Here’s the rundown of police-related activity on the Hill. We had additional coverage of the Arboretum electrical pole incident here.

Central District News East Precinct Scanner – Capitol Hill – Wed. 10/29/2008 – Full Report

1:02PM – 11th Ave and E Pine St – Suspicious circumstances – A man with a bloody shoulder is waundering around Cal Anderson ,white male, 30, white shirt black pants

1:29PM – 131 Broadway E – Narcotics Activity – Police flagged down about a woman selling drugs in the Dick’s parking lot. She’s a black female wearing all red, associated with a gold Cadillac.

2:23PM – 705 E. Pike – Shoplifting – Caller says that 10 males (!) stole “lots of merchandise”, including a computer, and left westbound in a black mercedes (clown car?)

3:12PM – 12th E. & E. John – Hit & Run – A silver honda 4-door hit a cyclist and left the scene westbound

3:17PM – 26th Ave E & Lake Washington Blvd East – Accident – Between two vehicles. Medics are on the scene This was actually a rotted power pole that fell down into the street. No injuries. A city light crew is on the way to provide a fix. Lake Washington Blvd is blocked in both directions, probably for at least 30 minutes. There is one motorist trapped in her vehicle with live power wires touching it.

3:29PM – Madison & Summit – Disturbance – Agitated transient was punching a bag and “saying inappropriate things” to pedestrians. Black male, 25-30, black jacket, dark blue hoody.

3:50PM – 110 Summit Ave E – Theft – 6 teenagers stole a tip jar from a teriyaki joint. 6 black males in black clothing, last seen walking towards Broadway on Olive.

Sent from my iPhone

Various signs from around the Hill that caught my eye.

Self-serve begging:

Chop Suey always has the naughtiest signs for gay night:

This sign was tagged within hours of going up:

The new Montage condos near Boylston and Pike now offering renting instead of buying:

Someone finally found a way to keep people from stealing the crossing flags. This one has been here for weeks:

More signs here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adonisphotos/sets/7215760848846

For anyone taking 520 west to the Arboretum / Lk Washington Blvd exit, beware that an accident there has left a utility pole blocking the road at the exit. Therefore, anyone taking the offramp will be directed to take the right turn only.

Fire and police were on the scene when I was exiting around 3:30 or so. It may be cleared by now but wanted to send out the warning.

Update
As usual, CDN has the full scoop:

3:17PM – 26th Ave E & Lake Washington Blvd East – Accident – Between two vehicles. Medics are on the scene This was actually a rotted power pole that fell down into the street. No injuries. A city light crew is on the way to provide a fix. Lake Washington Blvd is blocked in both directions, probably for at least 30 minutes. There is one motorist trapped in her vehicle with live power wires touching it.
Update: 4:13pm – Traffic now open in both directions

“Election ’08 Past Present and Future” is a free film series being offered at the Capitol Hill branch of the Seattle Public Library. The final film, which is being shown at 6 p.m., Thursday, October 30 is ‘The War Briefing’. The next president will inherit some of the greatest foreign policy challenges in American history – an overstretched military, frayed alliances, and wars on two fronts. This film gives viewers a hard, inside look at the the real foreign policy choices the next president will face. The movie is free and open to all, and will be screened in the second floor meeting room at the library. It is a Frontline production, brought to the library in partnership with KCTS.

Have you seen little critters like this flying around your part of Capitol Hill?

Photo: Christopher Boffoli/Westseattleblog.com

They have been spotted spotted in West Seattle too, it turns out. I’ve been seeing them in the afternoon over the past week, kept meaning to write about them but never got around to it. But now that I know we’re part of a city-wide infestation, it is my duty to inform.

Any flyfisherpeople out there identify this little gnat? They’re blue and fuzzy and seem to hatch in the late afternoon sun. But that also might just be when I’m wandering the sidewalks, kicking fall leaves and daydreaming along in the sun looking for bugs, you know?

Summit & John park design

You may recall that the city has been seeking proposals to name the planned Capitol Hill parks. The deadline for submitting proposals was Monday.

