Author Archives: jseattle

About jseattle

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.

Officials applaud vote distancing Seattle from ‘defund’ as a final step in SPD reform over biased policing

Posted on by
9

Screenshot

Calling the movement “flat wrong, divisive and counterproductive,” Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka is celebrating Tuesday’s vote approving a resolution shunning the city’s past efforts at diverting spending and resources from its police department and acknowledging the failure of the “defund movement.”

“As a black man, growing up in this country, an Air Force veteran, someone who has busted their hump and was able to overcome the foster care system and any number of life changes that we all face, it didn’t benefit me,” Saka said prior to Tuesday’s vote. “It didn’t benefit any of the communities I have been involved with.” Continue reading →

Man dies in shooting inside First Hill apartment building

Posted on by
Reply

(Image: SPD)

A man was shot and killed overnight inside a First Hill apartment.

The Seattle Police Department reports officers attempted CPR as Seattle Fire arrived at the scene inside a first floor unit of the Tuscany Apartments. SPD says the 40-year-old died at the scene.

According to East Precinct radio updates, police were called to the Seneca at Summit apartment building just before 1:45 AM to reports of someone yelling to call 911 followed by a report of gunfire.

Arriving officers found the man down inside the unit and suffering from a gunshot wound to the back.

Witnesses reported a male fleeing from the scene. He was described as a black male, wearing all black clothing with a bicycle. Continue reading →

‘A home for curious readers,’ Nook & Cranny book shop makes new start off Capitol Hill

Posted on by
1

Attendees at Nook & Cranny’s final book club on Capitol Hill (Image: Nook & Cranny)

Capitol Hill has lost a bookstore. Nook & Cranny has packed up its bibliotherapeutic shelves and is nearly ready to open in its new home in a new development in the University Heights neighborhood.

CHS reported here in January as owner Maren Comendant announced the 15th Ave E book shop had lost its lease and was on the hunt for a new location with the help of a community fundraising campaign.

Comendant created Nook & Cranny in the summer of 2022. What if you read about a Capitol Hill bookstore for sale — and bought it? Comendant can tell you. She purchased the business after reading about its previous iteration going up for sale on CHS.

Costs eventually outstripped profit on 15th Ave E and the bookseller’s search took her to Northeast Seattle. Nook & Cranny wound down with its final Capitol Hill book club taking place as March faded — “a lively discussion about Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn.”

With the 15th Ave E shop now dark and empty and awaiting whatever business joins the neighborhood next, Comendant says Nook & Cranny could be open any day in its new spot with plans for an official grand opening on April 26th’s Independent Bookstore Day.

Nook & Cranny will open soon at 5637 University Way NE. Learn more at nookandcrannybooks.com.

 

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🖤 

 
 

Seattle making plans for more traffic camera enforcement including new school zone on Capitol Hill, five new ‘full-time speed cameras’ across city

Posted on by
17

(Image: SDOT)

The Seattle City Council’s transportation committee will hear an update Tuesday on the city’s plans for 19 new school safety zone cameras and changes in state law that have started the Department of Transportation on the path to selecting five locations for newly allowed speeding detection cameras.

According to the briefing slated for Tuesday morning, the new school safety zone cameras are set to come online this year joining a network of setups across Seattle the city says have been effective in reducing dangerous crashes and slowing drivers. CHS reported in October on the process to select the blocks for the 19 new cameras.

On Capitol Hill, drivers will encounter a new camera zone in front of 10th Ave E’s private Bertschi Elementary that will operate between 7:35AM-8:30AM and 2:35PM-3:35PM on school days. Nearby TOPS K-8 will also add a camera on Boylston Ave E  between E Lynn St and E Roanoke. “Flashing beacon schedules are adjusted for holidays, early release days, summer school, and other events,” the city notes. Continue reading →

No injuries — but downed wires and smashed cars — as wind brings down big elm at 18th and Howell

Posted on by
1

Thanks to CHS readers for the pictures from the clean-up

Last week’s “severe thunderstorm” forecast turned into a spectacular — and rare — lightning show over Seattle but Sunday’s winds did the real damage on Capitol Hill.

