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The Union Triangle is the kind of place where things happen that straddle the lines between what is true, what is hoax and what travels back and forth between the two and couldn't give a shit. Is Pony for real? How about Barista Boyz and their go-go boy baristas? Maybe the Maserati dealership across the street is in on the game, too.
Add to the list this weekend's Twitter-fueled reports of the Cobra Lounge -- a new hookah club that is supposedly springing to life somewhere near 11th Ave and Madison.
Photo: @sokina via Twitpic
We wandered around the area today -- if the new club is for real, it's too well hidden for the likes of CHS or it is disguised as a copy shop or transformed inside of the UndreArms Apartments.
There are no "Cobra Lounge" business licenses listed with the City of Seattle but that's fairly typical -- many clubs have random LLC names that are difficult to connect to the primary business name.
Sokina: At Erin Cobb's open house for his hookah bar - The Cobra Lounge on Capitol Hill! Party, Free drinks & food! Will be open to the public soon!
It appear that the Capitol Hill lounge -- if it exists -- is connected to Paul Green and Erin Cobb's Cobra Lounge in Bellingham, infamously one of the last places in the state where it is legal to smoke inside:
The trick is that Green and Cobb actually opened two places. In one, they sell the tobacco (called shisha) along with private club memberships ($1 for life!). In the other, 10 steps along the alley, is the club. That's where the smoking happens. There are no workers there — it's like a co-op — so it's exempt from the ban.
"We studied this for a year to come up with this model," Green says. "I'd say it's got the powers-that-be irritated."
The Bellingham joint opened more than three years ago. Sounds like you can still puff a hookah there. We've sent mail asking the northern Cobra folks what they have in mind for the Capitol Hill venture. Here's how the Cobra Lounge owners describe their business philosophy:
We are two guys who have always liked to shake things up. In 2007 we had saved up (what we thought) was enough money to open up an awesome place for people that was anything but mainstream, we were 19. We now run this sweet little hookah spot in downtown Bellingham, it is the LAST LEGAL SMOKING ESTABLISHMENT in Washington, which means we have a good lawyer…
We are really quirky guys, (ask anyone) who shudder at the thought of normalcy and a status quo. When we decided to open, our first step was to make a list of all the things we hated about hookah bars. Instead of the usual overpriced pseudo Middle Eastern bullshit we tried to build memorable experiences for the members... from the nationally recognized graffiti art, down to the custom cobra hoses. We put fun little details into everything which is probably just a result of our personalities. Our non traditional way of going about business, has gotten us to over 4000 members. Every type of person feels comfortable kicking it at the lounge, which is exactly the idea. Our regulars understand the awesomeness and originality of the lounge as more and more Starbucks spring up. Fashionable people, college kids, artists, thugs, indie rockers, skaters, young adults, and sneaker heads all come down in droves to support this effort to resist conformity. This all didn't happen over night, we didn't get lucky with some random idea, we got off our asses and started something we care about.
Our names are Erin and Paul, at The Cobra Lounge it’s just us and a couple of our friends who like the idea that mainstream is boring.
We're not sure any of the proposals before the City Council to curb aggressive panhandling were designed for a situation like this. A man who says he was attacked in the Dick's Drive-In parking lot by a panhandler who had asked him for $5 ended up with a 3-inch laceration on his abdomen but was able to drive away, according to a Seattle Police Department report.
According to the report, the man pulled into Dick's parking lot late last Sunday afternoon and walked down the street to use a nearby ATM. On his way back to his car, the man said another man approached him and started asking him for a handout and trying to block his path. The man said, "I don't got nothing for you," he told police.
As the man pushed by and opened his car door, he said he heard what sounded like the click of a folding knife opening. "I'll take all your money then," the man told police he heard the panhandler say. According to the report, the man told police the suspect then attacked him and tried to stab him 5-6 times with the knife but was not able to penetrate the man's jacket. The man said he then kicked the suspect who stumbled and slashed at the man's abdomen causing the wound. The man said the suspect then fled on foot down the alley behind Dick's. He was so upset after the attack, the man told police, he drove home before calling 911.
