Seattle Salads hopes to be the start of a new boom in fast, made-to-order salads shops in Seattle. That is, of course, if owner Desirae Rabe has her way.

After a year and a half dishing out salads at the Queen Anne farmer’s market, Rabe opened her first permanent shop in Madison Valley earlier this month. The shop, at 27th and Madison, fills the space vacated by New York Cupcakes in early August.

“I had to start the hard way, but the good way,” Rabe said, referring to the long days involved with running a business at a market. “I’ve learned so much.”

Rabe, who lives on Capitol Hill, sees a market for the fast, healthy food the shop offers, much like salad shops she has seen in other cities on the east and west coasts.

You can either choose salads from a list of shop recipes or pick and choose each ingredient. There’s limited seating inside at the moment, but Rabe hopes to add more dining space inside and hopes to add outdoor seating during nicer weather.

The shop currently offers limited delivery (large orders delivered Tuesdays and Fridays), but hopes to have local bike delivery soon.

Hours: Monday-Friday 11am-6pm. Saturday 11am-5pm and Sunday 12pm-4pm.

A fire near Yakima Ave S and S Norman St early Tuesday morning appears to have been arson, police say. An apartment building was set on fire and may be connected to a domestic dispute earlier in the morning.

Nobody was injured in the blaze, which was contained to the outside of the building and extinguished by firefighters. The suspect was not located.

From SPD:

East Precinct officers and Arson/Bomb Squad detectives are investigating an early morning arson to an apartment unit in the 1100 Block of Yakima Avenue South.  Fortunately, there were no injuries and the Seattle Fire Department was able to extinguish the flames quickly.

The call of the arson came in just before 4:00 this morning, but there had been an earlier disturbance involving possibly the same suspect about 90 minutes earlier.  Around 2:20 am, a male entered the unlocked door of the apartment unit on Yakima Avenue South and was confronted by the woman’s boyfriend.  The suspect took off running, and the police were called.  Officers arrived and contacted the victim.  She stated that the suspect could have been a man she had dated previously, and gave a description to officers.  An area check was conducted, but the suspect was not located.

Just before 4:00 am, another 911 call came in from the same location, this time indicating that possibly the same suspect had returned and did something to the apartment,  causing it to burn.  Seattle Fire was able to quickly extinguish the flames and the damage was contained to the outside of the building only.  There were no injuries.  Officers set up containment, and a K-9 team was brought in for a search, but the suspect was not located.  Detectives are now handling the investigation.

A rendering of SU’s future plans for 12th and Madison

Two members of a Citizen Advisory Committee that worked for more than five years to help shape Seattle University’s new Major Institution Master Plan went before the Seattle City Council’s planning and land use committee October 26 (see video below) to argue that the plan will allow the school to build too high, will eliminate too much non-university housing and does not do enough to concentrate future growth of the campus.

The appeal brought by Squire Park residents William Zosel and Ellen Sollod seeks to turn back approved rezones for portions of the plan, curtail expansion of the SU campus along 12th and 13th Ave and require the school to be responsible for developing non-university housing to replace any residential structures removed in future school developments:

CHS reported on the sprawling plan for the 6,000-student campus at the southern edge of Capitol Hill here: What Seattle U will look like in 2028: School brings its future plans before City Council

The MIMP outlines an expansion of the school’s boundaries by 2.4 acres by 2028, with 2 million square feet added to the campus for new development.

Some of the planned long-term additions to the school include:

• Underground parking lots 
• Pedestrian paths along 12th
• A more defined school border on Madison St
• A new academic/housing building incorporating a new structure combined with the 12th and Madison Self-Storage building
• A new building at 1313 E Columbia
• A new mixed use building on 13th Ave

The City Council committee session comes after the Hearing Examiner upheld the Department of Planning and Development’s approval of the plan. 

