Author Archives: jseattle

About jseattle

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

Police and Seattle Fire respond to Melrose after man reported with gunshot wound to leg

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Seattle Police and Seattle Fire responded Thursday afternoon after a 911 caller reported a man at E Olive Place and Melrose said he had been shot in the leg.

According to police and fire radio updates, officers arrived at the scene around 12:45 PM where the man was located and found the victim was bleeding from his leg. The 911 caller reported no gunfire was seen or heard in the area.

Seattle Fire was at the scene to evaluate and treat the man’s injuries. UPDATE: SFD reports it treated a man in his 50s who was transported to the hospital in stable condition. UPDATE x2: Police say they are investigating. The victim was unable to provide suspect information and police were working to determine details of the shooting.

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Project set to begin to keep Cal Anderson’s ‘fountain mountain’ from crumbling

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(Image: CHS)

Scaffolding will cover Cal Anderson Park’s “fountain mountain” this spring and, possibly, into summer for much needed repair work to keep the structure from crumbling and get the water flowing properly again, Seattle Parks announced Thursday.

The scaffolding will be installed this month around the iconic water feature to provide access for repairs:

The granite stones which make up the surface of the cone fountain will be partially removed to allow for the underlying support structure to be repaired, and then the stone surface replaced. In addition, the pump system will be assessed and made operational. Subsequent vault cleaning and testing of the flow system will commence following completion of the work.

Like many elements in need of repairs and upgrades around Cal Anderson, problems with the Waterworks fountain mountain date back well before CHOP and a year of protest in the park. Continue reading →

Explosions reported as fire scorches St. Mark’s greenbelt

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Flames burned below St. Mark’s Cathedral Wednesday night as Seattle Fire battled a stubborn brush fire in the nearby greenbelt on the western edge of Capitol Hill above I-5.

Seattle Fire units were called to the scene along the 1300 block of Lakeview Ave E just after 8:30 PM as the fire spread and explosions were reported at an encampment in the brushy area. Continue reading →

One dead in 18th Ave house fire — UPDATE

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Thanks to @tygraham for the picture from the scene

One person was found dead as firefighters battled an early evening fire in a house near 18th and Madison Wednesday.

Seattle Fire confirmed a person was found dead inside the two-story house as crews continued to battle the blaze first reported in the 1600 block of 18th Ave just before 5:30 PM.

Neighbors reported a non-ambulatory elderly male lived at the residence with pets. Continue reading →

30,000 doses — Biggest COVID vax week ever in Seattle as 4/15 ‘Phase Everybody’ approaches

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Vaccinations underway at the Lumen Event Center (Image: City of Seattle)

The “largest allocation the city has received in a single week thus far” of COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Seattle and the city’s megasite is gearing up to serve thousands of patients:

The City of Seattle and its partners received over 30,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, which is the largest allocation the City has received in a single week thus far. This week, the Community Vaccination Site at the Lumen Field Event Center will administer its largest single day allocation to-date, and the Community Vaccination Hub in West Seattle will administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine all week, with a focus on critical workers.

UPDATE: Officials report 7,615 residents received vaccine Wednesday at Lumen.

The increase in supply comes just as demand is set to jump on April 15th when eligibility will be opened to all 6.3 million in the state 16 and older.

Wednesday, the city opened its list for the sites it operates for registration in preparation for the April 15th milestone, allowing those not yet eligible to add their names to the notification process:

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Add your name and contact information to this notification list. We will notify you via email when appointments become available. If you’re receiving Moderna or Pfizer, you will schedule your second dose during the process of scheduling your first dose. You should not expect to be notified every week.

“We encourage you to pursue multiple strategies for securing a vaccination appointment,” the city says. Continue reading →

Remember that f#!cking plane flying over Capitol Hill during last summer’s protest? Here’s what it was up to

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In early June in the first days of Seattle’s summer of Black Lives Matter protests and the formation of CHOP, a strange, noisy, seemingly endlessly circling airplane added to the peculiar tension building on Capitol Hill.

Thanks to Seattle criminal defense attorney Nacim Bouchtia, we can now get a look at what that Cessna 206 was up to in the air above the neighborhood.

