Seattle Fire responded to an emergency hazardous materials call at 21st and Yesler around 9:45 Thursday morning.
The address of the call matches the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic. Scanner reports indicate that there was a chemical spill, and one person may be sick.
Seattle Fire reports multiple sick patients via Twitter, though it sounds like only one according to the scanner: “SFD Haz Mat Team responding to Children’s Clinic on 2101 East Yesler Way for multiple sick patients. PIO responding to scene.”
Traffic is reportedly blocked. We will update as we learn more.
It’s Magma Fest time. Hollow Earth Radio’s annual city-wide DIY music fest is already under way around town with shows planned in (and near) the neighborhood throughout March (see our story from last year).
This summer will mark the beginning of the Internet radio station’s third year at its 21st and Union location.
A man was robbed at gunpoint around 2 a.m. March 4 after he stopped to pee near 23rd and Alder, according to the police report. He told police that when he was finished, a man behind him yelled, “Hey!” He turned around, and the suspect hit him over the head with a gun.
A swarm of arrests of alleged burglars, car and bike thieves across Seattle Monday — including several in the East Precinct — marked the culmination of a year-long stolen good buy-back operation, Seattle Police said Tuesday.
Operation Oliver’s Twist — named for a retiring captain — involved SPD and the FBI collaborating on a fake south Seattle storefront where stolen goods from more than 100 alleged thieves was brought for sale. So far, there have been 48 arrests with more in the works.
Police say the operation was an effort to disrupt part of the fencing cycle of demand for stolen items:
Detective work has also shown that once property is stolen, it is quickly disposed of through pawn shops, illegal fences, other criminals, or well known internet web sites, often far below retail prices, for pennies on the dollar.
According to SPD, more than 900 stolen items were netted over the year-long investigation:
During the operation, detectives purchased over 900 stolen items including 146 watercraft, motorcycles and other vehicles, 76 bicycles, numerous stolen computers and personal electronic devices, personal identifications, passports, and credit cards.
Police also recovered 27 stolen firearms in the course of the investigation. One alleged thief even sold military grade C-4 to the undercover detectives operating the shop.
A byproduct of the extended operation is that most of the stolen goods couldn’t immediately be returned to victims of burglaries and auto thefts for fear of alerting the suspects to the investigation — especially in the several cases where the goods were stolen from relatives and friends.
SPD has set up a Flickr set of unclaimed goods from the operation here. If you see your property in the set, call (206) 773-9616. You’ll need to have reported the item stolen or have proof that the item was yours like a picture of you with the item.
The operation is another in a series of efforts involving Seattle’s Major Crimes Task Force. The last two operations targeted small convenience stores that were ordering and purchasing stolen property for resale. According to police, it’s been more than 30 years since SPD utilized the tactic of operating a fake store in a buyback investigation.
This article was originally posted on our sister site Capitol Hill Seattle.
The heart of the CD is looking like it might be a bit dry come June 1, the first day that retailers not owned by the state can sell liquor. The Red Apple at 23rd and Jackson and the Walgreens across the street are the only stores in the heart of the neighborhood that have applied for a license as of March 1.
I-1183, which voters passed in November, requires retailers to be at least 10,000 square feet and includes a formidable hurdle to any entity that wants to apply for an exception. Where neighborhoods like Capitol Hill have lots of large grocery stores (and, therefore, lots of license applications), many CD beer and wine retailers are smaller.
Grocery Outlet at MLK and Union has not yet decided whether to sell liquor, but they are not pursuing it at this time according to a store manager.
See below for city-wide interactive map of liquor applications.
So that means, unless more applications come in, 23rd and Jackson will be the only place to buy booze south of Madison, west of 12th and north of the Mount Baker QFC on Rainier. The Safeway on Madison will sell liquor, and Central Co-op’s Madison Market has applied for a permit, though Capitol Hill Seattle says they have not yet decided whether they will sell or not. Viet-Wah Supermarket at 10th and Jackson has also applied for a license.
The Central District voted heavily against I-1183 in November, as did most of Seattle’s most densely-populated neighborhoods:
Light red means “No.” Dark red means “No” by 60% or more.
CHS also reports that craft distilleries, like 14th and Union’s Oola Distillery, can now sell their locally-made booze directly to bars. So you may see their vodka and gin on bar shelves around the neighborhood.
Here’s a city-wide map of licenses as of March 1, via CHS.
Eligible Middle and High School boys ages 11-18yrs can go to class for free during the month of March at Harmony Arts. www.harmonyarts.us Classes combine movement and philosophy of martial arts and yoga, for fun classes that build self-esteem, focus, self-awareness, and strength & flexibility in mind, body, spirit & community. For more information or to register for free classes in March, contact Tristan (206) 229-7582 [email protected] Classes are held at The Samarya Center on 18th and Yesler.
People participating in the Streets and Beets ride will begin leaving in packs starting at 9 a.m., heading south to Auburn, where they will eat lunch before heading back for a post-ride party at the MLK FAME CC.
Riders each pledged to raise at least $100 for the urban farming collective, which hopes to top last year’s ride pull of over $15,000.
Yours truly will be along for the ride, and I am an event partner through Seattle Bike Blog. I’m still trying to convince myself that 70 miles isn’t that far. Please don’t burst my bubble.
The King County Youth Services Center is falling apart and smells funny. Also, it’s ugly, and much of the land it currently occupies seems ripe for development.
However, even though voters turned down a 2010 ballot measure that would have funded a replacement with a sales tax increase, the county appears ready to give it another shot with a new $200 million property tax levy.
