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CHS will feature coverage this week of the 10-year anniversary of the WTO protests in Seattle with a focus on Capitol Hill's role in the events. As part of the remembrance, we are sponsoring a new kind of civil disobedience. There's still a place for facing down jack-booted thugs and noxious gas -- but we also admire people who get their point across in more subversive ways.
In that spirit, CHS is proud to co-present The Yes Men Fix the World at Northwest Film Forum. The film documents the work of two pranksters who put technology and empty-headed bureaucracy to work to infiltrate the modern media loop and hijack corporate and governmental posturing in the name of social activism. It's like Borat with purpose beyond watching a skinny man wrestle a fat man naked. Seeing one of the Yes Men portraying a government official addressing the community in storm-ravaged New Orleans and making promises that are entirely doable but also entirely outside the realities of government is both funny and heart-breaking. But it's also inspiring when you see the residents catch on to the message, get the 'joke,' and join in on bashing the mind-blown politicians and media who have been punk'd into playing their parts in the stunt.
The Yes Men plays November 27 through December 3. Friday's opening night showing is a benefit for WTO +10, with Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum and other guests in attendance at both of the evening's shows. Bichlbaum will also attend screenings on November 28 and 29. And CHS will be in the house to say hello before most screenings.
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Back in September, we told you about a new retailer coming to Pike/Pine and joining the scene inside the Odd Fellows building. We noticed that the store was taking shape this week and a quick check of their Web site reveals Nube Green opens on Monday.
The new retailer is targeting "ecologically minded consumers" and plans to "provide a strorefront for local artists." Nube Green is the creation of Ruth True. She and her husband Bill opened the nonprofit art gallery Western Bridge.
Here is a snippet from a press release explaining the new store's concept.
Also on the ground floor -- sandwiched between the popular OddFellows Café and Molly Moon's, and right next to flora and henri -- Nube Green plans to open the doors on its 2,300 square foot mercantile store in November. This retailer will carry a broad array of simple, fun and elegant gifts for the ecologically minded consumer.
The store will only sell products that have not crossed any oceans, including locally made items from recycled and sustainable materials. Nube Green will also carry its own line of products.
Top shelf children's clothier Flora and Henri also moved into Odd Fellows recently.
Meanwhile, down the street, CHS also noted 'sign' of an existing business doing some upgrades for the holidays. Looks like Seattle Running Company got a new sign for Christmas.
Pike/Pine isn't the only area on the Hill with some good biz news. CHS reported yesterday on some cool changes for the People's Republic of Koffee over on 12th Ave. Meanwhile, beloved Broadway bookseller Bailey Coy is officially no more.
Capitol Hill Seattle has been alerted to an apparent shooting near the intersection of Union and Boylston. At 5:55 PM, emergency units were dispatched to 702 E Union St. for an assault with weapons response.
We received the following e-mail from an eyewitness:
Shooting on Union between Boylston and Harvard. One guy shot, was conscious and speaking when police arrived.
More as we get it.
apparent shooting in a parking lot next to an apartment building at the corner of Union and
Boylston.
The man was alert and conscious when officers and medics arrived, but he is being taken to Harborview to be treated for what looks like a fairly serious gunshot wound. According to Seattle Police Department spokesman Jeff Kappel, the victim has life-threatening injuries.
Police are looking for the shooter and a vehicle that may be connected to the shooting: a black, four-door, 2000 Mercedes with dark tinted windows and shiny rims. The vehicle has 3 to 4 bullet holes on the driver-side door.
Was the victim armed?
An officer makes a request at one point for the victim's multiple cell phones to be collected for evidence at Harborview. She says the victim said
Man shot in chest near 7th and Union
On 11/20/09, at approximately 6:00 p.m., the victim was observed in a parking lot directly north of the 700 block of E. Union St. Witnesses heard 4 to 6 shots, observed a black Mercedes flee S/B from the parking lot, and the victim fall to the ground.
Arriving officers located the victim on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest. The victim stated he was shot by the person fleeing in the black Mercedez. He stated that the gun appeared to be a .40 or .45 cal. The victim described the suspect as a white male wearing a red shirt.
The victim was treated by Seattle Fire and transported to an area hospital with serious injuries. Officers located casings and bullets at the scene. Numerous witnesses in the area were interviewed. Area search for suspect was negative. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 911.
