Seattle

Washington lawmakers are considering a bill that would limit annual rent increases to 7% for many rental properties around the state.

Who could have foreseen that delivery drivers wouldn't actually get paid $26.40 an hour?

Got a pack of C. Crisps from Costco two weeks ago, and they were awful. Little flavor, mealy texture. They looked beautiful, but that had zero crunch, and really bland flavor.

Figured it was a bad batch and bought another dozen from Fred Meyer. Same thing.

Is something going on in the world of apples? I get they’re not in season, but this seems extreme.

In a recent column about riding the empty ghost trams of Seattle’s streetcar, I noted that the one in South Lake Union is costing taxpayers more than $20 per ride. I cracked: “It would have been cheaper for the city to pay for me to hire an Uber.”

One reader responded: “I’m fairly sure you were joking about the city hiring you an Uber … guess what, that’s exactly what they’re doing here in Bellevue! You should venture over to the smart side of the lake to check it out.”

It turns out it’s true. It’s not Uber specifically, but six months ago, Bellevue debuted its own downtown circulator transit service — sort of its own version of a streetcar. Only theirs is without the tracks, the trains or really any startup infrastructure expense at all.

The survey of 1,000 Seattle voters, conducted by EMC Research in December, polled respondents on a hypothetical renewal measure for Move Seattle, a nine-year $930 million levy which funds about 30% of SDOT’s budget and expires at the end of the year. Pollsters asked about a $1.2 billion version, essentially the same amount as Move Seattle adjusted for monetary inflation, and a larger $1.7 billion package that includes more projects. While support did drop in the larger version, it was still comfortably above water, with a margin of 56% support to 43% opposition.

In a vote that Councilmember Tammy Morales called a “foregone conclusion,” the city council appointed Tanya Woo to fill the vacant Position 8 council seat on Tuesday. Woo—a Chinatown-International District activist who recently led a successful campaign to stop the expansion of a Salvation Army shelter in SoDo—lost to District 2 (Southeast Seattle) incumbent Tammy Morales in November; now, she’ll represent the entire city.

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Washington state has asked a judge to block a proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons, arguing the $25 billion deal would harm consumers and raise prices.