Tag Archives: madison park

Police investigate Madison Park shooting — UPDATE

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At least one person was injured and taken to the hospital after a shooting Thursday night near the playground in Madison Park.

Seattle Police responded to reports of several shots fired just after 8 PM and reports of at least one person with a gun on foot in the area of the park. Several vehicles were also reported speeding west from the scene.

UPDATE 10:52 AM: SPD has posted a brief on the shooting and says a 27-year-old woman at a barbecue with friends suffered a gunshot to the calf:

Continue reading →

Third week of protests begins with thousands marching and a CHAZ CHOP rally targeting the ‘affluent white communities of Seattle’

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Massive crowds marched down E Madison for a rally at the beach

Massive crowds marched down E Madison for a rally at the beach

Protesters against police brutality and inequity were marching east on Madison Friday afternoon when they passed tall fencing and finely pruned bushes.

It was the gated Broadmoor community and the main goal of the march, which started inside the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone and ended about three miles away at Madison Park Beach, was to engage rich, white neighborhoods in Seattle’s ongoing protests.

UPDATE: You can still call it CHAZ if you like but the name that the community has chosen is CHOP — the Capitol Hill Organized Protest. “We are not trying to secede from the United States,” speaker Maurice Cola said Saturday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/djbsqrd/status/1271973878441472000

Broadmoor served as a perfect foil for what these protesters said they wanted to do Friday; mobilize affluent white people with power to spur change that would benefit Black people. While passing, they chanted “Out of your homes and into the streets” to the couple dozen people standing on the sidewalk outside the community’s entrance.

Organizer and Seattle Peoples Party leader Nikkita Oliver highlighted the female organizers of the protest and repeated demands that the Seattle Police Department be defunded by 50%, spending increased on community-based organizations, and the protesters not be prosecuted.

She said that city leaders would try to offer some piecemeal changes to protesters, but urged demonstrators to stay in the streets until the system is overhauled.

“[Mayor Jenny Durkan] is going to try to find $100 million somewhere in the budget for 10 years to give to community, but it’s not going to be $100 million from the police,” Oliver said. “That means we have not won yet. Let’s be committed; let’s make this more than a moment. People have sacrificed things in the last 10 days; people have sacrificed things in the last 10 years; people have sacrificed things in the last 100, 200, 300 years and are tired of our powerful moments not making into a movement. It’s because we give into accepting reform.”

“Reform feels easy, but it’s not. Reform is bullshit.”

The crowd of thousands was one of two huge marches across Seattle Friday. As this group headed for Madison Park and the beach, an even larger “silent” march stretched out for blocks and blocks from the Central District to Beacon Hill. Continue reading →

Two years after their expulsion, Russian diplomats still hope to return to Seattle’s historic Samuel Hyde House

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The Russian Consular Residence the day diplomats moved out in 2018 (Image: CHS)

The Russian Consular Residence the day diplomats moved out in 2018 (Image: CHS)

By Claudia Yaw, UW News Lab/Special to CHS

Two years after the Trump administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats from the country, tension lingers over Seattle’s historic Samuel Hyde House — the city landmark in Madison Park where Russian diplomats used to reside. The U.S. State Department owns the land underneath, but the Russians still claims the house as their own — and they want back in.

In a statement to Capitol Hill Seattle, Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov lamented the closure of what was the only Russian consulate on the West Coast and the lockout at the E Madison residence.

“We presume that when the situation in our bilateral relations stabilizes, there will be a positive decision on returning this beautiful residence to its rightful owner as well as on reinstatement of Russian consular presence on the West Coast,” Antonov wrote.

CHS has agreed to post the complete letter from the ambassador as a condition for his comment. You can find it at the end of this post.

But the U.S. State Department doesn’t seem to have any immediate plans to do anything with the house. Continue reading →

Mapping Sawant’s 2019 win shows continued strength of District 3’s political divide

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Sawant again performed strongly in the southwest core of District 3

It was a tale of two districts.

To the east and north were the wealthier homeowners of North Capitol Hill, Madrona, Montlake, and Broadmoor, where voters picked the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce-backed Egan Orion.

Meanwhile, in the more densely populated Broadway and Pike/Pine cores and the Central District, residents sided with the re-election of socialist Seattle City Council incumbent Kshama Sawant.

While the path to victory in 2019 included a dramatic shift from Election Night totals, Sawant’s win, in the end, looks extremely familiar.

To Erin Schultz, a consultant that worked on the Orion campaign, the voting distribution of District 3 looks like what Sawant saw in 2015 as she defeated Pamela Banks for the seat.

