The first drop of ballot counts in the 2013 August primary foretold promising results for incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn and his expected top challenger, Ed Murray. But there were also surprises like the strong showing of Socialist candidate Kshama Sawant who shows signs of being to hang in the race with incumbent Richard Conlin in the race for his seat on the Seattle City Council. You can find the latest results here via King County Elections. The next update is expected Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters found one victim and battled a blaze inside a one and a half story detached garage being used as a residence at 1717 E Columbia 810 17th Ave early Tuesday morning.

The fire was initially reported just before 1 AM as smoke blanketed the neighborhood and flames could be seen shooting from the apartment above the garage. Crews responded to find the roof of the building fully ablaze and were able to remove one victim in the initial minutes of the response. We do not yet have details of the victim’s condition. UPDATE: Seattle Fire reports that a 35-year-old male was transported to Harborview suffering from second degree burns and smoke inhalation. Investigators were waiting to interview the victim to help determine cause of the fire.

Crews continued to battle the stubborn blaze for nearly 20 minutes.

UPDATE #2: Seattle Fire is now reporting that the patient transported to Harborview is a 54-year-old man.

Ezell’s!, originally uploaded by Sweendo.

Blue=Protected bike lane. Green=Neighborhood Greenway. Red=Trail. Download full plan and map here

Last week, public comment about the latest draft of the Seattle Bike Master Plan wrapped up but the conversation on the next wave of the city’s bicycle planning has really just begun. Below, we’ve shared a look at the latest plan updates. You can provide your thoughts and feedback on the plan to the Seattle City Council transportation committee (email) who will take the plan up for discussion in September. For more on the planning process, check out Seattle.gov’s Seattle Bicycle Master Plan page.

By Tom Fucoloro/Seattle Bike Blog
In general, the updated Bike Master Plan includes a lot of bold and smart projects. We noted many in our analysis of the first draft. This post focuses mainly on the changes between drafts.

The biggest changes between the bold (almost surprisingly so) first draft and new one are on some of the busier streets in the Capitol Hill, First Hill, Central District and downtown areas. For example, protected bike lanes on Madison, Boren and Fairview have been dropped entirely.

But some exciting ideas have been added, like an extended protected bikeway on 10th Ave E from 520 (and its proposed bike path) to the under-construction Broadway Bikeway. The plan also calls for protected bike lanes on Pike Street from 2nd Ave to Broadway (which should be extended to Madison). Both are ideas we suggested in our analysis of the first draft.

Continue reading →

Federal agents have again raided a marijuana dispensary at E Madison and 23rd Ave.

Seattle Cross, located at 2315 E John, issued a statement to customers Thursday, a day after agents served warrants and raided operations around the Puget Sound region:

The same dispensary was raided by the Drug Enforcement Agency in fall of 2011. No charges were filed following the 2011 raid.

Wednesday’s raid was part of DEA operations in three counties against the same set of dispensaries also raided in 2011. In the previous raids, the Department of Justice claimed the dispensaries failed “to abide by state medical marijuana guidelines,” “were distributing large amounts of drugs,” and “laundering large amounts of money.”

The DEA issued only the following short statement following Wednesday’s raids.  ”Several search warrants were executed today involving marijuana storefronts in King, Thurston and Pierce Counties.”

The Seattle Cross location is one of a small handful of dispensary-type operations making their homes on the Hill including a longtime provider on 15th Ave E and a storefront on Broadway. These other marijuana providers were apparently not part of the most recent wave of DEA anti-pot activity in the region.

The raids follow the conviction of the owner of a Seattle marijuana cooperative earlier this year on federal drug charges.

With the legalization of recreational pot in Washington, Seattle is working on solutions for integrating the newly legal behavior into day to day life. Making pot smoking in public a ticketable offense could be one change. Sorting out pot rules — and rights — for renters will be another. City Attorney Peter Holmes will meet with the City Council Friday afternoon to update members of the Housing, Human Services, Health and Culture Committee on “City Policies on Public Consumption of Marijuana.”

