Tag Archives: jackson

50 years of civil rights and economic empowerment: The Central District’s McKinney Center to be considered as Seattle landmark

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(Image: Seattle Department of Neighborhoods)

A center of economic empowerment, civil rights, and modern architecture in the Central District is up for landmark consideration.

The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ Landmarks Preservation Board will convene on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at 3:30 PM to evaluate the landmark nomination of the McKinney Center for Community and Economic Development, located at 2120 S Jackson.

According to the landmark nomination packet, the 111,000-square-foot facility “has been a center for learning and development in the Central Area for over 50 years,” providing thousands of Seattleites with vocational training and “giving them the tools to seek gainful employment and advance in their careers,” while remaining “especially impactful to Seattle’s African American population”.

Originally constructed in 1974 to house the Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center, the site is currently owned by the Central District Community Preservation and Development Authority. The organization acquired the property from Seattle Central College in 2021 to preserve its community development legacy.

The nomination highlights deep social and historic ties between the facility and the Central Area, historically home to the largest Black population in Seattle. Starting around 1900, the neighborhood developed into a center for the Black community, becoming a sanctuary as widespread racial covenants and financial redlining restricted Black residents from purchasing property in other parts of the city. By 1960, over 62% of Seattle’s Black population resided in the Central District. Continue reading →

Temple Pastries continues a sacred devotion to pastry — and now pizza — in the Central District

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The annual James Beard Awards have grown into a process with rounds of nominations and finalists that rival the Oscars or Major League Baseball’s MVP announcements for added layers of pomp. In many years, the lists of Seattle honorees have also been full of the kinds of places you have already heard a lot about or part of the city’s growing contingent of restaurant groups. This year’s list Beard semifinalists for the Pacific Northwest is a little different with a few stories left to tell. We’re lucky to have a couple of those nearby across Capitol Hill and the Central District. CHS had a recent conversation with Ramie as they celebrated their first year on 14th Ave last summer. Over the next weeks, CHS will be talking with the honorees at Cafe Suliman, Temple Pastries, and Surrell to add to their stories.

When Christina Wood discovered pastry-making in her twenties, she found salvation.

“I found pastries, and I was like, Wow, this just clicked for me. This is exactly what I needed to kind of steer me in a direction,” Wood said. “It kind of just became my new religion.”

That spiritual devotion is evident in her S Jackson bakery’s name.

“This is where I go to perform all my daily rituals. It’s what gives my life meaning,” she says. “I have such a reverence for the craft that it just kind of fell into place.”

What sets Temple Pastries apart is Wood’s obsession with lamination, the meticulous folding of butter into dough. Continue reading →

Police: Man in critical condition in Central District apartment double shooting

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Two people were taken to the hospital in a S Jackson apartment shooting Tuesday afternoon.

The Seattle Police Department reports the 2:45 PM shooting inside the Abbey Lincoln Court apartments left a man in critical condition with life-threatening injuries and a woman in serious condition. Both were transported to Harborview for treatment. Continue reading →

The abrupt end of Amazon Fresh leaves uncertain future for groceries at 23rd and Jackson

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The Jackson Apartments (Image: Vulcan)

Amazon’s latest maneuverings in its ongoing disruption of the nation’s grocery industry will bring an abrupt end for a key store in the Central District.

The future of grocery shopping at 23rd and Jackson is uncertain after the retail giant announced Tuesday it is shutting down every single one of its more than 60 Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh groceries across the country. Most stores are set to close February 1st.

Amazon has said it plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods stores including some that will take over its previous Amazon Fresh and Go locations but it has not provided specifics of which stores will be replaced and when the transition would happen. Continue reading →

2026 Capitol Hill and Central District James Beard semifinalists: Cafe Suliman, Temple Pastries, Ramie, and Surrell

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(Image: Cafe Suliman)

(Image: Cafe Suliman)

The talented food and drink creators behind a Levantine flavored cafe inside Melrose Market, a Central District bakery, elevated Vietnamese on 14th Ave, and an E Madison house dedicated to “modern Pacific” fine dining have been honored as semifinalists in the annual James Beard Awards.

