Inslee enjoying an Inslee-decorated cupcake (Images: CHS)

Candidate Jay Inslee was on Capitol Hill this morning to accept an endorsement of his run for governor from the Human Rights Campaign. 

“Cupcakes are sweet and so is equality and we intend to have both in the state of Washington,” Inslee said in a short speech inside the E Pike Cupcake Royale store.  

The Royale chain’s Jody Hall has forged many Olympia and D.C. connections and as a supporter of gay rights, health care and small business efforts, has made Cupcake Royale the scene for the occasional political announcement or press conference.

The Seattle PI calls HRC the nation’s “biggest gay rights lobby” and notes that Inslee’s endorsement follows a recent string of “pro-Inslee” happenings by “Democratic-aligned interest groups.”

Inslee will face his Republican challenger Attorney General Rob McKenna in November.

Inslee and Hall (Image: CHS)

I know a lot of Hill residents don’t contemplate travelling to the backabeyond but there are occasions you might want to consider packing up and heading to the hinterland-

Ever wonder what life was like long ago in far away places?

Experience it yourself with the Empire of Medieval Pursuits.

A group of dedicated artisans, sword makers, knife makers, re-enactors, come together to educate, share and delight the crowds that flock to these events in order to go back in time for a grand adventure. 
Be sure to attend when the “ring of fire” brings a group of warriors together to battle it out in full regalia while encircled by fire. Yikes!!

Sunday, when I arrived out in the shire of Bothell, in Washington State, ( also known as the Arch Duchy of Astaroth, centered in Bothell ) a fair number of warriors were crawling out of their tents shaking off the previous evenings festivities. 
In mere seconds they were practicing their archery, sword handling, dressing in armor, and drinking their coffees from horns-

Ira, a warrior and merchant, works in the Vulcan Knife store in Ballard as a apprentice/student to the owner.  
Interesting and talanted guy, as you’ll see. ( I want a pair of those gloves!! )

At the end of the video Ira turns me over to Arch Duke, Lord Khan Ironfist, of the Arch Duchy of Astaroth, who is a gracious man and the organizer of this weekends frivolity. 
After the shoot we went over to his car to look at an outrageous collection of weapons. 
The Rattan weapons they talk about are in themselves lethal. 
The Lord Khan told me getting hit by a Rattan sword when wearing armor hurts more than when hit by an actual metal weapon. 
These are some tough boys!!  
Oh, some of the wenches look like they could slay interlopers, or a dragon or two, without a blink. 
One fair damsel was doing that two-sword thing that Conan the Barbarian loved to pull on his opposition. 
I was unable to track her down after hanging with the Lord Khan.
I’ll presume she went to see her chiropractor to get her arms re-connected to her shoulders!!

I did meet Tierany, who is a fire-eater…Not sure I know what that means but will check out Ignition to watch a performance.

When the Lord Khan, aka The Pillar of Ardesca isn’t kicking arse on the field of honor he tosses jerks out of a local watering hole, a righteous thing to do even in modern times-

Should you venture to Bellingham, Washington, next month, 6-10th June, many will be gathering to battle it out—The magic word Ragnaroc will guide you there.

In September, in the Shire of Duvall, warriors will use full size catapults (some fancy French word) to hurl pumpkins at, well, someone.

Check out the Arch Ducy of Astaroth or www.empiremp.org to get the scoop on the next bloodletting-

Great event with a lot of really fun cool people! 
Go, have a good time!

And some say Seattle is a boring town!!!

It’s kind of hard to be light on your feet when you’re wearing a full leg cast. Via Facebook, Century Ballroom owner Hallie Kuperman reports that she won’t be doing the jitterbug for a little while thanks to a Saturday night scooter crash.

We’ve asked for more details on the crash and will update when we hear more. In the meantime, you might consider dropping by the Ballroom in coming weeks to cheer Kuperman on in her recovery.

Block Party Panoramic, uploaded by roofsupdotcom.

As Capitol Hill Block Party has grown from a street festival into a three-day musical extravaganza that will draw more than 30,000 to Pike/Pine this July, the two main men behind the annual production are stepping aside. In a statement released by CHBP organizers, Marcus Charles and David Meinert said the end has arrived for their rule of the Block Party and that a new, local business owner is taking over production of the festival — and bringing along some new fun including a family-friendly morning of rock, a new arts program and a slew of social media-friendly additions.

“For 11 years Marcus and I worked to make Capitol Hill Block Party one of the most credible small festivals in the US, with Jason booking the talent that helped elevate it to a nationally recognized event,” Meinert said in the statement.

Lajeunesse, center with his dog, helps at a recent chamber of commerce street sweep (Image: CHS)

“With both of us having started new families and opened new businesses, it felt like the right time to pass the reins. There is no better person in this community to continue producing the festival with the original vision with an eye toward expanding and evolving the tradition.”