The man described the suspect as "a transient-looking W/M/early 20's, possibly named XXXX with a prominent nose. He was wearing a dark baseball hat, large black coat with lots of pockets, dark blue jeans and possibly orange on his shoes. Additionally, the suspect was carrying a black backpack described as being full." According to the report, a search of the area did not turn up anybody fitting the description.
The responding officer reported that the victim had a 3-inch wound described as a "transferred injury" caused by a hard object like a knife blade striking a person but not penetrating fabric.
There is a lot going on in this Craigslist Seattle Pets posting that also qualifies for the Missed Connections section. An animal lover, a parrot, Capitol Hill, the '60s:
This is a very very long shot. But I worked at Jack's Aquiary that then became Ridlow's Pet Store on Capitol Hill from 1965-1968. There was a beautiful Double Yellow Headed Amazon Parrot there for sale named (of course) Polly.
She had belonged to an elderly lady who had to give her up. I loved her dearly and wanted to buy her but I didn't have the money. She was sold and I was heartbroken. I have never stopped thinking about her.
And now I just realized she might still be alive. I adopted a parrot a few years ago that lived to be 60 years old so it is possible Polly is still alive. I would love to find out what happened to her. She used to say "I love you darling" and she would sing a song and dance around in a circle. And she loved her head scratched.
I realize the odds of finding her are infinitesimal but thought it couldn't hurt to try. Thanks for any leads.
Anybody remember Jack's Aquiary? (Store that in your good name for a bar file) What about Ridlow's in its Capitol Hill phase? Sounds like it eventually moved to Ballard. But, most importantly, can anybody help this person find Polly?
Only one QFC employee's opinion, but this SeattleCrime brief on yet another QFC shoplifter caught in the act seems to put words to the anecdotal evidence we've seen that the store gets more than its fair share of freeloaders:
"QFC has been victim of more frequent shoplifts as of late," the QFC employee later told officers, adding that "shoplift suspects are becoming more bold."
One possible quibble in the 'more frequent' choice of language, though. Can't recall a time when we didn't see QFC shoplifters in the SPD reports. Here's a search on past CHS posts including the terms QFC + shoplift.
We already reported on one good reason to get your census survey response in the mail -- here's another. Organizers of Saturday's All OUT for the COUNT event say they are planning to fill Pike/Pine with fun and promotions to reward you for doing your part to be counted. We can't find a list of participating businesses but we saw the posters in a few windows around the neighborhood on Friday. If you know anybody behind the event, tell 'em to let CHS know what's up so we can spread the word -- we didn't even see anything (unless we missed it!) on our usual go-to for Seattle's LGBT events SeattleGayScene. We'll check in with the GSBA and Cap Hill Chamber of Commerce to see if we can find out more before Saturday night.
UPDATE:
It took a little doing, but we talked with the folks from the US Census who are behind tonight's event and finally have a roster of all participating businesses. Check out the attached map or the deal list below.
Here's more on the event and why this year's count is so important for the LGBT community from the US Census Bureau:
The Census Bureau and dozens of Capitol Hill-area businesses present: “All OUT For The Count,” a neighborhood event bringing awareness of the 2010 census and how it relates to the LGBT community.
All OUT For The Count is part of a joint effort between the Census Bureau, Equal Rights Washington, Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and Greater Seattle Business Association to urge members of the LGBT community to participate in the 2010 census.
Some 38 Capitol Hill businesses will be offering discounts. Many other businesses will post census signs, supporting the nationwide headcount. Census street teams will be stationed at Cal Anderson Park (1635 11th Ave.) and other areas within the neighborhood, providing information about the 2010 census and details on the special deals at participating businesses.
The 2010 census is the first decennial to recognize same-sex marriages. Five states – Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut – and the District of Columbia legalized same-sex marriages since the last decennial. The census has evolved throughout thedecades to accurately reflect our changing society.
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Seattle Police arrested a man this afternoon after an alert neighbor reported seeing the man breaking into a home in the 900 block of 19th Ave E.
Multiple patrol cars and officers descended on 19th Ave just before 2 PM after a man working on the building he owns next door called 911 to report the break-in at the neighboring home. The neighbor told CHS he watched the person who was arrested tap lightly on the door of the home to determine if anybody was inside before breaking in. Another witness reported seeing the man driving in the alley behind the home prior to the break-in.
