A worker was taken to Harborview with serious injuries after an explosion at the construction site for the 230 Broadway development Tuesday afternoon.

Seattle Fire Department reports being called to the scene at 2:42 p.m., where medics treated a male in his 40s with burns on his arms, legs and face.

Medics transported the man to Harborview Medical Center. At the scene, a witness said people at the site indicated the explosion may have been caused by misidentification of a container of alcohol.

We’ll check for more details on the cause as information becomes available.

UPDATE 8/1: The local Seattle Labor & Industries branch is currently investigating the case to determine the cause of the explosion. 

(Images: Suzi Pratt)

Monday night, the debate over a new proposed Seattle sports arena in SoDo came to E Olive Way. The event took place just hours after the King County Council agreed to contribute $80 million toward investor Chris Hansen’s proposal that would put a new sports arena in SoDo for not only NBA play, but NHL hockey as well. Current talks also pose the possibility of the Seattle Storm utilizing the arena. The plan is not a done deal yet — the proposal will have to get through the Seattle City Council who have already called for substantial alterations to the plan.

The forum left every available seat in EVO on Capitol Hill taken — the crowd was made up of sports fans donning Sonics gear and older adults with obvious interest in the debate.

The forum was moderated by Josh Feit and Eric Barnett of Seattle Met, and they put local figures on the hot seat including 710 ESPN sports radio host Mike Salk, Seattle Port Commissioner Tom Albro, Seattle City Council member Mike O’Brien, and former Seattle City Council president Peter Steinbrueck. Publicola promises audio from the event to be posted soon.

• Thief walks off with six school projectors: A burglary sometime over Block Party weekend netted the perpetrator thousands of dollars worth of audio-visual equipment from Seattle Central. According to the report on the incident, police arrived at the school to find someone had cut projectors from the ceilings of six classrooms. Each projector was estimated to be worth between $1,600 and $5,000.

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• Man vs. bus at 12th/Pike: Police are investigating an early morning collision between a man and a Metro bus Sunday at E Pike and 12th — but things didn’t happen quite like you might expect. According to police, the Metro coach was heading southbound on 12th Ave just after 2a and approached a green light when the man began crossing against a red. Police say the bus was beginning to move through the intersection when the victim stepped out and walked into the back of the bus as it moved by. The victim was treated for minor injuries and taken to Harborview.
• Victim tracks down burgled bike, steals it back: We’re not endorsing his methods, but here is how one guy got his bike back a year after it was stolen from his Capitol Hill condo. It involves this: “After stalling for as long as I could I check my phone again. Still no word from the cops. So I suggest another test ride, he agrees, I hop on, and never look back!”

• CHBP Vitamin Water assault: Another Block Party weekend incident closer to the action landed a man in jail after police chased him down for allegedly throwing a bottle at CHBP security early Sunday morning just after 2a.
• Victim says beat with brass knuckles in Cal Anderson: A man police say had been playing Scrabble with his uncle in the park was found beaten shortly after in an assault Wednesday night at Cal Anderson.

The victim’s uncle told police that an exchange of “putdowns” between his nephew and another man who the uncle said walked up to them without provocation to challenge the victim lead to the assault. 

A search for the alleged assailant in the area was not successful.

• Hand Lotion Attack on Pine and Minor: A man called SPD just before 4:30 p.m. yesterday to report that an unidentified female was “acting crazy.” Victim reported that the suspect had thrown something on him after being accused of “gawking at her.”  The man denied gawking at her, and promptly turned away, when she thew the liquid on the victim’s head and jacket. The suspect fled the scene on foot after the incident. The liquid was later determined to be hand lotion.
• CHS reader lends hand in 12th/John arrest: Reader Ryan brings us details of a thief getting busted after Ryan’s quick actions early Sunday morning near 12th and John. Looks like the alleged bad guy was booked for investigation of auto theft.

Hey J,
I thought I should send along this story. It’s not a huge news story or anything, but the police involved seemed frustrated with our community’s willingness to just ignore these kind of crimes.

