Rare ‘severe thunderstorm’ warning part of unusual Seattle spring forecast — UPDATE

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(Image: National Weather Service)

The weird weather in Seattle this week is about to get even weirder. National Weather Service forecasters say be ready for possible severe thunderstorms with wind and hail by Wednesday night around the Puget Sound.

“We have an unusual risk of severe thunderstorms Wednesday, primarily in the late afternoon through the evening,” the NWS alert reads. “The primary hazards we are concerned about are: ⛈️ Hail in excess of 1″ diameter 🍃 Wind gusts in excess of 58mph 🌪️ Possible isolated tornado.” Continue reading →

The Capitol Hill Department of Transportation? Rogue stop signs un-installed along busy E John

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(Image: CHS)

The Seattle Department of Transportation’s $1.55 billion levy plan for 2025 includes Broadway safety improvements, an E Union “Revival,” and transit safety investments. But few of those projects will be more than planning this year.

The guerrilla Capitol Hill Department of Transportation?

It works faster — though its projects don’t tend to last.

Over the weekend, someone completed the latest rogue addition to the neighborhood’s streetscape, secretly installing stop signs on the busy intersections along E John above 12th Ave where pedestrians hoping to cross are often left waiting — or sprinting — to get to the other side. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council resolution would acknowledge ‘failure of defund movement’

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Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka thinks now is the time for the city to acknowledge the “failure of defund movement.”

The West Seattle representative’s symbolic resolution that “reiterates support for first responders, acknowledges failure of defund movement and embraces focus on underserved communities” will come in front of the council’s public safety committee Tuesday.

“This Council, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office has made improving public safety an absolute priority,” Saka said in the announcement of the proposed resolution. “This is finally the time to acknowledge the lessons of the past and pivot decisively toward a better, future-focused public safety model. We are committed to making everyone in our community feel safe and to enhancing our accountability system.”

Mayor Bruce Harrell is also ready to declare a new pro-police era in Seattle. Continue reading →

Seattle Fire makes hazmat check at 23rd and Union grocery

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The 23rd and Union PCC was evacuated Tuesday morning over a reported refrigerant leak.

Seattle Fire was called to the grocery store just after 8 AM to the reported leak and evacuated the store as a safety precaution.

SFD reported the situation was determined to be safe and lifted the evacuation around 9 AM.

There were no reported injuries and no evacuation of the apartments above the store was required.

 

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Police search for blonde highlight bandit after woman reportedly holds up Madison Park bank

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Police were on the hunt for an unusual bank robbery suspect after a bandit handed tellers a note and walked out of the Homestreet Bank in Seattle’s tony Madison Park neighborhood with $2,000 in cash last Tuesday afternoon.

The Seattle Police Department says witnesses reported the suspect was a woman. Bank employees say she fled on foot — and possibly ditched her wig — as she carried a beige tote stuffed with loot and disappeared into the neighborhood just before 1:30 PM Tuesday in the 4000 block of E Madison.

According to FBI statistics, the Madison Park suspect is a rarity. Only about 6 to 7% of bank robbery suspects are female, according to the feds. Continue reading →

Why construction cranes and design review meetings have disappeared — and higher rents will keep appearing — on Capitol Hill

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A construction crane towers above Capitol Hill in 2018

By Matt Dowell

Seattle’s affordable housing crisis is still here but construction cranes have pretty much disappeared from the Capitol Hill skyline. According to local housing developers, that’s because we aren’t building much these days.

“There is almost no new construction happening in Seattle right now,” said Ben Maritz of Great Expectations, a Seattle-based real estate firm.

Permit application trends on the city’s dashboard support the observations, showing a 47% year-over-year decrease last year in residential units under application. A statement from a spokesperson for the city confirmed that “Design Review and all other land use review permit volumes are down across the entire city.”

This 2024 UW study on the effects of City housing policy noted that a slowdown in permits is a precursor to a slowdown in units entering the market, and it takes a couple of years to feel those effects. The report showed a decline in permit issuance for multifamily housing since 2021.

According to the report, it’s market conditions in the last few years that “have had a chilling effect on housing production in Seattle.” Local developers agree.

Michael Oaksmith from Capitol Hill-based Hunters Capital, behind the recently finished Capitol Hilltop Apartments on 15th and Mercer, told us, “The recent run up of interest rates really makes it hard for a property to pencil. Most developers I know, including us, have slowed their expectations for projects and their appetites for projects have gone down as a result of not being able to pump out an acceptable return.”

