This is an activism weekend! This weekend has a lot of fun club-related events, as well as a whole host of equality rally events.

Friday

• Trannyshack at Chop Suey
• Lady Bunny at Neighbors

Saturday

• Seattle LGBT Equality Weekend 
• Thinking Queerly Workshops
• AIDS Vigil at SCCC

Sunday

• Equality Weekend March and Rally
• National Coming Out Day
• Queer Youth Mixer

In what just might be the last in-store at its 15th Ave location, Sonic Boom Capitol Hill hosts Dutchess & The Duke for a free show tonight at 6:30. You might have seen our previous post about the Boom neon rocket having already been taken down in preparation for SB’s move to the other side of the Hill. The new shop is slated to open November 7.

UPDATE:
Here’s a picture from the show thanks to @clintgosset

UPDATE:
Mystery solved. Kind of. CHS just got off the phone with Sound Mental Health’s Gayle Johnson who shared an odd but happy ending for the mid-September painting rip-off.

Johnson said the work of art — a colorful abstract original by Pacific Northwest artist William Cumming — was found outside the clinic’s E. Olive offices Monday morning, leaned next to the garbage. “Somebody couldn’t figure out how to sell it or changed their mind,” Johnson said. “Who else is going to be willing to take it?”

“It’s hanging behind our front desk again,” Johnson said.

This isn’t the first time a Cumming work has been lost on Capitol Hill only to be found again. In 2008, a lost painting of his at Meany School was discovered hidden away in storage:

Long lost William Cumming masterpiece found at Meany Middle School
Artist will retouch painting, unveil artwork at May 15 Jaguar Arts Festival
Legendary Northwest artist William Cumming, 91, will return to Meany Middle School this month for the unveiling of his 4- by 8-foot oil masterpiece, “Song of the Open Road,” which was recently discovered in a school storage room. The painting, commissioned by Meany PTA in May 1963, will be unveiled at Meany’s Jaguar Arts Festival on May 15. Cumming will retouch the painting before the unveiling.

You can read more about Cumming in this HistoryLink article that refers to him as the ‘Willie Nelson of painting’ and check out this Regina Hackett article for a good example of his work.

Johnson said Sound Mental Health will be taking extra precautions to make sure the painting doesn’t tempt another would-be art thief including mounting the painting to the wall. CHS asked to photograph the painting but Sound Mental Health denied the request.

Original Report:
CHS has learned of a $50,000 art heist on Capitol Hill in September that remains unsolved weeks later.

The target: a painting hanging behind the front desk at E. Olive St. counseling services provider, Sound Mental Health.

According to a Seattle Police Department incident report, sometime during the night of Thursday, September 17th, somebody entered the front desk area, lifted the art walk from the wall and walked off with the $50,000 painting. The only evidence found at the scene: a black scrunchie found on the ground below where the painting was hanging.

There is not much information on the work of art that was taken other than the estimated value and its location when stolen. The name of the artist is redacted in the report. We are trying to learn more about the painting and the theft from Sound Mental Health.

According to the report, the administrative assistant was questioned and said he left the building at 5:15 PM Thursday night and locked the doors behind him. There were ‘several’ Sound Mental employees still in the building when he left, according to the report, and each had keys to the locked front desk area. A cleaning crew also worked in the building the night of the theft. Officers found no signs of forced entry.

View Larger Map

CHS has contacted SPD to find out if there have been any breaks in the case — we’re waiting to hear back.

This Friday morning at 4:30 AM, the moon is going to explode — and you’ll want to be in Cal Anderson Park to see it.

The man behind this:

… is throwing a bit of a party in the park early Friday a.m. — and everybody (especially a body with a telescope) is invited.

Here’s the scoop on the man-made celestial event that’s going down:

The actual impacts commence at 4:30 am PDT (11:30 UT). The Centaur rocket will strike first, transforming 2200 kg of mass and 10 billion joules of kinetic energy into a blinding flash of heat and light. Researchers expect the impact to throw up a plume of debris as high as 10 km.

Close behind, the LCROSS mothership will photograph the collision for NASA TV and then fly right through the debris plume. Onboard spectrometers will analyze the sunlit plume for signs of water (H₂O), water fragments (OH), salts, clays, hydrated minerals and assorted organic molecules.

“If there’s water there, or anything else interesting, we’ll find it,” says Tony Colaprete of NASA Ames, the mission’s principal investigator.

