Monthly Archives: April 2017

Blotter | Police investigate violent Boylston phone mugging

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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. Yes, CHS is still on hiatus but we’ll continue to keep the news engine warm and post from time to time as events warrant.

  • Boylston robbery: Police were unable to make any immediate arrests but collected a lot of hopefully useful evidence with the help of witnesses and video after a Sunday night, April 9th phone robbery on Boylston. Officers were called to the area around Boylston and Union just before 10 PM on April 9th after a 911 caller reported hearing a woman yell for help. Police were directed to a nearby apartment where friends were treating the victim for a swollen lip, cuts and bruises to her face, and head pain. The victim told police she was walking home from dinner in the Pike/Pine neighborhood and walking home when two suspects “came up behind her, held her down, and hit her multiple times in the face,” according to the SPD report on the incident. The victim provided police written notes on what she remembered from the attack: Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Community Post | Progressive Small Business Owner and Environmental Leader Sara Nelson Announces Entry into Seattle City Council Position 8 (Citywide) Race

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From Sara Nelson for City Council

Sara Nelson, an environmental champion and owner of Fremont Brewing, a neighborhood small business, announced today that she is running for Seattle City Council Position 8.

A longtime resident of Green Lake with a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Washington, Sara has been an active member of our community for nearly 30 years. Sara is a pragmatic and experienced progressive leader with strong environmental and social justice credentials. As a former City Council staff person, she has a nuanced understanding of how city government works and a firm grasp of how best to develop and implement complex city policy. As a co-founder of Fremont Brewing, a popular neighborhood small business, Nelson helped grow the company from 3 full-time employees in 2009 to over 60 today and will bring that direct experience creating middle class, manufacturing jobs to City Council. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Community Post | Introducing Modern Steep Tea Company

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Screen Shot 2017-04-19 at 2.37.54 PMFrom Modern Steep Tea Company

Christopher Glenn, spokesman for RCTea Corp., announced that Remedy Teas has changed its name to Modern Steep Tea Company, effective April 12, 2017.

For nearly 11 years, the business operated under the trade name Remedy Teas.  However, owners, staff and many customers have long shared that the name was too narrowly defining as it suggested a focus on medicinal and functional herbal teas rather than the much broader line of organic pure leaf teas and custom blends that the company represents.

The new name, Modern Steep, is more all encompassing while reflecting the business as one whose mission is to source and sell high quality, organic teas in an accessible, contemporary and down-to-earth fashion.  The aesthetic of the company is modern in nature and not particularly British- or Asian-inspired. Furthermore, the company is headquartered in a modern café location featuring a casual, upbeat vibe, and located in Capitol Hill – one of Seattle’s most vibrant and diverse neighborhoods.

The name change comes also at a time during which the locally-owned, independent company is expanding its online presence, selling teas and accessories throughout the United States and Canada. New retail packaging designs and options have been released as part of the change in name with other gift packs and retail products being released later this summer. The café also has a fresh new look inside featuring a warmer color palette and the addition of new plants.

While it may be hard to get used to the name change, staff and customers have been excited about the change and how it will better represent the company going forward.

As a long-time customer recently put it, “the name will finally make sense to friends and colleagues when I invite them to join me for a cup of my favorite tea.”

Capitol Hill Community Post | Cary Moon, Urban Planner and Civic Leader, Launches Campaign for Mayor of Seattle

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From Cary Moon for Mayor

unnamed (42)Urban planner and civic leader Cary Moon is running for Mayor of Seattle. She is launching with an innovative campaign that reflects her inclusive, collaborative approach – including a detailed statement of her vision and solutions to Seattle’s biggest challenges, a Virtual Town Hall open to everyone on April 27, and an intensive listening tour reaching every neighborhood in Seattle.

“I’m running for Mayor because I feel an immense duty and responsibility to ensure Seattle, our beautiful, vibrant, diverse city, works for everyone. I will listen and take honest stock of the challenges facing our city, and I will use my expertise as an urban planner, engineer and civic leader to develop strategies that strike Seattle’s problems at their root cause, not just address the symptoms.Seattle’s prosperity should provide shared opportunity and success for everyone, not just the wealthy elite. We can’t let the future of our city be sold to the highest bidder. We all belong here, and deserve a voice in shaping our city’s future. ” Continue reading →

Hula Hula announces ‘grand re-opening’ Friday on Capitol Hill

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(Images: Hula Hula)

Like we said, CHS will occasionally kick into action for vitally important news. Like this. Hula Hula, after a “tiki the shit” out of it overhaul of the old Clever Dunne’s space — will officially open Friday and begin its new life on Capitol Hill, owner Keith Robbins has announced.

