Author Archives: Shamaar Thomas - CHS Reporting Intern

About Shamaar Thomas - CHS Reporting Intern

As an aspiring journalist, I strive to ensure that my work’s portray the truth and are transparent for readers to learn from. Fail forward. >>> The University of Washington News Lab gives advanced journalism students an opportunity to build a dynamic clip portfolio by reporting for any of 70 client news outlets in the greater Seattle area. CHS is proud to work with young journalists and feature their work. You can learn more here.

‘It would be really great to see it come back to life’ — Where is the Capitol Hill Community Council?

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A 2013 vote at the Capitol Hill Community Council drew a huge crowd as the group made big decisions on how much growth above Capitol Hill Station to support (Image: CHS)

 

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The Capitol Hill Community Council has seemingly faded away after years of supporting communities on Capitol Hill. The council’s last communications came in May… of 2021. There are no more meetings, no more speaking up at Seattle City Council, no more events.

Does Capitol Hill still need a community council?

The neighborhood’s volunteer council was, as former president of the group (2013-2017) Zachary Pullin said, “a scrappy group of people that looked like and represented Capitol hill and fought for a more welcoming and inclusive neighborhood.”

Pullin said Capitol Hill’s council was special because it fought for neighborhood issues because the council wanted to be a part of change — not stop it. Change is inevitable and “the best thing we can do is to be there helping to shape that change,” Pullin said.

Elsewhere around Seattle and the region, that progressive nature isn’t necessarily the community group norm. In May, Crosscut reported on the power groups like Houghton Community Council, the East Bellevue Community Council, and volunteer entities like the Seattle Design Review Boards have in shaping issues around land use policy. Seattle has convened a stakeholder group to overhaul its design review process.

Seattle City Hall and Mayor Bruce Harrell are also considering how better to reignite the flame of community group power in Seattle after the death of the more formalized City Neighborhood Council system. Continue reading →

Shikorina Pastries is baking up a sweet community on E Union

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(Image: Shikorina Pastries)

Black, queer, and woman-owned, community carries the day at Shikorina Pastries on E Union. From an inclusive menu for all diets to providing opportunities for bakers to explore their passion for culinary arts, the shop’s community-based makeup comes from owner Hana Yohannes.

“I want to bring a home feeling for people,” Yohannes said. “I feel like most people that walk in can really feel like they’re at home. Especially being in the Central District, which used to be a predominantly Black community. Just being a place in this community where people who have been here for a long time can feel represented.”

Shikorina Pastries makes traditional pastries, cookies and brownies, home-roasted coffee, and custom cakes. The menu has a selection that fits most diets, including vegan and gluten-free options.

“We want everyone to feel like there is something here that they can try. So we try to avoid most major allergens,” Yohannes said. Continue reading →

Cascade Flag Football League battles on the gridiron of Cal Anderson Park in preparation for the Super Bowl of inclusive football — Gay Bowl XXIII

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(Image: Shamaar Thomas – CHS Reporting Intern)

The Super Bowl of inclusive football is coming to Seattle and teams you see battling on the turf at Cal Anderson’s Bobby Morris Field are at the middle of it.

“The Cascade Flag Football League is an all-inclusive league. Not only geared towards the LGBTQ plus community, but also we welcome those that are part of the CIS community as well,” CFFA director of marketing and player DJ Harden said.

Sponsored by the Seattle Seahawks, National Gay Flag Football League (NGFFL), and multiple queer-friendly establishments across Seattle, CFFA is about inclusivity and sport.

“I think it’s just a great opportunity to sort of turn the narrative about football around. Football has this sort of toxic masculinity associated with it,” CFFA league commissioner Andrew Gorman said. He said the league brings members of the community a sense of achievement knowing that they can enter a space where they may not feel welcomed and make it their own.

