Jonathan Choe

Tammy Town is Breaking Another violent evening in South Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. Police say a 39 year old man is in critical condition after being shot Friday night near a homeless encampment on 25th Ave S. Neighbors have been complaining about this camp for months. CM Tammy Morales (@CMTammyMorales, @TammyMoralesSEA) continues to ignore the problem in her district and is actually against Mayor Bruce Harrell’s (@MayorofSeattle) encampment removal strategy. I still don’t know why the Mayor puts up with Morales. When will Morales come out to face her constituents about these concerns? Btw, where is the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (@KingCoRHA?) I actually went into the nearby deep woods and found dozens of tents and structures. Many of Read More ›

This is Depressing After a press conference this week calling out Councilmember Tammy Morales (@CMTammyMorales, @TammyMoralesSEA) for failing her district on public safety, you would think she would be out here on a Saturday afternoon trying to re-assure her constituents. But she remains MIA. Once again, most of the insanity is at the corner of 12th Ave & Jackson St. I recorded several fentanyl deals happening in broad daylight, people passed out on the streets, and a woman who kept flashing people with her breasts. Then a fight broke out in front of Asian senior citizens going to the grocery store. By the way, the former Viet-Wah location is now being used as a homeless encampment and drug den. No Read More ›

A year ago, Kaylee Gordon was setting up camp deep in the woods of West Seattle. “I feel safe in this spot,” she told me. At the time, Kaylee was hopeful that her future contained a career in music. “It’s always been my passion, it’s my life,” she said. She sang, played guitar, and told me this season of homelessness was just a speed bump along her journey. “So, this isn’t really in character for me,” Kaylee told me, saying that her beloved dog and her guitar were enough to get by. This week, over a year later, she was spotted in Belltown entering Dan’s convenience store on Third Avenue. Without shoes, dirty, and disheveled security guard Giovanni English tried Read More ›

Dunking on Tammy With multiple open air drug dens and homeless encampments thriving in Chinatown-ID, Seattle council candidate Tanya Woo (@votetanyawoo) and CM Sara Nelson (@CMSaraNelson) teamed up to bring attention to this unfolding disaster in D2, also known as “Tammy Town.” But it quickly turned into a dunk fest on CM Tammy Morales (@TammyMoralesSEA @CMTammyMorales) and her failing record as a leader. Nelson totally picked her apart in an unprecedented take down. It got so bad, Morales actually responded to Nelson on social media. Here is Nelson’s entire monologue during Tuesday’s press conference. I sprinkled in a few highlights. By the way, I spend way too much time in the underbelly of this city. No on else has this Read More ›

Do You Have Time Travel? Literal madness on the streets of Seattle Monday afternoon. A woman was totally naked on the sidewalk across the street from Seattle City Hall. This is the best I could do with the blurs. I asked if she needed help. Instead, she wanted my muffins. Then she started talking about “time travel.” I parked my car and watched her go into a new tent encampment under the highway near 7th Ave and James St. This city is wild. Crazy town. Once again, these streets are the new asylums.

It’s a War Zone Authorities say another shooting in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood leaves one man dead. Incident happened early Thursday morning on the 2100 block of 3rd Ave. “Officers attempted life-saving measures until Seattle Fire Department personnel arrived. Despite all life-saving efforts, the victim was pronounced dead. The circumstances that led up to the shooting are unknown at this time.” No word yet if anyone has been arrested. The violence continues in the heart of the city. This is just a few minutes away from the Space Needle and shopping district. Confidence in public safety is plummeting in Councilmember Andrew Lewis’ (@CMAndrewJLewis) district. Crime is spiraling out of control.

Worse Than Ever Despite progress being made to improve other parts of Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s (@MayorofSeattle) administration just can’t figure out the 12th Ave & Jackson St. disaster in Chinatown-ID. This is a FULL BLOWN take over by street thugs, drug addicts, dealers, and even Asian grandmas buying stolen goods in the black market. They also blast loud music at all hours of the day and the trash situation is out of control. Go there right now and see for yourself. In the three and a half years covering this crime corner, I have reported on shootings, stabbings, fights, drug dealing, thefts, graffiti vandalism, small biz leaving, sales of stolen goods, etc. But I have also seen efforts to Read More ›

They’re Back Nearly 20 tents set up near the Greenwood Fred Meyer. Neighbors say the drug addicts have been slowly building up this encampment for weeks now. Earlier this year, the city removed this encampment that’s been blamed for fires, thefts at nearby stores, open air drug use, fights, and other crimes in the neighborhood. Councilmember Dan Strauss (@CMDanStrauss) told his constituents this would be handled by the Unified Care Team. But it all came roaring back. No plan to address this permanently. Once again, the city is struggling to keep up with the encampments that have already been removed. Instead of sweeping after the first sign of a tent, they just let it build up again. Still can’t get Read More ›

Downtown Insanity Late Tuesday morning, Seattle Police (@SeattlePD) officers swarmed the encampment at the corner of 3rd Ave and Cherry St, just a block away from City Hall. The officers conducted a master class on responding to this mental health crisis. Look at the patience and care shown to this women who was literally spitting in the face of these officers. Thankfully the incident ended peacefully. Now imagine an unarmed social worker going into this scene without police? Well, that could happen very soon in this city. As Katie Daviscourt (@KatieDaviscourt) first reported, Councilmember Lisa Herbold (@Lisa_Herbold) is leading the charge to hire six unarmed “crisis responders” instead of police officers for emergency calls through a new 911 Dual Dispatch/Alternate Read More ›