“People love gathering at Hula Hula for karaoke and cocktails and we’ve been at it for 10 years strong,” Robbins says in the announcement, below. “Capitol Hill, specifically the Olive Way corridor, is the perfect neighborhood to continue the tiki bar tradition.”

HULA HULA REOPENS FRIDAY AT ITS NEW CAPITOL HILL OASIS
Same tiki-fabulous swagger and nightly karaoke; vibrant, new party-centric spot

SEATTLE—April 18, 2017—Seattle’s legendary Tiki-Karaoke bar, Hula Hula, will be back in action Friday after breezing its way across town (1.6 miles due east) to settle into its new festive digs at 1501 East Olive Way (at the corner of E. Howell). Open 365 days per year, hours will be daily from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Community Post | Seattle University Issues Report on SPD Micro-Community Policing Plans

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From the Seattle Police Department

Seattle University completed its two-year implementation evaluation of SPD’s Micro-Community Policing Plans (MCPP). Overall, the report highlights improved measures of perceived safety and police legitimacy compared to 2015, with all major metrics maintaining positive levels or significantly improving. The report summarizes research findings composed of participant observation, community focus groups, and the development and administration of the Seattle University Public Safety Survey. The evaluation was independently conducted by the Seattle University Department of Criminal Justice researchers.

The MCPP initiative began two years ago as a grassroots effort, bringing community residents together with their local precinct captains and Community Policing Teams to identify problems, analyze existing quality of life and crime data, and design individualized plans to reduce and prevent crime. Today, MCPP are an integral part of police-community engagement, with crime data and citizen perceptions of public safety being critical to directing police resources and services at the micro-community level. The department updates its interactive MCPP website every quarter for each of the city’s 57 MCPP neighborhoods.

Last year, Seattle University released results from its first ever citywide public safety survey, conducted in 2015. The survey was administered again in 2016, and garnered 8,524 responses (vs. 7,286 responses from 2015). The survey gauged attitudes around public safety issues, perceptions of police, neighborhoods, and crime.

Similar to the 2015 survey findings, respondents indicated that Seattle maintains high levels of social organization, social cohesion, and informal social control. Police legitimacy, as it relates to SPD and its officers, remains strong, and showed increases both citywide and across most of the precincts and micro-communities. This is consistent with findings from a recent, Department of Justice survey, which indicated that community perceptions toward the Seattle Police Department continue to improve.

Seattle-Citywide-Mean-Scale-Responses

DOJ-Community-Attitudes-Survey-SPDProperty crime continues to be among the top three concerns across both surveys. These crimes have been widespread, and a focus for SPD’s Major Crimes Task Force on prolific offenders. As a result, SPD has seen steady decreases in citywide property crime over the past several months—particularly in the North Precinct. Homelessness also was a prominent theme, and continues to be a central citywide focus through the development and implementation of the Navigation Team, real time collaboration of city departments through the Emergency Operations Center, and the Pathways Home initiative.

“Our Micro-Community Policing Plans provide the foundation for robust community partnerships,” said Chief Kathleen O’Toole. “We will continue to rely on the perspectives of beat cops and our community members as we refine our priorities. I want to thank Seattle University for helping us develop a framework to measure and enhance this leading edge strategy.”

“The SPD MCPP offers an innovative and transparent service and data collection system — the first of its kind nationwide to triangulate data on crime, citizen perceptions, and police activities at the micro-community level,” said Dr. Jacqueline Helfgott, Professor and Chair of the Criminal Justice Department at Seattle University. “The goal is to increase police capacity to respond holistically and collaboratively to reduce crime, increase public safety and neighborhood quality of life. This report shows the evolution of the MCPP initiative over the past two years into a dynamic, collaborative infrastructure that supports SPD’s data collection and sharing on crime, crime perceptions, and police activities across the City, in partnership with our community.”

MCPP remains a priority for SPD. The tools developed through this partnership between SPD and the Seattle University Department of Criminal Justice provide a framework moving forward for continued data collection, evaluation, and improvements to the MCPP. Seattle University will continue its work on this initiative through October 2017, and thereafter, pending additional grant funding.