CHS joked the other night about a Tweet we saw that was too artsy for us to fully comprehend. Turns out, the Tweeter is the owner of represents a new art gallery that is opening on the Hill tonight:
I wanted to follow-up to this tweet you posted recently and tell you a little more about "The Shogunate Revisited", opening tonight at pun(c)tuation on Pike Street. (The storefront that has been covered in newspapers for a few months and used to be Laced Up, next to the HoneyHole.)
"The Shogunate Revisited", a show featuring new work from Seattle-based artists Mike Wagner and I AM, will be kicking-off with an opening reception from 6-10pm. You can read our press release below and there are pictures and flyers available on our Flickr page. (I can send you any of those as an attachment if you have problems opening or need a higher rez image.)
This show is actually the first of three we have planned between now and January, including a tribute to Miles Davis coming soon, so I will be sure to pass that information along to you to share with the readers of CHS. Let me know if you have any questions and I hope you can join us tonight!
Thanks,
Kizha Davidson @kydinseattle
Here's more from the Slog on the event and a slideshow from pun(c)tuation's flickr stream. Also, don't forget about this weekend's Expo 87 'micro-fest.'
CHS talked with Seattle Police Department spokesperson Renee Witt about Thursday's accident scene on Madison to try to clear up exactly what happened to draw the large emergency and officer response.
Witt said the officer whose foot was run over is in better condition than previously thought -- she has a severely sprained ankle, not a break as was first reported.
Witt said the large response -- reported to include as many as 17 police cruisers -- is standard procedure when an officer is injured.
"Any time there is an officer that is injured it garners a large response until we can figure out what was going on," Witt said.
According to Witt, the officer who was injured was directing traffic at the scene where a person in a wheelchair had been struck by a vehicle at the Madison intersection. Witt said a truck turning west onto Madison from 15th ran over the officer's foot. The truck's driver told police that he was distracted by another pedestrian and didn't see the officer. Witt said the driver was interviewed and released and will likely be cited.
The original accident involving the pedestrian in the wheelchair did not result in serious injuries. According to the Seattle Fire Department, the victim and the driver in that accident were not transported from the scene. Witt said she did not have information at this time about any citations issued in the first accident.
While I wouldn't have picked it as the venue in which to discuss the issue, there was some healthy debate in the comments thread that accompanied the CHS coverage of the memorial procession for slain Seattle Police Department officer Timothy Brenton. On its surface, the debate centered around whether a public ceremony of that scale was justified by the killing of a police officer. But below, there were bigger questions of authority, respect and society. This won't end it -- and it may very well re-ignite some of it -- but CHS would like to share a letter sent out by acting Seattle Chief of Police John Diaz and new East Precinct Commander Jim Dermody thanking people for their support in the weeks following the Brenton murder:
A man so high on cocaine and wine that he needed to be hospitalized after being arrested was chased down by customers of nearby Tougo Coffee as he made his getaway after burglarizing 18th Ave boutique Gossamer Collective. The colorful details of the bust come from Tweets reported by the Central District News blog:
mgrummer tweets that it was Gossamer Collective which lives in the spot just south of Tougo. He says that he and other Tougo customers helped apprehend the perp: "I was there this am right after it happened. Another customer followed as the guy took off w/ the goods & directed patrol officers over the phone as to the thief's location"
Here's what SPD had to say about the incident:
On 11/19/09 at 6:35 a.m., officers were dispatched to a Burglary alarm at a business in the 1400 block of 18th Av.
A witness reported that the alarm was sounding and someone was inside the store. The store was burglarized earlier and it was unknown if an employee was inside.
Upon officers arrival witnesses reported that a male suspect left the store via a broken window, carrying merchandise. A description of the suspect was broadcast over SPD radio and within minutes an officer located the suspect running near 15th Av and Spring St.
The suspect was arrested and taken into custody without incident. The suspect was positively identified by 2 witnesses.
The suspect was then transported to Harborview Medical Center as he was having an adverse reaction to taking too much cocaine and wine. All the stolen property was recovered.
Upon release from the hospital, the suspect will be booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary.
The man who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to likely spend the rest of his life in prison for stabbing Capitol Hill resident Shannon Harps to death now claims he was coerced to confess to the murder, CHS partner SeattleCrime.com has learned:
James Anthony Williams, who received a 35 year sentence for the the brutal slaying of Shannon Harps outside of her Capitol Hill apartment on New Years Eve in 2007, is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and is asking the court to provide him with new legal counsel.
