Here are today's headlines. Happy hump day. more ›

Good morning, sunshines. What did you miss while you were safely sleeping (and not being raided)? more ›

Councilmember Nick Licata has introduced a resolution, offering support to the Occupy Seattle protesters--and City Council is getting behind it. more ›

That encampment ordinance from yesterday passed, a lawsuit against SPD gets $20,000 for an elderly man, and a "suspicious" death. The Mariners get a shutout, Apolo Ohno gets naked. Oh, and there's some "fish waste," too. more ›

A busy, busy Friday! We've got transit studies, violent labor disputes, body cameras for cops, forest fires, paid sick leave, and more. Take a peek. more ›

Last month, we got the news that Washington State had decided once and for all that tourists are terrible and, as a result, cut all funding for enticing them to come visit. Because really, we didn't want them anyway, right? more ›

Oh look, it's raining again. Better find some quality civic programming to watch from your computer. @SeattleChannel is there to rescue you from boredom, and keep you well informed. more ›

Last night, Seattle's City Council met for apublic hearing, regarding Nick Licata's proposal to mandate paid sick leave for any and all workers in the City of Seattle. Spectators, small businesses and employees of various businesses filled nearly every corner of the Council's Chambers--many to show their support. more ›

As you surely know, Seattle Channel's lanky, even-keeled host, C.R. Douglas, announced his impending retirement last month. And though the hunt is on for his replacement, Douglas will be sorely missed--not just for his uncanny ability to get the City's most blustering politicos to open up and give real answers on important issues, but for his ability to break up awkward moments and even, occasionally, lighten tense situations. more ›

Between dodging families posed in front of the First Starbucks, and attempting to beat your way through hoards of onlookers awaiting the potential airborne salmon, it can be difficult to remember that Pike Place Market is actually still that--a market. Now, City Council is bringing it back to the locals, with a weekly mini-market, right in City Hall's backyard. more ›

In the wake of a failed attempt to block a tunnel referendum on the city's August ballot, the Seattle City Council voted yesterday to retroactively approve a lawsuit filed against a similar measure. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Campbell of Seattle Citizens Against the Tunnel, the group behind the initiative, filed a recall petition in an attempt to oust City Council President Richard Conlin, citing a breach of authority. more ›

Workers' rights seem to be under attack around the country, but they may be on the march in Seattle, as the City Council prepares to consider a plan for universal, earned paid sick leave. more ›

The City Council passed legislation extending the maximum building heights in SoDo. Here's why it's a good thing. more ›

When the going gets tough, crappy employers stiff their workers. City Council wants you to love them again, so they're putting an end to that nonsense (and non-payment). more ›

The City Council is looking at alternatives to a proposed homeless encampment at the Sunny Jim Peanut Factory site in SODO, with serious implications for the city's transient population. more ›

Before the recession/depression, contractors and investors snapped up downtown's valuable vacant land, brimming with dreams of skyscrapers and saucy condos. Now, they lie fallow, just waiting to be put to use--but not for long. more ›

The City Council voted yesterday to put the Families and Education levy up for renewal on November's ballot. In a horrible case of bad timing, the seven-year Families and Education Levy is expiring in the wake of the Seattle Schools' recent financial scandal. While often levies are renewed with only a negligible tax difference -- we do this with school levies all the time -- the price tag has been doubled on this one, from $116 million to $231 million, or from about $64 to $124 per household in property taxes (the PI estimates $65/$134). more ›

Is Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn a maverick who works for the people, or a clueless politician that’s making enemies with those he needs the most? These are the questions The Seattle Times ponders in a New Year’s Day story on his first year in office. more ›

In an era where ads and logos permeate everything from your dry cleaning bags to the sleeves handed out at the airport to hold your plane tickets, the spat over whether the city should allow large signs on the top of downtown buildings seems like it should have happened a decade ago. more ›

