(Image: CHS)
Madison isn’t the only thing getting a paint job on Capitol Hill right now. Work is underway transforming the first Seattle expansion of Voodoo Doughnuts at the base of Capitol Hill.
This week’s labor includes the requisite doughnut box-pink Voodoo paint job going on in layers at the Pine at Minor building as the Portland-based doughnut maker lines up for an opening in coming weeks. Continue reading
(Image: SDOT)
As the Seattle City Council begins debate over the final touches on the city’s $1.45 billion transportation levy proposal, work is finally underway to add one of the most crucial elements of the three-year street overhaul to create the soon to open RapidRide G bus line on Madison: paint.
There’s no telling how much new paint you might get in a $1.45 billion levy but the 2.50-mile, 10-station Madison bus rapid transit route scheduled to begin service by the end of summer is finally adding some color.
The Seattle Department of Transportation announced crews have begun the process of adding new painted bus-only lanes and markings up and down the RapidRide G corridor.
“We will start with painting new pedestrian crossings, stop bars and lane lines downtown and work our way towards First Hill and Capitol Hill,” SDOT says of the planned timeline for the paint job. “This work is scheduled to take place throughout the spring and summer and will finish in August. The final piece will be the red bus lanes and green bike lanes, along with crosswalks and lines in areas that were only recently paved with asphalt.” Continue reading
A growing Capitol Hill food and drink family will fill a space on Broadway left empty by a loss in another.
Plans for the new Chandelier Lounge are underway in the 400 block of Broadway E in the space formerly at the center of the Boca family of Argentine steakhouse and bakery food and drink.
CHS reported here on the death earlier this year of founder Marco Casas-Beaux at 72 that left Broadway’s Boca Restobar and Grill, and the Boca Pizzeria and Bakery shuttered and in ownership limbo. Continue reading
A Day of Service volunteer in 2023
Seattle’s 3rd annual Day of Service volunteer event is coming up later this month with three opportunities on Capitol Hill to get involved with plus plenty more volunteer opportunities across the rest of District 3.
The 2024 Day of Service will take place Saturday, May 18th. The city says registration is now open for over 2,500 volunteer shifts at over 110 service events throughout Seattle. “Volunteer opportunities include a variety of options for people across ages, abilities, and interests,” the city says. Continue reading
(Image: CHS)
Neighbors, members of the Leschi Community Council, and descendants of the man the park is named for are calling on Mayor Bruce Harrell and the city to act quickly to address health and safety concerns that have grown at the asylum-seeker encampment that formed late last month in the Central District’s Powell Barnett Park.
“How does the city deal with this sort of the emergency?,” Maisha Barnett, granddaughter of Powell S. Barnett asked during a Monday press conference organized to present a call from the community group for the city to provide an immediate response to sanitation and health needs at the park.
“We’re not here to decide whether they need shelter,” Barnett said, trying to put aside larger questions and frustrations that have complicated efforts to help the campers.
The group that spoke Monday is asking the city to act now to bring resources like portable toilets and sinks, better solutions for garbage, and more efforts to coordinate the camp immediately to Powell Barnett while larger questions about immigration and the bureaucratic grind that has created the camp to continue to play out.
UPDATE 4:45 PM: The mayor’s office says it has already started clearing out the camp and is working to remove “families and single adults still remaining. In the statement, the mayor’s office says about 150 people “transitioned from the park and into shelter and housing over the weekend.” The city says it has identified shelter for 40 families from the park. “Following this, we will evaluate the park for environmental and hygienic impacts, cleaning and restoring it as necessary to ensure it is available to the broader community for its intended purpose,” the statement reads.
Harrell digs in (Image: SDOT)
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office has finalized his proposal for the city’s next transportation levy planned to go before Seattle voters in November — now with an even bigger price tag: $1.45 billion.
The Seattle Times is calling the eight-year proposal Seattle’s “biggest-ever property tax proposal.”