The announcement puts to end months of rumors about coming changes for CHBP. Stepping forward as the new Block Party owner is Jason Lajeunesse who served as co-producer in 2011.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

Block Party has grown into one of the big Pacific Northwest music events of the summer with attendance on pace to surpass 30,000 attendees again this July. We looked at the logistics around the unique production on the streets of an active, open for business city neighborhood in 2011. Check out our Day One | Day Two | Day Three open threads for coverage and images from the neighborhood perspective at the 2011 Block Party.

The 2012 festival — marketed with wink toward the announcement of new ownership and the Mayan calendar — has been billed as “the final” CHBP and will include Neko Case and Major Lazer on the bill. As part of the change in ownership announcement, organizers also released the remaining acts for the 2012 planned line-up:

Lajeunesse increases his role in Pike/Pine’s nightlife cutlure and in the Capitol Hill business community with the deal. Lajeunesse is also part owner of Neumos, Moe Bar, Big Mario’s Pizza, Barboza, Pike Street Fish Fry, and Sealed With a Kiss Presents. He serves on the board of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and is on the Advisory Board for the Music for Marriage Equality campaign, according to the CHBP statement. Earlier this year, CHS reported on a new 10-year lease for Neumos to remain at 10th and Pike. Meanwhile, Barboza debuted beneath the music club earlier this month.

Meinert, right, gets ready to rock the 2011 festival with fellow punk fan Dow Constantine (Image: CHS)

The shift for Meinert is also significant for the neighborhood and the Pike/Pine business community. The move reduces Meinert’s role in Pike/Pine though he retains part ownership of Big Mario’s and will likely continue to be an outspoken supporter of Seattle nightlife. Meinert was the face of the festival as it grappled with the challenges of working with area business owners who are negatively affected during the annual festival as fences dominated the streets and sidewalks, trash can occasionally pile up and walk-in business can trickle to nothing. In the past year, Lajeunesse has taken on more of the community work around the festival including his work with the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce.

Some of this work will manifest itself during the 2012 Block Party as new elements expanding the scope of CHBP are rolled out.

Earlier this month, CHS reported on a new arts program being added to the Party headed by Capitol Hill’s Ghost Gallery owner Laurie Kearney. Today’s statement includes more information on that and a new family-friendly addition to the 2012 festival — a Cupcake Royale-headed Sunday “COMMUNITYFAMILYFUNFEST” rocked by headliner Caspar Babypants:

ALL-BROW VISUAL ARTS PROGRAM: Ghost Gallery’s Laurie Kearney is curating a collection of multimedia art to be viewed at this year’s CHBP. Installations by local and regional artists will be at specific locations throughout the festival grounds. Ghost Gallery’s mission for this project is to create a dynamic, visually striking art program for the CHBP, engaging festival-goers with an exciting variety of site-specific, locally made art. Laurie Kearney founded the Ghost Gallery project in 2006, with the goal of making original art more accessible by exhibiting artists in both traditional and non-traditional spaces. With 30,000 expected festival-goers, CHBP is the perfect non-traditional space for engaging our local artistic community and providing a dynamic, interactive environment for visitors of all ages. 

COMMUNITYFAMILYFUNFEST
CHBP and CupCake Royal will present a free family fun event  on Sunday July 22 before the start of the festival from 10am-12pm. There will be free ice cream, lemonade and doubt dutch from 10-11am, followed by a free show at Neumos with Caspar Baby Pants from 11am-12pm. Local Capitol Hill business The Sweat Box will also host a free yoga class on Saturday morning from the CHBP main stage.  The event is free and promises to be the perfect cure for your hangover and while keeping the kids entertained.

The festival this year will also include a live simulcast on the Internet so the world can enjoy the spirit of Pike/Pine from the comfort of its Internet connection as well as a bloggers’ lounge tricked out for social media mavens to document the Block Party.

“We are very excited to be introducing new creative endeavors to the festival,” Lajeunesse says in the statement. “I’m proud of the team we have in place, and honored to be able to continue the CHBP legacy, in my favorite neighborhood in the nation.”

The 2012 Capitol Hill Block Party takes place July 20-22nd. You can purchase tickets and learn more at capitolhillblockparty.com.

Big Mario’s is a CHS advertiser.

Seattle Police remain on the scene as investigators complete their investigation into what lead to a van striking a bicyclist at the intersection of Pike and Boren Tuesday morning.

The 6:20a crash sent the 20-year-old rider to the hospital with serious injuries according to Seattle Fire. SFD said the rider was losing consciousness at the scene. We do not have information about the rider’s current condition but we’re told the injuries are life threatening.

According to police, the driver of the van was evaluated at the scene, a standard procedure in this type of incident. More details on the investigation should be available later today, SPD says.

The intersection has remained blocked to traffic heading up and down Pike for more than two hours. Metro says routes 10, 11, 14, 43 and 49 are temporarily re-routed in the area of the collision.

