Monthly Archives: November 2022

Closed since a driver smashed into its entrance, Capitol Hill’s Coastal Kitchen ready to debut ‘fish house and oyster bar’ makeover

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(Image: Coastal Kitchen)

Closed since a driver crashed his car and totaled the entrance, Capitol Hill’s overhauled and reinvented Coastal Kitchen is ready to reopen on 15th Ave E.

Coastal says its planned grand opening will be Tuesday, December 6th — seven months after the scary crash that luckily caused no serious injuries but started the nearly 30-year-old restaurant on a new path.

CHS reported in September on the decision to leave Coastal Kitchen’s diner days behind and reshape the popular eatery with elevated Pacific Northwest dinner and weekend brunch. Lunch and weekday breakfast are off the menu. The rotating themed menus are long gone. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | A Cal Anderson vigil for Club Q

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It has been more than six years since thousands of people including city and state officials gathered in Cal Anderson Park for a ceremony honoring the victims of the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, at the time, the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history.

Saturday, a much smaller crowd of around one hundred or so people gathered in Cal Anderson for a vigil along the AIDS Memorial Pathway and the plaza above Capitol Hill Station to remember those shot and killed in this month’s hate attack on Colorado queer bar Club Q. Continue reading →

Despite Capitol Hill and Central District smash and grabs, East Precinct burglary reports have plunged

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Aftermath of a recent break-in at the Hillcrest Market

With reporting by Hannah Saunders

Despite a rise in concern over property crime in the city to end the year, Seattle Police statistics show that either people aren’t reporting the crimes, or a return to more normal patterns and increased emphasis on organized retail theft have put a dent in surging shoplifting and burglary totals in the city and across Capitol Hill and the Central District.

Still, around 100 break-ins are reported every month in the East Precinct, most targeting commercial buildings. And the individual anecdotes are frustrating. A week before Thanksgiving, the manager of Capitol Hill’s Hillcrest Market posted pictures to the CHS Facebook Group showing the aftermath of a break-in that targeted the Summit Ave grocery for thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes. It was the third time in a month the shop had either been ripped off or broken into. Continue reading →

After $38M Capitol Hill acquisition, YWCA opening new affordable building in 2023 — UPDATE

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A design rendering of the building

By Jadenne Radoc Cabahug, CHS reporting intern

By summer, the northeast corner of E Denny and Harvard across from Twice Sold Tales and the Pantages House will open 93 new affordable homes for residents at risk of homelessness after YWCA’s $38 million deal to acquire a planned microhousing development.

The YWCA Seattle King Snohomish chapter acquired the new building on 800 E Denny Way to be used as permanent affordable housing designated to address barriers for low-income households that are at-risk or experiencing homelessness in Seattle. The building has 93 units that are studios and one-bedroom.

CORRECTION: CHS originally reported the building would be focused on providing LGBTQIA+ inclusive housing for women. YWCA has clarified that the building “will be open to people of all genders.”

“This is one community project that we hope will be a benefit to those that want to live in Capitol Hill, and particularly in the Seattle area where it’s very expensive to live,” Patricia Hayden, YWCA’s chief program officer of King County said. Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | Pagliacci leaves Broadway, arrests at essential workers march, stranded light rail riders, Mamnoon born

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(Image: @Danielhep)


Here are the top stories from this week in CHS history:

2021

 

After stranded light rail riders hiked out of tunnel, Sound Transit says, next time, wait for the ‘rescue train’


Continue reading →

Why Pink Gorilla is coming to Capitol Hill

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Pink Gorilla is beginning to light up on E Pike (Image: @DSKoopa)

(Image: @DSKoopa)

Pink Gorilla, the longest running retro video game store in the Pacific Northwest, is expanding to Capitol Hill at 613 E Pike St. This new 1,400-square-feet location is set to open January 2023.

“We’re really excited to be expanding to Capitol Hill,” Kelsey Lewin, one of the co-owners, said. “We’ve always wanted to but haven’t found the right opportunity until now.”

Co-owner Cody Spencer made the announcement of the planned Capitol Hill expansion on his popular Twitch stream earlier this month, saying “We’re now building a new additional store safer, bigger & better than ever.”

The new expansion will be close to the Washington Convention Center and Seattle University plus one of Capitol Hill’s top tourist draws — the Starbucks Roastery. Lewin hopes to be able to connect to communities of the Hill and believes the store’s atmosphere matches well with the neighborhood.

The original Pink Gorilla location in the International District recently faced an armed robbery and increased safety concerns that the business said influenced its plans for Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Knitting together mutual aid with warm hats and winter socks in Cal Anderson Park

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As scary as their name might sound, the Capitol Hill Knitters of Doom brought gifts of joy and warmth to Cal Anderson Park last week, a good reminder that we probably all can do small things to help bring more comfort to the neighborhood.

“Those who knit and crochet (are) those who are naturally generous,” one knitter told a television news crew there to cover the group’s efforts. “We all make so much more than we can use ourselves.” Continue reading →

Seattle Dyke March: Here’s how to support Colorado Springs Club Q community

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Organizers of the Seattle Dyke March have created a poster to help connect Pacific Northwest communities to the community of Club Q, the Colorado queer bar the site of the November mass shooting that left five dead.

“We are heartbroken over the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs,” organizers said on the Instragram post sharing the flyer. “We want to amplify places where people can donate to support the families, victims, and others affected by this shooting.”

The poster includes QR codes people can use to learn more about funds set up to support victims and families around the hate attack.

 

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Starbucks to close Broadway shop, first in Seattle to unionize and coffee giant’s last standalone cafe on Capitol Hill — UPDATE

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The location debuted in December 2017 (Image: CHS)

Labor activists say it is “the most clear-cut case of retaliation” yet in the Starbucks unionization battle. The coffee giant said this week it is closing another store on Capitol Hill, with plans to shut down the Broadway at Denny location, the first of the company’s Seattle cafes to unionize in its home city.

The closure is slated for December 9th 11th — five years after the company “moved” its Broadway at Republican cafe to the space in new construction across from the Capitol Hill Station light rail facility and mixed-use development. Continue reading →

Here’s what made it into the Seattle City Council’s final 2023 budget changes — and what did not

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The Seattle City Council finalized its changes to the 2023 budget Monday including ending a short-lived experiment by returning the city’s parking enforcement officers to the Seattle Police Department.

CHS reported here on the spending constricted package from council budget chair Teresa Mosqueda who called the spending plan an “anti-austerity” approach to “keeping our community cared for and housed, connected and resilient, and healthy and safe” despite a predicted downturn in city tax revenues.

Mayor Bruce Harrell also saw his plan for a new Unified Care Team that will help maintain “clean and accessible Seattle neighborhoods, parks, and open spaces” including sweeping encampments and clearing tents from public spaces like parks make it through the budget process intact. Continue reading →