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A county official in Seattle abruptly withdrew her support for a plan to publicly fund a new baseball stadium, saying most of that money should instead be used for affordable housing. King County Council member Jeanne Kohl-Welles announced Tuesday that she was taking her name off the measure to use about $180 million to renovate Safeco Field, according to The Seattle Times. Kohl-Welles vowed instead to introduce a proposal to put $25 million toward the stadium and use the rest to fund affordable housing. “The bottom line is our region is experiencing a major housing crisis,” Kohl-Welles said, according to...

"We went into the gender-neutral bathroom and he immediately shut the door, stood in front of the door and pulled down his pants" the young woman recalled.

ne city project has gone further off the rails. The new Seattle streetcars may not fit on the city’s existing rail lines. That heavy fact is among a handful of details from independent auditor KPMG. Its initial report on the Seattle streetcar system has raised more questions than answers. Mayor Jenny Durkan halted all construction on the City Center Connector Project in March after it became apparent that costs were over-budget by $23 million. The project aims to connect separate streetcar lines in South Lake Union and First Hill with a new line through the downtown core. But the streetcars...

King County could require stores that sell guns to post signs at the door and cash register warning that owning a firearm increases the risk of suicide, homicide and other deaths. Metropolitan King County Council Chairman Joe McDermott is proposing the new regulation, which would be enacted and enforced by the King County Board of Health. The measure is the latest in a series advanced by local politicians and activists who say gun violence is a public-health crisis and should be dealt with as such.Washington State Initiative 1639, which is likely to appear on the November ballot, would require gun-purchase...

VideoA teenager in Seattle, Washington was harassed by a man and a woman on the street for wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. In a YouTube video of the encounter, Ashton Hess told the man who allegedly spat on his hat, "That's my property, dude. Come on." The video then shows the man telling Hess to "get the f*** out [of] this city." Hess said that he was with his family waiting for a ride outside the Starbucks Reserve Roastery when the incident occurred.

Full Title: 'Get the F*** Out of This City': Teen Harassed in Seattle for Wearing 'MAGA' Hat A teenager in Seattle, Washington, was harassed by a man and a woman on the street for wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. In a YouTube video of the encounter, Ashton Hess told the man who allegedly spat on his hat, "That's my property dude. Come on." The video then shows the man telling Hess to "get the f*** out [of] this city." Hess said that he was with his family waiting for a ride outside the Starbucks Reserve Roastery when the...

The removal of offensive monuments took a unique turn in Seattle. Mayor Ed Murray asked a cemetery to remove a Confederate monument erected in 1926 but also requested the removal of a large statue of Vladimir Lenin. From the Seattle Times: The monument, erected in 1926 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Lenin statue are both on private property. Still, Murray said, he believes they should be removed. “Not only do these kinds of symbols represent historic injustices, their existence causes pain among those who themselves or whose family members have been impacted by these atrocities,” Murray...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCloTOCdJSs

In the week and a half since Sarah Huckabee Sanders was refused service while dining in Virginia, pundits have debated the propriety of that act in tedious detail. It’s a subject that won’t go away. Even in Vancouver, B.C. a restaurant manager was fired the past weekend for refusing to serve a Trump supporter wearing a MAGA hat. In both cases, the restaurant’s decisions and the resulting reactions reflect a growing gulf between political factions that increasingly see themselves as belonging to separate societies. But, even amidst the labored dispute about whether the Virginia restaurant should have rebuked Sanders, there...

A house in Seattle is attracting a lot of attention for a sign posted outside with a countdown to the end of President Trump's first term in the White House, CBS affiliate KIRO 7 reported. The former homeowner made the countdown clock, and its corresponding Instagram account, just after Mr. Trump's inauguration, according to KIRO 7. Since then, the house has been sold to Lily Onnen and her husband. She says that it's in the contract for she and her husband to maintain the sign -- which they do happily. "It's a message of hope," Onnen told KIRO 7. "For...

Washington (AFP) - Seattle has become the first major US city to ban plastic straws and utensils in its eateries, a victory for environmentalists that will be tough to replicate elsewhere in the United States.