As gusts approached 40 MPH Sunday night, a massive American Elm toppled at 18th and Howell around 6:45 PM taking a utility pole and associated lines with it and smashing a few cars parked below.

Continue reading →

‘The backbone of a neighborhood’ — Capitol Hill leather bar The Cuff has new owner

Posted on by
13

CHS reported on 30 years at The Cuff here in 2023

Through 32 years of changes in the neighborhood and changes in ownership, people have been getting lost in the dark corners and good times at The Cuff.

The quintessential Capitol Hill leather bar is now stepping out again on its own.

Scott Walent, a first-time nightlife owner, is stepping up and taking over the sprawling 13th Ave venue and center of Seattle queer culture as part of a rare downsizing of the Queer/Bar family of Capitol Hill businesses.

“We understand the weight of this responsibility and are committed to honoring the legacy of the previous owners, who so wonderfully navigated The Cuff Complex through the past five years,” Walent said in a statement to the Seattle Gay News who was first to report the changes. “We plan to maintain many of the values and traditions that have made The Cuff such a vital part of our community while infusing new vibes and programming into the calendar.” Continue reading →

As Seattle University Museum of Art lined up for 2028 opening on 12th Ave, school announces Cornish College layoffs — UPDATE

Posted on by
12

(Image: Seattle University)

This week brings plans for an August 2026 groundbreaking and design renderings for the planned $25 million Seattle University Museum of Art on 12th Ave.

The realities of the project are also hitting home as Seattle University and the Cornish College of the Arts announced the termination of 354 employees and are moving forward with plans to demolish the Lee Center for the Arts performance and studio space.

The intertwined announcements follow Seattle U’s takeover of Cornish and its South Lake Union campus as the arts school has suffered a continued downturn in enrollment.

The addition of Cornish to Seattle U, meanwhile, boosts the private Jesuit university’s arts presence which includes launching its plans around a major donation from property developer Dick Hedreen and his family’s 200-piece, $300 million collection of paintings, pottery, photography, etchings, and sculptures. Continue reading →

Family calls on Congress to probe unsolved killing of teen at CHOP camp

Posted on by
37

Mays Jr.

A CHS reader shared this image from the night Mays Jr. was shot and killed on 12th Ave (Image: CHS)

The father of a 16-year-old shot and killed in a slaying inside the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest is calling on Congress to probe the city’s actions five years ago and the Seattle Police Department’s investigation into the shooting that left his son mortally wounded in a bullet-riddled jeep on 12th Ave in the midst of a chaotic, dangerous night in the protest camp.

Lawyers for Antonio Mays Sr. have called on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to hold a hearing on the deadly shooting that remains unsolved by Seattle Police. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Final nights at the Century Ballroom

Posted on by
Reply

DJ Kuperman saying goodbye to the Century

With the end of March, the Century Ballroom is closing but the dancing above E Pine and 10th Ave is still going strong.

The Reverie Ballroom is preparing for the next dance and keeping the Capitol Hill venue in motion.

This week, CHS swung into the Century as owner Hallie Kuperman marked another in what has been a year of final nights.

“I am djing the last Wednesday Swing dance that Century Ballroom will host,” Kuperman wrote about the evening. “It’s where we started (and I started) and where we’ll end this night.”

Continue reading →

The FBI is reportedly looking for duo who set a Tesla on fire on Capitol Hill

Posted on by
15

You can buy anti-Elon bumper stickers like this from Jeff Bezos

The FBI has issued an alert to owners and a joint task force involving the bureau’s counterterrorism division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating acts of vandalism against Tesla vehicles including an arson fire that damaged a 2022 Model S parked near the busy restaurants and bars of Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E earlier this month.

“These incidents have involved arson, gunfire, and vandalism, including graffiti expressing grievances against those the perpetrators perceive to be racists, fascists, or political opponents,” the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center alert reads. “These criminal actions appear to have been conducted by lone offenders, and all known incidents occurred at night.” Continue reading →