Five years after pandemic suspension, Metro restarting fare enforcement

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Five years later, King County Metro is ready to enforce payment by its riders again.

Beginning March 31st, drivers and Fare Enforcement Officers will again require riders to pay for their trips.

It is a soft re-start. “Friendly, verbal reminders will be given to riders who did not pay,” Metro says.

The change comes five years to the month of the start of the pandemic when Metro put fare enforcement on hold in the first weeks of the COVID-19 crisis. A week later, Metro suspended fares completely as it cut routes and watched ridership plummet. By that October, fares were reinstated but fare enforcement remained on hold.

The mothballing of enforcement coincided with ongoing efforts to address inequity in fare enforcement as Metro and the King County Sheriff’s Office were directed to develop alternative approaches.

The restarted enforcement will be fully in place beginning May 31st: Continue reading →

$42M surplus one year, $47M shortfall the next — Seattle’s jumpy JumpStart payroll tax causing budget headaches

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Facing inflation and rising wages as they sorted out 2025 spending plans in the face of a possible $260 million budget deficit, Seattle leaders avoided more serious cutbacks by leaning heavily on a tax that was originally put in place to help the city pay for services and affordable housing at it recovered from the pandemic — the JumpStart payroll tax on its largest employers.

Now the city’s Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts says its latest tallies show the JumpStart source of revenue, after years of growth and better than expected totals, is not as stable as Mayor Bruce Harrell and the Seattle City Council hoped and has fallen tens of millions of dollars short.

According to the city, JumpStart revenues fell 11.5% below forecast, coming in at $360 million in 2024 — $46.8 million less than anticipated.

Here is how the OERF reports (PDF) the JumpStart math for 2024 worked out: Continue reading →

With sibling Agua Verde, the food and drink family that saved HoneyHole making plans for Cantina Del Sol on E Pine

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The bar at Agua Verde (Image: Pike Street Restaurant Group)

 

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(Image: Mercado Luna)

The food and drink business family behind E Pike rum bar Rumba, its post-Tiki sibling Inside Passage and the revival of Capitol Hill sandwich bar favorite HoneyHole is working on plans to make a new investment in the neighborhood.

Early paperwork reveals plans for a new Cantina Del Sol to open in the sprawling multi-level E Pine complex where Mezcaleria Oaxaca shuttered last September.

The project would be the latest on Capitol Hill and in the city for the Pike Street Hospitality Group, the family of food and drink businesses shaped by Travis Rosenthal whose 2006 purchase of classic Capitol Hill date spot Tango with his wife Carrie Rosenthal was the start of building a small empire in Seattle food and drink. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council passes ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance

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The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday hoped to strengthen Seattle as a “Welcoming City” and, officials say, a protective place for its 2SLGBTQIA+ — Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual — residents.

Council President Sara Nelson praised the legislation her office says will strengthen protections “from harmful federal actions, specifically for people seeking reproductive health care and gender-affirming treatment.” Continue reading →

With Sound Transit CEO vote Thursday, Constantine to deliver final ‘State of the County’ address

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Constantine after cutting the ribbon to open Capitol Hill Station in 2016

King County Executive Dow Constantine will deliver his final State of the County address Wednesday as he prepares to take a new job — leading Sound Transit.

Constantine has led the county since 2009 through years of unprecedented economic and population growth. Constantine also led King County as it struggled with the pandemic and the unrest of the Black Lives Matter movement. He announced late last year he would not seek reelection but pledged to continue “critical work of transit and transportation, climate action, behavioral health, affordable housing, arts and culture.”

King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, with a growing roster of key endorsements, has been seen as the favorite in the race to replace him.

Constantine, who serves as chair of the Sound Transit board, has been tabbed as the next CEO to lead the $3.1 billion public transit agency. Continue reading →

SPD locks down schools during search for teens who made MLK Grocery Outlet gun threat

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Police locked down the area searching for a group of teens after a hold-up at the MLK Grocery Outlet Tuesday afternoon.

Police say they were called to the MLK at Union grocery around 12:30 PM to a report of three teens who attempted to steal around $50 worth of items but were stopped by employees. Police say store security engaged in a “brief struggle” and recovered the stolen items before the teens threatened that they had a firearm and were able to flee the store.

SPD says a K-9 team conducted a track of the suspects, “leading back to the entrance of Garfield High School where the track ended.” Continue reading →

Rare ‘severe thunderstorm’ warning part of unusual Seattle spring forecast — UPDATE

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(Image: National Weather Service)

The weird weather in Seattle this week is about to get even weirder. National Weather Service forecasters say be ready for possible severe thunderstorms with wind and hail by Wednesday night around the Puget Sound.

“We have an unusual risk of severe thunderstorms Wednesday, primarily in the late afternoon through the evening,” the NWS alert reads. “The primary hazards we are concerned about are: ⛈️ Hail in excess of 1″ diameter 🍃 Wind gusts in excess of 58mph 🌪️ Possible isolated tornado.” Continue reading →

The Capitol Hill Department of Transportation? Rogue stop signs un-installed along busy E John

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(Image: CHS)

The Seattle Department of Transportation’s $1.55 billion levy plan for 2025 includes Broadway safety improvements, an E Union “Revival,” and transit safety investments. But few of those projects will be more than planning this year.

The guerrilla Capitol Hill Department of Transportation?

It works faster — though its projects don’t tend to last.

Over the weekend, someone completed the latest rogue addition to the neighborhood’s streetscape, secretly installing stop signs on the busy intersections along E John above 12th Ave where pedestrians hoping to cross are often left waiting — or sprinting — to get to the other side. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council resolution would acknowledge ‘failure of defund movement’

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Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka thinks now is the time for the city to acknowledge the “failure of defund movement.”

The West Seattle representative’s symbolic resolution that “reiterates support for first responders, acknowledges failure of defund movement and embraces focus on underserved communities” will come in front of the council’s public safety committee Tuesday.

“This Council, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office has made improving public safety an absolute priority,” Saka said in the announcement of the proposed resolution. “This is finally the time to acknowledge the lessons of the past and pivot decisively toward a better, future-focused public safety model. We are committed to making everyone in our community feel safe and to enhancing our accountability system.”

Mayor Bruce Harrell is also ready to declare a new pro-police era in Seattle. Continue reading →

Seattle Fire makes hazmat check at 23rd and Union grocery

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The 23rd and Union PCC was evacuated Tuesday morning over a reported refrigerant leak.

Seattle Fire was called to the grocery store just after 8 AM to the reported leak and evacuated the store as a safety precaution.

SFD reported the situation was determined to be safe and lifted the evacuation around 9 AM.

There were no reported injuries and no evacuation of the apartments above the store was required.

 

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