At the home, officers were collecting evidence from the suspect and rounding up property collected at the scene to try to determine if it belonged to the homeowners or was taken from another burglary.
Earlier this week, we reported on residential burglary trends as part of our monthly look at Capitol Hill's crime hotspots. There were no reports of residential burglaries in this part of the Hill in February.
With funding for education under threat and cutbacks looming, Seattle Central Community College is moving forward with an ambitious addition to its Capitol Hill campus, according to an e-mail memo from a school official forwarded to CHS. According to the e-mail, the college has received bids that meet its budget requirements for a new Plant Sciences building and green house that will fill in an empty lot on Boylston just north of the SCCC parking garage:
Administrative Services at Seattle Central is pleased to announce we have successful bid results for the New Plant Science Complex planned for at the Boylston site north of the Parking Garage. This is a Capital Partnership/ Match Project that has taken a long time to develop and move forward. This new green house & outdoor garden spaces will complete the full complement of Instructional spaces as part of the Science and Math building on Harvard Ave. This project will move forward in the coming weeks with completion later this Fall. The apparent low bidder is Bayley Construction of Mercer Island. We will keep you posted as this project begins and provide updates as this great & unusual project moves forward.
Jeff Watts
Capital Projects
To give you a sense of how long this project is taking to play out, we first wrote about the permitting process for the construction in October -- 2008. We'll check in with SCCC to find out more about how they're funding this project.
The permits were approved for construction of an 1,800 square-foot structure in the lot between 1601 Harvard Ave and Boylston Ave.
Will Cornell, a "student ambassador" at SCCC, wrote in June 2009 about his vision for what the new building will bring to the area:
The PSL, which will periodically be open to the public, will be a living laboratory designed to educate all members of our community and will be propagated and cared for exclusively by organic means. Its biodiversity will be tailored towards indigenous Northwestern plant life, and observers of all ages may attend frequent seminars on everything from backyard composting, organic food production, and floral pruning. It will use underground cistern systems, alongside worm bins and composting, to demonstrate both common and unique recycling systems, forgoing the use of chemical fertilizers and instead relying on water saving practices meant to save water while conserving nutrients in the soil. All pesticides have been eliminated. Instead, specific and beneficial Northwestern insects will be strategically administered into the artificial bioregion to curb the growth of invasive and harmful arthropodean intruders. Students of the culinary department will grow all of their vegetables in the PSL, eliminating the need for outside costs and ensuring the quality of their products. Children from the daycare center will also have a garden. Classes on sustainable agriculture, eco-conservation, food system ethics, and rural food systems analysis are some of the courses that will be introduced to our campus with the advent of the PSL, so keep your fingers crossed, because before you know it, the plants will be growing on Boylston and Pine.
CHS Community Design Preferences Page
What do these four Capitol Hill structures -- including the venerable Deluxe Bar and Grille and a Liz Dunn condo project -- have in common? They're the current 'most popular' designs in the CHS Community Design Preferences Page, a new CHS feature designed in conjunction with the Capitol Hill Community Council as an exercise in identifying buildings we love and buildings we hate on the Hill. The goal is to have concrete -- or brick or wood or, gasp, stucco -- examples of real-world design feedback for area developers and city officials.
Everybody can add to the pool of images for people to vote on and, yes, everybody can vote on the structures they prefer and ding the structures they wish they never had to look at again. You'll just need a CHS account to contribute. To add images, upload your images here and give them the tag chsdesign. We'll revisit the pool from time to time and let you know if any notable designs have been added that might be worthy of your attention. Questions/suggestions? Let us know know in comments.
In the meantime, the city's Department of Planning and Development is busy overhauling Seattle's Design Guidelines. No word yet on if they'll incorporate the CHS Community Design Preferences Page in their system but you can learn more about the new system on the DPD's Citywide Design Guidelines Update Overview page. They're taking public comment on the new guidelines by the end of the month. We'll see if we can squeeze some information out of Josh Mahar and others to find out more about the new guidelines.
