SarahEll

KOMO reports that one of our local apartment buildings on the 1100 block of 8th Avenue has been "under siege" by a group of youths since January, apparently repeatedly breaking into the same building over the past month or so. Hijinks ranging from inconvenient to genuinely terrifying include having sex in the laundry room, camping out in the front lobby, and trapping a tenant in the elevator for 45 minutes.

After a month of unseemly gaffes, the building owner has hired private security to keep an eye on things. And youths: if you need a place to stay, Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets and YouthCare are both nearby.

As our sister blog Capitol Hill Seattle reports:

A man was robbed at gunpoint near 10th and Madison Thursday afternoon in a drug deal gone bad, according to a bulletin sent out to the Seattle University campus.

The bulletin says two students witnessed the hold-up just after 2:30 PM and that the getaway car -- a blue Ford Taurus -- was found by police a half-mile from Seattle U a short time later.

From the bulletin distributed by Seattle University:

Approximately 15 minutes ago Seattle Police responded to a reported Armed Robbery at 10th and Madison. Public Safety was monitoring the response from Seattle Police and moved into the area. Apparently the two suspects fled the area in a blue colored Ford Taurus which minutes ago was found a half a mile from campus. Two Seattle University students were witnesses to the Armed Robbery and have confirmed to Seattle Police that the two suspects had a handgun. The suspects and victim had made arrangements online to exchange money for controlled substances. The victim lost his controlled substances and cell phone.

Stay safe out there!

You have experienced the extreme traffic blockage and easy jaywalking of the Madison St. branch of the future light rail. Now watch it start to pay off in timelapse! Video courtesy of the Seattle Channel, SDOT and Stacy and Witbeck, who we hope are much better at light rail construction than font choices.

Watch the video here! (Technical difficulties prevent us from actually embedding it here.)

The Seattle Housing Authority board unanimously decided to start negotiating with Paul Allen's real estate giant Vulcan in the Yesler Terrace redevelopment, an unsurprising decision not likely to quell fears about the dedication and expansion low-income housing in First Hill.

Vulcan is, perhaps, best known for South Lake Union's extreme neighborhood makeover. While that did wake up South Lake Union as a neighborhood, Yesler Terrace is not sleepy; it's just in desperate need of expansion and repair. While South Lake Union sort-of has "affordable" housing, it doesn't match up to what Yesler Terrace provides: a central location for low-income, including poverty-level, Seattle citizens to live. As we mentioned a few months back in the earlier stages of the redevelopment, there's a large difference:

That's a lot of numbers up there, but it gives an idea for the range of future rent costs for public housing in the city -- including Yesler Terrace. Assuming the above numbers stay firm, and assuming that developers end up building 3,000 market-rate units, over half of the new Yesler Terrace could be above this range of affordability. Being wary of this is valid: access to the city's core becomes increasingly privileged with higher rent costs next to city centers, and lower-income citizens are ultimately pushed farther to the outskirts of the city, unless provisions are made.

When we last reported on that, further provisions weren't out of the question--and, presumably, they still aren't. But despite Vulcan's flirtation with low-income housing in the past, they have never quite gotten it right, leaving obvious concerns about their developing one of the largest low-income housing communities in the city.

Good thing Capitol Hill Housing is there to help. From the Seattle Times:

Ada Healey, vice president of Vulcan Real Estate, said the company was thrilled about being selected. A nonprofit developer, Capitol Hill Housing, is advising Vulcan on affordable housing.

“One thing we tested,” said Seattle Housing Authority board member Kollin Min, “was that they understood certain principles, such as residents’ rights to relocation, were not negotiable.”

It's a little distressing that Vulcan would theoretically have to be reminded of that, but at least we have Capitol Hill Housing in their corner.

Out of all of the plans submitted to the Housing Authority board, Forest City out of Los Angeles came in a close second. If negotiations with Vulcan fall through, according to the Times, the Housing Authority will be in touch with them.

Note: a very special thank you to Anna Minard at The Stranger for inspiring us to post again.

While you're going to have to trek all the way to Queen Anne (so far!) to see it, Matthew Lillard-directed comedy Fat Kid Rules the World will be screening here later this month. At a couple of points over the past year, you may have noticed film crews at the Broadmore Apartments near Harborview Medical Center, which is why some of the interiors and shots of the kid's front steps in the trailer may look familiar.

Fat Kid, based on the young adult novel by K.L. Going, tells the story of chronically-depressed, obese teen Troy, and the dropout that takes him under his punk rock wing. What strikes me the most about this, though, is it's a film that takes place in Seattle, filmed in Seattle, that actually looks like Seattle from the trailer.

While there's no listing from SIFF yet, or indication of what which SIFF will be showing the film (Cinema or Uptown?), the film's Facebook page indicates that it will be showing in Seattle on October 26.

