Sound Transit Should Put a Complete Regional Transit System on the Ballot in 2016: The light-rail package would connect Seattle to its regional neighbors in every direction, it would give everyone a shared vision of what's coming, and it would get us to a complete mass transit system faster than putting a more limited package on the ballot. That's according to the activists at Seattle Subway, who make the case over at Seattle Transit Blog.
Unidentified Woman Killed by Sounder Train at Golden Gardens Park: Rail authorities say she was on the tracks and they don't know why.
The Stranger's 2015 Endorsements Are Out: For city council, the paper endorses Sawant, Harrell, O'Brien, Bagshaw, Grant, Juarez, Herbold, Maddux, and González. Read 'em and weep. Or jump for joy. Depending.
City Will Standardize Rules for Pedestrian Pathways Around Construction: Or so KING 5 reports. Dominic wrote about this last year: "The Seattle City Council hates all pedestrians, obviously, and wants them killed." Took you long enough, city.
Fire Crews Can Save Your Pets Now: Local fire crews are being equipped with oxygen masks designed for pets, including tiny ones for guinea pigs and mice and larger version for dogs, KOMO reports.
Fucking Vaccinate Your Kids Already, Seattle: Eighty percent of Seattle kindergarteners have received the polio vaccine. "That’s lower than the 2013 polio immunization rates for 1-year-olds in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Algeria, El Salvador, Guyana, Sudan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Yemen," KUOW reports.
Mayor of Eastern Washington Town Refuses to Resign: ...after posting a racist meme to his Facebook page that compared the Obamas to monkeys, the Spokesman Review reports.
Amazon Accused of Exaggerating Its Record on Affordable Housing: The indispensable Jeff Reifman digs into claims the company recently made and finds them to be a wee bit embellished. Amazon said it it had "given the city [of Seattle] tens of millions of dollars for affordable housing." In fact, it contributed $18.2 million under the city's incentive zoning program, which allowed it to build higher office towers. (A) That's not tens of millions; (B) it didn't simply give away the money out of the philanthropic goodness of its corporate heart. Reifman calls on the Great Walmart in the Sky to be transparent about how much it has invested in Seattle housing, transit, and other local public services. Hear hear.
Auditor Says Civilian Oversight at King County Sheriff Is Weak: But the county council is considering strengthening the agency's civilian watchdog unit. If they approve the measure, it'll go before county voters (that's you) this November, according to the Seattle Times.
How White Churches Must Fight to End Racism: "For too long," said Brandon Duran, an associate minister at Plymouth Church UCC in Seattle, "predominantly white churches have, by their willfulness or by their silence, maintained a status quo of violence against black and brown bodies." Read the rest—a textual version of Duran's comments at last week's Black Lives Matter march—at the South Seattle Emerald.
In Case You Missed It: You must read Sydney's report on indigenous knowledge of big earthquakes in Seattle that has been all but ignored by American colonizers and their descendants, including geologists.
Judge Orders Release of Chilling Video Showing Officers Gunning Down Man in Los Angeles Suburb: The courts ruled that the public has a right to see it. "This is the video that Gardena police officers didn't want you to see," says the Los Angeles Times.
Humans: Sometimes they're cool. Watch them rescue a beached baby shark:
