Monthly Archives: November 2017

Capitol Hill Community Post | Creative Justice Youth Leaders make an impact at MOHAI and the Seattle Library

Posted on by

Creative Justice, a arts-based alternative to incarceration for King County youth, expands through partnerships with MOHAI and the Seattle Public Library, providing a conduit for voices of youth leadership. Now in its third year, Creative Justice serves as a model for policy makers of a community based solution to incarceration for moderate to high-risk youth. Instead of jail time, King County youth are supported by a community network that provides tools to develop skills and build the relationships they need to thrive.

At the Seattle Public Library Creative Justice youth leaders are participating in the Library’s criminal justice series, a year-round project exploring community based justice reform led by the Public Engagement department. The youth have helped shape a forthcoming social media campaign and art installation that is the pilot for the library’s new artist residency program. Working with four professional artists, youth will design and build artistic displays that stimulate deeper civic dialog about the criminal justice system, while centering the voices of those who are most affected.

A sneak peek of their artwork from their library residency will be on view Friday, Dec. 15, 2017 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. during Someday We’ll All Be Free, an event featuring local organizers Jerrell Davis and Wesley Roach, Los Angeles poet laureate Luis Rodriguez, and a video call with Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors.

In addition, Creative Justice is partnering with MOHAI on the installation We Still Live Here, a photographic response to gentrification by Leadership Board youth, which is now on view at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) November 18, 2017 through March 2018. The photographs are displayed in conjunction with MOHAI’s new exhibit Seattle on the Spot: The Photographs of Al Smith, chronicling 65 years of Seattle history and the Central District neighborhood.

Creative Justice, a Public Art program launched by 4Culture, King County’s cultural services agency, has helped over 100 youth create a different future for themselves. More than 70 charges have been dismissed or reduced as a result of the program’s efforts. These youth have been able to avoid the life altering harms associated with a criminal record.

Led by writer and educator Aaron Counts and artist, former mayoral candidate, and program caseworker Nikkita Oliver, Creative Justice provides intensive 16-week sessions for court-involved youth to work with experienced mentor artists and produce original artwork and learn new skills.

After graduating from the program, participants have the opportunity to stay involved through the Youth Justice Leadership Board. These leaders, currently age 16 to 19, provide program input to staff and advisors, serve as peer mentors, and collaborate on creative programs that elevate the voice of youth. Through Broad participation, Creative Justice continues to provide them with opportunities for skill development and personal expression.

Support from national, local, private and public funders and individuals have made it possible for Creative Justice to move beyond a pilot program to a long-term community-based alternative to incarceration for court-involved youth. Creative Justice has received funding from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), EPIC Zero Detention Giving Project, the Seattle Foundation Resilience Fund, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, a community based IndiGoGo campaign and private donors.

Image Credits:
Nani, Youth Board Member. Photo taken by Athena, Creative Justice 2017 participant.

Image Credits:
Street Selfie by Delino, from We Still Live Here

Capitol Hill Pets | Protective Furyan and Sarah on Broadway

Posted on by

Furyan, a Dutch Shepherd, is named for a character in The Chronicles of Riddick. CHS found Furyan hanging out with his owner Sarah at Cafe Vivace. Known for their work in dog sports, herding, police and military work, Dutch Shepherds are very athletic and obedient dogs. Other than being a very friendly dog, Furyan is also training in a dog sport called IPO, known as Schutzhund in German, which means “protection dog.” IPO focuses on obedience, tracking, and protection. Continue reading →

On Capitol Hill, mayor greeted with applause, protesters as she announces Seattle Small Business Advisory Council

Posted on by

Mayor Jenny Durkan got the full Capitol Hill experience Thursday as she came to the neighborhood for a Pike/Pine walking tour and to announce the formation of Seattle’s first Small Business Advisory Council. The new mayor met a collection of Capitol Hill entrepreneurs, grabbed a latte at Vita — and got a momentary earful from protesters who briefly disrupted her announcement inside Elliott Bay Book Company before being shuffled out of the store where police awaited outside.

