Monthly Archives: January 2024

Seattle Fire: Smoking likely cause of Capitol Hill apartment blaze that sent one to hospital

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(Image: King County)

Firefighters rescued one person and quickly knocked down an apartment fire believed to have been caused by improperly discarded smoking materials Wednesday, the Seattle Fire Department says.

Crews were called to the address of the Caroline W. apartments around 11:20 AM to a report of a fire on the second floor of the five-story building developed by the Community House mental health agency as housing for tenants recovering from homelessness and mental illness. Continue reading →

Hollingsworth holds first community public safety meeting: a letter to the liquor board over ‘lewd conduct’ inspections, a check on East Precinct response times, and addressing gun violence with jobs and counseling

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A community public safety meeting organized by the office of newly elected District 3 Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth after a shooting earlier this month at 23rd and Union took on issues far beyond the Central District neighborhood Tuesday night.

Hollingsworth said Tuesday inside an unfinished restaurant space in the Midtown Square development where the meeting was held that she is starting her term at the council asking questions and digging into D3 concerns like the liquor control board’s “lewd conduct” inspections at a handful of Capitol Hill gay bars and clubs.

A question at Tuesday’s meeting is why this kind of enforcement is a priority — especially given other public safety needs and the history of violent police raids targeting queer venues.

“There were ten bars, and four happened to be LGBTQ,” Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth said Tuesday she has written a letter to the liquor and cannabis board and is asking for an explanation.

“I’m trying to get public safety to be a nonpartisan issue,” Hollingsworth said Tuesday.

The meeting touched on safety issues across D3 but focused especially on ongoing gun violence and recent shootings, including an instance when blew out Midtown Square apartment windows earlier this month. Some community members emphasized the need for a stronger police officer presence, while others wanted to address violence in a proactive way rather than reactive.

“We have seen a significant amount of gun violence,” Hollingsworth said. “This is a reaction to the stuff that’s been going on in our district.”

CHS reported on this Cherry Hill shooting Sunday night, and the January 23rd shooting that left one person hospitalized. Hollingsworth ran her campaign with a focus on public safety, and is making it a priority in office after a record number of homicides in 2023.

“Most of the emails we get in from our email box is [about] public safety,” Hollingsworth said. Continue reading →

You really shouldn’t throw away a battery in Seattle

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Seattle Public Utilities

You shouldn’t throw batteries in the trash anyhow but now it is against the rules in Seattle. City officials are scrambling to get the word out after Seattle Public Utilities quietly put new rules into place banning batteries from the garbage to start 2024 to address an increase in dangerous fires, environmental, and cost concerns.

The new rules ban trash disposal of common household batteries, more powerful batteries for vehicles and tools, and embedded batteries found in electronics, toys, computers, monitors, and e-bikes,

It’s an honor system. Continue reading →

School Board member steps down over residency issue raised in Seattle City Council appointment process

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Vivian Song, a Capitol Hill finalist in the recent process to fill an open citywide seat on the Seattle City Council, is stepping down from the Seattle School Board after complaints about her move outside of the school area she was elected to represent.

“Director Song’s legal counsel has advised that she can continue lawfully finishing her term,” a joint statement from Song and Lisa Rivera, another board director who has moved out of her school area, reads. “Nonetheless, after witnessing the manufactured distraction that others have leveraged because of Director Song’s move, we’ve decided that we will not allow this unnecessary distraction to continue, and are thus both tendering our resignations, which we are doing concurrently to streamline the appointment process for our colleagues and minimize disruption when other important district decisions are on the horizon.” Continue reading →

Carmelo’s Tacos set to move in where Starbucks moved out over ‘safety and security incidents’ on Broadway

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Someday, Starbucks may have to make amends with the National Labor Relations Board for closing down cafes across the country in its ongoing battle with union groups.

But any mandated reopenings around Capitol Hill are getting more complicated.

The corner of Broadway and Denny is moving on from the coffee giant’s labor tiff with plans for a neighborhood favorite to move in,

CHS has learned that Hillcrest Market-born Carmelo’s Tacos is making plans to open a new restaurant in the space formerly home to the Broadway and Denny Starbucks. Continue reading →

Hollingsworth holding 23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting over area gun violence

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An image from Hollingsworth’s first newsletter of the councilmember with Victoria Beach who recently retired as chair of SPD’s African American Advisory Council

Newly elected District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth will host “a candid conversation about community safety in the Central District” Tuesday night.

Hollingsworth announced the “23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting” during a Monday briefing of the Seattle City Council.

23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting With Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth

Come join Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth at the intersection of 23rd Avenue and E. Union Street for a candid conversation about community safety in the Central District.

