A fire this afternoon in Summit Ave's Biltmore Apartments turned out to be only a smoky 'food on the stove' blaze. A full response by the Seattle Fire Department filled the street on Summit near Olive Way as 15 emergency units arrived following the 3:20 PM alarm. Firefighters who entered the apartment discovered a smoke filled unit -- and an undisclosed recipe gone wrong.

The apartment building was constructed in 1924 according to its records in the Department of Neighborhoods historical sites list. The apartments are now worth more than $10 million according to King County Records.

Thanks to @EricaToelle for providing this video of the scene and an interview with a man who said he was surprised to find out that firefighters were responding to his apartment unit.

View Larger Map

Speaking of rising Capitol Hill real estate prices, the secretive owner of the lot that Seattle Parks has its eye on for a new Hill green space declined to come out of the shadows and talk about why there's now a Honey Bucket-brand fence surrounding the corner of Federal and Republican. By e-mail, a lawyer representing Fedrep Investors, LLC responded to our request for an interview:

I forwarded your email to the owner, and was asked to let you know that the owner does not have any information to share regarding its plans at the moment.  If you want to check back with me in two weeks, I may have more information for you.

The city it is trying to negotiate with the landowner to purchase the property but the two sides have not been able to agree on a price, according to reps from Seattle Parks. We reported earlier about the lot's recent history and the failed townhome project that left the space empty for the last few years.

Advertisement

Advertise Here

While Capitol Hill real estate apparently got a sleepy start to 2010 with January sale prices lagging the rest of the city, the sale prices for Capitol Hill area homes and condos woke up in February, with a median price 34% higher than 2009, according to data provided by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

The surge was driven in large part by a near 46% leap in median sales prices for single-family homes on the Hill, the Central District and in Madison Park. For comparison, prices in the rest of the city climbed 1.4% vs. February 2009. Also, not only were prices higher than last year, but activity surged among single family home shoppers in the area with 39 sales closing in the month. In February 2009, only 17 closed.

Source: MLS

Capitol Hill condo sales also held their own with prices climbing 16.5% vs. February 2009 on a similar number of total sales.

UPDATE: Local real estate skeptical inquirer Seattle Bubble takes a look at the February data and doesn't see much happy in it, even finding a downside to the seemingly good news for real estate agents on Capitol Hill.

UPDATE: We asked NWMLS about the underpinnings of the increase in Capitol Hill median sales prices compared to 2009. Additional data sent to CHS shows that an increase in high-end sales helped drive the average higher. In February 2009, there were six homes that sold for $700,000-plus, according to the data provided to us by NWMLS.  In 2010, there were 16 such homes sold.

In product placement that would make even the most cynically produced reality television program look nonprofit in comparison, we caught this Pike/Pine resident availing herself of a morning meal of treats smooshed to a tree outside CHS sponsor Cupcake Royale. Tomorrow, we'll have full coverage of Petey the acai loving dog's visit to Healeo.

The average resident of the Harvard Court Apartments lives on about $13,000 a year -- and is not considering suicide. In a discussion with CHS following two suicides in two weeks at the low income housing tower at 610 Harvard Ave E, Virginia Felton, director of strategic planning and communications for Seattle Housing Authority, said her agency doesn't believe Harvard Court's residents should be treated differently than residents in any apartment building. "Our approach is as a landlord," Felton told CHS. "We're not trying to 'suicide proof' our building."

Felton said that SHA did have staff from Aging and Disability Services available to help and talk with any residents that needed support.

Felton confirmed that the two recent deaths were both Harvard Court residents. Contrary to the information we received from the Seattle Fire Department, the first death was a woman, Felton said. This weekend's death was a man who lived in the tower.

To put the recent deaths in perspective, Felton said that while suicides have happened at the 80-apartment building in the past she and the Harvard Court building manager could remember fewer than five in the last ten years or so. "This is pretty unusual," Felton said. 

SHA provides services to about 27,000 people. Some of those people, it turns out, have mental health issues. Some are thinking about suicide. Some decided to end their lives. For Felton, it's a matter of making buildings like Harvard Court a good place to live. "Should we make it so windows don't open?" Felton asked. "For those residents that don't have mental health as an issue, that's not a solution."

Two notable civic events fill your Tuesday night on Capitol Hill -- one that will help determine what decisions the city makes regarding expanding Restricted Parking Zones on Capitol Hill, the other a discussion about what problems a proposed set of pandhandling restrictions would solve and what problems it would not.

