Monthly Archives: May 2020

No updates in case of teen gunned down on E Union in May 2019

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A memorial for Royale Lexing after the teen was gunned down in an E Union shootout last May (Image: CHS)

A memorial for Royale Lexing after the teen was gunned down in an E Union shootout last May (Image: CHS)

In the Central District in May 2019, the community around 21st and Union mourned and worked to do more to stop street violence in the area after 19-year-old Royale Lexing was gunned down in a chaotic daytime shootout.

The investigation around the case remains unresolved a year later.

A Seattle Police Department spokesperson told CHS this week he was unable to provide updates in this week due to the “active and ongoing investigation.” Continue reading →

COVID-19 updates: the ’10 new cases per 100,000 residents’ threshold, Seattle anti-Asian hate assaults, signs of Capitol Hill normalcy Vita edition

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Caffe Vita is back (Image: Caffe Vita via Instagram)

Here are the latest updates on the COVID-19 outbreak and response around the Seattle region, Capitol Hill, and the Central District. See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959.

  • June 1 and Phase 2: Eager for a June move to Phase 2? To meet the “10 new cases per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period” threshold set by the state of Washington for counties applying for early reopening, King County would have to keep its count ar around 224 new coronavirus cases in the 14 days leading up to June 1. Halfway through the two-week period, King County has already tallied 350 coronavirus cases. We’ll record about three times the threshold come June. The Seattle Times reports on the “stubbornly high rates of infection” and “uneven and local nature of the statewide epidemic” in a Memorial Day Weekend report on more counties considering the next phase of reopening. That case count threshold developed from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines might not hold, however. “The criterion recently used to allow additional counties to apply for a variance … will not necessarily be the criterion used to lift the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order,” Washington State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy said in a statement reported by the Times. “We are actively discussing what the criterion might be.” Gov. Jay Inslee’s latest “stay home” order expires June 1st. Continue reading →

Street Critic | 17th Ave is as good as it gets

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The Barbara Frietchie

The Barbara Frietchie

Great urban landscapes are typically comprised of a collection of good buildings and landscapes instead of superlative singular designs. 17th Ave, between E. Union and E. Spring, is just such a landscape and warrants a visit. On this stretch of 17th, one will find a half dozen apartment buildings which individually may stir only a passing (if admiring) glance, yet as an ensemble are a gift to behold. Many of the buildings were built (and perhaps designed?) by the same developer, Samuel Anderson, in the 1920s.

The most conspicuous of the apartments, owing both to its advantageous corner location at the intersection of 17th and E Spring and to its equally proud corner entry, is The Barbara Frietchie. It is one of the very few co-ops in Seattle. More common in New York City, co-ops were a form of apartment ownership that pre-dates condominiums. Perhaps its New York roots account for its being the most visible – ostentatious, even – of the bunch? Its unique quarter-round entry portico set in a subtractive corner is another feature that hints of its big-city aspirations. Continue reading →

Five years later, arrest made in Devan Schmidt case — UPDATE: MURDER CHARGE

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Devan Schmidt

Devan Schmidt

Police have arrested a man suspected in the 2015 death of Devan Schmidt.

The 47-year-old was booked into King County Jail Thursday afternoon as part of a homicide investigation, according to jail records.

The suspect has not yet been charged. Bail was denied.

Five years ago this month, the 29-year-old Schmidt was found dead in the Madison Valley home she shared with roommates. The medical examiner said circumstances around her death were “concerning for homicidal violence,” and asphyxia “could not be ruled out.” The county investigator also noted “superficial blunt force injuries” to Schmidt’s head, torso, and limbs, but authorities were ultimately unable to determine a cause and manner of death. Schmidt’s family said drugs found in her system complicated the investigation.

Derrick Levasseur, the host of a true crime series that featured Schmidt’s death last year with cooperation of the victim’s family and local investigators including SPD Detective James Cooper, announced the arrest Thursday night: Continue reading →

Quarantine is a (virtual) drag: Seattle drag queens, kings, and nonbinary performers take to digital platforms

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One Likethenumber

One Likethenumber

Since venues that host long-standing drag shows like R Place, Queer/Bar, and Kremwerk + Timbre Room Complex have temporarily shuttered their doors due to COVID-19, Seattle’s drag performers are quickly mastering a new tool of the trade: online performance.

Drag queen Betty Wetter hosts bingo via Zoom, for example, and Queer/Bar maintains its Sunday Drag Brunch at noon on Twitch. Drag Queens, Kings, and nonbinary peformers are now learning video editing, camera skills, or increased competence with platforms like Vimeo or Twitch.

“That’s the thing about all this, drag is great because it’s a consolidation of a bunch of mediums put together. You have to be good at a bunch of things, but none of those things [before] were video making. So all these queens are now having to learn a bunch of skills they didn’t have,” said One, a Colombian-born, Seattle-based drag performer.

With a background in fine art and performance, One is known for their artsy, conceptual drag looks: their avant-garde makeup and garments designed and constructed themselves. One is couture-inspired, but eschews the typical polish that comes with it for the freedom of clown and camp. Case in point, they are the current Miss Bacon Strip, a drag show known for “it’s mostly campy, gross, Divine-type drag.” Continue reading →

Sawant goes it alone in rogue ‘Amazon Tax’ committee meeting

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The inauguration night upporters couldn’t be at Thursday’s committee in person but Sawant said they tuned in with “more than 100 members of the public” taking part in the virtual meeting

There was only one Seattle City Council member logged in to participate in Thursday night’s “rogue” committee meeting on an “Amazon Tax.”

