Tag Archives: first hill

As it expands across Seattle, CARE Department chooses First Hill for East Precinct ‘Community Crisis Responders’ headquarters

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(Image: City of Seattle)

Screenshot

As Seattle’s CARE Department expands citywide thanks to a $1.9 million federal grant, its East Precinct crisis team has secured a new home.

The First Hill Improvement Association has announced that the city’s Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department has selected a Madison commercial suite for its new East Precinct “Community Crisis Responders” headquarters.

“The East Precinct CCR office will be located in First Hill on Madison Street in front of Swedish’s Nordstrom Tower (near MAD Pizza and Vietlicious). Welcome to the neighborhood!,” the FHIA announcement reads.

CARE is “procuring additional office spaces in several precincts,” FHIA says.

The choice of Madison ends efforts by CARE to establish its East Precinct office near Broadway and Pike. Continue reading →

Neighbor arrested for hatchet attack in First Hill apartment building

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The Seattle Police Departments says a man was arrested for a hatchet attack that sent his neighbor to the hospital at First Hill’s Cambridge Apartments Sunday afternoon.

Police and Seattle Fire were called to the Union Street apartment building above I-5 just after 2:30 PM to the reported assault. As crews treated the victim in the building’s lobby, police were able to take the suspect into custody inside his apartment without incident.

SPD says officers located the “hatchet/knife under the mattress in the living room.” The 50-year-old suspect was arrested and booked for investigation of first degree assault.

The victim was transported to Harborview in serious condition.

 

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No arrest as dog shot and killed when owner intervenes in First Hill dogfight

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A dog was shot and killed in an incident police say was self defense on a First Hill street just after midnight early Thursday morning.

Police say the shooting near 9th and Marion was reported around 12:15 AM after a dog owner opened fire on a dog who was fighting with his animal and “would not release its bite on the other dog’s neck.”

Police say both parties were walking their dogs in the area when the fight began and the animals could not be separated. One owner reportedly drew a handgun and fired a single shot, hitting the other owner’s dog. Continue reading →

‘Did You Feel It?’ — early morning 11th Ave suspicious booms, ripples from San Juan Islands quake

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It wasn’t the most restful Monday sleep for residents around First Hill and Yesler Terrace after early morning reports of suspicious booms woke some around 4 AM followed an hour later by a ripple of seismic activity.

Seattle Police responded to the area around 11th Ave and Spruce after callers reported an explosion with light smoke but no flames around 4 AM. Some said it was the second or third boom they had heard on the morning. According to East Precinct radio updates, police located a person near the scene who may have been involved in a personal dispute in the area. Police were investigating. We do not have information on any damage and there were no reported injuries.

An hour later, people around the Puget Sound felt the waves of a 4.5 magnitude earthquake in the San Juan islands. While there were very few reports around Capitol Hill’s surrounding neighborhoods 70 miles away, some residents of the area’s tallest residential buildings on First Hill reported the sway. Continue reading →

911 | SPD reports two surprise drug busts as fire turns up magic mushrooms on First Hill, cops spy fentanyl and meth in Cal Anderson