First, a reminder that the Seattle Department of Transportation holds a meeting Tuesday night to discuss the creation of new Restricted Parking Zone areas on Capitol Hill. Details on the proposals are here. Meeting starts at 6:30 PM at Seattle Central's Room 1110.

Over at Seattle U, City Councilmember Tim Burgess will be on hand as the Seattle Human Rights Commission's Public Safety Task Force holds a panel discussion on "aggressive" panhandling. CHS hasn't wrapped its head completely around the proposed legislation -- while there are a few around the Hill who qualify as merely "irritating" panhandlers, we haven't experienced anybody we'd describe as truly aggressive in a long time. In fact, some of the Eastside kids doing it for fun need to turn it up a notch if they want to get anything from these pockets. Of course, don't usually have cash these days anyhow. Maybe they know.

Panel Discussion on Proposed Seattle Panhandling Restrictions

 WHAT:           The Human Rights Commission’s Public Safety Task Force will host a public panel and discussion on Councilmember Tim Burgess’s proposed restrictions on panhandling near ATMs and parking pay stations, or repeatedly asking for money from a person who has said “no”.  Panelists will discuss the pros and cons of new restrictions as well as the enforcement of current anti-aggressive panhandling laws.

 WHEN:           Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

WHERE:        Seattle University School of Law

                        Sullivan Hall, room C5

                        901 12th Avenue, Seattle

 WHO:             Tim Burgess, City Councilmember, Chair, Public Safety & Education Committee

                        Jon Scholes, Policy Director, Downtown Seattle Association

                        Timothy Harris, Executive Director, Real Change

                        Anita Khandelwal, Attorney, Defender Association – Racial Disparity Project

 SPONSORS:            Seattle Human Rights Commission

                        Seattle Office for Civil Rights

                        Seattle University Jewish Law Student Association

                        Seattle University Student Bar Association

 OTHER:         Panel discussion preceded by the Seattle Human Rights Commission regular monthly meeting 6:00 to 6:45 p.m.; open to press and public.

Seattle is going to place its hat in the ring to test an ultra-high speed broadband network and is asking for your help.

What Is This About? 

The City of Seattle will respond to a “Request for Information” from Google for a pilot program that Google is doing to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks.  If we are successful, Google will select one or more neighborhoods in Seattle to participate in their pilot program.  

 Google’s plan is to launch an experiment that Google hopes will make Internet access better and faster for everyone.  Google’s networks “…will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections.  [Google will] offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.”

 How Can You Help?

 On behalf of your neighborhood, organization, or business, you can fill out the section of Google’s Request for Information (RFI) that is geared toward residents and community groups.  Responses are due back to Google by March 26. 

 This section of the RFI allows neighborhoods, organizations, or businesses to make their pitch to Google for why Google should build a fiber-to-the-home network in a particular area of Seattle.    The questions in this section focus on (a) why Google should pick a particular neighborhood for their pilot; and (b) what’s the type, quality, and price of current internet services in that neighborhood.

 How Do I Fill Out the RFI?

Below are step-by-step instructions for filling out the residents and community groups section of the RFI:

 1.       Go to Google’s website http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/

2.       Click on the “Get Involved” button.

3.       Login (if you already have an account). 

4.       If you do not have an account, click on “Create an Account Now.”  Follow the instructions for creating an account – this will include responding to an “email address verification” email that Google will email to the address you provide them.

5.       Go back to where you were in the Google website and click on “Nominate your Community.”  This will bring up the list of questions that you will respond to on line, and submit to Google when you are finished.

 Questions? 

 If you have questions about how to fill out the RFI form, please contact Diane Clausen (phone number is 684-8151; email is diane.clausen@seattle.gov).

 If you have questions about the Google RFI project in general, please contact Tony Perez (phone number is 386-0070; email is tony.perez@seattle.gov).

Advertisement

Metrix Create:Space That new Hackerspace you heard about. Now with more robots.

Advertise Here

We held off on posting about today's brief outbursts of small wet flakes but tonight's hail earns a post. Temperatures are forecast to rise over coming days but still will be lower than normal. We'd say no more snow but after today's wacky weather, who knows! 

UPDATE: Cliff Mass says heavy rains a'coming.