One was arrested, dozens of local business representatives applauded the new council, and Mayor Durkan did what she could to roll with the punches and get down to the business of small business in Seattle.

“As we grow as a city we want to make sure that we are able to preserve those parts of Seattle that we cherish the most,” Durkan said with a large collection of Capitol Hill area  And one of those things is that eclectic feel of every neighborhood. And that often hinges on the small businesses that are located there.” Continue reading →

Chop Suey shooting update: No arrests as owner speaks out on gun violence

Posted on by

Seattle Police continue to investigate last week’s gunfire at Capitol Hill music venue Chop Suey in which two people were shot. Police tell us there have been no arrests while Chop Suey’s ownership has spoken out on Wednesday night’s gun violence.

“We are proud of our staff and security team and stand by their continued efforts to ensure the safety of patrons, artists, and concert goers that frequent Chop Suey,” Erin Carnes tells CHS. “It was indeed a rare occurrence for our location, however the unfortunate reality of senseless violence is alarmingly present in our community and can happen anywhere and at any time.” Continue reading →

There’s a hipster Best Western coming to Capitol Hill

Posted on by

A rendering of the rooftop view from the future Vib hotel

A new hotel coming to Harvard Avenue will likely be a Best Western, or more specifically, a Vib — intended to be pronounced with a long “i” as in vibe. The “stylish, urban” boutique hotel from the big brand will be just around the corner from Capitol Hill Station and could be the first of similar projects if zoning changes come to pass.

The new building on Harvard between Howell and Denny has been in the works for more than a year, and is now about halfway through the design and permitting process, said Jon Courter, a member of the ownership group.

Along the way, the project has gotten a bit smaller. Initially it had been planned for four stories of hotel, topped by three stories of residential units. But in an effort to make the rooms feel more spacious, the developers decided to lop off the top floor of residential units and have higher ceilings on each of six remaining floors.

“Every inch, every half-inch really matters in height,” Courter said. “We want people to say it’s small, but it’s well-designed.” Continue reading →

Durkan boosts Seattle Promise tuition program, comes to Hill to form new small business council

Posted on by

Mayor Jenny Durkan’s flurry of action to mark the start of her term leading Seattle include fulfilling a campaign pledge on education and a Thursday visit to Capitol Hill to launch a new small business council for “testing ideas, and providing direct feedback regarding the actual impacts and effects of how city policies are impacting the small business community.”

Wednesday, the mayor began the process of building on the 13th Year Promise Scholarship, a program funded by businesses that pays for one year of tuition at South Seattle College for qualifying graduates at three South Seattle high schools. Her new executive order directs the creation of a new Seattle Promise College Tuition program that would extend to a second year of free tuition and transition to public funding. How that funding will come together is to be determined.

The long-term vision for the program is to eventually grow to include all of Seattle’s public high schools and more of the area’s community and private colleges. Capitol Hill’s Seattle Central is part of South Seattle College’s three-school system. “Making college a reality for Seattle’s public schools students is a critical first step towards creating opportunity and addressing our city’s crushing affordability crisis,” Durkan said in the announcement of the new order.

Thursday, Mayor Durkan will be on Capitol Hill for a small business walking tour followed by an announcement held at 10th Ave’s Elliot Bay Book Company on the creation of a new small business advisory council, another of Durkan’s campaign commitments. Here’s how she described the proposed council during the campaign:

Many small businesses in the city feel as though their voices are not being heard. At the same time, they don’t have time to attend multiple council meetings or track how all of the initiatives of city government might impact them. Nor can they afford to hire lobbyists or consultants to represent them. In order to give our small businesses a voice, Jenny will create a small business advisory council to report directly to the mayor. This will help ensure the city hears what is working and what needs to change, and also ensure small businesses are receiving the support they need from city government.

The proposed council “will be tasked with testing ideas, and providing direct feedback regarding the actual impacts and effects of how city policies are impacting the small business community,” including regulatory fees like business license fees, or signage fees and rules. Durkan’s new small biz group could also be be asked to “review city parking rules and rates in neighborhood business districts.”

