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Community groups that had staged a grassroots takeover of a temporarily mothballed Central District school building have moved aside allowing the school district to move ahead with millions of dollars in planned renovations and opening up the path to a $14.2 million renovation and re-opening of a public middle school on Capitol Hill, officials say.

Despite recent uncertainty about the future of the Horace Mann building and community groups that call it home, the Nova Alternative High School is on track open in the E Cherry Mann building next year, Seattle Public Schools says. That move puts Meany campus near Miller Community Center at 19th and Thomas, which currently houses Nova, on track to reopen as a Capitol Hill middle school in 2017. Continue reading →

LOCAL CANDIDATES TO SQUARE OFF IN SOCIAL JUSTICE DEBATE
Seattle Human Services Coalition Hosts Candidate’s Forum

The Seattle Human Services Coalition will host its 13^th Biennial Candidate’s Forum on September 17^th from 5:30pm-8:00pm at the Garfield Community Center, located at 2323 E. Cherry St., Seattle, WA 98122.  Invitees include candidates for Seattle Mayor, Seattle City Council, King County Executive, King County Council Position 1, King County Sheriff, and Seattle City Attorney. The event is free and open to the public, with voter registration on site and light refreshments. Sign language, language interpretation and child care services are available upon request with RSVP. Attendees should RSVP by September 13^th to [email protected] or call 206.325.7105.

Since 1989, the Seattle Human Services Coalition (SHSC) has provided an opportunity for candidates and voters to connect on important human services issues in Seattle and King County.  “Being able to meet one’s basic human needs is a fundamental human right.  Public policy that acts on this understanding is basic to social justice,” explained SHSC Co-Chair Patricia Hayden. For more information about SHSC and to view the candidate’s responses to SHSC’s pre-primary Candidate Questionnaire please visit http://shscoalition.org/2013electmenu.php.

This year’s forum will be moderated by Professor David Domke, Chair of the Department of Communications at the University of Washington. Sponsors of the forum include Alliance of People with disAbilities, Child Care Resources, Church Council of Greater Seattle, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Lighthouse for the Blind, Non-Profit Anti-Racist Coalition, One America, Real Change, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, Senior Services, SOAR/Youth Development, Tenant’s Union of Washington State  and Washington Low Income Housing Alliance and
YWCA of Seattle|King|Snohomish.

The Seattle Human Services Coalition is a multi-racial, multi-cultural, group of human service providers and individuals committed to helping Seattle and King County residents meet their basic human needs. The Coalition works to shape public policy on issues such as ending homelessness, hunger relief, domestic violence prevention, quality affordable child care, healthcare, racial equity, youth development, violence prevention and more.

As a nonprofit organization, Seattle Human Services Coalition does not make endorsements or recommendations or show any preference toward any candidate. This effort constitutes nonpartisan voter education allowed under state and federal law.

Police say a man was stabbed in the chest and suffered life threatening injuries in an ice pick attack late Monday night near 22nd and E Cherry.

Seattle Fire reports transporting a 56 year-old male to Harborview with a stab wound to the chest in the attack first reported just after 10:30 PM.

Police said they were still looking for suspect information and investigating the circumstances that lead to the attack.

UPDATE: We have more information from SPD:

A man was sent to Harborview Medical Center last night after it was discovered that he had been stabbed in the chest after an unknown suspect punched him.

At about 10:20 last night, the male victim was approached by two unknown men in the 2300 Block of East Cherry Street.  The victim reported to a witness that one of the men punched him in the chest.  The victim soon discovered that he had actually been stabbed in the chest just above his heart.  Officers arrived at the location and immediately requested Seattle Fire Medics to the scene.  The victim was transported to HMC. Officers did not locate any witnesses to the actual assault, and were unable to determine the actual circumstances surrounding the stabbing because the victim had been admitted to the Emergency Room.  Officers believe based on the size of the wound that the item used in the stabbing could possibly be an ice pick.  The only additional information on the suspects is that they are black males.  Detectives are handling the follow up investigation.

The Seattle Fire Department extinguished a fire just after 1:30 p.m. today at 14th Avenue and Spruce Street. 911 calls reported smoke coming from a first floor apartment.

When fire fighters arrived at the scene, they determined the source of the fire was food on the stove. Fire fighters quickly extinguished the fire and there were no reported injuries. Damage was minimal.

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Seattle Parks and Recreation is constructing a new park at 564 12th Ave, on the corner of 12th Avenue and E. James Court, next to Ba Bar. The site was previously an office building but was demolished back in summer 2008.

