The academy’s robotics lab these days sometimes includes nearby High 5 Pie (Image: SAAS)

Neighbors living near 13th and Spring will learn more about the project to create a new $20 million science building on the campus of the Seattle Academy of Arts… and Sciences.

“We’ve had a strong science program in spite of the facilities,” Rob Phillips, Assistant Head of School said of the sometimes patchwork solutions to finding space for everything from chemistry class to the robotics club at the private middle and high school.

The new project isn’t required to take the same design review path as other large projects but the school is still reaching out to present its plans to the community:

After the regular 12^th Avenue Stewards meeting on Tuesday May 14 (5:30-7:00pm), lead architect David Miller will talk about and answer questions about the project to neighbors. The presentation is on the 12^th Ave Stewards agenda and we are also going door to door with the local neighbors to let them know. Continue reading →

A proposal to rename a 0.7 mile stretch of 19th Ave and 19th Ave E to honor a longtime leader of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church at 19th and Madison was announced by two members of the Seattle City Council late Wednesday night.

The proposed Rev. Dr. Samuel B. McKinney Avenue would run between E Union and Republican, crossing E Madison by the church where McKinney was honored earlier this month for his 45 years of service.

The first of two public meetings on the proposed change is slated for Wednesday afternoon. We’re checking to find out the status of scheduling the second meeting.

The area the street passes through was historically within the city’s black district where many African Americans raised families and built lives in eras of redlining and economic and cultural segregation in the city. Today, the area encompasses a steadily changing mix of community facilities, new developments and old homes and is still home to many African American Seattleites. Mt. Zion’s large campus itself is set to join the continued changes as it prepares plans for a redevelopment of its property at the 19th and Madison intersection. Continue reading →

Thanks to @Seattle_12s for the photo.

Seattle Fire wrestled a gas station blaze quickly under control Thursday morning after a car reportedly smashed into a pump near Terry and James.

According to Seattle Fire radio dispatches, the fire was reported just before 9:20 AM and was under control less than 10 minutes later as the car continued to smolder.

There do not appear to be any injuries associated with the crash and fire.

A Seattle Police collision investigation is also underway at the scene.

UPDATE: The crash reportedly involved a hit and run driver who left the scene westbound on James. Police are looking for a black, late 2000s Chevy Monte Carlo with “significant damage” to the passenger side.

Photo of the aftermath, from Seattle Fire: Continue reading →

In a sort of spring training for the 2013 election run to become — or stay — Seattle’s mayor, eight candidates took the stage inside Garfield High Tuesday night for a forum on education. It seemed like mostly a warm-up.

“We need to catch these kids younger doing things right,” Council member and Garfield graduate Bruce Harrell said. With his campaign headquarters just down the street at 23rd and Union, Harrell was the most active candidate on the night and found plenty of opportunities to drop his “One Seattle” theme as he discussed worries about possible renewed threat of segregation with the shift to neighborhood schools and his hopes of bringing more private business involvement into the Seattle Public School system.

“We have to tap into the business corporate community,” Harrell said.

Harrell also found an opportunity to throw the only jab of the night, criticizing incumbent Mike McGinn for his excitement about a “green” program at Rainier Beach High when “our African American students are 8% proficient in math.”

In his defense, McGinn said he attended the Rainier Beach event at the behest of the community.

In addition to inspiring some of the few smatterings of applause from the audience and organizers from Community and Parents for Public Schools, Harrell’s effort also caught the attention of his fellow candidates.

“Let go, Bruce,” fellow Council member Tim Burgess quipped at one point when the stage mic became hopelessly tangled as he tried to lean to speak into it.

Longtime Central District activist and mayoral candidate Omari Tahir-Garrett also kept things interesting with attacks on the “apartheid” history of the United States mixed with street wisdom: “You learn according to how you pay attention” and “youth don’t drone people.”

Through it all, the eight had to chuckle as they attempted to answer questions about solving public education in 45 seconds or less. Others spent some of their time explaining that a Seattle mayor doesn’t really run the schools here.

Despite Garfield’s place at forefront of Seattle pushback on the MAP standardized testing program, none of the candidates made the issue a major talking point on the night.

Next up for the candidates is another forum with connections to Capitol Hill and the Central District as the politicians head to the North and Central Seattle Mayoral Candidates Forum in Wallingford Thursday night.

Police and medics responded to a report of a shooting involving two vehicles that resulted in at least two injured victims Monday night just before 6:45 near MLK Jr. Way and Jackson.

UPDATE 4/30: The victims tell police that they were in their vehicle when two other vehicles pulled into the parking lot and boxed them in. One suspect then approached the victims’ vehicle, opened the rear door and started yelling at them. He then pulled a gun and fired multiple shots. See below for updated details from SPD.

Original story:

Police say the suspect in the double shooting is at large and the gang unit is on scene. Police say one victim suffered a gunshot to the stomach scapula while the other was shot in the buttocks.

Traffic was diverted in the area as police began their investigation and searched for the suspect vehicle believed to have been involved in the shooting. The shooting happened directly across from Fire Station 6.

One witness told police a possible suspect may have left the scene on foot.

Police were collecting shell casings near the scene at a nearby store as the victims were transported to Harborview.

Seattle Fire says it was transporting two gunshot victims from  the 400 block of MLK JR Way S to Harvborview. A male in his 20s suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was in serious condition, according to SFD. Fire says the second victim is in his 30s and is also in serious condition.

