A group that works with law enforcement officials to bring attention to cases and help identify and capture suspects has offered a reward for information in the Zachary Lewis murder case.

Lewis was found beaten to death in the lot at Federal and Republican three weeks ago early on the morning of Sunday, March 6th. Last week, we reported on the status of the investigation and the hope that DNA and forensic evidence might yield more clues about who killed the 37-year-old.

One new element documented in the reward poster is information about the victim's activities the night of the murder. According to the information shared by Crime Stoppers, Lewis had been "hanging out along the Broadway corridor."

You can expect more noise and more trucks than usual this weekend as a 10-foot slab of concrete is poured to create the floor of the Broadway light rail station. Sound Transit's bulletin on the work slated to have begun early Saturday morning is below. Earlier this year, Sound Transit said crews will pour the slab over five Saturdays this spring.

With the arrival of the giant crane, and the tunnel boring machines soon to arrive, Sound Transit contractors are moving closer to the tunneling phase when three machines will bore tunnels from Montlake, under Volunteer Park and through to Broadway and from Broadway to downtown as part of the $1.9 billion project. You can see the tunneling routes and more about the tunnel boring machines, here. Sound Transit is planning some community activities to mark the start of tunneling. More details on that soon.

You can watch work at the construction site on Broadway between John and Denny here via our light rail web cam page.

We'll also soon have details to share from a recent exercise at the University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning involving student projects to envision concepts for the Broadway station's "transit oriented development." We'll share details of that work and some of the cool ideas for the space soon.

Capitol Hill Station Concrete Slab

On Sat., March 26, starting as early as 4:00 a.m., Sound Transit’s contractor, JCM, will begin pouring another section of the concrete slab that will create the station floor. The floor is 10-feet thick and it will take several hours to pour approximately 6,000 cubic yards of concrete needed for the station floor. This work will fall outside of the project’s normal work hours and the contractor will be operating under a noise variance from the City of Seattle.

Expect increased concrete truck activity (40 to 45 trucks per hour) in the area. Seattle Police Officers will be posted at:

Broadway Ave & East Denny Way

and Broadway East & East John to help address any traffic impacts.

The former home of Broadway News is re-opened and, again, putting ink to good use. We featured his new awning earlier this week -- probably time to find out direct from Bryan Griffith himself about his new Broadway tattoo shop, Social Skins:

Griffith and family (Image: Social Skins)

Sorry for the delay but things have been crazy getting the shop together but I really appreciate the response from the community.   My friends talk highly of the cap hill.com and I have eagerly been wanting to be apart of  it.

I am a native of the northwest and my wife Wendy  is from Mexico, we have lived on Capitol Hill  for  over 10 years where we own a home with our 19 month old son Bryan Balam.

Having been coming to Capitol Hill since I was a kid, I was always inspired by the energy this neighborhood emanates from the artists,  freaks and counterculture warriors living side by side  with families and elders who have been here for decades.

  Born in San Francisco and raised in the northwest, art has been a part of my life since the time I can remember thanks to the support of my family and especially my Grandmother who was an artist herself.

At age 15 I saw a portrait of an Indian in a tattoo magazine, amazed by the possibility, I started on my quest to learn everything I could about this art form starting with the history of traditional tattooing techniques form the Americas to Polynesia, Asia and in Europe with the Neanderthals.  

I have been tattooing since 1999, beginning with a “traditional” tattoo apprenticeship at a busy street shop for 7 years.   Now I specialize in portraits, black & grey,  & colorful fantasy, however I am open to any idea that is sincere and serious.

   Being of Choctaw Indian decent, among other proud traditions my artwork is influenced by traditional peoples all over the world.  People who have left us clues and knowledge about the past, our present and possible future, perspectives desperately needed in these times

During my 12 years of tattooing I have lived here but worked  many other places, traveling extensivelyaround the U.S,  Mexico  and Europe.    When it came time to open my own shop I couldn't think of any other place  that I would rather be than here.  I feel it is my turn to bring something to Broadway to  give back and strengthen the  funky artistic vibe that has given me so much fun and great times!    My family lives here, ,my son was born here and so has my business.

