Civics and Culture

Mayor Bruce Harrell has proposed a 0.1% sales tax hike for public safety investments, including doubling the size of the civilian CARE department. However, CARE’s future rests on cooperation from the Seattle Police Officers Guild, which has sought to limit the fledgling agency in the past.

Last week, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the City’s new AI Plan, which looks to harness the current artificial intelligence boom in the tech sector by integrating AI into the City’s operations, public services, and civic engagement. But critics worry about the ethical implications of AI use in public services, as well as its potential impacts on workers and environmental harms.

Kroger blames theft for four local grocery store closures, but the real story is more complicated. Kroger seeks to squeeze out more profit by driving up food insecurity. Standing up public or nonprofit alternatives and pressuring Kroger to be a better corporate citizen offer potential solutions going forward.

Last week, the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) celebrated the grand opening of its new Downtown Behavioral Health Clinic. Included onsite is its Opioid Recovery & Care Access (ORCA) Center, which will provide a safe landing place for people to recover after an overdose. 

Runners are competing in a 36-mile “Light Rail Relay” race on September 27. It's a low-cost, transit-friendly way to compete in a cross-country race tracking the path of 1 Line Link service.

Last week, Mayor Bruce Harrell cleared a hurdle standing in the way of King County's plan to build a crisis care center in Seattle, as he issued a letter of conditional support, outlining an acceptable launch plan from his perspective. The County now must work to meet his terms to open the Capitol Hill facility on time in 2027.

The new Fourth Avenue bike lane extension is set to provide direct access to Seattle Center's front door, connecting the campus's fan zone to the rest of downtown. It's an outlier as a permanent infrastructure upgrade being built to accommodate FIFA.

It is vital that Seattleites vote yes on Proposition 1 in the August 5 primary to renew the democracy voucher program for another 10 years. Here's Jazmine Smith's case for why.