UPDATE 4/30: Details from SPD:

Gunfire erupted this evening in Seattle’s Central District, leaving two men with serious injuries. Just shortly before 7:00 p.m. multiple calls came into 9-1-1 reporting shots fired in the area of 400 MLK Jr. Wy.

The two victims were located in the parking lot of the Quick Pack Food Mart, 2616 S. Jackson.  One victim, a 20-year old man was shot in the back and the second victim, a 26-year-old man was shot in the buttocks area.  Witnesses gave a description of a black male, 20’s, hair in a ponytail running from the scene.

According to both victims, they were sitting in their vehicle when a dark colored SUV drove and parked in front of their vehicle, blocking them in.  Four black males exited the SUV and started talking to each other; one of them went into the food mart.  Then suddenly, another dark colored SUV (possible Ford Flex) parked in back of them blocking their vehicle from the rear.  Moments later, an unknown male entered the victim’s rear driver’s side door and began to yell at them.  The 26-year-old victim then saw the unknown male pull out a gun and start shooting at them.  The suspect fled on foot and both victims called 911 for assistance.  Both victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

The Gang Unit responded and processed the scene.

Anyone with information about this incident and or suspect(s) is asked to call 9-1-1. Anonymous tips are welcome.

Police searched an apartment building in the 1800 block of E Madison early Tuesday following a report that a victim had been stabbed or cut on the face just after 4:30 AM. UPDATE: Police have confirmed they are investigating the assault and said they will have details later Tuesday. UPDATE x2: Police say the suspect is the woman’s son. Details on the incident and suspect Kevin D. Ross, below.

Here is the preliminary report from SPD:

Man Stabs Mother in Central District Early this Morning
Police are looking for a 34-year-old man who stabbed his mother at her Central District apartment early this morning.

At 4:30 this morning, the man showed up at his mother’s apartment, near 18th and East Madison Street, and buzzed himself into the building.

When the victim opened the door, the suspect reportedly stepped forward and said “This is what you get!” and began stabbing his mother in the face with a knife.  The victim screamed as she was attempting to fend off her son.  The victim sustained three deep stab wounds to her face, a cut to her finger and a cut to her chest.

Bleeding badly from her wounds, the victim—who is in her 60′s—staggered backward and fell to the kitchen floor.  The victim’s boyfriend was in another part of the apartment and heard the commotion.  He ran into the kitchen where he saw the suspect standing over the victim.  As the boyfriend came into the kitchen, the suspect turned and left the apartment.  The boyfriend followed him out and saw him walk down a stairwell before he lost sight of him.  The boyfriend then returned to the kitchen to assist the victim.

Seattle Police and Fire were called and responded to the scene.  Medics treated the victim at the scene and then transported to Harborview Medical Center.  Officers set up containment, conducted an extensive search for the suspect and brought in a K-9 team, but unfortunately did not locate the suspect.

According to other family members, the suspect is homeless, suffers from mental illness, and is abusing various substances, specifically crack cocaine.

The suspect is Kevin D. Ross.  He is described as a black male, 34 years old, 6′ 2″ tall, 240 pounds.  He was wearing all dark clothing and may be unshaven.  He might have been wearing a skull cap.  He has very distinctive tattoos:  “Mr. Ross” on his neck, an eyeball on his Adam’s Apple, and a Grim Reaper on his forearm.  He is homeless, but is known to frequent several of the parks in the Central District.

He was last seen with a knife in his hand, so he is considered very dangerous.  If anyone sees the suspect, they are urged to call 911 immediately.

Seattle Fire tells CHS that medics responded to treat a 45-year-old woman who had been stabbed in the face. “She was conscious, alert and able to speak to us,” a SFD spokesperson said. The woman was rushed to Harborview in stable condition.

Police were searching the top floors of the Views at Madison building at 1823 E Madison. The seven-story building below the E Madison radio and TV towers is also home to the Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center.

Inside a micro-apartment (Image: Seattle.gov)

Threatening to render Thursday’s public hearing on Seattle microhousing fully anticlimactic, the chair of the City Council’s land use committee says that one rule change that closes a tax benefit loophole for developers will likely be followed by new legislation from DPD to further constrict the flow of multi-story, dorm-style apartments in the city.

“One sore spot has been the way that developers have used their ‘unit count’ in different ways depending on what City regulation they are working with,” Richard Conlin writes in a post to his “Making it Work” blog in advance of Thursday’s hearing. “The City Office of Housing has now issued a regulation that should resolve this issue.”

The new regulation requires that any building applying for a Multi-Family Tax Exemption for affordable housing use the same unit count that the developer uses in the land use permitting process, Conlin said.

Microhousing hearing
WHEN: April 18, 2013 – 11:30 am @ 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
WHERE: Council Chambers, second floor, 600 4th Avenue

Continue reading →

Over the weekend, one of the finishing touches before next Monday’s Earth Day celebration of the Bullitt Center was completed as students planted the landscaping inside the overhauled McGilvra Place Park that fronts the building.

Continue reading →

Diaz at a 2011 community meeting (Image: CHS)

With news coverage across the city dotted with descriptions including “embattled,” “quiet,” and “Latino,” John Diaz, Seattle’s first minority police chief stepped down Monday ending a four-year run in a job where his leadership and style were increasingly under scrutiny and his department struggled with how best to implement Justice Department-mandate changes.

“I have a lot of thank yous but I’m going to keep this press conference short because you know how much I love doing those,” Diaz joked Monday morning. Continue reading →