The city announced the recipients of the 2011 large matching fund grant recipients, and the Multimedia Research and Training Institute (MMRTI) at 23rd and Jackson is one of 12 recipients approved by the City Council. Awarded a grant of $74,310 (with a $60,500 volunteer match), MMRTI hopes to expand free access to its media production facilities.

Here’s how the project was described in the recipient document from the Department of Neighborhoods:

Augment Seattle’s public access television capabilities by providing free access to a state-of-the-art video studio, production classes, and Web distribution. Project will give a voice to underrepresented populations through high quality videos created by and for their communities.

The MMRTI offers classes, including video editing, photography and broadcasting. The organization was founded to serve immigrant communities in and around Seattle, according to the organization website:

Multimedia Resources and Training Institute is a non-profit organization serving immigrant communities around Seattle and its vicinity. In the past, some of its projects were sponsored by Ethiopian Community Mutual Association; Ethiopian Educational, Cultural, and Sport Center; Yesler Community Technology Learning Center; Ethio Digital & IT Services (EDITS), Rainer Vista Technology Center; Seattle Park & Recreation; East African Arts & Cultural Association; and Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN). Currently, the City of Seattle Technology Matching Fund program funds the project.

In other Department of Neighborhoods news, Bernie Matsuno has been confirmed as the department’s new Director.

SPD posted a couple items from around the neighborhood, including this tale of a carjacking near 24rd and Cherry July 28. No suspects were located, but the stolen truck was found and returned to the victim.

On July 28th, at approximately 11:40 PM, East Precinct officers responded to a reported carjacking near 23rd Avenue and Cherry Street.  The officers contacted the victim, who was bleeding from the head.  He explained that he had been parked near 24th and Cherry when he was approached by a group of young black males who asked him if he had some change.  The vicitm told them he did not.  He stated that he got out of his truck  to talk to the youth who had approached him, but another suspect came up from behind and put something up against his head, implying that it was a gun.  The victim ran, but one of the suspects threw a rock at him, striking him in the head.  At that point, the suspects got into the truck, which still had the keys in the ignition, and drove off.

While the officers were speaking with the victim, his friend came to the scene to report that he too had been robbed by the same suspects.  The friend stated that he had recovered the victim’s truck  from 12th and  East Jefferson, where he found it parked with the keys still in it.  He decided to bring it back to the owner.  The friend stated that he believed the suspects were still in a bar near where he located the truck. 

Officers responded to 12th and Jefferson and conducted an area search but did not locate the suspects.  The suspects were described as two black males, in their twenties, both approximately 6 feet tall, 180 pounds, and light skin complexion.  One suspect was described as wearing a gray shirt, the other a white shirt.   The victim’s truck  was impounded with an investigative hold for Robbery detectives.  The victim declined any medical attention.

Also noted in the SPD Blotter: Four people were robbed near Seattle U July 29.

On July 29th, at approximately 12:20 AM, East Precinct officers responded to the 1100 Block of 11th Avenue to investigate an armed robbery.  The four victims, three men and one woman,  explained to officers that they were walking through the campus when they were surrounded by four black male suspects.  One of the suspects reached towards his waistband, indicating that he had a gun, although no gun was actually displayed during the incident.

The suspects assaulted the male victims in the group and took the female’s purse.  The suspects fled on foot, running northbound through the campus.  The victim’s ID and debit card were later located on the sidewalk nearby.  Two of the victims suffered minor injuries during the assault, but none of them required medical attention.

Whether you are looking to weld, sew, make jewelry or construct the world’s largest functioning Rubik’s cube, ALTSpace will do what it can to provide the space and tools you need to make it happen. As a co-op maker space in the Central Space building on Cherry St just east of 23rd, ALTSpace (short for Air Light Time & Space) is a membership-based working space for sharing tools and companionship so you can get your project finished, whatever it is.

“It’s like a gym,” said Mars Saxman, one of the space’s founders. “You get a gym membership, then you can come in whenever you want.” Memberships cost $200 per month, or you can drop-in for a $20 day pass (though you will have to go by when others will be there, since you won’t have a key).

Founders Mars Saxman and Mike Tyka

Once you are a member of ALTSpace, you get a key, storage space and have the ability to stop in whenever you want to work. Tools are brought in by members for anyone to use. Some tools require training and/or permission to use, and the shop will pay for any damage done to them due to sharing.

So far, tools available range from instruments for jewelry-making to metal working to working with electronics. The space also has several sewing machines, including a serger. Soon, the space will have more carpentry tools, as well.

A few of the space’s nine members use the space regularly, making things to sell for a living. Others use it a hobby space, stopping in whenever they have free time to work on a project.

Photo by Michael Holden, via the Groovik’s Cube website

One of those projects is a 35-foot tall functioning Rubik’s Cube, called Groovik’s Cube. The towering cube is illuminated with LED lights, and it is moved using controllers on the ground. ALTSpace co-founder Mike Tyka originally worked on the project for Burning Man in 2009. He is now using ALTSpace to rehab the project and get it ready to be installed at the Pacific Science Center. The exhibit is set to have its grand opening October 1.

