Here are the top stories from this week in CHS history:
2024
This week in CHS history | Amarr Murphy-Paine murder, ‘Defund Seattle Police rally in Cal Anderson, new owner at Elliott Bay Book Company
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Capitol Hill Uncle Ike’s hit in another Seattle smash and grab pot shop burglary
Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture and the tip!
Just days after one Capitol Hill marijuana store reopened after three months and $300,000 of work to rebuild its storefront, another neighborhood pot shop was nailed in a smash and grab burglary early Friday morning.
Police were called to the 15th Ave E Uncle Ike’s just before 1:45 AM to the crash and reports of three to five suspects quickly loading merchandise into another vehicle. Arriving officers found a silver sedan smashed into the front of the Uncle Ike’s and tracked down a blue Chevy Impala with the suspects fleeing the scene.
Police followed the Impala onto Broadway but did not engage in a high speed pursuit as the vehicle sped northbound from Mercer, according to East Precinct radio updates. Continue reading
Five years later: CHOP and the 2020 protests in Seattle
Five years ago this week, CHS began what would grow into months of day by day, night by night coverage of the 2020 protests in Seattle. It was a neighborhood story. Continue reading
Cal Anderson protest: No charges (yet), Parks says nope to August, FBI threat, and ‘mostly silent’ vigil planned outside Seattle church
The Seattle Police Department has referred one case to prosecutors out of the 23 people arrested in the Saturday, May 24th counter-demonstration against an anti-trans and reproductive rights Christian rally in Cal Anderson Park while city officials have been loud and clear that another rally planned for August won’t take place on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, a vigil is being planned for Sunday outside one of the Seattle churches behind the provocative events. Continue reading
Seattle City Council backs off changes to conflict of interest rules
Seattle City Council leadership is dropping a push to relax its ethics rules around conflicts of interest.
Councilmember Cathy Moore announced Friday morning she is withdrawing her proposed legislation championed by Council President Sara Nelson that would have allowed members to vote on bills in which they have a disclosed conflict of interest.
“I have decided to withdraw the Code of Ethics update bill from consideration, a decision I do not take lightly. My conversations with colleagues have made it clear that we require more time to ensure we get this right,” Moore said in the announcement.
In the announcement, Moore called the existing Ethics Code “unusually rigid and an outlier across the nation.” “As the Chair of the Ethics and Elections Commission noted, there is no ‘gold standard’ when it comes to defining ethics rules; it’s a policy choice,” she said. Continue reading
A *way* better use for Capitol Hill Parks — Pride starts next week with Cal Anderson clean-up, Volunteer Park celebration
A better use for Capitol Hill’s parks will be here next week as Pride celebrations begin across Seattle. Saturday brings the start of the 2025 festivities with the annual Pride in the Park party in Volunteer Park:
Seattle Pride in the Park is back and louder than ever on Saturday, June 7, from noon to 7 p.m. at Volunteer Park!
This free, family-friendly LGBTQIA2S+ event brings together community, culture, and celebration with: Continue reading
Ten years of Chophouse Row, ‘a nice little critical mass of stuff for people who live on Capitol Hill’
(Image: Chophouse Row)
Dunn (Image: Downtown Seattle Association)
By Matt Dowell
It’s ten years for Capitol Hill’s Chophouse Row on 11th Ave, but Liz Dunn of Dunn & Hobbes is quick to say that she and her team have been on the block longer than that.
“We’ve actually been here for 25 years,” she reminded us. “So it’s the ten year anniversary of just this last building that we added — but this whole complex I’ve owned for 25 years.”
Dunn purchased a cluster of buildings inside the 11th/Pike/12th horseshoe in 1999, then the beautiful brick building on the northwest corner of the block in 2014. They were redeveloped one by one over the years before the current form’s culmination debuted in 2015.
That’s when the Chophouse building on 11th Ave was added on top of an existing auto row-era structure. Office space was built inside that is now dedicated to coworking, the alleyway and courtyard inside the horseshoe opened, and multiple food and drink and retail spaces joined in. Chophouse Row was born. It followed Melrose Market’s footsteps — another successful Dunn & Hobbes redevelopment project that brought many small businesses into a single, shared, and life-filled space.
Dunn says that the cliche is true. In these developments, “the total is greater than the sum of the parts.” Continue reading
Council school levy committee debates amendments to $1.3 billion renewal proposal
The Seattle City Council’s school levy committee is meeting Thursday morning as it prepares legislation to put a proposed $1.3 billion renewal on the fall ballot.
$235 million earmarked for school safety investments in the plan has become one center of debate as the city weighs a possible return of Seattle Police officers assigned to campuses. CHS reported here on the proposal to add a “School Engagement Officer” on Garfield High School’s campus as soon as this fall.
Thursday, the Select Committee on Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy is hearing public comment on the levy and the public safety elements of the plan. Continue reading
Capitol Hill pot shop The Reef has reopened after smash and grab burglars totaled its storefront
(Image: The Reef)
They missed 4/20 but Capitol Hill pot shop The Reef was back open in time to celebrate Memorial Day weekend.
The E Olive Way at Denny shop reopened this weekend after three months and $300,000 of work to rebuild and reinforce its 1926-era storefront. The protective sidewalk bollards are back in place. The business also continued to pay employees through the closure.
“When our Capitol Hill location was forced to close, our top priority was taking care of our team,” David Olivas, director of operations at The Reef, said in the announcement of the grand reopening. “We were able to keep our staff on payroll so no one lost income from hours, but their ability to earn tips was impacted.” Continue reading
After soft re-start, Metro fare enforcement ‘fully resumes’ starting May 31st
(Image: King County Metro)
Now Metro is getting serious about its restoration of fare enforcement. Starting May 31st, Metro security will begin issuing written warnings — and citations — as fare enforcement “fully resumes”:
For the past two months, Metro has focused on education and reminders of the requirement to pay proper fare. The initial results are promising. During the fare education phase in April and May, 76% of riders contacted had proof of payment. Fare Enforcement Officers provided information to the remaining riders on the expectation to pay the fare, reduced fare programs and the ways proof of payment can be shown.
CHS reported here in March as King County Metro restarted fare enforcement five years after suspending it during the pandemic. The soft-start is now over.
“We see riders are getting back into the habit of tapping their cards and paying at the farebox, which funds essential bus service in our communities,” Metro’s Chief Safety Officer Rebecca Frankhouser said in the announcement. “As we shift toward issuing warnings and potential citations, we are again reminding riders that there are free and reduced transit fares to ensure everyone can take transit.”
