Community Corner
Top Seattle Events Of 2017 Include Murray Scandal, Lyles Shooting
In 2017, the rent went up and violent tragedies shocked us - but Seattle also got its first woman mayor and solved an origami mystery.
SEATTLE, WA - One word that could describe Seattle in 2017: unrest. The unrest began on Inauguration Day, when a man was shot at a University of Washington protest against the right-wing cad Milo Yiannopoulos. The next day, more than 100,000 attended the Women's March on Seattle.
Those were the first of numerous protests throughout the year, including two right-wing, pro-Trump demonstrations not usually seen in the city. There also was political turmoil with Ed Murray's resignation after sex abuse allegations. And there was plenty of turmoil at City Hall as activists packed City Council meetings over issues like a head tax (which failed), stopping homeless sweeps, and taxing high-income earners (which passed, but is being held up in court).
Of course, the year wasn't all turmoil. Bertha finished drilling the SR 99 tunnel, Seattle elected its first woman mayor in almost 100 years, and a bunch of Seattleites banded together to solve a weird origami mystery.
Find out what's happening in Seattlefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Here are some of the biggest news events in Seattle this year:
Find out what's happening in Seattlefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
An estimated 175,000 people took part in the Women's March on Seattle. The march was so big, it at one point stretched from the Central District all the way to Seattle Center, a distance of more than three miles. Seattle's was one of the biggest in the nation, and set the tone for political activism in 2017. Many first-time protesters attended the march, and went on to participate in marches against Trump's travel ban and in favor of science.
An unusually large field of primary candidates - Mike McGinn, Jessyn Farrell, Bob Hasegawa, Cary Moon, Nikkita Oliver, and Jenny Durkan (and more than a dozen others) - set up a tense general election contest between Moon and Durkan. Durkan became the city's first woman mayor since Bertha Landes left office in 1928. Durkan beat Moon by over 12 points.
Former Seattle mayor Ed Murray's political career ended in disgrace in September when he stepped down after multiple sex-abuse allegations. The Seattle Times reported in May on a lawsuit that a Kent man was filing against Murray over sex abuse Murray allegedly committed in the 1980s. After that, more men came forward to accuse Murray of abuse, including Murray's cousin. (Murray's resignation also created a vacancy that would be filled by two councilmen, Bruce Harrell and then Tim Burgess.) Murray hasn't been heard from much since the resignation, although he did appear at an October press conference on up-zoning in Lower Queen Anne.
At the end of September, strange notes folded into origami warning "you are not safe" began appearing around Seattle. Some thought the notes were predicting some sort of terror attack. Others were just puzzled. After several days of sleuthing, Seattleites figured out that the notes were made by a local anti-choice group. That group held small anti-abortion protests around Seattle about a week after the notes started popping up.
The night of Inauguration Day, Milo Yiannopoulos, the now-disgraced anti-feminist conservative, had an event at the University of Washington. His appearance drew protests from UW students and Seattle residents. The two sides clashed at various times during the night. Just after 9 p.m. that night, a 34-year-old anti-fascist demonstrator was shot. The wife of a Yiannopoulos fan has been charged in the shooting.
Just another day on I-5 in Seattle. A butane tanker truck overturned along southbound I-5 in late February. Due to the flammable cargo, I-5 was shut down in both directions at the I-90 interchange for about 10 hours. There were massive traffic jams, but also tacos.
Bob Ferguson Sues Donald Trump
One of Donald Trump's most controversial moves came early in his presidency. He issued a sweeping travel ban on people coming to the U.S. from majority-Muslim countries, even if they already lived in the U.S. Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued and successfully blocked the travel ban. It was the first of many lawsuits Ferguson would file against the Trump administration in 2017.
A husband allegedly shot and killed his wife while riding in an Uber in Queen Anne. Cameron Espitia was charged with second-degree murder in July for killing his wife, Jennifer. The couple had been at a wedding before the shooting where Cameron Espitia allegedly got drunk, according to court documents. He and his wife had been arguing about going home or going to an after-party just before the shooting. The Uber driver was not physically harmed.
On June 19, Charleena Lyles, a pregnant mother of three, called Seattle police to report a burglary. A few minutes after the officers arrived to the report, Lyles was shot dead. The two officers, Steven McNew and Jason Anderson, said Lyles came at them with a knife, and that they had no choice but to shoot her. Her death sparked protests, a City Council hearing, lawsuits, and the rallying cry "Say her name."
After an extremely long and rocky tunneling project, Bertha (named after the 1920s mayor) the tunnel-boring machine completed its work in early April, breaking through a concrete wall near the Seattle Center. Bertha began her journey under Seattle in July 2013, but didn't finish until August 2017 due to mechanical setbacks after Bertha ran into a piece of metal buried underground.
In 2017, Seattle was recognized as the U.S. city with the third-highest homeless population behind only Los Angeles and New York City. Sweeps of homeless camps were still controversial, even though city officials stopped using the word "sweeps" to describe removal of homeless people from unsanctioned camps. Trying to compensate for shutting down camps, Seattle opened its Navigation Center, a low-barrier shelter where people with pets or possessions could stay, and three sanctioned encampments. When Durkan took office in November, she revealed the city would bid its homeless services contingent on performance metrics - like how many people an organization can get into permanent housing.
Amazon broke the hearts of local elected officials and chamber-of-commerce members when it announced it was searching for a place to build a second headquarters. More than 200 cities across North America submitted generous bids to get the HQ2 prize. The winner hasn't been announced yet, but there is virtually no chance HQ2 will be in Western Washington.
In 2017, Seattle lost two iconic movie houses. Landmark Theaters abruptly closed Seven Gables in the U-District and Guild 45th in Wallingford in June. The two theaters are among scores of "old Seattle" landmarks that have closed. In 2017 alone, Seattle lost Bakeman's, The Redwood, Cafe Racer (which might come back), the Central District Red Apple, the Mercer Arena, the Rainier Square Mall, the Seattle Mystery Book Shop, Zanadu Comics, Rain City Video, and many more.
Did we miss a story? Email neal.mcnamara@patch.com and let us know what your top story of 2017 was.
Images by Neal McNamara/Patch
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.