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The man who allegedly shot and killed Officer Timothy Brenton in Leschi Halloween night 2009 will face trial September 13, 2013, the Seattle Times reports. Christopher Monfort has been charged with the murder of Brenton and the attempted murder of Officer Britt Sweeney. Monfort has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case. If the trial does start on the stated date, it will be nearly four years after the alleged murder. Officer Brenton, a veteran of the force, was training Officer Sweeney that day. Monfort—who is also charged with firebombing police vehicles days before the Halloween shooting—allegedly pulled up next to Brenton and Sweeney's police cruiser as it sat near 29th and Yesler and fired several rounds. Brenton was killed, and Sweeney was grazed. The community has honored Officer Brenton with a memorial near the scene of the shooting. After the shooting, Monfort was on the loose for nearly a week before officers confronted him in a Tukwila apartment complex. Monfort allegedly tried to shoot a pursuing officer, but his gun misfired. Officers shot him in the abdomen and face, but his injuries were not fatal. A "very intoxicated" man led police on a dangerous car chase around Leschi May 18, according to police. The man, a convicted felon, was arrested and in illegal possession of a firearm, but not before crashing his car into multiple parked cars and nearly striking a couple people walking on a sidewalk. The suspect allegedly showed up at a home near 26th and King around 11 p.m. armed with a handgun and demanding to speak to a woman there. The woman's parents told him to leave, and he began making threats at them and smashing bottles from a nearby recycling bin. When police arrived, he hopped into a car and sped off. From SPD:
A 27-year-old man went to the hospital with significant injuries to his face after his moped collided with a car near 25th and Spring early Saturday morning. The car's 51-year-old driver was assessed for DUI, but officers found no signs of impairment. They do, however, suspect the moped rider was intoxicated, according to a post on the SPD Blotter. The man's injuries are not considered life-threatening. From SPD:
Come on down to the newly renovated Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center for the closing of the breathing taking film Restless City!! Watch the Trailer The Oromo Community of Seattle is organizing a protest Friday afternoon from the CD to the Federal Building downtown. The "Protest Against Ethiopian Massacres" will gather at Bailey Gatzert Elementary at 2:30 p.m. They will then march down Yesler toward the Federal Building Plaza, where they will hold a rally. Bee populations are falling. Our neighborhood needs more greenery. The Pollinator Pathway Project on Columbia Street aims to address both these issues at once, and it needs your help. The Pollinator Pathway aims to create a corridor of pollinator-friendly plants on Columbia Street from 12th to 29th Avenues to help pollinators like honey bees, butterflies and humming birds move through the neighborhood and between our growing number of urban farms.
If you want to help with the work party, meet at 25th and Columbia May 26-27 from 11-4. More details from organizer Sarah Bergmann: Come help build the next 4 gardens on the Pollinator Pathway! The Pollinator Pathway is a plan for a corridor of pollinator-friendly gardens in planting strips along one mile of Seattle's Columbia Street, between 12th and 29th avenues (the project aims to create a corridor of plants between Seattle U's campus and Nora's Woods). The project now has 13 gardens in place along the corridor. Come dig in the dirt and help grow the project! EastPAC Community Meeting Thursday, May 24, 6:30 TO 8 PM Seattle University's Chardin Hall, Room 142 1020 East Jefferson- (enter on 11th and Jefferson, park free in front of building)
In March of 2011, the US Department of Justice began an investigation of the Seattle Police Department, focusing on whether SPD “engaged in a practice of unconstitutional policing through the use of excessive force and/or discriminatory policing”. DOJ’s findings conclude that these deficiencies do in fact exist, particularly within a “subset of officers who use force improperly”. For the entire report, see: http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/documents/spd_findletter_12-16-11.pdf In response to the DOJ findings, the Mayor’s Office and Police Department released it’s own reform plan, “SPD 20/20 –“A VISION FOR THE FUTURE”, identifying 20 changes to be implemented in 20 months. SPD’s Assistant Chief Mike Sanford will be presenting the 20/20 plan at our May 24th EastPAC meeting. Please...