That is the same day Ed Jackson took his own life with one shot from a .38 revolver as the apartment building he called home for more than 40 years burned. No coincidence in the timing of the sad event. He was going to be evicted on Tuesday.

It is very likely that Ed started that fire. In his long, busy life on the Hill, it would have represented a final act of defiance against the changes happening all around him. Old buildings with inexpensive but worn places to live coming down. New buildings with expensive but shiny places to live going up. Not many choices left for Ed. Only one day more for him to be home.

Don’t know how many people there are like Ed left on Capitol Hill. Maybe he was one of the last holdouts. But his story runs in lines that pace what is happening here. You can look at the situation and feel these things:

• Sadness that an old man couldn’t live out his last years in his home
• Anger that he endangered his neighbors and firefighters in the way he fought back
• Sympathy for good people getting pushed out
• Frustration about the need for change and progress and development

I do not mind feeling all of those things at once and do not mind remembering them. The coming park at Summit and John is not far from 1605 Bellevue, just up Olive Way. It needs a name. Even though the deadline is passed, I would not mind if the city’s naming committee considered attaching this complicated memory to the new space. Why not remember that progress has a price?

Back when things were simpler (and smaller) on CHS and we didn’t have to worry about being comprehensive and ehaustive with our coverage, we wrote about a certain Capitol Hill geek from time to time. His name, Bre Pettis. Bre’s thing is DIY. He makes things like books with secret compartments. He helped start Ignite and a few other things.

We were sad when Bre left the Hill for the bright lights of NYC. It seems like he’s back in Seattle, he’s got a friend and they are going to be Han Solo and Princess Leia for Halloween.

Tessa Originally uploaded
by bre pettis

It’s Wednesday and, yes, it’s my birthday. I was going to say something tomorrow but the only thing worse than people that tell you today’s their birthday are the people that tell you yesterday was their birthday (it’s really best to keep birthdays to yourself). Anyway, here’s a look at Tuesday’s Capitol Hill activity in the East Precinct.

Central District News East Precinct Scanner – Capitol Hill – Tue. 10/28/2008 – Full Report

10:51AM – 1410 E John St – Shoplifting – Adult male in custody at Safeway

11:06AM – Bolyston Ave and Senca St – Fight Disturbance – A man and woman are fighting outside of their white travel van. White male, 20s, sweatshirt, white female, 20s. Caller says the female is the victim. The male fled in the van and the female left in an unknown direction.

12:16PM – 2600 E. John – Keep the Peace – Police asked to be on hand while county mental-health staff try to involuntarily commit a man.

12:32PM – Harvard & E. Pike – Disturbance – Mental health staff have spotted a man walking out into traffic, think he needs to go to Harborview for a visit. White male, 35, 5’10”, 180, blue sweatshirt

1:18PM – 1617 E. Pine – Shoplifting – A woman stole some tshirts from Bootyland. Black female, 30, pony tail, black jacket, blue handbag

2:06PM – 500 15th Ave E – Disturbance – Complainant is selling a newspaper in the Walgreen’s parking lot, and had a female come up and start swearing at her. The swearer is a black female, 30s, 5’4″, blue shirt with gray stripes, jeans

2:29PM – 23rd Ave and E Thomas – Accident – Vehicle vs pedestrian accident with injury. 2:30 – All traffic is blocked.  Update: 3:01pm – They’re opening 23rd back up to traffic

3:23PM – Bellevue E & E. Harrison – Disturbance – A man called 911 about another man who was harassing him on the nearby steps. The man was bleeding and was trying to splash blood and spit onto the complainant.

3:47PM – 1120 Broadway – Suspicious Circumstance – Woman in a parking garage saw a man reach into a vehicle with a broken window and then walk away. Black male, 30, mustache, dark clothing

4:12PM – Pine & Boren – Disturbance – Driver reports that a female was hanging off of the overpass at I-5 and Roanoke. But he gave exit # 167, which would be closer to Pine. Police are checking all overpasses in the area, but so far they’re all checking clear.

4:38PM – 1605 Bellevue – Trespassing – Citizen reports a group of unofficial-looking men going into the building that burned yesterday. No hard hats, uniforms, tools, etc.

(OCTOBER 29TH, if you believe Facebook)