The Seattle PI is reporting that Johri Ferguson, the college runningback already booted from UW for resisting arrest, has been charged with felony assault after allegedly punching a 15-year-old in the face at Ferguson's alma mater, our own O'Dea High School. According to charging documents (via the Seattle Weekly), 23-year-old Ferguson became involved in an altercation with the victim over the use of the N word (the -a variety) after hearing the teen sing a passage of "Hard in Da Paint" by Waka Flocka.

The documents say that after Ferguson allegedly "sucker-punched" the teen in the weight room, causing him to spit up blood they moved the fight over to the gymnasium, where the fight ended with Ferguson throwing the teen on the ground -- where he spit up even more blood. According to the charging documents, after the teen said what's on everyone's mind -- that he should be ashamed fighting a 15-year-old -- Ferguson told him to watch his mouth.

The teen's race is unclear at this point, but a detective told the PI that after the fight, Ferguson remarked, "I hate skin heads."

Children's Hospital later confirmed that the teen's jaw was fractured. Ferguson allegedly called the teen to apologize, but said he could pay for his medical expenses with "insurance" (apparently, his medical insurance covers damage to other people, like car insurance?) and to not involve the courts.

According to detectives, the boy told his mom that he was punched on the bus -- but five days later, his mom got wind of what really happened and called the police.

The fractured jaw required surgery, and for the teen's jaw to be wired shut for 8-10 weeks. Ferguson is scheduled to be arraigned September 26.

Potbelly is opening BEFORE it's grand opening -- VERY briefly -- to test out their sandwiches and raise money for Gilda's Club. You might be a little late for lunch (it ends at 2 p.m.), but starting at 5 p.m. they will once again be handing out meals (a sandwich, chips and a fountain drink) for $5 total.

Adding to its already formidable cocktail roster, the Hideout will be stepping up its craft cocktail game by bringing in a series of local celebrities of the boozy variety. As reported by Seattle Met, they quietly kicked off the series last week with Nabil Sharif of Rumba, and a seriously impressive lineup follows suit -- many also hailing from First Hill.

• Friday, September 7 (that's tonight!): Pete Christiansen of Smith
• Saturday, September 8: Ian Cargill of Vito's and the recently re-opened Vessel
• Friday, September 14: Pete Christiansen
• Saturday, September 15: Jared Scarr of Canon
• Saturday, September 22: Jared Scarr
• Friday, September 28: Miles Thomas of Scrappy's Bitters

Head on over, drink up and maybe meet your new favorite barkeep.

City 911 response data is showing that mutiple emergency vehicles were dispatched to Broadmore Apartments at 423 Terry Ave in response to a fire in the residence. Our sister blog Capitol Hill Seattle is reporting on Twitter the fire was limited to the roof and has been "tapped" with reportedly no damage to the apartments below.

No word yet on what caused the fire, but we do know that the Broadmore has rooftop access for residents. We have reached out to the Seattle Fire Department and will update this post with more data when it is available.

UPDATE 3:30 P.M.: A post from the Seattle Fire Department clarifies that the damage was only to the wooden rooftop deck -- not even to the roof itself --  and was likely caused by "improperly discarded smoking materials." After getting the call at 1:01 p.m., the firefighters quickly climbed up to the roof and extinguished the fire in just a few minutes. Nobody was injured.

If you must smoke on your flammable, wooden rooftop deck, may we recommend bringing a bowl or a mug with you as a makeshift ashtray? Keep it clean, keep it safe.

Seattle Housing Authority executive director Tom Tierney writes on Crosscut today about the process of the Yesler Terrace renovation plan: the early stages, collaboration with the city, and what the project will look like moving forward:

As we prepare to celebrate the emergence of a new neighborhood at Yesler Terrace, policy makers are addressing and combining three compelling needs. First is the provision of new, healthful, low-income housing that will serve current residents and low-income people for generations to come. Second is the region’s broad need for new housing, with good transit connections, for people of all income ranges close to downtown. And third is the social imperative that we do all we can to ensure that low-income people living in the Yesler neighborhood have the opportunity for good education and jobs into the future.

He continues to assure us that they are taking all citizen input to heart, and says that "the plan is stronger, and the commitments tighter" because of the City Council mandates expected to pass on September 4. If the City Council's legislation passes, SHA will be beholden to more extremely low-income housing, heavy monitoring, and moving costs and guaranteed replacement housing for current Yesler Terrace residents. Tierney subtly acknowledges some other provisions mandated by the city, including looking into leasing Yesler Terrace property instead of selling it outright: "full half of (funding for the Yesler Terrace development) will come from the sale or ground-lease of some of the land on the site."

This is Tierney's last month as Executive Director; SHA is currently transitioning Andrew Lofton into the role. The change will take effect September 1.