Here are the top stories from this week in CHS history:
2022
Cafe Presse’s old bar is now a Galician tapas bar — MariPili ready for its debut on 12th Ave
Monthly Archives: May 2023
Bigger and better, Glo’s Diner reopens Monday in its new Capitol Hill Station home
Three and a half times bigger and 10,000 times better to work in, the new Glo’s Diner has finally arrived at Capitol Hill Station — only one year behind schedule. It opens for regular business Monday after a weekend serving customers who helped the Capitol Hill classic raise enough cash to build out the new diner with comfy booths and the mid-century style of Denny’s, diners, and roadside motels.
Much can be made of “chef owners” in the Capitol Hill food and drink scene and at Glo’s there are two of them — both Julie Reisman and Steve Frias also proudly work the line. Reisman says the A/C in the new joint is so good that in the kitchen, “It’s almost too cold.”
“We made this a better place to work,” Reisman tells CHS.
CHS reported here way back in August 2021 on the plans for Glo’s to pull up stakes on the much-loved but increasingly challenging E Olive Way original and join the new housing and commercial development above Capitol Hill Station along Broadway. Last year, the neighborhood finally got its H Mart in the form of the company’s M2M grocery. In 2023, Glo’s has arrived.
In between, pandemic delays including eight months waiting for permits from the city, Reisman says, and more have kept the people waiting. They didn’t even have the old Glo’s to tide them over — the original had to close down after ย a damaging fire last summer.
But along the way, the people also helped out Glo’s.
Reisman at work
Ten years after taking over Capitol Hill’s Egyptian Theatre, 49th Seattle International Film Festival kicks off with announcement SIFF is reopening the Cinerama
(Image: SIFF)
As its venues including Capitol Hill’s Egyptian Theatre begin hosting the 2023 Seattle International Film Festival, cinema nonprofit SIFF has announced it is adding the city’s grandest silver screen to its family.
“Weโve acquired the Seattle Cinerama Theater from the estate of Paul G. Allen and will be reopening later this year,” the organization announced before Thursday’s opening night of the 49th edition of the festival. “This acquisition adds to our current venue offerings: SIFF Film Center, SIFF Cinema Uptown, and SIFF Cinema Egyptian. We look forward to stewarding this historic venue for magical moviegoing experiences well into the futureโwith all of you.” Continue reading
New FDA blood donor guidelines end ‘no sex for three months’ rule for gay men
(Image: nursingclio.org)
Gay and bisexual men are now able to donate blood just like everybody else. The Food and Drug Administration released a plan Thursday to replace the stigmatizing restrictions that have restricted gay men from becoming blood donors with updated federal guidelines that focus on behavior and not sexual orientation.
The new guidelines will remove the rule requiring men who have sex with men to abstain from sex for three months prior to giving blood and create a new questionnaire to screen all potential donors for their HIV risk. Anyone reporting anal sex with a new partner in the last three months will have to wait to donate.
“This proposed policy change is based on the individual behavior of the prospective donor and not on their sexual orientation or gender,” Bloodworks Northwest said in a statement. “This means that ALL prospective donors will be asked the same risk-based questionnaire when signing up to give blood. While these changes may take months to implement, we look forward to swiftly implementing the new guidance and welcoming donors who have previously been deferred from blood donation.โ
LGBTQ health groups and blood clinics like Bloodworks Northwest are praising the change. โOur community has been excluded for quite some time, so this is a big step in the right direction,โ Luis Viquez, an HIV/STI tester at Gay City: Seattleโs LGBTQ Center on Capitol Hill told the Seattle Times.
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Location, location, location — Retail Therapy celebrates 20 years on Capitol Hill
Retail Therapy’s Wazhma Samizay
(Image: CHS)
By Kali Herbst Minino
Near the corner of Pike and Broadway, thereโs a two-story shop displaying colorful clothing, a unique candle selection, cards with character, dazzling jewelry, and creations from independent artists. The shop, Retail Therapy, has watched Capitol Hill evolve for the last 20 years all while never changing location. Owner Wazhma Samizay is celebrating the milestone.
Samizay moved to the neighborhood almost 30 years ago, and recalls the storeโs location as a part of Capitol Hill that hadnโt really developed. Retail Therapy emerged from that opportunity, its support for independent artists setting it apart from other businesses at the time.
โPart of it was the opportunity to do something and support my actual neighborhood that I walk through and live in,โ Samizay said. โWhen I started, there really wasnโt that many spaces that had independent artists being featured. Now two decades later everybody is doing it.โ
The store was originally brick-and-mortar and had operated that way for over a decade. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Samizay created an online store alongside the physical shop which was open with a limit on the number of people allowed in at a time. In addition to the online store and physical limitations, a tab on the storeโs website titled โLook Out for Eachotherโ contained an extensive list of resources for anyone struggling during the pandemic.
