Tag Archives: central district

Police investigate Rainier Ave shooting involving Metro bus — UPDATE: Shelter in place at Garfield High School

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The Seattle Police Department reports a man was shot and the suspect was taken into custody in a Friday morning involving a Metro bus at Rainier Ave and Dearborn.

The shooting was reported just before 10 AM. Seattle Fire was called to the scene to treat a man who had been shot in the chest outside the bus and rush him to Harborview.

UPDATE 12:45 PM: A Friday afternoon reported firearm incident outside Garfield High School put the campus into “shelter in place”status during the school’s lunch period. The “shelter” situation was not related to the morning’s Rainier Ave shooting. Police were investigating after a 911 caller reported seeing multiple teens carrying handguns and leaving the area. There have been no reports of shots fired and SPD was reportedly in contact with the officer who has been assigned to patrol the school’s parking lot daily.

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Hollingsworth 2026 spending proposals: $1.25M for Central District preservation, Black Advisory Council boost, $50K for Seven Hills Park, and, yes, even money for Hilloween — UPDATE

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A drone view of the affordable Acer House development at 23rd and Cherry (Image: @benmaritz)

Hollingsworth isn’t on the ballot this week — but her brother in-law Girmay Zahilay is as he waits for the first counts in the race for the King County Executive race (Image: Joy Hollingsworth via Facebook)

As Seattle voters consider new leaders this week, the current Seattle City Council is busy finalizing next year’s City Hall spending plan including proposals from District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth.

The council’s proposed tweaks, and additions reflect changing economic forecasts and neighborhood by neighborhood adjustments to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s 2026 budget proposal that hinges on continued strong public safety spending while preserving affordable housing, homelessness, and addiction programs through new revenue sources including the COVID-era JumpStart tax and hopes on this week’s General Election vote on overhauling the city’s B&O tax system.

The council’s cut on the proposed amendments will come Wednesday when budget chair Dan Strauss releases his balancing package followed by a day of public comment Thursday in front of the council’s Select Budget Committee.

Now in her second budget session since her 2023 election victory, D3’s Hollingsworth brought 20 proposed changes for the 2026 budget to the table.

Some of her 2026 proposals would address festering issues in D3. Continue reading →

Medgar Evers Pool — the public swimming pool serving the Central District and Capitol Hill — set for 8-week, $1.4M overhaul

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(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 →

Garfield ‘School Engagement Officer’ vote delayed

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The Seattle School Board has delayed a vote that could bring return a Seattle Police officer assigned to Garfield High School.

The board has been lined up Wednesday to decide on a proposed School Engagement Officer pilot program hoped to support “safety, not discipline” as officials have worked to address concerns about gun violence and gang activity around the 23rd Ave campus. Continue reading →

From Judkins Park Station to Mercer Island and back ‘several times’ — Sound Transit touts first ‘live wire’ tests on I-90 bridge

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(Image: Sound Transit)

Originally planned for a 2023 opening, there is good news above the waters of Lake Washington as Sound Transit is celebrating a key milestone this week: the first electric light rail train has successfully passed across the I-90 bridge connecting Seattle to the Eastside.

The opening of the line — and the Central District’s ready and waiting Judkins Park Station — is on track for 2026: Continue reading →

The Central District’s latest historic landmark is a synagogue that became a church on E Fir

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(Image: Tolliver Temple Memorial C.O.G.I.C)

A Seattle City Council committee will start the final steps for E Fir’s 1929-built Tolliver Temple Church of God to become the Central District’s latest official landmark. The building was first used as a synagogue and later as a Christian church in the predominantly Black neighborhood, reflecting the changing communities in the Central District over the years.

The council’s neighborhoods committee is slated to take up legislation Thursday to finalize the landmarks board’s 2023 decision granting the old church protected status. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council ready to flick on new ‘Real Time Crime Center’ cameras in Pike/Pine and the Central District — UPDATE

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The Seattle City Council is expected Tuesday to approve legislation expanding the city’s Real Time Crime Center with new cameras in Pike/Pine and the Central District plus expansion of the Seattle Police Department surveillance system to use select Seattle Department of Transportation traffic cameras in the program.

The council’s public safety committee including District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth has signed off on the “surveillance technology implementation” plan. CHS reported here on final debate about data privacy and how the city says it will handle any potential legal wrangling with outside agencies like ICE.

UPDATE: The council approved the expansions 7-2 with Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dan Strauss opposing the plan over privacy concerns and worries about federal encroachment. Public safety chair Bob Kettle, a former naval intelligence commander, said an amendment approved Tuesday is “aimed at avoiding any cooperation with federal civil immigration enforcement.”

The legislation will expand the SPD Real Time Crime Center surveillance camera system to include the Capitol Hill nightlife core around E Pike and Cal Anderson Park and a major swath of the Central District from E Cherry to Jackson police officials say is necessary to prevent gun violence near Garfield High School. Continue reading →

Here is where Seattle mayor and police want new ‘Real Time Crime Center’ cameras on Capitol Hill and in the Central District

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The mayor’s office has revealed details of its proposed expansion of the Seattle Police “Real Time Crime Center” surveillance camera system to include the Capitol Hill nightlife core and a major swath of the Central District from E Cherry to Jackson it says it necessary to prevent gun violence near Garfield High School.

Maps and details of the proposed expansions were presented last week to the Seattle City Council’s public safety committee as the mayor’s office hands off legislation to expand the existing Real Time Crime Center camera pilot currently operating along Aurora Ave, 3rd Ave, and in the International District.

“Analysts are supporting ongoing investigations by pushing video and incident data directly to
patrol units and detectives,” a city council analysis of the proposal reads. “Analysts can also provide live updates and still images of suspects, a capability SPD says helps support its ‘precision policing’ model.” Continue reading →

Overnight two-alarm fire damages multiple homes in the Central District

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(Image: John Odegard/SFD)

The Seattle Fire Department says residents are displaced but there were no injuries after a two-alarm fire damaged homes and an apartment building on 20th Ave in the Central District early Thursday morning.

SFD reports it was called to the block of 20th and Marion around 1:20 AM to a report of a shed on fire behind a residence. Continue reading →

Seattle considering new real estate industry regulations to stave off predatory homebuyers

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The Seattle City Council’s Housing and Human Services Committee is considering legislation Wednesday morning hoped to help homeowners stave off predatory buyers.

The proposed legislation would “establish new consumer protections for owners of solicited residential property as well as penalties for buyers who fail to comply with these new protections,” according to a council summary: Continue reading →