Just to make it clear: we’re super excited for tomorrow’s arrival on Honk Fest West here in the Central District. The events are happening all over the neighborhood in the morning, and then converging on several stages around 14th & Yesler for the afternoon part of the shows.

As we planned our coverage, we thought it would be helpful to give you a geographic guide to the day’s festivities. Here’s a map compiled from the latest schedule posted by Bill Clifford earlier in the week:

View HonkFest in a larger map

We’ll be out with full live coverage throughout the day, including videos, so tune into the site if you want to get a preview of specific acts you may want to see.

It’s Friday on the streets of Seattle’s East Precinct:

Kings & Queens.  Friday, April 9, 2010, at the Royal Esquire Club, 5016 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle, 98118.  Begins at 9PM.  $10.00 at the door.  Must be 21.  Dress code strictly enforced. Special guest performance by Sean Carson.  206-279-6953 or 206-465-3754.  Bring a friend, have fun & help support community education for our youth.

Living in the heart of the city puts us within easy reach of all of its cultural offerings, and theater is one of the many opportunities that the CDNews crew intends to make time for, but rarely do. So when our friends at The SunBreak reviewed a play last week and called it “the Best Play I’ve Ever Seen,” that finally kicked things into gear and made us go get tickets to see August Wilson’s Fences at Seattle Rep.

After seeing the play last night in a packed house at the Rep’s theater in Seattle Center, we have to say that we agree with The SunBreak. Wilson’s source material is excellent (it won the Pulitzer prize when first staged back in 1987), and the cast of this production do an amazing job of bringing it to life. Actress Kim Staunton is especially good in the role of Rose Maxson.

Simply put, we heartily recommend it. 

Fences plays through next Sunday 4/18, with 7:30pm showings Wed-Sunday, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available online from $20-$49, with discounts for seniors, youth, and students.

Via Jen Graves of The Stranger, we learned of Washington House, a small art museum and studio space at  1816 26th Avenue.   Washington House was the home of James (1909 – 2000) and Janie Washington (1908 – 2000), two pillars of the CD community in their lifetimes.  James was an artist, expressing his art mainly through stone carving.  They married each other in 1943, moved to Seattle from the segregated South in 1944 and lived in the Central District the rest of their lives.  During their Seattle years, the Washingtons were community and civil rights activists.

Washington House provides Free Admission by appointment.  Contact Tim Detweiler by phone (709-4241) or by email ([email protected]).  In addition to paying homage to a beloved artist and community figure, Washington House also hosts artists-in-residence.  The application deadline just passed (3/31/10) but contact Tim if you would like to be considered in the future.  Here are a few photos from my visit there two weeks ago.

Starting from upper left:

Painting by Washington of the main street of a small Mississippi town (very much like the street he grew up on)

Frontage of Washington House on a foggy day

Sculpture by Washington

Executive Director Tim Detweiler

Two mementos of Southern segregation: Mr. Washington’s poll tax receipt & drinking fountain sign

All the news from the streets of Seattle’s East Precinct:

HonkFest is this Saturday, and it’s looking like it’s going to be one of the most fun and interesting events to hit the Central District in a very long time. You can see the full line-up of bands at venues around the neighborhood at on the updated schedule that was posted by Bill Clifford last night.

One of those bands is Bakra Bata, the band of Leschi resident Crisceda Clemmons. They’ll be playing at the old CAMP firehouse at 722 18th at 9:45 am, as an intro to the quarterly Squire Park Community Council meeting.

The Clemmons’ home was nearly destroyed in November of last year after she tipped off police that her wanted nephew was on his way there as he ran from authorities following the murder of four police officers in Lakewood. They’ve been working out a settlement with the city to detoxify and rebuild their home, and when we went by a few weeks ago there were signs that the remediation process has begun.

We’ve heard rave reviews of Bakra Bata’s performances from other community members, so this will be a good chance to hear them for yourselves and support some talented neighbors. Staying and meeting your Squire Park neighbors will be the icing on the cake.

According to a post on the SPD blotter, early this evening a 19 year old woman was forced into a car and driven to an apartment in West Seattle where she was assaulted and robbed. The victim was able to escape from the apartment, call police, and the suspect was arrested as he tried to escape.

Police say that they believe the suspect was known to the victim, but the extent of their relationship is not clear.

The suspect, a 33 year old taxi driver, was booked into the King County Jail on multiple charges, including investigation of kidnapping, assault, rape, robbery, and vehicle theft. 

Business license records also match the suspect’s address to the apartment in the 6000 block of Lanham Place SW where the assault took place.

A search of court records show that the suspect was the respondent (i.e. aggressor) in two protection orders in 2009. One was issued in July, and another was brought to court in November but dismissed later that month after the petitioner failed to appear for a hearing.

Other than a long string of traffic infractions, the only other criminal record we can find for the suspect are two misdemeanor domestic violence assault charges in 2007 and May of 2009. Both of those cases were dismissed.

Here’s the full report from SPD:

On April 7th at approximately 1800 hours, a 33-year-old male suspect abducted a 19-year-old female victim in the area of 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street.  The suspect told the victim he was armed with a gun (although no gun was displayed), forced her into a car (which the suspect had stolen from a friend earlier in the day), and drove her to an apartment in the 6000 block of Lanham Place SW.

The suspect attempted to sexually assault the victim but was unsuccessful.  He physically assaulted the victim and stole her money.  The victim was able to escape from the residence and call 911 on her cell phone.

Responding officers arrived within one minute of being dispatched and located the victim outside of the apartment.  Officers located and apprehended the suspect in the parking lot while he was attempting to flee the scene in a car. 

The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment of her non-life-threatening injuries. 

The suspect was booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Auto Theft, Investigation of Kidnapping, Investigation of Assault, Investigation of Robbery, and Investigation of Attempted Rape (all felony charges).

The suspect’s vehicle was impounded and taken to the evidence garage for processing.  No gun was located.  Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect and victim were not strangers, however it is unknown at this time to what extent they knew each other.  This remains an active and on-going investigation.

Central Area Schedules:

Jackson Place (South) AM/Phase 1

*Join the procession to the Immigrants’Rights rally in Occidental Square at 11:40AM

Squire Park (North) AM/Phase 1

Washington Hall/Gatzert Elementary PM/Phase 2

*2:30pm The Devil’s Dance Parade with special guest Peta Robles from Peru in front of the Bailey Gatzert stage area and then parading through the grounds

In case of rain:

1)    13th Avenue Stage will move to Washington Hall Ball Room.

2)    Washington Hall Ball Room (workshops) will move to Yesler Terrace Community Center

3)    East Fir Stage will move to Washington Hall Lodge Room.

4)    Washington Hall Lodge Room will move to Hidmo and/or Washington Hall kitchen