Tag Archives: volunteer park

CHS Pics | Seattle Pride in the Park starts a month of LGBTQIA+ celebration on Capitol Hill

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Pride 2023 on Capitol Hill got started over the weekend with a day of picnics and music in Volunteer Park kicking off the coming month of LGBTQ+ celebrations.

Just one year from the triumphant return of the neighborhood’s Pride celebrations to their rightful place in June following years of pandemic postponements, 2023 festivities began Saturday with the Seattle Pride in the Park festival, the updated version of the old Pride Picnic that now fills Volunteer Park’s amphitheater lawn with free music and dancing. The 2023 theme was Galactic Love — “all about celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community as one big, beautiful, extravagant galaxy.” The weekend also brought the traditional Pride neighborhood clean-up around Cal Anderson Park.

There are plenty more Capitol Hill Pride celebrations ahead. Check out our list below and find more on the CHS Calendar.

  • FRIDAY JUNE 23RD: TRANS PRIDE SEATTLE — Trans Pride Seattle got back on its feet in 2022 — but not in time to be part of celebrations in June. This year, the celebration of transgender freedom continues its new tradition of gathering in Volunteer Park with a Friday night rally and party. Continue reading →

Volunteer Park Summer Series at the Amphitheater 2023 lineup announced

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The Summer Series at the Amphitheater has announced its 2023 lineup — first show is July 13th

The good folks at the Volunteer Park Trust have announced the lineup for the 2023 Summer Series at the Amphitheater, a second season of the free series of shows set up to celebrate the park’s $2.7 million amphitheater replacement that opened last July.

The full 2023 lineup is below. But, first things first, you should enjoy this Memorial Day weekend around the Hill. Here are a few ideas from the CHS Calendar. Missing something? Add your event here.

Memorial Day Weekend On the List

  • Northwest Terror Fest 2023: Neumos and Barboza are hosting this year’s “extreme” metal music festival with the black-clad terror running through Saturday night. Learn more at northwestterrorfest.com. Continue reading →

Police search for car theft suspect near Volunteer Park — UPDATE: In custody

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The suspect was captured on security video systems as he made his way through yards and alleys eluding police

Seattle Police fanned out across the neighborhoods to the southeast of Volunteer Park Thursday morning in a search for a suspect reported fleeing through yards and alleys in the area during a long manhunt.

Seattle Police has not confirmed details of the search that began after a reported car prowl was interrupted and reported to police on 17th Ave E around 9:30 AM.

The King County Sheriff’s Guardian One helicopter began circling above the area during the search around 11:30 AM as SPD and a K9 unit searched below in areas around 15th Ave E near the park.

Residents were being advised to stay inside as police continued the search.

UPDATE: The suspect was reported taken into custody on 15th Ave E just before 11:45 AM.

UPDATE x2: It is not clear if the interrupted car prowl is related to the arrest. SPD says the suspect it took into custody was involved in a reported burglary at an occupied house. SPD says around 11:00 AM, they were called to the 700 block of 16th Ave E after a homeowner said her alarm went off and someone was in her house. The suspect was gone when officers arrived but was later tracked down and arrested on 15th Ave E.

 

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Suspect in fatal Edmonds carjacking reportedly stabs self in neck after tracked to Volunteer Park — UPDATE

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Ian Bramel-Allen (Image: Edmonds Police)

Seattle Police were at Volunteer Park and took one person into custody with a reportedly self-inflicted laceration to his neck Thursday morning after a 911 caller reported the suspect in a deadly Edmonds carjacking was spotted at the Capitol Hill park.

Police had tracked the suspect in the Wednesday night stabbing to Capitol Hill after the stolen car was dumped at the park but it wasn’t clear if the man was still in the area, KIRO reports.

Seattle Police had not notified the public about the discovery of the car.

Edmonds Police said they were searching for Ian Bramel-Allen, 43.

Seattle Fire was called to E Prospect near the park to provide aid. We do not have information on the man’s condition. UPDATE: SFD reports the man was transported in stable condition.

UPDATE: The person who made the 911 call tells CHS he is a Volunteer Park area resident and had heard about the search for Bramel-Allen Thursday morning on the television news but that the report had only specified the area as a park near the “east side of Seattle.” Continue reading →

With Cal Anderson and Volunteer ‘de facto’ dog parks, Seattle taking its doggone time creating new off-leash areas

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Dogs at play at a community created dog park in the Central District

If venturing to Cal Anderson or Volunteer Park, one can expect to see dogs off leash roaming freely with their furry friends. However joyous those games of fetch and chase may seem, the city has been cracking down and ticketing owners for having their fur babies off leash.