“The mapped results are similar to results Sawant has gotten in every election, but we were obviously hoping to close the narrow gap, especially after the Primary performance,” Schultz said in an email. She believes that Amazon’s late $1 million contribution turned the election into a “referendum on corporate influence in elections rather than solutions to addressing homelessness, improving affordability, and the many other issues our city is struggling with.”
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Madison Park resident considers ‘centrist independent’ run for president

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Schultz inside the 23rd and Jackson Starbucks for a 2015 forum on race and policing (Image: Casey Jaywork for CHS)

Could America elect a president who probably couldn’t even win a race for his own district’s City Council seat?

Probably not.

But former Starbucks CEO and longtime Madison Park lakefront mansion resident Howard Schultz is apparently passing up his opportunity to challenge socialist incumbent Kshama Sawant for her seat representing his District 3 on the Seattle City Council in 2019 and, instead, gearing up for a “centrist independent” run for president in 2020. Continue reading →

Madison Park woman killed in Seattle Center domestic violence stabbing — UPDATE

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The 28-year-old who died after what police say was a domestic violence stabbing attack at the Seattle Center Friday has been identified as a Madison Park resident.

Police say Gabrielle Maria Garcia was stabbed multiple times in the attack inside the Seattle Center’s Armory food court. The attack happened in front of the couple’s child, according to the SPD report on the incident.

David Lee Morris, 29, was arrested at the scene and is currently held in King County Jail for investigation of domestic violence homicide. He has not been charged but the court found probable cause to keep Morris jailed in a Saturday hearing. UPDATE 11/7/2018: Morris has been charged with first degree murder with aggravating circumstances of domestic violence.

Garcia was rushed to Harborview where she later died.

 

Moving day in Madison Park at the Russian Consular Residence

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It was moving day at Seattle’s Russian Consular Residence where diplomats, workers, and their families spent the morning packing belongings, gear, and equipment into a small convoy of trucks waiting in the alley. Meanwhile, the Russian flag still flew above the historic Hyde mansion.

The personal scenes of moving out played out under the swirl of geopolitical intrigue that  has touched down here at E Madison and 38th Ave E. In March, CHS reported on the Trump administration’s expulsion of Russian diplomats in response to an alleged Kremlin-backed nerve agent attack on a former spy in the United Kingdom. As part of the diplomatic crackdown, the White House also ordered the closure of Russia’s Seattle consulate in Seattle’s downtown One Union Square over spying concerns. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | ‘Vine-cutting’ at the grand opening of the Arboretum Loop Trail

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The Washington Park Arboretum is said to be home to the largest botanical collection west of the Mississippi, with some 20,000 trees and plants across its 230 acres, and countless birds and rocks and things. Sunday, officials and neighbors gathered along the new Arboretum Loop Trail to celebrate the route’s grand opening with a “vine-cutting,” speeches, and lots of good dogs.

“That is the cutest dog I have seen yet today,” Sally Clark, former Seattle City Council member and the University of Washington’s director of regional and community relations, quipped as a canine in attendance for the grand opening event barked during her address. “And I have seen a lot of dogs this morning.”

The 1.2-mile trail has created a new 12-foot-wide paved path through the leafy area along Lake Washington for walkers, wheelchairs, slow bikes, and strollers and to connect to the park’s meandering trails.  $7.8 million in 520 construction mitigation funds from WSDOT powered the project. Continue reading →

Amid U.S. expulsion, Russian diplomats given until end of April to move out of $4M Madison Park mansion

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Russian consular officials have until late April to vacate the $4 million historic Madison Park mansion the state department has provided them with since 1994.

U.S. Dept. of State officials have given the diplomats until April 24th to leave the property that has been used as the residence for the Russian government’s Consulate General in Seattle since the department’s Office of Foreign Missions acquired the 1910-built landmark in what King County records say was a $1.1 million transaction in April 1994.

The United States has withdrawn its consent for Russia’s consular post in Seattle, “in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” CHS is told. The state department could not provide details of any financial arrangements related to the Russian use of the U.S. government-owned diplomatic residence. Continue reading →

Police search for motorcycle helmet-wearing suspect in Madison Park bank robbery

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A man wearing a black motorcycle helmet held up a Madison Park bank Tuesday afternoon and fled the area.

Police were called to the bank near 40th and E Madison just after 3:30 PM to the reported robbery. Police say the suspect did not brandish a weapon during the hold-up and would not say how much cash if any the bandit made off with.

Police were working with a limited description of the suspect due to his covered head and face. The suspect was described as around 6 feet tall, and wearing a black jacket, and gloves during the crime, according to East Precinct radio dispatches. Many banks post notices that headgear like helmets and even sometimes hats or hoods may not be worn inside.

SPD did not identify which bank was robbed. A Wells Fargo branch is located near the intersection where police say the crime took place.