Monthly Archives: November 2022

Another ‘Winter Weather Advisory’ but Capitol Hill’s next round of November snow might not stick

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Capitol Hill and Seattle should get another one to two inches of snow overnight into Thursday morning. And it should not stick.

The National Weather Service has issued a new “Winter Weather Advisory” for the region calling for more snow across the Puget Sound through Thursday afternoon but forecasted temperatures in Seattle are expected to make any accumulation here unlikely to be significant.

Still, the morning could bring freezing temperatures and icy sidewalks out of whatever mix of snow and rain occurs.

These autumn rounds of “wintry mix” weather are expected to persist in Seattle into at least next week.

 

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Don’t Yell At Me part of a burst of new bubble tea activity on Broadway

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This is the era when Broadway’s minute clinics turn into bubble tea joints. Capitol Hill’s Dick’s Drive-in has a new neighbor as the block’s new Don’t Yell At Me bubble tea shop has opened for business.

CHS reported in February on the plans for the new cafe in the space left empty by the exit of one of the two Broadway ZoomCare locations.

This is the second Seattle location for the chain created by Taiwanese pop star Yako Chan. The U.S. subsidiary opened its first  location in the country in the U District in 2020 and added a second in Kirkland last summer. The name Don’t Yell At Me is part of a quote summing up Chan’s “life philosophy.” Continue reading →

The Postman reopens at MLK and Union

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KeAnna Pickett reopened Central District mailing services shop The Postman Wednesday just over a month after her husband was gunned down outside the MLK at Union business.

“We made it!!,” the Postman’s announcement reads. “We are finally back open.”

D’Vonne Pickett, Jr. was gunned down October 19th outside the mailing services shop he opened KeAnna in 2018. The father, business owner, and youth football coach was 31. D’Vonne Pickett told CHS in 2018 his grandfather served as a mail carrier for the USPS in Seattle for nearly 40 years and was an inspiration for the store. Continue reading →

‘Rapid Acquisition’ — Another market-rate development on Capitol Hill will shift to affordable housing with LIHI’s $21M deal for Harvard Ave E building

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The design rendering for the Harvard Lofts building

(Image: LIHI)

It’s a seller’s market for medium-sized, newly constructed Capitol Hill apartment buildings. Seattle’s Low Income Housing Institute announced this week it has acquired another building on Capitol Hill with its $21 million purchase of the Harvard Lofts development with plans to offer housing to people at risk of homelessness.

“Thank you to City of Seattle Office of Housing and the State Department of Commerce Rapid Capital Housing Acquisition program for funding,” LIHI said in its announcement. “These public investments enable people living temporarily in tiny houses, shelters and those on the street to secure permanent housing.”

The deal for the newly constructed building just a block or so west from Capitol Hill Station comes amid a flurry of affordable housing activity in the area powered by the Rapid Acquisition program part of the federal American Rescue Plan that allows Seattle and the Washington State Department of Commerce to leverage local, state, and federal funding in grants to organizations like LIHI. Continue reading →

Proposal would add support for highway lids — including lidding I-5 — in Seattle growth plan

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A 2018 concept of an I-5 lid (Images: Central Hills Triangle Collaborative)

The Seattle City Council land use committee will hold a public hearing Wednesday afternoon on a proposal to add support for efforts to build a downtown lid over I-5 to the city’s growth plan.

Council Bill 120462 would amend the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan’s Growth Strategy and Transportation elements to “support the use of lids and other connections to rejoin neighborhoods across State Highways and Interstate 5,” according to a memorandum on the proposal.

CHS reported here in 2018 on the long-simmering hopes of eventually covering I-5 between Capitol Hill and downtown with a lid home to housing, park space, and more. Proponents of the new push to change the city’s growth plan say the proposal would also be important for neighborhoods in the south and north of the city where state highways bisect neighborhoods, adding traffic, pollution, and noise. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council approves 2023 budget with money for more cops, increased spending for human services

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A recent “women in law enforcement hiring event” (Image: SPD)

The expected rift didn’t close but the Seattle City Council was able to pass a new budget plan for 2023 with a 6-3 vote Tuesday.