The area around Pike and Boren can be a dangerous one for both riders and drivers. CHS reported on the previous car vs. bike crash at the intersection of Pine and Boren in February. Earlier this month, a SPD patrol car collided with a taxi cab at the Pike/Boren crossing.

150/365 – Cops and Crime Scene Tape, originally uploaded by Meghan A.

Welcome back. It’s nearly June. Here are the things you may have missed over the weekend and a few items of note to look forward to this week.

• UPDATE — Car vs. bike at Pike/Boren: Tuesday morning brings a report of a car vs. bicyclist incident and its subsequent investigation shutting down the intersection at Pike and Boren. We don’t have details of the incident yet but Metro says routes 10, 11, 14, 43 and 49 are temporarily re-routed in the area of the 6:21a collision. UPDATE x2: SFD has limited details but said the 20-year-old rider was “losing consciousness” and was taken to Harborview with serious injuries. 

• Seattle gun violence: It was a violent weekend around Seattle. The investigation into the shooting that left 42-year-old Justin Ferrari dead at MLK and Cherry continues. The Seattle PI calls the weekend the “most violent” 4-day span since 2008. SPD tells the Seattle Times it has put SWAT and Anti-Crime teams on the ground in Seattle’s “high-crime” areas.
• Quiet Hill: Capitol Hill proper registered only a single report of violent crime over the weekend, according to police records. We have no details yet on the weapons threat incident that went down in the 1700 block of Summit on Friday afternoon.

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• Safe BBQ practices: CHS also didn’t cover a single major Seattle Fire incident — hopefully you all still got some grilling time in over the weekend.
• Sinkholes and downed wires: The Hill’s biggest issue this Memorial Day? Our streets. Sunday night, a sinkhole opened in the middle of E Olive Way and tried to eat the City Market. Meanwhile, @zgoodwin hooks us up with information about downed wires that blocked another street in the area overnight.
• Change on 15th Ave E: CHS reported that a hole of another kind will be patched on 15th Ave E starting this summer as the old Horizon Books house has been purchased by a “mystery” Capitol Hill business planning to move in. And the $3 ticket plan to save the Volunteer Park Conservatory is coming.

Looking ahead

• Today, celebrate 25 years of supporting Washington arts with wine and cupcakes at Capitol Hill’s Artist Trust.
• New subterranean bar, arcade and performance space the Narwhal is set to emerge from beneath the Unicorn this week.
• Privatized liquor sales in Washington begin Friday and the Times says prices *could* jump. Or not. Capitol Hill will have plenty of places to buy booze in the new privatized world. Meanwhile, there’s a new winning bidder for the old Broadway location. We’ll see what more we can learn about the Canadian who won the bid. The state business around liquor winds down this week with phased closures so you’ll want to check out that schedule if you’re planning some hoarding. 
• Sunday, plan your gay wedding with the BeGLiTched vendor fair and fundraiser for Washington United for Marriage.
• The annual Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day is June 9th. Add your sale from anywhere around the Hill to our roster — or sign up for one of the few remaining slots in the Broadway Hill community lot at http://capitolhillgaragesale.com

(Images: David Lichterman for CHS)

The annual Nisei Veterans Committee Memorial Day Service filled Capitol HIll’s Lake View Cemetery Monday morning with honor and respect for those who died serving their country.

Lake View is home to the Nisei War Memorial, an obelisk honoring American soldiers of Japanese ancestry who died while serving in the armed services.

Congressman Jim McDermott was among dignitaries in attendance.

The annual event includes prayers and remembrances of the fallen soldiers as well as a local ROTC honor guard.

Artist Trust has been resident in the nifty condo building at 12th and Denny since it was completed in 2004. On Tuesday, the organization that provides programs and grants for Washington artists in literary, visual, craft and performance disciplines will celebrate its 25th year of empowering artists in Seattle. You should stop by and join in the cheer, the wine, and the cupcakes.

The South Seattle Sentinel marked the big news (Image: Google News Archives)

As part of our year-long 25th anniversary celebration, we’ll be marking our official date of incorporation—May 29, 1987— with a little cheer! Stop by for cupcakes and/or at day’s end for a sparkling toast with Executive Director Margit Rankin and staff.

The 25th visitor will receive a handmade “One Good Idea” notebook from Paper Hammer Studio in Tieton!

Noon-5pm: Open House
5pm: Sparkling Toast

Sparkling Wine courtesy of Chateau Ste. Michelle. Babycakes sponsored by Cupcake Royale.

Happy Memorial Day. Hope your holiday is a good one — even if you have to work. If you’d like to be part of remembering on this day, the annual Nisei Veterans Committee Memorial Day Service takes place at 15th Ave E’s Lake View Cemetery starting at 10a.

And, if you’d like to have a free hamburger, stop by 1211 Pine’s Li’l Woody’s between 2 and 5p. Earn it.