Thanks to all who voted! Check out the city's schedule - PB wading pool will be open Saturdays this summer thanks to sponsorship by ask.com! Perhaps next year we can get two days/week...? Today, I became aware of a trio of drug dealers( crack dealers) working out of sam smith park and the bus shelter nearest to sam smith park @ the traffic light. (between massachusetts and Irving st.) I notified the SPD. I encourage this community to plz take the time to call 911 and report all illegal activity you may witness @ this public place . It is our responsibility to protect our own community .Because of the proximity to the elementary school and daycare and a public park I belive this is a very urgent issue and we must heighten our awareness and notify authorities to assist in to nipping this activity in the bud right now, to prevent future potential injuries to innocent bystanders esp. the children in those schools. STOP ACCEPTING DRUG DEALING AS A NORM IN THE CENTRAL DISTRICT. STAND UP FOR DRUG FREE PUBLIC AREAS AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD..CALL 911. AND KEEP CALLING INTO YOU GET RESULTS. Friday is Bike to Work Day, and there will be bike commute stations set up all over the region to give people passing by a little boost or a place to rest. Many commuters will make their way to City Hall for an 8 a.m. rally. For more details on Bike to Work Day festivities, see my post over at Seattle Bike Blog.
In the CD, Hiawatha businesses are hosting a station including snacks from Cafe Weekend and friends:
It's finally farmers market time again. The Madrona Farmers Market opens Friday for its first day of the season. As usual, it will be located in the parking lot of Grocery Outlet at MLK and Union. Highlights of opening day include a cooking demonstration by St. Clouds chef Michael King and, of course, fresh veggies! From the Seattle Farmers Market Association:
Next week, a popular all-women fitness center gets booted from Leschi location. The club's well loved owner has fallen on hard times. As more than 150 paid members (Capitol Hill, the Central Area & Madison Park) hustle to find new digs, panic is mounting. Suitable space to lease is needed by May 25! Yikes. That's soon! Being tossed out, members are in fear of breaking exercise habit, not seeing long-time friends, losing muscle tone and hello weight gain. New space must haves: min. 1200 sq. ft., parking, bathroom, reasonable rent, neighbors not bothered by loud music starting at 6:30 AM & ending at 7 PM, must be available by end of May. Temporary is okay. Contact 206-322-8613 or atbier@msn.com Anyone know what happened? Beginning about 20 minutes ago, racing police cars, racing police boat and helicopter overhead. Reminding me of the Clemmons event. EDITOR'S UPDATE: According to Seattle Fire, a teenager is in serious condition after nearly drowning:
UPDATE 5/17: The 15-year-old is in stable condition, police say. They credit a witness with saving the boy's life by jumping in, pulling him out of the water and beginning CPR:
Our neighborhood youth swim club, the Central Area Aquatics Team, is offering a chance for neighborhood youth to try the team free this month. CAAT offers a variety of programming for children five and older, with practice at the Medgar Evers and Seattle University pools.
The water from some of the 12th and Alder Youth Services Center drinking fountains is truly nasty. Also, the place smells. Really bad. The County Council recently decided to place a $210 million levy on the November ballot for public approval. If it passes, the area bounded by 12th, 14th, Remington Ct and Spruce St could see some dramatic changes as new areas open for private development and public space. The plans would replace both the detention and judicial facilities. The levy would cost the average homeowner $25 per year for the next nine years. Seattle Channel's City Inside/Out recently dove into the debate over the center, and several people involved with it made the case for a new facility: The program gives a look inside the failing facility, with it's uncontrollable heating system, brown and gray water and lack of spaces for private family consultations. The panel attempts to make the case that even repairing the building's biggest problems, which could cost as much as $40 million, the center...
After winning two fights at the Women's World Championship Tournament in Qinhuangdao, China, Garfield alumna Queen Underwood lost by one point to Norway’s Ingrid Egner. The tournament is also the 2012 London Olympics qualifier, so Underwood's chances of making it to the games are now slimmer. Underwood must now wait to see if the Olympic Tripartite Commission will grant her a spot in the games. (UPDATE: Emmanuelle Moreau at the International Olympic Committee says the Tripartite Commission will meet "sometime in June.") Girlboxing reports that the Queen of the Ring lost the bout 26-25 after a big fourth round comeback. After losing the first two rounds 6:4 and 8:5, Queen tied the third 6:6. Then she had a thunderous comeback in the fourth, scoring 6:10, just one point shy of tying the bout. The Queen has been training hard with her eyes on the prize for years. Training at Cappy's Boxing Gym at 22nd and Union, Underwood fought her way to the number 1 spot in the country, a position she still holds five...
Bernard Mustafa III had an estimated $200,000 worth of suspected Fentanyl, loads of cash and a rifle attached to a tripod on the kitchen table aimed at the street below his 18th and Spruce apartment, according to court documents posted by Seattle Weekly. He was arrested April 19 and is now facing drug and weapon charges in US District Court. DEA agents say they found about 20 grams of Fentanyl in Mustafa's apartment. While that may not sound like much, Fentanyl is an extremely potent narcotic — 80 to 100 times the strength of morphine — and is typically measured in micrograms. One gram can make about 4 ounces of sellable mix, and each ounce of mix can go for $1,000 on the street, the documents say (an excellent 2011 story by the Stranger notes a much lower selling point). Though Fentanyl is still rare in comparison to herion, it is sometimes cut into heroin. This can have deadly results because the strength of hits can vary dramatically depending on how much Fentanyl is in each one. In addition to the rifle pointed...