  As of now we are open Tue -Sat,  12:00 till 8:00  Sun and Mon by appointment only.  I am the only one working there for the moment but I am looking for artists who are talented, hard working,  and inspired to create something grand!

Most of all I wanted to create a space that is inviting and comfortable to all people.  Whether you are new to tattooing or  have many, I will strive to create something that you will  be proud to wear.

A man told police he was robbed at knifepoint in the 700 block of Bellevue Ave E early Tuesday morning.

Arriving officers found a man at Bellevue Ave E and Bellevue Ct E who told them he had been held up by two black males in their 20s. One of the suspects brandished a small pocket knife, the man said. We do not have details of what was taken from the victim.

SPD searched the area after the 1:30 AM robbery and a K-9 unit also checked the bike trail along I-5 near Melrose and Roy but did not turn up the suspects.

We'll watch for more details when the full SPD incident report is released.

It's been five years since a March Saturday in 2006 when six people were killed and two wounded in a shooting rampage at a home in the 2000 block of East Republican. The Stranger, who led the city's coverage of the tragedy, is marking the anniversary here. We've included a report on the incident commissioned by SPD and images from a summer 2006 tribute to those who died, below.

Photographs by Michael Holden

Know an individual or organization making a difference in Seattle through the arts? Nominate them for a 2011 Mayor’s Arts Award. The nomination deadline is 5 p.m., Thursday, May 5. The online nomination form is available here .  

“Forty years ago during another difficult economy, city leaders founded the Seattle Arts Commission because they believed support for the arts would enrich urban life. They were right. The arts have helped make Seattle the rich cultural city it is today” said Mayor Mike McGinn. “I look forward to honoring the inspiring accomplishments of artists and cultural organizations that have been shaping our city for many years.”

As the goal of the awards is to reflect the diversity of artistic achievement throughout the city, there are no preset award categories. This year marks the 40

If you're looking to catch Mexico vs. Paraguay or US vs. Argentina today, Golazo, an energy drink company that has gone all-in with their soccer-obsessed marketing, is hosting a watching party at their headquarters near Harvard and Pike. You can even kick the ball around in their indoor soccer field. They have one of those.

Looking for more to do this weekend? Check out our latest On the List. Bake it in a Cake bake sale at Cakespy? OK!

More on Saturday's part from the Golazo Facebook page:

Come to Golazo's Seattle Headquarters for a free, all-ages viewing party for the Mexico vs Paraguay (2pm) and US vs Argentina (4pm) games ! Watch the game on a HUGE projection screen and immerse yourself in the action with our booming surround-sound!

The games kick off at 2 pm, but come early and compete against your friends and family on our indoor soccer field, foosball table & pingpong table!

Doors open at Noon, so grab your friends and come play and enjoy the games at Golazo HQ!

Golazo HQ

714 E PIke St.

Seattle, WA

Ah, what a little paint will do. Or is it Photoshop? No bother. Online Cafe is logged on and open for business. We talked to proud new business owner Nick Woell about his venture that, he hopes, will be mostly familiar to Capitol Hill coffee drinkers.

"Honestly, we just tried to freshen up the place," Woell told CHS in a conversation Thursday night. "Tried to make it non-1999. We just tried to update it."

The "it" Woell refers to is one of the three Online Coffee Company locations that went out of business suddenly earlier this month as owner Ken Fox shut down his chain amid financial difficulties.

But it was so suddenly for Woell. "I had pretty close relationship with owner. He kind of let me know things were looking bad," Woell said. "I got a head start." The early warning allowed Woell to put in motion his plan to take over the space and give running his own business a try. "This is my first business since mowing the lawn as a kid," he said.

The early lessons, of course, are the hardest. Woell had intended to...

