Central District Seattle

We just got home from dinner around 8:00 pm on 9/4 and saw about 4 police cars including a K9 unit and officers with the dog searching the area between Union and Pike. Does anyone know what is going on? They seemed pretty involved and I didn't want to bother them with questions. Hope everything is ok.

A favorite site for illegal dumpers is once again heaped with yard debris and trash; the sidewalk along 29th Ave. S. at S. King St. This shady sidewalk is usually impassible between S. Dearborn and S. King St. due to vegetation overgrowth and/or piles of trash, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street.
The cameras and signage that were installed at some point in the past have zero effect at curtailing illegal activity here. Also, the time between cleanups and new dumps appears to be growing shorter. Outside of reporting illegal dumping to the city, I welcome any ideas or suggestions anyone might have to combat this issue and increase the safety and enjoyment of our neighborhood.

I'm at the scene of this stand-off on 29th S. One suspect has come out. They're calling on the PA for an additional man to come out. This is connected to the shots fired at the Red Apple that was in todays scanner report. The first people to come out of the house were two women and a baby. Then about 15 minutes later a teenaged man emerged and was taken into custody.

It's not clear if the remaining person in the house is a suspect or just a resident. There's repeated calls on the PA for them to come out or call 911 to speak to police.

Update: 2:03pm - still waiting. But my fellow looky-loos are getting restless. Says one: "there weren't this many copsback when I had that robbery a couple years ago"

Update:. 2:25pm - still waiting. There's been some movement of cops with ballistic shields, but that's

Update: 2:45pm - the second occupant has surrendered peacefully. Police are preparing to enter the home

Update: 2:56pm - the house has checked clear. Standoff over Pics and video when I get back to the office

Quincy Jones, possibly the most famous son of the CD, is the subject of a big feature in today's Pacific Northwest Magazine.   He grew up in a small house on 22nd Ave, just a couple of blocks away from Garfield High School where he graduated in 1950.

Here his brother describes looking out the window of the top-floor room that was shared by seven siblings:

"We would look out there," recalls Jones' youngest brother, Richard, now a federal judge in Seattle, "and think, 'What is it I can possibly do? Where is life going to take me?' We weren't looking at a spectacular lake. We grew up looking at the blackberry bushes and garbage in the lot across the street. You had to have a big imagination."

Mr. Jones will be in Seattle on September 26th to dedicate the new Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center at Garfield.

I was out walking the dog, on my way back from getting a picture for another story, when I heard a loud crash a couple of blocks away.  We headed that direction and found a two-vehicle accident at the corner of 20th & Cherry.

A witness who lives about a block south said that he saw the maroon 4-door going northbound on 20th at "about 90 miles an hour."  He yelled at the vehicle as it passed, and then heard the crash as it blew the stop sign on Cherry and struck a red Toyota.   It wasn't immediately clear which way the Toyota was traveling.

Another witness who lives on the corner heard the crash and looked outside in time to see the red vehicle spinning across the intersection and the maroon car come to a rest on the sidewalk.  They said that several other bystanders witnessed the entire event but left once it became clear that police would be arriving.

Both drivers appeared to be injured.  The driver of the maroon car was sitting on the curb when I arrived, and was being placed onto a back brace by medics as I left.   The driver of the red car hadn't yet been removed from that vehicle.

There was also a third man lying on the ground and receiving medical attention.  The first witness I spoke to said that this man was a pedestrian who was struck in the accident.  But other witnesses said he was in the area but not actually hit, and decided to make himself a part of the scene in hopes of an insurance payout.   I did notice that there was a fourth man watching on as the third was first being treated by medics, but he then left the scene when the first police officer arrived.

All three individuals are being transported to Harborview.

Neighbors said that high speed vehicles coming down the hill on Cherry and on 20th were a persistent problem, and that this would be the last straw that would motivate them to lobby the city for new traffic controls at that intersection, specifically mentioning a stop sign for Cherry or a stop light.

Yesterday the folks who live on 20th between Marion & Union gave us all an example of how to build a strong community in the neighborhood. For the last four years, Chef Brenda Lee has worked with her neighbors to host a big block party with amazing food, cold drinks, and a lot of fun.   About 50 people took over the street in the middle of the block and spent the chilly evening getting to know each other a little better.

Here's a sample:

Wouldn't it be great to have about a dozen of these spread across the neighborhood over the course of next summer?

Anybody understand why Richlin's has by far the MOST EXPENSIVE gas in the Seattle area (Regular is $4.09)? It's not as though we're all rolling in money and won't notice the extra! BTW, given that gas is $3.85 at 23rd/Cherry, why does anybody stop at Richin's?

(yes, yes, I know there's a 45 cent debit card charge at 23/Cherry)

http://www.seattlegasprices.com/

My garage was broken into last night, and some power tools were stolen. Unfortunately, I hadn't yet written down the serial numbers. I'm just curious, are there any specific pawn shops or "sidewalk sales" where stolen items typically end up around here? It's a long shot, but I'd love to at least do some looking...
I'm at Marion and 22nd Ave.

