“It’s probably an especially sweet victory because ranked-choice voting (RCV) sorta made a name for itself as THE election reform, with advocates lobbying for years to get the system off the ground in the State Legislature and more recently in King County.”

None of which got anywhere until Logan Bowers actually put Approval Voting on the ballot, at which point the City Council put RCV on the same ballot. RCV having lots of money from very few rich donors and full -throated support from the Stranger counted for nothing, apparently.)

Housing supply = high rents so let’s upzone it all? Nah, landlords got greedy. Big blow to the pro-development YIMBY narrative. We need rent control.

Wow... what a day. Starbucks, the Landlords and all other forces of evil are being routed.

I'd be happy without Starbucks... very happy actually. Then all the baristas can find out what its like to work in the real world without all the benefits Starbucks provides..... that would be a reality lesson.

Let's see landlords can't use software to optimize rents...why not? Its a tool like any other... we have the city counsel wanting landlords to report the rents they charge... explain to me how this differs?

The high rents are a consequence of city planning... well lack of it actually. If the city would allow higher density and reduce regulation and time consuming processes ... we'd have a lot more units... more units - lower rents. Rent control is the last thing one wants... ask any New Yorker how that nightmare works.

People who actually patronize SBUX should definitely have to deal with this MAJOR inconvenience - punishment fits the crime ..

In general, I feel that most union workers are lazy ... This most recent example only solidifies that opinion.

"It's honestly one of those days that a lot of ... baristas try to ... ask for off because it's always always a very insane day," said Serrano, who works at a store in Long Beach. Calif.

So when work is forecast to be hard, union workers should just take the day off? What ever happend to ... “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

A popular American English proverb, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” means “when the situation becomes difficult, strong people are able to step up and handle it”. Attributed to both John F. Kennedy’s father and the American coach K. Rockne, it was also popularised by Billy Ocean’s homonymous song.

@8 the weakness in this argument is that knives, cars, other things that can kill people have other legit purposes like prepping food, delivering pizzas etc. The sole purpose of guns is to efficiently kill. Most reformists simply want common sense gun laws , not to “ban” anything with an exception for guns that can rapidly kill multiple people in seconds. Pushing your obstructionist agenda in this comment section is pretty tired. We all know who and what the Stranger is, go find your people or write your own content.

With all the hate on Starbucks, why do they still want to work there? I feel sorry for Generation Z underachievers who's motivation is just to be a unionized barista. Not to say that unionization can't bring some good healthful changes though.

Indie coffee shops? Some good, but several are drab experiences serving weak coffee. For commuters there aren't many shops with easy parking or drive-through besides Starbucks.

@13: Using the term "racism" gratuitously is itself racist, is it not? As it dilutes the actual racism going on from the attention it warrants.

I've never read a racist comment from Yeshua. It never ceases to amaze me how folks can deem something as racist with as much ease as Donald Trump deems documents as unclassified.

There is no Starbucks at 5th and Pine.

There WAS one at 4th and Pine and there is one at 5th and PIKE.

The stranger has made this mistake multiple times but I get it. No one remembers Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Pressure (Protest)

@16 - the problem with that Jesus phrase is that it doesn't tell you which of the J's or P's is which.

And that RCV thing was the most confusing thing I have ever seen on a ballot. I'm still not sure what RCV will actually accomplish but OK, give it a try.

@13 - That may be what they're most commonly used for, but the vast majority of firearms are designed to kill, either animals or people. There are a precious few firearms designed solely for target shooting, but the vast, vast majority are designed for killing living beings. Their use primarily for target practice is still secondary to their what they were designed to do. Almost no firearm/ammunition designer thinks, "Yes, this will be perfect and most efficient for target practice," and you know that.

While a precious few knives are designed exclusively for their ability to kill animals and/or people, the vast, vast majority are designed to kill your steak at dinner or your loaf of bread. The fact that some of these otherwise innocuous knives are used to kill a living being(s) is secondary to their designed intent. I can kill you with a shovel or frying pan also, but that's not what either of those things are designed to do.

I honestly cannot fathom why gun fetishists dispute this notion of designed for purpose vs. used for purpose. Of course, most guns are designed to kill, and you would celebrate this fact with your gun fetishists friends, but you disingenuously deny all this outside that circle. Since it's such obvious statement, it only makes you look...not dumb necessarily...but obtuse in some way.

Cops are mostly gun nuts themselves, and all they talk about in relation to firearms is how good they are at taking out bad guys, terrorists, the occasional leftie and assorted animals they hunt. It's all stopping power, 1st-round stop and/or kill, best place to aim, etc. Same with the gun nuts I live around now. They only target practice so that their aim will be true when the long hoped-for war with the Libtards breaks out. It's what gun is best at killing, and target practice is only a means to the end of...killing.

Starbucks Barista Protest... Its really much a do about nothing... 100 stores out of 15,755 Starbucks stores... whoopie! ...which equates to 1/2 of 1%.

The complaints are silly.... we don't have a set schedule and we have to work harder during a promotion. Welcome to the real world.

If you want a set schedule and want to work at one speed... apply for a government job.