A woman was robbed of her iPhone in broad daylight Tuesday morning while waiting for the bus outside the Safeway at 15th and East John., according to a just-released SPD report on the incident. According to the report, the victim suffered a great deal of pain in the attack due to a fall during the robbery on previously injured ribs. A search of the area did not turn up the suspect. Here is the full report from Seattle Police:

On 03/22/2011 I was on uniformed patrol in a marked vehicle operating as unit 1C2. I was dispatched to investigate a robbery in progress at   E John St. En route to the call, I was advised that the female victim, later identified as  , had been able to crawl into the lobby of a Wells Fargo bank near this location and ask for assistance. I arrived and contacted bank staff, who advised me that they had called 911 for   to report the robbery.

Bank staff advised me that   crawled into the bank approximately 10-15min prior to my arrival in a state of shock.   was screaming and wincing in pain and at first was unable to answer questions.   finallyasked the bank staff to call Verizon Wireless and cancel her phone account, as her phone had just been stolen. Bank staff did so, and then proceeded tocall 911 for  

Staff stated that   described the suspect in the robbery as a light complexioned black male, approximately 18 years old, wearing a green coat,a black beanie and black pants. After Seattle Fire Department screened  they advised me she would need to be transported to HMC for injuries to her ribs due to complications from a previous injury.

I contacted   and asked her what occurred.   stated she was standing at the bus stop just south of   E John St when the suspect walked up behind her. The suspect suddenly slapped her hand in a very rough manner and grabbed her Apple IPhone out of her other hand. The suspect slapped her hand into her ribcage, aggravating a previous injury to the point that she fell over in very aggravating pain.  was sweating and breathing very rapidly and heavily, nearly unable to get her words out as she spoke with me.   advised me that she was not able to provide mewith any further physical description of the suspect and that she issomewhat unsure if she could identify the suspect in the future, but she stated she might.   stated the only item taken in the robbery was her black Apple IPhone. 

was transported away from the scene by AMR for her injuries. Other officers in the area advised me that they were unable to find any suspects matching the description of the suspect in the immediate area.

UPDATE: Turns out, there's more to the report. Here are details on some of the investigative tools authorities have at their disposal when tracking a wireless phone. In this case, it sounds like the effort didn't turn up a suspect -- yet -- but it did trace the phone to south Seattle.

I returned to the East Precinct and screened the incident with Sgt. Guballa. I prepared an affadavit for a search warrant to ping the location of   cellphone. I responded to the King County Courthouse andcontacted Superior Court Judge Prochnau. Judge Prochnau reviewed my affadavit and signed my search warrant.

I responded to the SPD Communications Center and obtained the phone number for  . I was put in contact with   of the   who advised me of the procedure to obtain information on   phone from Apple. I faxed the a copy of the search warrant to   via   advising her I would need the activity and location of the phone tracked from the time of reception of the warrant to the point at which the information is provided to the Seattle Police Department.

I contacted SPD Communications to obtain immediate information on the location of the phone. I faxed a copy of the search warrant to SPD Communications and they performed a tower ping on the cell phone through  Verizon Wireless. The phone was turned off at approx 1335hrs, and was last used at approximately 1.1 mi NW of   S McClellan St.

I prepared a General Offense Report on the incident and will prepare a supplemental report upon return of the warrant to the King County Superior Court.

The FBI has released security camera images of the man they say is responsible for three bank robberies across Seattle including last Tuesday's heist at the Madison Key Bank on First Hill. According to the FBI, the white male suspect in the March 15th First Hill hold-up was wearing a stocking cap, glasses and a hooded sweatshirt at the time of the robbery.

According to the SPD report on the incident, the suspect handed the teller a note that read "Hurry up I have a weapon" and that he had his arm in his sweatshirt pocket to indicate that he was armed with a handgun. The report states that robber made off with an estimated $300 and that partial fingerprints were collected from the bank's counter.

While there have been no public briefings on the Zachary Lewis murder investigation, East Precinct brass will be on hand Thursday night at the monthly meeting of the East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition. Meanwhile, City Hall wants to know how safe you feel in your neighborhood and has posted a survey to collect your feedback. Details on both opportunities to make yourself heard by SPD, below.

