Find your center and your groove at The SweatBox. Join us for the Bikram Power Hour, taught by Frani, with DJ Sharlese (KEXP Audioasis host) spinning music. We are also pleased to have a plant-based ice cream social with Frankie & Jo’s owners Autumn (Hot Cakes) and Kari (Juicebox). Do your yoga and then reward yourself with delicious and healthy sorbets and nut milk ice creams. Space is limited to 35 students; cost is $25.
Sunday, April 17th, 2016 6:00pm-7:30pm
Please register at the link:
http://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=1117&stype=41&prodid=296.
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Capitol Hill Community Post | Family Yoga at The SweatBox
Join Parvanah for Yoga with your Family
We’ll do an unheated Family Yoga class. As the adult, you’ll be able to practice while assisting your little one into the postures. We’ll do some new, fun postures that will get your kids excited for more! The class with be one hour and is appropriate for kids who can stay still for that long (elementary and middle school age is ideal)!
Sunday, April 10th 1:30-2:30pm
$25/Family of 2 ($10 each additional family member; can be paid on the day of). Students with unlimited membership at The SweatBox practice for free; kids $10 per head.
Register here: http://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/ws?studioid=1117&stype=41&prodid=279
The Magnanimous Seven: Former 43rd Dems chair joins crowded race for Olympia
(Image: Friends of Scott Forbes)
Another week, another progressive Central Seattleite running to represent the 43rd District in Olympia.
Scott Forbes, Montlake attorney and former chair of the 43rd District Democrats, announced Thursday he will enter the crowded — but still room for more — campaign.
“I’ve been more active in the Democratic party and have been working across a broader range of issues,” Forbes told CHS Thursday morning.
“What I have done and what I have seen in the 43rd — I’ve been able to get rooms of Democrats to work together and be effective.” Continue reading
Capitol Retrospective | Two months of carnage that brought light rail to Capitol Hill
When I first heard about the light rail plan in 2006, I lived right across the street from the proposed station — as I do now. 2016 seemed so far away that I didn’t think I would even be living in Seattle by then. And when I moved to Eastlake a year later and focused most of my attention on finishing my history degree, I more or less forgot about light rail. But after graduating into the worst recession in decades and entering a quarter-life crisis, Capitol Hill Station unexpectedly became the center of my universe.
While passing through Capitol Hill on March 15, 2009, I saw a bulldozer tearing into the former location of Twice Sold Tales, on John, east of Broadway, like a wafer.
It was tragic and disturbing yet somehow incredibly exhilarating to watch. And it wasn’t just for the pleasure of idly absorbing the carnage unfolding before me, it was more meaningful than that. It was an external manifestation of my quarter-life crisis, an effort to deconstruct and outright demolish parts of my past, even ones that were near and dear to me in order to get to a better place. It also offered me a sense of purpose, which I desperately needed. I had lost my Eastlake apartment, was couchsurfing, and only working 8 hours per week leaving me with a lot of free time. So starting exactly 7 years ago this week, I spent 26 out of the following 42 days photographing the demolition as much as possible. At the time, I never saw the demolition as anything more than the mechanics of tearing down buildings and my effort to capture that as only an exciting way to keep myself occupied.
Fast forward to the present and I’ve come to view its importance more broadly.
Like me, Capitol Hill had to part with a significant portion of its history before it could reach this point. 16 buildings, some over 100 years old that served as the homes, small businesses, and work places of roughly 200 people, were demolished in the spring of 2009 to make way for the light rail.
These people and places have stories. So last month, I committed myself to telling as many of these stories as possible because I think knowing how unique and thus valuable these stories are helps demonstrate just how important this moment in Seattle history really is. I don’t think we can fully grasp how much we’ve gained unless we know what it cost us — the light rail didn’t emerge in a vacuum and realizing that, I think, will help us appreciate it all the more. Although I barely scratched the surface and will likely return to them, this is the final chapter to all those stories: demolition photographs and a few of the fading memories I have attached to them.
