Monthly Archives: October 2015

Sawant and Banks duke it out to the bitter end in District 3

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D3 turnout continues to lead the pack and the district appears to be pulling away. Meanwhile, the overall Seattle turnout trend looks soft.

D3 turnout continues to lead the turnout pack — the overall Seattle trend looks soft

The first ever District 3 election will be remembered as one of the most expensive knock-down, drag-out fights in Seattle City Council history. In the final days of the race, the two D3 candidates and their financial backers are putting a lot of time and money into getting out the vote and overstuffing your mailbox. If you haven’t done so already, skim through CHS election coverage, fill in your ballot, slap a stamp on it, and drop it in the mail by Tuesday.

One of those mailers from the Pamela Banks campaign is getting some extra attention for using stock photos to portray supporters of City Council member Kshama Sawant. As the Seattle Times reported, one picture from a stock photo service is titled “serious young man blank expression.” The mailer has some harsh criticism for Sawant, including by former East Precinct Advisory Committee chair Stephanie Taschida, who says Sawant isn’t interested in addressing gun violence. Continue reading →

Reminder: 2015 Hilloween carnival and parade

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Transform Yourself (Image: Patricia via Flickr)

Transform Yourself (Image: Patricia via Flickr)

Screen Shot 2015-10-30 at 2.57.42 PMAs you plan your trick or treat route, don’t forget: Saturday is the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce’s annual Hilloween Carnival. For 2015, the carnival has moved indoors to Seattle Central’s Mitchell Activity Center at 1701 Broadway. Here are the details from caphilloween.com:

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31
12:00 – 3:00 PM Carnival
3:30 – 4:00 PM Costume Parade
4:00 – 7:00 PM Trick-or-Treating on Broadway Ave.
2:30 – 4:30PM Haunted Bank Laboratory @ 1st Security Bank
5:00 – 7:00 PM Pizza Party @ Pagliacci’s (FREE slice to kids in costume!)
Hilloween, Capitol Hill’s favorite kid-friendly Halloween event returns Saturday, October 31th and it’s sure to delight kids of all ages. This community party is FREE and open to everyone – designed with kids in mind – but just as fun for adults too. We’re moving inside this year to avoid any chance of rain! Seattle Central College’s Mitchell Activity Center will host Hilloween this year and it falls on HALLOWEEN NIGHT itself!

CHS is a proud community sponsor.

Also stop by Volunteer Park for the Haunted Conservatory and jack-o-lanterns. More grown-up fun includes the Spookhaus 3 haunted house at the Northwest Film Forum, the Capitol Hill historical ghost tour starting at Elliott Bay Book Company, the Seattle Women’s Chorus’s Hallows In The Cathedral at St. Mark’s, and a candy bag full of parties. Check out the CHS Hilloween Calendar for details. You can also add your own event to the list. Continue reading →

Fall back Sunday, Capitol Hill — enjoy your extra Hilloween

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Don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour overnight so you’re ready to roll Sunday morning. For some of you, that means an extra hour of Halloween.

According to the liquor control board spokesperson we asked the last time this rolled around in 2009 and the organization was still the Washington State Liquor Control Board and not yet the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, bars may serve during the daylight savings bonus hour if they choose. However, as also noted back then, bars never do this because the staff is likely not enjoying the party the same way you are.

Happy fall back.

With (familiar) new owner, Ballet Restaurant ready for new life on E Pike

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(Image: Bad Robot 6 via Flickr)

There is finally a buyer for Ballet.

While the news could join the slog of sadness around the announced closure of Value Village on 11th Ave, not all is lost.

“I wanted to make sure it went to the right person,” Ballet owner Dzung Nguyen tells CHS. “This is the best way for everyone.”

Don’t freak out. It’s not Dave Meinert.

According to the liquor permit filed for Ballet’s address, cheap taco and burger provider Freddy Rivas of Rancho Bravo and Freddy Junior’s fame is behind a new venture ready to take on the dirty spoon Vietnamese restaurant space for a new project.

Nguyen says the new ownership plans to keep things mostly the same.

“The restaurant won’t change,” he said. “The same recipe, the same staff, the same cooks.” Continue reading →

31 spookiest Capitol Hill Seattle posts… ever

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(Image: CHS)

(Image: CHS)

Things are already getting wild on Capitol Hill — and it’s not even Hilloween, yet! Wednesday night, Seattle Fire and police were called to a tony neighborhood along north Broadway after a strange attack that left a 30-year-old woman with an animal bite to the hand. Medics treated the injury but couldn’t confirm the victim’s account of a wild raccoon attack after the animal fled the scene. It’s still out there, somewhere.

Happy Hilloween.

There’s a full weekend of Halloween events including Saturday’s Hilloween carnival and more. We’ve also posted an updated trick-or-treat map.

Some early shots from 2015

Need costume inspiration? Take a look at Hilloweens past: 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010

Here is another CHS tricky, treat-y tradition. We’ve updated our annual list of the spookiest CHS stories… ever. We’re up to 31! Don’t read in the dark! CHS will be out and about on Halloween as always to capture the scene and cover any breaking news. See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959.

