Fundraiser: Organizer of PrideFest Capitol Hill and Seattle Center celebrations says some sponsors are pulling out

Posted on by
18

A PrideFest 2025 scene on Broadway

The producer of the events that fill Cal Anderson, Broadway and the Seattle Center with Pride celebrations every June is trying to close a $75,000 gap amid what it says is a nationwide downturn in support for LGBTQ organizations and queer causes and “sponsorship challenges across the country for organizations like ours.”

“Already, we are seeing a loss of about 1/3 of our sponsorship funding (around $225,000 total, or $75,000 down as of April 1),” the call for support reads. “At PrideFest, we are committed to throwing big, beautiful events that are free for all, but it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce such a large event well, to pay artists, and to make it safe for everyone.”

You can give here.

PrideFest and director Egan Orion organize the annual Pride weekend events that include the party around the Seattle Center fountain that follows the city’s annual Pride parade and the street festival that precedes it and fills Broadway and Cal Anderson with vendors, performances, and fun. Here is a look at the 2024 PrideFest festivities on Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

Garfield High School mourns senior shot and killed in Yakima

Posted on by
1

The communities of Garfield High School are facing another spring mourning a young life lost to gun violence but this latest tragedy happened far from the 23rd Ave campus.

The Garfield PTSA announced a candlelight vigil will be held Monday night at the Central District school to mark the life of Salvador Granillo who was shot and killed Sunday in Yakima.

“Another loss of another precious person in our school community is devastating,” the PTSA announcement reads. “Holding his family, friends and everyone who knew and loved Salvador in our hearts. Holding all GHS students, teachers, staff and families in our hearts too.” Continue reading →

2025’s anti-Trump protests are smaller, low-conflict, frequent, and have great signs — Another marched on Broadway Saturday

Posted on by
17

The latest in a year of smaller, more local, low-conflict protests focused on messaging against the second Trump administration filled the Seattle Central plaza and Broadway Saturday.

The Capitol Hill rally and march was part of a national day of “Hands Off” protests across the country and up and down the Puget Sound. It was also part of multiple demonstrations in the city itself as groups like Seattle Indivisible have kept a steady drum beat of protests in motion with frequent, nearly weekly gatherings centered in neighborhoods and cities across the region instead of attempting larger rallies in Seattle.

Keeping track of the smaller events has been sometimes a challenge for those wanting to get involved and sort out if a planned protest will have a healthy turnout. Continue reading →

$1.4B King County Parks levy renewal to appear on August ballot

Posted on by
7

Redmon’s Marymoor Park (Image: King County Parks)

The King County Council last week finalized legislation that will put a $1.4 billion renewal of the county’s park levy on the August ballot.

“Over the life of the six-year levy, it is estimated it would generate $1.4 billion,” the announcement from the council reads. “The initial levy rate of 23.29 cents per $1,000 of assessed value would cost the owner of a median-valued home ($844,000) about $16.33 per month.”

The levy, first approved by voters in 2003, provides all funding to operate and maintain King County’s regional and local parks, trails and open space system, the council says. Continue reading →

When will Capitol Hill-grown magic mushrooms be legal in Seattle?

Posted on by
18

A wavy cap found on Capitol Hill (Image: CHS)

A home-grown culture of psilocybe cubensis (golden teachers). (Image: Colby Bariel)

By Colby Bariel/UW News Lab

A Capitol Hill expert has taught hundreds of people, from grandmothers to neuroscientists how to cultivate magic mushrooms guiding many into the world of psychedelics.

With years of teaching experience, they cover the responsible use of entheogens, contemporary psychedelic theory, and their therapeutic applications.

“Psychedelics are meaning-making chemicals,” the expert tells CHS. “Magic mushrooms are therapeutic, not medicinal.”