Tuesday, January 30th 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Midtown Square
2301 East Union Street

The session was organized following this nighttime Wednesday, January 23rd shooting incident that sent one person to the hospital and bullets flying into at least two nearby apartment windows at the Midtown Square mixed-use development on the southeast corner of 23rd and Union. Continue reading →

‘Lewd conduct’ — Capitol Hill gay bars and clubs band together to push back on liquor board inspections

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The JET weekend inspection roster provided to CHS

A group of bars and clubs has issued a “call to action“

A group of Capitol Hill gay bars and clubs are teaming up with neighborhood queer community leaders Dan Savage and Terry Miller in calling for the state’s liquor control board and Seattle Police officials to explain what they say was a weekend crackdown reminiscent of historical harassment of Seattle’s LGBTQ friendly venues.

Ownership at the bars including The Cuff, Queer/Bar, Massive, and The Eagle along with Savage and Miller say that citations issued over weekend over clothing and decency violations at a handful of clubs recorded by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board and so-called Joint Enforcement Team inspectors were targeted.

The group is asking for the community to demand the liquor control board explain its actions.

“None of the venues in our coalition have ever been cited for alcohol or violence related offenses,” the statement from the club owners reads. “Citations were issued based solely on individuals’ clothing choices, such as being shirtless or wearing a jockstrap, which we consider a breach of the power entrusted to JET and the LCB for maintaining public safety.”

“The absence of violence or liquor-related issues in the citations indicates a concerning focus on targeting queer individuals in queer spaces,” they write.

Liquor control board officials met on the situation Monday and say that the enforcement effort “in no way” was targeted because of the LGBTQ affiliations of the venues, a spokesperson told CHS Monday night.

The spokesperson provided a roster of inspected bars and clubs from the weekend to CHS and said that there were “lewd conduct violations” noted to management Friday night at Neighbours and The Cuff, and again Saturday night as inspectors visited The Eagle for a complaint of service to a minor, but no citations for the issue around clothing and nudity were issued. The liquor board says management was notified of the violations and that inspectors “will follow up with licensee.”

According to the spokesperson, the inspection roster for any given weekend is driven by local JET partners including issues identified by Seattle Police and the Seattle Department of Transportation.

The clubs say the actions are a worrying new activity by the liquor board and JET. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Stoup Brewing celebrates Capitol Hill Magic Hazy IPA, its first brew at Broadway and Union

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Stoup Brewing has made its first Capitol Hill beer.. The decade-old Seattle microbrewery that expanded onto the Hill last year with its acquisition of the neighborhood’s Optimism Brewing held a party Thursday marking the release of its new Capitol Hill Magic Hazy IPA.

“We went through a whole lot of it last night which we must say felt pretty damn good,” Stoup posted about the fun. Continue reading →

With demolition plan for 120-year-old Wilshire Building, seven-story affordable housing project’s ‘fast track’ finally ready to play out on Broadway

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(Image: Knit Studios)

The Bait Shop block isn’t the only stretch of Broadway being readied for redevelopment to add new housing to the core of Capitol Hill. Demolition permit filings this month show the project to create a new seven-story affordable apartment building in the 200 block of Broadway E is rounding into shape after years of planning.

CHS reported here in November 2022 on the Seattle Landmarks Board rejection of Broadway’s Wilshire Building for historical protections, clearing the way for the now more than 120-year-old structure to be demolished to make way for a new seven-story, mixed-use building with 95 apartments, five ground floor live/work units, and new street-level retail space.

The project has been developed by Cannon Commercial, TAP Collaborative, and $3 million in affordable housing funding from the 2021 round of Office of Housing grants. A company registered to Joe Cannon and TAP’s Rebecca Ralston purchased the property for $6.25 million in 2018, according to King County records. Continue reading →

There is a big year of voting ahead — Warm up with the 2024 King Conservation District election

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A year of major political decisions starts with a smaller, mostly online vote in Seattle and King County.

You have until February 13th to cast your ballot in this year’s King Conservation District board of supervisors race for Position No. 1:

For the fifth year, the King Conservation District election will primarily rely on electronic ballot access. Ballots will be available to eligible voters online through the KCD website from January 23, 2024, at 8:00 AM through February 13, 2024, at 8:00 PM. Voters may return ballots electronically through the online ballot access system or reach out to KCD for assistance. Democracy Live operates the online ballot access portal and King County Elections will tabulate all ballots and report all results.

The board leads the natural resources assistance agency created “to promote the sustainable use of natural resources through responsible stewardship.” It covers most of the county including Seattle.

The 2024 Position 1 race features three candidates.

Brittney Bush Bollay wants to return to the board to support “local agriculture, clean waterways, abundant forests, and healthy salmon” while safeguarding the budget, and “growing partnerships with other government organizations,” and shaping “a new, fair contract with our unionized staff.” “During the past three years the Conservation District has entered a period of unprecedented stability and success, and I pledge that we will only grow from here,” the incumbent writes. Continue reading →