This week in West Seattle: robberies at both the hands of humans and squirrels, details in last month's medical marijuana dispensary raids, and a vintage Medic One van. Plus, Marty McLaren settles into her new role on the School Board and more community holiday business than you can shake a stick at. more ›

West Seattle was not isolated from Tuesday's raid on medical marijuana dispensaries. Meanwhile, arson news is disturbingly frequent, a local 20-something is taking up a fantastic cause, and y'all just can't stop driving in the West Seattle Bridge's bus lane. more ›

Way back in March of 2002, the City entered a Consent Decree with El Centro de la Raza and SHARE/WHEEL, the organization that operates homeless encampments Tent City and Nickelsville. This agreement due to "exceptional circumstances" "pressing needs" of the city's homeless population, provided a set of guidelines for operation of Tent City over the following 10 years. The City Council Housing, Human Services, Health and Culture Committee will hear public comment today on a proposed new homeless encampment ordinance to replace the existing policy, put forward by 2001's Consent Decree, set to expire this March. The biggest difference? While the new ordinance recognizes that secular organizations can host encampments under currently existing laws, SHARE/WHEEL says that the proposed ordinance essentially nullifies their agreement -- for everyone except religious organizations. (Updated with comments from Nick Licata's office!) more ›

Citing privacy and space concerns, not being able to carry forth their mission and an extreme dislike of Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin as motivators (read all their reasons on their website), Nickelsville moved from Old Firehouse #39 in Lake City to its original location at 7116 W Marginal Way just out of West Seattle on Friday, two days before their announced move date. They'd been invited by the City to stay at the location for a couple of extra months, but the space just isn't what they're looking for. more ›

Finally, a decision on Nickelsville; the ACLU addresses concerns in the recently revised medical marijuana law; proof that petty criminals are reckless; and it turns out that Mayor McGinn likes his peace and quiet. more ›

Nickelsville isn't moving, anti-tunnel initiative spending, Dorothy Parvaz's painful and outlandish circumstance, and an unfortunate SPD suspension. more ›

Tonight, City Inside/Out hosts a discussion on Seattle's homelessness problem stretching outside of Downtown, and outreach organizations following suit, with both outreach organizations and neighborhood groups. Can a compromise be reached? more ›

"Nickelsville," a roving camp for the Seattle area's homeless is moving again. The city of Seattle offered the group an extension on the permit at their current site, at a former fire station on 127th Street in Lake City, but on May 15th, the group is moving to an undisclosed location. more ›

Superhero infighting, Black Friday shopping and more troubles for Nickelsville, all in our holiday weekend news roundup. more ›

A man was assaulted in the U District when he refused to give a group of assailants his pizza. more ›

• Small dog owners should be wary of raccoons--Central District News reports a very large raccoon attacked two small dogs after midnight. Queen Anne View notes that another raccoon victim, Rosie the Maltese, is doing just fine.
• Today, Microsoft announced they sold their digital marketing agency online advertising agency Razorfish for $530 million. (Honestly, what do they do?) Winning the Razorfish bidding war was Publicis Groupe who we hope will love them and be a good parent company, unlike their old parents at Mircosoft.

One of our more grotesque civic comedies is reaching its Act 2 climax this afternoon--denied a restraining order, the homeless encampment dubbed Nickelsville is expecting state police to arrive at 7 p.m. today, to evict them from their latest refuge. more ›

WSDOT is giving Nickelsville three days' notice to move the camp from its current location at Second and W. Marginal Way. According to the Nickelsville website (yes, they have one), the move followed action by the city government against the state. In a message yesterday, the operators of the website stated, "Nickelsville remains determined to remain until another permanent site is secured." more ›

63 percent of the University Congregational United Church of Christ voted to open their hearts and their parking lot--at 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 45th Street--to the roaming homeless encampment known as Nickelsville. more ›

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• WaMu really can't catch a break. The Belltowner and PhinneyWood report that their neighborhood WaMu branches were robbed over the weekend.
• Mid Beacon Hill explores "cheap South End fun," including a place that should be on the hipster street-of-dreams, and the Museum of Communications. Being a tourist in your own city is totally fun, so the idea of being a tourist in your own neighborhood strikes us as completely delightful.
• So that's why we didn't have power on Saturday night in the CD. Of course, since we had no power we couldn't log on to check Central District News for updates, but it's nice to know now.