NASA says the resulting explosions should be visible from, well, Cal Anderson Park:

“We expect the debris plumes to be visible through mid-sized backyard telescopes—10 inches and larger,” says Brian Day of NASA/Ames. Day is an amateur astronomer and the Education and Public Outreach Lead for LCROSS. “The initial explosions will probably be hidden behind crater walls, but the plumes will rise high enough above the crater’s rim to be seen from Earth.”

The Pacific Ocean and western parts of North America are favored with darkness and a good view of the Moon at the time of impact.

The only issue — besides the 4:30 AM thing — is cloud cover. There’s a grey blanket due for Seattle early Friday morning. Pretty typical for Pacific Northwest celestial observations — even when the moon explodes.

McKinney Manor tenants want to thank those who chose to advertise Michael Moore’s movie on our apartment building. Perfect timing. Truer words were never spoken regarding our ongoing battle with owners and management to be responsible stewards.  Seniors picketed in protest on Sunday, Sept 20, 2009, against existing conditions at McKinney Manor. Thanks to all of you who encouraged us that day.

We did get the owners and management to meet with us the following week, but nothing definitive has happened to change our circumstances, as is usual. But Seattle Tenants Union has chosen to sign-on with us in a letter or petition, so we have gained something. We are not quitting.

Think we can all agree that sharrows barely qualify as news any more. The debate can meander on about their symbolic value vs. actual value of making space for bicyclists on our roads. But we felt the painting of sharrows on Aloha between 15th Ave and 19th Ave deserved notice. It’s where this bike ‘accident’ turned into this controversy.

We also missed this little stretch of Aloha when we wrote about the new sharrow plans for Capitol Hill last spring. So let it be noted. Aloha hill between 19th Ave and 15th — and beyond to 10th — is to be shared.

Here is the complete bicycle master plan recommendation map from SDOT. Download the attached PDF to see the whole Hill and zoom in, etc.

Below, via a speedy E-mail from S-DOT’s Ethan Melone, are the rules for the recently funded First Hill Streetcar project, issued on October 5th.

Note especially the requirement for double-tracking:

The Project will be double-tracked, although termini or exclusive-lane segments may feature a short segment of single track if this will not impede service objectives.

Wikipedia:

A double track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.

Will the double-tracking requirement make the plans for a loop route impossible? A single-track system obviously just has one set of rails and the trains shuttle back and forth. If the two sets of tracks are on separate streets, does that count as a double-track system? The wikipedia article mentions some “non-parallel” double-track systems, but those were constrained by geography.  My thanks to Jim Erickson of First Hill for pointing out this issue.

Updates:

Andrew: is the double-tracking requirement compatible with the desires of  some neighborhoods to have  a loop route?

Ethan Melone: Yes, this just means we won’t have a single track arrangement, like the Waterfront Streetcar.

Jim Erickson: Another factor in this discussion is the water pipeline under the northbound lanes of 12th Avenue. See FHIA’s July notes:  http://www.firsthill.org/meetinghighlights.html  The Cedar River water pipeline runs under the northbound lanes of 12^th Avenue, thus precluding any streetcar construction over those lanes. Any streetcar routing on 12^th would have to go in the southbound lanes, or have a dedicated lane in the middle of the street. 

Exhibit A: Minimum Scope of Work for First Hill Streetcar Connector Project

 The purpose of the First Hill Streetcar Connector Project (the Project) is to replace the connection to the regional Link light rail system lost when the First Hill light rail station was deleted from the regional system. The streetcar connector will directly connect First Hill employment centers to the regional Link light rail system at the International District/Chinatown Station at 5th Avenue S and the Capitol Hill Station at Broadway between E. Denny Way and John Street.  If operations begin prior to July 1, 2016, the Project may feature an interim terminus in the vicinity of Pike and Pine streets.

 The Project fleet (inclusive of at least one spare vehicle) and facilities will accommodate the service plan:

1. Service Plan

   1. Service Plan: Span of Service 

   Monday-Saturday 5AM to 1AM

    

   2. Service Plan: Peak/Off Peak Headways

   Peak Periods: Trains Arrive Every 10 Minutes

   Off Peak: Trains Arrive Every 15 Minutes

    

   3. Service Plan: Peak Service Periods

   Peak Periods: 6AM-9AM M-F, 4PM-7PM M-F

The service plan may be adjusted with the written concurrence of Sound Transit.

