The University of Washington is complying with the minimum wage law after denying city wages to student employees earlier this year.
The University of Washington is following the city's minimum wage law after arguing earlier this year that the law may or may not apply to the university. Ansel Herz

The University of Washington Is Adopting a $15 Minimum Wage: On Monday the university finally announced that it would phase in $15 between now and 2017 for 5,500 university workers, including 3,500 students. Earlier this year, the university refused to comply with the city's minimum wage law for student employees.

Northbound I-5 Is Blocked After Fatal Early Morning Motorcycle Crash: A woman died early this morning after hitting the back of a car at high speed with a stolen motorcycle. All northbound I-5 lanes just south of Highway 520 are shut down while officials investigate.


City Council Made a Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) Recommendation Law: The council voted Monday to give more tax breaks to developers who agree to keep a quarter of their buildings affordable for people who make 75 percent of Seattle's median income, or $20 an hour. "For a studio apartment, that translates to rent of $1,020 for a tenant making $41,000," the Seattle Times reports. Expanding the special deal (called the Multifamily Tax Exemption) to developers in all multifamily zones was one of the recommendations made by the mayor's HALA committee.

King County Also Has an $83 Million Housing Plan: King County Executive Dow Constantine wants to build 700 units around transit for families making less than 80 percent of median income, or $69,000. About a quarter of the plan's funding would only come online if voters approve the Sound Transit 3 ballot measure aimed for November of 2016.

A State Commission Voted to Shut Down Seattle Ride the Ducks Pending the Aurora Bridge Crash Investigation: Five people died as a result of the collision last week. The Utilities and Transportation Commission also said that it would file a complaint against Ride the Ducks for failing to adopt a recommended axle fix from 2013. "In a statement, Ride the Ducks International said it had no reason to believe Seattle had not complied with the service bulletin issued in 2013," KING 5 reports.

Local Indigenous Activists Are Celebrating Shell's Departure from the Arctic: But Justin Finkbonner, skipper of the Lummi Youth Canoe Family, fears that Shell will go back to the Arctic at a later date. Still, he adds: "We were honored to have shared paddles with the organized efforts from other environmental organizations such as leaders and fishermen from the Northern Slope territories, Chairwoman Cecile Hansen of the Duwamish Tribe, former Vice Chair Deborah Parker of Tulalip Tribes, The Back Bone Campaign, Greenpeace, Climate Solutions and even Seattle City Council Member Kshama Sawant to paddle during the Shell NO Protest in Seattle.”

Seattles homegrown Shell No! movement celebrated on the steps of Port of Seattle headquarters on Monday.
Seattle's homegrown Shell No! movement celebrated at Port of Seattle headquarters on Monday. Alex Garland

Shell No! Held a Small Press Conference at Port of Seattle Headquarters Yesterday to Talk About the Ongoing Climate Fight: Watch the short video here.

Did You Know That It's Diaper Need Awareness Week? Diapers are fucking expensive, and babies need a lot of them. But diapers can't be bought with food stamps or WIC (the federal nutrition assistance program for women, infants, and children), so the King County Council wants YOU to donate to diaper banks. Check out WestSide Baby and Eastside Baby Corner.

Amazon Executive Says That Company Has Had "Unintended Consequences" in Seattle: Amazon senior vice president Jeff Wilke referred to rising rents in his keynote speech to the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, KPLU reports.

Check Out the First Biofluorescent Sea Turtle Ever Recorded on Camera: