeaTac Cuisines and ready for browsing as soon as you’ve finished your delicious meal.

You will find many of the same spices and staples at Tabarek as you did at Tawakal, but there’s one aisle in Tabarek you don’t want to miss.

In the middle of the shop, you will find shelves of tea and coffee. Make your own Somali tea at home with blends infused with cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom, and snag a bag of locally roasted single-origin African coffee beans to elevate your morning coffee!

Easy to Overlook, Impossible to Forget

Every year, thousands of travelers rush through SeaTac, never pausing to discover the extraordinary culinary world unobtrusively setting its table for anyone willing to walk through its door. Don’t let SeaTac’s East African food community be the best meal you ever missed. 

The invitation is open. Come on in.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sponsored Posts like this are paid, “Native Advertisements” that help businesses and organizations improve their internet presence and all-important SEO. South King Media also underwrites fundraisers from local nonprofits. To learn more about how your business or organization can directly reach our expanding, engaged audience in South King County, please email Theresa Schaefer at vtheresa@comcast.net.

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Shred Day is this Saturday, May 30!

NOW is the time to go through those old file cabinets, shoe boxes, and piles on your table to see what you can get rid of! Think about all the unnecessary documents, receipts, and papers that are just taking up space and collecting dust. Take this opportunity to declutter your workspace and get organized! Plus, it’s a great way to protect your identity by securely shredding sensitive documents. So, get started today and make the most of Shred Day!

Community members will have a chance to securely dispose of sensitive documents and old electronics for no charge during the 8th Annual Shred Day and E-Cycle Event, hosted by Sunrise Financial Services this Saturday, May 30, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 431 SW Ambaum Blvd. in Burien (map below).

The free event offers on-site shredding with no limit on paper materials, including old bills, medical forms, personal files, and even CDs, floppy disks, and sticky notes.

It will also include e-cycling services for approved electronic devices such as laptops, tablets, printers, monitors, and phones.

The E-Cycle portion of the event — now in its fourth year — will accept a range of devices, including modems, routers, game consoles, cameras, and more.

Televisions, plastic materials, batteries, and binder clips will not be accepted.

Organizers note that e-cycle services may be limited to ensure that as many attendees as possible can participate.

In addition to shredding and recycling, the event will also collect donations of unopened, non-perishable food items to support the local food bank.

For more information, residents can contact office@sunrisefinancial.net or call (206) 420-8520.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sponsored Posts like this are paid, “Native Advertisements” that help businesses and organizations improve their internet presence and all-important SEO. South King Media also underwrites fundraisers from local nonprofits. To learn more about how your business or organization can directly reach our expanding, engaged audience in South King County, please email Theresa Schaefer at vtheresa@comcast.net.

Seattle City Light crews were responding Friday to a power outage affecting approximately 3,720 customers in the Tukwila area.

According to City Light, the outage began at 10:56 a.m. Friday, May 29.

The cause remained under investigation as crews worked to restore service.

As of the utility’s latest update, no estimated restoration time had been determined. Seattle City Light’s outage map listed approximately 3,720 affected customers in the South Seattle service area.

The outage could affect residents, businesses and commuters throughout the Tukwila area.

Seattle City Light said crews were actively responding to the outage and encouraged customers to monitor its online outage map for updates on restoration efforts.

The utility’s outage tracker was updated about 10 minutes after the most recent report was posted.

Tukwila Police are investigating a series of illegal firearm discharges that have occurred over the past several months in the city’s Allentown and Ryan Hill neighborhoods, prompting the assignment of a detective and the use of forensic evidence to identify those responsible.

According to the Tukwila Police Department, officers have responded to numerous reports of illegal gunfire in the two areas. While police said no individuals or specific properties appear to have been targeted, some rounds have fallen into the Allentown neighborhood and caused property damage.

The incidents have typically occurred between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., according to police.

In response, the department has assigned a detective from its Special Emphasis Unit to work with crime analysts and patrol officers to investigate the cases and identify suspects.

Police said shell casings recovered from the scenes are being submitted to the Integrated Ballistics Identification System, known as IBIS, for examination. The casings are also being processed for fingerprints.

Investigators reported multiple incidents in the Ryan Hill area, particularly in the 4900 block of South 114th Street, where officers have recovered large quantities of shell casings on several occasions. Based on evidence collected so far, police believe a fully automatic firearm was used in those incidents.

In the Allentown neighborhood, police said an individual has been observed on multiple occasions firing a handgun into the Duwamish River in the 4000 block of South 115th Street. Those incidents have occurred less frequently and at random overnight hours.

Police Seeking Tips

The Tukwila Police Department is asking anyone with information, surveillance footage or other tips related to either investigation to contact authorities. Residents can send a private message through the department’s social media channels, email tips@tukwilawa.gov or call the department’s nonemergency line at (206) 241-2121 and ask to speak with an officer regarding the incidents.

Police said they are taking the cases seriously and are continuing efforts to stop the illegal discharges and identify those responsible.

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REMINDER: The Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden will host its annual Plant Sale this Saturday, May 30, offering visitors a wide selection of plants and gardening items.

Hours will be:

• Early Bird Members only 9–10 a.m.
• General Public 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

This year the garden’s team successfully propagated many beautiful plants right from the Garden – here’s a look at a few of the varieties for sale:

• Chrysanthemums
• Pacific Coast Iris
• Hellebores
• Canterbury Bells
• Sarcococca
• Hydrangeas
• Lilies
• Peonies
• Hostas
• and more!

