Improv at the Cascade People's Center
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Starting in February, Seattle Free School is hosting a series of improv classes at the Cascade People's Center. Click here if you're interested. Just don't be the guy that pulls out an invisible gun in every skit.
Whether you are a seasoned performer or have never been in front of a group of people in your life, this improvisation class is for the curious, the daring, or those who just want to have a heck of a lot of fun playing games that will sharpen your ear, mind & body and build on your ability to work & play as a team. Students are asked to commit to attending all three classes which will be held on 2/9, 2/12, and 2/16 from 7-9pm.
Bad Wreck at 32nd & Yesler - Updated x5
We heard sirens and looked on the 911 page to find a "Rescue/Heavy", which usually means a bad car wreck. More details from the scanner soon...
Update: 12:04am - We're not hearing anything on the scanner yet. If any readers are in the area, please let us know what you see
Update x2: 12:07am - Got something now - this started as a hit & run at 23rd & Yesler that was witnessed by a cop. She began a pursuit of the gold jeep that was involved, headed eastbound on Yesler. The car continued past 32nd where Yesler dead-ends down the hill, flipped over, and caught on fire. Both suspects are still in the vehicle. One unconscious, one bleeding from the face. Small fire in the engine. Downed power lines are in the area.
Update x3: 12:11am - Eastbound traffic on Yesler is being shutdown at 31st. 901VJF
Update x4: 12:28am - The passenger told police that there were only two in the vehicle.
FYI - There's also a domestic disturbance in the 500 block of Lakeside Ave S, where the wife is beating on the husband
Update x4: 12:17am - Officer asked to make a blood run
Update x5: 12:33am - Victims/Suspects taken to Harborview. City Light is on scene to deal with the downed lines.
13th Ave E: Cradle of Obamacracy
Wrote recently about a Capitol Hill mystery. History records that Barack Obama spent a short portion of his infancy on Seattle's Capitol Hill. The mystery -- where on the hill did baby Barack and his mother Ann Dunham make their home? Get ready to install a historical plaque at 516 13th Ave E. Capitol Hill Times says a document in the Seattle Public Library places a "Mrs. Anna Obama" at that address in 1961.
Recently located was a listing for Stanley Ann Obama in the 1961 Polk directory at the Seattle Public Library: "Obama Anna Mrs studt h516 13th Ave. E. apt. 2"
The apartment house was in the 500 block of 13th Avenue East between East Republican and Mercer streets, but it no longer exists.
Here's what you'll see in the are today. Add another dot to your Capitol Hill Obama tour map.
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The Newsletter Test for Friendly Development
Every quarter I pitch in to help deliver the Squire Park neighborhood newsletters. In addition to being pretty great exercise (it gives me a whole new respect for our local postal carriers who go up and down the hills all day), it gives me a good chance to see some of our new neighborhood real estate up close.
And after finishing my deliveries yesterday afternoon, I think I've come up with a pretty good way to judge whether a building fits into the neighborhood or not. If you can find a way to put a newsletter on a front porch without feeling like you're trespassing, it's good. If not, it's horrible and the developer should be prevented from ever building in the city again.
I'm really surprised at how many of the new townhouse projects on my route have no approachable front entrances. Instead they've got tall, foreboding fences and the central car plazas that serve as the main entries to the homes. They're completely walled off from their neighbors.
I know some of the rules changed last year that should help with fences, etc. But maybe we need a simpler rule: Can a neighbor see and approach a front door to say Hi or drop something off? Hopefully the answer will always be yes on new projects.
For those that don't meet that criteria, I'm sorry that you didn't get a newsletter...
The Broadway Building
That big hole in the ground across the street from SCCC will soon be "The Broadway Building," consisting of 14,000 sf of retail, 12,000 sf of offices, 100 apartments, and 27 SCCC International Student Loft Apartments. This project seems to have flown under the radar somewhat, even hugeasscity hasn't said anything about it! The only thing I could find on it is this DJC article, which I can't get in to.