• Baguette hoping to open next week (big thanks to neighbor Jill Corral for the tip and photo)
• 22 Doors must have sold their mixer because they are now the proud owners of a functioning website
• Calf & Kid's pre-opening party (they are still on track to open in April in the Melrose Market) will be at CHS Sponsor Poco Room on 3/21
• Zhivago's has been closed for the last few days during normal hours of operation and is for sale
• Molly Moon's needs a few good ice cream drivers and its breakfast oatmeal is garnering raves (get it while you can - the oatmeal ends this month)
• CHS Sponsor Tidbit offering 3 courses for $30 every night of the week in March
• Interview with former Gourmet contributor, dad, Hill resident and published author Matthew Amster Burton (he also does funny podcasts)

We reported last week on the unfortunate 6-block gap across Broadway that has suddenly been created for Metro routes 43 and 8. We caught up with King County spokesperson Linda Thielke today for clarification on what the county is doing to get a stop back in commission near the Hill's most significant thoroughfare. Thielke tells us that Metro is, indeed, looking at the option of adding a "temporary" stop at East Olive and Harvard but it will take some time to work out with the City of Seattle. Fortunately, Thielke says, it's not going to take two years to figure out. "It's not something we can just go do -- We have to work with the city," Thielke said. "But just because you don't see it yet, doesn't mean we've given up." Thielke said that progress has been made with the city on a solution.

If you'd like to add your thoughts to the process, Thielke suggests e-mailing BusStopNC@kingcounty.gov

If you've noticed the smell of copper naphthenate and the large wooden poles lying on the ground along 11th Ave near Cal Anderson Park, you've seen evidence that the $2 million overhaul of Capitol Hill's electrical grid we wrote about last year isn't all about putting wires underground.

Seattle City Light tells us they have started a project to replace the utility poles and wires along E. Harrison and E. John from Harvard Ave E to 24th Ave. Throughout the project, expect partial road and sidewalk closures and some periods of complete closure when the work gets to Malden Ave -- the stretch highlighted in red in this map from SDOT. Also, not sure what to make of the estimated end date for the project. It's currently listed as November

We received this statement from Tamara Murphy tonight regarding the legal battle that has erupted between her planned Capitol Hill restaurant Terra Plata and the redevelopment project she had expected to call home. One note as preface: Liz Dunn, one of the developers behind the Melrose Project, told CHS yesterday that she did not know how the letter that brought this legal tussle into public light ended up taped to the front door of the space where Terra Plata was supposed to be housed. Here is Murphy's statement sent to CHS:

I am very disheartened and saddened by this situation. I did not confirm that Terra Plata’s deal had fallen through. Because of the letter on the window I am forced to defend Terra Plata by posting our position on a blog. I take issue with the fact that the landlords, Scott Shapiro and Liz Dunn, have posted this letter with personal information for public view and comment, given our current legal situation.

 I sent you a photograph of the building’s communal meter bases that were installed in our leased space without our knowledge. What was to be a quaint wine cave and private dining room of 20+ seats is now a humming electrical room that serves the entire building. I have given these landlords every conceivable opportunity to remedy this situation and made repeated requests to sit down in hopes to work through this issue fairly and reasonably. Not only have my requests been denied, they have continually been met with even more unreasonable demands.

 I am truly saddened by the adversarial situation with the landlords of the Melrose Project. Liz Dunn is someone I respected and trusted and is a big part of the reason that Terra Plata landed at the Melrose project. I have to believe that if it were up to Liz we would not be in this situation.

 Terra Plata is firm in its position that we do not owe any rent or the amount on the letter posted. We will continue to exercise our rights under the lease. I have already invested a considerable amount of time, energy and money in this project.  It is heartbreaking to be in a situation where we are forced to spend our energy and resources defending our rights as tenants rather than building our restaurant. 

 Our goal has been to find a reasonable solution that enables us to move forward on a positive path in completing the Melrose Project. The landlords still have an opportunity to do the right thing.

 My desire has always been and continues to be, to open Terra Plata and contribute to the community and to the Melrose Project.

 Sincerely, 
Tamara Murphy

Photo: Brasa Restaurant

Starting Monday, Unicorn will open at noon for lunch. Unicorn's co-owner Adam Heimstadt tells CHS that they also plan to institute a weekend brunch soon and are hard at work perfecting a corn dog with french fries built into it.  Other new menu items include a corn dog madame. Oh yeah, and there's more taxidermy.  The specimen at left, Leonard, is but one of two additions - send us a photo of the other new addition and we'll update this post.

