E Aloha transformer explosion part of limited power outage as windy rain soaks Capitol Hill — UPDATE: 6,000 more

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(Image: Alex Garland/CHS)

View latest outage updates here

So far, the power outage has remained limited after electrical equipment exploded and caught fire at E Aloha and Harvard Ave Saturday night.

Seattle Fire was called to Aloha and Harvard around 7:10 PM to the reported transformer fire.

Seattle City Light reported more than 700 customers without power including swaths of Broadway north or Roy.

Blustery winds and bursts of heavy rain were forecasted to continue through the night.

UPDATE 9:38 PM: City Light says another more than 6,000 customers are now without power in the Capitol Hill core.

 

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911 | Pedestrian hit on E Olive Way by reported DWI driver

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • Pedestrian hit on E Olive Way: A pedestrian crossing E Olive Way was struck by a driver and sent to the hospital and the driver was taken into custody by police in an overnight collision early Saturday morning. Seattle Fire and Seattle Police responded to E Olive Way in front of Hula Hula around 12:10 AM for the reported “significant impact” crash. SFD reports the 31-year-old man was taken to Harborview in stable condition. Witnesses reports say the driver was evaluated for drug or alcohol use and taken into custody by police. Continue reading →

Seattle City Attorney challenger won’t enforce banishment zones including Capitol Hill’s SODA

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With reporting by Hannah Saunders

The Capitol Hill “Stay Out of Drug Area” leads the city in banishment orders. The challenger to Ann Davison in the race for the Seattle City Attorney’s office says she will not enforce it.

“This was a failed policy that my opponent championed back, despite experts opposing it,” Erika Evans tells CHS. “Banishing people does not work. Prosecuting someone’s presence is not effective.”

Evans says the policies are racist and inequitably applied. They are also having no impact on reducing the public drug use and street disorder they were intended to address. Continue reading →

Finding inspiration (and rabbits) on a Capitol Hill walk with writer Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

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Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (Image: Dorothy Edwards)

One recent Sunday evening, writer and queer activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore was walking from her home near the Capitol Hill branch of Seattle Public Library and toward Volunteer Park when she spotted one of the neighborhood’s ubiquitous feral rabbits.

“Look at that cute rabbit,” she said, delighted by the small creature as it scurried along the sidewalk toward the protection of a row of hedges. “The rabbits are the best thing that’s happened to us in the last five years. They came right with the pandemic, too. I mean, we’ve always had rabbits, but you might have seen one a week, if you were lucky. Now, you might see ten a night.”

Neighborhood walks are essential to Sycamore’s creativity. This was especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, a productive period when she wrote two books that proved popular among readers and critics. So, when the opportunity arose to interview Sycamore for CHS, it made sense to do so while on one of her regular neighborhood walks. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s Northwest School part of $4.7M in Seattle building decarbonization grants

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The Northwest School’s rooftop sports field above Pike and Bellevue (Image: Northwest School)

The city has announced $4.7 million Building Decarbonization Grants for 2025 including funding for work at Capitol Hill’s Northwest School.

“These grants will cover design or retrofits to reduce climate pollution and help buildings reach Building Emissions Performance Standard targets,” the Summit Ave private middle and high school said in a statement on the grant. Continue reading →

El Diablo is back — Bar Tango completes a new family of Capitol Hill food and drink at Pine and Summit

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(Image: Kristopher Shinn Photography)

El Diablo calls (Image: Kristopher Shinn Photography)

A remarkable six-month flourish of food and drink activity at E Pine and Summit is complete Thursday as a Capitol Hill-nostalgia soaked finale is ready for its debut.

Bar Tango opens today, joining siblings Double O’ Burgers, Cantina del Sol, and Uncle Dom’s Italian Kitchen in the complex of bar and restaurant space at the corner.

El Diablo is back. Continue reading →

At 12th and Union, Councilmember Rinck and advocates announce ‘Better Bus Lanes’ campaign to speed up the 8 and push for better transit routes in the city

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Rinck in a video celebrating the SDOT reversal of its reversal on E Union earlier this month.

The city’s reversal on a plan to remove a red paint bus lane from a few-block stretch of Capitol Hill has become a movement.