Transit, biking, and pedestrian advocates are calling it an improved proposal after a month of criticism over the plan’s focus on repairs, replacements, and realignments over new street and transit projects.
The mayor said Friday at a press conference unveiling the new proposal that feedback shaped a $100 million addition to the plan.
“Over the last month, we’ve received feedback from thousands of Seattle residents who want a transportation system that is safe, connected, and well maintained – this proposal will help get us there,” Harrell said in a statement.
Transit advocacy leaders have been measured in their enthusiasm for the proposal, praising the administration for listening to constituents but framing the plan’s spending on elements like safety, transit, and non-motor vehicle travel as barely adequate.
“We thank the transit riders and the community of advocates who spoke up to ensure this levy ushers in the transportation future we need,” Kirk Hovenkotter, executive director, of the Transportation Choices Coalition, said in a statement from the mayor’s office that called the proposal’s investments “the basics of a 21st-century transportation system.”
“We thank Mayor Harrell for his leadership on the levy and for being responsive to community feedback.”
The updated levy proposal will add a more than $20 million to boost sidewalk work including adding 250 blocks of new sidewalks in the first four years.
The administration also responded to advocates, boosting funding earmarks for improving transit corridors by 20% to around $145 million in spending in the plan to improve safety and connectivity with light rail stations and on key routes like the 3, 4, and 31.
Bicycle spending in the proposal was also boosted around 20% with about $114 million in planned safety spending, and expansion of the city’s bike networks. Continue reading
(Image: CHS)
(Image: Ovation Apartments)
A pre-dawn party with a reported 200 revelers on the rooftop of a luxury First Hill apartment building ended with gunfire and a bloodied victim in serious condition early Sunday morning.
Seattle Police were called to the 700 block of Spring just before 6 AM as 911 callers reported 20 or more gunshots from the top of one of the twin 32-story towers and at least one person shot.
Arriving officers found a 22-year-old bleeding inside one of the building’s elevators. He had been shot at least three times according to emergency radio updates. The victim reportedly told police he did not know who had shot him and was not in any kind of altercation. Police say he was taken to Harborview in serious condition by Seattle Fire. Continue reading
With reporting by Alex Garland
It has arrived a few Cinco de Mayos later than expected but Koko’s is now open on 10th Ave.
Gibran Moreno and Alexi Torres say they are happy to have created a new city version of the Koko’s original that adds to the neighborhood’s inclusive and open-minded communities.
“Capitol Hill is the place for me,” Moreno says. “As a gay couple, we feel safe and comfortable.”
Moreno — he’s the talkative one — and Torres created and grew the first Koko’s with Mexican and Salvadorian flavors and a beachtown vibe in the Pacific Northwest beach town of Seabrook. They have brought some of that relaxed energy to the backside of Pike/Pine where they now neighbor Capitol Hill fine dining veteran Lark and its Slab Sandwiches sibling.
The newly transformed space is filled with plants and light and art including creations from Oaxaca and a monkey from Michoacán.
CHS reported here on long delays to open the new restaurant due to pandemic challenges that slowed permits and construction for the Koko’s expansion to fill this 10th Ave space formerly home to a Heritage Distilling tasting room.
The first Koko’s was born in the planned Olympic Peninsula community of Seabrook, Washington and has grown into one of the “Best Restaurants in Washington State.”
Moreno and Torres hope their new Koko’s can fill a sweet spot on Capitol Hill as people return to more pre-pandemic ways. Continue reading
The corner of E Pine and Belmont will once again be filled with a Cinco de Mayo street party as Fogón Cocina Mexicana hosts a second year of its new tradition.
Sunday’s free 2024 celebration will feature DJs, a day of mariachi, and a night of drag hosted by Queen Andrew Scott along with vendors including Bakescapade with panadería sweets.
There will be plenty more Cinco de Mayo celebrating going on around the neighborhood including a day of mariachi performance from Luis Cano at 15th Ave E’s Smith under its new ownership from the Club Cultura business family.
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