You've been busy, Capitol Hill. Here are the neighborhood stories you may have missed over the past few weeks. Consider yourself caught up and ready to rock in 2013.
Some of you are well aware, we had a cold start of things Wednesday morning. From King County Metro: "Trolley bus routes are experiencing delays of up to 15 minutes this morning due to icing conditions on the wires."
Public schools are out on holiday through the rest of the week but those hard workers at Seattle Central are back in session. Seattle U gets back to business next Monday.
Here are some New Year's Eve pictures from parties and the fireworks from Capitol Hill.
From the police blotter: Investigators are looking into this Broadway bank robbery, a fake cop patrolling Volunteer Park remains at large, a woman was mugged at a Capitol Hill bus stop and a few pre-Christmas street robberies were reported.
The victim in a Bellevue club shooting was identified as a Central District man and former student body president at Garfield High.
The trial of a 2010 hatchet murder along E Union came to an end when the defendant was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
This Capitol Hill auto-row era building's renovation is completed.
This group wants to create rainbow-colored crosswalks on Capitol Hill.
A new joint opened on E Pike -- welcome Sam's Tavern.
Capitol Hill is geting a Pie Bar. And Tacos Gringos is RIP -- but Kedai Makan is ascendant. Details!
(Image: Group Health)
Washington's minimum wage is now $9.19 per hour -- up 15 whopping cents (1.66%) and, everybody likes to point out, the highest state wage in the nation. You can thank WA voters of the 90s for passing the initiative requiring the state to keep up with changes in the Consumer Price Index. The Times helpfully points out that San Francisco's also-indexed minimum wage has reached $10.24.
Other new WA state laws as of January 1st: Homes must have carbon monoxide detectors and there is now mandatory recycling of compact fluorescent bulbs.
We rounded up 2012 thusly: Most Important Stories | The Year in Pictures | 2012 in Food + Drink | The Year in Re-Development
Congratulations to Capitol Hill's very own Baby New Year. The first 2013 baby delivered in Seattle arrived at 15th Ave E's Group Health Birthing Center at 12:11 AM. Welcome, Oliver Soltysik.
10:31AM - MORE! - Here's another for anybody feeling nostalgic for 2012:
Are you sad that 2012 has ended? Stop by our office (400 East Pine St, Ste. 322) by Friday and pick up a commemorative yard sign to remember the extraordinary campaign that took up so much of all our time last year
11:23AM - Also, Avis is buying Zipcar.