Tim Kukes

Greater Seattle Area Journalist

CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

On the List | January Capitol Hill art walk, 2020 Womxn’s March screenprinting party, No Pants light rail

The first full week of January can be a bit of let down after all the holiday celebrations and parties but there is enough going on around the Hill — like the Capitol Hill Art Walk! — this weekend to help ease the transition. We’ve highlighted a few things to get out and do, below. You can find more Capitol Hill and Central District area events on the CHS Calendar.

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 8: Many may think that reading is a solitary art, but the Sorrento Silent Reading Party puts the lie to that. An ev
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

On the List | Pike/Pine Shop The Block, pop-up markets, winter solstice in the Arboretum, Chanukah in Volunteer Park

Capitol Hill’s nightlife venues make great homes for unique craft and vintage markets year-round. During the holidays, things get turned to 11. Below, you’ll find a naughty and nice list of pop-up markets from around the neighborhood plus. We also have a few other, non-commerce ways to mark the season. You can visit the CHS Calendar to find more.

For more gift ideas, holiday events, and deals from local merchants, check out Shop the Hill.

THURSDAY, Dec. 19: The Central District’s ReRunRoom hos
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

On the List | December Capitol Hill Art Walk, carols at St. James, Depression Fest

It’s the second week of December which means it is time for the Capitol Hill Art Walk Thursday. Check capitolhillartwalk.com for this month’s venues, but two things to be aware of is that the Capitol Hill EcoDistrict and Capitol Hill Housing will be presenting Porous Public Space: Climate Adaption through Public Space Design at the 12th Ave Arts Building as part of the art walk and the Annex Theatre will be hosting its variety show, Spin the Bottle, after the art walk wraps up.

For other things
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

With lidding I-5 far in the future, how should Seattle spend millions to improve Freeway Park’s connection between First Hill, Capitol Hill, and downtown?

Jim Ellis, the Washington civic leader and one of the Seattle citizens most responsible for the vision that created First Hill and lower Capitol Hill’s connection to downtown through Freeway Park and the convention center, died last week at the age of 98. A celebration of his life will take place, appropriately enough, at the skybridge connecting the park to the Washington State Convention Center in December.

With a $10 million boost from the $80 million community benefits package formed to cov
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

Roq La Rue — now Capitol Hill’s home to pop surrealism — celebrates 21 years of Seattle art

One of the few remaining dedicated art galleries on Capitol Hill is celebrating its 21st birthday but its two decades of art and creation mostly took place far from Pike/Pine. It started with a question.

“Someone asked me, ‘If you could do anything for a living what would you do?’ Kirsten Anderson, owner of E Pike’s Roq La Rue, said. “I just said, ‘open a gallery,’ which is not anything I’d ever thought of before. Just came out of my mouth.”

The gallery started in a little space on 2nd and Len
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

With a vision for affordability beyond the neighborhood, Capitol Hill Housing won’t just be Capitol Hill Housing much longer

Capitol Hill Housing held its annual meeting Tuesday at the 12th Avenue Arts building, one of several projects across Seattle created by the nonprofit developer of affordable housing. Members of the organization gave status reports on the successes of the past year and discussed some of the challenges they were facing. But, CEO Chris Persons did what in journalism is called “burying the lede”.

“We’re coming up with a new name,” Persons said, late in the meeting. “Think about our name, Capitol H
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

Capitol Hill’s Rainier Chapter House plans a Revolution-ary celebration of its new historic status

The Rainier Chapter House in the Harvard-Belmont District of Capitol Hill, the meeting hall for the Rainier Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was built in 1925. This spring, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

That’s not just something that just happens. Someone must care, and someone must do the work.

“We’ve been talking about it for a few years. Our current regent – regent is kind of the top person of the chapter, runs the meetings and whatnot – she
Bellevue Lifestyle Magazine •

Making Wine Tasting Fun and Better

“We make things better, and then we have fun,” Bryan Otis says. A second later he modestly amended it to, “We try to make things better, but we definitely have fun.”
That’s a theme that has ran deep in the Otis family endeavors. They have roots in Bellevue going back to Bryan’s grandparents, Jack and Mary Jane Powell. Jack moved to Bellevue in the 1950s, after serving in the Philippines during WWII. His daughter, Diane, went to school at Enatai Elementary and Bellevue High School, and then attended the University of Washington where she met Cliff Otis. Bryan, their oldest son, was born in Overlake Hospital in Bellevue.
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

Final…ly APRIL will be held in April as Capitol Hill-born small press festival closes book on seven years

The APRIL Festival and Book Expo is breaking with tradition. For the first time — and the last time — the uniquely Capitol Hill literary festival will be confining its celebration to one day only — April 1st.

