As awesome as being deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development was, Ron Sims says he's needed elsewhere: home. Initially the announcement of the former King County Executive's departure led to some conjecture about the upcoming gubernatorial election, but Sims assured the Seattle Times that it's not in the cards right now -- although he has every intention of helping democratic Washington State US Representative Jay Inslee take office in 2012. What do you think, dear readers? more ›

Ex-King County Exec. Ron Sims may have moved across the country, but he's still tweeting locally--we see he's just read Joel Connelly's piece on global warming deniers at SeattlePI.com. (No, he didn't have much success at persuading the deniers: first comment begins, "Well as usual Connelly doesn't get it.") But since Connelly's point is that scientific research bounces off the deniers, ten seconds with the comments section persuades anyone else that he does get it. If you look at the Know-Nothing crowd as a crowd, you're tempted to wonder what they know you don't. But when you look at what they do believe, there's no united front there--just an assembly of cranks who misunderstand the scientific method, and prefer to come to their own conclusions. more ›

The 16-member Blue Ribbon Committee has made the call and is sticking with their two recommendations for the interim office of King County Executive: former Seattle Mayor Charles Royer and interim County Executive and former Executive Chief of Staff Kurt Triplett (leaving former County Council members Steve Hammond and Louise Miller off their favorites). However, the King County Council has the final say on May 18, when they choose one of the four candidates to fill the seat of the newly crowned deputy secretary of HUD, Ron Sims. more ›

The U.S. Senate has confirmed King County Executive Ron Sims to become deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But not without a few player haters getting up in his face about all the football stadium drama. We expect to hear his official King County Executive resignation soon, tossing the position to a pack of political wolves to fight over. more ›

It's Presidents Day, and since the libraries are closed, students and unemployed workers are taking it to the Governor over the budget--which Rep. Ross Hunter is calling "horrific" for its deep cuts. Meanwhile Madrona is reacting to a fatal shooting there last night. We were just trying wipe last night's odd dream involving Ron Sims (!) from our consciousness, and then he shows up in the morning beaming about his political record. more ›

The reports that "sources within the local law enforcement community have said that recently set plans indicate Kerlikowske has been chosen for a federal post." The nature of that post remains unclear, though the rumor is Drug Czar. more ›

Over at Capitol Hill Seattle they're going all i-team over the Howell airgun shooting. The Rainier Valley Post has got hints to where all the Valentine hearts are hidden in Hillman City. MyBallard has the pre-opening news on Green Go Food, "fast food with a conscience." And Publicola busts new HUDster and inveterate Twitterer Ron Sims for his faulty real estate prediction. more ›

Oh, snap! It looks like the rumors were true--the Times reports that Ron Sims, current King County Executive, will indeed be heading to Washington D.C. to take a federal job as Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The position is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. We found a handy HUD organizational flowchart [pdf] showing generally where Sims' new job will fit into the hierarchy; the department's mission is "to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination," according to HUD.gov . The news means that Sims will not be running for a fourth term as King County Executive, leaving councilman Larry Phillips running for the seat as of yet unopposed. UPDATE: Sims just released his official statement on the nomination. more ›

Yesterday, King County councilman Larry Phillips officially announced his run for the King County Executive seat--an elected position currently held by Ron Sims, who may or may not be campaigning for a fourth term. Phillips accused Sims of losing focus on King County business, though the executive has issued formal statements re-affirming his dedication to local issues. Sims is rumored to be jonesing for a federal appointment within the Obama administration. 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 ›

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 ›

King County Executive Ron Sims has been discouraged by Washington state Dems leader Dwight Pelz and others from seeking yet another term in 2009. According to the scoop in the Seattle Times, "Critics have pointed to an ongoing budget crisis and management problems with the county jail and animal shelters as evidence of Sims' shortcomings." Who knows if Sims will take Pelz's advice, however; the decision might even be made for him if he gets the federal appointment from the Obama administration that people have been whispering about. more ›

Phew, what a week. We've had the two Port resignations, all the school closure hullaballoo, Noemi Lopez' killer landing in custody, and--late yesterday--a breakthrough in the viaduct arguments. To be honest, we'd like nothing more than to laugh about all of this. Enter, stage South End: Sable Verity's eminently LOL-worthy guest column on the Rainier Valley Post, in which she imagines the weekend wrap-up conversation between the governor, the mayor, the school district superintendent, and the county executive. It is hilariously spot on, and exactly the dose of intelligent humor we needed to get us through a rainy Friday. more ›

