A lost delivery person was held up at gunpoint Monday night and robbed of cash and a cell phone — and the pizzas the driver was delivering. Here’s the SPD report on the incident:

On October 3rd, just before 10:00 pm, a pizza delivery driver was in the 500 Block of 22nd Avenue, looking for an address.  When he couldn’t find the address, he got out of his car to take a better look.  Three suspects, described as black males, approached him and one of them pointed a handgun at him.  The suspects robbed the victim of pizzas, cash and a cell phone.  The suspects then fled on foot, and the victim was able to run to a neighboring house and call 911.  Officers arrived quickly and set up containment for a canine track, but the suspects were not located.

In the past — and still, for some, in the present — residents in the Central District have been frustrated by delivery “redlining” that left areas out of service coverage for some local restaurants.

A confusing incident scene and a long holiday weekend conspired to add to the mystery surrounding the account of a “shots fired” scare disrupting Saturday’s rally against neighborhood violence at Powell Barnett Park.

Here’s the brief report on the situation provided to Central District News by SPD Tuesday afternoon about the Saturday incident:

At approximately 1800 hours radio received multiple calls of shots fired in Powell Barnett Park.  Callers were saying that shots were being fired and “lots of people” were running from the park.  Multiple officers responded and flooded the park area.  There were conflicting reports of the shooter and descriptions of various vehicles that may have been fleeing the scene. Officers could locate a real scene due to conflicting witness accounts.

A spate of gunfire incidents marred the long Labor Day holiday weekend in the Central District but no victims or damage was identified in any of the reports.

Maybe we should just do a “shots fired” open thread for the weekend. No victims, no damage:

On 9/4/11, at approximately 10:10 p.m., officers responded to multiple calls of shots fired in the area of E. Cherry St and 26

^th Ave E.  Callers also reported seeing two vehicles driving down the street with the occupants of one vehicle firing at the other.  No one appears to have been injured, and officers did not locate a crime scene or either vehicle.  According to the complainants, the occupants of a Black Dodge Charger were firing at the occupants of a Blue Chevy Caprice. The suspect vehicle was then reported to have fled the area N/B on 26^th.

---

The responding officers did not find the victim vehicle, or any victims.  They did stop one possible suspect vehicle in the immediate area, but it turned out not to be related to the incident.  While the officers were checking the area for the first reported shooting, another call came in reporting shots heard in the area of E. Cherry Street and 19

^th Ave E. The officers checked that area, as well as the area around E. Terrace Street and 22^ndAve E, which one of the bystanders in the area indicated might be the source of the shots. Again, officers did not find any victims or a scene.

Officers also responded to Harborview Medical Center to check for victims, but there were no reported gunshot victims during this time period. It is not known for sure if these incidents are directly related, but the possibility does exist based on the timing and locations of the calls.

Two posters to the popular “Madrona Mom’s” email list say that a neighborhood rally in Powell Barnett park against violence was disrupted Saturday by a scare sparked by reports of gunshots.

We have not yet been able to confirm with SPD what happened at the park Saturday afternoon but SPD did post information about another shots fired incident a half-mile away from where the rally was taking place — and, according to SPD, hours after the incident reported by two people posting to the mom’s list. SPD says no evidence of gunshots was found in that later Saturday incident reported near 28th and Jackson.

Here is one account of the Saturday afternoon incident from a Madrona Mom’s poster:

We were at Powell Barnett park this afternoon when gun shots were fired and it was a scary scene to say the least. I have never felt threatened there before and we go there often, but now I am reconsidering if we should go there at all. I want to support our community and I don’t want a few negative people to ruin a wonderful community park, but I also need to be realistic about the safety of my family. I’m curious if anyone else was there today or if anyone else has any thoughts regarding this.

---

Another poster corroborated the story and added additional details:

The police were on the scene fairly quickly, which is comforting, though wewere already two blocks away when we heard the shots fired.

What saddens me is that this happened during a rally intended to promotepeace, love, and responsibility in the local African American community. Therally was well attended, and the gun scare occurred while one of thespeakers was encoouraging the people of his community to be good parents, bepresen for their children and tea h them that they can be successful,despite “society’s judgements.” He then said into the microphone “you havegot to be kidding me!” as the crowd RAN from the perpetrator.