We will update this post as the appeal plays out. You can watch the proceedings live via. Documents from the appeal process have been posted on the city web site:

Supporting Documents:

a. Zosel and Sollod Appeal

b. SU Response to Zosel Appeal

c. Zosel and Sollod Reply

d. Seattle University Citizens Advisory Committee (SUCAC)Letter

e. October 15, 2012 Notice to SUCAC

f. Central Staff Table of Appeal Issues

g. Seattle University Master Plan Presentation

h. Council Central Staff Memo

i. Attachments to Council Central Staff Memo

Here’s video of the October 26 committee meeting (Seattle U discussion starts at 114:00):

This story was originally published on our sister site Capitol Hill Seattle.

SPD’s public display of their Draganflyer X6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (AKA “drone”) Thursday at Garfield Community Center was supposed to give people a chance to see the camera-toting remote-piloted helicopter in person and give residents the chance to ask questions about how it would be used.

However, a group of protestors had other ideas for the meeting, shouting down the officers with chants and disruption for much of the meeting time. Many people have concerns about increasing the police department’s surveillance tools, while others see it as the start of dystopian worlds depicted in novels like 1984.

One protestor took to Twitter, and the @SeattleDrone was tweeting sarcastically before the meeting had even ended:

SPD says the machine, which can only fly for about 15 minutes at a time, will give them new tools for gathering information during dangerous incidents. Mayor McGinn told residents at a town hall at Kawabe House recently that he sees the drones as “a low-cost alternative to having a helicopter” at the scene. He also said the drone would not be used until there is a public process to determine its use guidelines.

More details on the meeting from the Seattle Times:

It was hard to hear Thursday night what Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh was trying to say about how the Seattle Police Department hopes to use drones to save lives and increase public safety — what with the chanting of “no drones” and the loud cries of “murderer” and “shame” drowning him out.

The first community meeting seeking public opinion on the department’s plans to use unmanned aerial systems, or drones, for law enforcement was taken over by protesters who prevented McDonagh from talking for more than half of the two-hour meeting.

The meeting, held at the Garfield Community Center, was attended by about 100 people. A few sat quietly and tried to listen, a few wanted to see the drones for themselves, but the majority were there to challenge police powers.

UPDATE: Commenter Jerry Whiting posted a link to this video of the meeting in the comments of our previous post (protestors enter around the 11:00 mark):

Growth is happening in the Jackson Place neighborhood on Hiawatha Place South & surrounding. New developments, construction and more businesses in Tenant Improvement phases as they add to the current lineup to the HUB:

CURRENT BUSINESSES

Artspace, Budd & Co., Café Weekend, C Art Gallery, Cascade Oil, Central Bark, Darigold, My World Dance & Fitness, Pontedera Condos, Puget Sound Solar, Seattle Capoeira Center, San Fernando Roasted Chicken, Seattle Bouldering Project, Rainier Veterinary Hospital, Sleeping Bulldog Bed & Breakfast, Two Small Men Moving, Working Dog Bicycles, Youth Venture Ashoka

DEVELOPMENTS, MIXED USE & NEW HOMES

Pontedera Condos – condos & work live units available for sale @ http://www.pontederacondos.com/

New development/ apartment building – broke ground July 2012… more info tba on Hiawatha Place

New construction at Goodwill –  new office development @ S. Dearborn & Rainier Ave.

New construction – first hill line transit on 14th and Jackson by Seattle Street Car

GROWTH:

Parking – With growth comes no parking turnover. New pay lot on Hiawatha Place & S. Charles to balance the growth for the new businesses & neighbors – Support the neighborhood, create turnover if your visiting the neighborhood more than 2 hrs at a time.  Costs $1 by the hour $2 all day or $25 by the month. 

