Temp Mayor Tim
Temp Mayor Tim City of Seattle

The New City Budget: More funds for sexual assault and domestic violence services, homelessness, the fire department, and the police department. Mayor Tim Burgess's proposed budget, mostly completed during former Mayor Ed Murray's term, also allocates soda tax dollars and sets aside funds for a Tenant Landlord Resource Center and studying a portable retirement program. Heidi Groover breaks it down.

Seattle Went $13.4 Million Over on Litigation: That includes settlement payouts and handling lawsuits brought by the city and against the city. Budget director Ben Noble said city officials should look at how they use outside counsel to lower legal costs, Crosscut reports.

Forecast: It's Going to Be Nice Outside Again: The National Weather Service predicts a couple more nice days before temperatures cool.

Seattle Rents Are Rising at Their Slowest in Five Years. The Rent Is Still Too Damn High: Why are rent increases slowing down? Seattle Times real estate reporter Mike Rosenberg explains: Supply of apartments is increasing as the number of new renters drops. That's a shift from the last few years, as construction couldn't keep up with people moving to Seattle. Don't expect any relief from rising housing costs anytime soon, though. The average two-bedroom apartment in the city surpassed $2,000 for the first time.

Seattle's Push for Amazon HQ2 Will Actually Be Led by King County: And so, the region's proposal for 50,000 new tech jobs could actually ask Amazon to build outside of Seattle.

Violent Crime Up, Murders Down in Seattle: One striking detail from the FBI's 2016 crime report is a 76 percent increase in rapes from 2015. Mary Ellen Stone, director of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, tells the Seattle Times that might be related to more victims are reporting to police. Read more.

"Millions" Would Be Left Uninsured Under Cassidy-Graham Health Bill: That's according to a Congressional Budget Office report.

But It Probably Won't Pass: Senator Susan Collins of Maine put the final nail in the coffin.

Puerto Rico on the Brink of a "Humanitarian Crisis": Water shortages, blackouts, and a failing dam are among the problems facing the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria. The island's governor is pleading for more federal aid.

Donald Trump Continues to Blow His Dog Whistle:


Read Charles Mudede on Why Overrepresentation of Blacks in Sports Is Bad:

There are no black Jobs or Gates or Bezos, but there are a lot of Kapernicks and Jameses. As a consequence, a position in the NBA or NFL has the appearance of being more realistic than a position at Amazon. And the poorer you are, the more practical the impractical looks.