The league is now gearing up for an ultimate battle in the sport. Continue reading →

Why everybody should be part of the 2022 TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival

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A scene from Pronouns in Bio screening at this year’s festival

StormMiguel Florez

The TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival which starts this week centered around in-person screenings at Capitol Hill’s Northwest Film Forum, organizers have set out to create a festival for everyone and an event to help connect the trans community across the neighborhood, the city, and around the world. Taking place May 5th through 8th, the 2022 Seattle Trans Film Festival offers events and films that showcase transgender films by and for trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people.

TRANSlations lead programmer and filmmaker StormMiguel Florez said the whole point is to explore trans film, of course, but also for people outside the community to come along.

“We don’t have a lot of spaces where we get to celebrate ourselves this way and see ourselves this way and it is a festival that is welcoming to everyone, but it is our space to see and be seen and connect. Just to have that kind of reflection that we so rarely get,” Florez said. Continue reading →

Fire doors and ‘food on the stove’ — Fire safety tips you may not have known for Capitol Hill apartment dwellers

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A 2021 fire at the Quinalt Apartments

More than half of Capitol Hill residents live in apartments but many of the lessons we’ve learned about fire safety have been focused on single family style homes.

To address apartment fire safety tips for Seattle’s growing population of apartment dwellers, the Seattle Fire Department is sharing lessons and learnings for the multifamily population.

SFD has seen steady numbers of multifamily building fires in the past two years — around 350 to 400 multi-residential fires a year.

William Mace, an education and outreach advisor at SFD, says the top four biggest causes of Seattle apartment building fires are unattended cooking, heaters, electrical appliances, and candles.

Mace wants to make sure the message is clear to Seattle apartment residents that fire doors must stay closed regardless of hot weather. He attributes the “chimney effect” as one of the major causes of disaster during the New York Bronx apartment fire on Jan. 9, killing 19 people, including nine children.

“When there is a big event somewhere in the country, a major fire, where a lot of people die, people start asking questions and they want to know for obvious reasons what they should do in that situation,” he said. Continue reading →

Seattle Cannabis Equity community members want ownership but also better conditions for frontline workers

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“Two months ago, I was staring down the barrel of a gun,” medical cannabis consultant Key Porter said. As she was trying to escape her shop, all she could think about was her son several blocks away.

Last week, Seattle cannabis equity community members spoke at the Seattle City Council Finance and Housing Committee meeting. Like Porter, they shared personal experiences working in the cannabis industry and brought up policies that contribute to cannabis equity.

In Seattle, Cannabis equity is about equity for frontline cannabis workers and BIPOC store owners. BIPOC communities are struggling to get a foothold in the cannabis industry, majority of which is dominated by white men. In 2020, Washington’s Department of Finance and Administrative Services said “42 of Seattle’s 48 cannabis retail stores had white majority ownership, of those 37 by white men.”

To help achieve equity in the cannabis industry, Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board established the Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force in 2020. To help BIPOC cannabis owners, the task force seeks to issue unused cannabis licenses to marginalized communities, harmed from the war on drugs.

But the path to ownership includes other, also important day to day issues faced by the industry workers brought together for the taskforce including come to face with a rash of armed robberies in the city. Continue reading →

Summit Community Center plans for fall 2022 opening at Capitol Hill Station

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(Image: Summit Center)

In Fall 2022, Capitol Hill Station will feature Summit Community Center, a center for neurodiverse individuals aged 18 to 29. It will offer programming and resources suited to prepare neurodiverse adults for a successful future.

“Everyone deserves to have a place, where everyone is a part of the community, disability or not,” the center’s executive director Alicia Nathan said. “The goal at Summit Community Center is to provide an outlet and a place for true social and community engagement for young adults with disabilities.”

Earlier, CHS reported on the new plans for the community center in Capitol Hill Station and growing efforts around neurodiversity in response to new understanding about variation in the human brain regarding how we socialize and learn. Neurodiversity can include people with ADHD and autism, Down syndrome, and some mental health conditions like being bipolar or obsessive-compulsive.

