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With Labor Day weekend came the deadline for Seattle’s “Nickelsville” to move from its longtime Marginal Way encampment. The solution is to split the camp and its more than 100 residents into sites across the city. As we reported last week, two encampments are in the Central District. A third is located in Skyway.

A resident checks out the Jackson site (Image: Nickelsville Works)

This weekend, crews set up the two new CD camps: South Jackson at 20th and the empty lot owned by Good Shepherd Church, on 22nd and Union. Residents near the area were informed of the incoming campers in recent weeks. The West Seattle Blog covered the main camp’s big moving day. In June, the Seattle City Council approved funds to help “transition” campers off of the city-owned lot the group had called home after evicting them for illegally squatting for two years.

Residents of the Central District have had mixed reactions to living near a homeless encampment. Some are glad to see the residents find a new camp, while others are reacting negatively, wondering how this population will affect the neighborhood. But the camps are a regular part of the environments around local church properties including seasonal camps at St. Mark’s and St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill. Residents must abide by a code of conduct which includes a ban on alcohol and drugs, weapons and abusive behavior. We’ll continue to watch how these more permanently-planned encampments fit into the Central District.

If you’d like to help, check out Nickelsville Works on Facebook.

If you value this coverage and want to support the continued independence of Central District News, please subscribe today for as little as $5/month — DRIVE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30.

A better than usual description of the issues and the likelihood that all CD public school students will be in school on Wednesday is posted on the SLOG

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Several readers are asking about gunshots early this morning near Judkins Park. We have details from SPD:

A 44-year old man is in the hospital receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to his leg following an early morning shooting near Judkins Park.

At around 7:00 this morning, East Precinct officers responded to multiple calls of shots fired near 27th Avenue South and East Yesler Way.  Officers located the victim with a gunshot wound to his leg.  The victim told officers that he had a confrontation with two men when one of them pulled out a gun and shot at him, striking him once.  The victim was transported to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

Officers located several shell casings in the 300 Block of 26th Avenue South.  The victim was not very forthcoming with information or descriptions of the suspects.  It is believed that the victim knew the suspects and that the argument may have been about a woman.  Officers searched the area  but did not locate the suspects involved.  This remains an active investigation.

It appears the homeless encampment, dubbed Nickelsville, is moving from their West Marginal Way location. Seattle Times reports:

Nickelsville, the 5-year-old homeless encampment currently on West Marginal Way, plans to move to three different sites this weekend. The Seattle City Council directed the mayor to clear the current site by Sunday.

The group won’t say where it is going. Tim Harris, a homeless advocate, said one of the sites is in the Central District on South Jackson Street and 20th Avenue South, on land owned by the Low Income Housing Institute. Private property owners can apply for a temporary permit to have an encampment on their property, but Harris said the long-term plan is to find a church that will host. The city can’t stop a religious institution from hosting a homeless encampment.

Nickelsville has moved many times during its history. The move saves Mayor Mike McGinn from a problematic campaign photo op he would have faced if he had to clear Nickelsville from its site in a confrontation.

“We were aware they were looking for another site,” said spokesman Aaron Pickus.

 

King 5 has more details on why they’re moving:

Organizers of the homeless encampment Nickelsville have secured two more camp sites, in addition to one they found in the Central District.

The announcement came just three days before the city was scheduled to evict campers from their current location in South Seattle.

Some residents had vowed to stand their ground if they couldn’t find a place to relocate to by September 1st.

“We’re a community that helps one another,” said camper Rachel Johnson. “This is a safe place and this is our family.”

The city dedicated $500,000 to help campers find new homes before the September 1 deadline. By Sunday, outreach workers had relocated at least 47 of the more than 120 campers at the site.

The new locations won’t be disclosed until Friday. Organizers said they wanted to talk to their new neighbors first, before disclosing that information.

The two new sites brings the total number to three. On Sunday, the group said it had secured another camp site near 20th and Jackson in the Central District.

 

We have confirmed that another location is the empty lot owned by Good Shepard church, which sits at 22nd and Union. Residents nearby were informed of the move with flyers in mailboxes. The lot is being prepared for the residents to move on Sunday.

You may have noticed construction fencing going up around the Medgar Evers Pool yesterday; the pool building will soon receive a new roof, coating, and skylights.

The pool will remain open during the coating work, but you’ll see some intermittent closures as the skylights are installed later this year.

Seattle Parks and Recreation awarded the construction contract to Biwell Construction, which hopes to minimize the impacts and disruptions of the construction. Seattle Parks says the project should be finished in December.