Four members of the King County Council, including Republican Kathy Lambert along with three Democrats, proposed a nine-year, $200 million property tax levy to replace the decrepit county Youth Services Center at 12th Ave. and E. Spruce St. in the Central District. If it’s approved by the full council, the measure would go on the August 7 ballot.
Advocates of replacing the facility argue that the center, which houses the county’s juvenile court and detention center, has been decrepit and overcrowded for years, with sewer, air, and heat systems failing on a regular basis and courtrooms so small they force family members—who, in many cases, are on opposite sides of family disputes—to crowd together along with courtroom staff.
An option for the YSC redevelopment before the failed 2010 vote
Back in 2010, plans for the site included a mixture of new developments, new (and redesigned) park space and a new Youth Services Center. The jail, which stretches along Spruce from 12th to 14th, would remain. Some plans even involved reconnecting Terrace St between 14th and 12th Avenues.
However, after the sales tax failed at the ballot box, the city and county announced a plan to try to replace the aging facility without the need for additional public money. The mayor at one time suggested the center could move somewhere else entirely, and the county could use the money from selling the land to fund a new facility. It even appeared possible to move the center to Beacon Hill’s iconic (and mostly vacant) Pac Med building. However, all those plans fell flat, and the county announced that their efforts to find a cost-neutral solution had failed.
Two people were attacked after exiting the number 14 bus at 30th and Cherry Dearborn yesterday evening.
When the victims — a man and a woman — exited the bus around 9:35 p.m., the suspect followed them off the bus and approached them from behind. He knocked the man to the ground and stole his debit card. The woman tried to get away, but he attacked her, too, and stole her phone.
From SPD:
On February 29th, at approximately 9:35 pm, a male and female got off a Metro bus in the 800 Block of 30th Avenue South. As they were walking home, an unknown suspect, who was also on the same bus, approached them from behind and knocked the male to the ground. The suspect took the victim’s debit card. The female attempted to walk away, but the suspect knocked her down as well and took her cell phone. The suspect then left the area. The victims sustained minor scratches from the assault.
East Precinct officers responded to the area, as well as a K9 team, but the suspect was already gone. The suspect was described as a black male, in his 30′s, bald, and wearing a dark trench coat.
Man fires gun outside Swedish Cherry Hill emergency room
Early this morning, staff at the Swedish Cherry Hill emergency room asked a man to leave after he entered the waiting area without checking in or needing medical attention. When he left, he pulled out a gun and fired a single shot into the air, according to police.
From SPD:
On 03-01-12, at approximately 1:30 a.m., an unknown male entered the emergency room of a hospital in the 500 block of 16 Ave and sat in the waiting room without checking in. When staff determined he was not there for any medical needs they asked him to leave. The male walked outside, pulled out a gun and fired a single round into the air before leaving on foot northbound. No injuries were reported and no property damage was found.
The suspect is described as a black male, mid 20s, 5-09, thin build, wearing a blue hooded jacket, blue knit cap with white lettering on the front, blue jeans, and blue sneakers.
If you are a teen who has received a traffic ticket, you might find yourself in a different kind of courtroom starting this month. Garfield High students will staff a new Youth Traffic Court at the Seattle University School of Law, the first of its kind in Seattle.
Students will be the jury, judge, defense and prosecution for the cases, and they have the ability to impose penalties such as community service, youth court jury duty or education programming. If the ticketed youth takes responsibility and carries out the prescribed penalty, the infraction will not appear on their driving record.
From the city’s press release:
Teen drivers who admit they committed their traffic offense will have the opportunity to have their punishment set by their peers instead of a judge through a new Youth Traffic Court alliance among Seattle Municipal Court, Seattle University School of Law, and Garfield High School. The city’s first Youth Traffic Court will allow eligible teen drivers to appear before Garfield High School students at Seattle University School of Law, rather than in Municipal Court. The first cases are scheduled to be heard in March.
“Youth courts provide an opportunity for teens to take responsibility for their driving mistakes, while keeping their driving record clean,” said Margaret Fisher, a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Seattle University School of Law and a national expert in youth courts, who is overseeing the law school’s involvement.
Qualified defendants will appear before the Youth Court, receive a sanction of community service, youth court jury service, preventative education and/or similar consequences. If they comply, the infraction will be dismissed and it will not be reported to the Department of Licensing or appear on the defendants’ driving record.
Garfield High School students will serve as judges, jurors, prosecutors and defense attorneys and court staff. They will be trained and supported by volunteer law students from Seattle University School of Law. The high school students will take part in an intensive training before the first hearing and will meet with their law school mentors regularly.
“Youth court provides a meaningful civic opportunity for students, who will have the responsibility of deciding real cases,” said Judge Karen Donohue.
The Seattle Police Department, Seattle City Attorney’s Office, Seattle Municipal Court, and Seattle University Law School faculty are all committed to working with students through this innovative program.
Organizing and implementing the Seattle Youth Traffic Court has been a collaborative effort involving Fisher, Seattle Municipal Court Judge Karen Donohue; Seattle Municipal Court Magistrate Lisa Leone; Sally Haber, director of the Children’s Literacy Project at Seattle University; Diana Singleton, Director of Access to Justice Institute at Seattle University School of Law; and, Corey Martin, history teacher and SYTC advisor at Garfield High School. Seattle Youth Traffic Court was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Seattle City Council.
If you would like more information, please contact Professor Margaret Fisher at [email protected].