Groovik’s Cube was one of the inspirations for ALTSpace, said Tyka. The co-op idea also grew out of Rocket Factory, a space in Ballard Saxman and a couple other people used for projects (see Saxman’s blog to see some of his projects). The Rocket Factory space was not large enough to house a co-op and was too far away from his home in the Central District. So when saw the unit at Central Space, he, Tyka and some other friends got together and started ALTSpace.

Saxman behind two of the shop’s sewing machines

The company is not in it to make money, Saxman said, and any profits from memberships will be used to improve the space. In fact, one of the company’s rules is: “The investors are forbidden to make money off it,” he said. The co-op is currently breaking about even and has capacity for a handful more members. To register or learn more, check out the ALTSpace website.

Heavier work, like using power tools and welding, happen in the ALTSpace garage

Summer is here, and Reggie Bardach’s central district garden is bursting at its seams. This year Reggie and Richard are excited to be hosting their seventh season of Teahouse Concerts.  

There will be two fantastic groups this year…one new to the series, the other a long time Seattle favorite.  You won’t want to miss either!

Teahouse Concerts 2011

Sunday, August 7th, 5-7 pm….SONANDO, dynamic afro-cuban jazz

Sunday, August 14th, 5-7 pm…PEARL DJANGO, swinging gypsy jazz

Concerts are held in the garden of their central Seattle home:  939 25th Avenue South,  98144

Please bring a lawn chair for seating.

Tickets:  $15.00.  Reservations highly recommended:  [email protected] or 206-920-0286

Teahouse Concerts are produced with continued and generous support from the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.

Are you considering high school options for your kids? Join Lake Washington Girls Middle School as we welcome representatives from 30 Seattle-area independent day and national boarding schools, eager to tell you about their exciting programs, at our 2nd annual High School Fair – the only one of its kind in Seattle. Come learn the application process, financial aid and scholarships options, academics, arts, clubs and activities, community service, athletics, the boarding school experience, and much, much more! Attendance and parking are free! We hope to see you there.

Schools that attended last year…

The Bush School

Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

Lakeside School

Archbishop Murphy High School

Eastside Catholic School

Seattle Preparatory Academy

Seattle Lutheran

Holy Names Academy

Kennedy Catholic High School

Bishop Blanchet High School

O’Dea High School

Emma Willard School, Troy, NY

Westover School, Middlebury, CT

Miss Halls School, Pittsfield, MA

Middlesex School, Concord, MA

Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT

The Taft School, Watertown, CT

Pomfret School, Pomfret, CT

Cushing Academy, Ashburnham, MA

Gould Academy, Bethel, ME

Cate School, Carpinteria, CA

Annie Wright School, Tacoma, WA

Northfield Mount Hermon School, Mount Hermon, MA

The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT

Dana Hall School, Wellesley, MA

Blair Academy, Blairstown, NJ

Holderness School, Plymouth, NH

Vermont Academy, Saxtons River, VT

Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, CT

The Webb Schools, Claremont, CA

More information and a real-time list of the attending schools visit http://www.lwgms.org/high-school-fair/

The city is waiving the fee to close your non-arterial street in Seattle next Tuesday night, August 2 as part of the National Night Out community safety initiative. According to the city’s map, exactly ZERO streets have been registered to be part of the night. But we’ve found out that’s not accurate — so we touched base with the East Precinct to get the complete roster for central Seattle. You can see the map below. And, good news: There’s still time to organize a party for your block.

You should throw a block party on Tuesday.

1. Decide to be a neighborhood leader for your non-arterial street. You may not close Broadway. You may close E Ward St.
2. Register the event on the Seattle Night Out calendar
3. Print up goofy signs so you can feel the power of street closure
4. Invite your neighbors (and make sure CDN knows about your fun, too — [email protected])

Map with registered parties as of Thursday night is below.

View East Precinct Night Out Street Parties in a full screen map

Garfield High’s Queen Underwood keeps making headlines. She was profiled in USA Today, which called her one of the stars of the 2012 Games that “could have widespread impact.”

Photo from USA Boxing

By winning a gold medal in the Olympic debut of women’s boxing, Queen Underwood could help knock down gender barriers and lift USA Boxing out of its Olympic doldrums.

“I think it could change the course of everything — the image — and give us a persona that we could really embrace,” U.S. boxing national coach Joe Zanders says.

It won’t be easy. Although Underwood was the only U.S. boxer to win a world championship medal (bronze) last year in an Olympic weight class, she fights in the same division as the world’s most dominant Olympic-style women’s boxer, Ireland’s Katie Taylor.

Underwood is undaunted. With resolve steeled not only through her chosen sport but also her chosen career — she is a journeyman sprinkler fitter in Seattle — she does not shy away from declaring her intentions to win Olympic gold.

“I’m putting a lot of hard work into it,” she says. “And yes, it’s amazing, it’s frightening, it’s a lot of stuff. But I believe that it can happen.”

They also shot a quick video:

Underwood was training at Cappy’s Boxing Gym at 21st and Union, but her training team here, dubbed the “Queen Team,” had to call it quits after running out of money. She is continuing her quest for Olympic gold at Tacoma Boxing Club.

