A not too bitter end — Capitol Hill Mexican chocolate shop Rey Amargo is the latest E Pike food and drink closure

Posted on by
9

(Image: Rey Amargo)

With more than 80 years of chocolate history in Mexico, Rey Amargo’s cafe experiment on E Pike lasted just over four.

The Jalisco-born company closed its Capitol Hill shop for good over the weekend, the latest in an ongoing wave of shutdowns in this core area of Pike/Pine over the past year.

“Four years in the timeline of this great city may go by unnoticed in the eyes of the neighborhood, but for us, they represent a deeply meaningful chapter in our story,” a letter announcing the closure posted in the cafe’s window read. “A chapter filled with effort, learning, and above all, joy.”

In 2021 when it opened, the drinking chocolate and bars, stone ground chocolates, and chocolate covered fruit and coffee beans cafe looked primed to be the start of a new chain of Rey Amargos across the country, growing from the original shops in Mexico.

The brews were designed to be delightfully bitter. Continue reading →

911 | Seattle U purse snatcher arrested, SPD tases Meany Middle School trespasser

Posted on by
3

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • Seattle U robbery: The suspect in a violent mugging on the Seattle University campus was tracked down and taken into custody by police Friday. According to SPD and East Precinct radio updates, police were called to the Swedish First Hill emergency room just after the 11:30 AM street robbery where the victim was being treated for minor injuries suffered in the attack. The victim said she was tackled by a shiftless male who wrestled away her purse and ran onto the school’s campus. Police tracked down a man matching the suspect description near 12th and Jackson. He was identified as the assailant and taken into custody without incident.
  • Meany Middle School trespass turns violent: School officials say students were kept safe Friday morning as SPD tangled with a man being trespassed from the Miller playfield and the Meany Middle School campus. According to SPD, the suspect resisted arrest in the just before 10 AM incident and bit two officers who responded by shooting the man with a taser before taking him into custody “without further altercation.” The officers and suspect were treated on scene for minor injuries by Seattle Fire. Police say the man was wanted on a misdemeanor warrant and had previously been trespassed from the campus and removed from the school’s roof.
  • Sunday morning stabbing: Seattle Police responded to a call for help from the Seattle Fire Department early Sunday morning and found a victim had been injured in a stabbing at the DESC’s Evans House supportive housing facility at 10th and Jefferson. SPD reports the 2 AM “fast backup” call came after a person was reported in front of the building brandishing a knife. Officers arrived and located a stabbing victim as the suspect fled the scene. Police located the suspect a short distance away and took the subject into custody. According to the SPD brief on the arrest, the suspect told police she had swallowed an “unknown amount of drugs” and told police she had attacked the victim “for teasing and being rude to her about being transgender.” Police say the victim and the suspect were transported to Harborview for treatment.
 

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE THIS SPRING
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🐑🌞🌻 
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 👍 

 

With time running out for Seattle mayor race challengers to jump in, Harrell touts continued turnaround in police hiring

Posted on by
10

City Councilmember Sara Nelson and Mark Solomon meet SPD’s latest recruits

Officials began 2025 cautiously praising the previous year’s efforts to turn around staffing issues on the city’s police force as, for the first time in five years, the Seattle Police Department barely hired more officers than quit or retired. It was a close one. The department reported 84 successful hires in 2024 — one more officer than it lost.

Monday, Mayor Bruce Harrell and city officials held a press conference with a bolder mood as officials say SPD’s hiring momentum has continued with 60 officers hired here through April:

The 60 officers hired so far in 2025 are more than in the last three years at this point combined. This includes experienced officers who can get started working sooner, with as many lateral hires in 2025 as in the previous five years at this point combined, and as many re-hires as in the last three years combined. Separations are also below the last five years through mid-April. If current trends continue, SPD is on track to hire over 150 officers in 2025, which would be the largest total hires in any year in recent record.

Harrell and new SPD Chief Shon Barnes said Monday that the hiring comes on the back of a continued influx of candidates with the department receiving 1,218 officer applications by the end of the first quarter this year, compared to 690 applications at that point in 2024.