King County Exec. Ron Sims is cutting everyone's budget to try to cover the $93 million dollar county deficit, and it's starting to get ugly. This morning's showdown is between Sims and King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, who says that the budget cuts will mean her office is forced to--among other discontinuations--stop investigating property crimes under $10,000 (most car theft, for example). Dozens of troopers currently assigned to unincorporated King County will have to be contracted to specific cities, Sound Transit, and Metro, leaving already-isolated residents without needed patrol. more ›

From President-elect Obama's weekly address this morning: 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 ›

• Finally, a condo sign that got it right! Thanks, MyBallard, for making our morning...we literally laughed out loud.
• Woah, West Seattle: a gallon of gas below $3! We didn't think we'd be seeing that any time soon.
• The Rainier Valley Post and the Beacon Hill Blog want to let you know the city is hosting meetings in neighborhoods near light rail stations to discuss parking. If you live in the south end, there's likely a meeting near you in the next few weeks.

King County has eight count 'em eight amendments on the ballot this year, and it's not always easy to tell what they are going on about. We've fielded a few emails from people who wondered what we thought, and we offer you the fruits of that conversation. A caveat: we didn't overthink these. If there wasn't a compelling reason to be fer it, we were agin it. more ›

The Seattle Times reports that a whopping 400 county government jobs will be cut in King County Executive Ron Sims' 2009 budget. The cuts are part of Sim's plan to reduce county expenditures by $93 million for the next year, a significant belt-tightening. Sims did say that he's trying to delay budget cuts in health and human services, but still....400 jobs gone translates to a lot of men and women who will be looking for work soon. Anyone hiring? more ›

• MyBallard clears up the confusion about when it is actually okay to drive in 15th's bus lane.
• PhinneyWood has photos to show what happens when a car gets t-boned by a metro bus, careens into a parked car, and sends the once-parked car crashing on to a Phinney Ridge porch.
• Ron Sims twitters about what good shape Dan Savage is in, the P-I's Big Blog reports it, and now we're linking to the P-I. We really are all connected.

• White Center Now reports that King County Executive Ron Sims has proposed two staggered fare increases for Metro buses on his blog. In other news--Ron Sims writes a blog?!
• Yesterday's late afternoon thunder and lightning struck a little too close to home for a West Seattle Blog reader. A cedar tree in their neighbor's back yard was split in two by a lightning strike, sending cedar chips flying everywhere.
• PhinneyWood wants to let you know that, if you've had trouble with getting a green building permit, there's a meeting scheduled just for you this Wednesday at the Phinney Neighborhood Association.

Not only will you be voting for a new president in November (finally!), but a few new measures have been added to the local ballot. more ›

Even folks who don't drive are being affected by the rising cost of fuel. Plane and train tickets prices have been raised recently to cover the increased cost of gas and, as we noted last month, it was only a matter of time before we'd be adding Seattle Metro buses and Access vans to that list. more ›

Seattlest is grateful for our bus pass and our Zipcar membership. Paying more than $4 a gallon just doesn't sound enticing for us, but we're not surprised when we hear about rate increases and other ancillary fees (like having to pay for our baggage when we fly) being passed onto us for using public transportation. more ›

Over the past year and a half or so of Hillary Clinton's hugely historic run for the presidency, we've been thoroughly impressed with the legacy she's left as the first of her kind. She's undoubtedly owned every single debate—except for that one where Edwards came alive for a minute and sounded like a real person who had more going for him than being the son of a mill worker. She made sure health care mattered to whomever takes over the country. She got the country talking about feminism again, got men and women alike uncomfortable about whether or not it's okay to treat women a certain way. She presented an impressive economic plan, overcame pretty much every controversy surrounding her, and ignored the ones that were ridiculous or irrelevant (i.e. claims that Clinton's a racist, talk about her cleavage). more ›

Wednesday morning, Route 301 from Shoreline to downtown Seattle. Waiting patiently, sweating profusely, standing on an over-crowded bus yet again. more ›

Unlike Kevin Henry, Congressman Brian Baird, of Washington's third district, has endorsed Barack Obama. He joins Congressman Adam Smith, Governor Gregoire, and Pearl Jam as state leaders on Obama's side. more ›

As our friend who sent us the info announced this news, so shall we: more ›

This Seattlest will be heading to a private party tonight, where we will celebrate among our favorite people the fact that Super Tuesday is FINALLY here. But, if you're looking for somewhere more out-on-the-town to get your drink on and watch the returns trickle in, and pancakes aren't your bag, here's the guide for you. Most of these events start at 5pm, and they're all free. Go America! more ›

One week from today, Seattlest is looking forward to heading over to Mt. Zion Baptist Church in our "Just Vote for the Bitch" t-shirt to be the lone Capitol Hill caucuser for Hillary Clinton. More on that later. more ›