Their work is facilitated by a 2021 Seattle City Council decree decriminalizing the noncommercial cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms and several other entheogens. This decision has allowed Seattle residents to engage in home-mycology and explore the spiritual, religious, and therapeutic experiences offered by psychedelics.

But Seattle is not yet safe for psychonauts. And the shadows of the Trump administration have darkened the situation to the point where recent progress here is being slowed and rolled back.

While personal psilocybin cultivation is decriminalized, its use remains illegal. In February, a man on First Hill was busted for what police said was a “drug lab” with thousands of dollars worth of magic mushrooms set up inside a First Hill apartment unit.

Organizations like REACH (Responsible Entheogen Access & Community Healing Coalition) Washington are advocating for state-level entheogen decriminalization.

Oregon is already a step ahead. Continue reading →

911 | First Hill 13th floor fire, crisis response off 15th Ave E

Posted on by
Reply

(Image: Seattle Fire)

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  • First Hill fire: A Thursday afternoon fire in First Hill’s Jefferson Terrace damaged a 13th-floor unit of the Seattle Housing Authority building and sent a woman to the hospital. Seattle Fire says it escalated the just before 5 PM incident at the apartment tower in the 800 block of Jefferson to a two-alarm response as crews rushed to get water on the flames. SFD said it was able to contain the fire to the original unit. One patient was helped out of the building by firefighters. Crews treated an approximately 40-year-old female in stable condition. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center. Seattle Police closed streets to traffic during the response and reported making one arrest “for a person trying to force their way into the active fire scene.” SFD says investigators ruled the cause of the fire as accidental, “the result of incense that ignited nearby bedding spreading to the mattress.” Continue reading →

First 2025 totals show East Precinct left out of rest of city’s dip in reported property crime

Posted on by
38

The union representing Seattle’s sworn officers does not seem to love the city

The Seattle Times called them out on it

This is Capitol Hill…

And the Central District.

With a debate brewing with the Seattle Police Officers Guild over citywide crime stats showing a drop across Seattle in the first quarter of 2025, the numbers for the East Precinct covering the neighborhoods around Capitol Hill, First Hill, and the Central District tell a slightly different story.

Crime statistics compiled by SPD show property crimes did not dip here in January, February, and March like they did in other parts of Seattle including a 26% drop in the North Precinct, a 25% drop in the South,
30% in the Southwest.

Downtown’s West Precinct was down 7% — right around the East Precinct’s modest dip.

Meanwhile East Precinct violent crime totals including a leap in reported sexual assaults were up in the first three months of 2025.

There are also trends that are not being talked about. Arrests across the city have leapt above the totals recorded in the same period last year — including a 30% jump in East Precinct arrests so far in 2025. Continue reading →

Seattle Fire: Cause of Queen Sheba blaze ‘undetermined’

Posted on by
2

(Image: CHS)

The Seattle Fire Department says its investigation could not determine an official cause for Tuesday afternoon’s fire that charred the outside of the old Queen Sheba restaurant at Broadway and John.

“Fire investigators ruled the cause as undetermined,” SFD said. “The fire originated in a dumpster between two buildings and spread to the exterior and windowsills of one of the structures.”

SFD says damage was mostly contained to the exterior of the old house turned restaurant. Continue reading →

Seattle’s ‘Pessimistic Scenario Forecast’ has city looking at tightened belts, ‘new revenue solutions’

Posted on by
28

Screenshot

If you think your retirement plans look bad after the last few months, check out the latest forecast for the City of Seattle’s revenue sources. The latest analysis shows revenues for City Hall missing the mark by $244 million over the next two years. Mayor Bruce Harrell is talking belt tightening. The Seattle City Council’s leading progressive and most junior member is talking about “new revenue solutions” and will be holding a series of town hall this summer “to hear directly from constituents.”

“The revenue forecast released today presents a dire challenge that requires immediate action. This shortfall is real, it’s significant, and it threatens critical essential services that Seattle residents depend on daily,” Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck said in a statement. Continue reading →