Seattle cops flee the force in 'mass exodus' due to frustrations with city's politics, report says By Kathleen Joyce | Fox News At least 41 cops have left the Seattle Police Department this year, many of them reportedly citing frustration with the city's politics and a perceived lack of support from local officials. Though documents showed some officers left the force due to retirement, a source in the department told Q13 FOX some 20 officers left and sought employment at other law enforcement agencies. The source also said younger officers "don’t feel appreciated" and the number of those leaving who...

At least 41 cops have left the Seattle Police Department this year, many of them reportedly citing frustration with the city's politics and a perceived lack of support from local officials. Though documents showed some officers left the force due to retirement, a source in the department told Q13 FOX some 20 officers left and sought employment at other law enforcement agencies. The source also said younger officers "don’t feel appreciated" and the number of those leaving who felt “frustrated over city politics is higher than usual.” “Worker bees on the street, they don't feel appreciated. I’ve never seen anything...

**SNIP** We have a similar lack of leadership at home. From the Seattle City Council head-tax debacle, to the growing lack of safety and now a mayor’s trip to protest at the border with a U.S. Conference of Mayors delegation. If all were well at home, we could applaud this effort. But that isn’t the case. Mayor Jenny Durkan flew away from 180 unsheltered children and 1,000 unsheltered young adults. Violence and crime are on the rise alongside tent encampments, including an attack on a tourist near the Space Needle and a rape in a Ballard car-dealership bathroom.

The area surrounding the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle is dangerous. Crime is rampant. Homelessness is out of control. It’s not safe to visit as a juror. It’s not safe to work in the buildings nearby. You can’t even walk around the neighborhood without olfactory offenses, human waste everywhere. The solution? Ping-Pong! Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw says that she’d like to bring a host of amenities to the area as an “inclusive” way to make the area safer. She’d like to see Ping-Pong tables, seating, and food trucks come to the area.

SEATTLE - A family from Arizona was attacked by a man from a homeless camp just as they parked to visit the Space Needle earlier this month. Details are just now being made public of the June 2 attack. Officers responded to a reports of a fight in progress in the parking lot next to the Wells Fargo Bank at 3rd Avenue and Denny Way, one block away from the Space Needle. There is an unsanctioned encampment with about a dozen tents along one-block stretch of 3rd Avenue, that has been growing over the last three months. Tourists often walk...

Don’t believe the hype that “Amazon killed the Seattle head tax,” the new levy that the city recently passed on businesses to fund an affordable-housing initiative. The truth behind the city council’s stunning reversal—repealing the tax by a 7-2 vote, just four weeks after passing it 9-0—is that Seattle citizens have erupted in frustration against the city’s tax-and-spend political class that has failed to address the homelessness crisis, despite record new revenues. As recently as a few years ago, it seemed as if Seattle voters largely viewed our hyper-progressive city council as a harmless oddity in an otherwise tolerant, thriving,...

Don’t believe the hype that “Amazon killed the Seattle head tax,” the new levy that the city recently passed on businesses to fund an affordable-housing initiative. The truth behind the city council’s stunning reversal—repealing the tax by a 7-2 vote, just four weeks after passing it 9-0—is that Seattle citizens have erupted in frustration against the city’s tax-and-spend political class that has failed to address the homelessness crisis, despite record new revenues. As recently as a few years ago, it seemed as if Seattle voters largely viewed our hyper-progressive city council as a harmless oddity in an otherwise tolerant, thriving,...

The 32-year-old biker who was killed in a horrific cougar attack in Washington State, has been identified as SJ Brooks (right). His friend, Isaac Sederbaum (left), 31, survived with injuries.

Seattle leaders on Tuesday repealed a tax on large companies such as Amazon and Starbucks after a backlash from businesses, a stark reversal from a month ago when the City Council unanimously approved the effort to combat a growing homelessness crisis. The council voted 7-2 after supporters and opponents packed a meeting with signs saying, "Tax Amazon, housing for all" and "No tax on jobs," with some shouting for more time to discuss the issue. The vote showed Amazon's ability to aggressively push back on government taxes, especially in its affluent hometown where it's the largest employer and where some...