Monthly Archives: July 2025

City dusts off plan for nude zone in Denny Blaine in court battle to keep park open

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The city’s Denny Blaine Park “nude zone” proposal

(Image: Denny Blaine Park for All)

The City of Seattle has dusted off its old proposal to create a nude zone at Denny Blaine Park as it filed a court-ordered “plan of abatement” for addressing complaints of illegal sexual activity in the ongoing lawsuit brought by a group of neighbors and property owners over the popular nude beach.

The plan filed Monday in King County Superior Court includes five elements including 1) “Limiting the portion of the Park that is clothing optional to the area of the Park least visible from residences” 2) “Establishing visual barriers to separate the clothing optional area of the Park” 3) “Installing clearly marked signage throughout the Park and at its entrances stating Park rules” and 4) “Implementing a substantial increase in staffing of Park Rangers and/or Seattle Parks and Recreation staff at the Park.”

As for 5), final element would focus on how best to police the new rules “using a progressive discretionary enforcement approach, which may include educating, warning, and citing individuals who do not comply with Park rules and, where necessary, requesting assistance from law enforcement to address criminal activity such as sexual criminal lewd conduct.” Continue reading →

Councilmember Juarez sworn in — again — to represent North Seattle

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(Image: City of Seattle)

Debora Juarez was elected to the Seattle City Council twice.

Tuesday, she began her third term after the council appointed her to represent North Seattle and complete the open term through November 2026.

“Representing District 5 was a great honor when I was elected twice and for some reason this feels much more emotional,” Juarez said after taking the Oath of Office following Tuesday’s appointment. “For that I thank you. I raise my hands.”

Juarez joined the first district-based council after election in 2016. Six years later, she was part of a ripple of council incumbents opting not to run to keep their seats after a contentious term that included COVID-19, the 2020 protests, and withering attacks from District 3 representative Kshama Sawant. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Community Post | Seattle’s Democracy Vouchers helped me be heard — That’s why I’m voting Yes on Prop 1

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From Gabi Muña/Yes on Prop 1 Seattle Volunteer

As a recent graduate of Seattle University, I spent much of my time there thinking about how decisions made by people in power directly shape our lives – from the cost of getting around this city to whether my friends and neighbors can afford to stay here. But like many young people, I grew up feeling that real influence in politics belonged to people with money, not someone like me. That changed when I used Seattle’s Democracy Voucher Program.

I first got involved in local politics through the Washington Bus, an organization that helps young people fight political apathy. It opened my eyes to how much was at stake for communities like mine, and how easy it is to be pushed to the margins if you aren’t paying attention. Still, even after that, I didn’t see myself as someone who could truly shape an election. I’m a law student now, and money is tight. Like many students and working people in Seattle, I couldn’t justify cutting into my budget just to donate to a campaign. Continue reading →

911 | Broadway gunfire, Cal Anderson BB gun robbery, Amazon driver armed hold-up — UPDATE: Montlake ‘swatting’

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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 reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

    • UPDATE 9:45 PM: A fake “swatting” 911 call prompted a major Seattle Police and Seattle Fire response to a Montlake home Monday night. Police units and Seattle Fire medic crews rushed to the area following the just before 9:30 PM reporting a shooting at the residence. Arriving officers were able to quickly ascertain that there had been no shooting. Police are now investigating the hoax call. State laws have been strengthened around false reporting in Washington. Charges can range from misdemeanor up to felony prosecution.
    • Broadway gunfire: Police investigated a large fight and gunfire early Sunday morning near Broadway and John. SPD says a fight involving gunfire and around nine people was reported in the 100 block of Broadway just after midnight. Police tracked down a vehicle that had fled with suspects entering a garage at 6th and Yesler and made a traffic stop:
      Investigation revealed the following: Vehicle occupant (male) and his girlfriend went to an apartment of the male’s ex-girlfriend and her family and friends. Male suspect struck ex-girlfriend in the face. He then fled in vehicle before officers contacted him. During his flight, an unknown person emerged from an unknown location and fired 1-2 rifle rounds at fleeing suspect.
      There were no immediate arrests for the shooting but one suspect was arrested for investigation of domestic violence assault.
    • Cal Anderson BB gun robbery: Police rushed to a reported shooting in Cal Anderson Park Sunday night to find the aftermath of an armed robbery with a” realistic looking BB gun.” The incident began unfolding around 11 PM with the reported shooting involving a group of juveniles on scooters seen “casing potential victims” for robbery. Witness accounts described the group of six or seven teens attacking the male victim with “hands and feet” before pulling out the BB gun and opening fire. The group then took the man’s phone and keys and fled the park on scooters. SPD reports “park security” recorded video of the incident but the suspects could not be located. There were no reported arrests. Continue reading →

ChamorikĂ©n has become a Capitol Hill bar food star — Its owners face recovery after car crash

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A community fundraiser is underway to help a Capitol Hill food and drink couple who have been working to build a new name in Puerto Rican cuisine in Seattle out of the kitchen at E Olive Way watering hole The Wash.

