Normally, board appointments aren't exactly a topic of public frenzy. But after Seattle's recent rash of police brutality peaking at the death of John T. Williams, followed by a period of extreme unrest between the Seattle Police Department and the citizenry about oversight, board appointments to the Office of Professional Accountability's police review board become key. more ›

The City now mandates that employers give their workers paid sick leave! Most seem pretty excited, but a few are still skeptical. Is mandatory sick leave a boon for Seattle's workforce and necessary to our public health, or another burden on business owners already strained by a damaged economy? more ›

Soon, SPD officers may not ride horses, because money. The Seattle City Council is even turning down money from the Seattle Police Foundation to preserve the program. But is this maybe for the best? You tell us! more ›

Trips to Chicago get a little easier, the Mayor's new nightlife initiative gains a major backer, legislation intended to encourage street food vendors is irking Pike Place Market, and councilmember Tim Burgess comes out swinging against a local alt-weekly. Guess which one? 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 ›

Do-gooder and crime-hater City Councilman Tim Burgess blogged a warning to wage-pilfering employers today: what you're doing is illegal, and we're going to get you. more ›

The Mayor and the Executive get all kinds of friendly, as they agree to share the jail. Aww. more ›

A longshot? On Friday afternoon, you'll recall, freshman Councilman Tim Burgess took himself out of the running to challenge Greg Nickels. Savage, whose current position is editorial director of The Stranger, posted an excerpt from the email Burgess sent to his constituents (the same excerpt published on Seattlest, in fact), with a one-word comment: "Coward," and the observation, "I may have to run." No fewer than 72 comments on that post so far, almost all saying, "Yeah, Dan, do it." Now, if Licata or Steinbrueck get in the race, that's another story. But if it's Savage, as one commenter writes, "I think that the combined resources of every single left of center blog will more than outweigh whatever Nickels has in his coffer. Do it, Dan." more ›

Ooohhhhh...what a sickening feeling to get this kind of note. Just when we thought everything was going so well with Tim. We were really thinking about maybe moving the relationship forward. more ›

As was noted after we reported on one parade's cancellation due to low turn-out, it looks like everyone headed over to the MLK Jr. rally at Garfield High School instead of going downtown--Central District News has photos to prove it. Via Rainier Valley Post's new Classifieds section, we found a link to Fresh-Picked-Seattle's list of food-related ways to volunteer on the Day of Service. The B-Town Blog re-posts a thoughtful Obama-themed MLK Jr. essay written just before the election. Most blogs were focused on tomorrow's presidential inauguration, and some--including the Big Blog and Tim Burgess' City View, were reporting from the very crowded ground in D.C. more ›

• Sable Verity wishes us all a Happy Thanksgiving, unless of course we get shot and killed before the holiday, which is becoming all too common in Seattle these days. The blog notes that this weekend, 11 people were shot in five separate incidents and one man was stabbed--all within a 36-hour time period.
• Seems like everyone in local politics has a blog these days, including Seattle City Council member Tim Burgess. Yesterday Councilmen Burgess talked about the city budget and youth violence in Seattle, a topic that desperately needs to be addressed, preferably last Friday before 11 people were shot in 36 hours.
• The Rainier Valley Post covered one of this weekend's shootings, which left two teenagers wounded. The shooting, which took place at Rainier Avenue South and South Cloverdale, is believed to be connected to the deadly weekend shooting at Southcenter Mall.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels either loves condos or he hates renters. The Mayor's Office has indefinitely frozen a $350,000 fund created to compensate Seattle area renters who'd been forced out of housing due to condo-conversions. Mayor Nickels wants to wait and see if the legislature passes a statewide bail-out funded by developers this winter. Because it makes perfect sense to rely on the people who are profiting most off of Seattle renter's misery. more ›

Two, our city council is old -- like, they were excited about seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show old. What is the average age, retirement? Sally Clark is alert and at full speed, but one person can't do it alone. McIver's up there "resting his eyes" throughout. These are the people in charge of guiding Seattle's future? Seriously, there has to be some generational groupthink at work. Given the UW population, representative local government ought to include someone in their 20s. It's not like the council is allowed to do anything -- everything important is handled by the Mayor's Office -- so what's the harm? more ›

When we sat down to do our endorsements we reached a disturbing conclusion. We cannot, in good conscience, vote for anyone. more ›

City Council candidate Venus Velazquez was charged with a DUI the other night, which is odd because Bruce Harell was the athlete [slide-whistle], and with that we start our Seattlest General Election Civic Election Coverage 2007. more ›

We’re only going to be in our twenties for the next three weeks, so lately we’ve been trying to feel younger--and there is no better place to accomplish this than at a local district Democrat meeting. Once again we were one of the youngest people in the room. We love you sweet, sweet democracy. more ›