Week in Review: Seattle budget, Tribal community relocation, and Starbucks

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with freelance journalist Joanne Silberner, Seattle Times Jonathan Martin and freelance journalist Monica Nickelsburg.

On Tuesday, the Seattle City Council approved a plan to use extra money from the Jumpstart Tax to make up for budget shortfalls. The JumpStart tax was designed to benefit affordable housing and Green New Deal programs. The legislation will allow for up to $29.4 million to be designated to the General Fund. Who are the winners and losers?

The Biden administration is allocating $75 million dollars to relocate three Tribal communities in Washington and Alaska that are being heavily impacted by climate change to higher ground. The Quinault Indian Nation, located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington is one of the three communities being relocated, and will receive $25 million to fund the relocation. How were the tribes chosen?

The first Starbucks in Seattle to unionize will be closing on December 9th. Some employees have said that this is a union-bustic tactic. How do you prove “union-busting?”

A surge in respiratory illnesses, including flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) has had a significant impact on children recently. The emergency room at Seattle Children’s has seen a spike in cases. This is combined with an early flu season and concerns about COVID this winter. Why are emergency rooms filled again?

On Wednesday, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a stay that would allow for the 7% tax collection on capital gains. This allows the state to collect the tax on the sale of assets like stocks and bonds, where profits were more than $250,000. The Court is about two months away from hearing a challenge to the constitutionality of the tax. Why will we start assessing and collecting it before it’s been upheld?

On Wednesday, attorneys delivered opening statements in the trial of Pierce County Sherriff Ed Troyer. Troyer is charged with two misdemeanors for false reporting and making false statements, stemming from his off-duty encounter with a Black newspaper carrier, Sedrick Altheimer. Troyer is accused of lying to a 911 dispatcher reporting that the newspaper carrier threatened to kill him. What do we need to know about this case?

The Seattle Times, in partnership with ProPublica, uncovered years of reports of abuse and lax academics at a network of private schools designed to help vulnerable students that public schools can’t serve. Washington state signed off on the annual renewal of the schools despite the complaints. What other information do we need to know?

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Park Service are exploring how to reintroduce grizzly bears into the North Cascades. The last sighting of a grizzly in the North Cascades was 1996. What are the pros and cons to this?