My wife and I live near the corner of 12th Ave E and John. After going to a close friend’s birthday party at Narwhal we went home to relax on the couch and watch some Olympics. We both fell asleep. At about 5:30am I heard a noise coming from our bike room (our back entrance is where we usually come in and out of, and keep all our bikes, hence, the bike room). It took my sleepy ass a few seconds to realize something wasn’t right. Some guy was in our house. I jumped off the couch and chased him out onto 12th ave where he headed south. He ran west into a driveway just before Denny which is where I tackled him. I held him from behind with my left arm pinning his left arm against his back. That’s when I saw that he had my wife’s motorcycle key (which we keep on the pegboard in the bicycle room) in his right hand. After a bit of scuffling, I had him pinned and started yelling for someone to call the police. A resident from the apartment we were behind came down and told me to get off the guy. From his perspective I just tackled some dude for no reason, and the burglar was pretty bloody at that point. Right after that my wife, our neighbor, and the SPD showed up. SPD cuffed the guy and took statements. The burgler asked for medical assistance, so Seattle Fire had to send down an engine and an ambulance. Here’s the shitty part. SPD had contacted him  earlier while he was walking around peering into cars, drunk as hell, an hour before this happened. The investigating officer had just dealt with this guy an hour before he broke into my home, stole my wife’s medical badge (she’s an RN at Harbor View) stole the key to her motorcycle, removed the battery plate and cover from the bike, started a fire in our backyard and burnt one of our chairs, ripped out our parsley plant, lavender plant, and sage plant. He told the police he thought he was in his house. The cops told us that almost every time they catch a burglar they claim that they are wasted and thought they were at their own home. And what frustrates the cops is that most victims will not press charges. And now prosecuters won’t persue these cases because “well he was just drunk, or high, or something.” But meanwhile our homes are being broken into. Our fucking parsley is being destroyed. Joking aside, the main officer at the scene made a comment to me along the lines of “hopefully the local media picks it up”. I don’t care what happens to the guy that broke into my house, I doubt he’ll ever make the mistake of coming into my place again. I do care that as a community, if we keep letting this happen, we will all be in a bad place. Almost everyone I know on the hill reads your blog, and you have an influence on this community. People need to report crimes, and let’s work together as a community to try and end this shit.

CHS has learned more about the investors behind the $3 million purchase of the building home to the Broadway post office — and what the subsidiary of Bartell’s intends to do with it. Don’t get all worked up — the Henbart real estate wing of the Bartell family empire is a buy and hold kind of operation.

“We haven’t undertaken any development,” Henbart’s Mark Craig tells CHS of the investment wing’s habits. “We’re long-term holders.”

Last week, CHS reported on the $3 million sale of the Broadway property immediately across the street from the future Capitol Hill Station and on a block destined for a significant round of development and change.

Craig tells us to expect the post office to be part of the location into the immediate future as USPS struck a deal for a lease extension through 2015 just prior to the sale of the land. The lease was to expire at the end of this year before the extension was signed.

At least until light rail fires up across the street in 2016, things should be pretty much business as usual at 101 Broadway E.

“We don’t have any future plans for the property,” Craig said. 

“We invest in properties and focus on what we call core properties in urban areas. We’re believers in properties that are close to dense, urban centers.”

CHS noted the giant tunnel boring machinery will be removed from the Capitol Hill Station site over the coming weeks. Here, the giant head of the machine dubbed Balto is trucked off of Capitol Hill late at night over the weekend. Photo credit to Charles Smith.

balto, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)

Playing a summer game of kickball wearing just a jockstrap makes a lot of practical sense. Frees up your range of motion, gets some nice ventilation going down there, and you protect the jewels at the same time. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Seattle Quake Rugby faced off at Cal Anderson park on Saturday for a rousing game of kickball—the catch being that a $5 donation for the Sisters and Quake Rugby earned you the right to up the ante a little by pulling players out, putting players in, or… getting them to take their shorts off and play in a jockstrap.

At least one player found themselves shorts-less, becoming a case study in effective incentive based-fundraising while simultaneously earning MVP status. Those Sisters know how to put an event together.

