A Plan to Build a New Arena without Public Money: Chris Hansen announced a new plan to build an NBA/NHL arena in Sodo without city bonding. That's a dramatic shift from previous plans. He's also promising to help fund an overpass over Lander Street. In return, Hansen's investment group is asking for city tax breaks and a street vacation (in which the group would pay the city for a section of Occidental Avenue).
What Would It Really Take to Get the Sonics Back? The Seattle Times has an explainer.
Why the Seattle Police Department Can't Fire a Lying Cop: Back in 2013, Seattle Police officer Lora Alcantara claimed that KIRO reporter Essex Porter and his crew were "going through" a car abandoned after a police chase. Alcantara later admitted was a lie. Lying is grounds for termination from the SPD, but Alcantara can't actually be fired because of protections written into officers' contract.
Speaking of Bad Cops: This King County Sheriff's Office detective upgraded her hotel rooms during work trips, went sightseeing when she was supposed to be on the clock, and worked a second job while claiming sick days.
Dog Handlers at Dakota Access Pipeline Standoff Could Face Charges: That and more updates from the ongoing actions at Standing Rock from the Seattle Times Lynda Mapes, who's on the ground in North Dakota. The Stranger's Sydney Brownstone was at the site of the historic movement against the pipeline last month. Read her report from Sacred Stone Camp.
Washington Tribes to Obama: "The System Is Broken and Needs to Be Fixed." Seven Pacific Northwest tribes are calling on the federal government to change the way it approves infrastructure projects like oil pipelines. The tribes want the feds to get informed consent before building projects on their land. "When you think about the years that we were ignored, that we did not have a seat at the table, the amount of fishing, the salmon that tells us who we are, declined dramatically," said Mel Sheldon, chairman of the Tulalip Tribes. "Our way of life is gone. Hopefully through the consultation, all the tribes standing up together, our voice being loud and strong, we will have a voice and we will have salmon again for our people."
Gates Foundation Gives Record Gift to University of Washington: The $210 million gift will support a new UW global health initiative.
Paul Allen and Bill Gates Want to Change the State Supreme Court: Allen's Vulcan, Bill Gates, and others are bankrolling a PAC to replace Supreme Court Justice Charlie Wiggins. The president of the group behind the PAC tells KNXK, "the court has just moved too far away from kind of the mainstream of the state and become too activist in its decisions."
Rialto the Rescued Baby Sea Otter is "Brimming with Joy and Life" at His New Home: You know you want to watch the video.
A Verrrrrrry Slow Walk to Protest Comcast: That's what municipal broadband supporters are planning today at noon. Last summer, Seattle city officials rejected building a city-run internet service to compete with notoriously terrible private providers like Comcast.
Sheriff's Office Identifies Deputies Involved in Fatal Shooting of Pregnant Woman on Muckleshoot Indian Reservation: One deputy had been with the department eight years and the other three years, the Seattle Times reports. The sheriff's office also says the deputies, who had gone to the woman's home for a wellness check, found her with a handgun and later found two rifles and a loaded handgun in the bedroom.
The Deadliest Year on Record for Migrants Crossing the Mediterranean: The UN Refugee Agency says at least 3,800 people have died trying to reach Europe this year.
Why Is #JournalismSoWhite? For the second time this year, local journalists of color discussed the dominance of white voices in media and what that means for journalism and the communities we cover. (The Stranger's staff is predominantly white.) In opening the event, South Seattle Emerald Editor in Chief Marcus Harrison Green said, "It is not only diversity we need in our media. It is a revolution of cultural values." Watch this space for more on the event later today.
When newsrooms include POC and welcome non-traditional journalists, we get better stories and POVs, says @venicebuhain #JournalismSoWhite
— Ana Sofia Knauf (@asknauf) October 26, 2016
@venicebuhain on diversity in hiring journalists: "we should call it an innovation instead of a risk" #JournalismSoWhite
— Corinne Chin (@CorinneChin) October 26, 2016
"We pander to white people and guys everyday... and we call it the news" #journalismsowhite
— Corinne Chin (@CorinneChin) October 26, 2016
.@tyrone_beason asks what would happen if editors, reporters, videographers were drawn from BLM, feminist groups, etc. #JournalismSoWhite
— Scary Clownstone (@sydbrownstone) October 26, 2016