Wednesday, Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck was on her home neighborhood turf near the busy triple intersection of 12th, Union, and Madison to announce a “coalition-backed initiative” she says will push for improving — and, apparently, preserving — bus lanes throughout the city.

“For too long our city has missed the moment to ensure frequent and reliable bus service on some of our most used bus corridors. Now is the time to fix these longstanding issues head on,” Rinck said in the announcement. “I’m proud to stand with transportation advocates to find a new way forward for Seattle’s bus riders.”

The citywide council member was joined by representatives from Transportation Choices Coalition, Amalgamated Transit Union 587, Transit Riders Union, Aurora Reimagined Coalition, Fix the L8, and Central Seattle Greenways at a stop for the Metro Route 2 bus as traffic roared nearby the busy Capitol Hill intersection along the RapidRide G corridor.

CHS reported here earlier this month as the Seattle Department of Transportation said crews were in the process of reversing a small stretch of E Union changes made under the RapidRide G project, including removing the red-paint bus lane through the area where poor design had left Metro needing to detour the block. After advocates spoke out against the whipsaw decision, SDOT announced it was reversing the reversal and would be installing a pedestrian signal that would make the stretch of E Union safe for Metro’s Route 2 to return to the block. Continue reading →

A Capitol Hill fall tradition, the Seattle Weavers’ Guild Annual Show is this weekend

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The Seattle Weavers’ Guild makes Bloedel Hall at Capitol Hill’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral its monthly home. Once a year each autumn, they invite you to visit.

The Seattle Weavers’ Guild Annual Show & Sale returns Thursday through Saturday at the 10th Ave E cathedral hall for days of exhibits and sale of handwoven textiles by regional fiber artists. Guild organizers say this year’s creations include hand-crafted “wearables – apparel, scarves, hats, shawls and jewelry; home décor – rugs, tapestries, baskets, pillows, blankets and linens; holiday gifts; and handspun, hand-dyed yarn.”

There will also be artist talks and demonstrations of spinning and weaving.

Admission and parking are free and St. Mark’s is served by bus routes including the 49 and the 9.

 

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

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 🖤 

 
 

13 things CHS heard at the Capitol Hill Community Council/First Hill Improvement Association Mayoral Debate: Broadway Crisis Care Center, Pike/Pine gun violence, and electric scooters

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It has been a long 2025 election season but Tuesday night’s Capitol Hill Community Council/First Hill Improvement Association Mayoral Debate brought new energy and new opportunities for the candidates to distinguish themselves in important issues including the Broadway Crisis Care Center, neighborhood homelessness, Pike/Pine and Garfield gun violence, affordability, and, yes, electric scooters.

“They do drive me crazy,” Mayor Bruce Harrell admitted before delving into a deeper answers on issues around the surprisingly important component of Seattle’s transit system. More on that, below.

The incumbent and challenger Katie Wilson sparred on the night in front of a group of around 150 inside Harvard Ave’s First Baptist over themes of experience and change in a back and forth on questions from moderators Chris Paulus of the Capitol Hill Community Council and Ellen Greene of the First Hill Improvement Association, and support from the Urban Community Councils of Seattle group that has grown as an umbrella organization connecting some of the city’s core neighborhoods.

CHS also advised and helped the groups form the night’s topics.

The candidates were provided with a roster of possible questions prior to the debate to allow them to prepare in a standard the Urban Community Councils group established in a series of political debates it helped organize this year. The candidates were given two minutes to answer plus an opportunity for follow-up time.

Harrell, an incumbent centrist coming out of a summer primary that saw a strong showing from a slate of Seattle progressives, spent those minutes focused on his leadership against the Trump administration and his many years at City Hall and in the city.

In her time, Wilson made the case that 14 years “working in and around City Hall pushing ‘visionary legislation'” made her the right candidate to lead the city forward.

The differences between the two on issues specific to First Hill and Capitol Hill were illuminating.

CRISIS CARE CENTER
The county’s nearby planned $56 million Broadway Crisis Care Center was one flashpoint.

Harrell told the crowd his plan for city support for the center will hold county officials accountable and that a Seattle Police Department-led “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design” process will make the area safer around the center planned to open in 2027. Continue reading →