For the second time in two weeks, a person has died at the base of the Harvard Court Apartments building. A large contingent of police cruisers and emergency units converged on the building around 12:54 AM this morning after a 911 call came in from a nearby restaurant reporting that somebody had found the victim in a parking lot. Police said that the person was dead at the scene in an apparent suicide.

Two weeks ago on the morning of February 20 around 7:47 AM, a man was found dead near the multi-story apartment building in what police said was also a suicide.

Harvard Court at 610 Harvard Ave E is operated by the Seattle Housing Authority and is a low-income housing provider. We have left phone and e-mail messages with the Seattle Housing Authority about steps being taken to address these recent incidents and will update this post when we hear back.

This death also marks the third suicide in the last five weeks in the area. Less than two blocks away, another man took his life in late January.

CHS respects the sensitivity of covering suicide and believes it is an important community issue to include in our news reporting. We attempt to cover these stories by sharing the facts in a responsible manner that provides information about what is happening on the streets and in the community around you. Here are two resources to help those in need: National suicide-prevention hotline: 800-SUICIDE. Local Crisis Clinic: (206) 461-3222.

Thanks to neighbor Kevin for sending in these pictures of a sunny Saturday in Cal Anderson Park. You can share with us at chs@capitolhillseattle.com, by the way. We hope you had an opportunity to enjoy this weekend's amazing weather because, yes, things are changing. You can get the word from an expert like UW super meteorologist Cliff Mass:

Day after day of warmer than normal temperatures, bulbs and trees blooming roughly a month early, and drier than normal conditions. El Nino winter was here and Seattle City Light and others worry about the low snowpack and lack of water for power generation. Summer had to be just around the corner.

Not so fast! Mother nature has other ideas...a big, wet chill is approaching and some of you, particularly those at higher elevations, may even see snow showers.

Or from this, um, "Capitol Hill" weather report posted by our friends at KOMO:

Thanks, TV news, for keeping us entertained. And thanks, Cliff Mass, for giving us an alternative.

It appears that a legal dispute lurking inside one of Capitol Hill's most anticipated development projects has reached the surface. Thanks to a tip from neighbor Marcie, we found this letter from the law firm of Cairncross and Hempelmann taped to the door of what had been intended to be the new home for restaurant Terra Plata, the latest project from Seattle chef Tamara Murphy.

The letter describes some $45,967.94 in unpaid rent that lawyers say Murphy's Terra Plata, LLC owes the Melrose Project, a corporation backed by Capitol Hill all-star developer Liz Dunn. It states that Terra Plata has lost the lease it signed back in September -- indeed, large "for lease" signs now hang in the unfinished space's windows.

We have not been able to confirm with any party any details described in this letter. Confirmation below. We have messages out to Murphy, Dunn and the law firm and will update as soon as possible.

The law firm's letter documents the lack of rent payment and Murphy's company's continued assertion of "rights" to the property and goes on to demand that Murphy's company relinquish these rights in writing by Sunday. And, of course, pay the more than 45 grand owed.

Two people familiar with the situation have told CHS about tenant issues with delays on the ambitious Melrose Project. We have been told about missed dates and frustrations over lack of communication from the people running the project. Dunn's projects are known for their reuse of historical building elements and a respect for the vernacular of the areas where she builds. While Sonic Boom, Velouria and STILL Liquor have recently moved in to the building, the spaces for other ventures including Murphy's new restaurant are still works in progress. The view through the windows of the wedge-shaped space where the restaurant was to be built shows a mostly unfinished space with a partially finished concrete floor and exposed piping and wiring.

Murphy, who is also working to ready Elliott Bay Book Company's new cafe space by the time the book retailer opens in mid April, had stated that she hoped to open Terra Plata this month.

UPDATE 5:30 PM:

We've heard from both Murphy and Dunn who confirmed that the deal to make Terra Plata part of her Melrose development has indeed fallen through. Here's Dunn's e-mail to CHS: "I don’t know who taped the letter up there and after seeing this I just went and took it down. However it’s true – in spite of our very best efforts, this deal did not work out, and the space is now available. That’s really all we can say at this point."

Murphy said she is considering her response to the situation and preparing a statement. She also sent us an e-mail with the subject line: this was put in our private dining room and this picture:

Looks like the project wasn't quite shaping up as planned. It's a sad situation for both sides. We hope to have more of an opportunity to talk more with everybody involved.

