Specials & Shorts
Ludi's Restaurant is back! The Filipino diner originally opened in 1930s Downtown Seattle and served up beloved dishes like longganisa and their famous ube pancakes until a fire and lease increase forced them to shut their doors in 2019, and the pandemic kept them closed. Now they're open again just a short walk from their original location. For long-time patrons and the owners themselves, Ludi's was worth the wait. "It tastes like home."
Video by Randy Eng. Produced in partnership with Cynthia Brothers of Vanishing Seattle.
Ludi's Restaurant is back! The Filipino diner originally opened in 1930s Downtown Seattle and served up beloved dishes like longganisa and their famous ube pancakes until a fire and lease increase forced them to shut their doors in 2019, and the pandemic kept them closed. Now they're open again just a short walk from their original location. For long-time patrons and the owners themselves, Ludi's was worth the wait. "It tastes like home."
Video by Randy Eng. Produced in partnership with Cynthia Brothers of Vanishing Seattle.
"Freedom is what Seattle could be, but isn’t yet.” Seattle poet, artist, and storyteller Sharon Nyree Williams recites poem “Juneteenth: Freedom is...”
Tunnel-boring machine MudHoney, along with construction workers with a unique commute, have been working hard since 2021 on a 2.7-mile-long passage that will run under the city’s Ballard, Fremont, and Wallingford neighborhoods. When complete, the tunnel will divert sewage and stormwater away from the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
In the early 1900s, Seattle's Duwamish River was rechanneled, wiping out its natural curves and wetlands in favor of straight lines more friendly to industrial uses. Eirik Johnson's installation "Leviathan Rising" honors the river's past and its connection to the Georgetown Steam Plant. He fills the space with abstract images and haunting sounds pulled from the river itself.
The Seattle City Hall LGBTQ+ Pride Flag raising tradition dates back to June 1, 2013, just months after same-sex marriage was formally recognized in Washington state. In this year’s pride flag event, Mayor Bruce Harrell and other community leaders reflected on LGBTQ+ history and looked to the future work that remains.
Mayor Bruce Harrell kicked off the 2023 One Seattle Day of Service on Saturday from Pioneer Square. Nearly 4,000 volunteers came out to join in 160 volunteer events, including cleaning and beautification, gardening and restoration, and helping neighbors in need.
“They’re people who gave us our strength.” The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway is a collection of public artworks located in the heart of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The memorial serves as a remembrance to those impacted by the deadly AIDS crisis of the 1980s and ‘90s, and how the local community united during the epidemic. Former Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who helped spearhead the project, explains more in this walking tour organized by the Capitol Hill Historical Society. Video by David Albright
Photo Credit: MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, 2000.107.001.06.13, photo by Grant M. Haller
With a rapid rise in banned and challenged books across the nation, the Seattle Public Library has joined the Brooklyn Public Library in its Books Unbanned initiative. The initiative makes the library’s entire digital collection available to young people, aged 13-26, throughout the United States.
The fifth annual R2-D2 Builders Club Expo at the Museum of Flight was an assembly of droids from across the Star Wars galaxy, along with the hobbyist builders of all ages from the Pacific Northwest R2 Builders Club who bring them to life.
For more information on the Pacific Northwest R2 Builders Club, visit here. May the Fourth Be With You!
Volunteers gathered at McCaw Hall on the Seattle Center grounds to record a greeting for the upcoming Seattle/King County Clinic. Recorded in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Cantonese, the welcome message is for patients entering the clinic, introducing them to the clinic and its processes and putting them at ease. The recorded messages are just one task that goes into producing the giant volunteer-driven free health clinic at Seattle Center.
The Seattle/King County Clinic brings together healthcare organizations, civic agencies, non-profits, private businesses, and volunteers from across the state. The four-day clinic provides free dental, vision, and medical care to anyone in the region who struggles to access and/or afford healthcare.
The next Seattle/King County Clinic is April 27 – 30, 2023, offering dental, vision, and medical care.
Moss, the brilliant green icon of the Pacific Northwest, and the microscopic world it supports
Over 700 species of moss grow in the Pacific Northwest. Bloedel Reserve's moss gardener says he sees moss as the underdog, playing an integral role in the look and function of the forest. One local urban naturalist takes us on a journey into the microscopic ecosystem moss support. Produced by David Albright
"Shine light on our community.” - D'vonne Pickett Jr.
Last October, the Central District lost beloved community member D'vonne Pickett Jr. to gun violence. The Seattle University alum and father of three young children opened The Postman with his wife KeAnna Rose Pickett back in 2018. On Feb. 22, friends, family, community members, and city leaders came together to honor D'vonne’s legacy with an honorary designation of part of East Union Street that now bears his name.
