Our newspartners at The Seattle Times are reporting that the "person of interest" in last weekend's police murder is in critical condition at Harborview with a wound to the head.

They've also proven that having sources and their phone numbers is much more productive than waiting for media briefings at crime scenes. As we reported earlier today, SPD detectives were in Tukwila to investigate a tip from a citizen in Officer Brenton's murder:

The person who tipped police to the car said the man had only recently covered it and had been acting bizarrely, according to a law enforcement source.

The wounded man apparently has no felony history. He had recently laid off from his job as a security guard, according to the source.

The shooting happened just as the memorial service for Brenton was ending at Seattle's KeyArena. Many of the officers who attended the memorial immediately left when they got word of the shooting, some rushing to Tukwila.

The Times is also reporting that two other men have been detained, and that...

Common Nighthawk, originally uploaded by kingernorth.

It has been a busy week at CHS with lots of big news -- some of it quite heavy. Thanks goodness for this lovely little essay which fluttered in from CHS history contributor Dotty DeCoster. Even if the nighthawks were still living in Seattle, they'd have already migrated away from this wet and dreary Pacific Northwest weather until spring -- when they used to return and, now, you can miss them like Dotty does. We're glad the swallows still come back to keep us company.

I’ve been reading Edward B. Dunn’s memoir called 1121 Union recently, and he asks a question:  “We always had nighthawks in summer on First Hill and in the country, too.  Where can they have gone? . . . Anyway  I miss them.  They can outdive any airplane, and I used to love watching them swooping over the housetops and abruptly coming out of the dive with a thrilling roar." (p. 53) 

Dunn was born in 1904 at 1121 Union and lived there for several decades. (southwest corner of Union and Minor.)  My old friend, who lived as a child near Lake Union and most of her adult life near 17th and Denny, taught me to go looking for nighthawks at dusk above the rooftops near the top of Capitol Hill during the 1960s. They are gone now, gone completely from King County and only found rarely in Western Washington.

The Seattle Audubon bird web describes the common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) as “a cryptic bird most often seen in flight, when it can be easily identified by the white bar across each long, pointed wing.  This mottled gray and black bird has large eyes.  It also has a tiny beak with a large gape. .  .”  They forage in flight on flying insects.  They have a loud, distinctive call.  At about 9 inches, common nighthawks are bigger than swallows and spectacular flyers.  They also have an odd habit while perching.  Rather than sitting on tree limbs or wires or rooftops facing you (with the perch on the horizontal) they sit sideways, aligned along the perch.  Called “goatsuckers” some places, they used to be a delightful addition to the August falling star show viewed from the Capitol Hill ridge crest.

They are odd birds that like open country (with lots of flying bugs) and don’t nest – they lay their eggs on gravel.  Both male and female birds help feed the young and care for them.  In the cities, they tended to like gravel or pebble roofs for reproducing, or infrequently disturbed gravel piles or alleys.  They seem to have been birds of a certain city development period.  They appeared here when the forest cover was opened up and disappeared once the gravel was smoothly paved over, the swampland drained, and the flying insects greatly reduced.  Peterson’s Western Birds says they winter in Argentina.  Apparently, nighthawks still are fairly common in eastern Washington, if you have an opportunity to go for a walk at dusk on the other side of the mountains you might see some.

In the meantime, swallows remain. They swoop over the large lawn in Volunteer Park between the art museum and the conservatory and you can see them during the day diving nearly to grass height as they catch insects mid-air.  At dusk they appear out of the ravine when one is standing at the overlook across from the cemetery entrance on 15th Avenue East.

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.

Several indicators continue to show rising influenza activity in King County. Emergency department visits for influenza-like illness continue to increase. Hospital admissions for 2009 H1N1 flu are approaching levels seen at the height of the spring outbreak. The number of hospitalizations where flu subtyping has not been performed is increasing as well, and many of these are likely to be 2009 H1N1 flu cases. Clinics that are part of Public Health's influenza surveillance system are showing more activity recently, with both the number of specimens and the percentage of positive tests for influenza unusually high for this time of year.