I usually keep up with new developments that are happening and since I hadn't heard anything about it I had assumed that it was a new SCCC building, but I guess not. The design is nothing special, but I'm really glad to hear that this building is going to have retail and housing. If the right kind of retail goes in here (aka not Kinkos, or Money Tree etc), this should really help bridge the growing gap between Pike/Pine and North Broadway. Hopefully they put some effort into making the back look nice too, since it'll be right up against Cal Anderson.
Squire Park Community Council Meeting
The Squire Park Community Council held it's quarterly meeting today at Historic Firehouse No. 23 (East Cherry and 18th). The meeting was well-attended by the community. The main issues of discussion were to proposed school closures in the "Central cluster", proposed development along 18th Street at the Swedish Cherry Hill Campus, and the election of board members to the Squire Park Community Council.
Read the latest Newsletter here.
Proposed School Closures:
Seattle School Board Director, Mary Bass, was on hand to address community concerns regarding the proposed school closures in the Central Area. Both Ms. Bass and the community strongly oppose the closures, noting that the central area would be the most effected area in Seattle. Capacity in the neighborhood will become increasingly important as the area becomes more dense and new developments, such as Squire Park Plaza (just completed) and the proposed redevelopment of Yesler Terrace, come online.
The final Public Hearing on the Capacity Management Motion will occur on January 22.
The school board will vote on the motion January 29.
More information is available at the Seattle School District's "Capacity Management" site.
Swedish Cherry Hill Campus Development.
Another hot topic on the Agenda was a presentation given by Swedish Medical Center's Darren Redick, who presented an update on proposed changes to the Major Institution Master Plan to allow development along the Cherry Hill Campus' 18th street border. The original MIMP adopted in 1994 called for a number of community amenities on that street, including a day care an a gym. The "minor amendment" that Swedish (and its development partner, Sabey) requested apparently would not include either neghborhood amenity. Representatives of Sabey did indicate that there would be street level amenities to create a pleasant green corridor for foot and bike traffic as well as street level retail, such as coffee shops and delis. The Cherry Hill Citizen's Advisory Committee has not been receptive to the proposed changes and objected to the amendment being classified as "Minor." It's now up to the Seattle City Council.
Vacant Board Seat's filled:
8 vacant board seats were filled, giving the Squire Park Community Council a complete board. The next board meeting will be held February 3rd at the Prat Fine Arts Center.
Violette to close
It’s the end of the road for the Pioneer Square boutique Violette.
More on this story here: http://www.nwsource.com/shopping/fashion/blog/violette-close-whats-future-shopping-pioneer-square?cmpid=2628
Anti-DOMA rally at SCCC
About 100 people gathered at Seattle Central before beginning their march down Pine to Westlake. More info on the rally here.
A Suggested Plan of Action (Public Safety)
I have been thinking about the best way for all of us who have been reading/lurking here since this website started to turn our concern into something positive.
The recent shootings have caught the public's attention & now is the perfect time to engage.
Here are some thoughts. Bear in mind that I am a former political professional so the old Seattle "well, we've tried that and it didn't work" isn't a line of reasoning that is going to sway me. Nothing, anywhere, is set in stone. Government is headed by people who are elected to office. In progressive cities like SF, Seattle, and Austin, municipal governments are ruled by small bands of special interests (I'm not saying that's a bad thing, although it can sometimes be bad for school boards, as we can see on the Seattle School Board right now). If you want to draw attention to your cause or interest, you have to be willing to play the game of progressive municipal city politics from the top down...that is, be the loudest and the most vocal and in the front row of the City Council meetings and in the offices all the time. It's a face time kind of deal...the more they see our faces, the more influence we have.
First, we form a public group. Doesn't matter if it is two people or two hundred. We have a name and a mission statement. We make a website and we are off and running. We need to meet with the Pioneer Square Community Association and get the drift of what they can and cannot do for us and what is currently in the works for park renovations. They do have their own public safety committee. Who pays the salary for this group? Does anyone know? I think Lisa reads this so maybe she can give us more background on what the Community Association is all about. I am a strong proponent of when you want to shake things up, you need a bold fresh start so I'm going to be a an advocate for a new group that works with but is independent of the Community Association.
We then canvass the neighborhood businesses and our buildings, passing out flyers and driving people to the website to register. We'll need someone computer savvy to manage this as we need to be able to send out action items to our list via email.