Pink Gorilla specializes in selling new, used, and retro video games and consoles. Owners Cody Spencer and Kelsey Lewin talk about their passions for gaming and how Seattle's large video game industry and enthusiastic gaming community have played a crucial role in Pink Gorilla's growth. The duo takes pride in bringing people together through their shared love of gaming.
Crows may as well be the mascot of Seattle. Their large population, distinctive caws, and active behavior demand attention. David Albright brings us more on this highly-intelligent urban neighbor and how roosting crows animate the skies. Video by David Albright. Assistant editing by Andrew Wright.
Communities around Seattle are celebrating Tết, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year. “One of the great things about our city is the diversity of culture,” said Deputy Mayor Greg Wong. Vietnamese New Year is one of the most important celebrations of the year, can last for multiple days, and is when families come together to enjoy traditional food, music, and dancing. 2023 ushers in the Year of the Cat.
Seattle's 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day march and rally on Jan. 16 began with speeches and performances at Garfield High School, where King himself once visited. Participants said they value his work, but their focus is on the work ahead.
Canoes were once the dominant mode of transportation, zigzagging through our region's waterways, linking local Native American communities, and allowing for hunting and trade. Soon, the Northwest Native Canoe Center will help share this story through a 1,200-square-foot building that will be a home for canoe carving and reconnecting Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest to their heritage and homelands. In addition to a carving space, the center will include room for cultural events, a catering kitchen, and a gift shop. The United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF) recently held a blessing ceremony at the future site, with construction expected to start construction in the fall of 2023.
RailSpur, a transformative micro-district in Pioneer Square, is opening three new retail concepts – Cassette Club, Heard Coffee, and Beerdega. The bike club and retail store, artisan coffee and pastry shop, and Beerdega with craft beers and provisions are the first of RailSpur’s openings, designed to reinvigorate Pioneer Square through a collection of dining, retail, office, residential, and hospitality experiences.
Members of Seattle's Jewish community came together Thursday night to celebrate Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights. Organized by Chabad of Downtown Seattle, "Light Up the Night Chanukah Celebration" attendees lit a giant menorah and gathered with food and music to "spread that hope, spread that love, spread that light." Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days. This year, the holiday ends on Monday, Dec. 26th.
Business Impact NW recently hosted a holiday pop-up and networking event for local business owners who completed the Small Business Digital Accelerator Program. Participants said the event not only helped spread the word about their products, but fostered connections with other entrepreneurs.
The world’s largest Santa Claus clocks in at 42 feet tall and 900 pounds, and was created in 1968 right here in Washington as a holiday promotion for the Westlake Mall. Learn more about Santa's journey to North Pole, Alaska (those reindeer must’ve been huge).
The Nutcracker, Rat King, Fritz, and other characters from the beloved holiday ballet production loom larger than life in Seattle’s Loyal Heights neighborhood. The Nutcracker, measuring a whopping 15 feet high, shines his signature toothy smile to spectators passing by the home of John Carrington and Scott McElhose. The couple shares how these colorful figures found their way from an iconic Chicago department store to their front lawn.
View the holiday display on the 9000 block of Loyal Avenue Northwest.
These cats got our tongues and our hearts. 19 friendly felines took centerstage at "Kitty Hall," a Seattle Animal Shelter event that brought adoptable kittens and cats to Seattle City Hall on Tuesday. Many of these cats found new homes for the holidays, but a few are still looking for their furever home. Paws and take a look for more information: https://www.seattle.gov/animal-shelter
Christmas Ships and Bonfires at the Parks is an annual tradition that kicks off the holidays with Seattle Parks and Recreation and Argosy Christmas Ships. Community members can bring a warm drink, gather around the fire to watch the ships pass, and even sing along to the choir while the night lights up with holiday cheer.
November visitors to Seattle’s Carkeek Park are delighted to encounter salmon leaping from Piper’s Creek as they return to their freshwater spawning grounds from the Puget Sound and beyond. The creek’s salmon runs died off around 1927 due to overfishing and urban-growth pollution. In the 1970s, the Carkeek Watershed Community Action Project began a partnership with the Suquamish Tribe to revive the runs, by raising and releasing salmon into the creek. Volunteers hope seeing salmon up close and personal will inspire people to invest in protecting and restoring our environment. Video by David Albright.
Seattle Municipal Archives' images:
Carkeek Park image 28877: http://archives.seattle.gov/digital-collections/index.php/Detail/objects/62815
Carkeek Park Parking Lot image 77629: http://archives.seattle.gov/digital-collections/index.php/Detail/objects/116213
Carkeek Park Exp. A image 77631: http://archives.seattle.gov/digital-collections/index.php/Detail/objects/116215
Urban runoff drainage study image Doc_6945: http://archives.seattle.gov/digital-collections/index.php/Detail/objects/237573
