I imagine we will be dedicating a decent amount of space on CDNews over the next half-year or so to low-power FM, especially Hollow Earth Radio’s efforts to get a 100 Watt broadcasting license that could reach radios throughout most of the Central District.

For one, CDNews is a partner on the project. HER has a lot of interest in community journalism, and while it’s not exactly clear what our partnership will look like, I am definitely excited about the possibilities to bring more voices into the CD media and journalism landscape.

Here is a paragraph from my letter of support for a recent grant proposal station managers were putting together to help transition from online-only to airwave broadcast:

As a community news website, our biggest challenge is reaching neighborhood residents who do not use the Internet often. The potential to partner with HER to provide our important news, which is often not covered by any other news outlet, to more people in a medium they are more familiar with is very exciting and would provide a great service to the community.

Stay tuned for more as things develop.

In the meantime, here’s a recent King 5 report featuring Hollow Earth Radio: Continue reading →

Police arrested two men and are still on the lookout for a third after they allegedly mugged a man waiting at a bus stop near 21st and Yesler Tuesday.

The men allegedly stole the victim’s wallet and brand new shirt before punching him in the head and fleeing into Pratt Park around 3:45 p.m., according to police.

Details from the SPD Blotter:

Officers tracked down and arrested two robbers in the Central District Tuesday after they attacked a man and stole his wallet and shirt.

The victim was waiting at a bus stop at 21st Avenue and E. Yesler Way at about 3:45 pm when three suspects walked up to him and demanded money. The suspects then grabbed the victim’s wallet and a pink dress shirt—which the victim had just bought—and punched the victim in the head before they fled west on Yesler Way.

The victim followed the suspects to Pratt Park and then called 911. Continue reading →

Short Run will host its third annual festival of Seattle small press publishers and writers at Washington Hall this November, organizers announced this week.

The festival schedule will include dances, readings, animation, workshops and more. Local artists and writers will be able to sign up to be part of the festival starting in the spring.

From Short Run:

We’re proud to announce the 3rd annual Short Run festival will be held on Saturday, November 30th at the historical Washington Hall in the Central District neighborhood of Seattle. Applications will open in the Spring, and will be announced at shortrun.org, as well as on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Short Run was founded in 2011 to celebrate Seattle’s lauded small press community, and we’re excited to bring you the grandest festival yet. Short Run 2013 will feature 120 artists of comics, art books, zines and literary works focusing on regional artists, limited editions, and handmade books. This year, the festival is held on “Small Business Saturday,” a nationwide campaign to support buying local goods. Continue reading →

An apparent workplace shooting last week at a Seattle Parks facility near Green Lake sent the entire Parks system into lockdown as police searched for suspect Carolyn “Zoom” Piksa.

This afternoon, the Parks Department is closing community centers and other facilities across the city for a couple hours to give employees an opportunity to meet and talk about the incident that left a fellow Parks employee with serious injuries.

From Seattle Parks:

Seattle Parks and Recreation will close all recreational facilities March 13 from 12:30 to 2:30 so that Parks employees can meet with their leaders and talk to Parks management about the shooting that took place at Parks’ Densmore Ave. N facility on Friday, March 8.

This meeting will give the recreation staff time with their management team and with counselors. Affected facilities are community centers, pools, environmental learning centers and the Amy Yee Tennis Center.

Among its educational and employment programs, 17th and Jackson’s Casa Latina helps immigrants find day labor employment that pays and treats workers fairly.

People who need to hire someone to lend them a hand can go through Casa Latina to find dependable workers. Workers can find jobs and utilize the organization’s programs and (new and improved) facilities to look for work and education opportunities.

Now, the day labor hiring process is even easier with Casa Latina’s new online form. Details:

Casa Latina is proud to announce that you can now hire a worker anytime of day with just a few clicks. Now planning that next project is quick and painless! Simply decide the day and time you will need a worker and let Casa Latina know without ever leaving your computer. Scheduling is easy and instant as well as reliable.  You’ll receive a confirmation call from Casa Latina the next business day. We hope you will give Online Scheduling a try and see how easy taking on your spring projects can be! Casa Latina asks that you hire a worker online at least 48 hours prior and that you provide a description of every category of labor requested.