I hope this is my first and last experience like this.

Earlier in the day, another mom’s list poster e-mailed the list about the rally:

Today, Saturday at 2:30 is a program to bring people together to combat neighborhood violence. There will be a memorial service, city officials, music and hip hop. They are collecting blankets and canned goods to donate to CAMP as well as a woman’s shelter. It is sponsored by a non profit called Rising to the Top. Please come if you are able and show our continued support.

Central District News is looking into the incident and will continue to try to find out more about what occurred.

King County has put some teeth in its messaging about the dire condition of Metro’s budget by releasing a model of how a 17% cutback of service would impact 80% of the routes it serves. Example cuts include the elimination of route 84 between Madison Park and MLK. A public meeting next week will be held to discuss the budget woes, the service cuts and to gather public comment. Details on that and how to provide your feedback on the situation, below.

On the table for King County is the proposed implementation of a new $20 car tab fee called the Congestion Reduction Charge. Without the charge, Metro says service cuts could begin as early as this winter. Seattle Transit Blog has rounded-up its posts on the topic here. If the King County Council doesn’t pass direct implementation of the new fee this summer, it’s likely the proposal will end up on the fall ballot.

Details on the Tuesday, July 12th Seattle meeting are below. You can also provide public testimony via this online form. This King County provided map shows how cuts would play out in the Capitol Hill and Central District area of the city.

Due to the dramatic recession-driven drop in sales tax revenues, Metro Transit is facing a 
$60 million annual deficit between revenues and the cost of providing current levels of transit 
service. To close this budget shortfall, King County has a choice of cutting 17 percent of transit 
service—taking the system back to 1996 service levels—or preserving current service levels by 
enacting a $20 congestion reduction charge on vehicles in King County.

The Metropolitan King County Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee will 
host three special evening hearings to hear public testimony on the proposed transit service reduction 
and the Metro Transit budget crisis. These meetings are an opportunity for you to learn about the 
proposals and weigh in on the future of Metro transit.

The meetings will be held in Kirkland, Seattle and Burien:

Wednesday, July 6, 6:00 p.m.
Kirkland City Council Chambers 
123 Fifth Avenue
 
Tuesday, July 12, 6:00 p.m.
King County Council Chambers 
516 Third Avenue, 10th Floor, Seattle
 
Thursday, July 21, 6:00 p.m.
Burien City Council Chambers 
400 S.W. 152nd Street
 
In the past two years, Metro Transit has transformed its operations to hold off these cuts and wrench every available dollar out of the agency for service, including:- Achieving new scheduling efficiencies; 
– Eliminating more than 100 staff positions; 
– Deferring planned service expansion; 
– Reducing operating reserves, and 
– Reducing its capital program.  

80 percent. Metro’s employees were also part of the solution: negotiating cost-cutting labor agreements that will reduce Metro’s costs by $17 million per year. 

Despite these fare increases, budget reductions, and operational efficiencies, it is not enough to cover the anticipated shortfall and we are now nearly out of tools to save our system. The savings and efficiencies created by Metro over the past few years save approximately $147 million per year, but the drop in sales tax revenues means Metro still faces an operating shortfall of $60 million a year each year from 2012 through 2015.

The State Legislature has authorized a tool that is available to King County to help maintain Metro service at its current level: a temporary $20 Congestion Reduction Charge on vehicle licenses for a two–year period ending in mid-2014. County Executive Constantine has sent that proposal to the County Council as well as two other pieces of legislation:
– An ordinance approving a Congestion Reduction Plan, a prerequisite for Council action on a   Congestion Reduction Charge, and 
– An ordinance cutting 100,000 hours of Metro bus service effective February 2012 and directing 
  Metro to plan for reducing bus service by an additional 500,000 service hours in the 2012-2013   budget. 

