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Stranded Buses on Broadway - Originally uploaded by mvbseattle

One thing is certain -- Seattle's next mayor (next results drop: 4:30 PM!) won't have the same old King County Metro snow plan to drag him down. Metro officials have unveiled two more components of an Emergency Service Route Network designed to show people that they did something keep buses moving this winter if our snowy, icy weather trends continue.

• The first is Metro's new emergency routes.

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  Route 90 - Download PDF

  
  
  Here's what Seattle Transit Blog had to say about the plan:
  
  

  The 70 routes are basically a core set of Metro’s most important routes, minus some that are obviously impassable in severe weather.  However, there are interesting tidbits for armchair planners, like a new Route 90 that serves as Capitol Hill/First Hill/Downtown Circulator, and a modified Route 39 that is truncated to run between Seward Park and the two nearest light rail stations.

• The second component is a new alerts system that will post route updates on the Metro homepage and send updates on your bus routes to your e-mail or phone. You can sign up for the service here.

These initiatives plus the city's revamped snow plowing strategy -- check out which streets get cleared, which don't -- address a lot of the issues and ideas raised here when we went through a CHS groupthink on Metro's snow problems while the failures were still fresh in mind.

And, if all of this doesn't work, there's always checking in with your friends and sharing information.

Update: Added a few pictures from the visit. Not every day the Speaker of the House is in the house. The dignitaries toured Swedish's intensive care unit facility and learned about the hospitals success at reducing 'ventilator associated pneumonia.' According to medical studies, this type of pneumonia occurs in about 25% of patients who require ventilation. Swedish says because of their practices and technology they have not had an incident at their facility in 21 months.

Original Post: Fresh off Saturday night's vote to pass a bill overhauling the nation's health care industry, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will be on Broadway this afternoon to tour Swedish Medical Center and continue to drum up support for the legislation as it moves on to the Senate. It's more First Hill than Capitol Hill but in the neighborhood for any of you wonk types who want to come out and get Pelosi to sign your copy of HR 3962.

WHO:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Congressman Jim McDermott

Congressman Jay Inslee

Congressman Norm Dicks

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Cal Knight, President, Swedish Medical Center

Dr. Martin Siegel, Chair of the Swedish Board of Trustees

Hospital Administrators

WHAT:

·       Speaker Pelosi and Members of Congress will be talking with hospital officials about how the groundbreaking health insurance reform legislation passed on Saturday by the US House of Representatives helps Seattle.

·       The Speaker and other Members of Congress will briefly tour Swedish Medical Center’s facilities, including their Intensive Care Unit. Swedish Staff will be on the floor to describe the program to reduce ventilator associated pneumonia, a significant cause of mortality nationally.  Photo/  B- roll opportunity at start of tour.

·       Press Conference will immediately follow the tour.

WHEN:

Monday, November  9, 2pm

Pre-set at 1:30 pm

WHERE:

Glaser Foyer, Swedish Medical Center, 747 Broadway, Seattle

Many of the flowers from Tim Brenton's Friday memorial were moved over the weekend to his East Precinct headquarters at 12th and Pine. It's an odd little memorial, crowded and haphazardly stuffed into the lobby of the precinct HQ but it's also a very human display. The memorial that had grown on the sidewalk near where Brenton was gunned down Halloween night has been removed. Meanwhile the drama from the capture of Chris Monfort -- the alleged 'domestic terrorist' and a 'person of interest,' not a 'suspect' -- has settled somewhat. Latest reports have Monfort in serious but stable condition at Harborview on First Hill.

Parking meter, 1951,
originally uploaded by Seattle Municipal Archives.

I stumbled onto this fascinating essay about life on Capitol Hill in the 1950s inspired by the writer's discovery of the "I grew up on Capitol Hill' Facebook group. The names and the stories have so much color -- it's a good lesson to go find out the names of those people in the world around you so you can write quality history later. The essay is also a lesson in how quickly the Hill's culture has changed while providing prologue for the family-friendliness of today's northern Capitol Hill with its mommy and daddies and daddies and daddies and mommies and mommies. There is also a taste of the clubbiness that still can pervade some Capitol Hill streets.

From Growing up on "the hill"

We did a lot of the things our classmates did: bought penny candy at the same mom-and-pop stores, took 25 cents to the Roycroft Theater every Saturday afternoon for a program that included a serial, a newsreel, a cartoon and a feature film; built wooden hydroplanes and tied them to the back of our bikes for our own versions of the Gold Cup Races run on Lake Washington.  We sometimes went to the original Red Mill on Friday night with our aunt and uncle so we could have fish and chips and not have to go home to a kitchen that smelled like fried fish.