Where bike commuters live, according to BikeScore

As you sit at Cal Anderson Park watching people on bikes stream down E Pine Street while two teams of bike polo players do battle in the former tennis court, you might think Capitol Hill is something of a hub for bicycling in the city.

But as a percentage of the population, residents in the Central District are more likely to commute to work by bike than on Capitol Hill, and the CD has one of the highest rates of bike commuting south of the Ship Canal.

The Seattle Times published an interactive map recently displaying bike-to-work rates according to neighborhood. The Central District comes in at 4.37 percent*, barely higher than North Beacon Hill, but far lower than the 9.46 percent in the North University District area (the highest in the city). Only South Lake Union and Eastlake had higher bike commute rates among neighborhoods south of the Ship Canal.

For more detail, I posted a map last spring on Seattle Bike Blog showing BikeScore’s bike commuter map (see attached). While the Times map attempts to organize the data by neighborhood segment, the BikeScore map hows more of a block-by-block heat map of cycling popularity. And the CD is covered in green. Continue reading →

King County has launched an inquest into the fatal shooting of James Anderson by police officers inside the Twilight Exit in January.

Anderson, who was armed and had already shot two people, was fatally wounded by an officer responding to emergency calls. Police said Anderson fired at officers before he was shot. No witnesses have publicly disputed this version of events to date.

Anderson’s victims, an ex and the bar’s bouncer, are recovering from their wounds.

Inquests are standard after officer-involved shootings to determine if criminal charges should be pursued. King County said in a release that the filing of this inquest is for fact-finding and “should carry no other implication.”

Here’s the full press release:

King County Executive Dow Constantine today ordered an inquest into the fatal police shooting of James Anderson at a Central Area nightclub on January 27, 2013.

Police say the 32-year old man shot and wounded two people at the Twilight Exit at 2514 East Cherry St. When officers arrived and identified themselves, police say Anderson fired at them and one officer returned fire, killing Anderson. Continue reading →

This week on CDNews is brought to you by the word “Beer.”

Earlier, we told you about Chuck’s Hop Shop planning a location at 20th and Union. But south CD folks shouldn’t feel left out because you’re getting a new small-scale brewery at 25th and Jackson.

Standard Brewing has brewed three different takes on an IPA, and is preparing to open its doors to pour you a pint (or growler). They are currently aiming to open March 20.

I say “they,” but Standard Brewing is largely a one-person show at the moment. CD resident Justin Gerardy (who lives near Garfield High School) started Standard Brewing as a way to expand on his experience as a homebrewer and get his brews into the neighborhood.

Gerardy has done a lot of the work fixing up the space and turning it into a small-scale brewery—so small that batches only produce 31 gallons at a time (to put that in perspective, typical brew-at-home kits create five gallons). But the size of the batches also allows him to be more creative, Gerardy said.

“The limitations of being small also opens a few doors,” he said, standing next to his new brew equipment and hand-made walk-in refrigerator. “I enjoy experimenting.” Continue reading →

Formerly full of mail delivery trucks, the parking lot at 24th and Union is now empty

The US Post Office has already moved their distribution center at 23rd and Union to 4th and Lander. While the distribution arm of the location was the bulk of the employment at the location, the retail front has remained open.

Now the Post Office has announced that they plan to move the retail location to “a smaller, more cost-effective location,” Russ Rainey with USPS told the City Council’s Economic Resiliency and Regional Relations Committee Wednesday (see video below).

They are in the first steps of the search for a new location, so it is still “several months down the road,” said Rainey.

However, PO Boxes at 23rd and Union will be moved to Broadway and Denny. Our sister site Capitol Hill Seattle reported last year on the sale of that property, though there are not yet plans for change there.

Here’s the video of the meeting (starts around the 7:00 mark): Continue reading →

With transit speeds and safety improvements as their guiding principles, the city presented early ideas for design changes to 23rd Ave as part of the upcoming repaving and complete streets project stretching from E John to Rainier Ave.

Residents packed Garfield Community Center to see some early concept images and see a presentation from SDOT planners about the challenges and opportunities for the project.

The biggest focus, according to presenters, is transit speed. In addition to paving funds for the section of 23rd Ave between E John and S Jackson, the entire corridor will get transit signal prioritization work intended to get buses (especially Metro’s workhorse Route 48) through quickly and with fewer delays.

There is also money to repair existing sidewalks, which are in awful condition for much of the street, and for bus stop improvements. Continue reading →