The Seattle Fire Department and SPD’s arson and bomb squad are investigating a car apparently set on fire in the 2500 block of E Pine, the third suspicious care fire in the area since the end of May.

UPDATE: Seattle Fire investigators have determined the fire was intentionally set. SPD says detectives are investigating the arson as a possible hate crime:

Investigators are looking into the possibility of a bias crime as part of their arson investigation on a car that was deliberately set on fire early this morning in the Central District.

Shortly after 1:00 am, Seattle Police and Seattle Fire responded to a vehicle fire in the 2500 Block of East Pine Street.  Seattle Fire extinguished the flames, and detectives from the Arson/Bomb Unit responded.  Graffiti with racial epithets  was  spray-painted onto the car prior to the fire.  There were no injuries, but the vehicle, a 1990 Cadillac Deville, appears to be a total loss.  Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact Seattle Police.

View Suspicious Car Fires in a larger map

In previous incidents, a Subaru was totally destroyed in a July 3rd incident at 21st and Pine. Earlier, a truck was destroyed in an apparently intentionally set fire at 24th and Thomas.

May 31: “In other news from the East Precinct, police are investigating a truck fire believe to have been set intentionally Friday morning at 24th and E Thomas. Seattle Fire responded to the blaze to the tucked away intersection a block from the main drags of E Madison and 23rd just before 4 AM. A subsequent investigation revealed signs of arson.”

July 3rd: “A suspicious car fire at 21st and E Pine drew a fire response, police and an investigation Wednesday night. According to police radio, the department’s bomb squad was notified of the incident but did not respond. We’ll update with more information when we get it. UPDATE: An eyewitness reports: “early 2000′s Subaru legacy wagon. Total loss. Fire started in passenger cabin. Owner was a non neighborhood resident (I think).” UPDATEx2: Seattle Fire tells us fire investigators determined that somebody set fire to the locked Subaru Legacy causing $7200 in damage.”

There are few details yet released on this latest incident first reported just before 1 AM Wednesday. We are continuing to update the story as information comes in.

It has been a busy start to the 4th of July holiday for police and fire crews.

• Minor knife wound at 12th/Jax: A man suffered “a very minor wound” in a reported stabbing near 12th and Jackson around 1:15 AM Thursday. According to emergency response radio dispatches, the incident was reported by Metro. Seattle Fire arrived to treat the man’s wound. We do not have further details at this time.
• Suspicious E Pine car fire: A suspicious car fire at 21st and E Pine drew a fire response, police and an investigation Wednesday night. According to police radio, the department’s bomb squad was notified of the incident but did not respond. We’ll update with more information when we get it. UPDATE: An eyewitness reports: “early 2000’s Subaru legacy wagon. Total loss. Fire started in passenger cabin. Owner was a non neighborhood resident (I think).” UPDATEx2: Seattle Fire tells us fire investigators determined that somebody set fire to the locked Subaru Legacy causing $7200 in damage.
• Suspicious Delmar Dr. E fires: Police took a man into custody Thursday morning after a series of small fires were found set to bushes and shrubbery near homes along the Delmar Dr. E area of Montlake north of Capitol Hill. We do not yet have confirmation of an arrest but according to police radio traffic, one man was taken into custody around 7 AM after police and a Seattle Fire crew were called out to the 2300 block of Delmar and found the small fires and, eventually, the suspect in the area. The flames did not spread and apparently no structures were damaged. We’ll check with SPD and Seattle Fire to learn more.

The call for names for a new park at 19th and Madison created a flurry of creativity. Now the community group working to make the park a reality is trying to winnow the list of candidates down to a Top 3. Here are the 15 suggested names for the greenspace that made the cut.

You can weigh in on your top 3 here.

