Read, learn and grow with The Seattle Public Library’s 106th summer of learning
School’s almost out, but reading, learning and growing are in! The Seattle Public Library’s 106th annual Summer of Learning kicks off today with free activities, programs, and challenges designed to keep kids curious, creative and engaged all summer long.
Get started by visiting your closest Library location (www. spl.org/Hours) to pick up a Summer of Learning activity sheet that includes a gameboard for kids to track their reading, learning and growing day by day. Once they’ve filled 15 gameboard spots, they can pick up a small prize from their neighborhood library and their name will go up on the Wall of Fame.
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Kids can pick a suggested activity from the sheet or make up their own. A reading activity might include reading for 20 minutes a day to keep your reading muscles strong, or writing and drawing your own comic book. Suggested learning activities include playing a board or video game, visiting a museum or cultural center, or attending a fun Library program. Growing activities might include sharing a recipe with loved ones or learning about local plants.
The activity sheet also connects kids to free Library resources, such as one-on-one tutoring through tutor.com; language learning using Mango Languages; and animated talking picture books through TumbleBook.
You can also download the Summer of Learning activity sheet at www.spl.org/SummerofLearning in eight languages: Amharic, Chinese, English, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya and Vietnamese.
The Summer of Learning is generously supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation. Free summer programs at the Library
The Library will host a range of Summer of Learning programs including magic shows, music performances, filmmaking workshops, artmaking, dance classes and more. On Thursday, August 7, the Burke Museum is holding a free Summer of Learning party. Join us to explore the Burke Museum and enjoy free activities. In August, many branches will also host end-of-summer parties.
The Library also regularly holds programs such as story times in different languages, board game nights, Play and Learn sessions, drop-in chess and more.
Book Bingo for teens and adults
Teens and adults can join the summer reading fun by playing Summer Book Bingo: Read books in fun categories, fill in
Find all programs listed at www.spl.org/calendar. All Library programs are free and open to the public.
Don’t spend the Fourth with the fire department … unless it’s dropping o treats
Every year, around this time, we get a little extra sparkle in our step — and a whole lot of sparkle in the sky. Independence Day in Seattle means barbecue smoke, backyard playlists, and that one neighbor who still swears they only bought the small fireworks (sure, Dave) —never mind that all fireworks are illegal here, no matter what your cousin in Puyallup says.
Dry grass, dense neighborhoods, and overconfident cousins with questionable bottle rockets can make for a dangerous combination. And no one wants to spend their holiday explaining to a fire crew that it was "just a little Roman candle.". So, before you strike a match this Fourth of July, let’s talk about how to keep your celebration safe, your eyebrows intact, and your fire station friends well-fed and not overwhelmed.
IF YOU’RE IN SEATTLE DON'T
Fireworks are 100% illegal within city limits. Not "just the loud ones." Not "if my cousin’s visiting from out of town." All of them. Yes, even sparklers. Want the dazzle without the danger? Catch a professional show. Seafair’s Summer Fourth at Gas Works Park is the big one, but other neighborhoods put on
solid shows too—and no one has to risk singeing their lawn furniture.
IF YOU ARE WHERE THEY'RE LEGAL … … then at least keep a hose or bucket nearby, point away from homes and trees, soak used fireworks before trashing them, and please—don’t let your 10-year-old light anything. Not even a punk. (You know what a punk is if you grew up in the ‘80s.)
Also, don’t forget the pets. Dogs hate fireworks. Cats act chill but are absolutely judging your life choices. Secure animals indoors, crank up a fan or some music to drown out the noise, and double-check fences and gates beforehand. The Humane Society always sees a spike in lost pets around the Fourth—let’s not add yours to the list.
CHECK SMOKE ALARMS YOURS AND THEIRS
This is the perfect week to test your smoke detectors. While you’re at it, knock on your elderly neighbor’s door and offer to check theirs too. A few minutes could save a life.
WANT TO THANK A FIREFIGHTER?
Fire crews deeply appreciate the
your squares and submit your card by Tuesday, Sept. 6, to be entered in a drawing for prizes. Pick up a card at any location or download a card at www.spl.org/ BookBingo.
Other cool reasons to visit the Library this summer
The Library is a great place to
cool off while browsing books and using the public computers or other resources. Twentytwo of the Library’s 27 locations are air-conditioned, including the Green Lake Branch, which added air conditioning as part
Queen Anne & Magnolia Worship Services
Sunday Worship at 10am
Twelfth Church of Christ, Scientist
In Person and Online Church Services
All are welcome & warmly invited to join these healing services
For best audio results, please join by clicking on the link from your computer or smartphone and choose “Call Over Internet”
All Zoom Services Meeting ID: 418 806 2637 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4188062637
Sunday Services 11:00am – 12noon Pacific
Wednesday Testimonies 7:30pm – 8:30pm Pacific
Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons
Our weekly Bible Lesson Sermon may be found here: https://quarterly.christianscience.com/
For additional assistance, please contact us at seattle12cs@gmail.com or 206.283.2300 ChristianScienceTwelfthSeattle.com
Queen Anne Dental Group
Dr. Frank J. Calvo & Family Cosmetic, Implant, & General Dentistry 400 Boston St. 206-284-7812 www.QADG.net
Neighborhood Marketplace
Savvy Senior: Who’s eligible for Social Security disability benefits?