Nickelsville has moved for the third time in about as many weeks, this time setting up camp in the University District. The homeless encampment has moved from Discovery Park to a parking lot owned by the University Christian Church on 15th Avenue Northeast. Organizers are hopeful this will become a more permanent home for the encampment, but as with the camp's previous incarnations, the city most likely has other plans for Nickelsville. Plans which seem to involve forcing the camp to move week by week to opposite ends of the city, with the constant threat of arrest for campers and organizers, despite the fact the city has no better housing option for residents. more ›

• The Magnolia Voice wonders if Nickelsville organizers will still face fines regarding the encampment, despite reaching an agreement with the city.
• MyBallard is still a reliable source for all things quirky and Scandinavian; so we trust them when they say that today is Leif Erickson Day and the appropriate way to celebrate is by donning some sort of Nordic sweater.
• Franklin High School's football team was robbed during a recent match at Rainier Beach High School. Not like robbed on the field of a win, but robbed like their personal property was stolen. The Rainier Valley Post has all the details.

• Kapow! Coffee, inventors of the Ride the S.L.U.T. t-shirts, the proposers of a 300-foot Paul Allen statue, and the makers of the best espresso in the Cascade neighborhood, are looking for a new home after their landlord decided to open up his own coffee shop in the location.
• Capitol Hill Seattle gets a little snarky about John Curley and we love them for it.
• The Belltowner has the scoop on the sudden closure of the McLeod Residence. The building isn't up to fire code and the entirety of Seattle's hipster elite are in mourning.

• We may have lost the Sonics, but we have gained a lingerie football team!
• The Green Lake branch of the Seattle Public Library is temporarily closed due to mold according to PhinneyWood. It used to be the algae and mold at the lake you had to worry about, but apparently the mold has spread across the street.
• The city has pushed back another deadline for residents of Nickelsville to vacate the encampment's latest location in Discovery Park. Nickel-odeons now have until Wednesday at noon to leave and find alternate housing--a task which, if it simply took a day of work, we are certain all the residents would have done long ago.

The Seattle Police Department gave residents of Nickelsville a 20-minute warning at 12:15 p.m. to vacate their encampment or face arrest. As of 12:35 p.m., the homeless residents of Nickelsville were officially considered criminal trespassers and subject to arrest. According to reports, some campers have chosen to follow orders while others have decided to stay and face charges. Sadly, at least those who stay at Nickelsville against orders are more likely to have a roof over their head tonight in jail than those who chose to comply.
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• We would go to this new West Seattle restaurant for the name alone: "OK Corral Sam'mich Slingers." Also the words "pulled pork" and "sammiches" are featured largely on their "sammich"-board, so we are 100% sold.
• Our friends at the Rainier Valley Post had an epic day of blogging yesterday, covering everything from the ongoing violence in the Othello neighborhood to updates on Nickelsville and "The Jungle" (two of Seattle's homeless encampments) to a call for volunteers for a Seward Park clean-up this weekend.
• Seattle Metblogs answers a plaguing question brought to us by a distressed reader yesterday: the Alibi Room is a pizza joint now? Sorry, jessejb, but it seems to be true.

• West Seattle Blog has the update on Nickelsville and the encampment's scheduled ouster.
• Losing your glasses sucks. Losing your glasses on the bus, and knowing they will be donated to someone in need of glasses but unable to afford them, sucks slightly less.
• Ooh this sounds delicious and delightful. MyBallard announces 2009's "Dinner and Movie" series, with dinner courtesy of Volterra paired with some truly classic food films.

• A couple of Seattle's finest neighborhood blogs are also covering Nickelsville. Blogging Georgetown and West Seattle Blog are both giving thorough coverage to the story.
• Did someone say gumbo? Honest to god, Louisiana-made gumbo in Seattle? Hallelujah! The Central District News has a glowing (tummy-grumble-inducing) review.
• Ballard High graduate Jean Smart won an Emmy last night and MyBallard celebrates the news. In other once-local celebrity news, according to the Big Blog, UW Alumni Anna Faris will host SNL this weekend.

Under the cover of darkness and secrecy, a Seattle homeless encampment named "Nickelsville" in mockery of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels moved to a new location early this morning. The residents of the new Nickelsville pitched 155 neon pink tents in a field off West Marginal Way. The residents of Nickelsville hope the encampment can become a permanent location for their tent town, while Mayor Nickels says that like any illegal encampment in the city, Nickelsville faces ousting by police in 72 hours. It would seem Mayor Nickels is trying especially hard to live up to the honor of the shantytown being named after him. While he's eager to get rid of homeless encampments with the explanation that it's not proper housing, he doesn't seem to have any bright ideas or funding for finding an answer that helps Seattle's homeless population now rather than the far-off future. It's raining now, Greg. more ›