The announcement of the semifinalist lists is the first step in what has grown into an expanded process for the foundation’s awards. Final nominees will be announced in March with winners celebrated in June.

By then, you will have hopefully paid a visit or two to these Capitol Hill and Central District honorees. 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 →

12-year-old victim in deadly Washington Middle School crash — Arsema Barekew remembered

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A funeral service for Arsema Barekew was held Sunday at Tukwila’s Riverton Crest Cemetery.

The parents of the 12-year-old who was hit and killed by a runaway SUV outside the Central District’s Washington Middle School in early March are seeking answers.

The Seattle Times spoke with the Yesler Terrace couple Berihun Mekonnen and Tigist Yitna — and their lawyer.

“The way (Seattle police) approached them, explained things, was like, ‘Move on. This is an accident. Accidents happen,’” attorney Daniel Ajema told the Times. “But for me, there’s criminal negligence. There’s recklessness.”

No lawsuit has been filed. Continue reading →

911 | SPD investigating armed robberies at Domino’s and Chevron market

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

  • Domino’s hold-up: Police are investigating a series of armed robberies across the city this weekend including a hold-up at the Domino’s pizza on S Jackson Friday night that netted the bandits $300 in cash. According to the SPD brief on the incident, two suspects wearing masks entered the shop around 10:30 PM. One suspect armed with a handgun demanded cash. “As the manager came out from the back, one of the suspects walked behind the counter and held the gun to the side of the manager until he opened the register,” SPD reports. “The suspect grabbed the cash in the drawer and the two suspects ran out of the store eastbound.” Police say the King County Sheriff’s Guardian 1 helicopter and a KCSO K-9 unite assisted with tracking but the suspects could not be located. There were no reported injuries.
  • 12th Ave market hold-up: SPD says another area store was held up hours later. Around 4 AM, police were called to the 24-hour Chevron market near 12th and Jefferson to a reported armed robbery. Two suspects wearing masks and gloves reportedly entered the store with one of the suspects displaying a handgun and demanding cash from the register. “The suspects grabbed the cash in the drawer and tobacco products from behind the register,” SPD reports. The suspects fled a short distance on foot and then got into silver in color sedan last seen heading towards northbound. There were no arrests.
  • Central District gunfire: SPD investigated early morning gunfire on Sunday along 27th Ave —
    At 0655 hours, East Precinct officers responded to shots call and located evidence in a nearby intersection. The caller met with officers and provided additional evidence showing an unknown vehicle driving into the area and firing multiple rounds at the house located in the 1800 block of 27th Avenue. No people inside the residence were injured or were aware of the incident.
    SPD says it found no damage to the home or other nearby properties and the motivation for the shooting remains unknown.
 
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Man dies in S. Jackson apartment shooting

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Police say a 44-year-old man was shot and killed in an altercation inside a S. Jackson apartment Saturday morning in the Central District.

SPD says it responded to the reported shooting just before 11 AM, Police say an altercation could be heard in the background during a 911 call.

According to police, officers arrived to find the victim unresponsive inside the apartment, He later died at the hospital, police say.

SPD says there were no immediate arrests and that detectives were working to determine what led to the shooting.

 
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Subscribe to CHS to help hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🐦‍⬛
 

Seattle Children’s picks new location for Central District Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic

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(Image: Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic)

As it hopes to emerge from criticism about a legacy of racism in the city’s healthcare, Seattle Children’s has announced the location for its planned future location of a new Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in the Central District.

The hospital says it has lined up land at the southwest corner of 18th and Jackson for a new clinic to “serve area patients and families with robust mental health and behavioral health services, nutrition, acute and well-child medical visits, labs, violence and injury prevention support and addiction related resources, which are unique to OBCC and not offered elsewhere.”

Odessa Brown’s previous E Yesler clinic location has been shuttered for more than a year as Children’s said the building is in need of major repairs. Continue reading →