Levi Pulkkinen has a story about the sentencing of an alleged “captain” of the East Union Street Hustlers gang:

Jimmy Gene Miller Jr. received a 5½-year prison sentence Friday after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Miller, 24, is a convicted felon and barred by law from possessing guns.

An admitted member of the East Union Street Hustlers gang, Miller was arrested Oct. 8 near the corner of 23rd Avenue and East Union Street after attempting to flee from police and dropping a .40-caliber pistol, according to court documents. In a search of his person, Seattle police found 17 grams of crack cocaine and $880 in cash.

Addressing U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones, Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Lombardi argued that Miller, since his first arrest at age 11, “has never really been a productive member of society.” Instead, Lombardi argued, Miller — who remains a suspect in two unsolved shootings — has taken from his community by supplying drugs to its members and contributed to the violence associated with the corner.

We reported previously about how cell phone wire taps led to federal charges for two other members of that gang, and how eight others were charged by the county for drug crimes.

If you need something to read during the pre-holiday week that’s coming up, you’ll want to make it over to the Douglass-Truth branch of the library this weekend. They’ll be closed from Monday August 31st through Monday September 7th (Labor Day) due to city budget cuts.

There is some good news if you have some books due during the closure: No materials will be due and no fines will accrue.

Other impacts:

• No book drops will be open
• No access to the online catalog
• No access to the Web site
• No Library computers will be available
• No access to Wi-Fi

All the events on the last Friday in August in Seattle’s East Precinct:

Thursday kicked off a new era for the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas, as the community welcomed the new executive director Kumani Gantt at the Forum’s annual open house. Gantt succeeds former director and founder of the CD Forum Stephanie Ellis-Smith, and hopes to continue the Forum’s 10-year reputation of evoking new thoughts and ideas about the diverse African American culture.

Speaking with Gantt, she expressed her vision as one that won’t change the Forum, but will continue building on what has already been created. However, she says she still has some big ideas, including plans to reach out and include local teens in the happenings of the Forum. Her work in her hometown of Philadelphia was focused on the youth, and the Forum’s board members were in agreement about the need for more teen involvement. As for new additions to the 2009-2010 season, Gantt kept the essence of the Forums strategic plan to herself, jokingly saying it was “not ready for the press.”

The event itself, catered by local West African restaurant afrikando afrikando, was full of local artists and community members mingling and enjoying the deep fried plantains, drinks, and eventual cake on the Yesler Place rooftop.

Savor the last bits of summer with some fun events from our community calendar:

Friday – Saturday: Need to refresh your fall wardrobe? Two Big Blondes is holding a semi-annual sale, with 25%-75% discounts. Want more? Bring a first-time shopper for an extra discount.

Friday 6:30pm: Kids love swimming, and kids love movies. Combine the two at the last Dive-In Movie Night of the summer at Medgar Evers pool. Tonight’s selection is Bedtime Stories

Saturday 1-4pm: Music, food, and community sprit return to Flo Ware Park on Saturday. The theme of the event is a tribute to legendary Seattle saxophonist Joe Brazil. I’ve been to two of the previous events and had a lot of fun, so take advantage of the Leschi Community Council’s hard work and enjoy some good tunes in the park.

Saturday: Get tips on healthy eating, share your recipes, and enter your best dish in the recipe contest at the Gardening-Based Food & Nutrition Fair at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd

Saturday 2-10pm: If there were a contest for most social and engaged neighbors, the block on 20th Ave between Spring & Union would be serious contenders. They’re holding their 17th Annual Block Party this Saturday from 1pm to 10pm, with food, music, a water slide, and a bouncy house. Last year’s event was a lot of fun, so check it out.

Saturday 6-7pm: Attend the opening party for the Squid vs. Whale mural next to the Twilight Exit. And if you haven’t yet been in for a drink and fried bacon at the new Twilight, what better time than now?

Sunday 3-6pm: We’ve seen a lot of violent tragedies involving kids over the last few years, and a group of community members have planned a big march and rally to support the city’s youth. The goal is to unite central and south, with one half of the march starting at 23rd & Jackson, and the other half starting at MLK & S. Walker. They’ll meet up around 4pm at Sam Smith Park for inspiring words, free food, and entertainment.

Weekend Movie: Central Cinema (a CDNews sponsor) is showing what I’ve heard to be a great movie about the local Rat City Roller Girls: Blood on the Flat Track. Check out the trailer for more. It runs through 9/2 at 7pm and 9:30pm.

Want to see your event here? Post it for free to our community calendar.

In moving from the Mann building, Nova High School lost much of its furniture. We’re looking for donations (tax deductible!) of “gently worn” couches, ideally before Labor Day.

Clean, no rips/stains, smoke-free, cleaned of pet hair/odor.  (no love seats, sleeper sofas or futons- thanks)

Can you help? We’ll pick it up! Let us know.

http://novaprojectptsa.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/call-for-cou

This Saturday, 8/29, Nova and the SBOC will be be working at Meany, cleaning the grounds, washing windows, planting new gardens. Additional help is welcome!

Seattle public schools start September 9th. In the central district, in addition to the Nova and SBOC moves, Meany students will find a new home at Washington, half of Lowell’s APP program will be at Thurgood Marshall, TT Minor’s Montessori program will move to Leschi, Leschi and Marshall have new principals, and all our schools lost teachers.  With all the changes, it’s especially likely that the schools could use some extra community support. Anyone else have supply or work party requests?