You really couldn't ask for a better day for a neighborhood fair. Hundreds of families showed up for Saturday's Madrona Mayfair, which kicked off in the morning with a kids bike and tricycle parade down 34th Ave. Festivities at Madrona Playfield continue until the evening. See our previous post for a schedule of events. Attached are some photos from the fair. Feel free to add yours in the comments! Middle and high school students need to register by June 1 if they want to take Hollow Earth Radio's August radio play and circuit bending classes. Registration is $100, but there are some scholarship opportunities. Details, from Hollow Earth Radio:
Ambitious plans to redevelop Yesler Terrace are set to go before the City Council this summer as residents and planners prepare for the sweeping changes to the neighborhood. In order to fund the creation of new subsidized housing units, the Seattle Housing Authority ("SHA") intends to sell some of the land it owns in the neighborhood to private developers. The full redevelopment is anticipated to take 10-20 years. The plan includes 661 "extremely" low-income units to replace the 561 currently in the neighborhood as well as 290 "very" low-income units and 850 "workforce" units. In addition, the plan calls for 3,199 market-rate units, mostly in high-rise condo and apartment buildings. The changes will likely mean that Yesler Terrace will shift from being one of the lowest-income neighborhoods in the city to having an affluent majority. Residents will also lose the front yards that adorn the current homes. One sticky issue with many current residents is fear that they will not be able to return to...
Fresh from endorsing marriage equality and ensuring the same-sex marriage debate will be an even more significant element in the 2012 election, President Barack Obama returns to Seattle on Thursday for a day of fundraising. His stops include a private fundraiser at a Madrona/Denny Blaine home on Lake Washington and another appearance at the Paramount Theater that will likely snarl afternoon traffic. Obama's morning destination is the home of Bruce Blume, head of commercial real estate firm The Blume Company. Blume's Madrona/Denny Blaine waterfront home can be seen in this KING 5 post. Seats at the private fundraiser cost $35,800. KING 5 reports Obama's first stop will be a fundraiser at a home in Madrona before an afternoon event at the Paramount Theater that will include a performance by Dave Matthews. Obama also held an event at the Paramount in his September visit to Seattle. As reported late last month, the President's Seattle reelection campaign this year will be based in Jackson Place. That...
This post was submitted by Joe Lang of Pacific University. FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- Sean Mills, a senior double majoring in political science and economics at Pacific University, has earned a Fulbright scholarship to study and teach in India. An 2007 alumnus of Garfield High School, Mills will depart later this year to teach the English language to children in the city of Delhi. He will graduate from Pacific on Saturday, May 19. To effectively teach English, Mills will learn the Hindi language as part of his experience. "Learning Hindi will be an amazing experience," he said. "I love teaching and learning languages, and I look forward to applying it to my future studies." Mills is looking exploring an international relations program at Syracuse University as a potential succession to his Fulbright experience. Mills recently completed his undergraduate research in economics with a senior thesis that explored successful school reform in Harlem, N.Y. He analyzed... Texting while driving is extremely dangerous. Yet, even though it is illegal, it is remarkably common, especially among young people. But some Garfield High students had the chance to see how distracting texting behind the wheel can be Wednesday morning. Councilmember Bruce Harrell gave a talk, and students had the chance to use a driving simulator that demonstrates first hand how texting slows response times significantly. From Councilmember Harrell's office: In an effort to raise awareness of the dangers of texting and driving, Councilmember Bruce Harrell, chair of the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee, met with students at Garfield High School this morning to discuss the issue. 
Wanna spend time on a farm this weekend? Well, CD-based Clean Greens is taking a van of people out to their farm in Duvall Saturday to help plant seedlings.
The food justice organization and farm runs a summer CSA that starts in July. They have also been working to renovate a house across the street from New Hope Baptist Church with plans to turn it into a community space with a commercial kitchen and green building techniques. The G.R.E.A.N. House could be completed as early as late summer. 
Madrona K-8 enrollment peaked six years ago. Today, the student body has declined by 160 students. Much of the enrollment decline is due to parents sending their children to other private and public schools. Due to continually poor test results, students within the Madrona K-8 area can enroll in other SPS schools. But some of the troubles also stem from racial tension at the 15-percent-white school, KUOW reports. Below is an excerpt of the radio story. You can listen to the full story on KUOW's website. From KUOW:
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