In the meanwhile, here are some of the best tales of mystery and paranormal activity from around Capitol Hill from the CHS archives. Feel free to tell any Capitol Hill ghost stories you know about in the comments.

In 2010, CHS found these lines of numbers written in chalk on the cobbles of E Howell particularly disturbing

In 2010, CHS found these lines of numbers written in chalk on the cobbles of E Howell particularly disturbing

  1. Chalk number mystery on E Howell cobbles
  2. 16th Ave E’s ‘haunted house’ comes down
  3. Why is this black metal box at 10th and Pike?
  4. Meet the Klineburger Brothers and Capitol Hill’s taxidermy past Continue reading →

Central Lutheran celebrates 125 years of evolving faith on Capitol Hill

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IMG_5463Changing with the needs of the community can keep you alive for 125 years. That’s what the leadership of 11th Ave’s Central Lutheran Church believes as the congregation prepares to celebrate the esteemed anniversary November 1st.

“The building continues to change,” Pastor Cindy Salo said of the aged brick chapel and administration buildings along 11th. “But the building hasn’t changed as much as we have. The church has had to become something different to survive in 2015.”

2015 has been an important year for big milestones for Central Seattle houses of worship. 19th and Madison’s Mt. Zion also marked 125 years of community.

Since its establishment in 1890, Central Lutheran, today sitting on the east side of Cal Anderson Park, has managed to continue its service to the neighborhood and its worshippers with openness and a dedication to equality and fairness for all people.

The church was first founded at 7th Ave and Union in a remodeled tin shop as a dedicated English-speaking Lutheran church, contrasting the various Lutheran institutions that catered to immigrants and their languages. The Capitol Hill location’s land was purchased in 1901 for $2,300, according to the Central Lutheran archives. Continue reading →

King County decriminalizes evading youth bus fares

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transferticketKing County Council member Dave Upthegrove said he was shocked to learn that youth can be charged with misdemeanors for evading bus fares. The charge could also lead to longterm bans from riding the bus. This week, the Council adopted a motion to reduce the penalty to a civil infraction.

“Young bus riders should be held accountable for evading a fare but not charged criminally, and I am pleased that the Council supported me in changing this policy,” Upthegrove said.

The motion also calls on the county to allow cited transit riders to resolve their infractions at courthouses closer to where they live. Currently, all transit infraction hearings are held at the Shoreline Courthouse in a policy known as the “Shoreline rule.” It’s particularly a problem for younger riders, who are most frequently cited in South King County.

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Issuing a longterm bus suspension for a juvenile must may also be limited to court orders under Upthegrove’s bill. The motion calls for the county to work towards implementing the policies by March. Unfortunately, adult offenders will still have to settle such matters in Shoreline.

The motion also calls on the county to ensure all transit security officers receive specific training to work with adolescents.

CHS Pics | Final pulls at TNT Espresso, Capitol Hill’s last* drive-thru coffee stand

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IMG_5720You only have a few more days to enjoy the last drive-thru coffee stand on Capitol Hill.

That we know of.

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Saturday is slated to be the final day of business at TNT Espresso, the 80-square-foot coffee shack in the parking lot of the teriyaki joint at Broadway and Harrison. Owner Monica Anaya — or Momo, as you might know her — is going out in her own style, in full defiance of what she says is the seemingly unstoppable wave of change washing over Broadway.

“I had a good time while I was there,” Anaya told CHS earlier this month. “I don’t hang my head low. I walk away with pride. I got to get out before somebody kicked me out.”

We asked her about the possibility of selling the business with a month-to-month agreement and history at the corner dating to before the mid-1990s but Anaya said she probably wouldn’t be interested. If you’d like to change her mind, stop by for a last latte and some conversation about all things weird and wonderful on Broadway. Anaya and her crew have probably seen it all.

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SPD investigating Capitol Hill gay bashing and robbery

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Seattle Police are investigating a Capitol Hill gay bashing and robbery after a man said he was assaulted near E Harrison and Summit Sunday night.

The victim, who asked to remain anonymous, told CHS he was walking home around 10:30 PM Sunday when the assault occurred. As he passed the suspect, the victim said he heard the man call him a faggot then immediately started punching him in the head.

“He wasn’t yelling or anything. In a calm voice just kept saying ‘fucking faggot, fucking faggot,’” he said. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill food+drink | Honor Coffee’s path to China goes through 15th and Pine

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“If we do it here, we can do it anywhere.”

Honor Coffee and Tea has been open in Seattle for two weeks and is already setting its sights on international expansion to China.

27-year-old CEO Hana Hu isn’t getting any younger.

“At the end of this year, we hope to have four stores open,” Hu said. “We’re building out spaces, singing leases. Next year, 10 to 20. We want to perfect the model here. If we do it here, we can do it anywhere.”

With a high level of cafe density, Capitol Hill does seem to be an excellent proving ground. Honor is set to open one of its next wave of stores at 15th and Pine in the space left empty by the exit of the Zaw pizza chain.

Hu tells CHS she is in the middle of her first weeks as a global coffee chain CEO but expects that Honor’s focus on community and service will be the keys to success here — and beyond. Continue reading →