Video shows ‘use of force’ arrest for fare enforcement issue aboard train in Capitol Hill Station — UPDATE

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Video showing a violent tussle as four security officers attempt to subdue a man aboard a Sound Transit train Tuesday night inside Capitol Hill Station has many calling for the transit agency and King County Sheriff to explain the use of force and the policies around fare enforcement on the area’s light rail and bus systems.

A representative for King County Sheriff which provides police service along with Sound Transit police on the light rail system said a statement on the arrest is forthcoming and that he expects video showing the full incident to be released. Continue reading →

Those actually might be ‘condos’ after all: Conversions part of Capitol Hill condominium wave

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The Atrium at 11th and Aloha wasn’t not developed as condos — but it wasn’t exactly planned that way, either (Images: CHS)

More condominiums than you think are coming to Capitol Hill. And it turns out one key element widely reported as a throttle on condo development may not be the safeguard against building conversion that it was thought to be.

The Neighborhood Collection — a marketing campaign for a set of three new Seattle buildings including two on Capitol Hill originally developed and designed as rental housing — says its new buildings provide “a highly engaging lifestyle” where “residents will enjoy an array of amenities for gathering, unwinding and turnkey living.” The projects are currently lining up prospective buyers for “the studio, urban one bedroom and one bedroom flats and lofts” offered “from the $400,000s to more than $800,000.”

But that wasn’t the original plan. Continue reading →

‘Change of Corporate Officer’ — the paperwork of the Meinert misconduct accusations

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Pike/Pine changes in the wake of sexual misconduct and rape allegations against a prominent neighborhood business owner have boiled down to the paperwork.

Monday, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board approved a raft of liquor license changes for three Pike/Pine nightlife venues after David Meinert was removed from the corporations operating the businesses. Continue reading →

Macklemore, Michael Bennett team up with Garfield educator to put Teaching for Black Lives book in every school in Seattle

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Hagopian, Bennett, and Macklemore (Image courtesy Rethinking Schools)

An all-star team including Macklemore and Garfield High educator and activist Jesse Hagopian has come together to make sure copies of Teaching for Black Lives — “a handbook for creating the sweeping reform of our education system and equitable teaching strategies for Black students”– are in every middle and high school in the Seattle Public School system. Continue reading →

Community groups begin education and outreach on Pike/Pine bike improvement plan

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Neighborhood and Central Seattle Greenways activists volunteered their weekend to survey the merchant community along the Pike and Pine corridor from Broadway west toward Downtown. A $10 million protected bike lane route through the busy thoroughfare is scheduled for completion by the end of 2019.

Brie Gyncild of Central Seattle Greenways says the outreach campaign is simple. “Our entire goal is to ensure that the design works for everyone, including businesses. Understanding their needs, whether they be loading or parking or pedestrian safety or even aesthetics, lets us advocate for a design that accommodates their needs,” Gyncild said. UPDATE: We have updated Gyncild’s comments and removed a quote that was mis-reported by CHS. We apologize for the error. Continue reading →

Mantilla approved to remain as Durkan’s Department of Neighborhoods head

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Mantilla

Slowly but surely, Mayor Jenny Durkan is building a more stable long-term team at Seattle City Hall. Monday, the mayor announced that Andres Mantilla will remain as the head of the city’s Department of Neighborhoods after the City Council voted to approve him for the permanent role.

Mantilla has been serving as interim director since Durkan replaced longtime DON leader Kathy Nyland in the wake of the shakeup of the city’s neighborhood council system to create a more diverse and equitable “engagement” process. Continue reading →

As man dies in Central District shooting, neighbors call for SPD to do more to quell spike in gun violence

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(Image: SPD)

Neighbors are pushing for more to be done by police in the Central District following Friday’s murder of Marshall Bennett after the 38-year-old was gunned down at his 25th Ave S residence in continuing gang violence and what police say are personal vendettas driving an ongoing wave of shootings.

Bennett is being remembered by family and residents of the area who knew him as a neighbor and a man who had lived through serious run-ins with the law while paying a major price along the way. When he was convicted of drug charges in 2013 after being arrested with crack cocaine after a fight in a Capitol Hill alley, prosecutors said Bennett had already served more than a decade in jail for a 2001 robbery conviction. Bennett was sentenced to 13 more months in jail in the 2013 case. This summer, Bennett was released from jail in July after being jailed during another drug investigation, according to King County Superior Court records.

Friday’s homicide remains unsolved and detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying a green sedan seen fleeing the area following the shooting. You can call (206) 233-5000 if you have any information that might help. Continue reading →

Broadway Whole Foods to open October 30th

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Plan your monthly grocery budget now. The under-construction Whole Foods at the edge of Capitol Hill and First Hill has announced it will be open by the end of October.

The opening will come four years and a week after CHS broke the news on the project, planned, at the time, to be the company’s ninth store in Seattle. “We have been interested in the Capitol Hill and First Hill communities or a long long time,” a company spokesperson told CHS back in November of 2014. “We couldn’t be more pleased about the location of the new store.” Continue reading →

The Lounge by AT&T will have a local guide in its Capitol Hill retail experiment — Ada’s Discovery Cafe

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(Image: Ada’s Discover Cafe via Instagram)

For most of us, getting an email out of the blue from AT&T probably means that our bill is due. For Danielle Hulton of Capitol Hill’s Ada’s Technical Books, an email from the telecommunications giant this spring was an invitation to talk about a life and business changing opportunity.

“They’re evolving and want to be considered more of a tech company,” Hulton said of the conversations that started with that email. “In order to reach customers in places like Capitol Hill, a traditional retail store isn’t going to work.”

So, in the rare case of a corporate giant making a mutually beneficial pact with a locally focused neighborhood merchant, Hulton, her husband and business partner David Hulton, and the growing crew at Ada’s joined up with AT&T and a champion barista for a coffee-focused adventure in small business that pretty much only could play out here on Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

Despite new projects, vision for Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park remains unchanged

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With $54M worth of structural and design upgrades underway, the Seattle Asian Art Museum renovation is just one of several ongoing projects in Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park. Nearly 120 years after the ridgeland was shaped by an Olmsted design, a passionate cohort of minders advocate, volunteer, and fundraise in order to preserve function and maximize recreation for the community. Sunday, some of these caretakers invite you to get your hands dirty along with them as they spruce up the park.

This Sunday is Fall Restoration Day at the park from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM when volunteers of all ages are invited to meet at the southeast entrance at Prospect and 15th Ave E to help with weeding, mulching and more. There will be free donuts and coffee.

Fall Restoration Day in Volunteer Park

“One of the positives of the park is that it hasn’t changed a whole lot in over 100 years,” said Parks and Recreation project manager Kelly Goold.

Continue reading →