Between 10/4/09- 10/29/09 the following hospitalizations and deaths have been reported to Public Health

Confirmed 2009 H1N1 hospitalizations: 77

2009 H1N1 deaths: 1

Non-H1N1 or not tested influenza hospitalizations: 47

Non-H1N1 or not tested influenza deaths: 1...

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...

CHS will be covering the memorial procession to honor Seattle Police Department officer Timothy Brenton as it passes across Capitol Hill this morning. The more than 1,000 vehicles and thousands of police, fire and emergency personnel expected to participate in the procession leave the University of Washington's Husky Stadium parking lot starting at 9 AM. They are expected to begin passing through the Capitol Hill area after 10 AM on their way to Key Arena where the memorial will be held.

• A map of the route can be found here.
• There is no street parking along the route and bus service will be disrupted. Seattle Transit Blog has a list of planned re-routes. Metro says to expect delays.
• If you have a report from your morning's bus experience to share, leave a comment here or Tweet to #caphillbus

Watch this post for updates and pictures from the procession. Our news partner the Seattle Times is also updating an interactive map and timeline of today's events . You can watch live video coverage from KING-5 here .

UPDATE:

Photo: Scott Durham/Central District News

Central District News has coverage of the memorial ceremony at Key Arena . You can also check out photos of the procession's path through the CD here .

Our partner site SeattleCrime.com is reporting tonight on a large police and Metro sheriff response at Bellevue and Pine around 8:15 PM.

According to a Seattlecrime.com tipster, there are about 20-25 police officers, and sheriffs deputies at Bellevue and Pine with guns drawn. A man is lying face down on the pavement, crying.

CHS hustled down there to find the scene breaking up and the bad guys already taken away. A deputy at the scene said the incident involved two men 'making bad decisions' in a Metro bus shelter but wouldn't elaborate.

"Kind of a big response," I said.

"Yeah, that's how things are," the deputy said. I also asked the three deputies huddling in the bus shelter where their jackets were on this rainy, windy night. In their cars, turns out.

We'll have to wait for more info from SPD or the sheriff on this one. The public information officers will be part of the memorial procession and event at Key Arena tomorrow and likely won't be available for comment until next week.

Regardless of the outcome of the still undecided Mayors race, one of the biggest stories coming out of this election cycle is the grassroots, all volunteer campaign run by Mike McGinn.  McGinn was outspent and out staffed by the Mallahan campaign and rarely led in the polls, but won the primary and is currently in the lead after the first three batches of votes have been counted.  I went to the McGinn Campaign Headquarters yesterday to talk to the volunteers to find out what it was like working on the groundbreaking campaign. 

Oddfellows (Veg) Breakfast Panini

• Zhivago's Cafe is open reports Thrillist (Daily Candy for men) - I stopped in there this morning & they said they would be open at 1 pm
• From 11/1 to 12/31, Ethan Stowell restaurants, including Anchovies & Olives, will discount you $1 for each cork you bring in (up to 25 per table) as part of the Cork ReHarvest Program
• Monsoon and Nishino are two area restaurants participating in Dine Around Seattle this month (3 courses for $30 - Sun - Thu but check site for hours and specifics); Lark taking part in 4 for $48
• Have you been to First Hill's The Hideout yet?
• PoDog opening postponed to next week (not opening today!)
• Rover's Thierry Rautureau spotted filming for Top Chef Masters
• Galerias offering $3.75 mojitos and free plate of nachos any time if you mention CHS sent you

McGinn's lead has dropped from 910 to 462 (less than the # of write-in ballots counted). Your vote really is going to count this time. King County lets you follow the path of your ballot through the system, which you might care to do.

See a problem? Contact the elections office:  http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/aboutus/contactus.aspx (many ways to contact them)

While you're there you can check the number of votes still to be counted (King County 129,000 on 11/4). Seattle Times estimates that about half the mayoral votes have been counted.