Maybe you can help jseattle scare up some food+drink news. Send in your tips.

• First, the good news: there is a less-than-15% chance that the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, animated by evil ghosts, will be stomping down the streets of Capitol Hill any time soon.

However, according to a team of paranormal researchers, Melrose’s The Pine Box may be the home of at least one melancholy spirit.

In its previous, um, incarnation, the building where the bar is located was inhabited for nearly nine decades by E.R. Butterworth & Sons funeral home. Apparently, it was THE place to be dead in Seattle: among other posh clients, the mortuary hosted the funeral of action superstar Bruce Lee. (Such is the power of celebrity: the transitory presence of a famous person in a local establishment, even post-mortem, is still buzz-worthy four decades later.)

On the eve of the 39th anniversary of Lee’s funeral in the building, the team from White Noise Paranormal Researcher and Investigation set up shop in the bar overnight, looking and listening for evidence of otherworldly activity. Using sensitive digital recorders and video equipment, the researchers (protip: don’t call them “ghost hunters”!) attempt to zero in on sights and sounds that are both literally and metaphorically “on other wavelengths.”

“Of all the sites we’ve investigated, the Pine Box building has one of the highest concentrations of EVPs, or Electronic Voice Phenomena,” said Raven Corvus, case manager and researcher with the White Noise team. “It was really exciting.”

The bar’s resident spirits may be dead, but it seems they’re still burdened by an unshakeable Weltschmertz (or is it ennui?).

“On the third floor, near the window, we asked, ‘Are you happy here?’ and we could distinctly hear a woman or a little girl’s voice saying ‘No,’” Corvus reports. “We all heard it—and we didn’t even need equipment to detect the sound, which is really rare.”

In early 2011, when the space was still occupied by the previous bar, Chapel, the team once spent the night in the building and also heard a female voice during that investigation. After conducting a full review of the audio and video footage collected late last week at The Pine Box, the team hopes to return to the site and attempt to duplicate their findings.

“We’re not like ghost hunters, who are basically just thrill seekers,” said Corvus. “We’re trying to prove or disprove theories based on scientific methods. Paranormal research is still considered a pseudo-science, but by conducting evidence-based research, our goal is to help the field to be taken seriously as a ‘hard’ science.”

The White Noise team has also investigated Barboza/Neumos and All Pilgrim’s Church on Capitol Hill. At Barboza, one researcher heard a sigh, and possibly saw a beer bottle move. At the church, one member of the team saw an unexplained shadow.

Unlike Bill Murray’s team from Ghostbusters, the White Noise researchers aren’t trying to make the ghosts leave. “They’re there for a reason. They’re not usually harmful — we’re just trying to find what they are,” Corvus said.

Although there is no guarantee that Bruce Lee will be among the otherworldly patrons, The Pine Box is celebrating the martial artist’s legacy Monday night, which also marks the anniversary of his death. On the bar patio, where Steve McQueen was famously pictured carrying Lee’s coffin, the bar will project a marathon of Bruce Lee films, including The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and The Chinese Connection. Jiffy Pop popcorn will be served, along with specialty drinks such as the Bruce Lychee and the One Inch Punch. More information on Bruce Lee Day is here.

All ghosts with proper I.D. are welcome to attend.  

• Good news in the CD. The state liquor board ruled that Central Cinema can continue to serve booze AND let minors inside.
• Top Chef at Madison’s Central Co-op?
• Canon is not the best new bar in the world.
• You can sit outside at Terra Plata now.

• Cafe Presse: “Sheeps milk bleu cheese from Ferme Kukulu with local figs and walnut marinated in honey.”

  Would you like to sit outside at Ba Ba?

• The Stranger investigates the variety of torta available in the 2-block-radius.
• Cafe Presse has posted a new summer menu — and yummy pictures of the new items.
• “The bartender that day was Stefan; he’s been my bartender ever since. I go there because everyone knows my name and I drink whatever Der Teufel puts in front of me. Which, during Harry Potter pub crawls, gets really [fucking], embarrassing.”
• Meanwhile, Seattle Weekly describes brunch at Linda’s: “Giddy up, hicksters! Downtown takes on down home with “Western” fare served in portions plentiful enough to make you pop a button.”
• CHS got caffeinated last week. Here is what we learned on a visit to the new Cherry Street Coffee at 12 and Jeff. We also told you about the new cold press coffee available on draft at Analog Coffee.
• Oh, hey, Volunteer Park Cafe is on the YouTube. I’ll watch that.

