Author Archives: Lena Friedman -- CHS Intern

About Lena Friedman -- CHS Intern

Lena Friedman was born and raised in Capitol Hill and studies psychology at Whitman College. She covers news for Whitman’s student paper, The Wire, during the school year and enjoys singing a cappella, running a food instagram @sweetnseattle and reading memoirs during her free time. Find her on Twitter @LenaSFriedman or email her at [email protected].

Reopening: Retail under quarantine, Drizzle and Shine welcomes Capitol Hill shoppers with comfort

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(Image: Drizzle and Shine)

Capitol Hill’s “eco-first” fashion boutique Drizzle and Shine temporarily closed at the end of March in accordance with the state’s COVID-19 response plan. Now the shop has reopened, but with a few changes: contactless payment, limited store occupancy and a 24-hour quarantine of clothing items tried on but not purchased.

Capitol Hill retail shops like Drizzle and Shine began reopening their brick and mortar stores once Phase 1.5 was approved at the beginning of June. Now in Phase 2 of reopening, they can offer in-store retail with maximum 30% customer occupancy.

Drizzle and Shine owner Jean Coburn said adaptability has proven essential to the shop’s continued business over the past few months, as sales transitioned from mostly in-store to entirely online to now a mixture of both. Continue reading →

Mayor Durkan talks increased COVID-19 concerns and SPD crowd control in ‘virtual town hall’

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Following a weekend of heavy-handed Seattle Police crowd control on Capitol Hill and with COVID-19 numbers rising, Mayor Jenny Durkan held her sixth “virtual town hall” since the start of the pandemic, this time to hear from residents of Southeast and Central Seattle neighborhoods including Capitol Hill and the Central District. City officials responded to citizen questions about the police’s continued use of aggressive crowd control tactics at protests and announced plans to increase coronavirus testing in the coming weeks.

South Seattle and the Central District have seen some of the highest COVID-19 rates in the city, with King County reporting 8.8 positive tests per 1000 residents in South Park and higher numbers extending into South King County.

Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Health released its latest “situational report” showing the outbreak continues to grow in the state and hospitalizations and deaths are now on rise.

“What we do know is that our BIPOC communities, our communities of color, are particularly disproportionately impacted,” said Patty Hayes, director of King County Public Health, on the systemic health and social inequities contributing to BIPOC communities having more “chronic conditions and the inability to work from home.” Continue reading →

Weeklong Chilean protest exhibit opens — outside — at Volunteer Park

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This image from Sonia Rossel López is part of Chile Woke, an exhibition of documenting protests across Chile

Before the Volunteer Park Amphitheater as we know it gets torn down and upgraded as part of an end-of-summer replacement project, nonprofit organization Chile Woke is using the space for an art exhibition precisely because of its old, slightly dilapidated brick wall. The fresh air and social distancing opportunity of Volunteer Park is also, of course, key.

Rebeca Sanchez and Marcela Soto, two Chileans living in Seattle, formed Chile Woke as a way to showcase the work of artists documenting protests across Chile in response to widespread economic and social inequality.

Starting Sunday, Chile Woke is putting on its first large-scale, free exhibit: The Uprise of Chilean Graphics and Street Photography.

“Our idea is to try to bring the feeling of what is going on in Chile and specifically how posters and messages have been taking over the walls in the streets and becoming kind of like the people’s bulletin board,” Sanchez said. Continue reading →

District recommends Seattle schools start with closed campuses, but ‘remote learning is not synonymous with online learning’

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Amazon has donated 8,200 laptops for Seattle school kids (Image: Seattle Public Schools)

As its children enjoy a summer break limited by COVID-19 restrictions, Seattle Public Schools announced plans this week for fall classes to begin remotely.

The Seattle School Board has yet to approve the recommendation and the extent to which remote instruction will move online remains up for debate.

On August 12 the board is set to vote on the district’s remote learning recommendation, which also calls for increased professional development for educators, including racial equity training, and “predictable and consistent teaching/learning schedule on common platforms, using up-to-date resources.” Continue reading →

Now open on 10th Ave E: Gyro House

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Owner Akram Bouman Ali (Image: Lena Friedman)

Just before COVID-19 restrictions set in, Gyro House moved into a new 10th Ave E location bordering Capitol Hill. The Iraqi-style mediterranean restaurant is now adjusting to business in a new neighborhood and new coronavirus age of serving customers.

Owner Akram Bouman Ali arrived with his family in the United States as Iraqi refugees in 2009 and achieved his dream of starting a restaurant in 2018 when Gyro House opened at its first location on 5th Ave S between downtown and the International District.

“My dad always inspires me — he’s hard of hearing, he has a lot of health issues going on but he never gave up on his dream,” said his daughter Amal Bouman Ali, who helps manage the business. Continue reading →

Seattle school board members address ‘excessive force’ incident at Capitol Hill elementary school

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Stevens Elementary School parents, teachers and district board directors gathered over Zoom last week in light of an incident during the just completed school year that raised concerns about racial bias and force used to restrain students. Some school board directors are looking into policy prohibiting physical restraint methods altogether.

“Director Rankin and I are exploring, along with staff, what are the impacts and what is the possibility of an outright ban on isolation and restraints especially in our district and focusing solely on de-escalation methods,” school board member Brandon Hersey said over Zoom. “That way we remove the ability for harm to be done to our students physically yet we still have an opportunity to reevaluate and recenter ourselves in de-escalation.”

