- Kathleen Richards
- Don’t put compostable material in here.
Seattle City Council Okays Fines for Failure to Compost: Yup. If you dump too much compostable food waste into your garbage (more than 10 percent), as estimated by your garbage collector, he or she will be able to slap a $1 fine on your next garbage bill. The Seattle Times reports that apartment dwellers and businesses will get two warnings before the fine, and a third violation will result in a $50 penalty. The fine—which the Seattle Public Utilities doesn’t expect to collect many of—is meant to be educational in intent, and won’t be imposed until next July. SPU officials hope it will help them reach their recycling and composting goal of 60 percent for 2015. (BTW, here’s a video on how to avoid getting fruit flies in your compost pail.)
Mayor Wants More Police: Seattle mayor Ed Murray says the police department is severely understaffed and wants to add 100 more officers by the end of the next four years. King 5 reports the city council plans to vote on the proposal in November.
- Africa Studio/Shutterstock
- All of this could be yours, Seattle tech workers.
Seattle Has a Severe Shortage of Tech Workers: There are as many as 1,000 job openings in the city, estimates one recruiter. Employers are being forced to offer perks such as “bottomless coffee and free beer” in order to get workers in the door.
- Stacey Lynn Payne/Shutterstock
- The ferry wasn’t so full after all.
Ferry Wasn’t Overloaded After All: State investigators have discovered that a faulty handheld counter was to blame for the Bremerton ferry that was forced back to land in mid August due to fears of overcrowding, reports the Seattle Times. Investigators say the ferry probably had less than the maximum capacity of 1,200. In response, ferry officials are thinking of upgrading their technology so they no longer rely on a cheap counter that’s prone to inaccuracy.
- Kathleen Richards
- Blame the wind for all this warmer weather.
Study Links West Coast Climate Change to Weather: Mother Nature, not humans, is responsible for the warming climate on the West Coast, according to a just-published, controversial study by two former University of Washington scientists. As reported by the Seattle Times, it is wind, specifically, that’s responsible for warmer temperatures in the Pacific Northwest. However, the study’s authors do not dispute the fact that human activities are causing temperatures to rise globally.
Strip-Club Billboard Stirs Up Neighborhood: A 16-foot LCD billboard at DreamGirls at Rick’s in Lake City is drawing complaints from neighbors for its images of scantily clad women. KOMO News reports that the strip club initially broke city rules for displaying video and changing images more than seven times per minute. Although the business is now in compliance with city regulations, neighbors are still pissed.
US and Allies Begin Air Strikes in Syria: Well, it’s official. Drones, fighter jets, cruise missiles, and precision guided-bombs have been unleashed against the Islamic State in Syria, reports the New York Times. Meanwhile, the Times also notes that US counterterrorism officials have deduced that ISIS does not pose a major threat to the US and that the media and politicians are largely to blame for this “distorted” point of view.
It’s Fall. Prepare to Cry: I hope you enjoyed the ridiculously warm weather on Sunday, because it’s officially fall today, and the weather is acting accordingly. (Heavy rains are expected tonight.) If you’re like me, and you love the melancholy brought on by the changing seasons, then this is great news. (Apparently, a lot of artists think so, too.) Here’s a song to make you feel fall-ish.
Oh, and Here’s a Ray Rice–Inspired Makeup Tutorial: Enjoy!