We went to the Friday night social dancing classes when we were in seventh and eight grades, and stood on one side of the hall while the St. Joe's boys were on the other. I can still remember a couple of Jack Reilly's sequence of steps and calls from that 7th-grade square dance class where they partnered us up with the boys by marching us in intersecting lines.

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You've already seen some of the Hill-oween pictures we gathered and took during the fun last Saturday -- but there are so many new shots flying around the Internet in the days since that it would be a shame not to share those too. Thanks for dropping these treats into our CHS flickr pool plastic pumpkin. Special thanks to flickrite sea turtle who, once again, captured so many great images from Halloween on Broadway.

You'll see a lot of sea turtle's work in this slideshow of images from "capitol hill seattle" sorted by flickr's "most interesting" ranking from this year. Enjoy.

Urban Wildlife - Uploaded by: sea turtle

Richie Tenenbaum and Max Fischer, originally uploaded by pam sattler.

You are never to old to trick or treat!, originally uploaded by ERIK98122.

, originally uploaded by chelsey [ r ] scheffe.

Wedded Bliss, originally uploaded by sea turtle.

spooky house, originally uploaded by jillbertini.

Halloween on Broadway, originally uploaded by sea turtle.

Christopher Monfort as a UW graduate student

Here are the latest updates on the case from our news partners at the Central District News, SeattleCrime.com and the Seattle Times:

• SPD is calling the killing of officer Timothy Brenton a case of 'domestic terrorism' and say they discovered a cache of weapons and explosives inside Christopher Monfort's Tukwila apartment.
• Adding to the possibility that political motives were part of what drove the killer, a mystery clue found at both the scene of an arson that destroyed three police vehicles earlier in October and at 29th and Yesler where the SPD officer was gunned down on Halloween has been revealed. The clue? American flags left at both scenes.
• Also found at the October arson scene? A note saying an officer would be killed. SPD 'rank and file' are upset that information wasn't share before the Brenton slaying.
• Finally, another clue to what may have driven Monfort to make the switch from politically agitated loner to alleged cop killer: a ticket that might have cost the 41-year-old his job.

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Capitol Hill parents -- and parents to be -- might want to plan a drugstore road trip this week. The county health department has announced a plan to distribute a new batch of H1N1 vaccine through area pharmacies.

According to the announcement, people eligible to receive vaccine through pharmacies include:

•     Pregnant women
•     People who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age
•     People between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old
•     People between 25 through 64 years of age with chronic health conditions or weakened immune systems
•     Healthcare and emergency workers with direct patient contact

The list of participating stores and appointment availability can be found here: http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness
A county health spokesperson told the West Seattle Blog this list will be updated over the weekend 'as availability changes.'

This Google Map provided by the county shows the pharmacy locations. An additional important thing to note: None of the stores currently on the list have staff licensed or trained to vaccinate infants so you'll need to visit your pediatrician for that. Any parent who has made a call to a pediatrician lately knows to expect busy phone lines, long waits and a challenge to find open appointment times.

Also, there is an up-to-$22 fee for administering the 'swine flue' vaccine, according to the announcement.

According to the county, with limited national vaccine supplies, Public Health - Seattle & King County has not been able to make the vaccine widely available. As more vaccine becomes available, the announcement says there will be additional sites for getting vaccinated, including community clinics.

Here's the county's announcement:

Friday, November 6, 2009

 

Limited amounts of vaccine available; some pharmacies taking appointments now

KING COUNTY, WA - To provide another option for people prioritized to receive H1N1 vaccine, selected King County pharmacies are receiving limited supplies to begin vaccinating. A total of 15,000 doses of vaccine have been allocated to pharmacies, with more available in future weeks.

Many of the 44 participating pharmacies are taking appointments by phone starting today; some will be holding walk-up clinics without appointment starting next week. The full list of participating pharmacies, including hours, types of vaccine available and vaccination age ranges, is posted at www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/pandemicflu/swineflu/locations. This site will be updated Monday through Friday by noon; people should contact pharmacies directly for the most up-to-date information.

With limited national vaccine supplies, Public Health - Seattle & King County has had to delay its plan to make vaccine widely available through community venues. As more vaccine becomes available, there will be additional sites for getting vaccinated, including community clinics.

"Making vaccine available through pharmacies is an important next step in protecting our community, but supplies at both pharmacies and health care providers will continue to be limited for at least several weeks," said Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health - Seattle & King County. "Eventually there will be enough vaccine for everyone who wants to get vaccinated, but we are still dealing with limited vaccine supplies."

