Seattle IAM: Violent Crime Increases on Capital Hill, WTC Awards Cash Grants for State Startups

This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from SeattleIAM where you will find the best blogs from Seattle, Washington as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Is Violent Crime Rising on Capital Hill?

According to Capital Hill Seattle, police department stats show that the number of violent crimes has been rising in the Capital Hill neighborhood, Census Tract 75, where Shannon Harps was recently murdered. What they found when they looked at the most recent numbers, which run through October 2007, the incidences were “about 16% higher through the first ten months of the year -- before the murder.”



The post states that last time they “took a look at a complete set of yearly crime totals for Capitol Hill, things looked pretty good.” Except for the one awful Kyle Huff murders, “the violent crime trends in the Capitol Hill census tracts [seemed] mostly healthy.” The Kyle Huff murders stood out in such a way that that they could be categorized as an anomaly. Now, due to the recent Harps murder, there will be a new violent crime addition to Census Tract 75, “but we are less concerned about the connection to Huff and more concerned about the continuation of the rise in violent crime in the area.”

City of Renton Aids in Low Income Household Home Repair

In the most recent post on Renton, WA Lynn Glessner informs residents of Renton about the city’s Housing Repair Assistance Program, which helps “low/moderate income homeowners maintain their homes.” The applications are approved quickly, about “two weeks after all required documents are received by their office.” In order to qualify for the free repair services, the applicant must be a homeowner/occupant “within the city limits for at least one year” and have a specific household income.



You must be the home owner, not a renter, to qualify. According to Glessner’s post, repairs and services provided include electrical, plumbing, modification for disabilities, and service for faulty furnaces, gutters, and roofs. “These are health and safety issues, not cosmetic issues like painting.” The only instance in which paint is supplied through the city is for church groups, service organizations, or officially recognized neighborhood organizations.

Have Startup, Need Cash?

The latest post on John Cook’s Venture Blog announces an offer from the Washington Technology Center for cash grants to startup companies. If you’re about to start a business and are low on cash, “one option is the [WTC], which has just put a call out for applications for its Research & Technology Development grants.” The grants are awarded to companies in the state that “partner with academic or non-profit groups on technology development.”

According to the post, the WTC awards up to $100,000 for “proof-of-concept” projects and “up to $300,000 for multi-phase projects.” The grant program was started in 1995 and has “awarded more than 300 grants to companies such as RealNetworks, EKOS, Microvision and Tree Top.” They will announce their fall 2007 grants this month.

Monroe Democrat to Run Against Republican Val Stevens

Chris Mulick’s Olympia Dispatch reports that Monroe Democrat Fred Walser has enlisted to run against Republican state Sen. Val Stevens. Walser “is a former Sultan police chief and also is known in the 39th Legislative District for being chairman of the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition.”

 

Mulick points out in his post, that even though the district has elected Stevens five times, “she's had to work for it.” Only once has Stevens exceeded the 60 percent threshold. Based on reports, she has raised almost $68,000 as of Friday, which doesn’t include “the $900 she's reported having received after the annual freeze on receiving campaign contributions kicked in Dec. 15th,” which she’ll most likely have to return.

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SeattleIAM is part of a groundbreaking network of city-focused blog aggregation, user generated media and social networking websites currently rolling out across North America. Each IAM website filters and organizes blog content as well as offering video upload capabilities, social networking, blog authoring, favourites lists and rumours. The IAM Network is a division of SoMedia Networks Inc which also operates Inveslogic.com, Greenedia.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com. For more information or to register an account, visit SeattleIAM.com.