• Goodbye TCS2, you will be missed.

  (Image: Thai Curry Simple 2)

To get the streetcar to reach north Broadway, Seattle needed to have a plan — for a plan — to get to Ballard first.

Monday, the full council is expected to approve the City Council transportation committee’s lifting of a proviso that will open the gates to further streetcar planning in the city now that a solid plan is in place for finishing the First Hill line.

“We’ve got a great master plan for a high capacity transit system in Seattle,” committee chair Tom Rasmussen said. “I’ll work hard to secure the funding needed for that.”

The Capitol Hill Complete Streetcar campaign’s proposal

Construction on the streetcar line connecting Pioneer Square, the International District and Capitol Hill via First Hill began in April with dignitaries and gold shovels and continues today with scenes like this along Broadway. The route will stretch at least 2.2 miles by the time service begins in 2014. The currently planned terminus on the Broadway end of things is Denny — where Capitol Hill Station will provide access to light rail beginning in 2016. A continued push from Capitol Hill community and business concerns has kept an effort to complete the streetcar line and extend the route all the way up Broadway to Roy or Aloha alive. The extension would add millions to the $134 million project but could help better connect north Broadway with the Pike/Pine area.

One proposal would add a stop both northbound and southbound in front of the Broadway Market shopping center bringing total stops along the line to 11.

The First Hill streetcar is expected to eventually serve around 3,500 riders per day, according to transit planners. Extending the route to Aloha would add about 500 riders per day. That study also said that extending the line to Aloha would add 3 minutes to the trip in each direction. Trolleys will leave every 15 minutes and vehicle traffic and streetcars will share a lane as a separated bikeway is added along Broadway.

Federal funding is now a reality for the Broadway extension (Image: Seattle.gov)

The lifting of the restrictions opening up planning for a new Ballard streetcar line comes as Seattle has been able to “federalize” the First Hill Streetcar project’s proposed extension down to Aloha/Roy St making the plan eligible for federal grants at both the planning and construction levels. Previously, city officials said they were unsure if grants could be secured to make the extension past Denny Way possible, but now according to Rasmussen, things are looking much clearer.

Funding will come in the form of  Federal Transit Administration 5307 Formula funds, with help from Local Vehicle License fees. A breakdown of the plan for the Broadway extension can be found in the proposed legislation, which will be voted on by the full council on Monday. The totals are rather staggering but, apparently, more modest than earlier predictions of a $30 million project. Here’s how some of the $24 million+ project breaks down: $50,000 for environmental planning, $2.1 million for preliminary engineering and design, $2 million for vehicles, and $9 million for the actual construction.

“It’s now looking realistic for the extension to happen,” a representative for Rasmussen’s office said. “We were able to propose a realistic, viable plan for planning and construction — we know that there is available funding in the pipe so to speak, and we know where it’s coming from.” 

Now that the extension has a plan for execution, the First Hill project has met the provisions necessary to lift the spending restrictions. That’s also a game changer for folks in Ballard. 

For those unfamiliar with the proviso, City Council has been dealing with an $800,000 chunk of funding for planning and constructing the downtown connector between Pioneer Square and First Hill. A proviso was placed restricting that funding “as a reserve for streetcar planning and construction with the expectation that funds would not be released until the Council was satisfied that the First Hill Streetcar project is funded and there is a funding plan for the potential Broadway Streetcar Extension” as was stated in the project’s legislation.

“We indicated most forcefully through the proviso that the First Hill project was a priority. The proviso was a means to make sure requirements for the project were met, because it can be very easy for a department to proceed with a new project before another is finished,” Rasmussen said. 