1. Acute Triangle Park: For geometric reasons, a play on words for “A Cute Triangle.”
2. Big Leaf Park: Honoring the preservation of the outstanding maple tree on the property.
3. Cayton Corner Park: Susie Revels was the daughter of Hiram Revels, the first black person elected to the U.S. Senate. She moved to Seattle and in 1896 married Horace Cayton, editor of the Republican Weekly. Together they published the newspaper and had the 2nd highest circulation in Seattle while appealing to both black and white readers. Both graduated from college and promoted education. They were active in the African American community and local politics.
4. Chas Bo Park: Chas Bo’s Milk Palace and Produce Emporium, a milk and vegetable stand was located on this corner from 1977 until 1980.
5. Fratelli’s Cows Park: Fratelli’s Ice Cream headquarters and distribution center were directly north of the park. It’s noted for the cow mural hand painted by one of the owners, which represented cows in different artistic styles that served as a landmark for about twenty years. Fratelli means brother in Italian.
6. Gdynia Park: Seattle’s Polish sister city. The Polish Cultural Center has been in the neighborhood since 1920.
7. Helen Keller Park: Born in Alabama, she lost her sight, speech and hearing at 19 months old. Through the help of Ann Sullivan she transformed from a disruptive child to a highly educated and respected individual. She gave lectures in Seattle in 1914, 1921, 1938 and visited the city briefly while returning from her world tour in 1948.
8. Longlight Park: The traffic light at this corner is just about the longest in Seattle, or at least it was in the ’90s. People used to get out of their cars (north & southbound) to press the “walk” request button to get it to change faster.
9. MadCap Park: Madison Capitol Hill combined.
10. Manuel Lopes Park: Historians consider him to be the first African American in Seattle. Of Portuguese-African descent he worked on whaling ships. In Seattle, he worked as a cook for Dexter Horton, a well-known banker, and was listed in his household in 1860. He also worked as a barber.
11. Mini Grand Central Park: A tiny park with big ideas. Also refers to a busy place.
12. Nexus Park: It’s at the nexus of several neighborhoods and changing history.
13. Octavia Butler: Californian African American science fiction writer, who earned the Nebula Award, Hugo Award and MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant. She earned these awards while living in California, she moved to Lake Forest Park in October 1999 and died there five years later in February 2006. She was elected to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2010.
14. Rising Sun Park: The Rising Sun Fruit, Vegetable and Milk stand stood on this corner from 1981 until 2004. The corner is on the east side of Second or Renton Hill so gets the sunrises.
15. William Renton Park: Captain Renton owned the property in the 1880’s and earned a living through his lumber, coal and shipping operations in the area. He was blind at the time of his death. He employed Native Americans and African Americans at his mill. In 1860, he employed 3 African Americans at a time when only 56 lived in the territory. On early maps of Seattle, this area was known as Renton or Renton Hill.
    

    Artist concept of the future park via the 19th and Madison Facebook group

When Kevin Spitzer started 21st and Union’s Central Cinema in 2005, there wasn’t a lot to do in the Central District.

“If we wanted to go out, we had to go somewhere else,” he said. “Our mission of opening a theater over here, besides the fact that we live down the street, is all about making more fun happen in the CD.”

With its dinner-and-a-movie set up and cult-film revival programming, Central Cinema’s mission is to be a part of the community, to deliver an experience beyond just a projector screen and felt seats, Spitzer said.

With the Landmark-owned Egyptian Theatre closing its doors Thursday night after the 9:40 PM screening — rumors of a last minute deal for a renewed lease are just rumors, building landlord Seattle Central tells us — area cinema owners are evaluating their business models and trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t for an arthouse.

Northwest Film Forum executive director Lyall Bush echoed Spitzer’s statements. For NWFF, he said, the business is about more than just sharing the experience of film, it’s about cultivating a creative space for the community.

“Aside from the 200 films that we screen every year that we hold quarterly filmmaking classes,” he said. “We give away money to filmmakers. We’re a real 360 film arts center.”

Last month, CHS reported that NWFF had launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund an installation of digital projection equipment. Central Cinema is now in the midst of its own drive.

“The entire world, starting two-three years ago, started to turn towards… digital cinema,” Bush says. “We kind of resisted it until we realized that in order to stay in the biz we had to convert.”