Parks – Judkins Park adds skatespot, updates tennis courts to bike polo courts. Jimi Hendrix park developement ensuing

http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/judkins/files/preferre

http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/jimi_hendrix/

Transit – Seattle Street Car/ first hill connection, light rail accessible/ Mt baker station as well as I-90 express routes to downtown & eastside vs. local routes 

http://metro.kingcounty.gov/cftemplates/show_map.cfm?BUS_ROU

Markets & Events –  Hiawatha Flea (June & Sept. bi-annual summertime market), Umojafest @Judkins Park – August, All Things Japanese Sale – August, Hiawathoween – October, Bike to Work Day – May,  Night Out Block party – August, JP Community council election – June, Park(ing) Day – September Hiawatha Lofts art & music events + more

MEDIA/ NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS:

CDNEWS/ blog http://www.centraldistrictnews.com

Jackson Place – Neighborhood Assoc   http://jacksonplace.org/

Jackson Place Business Assoc. – facebook

Colman – Judkins Park Neighborhood Assoc.    http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/commnty/cna/about/index.htm

Jackson Street Cooridor Assoc. / BIA – http://jacksonstreetcorridor.com/

Jackson Commons/ blog & projects – http://jacksoncommons.com

LOCATION

 New developments and neighborhood of the week as featured in the Real Estate section of the Seattle Times defining the Atlantic neighborhood aka the HUB/ JACKSON PLACE/ JUDKINS PARK/ N. Rainier Valley.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2017951268_

MORE UP TO DATE INFO on the neighborhood:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jackson-Place-Business-Associa

Have more to add to the growth to the neighborhood, please add here….

When the mayor held a town hall meeting at Kawabe House earlier this month, one resident voiced concern about the police department’s new drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles. Mayor McGinn said he sees the drones, which can only sustain a few minutes of flight at a time, as “a low-cost alternative to having a helicopter” at a scene.

While SPD wants to sell the drone, a Draganflyer X6, as a glorified RC helicopter with a camera attached that could be useful to get overhead shots during incidents, others see the beginnings of a dystopian surveillance society with few rights to privacy.

You can check out the drones for yourself tonight (Thursday) at Garfield Community Center. SPD will display one of the units and hold a Q&A about them starting at 6 p.m.

From SPD:

The Seattle Police Department is one of 50 organizations that have received permission from the federal government to operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) – also known as ”drones”.

What – UAV Question & Answer

When – October 25, 2012

Time – 6:00 p.m.

Location- The Garfield Community Center, 2323 East Cherry Street, Seattle, WA 98122

Seattle Police Arson/Bomb Squad Lieutenant Greg Sackman will be on hand with the UAV to answer your questions and receive your feedback about our proposed policy. 

A draft copy of the Department’s operational protocol is attached below:

UAS Operations Manual

Kids will have a chance Friday to carve pumpkins with the Seattle U Men’s Basketball team and SPD at the Yesler Terrace Community Center.

Festivities get under way at 6 p.m. More details from Seattle U:

Children in the Yesler Terrace community are in for a surprise at this year’s Halloween festival, when Seattle University Men’s Basketball Coach Cameron Dollar, his entire team and Seattle police officers will join them for pumpkin carving. Officers from SU’s Department of Public Safety delivered 75 pumpkins to the center earlier this week, in preparation for the annual celebration.  

Aside from the pumpkin carving, the festival will include: a haunted house, games, face painting and of course, lots of sweet treats!  

The event is free and for all ages.  

WHEN: Friday, October 26, 2012 
             5:30-6 p.m., pumpkin set-up. 6-8 p.m., festival

WHERE: Yesler Terrace Community Center 
               917 E. Yesler Way

A protest against Wal-Mart is planned at 23rd and Jackson Wednesday. People will be handing out leaflets about the negative affects a Wal-Mart “could have on local and sustainable food systems,” according to the press release. The action is part of national Food Day.

The effort is led by Making Change at Wal-Mart, an affiliated group of the UFCW21 labor union, which represents grocery and retail workers among others. The union represents the workers at Red Apple and has been mobilizing ever since rumors of Wal-Mart started during the summer.