Seattle's proposal to encourage urban farming moved one step closer to becoming law on Tuesday, meaning roosters' days in the city are likely numbered. more ›

Hey creative folk--Seattle is looking for a name and logo for its plan to make the city carbon neutral. more ›

Talk about government incentives! The Seattle City Council’s Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Committee is holding a special public meeting tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at Dr. Blanche Lavisso Park (East Yesler Way and 22nd Avenue South). But if you get there at 5 p.m., your chances of getting free ice cream are better. The meeting is to discuss changes to the mid- and high-rise sections of the multifamily code, which Sally Clark has struggled mightily to make public in ways ("Townhouses: Can the Patient be Saved?") that might interest people. Now she's footing the bill for ice cream. Sally, next time we're voting for you twice. Nope, we are. End of discussion. more ›

NIMBYs in Laurelhurst gained ground in their war against sick children, when a city hearing examiner agreed that Seattle Children's Hospital's proposed 350-bed expansion was "aggressive." more ›

NOAA has announced that they're hauling anchor away from Lake Union, and relocating their center-Pacific operations to Newport, Oregon. Seattle City Council's Jean Godden has already fired off a response, noting that Seattle has the UW (Newport doesn't), fresh water (Newport 0), and the Duwamish River (Newport FAIL). Godden says Seattle still looks to her like the best choice for NOAA, but that "Clearly the selection committee felt differently, perhaps influenced by millions of dollars in state subsidies offered by the Oregon legislature." ZING! more ›

Yesterday afternoon the City Council was all ayes when it came to the Bell Street Park Boulevard. Design is to finish up this fall, and by next spring, it's all top hats and tails on Bell from First to Fifth. Who's paying? We already agreed to; the P-I point out that the project "which would add 17,000 square feet of new green space, is part of the 2008 Parks Levy." Now, because you're curious, check out the Belltown blog's rundown of what exactly the Bell Street Park Boulevard is. A lane vanishes, the sidewalk fattens 30 feet, and voila! it's fun to walk between Denny Park and the waterfront. If people actually turn out to want to get to Denny Park, this will be worth every goddamn penny. more ›

Make way for the light rail. That's what the City Council is doing after voting unanimously last night to change up the residential parking zone program (RPZ) throughout Seattle. The vote--ushered in before the light rail launch--is to help prevent parking chaos on residential side streets. The plan: the council will yank away half of the household permits, but it says neighborhoods who've been infiltrated by at least 35 percent of unwelcome parkers can still apply for residential parking restrictions. Now that the council addressed where people can't park, how about they focus on where the commuters and shoppers can park before their prized commuter rail opens without any commuters. more ›

Seattle councilwoman Jan Drago has announced today (and via Facebook) that she will be lacing up her political shoes to run for mayor. The former preschool teacher has served on the city council for 16 years and has been a reliable ally (not anymore) for Mayor Greg Nickels over the years--who is seeking his third go-at-it as mayor. Having been around the "city" block before, Drago's bid makes her a serious contender against Nickels. The other mayoral candidates vying for the top job include: environmentalist Michael McGinn, corporate headhunter Norman Sigler, 82-year-old lefty grandma Dorli Rainey, former Sonic James Donaldson and T-Mobile executive Joe Mallahan. more ›

Yesterday, Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell held a press conference to mark the start of a 30-day countdown to the transition from analog to digital television. Most local stations will cease their analog broadcasts at 9 a.m. on June 12, 2009; others will close out their analog broadcasts earlier. more ›

The city faces a $43 million budget shortfall. An unprecedented number of eyes (many of which belong to Seattle journalists and political watchdogs) are trained on the city's every budgetary move. We're just beginning what already smells like a contentious mayoral race towards elections later this year. What better time for Nickels and the city council to start meeting behind closed doors to work out the "very dull" budget-balancing process? Let media report on whatever they see fit, so the public can decide what's boring and irrelevant. That model works for hyperlocal blogs and it will work just as well for government. more ›

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