After that, we launch a publicity blitz. PS Video and I can probably cover the online community but it would be really great if we could find a PR person based in the Square with contacts in the regular mainstream media. Our message? Pioneer Square undergoing a transformation and we are banding together to take back our neighborhood from the criminal elements. We'll lead the news if we message it right. Everyone loves the neighbors VS the drug dealer story. I'll get out there with the baby and PS Video gets out there as a guy just trying to run a small business and anyone else who wants to talk to the press & we'll stand in the Occidental park and look serious and we'll talk about the very real realities with the crime in the park. I'm not trying to sound cynical but it's a great story. We have to be sure not to make it sound like a war on the homeless, though. That's an important distinction.
Next is our first order of business with the Mayor and the City Council. We ask for a special Pioneer Square Crime Task Force, with the express goal of eliminating street crime from our neighborhood. Seattle PD, City Manager, the Mayor, and council representatives, plus federal involvement like DEA and the FBI. They don't like to work together but we should insist on it. DEA, in particular, should be involved. They have very sharp people and are based in lower Queen Anne. We should meet with these offices in separate meetings, too. This could take a while or it could move quickly, I don't know. In either case, we're getting face time with the people who matter and we just keep going back until we get what we need. If they try and use the argument that Pioneer Square has always been crime-ridden and it's some kind of historic predetermination, we get really stern and we just deliver the message: not any more. If they try and tell us that we have high crime because of the high concentration of social services in the square, we get stern and say: then that part of the city should have the highest and most alert community policing in the city. Period. We aren't abandoning part of the city to crime and that's that.
We will need to be true partners with the police and we start with a neighborhood crime watch. It's really easy. Just forming one sends a message, plus they will put up signs all over the park and the neighborhood for free, which helps get a message onto the street. We can launch the paperwork for that right after our first meeting.
By true partners, I mean that we have regular contact with the police and that we are their public relations partners. SPD has a public relations problem and we can be helpful to them. We have to given them public support. We start things off on the right foot by posting on our new webpage a message of appreciation for the police. It's small but a positive way to start. We'll let them tell us in meetings how we can be more helpful on a day to day basis.
We need someone willing to own the police blotter. I have been trying to find that Capitol Hill site with the guy who runs the police blotter..can anyone direct me? We need a point person to "own" the relationship with the police and be our regular point of contact.
We also need to get involved with the police union. I don't know much about SPD, but in other cities, the Police Union is very powerful. We'll need to support them by buying a table at their fundraiser, etc. I'm not implying that we "buy" the help of the police, we couldn't even if we wanted to, just that we be their true supporters and be public about appreciating the work that they do. It's gritty and difficult and, like any job, it feels good to be appreciated. We should be public about that appreciation. We start with a meeting with the president of the police union.
We need to have a meeting with the Chief of Police, with the Captain of our precinct in attendance. We state that we are establishing a community expectation that we will have no street crime and if they don't take us seriously and shuffling around, we stay completely serious and let them know we are resetting expectations for the neighborhood and will no longer tolerate being the city's dumping ground for street crime. No street crime. That's our message everywhere.
Also, we should probably have face-to-face meetings with Sen. Cantwell and Murry and also with some congressional folks from Washington State as there is some federal anti-drug money that could help us with improvements in the park. I understand that there is some association through the Pioneer Square Community Associaton that is overseeing potential renovations to the park. Thank god the bathroom is gone! We needs better lighting, the benches need to be removed, those weird empty planters in the middle need to go. It needs to be lit up like daylight at night, with police cruisers going by every 10 minutes, all night long. The property owners along Occidental between the park and Yesler are going to need to add additional lighting outside their buildings and post Crime Watch signs on the building. The owners of the sinking ship need to pony up and install better lighting and possibly security camera and , most importantly, major signage that the area is under Crime Watch surveillance . Lazarus House needs to get with the program and start setting expectations for behavior outside their front door. If they won't do it, the community will do it for them.
These are some of the first things that come to mind but I am sure there are many more things that would be helpful. I am sorry it isn't better organized here but I had to type it out fast before the baby wakes up.