Our next East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition meeting will be held on March 24th, 6 p.m. at the Douglass Truth Library in the Meeting Room.   

Our special guests for the evening will be members of the SPD Gang Unit.  Bring your questions or community concerns and share them with the officers and a room full of active citizens who care about our community.

The address for Douglass Truth is 2300 East Yesler Way.

Online survey to gather community input on public safety  

SEATTLE – Today Mayor Mike McGinn announced a new tool to gather input on public safety from Seattle residents.  An online survey, drafted by a team of graduate students at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, will help determine residents’ primary public safety concerns in their own neighborhoods and on public transportation. Previous public safety surveys conducted by the City focused on citywide perceptions.

With this survey, the City hopes to have a snapshot of perceptions of the police and public safety at a neighborhood-by-neighborhood level. The survey also gives residents an opportunity to anonymously offer their opinions on the police and public safety in Seattle — a new option for this kind of survey.

The new survey asks residents their opinion of public safety conditions in Seattle’s urban villages, if there are any urban villages they avoid, and why. The survey also asks for opinions on the Seattle Police Department, focusing on community relations and behavior.  These questions are similar to questions the City posed in its biannual survey over the past ten years.

In order to hear input from the entire city, Evans School students will have paper copies delivered to targeted locations, and will actively solicit responses from traditionally underrepresented communities. The City hopes to receive up to 15,000 responses to the survey questions.

Evans School students will do an analysis of initial responses by May and plan to present their analysis to the mayor’s Youth and Families Initiative subcabinet in mid-May.

Please access the survey here: www.seattle.gov/publicsafetysurvey

We aren't the biggest fans of the media relations management that goes along with big, new food and drink openings. But when teams are spending +$240,000 on build-outs, you can sympathize with the urge to control the messaging. So it goes with Poquitos. There are some opening festivities coming over the next few nights before an official opening for all on Monday the 28th. The neon Poquito sign is hung. From the photos provided to us by the restaurant and included in this post, the new space is gorgeous. And not to sound like complete sour pusses -- thanks for sharing the pictures with us. We also threw in one of our own shots from the outside and a picture of some of the cool tiles featured on the Poquitos Facebook page. If you missed it, here's what you'll find at Poquitos come Monday. Or earlier.

Not our picture (Image: Poquitos)

Also not ours (Image: Poquitos)

Our picture! Quality! (Image: CHS)

Cool tiles (Image: Poquitos)

If you want advice on growing a beautiful garden that uses less water and pesticides, check out the Savvy Gardener Facebook page.

The Savvy Gardener Facebook page gives you practical tips, advice and resources on gardening the natural way.

With seasonal advice on dealing with weeds and pests, choosing the right plants, managing your lawn, smart watering, growing food at home, and building healthy soil, you’ll have the know-how to create a healthy garden that conserves water and helps keep chemicals out of local waterways.

Visit www.facebook.com/savvygardenernews and click on “Like” to access this free gardening resource.

Savvy Gardener is a service of Seattle Public Utilities and the Saving Water Partnership.

Last week, CHS featured a guest post from Angela Wallis of Capitol Hill Preparedness People about three ways Capitol Hill can prepare for a megaquake. CHiPP has also been working on a plan to create a communications system for the Hill that will serve the community in the event of emergency. The group passed along some good news about their emergency radio effort:

Dear Neighbors: 

I'm writing to announce TWO ways you can build your preparedness skills AND get involved with CHiPP this spring!

1) CHiPP was just awarded a Department of Neighborhoods grant for $5,200 to equip 3 emergency communications centers on Capitol Hill! During disaster they will be activated by volunteers (we need YOU!) at Cal Anderson, Volunteer and Miller Parks. The Centers will be a resource for all Capitol Hill residents, and will be equiped to deliver information via radio about local conditions and needs TO the City, between neighborhoods and between these three regions of the neighborhood.  We will also distribute information...

The Seattle Fire and SPD response to 12th and Pike late Wednesday night was spurred by a report of a man in his 20s with what were believed to be self-inflicted injuries.