Now, Nathan says the Summit Community Center is raising funding and moving forward with plans for a fall opening.

“We want to help young adult neurodiverse individuals engage socially and get out into the community and be vibrant members of the community,” Nathan said. Continue reading →

A chef steps forward as owner with Sakana Sushi coming this spring to 15th and Madison

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Kim

Paul Kim has been working in Seattle sushi kitchens for nearly 15 years. Now, on Capitol Hill, he is about to own his first. Sakana Sushi and Kitchen is making preparations to open this spring at 15th and Madison.

“I’ve been in the restaurant industry for almost 15 years and I have always wanted my own restaurant,” Kim said. “It’s finally happening. I am glad things are turning out good.”

Sakana will fill an interesting corner sharing a block with Sichuan-focused Plenty of Clouds and Parma-styled Bar Cotto. Pioneer Square-born Intrigue Chocolate closed its cafe there during the pandemic challenges and it was previously the home of health cafe Healeo. Continue reading →

With rising prices and stretched staff, Capitol Hill restaurants request more pandemic financial support

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Capitol Hill diners like these customers at Oddfellows are finding higher prices and more tightly stretched staff

Capitol Hill restaurants struggle with COVID-19-related pressures such as staff shortages, low revenue, and an uncertain future.

To mitigate financial stressors, restaurants across the U.S increased pricing. The USDA said says that restaurant food prices increased by 6.0% in the past year.

Qualified restaurants want funds from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund but not all receive financial aid.

“We were not one of the lucky ones and did not receive RRF. We tried. We qualified, and got our paperwork in and should have received it,” Terra Plata owner Tamara Murphy said. “But it was not implemented well, and it helped many who might not have needed it.”

The American Rescue Plan Act established the RRF earlier last year, giving the Small Business Association $28.6 billion to award businesses that need funding equal to pandemic-related revenue loss. Up to $10 million was given per business and those who qualify for the funds can apply.

Murphy said RRF aid was not distributed wisely. Because RRF is based on lost revenue, many restaurants who closed doors received funds, leaving out restaurants that stayed open, she said.

“RRF put a lot of money in some pockets, and it worked out for them, unfortunately, we weren’t one of them,” Murphy said.

RRF funds have helped doors stay open for some restaurants fortunate enough.

For Roberto Salmeron, owner of Tacos Chukis, the narrative follows a restaurant that rebounded from RRF funds. He said although there was a 50% sales drop in 2020, his restaurant was able to rebound in 2021 with help from RRF funds. Continue reading →

Snowy River grows into Madison Valley with hope its cocktail confetti and decorations will someday flow across the state

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Luc is gone (Image: thechefinthehat.com)

(Image: Snowy River Cocktails)

The world of food and drink has changed. In Capitol Hill’s down the Hill neighbor Madison Valley, the area has lost a favorite hangout from James Beard award-winning chef and neighborhood resident Thierry Rautureau. In its place, a franchise concept dedicated to brightly colored, sugar coated cocktails has come to life and is so far weathering the pandemic-era challenges as it sets the stage for a hoped for expansion across the state.

Snowy River wants to share its cocktail decorations to many, hoping to open its decorated cocktail bars across Washington after a start in Bellingham and its first expansion this fall to Madison Valley in the former home of Rautureau’s Luc. The pandemic has not made it easy.

“There’s a lot of good markets out there, which I think Snowy River would do great in, it’s just a question of timing and finding the right location and the right people,” Snowy River owner Stuart Craig said.

A manufacturer of cocktail decorating products, Snowy River’s bars and restaurants are hoped to be a showcase of its creations and a lucrative franchise opportunity. Its Instagram overflows with colorful cocktails that feature glitter, rimmers, salts, and sugars.

“We have been manufacturing and distributing cocktail decorating products across the United States and other parts of the world since about 2017,” Craig said. “We decided by 2020 that it would be great to allow customers to showcase and see our cocktails at work with our cocktail decorating products.” Continue reading →