911 | Groping, keg-tossing suspect busted in Crescent Lounge melee

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.

  • Chaotic Crescent assault arrest: Seattle Police arrested a suspect as he attempted to drive away across Capitol Hill after a chaotic melee of groping and damage inside E Olive Way’s Crescent Lounge early Tuesday. Police were called to the 1400-block dive bar just after midnight to a report the nightspot was shuttered as a man had been locked out of the bar after assaulting and groping people in attacks on staff and patrons. SPD says the suspect reportedly “threw a full keg of beer,” groped “several” people, and “hurled a beer bottle at a bartender” during the melee. According to East Precinct radio updates, the suspect was quickly tracked down while fleeing the area in his vehicle and was identified in part thanks to the flip-flops he was wearing at the time of the assault. Police say the suspect appeared to be “clearly impaired” and a field sobriety test was conducted. The suspect also had an open alcoholic beverage in his car, and was driving on a suspended license, SPD says. He was also required by court order to have an ignition interlock device but did not. SPD says the suspect was booked on multiple investigations including three counts of Assault, two counts of Special Allegation – Sexual Motivation, Harassment, Driving Under the Influence, Operating a Motor Vehicle Without an Ignition Interlock Device, and driving with a suspended/revoked license in the 3rd Degree. Police say the chaos didn”t stop with his arrest. According to SPD, the man also managed to assault an officer as he was taken to Harborview under a search warrant for blood evidence. “Hospital staff did not draw his blood due to his unsafe behavior,” SPD reports. No serious injuries were reported at the Crescent.
  • Montlake DUI crash: Police say an SUV flipped multiple times and a suspected DUI driver fled the scene of the crash after a collision Monday afternoon that caused a traffic nightmare at the Montlake Lid 520 interchange:
    At 1543 hours, police responded to a report of a collision where a vehicle flipped multiple times at the intersection of Montlake Blvd E/E Lake Washington Blvd. It was reported a gray SUV traveled at a high rate of speed southbound on Montlake Blvd E in the opposing lanes of traffic, when the driver quickly swerved back into the correct lanes of traffic colliding with a black SUV making an eastbound turn onto E Lake Washington Blvd. The collision caused the gray SUV to flip multiple times and hit a white SUV waiting to make a westbound turn onto 520 eastbound before coming to a stop on the curb located on the southwest side of Montlake Blvd E. Officers arrived quickly and spoke with witnesses who provided information about the suspect driver. The male suspect driver fled from the scene on foot but was located a short distance away. No one was seriously injured from the collision.
    Police say the suspect driver was arrested for hit and run, DUI, and reckless driving and was to be booked into jail once medically cleared at Harborview.
 

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Another delay as sentencing in Elijah Lewis murder trial postponed to May

Already a delayed journey, the path to justice in the Elijah Lewis murder case will stretch out for three more weeks.

“Barring extraordinary circumstances, this will be the last continuance,” King County Superior Court Judge Sean O’Donnell vowed in his decision last week to grant a final continuance for the sentencing hearing for defendant Patrick Cooney.

In February, Cooney was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and first degree assault for the April 2023 scooter road rage shooting that took the life of the 23-year-old Lewis at the corner of Broadway and Pine. Continue reading

‘$15 Now’ — Seattle marks ten year anniversary of a new path for the city’s minimum wage

Marches and “fast food strikes” like this one in 2015 outside the First Hill McDonald’s were part of the push for the new minimum wage

By Domenic Strazzabosco

April marks the tenth anniversary of Seattle taking a new path on its minimum wage. On April 1, 2015, the city became the first in the United States to enact a $15 minimum wage and a process to lever the wage higher to account for rising costs and inflation. As of January 1st, Seattle’s minimum wage sits at $20.76 an hour.

It has been a long climb to get here. A look around Capitol Hill shows some of the impact.

CHS checked out local postings to see what employers were offering new workers come the decade anniversary of the legislation. Continue reading

Council bill will give Seattle developers more time for stalled projects

Gridline, Capitol Hill’s most recent residential development, opened in 2023

The Seattle City Council’s session Tuesday afternoon will include a vote on a proposal hoped to help buy more time for developments bogged down by challenging economic conditions.

Under the bill, developers would be eligible for a two-year extension on existing permit applications and issued permits for projects approved under the city’s old 2015 or 2018 Seattle Building Code requirements.

