The Northwest School’s rooftop sports field above Pike and Bellevue (Image: Northwest School)
The city has announced $4.7 million Building Decarbonization Grants for 2025 including funding for work at Capitol Hill’s Northwest School.
“These grants will cover design or retrofits to reduce climate pollution and help buildings reach Building Emissions Performance Standard targets,” the Summit Ave private middle and high school said in a statement on the grant. Continue reading
(Image: Kristopher Shinn Photography)
El Diablo calls (Image: Kristopher Shinn Photography)
A remarkable six-month flourish of food and drink activity at E Pine and Summit is complete Thursday as a Capitol Hill-nostalgia soaked finale is ready for its debut.
Bar Tango opens today, joining siblings Double O’ Burgers, Cantina del Sol, and Uncle Dom’s Italian Kitchen in the complex of bar and restaurant space at the corner.
El Diablo is back. Continue reading
Rinck in a video celebrating the SDOT reversal of its reversal on E Union earlier this month.
The city’s reversal on a plan to remove a red paint bus lane from a few-block stretch of Capitol Hill has become a movement.
Wednesday, Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck was on her home neighborhood turf near the busy triple intersection of 12th, Union, and Madison to announce a “coalition-backed initiative” she says will push for improving — and, apparently, preserving — bus lanes throughout the city.
“For too long our city has missed the moment to ensure frequent and reliable bus service on some of our most used bus corridors. Now is the time to fix these longstanding issues head on,” Rinck said in the announcement. “I’m proud to stand with transportation advocates to find a new way forward for Seattle’s bus riders.”
The citywide council member was joined by representatives from Transportation Choices Coalition, Amalgamated Transit Union 587, Transit Riders Union, Aurora Reimagined Coalition, Fix the L8, and Central Seattle Greenways at a stop for the Metro Route 2 bus as traffic roared nearby the busy Capitol Hill intersection along the RapidRide G corridor.
CHS reported here earlier this month as the Seattle Department of Transportation said crews were in the process of reversing a small stretch of E Union changes made under the RapidRide G project, including removing the red-paint bus lane through the area where poor design had left Metro needing to detour the block. After advocates spoke out against the whipsaw decision, SDOT announced it was reversing the reversal and would be installing a pedestrian signal that would make the stretch of E Union safe for Metro’s Route 2 to return to the block. Continue reading
The Seattle Weavers’ Guild makes Bloedel Hall at Capitol Hill’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral its monthly home. Once a year each autumn, they invite you to visit.
The Seattle Weavers’ Guild Annual Show & Sale returns Thursday through Saturday at the 10th Ave E cathedral hall for days of exhibits and sale of handwoven textiles by regional fiber artists. Guild organizers say this year’s creations include hand-crafted “wearables – apparel, scarves, hats, shawls and jewelry; home décor – rugs, tapestries, baskets, pillows, blankets and linens; holiday gifts; and handspun, hand-dyed yarn.”
There will also be artist talks and demonstrations of spinning and weaving.
Admission and parking are free and St. Mark’s is served by bus routes including the 49 and the 9.
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It has been a long 2025 election season but Tuesday night’s Capitol Hill Community Council/First Hill Improvement Association Mayoral Debate brought new energy and new opportunities for the candidates to distinguish themselves in important issues including the Broadway Crisis Care Center, neighborhood homelessness, Pike/Pine and Garfield gun violence, affordability, and, yes, electric scooters.
“They do drive me crazy,” Mayor Bruce Harrell admitted before delving into a deeper answers on issues around the surprisingly important component of Seattle’s transit system. More on that, below.
The incumbent and challenger Katie Wilson sparred on the night in front of a group of around 150 inside Harvard Ave’s First Baptist over themes of experience and change in a back and forth on questions from moderators Chris Paulus of the Capitol Hill Community Council and Ellen Greene of the First Hill Improvement Association, and support from the Urban Community Councils of Seattle group that has grown as an umbrella organization connecting some of the city’s core neighborhoods.
CHS also advised and helped the groups form the night’s topics.
The candidates were provided with a roster of possible questions prior to the debate to allow them to prepare in a standard the Urban Community Councils group established in a series of political debates it helped organize this year. The candidates were given two minutes to answer plus an opportunity for follow-up time.
Harrell, an incumbent centrist coming out of a summer primary that saw a strong showing from a slate of Seattle progressives, spent those minutes focused on his leadership against the Trump administration and his many years at City Hall and in the city.
In her time, Wilson made the case that 14 years “working in and around City Hall pushing ‘visionary legislation'” made her the right candidate to lead the city forward.
The differences between the two on issues specific to First Hill and Capitol Hill were illuminating.
CRISIS CARE CENTER
The county’s nearby planned $56 million Broadway Crisis Care Center was one flashpoint.
Harrell told the crowd his plan for city support for the center will hold county officials accountable and that a Seattle Police Department-led “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design” process will make the area safer around the center planned to open in 2027. Continue reading
UPDATE 10:50 AM: Mayor Bruce Harrell was set to make a “Major Announcement on Future of Public Safety in Seattle” Wednesday morning with details of a new contract agreement with the Seattle Police Officers Guild.
Publicola reported details of the pact Tuesday covering 2024 to 2027 including continued pay raises for officers. The new contract will be applied retroactively for 2024 and 2025 salaries.
In Wednesday’s announcement, below. Harrell touted the tentative agreement’s progress on growing the city’s Community Assisted Response & Engagement department and adding more crisis responders in the city.
Under the deal with SPOG, the mayor says the agreement “expands the types of incidents CCRs can be dispatched to, and authorizes CCRs to be solo dispatched to low-acuity 9-1-1 calls.” Continue reading
(Image: City of Seattle)
The only public swimming pool serving the neighborhoods around the Central District and Capitol Hill will close for a round of upgrades and overhauls to end 2025.
Seattle Parks says the $1.4 million Medgar Evers Pool project will include accessibility improvements, HVAC replacement, and renovation of the men’s and women’s locker rooms.
A study is being conducted to help determine potential structural upgrades for the 1969-built brutalist-style pool building part of the Garfield Community Center campus along 23rd Ave next to Garfield High School. Continue reading
The Egyptian (Image: CHS)
The screen at The Egyptian hopefully won’t stay dark much longer.
A spokesperson for Seattle Central College that owns the 110-year-old former Masonic Temple building the movie theater calls home says the Capitol Hill school is currently “reviewing applications for short-term rentals and long-term leases of the Egyptian.” Continue reading
The Seattle Mariners have never been to a World Series and they’re not going in 2025. The Roanoke’s Big Dumper-inspired call above 10th Ave E to “WIN THE WHOLE FKN THI∩G” will have to wait for next year. Continue reading
(Image: Toasted)
The Seattle chain currently has three locations (Image: Toasted)
A new location of “Seattle’s premier halal bagel cafe and coffee shop” is coming to Capitol Hill.
Planning for a new TOASTED cafe is underway for a street level suite below the mixed-use Solis building at 13th and Pike.
The fast growing business from Jaafar Altameemi and Murat Akyuz currently boasts locations in the University District, South Lake Union, and Bellevue. Another shop in reportedly in the works in Pioneer Square.
“We built this place to resemble what we know best—home. The Middle Eastern hospitality that’s deeply rooted in our culture is the pillar that supports TOASTED,” the company says. “The Mediterranean flavors are its signature.” Continue reading