CHS received multiple reports and questions from readers about the incident and this picture of the scene from @bigbadboston.

We do not yet have an update on the man's condition.

While suicide attempts are not typically reported by the mainstream media, CHS believes it is an important community issue to include in our coverage. Here are two resources to help: National suicide-prevention hotline: 1-800-SUICIDE. Local Crisis Clinic: (206) 461-3222.

Thanks to a tip from a neighbor, CHS has learned that change is coming for the "biohazard house" block of Belmont Ave E that has been bogged down by a financially troubled landowner and a failed development project. We also have information on the expanded use of an ordinance in the city that will help Seattle neighborhoods deal with "chronic nuisance" properties -- and the two Hill-area properties being looked at next for intervention.

According to King County Records, one of the three Belmont Ave E houses owned by Kyle Clark has been foreclosed and will go to auction late this spring. Calhoun, well known in CHS comments for his unique take on life in the city, said that neighbors have been told that all three parcels owned by Clark are part of the process:

The next step is for the bank to sell the 3 lots to someone who will then develop them into, hopefully, something nice for the neighborhood.  It will be important for Capitol Hill-ites to be involved in the process and to ensure that something ugly/intrusive...

On Capitol Hill, our "Elevated" will be underground -- and not ready for service until 2016. But Tommy Gun, envisioned as the Broadway station's neighborhood watering hole, is ready for business starting today with a Wednesday 5 PM opening.

We reported back in December that the BottleNeck's Erin Nestor was helping to extend the growing party on East Olive Way by taking over the old Shinka Tea space for her new bar project. She predicted a spring debut. The industry veteran nailed it.

When we talked to her in December, Nestor told us part of the inspiration for Tommy Gun was the coming Broadway light rail station.  "I lived in Chicago during my 'roaring twenties' and loved the city’s unabashed embrace of neighborhood bars and taverns – particularly those located steps from the entrance to the El," Nestor wrote. "One of the primary reasons I’ve chosen this location is its close proximity to the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station."

Tommy Gun's location at 1703 E Olive Way is a block away from the future Broadway light rail station's northern entrance. The bar will be open every day from 5 PM to 2 AM and, while the bartenders can serve up a "Prohibition era" cocktail if you like, Tommy Gun should also a good place for a beer or three and a Columbia City Bakery pretzel. The food menu is simple and short but the offerings designed by Skillet Diner's now-head chef Brian O'Connor look like bar food elevated a notch. Nestor says the model is a simple neighborhood joint. The awesome bamboo-topped bar makes it clear that part of keeping things simple is starting with quality material.

Tommy Gun's opening brings yet another of our 2011 food and drink prophecies to fruition. Meanwhile, another big part of the new scene on East Olive Way is still a work in progress. After taking the space formerly home to Cafe Metropolitain, next-door neighbor CC Seattle's has predicted a series of opening dates that have already come and gone showing just how difficult it can be to pull together the various pieces required to open a new food and drink establishment.

For Tommy Gun, it seems, getting it done was just part of working in the big city.

You can learn more at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tommy-Gun-Seattle/169863049723827

Thanks to Doug for the tip!

(Images: CHS)

Are you 'living life out loud' on Capitol Hill? Better fill in those empty spots in your schedule. Here's our latest look at upcoming good times on and around Capitol Hill. Have something to add? Our CHS Calendar is open to everybody or you can send us mail at chs@capitolhillseattle.com. We're also proud to be sponsoring one of this week's events. We hope you'll consider a special "bring your date" deal to seeAmbient Intimacy at 12th Ave's Northwest Film Forum on Friday night. We're talking *live* Facebook and Chat Roulette on the big screen here, folks. Details on this and events from the rest of the week, below.

Ambient Intimacy
Special deal: Admission is Buy One, Get One Free!

Sponsored by CapitolHillSeattle.com

Friday, Mar 25 at 08:00PM

After the Hollywood film and its numerous awards, the words "the social network" are firmly in our vocabulary. Almost weekly news stories herald the loss of privacy due to the proliferation of such social networks. Even US government secrets went public in the form of WikiLeaks! All this raises the question: have we as a culture become ambiently intimate with each other?

