Monthly Archives: June 2014

On the List | PrideFest, Trans* Pride, Pride rugby, Tiny Baby Talk Show, Carnevil

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9168303687_0fafc6e9f8_b (1)This weekend is all about Pride, with Saturday being the big blowout for Pride events on Capitol Hill. Get your rainbow on and join your neighbors in celebrating and supporting the LGBTQ community in all its colors.

Trans* Pride meets at Seattle Central at 5pm on Friday to prep for the  march starting at 6pm. The march concludes with a rally at Cal Anderson Park featuring speakers, food trucks, and live music. .

9170612438_8fceabd650_bCapitol Hill Pride Festival street fair takes over Broadway on Saturday from E John north to E Roy for the Pride weekend street fair, 10am to 11pm.  Multiple stages will be spread along the route for live music and performances throughout the day, plus there’s a doggy-drag contest, and vendors, non-profit booths, adult beverage corrals, and more.

Now in its second year, Seattle PrideFest Family Day and Street Festival on Saturday offers live bands, games, kids activities and more at Cal Anderson Park, noon – 5pm. All activities are free. “Family Day offers kid and family-friendly entertainment, games, and fun: Bubbles, Drag Queen Storytime, kids music, and games like a balloon toss contest.” Adjacent to the park on 11th Ave starting at 4pm is the related Street Fest with 20 food trucks, a beer garden, and DJs. 

Prom Dress Rugby 2013 @ Cal Anderson Park in Seattle, WARemember to take  time out on Saturday to root for the best dressed player in the Prom Dress Rugby match, playing on Saturday on Bobby Morris field at Cal Anderson Park. The game starts around 2pm and runs approximately 2 hours.

bloodsquadThere’s non-Pride (although we’re sure the organizers are proud) events this weekend too.

Tiny Baby Talk Show at Scratch Deli on Saturday includes a performance by the Fleet Foxes includes a joke that we fell for.

Annex Theatre hosts a new Bloodsquad production of improv-horror on Friday and Saturday. Carnevil: “Nobody seemed to remember who they came with, or if their numbers had decreased by the time they parted. They had all forgotten that when the Carnival moves from town to town, it always takes a little something with it.”

Something to add? Let us know on the CHS Calendar — more listings below:

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CHS Pics | Capitol Hill Pride colors 2014

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Thanks so much to Kate Clark for sharing her work in the CHS Flickr Pool

The rainbow colors of Pride are again flying across Capitol Hill. Thanks to CHS Flickr Pool shutterbug Kate Clark (see her amazingly great neighborhood photos here) took it upon herself this year to explore the streets to capture these many images of the Pride flag flying on Capitol Hill.

Don’t let the Capitol Hill ubiquity of the rainbow flag hang your pride upside down. Sure, QFC’s Pride promotions run headlong into the “Tast of Mexico” campaign alive in the Kroger chain across the rest of the region. Sure, it’s about marketing. But it’s also about incredible changes, amazing characters, and a long history.

In the meantime, get ready for a busy weekend of activities including some fun and important Pride 2014 events around Capitol Hill including the Trans* Pride Parade, PrideFest Capitol Hill in Cal Anderson Park, The Capitol Hill Pride Festival on Broadway, Seattle Dyke March, and Prom Dress Rugby.

You’ll find more than 60 pictures of Capitol Hill Pride, below. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill pubs upping World Cup games for early USA v. Germany match

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IMG_7708-600x400Like the World Cup itself, Capitol Hill venues showing international battles are advancing into a kind of “next round” with Thursday’s morning match pitting USA vs. Germany. Here is the CHS “where to watch the 2014 World Cup on Capitol Hill” roster.

Below, we’ve listed the venues that have stepped up to be open for Thursday’s 9 AM Cal Anderson Standard Time match. If we missed your favorite and you *know* the place will be open for the game Thursday morning, let us know in comments. Continue reading →

Blotter | Cal Anderson pistol robbery suspect eludes police after car chase

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS Crime coverage here.

  • Armed robbery and car chase: Police — and the victims — unsuccessfully chased the getaway car through the streets of Capitol Hill and the Central District following an early Wednesday armed robbery near Cal Anderson Park. Police were called to the area around 12:20 AM as the victims said they were in their car following a black Chrysler used as the getaway following the gunpoint robbery at 11th and E Olive St. Police found the cars in the Rancho Bravo parking lot where the victims reportedly yelled, “Those guys just robbed us!”The Chrysler sped away as the SPD cruiser arrived. SPD pursued the vehicle on Madison and on to the Central District at speeds around 40 MPH, according to SPD radio dispatches. The car was found empty near 27th and Marion. A SPD K9 unit attempted to track the suspects including the robber who brandished a silver pistol during the hold-up described as black male in his 30s wearing a black Carhartt-type jacket and khaki sweats. The K9 unit followed a possible track to an area near 27th and Spring but the suspects could not be located.
  • 19th/John bus stop mugging: Police were also called late Tuesday night to another mugging reported near the bus stop at 19th and John. Details are thin at this point but we know police were called to the bus stop around 11:45 PM for the the 11:30 PM street robbery. Last week, a woman had her purse snatched as she attempted to enter an apartment building near the intersection.
  • DUI: The East Precinct has been racking up DUI arrests in June and the trend appears to have continued this week with three people facing charges following Capitol Hill pullovers. The arrested include a health and wellness coach stopped in the 900 block of E Pike early Monday morning, a bar employee busted a few hours later at Belmont and Pine and an early morning Tuesday arrest of a Boeing executive at Summit and Pine.
  • Tagger assault: A passerby who confronted a tagger at 15th and Thomas early last Saturday morning told police the suspect hit him in the head with the spray can and fled the scene. According to the SPD report on the incident, the victim said he was walking near 15th and Thomas around 2:45 AM when he saw the suspect using the spray paint. The victim told police he “approached the suspect and told him he should stop tagging,” according to the SPD report. The victim said the suspect then swung the spray can at him, striking the victim in the head. The victim suffered a laceration above his eye and was treated by Seattle Fire at the scene. A search for the graffiti artist was not successful.