With the latest deliveries this week, King County has received approximately 142,000 doses of vaccine. A new allocation of approximately 71,000 doses is being ordered for delivery to the county. Most of the vaccine is being made available through health care providers.

Pharmacy vaccination details

People eligible to receive vaccine through pharmacies include:

• Pregnant women
• People who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age
• People between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old
• People between 25 through 64 years of age with chronic health conditions or weakened immune systems
• Healthcare and emergency workers with direct patient contact

The amount of H1N1 vaccine at pharmacies will be limited, with each pharmacy receiving a few hundred doses each. Vaccine will be re-supplied to pharmacies as more becomes available over the coming weeks, so people should regularly check Public Health's website for updates.

Many pharmacies are unable to vaccinate babies and young children because their staff is not licensed and/or trained for these age groups. Residents trying to vaccinate children should check with pharmacies directly and with their health care providers since vaccine is continuing to arrive.

Pharmacies may charge a fee for administering the vaccine, typically between $12 and $22 (not to exceed $22). This fee is covered by most health insurance. People should bring their health insurance information to the pharmacy, and they may need to submit a receipt to their insurance company for reimbursement.

Visit the Public Health H1N1 influenza website at www.kingcounty.gov/health/H1N1 for updates on vaccine availability in the community or call the Flu Hotline at 877-903-KING (5464), which is staffed with operators to answer questions from King County residents about H1N1 influenza. Hours of operation with operators are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, with special 24-hour nurse line service extended over this weekend for people with flu seeking medical care advice. Recorded information will be available 24 hours a day.

The first of two Friday updates from King County Elections shows Mike McGinn has widened his lead over Joe Mallahan in the Seattle mayor's race. McGinn now leads his competitor by 1,209 votes.

Mike McGinn: 75,657 49.99%

Joe Mallahan: 74,448 49.19%

The next drop comes after 9 PM tonight. Seattle Post Globe reports that election workers decided to put in some extra work today instead of having to work over the weekend to produce a new count on Monday.

Breaking news in the hunt for the killer of Officer Timothy Brenton. Central District News is heading to the scene:

There's a massive police response down in Tukwila, where Tukwila police are reporting that a "person of interest" in Officer Brenton's shooting was shot by police while they were there serving a warrant.

This started about 25 minutes after the conclusion of Brenton's memorial at Key Arena.

TV chopper coverage is showing a covered vehicle in the parking lot of the apartment complex where today's shooting occurred, and it appears to be of the shape and size of a Datsun 210, the suspect vehicle in the Halloween shooting.

SPD homicide personnel are said to be on the scene in Tukwila, but so far SPD isn't talking about what might be going on.

More as we get it.

The Seattle Times is reporting the suspect was shot in the head by Seattle Police. Reports are that the suspect has been transported to Harborview.

SeattleCrime.com is reporting that the man who was shot has died. survived.

Tukwila police say two other people have been taken into custody in the incident.

With the investigation into the Halloween night murder of officer Timothy Brenton stretching into its sixth day, the Seattle Police Department is about to lose its newly appointed head of the Violent Crimes Section. Berkeley news sources are reporting that Seattle police captain Mike Meehan has been tabbed as the new police chief in the California city. According to the Berkeley Daily Planet, Meehan's appointment must still be confirmed by the Berkeley city council at its November 10th meeting.

Meehan, a former East Precinct commander, recently moved to take over Violent Crimes where he oversaw the Homicide, Robbery, CSI, Gang, Polygraph, Bias Crimes and Fugitive Units after a stint working in the Narcotics Section. He is a 23-year veteran officer according to this SPD blog post.

The Berkeley Planet story linked above also dug into the CHS archives for some insight into Meehan:

Comments on a Feb. 2009 blog catering to Seattle’s Capital Hill area [sic], a pre-dominantly gay neighborhood, discussed the possibility of Meehan replacing then–Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, who was selected by the Obama administration to be the “drug czar,” overseeing the country’s drug-control policy.

“I would be overjoyed to see another ex-East Precinct Commander (Mike Meehan) as the Seattle Police Chief, but suspect he’ll have to work his way up the ranks a bit first,” said Andrew Taylor, a writer on the blog. “He’s very smart, thoughtful and good with the public. And he’s very tall!”

Meehan also made it into our recent history of East Precinct bosses where the then-commander was quoted as having said this in 2004:

“I say this laughingly, but I told my boss that my intention is to stay here until the day I retire. I'll stay here as long as they allow me to stay. I am very happy to be at the East Precinct.”

Meehan left the EP commander role in 2006.