On Capitol Hill, some people really do own the road

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If the Capitol Hill neighbors around 18th Ave E north of E Galer act like they own the road it might be because they do.

“Thank you for reaching out to us about the private segment of 18th Ave E near Interlaken,” a Seattle Department of Transportation representative began their kind of complicated response to a recent CHS inquiry about some recent work and new signs around the street. “Because the street in question is private property, it is not part of the city’s right-of-way, and we do not have jurisdiction over its maintenance or management. The property owner is responsible for maintaining the street, sidewalks, signage, and any other features.”

It turns out, Seattle has some relatively long stretches of street that through quirks of real estate, history, and mysteries, are private property. Continue reading →

Suspect charged in violent Volunteer Park attack

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Police images of the large bloodied stick recovered from a nearby yard

A suspect police say surrendered at the East Precinct and admitted he severely beat a woman in a random attack in Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park last week has been charged in the crime.

The King County Prosecutor has charged Eric Moody, 52, with first degree assault, calling the attack “a random and senseless” act. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s Century Ballroom is now the Reverie Ballroom — Its bar? The Art Table

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(Image: Reverie Ballroom)

Raav (Image: Reverie Ballroom)

By Matt Dowell

A major facelift is underway inside the 117-year-old Odd Fellows Building south of Cal Anderson. This year, Hallie Kuperman stepped away from the building’s Century Ballroom and its accompanying bar-restaurant The Tin Table after 28 years of ownership.

Century is now called Reverie Ballroom and its new ownership has spent the summer renovating the building’s marvelous dance halls. But what happened to The Tin Table?

Sander Raav, nine-year bar manager there, has assumed ownership and plans to reopen under the name The Art Table this fall. Along with the name change, he’s got a few changes in the works. Continue reading →

‘Lake Beach Alerts’ now a necessary part of Seattle summer

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As Seattle goes into a week of temperatures in the 80s in a possible last gasp of summer, some of its most popular beaches are closed to swimming.

County health currently advises that bacteria in the water at popular Madison Park Beach tests above safe thresholds: Continue reading →

Court updates: Suspect in First Hill homeless ax murders being treated at Western State, Capitol Hill Station murder case continues

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This week, CHS included court updates in the Ruth Dalton murder case as her Madison Park neighborhood marked the one-year anniversary of her death with a gathering and memorial plaque overlooking Lake Washington. Here are updates on two other 2024 area homicide cases.

  • Homeless ax murders: Under a July court order, Liam Kryger is being treated at Western State Hospital as officials work to restore his mental competency to stand trial. CHS reported here in May 2024 as Kryger was charged in the murders of two sleeping homeless men killed in late night attacks on area streets. Prosecutors say mobile phone and video evidence shows Kryger carrying an ax behind the office building of the Seattle Men’s Chorus where 68-year-old Paul Ewell was found murdered early on February 10th. Prosecutors allege Kryger killed again less than two weeks later when he murdered 52-year-old Daravuth Van with an ax as he camped near First Hill’s Town Hall event venue. Kryger was found unfit to stand trial and understand the charges against him. Court orders include a 90-day restoration effort at Western and authorizing “involuntary medications.”
  • Capitol Hill Station murder: The man charged with murder in the May 2024 stabbing of Capitol Hill chef Corey Bellett during a fight on the Capitol Hill Station light rail platform remains jailed as court proceedings continue. Attorneys for Shawn Patrick Moore argued earlier this year that the case should be dismissed over allegations Seattle Police detectives had violated the defendant’s rights to an attorney during initial questioning in the case. The court has allowed the prosecution to continue but granted Moore’s request for new counsel. The most recent planned trial date is October but the proceedings have already been continued multiple times. Following the attack, Sound Transit security video revealed some details of the altercation that led to the deadly clash in which prosecutors say Moore killed Bellett in a fight over a run-in on the escalator that grew into a brawl on the light rail platform. Bellett, a 37-year-old restaurant worker on his way home after a Saturday brunch shift at Capitol Hill’s Harry’s Fine Foods, was remembered during a fundraiser at the Bellevue Ave restaurant.
 

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‘Learn, Eat, Heal’ — Kimchi Life Festival arrives at a perfect time for Cal Anderson Park

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Che Sehyun

While the neighborhood braces for some most unwanted visitors at Cal Anderson later this month, this coming weekend will bring a more soul nourishing event to the popular Capitol Hill park.