The district’s physical intervention policy allows restraint and isolation methods to be used on students “when reasonably necessary to control spontaneous behavior that poses an ‘imminent likelihood of serious harm,’ as defined by WAC 392-172A- 01092 and WAC 392-172A-01109,” to oneself, peers or property. Continue reading →

August Primary election endorsement round-up: 36(!) candidates for governor, the most ‘contentious’ race on your ballot, and help making your choice for things like ‘Insurance Commissioner’

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There are lots of names to choose from on the ballot for the governor’s race but probably only one you should really choose

Ballots have been sent out for August’s primary election giving Capitol Hill voters the opportunity to cast a ballot and help set the course for races for a handful of seats in the state legislature, the governor’s office, and one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

ENDORSEMENTS: 43rd District Democrats, King County Young Democrats, The Urbanist, The Seattle Times, The Stranger

  • Position 1, 43rd Legislative District: Two-term Democratic incumbent Nicole Macri is up against Republican Leslie Klein and independent Brandon Franklin. She has received widespread endorsements from 43rd District Democrats, King County Young Democrats, The Stranger, the Seattle Times and The Urbanist, with the latter pointing to her healthcare initiatives and efforts against Washington’s rent control ban.
  • Position 2, 43rd Legislative District: This race is a bit more contentious with longtime Democratic incumbent Frank Chopp running for reelection against newcomers Sherae Lascelles of the Seattle People’s Party and Democrat Jessi Murray. The Seattle Times recommends Chopp, given his 25 years of experience and prominent initiatives like affordable housing, and King County Young Democrats endorse Murray. The Urbanist and The Stranger both endorse Lascelles, citing their experience in forming organizations to help sex workers and their firsthand experience dealing with institutional racism and living as a sex worker.  CHS took an in-depth look at the race here.
  • UPDATE: 37th Legislative District: In the race for Position 1, incumbent Sharon Tomiko Santos gets the nod across the board. In the race for Position 2, you can almost feel the endorsement editors struggling over two worthy candidates. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington executive director Kirsten Harris-Talley gets the pick from the Young Democrats, the Stranger, and The Urbanist, while the Times backs city employee and activist Chukundi Salisbury for his “thoughtful, informed” approach.
  • Governor: Somehow, there are 36 candidates running for governor, including “anti-tax” activist Tim Eyman and community organizer Omari Tahir Garrett. King County Young Democrats, 43rd District Democrats, The Urbanist and The Stranger all endorse two-time incumbent Jay Inslee, with the latter pointing to his climate change action promises and that he has “done a good job steering the state through the pandemic.”

Continue reading →

On Capitol Hill, one in five — and in the CD, one in four — filed for unemployment in months since COVID-19 closures set in

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Merchants board their windows for the impending COVID-19 zombie apocalypse

Since the start of widespread closures of businesses across Capitol Hill, the Central District, Seattle, and the state to mitigate COVID-19, thousands have been temporarily or permanently laid off. With rising COVID-19 numbers across King County and the halting of phased reopening, economic recovery remains uncertain.

In the Capitol Hill neighborhood, more than one out of five working age adults filed an unemployment claim over this spring and early summer, and in the Central District the number is even higher with more than one in four working age adults filing for unemployment. Continue reading →

Canon bar reinventing itself as online emporium and walk-in mercantile

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House made cherries for sale at Canon (Image: Canon)

Walking into Canon is surely a different experience than before. As 12th Ave’s food and drink scene slowly reopens, the bar has taken a more retail-oriented approach, transforming into a walk-in general store and online “Whiskey and Bitters Emporium.”

In early May, Washington’s liquor and cannabis board temporarily legalized takeout cocktails, when purchased with food, in addition to allowing sealed bottleservice. As per the state’s reopening plan, King County restaurants and bars began opening at limited capacity in June (now allowed 50% indoor and outdoor occupancy in Phase 2), but Gov. Inslee recently tightened restaurant and tavern guidelines, prohibiting bar seating and live music.

Canon owner Jamie Boudreau made the decision not to reopen at limited capacity based on the bar’s smaller size combined with the uncertainty of the coming months.

“I’ve been told by pretty much everyone across the nation that take-out was difficult and not profitable, but I had to give it a try in order to hope to outlast the shutdowns and our government’s bungled response to the pandemic,” Boudreau said over email. “With the 6′ rule in place, we can’t have more than 12 people inside, and I’m not sure how to make that work without losing more money than just being closed.” Continue reading →

What really happened at The Neighbor Lady: A non-disparagement agreement, an alleged political feud, and a new home at 23rd and Union

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(Image: CHS)

Central District dive bar The Neighbor Lady has plans to open in a new location across the street from its longtime home as part of the Midtown: Public Square development.

The vegetarian-friendly comfort food bar has officially moved out of its 23rd and Union spot after its lease was not renewed — and there appears to be two sides to the story including pot shop offices worried about odors from a dive bar, a dispute over Egan Orion campaign posters, and an alleged District 3 political feud playing out among business neighbors at 23rd and Union.

In January, CHS first reported on The Neighbor Lady losing its lease inside the building connected to the Uncle Ike’s pot shop complex at this key corner in the Central District.

Neighbor Lady co-owner Stephan Mollmann tells CHS the bar was “kicked out,” while landlord and Uncle Ike’s owner Ian Eisenberg cites a new use for the space as the reason behind his decision to replace the bar. Continue reading →