By Erica C. Barnett| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett D’Vonne Pickett, the owner of The Postman mailing and shipping store and in the Central District,… The post “It Was Cold”: Mothers Who Lost Children to Gun Violence Say Harrell Ignored Their Pleas for Help appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
1. Your sales taxes are going up next year, thanks to a vote by the City Council Tuesday that approved… The post Council Takes Up Harrell’s “Inherently Unsustainable” Budget; New Spending Includes $800,000 in Speculative AI Spending appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett This week’s special guest on Seattle Nice, Purpose Dignity Action’s Director of Outreach and Special Initiatives… The post Seattle Nice: CoLEAD Brings a New Approach to 12th and Jackson appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Last week, the Seattle Police Department announced it had completed a successful “Organized Retail Theft Operation”… The post Seattle Spent Thousands on “Organized Retail Theft” Operation at Marshall’s, Arresting Five and Recovering $400 in Merchandise appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett As readers may know, I’ve spent much of the last month attending Seattle mayoral debates and… The post Harrell Says King County Public Health is “Failing Us,” Talks Tough on Trump, and Muses About an AI Wall Where You Can Ask MLK What He Had for Breakfast appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
Controversial cop promoted, then demoted, by new police chief, Harrell says he has a plan for addressing food deserts and… The post This Week on PubliCola: October 11, 2025 appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Since the city reinstated an old law allowing judges to banish people from certain areas if… The post Banishment Orders and Mandatory Addiction Assessments Haven’t Helped Drug Users, Court Records Show appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Two days after PubliCola exclusively reported that Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes had promoted controversial police… The post Reversing Decision, SPD Removes Controversial Captain Tietjen from East Precinct appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
1. Mayor Bruce Harrell signed two executive orders on Wednesday that he said would “ensure that our city is prepared… The post Harrell Says SPD Will Stand Strong Against Federal Invasion; SPD Promotes Former Deputy Chief Who Said Aurora Sex Workers “Enjoy It” appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Claudia Balducci It’s no secret that our region needed high-capacity transit yesterday — or better yet, four decades ago.… The post Three Key Questions to Save Our Light Rail Future appeared first on PubliCola.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The King County Council voted late Tuesday afternoon to approve a motion stating they have “no…| PubliCola
“The scariest message was one where I said, “LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!” and he responded, “NEVER.'” By Erica C. Barnett UPDATE:…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett City Attorney Ann Davison, who unilaterally ended the city’s therapeutic community court two years ago, announced…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett City Attorney Ann Davison informed the Seattle Municipal Court today that the city of Seattle will…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Two days after PubliCola exclusively reported that Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes had promoted controversial police…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct, located at 12th Ave. and East Pine St. in the…| PubliCola
1. In a last-minute endorsement (of sorts), Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison sent out a mass email on Saturday urging voters to support the city council candidates who have consistently supported legislation—which will almost certainly pass later this summer—that would empower her to prosecute drug users for simple possession and for using drugs, other than alcohol and marijuana, in public. The law would incorporate a new state law into city law, granting the city attorney the authortiy ...| PubliCola
Members of the Burien City Council listen to testimony about an encampment just outside City Hall at a meeting in March.By Erica C. Barnett| PubliCola
By Paul Kiefer A long-awaited announcement by Interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz outlining a plan to phase out low-level…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett On Tuesday, PubliCola exclusively reported (via Bluesky) that the anti-LGBTQ organizers of the August 30 “Revive…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett This post has been updated to include more information about SDOT’s pothole budget. Several recently elected…| PubliCola
Google image of the site before demolition; the “million dollar house” is the white house in foreground, with the closest tree to the property visible on the right.1. More than 400 people have signed a Change.org petition imploring the city to “Save Three Sisters Park in Ballard,” which the petition page describes as “a trio of trees that must be over 100 years old” that, the petition claims, are now threatened by development.| PubliCola
By Ron Davis Mayor Bruce Harrell just released a 20-year plan to give up on the housing crisis. With its…| PubliCola
1. City employees who were told earlier this year that they wouldn’t receive pay for retroactive wage increases until October—a delay some workers described as a “zero-interest loan” to the city—learned this week that their wait will be shorter, with payments coming in July.| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett At the end of a grueling, sometimes tearful three-and-a-half-hour meeting Monday night, the Burien city council…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett On Friday, the last few people who have been living in tents outside Burien’s city hall…| PubliCola
by Josh Feit I have repeatedly argued in this column—and long before— that liberalizing our land use code is the…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Councilmember Cathy Moore came out swinging against the extremely modest, geographically limited density increases Mayor Bruce…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The city council’s comprehensive plan committee, chaired by Joy Hollingsworth, spent much of its two-hour meeting…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Our special on the Seattle Nice podcast this week was new Seattle City Council appointee…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett On Friday, January 31, two reporters from the Stranger, Hannah Krieg and Ashley Nerbovig, resigned their…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett With surprisingly little discussion, the Burien City Council passed a new law on Monday night criminalizing…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The six men selected by the Seattle City Council as finalists for the District 2 city…| PubliCola
By Josh Feit Before I get to last week’s quiet yet encouraging news out of Olympia—House Democrats removed single family…| PubliCola
PubliCola columnist Josh Feit and PubliCola’s hoary original publisher (and Seattle Nice contrarian) Sandeep Kaushik are joining Erica here to…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness and three homeless Burien residents, represented by the Northwest Justice…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The Burien City Council capped off 2023 by holding an executive session last Monday to discuss…| PubliCola
by Josh Feit Urbanists, YIMBYs, and transit advocates are understandably excited about the pro-housing legislation that state senate transportation committee…| PubliCola
By Josh Feit No, you’re not reading the headline incorrectly. If it wasn’t for state Rep. Bateman (D-22, Olympia), who…| PubliCola
By Ryan Packer House Bill 1110, which allows new multifamily housing near transit stops, will impact residential neighborhoods in cities…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett In an unusual move, King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall announced Monday that her office is…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett For months now, the city of Burien has been locked in a stalemate over how to…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Mayor Bruce Harrell finally released a draft Comprehensive Plan for the next 20 years this week,…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Last August, Seattle’s Department of Planning and Community Development produced a draft update to the city’s…| PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett The Burien City Council voted Monday night to ban unsheltered people from sleeping in public spaces…| PubliCola