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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 magic mushroom bust: A fire in a First Hill apartment building turned up what police says appeared to be a “drug lab” for thousands of dollars worth of magic mushrooms set up inside the unit. Seattle Fire called its hazmat team to the 8th Ave building around 5 PM Saturday to investigate the lab that was discovered during an unrelated small fire.
    While rendering the scene safe the SFD used a chemical tester to check for hazardous/explosive materials and found the presence of cocaine. There also appeared to be drug manufacturing equipment present in the apartment.
    SPD says it obtained a search warrant and was seizing the cocaine and “illicit mushrooms” when the resident of the apartment returned. SPD says the suspect was placed under arrest for possession with intent to distribute narcotics and says 1,046 grams of mushrooms were recovered along with a trace amount of cocaine. “It appears the other chemistry equipment in the apartment was being used to sterilize containers for the distribution of the mushrooms and/or cocaine,” SPD says. In 2021, the Seattle City Council passed a resolution “declaring that the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of anyone engaging in entheogen-related activities should be among Seattle’s lowest law enforcement priorities.”
  • Cal Anderson drug bust: SPD says its officers were “proactively protecting the Seattle community and removing dangerous drugs from the streets, holding drug dealers accountable” Saturday night when a group made the job easy:
    At 1826 hours, officers were patrolling around Cal Anderson Park, near the intersection of East Denny Way and Nagel Place, when they noticed a group of individuals gathered closely together on a concrete structure in the park. While observing the group, the officers saw a small clear plastic box containing a white powdery substance resting on one suspect’s lap. Additionally, they noticed the suspect holding a small clear baggie, which the officers believed was intended for packaging narcotics.
    SPD reports officers took the suspect into custody, “and during a search incident to the arrest, they found 101.9 grams of fentanyl, 8.5 grams of methamphetamine, and $655 in cash inside the suspect’s bag.” “Based on their experience, the officers concluded that the suspect was likely involved in selling and/or delivering drugs,” the report concludes.
  • E Cherry DUI arrest: SPD says it arrested a 57-year-old “prolific DUI driver” for crashing into a pole in the Central District:
    On Feb. 14 at about 2 a.m., a police Lieutenant was on patrol near 23rd Avenue and East Cherry Street when he witnessed a single-vehicle collision. The driver exited a parking lot, drove across four lanes of traffic, through a crosswalk, and hit a pedestrian signal pole on the northeast corner. The Lt. determined the man was driving under the influence (DUI) and arrested him. He has a felony conviction for DUI, and previous convictions for Driving While License Suspended 1st Degree and an Ignition Interlock Device Violation. The suspect was transported to the East Precinct for DUI processing. Officers conducted an analysis of his breath, and he was impaired by alcohol more than double the legal limit. He was booked into the King County Jail for DUI-Four or More Prior Offenses, and Ignition Interlock Violation.
    “Noteworthy is that the driver had been arrested/released for felony DUI, IIL, and DWLS-1 in the past 48 hours by KCSO, his second DUI arrest in 2 weeks,” SPD reports. Police say the suspect was being held on $750,000 bail after the arrest.
 

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Piedmont Café brings new life to historic space on First Hill

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Freshly brewed coffee and baked goods now greet passersby on First Hill thanks to Piedmont Café, a new addition to the neighborhood’s hangouts that echoes with the area’s time before the massive health complexes and high-rise apartment and condo buildings. Nestled in a historic building with a storied past, the café is bringing life to the long ago hotel lobby.

“This building was formerly a hotel,” co-owner Charles Scott explained, pointing out the unique layout of the space. “This part was once a plant shop and formerly a storage facility.” The new cafe space now takes over what was the original lobby for the hotel. “For the last 60 years, I guess since ’62, it was sold and made into the Tuscany Apartments. Part of it was even the cafeteria for the charter school a couple blocks away.”

The Seneca Street site was once the Piedmont Apartment Hotel, “with exuberant colored tile and elegant ornament” from one of Seattle’s most prominent architects, the city’s entry on the historically significant structure reads.

Scott and his partner took on the challenge of transforming the historic building into a cozy and inviting café. “We built out the bar, added a floating wall for the storage area, and built out the dish area.” Hoping to keep the space feeling old and comfy, all the furniture was bought used, except for the two couches. “We resurfaced the tables and restored a nice hutch we got from Gig Harbor.” Continue reading →

With echoes of its ‘grand lobby’ past, Piedmont Cafe now open on First Hill

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(Image: Piedmont Cafe)

Enough of closures and looking back. Here is something new — though its inspiration is steeped in the past.

The Piedmont Cafe is now open on First Hill as part of an overhaul of the historic building now known as the Tuscany Apartments.

The Seneca Street site was once the Piedmont Apartment Hotel, “with exuberant colored tile and elegant ornament” from one of Seattle’s most prominent architects, the city’s entry on the historically significant structure reads. Continue reading →

Kaiser Permanente is ending 30-year legacy of Capitol Hill midwives helping Seattle moms and babies

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(Image: Kaiser Permanente)

(Image: CHS)

By Mina Sakay/UW News Lab

As expectant parents begin their pregnancy journey, many seek out midwifery care to reduce the use of medical interventions in labor. But starting in early 2025, that care will be harder to find as decades of midwife-assisted births on Capitol Hill is coming to an end.

Kaiser Permanente’s Capitol Hill-based midwives will no longer deliver babies at Swedish First Hill Hospital in Seattle, according to more than one Kaiser Permanente medical professional, effectively ending the oldest hospital-based midwifery program in Seattle.