The Authors, Publishers, and Readers of Independent Literature festival, traditionally held in the later part of March to honor National Small Press Month, is coming to the end of its tale after a six-year journey of bringing eclectic reading events and diverse small press publishers to th
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

Seattle Parks study next step in flipping switch on safer Cal Anderson lighting

Capitol Hill’s central park, Cal Anderson already has another busy summer of upgrades ahead in 2017. A $50,000 study included in this year’s city budget will also help set the stage for the next big upgrade for the 14-year-old park — new, more efficient, and safer lighting.

“One of the key things for Capitol Hill where you have 80% of the population as renters living in apartments – they don’t have backyards necessarily to enjoy,” Joe Sisolak, sustainability and planning director for Capitol Hi
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

Raw and more than a little vulnerable, Seattle Fringe Festival returns to Capitol Hill

“I think the Seattle Fringe Festival is really taking on the role of mentoring and offering up opportunities for the artist to learn things,” Jeffrey Robert said.

Robert, who performs as The Gay Uncle, will be part of the 2017 version of the rebooted festival featuring “more than 30 producers of Theatre, Dance, Improv, Burlesque, Musical, Opera, Drag Performance, Solo Performance, Experimental, Clown, and Performance Art” at Capitol Hill’s Eclectic Theater and the Seattle Center Armory. Tickets
CHS Capitol Hill Seattle •

43rd District leaders on health care, homelessness — and what it’s like working with Washington Republicans

What is it like working with Washington’s Republicans?

“We tried everything we could have. Cajoling, complaining, amending, making procedural motions, protesting and acting out in various ways,” State Senator Jamie Pedersen said Saturday at a town hall meeting with the 43rd District’s leaders.

Pedersen’s story of the state’s education “levy cliff” battle had a happy ending Saturday. Instead of, they lived happily ever, Pedersen’s happy conclusion went like this: “… finally senate Republicans a
Grant County Magazine •

Port of Moses Lake focuses on job creation

Once again the Port of Moses Lake is taking steps to making itself attractive to aerospace companies and industry in general. Nestled in the center of eastern Washington, the port is 5700 acres and home to extensive infrastructure courtesy of its history as a U.S. military airbase.
This spring the port announced that it was in the process of implementing an action plan - Grant County International Airport Employment Center. The action plan is essentially a "what-if" scenario where the port looks at possible development plans for an area of the port and conducts an environmental assessment to see what the land can sustain in the way of jobs and industry.
The Woodinville Weekly •

Parents Concerned Junior High Challenge Program Could Be Lost

Two years ago the Northshore School District Middle School Grade Reconfiguration Task Force, a group
consisting of parents, teachers and NSD administrative staff, came into existence to plan the transition of the
NSD junior high model to a middle school model — moving grades six, seven and eight to middle school and grade nine to high school. They have been quietly doing so until the last month when concerned parents got wind that the Challenge Program might be on the chopping block.
One of the benefits of the Challenge Program, said Angie Hinojos Yusuf of Save Our Challenge, is that any
student with the drive and motivation can choose a Challenge course during course enrollment without having to test to gain access to the more rigorous curriculum. The district also has a Highly Capable program for students who qualify based on testing, and that program isn’t in danger of being ended with the grade reconfiguration.
Rudder Bows •

Rudder Bows Archery Catalog 2015

Jim Boswell founded Rudder Bows Archery in 1992 in the small town of Ellensburg, Washington. His idea for the business sprang forth from a trip to Leavenworth, Washington where Jim saw a decorative bow in the classical-style displayed on a wall. This incident sparked Jim’s imagination as he admired the simplicity and history of this ancient tool for protection and hunting. From there, Jim started experimenting with natural wood materials until he found the right wood for the bows he wanted to produce. Originally, the first bows
came out of Jim’s garage, but today Jim has a small facility where the staff crafts and sells Rudder Bows.
Grant County Magazine •

Server Farm Realty's, Titan Data, Center takes it to a higher level.