With the Broadway extension plan in place, Seattle City Council’s transportation committee lifted the proviso on rail funding for planning streetcar service to Ballard.

“This means we’ll look at the options for high capacity transit between downtown and Ballard. It doesn’t mean we’ve okayed light rail or a tunnel — it means we will fund a study of what the best option for transit could be,” Rasmussen said. 

A standoff between the U.S. Department of Justice and the City that started after a string of videotaped incidents involving SPD “use of force” — including the August 2010 John T Williams shooting — has ended with a deal that will bring significant changes to the way the Seattle Police Department is regulated. Below is a round-up of coverage of the deal and coming changes to the way police officers work in Seattle.

•  Seattle Times — SPD faces new oversight, scrutiny of use of force:

A hard-fought settlement agreement announced Friday between the U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Seattle reaches into almost every aspect of how police officers interact with citizens, from casual contact to the use of deadly force.

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The settlement, finalized just days before a July 31 deadline, was hailed by city and federal officials as an innovative breakthrough that will bring in a federal monitor to oversee many of the changes.

It includes creation of a Community Police Commission to help guide the independent, court-appointed monitor and ensure community involvement in the reforms.

• Associated Press — Feds, Seattle announcement police reform deal following critical report about use of force: 

The settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge, requires the Seattle Police Department to revise use of force policies and enhance training, reporting, investigation and supervision for situations involving use force. Police also would have to change policies and training concerning “bias-free” policing and stops, and create a Community Police Commission, which would be a civilian oversight body.

Court oversight would continue for five years, but the city could ask to end the scrutiny earlier if it has complied with the agreements for two years.

• The Stranger — Court Deal: Cops Must Report All Use of Force (Like Shoving Someone in the Chest):

Perez rebuked the talking point held by some officers that reforms are tantamount to tying their hands. Effective policing and constitutional policing can go “hand in hand,” he said, adding that after Los Angeles implemented a similar policing reform plan, “crime went down, and the quality of policing went up, and public confidence in the police department shot up.”

• Publicola — City, DOJ Announce Police Accountability Plan:

Here are some of the basics from the agreement:

• Use of Force — Officers will be trained on which weapons to use in what situations and the SPD will develop a team of investigators who will delve into the cases using force.
• Supervison — Supervisors, along with the outside monitor, will review any investigatory stops and detentions to ensure there was reasonable suspicion before the stops were made.
• Bias-free Policing — The SPD will further clarify its unbiased policing policy and will have specific training catered to teaching officers to be unbiased in their investigations.
• Accountability — the SPD will revise policies to establish what constitutes prohibited retaliation and will identify officers who will be in charge of handling those matters in their own precincts

 

• Associated Press — Revamp of New Orleans PD comprehensive, expensive:

A court-backed plan to excise corruption, discrimination and a frequent use of deadly force from the long-troubled New Orleans Police Department will last at least four years and likely cost the financially strapped city $11 million annually.

• KOMO — Seattle mayor, police chief parade their solidarity after DOJ pact:

The annual Seafair Torchlight Parade brought out flag flyers, toe-tappers and motorcade maneuvers. There, too, were Mayor Mike McGinn and Police Chief John Diaz.

“It was the chief’s idea to come out,” says McGinn. “We made this DOJ announcement on Friday, which was a big deal.”

120727final Mou

See also the DOT Bridge closure schedule:

Which roads and ramps will be closed?

Interstate 90 will be closed to all vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, eastbound and westbound, mainline and express lanes, between Interstate 5 in Seattle to Island Crest Way on Mercer Island:

• Thursday, Aug. 2:  9:45 a.m. – noon & 1:15 – 2:30 p.m., (Practice)
• Friday, Aug. 3:  12:45 p.m. – 2:40 p.m., (Practice)
• Saturday, Aug. 4:  12:45 p.m. – 2:40 p.m., (Full show)
• Sunday, Aug. 5:  12:45 p.m. – 2:40 p.m., (Full show)

* The bridge highrises will still be accessible to pedestrians and cyclists. However, no one on foot or bike can travel beyond the highrises up to 30 minutes prior to posted closure times.