Metro Transit service is critical to the economy of King County, providing approximately 110 million rides annually, taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road each day, and helping people get to and from some of the largest employment and activity centers in our state. More information about Metro’s financial crisis and the Congestion Reduction Charge is available on the King County website http://www.kingcounty.gov/exec/news/release/2011/June/20Metro.aspx

SPD has a report up this morning regarding some 4th of July shenanigans involving firepower much more dangerous than bottlerockets. But we’re looking into another Central District shooting incident with even more serious implications. Here’s the note we received on the Monday afternoon incident from neighbor Jesse:

There was a shooting at 23rd and Jackson this morning around 12:30pm, two people shooting at eachother across 23rd near the bank of America and the npower office.  We heard about 4 shots and one b/m with dreds ran off and got into a black Mercedes suv.

There were no injuries related to the incident reported. SPD has not yet confirmed the details but we do see details of the 911 call that came in about the noontime incident.

UPDATE: SPD confirms there were several calls about one suspect shooting towards another near 23rd and Jackson. They said the incident occurred at 12:26 p.m. Both suspect had guns, but the report only notes one of them shooting. No suspects or victims were found, and no property damage was located. No other details were available.

In the meantime, here are details of the late-night shots fired incident involving a legally registered handgun that was quickly ditched but recovered by SPD. No arrests, SPD reports — but evidence and fingerprints gathered:

On July 4th, at approximately 11:39 PM, East Precinct officers responded to a report of a suspect firing shots into the air from a handgun in the 3000 Block of East Harrison Street.  The report stated that a young black male was firing a gun into the air.  Officers arrived and observed a group of black males who matched the description of the suspect.  The group fled from the officers on foot, but were quickly caught and detained in the 100 Block of 31st Avenue East.

Officers recovered a .40 caliber Glock pistol and a partially loaded magazine for the gun hidden under a hedge in the yard of the house the group was stopped in front of, the home of one of the suspects.   The original witness was brought by the detained group, but would not identifiy the suspect.  A check of the weapon showed that it was legally registered to one of the suspects.  Officers recovered several spent shell casings on the sidewalk.  There were no reports of any injuries or property damage.  Officers submitted the handgun, magazine, and shell casings into evidence for a fingerprint analysis and documented the incident.  All parties involved were identified and released.

Friday night marks an E Madison Pride weekend tradition — it’s time for the 5th annual Gay Pride Hot Dog Blessing at the BottleNeck Lounge:

Executive Chef/Partner Jason Stratton of Seattle’s own Spinasse and now – Artusi – has benevolently agreed to leave his award-winning kitchens this Friday night for the 5th Annual Gay Pride Hot Dog Blessing at The BottleNeck Lounge! Who better to sanctify our wienies than one of Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs of 2010? Ready your buns! We’ll gather after 8 PM, cocktails, wine and plenty of beer in hand to raise our glasses high and wish our community well. Jason will bestow the blessing around 11 PM. And then….it’s FREE HOT DOGS FOR ALL!

In addition to Sunday’s Pride Parade downtown, there’s plenty of action on Capitol Hill this Pride weekend.

The night of the summer 2011 solstice, Autonomia — “a radical social space in Seattle” — hosts a vegan friendly barbecue at its home at the corner of 24th Ave S and S Lane. SeattleCrime reports that city zoning laws might shut the “anarchist hangout” down:

Neighbors say Autonomia opened in mid-March, and since then DPD has received two separate complaints about the venue, claiming a “non-profit anarchist group” is “operating as a ‘night club’ on weekends, in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” and advertising events on its website.

Police have previously responded to complaints about large parties at the venue. Police records indicate officers were called to Autonomia shortly before 11:30 p.m. on April 16th after neighbors called to report loud music and a “disturbance involving 20-60 juveniles.”

---

When police arrived at Autonomia, a man inside blocked officers from entering the facility.

According to the DPD notice on the complaint, Autonomia has until July 22 to comply with a ruling that it is in violation of the city’s land use code. The property is permitted only to be utilized for apartments or a market — any other use such as a nightclub, meeting hall or performance space would require a change of use approval from the city. SeattleCrime reports that the property owners will face fines if they don’t comply by next month’s deadline and that the situation would be passed to the City Attorney if it isn’t resolved through compliance by Autonomia.