The owners of the Promenade 23 shopping center, the Houston-based Weingarten Realty, has never mentioned Wal-Mart as a planned tenant. They wrote CDNews again Wednesday morning to reiterate that they have no plans for a Wal-Mart at 23rd and Jackson:

Over the past several months, speculations have been made regarding plans for Promenade 23, located at 23rd Avenue S at S Jackson Street.  We are  evaluating all options and have not made any firm plans for Promenade 23.  Weingarten takes time to evaluate all options to do what is best for the community, tenants and its shareholders.  Once firm plans are made, we will make an announcement.  We do not have current or future plans to develop a Wal-mart at this location.

Here’s the press release about Wednesday’s protest:

To mark Food Day (October 24th)—a nationwide celebration and movement toward more healthy, affordable and sustainable food– concerned residents will leaflet at Promenade 23, the shopping center at 23rd and Jackson in Seattle’s Central District. The action aims to raise awareness about a possible new Wal-Mart store being proposed for that location and the impacts it could have on local and sustainable food systems. Leafletters will carry out their action from 10am until 1pm.

The organizers of the action are members of the Community Alliance for Global Justice (CAGJ), a Seattle-based non-profit dedicated to strengthening local economies. CAGJ recently joined the Puget Sound Making Change at Wal-Mart Coalition because of their concern for how it will impact the food system.

“Wal-Mart drives consolidation in all industries, and the food system is no exception.” Says CAGJ Executive Director, Heather Day. “It is imperative that we find solutions to ensure everyone have access to healthy food. Wal-Mart is not the solution. Wal-Mart may claim they can solve food deserts in US inner cities, but we know better. Through its huge market power and drive for profits, Wal-Mart squeezes suppliers, negatively effecting every link in the food chain–farmers get unfair prices, farmworkers and Wal-Mart associates get unfair pay, and eaters get lower quality food.”

Concern about Wal-Mart’s entry into the Central District is sprung from Walmart’s new neighborhood market-style stores which many believe aggressively work to gain access to urban markets and undermine local businesses. “We know that Wal-Mart has targeted Seattle for its urban expansion, despite the fact that there are many grocery retailers already operating in this area, many of whom have higher wage and benefit standards than Wal-Mart.  Promenade 23 is one site that we are particularly concerned about, since it already has a union-represented, locally owned Red Apple store,” explained Elena Perez, coordinator of the Making Change at Walmart, Puget Sound coalition.

My family and I have lived near Garfield for 2+ years.  We’ve lived in other parts of the CD for 20+ years.

We’ve always had random car vandalism and break-ins–broken antennas; several break-ins to steal loose change out of our glove box; car stolen once but recovered (stripped, of course).  This all occurred in a different neighborhood, which was much less residential (Pike/Pine)–therefore, the vandalism was easier to chalk up to transient visitors to the neighborhood, out for a “good time” of drink and property destruction.  (The car theft was a different matter–we thought it was most likely someone from a neighboring house that was full of sketchy characters).  Our car wasn’t isolated for the damage or break-ins–when it happened in that neighborhood, we’d notice other cars had also been vandalized/broken into.

Now, we live in a neighborhood which is residential.  Granted, it does seem to be a through-way for people dealing at 23rd and Cherry, headed south of Yesler and vice versa.  We’ve also had an issue with one of our neighbors (which I will not go into here).  That incident occurred almost two years ago.

Since moving in, we’ve had our car repeatedly scratched.  And when I say scratched, I mean deep gouges where they run some tool (keys, screwdriver?) down the length of our car.  My husband has sanded and painted countless times in order to hold off the rust.  On several occasions, he’s walked up and down the street to see if other neighbors’ cars have been scratched.  Our car seems to be the target, as no one else has problems.  The gouges are getting deeper–my husband just reported some to me yesterday morning, and he feels that whoever is doing it is getting bolder.

