Day One of the Seattle Teachers Strike Ended With No Talks and No Contract: “As Seattle teachers prepared to walk the picket lines for a second day Thursday, district officials are saying they simply don’t have enough money to pay educators as much as they’re asking,” reports The Seattle Times. “And although the Seattle School Board has authorized Superintendent Larry Nyland to take legal action, the district has no immediate plans to seek a court order to try to force teachers and other school employees back to work. It is hoping, instead, for a swift resolution. But while Seattle officials said they expected to resume negotiations Thursday, union President Jonathan Knapp said his group is not planning to resume talks until district leaders signal ‘that they have some new ideas.'”
Voices from the Picket Lines: What striking teachers at Washington Middle School in the Central District, Arbor Heights Elementary in West Seattle, and Salmon Bay K-8 School in Ballard have to say about why they’re taking this step.
Blame the Billionaires, Not the Teachers: Writes Ansel Herz
What Are Teachers in Washington State Paid? It varies widely.
No Charges Against Officers in Pasco Shootings: “Three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a rock-throwing man in Pasco, Washington, last February will not face criminal charges,” KUOW reports. “Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant said Wednesday he concluded the officers were reasonable in their use of force against Mexican farmworker Antonio Zambrano-Montes.”
More Praise for Mayor Ed Murray’s HALA “Grand Bargain”: We published some yesterday, and The Urbanist has published some more.
Sickened by Cucumber: “At least 10 people from Washington state have been sickened in a deadly salmonella outbreak tied to imported cucumbers from Mexico, health officials said Wednesday.”
Seattle’s Water Forecast Is Not Looking Good: “For years, [Seattle Public Utilities] assured the public that Seattle’s prized — visionary, even — water-supply system was resilient enough to weather the warming and drying effects of climate change,” Investigate West reports. “Nothing to worry about for at least 45 years, they said. But with this summer’s potent drought already killing fish and firefighters, the longterm outlook for Seattle’s water supply is suddenly quite different.”
How Seattle’s Already-Existing Affordable Housing Has Been Built: “When it comes to creating affordable housing, Seattle voters can thank themselves,” KUOW reports. “Most rent-controlled units built in the last 30 years have relied on a property tax, Seattle’s affordable housing levy, first approved by Seattleites in the early 1980s. That’s when federal money for affordable housing was cut dramatically under President Ronald Reagan.”
Targeting Wall Street for Prosecution: “Stung by years of criticism that it has coddled Wall Street criminals, the Justice Department issued new policies on Wednesday that prioritize the prosecution of individual employees — not just their companies — and put pressure on corporations to turn over evidence against their executives,” The New York Times reports.
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