A collaboration among many partner organizations, a new mural at 28th and Jackson on the side of the Jackson Street General Store will celebrate the families of the neighborhood.

Designed by Jake Wagoner (who also designed the recent 22nd and Jackson mural along with Joseph Brooks), the Family Tree mural is a partnership between Urban Artworks, Blast Radius (a global marketing company that provided the volunteer painting work), SPD, the Colman Neighborhood Association and the Central Seattle Drug-Free Communities Coalition (who provided the funding).

The mural will be a tree with framed family photos on its branches. They have so far collected a handful of family photos, but they need about eight or so more. If you want your family photo to be featured, email Urban Artworks’ Stephanie Tschida at [email protected].

The mural will hopefully be completed next Thursday. More details from Tschida:

Entitled, “Family Tree”, the mural will include frames which will be glued to the wall. Within the frames we are installing actual family photos from the community. Families come in many forms: Church families, sports teams, nuclear and blended families.

We have spaces for approximately 8-10 more photos. We have received three wonderful photos so far and want to portray the diversity and history of the area as accurately as possible. We are planning to laminate the photos, and, as this is a very low budget project, are looking for a print shop to donate the enlargements and lamination. Your ideas would be very helpful!

Please email your photos to Stephanie Tschida, Executive Director at Urban Artworks, at [email protected]

We are very excited about this cool project! Thank you for your support!

In addition to this mural, Wagoner and Brooks are hard at work on several other works in the area, many of which are funded out of their own pockets. They are working on a wall outside Eastlake’s Lo-Fi Performance Gallery and on a the wall of Tea Garden at Rainier and Dearborn. Randy Beaulieu of the Central Seattle Drug-Free Communities Coalition said they have more murals planned, so stay tuned.

The Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington at 16th and Weller is hosting their second annual All Things Japanese Sale Saturday and Sunday. All items are either made in Japan or have a Japanese theme, and all proceeds will support the JCCCW.

Details:

Get ready for an exciting and competitive event this weekend! On August 25th & 26th, the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington (JCCCW) will be having its second annual All Things Japanese Sale from 10:00am to 3:00pm at the Cultural Center located on 1414 South Weller Street just off of Rainier Ave South. The JCCCW welcomes everyone for a very special shop until you drop event for Japanese items at affordable prices! All of the items sold at the sale are donated by the community and all proceeds will go toward supporting the JCCCW and its mission to preserve, promote, and share Japanese and Japanese American culture and heritage.

For experienced shoppers, there will also be a special Sneak Preview Night on August 24th from 6:30 to 8:30pm where shoppers can get a head start on shopping. The preview night will also feature a reception with refreshments and appetizers. Preview admission is $25 for JCCCW members or $50 for non-members.

The community can participate in the sale in three different ways:

·         Donate your Japanese items! We will accept all Japanese art, antique, household and collectible items in good condition until August 23rd.

·         Volunteer to work at the sale! We have volunteer shifts available from August 20-26! Email [email protected] to sign up. Volunteers will receive Sneak Peak benefits on Friday night and post-sale benefits on Sunday.

·         Come and Shop! Choose from an assortment of art, antiques, household and collectible items all made in Japan or with a Japanese theme!

Umai-Do has been serving Japanese-style sweets at 18th and Jackson since last year. The shop got some love in the form of a great feature in this month’s City Arts magazine.

From City Arts:

Art Oki is happily off his feet, sitting inside Umai-Do, his tiny Japanese sweets shop in the International District. Buzz-cut and bespectacled, the soft-spoken 60-something is Seattle to the core: born and bred on Beacon Hill, employed for 30 years as a financial analyst for the city. Now he’s retired and collecting a pension but still working—as an entrepreneur and artisan, making and selling mild, traditional Japanese sweets in an era where candy is like crack.

The slow rhythm of his speech brings casual enlightenment about Seattle history. Oki mentions he does judo at Seattle Dojo in the Central District, which turns out to be the first-ever judo dojo in the United States. He says he opened Umai-Do a few blocks away, at Jackson Street and 20th Avenue, because the space it occupies used to be an iconic Asian-American diner called the 300 Restaurant. The 300 sign remains outside as homage, confusing occasional patrons who come looking for the lunch special.

Read more…

(h/t Knox from Jackson Commons)

Seattle Public Libraries will be closed August 27 – September 2 for a mandatory unpaid furlough week, a result of city budget cuts. But do not fear, Central District residents, the people have got your back.

The Seattle People’s Library has been collecting books they plan to lend out from a not-yet-disclosed outdoor location in the CD Monday. The closest book donation location is at Twice Sold Tales at Harvard and Denny on Capitol Hill or you can donate to the library when they open Monday.

Stay tuned for more. Details:

DUE TO BUDGET CUTS, all branches of the Seattle Public Library will be closed Monday, Aug 27 through Sunday, Sept 2. In response, let’s have our own library to provide reading materials, kid’s activities, and internet access during the closure. Everyone is invited to contribute! DONATE books, magazines, any reading material. We especially need books for children and young adults. COME to the Library on Monday, Aug 27!