This program will explore ways in which those intimate moments make their way into the public sphere.  Ambient Intimacy presents a selection of the web's most notoriously intimate moments; blogger moms,  live interactive Facebook profile construction game, chat roulette on the big screen,  and generally a show-and-tell unlike anything you’ve experienced in a theater before. Be a part of it!

Bring a friend for free! All tickets (purchased in advance or at the door) will be honored as admission for two people.

• Thursday: Kiddie concert at East Olive Way Starbucks
• Friday through Sunday: Yoni Ki Baat at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park 

Inspired by Vagina Monologues, Aaina’s spotlight event Yoni Ki Baat (YKB), is a collection of authentic, bold, and powerful stories that are sourced, written, and narrated by local South Asian women, through extensive story-building workshops, and also told on stage by local South Asian women.

This year there are tales of courage, spunk, pain, fortitude, survival, coming of age, motherhood, daughter-hood, confusion, naughtiness, humor, imagination, sensuality and sexuality. All of them original, all of them untold, all of them bold, all of them local. And all of them transcending gender, class and cultures in appeal and relevance.

This year our stories also connect the dots to form a master narrative, which asks important questions about gender, patriarchy, abuse and oppression, and also paints a bold vision for exercising choice and celebrating body, sexuality and love. Our narratives are as much daring questions and challenges posed to the world, as they are baring reflections of ourselves in the mirror, in the true spirit of AAINA. Yoni Ki Baat will showcase 16 narratives written by local South Asian women!! A portion of the proceeds from YKB will be given to Chaya.

• Saturday: Cupcake Party and Bake Sale with Bake it in a Cake at CakeSpy Shop

There will be dozens and dozens (and dozens!) of cupcakes! Filled with delicious things! Available for your purchase (bring cash, sweeties!) and eating! At a shop full of adorable cards, art and gifts! What other information could you possibly need?

Date/Time: Saturday, March 26, 12pm - 5pm

Location: CakeSpy Shop, 415 E Pine Street, Seattle WA

• Saturday: Artist Trust 2011 EDGE Professional Development Program for Writers at Elliott Bay Book Company (plus info on readings from across the city) from The SunBreak.
• Monday: Humble Feast at Patty Pan

Whether it's a large, city-wide network of public bikes or a smaller system at a private institution, Capitol Hill is likely to be at the center of bike sharing efforts in Seattle. The Associated Students of Seattle University (ASSU), comprised of students elected by the Seattle U student body, voted in February to approve formation and funding for Seattle University Bike Share (SUBS). Meanwhile, King County has a grant to plan a county-wide system that could launch as soon as 2012.

Bike sharing schemes have become valuable parts of the transportation systems in cities across the world in the past few years. The networks of public bikes took hold in many European cities, such as Paris, London and Barcelona, in the past decade. However, more recent systems are even proving successful in American cities, like Denver and Washington DC.

There is not yet a launch date for SUBS and many details are still being worked out, reports SU's student paper the Spectator:

The Bike Share would be available to the campus community,...

We have some tough news for anybody who regularly walks Olive Way to or from downtown between the hours of 9 AM and 3 PM. For the rest of the week, you may need to cross the street:

Seattle Department of Transportation crews will repair a sidewalk and an expansion joint on the overpass over I-5 at Olive Way. They expect to start the work tomorrow (March 23) and complete the work by Friday (March 25). They will close the eastbound, left lane from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pedestrians will be detoured.

View Larger Map

We were right about Seattle's marijuana boom coming to Capitol Hill -- we just had the wrong part of the neighborhood for where it would happen first. The pioneer of Capitol Hill's "new era dispensaries" has opened on Broadway:

The Apothecary is the 1st MMJ co op on the HILL and open today. Great location great meds great prices........210 Broadway Ave E. above Castles mega store.

thats 210 Broadway half of 420. Come see us soon

Cass Stewart of Broadway's brand new The Apothecary sent us a note Tuesday to let CHS know about the new co-op and invite us in for a tour. "Figure I should try to stake the claim of first on Capitol Hill," he writes. We haven't taken Stewart up on the offer yet but will definitely add the new enterprise to our schedule. The graphic he included gives you an idea of the services offered at 210 Broadway E -- conveniently located above the Castle Megastore and next to, yes, the Highline.