Here's what DPD had to say about the process in an announcement from a few weeks back:
With the release of detailed Draft Guidelines, Seattle is taking the critical step of renewing its vision of the priorities and values that will inform our approach to design review. One of the key values we share is the importance of neighborhoods taking a lead in establishing their own guidelines, which 19 neighborhoods have already completed. At the same time, a citywide document enables neighborhoods throughout the city to share a common approach to key issues for design in our city and in our time: design excellence, the physical environment, sustainable development, and the diversity of people and cultures that exist here.
The design guidelines have been updated to reflect emerging issues in urban design and sustainability, and improve general usability for Design Review Boards, the public and City staff.
The guidelines are posted on DPD’s website at http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/CitywideDesignGuidelinesUpdate/Overview/
and comments may be made online. For more information, please contact Cheryl Sizov, Project Manager, at (206) 684-3771
Each year, Seattle Parks makes one concession permit available for Cal Anderson Park. Last year, the food cart that won the job ended up mired in drama and stopped serving in the park by mid-summer. Parks is now taking proposals for the 2010 Cal Anderson permit through March 31. Got an idea and the means to make it work? We've included the 'proposal package' PDF on this post. Feel free to taste test your ideas here on CHS.
Request for Proposals for Park Concession Permits
From The City of Seattle Department of Parks & Recreation Proposal Due Date - Tuesday, March 31, 2010 by 4 p.m.The City of Seattle acting through its Department of Parks and Recreation is seeking proposals from experienced food concession and roving/mobile truck operators for seasonal food sales at various Seattle parks and ball fields.
Proposal Packages will be available beginning at 1:00 PM, February 4, 2010. Interested parties can download the Proposal Package here on the web, pick up a package in person or request that a package be mailed to them by contacting the Seattle Parks & Recreation at the address shown below. Proposals must be submitted on forms provided by the Seattle Parks & Recreation. Small businesses, Women and/or Minority Businesses are encouraged to submit a Proposal Package.
You may contact me if you are interested in exploring this opportunity
Barry Firth
Concessions Coordinator, Partnerships Division 860 Terry Avenue North
South Lake Union Park, Naval Reserve Building Room 126
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 684-8002
barry.firth@seattle.gov
Our latest analysis of a new repository of information created as part of citywide news site SeattleCrime.com shows some shifting Capitol Hill patterns when compared to January's maps. Overall, the anecdotes available via the Seattle Police Department's public reports showed the Hill to have fewer incidents and, for the most part, criminal activities were more focused in the southern and most dense part of Hill. Take the analysis with a grain of salt -- we can only show you the reports SPD release. For a look at the larger trends, make sure to check out our write-up of the 2009 Capitol Hill crime totals.
All Violent Crimes
February's patterns for crimes ranging from assault to street robbery illustrate the concentration we describe above with only a a few incidents north of Mercer. More about the street robberies below. One mis-mapped event in this dataset -- the big red dot at 12th and Howell is our database getting confused about an armed robbery that happened on Howell on the other side of I5. We are continually refining the geolocation process that helps create these maps. That dot will go in the correction list. As for the underlying events that each dot represents, you can click the maps for the interactive versions. You'll find with the violent crimes set that many are assaults and, while it's never good when people are beating each other up, a lot of these are basic nightlife tangles.
Street Robberies
We've started breaking out this map separately but have some presentation refinement we need to deal with better. While it was relatively quiet for street robberies compared to where it looked like things might be headed after a flurry in late January, there was some frightening street violence not captured in this category. For one, a street robbery that went down on February 14th at Summit and Pine is not shown in the map because the perpetrator was armed. Another violent street beating in February doesn't make the map because the gang of thugs responsible didn't steal anything.
All Thefts - Car prowls
This category might warrant a follow-up call with SPD. Either there was a big drop in car prowls or people stopped reporting them. Whatever the cause, here are the spots where people had their windows smashed and their gloveboxes rifled.
Residential Burglaries
No real trends to report when it comes to the Capitol Hill area's home burglary clusters as the map is very similar to January's but you can get a sense of where these crimes are happening on the Hill these days. The area between 15th and 23rd below Aloha appears to be one of the more consistent clusters. We've just started watching these trends though so no need to invest in the rottweiler yet. One of these break-ins was the incident where this man was arrested. He faces arraignment this week.
Business Burglaries
Three of these were of the smash-glass-door -and-grab including the 12th Ave break-in we reported within spitting distance of East Precinct HQ.