Williams on the day of his May 2009 sentencing (Photo: chrisdaniels5)
In court documents filed in King County Superior Court earlier this month, Williams claims he was "compelled...to plead guilty." While documents show Williams apparently believed he was in physical danger while in jail, prosecutors—who, naturally, are opposing Williams' motion—contend Williams made numerous declarations of his own guilt, prior to entering his plea.
SeattleCrime.com reports that prosecutors are citing multiple statements by Williams "that his plea was solely motivated by the fact that he was guilty" in their response to the claims.
Williams originally pleaded not guilty to the crime in February of 2008 and his mental competency was questioned. But after treatment at mental health facility Western State Hospital, Williams was determined fit to stand trial. The defendant then pleaded guilty and was subsequently sentenced to 35 years in prison. This is what prosecutors told CHS at the time of the sentencing about Williams' decision to plead guilty:
[Williams] pled as charged after our office worked to have him restored to competency to stand trial for the murder by sending him to Western State Hospital. He pled not guilty at arraignment in 2008 because every criminal defendant will enter a not guilty plea in order to consult with their attorney, discuss the various options they have and then chose either to plead, negotiate or fight the charge by gong to trial. Mr. Williams at first did not appear competent. The court sent him to Western State Hospital for evaluation at the request of the state and defense. He was found initially not-competent and then Western State doctors restored his competency. Mr. Williams returned to court and indicated he wanted to plead guilty as charged, which he did.
SeattleCrime.com reports that, along with his claims of a coerced confession, Williams also says his attorneys did not adequately represent him during trial and has requested new counsel.
Williams was convicted of murdering Harps in a bloody attack as the 31-year-old was about to enter her residence near 15th and Howell on the last night of 2007.
A small patch of First Hill on the edge of Capitol Hill has been without power today after underground equipment failed during this morning's heavy rain. This person reported hearing a large bang before the power failed. It might be the most localized power failure we've ever reported -- those in the dark live in the area between Union and Seneca and Summit and Boren.
View 11/20 Power Outage in a larger map
According to Seattle City Light, about 267 customers will be without power until around 6:40 PM tonight when repairs are expected to be completed. 300 customers were affected by a power outage earlier this week caused by a tree branch damaging wires in north Capitol Hill. Despite the outages, the city has come through this week's wind and rain storms mostly unscathed though the forecast calls for more rain and wind through the weekend.
You might have seen the ads on CHS -- they are our peculiar little gift to a friend leaving the neighborhood -- Bailey Coy Books has announced their final day of business will be Friday. But you'll have another chance to say goodbye. Bailey Coy is hosting its own wake party on December 3rd:
Our final day of normal sales operation will be this Friday, November 20th.
BUT...Please join us for our party/wake/auction/fundraising event that promises to be a blast!!!
For 26 years, Bailey/Coy Books served as Capitol Hill's literary hub, providing the community with a place to be amongst books, talk about literature and meet their favorite authors.
On Thursday, December 3, we're holding a wake for the store, in memory of all those years, and celebrating the customers who've walked through the doors, the authors we've hosted, the generations of books we've sold and the staff who have served us so well.
We'll also hold an auction of the memorabilia we've collected over the years. We want to say good-bye in style - and raise some cash to help the store.
Auctioneer Laura Michalek will oversee bidding on a pair of white boxer shorts signed by David Sedaris, original cartoons out of our guestbook by Matt Groening and Lynda Barry, a poster signed by Annie Leibovitz, an original painting from the Big Fucking Hands series by Ellen Forney, signed first editions and other very special and very odd items. We'll also auction off dates with two of Capitol Hill's celebrity politicians, State Senator Ed Murray and City Councilmember Sally Clark.
Entertainment will be provided by Fuschia Foxxx and the magnificent Dina Martina. Food and champagne will be served, all provided by local Capitol Hill eateries such as Poppy, Table 219, Charlie's and High Five Pies. Tickets are $40. We will pop the champagne open at 6 PM--the entertainment, and the auction, will begin promptly at 7.
Tickets will be available at BrownPaperTickets.com or at the door. Space is limited - so buy early and buy often.
