The three people identified by police as the suspects in a water pellet drive-by and harassment incident outside Capitol Hill’s Pony gay bar have been charged with a hate crime.
The King County Prosecutor’s office says 19-year-old Justin Mayor, 24-year-old Jessica Clark, and a 17-year-old who police say the two adults admitted also joined Mayor in shouting slurs and firing off the water pellets have been charged under the state’s hate crime statute. Continue reading
(Image: King County Metro)
The restart of fare enforcement wasn’t the only big change for King County Metro this month. Metro says it is also rolling out a new “Advanced Service Management” strategy to improve service and eliminate “bus bunching” on the new RapidRide G line:
The key change is moving from scheduled service (meaning buses aimed to arrive at set times on a clock) to more evenly spaced or headway-based services (meaning buses arrive a set number of minutes apart). Reliability means regularly spaced bus service (that is, less “bus bunching”), reducing gaps between buses and ensuring that any issues that could lead to delays are identified and resolved quickly.
Metro says it developed its Advanced Service Management approach in a pilot last year on the RapidRide A and RapidRide F lines where “riders experienced smoother and more reliable service.” Continue reading
Police were searching for a reported female assailant after a man was shot in the shoulder overnight in the Safeway parking lot near 22nd and Madison.
Multiple 911 callers reported gunfire and a wounded man fleeing the area near the grocery store on the edge of Capitol Hill and the Central District just before 4 AM.
Arriving officers reported a man with a gunshot wound to the upper body at the scene. Seattle Fire arrived to treat the victim and transport him to Harborview in stable condition.
Police were looking for a group including the reported female shooter and a possible four-door sedan suspect vehicle leaving the scene.
The Seattle Police Department posted a brief on the incident and reported witnesses said the shooting appeared to stem from an altercation in the parking lot. The victim was reported as a 44-year-old man. Anyone with information can call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.
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Police say they have identified — but not arrested or booked into jail — three suspects in the February water pellet assault and homophobic hate crime incident outside a Capitol Hill gay bar.
The Seattle Police Department says the identified suspects are a 17-year-old male, a 19-year-old man, and a 24-year-old woman and have not been taken into custody.
SPD has not released additional information about the suspects and referred questions about the case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney.
A spokesperson says police have referred the hate crime investigation to the prosecutor’s office. “The case and the admissible evidence is being reviewed now by our hate crimes prosecutor for a charging decision,” the spokesperson said.
CHS reported here on the late night February incident outside Pony as the suspects reported as “two or three young white men” were circling near 12th and Madison yelling “die faggots,” and firing pellets at people from a “water bead” gun.
SPD detectives sought the public’s help in identifying the suspects despite video that clearly showed some of the occupants of the vehicle and distinctive white “WRLD” lettering on the rear window of the car. A Lexus matching the appearance of the suspect vehicle was also easily tracked down on social media.
According to East Precinct radio updates from the night of the incident, the car is registered to a Tacoma address
Prosecutors say none of the suspects have a previous case history in the county.
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(Image: City of Seattle)
Screenshot
As Seattle’s CARE Department expands citywide thanks to a $1.9 million federal grant, its East Precinct crisis team has secured a new home.
The First Hill Improvement Association has announced that the city’s Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department has selected a Madison commercial suite for its new East Precinct “Community Crisis Responders” headquarters.
“The East Precinct CCR office will be located in First Hill on Madison Street in front of Swedish’s Nordstrom Tower (near MAD Pizza and Vietlicious). Welcome to the neighborhood!,” the FHIA announcement reads.
CARE is “procuring additional office spaces in several precincts,” FHIA says.
The choice of Madison ends efforts by CARE to establish its East Precinct office near Broadway and Pike. Continue reading
Police are looking for the public’s help in an hate crime investigation as detectives work to track down a group and their “distinctively modified dark blue Lexus sedan” who were reported yelling slurs and shooting water pellets at patrons outside Capitol Hill’s Pony Bar starting late Wednesday Tuesday night.
SPD says the incidents began around 11:30 PM Wednesday Tuesday as the suspects reported as “two or three young white men” were circling the 1200-block E Madison bar, yelling anti-gay slurs including “faggot” and “die faggots,” and firing gel or water pellets from a “Water Bead” air gun.
UPDATE: SPD’s bulletin to media included the incorrect day for the incident. Thanks to a CHS commenter for alerting us to the error. The incident began late Tuesday night and continued into early Wednesday, according to the commenter and CHS’s review of East Precinct radio updates. A review of radio traffic from the night also reveals that police were not called about the incident until around 12:45 AM Wednesday.
“The passengers of the car approached the bar on foot before returning to their vehicle to circle the block again,” SPD said in its bulletin. “One of the witnesses estimated the car returned about 10 times over the course of about an hour.” Continue reading
A peek inside the overhauled space (Image: Yeobo Cafe and Bar)
Yeobo Cafe and Bar is overcoming a later than expected start with intention and good vibes on E Madison.
The new venture in the old Two Doors Down burger space got started with its “soft opening” phase last weekend as chef and first-time owner Mars Minas overcame a slew of challenges in opening the overhauled restaurant including a gas leak and some final rounds with the health department.
With a successful first weekend including selling out on its cold case musubi and generating much needed revenue, Yeobo is ready to continue its ramp-up to full power. This weekend is hoped to bring the introduction of Yeobo’s breakfast sandwiches to the menu. Minas says brunch should follow in a few weeks.
As far as its nighttime hours, the plan is for Yeobo to turn on the bar end of things with cocktails and bites plus late night musubi by the end of March.
In the meantime, Friday through Monday visitors can enjoy Yeobo’s cold case snacks, musubi (“until they sell out”) and all of the cafe’s espresso and tea drinks. Continue reading
The building as it looks today
If 21st Ave’s old Phillis Wheatley YWCA is going to become a protected landmark in recognition of its place in the history of Black Seattle, someone else is going to need to speak up for the property set for demolition to make way for a new housing development.
The City of Seattle quietly withdrew its request to nominate the 108-year-old house for landmarks protections earlier this month ending a rare City Hall-backed foray to win protections for a property.
Edward Lee, director of communications for the Department of Neighborhoods, told CHS only that the application had been “formally withdrawn” and did not provide reasons for the reversal. The property most recently used as transitional housing but lined up to be demolished and redeveloped as a new 49-unit apartment building was scheduled for a hearing on the possible protections earlier this month.
The city had said the 21st Ave property just off E Madison was worthy of landmarks status as “a pivotal location in Seattle’s African American heritage.” It is unusual for the city to pursue landmarks nominations, a process it typically leaves to community groups, developers, or property owners. Continue reading
(Image: Mighty-O Donuts)
As a doughnut invader from the south prepares its sweet assault on the city with a Capitol Hill beachhead, a veteran of Seattle’s fried dough scene is financially struggling.
Federal court documents show Mighty-O Donuts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July in a case where the filings continue over the more than $1 million in liabilities the small Seattle company carries.
CHS has asked the company for more information about its future and its employees after the filing that came as Might-O founder Ryan Kellner saw profits at his four cafes and production facility dip to near zero this summer.
In its filing, the company blames the pandemic and national economic issues for its troubles saying “a combination of factors, including the adverse effects of the pandemic, increased costs due to inflation, decreased sales, and high fixed lease costs” led to the bankruptcy.
“Mighty-O experienced modest growth for many years until the COVID-19 pandemic in
2020,” one document reads. “The pandemic severely impacted Mighty-O’s ability to operate a financially sound business. The company experienced a significant drop in customer traffic and a decrease in employee availability, preventing it from operating at full capacity. Additionally, Mighty-O faced major disruptions in supply chains, vendor services, and rising costs due to inflation.” Continue reading
The big orange panels are staying — for now (Image: CHS)
Hoped to optimize an area that was already heavily served by a tangle of King County Metro bus routes in neighborhoods unlikely to be connected to Sound Transit’s light rail network anytime soon, the RapidRide G bus rapid transit line is currently serving around 4,000 trips a day up and down Madison and across Capitol Hill.
CHS checked in with the new transit line to see how A) ridership is faring and B) get updates on launch growing pains including construction problems that are making big orange steel panels a permanent part of First Hill’s streetscape.
A) RIDERSHIP: The first trip counts for the new 2.5-mile line are encouraging. RapidRide G averaged more than 4,100 trips a day on weekdays in October, doubling jumping higher from the boarding totals reported in the line’s first month of service in September. For comparison, the much longer 12-mile RapidRide C connecting across West Seattle to averages more than 7,500 trips per weekday and the 9-mile RapidRide D between Crown Hill and Downtown, more than 8,800. The RapidRide G’s “trip density” above 1,600 boardings per mile is tops in the city. UPDATE: Thanks to a reader for catching an issue with Metro’s reporting for partial month service periods: “Wanted to offer a small correction: The ridership of the G didn’t double from September to October, it only ran for half of September but the dashboard isn’t that smart so it just averages the number over the whole month. The actual September weekday ridership was 3800ish” Continue reading