I can't wait for the first meeting! Thoughts on these ideas?
Annie
Drink with me, I'm Ricin free
Neighbor Paul found this handsome young man enjoying the night's Capitol Hill Pub Crawl proceedings at The Elite. Paul reports that he was really excited to appear on CHS in his special t-shirt. We live to serve. Want to excite somebody else by getting their pic on CHS? Send it in or leave a link in the comments.
You can view the rest of Paul's flickr stream here.
More images from the crawl thanks to flickr user AndyBodies:
Ricin_Response_Pub_Crawl_ 030 Originally uploaded by AndyBodies
Ricin Response Pub Crawl 044 Originally uploaded by AndyBodies
Ricin_Response_Pub_Crawl_ 041 Originally uploaded by AndyBodies
For more coverage, check out Seattle Gay Scene.
Spacecraft Clothing - from Bali to SLU
You've seen the stickers everywhere, but do you own the beanie?
Spacecraft Clothing, a local snowboard apparel company, are the ones behind the ubiquitous stickers and the subject of a recent Seattle Times column.
They are based out of a cool looking garage space on 9th ave (see the map), but also spend a lot of time in Bali where they work with locals to design and produce hand-knit beanies.
Most Spacecraft beanies, which sell for $20 to $30, are handmade by a network of 6,000 people in 20 villages throughout Bali. O'Brien Parker says the company works with a Bali vendor who coordinates the villagers and ensures they are paid a living wage.
The beanies, along with other merchandise, are now sold across 1,000 stores nationwide according to the article in the Times.
"They're so well-connected with the snow industry in Washington that a lot of people really want to support the brand," Snowboard Connection owner John Logic says, noting that Spacecraft beanies are top sellers at his Seattle and Bellevue stores.
I picked up a green Spacecraft beanie with ear-flaps from SnoCon myself during the arctic freeze we experienced in December and it has treated me well.
Read the rest of the column to learn Spacecraft's backstory, including how they came up with the name.
Kidical Mass, the answer to Critical Mass
- We've all forgotten the Aloha bike incident.
- The weather will get better
- Everybody's apparently busy raising kids
- How about helping our kids learn how to bike safely around town?
I just stumbled upon Kidical Mass:
Is this just like Critical Mass but with kids?
Absolutely not. We are a family friendly law-abiding ride. Our purpose is to teach kids, parents and caregivers safety skills and provide a ride in which to practice them. We are creating awareness for the growing presence of kids and families on bikes and the need for all road users to respect other users of the road. We are also bringing together families who bike in an effort to provide a positive community experience that will show children how much fun riding your bike can be!
Is this an idea whose time has come on Capitol Hill? They note: "In the works: Seattle and…" (let me know if you hear about the Seattle efforts).
Eugene (where Kidical Mass started) definitely seems more bike-friendly than Seattle, but a Eugene motorist broke my leg (and put me on crutches for my wedding) while 20+ years of Seattle cycling has resulted in 1 door-ding. Careful route-selection can result in easy, pleasant ways to bike around most of Seattle.
Care to help educate your children (and Seattle motorists) about the joys of cycling?
CDNews Police Scanner - 1/9
Reminder: Squire Park Community Meeting Tomorrow
If you live west of 23rd, south of Union, east of 12th, and north of Jackson, you're a part of Squire Park and should come to the quarterly meeting tomorrow.
They've schedule two good guest speakers: Mary Bass from the Seattle school board, and Darren Reddick from Swedish hospital. It's a great chance to get your questions answered about the school closure plans or the new development around the old Providence hospital.
Saturday, January 10th
10am - noon
C.A.M.P. Firehouse at 18th & Columbia
Watch the Inauguration at the SLU Discovery Center
The fine folks at South Lake Union Discovery Center are upping their street cred with an Inauguration Day party that's free and open to the public.
Come join us at the South Lake Union Discovery Center to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime event at our Presidential Inauguration Day Viewing Party. We’re hanging a massive screen in the Discovery Center to broadcast the inauguration live, and will have some breakfast refreshments for guests to enjoy.
The doors will open at 8:30am and things wrap up around 11:00am.
