First Hill Seattle

Police believe they know who pulled the trigger in this winter's murder of Glennis Parker as he sat in the cab of his truck at the Union 76 station at 9th and James. From the Seattle Times:

Prosecutors say Zachary Collins has been on the run since February, when he is accused of fatally shooting his stepfather in the head as the older man sat in his pickup outside a gas station on Seattle's First Hill.

Collins was charged with second-degree murder on Monday and a $1 million warrant was issued for his arrest, said Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

Collins, 20, has no verified address or phone and is known to move between Seattle and Portland, according to prosecutors. He is described as black, 5-feet-10 and 170 pounds with brown eyes, black hair and a medium skin tone.

According to charging documents, a security guard at the Puget Sound Blood Center called 911 to report shots fired just before 2:30 a.m. Feb. 9.

He saw a man with dreadlocks running from the 76 gas station at 914 James St., where officers later found Glennis Parker, 56, dead behind the wheel of his still-idling pickup, charging papers say.

Parker had been shot three times in the head.

Photo posted by @Mkyles007

This rather incredible collision prompted a major emergency response to Madison over I-5 at the tail end of Friday afternoon's commute but luckily none of the medics were needed. No details yet on what led to the tangle around 6:30 PM Friday.

Full coverage on sister site CapitolHillSeattle.com:

We're still collecting details but a major police response tonight shut down northbound lanes of Boren in front of the Stockbridge apartment building around 7:30 PM. Inside the lobby, an emergency crew was working to stabilize a fallen white male. He was rushed to a waiting ambulance and transported to the hospital just after 8 PM. We'll continue to update this story as we learn more.

Police and emergency medical crews are responding to Harborview this afternoon where a woman has been stabbed. SeattleCrime reports the victim is a 31-year-old female and says she came to the hospital with a stab wound to her abdomen. Central District News says HMC security "may have the suspect in the building. White male, 250, 40s, 6' tall, hooded gray sweatshirt, bluejeans."

UPDATE: SeattleCrime reports that the woman's injuries were self-inflicted.

Photo: Department of Neighborhoods

First Hill's venerable Sorrento Hotel is already a Seattle landmark -- now it's official. The City Council approved the 1909 hotel Monday as an official Seattle landmark. The designation will help preserve the structure's design and character by subjecting future changes to a public review process.

The Sorrento joins nearly 50 properties across Capitol Hill and First Hill with historical landmark status. Here's the roster.

According to documents from the landmark designation process, the entity name of the hotel's ownership is First Hill Investors, but the members of the company are the Burke Family: Gary Burke, Debbie Battiger, John Burke, Mark Burke, Don Burke. According to the document, the Burke Family bought this building out of foreclosure in 1967. Developer Mike Malone, The Sorrento Hotel Partnership, is the lessee; the lease expires in 2030. The document stats that the Burke Family is the long term steward of the property and participated in the designation process as the owner.

Here's how the landmark documentation describes the Sorrento's famous Fireside Room:

First floor - Fireside Room: The most distinctive interior space within the hotel is the highly intact Fireside Room, the original main hotel lobby. It is octagonal in shape with a 40-foot diameter and exhibits the previously described elaborate dark Honduran mahogany paneling and trim. The twelve-foot high plaster ceiling is accentuated by ornate wood-paneled beams supported by a central structural column and further accentuated by a dramatic fluted ceiling light cove. The main hotel lobby is also distinguished by a highly unique inglenook fireplace adorned by particularly distinctive Rookwood tilework as described below. The original floor areas were also exposed fir and are now entirely covered by carpeting. Historically, this interior space was lit by numerous dropped double-ball wall sconces, which are no longer in place. The current wall mounted sconces are non-historic fixtures that are in character with the original design.

asd

The latest from the streets of First Hill and the great nearby. You can find the latest SPD police reports and 911 calls for the First Hill area on the SeattleCrime.com map.

• This went down below I-5 but let it be a lesson to you on your next walk home from Cowgirls:

• A Broadway medical office suffered a break-in and unsuccessful attempt to rip off narcotics:

• A burglary was reported in the 1100 block of 8th Ave:

• A cabbie claimed a man tried to rob him in this early April incident:

SEATTLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL OFFENSE HARDCOPY   (ORIGINAL RELEASE)
MEDIA COPY
GO 2010-107474 (INACTIVE) 1206 - 0 ROBBERY-STREET-BODYFORCE
 Related text page(s) 
  Document: NARRATIVE
    Author: 5428 - MILLER, REBECCA
Related date/time: Apr-02-2010 1936
On 040210 at 1836 hours the unknown suspect was arguing with V-  in the
middle of the street mid block at 1000 9 AVE. The suspect grabbed the
drivers door window of the yellow cab and pulled it out and broke it. 
had gotten out of his cab and suspect punched  in the face. At one
point  had the suspect on the ground and the suspect's phone fell out
of his bag or pocket. The suspect got up and ran east bound on Spring ST.
I responded to the call and contacted the  who told me that for no
reason at all the suspect walked up to the drivers side window and broke
the window with his fist and tried to rob him. I asked  was the
suspect said and he told me "give me your money" and that the suspect did
not say anything else and that the suspect had dropped his cell phone at
the scene.
W-  and W-  stated that the suspect was yelling at  about
 hitting him with his cab and the suspect grabbed the window that was
partially open and pulled it back breaking it (the way the window was
broken, it was consistent with this information). Both  and  saw
the suspect and  standing outside of the cab. The suspect punched
 in the face causing a cut to the bridge of his nose. Per the
witnesses  had the suspect down on the ground struggling with him and
that was when the suspect's phone fell from his pocket or bag onto the
ground. The suspect got up and took off running east bound on Spring ST.
Medics responded and checked out  face.  declined to go to the
hospital.
I collected the cell phone that was now sitting on the hood of the cab and
placed it into evidence. I gave  the general offense number and he
then requested to leave. I asked  if he was going to go to the doctor
 and he said no. At that time I advised  that he was free to leave.
Area check for the suspect was negative.
I hereby declare (certify) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the
State of Washington that this report is true and correct to the best of
my knowledge and belief (RCW 9A.72.085)
Electronically signed:
5428 - MILLER, REBECCA Date: Apr-02-2010 Place: Seattle, WA 
** END OF HARDCOPY **
For: ROBERTS, LISA E (6572)  Tuesday April  6, 2010 Page: 2 of 2

Overnight rains and wind have toppled a tree near Stimson Green Manor, KIRO has reported via Twitter:

@kiro7Traffic: Capitol Hill: A tree is down on Summit and Seneca, Chopper 7 is flying over head.

Sounds like not really Capitol Hill but we'll swing by to get some pictures and confirm the location soon.

UPDATE: The TV people got very excited but this tree fall was a small enough event to be quickly cleaned up and cleared away.

As we reported Tuesday, the City Council is only weeks from finalizing a plan for the streetcar connecting the International District, First Hill and Capitol Hill. The transportation committee we reported being held on First Hill next week is being billed as a 'public forum on the future First Hill streetcar.'

City Council Transportation Committee to hold public forum on the future First Hill Streetcar

Seattle – The Seattle City Council’s Transportation Committee will hold a public forum to take comments from the community on the Mayor’s recently selected alignment of the future First Hill Streetcar.

---

The community is encouraged to attend and give input on the “Two-Way Broadway” route before the Council makes a final determination on the alignment in early May.

Who:             Seattle City Council Transportation Committee

What:            Special meeting, in the community

When:          Thursday, April 22 at 5:30 p.m.

Where:         Seattle First Baptist Church

1111 Harvard Avenue
Seattle, 98122

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast live on Seattle Channel 21 and Webcast live on the City Council’s website at http://www.seattle.gov/council/. Copies of legislation, archives of previous meetings, and news releases are available on http://www.seattle.gov/council/. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook at Seattle City Council.

Whatever you did to reduce waste the last few months worked. The Thursday pick-up region is the winner of a contest held by city garbage contractor CleanScapes to see which area of Seattle they serve could reduce their solid waste output the most this spring. No details on how many tons we won by, but the $50,000 prize is ours. Now we have to figure out how to put the money to use that will best benefit us and our neighbors. Moving staircase, anyone?

CleanScapes is excited to announce the winner of the first Seattle Neighborhood Waste Reduction Rewards competition. The spring tons have been weighed and Thursday has won the 2009/2010 waste reduction challenge! Everything you and your neighbors did to reduce household waste helped tip the scale in your neighborhood’s favor. Congratulations! As the winner your community will receive a $50,000 community improvement project.

A formal announcement of the winning neighborhood will be made May 6^th at the Cascade Land Conservancy Conservation Awards Breakfast.

The Thursday collection area includes portions of the following neighborhoods:

• Capitol Hill
• Madison Park
• Montlake
• Madrona
• Madison Valley
• First Hill

In the coming months, CleanScapes will solicit ideas for the $50,000 neighborhood improvement project. Community members will be asked to submit a project proposal form, which will be made available shortly. Community Councils representatives from the winning area will select the winning project or projects based on criteria provided by CleanScapes. More details to come.

A jam-packed session for the First Hill Improvement Association:

First Hill Improvement Association will be meeting on Tuesday, April 13th, at 6:30 pm, in the Swedish Medical Center B-Level Conference Room #1, across from the Main Cafeteria entrance. We plan to discuss the following topics:

- Mary Catherine Snyder, Parking Strategist for SDOT’s Policy and Planning will present the proposed parking changes for First Hill, which were developed based on the 2009 First Hill Parking Study. 

 

- Tony Russo, Capital Hill Community Council Treasurer will discuss Streetcar / Transportation Options for First Hill & Capitol Hill

 

- Ethan Melone from SDOT will be giving us an  update on the Streetcar, particularly any news from the Tuesday morning 4/13 City Council Transportation Committee hearing*  Discussion of what action steps to take after final route recommendations are made.  


Everyone is welcome to attend.
Jim Erickson
http://www.firsthill.org/