A pair of bills advancing this week at the state legislature would finally allow Sound Transit to rise above the local permitting fray in several key areas. The reforms could save as much as nine months on key transit projects, according to the agency.

Mayor Katie Wilson is promoting inspections director Sam Steele to interim director of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections, she announced Tuesday. Steele has pledged to streamline processes to make it easier to build housing and emergency shelter.

Panelists at a recent Tacoma On the Go event laid out ways that the Grit City could break car dependence and become a city of walkable 15-minute neighborhoods.

Intended to reduce barriers that are preventing lower-density commercial buildings from getting redeveloped into housing, Senate Bill 6026 would target mandates for storefronts in new housing projects. After concerns were raised around impacts on neighborhood vibrancy, the proposal was scaled back ahead of its first committee vote.

Amazon and Microsoft benefit handsomely from a tax loophole in the Workforce Education Investment Act. State lawmakers can end this tax giveaway to boost higher education funding. These tech giants donate millions to curry favor with the Trump administration and garner contracts in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Revive I-5 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce car dependency and encourage transit, walking, rolling, and biking, but the Seattle region is letting it slip between its fingers. It's not too late to fix that, opines Kadie Bell Sata.

Elected officials in Washington state are being forced to prepare for the possibility of a similar ICE invasion as Minneapolis has endured. Immigrant and civil rights advocates are worried steps to prepare have been insufficient. Officials say they are prepping further actions.

Zoning maps for 30 new neighborhood growth centers, a handful of urban center expansions, and narrow transit corridor rezones dropped on Thursday. With the patchy current vision driven by the Harrell administration, new Mayor Katie Wilson has pledged to come back and expand the plan once a supplemental environmental study is completed.