As expected, this morning a state Court of Appeals panel handed down a ruling affirming the legality of the City of Seattle’s payroll tax. The Seattle Chamber of Commerce had sued to block it, arguing that it was an illegal tax on the right of employees to work, as prohibited …
Continue readingSDOT Update on Vision Zero
Tomorrow (Tuesday), the City Council will hear an update from SDOT on the city’s Vision Zero initiative to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero by 2030. Below are the slides, including new figures on fatalities and injuries to-date in 2022. One glaring omission: there is no mention of …
Continue readingAppeals court ruling on Highway 99 tunnel liability
Last week a state appeals court handed down a ruling in its review of a jury verdict that sided with the Washington State Department of Transportation in a dispute related to the breakdown of the tunnel boring machine that was digging the Highway 99 tunnel under Seattle. WSDOT had claimed …
Continue readingKing County Auditor review of Sheriff’s Office racial disparities
This week the King County Auditor released a report detailing its analysis of racial disparities within the practices and operations within the King county Sheriff’s Office. The top-level finding of the study is that the King County Sheriff’s Office does not collect and retain the kind of data that would …
Continue readingSPD officers’ and Seattle’s request to block video livestream at Charleena Lyles inquest
As reported by Axios Seattle this morning, the two police officers involved in the shooting of Charleena Lyles in her apartment have requested that the Administrator of the inquest prohibit live-streaming video of the inquest as well as the media taking an publishing photographs of their faces during the inquest …
Continue readingSeattle City Light 2023-2028 Strategic Plan
Seattle City Light has published its proposed strategic plan for the next five years. Among the key initiatives: Strengthen and fix customer services and support; New program to help customers meet their environmental and sustainability goals; Compete for state and federal grants, including funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs …
Continue readingMayor Harrell’s first veto
This afternoon, Mayor Harrell delivered his first veto of a City Council bill, Council Bill 120325, which would require all Seattle landlords to provide information on their rentals to a research university on a recurring basis. The “research university” would almost certainly be UW, which already houses the state-funded Washington …
Continue reading2021 Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities
In April the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released early statistics on motor vehicle traffic fatalities in 2021. Nationally, 42,915 people died last year, up 10.5% from the previous year. Here in Washington, there were an estimated 652 fatalities, up 16.4% from 2020. I hope you found this article valuable. …
Continue readingWashington Supreme Court ruling: State vs. Sum
This morning the Washington State Supreme Court handed down a ruling that rewrites the rules for “Terry stops,” when a police officer interrogates a person without a warrant. At issue is the point at which an individual being interrogated by an officer becomes “seized,” i.e. they believe that they are …
Continue readingJune 2022 Washington economic forecast
Today the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released its June 2022 forecast update. Here is the top-line summary: I hope you found this article valuable. If you did, please take a moment to make a contribution to support my ongoing work. Thanks!
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