Last night, our car was broken into.  They stole our (very old) battery charger and a new package of Costco toilet paper (!?)  They probably also tried to steal our new car battery, but were interrupted and didn’t complete the job.

I’m not sure if these are even related incidents.  But I’m wondering if anyone else in the south of Cherry/north of Yesler/east of 23rd/west of MLK area has had recurrent problems with car vandalism and theft.  I feel kind of stupid even asking, as it seems to be a part of city life.  However, we feel kind of targeted and are looking for reassurance that this isn’t the case.

I’m reporting these incidents to the SPD.

If this has been a problem for you, what have you found helpful in deterring it?  I say hello to everyone who walks by, am friendly with the neighbors, etc etc.  Our block does not have a block watch, but that seems like it would be of little help.

My husband is keen to get one of those home monitoring camera systems so that he can try to catch the suspect(s) in the act.  I feel like it’s a waste of money, but I’m also concerned about continued theft and possible escalation to home break-ins.  We have young kids, and worry for their safety.

Thanks for any input.

With the new Fire Station 6 at MLK and Jackson getting ready to open perhaps by the end of the year, the city is looking to sell the old station at 23rd and Yesler. Before they do that, however, the city is seeking input from the community about what people would like to see in the historic building.

The city’s Finance and Administrative Services department has preliminarily recommended that the building be sold on the market for the highest value. No other city department expressed interest in the station, so the city is looking to sell it and put the revenue back into the Fire Levy account to help build and restore more fire stations. However, city law requires a public outreach period before any such sale, prompting a meeting held last week.

Ultimately, the City Council will have the final say in what happens to the old station. They will likely make that decision in early 2013, meeting presenters said. Until then, anyone with a proposal for purchasing the building is encouraged to come forward (and it wouldn’t hurt to gather some community support for the idea while you’re at it).

A slide from the meeting presentation:

If there was any consensus among attendees at the meeting (which got a bit heated at moments), it was that people do not want the fire station to simply be sold to the highest bidder without community consideration of the buyer’s plans. The building is zoned on a low-rise residential property (LR3), so the “highest and best use” (the design that would maximize the current zoning allowance) would be a multi-family residence such as an apartment building or townhouses. The King County Assessor estimates the property value at $2.5 million, but it is not clear exactly what the property could go for in an open bidding situation.

Of the ideas presented at the meeting, none were simply residences. Only two specific groups presented specific plans for the space: The Holistic Community Health Clinic and Umojafest PEACE Center.

Most of the meeting attendees were there to support the HCHC, an effort led by Dr. John Ruhland, who currently runs the Natural Health Medical Clinic on Beacon Hill. Ruhland has gathered quite a list of coalition partners for the clinic, including King County Councilmember Larry Gossett, community and church leaders, and labor unions. The clinic would aim to provide free or sliding scale holistic and naturopathic health care out of the station’s upstairs area.

“The CD and south end are still the most underserved areas in the city” for good health care, Ruhland said, despite these areas also having high levels of preventable health issues like diabetes and heart disease. “Every time we ignore someone in need, we lose a little big of our humanity,” he said.

The other idea presented at the meeting was to make the station the future home of the Umojafest PEACE Center. Currently based at 24th and Spring, the center is bursting at the seams with 150-200 young people using it every week, said Nicquitta Brooks.

“If [the youth] are not given a stake in the community, that’s when they start acting destructively,” said Wyking Garrett, explaining why a space like the Umojafest PEACE Center is important.

Omari Tahir-Garrett also spoke and suggested the space could house the African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center.

There is still time for other proposals for the building to come forward, said the presenters at the meeting. Those interested in purchasing the property should contact Louis Webster of the Financial and Administrative Services Department at [email protected] or call (206) 684-0357. And, of course, let CDNews know about your idea, as well.

Seattle Channel was there and recorded the full meeting. Here’s the video:

Here’s the presentation about the property that was shown at the start of the meeting: FS 6 Comm Mtg Presentation October 2012 FINAL2