Certified nurse-midwives are medical professionals who offer personalized support and care to patients. Midwives deliver babies and provide holistic family-centered care during pregnancy, labor, and after birth.

The Kaiser Permanente Capitol Hill Midwifery Clinic — originally Group Health before the health care giant swallowed up the smaller provider in 2015 — has been open to the community since 1990, providing services and care to families, according to the Change.org petition created by community members hoping to save the program.

The year of the merger, the former Group Health Capitol Hill campus transitioned from a focus on maternity services, forging a partnership with Swedish. Previously, around 1,700 babies a year took their first breaths of fresh Capitol Hill air at 15th and John.

The new babies land on First Hill these days. Often, there has been a Capitol Hill midwife to help.

“The importance of having certified nurse-midwives in every ob-gyn practice is crucial to improving health outcomes of both babies and mothers,” said Alice Ambrose, a medical assistant at the Kaiser Permanente Capitol Hill Midwifery Clinic. “The Kaiser midwives are trained in full spectrum perinatal healthcare and Kaiser is one of the only places left in Seattle that they can do this work.” Continue reading →

First Hill’s Town Hall hosts ‘Seattle Nice’ City Council candidate debate — and VP debate watch party

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(Image: Seattle Nice)

The journalists and commentators from the Seattle Nice podcast Erica Barnett, Sandeep Kaushik, and David Hyde will moderate a debate between Seattle City Council candidates Tanya Woo and Alexis Rinck Tuesday night at First Hill’s Town Hall.

The 7:30 PM debate will be preceded by a watch party screening of the night’s scheduled Vice Presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance.

You can learn more and get your free to “sliding scale” tickets here.

CHS looked at the battle for the citywide Position 8 seat on the council and Capitol Hill’s shifting political borders here.

You can find all recent CHS election coverage at capitolhillseattle.com/tag/elections.

 

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RapidRide G arrives with ambitious public transit goals — and plenty of hiccups over Madison’s new buses, stops, signs, and signals — UPDATE

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With reporting by Hannah Saunders

The new RapidRide G stretching 2.5 miles along Madison Street from the waterfront to Madison Valley via First Hill and Capitol Hill is unprecedented in the city’s rollout of a growing alphabet of “bus rapid transit” lines. The first days of service across the line’s special coaches, dedicated lanes, center loading passenger islands, and coordinated signaling has been an illustration in the challenges of doing new things in the big city.

Starting with Saturday’s launch, the promise of 6-minute service and smooth rides through the corridor has mostly been out of reach due to early hiccups around signal and signage coordination, collisions, and delays due to mechanical failures and operator challenges with the new coaches.

King County Metro says it is responding to early issues though it also referred some questions about signalling to the Seattle Department of Transportation.

UPDATE: “This is the first RapidRide line with six-minute headways and, as we expected, our operators continue to gain experience with our scheduled operations and maneuvering with the varying traffic conditions along the route,” a Metro spokesperson said in a statement

Metro calls the line’s start a success despite the issues and says it is working with SDOT to address the signal priority issues.

Metro says the new or upgraded signals along the route along with a special signal at the terminal to ensure buses start their routes smoothly will continue to be adjusted.

“Metro and SDOT staff are working to resolve any issues as they come up,” the spokesperson said. “SDOT is currently updating signal timings along Madison Street and at the intersection with Martin Luther King Jr Way. SDOT will keep monitoring and adjusting these signals to improve traffic flow for both buses and general traffic in the coming weeks.”

The full statement from Metro appears at the end of this post.

Other issues also have added up in the growing pains around the newly launched $144 million line that includes bus service 10 new stations between 1st Ave and MLK Jr Way operating from 5:00 AM to 4:00 AM daily with a bus every six minutes between 6 AM and 7 PM Monday through Saturday.

The growing RapidRide system’s arrival on Madison is hoped to optimize an area that was already served by a tangle of Metro routes in neighborhoods unlikely to be connected to Sound Transit’s light rail network anytime soon.

Some issues are small in comparison to the ambitions of the new line. One Rapid G Line bus driver with a year of experience under their belt, for example, told CHS the protocol on the new route requires they switch drivers every time at the end of the route — just one of the many new steps and procedures slowing performance on the new line during the launch.

“It could be worse,” the driver said. Continue reading →