BROWSE our collection.
LEAD arts and crafts activities or games with the kids.
BRING your neighbors.

This Library will be a community space, not controlled by any individuals or organization and welcome to all people and points of view.

http://duetobudgetcuts.wordpress.com/
on Twitter @duetobudgetcuts
email [email protected]

BOOK DONATION LOCATIONS (check back as we add more):
-Bring them to the People’s Library Monday morning.

-Cafe Racer in U District, 5828 Roosevelt Way NE

-PSKS on Capitol Hill, Monday 12-9, Wed 12-3, Fri 12-3 (Peace for the Streets by Kids for the Streets, 1814 Summit
Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122)

-Mockingbird Books in Greenlake. 7220 Woodlawn Ave

-Third Place Books in Ravenna, 6504 Ave NE

-Twice Sold Tales on Capitol Hill. Open everyday at 11am, close late (1 or 2 am)

-Outside Seattle Anarchist Book Festival, Sun Aug 26

Forget words. From now on, CDNews is all community-made videos, all the time. Here’s one featuring the Umojafest Parade earlier this month by Utopia or: Bust:

Cappy’s Boxing Gym at 22nd and Union is not just a non-profit gym, it’s a proud Central District institution that touts its love for the neighborhood every chance it gets.

Youth programs provide kids with a chance not only to learn how to box, but also to learn about the history of their neighborhood. They can put people on track to fight in the Olympics, but they also aim to extend the lessons of training to the rest of people’s lives.

Cappy’s released the video above recently, and of course you can always donate online or by emailing [email protected].

Ever wonder why the spaces at the ‘Legacy at Pratt Park’ building on Jackson and 18th  have been empty since it was built? I did too, and it seemed like the perfect location to move my small business which serves a diverse population of youth from the central district and surrounding areas. Near washington middle school and Gatzert Elementary, the Green materials building presents itself as a friendly neighborhood arts center, seemed perfect to me. The friendly agents told me the owners were motivated to lease it, and that they loved my proposal, ‘a great fit’. However, to open a business in this building you need to have $200,000.00, and that’s $200,000.00 with nothing against you. Meaning if you have $200,000.00 sitting in the bank, but  you owe $30,000 on your morgage, you don’t qualifty.  And apparently that is the bare minimum norm for commercial spaces in the central district. While I was disappointed about not having access to this space, and frustrated about being lead on for a month after giving my financial statement before the agents told me there was a problem, I am much more disturb by the bigger implication of the infiltration of these commercial spaces that are inaccessible to neighborhood businesses. The realization of the true depth of barriers that gentrification creates, suddenly was clear to me as they suggested I could get someone else to sign the lease for me, and I saw they stood in one world where everyone they know has $200,000 sitting around, and I stood in another where we laugh at that possibility.  “Anyone can make it if they want it bad enough, they just have to pull themselves up by the bootstraps…” And have $200,000 to start with.  In the central district, really?

From Mount Zion Baptist Church:

Mount Zion Baptist Church Mourns the Sudden Loss of Former First Lady Louise McKinney. The community will celebrate her life at two services.

August 16, 2012, Seattle, WA – A wave of shock and sadness rippled through Seattle as church and community members received the news that former first lady of Mount Zion Baptist Church, Louise Jones McKinney had passed early Wednesday morning, August 15, 2012.  Mourners are expected from all over the Seattle community and the country as they deal with this great loss, but celebrate the life of the woman who touched so many.

After having spent well over 40 years as the First Lady of Mount Zion Baptist Church, Mrs. McKinney stayed loyal to the church and the mission of spreading God’s word.  Hardly a Sunday passed where she wasn’t in the second row, along with her husband, Pastor Emeritus Rev. Dr. Samuel B. McKinney.

Senior Pastor, Rev. Aaron Williams says Mrs. McKinney was a light in the lives of so many. “Now that she is no longer with us, we celebrate her legacy and have an obligation to work diligently to make sure that her commitment to education continues to be at the heart of our mission as a church.”

Mrs. McKinney may have just celebrated her 82nd birthday in July, but she remained vibrant through the many hugs, smiles and stories from the church’s children every Sunday.  In fact, children and youth had a special place in Mrs. McKinney’s heart.  As a former educator, she was very interested in the academic achievement of every child. She always focused strongly on their grades and began a scholarship ministry, which has given several hundred thousand dollars in higher education scholarships to date.

As someone who discovered the arts at a young age, Mrs. McKinney also encouraged children to explore the arts.  Some young girls came to love Mrs. McKinney not only for her joyous, caring spirit, but for her elegant sense of style and fashion.

Mrs. McKinney was also very involved in the community. There is probably not a regional politician who hasn’t heard her name.  A savvy businesswoman, she co-owns a number of businesses at the Seatac Airport which included a partnership with the Hudson News Enterprises.

No one word will ever describe Mrs. McKinney. She meant so much to people of all ages and we are blessed to have had her in our lives.

The wake will be held Thursday, August 30 at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall 1119 8th Ave. Seattle, WA.