Security is the name of the game in the data server center world.
“It’s a hyper sensitive industry,” Jason Clemmer, facilities manager of Titan Data Center, said. “The clients for many reasons have to be not only secure, but feel secure. Their information often times is information that is very high value or very high liability.”
If a foreboding appearance inspires a sense of security
then the facility has it. From outside, it is an old grey and white industrial building with a security fence surrounding it. It’s quiet and looks mysterious. But it is secure in any sense of the word.
Grant County Magazine •

Meet Jeffrey Bishop: Executive Director for the Port of Moses Lake

Jeffrey Bishop is man possessed with intelligence and a subtle sense of humor. He is also a man who seeks out opportunity to create the best from any situation.
It explains his arrival at the Port of Moses Lake as the new executive director.
Bishop was a college football athlete, but suffered an injury that left him unable to play. It created a dilemma of what to do next and personal circumstances dictated that he graduate quickly to enter the working world. Consulting with academic advisors, it was suggested that Municipal Management would be the route to go. For backing into a career, Bishop said he loves it.
In the early 90s Bishop was the first city administrator for Connell, Wash. He has also worked for the City of Seattle in the Attorney’s office, the Port of Pasco as Director of Properties and Development, and the Port of Tacoma as Manager of Industrial Development. He was also CEO of the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay and until recently, City Manager of Miami, Oklahoma.
Moses Lake Magazine •

MilbrandtVineyards - wine brothers

Milbrandt Vineyards has its roots in the hearts of two 4th generation farmers and soils of the Columbia Basin. Butch and Jerry Milbrandt have converted an apples and potatoes operation into a well-known wine label that is now in all 50 states and six foreign countries.
Born in Oregon, the Milbrandt brothers are descended from farmers who emigrated from Germany and farmed in Nebraska in the 1800s. They moved to the Columbia Basin from eastern Oregon in 1954 when their father decided to purchase 160 acres near Quincy at $40 an acre due to the readily accessible water from the Columbia Basin Project. The family started growing alfalfa hay, potatoes and wheat. That all changed in 1997.
“We weren’t really interested in grapes,” Butch Milbrandt said. “At the time we were mostly growing apples and potatoes, but there was a freeze in 96’.”
Bugle Magazine •

Friends in the Field: A Quiet Warrior

You could say it began in 1991 for Ken Young when he attended his first Elk Foundation banquet in Tooele, Utah. But that would be only half the tale, as this man’s journey starts from home.
Raised in Grantsville, Utah, Young grew up in a hunting family and dreamed of the day when he could go elk and deer hunting with his father and two older brothers, Jim and Rich.
“When the time finally came,” Young says, “it was one of the happiest times of my hunting life—being able to go out with my brothers, my dad and his hunting partner and experience what I’ve always dreamed about.” From that time on, hunting played a significant role in Young’s life.
Bugle Magazine •

Good Planning: Doing Good While Doing What They Love

It started out as a desire to hunt elk out West. But today, Mark Bowers' participation in the Elk Foundation is more about making other kinds of memories.
Bowers love of hunting was the gateway through which he found the Elk Foundation - a story he's heard from other RMEF members as well over the years.
"Somebody gets a notion to go out West and go elk hunting, and then they find they don't know anything about it," says Mark. "I was in the process of acquiring the appropriate equipment and was a year or two out from actually going somewhere. Then I stumbled across a Bugle magazine, read it, and said, 'Wow, this is really something!'"
Bugle Magazine •

Name That Elk Country

Chukars are perhaps the Blue Mountain's most challenging bird to hunt, an exotic from Eurasia that takes full advantage of the rugged, steep terrain to outrun and exhaust its predators. They are often found living amid another less-appetizing exotic - cheatgrass, which the birds use for its plentiful seeds and sprouts. Most native wildlife, though, find little or nothing to love in this invasive and highly flammable grass which offers almost zero forage value to grazers like elk and deer.