In February, CHS wrote about the wave of dispensaries opening in the city and plans for the Capitol Hill Patient Group to open a dispensary somewhere soon in Pike/Pine. "What you're going to see on Capitol Hill is the beginning of the new medical marijuana coming to the Hill," said Philip Dawdy, media and policy director for the Washington Cannabis Association. It looks like that new era will be starting on Broadway.

Stewart said The Apothecary is not affiliated with the Capitol Hill Patient Group. It's also not affiliated with CHS sponsor Simple Apothecary almost directly across the street from the cannabis co-op at 219 Broadway E. Meanwhile, there might be a few disappointed marijuana shoppers who wander into yet another new apothecary in the area -- East Pine's SugarPill.

You can learn more from The Apothecary's Facebook page.

The carpools left from East Olive Way's Gaybucks early this morning. The signs were ready on Saturday. Tuesday, hundreds of people -- including plenty from Capitol Hill -- rallied in Olympia for Equality Day.

We will be lobbying our State legislators on a variety issues of importance to the LGBT community and our allies. These include making progress towards marriage equality, creating a safe and supportive educational environment for our students, and advocating for HIV/AIDS awareness & budget priorities.

The day may be nearly done but you can still do your part to help in the lobbying effort with this Virtual Lobby Day 2011 page from Equal Rights Washington .

With the mainstream media catching up with the Seattle speakeasy case centered around East Pike's "The Yard" that has brought charges against seven for illegal gambling and drugs, here is a look at the charges as documented by the King County Prosecutor. We've included the entire document, below, so that you may review the charges and draw your own conclusions about this stage of the case.

In reviewing the 25-pages of charges and overview of the prosecutor's evidence, look for references to "The Yard" for segments that focus on what occurred here on East Pike. For more on the case and some color from reports of what the Capitol Hill card room was like, see the Seattle PI's new write-up on the charges. For the full history of the case including the first round of federal drug charges see SeattleCrime's scoop on the new gambling charges here.

State_of_Washington_Speakeasy_Case

We’re seeking an artist or artist team to create a temporary, site-specific public art project for the new Jackson Street Plaza at King Street Station. The station is located in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood at South Jackson Street and Third Avenue South.

The artwork should enliven the space and offer passersby a new and energized view of the historic train station. Possible approaches may include projections or light, participatory or interactive artworks, and/or a temporary installation in the plaza.

The opportunity is open to established professional artists living in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, Alaska, or British Columbia, Canada. The application deadline is 11 p.m., Wednesday, April 27. The total project budget is $35,000, all–inclusive of travel expenses, taxes, and all project costs for design, fabrication/production, installation and removal of artwork.

A link to the online application and guidelines is available here.

The project is in partnership with the Seattle Department of...

As fellow Capitol Hill blog types Cap to the Hill point out, some of the neighborhood's anticipated projects have moved to the "sign" phase while others seem to be only pretenders. Bleu Grotto is definitely much more than rumor. As is Poquitos, slated for an opening later this week. See? Here's the sign:

Thanks to neighbor Kate for sharing even though she's not a fan, she says. We're told Poquitos -- or is it Poquito's? -- founders acquired the sign years ago while on travels in Mexico. So it's muy autentico. UPDATE: Wrong! It's muy autentico because it's from Greenwood! Details below.

More details on what the arrival of the neon Poquito heralds, here.

While we're talking new signs, 12th Ave's Varro lounge is gearing up for an end-of-month debut and has the lights on to say hello.

(Image: Varro)

As for the pretender Cap to the Hill points out, yup, East Olive Way's Online Cafe never opened this weekend past as the hand-written signs indicated was the plan. We haven't heard back from anybody associated with the project, yet, so nothing to report on the situation other than to note the replacement for Online Coffee Company hasn't opened yet.