Twice Sold Tales – 905 E John
By the time I caught wind of the demolition, most of the insides of Jamie Lutton’s pride and joy since July of 1990 had already been pulverized and were pouring out the back side. The air was saturated with the smell of twisted wood and crumbling concrete. Continue reading
Seattle Parks ready to push back against encroaching property owners
Along the edges of Seattle’s parks, boulevards, and wooded hillsides there are private property owners unlawfully encroaching into public lands. Intrusions like overgrown shrubs and overflowing compost piles may not be so egregious, but some sheds, fences, and driveways are essentially privatizing what should be public open space.
In 2008, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation set a strategic goal to “reclaim encroachments of private property” on parks land, but the cash strapped department lacked the resources to adequately monitor its many miles of property lines. Thanks to the voter-approved Seattle Parks District, the parks department now has the funds and staff to enforce those boundaries.
Park’s officials will be briefing the City Council’s parks committee Wednesday morning on its effort to reclaim public park property.
“We believe these people are our neighbors, we’re not trying to be vicious or heavy handed,” said Donald Harris, property and acquisition manager with the parks department.
While Harris said many property owners may not even be aware they are encroaching into parks space, others have clearly taken advantage of their lenient neighbors. In a presentation document, parks officials laid out a few of the reasons why removing unlawful encroachments, even minor ones, is so important:
- Encroachments often destroy natural habitat
- Even small encroachments take away park land (death by a thousand cuts) ď‚—
- Private improvements may increase public liability
- The encroachments create a private benefit not available to others in the City
- As City grows, park spaces and natural areas become more precious
As part of the plan to fund $270 million of backlogged work, the Parks District is funding parks staff dedicated to encroachment resolution and electronic data management. It was partially in response to a 2010 Capitol Hill encroachment issue where two families living along Federal Ave E on the western edge of Volunteer Park had slowly absorbed park space into their private backyards. The parks district will also help fund the complaint-based system and appeal process passed by the City Council in 2013
Police search for suspects following reported Central District gunpoint robbery
Police were searching for multiple suspects in a reported gunpoint robbery near 23rd and Yesler just before noon Wednesday.
Students were briefly put into “shelter in place” status at Garfield High School, Nova High School, Washington Middle School, and Leschi Elementary School, according to Seattle Public Schools.
According to police radio dispatches, the hold-up took place near 24th and Washington and involved three suspects in black and wearing masks covering their faces. There were no reported injuries. A suspect vehicle was seen leaving the scene following the robbery.
The King County Guardian One helicopter was called in to aid in the search.
Capitol Hill Pride Festival making plans to expand to Pride Sunday
The 2015 Capitol Hill Pride Festival reportedly drew 35,000 to Broadway (Images: CHS)
The Capitol Hill Pride Festival will continue to grow into its eighth year as organizers plant to expand the Broadway street fair to a second day in 2016.
Planned for Saturday and Sunday, June 25th and 26th, the festival that got its grassroots start in 2009 has grown into an annual event that organizers say last year drew more than 35,000 to Broadway to celebrate Pride, enjoy performances and a doggie drag show, ride ponies(!), and, local merchants hope, visit restaurants and bars for food and drink.
Organizer Charlotte Lefevre, who used to operate the Seattle Museum of Mysteries on Broadway and has maintained a connection to the street’s older generations of businesses, must work with area businesses to secure approval for the second day of the festival, according to a discussion of the festival with the Seattle Special Events Committee. The Department of Neighborhoods has also asked the festival producers to invite Broadway business owners to have a “greater participation in planning” the annual event.
Capitol Hill used to be the center of Pride weekend’s activities. In 2006, the big parade moved downtown as it outgrew Broadway and expanded to be a bigger part of Seattle culture. While the parties and bar celebrations remained mostly on the Hill, the “official” events grew to spaces beyond the neighborhood.
This is the second year of growth for the Capitol Hill Pride Festival which added a Broadway parade and rally in 2015 and has continued to draw crowds despite the introduction of a competing event in Cal Anderson from the producers of the PrideFest event at Seattle Center. In 2013, Seattle PrideFest expanded its activities back to the Hill with Family Day in Cal Anderson and later added a street festival on 11th Ave. This year, PrideFest will also plans to expand its offerings on Capitol Hill on Saturday, June 25. (We’ve corrected and updated this paragraph — sorry for screwing up who was who with Seattle Pride and the year in which PrideFest returned for its first Cal Anderson family day.)