By Jim Miller
DEAR SAVVY SENIOR,
What do I need to do to get disability benefits from Social Security? I’m 60 years old and have a medical condition that doesn’t allow me to work at my job anymore, but I’ve read that getting disability benefits is very difficult.
Need Help
DEAR NEED,
Getting Social Security Disability Insurance benefits when you’re unable to work can indeed be challenging.
Each year, approximately two million people apply for SSDI, but around two-thirds of them are denied, because most applicants fail to prove that they’re disabled and can’t work. Here are some steps you can take that can help improve your odds.
ARE YOU DISABLED?
The first thing you need to find out is if your health condition qualifies you for Social Security disability benefits.
You generally will be eligible only if you have a physical or mental impairment severe enough that it prevents you from working in your current, or past line of work, for at least a year. There is no such thing as a partial disability benefit.
If you’re fit enough to work part-time, and you’re earning more than $1,620 ($2,700 if you’re blind) a month on average in 2025, your application will be denied. But, if you’re not working or are working but earning below those limits, your application may be considered.
Your skills, education and work experience are factors too. Your application will be denied if your work history suggests that you could perform a less physically demanding job that your disability does not prevent you from doing.
To help you determine if you’re eligible, use the SSA Benefit Eligibility Screening Tool at SSAbest.benefits.gov.
HOW TO APPLY
If you believe you have a claim,
your next step is to gather up your personal, financial and medical information so you can be prepared and organized for the application process.
You can apply either online at SSA.gov/disability or call 800772-1213 to make an appointment to apply at your local Social Security office, or to set up an appointment for someone to take your claim over the phone.
The whole process lasts about an hour. If you schedule an appointment, a “Disability Starter Kit” that will help you get ready for your interview will be mailed to you. If you apply online, the kit is available at SSA.gov/disability/disability_starter_kits. htm.
It currently takes six to eight months from the initial application to receive either an award or denial of benefits. The only exception is if you have a chronic illness that qualifies you for a “compassionate allowance” (see SSA.gov/compassionateallowances), which fast tracks cases within weeks.
If Social Security denies your initial application, you can appeal the decision, and you’ll be happy to know that roughly half of all cases that go through a round or two of appeals end with benefits being awarded.
But the bad news is, with a huge backlog of people waiting, it can take another eight to 10 months or longer to appeal the
decision, and another 15 months to get a hearing if reconsideration is denied.
GET HELP
You can hire a representative to help you with your Social Security disability claim. By law, representatives can charge only 25% of past-due benefits up to a maximum of $9,200 if they win your case.
It’s probably worth hiring someone at the start of the application process if your disability is something difficult to prove such as chronic pain.
If, however, your disability is obvious, it might be worth initially working without a representative to avoid paying the
fee. You can always hire a representative later if your initial application and first appeal are denied.
To find a representative, check with the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives or National Association of Disability Representatives. Or, if you’re low-income, contact the Legal Services Corporation for free assistance.
Send your questions or comments to questions@ savvysenior.org, or to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.
Seattle eyes $1K fines for illegal gra ti causing $6M in annual cleanup costs
By Spencer Pauley
Center Square
Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison has introduced legislation to combat ongoing illegal gra ti tagging across the city that costs taxpayers an estimated $6 million annually.
Proposed Council Bill 120995 would allow the City Attorney’s O ce to authorize a civil $1,000 fine per illegal gra ti violation and add other tools to deter property crimes, plus restitution for labor and material costs to abate the damage.
The bill also allows monetary damages and restitution to be converted to community service doing gra ti abatement work.
According to Davison’s o ce, there were a reported 28,816 instances of gra ti vandalism in Seattle that resulted in the city
spending approximately $6 million in tax dollars annually on gra ti cleanup.
“I would guess that this is not money that you would like to spend in this capacity, but it would be easier if people would just simply comply with the law and not damage other peoples’ properties,” Davison said to the Seattle Public Safety Committee on Tuesday.
The number of referrals for gra ti prosecution that Davison’s o ce has seen has dropped from 73 in 2017 to a low of 33 in 2021. Despite this decrease, the city continues to see a significant volume of gra ti.
Out of 28,816 reported instances of gra ti vandalism in Seattle last year, only 35 were referred to the City Attorney’s O ce for potential prosecution.
Davison noted some gra ti taggers have grown confident in their work
by posting them on social media sites. This includes one prolific tagger who goes by “WESH”, who uses the Instagram handle “@ standardcriminal.”
Seattle City Council Chair Sara Nelson and Councilmember Bob Kettle are sponsors of the bill. Nelson
said she has been looking forward to “casting a hell yes vote” on the legislation ever since she was first briefed on the proposal. Nelson is the co-founder and owner of Fremont Brewing, a Seattle based craft brewery. She mentioned her experience as a
business owner having to deal with business property getting tagged by gra ti artists.
