A foot chase that started near 23rd and Marion finished up nearly 30 minutes later when SPD officers found their suspect hiding behind a building near 21st and Union just after 3 PM Friday afternoon.

We have not been able to determine what started the chase but according to police radio, officers were concerned that the suspect being pursued could be armed with a handgun. They searched the area for the suspect described as a black male, 18 to early 20s, with a mustache and wearing baggy blue jeans, a black puffy jacket, and a red hat.

We’ll try to follow up with SPD about the chase and the suspect.

SPD Chief John Diaz will be on Seattle University’s campus Thursday night for the January meeting of the East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition. Details on the community meeting are below. Organizers are requiring more structure than usual for anybody who wants to speak at the meeting. According to coalition chair Stephanie Tschida, speakers must arrive promptly at 6 PM to sign-up and are asked to limit their statements and questions to 60 seconds. Note also that the meeting will be held at Seattle University instead of the Vocational Institute at 23rd and Jackson where it is normally held.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has begun a process to review what ACLU Washington says is a pattern of violence by the Seattle Police Department often targeting minorities in the city. From the Seattle Times: 

The federal review is in response to a request last month by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU) and 34 other community groups that asked the Justice Department to investigate police use of force in several recent high-profile incidents, including the fatal shooting of John T. Williams.

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U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said Monday she met last week with officials from the Police Department and the office of Mayor Mike McGinn, representatives of the City Council and some of the community groups pushing for the investigation.

Durkan said attorneys from the federal department’s Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., will travel to Seattle in early February to begin the process.

There has been increased scrutiny of incidents involving violence and possible racial bias by SPD officers. In September, the King County Prosecutor’s office decided to not charge an SPD officer caught on video saying he was going to beat the “Mexican piss” out of man. Meanwhile, those same prosecutors must decide whether charges should be brought against SPD officer Ian Birk in the shooting death of JT Williams.

In a week when the Seattle Public Schools decision to lease TT Minor is perhaps being felt even more acutely in the community, there’s an opportunity to make the best of the situation — if for only the duration of a children’s book or three. The school’s tenant Hamlin Robinson is reaching out to area families and childcare providers as it starts a weekly Family Story Time series every Friday:

Hamlin Robinson School, which relocated this school year into the former home of TT Minor Elementary at 1700 E. Union Street, extends its resources to families and caregivers of young children in the community with its new Friday Family Story Hour. The first event, featuring guest reader and City Councilmember Jean Godden, will be held Jan. 21, 2-3 p.m. at the School’s Library. 

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“Story Hour can provide new learners kindergarten readiness skills that encompass physical, social and emotional learning, cognition, language and literacy,” Joan Beauregard said, Interim Head at Hamlin Robinson School.  “Its engaging and family-oriented format includes storytelling that uses flannel boards, drama, music, and the vitality of storytellers and our talented librarian, Kris Dersch.” 

The event also serves as a “thank you” from the School for the warm welcome it received from neighbors. Hamlin Robinson School staff aim to make story time accessible for small children (mainly ages two to five) and their parents/caregivers who reside in the Central District and Capitol Hill neighborhoods. Story Hour fosters community, relieves parent isolation, and promises to be fun. It also appeals to many styles of learning—a philosophy the School embodies in serving those with dyslexia and related language difficulties.

Following this week’s debut, the story time will happen every Friday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 AM.

You can read more on Hamlin Robinson move into TT Minor here.

The TT Minor campus is located at 18th and Union.

Beebe Hill_0074.jpg, originally uploaded by s.m. bush.

The next step to install new play equipment in Washington Park comes Thursday night as Seattle Parks hosts a public meeting to discuss the $50,000 project funded by a neighborhood victory in a recycling contest.

CDNews reported on the CleanScapes donation here. According to CleanScapes, 13 projects were submitted by neighborhood representatives, with members of their respective community councils serving on the project selection committee that ultimately agreed on the upgrades for Washington Park. The Madison Park Blogger has more details on the project.

Washington Park Playfield is located adjacent the arboretum and near Seattle’s Japanese Garden.

CHANGES TO WASHINGTON PARK PLAY EQUIPMENT 

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting a public meeting on Thursday, January 20, 2011 from 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Graham Visitor Center to discuss changes being proposed for the swing set located next to the Washington Park Playfield. The Graham Visitor Center is located at 2300 Arboretum Drive.

CleanScapes, Washington Park’s neighborhood solid waste and recycling service provider, has proposed a donation that would replace the existing swing set with new play equipment. The equipment would be installed in April 2011.

This project originated from CleanScapes’ 2009/2010 Neighborhood Waste Reduction Rewards program. The competition challenged city residents and neighborhoods to improve their collective waste reduction efforts between fall 2009 and spring 2010. The neighborhood collection day area that reduced their waste the most won this $50,000 community project, identified by citizens and built in the winning neighborhood.

The public is encouraged to come and learn about the swing set removal and new equipment proposal. For more information, please call Pamela Alspaugh, Sr. Landscape Architect, at 206-684-7328, or email her at [email protected].

Seattle’s celebration of the 37th Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday will be centered right here in the Central District starting with a celebration and performance at Mt. Zion on Friday and culminating with the MLK Day March and Rally starting at Garfield High School on Monday.

FRIDAY: 37th Annual Community Celebration
Friday afternoon’s celebration at 19th/Madison’s Mt. Zion begins will feature a performance of The Right to Dream:

“The Right to Dream” performance by Living Voices

A dramatic retelling of the early civil rights movement in the United States. An actor (Marcel Davis) playing the role of a participant brings the significance of the movement to life by interacting with documentary news footage from the 1950s and 1960s.