No word on if this will impact the other marquee restaurant lined up for the Melrose building. Sitka & Spruce pulled up its Eastlake roots to make the move to Capitol Hill. We've heard from one tenant that owner Matt Dillon is still in. On the S&S site, Dillon says he's hoping for a spring opening on Melrose.

If we did not have other plans, you would find me at the Reel Grrls 2nd Annual Oscar Party at CD News sponsor Central Cinema.  Reel Grrls is a CD-based charity that believes in "empowering young women fro diverse communities to realize their power, talent, and influence through media production.  Options for tickets are between $25 and $79 depending on the type of meal that you choose (note that $25 of each ticket benefits Reel Grrls and is tax deductible).  This year, they will be cheering on Best Director nominee Kathryn Bigelow to become the first woman to win Best Director - should she win for her film, The Hurt Locker.  Festivities begin at 4 pm.

Bottleneck Lounge announces that they will be serving up drinks inspired by Best Actor nominees.  Join them for Oscar-viewing beginning at 5.

If you seek to avoid Oscar hype altogether, Hotel Sorrento's Drinking Lessons may be for you.  Tomorrow, get acquainted with the green fairy at "Drinking Lessons: An Absinth Soiree" (note that the cost is only $20 - most in the Drinking Lessons series have averaged $55), hosted by Robert Hess.

When CHS saw this mysterious machine speeding down 12th Ave on Tuesday, CHS thought, "Oh crap, something serious must be happening." CHS was right. Capitol Hill's Fire House 25 is home to the city's only mobile ventilation unit, MVU 1 -- a joint purchase between Sound Transit and SFD to bolster Seattle's tunnel firefighting capabilities. On Tuesday, it was put to good use.

A south Seattle warehouse filled with so much smoke when a food trailer located inside the building caught fire that emergency crews couldn't clear the building using their standard ventilation equipment, according to Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen. MVU 1 rolled from Fire House 25 to ventilate smoke from the east end of the large warehouse to an opening on the west end.

The unit is a relatively new addition to the city's emergency arsenal. Sound Transit put a federal grant to use pay for the actual MVU fan unit which prices somewhere between $130,000 and $195,000 depending on features while SFD put its grant money to use to buy the $50,000 truck that carries the unit. SFD is also responsible for maintenance and training but, as we'll write more about soon, the department has received funds from Sound Transit to train its personnel for tunnel fires and emergencies.

Though MVU 1 is headquartered on Capitol Hill, it was not purchased only for the University Link section of light rail tunneling that will pass under us. The original driver for the unit's 2006 acquisition was Sound Transit's plan to begin train service north of Seattle via the Great Northern tunnel which passes below the city. MVU 1 has been periodically deployed but its first big moment in Great Northern usage came and went last month when the tunnel filled with smoke as a commuter train passed through. It turns out, the smoke came from another train's diesel exhaust, not fire, so MVU 1 never left Pike/Pine.

You can learn more about the technology involved in the MVU 1 from this Federal Emergency Management Agency page and watch one in action here as it clears a recycling plant of smoke during a fire in Illinois.

CHS will have more about MVU 1 and other emergency preparations Seattle has taken as it increases the mileage of underground public transit in the city.

Not that the landscaping in front of my building is that great, but are you serious?  Sadly, despite my calling the police (yes, I'm that guy, at least tonight) immediately, they didn't manage to make it here during the hour that this a-hole from Oregon left his car like this...

I'm just hoping he moved it to a loading zone... help me, karmic justice!

We got a really fun tip today on something we've been wondering about and had the story and picture assigned but coverage fell through. So no picture for you Picture delivered! And the post is about two hours late. But you've got some interesting food news coming your way. We've noticed some activity at the old home of BTG Coffee on Madison just across the street from CHS sponsor Healeo lately. The roll-up sidewalk location had something going on -- we just didn't know what. According to hot tipper @jildebeast, CC's is about to get an intriguing little neighbor:

Vietnamese sandwich place opening on Madison & 15th behind CC Attle's in old BTG Coffee space - "Baguette"

We can't vouch for jildebeast's trustworthiness. But putting the pieces together, we can't argue with her either. Thanks for the giving us something (hopefully!) delicious to look forward to.

