Mayor Ed Murray says the state of Seattle reflects both the 21st Century dreams of the 1962 Worlds Fair and our worst fears from the Great Depression.
Mayor Ed Murray says the state of Seattle reflects both the "21st Century dreams of the 1962 World's Fair" and "our worst fears from the Great Depression." City of Seattle

Mayor Ed Murray Delivered His State of the City Address: You can read the full address here or watch it below. In short, Murray echoed his SOTC in previous years, highlighting the city's simultaneous prosperity and economic struggles. He called racism "the greatest challenge before us today as a City and as a nation." Among the promises he made, Murray said he will support city council work on fair scheduling legislation (this is great news!) and plans to step up his goal for police hiring from 100 new officers by 2018 to 200 by 2020.

Murray Also (Again) Spoke About Divisiveness in the Homelessness Debate: Echoing themes from a speech on homelessness last month, Murray quoted President Obama's State of the Union, saying, “democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens. It doesn’t work if we think the people who disagree with us are motivated by malice." Murray defended his "middle way forward" on homelessness, which has included some new funding for services, but also continued encampment sweeps and calls for more state and federal money.

State Senate Passes Plan for Funding Education: While some believe the agreement will "satisfy the state Supreme Court’s order to finish the work it demanded in its 2012 McCleary decision," others see the plan as "doing too little to fix a problem that has been hanging over the state for years," the Associated Press reports. The bill sets up a task force to look at the state's reliance on local levies to fund basic education. Governor Jay Inslee, who's been less than pleased with legislators lately, called the passage "great news."

Officials Have Replaced Liar Liar Graham Hunt in the State House: The Washington State Republican Party put forward possible replacements and Thurston County Commissioners and Pierce County Council members selected Andrew Barkis, the owner of a property management company.

Seattle Police Officers Are Getting Better at Interacting with People with Mental Illness: That's according to the monitor overseeing police reform in Seattle.

Body of Missing Mountlake Terrace Woman Found: The 53-year-old woman disappeared before work on the morning of February 8. Police are still investigating the woman's death but say the public is likely not in danger, KING 5 reports.

Black Lives Matter activist Mohawk Kuzma is unsatisfied with the Seattle Police Departments investigation of its treatment of protesters, so hes conducting his own investigation.
Black Lives Matter activist Mohawk Kuzma is unsatisfied with the Seattle Police Department's investigation of its treatment of protesters, so he's conducting his own investigation. Alex Garland

Activist Mohawk Kuzma Is Launching His Own Investigation into Police Handling of Protests: "Kuzma said his 'fair and unbiased' investigation will include information from protesters, citizens, police and others and will be completed at the beginning of 2017," the Seattle Times reports.

Sally Bagshaw's Plan for Tiny Houses to Shelter the Homeless: The council member spells out to Danny Westneat her idea for camps of tiny houses and "disaster-relief pods" all over the city. The camps would have codes of conduct and would also be a way of justifying the continued sweeps of illegal homeless encampments. "It would take time," Westneat writes, "but Bagshaw’s idea is that Seattle would establish a minimum standard that it simply isn’t OK to camp on sidewalks, under bridges and in greenbelts for extended periods of time."

Apple Is Fighting a Court Order to Unlock an iPhone: The phone was used by one of the attackers in San Bernardino, California.

Jay Inslee's Plan for Interstate 405: Allow drivers to drive on the shoulders during peak hours and lift tolls on evenings and weekends.

A Law Student Once Gave U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a Ride From Spokane to Seattle: That student, who's now an attorney in Bellevue, told the story to KUOW's Bill Radke.

A 27-Year-Old Man Is Missing Out of Sammamish: KIRO reports that "police say the man, William “Reed” Probus, returned to his parents’ house Saturday after working internationally for three months. According to loved ones, Probus may have been depressed and/or suicidal." Photo here.