CHS would rather be telling you about Jesus Dumois and Heather Dowai and ChamorikĂ©n’s chicken and shrimp plates, chop-cheese sandwiches, and empanadas but a July 16th car crash has left both with serious injuries: Continue reading →

Billboards from ‘insufferable, fringe activists’ cannot stop them: Here’s the 2025 Seattle Blue Angels schedule

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They’ll soar right over any billboards from “insufferable, fringe activists.”

Cost and the environment, apparently, are not an object.

The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron will be back over the skies of Seattle and buzzing Capitol Hill this week.

It has been a tradition broken only for two wonderfully quiet, military propaganda-free summers of the pandemic. Continue reading →

SUMA: Plans for 12th Ave Seattle University Museum of Art — and ‘Tulip on the Green’ — moving forward

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A rendering of SUMA (Image: Olson Kundig)

The planing for SUMA has been busy this summer. Early paperwork for land use and construction permits around the planned Seattle University Museum of Art has been a summer project for architects and planners around the project. The Seattle University Hill Implementation Advisory Committee, a body required by the city for oversight of major institutional planning, will meet Wednesday night on the project.

Seattle University Hill Implementation Advisory Committee (IAC) Meeting #18: Agenda Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM In-person location: Seattle University Advancement and Alumni Building Stuart T. Rolfe Community Room 824 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122 Virtual Option: Webex Link Dial-in and Passcode: 206-207-1700 / 248 233 75775

You can learn more about the session and sign up for public comment here (PDF).

Wednesday agenda calls for a 35-minute session on the project’s permit timeline, a discussion around regulations related to amending the school’s Major Institution Master Plan and the “IAC’s Role in the Process.”

A 70-minute Q&A, public comment, and “committee deliberation” will follow. Continue reading →

Seattle Council to consider $9M a year ‘Pathways to Recovery’ program as Trump issues order on homelessness and ‘disorder on America’s streets’

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A recent We Heart Seattle cleanup (Image: We Heart Seattle)

With a week until the August 5th Primary Election, Seattle City Council president Sara Nelson says her $9 million a year “bold plan to break the cycle of addiction and homelessness” with a new sales tax increase to fund addiction treatment services will be decided on Tuesday.

CHS reported here on the proposal to direct 25% of a new tenth of a cent sales tax authorized by the state legislature for cities to pay for public safety services to longtime service providers like Evergreen Treatment Services, the Downtown Emergency Service Center, and newcomers like The More We Love and We Heart Seattle. Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | What Capitol Hill 15th Ave E QFC development will look like, +90F in Seattle, #defundSPD

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The view from 15th Ave E (Images: Runberg Architecture Group)

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

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Here’s what development planned for the Capitol Hill 15th Ave E QFC block will look like — if officials sign off on sixth story


Continue reading →

Junbi’s matcha and soft-serve set to fill in a little piece of E Pike

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(Image: Junbi)

By Toni Guy, CHS Summer Intern

Holes in the business community fabric of E Pike are being sewn up this summer. There are bigger gaps but one of the smaller tears also is ready to be filled.

Junbi, a growing matcha franchise with Japanese roots, is opening a new shop on Capitol Hill. Known for its colorful approach to traditional matcha, the cafe plans to offer matcha and soft-serve ice cream. The owner of the upcoming Seattle location R.J. Realubit says they’re hoping to help bring energy back to Capitol Hill after the freeze of the pandemic.

The soon to open cafe neighbors the block’s Life on Mars vegan and vinyl bar in the space left empty by the exit of Mexican chocolate maker Rey Amargo earlier this year. While life was looking a little lonely for Life on Mars after exits of the nearby Redhook brewery and the Taku fried chicken joint from Seattle celebrity chef Shota Nakajima, Junbi is part of a quick return of signs of life on the block. While the Redhook brewery and taproom, for now, remains empty, the former Taku is already revived with the Gol Mok Korean Market Bar from the MEET BBQ family of food and drink businesses.

The Junbi franchise currently has 13 locations across the country. The closest is San Francisco but that will change quickly. Realubit and his business partners have plans for more locations in the Seattle area. Continue reading →