State Attorney General Nick Brown is suing Tacoma’s ICE detention center operator, alleging “unsafe, unsanitary, and inhumane conditions.” Meanwhile, the Trump administration signed a new contract with GEO Group that erodes detainee protections.
The "affordable ST3" plan still leaves $11-$13 billion in projects unfunded, as Sound Transit board members vow to look for additional revenue and cost savings. With a May 28 board vote fast approaching, the rebalancing proposal looks mostly baked at this point.
KUOW's Soundside recently did a special on Sound Transit system expansion deliberations that heavily featured Urbanist contributing editor Ryan Packer. It's a great primer on the debate about how to best close the agency's $34.5 billion budget gap. Give it a listen!
Riding the bus regularly can help officials make better policy decisions. Nondrivers Alliance wants your help to invite them to participate in the annual Week Without Driving this fall.
To unlock a novel funding source intended to fund 15% of the cost of a new pedestrian bridge, Bellevue needed five different levels of government to sign off. This week, the final vote at the King County Council put the City on the path to approval.
At a Tuesday forum, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, and Seattle Councilmember Dan Strauss pushed back hard against Sound Transit's proposal to defer Seattle light rail stations in Ballard, Interbay, and Hillman City.
With the price of a gallon of gas jumping two dollars in Washington state over the last few months, John Burbank argues it’s high time to institute a windfall profits tax on Big Oil, as they profiteer off Trump’s war in Iran with record revenue.
A proposal to close a $34.5 billion gap in the voter-approved ST3 plan is on a fast track to a Sound Transit board vote on May 28. Developed by Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, it would prioritize completing the regional rail "spine" while deferring and delaying multiple other major projects.
"It may take a few generations to solve the problem," Walsh told his colleagues, seeming to blame people hit by drivers while walking in Federal Way. His comments are far from being an outlier in the pedestrian-hostile city.
A short walk from light rail, Northgate Mall landlord Simon Property Group is about to open a "Texas Donut" – 420 apartments wrapped around a 569-stall, nine-story parking garage. Bundling parking cost into rents will disadvantage car-free tenants.