Earlier this year, the City of Seattle warned parking scofflaws: if you've got unpaid parking tickets downtown, you're not going anywhere. And apparently, the citizens listened, because the City has raked in over a million dollars, according to yesterday's report in front of a City committee yesterday. more ›

If good things come in threes, we can't wait to see what's in store next for Capitol Hill Housing. They've just been awarded $2 million from the Washington State Housing Trust Fund, and now they've got a nearly $8 million dollar commitmment from Mayor McGinn's Office of Housing. more ›

Today, City Council heard public statements regarding a resolution proposed by Occupy supporter Nick Licata, which addresses the concerns of the Occupy Wall Street/Occupy Seattle movement. Many from the Occupy camp came to deliver educated, well-researched testimony. It was nice to see, and was met with a big reward: the unanimous passage of a new, pro-Occupy resolution that would encourage the City of Seattle to re-examine its banking practices and its efforts toward economic justice. more ›

What's better than your name in lights? The name you came up with on a tiny neighborhood park. The city needs you! more ›

All day today, Mayor Mike McGinn has been speaking to the people, preparing them for his giant, deficit-defying (kind of) budget. And for the most part, it's not looking that bad. more ›

As Governor Gregoire prepares for an emergency special session in November to help close (or at least address) the billion dollar budget gap, the Mayor Mike McGiin, too, will be facing the reality of too many expenses, and too little money. Because, despite the cheerful forecasts and declarations that the recession is over, the fact is, everyone's still broke. Today, we'll find out exactly how broke the city is, when McGinn presents his 2012 budget plan. more ›

The City of Seattle is very concerned about what's lurking in your basement. more ›

Sidewalk seating may be the bane of dog-walkers and jerks who ride their bikes on the sidewalk, but if there's one thing that drunk Seattleites love, it's getting to sit outside. And during those precious 2 weeks each year when that's not a rain-soaked impossibility, the few patios around town tend to reach maximum capacity right quick. more ›

Don't be a horrible person. Watch these nifty candidate videos, read up on the issues, and cast your damn ballot! more ›

A suit has been filed against the City of Seattle and two SPD officers, alleging that police used excessive force in a 2009 case where a woman's face was slammed into the pavement. more ›

Like kids on Christmas, we waited for Mayor McGinn to make the announcement we've been hoping to hear since he was elected. more ›

A family of ducks becomes a nightmare for commuters, medical marijuana dispensaries creep closer to regulation, a 12-year-old gets a six-month slap on the wrist and the City gets a little greener. more ›

The time is drawing near--soon, your unpaid parking tickets could get you booted and towed. Fork over the money now, and you could save a lot in the long run. more ›

The Seattle City Council's site got a makeover, and we're big fans. more ›

Today, we learned how much people truly despise the phone book. But Dex is determined to make sure it ends up on your porch. Why? Because, they say, it's protected. And really, we'll take any excuse to use a clip from The Jerk. more ›

No use for the yellow pages? Stop them before they show up on your porch with the City's opt-out system. more ›

Cash Rules (mostly) Everything Around Me in today's headlines, with budget cuts, surprise revenue, and business closures dominating the news. Plus some drug theft for good measure. Cheers! more ›

So we were excited to see that the city is trying out a solution for sidewalk-ruining roots, at least. They're using something called Silva Cells as they plant some red oak trees in front of the Escala downtown. We asked Shane DeWald, landscape architect for SDOT how it works. more ›

How many City of Seattle dollars will it take to screw in 40,000 light bulbs--LED, to be exact? Only about $6 million. The city will use some of its federal stimulus money to begin replacing the city's incandescent streetlights for the long-lasting, cost-saving, and eco-friendly LED streetlights. Folks in Capitol Hill have already begun seeing street life post-LED lights, and from the sounds of it, life is good. However, not every neighborhood will be as lucky as Capitol Hill. The City of Seattle estimates the full switch-a-roo will take four to six years. Guess that's one way to keep the stimulus money lasting longer. more ›

The bored tunnel option just got a big wet kiss from the Senate, though its House reception will not be so warm. Still, the clock's ticking and WSDOT, King County, and the City of Seattle are inviting you on a free short walking tour of the viaduct on Saturday, March 21, while the structure is closed to traffic for an inspection. more ›