Stolen items (that I know of) are:

Milwaukee cordless sawz-all in pretty worn condition. Had battery attached
Dewalt corded angle grinder.
Compressed air powered die grinder - chrome colored.
Firestorm orbital hand sander - pretty much brand new.

Christine Palmer of Historic Seattle in her weekly e-newsletter of the Historic Seattle organization (www.historicseattle.org) has posted a message from the National Park Services Cultural Resources office regarding a historically significant neighborhood house now for sale.

According to Gretchen Luxenberg of the National Park Service "the George Washington Carmack House at 1522 E. Jefferson Street is for sale and being offered as a 4,800 square foot lot (no mention of the house) in a neighborhood that has already lost all its single family residences due to Swedish/Providence hospital construction."

The house is the last home of Carmack whose gold strike is credited with setting off the Klondike Rush. Luxenberg writes that "the National Park Service has initiated a National Register nomination form for the property. ... The house will likely be demolished as it is surrounded by Swedish Hospital buildings and a parking garage.  While it could make for a wonderful addition to Swedish's building inventory, they are not in the business of preservation. NPS is not in a position to help this house as it is way beyond our authority to do this. We have always talked about how it could be an associated property for the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park but it is outside of the Pioneer Square Historic District and the Park/NPS is limited in what it can do. ... NPS would more than likely want to help interpret the history and significance of the place, if it can be saved."

Neighborhood residents will remember the house as the long-time residence of Mr. and Ms. Jewdoschenko. While they lived there Providence Hospital, and later the Sabey Corporation, apparently tried to purchase the property so it could be used for future expansion of the medical center's parking garages. After the death of Ms. Jewdoschenko, who had survived her husband, Swedish Medical Center and the Sabey Corporation apparently tried to purchase the property from the estate. Terms of sale were not agreed upon by the parties.

Sabey and Swedish proceeded with plans to expand their adjacent parking garage and asked the City for approval to reduce the required setback from Jefferson Street. After the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) approved reducing the setback, the Administrator of the Jewdoschenko estate appealed the City decision to the Hearing Examiner's Office. Her argument was based on the increased impact on the house that would be presented by allowing the parking garage to be built nearer the street than the Jewdoschenko (Carmack) House. (The Squire Park Community Council and Feet First appealed the approval of the expanded parking garage on other grounds.) The decision of the Hearing Examiner upheld the DPD decision and the parking garage has been built with the reduced setback.

You can see the City of Seattle historical record for this property at: http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/historicalsite/QueryResult.aspx?]

Also, Jess Cliffe, in his Vintage Seattle blog has a number of excellent exterior and interior pictures of the house, along with more words about the history of the house: www.vintageseattle.org

The next meeting of the S.U. Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) is Wednesday, August 27, 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on the S.U. Campus in the Student Center, Room 160, known as the LeRoux Room. (The Student Center is on James Way --- on the north side of the street.)

The agenda for this meeting includes discussion and public comments on the "preliminary Draft Environmental Impact Statement" (EIS).

Public comments are important to help highlight areas of possible environmental impact which should be evaluated and for which alternatives should be considered.

The proposed Major Institution Master Plan (MIMP) which is the subject of the EIS includes plans for an increase of the student, faculty and staff head count from the current 8,850 to approximately 11,300 over the next two decades.

The MIMP would set standards for planned and potential development of over 2,000,000 square feet of new building. Near-term development on or near the east side of the campus would include renovation of the former Coca Cola Building, renovation and additions to the former Plasteel Frame store, renovation and addition to the self-storage building at the southwest corner of 12th and Madison, and new parking spaces and retail spaces at Logan Field (12th and Cherry).

Over twenty years, up to 700 additional parking spaces would be created with a corresponding increase in automobile traffic on neighborhood streets.

Significant Land Use impacts proposed in the MIMP include an expansion of the institution's boundary to the east side of 12th Avenue between Marion and Spring (a block currently occupied by the Photographic Center Northwest, two restaurants and a cafe, and Moss Alley Motors.) If the boundary expansion takes place the allowed height would be increased to 65 feet for S.U. The University could develop in that block to that height, although others would be limited to the height limit of the underlying zone which is currently 40 feet.

The MIMP proposes increasing the limit to 65 feet for the University on James Ct. and Barclay Ct. where existing zoning allows 35 feet, and on the block occupied by the Coca Cola Building (which recently was designated an historic landmark). If the proposal is approved, in those blocks S.U. would be allowed to develop to a height almost twice that available to others and more than twice that of most existing residences on those blocks.

If you are not able to attend the meeting on Wednesday, you may submit comments to Lisa Rutzick, Land Use Planner with the Department of Planning and Development: lisa.rutzick@seattle.gov .

Following the Draft EIS comment period, DPD will prepare a Final EIS that addressed comments it has received.