CHS reported here on the unusual alliance shaped as District 3 representative Kshama Sawant continued her annual opposition to the compromise spending plan while finding common ground in opposing the budget this year with citywide representative Sara Nelson and U District, View Ridge, Wallingford, and Wedgwood rep Alex Pedersen who complained the package didn’t do enough to address public safety issues and fund policing in the city.

Despite the last minute politics, the final budget heads to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s desk with much of his Seattle Police Department spending for hiring new officers and retention intact, including using savings from vacant SPD positions to provide the department with additional funding.

“This budget will allow us to move forward as a City and heal. I am both proud of the final product, and also energized by taking the vital steps forward today to make Seattle a city where all our residents are cared for and housed, connected and resilient, and healthy and safe,” budget chair Teresa Mosqueda said in a statement.

Continue reading →

13,000 without power across Capitol Hill, Central District, and Madison Park — UPDATE: ‘Winter storm warning’ snow

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Thanks to a reader for this snowy overnight picture

UPDATE 11/30/2022 6:36 AM: Streets were reported bare but there were plenty of slushy sidewalks and gutters early Wednesday morning across Capitol Hill.

Rising temperatures should mean no more accumulating snow through the day with the forecast calling for a mix of rain and snow Wednesday night. Several power outages continue through the north of the city with small pockets without power in the area of North Capitol Hill.

Sorry, kids, no snow day. Seattle Public Schools in Central Seattle were fully operational.

King County Metro, meanwhile, has lifted its short-lived shift to snow routes in the central city. You can check the CHS Traffic Cams page to see conditions in the Broadway and Pike/Pine core.

UPDATE 12:45 AM: We’ve added a few pictures from snowy Volunteer Park to the post. City Light was reporting 81 active power outages in the city and several locations around the Hill and beyond reported utility wires for services like phone, internet, and cable television down from falling snow-laden branches. Around the Hill, wires were reported down at the 600 block of E Pine, 17th and Yesler, the 900 block of 20th Ave, 14th and Aloha, the 500 block of 17th Ave E, the 700 block of 22nd Ave E, and the 1000 block of Boylston Ave E.

UPDATE 11:00 PM: About an inch had accumulated at Capitol Hill’s highest points as snowfall outpaced predictions and the expected transition to warmer temperatures and rain failed to materialize late Tuesday night. Meanwhile, areas north of the city were being hit with heavy snow. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the area with Capitol Hill falling right at the dividing line where rain was expected.

While temperatures are still expected to warm overnight, accumulations could persist and make for a slippery morning. Slippery streets were reportedly already claiming a few sliding and skidding cars on the Hill’s most most notorious steep routes like Denny Way. If it comes to it, stick to the city’s planned snow routes where plowing will take place if conditions warrant.
Continue reading →

911 | Driver hits scooter rider on Summit Ave, arson fire singes Garage planter, teens arrested for CD armed robbery

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (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.

