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Here are the top stories from this week in CHS history:
Memories pour in as chef Tamara Murphy of Capitol Hill’s Terra Plata suffers fatal stroke — UPDATE
This literary spirit is pretty fun in corporeal form. Haunted Burrow Books has made a spooky story-filled home on 15th Ave E.
A recent power outage helped set the appropriate mood in the bustling commercial district on the top of Capitol Hill. Inside Haunted Burrow, a reading group gathered, divining with tarot cards “in the back of the store by electronic candlelight.” Continue reading
(Image: WSDOT)
When you think about building a bridge you probably think of things like pilings and cable stays — not wiring and underground utilities. The seven-year 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid construction project continues this summer also includes lots of utility work, it turns out.
WSDOT is updating (PDF) neighbors in the areas around Roanoke Park and down along Boyer Ave E of “major construction coming to your neighborhood” —
As part of the SR 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project, WSDOT and Skanska will work with the city of Seattle to relocate utilities in your area. For the next six months, you can expect crews to be working on Boyer Avenue East, in the Boyer hillside and along East Roanoke Street to complete this utility work.
The utilities in question are a big deal including moving a major 12-inch water main and a 26-kilovolt power line.
The work will mean major traffic detours and closures including the Boyer Stairs connecting Montlake to Interlaken Park and Capitol Hill. You can find the traffic and walking details here (PDF).
WSDOT says starting this fall, crews will begin work on the Boyer hillside for the new Portage Bay bridges and sections of the Roanoke Lid. Continue reading
There has been a quick change on E Olive Way where Korean pub Imo Pocha is now E.A.T. Asian Tapas Bar.
We think you’re supposed to call it E-A-T — not “eat.” We are also sorting out any ownership changes behind the switch in brand and direction.
Early reports indicate the joint is still centered around Asian drinking food but with a broader approach including tempura and skewers. Imo Pocha’s business and liquor licenses are still active at the location.
The change is the latest for the tiny E Olive Way spot once home to the original Glo’s Diner. Continue reading
It has been a sad year for Capitol Hill vegans. 2025 began with the closure of 12th Ave’s Plum Bistro after 20 years of vegan good eats.
Want to cheer up your favorite Capitol Hill non-animal eater?
An annual celebration of vegan cuisine is returning to Seattle this weekend. Sunday, the Vegan Street Fair will take place in Cal Anderson Park:
Vegan Street Fair is a free entry annual all ages vegan food celebration where local vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants and vendors come together to serve you bite-size portions of vegan eats and sell you vegan wares all in one place. Attendees can nosh on as many small portions ($5 or less) as they wish without getting full on 1 large item OR they can purchase larger items too.
Don’t tell Donald Trump but the latest safety improvement for walkers, joggers, bikers, scooter riders, and drivers at one of Capitol Hill’s busiest crossings is being paid for with federal cash.
The new pedestrian island at 10th and Pike is part of 80 planned safety upgrades across Seattle under the Safe Streets for All program. The island helps protect people using the crosswalk at the busy intersection in the heart of the Pike/Pine nightlife district.
CHS reported here as Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), then-Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, touted the $25.6 million grant to Seattle under the program to help local governments carry out “Vision Zero” upgrades. By the way, to give you a little idea of how times have quickly changed, that committee is chaired by Ted Cruz these days. Continue reading
Sunday, August 17th will be a fun day in Cal Anderson Park and around the neighborhood as “Seattle’s longest running community-wide garage sale” returns. Yup, it is time for Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day:
The Capitol Hill Garage Sale returns Sunday, August 17th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Cal Anderson Park! This annual event is Seattle’s longest running community-wide garage sale and regularly features over 100 people selling their treasures in Cal Anderson Park in addition to many independent garage sales at homes across Capitol Hill.
“The park features Robert Kelly’s 30-foot-tall sculpture inspired by King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, which was gifted to the city by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Committee in 1991″ (Image: Another Believer/Wikipedia)
While the public process around a planned art installation honoring the Black LIves Matter movement at Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park has gone quiet, an effort to create a new memorial garden in MLK Way’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park is busy.
This summer, the MLK Memorial Garden Development Project is beginning with an effort to create a garden and “enhanced park space” that promotes “healing, solidarity, and sustainable living.”
“By centering community voices throughout the design process, SPR seeks to co-create a garden that honors Seattle’s Black diaspora, celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s enduring legacy, and provides a dedicated space for reflection and remembrance of those lost too soon to gun violence,” Seattle Parks and Recreation said about the project as it kicked off earlier this summer. Continue reading
(Image: Pho 4 U)
With reporting by Toni Guy, CHS Summer Intern
Displaced by the economics of a growing Capitol Hill block and with a family lineage connecting it to some of the neighborhood’s earliest pho providers, Pho 4 U has returned to Pine in a new space just across from its previous home.
CHS reported here in early 2024 on the “unfortunate, but amicable” business changes that came to Pho 4 U’s former block as San Francisco-based real estate company Prado Group transformed its Pine facing edge after it acquired the property for $5 million. The changes marked the end for Machiavelli as well as its neighbors Pho 4 U and Lan Hand-Pulled Noodles. Continue reading
City Attorney candidate Erika Evans was happy to see the Election Night tallies during a party Tuesday night at Capitol Hill’s Stoup Brewing
Tuesday night at Stoup
Seattle’s band of upstart progressives taking on entrenched moderate incumbents in this summer’s battle for City Hall might wish it to be so.
You can’t add up the votes from Tuesday night’s count in the August Primary Election to figure out who will win in November. That just isn’t how it works.
Seattle’s progressive challengers put themselves in strong positions with some big “wins” Tuesday night in the first tallies in the top-two primary. The bad news for the likes of Katie Wilson, Dione Foster, and Erika Evans? Turnout is on track to be abysmally low. And, the incumbents are also on their way to staying in the race to November 4th.
“Tonight, we got results that were even better than we hoped, and it’s likely to only get better,” Wilson said Tuesday night on social media. “Seattle, you showed up! It’s clear that voters want change. This is your city.”
Meanwhile, Foster and Evans joined City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, one of the few Seattle incumbents who wasn’t looking over her shoulder after Tuesday’s results, in an Election Night party at Capitol Hill’s Stoup Brewing.
With results like these, they had a fun night. Continue reading
