Author Archives: Justin Carder

About Justin Carder

Justin is publisher of CHS. You can reach him at [email protected] or call/txt (206) 399-5959. Follow @jseattle on Twitter or be best pals on Facebook.

The flock thickens: Starbird Chicken is coming to Capitol Hill

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(Image: Starbird Chicken)

The mystery of new commercial life hatching in the failed 10,000-square-foot Amazon grocery on E Pike has been revealed. The arrival of Starbird Chicken on Capitol Hill will mark new energy for a block that has been darkened for two and a half years.

It will also be an example of what happens when highly optimized, fully leveraged, and fluidly designed corporate strategies cross lines, overlap, and push all their eggs into the same basket in a neighborhood with finger lickin good demographics and spending habits. Continue reading →

9-2-5 — It’s Dolly Day in Seattle

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Happy Dolly Parton Day, Seattle.

The city officially proclaimed September 25th as “Dolly Parton Day” to celebrate the legendary artist and philanthropist’s contributions to music, culture, and childhood literacy following her passing in August.

City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck presented the proclamation during a tribute story hour at the Queen Anne Library branch.

In August, the AIDS Memorial Pathway Plaza above Capitol Hill Station was the gathering place for a vigil following Parton’s death at age 80.

The September 25th date serves as a nod to Parton’s iconic hit “9 to 5.” Citywide celebrations also feature a silent disco and a screening of 9 to 5 at Denny Park, honoring Parton’s program that has provided nearly 4.5 million free books to Washington children.

 
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Amid ‘SDOT KILLS SMALL BUSINESS’ signs, city denies permit for advocate community group’s street party

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Pictures of the rogue signs that appeared earlier this month on E Pike were sent to CHS by an area business — “This has been a nightmare,” they said of the city’s sewer work at 12th and Pike

A new group planning a business-friendly street party to try to give the neighborhood a boost around a much longer than expected street and utilities project has had its event permit denied by the Seattle Department of Transportation.

“This permit application was not approved because there will still be active construction happening at this intersection on proposed event date,” a spokesperson tells CHS. “Seattle Public Utilities is replacing sewer infrastructure at 12th Ave and E Pike St. The intersection is closed for public safety.”

CHS shared this Capitol Hill Community Post inviting people to join the Thursday night event from the group Destination Pike, a new community group that says it spun off from Central Seattle Streets for All in partnership with the Capitol Hill Community Council.

The group said it was planning the popsicle party on Pike between 11th and 12th with music, tables and discounts for takeout at local restaurants. Continue reading →

Charlie’s Queer Books is expanding to Capitol Hill with a new shop and cafe on E Pike

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A recent Charlie’s author event (Image: @grandmajoysroadtrip)

(Image: Charlie’s Queer Books)

A scene from the 2025 fire

A neighborhood tragedy that left a valued Pike/Pine business space critically damaged is giving way to a happy new story.

Charlie’s Queer Books will open a second location on Capitol Hill this November, expanding to E Pike to join a community of businesses including the Wildrose and Elliott Bay Book Company, The Stranger was first to report.

The new Capitol Hill Charlie’s is under construction just west of 12th and Pike in the building where the Post Options business center and mailbox service was damaged in a destructive 2025 electrical fire.

Just over a year later, work on the new Charlie’s Queer Books is creating a new space, fully ADA accessible and roughly double the size of the Fremont original. Plans include a 50-seat event space, a coffee shop, and a wine bar, with robust plans for open mics, silent book clubs, and author readings.

Owners Charlie Hunts and Madeline Burchard told The Stranger adding a second store addresses shelf and event space limits at the flagship while expanding access to LGBTQ+ literature during a national surge in book bans and restrictive legislation. The couple noted that serving as a queer community anchor on Capitol Hill brings real responsibility, particularly for young trans patrons looking for a welcoming third space, while crediting Stephen Romano at 12th & Pike St. Associates with offering manageable lease terms.

Hunts started Charlie’s in 2023 as a mobile pop-up, hauling curated queer titles in a “disco”-tiled cart across Seattle Pride events. Later that year, the operation established its brick-and-mortar storefront on N 43rd N 36th in Fremont. Continue reading →

Scooter rider seriously injured after falling, being hit by car on 12th Ave

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A woman was seriously injured in a Tuesday night e-scooter crash on 12th Ave when she was hit by a vehicle.

According to Seattle Fire, the crash was reported just after 7 PM. Responding medics learned at the scene that the rider had fallen off of an e-scooter and then was stuck by the driver.

SFD treated the 24-year-old at the scene and transported her to Harborview in serious condition.

Seattle Police closed 12th Ave to traffic during the response.

There were no reported citations or arrests.

 
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Building issues and lost leases abruptly darken Capitol Hill block home to Rione XIII, Rubinstein Bagels, and Bar Vacilando — UPDATE

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The crumbling bricks of a 1922-era Capitol Hill building appear to be part of the story behind the sudden closure of three neighboring 15th Ave E businesses.

The corner’s Rione XIII Italian restaurant and its sibling Rubinstein Bagels shop are closed immediately. Bar Vacilando, which just marked its tenth year on 15th Ave E, will close this weekend.

