Capitol Hill Happy Holidays Card 2025

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For this year’s holiday card, CHS turns to 19th and Aloha and an installation of joy at St. Joe’s.

The St. Joseph Parish added the display this year on its lawn near another relatively recent addition — the “community fridge” the church’s Faith Justice Commission and the community keep stocked and open for those in need.

You can maybe think about the wooden reindeer and trees and lights the same way — stocked and open for those in need. Stop by and pick up a little bit of community joy.

CHS, by the way, is also taking some time this week to pick up a bit of joy where we can find it. If there is something we should know about, call or text (206) 399-5959 or say hey @jseattle here or here. You can also check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group. Thanks for reading.

Look! Joy on E Union, too

CHS Happy Holidays Cards Past

 

A BRIEF HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM CHS
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🎁

 

‘Save Raygun Lounge’ — Community rallying to keep the gameplay going at Capitol Hill arcade and tabletop gaming hangout

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(Image: Raygun Lounge)

There is hope of a replay at Capitol Hill all-ages arcade bar and tabletop gaming hangout Raygun Lounge where an employee is getting help from the neighborhood to restart the business.

“Raygun Lounge in Capitol Hill has been a nexus for gamers, geeks, and anyone seeking a place to belong. Raygun isn’t just a pinball barcade — it’s a community,” River Flanary says in the plea asking fans to pitch in to keep Raygun Lounge open.

“It’s where pinball wizards meet board game strategists; where LGBTQ+ folks feel safe and at home; where tabletop RPG campaigns unfold, and Magic: The Gathering games rage on. Raygun is a place where our community gathers and becomes friends, with food and drink and engaging games,” Flanary writes. Continue reading →

Construction set to begin on new 33-story senior housing tower on First Hill — Horizon House says 70% of its units are already claimed

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(Image: Horizon House)

Horizon House says construction is set to begin on its new 33-story West Tower on First Hill neighborhood. The project will add 202 residences to the existing University Street campus, creating, it says, one of the tallest purpose-built senior living high-rises in the United States.

“The West Tower is an ambitious effort that will expand urban senior living options for active seniors in downtown Seattle,” Erica Thrash-Sall, Horizon House CEO, said in the announcement. “We took on this project with one goal in mind: to ensure Horizon House thrives for the next generation of residents.”

The expansion is moving forward in December as Horizon House turns the existing West Wing property over to Andersen Construction to begin demolition. An official groundbreaking ceremony for the skyscraper is scheduled for late January. Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | Christmas 2021 weekend snow, Peloton Cafe’s first ride, Cal Anderson BLM garden cleared

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Here are the top stories from this week in CHS history:

2024

 

The Wildrose, a safe space, a survivor, and a good place to grab a drink, celebrates 40 years on Capitol Hill


Continue reading →

After owner’s Republican run for city council, Capitol Hill crystal shop The Vajra to close — UPDATE

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The Vajra announcement

(Image: The Vajra)

A Broadway crystal shop is closing.

Its owner turned political candidate had said challenges with crime, drug use, and homelessness around The Vajra shaped her run this year for the Seattle City Council.

Now the crystal shop will be going “online only,” owner Rachael Savage said in a video posted to social media Thursday.

“We’re not really going anywhere. We’re just going virtual, baby,” Savage said, thanking Seattle “for 36 years.”

Savage said the Broadway store will close at the end of the year.

In the meantime, a clearance sale is underway. Continue reading →

Holiday Special market will benefit Capitol Hill’s On the Block

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15th Ave E and 11th Ave are giving each other a boost of holiday spirit this weekend as 15th’s Quality Flea Center hosts a holiday market in support of the On the Block group that produces the 11th Ave street fair series.

The On the Block Holiday Special takes place Sunday:

Sunday, December 21 – 12 to 6 pm
Quality Flea Center – 416 15th Ave E

The Holiday Special is a free, family-friendly event that will feature 60+ vendors, soul food, hot cocoa station, Santa photos, raffle, games, giveaways, a coloring station, soul food by Jerm Dee, DJS Razberry Baretta and Supreme La Rock, and more.

OtB says Sunday’s event will raise funds for its “Second Saturday”s 11th Ave street fairs as well as its venues including the newly opened all-ages arts venue 11 : 11 on, you guessed it, 11th Ave. You can buy a $33 “Cocoa Station/Soul Food plate package” to help.


Shop local, shop the Hill: 60+ places to walk and shop on Capitol Hill

 

A BRIEF HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM CHS
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🎁

 

Bar Cantinetta, the only new* restaurant on Capitol Hill in 2025

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The year’s restaurant, cafe, and bar news around Capitol Hill cannot be complete without telling more about the story of Bar Cantinetta, one of the few completely new dining spaces created in Seattle’s core this year.

In uncertain times, it has helped that the ideas behind Cantinetta were time tested and familiar to the area. Bar Cantinetta was a much loved part of a nearby neighborhood for a decade.

“The Madison valley neighborhood served us very well, and we were there for 10 years,” owner Trevor Greenwood explained.

Bar Cantinetta is now reborn on Capitol Hill’s growing 15th Ave E, bringing Tuscan culinary traditions and a commitment to neighborhood dining to the changing street in one of the new buildings that has risen there.

 

A BRIEF HOLIDAY MESSAGE FROM CHS
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🎁

 

The restaurant represents the latest venture from majority owner Greenwood, who has built a local restaurant empire centered on Italian cuisine and community values. Continue reading →

‘The Miller Court Lights Saga’ — In 2025, the lights came back on above Capitol Hill’s most popular pickleball courts

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The Miller Park pickleball courts are some of the most in-demand hardtop in the city. Joy Hollingsworth says helping shepherd a key repair to the court lights this year was one of her highlights of 2025 representing District 3 on the Seattle City Council.

In the video posted this week, Hollingsworth talks about the repairs made after a bank of lights was damaged by vandalism. The destruction happened in October 2024. The repairs — including work that will make it difficult for somebody to clip the wires again — were finally complete in June.

Along the way, the city’s pickleball community watched “The Miller Court Lights Saga” with incredulity as the long repair process played out with some wondering if the parks department was “slow walking” repairs to cut down on nighttime use. Continue reading →

SPD arrests warrant suspect after negotiation on 26th Ave

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Police were spread across the area Thursday afternoon as officers were negotiating with a warrant suspect barricaded inside a house under construction just east of Garfield High School. Continue reading →

First Hill man charged with hate crime after threatening calls to Temple De Hirsch Sinai Synagogue

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A First Hill man has been arrested and charged with a hate crime for his threatening phone calls to E Pike’s Temple De Hirsch Sinai.

Police and prosecutors say Joshua Scott chose the start of Chanukah to leave hate-filled and threatening voicemails for the temple located on the edge of Capitol Hill and the Central District.

“Six million isn’t going to be enough by the way, you fucking Jew rat,” went one message left the night of December 12th a few days before the start of Chanukah. “Six million is gonna be a fucking starter pack.”

The Seattle Police Department began investigating the Friday night call immediately after the synagogue reported it, tracking the phone number to an apartment in a First Hill “luxury” apartment tower. There, police say Scott answered the door but tried to close it on officers — Continue reading →