Hiker Rescued, Construction Begins on Amazon’s Biodomes

A Seattle man was arrested on Sunday after he ‘made it rain’ by tossing money off roof during burglary that took place on the 2800 block of Boylston Avenue E. According to KOMO News, around 11 a.m. on January 31, a woman called police from inside a closet saying someone had just broken into her home. When officers arrived on the scene they found the 33-year-old suspected robber carrying several bags out of the home. When the suspect realized the police had been called he ran back into the house and slammed the door. A few moments later, the man broke through a skylight and climbed onto the roof, where he started tossing a number of stolen bank checks and loose change onto the ground while stripping half naked. Only after smoking a cigarette on the roof did the suspect finally climb down and surrender to officers. Meanwhile, while the suspect was still on the roof, officers went into the home to safely free the woman in the closet. The man, who’s name has not been released, was then booked into the King County Jail for investigation of having stolen property, property damage and identity theft. After the arrest had been made, officers helped the victim recover the loose change and checks that had been tossed off the roof which included about $10,000 worth of stolen items including a laptop and jewelry. 

A lost Seattle hiker was rescued from Mt. Hood after he got off course after hiking near the Palmer Glacier on Tuesday. After 51-year-old hiker Christian Houck called emergency dispatchers Monday night to report that he was lost, he built a snow cave to weather the night, according to Russ Gubele with Mountain Wave Search and Rescue. Officials believe Houck was steered off course when he tried to make it to Timberline. According to KOMO News, when Houck called emergency dispactchers he said he had some supplies and was in good condition. After he had been rescured, Houck told KOMO he wasn’t too worried about being lost because he’d been on Mt. Hood before and he had plenty of food. In order to help locate the missing hiker, rescuers pinged his cell phone during the call he had made on Monday night and the coordinates matched the area that he was describing. On Tuesday morning a search plane spotted him and rescuers helped him down the mountain.

Construction has begun on Amazon’s giant steel biodomes that are going up at the base of the company’s new office towers just north of downtown. According to GeekWire, the installation of the huge, steel pieces that are going up on multiple sides of the three biodome structures, north of Lenora Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues began on Tuesday. The new Amazon structures will be part of a 3.3 million-square-foot office and retail complex that will span three blocks bounded by Westlake Avenue, Blanchard Street and Sixth Avenue. Additionally, the new structure will be connected by a streetcar line to Amazon’s existing headquarters campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The massive architechtual plans are expected to open as early as next year, with a full-time horticulturalist taking care of the plants inside.

With only two city councilmembers–Mike O’Brien and Rob Johnson–present at Tuesday’s Transportation Committee meeting to hear arguments on whether to spend $1.4 million to purchase Pronto, the city’s foundering bike-share program, the Seattle City Council decided to hold off on any decision regarding the Pronto bike-share buyout. According to KING 5, the council will have to eventually decide if the Seattle Department of Transportation should buy assets from Pronto for $1.4 million to keep bike-share operational in Seattle. There are concerns, however, that the program is not worth it. “It’s obvious that there are not enough sufficient users to meet the demand of the Pronto system,” Seattle resident RC Eng said during public comment on Tuesday. KING quoted Seattle resident Pat Wells who wrote on social media, “Similar bike-sharing programs have been very successful in other cities… too bad it’s not as [successful] here.” If the council decides not to go through with the purchase, the city will likely need to reimburse the Federal Transit Authority or WSDOT for more than $1 million for bike-share equipment purchased with grants that require equipment to remain in operation.