Your ballot is due in less than a week. And if you haven't already filled it out, let me tell you that you're in for a sort of bumpy ride. There are a couple non-candidate matters (propositions, initiatives), all of which could greatly impact our region. It's a lot to ask. more ›

Every seven years since 1990, Seattle voters have approved a temporary tax hike to pay for education programs. With the levy's 2004 incarnation expiring with the new year, it should shock no one to find Proposition 1 on their ballot, which would raise around $231 million from property taxes over the next 7 years for City programs serving schools and families with children. It's not quite as simple as Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan, so bear with us. more ›

Proposition 1 renews the already-existing, but expiring, Veterans and Human Services Levy. Do you like it when veterans' affairs programs are funded, at-risk families receive much-needed services, and homeless shelters get some much-needed cash? Then you should probably approve it. more ›

Big tunnel drama, bike theft, a standoff in Enumclaw, and gearing up for elections. Oh, and Bill Nye the Science Guy explains the finer points of the moon to a Fox News anchor, as a bonus. more ›

We love the bus. We ride it whenever we can. We try to convince our friends, family, and neighbors to ride the bus. We even offered favors to our girlfriend if she would start riding the 41 from her Northgate crib to her downtown office. (She declined; we broke up. Draw your own conclusions.) more ›

Thank you all for participating in our Seattlest Vote 2008 Polls over the last week! Though the polls were informal, they still give us a fairly good reading on how the Seattlest community will be voting today. more ›

City of Seattle Proposition 1: Seattle Prop. 1 would enact a six-year levy to raise money to do some much-needed safety maintenance on the Pike Place Market. Pretty much everyone in town supports the levy. With uncharacteristically weird grammar, the Times says, "It's not fun or fancy improvements, but you have to do it." more ›

The Seattle Times says Sound Transit Proposition 1 "retards our economy" and "hurts the poor" by boosting Washington's sales tax to 9.5%, an unconscionable hike when "most people don't want to get out of their cars." The Stranger says Prop. 1 is a great idea, and "If you think $69 is a lot to spend on transit in tough economic times, think about what you've been paying for gas lately." King County Exec Ron Sims is opposed and would prefer that we wait until 2010. But what do you think? Yea or nay to Sound Transit Proposition 1? (More info about Prop. 1 here.) This poll closes at noon tomorrow, and as always, comments are more than welcome. more ›

Mayor Greg Nickels will be voting no on Proposition 2, the parks levy that would raise something like $145 million over the next several years to improve city parks. According to the P-I, the Mayor thinks it would be nice to see property taxes decrease for once--and the parks improvement plan isn't that superlative, anyway. Unsurprisingly, the Seattle Parks Foundation disagrees, calling the parks levy a grassroots movement (haha, grass, get it? Like the grass they would maybe plant in a park with some of that $145 mil), strongly supported by "many people." more ›

In a SurveyUSA poll conducted for KING-TV, 49 percent of likely voters in the Sound Transit district say they are voting yes on Proposition 1--and if the undecideds are asked to decide, the number voting for Prop. 1 grows to a landslide-y 65 percent. People really want those extra 100,000 express bus hours, the expansion of Sounder Commuter Rail, and 36 miles of new light rail. more ›