Tukwila Says NO!
On Monday, June 17, the Tukwila City Council handed Sound Transit a major setback, voting to reject Sound Transit's proposed light rail route. The proposed "freeway" route bypassed Southcenter, which is Tukwila's business core.
The Tukwila vote jeopardizes the pending (and already iffy) $500 million federal grant that Sound Transit needs to build "Phase One" of its light rail line--a $2.1 billion, 14-mile route from downtown Seattle to almost-Sea-Tac.
The "nay" vote puts Sound Transit's federal grant hopes on ice because it raises serious questions about local support for the project. The feds--who may have missed a recent spate of local anti-Sound Transit sentiment (terrible Sound Transit polling numbers, a lawsuit that accuses Sound Transit of ignoring voters, the public's chilly reception for a regional transportation package that hands Sound Transit $1.2 billion, and an anti-Sound Transit ballot initiative that's already netted 200,000 signatures)--have said they will take their cues from locally elected leaders.
Well, take this cue: Tukwila voted 5-2 against Sound Transit. Clip out this story and send it to: Rep. Adam Smith, 116 CHOB, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515. JOSH FEIT
Survey Says...
Last week, after surveying students from Franklin and Garfield High Schools and Seattle Central Community College about the Seattle Police Department, pollsters posted their results on www.seattle.indymedia.org. Hours after posting the results--90 percent have no faith in the police--at least one of Seattle's finest jumped in to post questions about the poll.
"Bronze"--who happens to be a leader in the Seattle Police Officers Guild--asked the group how the polling question was worded, how the respondents were picked, and whether the students were allowed to write in a "solution to the problem" of low faith in the police.
As of June 12, when "Bronze" repeated his questions (and other indymedia users backed up his request), the ad hoc pollsters hadn't responded. AMY JENNIGES
Graduating Protest
Taking advantage of their last chance to be "damn college protesters," 20 graduating seniors in black caps and gowns stood up, turned their backs, and booed as Madeleine Albright spoke at the University of Washington's June 15 commencement. The handful of dissident students (about 39,000 people attended Albright's address) condemned the former secretary of state, who is also the highest-ranking woman in U.S. history, for supporting the U.S. embargo against Iraq. The embargo has led to the deaths of thousands of children, says UW graduating senior Sandra Herrera, who participated in the protest. BROOK ADAM