According to King County records, the 1901 building is owned by Girma Tefera.

According to its website, Autonomia is an attempt to “create radical infrastructure in Seattle:”

Autonomia is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit social center in the Central District of Seattle. The space is managed collectively, and all decisions are made by group consensus. We strive to create a space that embodies the principles of equality, anti-oppression, and social justice, and we wish to empower the Seattle grassroots community by giving it access to a public space for community organizing. The Autonomia collective aims to support the diverse multitude of anti-authoritarian and working-class struggles in the Seattle area and around the world. We believe that a well-organized community is able to solve its own problems and better meet the needs of its community members when it practices group decision making and direct democracy.
Autonomia offers:
-Free coffee
-Free literature
-Free computer and internet access
-Free clothes
-A space for artists to showcase their work
-A space for grassroots organizations to meet
-Events such as benefit concerts, film screenings, open-mics, workshops, and Seattle Free School classes

Autonomia Social Center is an example of creating radical infrastructure in the Seattle community. It’s a place to meet comrades in struggle, a place for educating yourself and others, a place to hang out, laugh, eat, inspire and conspire together. As a result of Seattle’s passionate struggle against oppression in the last few months, many are looking at radicals and asking “Well if not capitalism, if not police, if not hierarchy, exploitation, and environmental degradation, then what?” Autonomia strives to offer answers, to create a microcosm of alternatives to oppression as we tear this macrocosm of injustice down, to serve as a reminder of what we are for while we fight the relentless oppression of the state we are so passionately against.

The city’s change of use process is cumbersome but not impossible to navigate. The recent case of Volunteer Park Cafe’s efforts to secure a change of use permit in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, though, shows that it is extremely expensive and dependent on good relationships with neighbors. On the other hand, it can also be a lengthy process that takes months to play out.

We’ll ask the people behind Autonomia what their plan is. Should they decide to give the city bureaucracy a spin and apply for a change of use for the space, it will be interesting to see if a “radical” group like Autonomia can work it out and stay in the Central District.

A woman called police late Friday night to report that a man had come to her door and told her he had been robbed at gunpoint at 19th Ave and E Cherry. The man, according to SPD,  told officers he is a candidate running for Seattle City Council and was in the neighborhood for his campaign when he was robbed at 19th and Cherry around 10:30 Friday night.

We have not yet confirmed the identity of the candidate.

We reported last week that candidate Bobby Forch lives in the neighborhood and kicked off his campaign to unseat incumbent Jean Godden with an event at Bailey Gatzert Elementary. UPDATE: It wasn’t local candidate Forch. We just had a quick chat with him via phone and he says it wasn’t him. We’ll update when we learn more.

In the incident, the man told police he was approached by two black males in their early 20s. As the suspects approached, the victim said one of the men pulled out a silver revolver and pressed it against his stomach. The duo demanded money and jewelry. The victim told police he handed over $985 in donations he had collected while campaigning, a silver Timex watch, a silver bracelet, silver ring, and a black Perry Ellis wallet with $40 in cash inside.

UPDATE: 6/21/2011 — SPD’s Mark Jamieson would not identify the victim but tells us the name the man gave is not that of any of the men currently running for Seattle City Council.

South Jackson’s Seattle Girls’ School has a new Head of School. That’s the good news. The bad news is Rafael del Castillo is inheriting a lawsuit against the private all-girls school filed in King County Superior Court last week alleging that administrators stood by while a young girl was repeatedly bullied. The case puts the non-profit in the position of having to prove it did enough to protect a 16-year-old girl from what her lawyer says were emotionally debilitating attacks that have left her client unable to enjoy her skills as a dancer and a piano player and left her suffering “anorexia, depression, anxiety, and back problems.”

The suit seeks monetary damages to be determined by the court. In a statement posted by KING 5, del Castillo said, “We take the issue of bullying, relational aggression and cyber bullying very seriously. We invest extensive time and effort in ongoing education to address any issues of bullying.”

A video interview from KING 5 and a copy of the complaint filed in the lawsuit are below. We have redacted the girl’s last name and removed an identifying detail from the document.

Complaint