Seattle school board fills two vacant seats

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By Aspen Anderson/UW News Lab

The Seattle School Board has filled its vacancies after the resignations of two members over residency rules, appointing two new directors for Districts Two and Four. Sarah Clark for District Two and Joe Mizrahi for District Four were elected unanimously.

“There is a wealth of knowledge and aptitude in these two districts,” District Seven Director Brandon Hersey said. “I only got more excited about people as we went through the forum. There’s a lot of folks that really showed up and showed out.”

District Two Encompasses Magnolia, Ballard, Green Lake, and Adjacent Areas, While District Four Covers parts of Downtown, Queen Anne, the Central District, and Surrounding Neighborhoods.

“The biggest voice that the public has in all of this is we were elected by all of you,” board president and District One Director Liza Rankin said.

Following a public forum last week featuring four finalists from each district, the board made its decision.

Clark’s upbringing as a student within her district was noteworthy to Michelle Sarju, District Five director, emphasizing the unique value her firsthand experience as a student of color in Seattle Public Schools brings to the board, particularly as no other current board member completed their K-12 education within SPS. Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | Olive Way Improvement Company building rejected at landmark, deadly 18th Ave house fire, perpetually broken Broadway escalator becomes… stairs

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Here are the top stories from this week in CHS history:

2023

 

Not a landmark: The Olive Way Improvement Company building once home to Holy Smoke, Coffee Messiah, and In the Bowl


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It has been a long road to open on Capitol HIll but delays could be blessing in disguise for Koko’s

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(Image: Koko’s)

By Juan Jocom

The folks at Koko’s know what they are doing. They built the original restaurant into a widely respected dining destination despite its far-flung location in the planned Olympic Peninsula community of Seabrook.

Gibran Moreno and Alexi Torres also know their way around Capitol Hill, hoping to grow their new Koko’s Restaurant and Tequila Bar into the LGBTQ-owned food, drink, and good times community of the neighborhood.

But the long waits and slow processes of doing business in a booming again Seattle have been a challenge even for the experience Koko’s team.

“We’ve been working on this project for over a year and two months… But we are getting close. We are just waiting for our final inspection from the health department and then we should be ready to go,” Moreno said.

But even the final push comes with challenges. Continue reading →

Seattle sizing up new $1.35B transportation levy proposal

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The Harrell administration’s delicate dance around shaping a $1.35 billion transportation levy proposal for Seattle has begun. Thursday, Mayor Bruce Harrell unveiled the framework of the levy focused on repairs, replacements, and realignments and not major new street and transit projects.

“No matter how you get around, it will make trips safer, more reliable, and better connected so that every Seattleite is set up for success when they experience our city,” Harrell said about the levy proposal.

Mayor’s Office Summary of the 2024 Transportation Levy Plan: Continue reading →

The Punk Rock Flea Market is coming back to Capitol Hill — Here’s when it will open and how long it might stay

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(Image: Punk Rock Flea Market)

What began in an abandoned basement bar beneath the Low Income Housing Institute headquarters in Belltown led to the birth of the Punk Rock Flea Market. This June, PRFM will hold its first weekend sale in the former QFC on 15th Ave E that has been shuttered since 2021 to activate that space until the building is demolished to make way for new housing and new businesses.

“We’re ‘punk rock’ because we’re collaborative and very DIY, not because we adhere to any particular fashion or music choices. We’re open and friendly and weird, and everyone is welcome to buy and sell with us,” Joshua Okrent, PRFM founder, tells CHS.

While the public process and financing pathway for redevelopment can be lengthy and bumpy, the property’s developer Hunters Capital has been searching for short-term tenants to try to keep the block active until the six-story, 170-unit, mixed-use development with about 10,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space can dig in.

“The Punk Rock Flea Market will be here through the end of the year and will continue on a month-to-month basis next year,” Jill Cronauer, chief operating officer of Hunters Capital, told CHS.

The agreement means there will be time for multiple PRFM event over the coming months. The first is planned for June 22nd and 23rd the weekend before the big 2024 Pride festivities. Continue reading →

Wier Harman Way — Longtime Town Hall Seattle director to be remembered with honorary renaming of stretch of 8th Ave

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(Image: Town Hall Seattle)

While Tuesday’s meeting of the Seattle City Council’s transportation committee included some shenanigans, the council members also found time to move an important honorary renaming of a First Hill street forward.

Tuesday, the committee approved a resolution designating 8th Ave between Seneca and Spring in front of First Hill’s Town Hall Seattle as Wier Harman Way. Continue reading →

Amazon shutting down its Capitol HIll grocery store

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(Image: CHS)

Amazon is reshuffling its efforts in the grocery industry and pulling its “just walk out” cashier-less technology out of stores. The tech giant is also pulling its Amazon Fresh grocery completely out of Capitol Hill.

The Seattle Times is reporting the company announced the planned closure in a Wednesday meeting with employees. Sunday will be the E Pike store’s final day of business.

The closure comes as Amazon has backed off its smaller stores in favor of larger investments in full groceries and its Whole Food stores. Continue reading →

Asylum-seeker camp moves in on Garfield Community Center grounds — UPDATE: Moving out

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With reporting by Alex Garland

The area outside Garfield Community Center has become a camp as organizers say hundreds of asylum seekers are making the grounds and tennis courts their temporary home while local governments try to sort out how to provide more permanent shelter.

District 3 City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth says she is meeting with Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office Wednesday to address the new camp.

“Our office is aware of the migrant asylum seekers who have set up an encampment at the Garfield Tennis Courts,” Hollingsworth said via social media Wednesday morning. “We are working with the Mayor’s office, King County and service providers to address this situation immediately.”

UPDATE 5:56 PM: Campers began packing up the site Wednesday night. According to a community organizer and asylum seeker, a donation had been made to keep the group in the Kent Quality Inn for at least 10 more days.

Continue reading →

Sharpen the blade: Broadway’s coming soon Guillotine will focus on comfort — and execution

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An Andrew Larson creation (Image: @simplystirred)

The veteran mixologists behind coming soon Broadway restaurant Guillotine have released details and an opening date for the project.

CHS reported here last month on the food and drink venture from bartenders Colin Smith and Andrew Larson taking over the space formerly home to the Southern-style cocktail joint Witness on Broadway.

Now we know more details of the upcoming opening planned for early May. Smith tells CHS Guillotine will be all about the execution from pulling a pint to offering up vintage champagne with caviar if the customer demands.

“We will have the tools to do very elevated things,” Smith said. “But want everyone to feel comfortable.”

Keep that blade sharp. Continue reading →

Facing looming deficit, Seattle City Hall agrees on raises with employees — and a deal for higher pay for its cops

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(Image: City of Seattle)

The Seattle City Council approved new contracts Tuesday for more than 7,000 city workers across 16 different labor unions that will raise wages, catch up on back pay, and expand benefits.

But all eyes are on a deal that falls outside those bounds as details are emerging from an agreement between City Hall and the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

Under the agreements finalized by the council Tuesday, city employees will see a catch-up on raises with a retroactive 5% payout for last year, a 4% bump in 2024, a 2025 raise tied to the regional Consumer Price Index and gated between 2% and 4%. and, in 2026, raises of between 2% and 5% pegged to inflation, Crosscut reports. Continue reading →