“Projects with permit applications vested to the 2015 or 2018 codes would need significant redesign should their applications or permits expire and more recent Seattle Building Code provisions be applied to the project; the redesign could add significant cost to the project,” the council’s analysis explains. Continue reading

Fundraiser: Organizer of PrideFest Capitol Hill and Seattle Center celebrations says some sponsors are pulling out

A PrideFest 2025 scene on Broadway

The producer of the events that fill Cal Anderson, Broadway and the Seattle Center with Pride celebrations every June is trying to close a $75,000 gap amid what it says is a nationwide downturn in support for LGBTQ organizations and queer causes and “sponsorship challenges across the country for organizations like ours.”

“Already, we are seeing a loss of about 1/3 of our sponsorship funding (around $225,000 total, or $75,000 down as of April 1),” the call for support reads. “At PrideFest, we are committed to throwing big, beautiful events that are free for all, but it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce such a large event well, to pay artists, and to make it safe for everyone.”

You can give here.

PrideFest and director Egan Orion organize the annual Pride weekend events that include the party around the Seattle Center fountain that follows the city’s annual Pride parade and the street festival that precedes it and fills Broadway and Cal Anderson with vendors, performances, and fun. Here is a look at the 2024 PrideFest festivities on Capitol Hill. Continue reading

Garfield High School mourns senior shot and killed in Yakima

The communities of Garfield High School are facing another spring mourning a young life lost to gun violence but this latest tragedy happened far from the 23rd Ave campus.

The Garfield PTSA announced a candlelight vigil will be held Monday night at the Central District school to mark the life of Salvador Granillo who was shot and killed Sunday in Yakima.

“Another loss of another precious person in our school community is devastating,” the PTSA announcement reads. “Holding his family, friends and everyone who knew and loved Salvador in our hearts. Holding all GHS students, teachers, staff and families in our hearts too.” Continue reading

2025’s anti-Trump protests are smaller, low-conflict, frequent, and have great signs — Another marched on Broadway Saturday

The latest in a year of smaller, more local, low-conflict protests focused on messaging against the second Trump administration filled the Seattle Central plaza and Broadway Saturday.

The Capitol Hill rally and march was part of a national day of “Hands Off” protests across the country and up and down the Puget Sound. It was also part of multiple demonstrations in the city itself as groups like Seattle Indivisible have kept a steady drum beat of protests in motion with frequent, nearly weekly gatherings centered in neighborhoods and cities across the region instead of attempting larger rallies in Seattle.

Keeping track of the smaller events has been sometimes a challenge for those wanting to get involved and sort out if a planned protest will have a healthy turnout. Continue reading

$1.4B King County Parks levy renewal to appear on August ballot

Redmon’s Marymoor Park (Image: King County Parks)

The King County Council last week finalized legislation that will put a $1.4 billion renewal of the county’s park levy on the August ballot.

“Over the life of the six-year levy, it is estimated it would generate $1.4 billion,” the announcement from the council reads. “The initial levy rate of 23.29 cents per $1,000 of assessed value would cost the owner of a median-valued home ($844,000) about $16.33 per month.”

The levy, first approved by voters in 2003, provides all funding to operate and maintain King County’s regional and local parks, trails and open space system, the council says. Continue reading

When will Capitol Hill-grown magic mushrooms be legal in Seattle?

A wavy cap found on Capitol Hill (Image: CHS)

A home-grown culture of psilocybe cubensis (golden teachers). (Image: Colby Bariel)

By Colby Bariel/UW News Lab

A Capitol Hill expert has taught hundreds of people, from grandmothers to neuroscientists how to cultivate magic mushrooms guiding many into the world of psychedelics.

With years of teaching experience, they cover the responsible use of entheogens, contemporary psychedelic theory, and their therapeutic applications.

“Psychedelics are meaning-making chemicals,” the expert tells CHS. “Magic mushrooms are therapeutic, not medicinal.”

Their work is facilitated by a 2021 Seattle City Council decree decriminalizing the noncommercial cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms and several other entheogens. This decision has allowed Seattle residents to engage in home-mycology and explore the spiritual, religious, and therapeutic experiences offered by psychedelics.

But Seattle is not yet safe for psychonauts. And the shadows of the Trump administration have darkened the situation to the point where recent progress here is being slowed and rolled back.

While personal psilocybin cultivation is decriminalized, its use remains illegal. In February, a man on First Hill was busted for what police said was a “drug lab” with thousands of dollars worth of magic mushrooms set up inside a First Hill apartment unit.

Organizations like REACH (Responsible Entheogen Access & Community Healing Coalition) Washington are advocating for state-level entheogen decriminalization.

Oregon is already a step ahead. Continue reading