The major proposal from Central Seattle representative Kshama Sawant to tax big business to the tune of $500 million per year seemed to be moving through the council last month. It had a public hearing in late April and seemed on its way to a committee vote this month. But it was suddenly stymied as council president Lorena González tabled the tax proposal over concerns that dealing with the legislation could violate public meetings law during the COVID-19 crisis.

Sawant announced she would take up discussion of the proposed legislation in a committee she controlled despite the warnings, a rogue move in defiance of Gonzalez’s decision.

Sawant’s special meeting of her Sustainability & Renters’ Rights Committee Thursday evening continued discussion of the measure she made the centerpiece of her reelection last fall.

But Thursday night, Sawant was the only council member in attendance.

“Let’s be very clear here: the Democratic Party political establishment is trying to use the cover of legal arguments — and not very competent ones at that — to try and quash our growing movement and protect big business from taxation,” Sawant said. Continue reading →

Adana joins Capitol Hill’s still thankfully short list of permanent COVID-19 closures

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A dish at Adana

(Image: Adana)

Be prepared. The joy of “Phase 2” reopenings around Capitol Hill will be joined by the reality that many neighborhood favorites won’t be part of any recovery.

Thursday, Capitol Hill restaurateur Shota Nakajima announced that his upscale Adana at 15th and Pine will remain shuttered.

In the restaurant business, especially, “permanent” can be a loaded term but in the case of Adana and a thankfully short list so far of Capitol Hill and Central District businesses, the decision looks like a done deal.

“I signed my lease at age 25. I’ve had thousands of people come through my place called home for the last 5 years who have created what kind of restaurant it is from each employee to each guest,” Nakajima wrote in a Facebook post announcing the closure.

Last month, CHS spoke with Nakajima about his focus on a smaller, more nimble space at Taku on E Pike through the continuing COVID-19 restrictions and into whatever recovery comes next. Continue reading →

911 | Suspect uses threatening note to hold up First Hill Subway sandwich shop

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or tune into the CHS Scanner page.

  • City Market ripoff: Three suspects attempting to shoplift at City Market Wednesday night sparked an armed robbery investigation after one of the trio reportedly showed what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband. Seattle Police were called to the Bellevue Ave E store just before 10 PM to a report of a disturbance in the store. Police and a K9 unit searched the area where the three male suspects were last seen fleeing the market. There were no reported injuries and no immediate arrests.
  • Subway hold-up: A First Hill sandwich shop was held up Wednesday after a suspect handed an employee a note demanding cash and threatening to shoot the worker. Police were called to the 1100-block Madison Subway around 7:40 PM to the reported robbery. The worker told police the suspect was described as a black male around 6 feet tall, and was wearing sunglasses, and a black jacket over a floral print dress at the time of the hold-up. According to East Precinct radio updates, the description matched a suspect identified in a previous robbery in which a note was used to make a threat. CHS reported on a similar robbery at a nearby First Hill bank earlier this month. Wednesday, police searched the area but were unable to track down the suspect. There were no reported injuries. UPDATE: Sounds like SPD found their man Thursday afternoon in the Central District:

    Officers arrested a 31-year-old man wanted for a series of robberies this afternoon in the Central District. He was booked into the King County Jail after being interviewed by detectives. Robbery detectives were investigating four separate robberies to businesses where a gun was implied by the suspect. The first occurred on May 11th on Capitol Hill, followed by a second on the 17th downtown, another on Queen Anne on the 19th, and again on Capitol Hill last night. During the course of the investigation detectives developed possible suspect information and shared that with patrol officers. Just before noon Officers Donavan Lewis and Spencer Kurz spotted the suspect near 29th and Madison and took him into custody without incident. The suspect was transported to SPD Headquarters where he was interviewed by detectives. The suspect confessed to all four robberies and was later booked into the King County Jail. This remains an active and on-going investigation.

  • SWAT standoff: Wednesday afternoon’s SWAT standoff near South Dearborn and Rainier ended without an arrest after a suspect in a reported armed robbery apparently slipped away from inside a building before police could surround it. Here are a few details posted by the EastPAC group:

    From East Precinct Acting Captain Leung: “The victim, a disabled vet in a wheelchair, was transiting along the sidewalk in the 600 block of Rainier Ave South when an unknown black male exited an abandoned building, robbed him of cash at gunpoint, then fled back inside the same building. Patrol arrived in the area as the victim was calling 911 and quickly established containment. East CPT obtained a signed search warrant. SWAT arrived, took over containment, and eventually cleared the building. The suspect was not inside. Robbery detectives responded, interviewed the victim, and will take over the follow-up investigation.”

 

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Northwest Film Forum remembers director Lynn Shelton with We Go Way Back stream and chat

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Lynn Shelton

Shelton (Image: NWFF)

Capitol Hill’s Northwest Film Forum will honor Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton — a director who put so much of the city including Capitol Hill and Central District neighborhoods into her works — with a special live broadcast Thursday:

Director Lynn Shelton passed away suddenly on Friday, May 15th, 2020. A long-time friend of Northwest Film Forum and one of the Seattle film community’s brightest lights, she will be deeply missed.

On Thursday, May 21st, Lynn had planned to chat along to a livestream of her film We Go Way Back on NWFF’s Facebook Videos page. This event will still take place, with the accompanying live chat repurposed as a space to share memories of Lynn.

The livestream event and screening of Shelton’s We Go Way Back will show on the NWFF Facebook page at 6 PM Thursday, May 21st. Continue reading →