Although the biggest focus of tonight’s meeting was on the Drug Market Initiative (DMI), there was other news too. Here’s the details:

Drugs: A neighbor is still seeing drug activity around Pratt Park, and wondered whether police thought that the DMI was pushing the problem out that direction. Lt. O’Donnell said that they are watching closely for that, but haven’t seen any evidence of it so far.

Graffiti: Still a problem around Garfield, and a resident there is having trouble getting the city out to clean up the tags on street signs and other public property. City officials said the goal is 72 hour turnaround, and to keep up reporting the issue if it’s not cleaned up within that time. Additionally, Community Police Team officer Tim Greely is building a database of graffiti to help sort out which is from violent gangs and which is not as threatening. Call him at 684-4349 if you have graffiti that you want police to take a look at.

Mugging: A resident reported a mugging that happened back in July, where a group of young kids, 8-12 years old, followed a woman from Safeway and tried to take her purse near 24th & Olive. But other than that, she remarked on how things were generally quiet this summer.

Residential Burglaries: Are up, but still down vs. last year. Police have also recently arrested several suspects in the East Precinct, including one who they think is responsible for up to 10 burglaries. They’ve also ID’d a group who are suspected of break-ins further south in Leschi and into Mt. Baker, and will continue investigations in that area.

Commercial Burglaries: Are up along Rainier Ave, where people have been breaking into businesses at night and stealing small-value things like loose change. There’s also an increase in business break-ins in the Pike/Pine area and further east along Madison as far as MLK.

Robberies: Are down recently, which would be a change of direction compared to the June stats we reported on earlier.

Shooting: Police believe the individual shot near Juvi Hall earlier in the month was specifically targeted as he exited the building. That victim is an adult, and police believe there is a gang relationship in that case. Additionally, police said that they have a suspect in the murder that occurred in the South Precinct this morning.

Gangs: A Leschi resident says that gang issues around Flo Ware Park are much improved this summer. There’s more families and kids using the park, and less drug activity. In addition, she now feels much safer walking down Jackson to the Red Apple and back.

Mobile Precinct: Has been hanging around 23rd & Union to place a high-visibility police presence in the area. Residents are encouraged to stop by and talk to officers, and report any area problems they have to them.

This kitty has come by before, but has been around a LOT lately. She is SUPER lovey. No complaints, but concerned that her parents are still around? She used to have a collar that said “do not feed me” with her name “Yew”, but the collar is gone. We always like petting her, but just wanted to make sure she still has a family home… You can mail at [email protected] if you want to check in.

It was a solid consensus among community members at tonight’s East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition meeting: the city’s Drug Market Initiative seems to be making a difference at 23rd & Union.

As we exclusively reported back in June, the program is designed to take drug dealers off the street with a deal: work with the community to turn around and stop pushing drugs, or else face the full brunt of the law. 

The intersection at 23rd & Union has had long-term problems, and over that time a lot of the residents in the area have become the most frequent attendees of the precinct’s monthly crime meeting. Each of them commented tonight that there’s been a major transformation in the last several weeks, with fewer drug deals, less loitering, and overall a safer feeling in the area.

For example, two neighbors said that they’re now able to walk to the post office and back and feel completely safe.  Another said that the improvement has spread up the hill to 21st and Union, describing it as having had a “wonderful effect” up at that intersection. A third said that while he has still seen the occasional drug deal, the volume and traffic in the area is much improved.

While the program may be making a difference on the street, it’s less clear whether it will have a positive long-term impact on the lives of its participants. Jonah has a great story on the SLOG today (update: more coverage at the Seattle Times) covering that angle, including the news that three additional participants have been arrested and are now facing serious drug charges. Additionally, he quotes Kay Godefroy of the Seattle Neighborhood Group, who says that other participants are not taking full advantage of the drug treatment options and other social services that have been made available to them.

But Tienny Milnor, deputy prosecutor for the city and a key organizer of the program, said tonight that the overall goal is to dismantle the open-air drug market along 23rd. If that happens, the program will be considered a success, regardless of the personal outcome of individual participants.

The path forward is less clear if the program doesn’t achieve that goal. The list of eighteen participants in the program was built using an unsually heavy application of police resources, including a lot of narcotics detectives that built the detailed cases needed to coerce the dealers to join the program. But while normal patrol officers are still keeping tabs on the area, those centralized investigative resources have been spread back around the city, opening a chance for other dealers to take the place of those who have been removed from the street. Additionally, Milnor says that there are no plans for any new lists of participants or additional community call-ins in the future.

Seattle Police Director John Hayes said tonight that expansion of the DMI program to other neighborhoods is under consideration, but no decisions have been made. Continued positive progress here in the Central District is the key thing that they’re keeping an eye on before it could be tried elsewhere.

Police leaders stress that community participation is key for the program to continue to make improvements. They urge everyone to keep an eye out for drug activity and to call 911 if they see it happening. SPD will continue to put a priority on those calls and will try to prevent new problems from popping up within the 23rd avenue corridor.

From Jonah on the Slog:

Less than three weeks after the city offered 18 drug dealers clemency the chance to get out of the drug trade, six of those dealers have been picked up by police and now face multiple charges in King County Superior Court.  (etc)