The campaign reached its goal, raising $51,685 dollars. Bush said this is proof that passion for local cinema is still alive.

“Independent cinema just in this region is strong,” he said. “The audience for it is strong.”

Why then, is Landmark leaving the Egyptian?

The Egyptian Theatre is the third Landmark venue to close in as many years — The University District’s Neptune Theatre has been re-opened as a music performance space, and the Metro is now operating under Sundance Cinemas.

Spitzer said he’s often been disappointed with the level of upkeep at Landmark venues, a few of which have not received major renovations in several years.

“I think Landmark is not trying as hard as they did for a lot of their places,” Spitzer said.

Though he insists he doesn’t have any inside scoop on the historic theater’s closure, Spitzer said he’s felt as a patron of cinema that the chain’s film selection has been rote in recent memory.

“(Their film selection is) not indicative of any excitement for anything coming out,” he said. “Not ‘we managed to score this one’ or ‘we saw this one at the festival, you have to come see it because it’s awesome’ — you haven’t been getting the sense of those things.”

Central Cinema’s fans get social (Image: Central Cinema)

Spitzer said the process behind choosing what films to show is an important opportunity for a theater to assert itself as a member of the community.

“You can’t just sit at a little room with a desk and think about it by yourself, you have to think about different things, feeling out other events at other places, getting a sense of the pulse,” he said. “(You have) to stay current, to have a feel for what people find interesting.”

With Netflix and HDTVs making home viewing increasingly accessible, Bush said that NWFF is grappling with the strategy involved with bringing a new generation into the theater.

“It seems that for us to bring out audiences in their 20s is a slightly different invitation… they want to see activity associated with the experience,” he said.

Whether that involves DJ nights, happy hours, or something NWFF hasn’t thought up yet, Bush said the goal is to host events that are “a little bit more socially based.”

“The question is: if a lot of people, including me, watch so much cinema on Netflix, what is the value of a theatre?” Bush said. “It’s the popcorn and that smell but also the sense of belonging to the larger world.”

“The purpose of having that image so large is that it is there for hundreds of people,” he added. “The human animal still wants that experience.”

(Image: Tim Durkan via Twitter)

A garbage truck lost part of its load Thursday afternoon leaving trash bags littering 23rd Ave at E Union. Here’s what @timdurkan saw:

Trash Crash! A @CleanScapes truck has dumped its entire load at 23rd Ave. and E Union. Cleanup underway.

The clean-up continued past 4:30 PM as passing cars spread some of the trash around the intersection.

The plan for laying a fat pipe to much of Capitol Hill and the Central District is a gigabit or two closer to fruition.

Gigabit Squared Seattle is building a high-speed fiber network to 14 areas of the city and said Monday its pipeline of broadband goodness will be ready to flow to the first service areas in Capitol Hill, the Central District and near UW by early 2014:

Gigabit Squared’s simplified fiber network pricing plans for Seattle will be structured as follows:

1. Installation Charge:  Installation charges will be waived for customers signing a one-year contract for 100 Mbps service or greater.  Otherwise, a $350 installation fee is required.
2. Service Plan Options:

Plan A:

• 5 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload: No charge for 60 months
• 5/1 Mbps services are transferrable to new renters or owners
• After 60 months renters or owners can convert to a 10 Mbps download/10 Mbps upload service plan for only $10 per month

Plan B:

• 100 Mbps download/100 Mbps upload for $45 per month
• No installation charge with one- year contract

Plan C:

• 1000 download/1000 upload Mbps for $80 per month

• No installation charge with one-year contract

The company says it will announce a sign-up “process” next month. The plan is for all 14 service areas reaching more than 100,000 customers to be online by the end of 2014. The company has said it intends to eventually offer its services across all of Seattle through the combination of public and private fiber optic cables already available in the city.

The partnership between the city and D.C.-based Gigabit will likely put pressure on services and prices offered by established providers in the area like Comcast, Century Link and Wave. You can let us know what you’re currently paying for broadband service in comments.