With a second day of the Broadway festival on Pride Sunday, revelers will face a choice about where to celebrate after the downtown parade — or whether to head downtown at all. A new light rail station just outside the Capitol Hill Pride Festival footprint will make the journey an easy one.
In the meantime, there are some logistics to work out. Last year, there was “sign confusion” due to high amount of construction projects in the area that caused a headache for organizers. And SDOT complained that Broadway’s Julia’s set up “a margarita cart selling to passing public.” That, unfortunately, is against the rules and won’t be allowed in 2016.
Seattle’s first Passive House-certified mixed-use project at 13th and Pike faces first review
A former Capitol Hill chocolate factory — in an auto row era building with an, um, nutty past — will provide “character inspiration” for what could be the first passive house certified mixed-use development in Seattle. The project faces its first design review Wednesday night.
CHS reported on the uber-green six-story, 55-unit project above 2,400 square feet of retail space, and no underground parking late last month as frequent Capitol Hill developer Maria Barrientos teamed up with Cascade Built and architects Weber Thompson to transform the corner of 13th and Pike still owned by Fran’s Chocolates which moved its operations to Georgetown in 2014. Just down the street from the Bullitt Center, the world’s first living building, the project will aspire to the standards set by Passive House Institute US. Among the many requirements, passive buildings are required to be extremely airtight and insulated to minimize energy use. UPDATE: The project is, indeed, planned to have 26 units of underground parking.
The project is described as a first of its kind “sustainable apartment building that includes a passive house design that reduces energy needs to as close to zero as possible.” The developers say that the passive features including increased insulation affect the massing and windows and that “exterior shading devices” will shield the south and western faces of the building from “heat loads.” Meanwhile, the design will use “the old rhythm of the column spacing” and “many elements such as the brick and the ornamental pieces on the current facade.” Continue reading
Seattle bike cops now carrying heroin overdose antidote
(Image: SPD)
Heroin overdoses are tragically common on the streets of Capitol Hill and Seattle Police officers are often close-by when they happen.
On Tuesday, SPD announced that 60 bike officers would begin a trial period carrying nasal naloxone, a heroin overdose antidote that experts say could save many more lives if made more widely available.
Under the six to eight month trial period, bike officers who encounter someone suffering from an opioid overdose will administer naloxone and stay with the person until medics arrive. SPD is partnering with the University of Washington to study the effects of the program. Continue reading
One dead in three-car crash on First Hill
(Image: Seattle Fire)
A man was killed early Wednesday morning in a three-vehicle collision involving an ambulance on First Hill.
According to Seattle Fire reports and SPD radio dispatches, the ambulance was struck around 12:15 AM near Boren and James as it was turning into a medical facility with its patient onboard.
The male driver of a Prius involved in the collision died at the scene. Five people in the ambulance were not injured in the crash. Another ambulance from private carrier AMR was dispatched to complete the transfer of the patient.
UPDATE: SPD has posted a preliminary report on the incident and says the driver of the third vehicle showed signs of impairment was taken into custody for investigation of vehicular homicide:
Detectives are conducting their investigation of a fatality collision that occurred shortly after midnight at Boren Avenue and James Street. One person was pronounced dead at the scene and another person is in custody.
At approximately 12:15 am, an Acura sedan was travelling at a high rate of speed westbound on James Street when it collided with a Toyota Prius travelling southbound on Boren. The impact from the collision caused both vehicles to collide with an AMR ambulance as it was slowing to stop at the intersection. Seattle Police and Seattle Fire responded to the collision scene.
Sadly, the 60-year old male driver of the Prius was pronounced deceased at the scene. The 27-year old male driver of the Acura displayed signs of impairment and was placed under arrest for Investigation of Vehicular Homicide. He was transported to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries and will be booked into the King County Jail once he is released from the hospital.
The occupants of the ambulance, the AMR driver, a second AMR employee, two flight nurses and a patient were not injured as a result of the collision.
Detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) responded and will continue the investigation. This remains an active and ongoing investigation.
SPD closed the street to investigation through the night as investigators recorded evidence and documented the scene. It was reopened to traffic early this morning.