During that vaguely hellish snowstorm right before Christmas, the City of Seattle may or may not have missed garbage pickup a few times at your house. You will recall a certain stench. If they missed your house two times or more during those weeks, the city has announced they will be sending you a check for $5 to make up for it! Man, $5. That's a whole two meals at Dick's, Seattle. Of course, $5 can also buy you a neighborhood kid willing to clean out the insides of your putrid, slimy garbage can. It's your call what you'll do with this unexpected bounty. more ›

• Looks like the Rainier Valley Post has classifieds, now. We love seeing all the ways neighborhood blogs are connecting people to those around them, and introducing classifieds as a way of communicating about local resources is kind of brilliant in a year when jobs promise to be scarce and money scarcer.
• Seattlest MvB and CHSer JSeattle collaborated last night to bring you breaking (hah!) news about a fallen branch on a 15th Avenue power line. Photo included, for which we hear MvB sold the rights at $3, down from an initial bargaining price of $10,000.Capitol Hill wasn't the only neighborhood having problems with power. West Seattle Blog reports an overnight storm-related power outage about seven hours long at their HQ. Good thing they had stockpiled MacBook batteries!
• Irate commenters will be glad to hear that the City of Seattle jumped to use salt on the city's streets during the snowstorm last night. Seattle 911 has the details.

Sounds like the city is listening, after all. At a press conference this afternoon, Nickels announced changes to the official no-salt policy: in some, limited circumstances, salt will be used on the streets of Seattle to make life easier in the snow. We thought this day would never come. In addition, the city is looking into giving rebates to residents whose trash pick-up was skipped two weeks in a row. When more information is available, we'll post it! more ›

Snow-crusted trash bins are overflowing all over Seattle, thanks to missed garbage collections last week. Garbage pick-up should resume today; if you're unwilling to wait your turn or for some reason the trucks skip your house over the next five days, the City of Seattle would like you to know that you can drop off trash yourself for free at the nearest Recycling and Disposal station until January 1st. The two stations located in Seattle proper are in Wallingford, on North 34th Street and in SoDo, on 5th Avenue South. more ›

Try explaining to your intellectually savvy, but economically challenged 6-year-old that Santa, who lives at the presumably snowier-than-here North Pole, might not make it to your house until Saturday or Sunday at the earliest due to a few inches of new snow. more ›

Editor Emeritus Seth Kolloen demanded the mic to make a few statements following the snowbomb-throwing anarchy of Jeremy, Ronald, and Brad this morning. We're sick of putting up snow photos, so we said sure. That's how easy it is to guest editorialize on Seattlest. Try it some time. more ›

The 1, which normally goes up the gentle slope of 10th West, isn't going up the hill at all. Forget about the 3 and 4, which take the eastern flank, up Taylor. And don't even think about the 2 and 13, which take the Counterbalance. Queen Anne, if you live there, is a tight little island. Nice, but not all the people who own QA bars and restaurants and cafés live on the hill; they can't afford it. Even if they can, their staff can't. So you might be able to get a beer at Paragon or a coffee at Starbucks, but don't count on lasagna at Sorrentino's. Thanks for nothing, Metro. more ›

On the first Wednesday of every month at high noon, our home is rattled by a screaming bullhorn miles away telling us that if Mount Rainier should ever blow, these same disembodied voices will totally have us covered. It is part of the County's elaborate "Lahar Warning System." In addition to a network of louder-than-Metallica audiotronics, the County also has page after page online addressing the symptoms, effects and remedies to all things lahar. For a lahar. A once-in-10,000-year event. more ›

We've said it before and we'll say it again: the mayor's proposal to ban guns on public property is an ill-founded idea. Attorney General McKenna has said Nickels doesn't have the legal authority to follow through on this plan, but so far all the opposition seems to have barely registered with the man and the ban is barrelling full steam ahead. That is, unless enough people make it clear that there are better ways to combat gun violence. Tonight is your chance to speak up in public on how you feel about the gun ban, as City Hall is hosting an official City of Seattle hearing on the subject at 6:30 p.m. No word on whether Mayor Nickels will be there to sign autographs (sorry!). more ›

West Seattle Blog is tweeting from the King County Courthouse, bringing the latest on the viaduct situation from a City of Seattle press conference. According to her, the two options now presented are a surface/transit hybrid and an elevated bypass hybrid. more ›