“Most experts are looking at pretty flat [interest] rates over the next twelve months which does not bode well for a flurry of activity,” he said. “It’ll be a year or two of “sitting on our hands.”

Hunters is, meanwhile, preparing to redevelop 15th Ave E’s old QFC block with a new six-story, mixed-use apartment building — one of the few Capitol Hill projects to come in front of the East Design Review Board in 2024.

Real estate developers rely on investor money to get projects built, but investors aren’t signing up. Continue reading →

City Attorney puts nightlife gun violence at center of Seattle proposal for new after-hours club regulations

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The Seattle City Attorney’s office is putting concerns over 2 AM “last call” shootings at the center of the debate over proposed legislation that would regulate after hours clubs in Seattle.

Chair Bob Kettle’s council Public Safety Committee will take up the proposed ordinance Tuesday morning. CHS first reported in October on the proposal from then-councilmember Tanya Woo that would create new rules for “any business that allows gathering for socializing, smoking, or dancing” after last call between the hours of 2 AM and 5 AM.

Woo lost her bid to retain her seat on the council but the proposal is now moving forward with support from Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison. Davison’s office points at what it says is a proliferation of late night shootings “connected to select after-hours locations, many with multiple shooting events” as a driver for putting the rules in place. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Community Council will meet to start officer nomination process

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The Capitol Hill Community Council will hold its monthly meeting Wednesday night with an agenda planned to look ahead at the upcoming election year plus a presentation about — literally — Capitol Hill’s place in the city. The session will kick off a critical process for the newly revived council — selecting new officers:

Our next CHCC meeting will be at Seattle Central College on Wednesday, March 26th at 6:30pm in Room 1111/1110 (map). You need to enter from the Broadway entrance. (After you enter, make a left and the room will be on your left). We will be discussing the upcoming elections, event planning, and a presentation about “Where Exactly is Capitol Hill?”

The revival of the community group has continued with regular meetings and special sessions like the “Big Ideas Festival” held earlier this year. Wednesday night, the group will also start the nomination process for running to become a CHCC officer.

Last month, the group said its meeting accomplished a few important agenda items including passing updated bylaws. “The purpose of the CHCC is to participate as a body on issues concerning our neighborhood in a transparent, inclusive, collaborative, accountable and viable manner and to promote the interests of the denizens of Capitol Hill,” Article II reads.

You can review the CHCC bylaws here.

 

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‘Home, health, and hope’: Longtime 43rd District leader and housing advocate Chopp dies — UPDATE

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Chopp at the 2014 debut of 12th Ave Arts

Democratic State Rep. Frank Chopp who helped lead the 43rd District including Capitol Hill for three decades from 1995 to 2025 has died.

Chopp was 71.

“The 43rd District Democrats are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our former Representative, Frank Chopp,” the 43rd District Democrats group said in a statement. “Frank served the 43rd and the people of our State with honor for 30 years, and played a critical role in the betterment of our community.”

Remembered for his help funding the development of affordable buildings across the region, Chopp was a focused housing champion.

“The best approach is to build equity, to own it,” Chopp told CHS as he mounted one of his reelection battles in 2014. “The key is to capture any public land that is available for affordable buildings.”

Lika many of his later races, the 2014 election was an easy win for Chopp as he easily defeated an inexperienced Socialist Alternative candidate. Two years prior, he handily dispatched the protege’s mentor Kshama Sawant. Sawant would turn her political focus to Seattle. Continue reading →

Pikes/Pines | Genus Prunus — It is time to enjoy Seattle’s wealth of cherry trees

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March is about one thing for me: anticipating spring. Every day I listen to more and more avian voices, thrilled by the steady increase in volume, stretching my ears to hear the first swallows and warblers. But mostly, I spend the days leading into spring anticipating the breaking of buds to reveal the season’s leaves and flowers.

For many, there is no better embodiment of this anticipation than the members of the genus Prunus, known as cherries.

Unless you live under a rock, you know that cherries are famous for their blossoms. Across the world people flock to bask in their annual profusions of all flavors between white, pink, and purple. The University of Washington Quad is locally famous for their Yoshino cherries (Prunus × yedoensis), which bear brilliant blooms before their leaves even hint at emerging. Of any country in the world, Japan takes cherry worship to unmatched heights with the number of cultivars they claim (several hundred depending on your definition), the tradition of Hanami (gathering to picnic and enjoy the blooms each year), and the use of the sakura (cherry blossom) as an important cultural symbol. Continue reading →