‘Upward revision’ — Seattle forecast shows slight improvement amid ongoing economic volatility

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Seattle leaders looking in every nook and cranny trying to balance the city’s budget in 2026 got some cautiously delivered good news Monday as the nation’s volatile economy and ongoing efforts at federal cutbacks under the Trump administration are whipsawing local forecasts across the country.

The bottom line in Monday’s briefing (video) to the Seattle City Council’s budget committee is a $14.6 million “upward revision” in the city’s latest 2026 economic forecast.

Seattle’s annual general fund budget is around $2 billion but nearly $15 million is the kind of revenue that can fund important social programs and services.

The new forecast part of the city’s ongoing analysis as the council takes on finalizing Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2026 budget plan appears to be part of what will be ongoing oscillation as economic markets have experienced unprecedented volatility. Continue reading →

A year of concerns and plans over Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine gun violence

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Simmons

The shooting that killed 18-year-old Jaydon Jameson this month at Broadway and Pike has brought a new round of calls for increased public safety efforts in this area of Capitol Hill.

This weekend also brought the one-year anniversary of another Pike/Pine murder only blocks away that was also a time when local businesses, property owners, residents, and city officials had said enough is enough.

Sunday marked one year since 25-year-old Breanna Simmons was gunned down on 11th Ave in a murder that has not been publicly solved. The victim was shot multiple times in the chest and died in the street early that Saturday as Seattle Police and Seattle Fire rendered aid at the scene.

“Breanna was a dedicated mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin, niece and friend. She loved having fun and spending time with her daughter. She liked to help others out. Breanna was predeceased by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins,” The Facts reported in her obituary. “She leaves to cherish many memories with her daughter, mom, dad, brothers, grandparents, cousin that’s like her sister, and a host of cousins, aunties, and uncles.”

CHS later learned that the Simmons murder had set off a chain of actions and promises by city officials over safety concerns in the Pike/Pine nightlife core. Continue reading →

‘Reasonable efforts in abatement’ — Judge rules against immediate closure of Denny Blaine Park — UPDATE

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A King County Superior Court judge has ruled that the City of Seattle efforts to improve conditions around Denny Blaine Park including new fences and signs added late this summer are adequate to keep the space open to the public while a lawsuit from neighbors over the nude beach moves toward a spring trial.

Judge Samuel Chung heard an update Friday on the city’s “abatement” plan for Denny Blaine and ruled against lawyers representing a group of anonymous neighbors seeking to shut the park down. Continue reading →

Pikes/Pines | Ferns aren’t just Capitol Hill cottagecore

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The very fern-y Interlaken Park on Capitol Hill (Image: City of Seattle)

When my partner and I moved to our home, we stood on our back deck, exhilarated to have a space for our creative endeavors and also completely overwhelmed by all the work we’d signed up for. Below us was a sprawling tangle of blackberries, Vinca, and St. John’s Wort – none of which we wanted to keep. When I asked Caitlin what she wanted to replace this chaos with, she immediately had an answer: “Just ferns. A hillside of ferns.”

This isn’t just a home cottagecore decorating trend using the plant to make a lush, textured, and fashionable connection to nature. And it isn’t such a bizarre request because if you have spent any time in the Pacific Northwest, you know ferns are a common native plant. The most well known species, the Sword Fern, Polystitchum munitum, can be found all around the Salish Sea, and is happy on the Hill both growing wild and rampant in untended spaces and as ornamental plants that are primped and trimmed to look their best each season. They are so commonplace, low fuss, and hardy, that they are easy to take for granted. Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | Queen Sheba fire, D’Vonne Pickett, Jr. murder, Black Hawk helicopters over Capitol Hill

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

2024

 

Fire damages former Queen Sheba restaurant tabbed for overhaul — UPDATE


Continue reading →

CHS Fiction | Cascade 1: Going Downhill, A Failed Homosexual, Crypto Karen, New Neighbors

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Story by J.J. Krause

Cascade is a serialized satire about four Seattleites –– a failed homosexual, a crypto-obsessed mom, a party-girl-turned-caretaker, and an unorthodox professor, all trying to hold it together in a world coming apart. Catch updates every few weeks on the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog. In this installment, we meet Dave, Karen, and Tamara on a weekend day as an unexpected heatwave hits Seattle. Want to skip ahead? Get the book.

Going Downhill
It’s hard to pinpoint the precise beginning of the story of how things came apart. Certainly, we all saw it coming. Everyone predicted it. But life goes on: wheels keep turning, the sun keeps rising, and so does the NASDAQ, up and to the right. We get distracted and lose the plot. And for good reason—on the road to our final destination, there are many thrills, such as the first warm day after a long, wet winter.

Maybe that’s a place to start: the first day of spring, when an unexpected heatwave hit Seattle. As the clouds burned off, the pallid denizens of the little isthmus suddenly realized what was coming: a blast of air from Palm Springs—and on a weekend, no less! A euphoric panic set in: Get moving! Get blooming! Chug a mimosa! Music and laughter rang out in the streets, and phones lit up with messages. The Big Dark is has ended! Spring has arrived!  Continue reading →

Seoul Mates: Sam Park tried sushi but now he’s going with his heart on Capitol Hill

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(Image: Google Maps)

The experienced food and drink owner of a Capitol Hill sushi bar says he was ready to give up on a neighborhood location before deciding to jump back in with a menu closer to his heart.

Sam Park was part of the ownership behind Gokan Sushi when the restaurant opened at 10th and Union as part of the Musashi’s food and drink family in 2015.’

In the decade since, the backside of Pike/Pine along Union still hasn’t fully taken off and Park and his partners including Musashi’s owner Jun Park were looking for an exit. When no buyer for the space emerged, Sam Park says he decided to give 10th and Union another try — but this time with a recipe reflecting his Korean heritage.

Seoul Mates has now been open for a couple weeks in the old Gokan spot — inspired by the idea of finding a “soul mate” and connecting through food and drink, Park says. Continue reading →

911 | Seattle Fire makes hazardous material response after illegal dumping in Interlaken Park

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(Image: CHS)

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (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.

  • Interlaken hazmat: Seattle Fire mounted a major hazardous material response Thursday night in the Interlaken Park greenbelt. The just after 8 PM callout began with a report of an “approximately two-gallon container of an unknown substance”  found along the street near the Seattle Hebrew Academy. SFD’s hazmat resources were dispatched and set up a staging area at 19th and Galer where the area was taped-off and crews prepared to inspect the container. SFD says firefighters “confirmed none of the contents inside the container spilled out” and safely retrieved the container for proper disposal. SFD did not specify the nature of the container or its contents. The area like many neighborhood greenbelts has sometimes been plagued by illegal dumping.

Continue reading →

Tax the rich? 43rd District’s Rep. Scott at the center of debate over a Washington wealth tax

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Saturday’s town hall (Image: CHS)

By Kali Herbst Minino, UW News Lab

“Tax the rich” might seem like something you see scrawled in Cal Anderson graffiti or on a Pike/Pine hipster’s ironic t-shirt. Against a backdrop of now fully uncertain federal support, the slogan a part of core 2025-era political debate in Washington and its largest city. This past weekend, it was the center of the discussion on First Hill.

People gathered at 43rd District Rep. Shaun Scott’s town hall Saturday at Seattle First Baptist Church to hear panelists from Working Washington and Seattle Democratic Socialists of America talk about turning the “tax the rich” slogan into real world legislation.

Advocacy group Balance Our Tax Code took videos of personal testimonies about the benefits of progressive policies and someone handed out “Tax the Rich” buttons. Continue reading →