Harrell, in the early stages of his reelection campaign to keep his office at City Hall, placed the quarter year’s hiring turnaround in context of his administration’s efforts to reform the department and grow efforts like the city’s new Community Assisted Response & Engagement CARE crisis responders while also pushing back on cutbacks or downsizing of SPD despite growing budget gaps and revenue uncertainty for the city. Continue reading →

‘SOLIDARIDAD, HECHO A MANO Y SIN PERMISO’ — Seattle’s May Day 2025 will step off from Capitol Hill

Posted on by
1
Marchers in 2022

It appears Seattle’s labor and worker energy this May Day will center on Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park, an enduring base of First Amendment activity in the city, the site of past May 1st clashes with police, and the core of the 2020 Black Lives Matter CHOP protest camp.

2025’s May Day comes in a string of enthusiastic but mostly peaceful May 1st events in the city following years of intense clashes between police and demonstrators pushed onto the streets of Capitol Hill.

Multiple union and labor groups plus organizations like Washington Community Action Network are urging members and followers to gather for May Day 2025 starting at noon Thursday in the popular park in the center of Capitol Hill and served by multiple transit options including nearby Capitol Hill Station and only a block from East Precinct headquarters.

A rally and afternoon march from the park is planned.

“The event will commence in Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park at noon with a rally program before the big march,” one announcement from WashingtonCAN reads. “Bring your friends and family, the more people demanding respect for our siblings the stronger the message will be!” Continue reading →

Seattle Police: Reports of gang targeting students at Garfield High School

Posted on by
25

A memorial to slain student Salvador Granillo outside Garfield High School

Seattle Public Schools already said it was stepping up security and Seattle Police presence around Garfield High School.

Social media posts and reports of non-students coming onto the 23rd Ave campus looking for trouble to end last week have police increasing the efforts around the school.

SPD says its “increased presence” around Garfield comes after online messages.

“An unknown youth local gang was reportedly targeting students at the school and had posted on social media that they planned to ‘target’ several students after the sixth period,” SPD’s brief on the incident reads. “While no specific threats were made and it was unclear if weapons were involved, several officers logged in for a directed patrol at the high school to increase police presence.” Continue reading →

Sorry, Capitol Hill window shoppers — Tiny Casita International is closing on 15th Ave E

Posted on by
6

(Image: Casita International)

One of your favorite Capitol Hill shop windows to wander by is being emptied. Casita International is closing its shop at the end of April after more than 15 years of business on 15th Ave E.

We’ll continue to have an online presence to sell our handmade, fair trade, and local goods (including holiday ornaments!) If you wish to support us in person for one last hurrah then feel free to come by at 423 15th Ave E Seattle, WA 98112 for half off anything in our store!

Casita was created and run for years as a “go-to gift and treat-yourself store” by Paula Moreschi and Joe Myers before the husband and wife team retired and handed off the little shop to nephew Nick Myers in 2022. Continue reading →

No criminal charges: Police complete investigation into runaway SUV crash that killed 12-year-old Arsema Barekew outside Washington Middle School

Posted on by
12

A memorial at the site of Arsema Barekew’s death outside the Central District middle school

The Seattle Police Department says the death of 12-year-old Arsema Barekew who was hit and killed by a runaway SUV outside her Washington Middle School in March was a terrible accident and not a criminal act by the vehicle’s driver.

Thursday, the department announced it has completed its investigation into the March 6th tragedy.

“Detectives worked with prosecutors for King County and Seattle and are unable to determine any applicable criminal charges at this time,” an SPD spokesperson said in Thursday’s announcement.

Instead, four parking violations were issued to the 51-year-old woman including municipal code 11.70.140 — “Stopping and securing car when parking.” Continue reading →

King County Council leaders urge action on newly authorized sales tax to avert cuts to services and public safety

Posted on by
8

King County Council Chair Girmay Zahilay and Budget Chair Rod Dembowski have issued a call to Executive Shannon Braddock urging swift action to prevent drastic cuts to vital public safety and criminal justice services.

In a letter delivered Friday, the councilmembers pressed the executive to propose a new 0.1% sales and use tax, a revenue option recently authorized by the state legislature through House Bill 2015.

The urgency stems from a projected $160 million deficit facing King County in the upcoming two-year budget. Zahilay and Dembowski say that without new revenue, the county would be forced to implement severe cuts across core services, including law enforcement, public defense, prosecution, the court system, public health initiatives, and support services for victims of crime.

“The residents of King County rely on us to ensure their safety and well-being,” Zahilay said in a statement. “Without decisive action, our communities will face unacceptable cuts to services that touch every corner of the justice and safety system — from emergency response to violence prevention.” Continue reading →