View Larger Map

The Broadway Alley's Pilot Books is celebrating National Small Press Month with an event every single day of March. Tonight, for example, you can enjoy readings from Crystal Curry and a book release event for Tom Hansen. The Stranger's Paul Constant approves. The day by day slate of author appearances is below -- it's a little bit of an eye chart so click for the larger version. Meanwhile, Pilot is posting clips from each night's fun on http://www.pilotbooksseattle.com/. Pilot Books is located at 219 Broadway E, upstairs inside the Broadway Alley.

Seattle Department of Transportation says that the work to create Olive Way 'pedestrian improvements' will cause some traffic issues this weekend:

Seattle Department of Transportation paving crews plan to work on Saturday, March 6 on East Olive Way between Boylston Avenue East and Harvard Avenue East, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A traffic flagger will assist vehicles and pedestrians around the construction area. The crews will construct a small traffic circle and two curb ramps as part of the mitigation work for the Sound Transit tunnel.

SDOT tells us ‘No Park’ signs were set out Thursday and some prep work is happening today.

We reported this week on changes to bus routes 43 and 8 that are related to these improvements and a general overhaul of pedestrian and transit traffic in the area as the Sound Transit light rail construction picks up pace. We'll follow up with Metro on progress toward improving the situation around the long stretch of bus-stop-less routes across Broadway. Thanks to neighbor Scott for providing this infographic-enhance picture of an Olive Way bus stop sign being removed.

We also got more information about improvements being made a block over on Denny Way at Boylston. According to SDOT, Sound Transit covered the cost of installing a 'curb bulb' at the frequently used crossing.

The curb bulb at E Denny Way and Boylston St is a-go. It is funded by Sound Transit and being designed and constructed by SDOT. The curb bulb project was temporarily on-hold due to some questions about the feasibility of constructing the curb bulb at Denny/Boylston and the median crossing island at Olive/Boylston within our budget, but they have been resolved and we are now able to  move forward with both projects.

What's a curb bulb? Check the CHS comments.

Sunny afternoons

Time to let it all hang out

Hillcats calling dibs

Here's the latest from the streets of the East Precinct:

• Assault, 414 East Pine: We first heard about this incident in a post to our Crime Reports Forum. Now the SPD report is out and while it doesn't refute some of the allegations made in the forum, the responding officers did not note any culpability for anybody at the scene beyond the two suspects who escaped in a cab. According to the report, early on the morning of Tuesday, February 23 around 1 AM, two people were trying to make their way through a crowd outside the Capitol Club on E. Pine when a man punched one in the back of the head, causing the victim to fall face-first onto the sidewalk. The man then kicked the victim multiple times in the back of the head and continued kicking and punching the fallen man as he rolled over and tried to protect his face from the onslaught. As that attack continued, the report says that a female attacked the other victim, punching the person in the face and causing minor injuries. The two suspects jumped into a waiting cab and fled the scene. According to the report, one victim suffered a broken nose in the attack.
  
  The report describes the attackers as a black male wearing a light colored shirt and a black female wearing a light colored shirt, black jeans, with a short jheri curl, and black glasses and notes that witnesses said both had distinctive Ethiopian accents. Witnesses also told police that the duo had been kicked out of the Capitol Club for picking fights and breaking glasses and that the woman was a club regular.
  
  Capitol Club owner Robin Cohen confirmed to CHS that there had been a fight inside her business Monday night/Tuesday morning but the victim in that tangle did not want to press charges.
• Assault, 600 E Pine: Here's another Pine bar item. We got a few notes about this but couldn't provide much info until the SPD report came in. Around 9:45 PM on Saturday, King County Metro sheriff deputies took a man into custody downtown after he had left the scene of an assault on E. Pine. According to the SPD report, the man had been acting strangely and continually asking for glasses of water inside Kurrent at Pine and Belmont. When Kurrent's bartender told the man he would need to leave, he spit water in the bartender's face, started yelling and then left the bar. The bartender told police he followed the man down Pine with another witness who called 911. The suspect turned and hit the bartender in the chest and then continued down Pine where the bartender and the witness were able to flag down the deputies.

• Assault: Madison at 16th Ave: SeattleCrime reports that the assault last week in front of Madison Market was gang related.
• Assault: 1600 block Boylston: A man was arrested after police broke up a fight between two men who said they were looking for drugs hidden somewhere over a fence in the 1600 block of Boylston Ave on February 24 around 9:15 PM. According to the report, the man who was arrested told police he was trying to climb a fence to recover a package of heroin when he hurt his eye on the fence. The man said he was confused when his counterpart attempted to help him and thought he was being robbed so he elbowed the other man in the face. Police arrested the man for assault and reported finding no drugs at the scene.

