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Some of the final political pieces of the plan to create a streetcar line between the International District, First Hill and Capitol Hill are moving into place. Seattle Department of Transportation planners Tuesday morning presented their recommended plan for the streetcar that has been approved by the Mayor's office and is now in the hands of the City Council's transportation committee. The presentation is embedded below.

SDOT planner Ethan Melone said the full resolution will be available this week. submitted at the next Council transportation committee meeting on April 27  A special session of the transportation committee is being held right here on First Hill at Seattle First Baptist Church at 1111 Harvard Ave on Thursday, April 22 at 5:30 PM. This will be one of the final opportunities for public comment in front of the transportation committee members before the resolution is voted on.

When the plan passes out of committee, the plan will go to the full Council for a vote with construction projected to begin in 2011. The first service would start, SDOT says in 2013. Committee chairman Tom Rasmussen said his goal is for the full Council vote on the streetcar resolution by early May.

SDOT planners have said that the full resolution will include language requiring ongoing City Council oversight of the streetcar project.

Melone will be on hand at Tuesday night's meeting of the First Hill Improvement Association to discuss the streetcar planning process.

Meanwhile in the public comment portion of the meeting, representatives from First Hill hospitals and assisted living facilities voiced their need for what one speaker called 'compromise' transportation solutions now that the Boren/Seneca streetcar route has all but been eliminated from consideration.

The recommended plan is referred to as at the 2-Way Broadway alignment, referring to the route's usage of Broadway for both north and southbound travel. Melone said that a $20 million extension of the route to north Broadway with a turnaround at Aloha is also being planned for as are cycling and pedestrian improvements being championed by the Capitol Hill Community Council. Here is SDOT's presentation from the Council committee session:

According to our partners at the Central District News, police were called after a patient being treated in the emergency room at Swedish for an unknown condition was attacked inside the facility Friday afternoon. Police responded to the hospital around 12:50 PM according to CDN after the person had been escorted from the facility by security. No word on an arrest in the incident.

Swedish Medical Center continues its celebration of 100 years of service in Seattle. Saw this tweet today about a new exhibit on the campus documenting the period.

@swedish: Installation of 100 year timeline exhibit is complete. It's in lobby of our First Hill campus. http://tweetphoto.com/17909040

You can find the online companion to the timeline here: Our First 100 Years. FirstHillSeattle.com's 100-year timeline exhibit, by the way, is currently being planned. Watch this space for details.

Over on our sister site CapitolHillSeattle.com, we're writing about spaces where businesses have either closed down or moved on. First Hill has one of these spaces of its own -- and FHS is happy to report it's about to be reactivated. 1026 Madison, the former home of departed European boutique Mallow, is now home to Jigsaw Renaissance.

"Basically, we're a place for people to learn or create anything," co-owner Lion Kimbro tells FHS.  We have a drill press, band saw, wood, myriad tools, a sewing machine, a fridge, and many many more things.  We're like an unschool for adults."

Kimbro says Saturdays between 12 and 6 PM is a good time for stopping by. "It's our 'open house' time," Kimbro said. This Saturday, Jigsaw is planning to host lessons from a bonsai expert, by the way, so bring your scissors.

Jigsaw is planning a grand opening party for May 8th. The project joins Metrix Create:Space (an advertiser on sister site CHS) on the north end of Broadway in a growing trend of make space businesses in the area.

We also asked Kimbro a couple questions about the new space.

Why Jigsaw Renaissance now?
Because now is the right time!  I think people are really tired of spirituality that are theory oriented, that don't get their hands dirty.  I think people are tired of jobs that are all mindless computation, and don't have visible practicality.  I think people want to connect with each other, and truly change their culture:  Not in an abstract way, but in the day to day interaction.  Everything can be so virtual these days;  We are in a search for the actual.  We want to actualize the power of dream, and we do it by connecting this beam to that bolt, and by watering this other plant so that it comes up leafy green.

These are my own feelings, these are my own thoughts -- everybody comes with a different story.  But this is how it looks to me.

How does the business part work? (how do you make money? :) )

We are member driven.

Membership is most important to us, and a member is a person who strongly aligns with our vision, who strongly aligns with our mission.

After that, there are dues, which are $15/month.  Keyed members contribute $100/month, and people can get a desk space for $200/month.  There are other sources of income that we are exploring.  Presently, we're about 1/2-way to our minimum financing goals.  We're on a track, ...