Washing, drying, and folding a hospital’s laundry is big business, one that until recently belonged to the Central District.

Now, though, the Hospital Central Services Administration (HCSA), which serves Swedish, Virginia Mason, Overlake Medical Center, Providence Health & Services and Seattle Children’s, is shuttering the laundry facility that has operated at 1300 E. Columbia St. since 1966.

Current hospital laundry facility at 1300 E. Columbia St.

The HCSA is relocating to a new, ultra-green facility in Auburn. With the move, over 150 new jobs will be created in Auburn — and that means those jobs are leaving the Central District.

The HCSA is also selling the building, and according to a report in the Puget Sound Business Journal, there has been a lot of interest. Current zoning would allow a five-story residential project on the site. The large, 1.4-acre site is one of the few large development plots remaining in Seattle.

The building is also in Seattle University’s overlay, and we’re currently awaiting word from Seattle U’s facilities department to see whether they’re interested in buying the building. When we know more, we’ll pass it along to you.

The Seattle Police Department has put out a call for help catching a man wanted for stealing liquor in the Central District.

The police blotter has more:

Robbery detectives need your help identifying a man wanted for stealing liquor and threatening staff members at a Central District grocery store.

On July 20th, the man pulled a knife on employees at the Safeway on 22nd and E. Madison after they confronted him about the bottles of liquor he’d slipped into his backpack. Police believe the same man also stole liquor from the Madison store in May, and fled the scene in a stolen truck.

If you recognize the suspect—described as a white male, between 20 and 30 years old, 5’7, 140 pounds, with brown hair, a thin mustache and tattoos on his forearms—please contact SPD’s Robbery Unit at (206) 684-5535

 

SPD provided the following photos of the thief:

We have updates — and more details to add —  to the earlier story about the garage fire on 17th and Columbia. From the Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Line:

UPDATE: Patient’s age was updated to 54-years-old from initial on scene reports.

July 30—Seattle Fire Investigators determined improperly discarded smoking materials caused a fire in an above-the-garage apartment in the Central District.

Multiple 911 calls came in at 12:52 a.m. reporting flames and smoke coming from a detached garage roof in the alley of a home located in the 800 block of 17th Avenue. Engine Company 25 arrived to find flames shooting from the roof and into the trees above the garage. The flames were also exposing to an apartment complex to the south of the garage.

A neighbor notified the firefighters that a person was living in the space above the garage. Firefighters immediately searched the structure and rescued a 54-year-old male occupant at the bottom of the staircase of the building. The patient suffered 2nd degree burns and smoke inhalation. Medics transported the patient to Harborview Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Within 20 minutes firefighters contained the flames and they completely extinguished the fire within 45 minutes. Crews were able to protect the apartment complex to the South and prevented the flames from spreading from the garage roof to the multiplex.

Fire Investigators were able to speak to the patient at the hospital and discovered he was smoking in bed prior to the fire starting. The cause is considered accidental. The damage estimate is $40,000 to the structure and $5,000 to the contents.

Firefighters remained on the scene until 8 a.m. in a Fire Watch to ensure the fire didn’t rekindle.

Official event Save the Date poster

One of the Central District’s major annual events is just around the corner. The Central District Community Street Fair, put on by Work it Out and community collaborators, takes place August 10. The fair draws thousands of neighborhood residents and involves over 50 vendors.

Work it Out’s website has more details:

The Street Fair brings together neighborhoods across the Central District, public/private organizations and the business community to share information, resources, and network about what’s going on in our community and District. Exhibits, vendors, arts & craft, farmers market, backpacks, school supplies, books, music, food, performing arts (2 stages), youth engagement and a talent competition all make up activities of the day.

 

Firefighters found one victim and battled a blaze inside a one and a half story detached garage being used as a residence at 1717 E Columbia 810 17th Ave early Tuesday morning.

The fire was initially reported just before 1 AM as smoke blanketed the neighborhood and flames could be seen shooting from the apartment above the garage. Crews responded to find the roof of the building fully ablaze and were able to remove one victim in the initial minutes of the response. We do not yet have details of the victim’s condition. UPDATE: Seattle Fire reports that a 35-year-old male was transported to Harborview suffering from second degree burns and smoke inhalation. Investigators were waiting to interview the victim to help determine cause of the fire.

Crews continued to battle the stubborn blaze for nearly 20 minutes.

UPDATE #2: Seattle Fire is now reporting that the patient transported to Harborview is a 54-year-old man.

Ezell’s!, originally uploaded by Sweendo.

Blue=Protected bike lane. Green=Neighborhood Greenway. Red=Trail. Download full plan and map here

Last week, public comment about the latest draft of the Seattle Bike Master Plan wrapped up but the conversation on the next wave of the city’s bicycle planning has really just begun. Below, we’ve shared a look at the latest plan updates. You can provide your thoughts and feedback on the plan to the Seattle City Council transportation committee (email) who will take the plan up for discussion in September. For more on the planning process, check out Seattle.gov’s Seattle Bicycle Master Plan page.

By Tom Fucoloro/Seattle Bike Blog
In general, the updated Bike Master Plan includes a lot of bold and smart projects. We noted many in our analysis of the first draft. This post focuses mainly on the changes between drafts.

The biggest changes between the bold (almost surprisingly so) first draft and new one are on some of the busier streets in the Capitol Hill, First Hill, Central District and downtown areas. For example, protected bike lanes on Madison, Boren and Fairview have been dropped entirely.

But some exciting ideas have been added, like an extended protected bikeway on 10th Ave E from 520 (and its proposed bike path) to the under-construction Broadway Bikeway. The plan also calls for protected bike lanes on Pike Street from 2nd Ave to Broadway (which should be extended to Madison). Both are ideas we suggested in our analysis of the first draft.

Continue reading →

For one night only, the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (LHPAI) is screening the film Big Words, a dramedy set in Brooklyn on the eve of the 2008 presidential election. The screening will take place on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Big Words, directed by Neil Drumming, is Slamdance’s 2013 Official Selection. LHPAI has more about the film:

The film centers on three members of a once promising hip-hop crew as their paths cross again: former front man John, once known as Big Words, is now a working class guy who still raps but lacks an audience. James is now a publicist living with his boyfriend, far removed from the days when he rhymed about getting girls. DJ Malik still spins records and longs for his glory days. Together, on the day of the landmark election, the friends struggle with dreams unfulfilled and hopes for the future. The film stars Dorian Missick, Yaya Alafia, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Darien Sills-Evans, Zachary Booth and Jean Grae.

“As a city that appreciates independent films and has a thriving hip hop community, Big Words is a can’t-miss film for Seattleites. It gives the over-40 crowd who has been and is still immersed in hip hop a subtle voice of how time changes us, and it gives the young fresh hip hop community a view into the impact of dreams deferred,” says LHPAI artistic director, Jacqueline Moscou.

Tickets are $10 at brownpapertickets.com or at the LHPAI box office on day of screening; the box office opens at 2 p.m.