Global cycling brand Rapha is closing its Capitol Hill ‘clubhouse’

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London-based global cycling sportswear brand Rapha is closing its Seattle “clubhouse,” a mixed retail and cafe concept it introduced nearly ten years ago on this E Pine block of Capitol Hill after its redevelopment

The company said the Seattle shutdown will be joined by clubhouse closures in Boulder, Chicago, Miami, and Manchester, United Kingdom  “before the end of March 2026.”

The closures come as Rapha is suffering global revenue loss of a reported $23 million annually. It will continue to operate 20 or so clubhouses in cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Portland as well as opening new sites including Shanghai.

The company says the closures will begin as early as this month. Continue reading →

2026’s start at Garfield High School includes ‘Reclaiming the Village’ forum plus construction plans for classroom technology and school safety upgrades

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Meanwhile, the class of ’27 came up big time in the school’s winter sock drive (Image: @garfieldhsptsa)

The community around Garfield High School is continuing work to improve campus public safety and address social and economic challenges.

Over the weekend, city officials including Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth joined attendees at the latest “Reclaiming the Village” gathering at Garfield. Organizers say they hope the events will grow into an ongoing series of forums to support Black families and students in Seattle’s Central District.

Garfield Principal Tarance Hart launched the forums as the school has tried to address community needs, public safety, and gun violence following the deadly 2024 shooting of 17-year-old student Amarr Murphy-Paine in the school’s parking lot. Continue reading →

Seattle Fire rescues driver after low-speed crash into home — from above — on hilly E Union

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(Image: CHS)

A perplexing automobile crash scene brought a huge Seattle Fire response to the hills of E Union Sunday afternoon.

Seattle Fire rushed to the intersection of 31st and Union around 1 PM Sunday to a report that a car had crashed into the upper level of a home, leaving the car’s occupant trapped inside.

The dramatic 911 call soon revealed a slower-speed event. Continue reading →

Sunday in Cal Anderson: ‘ICE OUT FOR GOOD’ demonstration — UPDATE: Pictures and Mayor Wilson

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UPDATE: We’ve added some images from the day. Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay were among speakers at the afternoon rally (Images: CHS)

Groups that organized to bring together a Seattle Waterfront vigil and march this week to mark the killing of Renee Nicole Good are planning another rally Sunday in Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park.

The “ICE Out For Good” event is planned to begin at 11 AM on the north end of the park with groups including local organizers Seattle Indivisible and Defund Musk joining what is expected to be a day of nationwide protests over the deadly shooting and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Continue reading →

These Central Seattle school kids are getting a soft addition to their blacktop playground

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(Image: Seattle Public Schools)

Part of life for many Pacific Northwest kids — especially in densely populated areas around Capitol Hill — are affordable and long-lasting hard-top paved elementary school playgrounds. Seattle Public Schools has budgeted to change that for one corner of a neighborhood school’s campus.

Plans are afoot for a $416,000 project to install synthetic turf on a large rectangle of the Leschi Elementary School campus, according to city permits. The new turf area will be installed where the school’s futsal court is currently marked. Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | Goodbye to the Broadway bike bollards, Hollingsworth launches campaign, 2021 COVID-19 vaccination rollout

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A Broadway bollard in happier times (Image: SDOT)

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

2025

 

Belmont-Boylston ‘double house’ considered as landmark in preparation for Historic Seattle sale


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Power out around Broadway and John after another reported underground electrical fire

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Friday night’s outage map from Seattle City Light

An underground fire and more issues with the grid around Capitol Hill Station knocked out power to at least 450 customers around Broadway and John Friday night.

“Crews are responding to an energy response underway for a vault fire in the 100 block of Harvard Ave. E. Please avoid the area,” Seattle Fire reported about its “energy response” as the incident unfolded around 6:30 PM.

Remember to treat flashing intersections as four-way stops. Continue reading →

Cafe Lolo will make seasonal start this spring on Capitol Hill

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(Image: Cafe Lolo)

Three cooks are ready to share the kitchen in a new start in Capitol Hill’s historical Loveless Building that will align with the seasons of the Pacific Northwest’s farmers and foragers.

“Having three, each person has their thing that’s theirs, and we feel support from each other” Leah Engel tells CHS about Cafe Lolo, a “seasonally dictated” day and night cafe taking shape in the longtime E Roy home of Cook Weaver which closed as 2025 drew to an end to make way for the new project.

Much as Cook Weaver’s Zac Reynolds balanced family and a food and drink career for a near-decade of service at Cook Weaver, restaurant veterans Engel and Alex Halmi found love and a life together growing Cafe Lolo at Seattle farmers markets and pop-ups.

As they honed the concept for a fixed-place version of Lolo with a residency last year at Roosevelt’s Three Sacks Full, Engel’s co-worker at the NE 64th locally-sourced restaurant Brett Bankson joined the team. Continue reading →

CHS readers pick the most important Capitol Hill stories of 2025

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Top CHS stories from the 2025 Year in Review survey

The people — at least 306 of them — have spoken. These are the most important CHS stories of 2025.

Over the holidays, we posted our annual CHS Year in Review with our top stories from 2025. We also asked CHS readers to weigh in on which stories they felt were the most important as the neighborhood looks to the new year ahead.

This year’s top results focus on some of the most painful memories and lessons of 2025 — and some of the uncertainty. There was also hope — Katie Wilson’s victory managed to climb its way to a third place finish in the survey.

CHS MOST IMPORTANT 2025 STORIES — READERS’ CHOICE

A view of a September murder scene in Pike/Pine (Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture)

  • PIKE/PINE GUN VIOLENCE: Matters of life and death are larger than the calendar. A year of deadly Pike/Pine gun violence stretched back to October of 2024 when 25-year-old Breanna Simmons was gunned down on 11th Ave in a murder that has not been publicly solved. Looking back just a bit further, 23-year-old Kenji Spurgeon was shot and killed in July in a parking lot at 10th and Pine. Last New Year’s Eve, 29-year-old Jonny Adamow was shot and killed at Broadway and Pike. This fall, 26-year-old Robert Fleeks and 18-year-old Jaydon Jameson were murdered within two blocks of Broadway and Pike. The latest killings brought new calls for more to be done as District 3 rep Joy Hollingsworth released a five-point plan of “immediate actions” needed to address ongoing safety issues in the area. Continue reading →

CHS Year in Review 2025 | The year in pictures

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OK, ok, ok… you have probably had enough of 2025. Indulge us one last look back.

Here is the year that was in pictures on CHS. Take a look through the memories and faces from the year. Thanks to the photographers (especially, you, Alex Garland) and the neighbors who captured these images for us to see what was happening and who the people are who made news on Capitol Hill. Each photo links to the story behind the image. Now, back to 2026…

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