• Assault: 1500 block Harvard Ave: Here is the SPD report on last week's incident involving a woman who was arrested after she allegedly tried to strike a parking enforcement officer with her car. The report notes that after the woman was arrested and read her rights, she said of the parking cop,  "That guy is an asshole!"
• Assault, 900 block 12th Ave: A man told police he suffered a 1-inch gash on his forehead after another man punched him without provocation. According to a SPD report, the man said he was watching a group of men yelling and kicking doors in the 900 block of 12th Ave just after 11 PM on February 24 when one man struck him in the head causing the injury. Police found a man matching the suspect description at 13th Ave and Cherry and brought the victim to the location where he confirmed that the detained man was the person who had punched him. The man was arrested and transported to East Precinct where he told police he did not punch the man and was trying to break up the fight the man witnessed.

As part of our sponsorship of the ByDesign10 Series at Northwest Film Forum, we're looking back at some of the roots of CHS's design -- the formulation of the CHS crow banner. The ByDesign10 Series kicks off Friday night with a free party at NWFF's 12th/Pike theater and will feature a week of film and discussion exploring 'the intersection of graphic design and moving image.'

Much of the design of CHS falls into the function end of the spectrum with form waddling far behind. The crow isn't much different. Born of constricted space and utility, the little bird sprang to life in November of 2008 thanks to the generous work of Capitol Hill designer EmilyP. The secret shoes came along then, too. Here's a look at some of the back and forth between CHS and EmilyP as the idea for a new CHS masthead was shaped -- including some of the early ideas that were (thankfully!) rejected. The ideas below played out over a two-week period and involved around 26 e-mails:

EmilyP: These are pretty self-explanatory. I wanted to pick some iconicHill-associated imagery, hence the Chuck Taylor shoes and electricbuslines. The dots represent the seven hills of Seattle with the onehighlighted. And the graffiti one obviously borrows from the city's"Capitol Hill Welcomes You" signs. I've kept the need for tiling inmind, too; even the photographic banners should be able to tile to theright with some further production work.

>>jseattle: Birds: I like this. I've seen the bird on wire imagery a lot, though, so kind of think if we go this way, we need it to be more unique Capitol Hill (shoes on wire too?) or more clearly ravens??? Dunno. But it looks cool.Bus wires: This is right on if you can get look and feel to be a little more gritty but I really like the cable idea. Probably my favorite concept.Shoes: Good idea but I feel it's too individual -- as if those are the blogger's shoes perhaps when really the site is about everybody.7 hills: I've been told the 7 hills thing was marketing BS made up back in the old days and there weren't really 7 hills :)Graffiti: This if fun but given the ambiguities around tagging (and some of the non ambiguous stuff like anybody who tags a mural is a dipshit), I'd rather not.

EmilyP: These directions are developed from the "bus lines" and "crow on wire"directions I sent you in the first round. First, a couple of points:

I've mentally gone over this challenge multiple times, but I can'tthink of a good, clear symbol for Capitol Hill that differentiates itfrom other places in the city. One way would be to use a landmark,like the Noguchi sculpture at Volunteer Park, but I want to steer awayfrom obvious solutions that lack originality. Therefore, I hope we canagree that the last solution may be generic to a certain degree. Thatleads me to the "crows" directions:

With crows and shoes hanging on wires, neither are specific to CapitolHill. I think, though, that the original design will be enough to setthe banner apart from other city blogs, and it does speak to the mixof urban and wild that Capitol Hill has over other neighborhoods. :D Ialso included a plane in one design for our beloved flight paths. ;)

I wasn't entirely sure how you wanted the "bus lines" direction tolook more gritty, so I took a stab at it. If you'd prefer that direction, I'd like to discuss further what look  you're interested in.

>>jseattle: 2-b is very cool. I'd like to lose the plane and move the red shoes into this design. And make everything black (so no teal power pole) but the red shoes. And I think we're pretty much there.

EmilyP: Including the shoes in the b version is a little tricky: they have tohave something to hang off, and the only line in b was too low in theimage to show them. I'm giving you a couple of options to remedy this.

I also wasn't sure if you wanted the power pole out completely, so Ileft it in (and black).

>>jseattle: It's wonderful. I like it best w/o power pole. The area will be busy enough when we add banner ads.

>>jseattle:  I'd like to have three wires running across page so please restore middle cable