 

Capitol Hill Community Post | Just another soul pushed off the hill

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I am not writing to gather sympathy, only to express and reach out, it finally happend to me. I have lived on Capitol Hill since 1986. Lived behind Shop-Rite and next to the bakery on 14th and Pine. After graduating from Cornish College, which used to be on this hill I got my first job at The Ritz Cafe. Once I found 15th, I found my home. It was slower, safer, and more of a community than the hustle bustle of Broadway. But I loved Broadway and became a member of the BIA and worked with merchants to improve our district. I found solace in The Pilgrim’s Congressional Church where they proclaimed ‘ God Loves Everyone ” and found acceptance.I was in the arts and my family did not support me. The Hill became my family in a sense. Now thirty years later I am single and struggling to pay almost two thousand dollars a month for rent. I have searched for months and what I can pay will only afford me a studio. Never before have I seen such an obscene rise in rents. So one by one, nameless, faceless, lonely people are being thrown out of their homes. The Amazonian young somethings have come to our town and pushed us out

Capitol Hill Community Post | Cal Anderson Park Questionnaire

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Hello Capitol Hill Community Members,

I am a master of Urban Planning student at the University of Washington. I am currently writing my thesis on park design and am looking at Cal Anderson Park for my project.

I could really use your help by taking a short questionnaire (link below). This questionnaire will help with my evaluation on what makes Cal Anderson a successful park.

Thank you so much in advance. This is an enormous help to my thesis project and would really appreciate your participation.

Link to questionnaire: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BZPZVGR

Capitol Hill Community Post | McGinn for Mayor Campaign Statement

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18010786_10153951843054649_1425175728058315063_nFrom McGinn for Mayor

Campaigns, like our great city, are about people. Every four years, when this city elects a mayor, Seattle has the opportunity to have a conversation about its future.

So I am humbled to share that I will be seeking your support this year as Seattle votes on who will serve as our next mayor.

For the past three years, I’ve been watching this city change in ways that I think we all should be concerned about.

The economy is growing, and for a reason. We have a wonderful city and major employers want to be here. That’s great. Continue reading →

Blotter | Police investigate shooting on Melrose in reported domestic violence incident

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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. Yes, CHS is still on hiatus but we’ll continue to keep the news engine warm and post from time to time as events warrant.

  • Melrose shooting: One person was taken into custody following a domestic altercation involving a man and woman each reportedly armed with a gun that escalated into bloodshed along Melrose Ave E Monday morning. According to police and Seattle Fire radio dispatches, a male was reported shot outside a building in the 100 block of Melrose Ave E just before 11 AM. A search was quickly started for a female reported leaving the scene and ditching a gun as she fled. Seattle Fire arrived to begin treating the male victim as the female shooter was located near Harrison and Summit and taken into custody. Police recovered multiple shell casings from behind the building and a .45 caliber handgun that was reportedly dropped by the victim during the incident. Officers also found blood on a nearby UPS truck and were searching for the shooter’s weapon reportedly dumped in the area. Nearby streets were closed in the area during the search. The victim wast reportedly transported to Harborview. We do not have further information on his condition. UPDATE 12:57 PM: SPD confirms initial reports from the scene and says the victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries: Detectives are interviewing a 19-year-old woman after a man was shot Monday morning in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Dispatchers began receiving calls to 911 just before 11 AM stating there had been multiple shots fired in the 100 block of Melrose Avenue East. Officers arrived and found a man with multiple gunshot wounds in a nearby alley and spoke to witnesses, who reported seeing a woman fleeing the area immediately following the shooting. Witnesses also reported seeing the victim of the shooting throw a gun in some bushes not far from where he was found. Medics transported the 32-year-old victim to Harborview Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. Dispatchers later received a call from a woman, who said she had shot the man. The woman said that she would wait at an intersection for officers to arrive. Officers quickly found and detained the 19-year-old woman who is now being interviewed by detectives. UPDATE 3:45 PM: SPD says the man who was shot will be booked into jail for investigation of harassment in a possible domestic violence crime: The man wounded in this morning’s shooting will be booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Harassment upon his release from the hospital. Detectives have determined the man and the woman involved in this morning’s incident had previously been in a relationship. The woman told police she had gone to meet the man this morning to return his property, a firearm, and observed him charging at her with a gun in his hand. The woman fired at the man, striking him in the leg. She fled the scene but was contacted by police a short distance away, and was interviewed and later released by detectives. The Seattle Police Department’s Domestic Violence Unit is investigating the case.