  • Scooter collision: A man riding an electric scooter was struck by a driver and sent to the hospital in an early Saturday morning crash at Summit and Republican. Seattle Police and Seattle Fire were called to the scene around 12:30 AM where the rider was reported down after being hit while riding through the area. Seattle Fire says it treated an approximately 19-year-old man for his injuries and he was transported to the hospital in stable condition. There were no reported arrests.
  • Garage fire: A major response to the auto row-era building home to the Garage bowling alley early last Tuesday morning was quickly reduced after Seattle Fire reported the arson blaze was limited to a planter outside the building and a handful of rubbish fires set in nearby streets. Seattle Fire sent out a full response to the fire around 1:45 AM Tuesday, November 22nd. Smaller fires were also reported nearby on the surrounding block. According to SFD, investigators determined the fire outside the garage was intentionally set. Seattle Police was investigating.
  • E Union gunfire: Gunfire reported late Friday night near 15th and Union brought a police response but no victims or significant damage were reported. SPD says two shots were reported just before midnight. Arriving officers found shell casings at the scene.
  • Teens arrested: SPD reports it arrested three teen suspects aged 12, 15, and 16 after a man was robbed at gunpoint and a woman was punched in the face and her pack stolen Friday afternoon in the Central District:
    Shortly after 2:30 p.m., Seattle Police responded to 16th Avenue and E Yesler for a report of a robbery. The 39-year-old female victim said three teens grabbed her fanny pack and struggled with her to take it. They punched her in the face and fled on foot without the fanny pack. The second victim, a 39-year-old male, said he was contacted by three juvenile males at 17th Avenue and Spruce St. One of the juvenile males pointed a gun at the victim and demanded he give them his cash. The victim complied and the suspects fled on foot.
    SPD says the teens are also suspected of stealing a delivery driver’s wallet from his car earlier in the day. SPD did not say how officers located the teens but reports that a handgun was recovered during the arrest. The teenagers were booked into Youth Services Center for investigation of armed robbery, according to SPD.
  • Goodwill shoplifting fracas: A Monday, November 21st noontime reported shoplifting incident at the Capitol Hill Goodwill turned ugly when the suspect threatened she would shoot staff as they attempted to bar her exit. SPD sent a rush of officers to the Belmont store around 12 PM to the reported disturbance and took the suspect into custody for investigation of robbery after the escalated threats. There were no reported injuries.
 

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Capitol Hill ZIP code is one of the most renter-rich in Seattle — but this Central District ZIP is gaining on it

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Africatown Plaza — a ‘cultural anchor’ against ‘the tide of displacement in the Central District’ — is taking shape at 23rd and Spring in 98122

Tenants in the Capitol Hill and Central District neighborhoods are at the top of major shifts in how people live in Seattle with areas that rank among the fastest growing areas for renters in the nation and some of the most renter-represented streets in Seattle, according to a new industry report.

For some, they are part of areas with a long history of renter representation. Others are part of streets where the balance has shifted only recently to renter majority neighborhoods.

“We have to ask ourselves, what is the population moving in and what is the population moving out,” John Rodriguez, formerly part of the Capitol Hill Renters Initiative and founder and executive director of the Dominican Association of Washington State said. “Is it equitable? Is it fair?”

According to the report from nationwide apartment listing service RentCafe, the Central District’s 98122 is ranked 66th as one of the fastest growing renter ZIP codes in the nation with an 44.4% increase of renters from 2011 to 2020. 65.1% of the people living in this neighborhood are renters. It is now the sixth-most renter dominated area in the city.

Meanwhile, Capitol Hill’s 98102’s longer history as a place for small apartment buildings and rentals means the area’s renter majority isn’t as new as the Central District’s — the area has produced a 22.7% increase in renters from 2011 to 2020. Its renter population now sits at 68.3%, making it the fifth most renter-represented ZIP in Seattle.

Continue reading →

This year, Sawant has company in annual Seattle budget ‘no’ votes

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Seattle Channel: 11/28/22 Budget Committee

Kshama Sawant is not alone in 2022 in her yearly dissent against Seattle City Hall’s annual budget compromises.

Monday, the socialist city council member and longest serving member of the body cast a vote against the compromise 2023 budget package in a procedural committee vote ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s final vote on the proposed spending plan by the full council. She was joined by unlikely collaborators —  citywide representative Sara Nelson and U District, View Ridge, Wallingford, and Wedgwood rep Alex Pedersen — in voting no on the package.

The budget proposal still moved forward on the 6-3 vote.

When it comes to these final votes, the District 3 representative for Capitol Hill and the Central District has made a tradition over the years of standing up against the compromise packages she has helped forge. Continue reading →