As for business on E Pike, Samizay says it has been doing better than it was during the pandemic, though she wouldnโt call it a recovery.
โHaving done this as long as I have, Iโve learned to ride the roller coaster. Thereโs always ups and downs, itโs best not to get off the ride while itโs still moving,โ Samizay said.
There are also new neighbors.
May days — early ‘Excessive Heat Watch’ in Seattle
The National Weather Service has done something it doesn’t normally do in mid-May — issued an “Excessive Heat Watch” in Seattle.
Forecasters are predicting highs in the upper 80s and possibly into the 90s — conditions typically unheard of for this time of year in the region.
The watch is in effect from Saturday afternoon through Monday afternoon with conditions posing “a moderate risk of heat-related illness.”
The intense start to warmer weather in the region follows a hazy end to summer 2022 as wildfire smoke poured into the Puget Sound area. CHS reported here on the increased threat of wildfire smoke and what cities like Seattle should do about it.
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Ongoing ‘workforce shortages’ mean more service cutbacks at Metro
You’re hired (Image: King County Metro)
King County Metro is holding a press conference Thursday morning to announce planned cutbacks in service starting this fall due to ongoing staffing issues.
The Seattle Times has been given early information on the changes planned to begin September 2nd including the suspension of 20 routes — most serving northern areas near Shoreline, the Eastside, and South King County, plus reduced service on routes including the 7, 10, 20, 28, 36, 73, 79, 225, 230, 231, 255 and 345.
Metro says the cutbacks are necessary due to ongoing challenges hiring enough drivers and mechanics. “Workforce shortages” also forced reduced service in 2022.
Metro will provide more information on the service proposals and public feedback opportunities.
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‘United to stop Russia’: Victory Day protest targets Capitol Hill’s Russian Community Center — UPDATE
Thanks to CHS reader Ryan for the pictures from Tuesday night
UPDATE: An organizer says the RANDOM group representing pro-democracy Russians in Seattle was also part of the protest
A march and protest targeting the Russian Community Center on Capitol Hill Tuesday night was a reminder that war in Ukraine has now been raging for over a year and that the impacts from the conflict can be felt as far away as 19th Ave E.
“Our rally serves as a powerful reminder of the immense sacrifices made during World War II and the ongoing conflicts, such as the one in Ukraine,” the event posting promoted by the Ukrainian Association of Washington State read. “We gather to honor the memories of those who bravely fought against the horrors of Nazism, which inflicted tremendous pain and suffering upon the world. Today, Ukraine finds itself battling against Russia, a nation driven by imperialistic ambitions reminiscent of Hitler’s Nazism and Stalinism, but now manifested in a modern formโrusัism.”
UPDATE 5/15/2023: Aย representative for the Russian Action Network– RANDOM, an organization of pro-democracy Russians in Seattle, tells CHS the group was also part of the protest. Agata Ianturina says the group had been targeting the Victory Day party on May 9th but also screenings of “Soviet films related to WWII” that were being shown at the center.
Stop sign by stop sign, City of Seattle trying to make it safer to walk, ride, and drive in Capitol Hill’s core — UPDATE
Pictures of a new sign at Pine and Summit from neighbor Jason Thompson in the CHS Facebook Group
Pictures of a new sign at Pine and Summit from neighbor Jason Thompson in the CHS Facebook Group
The Seattle Department of Transportation is back at work trying to transform the Pike/Pine corridor into a safer place to walk, ride, and drive — sometimes one 4-way stop sign at a time.
The department’s crews last week made the latest installation in a series of new all-way stops added to E Pine and E Pike on Capitol Hill.
“Crews worked in wind & rain today to add signs at Summit Ave & Boylston Ave,” the department said. “We’ll add one more at Belmont Ave as soon as weather allows”
CHS reported here in October on the plans for the E Pine intersections to join a similar re-engineering of E Pike’s core to better control traffic and improve safety from I-5 to 15th Ave, upgrading intersections on the only remaining Pike/Pine blocks not already controlled by a traffic signal or a 4-way stop. Continue reading
The Capitol Hill (bus) passes are clear: The Broadway-Mt. Si trail reopens Saturday
(Image: King County)
Crews worked overnight to clear Broadway (Image: CHS)
Like the mountain passes cleared of snow, a key hiking route connecting Capitol Hill to Mt. Si will reopen this weekend.
This year, there will be more nearby opportunities to gear up.
King County Metro’s Trailhead Direct route is back with weekend and holiday service connecting Capitol Hill Station to an area of the county’s most popular — and most car-overwhelmed — trails.
Now in its sixth season, the Metro service will be solely focused on one main route in 2023 with Broadway as its core trailhead: Continue reading