Members of Partner Gardens and local nurseries will also be selling their plants and they’ll have live music in the Celebration Rose Garden performed by Northwest Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet.

“We hope to see you there!”

• King County Iris Society
• Daylily Society
• Puget Sound Fuchsia Society
• Wanderlust Nursery

Please note: Some vendors may only accept cash or checks.

For more info, visit https://highlinegarden.org/event/annual-plant-sale/

• WHEN: Saturday, May 30, 2026:
  • Early Bird Members Only 9–10 a.m.
  • General Public 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
• COST: FREE to attend
• WHERE: Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden | 13735 24th Avenue S., SeaTac:

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sponsored Posts like this are paid, “Native Advertisements” that help businesses and organizations improve their internet presence and all-important SEO. South King Media also underwrites fundraisers from local nonprofits. To learn more about how your business or organization can directly reach our expanding, engaged audience in South King County, please email Theresa Schaefer at vtheresa@comcast.net.

The City of Tukwila is inviting residents and community members to help decide how $100,000 in public funding will be spent through the city’s first participatory budgeting initiative, known as The People’s Project.

According to the city, the initiative will fund small, high impact projects designed to improve public spaces, support wellness, and strengthen community connections throughout Tukwila.

Voting is now open and will continue through May 31, 2026.

Participants receive 100,000 virtual “TukBucks” to allocate among proposed community projects. Voters can choose to support a single project or divide their TukBucks among several proposals.

“The People’s Project puts decision making directly in the hands of the community,” the city said in its announcement, “ensuring that public funds reflect the priorities, needs, and ideas of the people who live, work, and connect in Tukwila.”

The projects receiving the strongest community support will move forward for implementation, according to the city.

Residents can review project proposals, complete a ballot, and cast votes through the city’s online voting platform.

City officials said the program is intended to encourage public participation and give community members a direct role in shaping neighborhood improvements and local investments.

Cast your ballot here:

https://www.surveyhero.com/c/nrcu7nqw

Questions about the program can be directed to PeoplesProject@TukwilaWA.gov.

Tukwila Police reported a series of recent arrests tied to vehicle prowling, burglary, narcotics activity and outstanding warrants, while also emphasizing continued DUI enforcement efforts by patrol officers.

Police said Nights A and Nights B patrol squads have recently made several DUI arrests as part of proactive enforcement aimed at removing impaired drivers from local roadways.

“There have been several fatal collisions in our region lately in which impairment was suspected and or cited as the cause,” the department said in a statement. “A DUI related fatal collision is a very avoidable death that should never have occurred in the first place.”

Police urged drivers not to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol or other substances, noting that impaired driving incidents can permanently affect victims, families and communities.

Among the recent arrests highlighted by police was a vehicle prowling case in the 14200 block of 42nd Ave. South, where officers responded to reports of a woman found inside a vehicle that did not belong to her. The suspect fled on foot but was later located and booked into jail for second degree vehicle prowling.

Officers also responded to reports of two individuals attempting to break into a parking garage in the 14400 block of Tukwila International Boulevard. Police said an adult woman was found to have a Fife warrant related to narcotics violations. Officers also reported locating narcotics paraphernalia during a search incident to arrest. She was booked into jail on the warrant, with additional charges pending.

In another warrant arrest, Corporal Vivet contacted a man in a parking lot in the 14900 block of Interurban Ave. South. Police said the man had a felony warrant from King County for organized retail theft and was booked into jail.

Corporal Thompson and Officer Wright also detained a man observed urinating in public in the 14400 block of Tukwila International Boulevard. Police said the suspect had an active Department of Corrections escape warrant and was booked into jail.

Police also responded to a reported residential burglary in progress in the 13600 block of Military Road South after a homeowner reported hearing glass breaking and discovering damage to a shed door. Officers located an adult man hiding under a tarp inside the shed, according to police. The suspect was found to have a Department of Corrections escape warrant and was booked into jail, with additional charges pending for burglary and property damage.

Officer Barker arrested a 16-year-old male in the 4700 block of Southcenter Boulevard for vehicle prowling. The juvenile was later released to a family member, and the case was forwarded to prosecutors.

In another incident, Officer Barlett observed a man and woman at a bus shelter on Andover Park West allegedly committing several crimes. Police said the woman was seen tagging the shelter while the man smoked narcotics nearby. The woman was booked into jail for malicious mischief and unlawful transit conduct. The man was booked on an active Tukwila warrant, with additional narcotics related charges pending.

Police also recovered a stolen vehicle in the 16200 block of 49th Ave. South after residents reported suspicious activity involving occupants ringing doorbells in the neighborhood. Officers determined the vehicle displayed a stolen license plate and had been stolen from Seattle. Police said both occupants were found in possession of narcotics and booked into jail for vehicle trespass and narcotics possession.

In a separate case, Officer Nunez attempted to contact a person allegedly involved in throwing garbage around in the 14200 block of Tukwila International Boulevard. Police said the suspect fled on foot, leading to a brief pursuit. During the chase, officers observed the man reaching toward his waistband in a manner consistent with reaching for a firearm or another object. The suspect eventually surrendered and was arrested for obstructing a public servant. Officers searched the area for a discarded firearm but did not locate one.