Group wants community priorities to shape future 23rd/Union development

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Amanda Bryan of Central Area LURC (Photo: CHS)

While the languishing Post Office and large parking lots remain, a Central District community group is seeking to bind a set of community priorities to future development of the MidTown Center at 23rd and Union.

Some 70 people gathered Tuesday night at 18th and Columbia’s Centerstone to discuss their desires for the 106,000 square foot property at a meeting organized by the Central Area Land Use Review Committee. 

“Central Area LURC is not trying to stop development,” said the group’s chair Amanda Bryan. “We want to make sure it’s engaging with our community.”

To do that, the group wants the City Council to attach community influenced development stipulations to the site before the current family owners sell it off. Next month the City Council will consider whether or not the property can be up-zoned from four to six stories. If the up-zone is granted, the council can also require what’s known as a Property Use Development Agreement. PUDA’s can include a broad range of requirements for a future developer, including community aspirations for the site, Bryan said.

Longtime property owner Tom Bangasser told CHS he’s already begun talking with interested developers. Continue reading →

Design board looks at Central District projects including ‘a missing tooth’ development

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Screen Shot 2014-06-24 at 9.41.27 PMThe plan for a long-empty triangle the developer calls a “missing tooth” between Capitol Hill, the Central District and Madison Valley will take its first pass in front of the East Design Review Board Wednesday night. It joins an affordable housing project that will replace a lot most recently used as a Jackson St. Nickelsville camp in an all-Central District edition of design reviews this week.

Madison Apartments
The empty wedge at 23rd and Madison will someday be home to a four-story, 53-unit apartment building above 1,700 square-feet of commercial space and parking for 11 vehicles. But for now there are only weeds and a chain-link fence alongside four-star neighbor, Crush.

Bought by Charles Waterman of Hamilton Urban Partners for nearly $2 million in 2007 from those savvy real estate investors at the City of Seattle, the land is planned to be home to the new Neiman Taber-designed apartment building. The developer calls the land “Capitol Hill” — Continue reading →

SFD fights to save historic PRAG House in 16th/Aloha fire — UPDATE

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(Image: CHS reader Jonathan)

(Image: CHS reader Jonathan)

Smoke and flames were visible from a 7,000 square foot home at 16th Ave E and Aloha in a Tuesday afternoon attic blaze that spread and shot through the roof of a historic 107-year-old Capitol Hill mansion.

(Image sent in by reader Hope)

(Image sent in by reader Hope)

The fight carried on for nearly more than an hour as firefighters attempted to bring the attic and roof flames from the three story house under control. One firefighter was reported injured in the response. No other injuries have been reported.

The 16th and Aloha structure is “an urban housing cooperative” known as the PRAG House. We do not know how many residents are living in the house at this time. Records show the building to have 13 bedrooms. The structure was undergoing a partial renovation and scaffolding could be seen set up on the south side of the building. UPDATE: Seattle Fire reports that the Red Cross is assisting with finding shelter for 13 residents — and a dog — who were living in the house.

Seattle Fire units responded to the two-alarm incident in the 700 block of 16th Ave E around 12:15 PM and began battling the fire. Firefighters were still working to control the blaze some 90 minutes after the first reports of smoke and flames. The fire was declared “tapped” just after 2 PM. Nearly 100 firefighters responded to aid in the incident.

The fire marshal was called to the scene to determine the cause of the fire and provide a damage estimate. UPDATE: SFD says a worker operating a grinder accidentally sparked the fire. The flame, smoke and water caused an estimated $1.25 million in damage. We’ve reached out to the Evergreen Land Trust to find out if there are ways for the community to pitch in and help in the recovery.IMG_7132

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With demand as high as ever, Pike/Pine parking rate likely rising to $2.50 in August

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4583094410_4f570c0fe9_b-400x529If parking were a true market-based commodity, we might use the city’s networked system of parking pay stations to operate a real-time price exchange with rates calculated based on the number of spots available when you park.

For better or worse, the Seattle Department of Transportation uses a more blunt instrument: count the number of available spaces in a given area and adjust the rates annually.

Based on their 2013 parking count (PDF), SDOT is recommending a 50 cent raise to metered street parking in Pike/Pine, bringing the hourly rate to $2.50 an hour between 8 AM – 8 PM. Pending council approval, the new rates would begin in August.

With the new rates, SDOT is aiming to have 1-2 spots available on each Pike/Pine block throughout the metered parking times.

Despite previous rate increases and extending paid parking to 8 PM in 2011, parking in Pike/Pine is still a mob scene in the evening hours. According to SDOT’s 2013 Evening Paid Parking Study, average Pike/Pine parking capacity at 7 PM is at 104%, meaning all spaces are taken, plus some questionable parking decisions near intersections and fire hydrants.

That’s still a big improvement from 2010 when 7 PM capacity was pushing 120% as metered parking only went to 6 PM. Overall SDOT found that extended paid parking in 10 nightlife areas around the city lead to 20% more available spaces at 6 PM and 18% more available spaces at 7 PM.Screen-Shot-2014-04-27-at-6.24.51-PM-600x456

There are a slew of other parking rate changes and time extensions scheduled to take effect this year, however no changes are planned for the Broadway core. The other notable change on Capitol Hill is the planned roll-out of the city’s new parking pay stations.