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Information about Living Voices at livingvoices.org

Emcee Lori Matsukawa
KING 5 News Anchor

Musical celebration with members of the Black Nativity Choir

The event begins at noon, Friday.

SATURDAY: Teen march at MLK Park

Teens from around Seattle will gather at noon this Sat., Jan. 15 to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Seattle park that bears his name, located at 2200 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way.

Teens will gather at the park at 1 p.m. and begin the march to Garfield Community Center. The route will take them up Martin Luther King, Jr. Way to Jackson St. to 23rd Ave. to Garfield Community Center at 2323 E Cherry St.

MONDAY: MLK March & Rally At Garfield High School

The annual march and rally, sponsored by the MLK Celebration Committee, will take place next Mon., Jan 17 at Garfield High School beginning at 9:30 a.m. The theme for this year’s special salute to MLK’s legacy is “Many Voices United to Build the Beloved Community!”

The event will begin with a series of workshops dealing with many current social justices issues important to our community. Then at 11:00am participants will gather in the Garfield High School gymnasium for huge community Rally.

The center piece of the salute to MLK will be community March beginning at 12 noon in front Garfield and ending at the Henry Jackson Federal Building on 2nd Madison.

Additionally, don’t forget about the King Holiday Hoopfest which starts Saturday at Seattle U.

Neighbor Carolyn sends this in to [email protected]:

What’s the big police response at the closed gas station at 23rd and Union?  Fire truck and about six patrol cars?

According to East Precinct radio, there was a car vs. pedestrian incident at the intersection. An ambulance was dispatched to the area around 6:47 PM. No word on injuries yet but sounds like there was a need for additional SPD units so we’ll check in with East Precinct to find out what necessitated the response. If you saw anything, let us know.

Seattle City Light says its contractors are wrapping up the search for dangerous power poles and utility vaults that might be leaking electricity. In total, SCL has reported five locations where leaking voltage was found around the Central District. Of the some 30,000 pieces of equipment inspected in the sweep, SCL says only 45 were found to have “elevated voltage” levels — or about 0.15%. Here are the CD locations identified for repair by SCL:

• 12th Avenue S and S Jackson Street, 100 volts, frayed wiring was repaired

• E James and 32nd Avenue, 98 volts, bad wiring was replaced
• E  Spruce and 32^nd Avenue, 35 volts, a bad connection was found and all connections were replaced
• E Yesler Way and 28th Avenue, 41 volts, a bad wiring connection was found, power was disconnected, repairs pending

23rd and East Union– 60 to 80 volts — Cause: Unknown

The search was started after a dog was electrocuted in Queen Anne on Thanksgiving Day 2010.

ROADS
Main routes are slushy but mostly clear. You can check out conditions with the SDOT traffic cams. Side streets and sidewalks are very slushy — wear some good shoes and if you are driving, be careful off main routes and in parking lots.

Here’s SDOT’s most recent update sent out just after midnight.

City streets have seen approx. 2 inches of snow. SDOT clearing roadways to achieve bare/wet snow routes 8-12 hours after snow stops.

METRO

As of the start of service Wednesday, nearly all Metro bus routes in all King County Metro Snow Areas
are on their designated snow reroutes. Not all routes have snow routing, but most do.

Route 38 & Route 45 are canceled for the morning commute; a decision about their PM operation will be made
later in the day.

The Route 90 Hospital Shuttle is not operating Wednesday morning.

Route 121 & Route 131 are operating their regular routes.

Buses may also be delayed due to road conditions and reroutes. Please use your route’s regular schedule
to plan your travel, but be prepared for delays and allow yourself plenty of time.

Metro expects to maintain this status throughout the morning peak time and begin returning to regular service
after 9:00 AM.

Visit Metro Online or check a timetable for the snow routing for routes you use. Watch for updates
after 9:00 AM and as conditions change.

SCHOOLS
Seattle Public Schools will be running two hours late on regular bus routes this morning.

Both Seattle Central and Seattle University are delaying the opening of campuses until 10 AM. Any early classes are canceled.

Seattle Police are investigating a reported rape of a 16-year-old girl at a Central District apartment near Garfield High School that she says was committed by a University of Washington athlete who befriended her via Facebook. KIRO broke the story and has posted its latest update here:

 University of Washington men’s basketball Coach Lorenzo Romar said in a news conference on Tuesday that “there’s not enough information” to take action yet against a UW athlete accused of raping a 16-year-old girl.

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Romar did not identify the player by name — nor is KIRO 7, depending on the outcome of an investigation — but Romar did say that the accusation wasn’t something he or the university were taking lightly.

The player has not been arrested and KIRO is not naming him pending results of the SPD investigation.

Over the weekend, neighbor Ellie posted a note warning of burglary activity in her part of the Central District to the CDNews Facebook page:

Two DAY TIME burglaries on the 21st Ave/Terrace block in the past few days!

Below is a map showing other reported break-ins this week in that area of the neighborhood. Full reports aren’t available from the break-ins noted by Ellie but reports for two incidents along Yesler are. In one, nothing was taken as an alarm sounded when the home’s basement door was opened *after* somebody had broken in through a window. In the other, about $150 in change was stolen from a home where police could find no obvious means of entry and the resident swore she had locked her deadbolt. You can click the map to view latest information from SeattleCrime.