 The Project will provide local and inter-neighborhood transit service using modern low-floor light rail vehicles, similar to the streetcar vehicles operating in Portland, Seattle and Tacoma.  The streetcars operate in single trainsets.  The streetcars will generally operate in a mixed flow of traffic on urban arterial streets, typically with transit signal priority at intersections, and  occasionally operating in restricted (transit-only) lanes or exclusive right-of-way.  The Project will be double-tracked, although termini or exclusive-lane segments may feature a short segment of single track if this will not impede service objectives.

The Project will meet or exceed all accessibility requirements and includes a variety of passenger amenities on board, at passenger platforms and on the internet, including transit shelters, real-time arrival information, automated passenger information, and wayside and on-board ticketing.  Use of the ORCA regional smart card will be accommodated either on-board, wayside, or with both of these methods of fare payment.

Passenger platforms will typically be spaced at distances of 1,250 to 2,000 feet and will be sited to best balance proximity of service to major activity areas with speed and reliability objectives.

 The Project will include all construction, right-of-way and equipment necessary to meet the service objectives, including but not limited to:

 

• paved track and special track;
•  traction power system and overhead contact system;
• train control system and train signaling;
• passenger platforms and amenities including miscellaneous electrical service to   amenities;
• a light maintenance and vehicle storage facility and vehicle maintenance equipment;
•  roadway and drainage modifications;
• traffic signal modifications;
• street lighting modifications;
• utility relocation, protection and bridging necessitated by the Project;
• relocation of overhead trolley bus wires where necessary;
• mitigation measures; and
•  an Art Program.

 

The Art Program will be administered by the City and is budgeted at $750,000 in 2011 dollars to represent approximately 1% of estimated construction expenditure.

 The Project will be designed to allow for connections to other segments of the City’s planned streetcar network and may include extensions beyond the minimum scope of work.

Seattle mayoral candidates Michael McGinn and Joe Mallahan squared off on Capitol Hill Tuesday night in a forum sponsored by the Seattle Human Services Coalition by portraying themselves as having the same progressive values as the social services advocates in the room.

In a campaign focused on the future of the viaduct, removing the city’s head tax on employees, and cutting consultants and political appointees from City Hall, the forum at Miller Community Center was an opportunity to challenge the candidates about what they’d do about the poorest in society. The two have been going head to head at a number of debates including one on Monday sponsored by City Club, as reported by the Seattle P-I and Publicola.

At the same time, social services leaders said they have only vague ideas of the candidates and the impression neither are particularly knowledgeable about issues like homelessness.

In a largely tepid forum, the closest the candidates came to fireworks was when they were asked about the role the mayor should play in education.

Mallahan said McGinn would take over the city’s public schools. “I think we should figure out how to clear our streets before we take over city schools.”

McGinn said that misrepresented his position. “I’m guilty of nuance, which is a difficult thing in a political campaign.”

And indeed, he said in an interview with the PostGlobe about his stance on issues unrelated to the viaduct that he’d raise the idea of taking over the schools after working to improve them first.

The candidates, though, may face more detailed questions next week at yet another forum, this one sponsored by the Seattle-King County Coalition on Homelessness.

Candidates for City Attorney – incumbent Tom Carr and challenger Peter Holmes – faced tougher questioning, however. Both were  asked if they’d support tougher restrictions on panhandling.

Holmes said there already seems to be laws on the books that prevent aggressive handling

Carr, though, said, his office has not prosecuted any cases involving panhandling during his tenure in office and that he does not support criminalizing homelessness.  Carr also noted that he worked out an agreement to allow tent cities to continue operating.

Both Mallahan and McGinn have scored some endorsements from social services leaders. McGinn released a list late Tuesday afternoon. They include, former 37th District State Rep. Kip Tokuda; Timothy Harris executive director of Real Change; Candace Inagi, deputy director of One America; Mark Okazaki, executive director of Neighborhood House; former Dorli Rainey, Women in Black, Veterans for Peace, and ANSWER coalition; Al Sugiyama, executive director of the Center for Career Alternatives; Linh Thai, executive director of Vietnamese Community Activity Center (WA); Michael Neguse, a refugee and African immigrants advocate.

However, most prominent social services advocates say they haven’t yet decided who they will support.