Bouchtia filed a public records request with the Washington State Patrol for video surveillance recorded by the plane this summer including its long, droning loops above Capitol Hill. Those videos have now been uploaded to Youtube here.

CHS reported on the plane and WSP’s assistance to law enforcement on the ground during early June protest activity around the East Precinct: Continue reading →

Seattle Police Department says East Precinct wall can finally come down — if threats of ‘arson and property damage’ have passed

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After only a couple hours of forklift work and a day or two more for the fencing, a barrier wall went up in August around the East Precinct headquarters.

It is taking much, much longer to take it down.

Three months after Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office said Seattle Police was beginning the process of removing the 12th and Pine barrier that has cut the building off from the neighborhood since late summer, the department announced this week it is… beginning the process.

“The Seattle Police Department has been actively engaging with Capitol Hill residents, business owners and community leaders and hears their concerns about the barriers at the East Precinct,” a statement released by SPD reads. “As a result of those discussions, work has begun. Broken windows are being replaced and will be covered temporarily with plywood. The concrete barrier will also be removed and replaced temporarily with a fence.”

SPD is “taking these steps,” it says, “to reduce obstacles between officers and the people we serve.”

Those steps to remove the bolted cement blocks and fencing have been taken with an abundance of caution. Continue reading →

Thanks, Mayor Pete: E Madison bus rapid transit project gets $60M in federal funding — Here’s a block by block look at the planned changes to the street

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Mayor Pete has come through. Monday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $187 million in federal funding for four bus rapid transit projects — San Bernardino, California, Ogden, Utah, Everett, Washington, and right here on E Madison in Seattle:

The City of Seattle Department of Transportation will receive a $59.9 million allocation for the Madison Street BRT project, a 2.3-mile east-west BRT line operating diesel-electric buses along Madison Street spanning from downtown Seattle in the west to the Madison Valley neighborhood in the east, with connections in First Hill, Capitol Hill, and the Central Area. It will connect people to hospitals, schools, businesses, and other destinations as well as to dozens of bus routes, the First Hill Streetcar, and ferry service at the Colman Dock Ferry Terminal.

The federal money helps put the $134 million Madison bus rapid transit project on path for its planned 2024 start of service of the Metro RapidRide G line, a 2.3-mile, 10-station route connecting the waterfront through First Hill and Capitol Hill to Madison Valley.

The final designs for the BRT route’s major overhaul to the Madison corridor’s streetscape were finalized last year. You can check out a block by block look at the changes below.

Continue reading →

‘Compassion Seattle’ proposal would provide housing, services — and, backers say, a city ‘open and clear of encampments’

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The eastern entrance to the Miller Park playfield (Image: CHS)

A group of “diverse civic and community members, business and neighborhood leaders” including business groups like the Downtown Seattle Association, homelessness service providers like the Chief Seattle Club, plus the Public Defender Association, Evergreen Treatment Services, United Way King County, and the Housing Development Consortium are backing a plan to provide what they say the mayor’s office and city council cannot: a comprehensive strategy of housing, services, and clearance resources to address Seattle’s longrunning homelessness crisis.

Led by former councilmember and mayor Tim Burgess, the Compassion Seattle coalition is backing a charter amendment that would fundamentally change Seattle’s governmental structure around managing homeless services and create a separate $200 million fund to back it.

The proposal would back up its efforts to provide housing and services with a requirement that “city parks, playgrounds, sports fields, public spaces and sidewalks and streets” remain “open and clear of encampments” once the programs are available.

From Compassion Seattle’s announcement: Continue reading →

Seattle Fire battles blaze in Bellevue Ave lowrise lined up for redevelopment — UPDATE

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UPDATE: An image from the blaze sent to CHS by a neighbor

Thanks to reader Mark for the pictures from the scene

A small apartment lowrise at Bellevue and Harrison destined for redevelopment as a six story, 20-unit residential building burned overnight on the western slope of Capitol Hill.

Seattle Fire was called to the scene around 4:21 AM to reports of smoke and flames coming from the two-story building. The fire was reported knocked down and under control just before 5 AM. There were no reported injuries. Continue reading →