A robber stole a red baseball cap right off the top of a person’s head near 23rd and Spring July 23. The suspect then got into a car with several others and fled.

From the police report:

FYI . . . . Interesting reading about factual events. I believe the year is 2011 and this is Seattle.

Hi there.

 Every once in a while I come across something that just stops me in my tracks and requires that I take action. This is one of those things, and I hope you’ll join me.  

I started hearing from various sources that something weird was going on at Nova, so I approached a friend who works there and asked. They gave me a bit more information and I then asked to meet with some of the people of color who were involved. 

They told me that back in the Fall a teacher assigned a class to research soap. A student went to the computer science lab to search the web for info. He came across an image showing a soap called N***** Joe’s with a caricature of a black man. He laughed, then called over some of his friends to see the image. Their laughter caught the attention of a student of color who was nearby. She went over to take a look and was appalled. Since no one was supervising the lab, she reported the incident to a teacher and then to the People of Color committee. 

 In a staff meeting, the principal told staff that he had investigated and it had been dealt with. Upon learning that he had not spoken with the young woman who reported the incident, the committee made a formal request to have the investigation re-opened. Without responding to the committee’s request, the principal asked the reporting student to meet one-on-one with the student who caused the incident. She was uncomfortable with this and asked that her Coordinator be present at the meeting. The principal agreed but stipulated that the Coordinator couldn’t say anything. The Coordinator deemed this to be a violation of standard Coordinator protocol and issued a memo addressing the concerns of her student. No follow-up meeting took place.

 Also during the Fall, the People of Color put an art display on a community white board about the historic contributions of African Americans and asked students to put responses. They soon found the image of a burning cross and then a caricature of a black man “smoking a blueberry blunt”. Again there were complaints. Again there was no action taken.

 A few weeks later, after Halloween decorations were taken down throughout the building, a male African American teacher came to work to find a large rubber monkey hanging on his door. He looked around to see if there were other images on other doors; there were none. He spoke with the principal and was essentially told that he was making too much of the incident. This teacher has tried every venue to get resolution until he has finally joined the ranks of the many staff members who have left the school in the past year on grounds of racial indifference and harassment. 

The principal and other key long-time Nova staff have told the students and staff not to “go outside the Nova community” with this information because it could result in the closing of the school and that would force the students to go back to traditional schools. This seems to me like the classic abuse tactic: “don’t tell or bad things will happen to you”. Teachers and staff who have supported the complaints by students of color have faced retaliation: reducing their hours, cutting their jobs, etc. Very reluctantly, and concerned that nothing else will stop this ongoing hostility toward people of color, several staff people are meeting with attorneys and filing lawsuits.

 I’m very offended by the hypocrisy of Nova’s supposedly open values and want to get the word out. This is NOT how I want my tax money spent. After all, “daylight is the best disinfectant.” I believe Nova’s principal, Mark Perry, has shown one face to the Black community and another to the community he has power over. He needs to be removed, as do other, long-time, staff and teachers who have proctored this culture and enabled such incidents. 

 I know the school district has been distracted by the financial mess, but I believe with my whole being that the safety of our children and their ability to learn and succeed in a supportive environment is much, MUCH more important. We need more than talk, here. We need to put our collective power to work. Please contact the new superintendent, Dr. Susan Enfield, at 206-252-0180 and demand an external review of Nova and its leadership team. Tell her you want a copy of the detailed written report at the end of the review. Please do this regardless of your feelings about the school district or Nova. Our children deserve our fight on their behalf, wherever they are. And yes, feel free to forward this email.

 Thanks,

 Lola

Police have not released any new details about a shooting July 26 on 19th Ave near Yesler that left one man dead. He has not yet been officially named, but a vigil set up by friends and family near the site of the shooting send messages of love and goodbyes to “D.C.”

UPDATE: The King County Medical Examiner has officially identified the deceased as Demicko Chatman, 41.

Flowers, candles and balloons mourned the man’s life, and visitors lit candles and said goodbyes. Messages scrawled on the balloons read, “Stop the Killing,” and “RIP D.C.” One person wrote a message on the sidewalk.

The shooting happened around 4:30 a.m. July 26. The victim had just parked and was exiting the car when he was shot several times in the chest. A woman in the passenger seat fled and flagged down a police officer a block east. She told the officer her friend had been shot. The man was dead by the time medics arrived.

Police have not released a suspected motive or a suspect description.

UPDATE: The Seattle PI has more on Chatman’s criminal history and some thoughts from his roommate:

Chatman was a member of the Black Gangster Disciples in the Central District, according to police. He was sentenced to 87 months for a January 2007 gun possession case, following other felony convictions. His criminal history includes assault, burglary, robbery, DUI and 24 other criminal traffic convictions, according to court documents.

But he was released on April 26 after getting a 10-day early release, credit for good behavior and for time served in jail while his case was at trial, according to the Department of Corrections.

Speaking Tuesday, roommate Vickie Borders said Chatman had been trying to build a life for himself since his release from prison.

“He was looking forward to getting together with his family and being with his son,” Borders said. “That’s my best friend, man. That’s my partner.”