“The advisory council would include representation of a wide array of businesses from across the city,” Durkan’s campaign platform reads. “The mayor’s office would work with the city council to create the composition and duties of the Small Business Advisory Council, and would propose that at least two City Council members be appointed as Ex Officio members.”

 

 

Happy Hill Holidays: The No Parking on Pike Baby Doll Tree is back

Posted on by

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the surest sign of the start of the holiday season on Capitol Hill appeared. Yes, it’s that time of year. The No Parking Baby Doll Tree is back on E Pike.

“I have read different theories about what different things represent on the tree and I find them pretty hilarious,” No Parking thrift shop owner Linda Young tells CHS.

But she says not to read too much into the bizarre holiday display that has helped make the thrift shop she runs with husband Billy Hutchinson a Pike/Pine season of light photo op. It was really a happy accident. A few years back, the couple’s seven-year-old son Liam had a great idea. Continue reading →

Worker rights advocate Mosqueda joins Seattle City Council

Posted on by

(Image: City of Seattle)

After advocating for worker rights at the Washington State Labor Council, Teresa Mosqueda was sworn in to the City Council’s Position 8 Tuesday at Seattle City Hall.

“I look forward to unifying our progressive movements and fighting harder than ever to protect our most vulnerable,” Mosqueda said, “and maintain our identity as a city of hope, progress and inclusion in the upper left-hand corner of our country.”

Position 8 is one of two citywide chairs on the council intended to represent Seattle as a whole along with the seven geographic districts. Continue reading →

East Pine Substation planned for landmarks consideration, expansion

Posted on by

In 1967, Seattle City Light was so proud of its new substation, it held an open house.

Seattle City Light is telling neighbors around the East Pine Substation at 23rd Ave and E Pine about an important planned project to expand and upgrade the critical facility. Architects and historical preservationists will also want to take note.

Here’s what the Society of Architectural Historians has to say about the 1967-era “fanciful” brick fence that surrounds the 8,000 square-foot facility and Fred Bassetti, the ambitious architect who designed it:

This complex and fanciful masonry fence recalled that of an Archaic Egyptian fortress, like the reconstructions of the Complex of Djoser at Saqqara (c. 2800 BCE) or the later Fortress of Senusret III at Buhen, Sudan (c. 1860 BCE). These ancient Egyptian sources had become topical in the mid-1960s. Gamel Adbul Nasser’s widely publicized Aswan High Dam project (1960–1970) was a centerpiece of his domestic program and an important symbol during the Cold War, representing Egypt’s independence from the West. The dam caused enormous environmental changes in the Nile Valley, and submerged the Buhen region when it was completed. Prior to its flooding, British archaeologist Walter Bryan Emery (1903–1971) began excavations of the site in 1957, and prepared detailed records of the remains. He included drawings of the Buhen fortress in his book, Archaic Egypt (1962), published by Oxford University Press’s mass-market Pelican imprint. Bassetti scheme has both corrugated walls and watch towers interspersed at intervals that are comparable to those found in the Senusret Fortress.

City Light says the expansion project is in its early design phase and “would improve electrical reliability to the neighborhood and area hospitals on First Hill and Capitol Hill by modifying/expanding the north and west perimeter walls toward the property line.”

The expansion will make room for future equipment upgrades and build-outs, according to City Light, including gate access and security as well as “seismic integrity” of the substation. Continue reading →

Please report your paintball gun-toting asshole friends who drive a red Fiat to police, thanks

Posted on by

If you know assholes with a paintball gun who like to shoot at people from a red Fiat, give SPD a call. 9-1-1 works fine. They’re looking for information after a string of reported paintball drive-bys around Capitol Hill last week.

On Monday, November 20th around 9:30 PM, three people reported to Seattle University campus security that they were shot at by a male and his crew of cool friends in a red car on 12th Ave.

Police responded to another paintball shooting on 13th Ave near Pine on Tuesday night around 10 PM in which a male was hit in the leg. While police responded to that call, another reported shooting in South Seattle provided police with a partial plate of the vehicle used in that attack. Continue reading →