The Celebration of Life service  will be held on Friday, August 31 at 11:00 a.m. at Mount Zion Baptist Church at 1634 19th Ave., Seattle, WA.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the Mount Zion Baptist Church Scholarship Ministry in honor of Louise Jones McKinney.

Deitrick Johnson lost “two amazing” friends this year. His longtime friend and CD resident Desmond Jackson was gunned down outside a Sodo nightclub in February, and his best friend Sherry Soth was killed in a shooting at a South Seattle party in July.

He grew up surrounded by violence. His grandfather was gunned down when he was four, before his family moved to Seattle. He and his friends stayed clean—neither Jackson nor Soth had so much as a traffic ticket on their records. Yet violence still found them, leaving Johnson devastated and looking for a way to have a positive impact.

From the Times:

Deitrick Johnson met Desmond Jackson on the school bus in fifth grade.

Once, they hid their most-prized Pokémon cards in their socks when they sensed their elementary-school contraband was about to be confiscated. Soon after, Johnson moved to another school and the two lost touch.

Years later, when he started working at the Northgate Target, Johnson introduced himself to co-worker Sherry Soth, a “cool-looking Asian girl” sporting Air Jordans. The teens became fast friends.

When Johnson accompanied Soth to her senior prom at Ingraham High School, they bumped into Jackson. The trio, along with other friends, began hanging out together most weekends.

That ended on Feb. 12 when Jackson, 22, was gunned down outside a Sodo nightclub. Soth, 21, was fatally shot as she was leaving a South Seattle house party July 1.

Read more…

Johnson has been involved in organizing two upcoming events outside the CD to help. Hoops for Hope is tomorrow (Saturday) at Seattle Pacific University, and Urbane Restaurant & Bar at 8th and Pine is donating a portion of Saturday evening’s proceeds to Soth’s family.

The Yesler Terrace Special Committee of the Seattle City Council voted to pass the Seattle Housing Authority’s Yesler Terrace redevelopment plan.

The plan moves the full City Council for a September 4 vote.

The plan received broad support from committee members despite several hours of testimony from concerned residents and project opponents at a public hearing last week. SHA Board Member Yusuf Cabdi resigned at the meeting, citing a lack of assurances that current residents would be able to return once the current buildings are razed and new, taller towers are constructed.

From the City Council:

Council President Sally J. Clark, chair of the Yesler Terrace Special Committee, said, “The Council took this opportunity to ensure the Yesler Terrace redevelopment plan will respect the needs of people who live in Yesler now and to ensure that Yesler becomes a great urban neighborhood again. The new development of great parks and gardens, better streets and a true housing mix means we ensure low-income people have a great Yesler home far into the future.”

The legislative package requires SHA to replace 561 existing units of very low-income housing for current residents, build more than 1,200 new income-restricted units at a variety of affordability levels, and allows for as many as 4,500 total housing units.

Councilmember Nick Licata, co-vice chair of the Special Committee said, “The Council made this development better by providing stronger assurances that excess revenues must provide additional very low income housing and any future use of Housing Levy funds at Yesler Terrace must be awarded according to a competitive process.  In addition, renters’ rights to return to Yesler are much strengthened by limiting SHA’s criteria for screening returning tenants.”

“The Yesler Terrace redevelopment will increase low income housing, create a vibrant neighborhood next to downtown, and take a major step towards meeting our growth management goals. New Holly, High Point, and Rainier Vista demonstrate Seattle Housing Authority’s ability to develop extraordinary communities,” stated Councilmember Richard Conlin, co-vice chair of the Yesler Terrace Special Committee. “The Yesler Terrace new development will be added to this list as a careful, thoughtful, and prudent project that will make a big difference in many people’s lives.”

Terms of the planned action ordinance, cooperative agreement and street vacation call for SHA to construct community gardens, pedestrian pathways and pocket parks open to the public, and re-landscape the neighborhood with more trees than are currently present.

“Remaking Yesler Terrace will create a strong neighborhood full of opportunity and hope in the heart of Seattle,” said Councilmember Tim Burgess. “It’s a project that creates jobs, contributes to economic growth, protects affordable housing and lines up perfectly with our desire for fairness and opportunity for all. It’s a project that is rooted in our progressive values.”

“I’m pleased that SHA has been working with members of the community to maintain the vitality of Little Saigon,” said Councilmember Jean Godden.

The Housing Authority may build up to 900,000 square feet of office, medical service space and lodging, as well as 150,000 square feet of retail and services.

SHA will provide comparable housing for all current Yesler Terrace residents during construction. Every resident will also receive a certificate guaranteeing their right to return to the neighborhood once new housing is completed. SHA estimates replacement construction will begin in 2013.

“As Civil Rights chair, we must work inclusively with this diverse community and reassure the 1,200 residents who are families with children, people with disabilities, seniors, and immigrants who speak other languages, a right to return to their home and community,” said Councilmember Bruce Harrell. “I am confident that this cooperative agreement will assure, at a minimum, a 1-for-1 replacement of low-income units at Yesler Terrace.”

For more information on the proposed Yesler Terrace redevelopment plans, visit our web pages.