“We can confirm Bar Vacilando’s last day is this Saturday,” a spokesperson for the hangout said and provided a statement on the shutdown:

We are deeply grateful to every employee who helped shape Vacilando, and to every guest, neighbor, friend, and regular who spent time with us. Thank you for giving this place a life. We are grateful we were able to serve you over the years.

A person familiar with operations at the Italian restaurant and bagel shop of the Ethan Stowell–helmed founded One House Hospitality restaurant group confirmed the immediate closures with CHS and said that landlord and building issues were behind the lost leases.

“Unfortunately, ongoing issues with the building have made it so we can no longer continue operating in this space,” the company later said in a statement.

The simultaneous endings will darken a corner of a street already challenged by closures and the paused redevelopment of the neighborhood’s QFC. The grocery is coming up on six years since it was axed by parent company Kroger. Continue reading →

Wilson budget plan wipes out Seattle’s $175M deficit — without new ‘progressive revenue’

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Mayor Katie Wilson outlined a city budget Tuesday to close an inherited $175 million deficit without tax increases or withdrawals from city reserves as Seattle’s fiscal plans have surpassed the $9 billion mark.

“We cannot keep lurching from shortfall to shortfall year after year,” Wilson said in her address at the Seattle Central Library unveiling her 2027-2028 budget proposal. “We cannot keep kicking the can down the road, because there is no more road.”

The Seattle City Council will now pick up and shape the edges of the mayor’s proposed $9.15 billion budget for 2027 and $9.49 billion for 2028.

Seattle’s $175 million General Fund shortfall stems from years of spending outrunning revenue growth, worsened by pandemic economic shifts. Continue reading →

Group shaping $3M public safety plan around Broadway Crisis Center’s 2027 opening

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An advisory panel formed to steer neighborhood planning for King County’s Central Crisis Care Center at Broadway and Union is already guiding the project, defining the boundaries to be studied for public safety investments and preparing to decide how to spend $3 million in county mitigation funds.

The Seattle Community Advisory Group grew out of political compromise surrounding Seattle City Hall’s conditional approval of the Capitol Hill facility.

While the need for citizen oversight was a major component of debate by the King County Council during deliberations over approval of the Crisis Center acquisition last year, the process of forming an advisory group to launch the process and prioritize the spending of the $3 million earmarked for the neighborhood was not spelled out.

In late 2025, after his defeat in the November election, then-Mayor Bruce Harrell made a series of last minute appointments to fill the advisory council and advised the county of the choices.

A person close to the process said the county “sat” on the list until newly elected Mayor Katie Wilson took office.

“Wilson had opportunity for changes,” the official told CHS, but her young administration never acted on the list. District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth also did not ask for any changes. The group began meeting in April. Continue reading →

Council notes: Algorithmic grocery pricing ban, call for Pride flag over Denny Blaine, Bruce Lee Way, Wilson ‘recall’ legal costs

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(Image: City of Seattle)

As Mayor Katie Wilson prepares to unveil her administration’s first budget proposal, the Seattle City Council will also be wrapping up some other legislative business Tuesday:

  • Grocery ‘surveillance pricing’ ban: The bill to to ban algorithmic-based pricing on groceries and essential items in the city is up for a final vote. Wilson has championed the grocery industry ban, calling for restrictions on surveillance pricing in Seattle. Under the bill co-sponsored by Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dionne Foster, a Seattle “Fair and Transparent Pricing” policy would prevent large grocery chains and delivery platforms from using personal consumer data to charge different prices to different shoppers. The ban would apply to businesses with 20 or more locations globally. Baseline prices must be posted and publicly available. The ordinance prohibits using electronic shelf labels to display prices dynamically modified through personal data algorithms. However, the bill permits standard business practices, including manufacturer coupons, storewide promotions, and group discounts for seniors, veterans, students, or employees. Grocers can also offer loyalty discounts based on purchase history if savings are organized into standardized customer tiers rather than individualized prices and are not merged with external behavioral data. The Department of Finance and Administrative Services will oversee rulemaking with a $175,000 budget, while the City Attorney receives subpoena authority to investigate and prosecute civil violations. The proposal also establishes a private right of action, allowing consumers to sue. Council members will consider a raft of amendments prior to Tuesday’s vote: Continue reading →

Seattle rolls out $1.7M grocery plan including security funding to thwart shoplifting — but will it reach Capitol Hill and the Central District?

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(Image: Lam’s Seafood Asian Market)

Seattle will spend $1.7 million in an effort to support grocery stores including a new Office of Economic Development program that will offer one-time facility and facade upgrade grants to grocers powered by Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design standards and Seattle Police Department crime data.

The boost for “local neighborhood grocery stores” is a last minute rollout for Mayor Katie Wilson’s administration of an item from last year’s budget debate as City Hall is preparing to dig in on its new 2027 spending plan. In 2025, West Seattle council rep Rob Saka pushed for the spending over concerns of food deserts taking shape in the city including in Delridge, South Park, and Georgetown in Saka’s district. Seattle was “not gonna bodega our way out of this” when large supermarket chains pull out, Saka said last year.

The $1.7 million might end up being spread pretty thinly. The plan announced this week directs resources across three core areas: Continue reading →