CHS community contributor umvue hooked us up with news of a sign and an imminent opening on north Broadway. Social Skins Tattoo is making final preparations for a Wednesday opening at the old home of Broadway News . Commenter Tony notes, rightly, that the new shop is a project of tattoo artist Bryan Griffith  formerly of Apocalypse Tattoo. Tony also says he's getting work done in the new shop on Wednesday. We're certain he's adding a CHS Crow somewhere highly visible.

Thanks for the post and picture, umvue

Corey’s Compost Question of the Week:

How many free bags of compost did Seattle and Cedar Grove give away last year during Compost Days?

a. 10,000

b. 15,000

c. 20,000

d. 25,000

E-mail us your answer by Friday, March 25 and be entered to win.

Visit Cedar Grove’s website to find out about this year’s Compost Days event, April 1 – 30.

Become Facebook friends with Corey’s pals Bert the Salmon and Evelyn the Envelope. Improve your recycling and composting and preserve the quality of our water and natural environment for future generations. And, learn about coupons and other money saving tips and offers.

The mixed-use apartment building thaw is not limited to Capitol Hill and the explosion in development cannot be contained to East Madison. Fences went up -- and questions came in -- as First Hill's 1200 Madison Street Apartment Tower project is finally underway. And, by the way, it puts Capitol Hill's puny 6-story developments to shame.

Last week, neighbor Look Closely wrote:

Do you know why the old US Bank at Madison and Minor is all fenced off?  Are they tearing it down?  Any idea what is going on or going in there?

After CHS was slow to dig in on the problem, Look answered their own question by passing along a recent update from a First Hill community group and this picture of the work underway at the site:

"Holland Properties will be starting work imminently on the 1200 Madison Street Apartment Tower on the former site of US Bank, at Minor and Madison. Demolition on the old bank building should start in February, and construction on the new tower should start in March. Our historic First Hill clock will be put into storage, refurbished, and reinstalled in front of the 16-story tower when it is completed in 2012."

The 1200 Madison Street project was born in another era. Back in 2007, the global real estate credit crunch hadn't crunched yet:

Our project at 1200 Madison began as a medical office building with 50 residences. When neighbors expressed concern about increased traffic, Opus responded with a new plan that the neighbors embraced. The project design currently includes more than 225 apartments and live/work units, plus a fitness center and rooftop entertainment space. Construction is projected to begin next year.

You'll note that essay also touts the M Street development where M Street Grocery  suddenly went out of business earlier this year.

Today's demolition and, soon, construction is being executed by permits that will be three years old come May. Here's how the $32 million project (2008 dollars) is described in the DPD permit filings:

Land Use Application to construct a 16-story building with 241 residential units over 6,000 sq. ft. of retail and customer service uses, two live-work units and three townhouse units located at grade. Project includes two levels of below-grade parking for 107 vehicles.

Holland Development acquired the project in January, the subscription-walled Daily Journal of Commerce reports. You might know the site as the old 1970s style bank, pictured here, courtesy King County.

We've embedded the final report from the project's design review below.

DRReport3004404AgendaID920

Fire damaged the second floor of the building that is home to the Capitol Hill Alano Club at the corner of 19th Ave and Madison early Tuesday morning.

According to the incident commander at the scene, the fire was limited to a room on the second floor of the commercial building. He said an investigation to determine the cause was underway. UPDATE: SPD says this was a break-in and an an arson. Details below.

A police officer at the scene told CHS that the fire was first spotted just after 2:30 AM when an SPD officer on patrol noticed smoke rising from the multi-story building at 19th and Madison.

Streets around the area were closed during the multiple-unit SFD response that quickly brought the fire quickly under control.

The Alano Club struggled with its finances last summer and turned to the community in a last-minute effort to raise $15,000 to continue operating. The group's organizers told CHS the successful fundraising effort would allow them to support more than 60 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings around the Hill...