Seattle artist Che Sehyun is bringing a new The Future Ancient project to Capitol Hill Sunday for a day of community kimchi making, music, performances, foods, creative activities, and even massage and acupuncture. Make plans to be part of the first Kimchi Life Festival:

Kimchi Life honors, uplifts and shares ancient Indigenous Corean cultural technology, ceremony and consciousness to help support an indigenous future in which all people thrive with peace and dignity, in good relation to each other and the natural world. We feature international master artist and Indigenous Corean culture bearer Kim Bong Jun, local Corean artist Bird Over Mountain who will rap their Kimchi Song, Ancient African stories from Malian Jelli / Griot, Ibrahim Arsalan, local Hip Hop Artists Ascended Reality and Beatbox Panda and Michone’s Caribbean food and more!

Continue reading →

One year later, Madison Park remembering slain dogwalker with memorial plaque

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Last fall’s memorial and march for Dalton

Seattle officials, loved ones, and neighbors will gather in Madison Park Wednesday night to remember Ruth Dalton and celebrate a new plaque honoring her installed overlooking the beach of Lake Washington.

“Join us in remembering Ruth Dalton and her little Prince on the one-year anniversary of their senseless and violent murders,” organizers say. “We are asking the community she loved so dearly to come together to honor her legacy of love and kindness.”

“Family, friends and city officials will talk about the loss, update on the case and what has been done to make our communities safer,” according to neighborhood pub McGilvra’s. Continue reading →

Powered by its soda tax, Seattle announces $1.75M in food equity grants

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City Fruit with a big load of apples — the organization maintains partnerships with businesses including local cideries for fruit that isn’t fit for markets and donation boxes (Image: City Fruit)

The City of Seattle has announced its latest crop of food equity grants totaling $1.75 million in support across 18 groups dedicated to projects “that increase equitable access and opportunities to grow, learn about, and/or eat healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant foods.”

The grants are funded by Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax of up to $.0175 per ounce on the sale of most soda pop and energy drinks in the city.

Seattle’s Food Equity Fund started in 2021 “in response to recommendations from the Sweetened Beverage Tax Community Advisory Board to increase investments in community work led by those who experience the most food and health inequities: Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities, immigrants, refugees, low-income individuals, families with young children, youth, and elders.”

The 2025 grants announced this summer include $100,000 to Black Dollar Days Task Force/Clean Greens Farm and Market to provide up to 70 free food boxes this fall and next summer, and $97,207 to City Fruit to strengthen its model for gleaning and redistributing fruit. A full roster of 2025 grants is below. Continue reading →

City says organizers agree to move August 30th Christian rally off Capitol Hill to Gas Works Park — UPDATE: ‘We are not aware of a planned Jesus March’

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The city says the August 30th fundamentalist Christian rally planned for Cal Anderson Park will be moved to Gas Works

Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell and Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth (District 3) released the following statement after Seattle Parks and Recreation issued a park use permit for a religious concert event at Gas Works Park:

“According to the law, the City cannot deny or unilaterally relocate permits for public spaces based on the content of the speech or the impacts of that speech on the community. Recognizing that Cal Anderson Park is an important gathering space for our LGBTQ+ residents and receiving their feedback on the event location, we worked with the organizers to suggest alternative park locations.

In the city’s statement, Mayor Bruce Harrell and District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth explained the move saying the rally organizers agreed to move their event to Gas Works Park. “We are grateful that they were receptive to our recommendation,” the joint statement reads. Continue reading →

On a weekend to ponder covering I-5, a call to support Seattle’s original ‘lid,’ Freeway Park

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The roar of I-5 was a little more subdued this weekend with northbound lanes through the city shut for Washington State Department of Transportation maintenance.

The community group advocating for permanently quieting the freeway — and adding a cap covered with parkland, housing, and development — gathered nearby to illustrate the opportunity.

The Lid I-5 group is also asking the public to support needed work in the original I-5 lid between First Hill, Capitol Hill, and downtown — Freeway Park.

Saturday, the group gathered off Boren in Pillars Park above I-5 to mark the weekend’s northbound closure and spread the word about progress being made in plans likely to stretch out for decades to cover the freeway through Seattle. Continue reading →