Theres millions in city-funded affordable housing in the new budget. Now we need massive upzones.
There's millions in city-funded affordable housing in the new budget. Now we need massive upzones. AndrewFirst/Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock.com

Keeping Up with City Budget Talks: Among other things, reports Heidi Groover, the city is budgeting $29 million for affordable housing. How'd that happen? Heidi writes:

It's a familiar story. Council Member Kshama Sawant stakes out her ideal, far-left position and rallies her supporters for the cause. The rest of the council balks. But then, under pressure to do something, they end up supporting some sort of compromise proposal. That's what happened here.

Faculty Union Walkout at Seattle Central College: "The union says it is fighting against unfair workloads, cuts to full-time positions, and low pay," CHS reports. "Seattle Colleges says it has offered the teachers an 11.1% raise over three years for full-time faculty, and a 7.8% raise for part-time faculty."

FBI Won't Charge Seattle Cops Who Left College Student Battered: UW geography student David Pontecorvo was left with a bruises and lacerations after a beating by several Seattle officers in 2012, according to his attorney. The city has paid $100,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit in the case. The FBI opened a probe into the incident last year but has opted not to charge the officers, the Seattle Times reports. None of the officers have been disciplined.

Section 8 Tenants Flee Seattle Area: Facing impossibly high rents, "the city has been bleeding Section 8 tenants for years as families move elsewhere in King County and the region," the Seattle Times reports.

Anti-Fracking Demonstrators Arrested in Olympia: "Several people were arrested Friday morning at the scene of two protest camps set up on railroad tracks in Olympia," KOMO reports. The protesters said their goal is to "stop the transportation of fracking materials to North Dakota, and they were showing solidarity with the ongoing demonstration at Standing Rock," according to The Olympian. "Meanwhile," KOMO reports, "other protesters were trying to block streets in downtown Olympia and using accelerants to start fires in the streets, Olympia police said in a Twitter posting. One protester said police were using pepper spray in an attempt to disperse the crowd that had gathered there."

Big Crash in Downtown Seattle: "Three women had to be extricated from a vehicle after a crash in downtown Seattle Thursday night," KOMO reprorts.

Seattle Mayor Defends New Deal for Project Across from City Hall: The block has been empty since 2005, after a deal with real estate developer Triad fell through. The new deal is worth only $16 million, nearly $9 million less than the Triad deal.

State Senator Doug Ericksen Defends His Bill Criminalizing Protests: The bill would criminalize some protests as "economic terrorism." The ACLU and Mayor Ed Murray say the bill is unconstitutional, but KOMO reports a hearing will be held on the bill in January.

Memoralizing Victims of Traffic Violence: Seattle Neighborhood Greenways says 234 people have been killed and about 2,400 injured in traffic incidents, CHS reports. On Sunday, the group will "distribute 234 white silhouettes to place at crash locations around the city."

Racist Former KKK Leader David Duke on Donald Trump's "Great" Cabinet Picks:


Jeff Sessions, Trump's pick for attorney general, has a long history of racism.