For first time since pandemic and staffing crunched services, Seattle Police will roll out DUI squad for holidays

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A driver was busted for DUI after crashing their car into a construction site at MLK and Union in 2016

The Seattle Police Department has announced it will roll out a DUI emphasis team for the first time in the city since 2019.

SPD says the effort will run through the holiday season in December and will mean a DUI squad active on the city’s streets nightly from 6 PM to 4 AM.’

“We hope our community makes safe driving choices this holiday season. Make a plan, use rideshare or a taxi, or use a designated driver,” supervisor Sgt. Tom Heller said in the announcement. “Pro tip: the designated driver needs to be actually sober, not just the least intoxicated person in the car.”

In late 2020 facing staffing issues, SPD disbanded its DUI squad, which had been in operation for 50 years. The officers from the unit were reassigned to regular patrol duties. Continue reading →

Once a hotel at the base of Capitol Hill above downtown, Avia Apartments on Pike is now open

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(Image: Avia Apartments on Pike)

Three years ago, CHS broke the news on a company’s $60 million bet against the future of business travel to convert a hotel at the base of Capitol Hill into apartments.

New residents are now moving into Avia Apartments on Pike.

“Live where Seattle’s energy meets effortless sophistication,” the pitch goes. “AVIA Apartments brings you newly renovated, pet-friendly homes with chic modern design, luxe finishes, and the option to go furnished or unfurnished. Perfectly placed near everything you love — from buzzing coffee spots to Lake Union views — our First Hill Seattle apartments make upscale living feel natural, comfortable, and totally you.” Continue reading →

Knee High Stocking Co. — the quiet end of a speakeasy’s 16 years on Capitol Hill

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(Image: Alex Garland/CHS)

Capitol Hill bars with 16 years of business in the neighborhood don’t usually close without loud lamentations but it is probably not surprising that E Olive Way speakeasy joint Knee High Stocking Co. has come to a secretive end.

The online listings show the venue as “permanently closed.” The Seattle Times included the bar in its most recent morbid countdown of recent city food and drink shutdowns.

Knee High’s owners didn’t call the Times back, either.

The bar debuted in 2009 as a pioneer in Seattle’s speakeasy revival with secret doors and buzzer-door locked entry at the street level of the 1914-built Belvedere Apartments. Reservations were highly recommended. At the time, CHS called Knee High’s founder Jack Valko “a retired tech IT guy.” Continue reading →

43rd Rep. Scott unveils ‘Well Washington Fund’ proposal that would spread Seattle’s JumpStart tax across state

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(Image: @scott43ld)

43rd District Rep. Shaun Scott has unveiled his proposal for a new “Washington Wealth Tax” modeled on Seattle’s JumpStart payroll tax that would raise more than $2 billion a year across the state.

Scott said this week his “Well Washington Fund” proposal is needed to counteract the latest budget cuts and federal tax package “passed by Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump.”

Under Scott’s proposal, Washington companies with more than 50 employees, payroll above $7 million, and gross receipts of more than $5 million would be taxed 5% on workers who earn more than $125,000 a year.

Seattle employers who already pay the city’s payroll tax would be exempt. Continue reading →

After November election loss, Nelson bill takes swing at paid political consultants at Seattle City Hall

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Lame duck Seattle City Council president Sara Nelson is introducing new legislation as she heads for the door that takes a swipe at the city’s professional political consultants — and possibly reveals some of the fractures between Nelson and Mayor Bruce Harrell as they both prepare to exit City Hall.

Nelson’s proposed ethics bill is set to be debated Thursday afternoon in a special meeting of the council’s Governance, Accountability, and Economic Development Committee. Continue reading →

Broken glass, plywood, and security doors — 23 burglaries a day in the East Precinct

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Monsoon added new security doors on 19th Ave E (Image: CHS)

It might feel like there is a rash of broken glass at Capitol Hill and Central District restaurant and shops but, unfortunately, the numbers show it is business as usual this fall for burglars.

Attention has been raised by break-ins targeting favorite area venues including a burglary before the Thanksgiving holiday in which a masked thief busted glass and stole the cash register at Golden Wheat Bakery in the Central District. Fans and neighbors rallied to raise money to help the bakery overcome the break-in.

On Capitol Hill, La Cocina & Cantina suffered a damaging recent burglary that a CHS reader says cost the Broadway favorite thousands in damage and stolen booze. Continue reading →

After a year in Capitol Hill’s tumultuous street food scene, Tacos Cometa will open on Broadway in 2026

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(Image: Tacos Cometa)

(Image: Tacos Cometa)

Tacos Cometa is moving inside. The street taco venture from brother chefs Rey and Osiel Gastelum that has grown a devoted following this year at Nagle and Pine on the edge of Cal Anderson Park as part of the neighborhood’s wild — and delicious — nightlife street food scene will open as a brick and mortar taqueria on Broadway in 2026.