“It continues to be against park code to have your dog off leash outside of an OLA [off leash area] and there is an animal enforcement team that issues tickets for infractions,” said Rachel Schulkin, director of public affairs for Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Yes, Cal Anderson is getting renewed energy and planning around making it a safer, cleaner community space. And, yes, they are rebuilding the play area for human kids. But what about the fur kids?

Multifamily housing developer, dog owner, and long-time Seattle resident Benjamin Maritz has a unique perspective on the issue. Martiz lives near Volunteer Park and works in affordable housing around Capitol Hill and the Central District. He likes to walk his poodle mixes in Volunteer and Cal Anderson.

“Both of these places are very much de facto off leash dog parks, and I’ve let my dogs off leash—especially when there are enough other dogs off leash to where it’s operating as an off leash dog park,” Maritz said. “I don’t ever see any issues. Occasionally, the dogs will share the space with some folks playing rugby or soccer.”

What sets Maritz and his poodle apart from other Hill area dog families is the developer had some land available to try to do something about the lack of off-leash space, and opened a community site on some currently underutilized property. Continue reading →

Rollover crash at 21st and John follows reported armed robbery in Volunteer Park — UPDATE

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Sunday night’s crash scene via the CHS Facebook Group

Suspects in an armed robbery in Volunteer Park attempted to flee on foot after flipping a truck onto its roof as Seattle Police and a K9 unit gave chase Sunday night.

According to East Precinct radio updates and reports from witnesses, police were called to Volunteer Park just before 10 PM to reported shots fired and a victim injured from being punched or pistol whipped in the face in a hold-up inside the park’s water tower.

Minutes later, a responding officer reported spotting the the pick-up used as a getaway vehicle and began pursuit. The crash was then reported with the vehicle flipped near 21st and John after it collided with a moving vehicle in a collision that also damaged other cars parked on the street. Continue reading →

The Capitol Hill New Year’s coyotes are back (they never left)

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A Capitol Hill coyote spotted in January 2022

Late December and early January reports of Capitol Hill coyotes are an annual tradition.

CHS has received multiple reports of coyote sightings around Volunteer Park to start the new year.

One spotted Wednesday morning in the park was “maybe 40 lbs and completely brazen” according to a CHS reader who emailed us about the canine.

Cold temperatures means more roaming and hunting during daylight hours. In January 2022, CHS reported on sightings of coyotes on patrol in the area and making their way between greenbelts. A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson told us then that coyotes are common year-round in Seattle greenbelts and parks — “whether people see them or not.”

The 2023 reports around Seattle include Capitol Hill and nearby Montlake but also spaces like the public Jefferson Park golf course have put up signs recently warning people of the presence of the wildlife. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Witches, superheroes, and monster dogs in a Hilloween pet parade in Volunteer Park

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For all the focus on Seattle’s big city problems, parts of the city can still feel like a small town.

Saturday, the Hilloween season kicked off not with kids trick or treating but with dog and cat parents gathering with their four-pawed little ones in a costumed celebration in Volunteer Park.

The return of the Volunteer Park Halloween Pet Parade over the weekend brought out lions, and witches, monsters and superheroes, and even a hot dog or two. Sadly, no fuzzy friends were dressed as Patty Murray and none of the dogs said they had ever heard of Tiffany Smiley.

The annual Volunteer Park Trust event returned to the schedule in 2022 after recent pandemic cancellations to bring the popular community event back together. This year’s edition included a marching band-led parade and an awards ceremony on the park’s new amphitheater stage.

Capitol Hill this year should continue to hold its place a popular Seattle Halloween season destination. Continue reading →

Hilloween 2022 begins with Saturday’s Volunteer Park Halloween Pet Parade

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Lena and Ralphie as Queen Bee and Baby Bee

A Hilloween tradition is back. The Volunteer Park Halloween Pet Parade is Saturday.

The annual Volunteer Park Trust event returns for 2022 with plans for a day of fuzzy buddies, costumes, and prizes:

The Schedule
11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
— Emcee: Matt Smith
— Parade Leader: TBD Continue reading →

Inspired by Soft Services installation at Volunteer Park, Capitol Hill writer joins artist for conversation about ‘intimacy and loss, cruising and alienation, communal possibility, and intimate transgression’

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(Image: Jueqian Fang/Henry Art Gallery)

You are invited to visit Volunteer Park this weekend on what should be a sunny and crisp fall day to sit in on a conversation between an artist whose creations now dot the park’s lawns and pathways and a Capitol Hill author who has made the park a setting in their work.

CHS reported here on the Soft Services installations by artist Chloë Bass as the 14 stone benches will make Volunteer Park their home into next summer as part of a Henry Art Gallery project.

Saturday, author Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore will talk with Bass about Soft Services in “a conversation about the body and colonialism, intimacy and loss, cruising and alienation, communal possibility, and intimate transgression.” Continue reading →