The park project, currently titled “12th Avenue Park Development,” is still in its infancy. Last week, the permit application for the park’s construction was accepted, so construction will finally move forward. The empty lot has served as a temporary job site for other nearby construction since 2010.

The new park is slated to be completed in spring 2014 and will have “suspended art work,” a hardscape plaza, storm water planter, landscape plantings and site furnishings.”

Parks and Recreation has more info:

This project consists of the 12th Ave and E James Court Pro Park development project and a community initiated project that was selected to receive funding through the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund. The new pedestrian friendly park will be created within the street right of way in conjunction with the park project. A woonerf, a street where pedestrians and cyclists have priority over motorists, will be integrated into the park design. The design techniques will create shared spaces, traffic calming, and low speed limits to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and automobile safety.

The park’s development is part of the 12th Avenue Neighborhood Plan, which calls for developing 12th Avenue into a main street-centered “urban village.”

Planning for the park began in 2008, when the parks department hired Hewitt Architects to design the initial plans for the site. The department has held several public meetings to discuss schematics and incorporate community input. Those meeting notes, as well as more info on the park, can be found on the parks department site.

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If you value this coverage and want to support the continued independence of Central District News, please subscribe today for as little as $5/month — DRIVE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30.

Country singer-songwriter Mary McBride is set to perform a free concert in the Central District tonight. You can catch her at 7 p.m. at Ernestine Anderson Place at 2010 S. Jackson Street.

The concert is part of McBride’s “The Home Tour,” which she established to bring live music to low-income residents and the homeless at shelters, food banks, veteran homes, and low-income housing. This current concert is geared towards the seniors at Ernestine Anderson Place and the Nickelsville residents next door to the center.

The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) has more info on the event:

McBride is best known for her song “No One’s Gonna Love You Like Me” in the Academy Award winning Best Picture movie Brokeback Mountain. McBride also serves as a cultural envoy for the U.S. and performs around the world for the State Department. The Wall Street Journal describes The Home Tour as “a way of highlighting how communities can be nurtured, whether by sharing shelter, stories or live music,” and The Washington Post describes the tour as “extraordinary.”

McBride and her band will be joined by local Seattle musicians on the program. Some of the Low Income Housing Institute’s most talented residents will perform, including: singer Jamie Haviland; saxophonist Tony Mack; vocalist Everett Dallas; and The Singing Club comprised of children ages 4 – 12 from LIHI’s Denice Hunt Townhomes (under the direction of Beth Sherdell). Special guest artists include singer-songwriter Reggie Garrett, and vocalists Jaren James and Josie Howell from the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.

Sponsored by Enterprise Community Partners, McBride will perform at six affordable housing sites in Washington. The Home Tour goes where most musicians don’t, delivering high-energy, high-impact performances and making a difference by inspiring local communities and leaving an infrastructure accommodate repeat performances by local and touring bands alike.

 

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If you value this coverage and want to support the continued independence of Central District News, please subscribe today for as little as $5/month — DRIVE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30.

The Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) breaks ground today on the first wave of construction for the Yesler Terrace Redevelopment project. The first new construction will be at 1105 East Fir Street.

The groundbreaking ceremony this morning at 10 a.m. will include local leaders and partners in the redevelopment efforts symbolically shoveling dirt to kick off Phase 1 of the construction.

Phase 1 includes new construction of a residential low-income housing complex at 1105 East Fir; renovation of the Baldwin Apartments into new low-income housing; refurbishment of the Steam Plant building into new space for community services such as Head Start; and the construction of Anthem, a mixed-income residential building led by Spectrum Development Solutions.

The overall vision for a redeveloped Yesler Terrace is a neighborhood that “will preserve the vibrant, diverse qualities of the existing neighborhood and will feature upgraded affordable housing and homes for all income levels, new parks and gardening opportunities, pedestrian-friendly streets and direct access to excellent mass transit options. On average, residents of SHA’s existing Yesler Terrace housing earn less than 30 percent of the city’s median income, or less than $26,000 per year for a family of four,” according to the SHA.

SHA announced back in December that it had received a $19.73 million grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to jump start construction of replacement low-income housing in Yesler Terrace, in addition to a previous grant of $10 million from HUD received in 2011 to start Phase I of the redevelopment. SHA hopes that by replacing the aging low-income housing in the area, it will create a more vibrant “neighborhood of opportunity.”

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The Leschi Community Council meets tonight to discuss opportunities for solar panel installation through Solarize Seattle and Leschi Park issues of vandalism, graffiti, late night noise, and drug activity.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Central Area Senior Center (500 30th Ave S).

If you’re not able to attend, the council posts its meeting minutes on its website.