Rey Gastelum tells CHS Tacos Cometa isn’t leaving Capitol Hill’s street scene behind.

“There should be a better path. I wish there had been a better path for us as well,” Gastelum said. Continue reading →

The Wilson administration: Here is the team Seattle’s new mayor is bringing to City Hall

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Surratt

As a 60-member transition team is shaping first priorities for the administration, Mayor-elect Katie Wilson has named her senior staff that will accompany her at City Hall including a second-in-command who has been active in addressing inequity and displacement in the Central District.

Tuesday, Wilson announced Brian Surratt will serve as the new administration’s sole deputy mayor. The former director of the Office of Economic Development and policy lead on the city’s minimum wage who is also part of leading Wilson’s transition team, was most recently CEO at Greater Seattle Partners. His work with OED to help develop the Liberty Bank affordable mixed-use project at 23rd and Union is considered a model for equitable development in the city. Continue reading →

15th Ave E merchants to host Capitol Hill Holiday Wine Walk

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The 15th Ave E business community is holding a new holiday event this year to celebrate the season and the neighborhood.

The Capitol Hill Holiday Wine Walk will take place next week with a Thursday night of pop-up tasting rooms hosted by the street’s shops and small businesses:

Capitol Hill Holiday Wine Walk

Thursday, December 11, 2025

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Tickets: Advance – $30 | Door – $40 (If still available)

Get your Holiday spirit going early and taste some of Washington’s finest wines while checking out local merchants on the bustling 15th Ave. E District in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Attendees receive tasting tickets to redeem for the wines of their choice from 15 local wineries located at pop-up tasting rooms hosted by area retailers featuring a variety of regional wines. A fun activity to do with friends during the holidays and the perfect opportunity to buy your loved ones delicious gifts that they can share with you – all tax-free!

15th Ave E’s stretch of shopping destinations is also on CHS’s 2025 Shop the Hill map along with walkable shopping areas across the Hill:

Haunted Burrow

15th Ave E

  • Windthrow: A shop specializing in “nice things for outside,” featuring functional and stylish outdoor gear and apparel.
  • Haunted Burrow Books: A new independent bookstore focusing on horror, weird fiction, and the occult.
  • Ada’s Technical Books: A destination for science/tech books, puzzles, and geeky-chic gifts.
  • Station 7: A home and gift shop in a converted fire station, selling vintage items and art.
  • Thistle & Poppy: A family-run shop with kids’ goods, toys, and “reloved” vintage.
  • Creature Consignment: A stylish, boutique-like consignment shop for women’s clothing.
  • The Shop Agora: A European-style market with an excellent retail selection of wine and specialty gifts.
  • Red Balloon: Toys, gifts, cards, and, yes, balloons.
  • EVS — UPDATE! : “Best wine shop in Seattle…”


Shop local, shop the Hill: 60+ places to walk and shop on Capitol Hill

 

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Please don’t chop down your Christmas tree in a Capitol Hill park

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Thanks to a reader for the tip and picture at the scene of the crime

Capitol Hill’s park spaces are facing all sorts of challenges heading into winter including trouble with Volunteer Park coyotes and fences around Seven Hills.

Now, someone has chopped down a Christmas tree in Miller Park.

The reader who alerted CHS to the problem says the little conifer was cut down Monday.

A Seattle Parks spokesperson says the person who swiped the tree broke the law:

As outlined in the Seattle Municipal Code 18.12.070:

It is unlawful for any person except a duly authorized Department of Parks and Recreation or other City employee in the performance of his or her duties, or other person duly authorized, to remove, destroy, mutilate or deface any structure, lawn, monument, statue, planter, vase, fountain, wall, fence, railing, vehicle, bench, shrub, tree, geological formation, plant, flower, lighting system, sprinkling system, gate, barricade or lock or other property lawfully in any park, or to remove sand, soil, sod, or water from any park.

“Please leave plants, artifacts, flowers, and features for everyone to enjoy!,” the parks spokesperson requested.

According to the city’s tree database, the area of Miller Park where the tree was taken is home to a handful of smaller Lawson’s Cypress trees and a trio of large Douglas Firs.

The illegal timber harvesting near 19th and John is an unusual issue but the area saw a similar heist last year. In that case, a rare Tibetan Cypress was cut down and stolen from the Arboretum’s Pinetum collection. The Arboretum tree was around seven years old. There was no public report of an arrest.

To get a holiday tree on Capitol Hill without landing on Santa’s naughty list, check out the Stevens Elementary Tree Sale this weekend.

 

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us 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 🖤 

 
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