“I care less about the $6 million that gra ti vandalism removal costs the city, and much more about the time, e ort, and cost to small businesses to remove it,” Nelson said. Nelson noted that gra ti is the single most common complaint she receives from constituents. Council Bill 120995 will be discussed by the Public Safety Committee on July 8.
The
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Bayview’s Phase II groundbreaking set for July 9
Submitted
Bayview, a 62-plus nonprofit Life Plan Community, proudly announces the groundbreaking of its Phase II campus upgrades—marking the next chapter in its 64-year legacy of service in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood.
Following the successful completion of Phase I—which featured upgraded windows and balconies to improve energy e ciency, comfort, and aesthetics—Phase II will bring a new wave of enhancements
to further enrich the experience for current and future residents.
Key upgrades in Phase II include:
■ Addition of nine new terrace apartments: Phase II will introduce nine thoughtfully designed residences, eaturing spacious 2 BR 2+ BA layouts, contemporary finishes, and full kitchens.
■ Expanded fitness and wellness center: Doubling in size, the upgraded wellness facility will offer state-of-the-art programming in partnership with Revolution
Wellness and Therapy, providing leading edge programming to support healthy aging.
■ Remodeled front entrance and lobby: A redesigned and modernized front entrance and lobby will create a warm and inviting first impression, improving accessibility and flow while reinforcing Bayview’s commitment to hospitality and design excellence.
■ New second-floor resident lounge: A vibrant new resident space on the second floor will serve as a gathering hub for socializing,
events, and relaxation—designed with comfort and communitybuilding in mind.
■ Relocated dog park and bistro: The dog park will move to a more convenient location, making it easier for residents and their furry companions to enjoy the outdoors. The Bistro, Bayview’s second dining venue will move to Bayview’s iconic 10th floor —k nown for its spectacular views — to elevate the dining and social experience.
“This expansion is the next step
forward in continuing Bayview’s mission of Transforming the Experience of Aging to Deliver Life’s Potential,” said Nancy Weinbeck, CEO of Bayview. “Phase II not only enhances the quality of life for our residents today but also ensures we continue to serve future generations with innovation, care, and community at the heart of everything we do.”
A groundbreaking ceremony will take place on July 9 at 1 p.m. at Bayview.
Polish Festival Seattle returns to Seattle Center on July 12
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Experience the magic of Polish folklore, food, and festivities at Polish Festival Seattle on July 12 from noon–7 p.m. as part of Seattle Center Festál at the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall and Mural Amphitheatre. This free, familyfriendly festival will enchant guests of all ages with the theme “Castles and Legends.”
Step into the mythical world of Poland with children’s activities, storytelling about the legendary Dragon of Kraków, and an exhibit of historic Polish castles.
Live performances will range from traditional folk dance and music to modern interpretations of Polish culture. Featured acts include Syrena Seattle and Sobótka dancers in colorful folk dress, the beloved Vivat Musica! choir, the lively Zabavva band, and soloists Daniel Conrad and Marcin Paczkowski.
The Polish culinary experience will be in full force with authentic dishes and pastries, courtesy of Sebi’s Kitchen, Ko ł o Pan/Polish Women’s Club, and Warsztaty Kulinarne. Be sure to try the paczki (Polish doughnuts) — a festival favorite!
For guests 21-years-of-age and over, the outdoor beer garden sponsored by Browar Polska Inc. offers Polish beer and vodka tastings — a perfect pairing for a sunny Seattle afternoon.
Guests can also look forward to exploring the vibrant Polish marketplace inside the Armory, where treasures like amber
jewelry, Polish crystal, and cookbooks await.
“As a community, we do the festival at the Seattle Center to create opportunities for people to learn, enjoy, and celebrate our rich culture and to raise awareness
Ca e Ladro launches “Co ee For Good” series
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On July 1, Seattle-based coffee company Caffe Ladro launched a new communitydriven initiative, “Coffee for Good,” a rotating coffee series that donates $3 from every bag sold to a featured local nonprofit.
“Ladro has always believed in using our platform to support the people and organizations in our neighborhood communities. ‘Coffee for Good’ is a way of deepening that commitment and inviting our customers to be part of something bigger — just by enjoying their daily coffee.”
The first nonprofit partner is the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), which provides legal services, advocacy, and education to defend and advance the rights of immigrants in the Northwest. Each 12 oz. bag of Coffee For Good retails for $21.75 and is available online and in all Ladro locations.
The packaging includes a
QR code linking to more information about the featured nonprofit.
Ladro plans to rotate nonprofit partners every two months, with each campaign culminating in a blog post and a permanent feature on a new Ladro Community web page.
The initiative aims to raise awareness, foster engagement, and provide meaningful financial support to causes aligned with Ladro’s values.
For more information, visit www.caffeladro.com or contact marketing@caffeladro.com.
of Polish-American contributions to the local society,” said Alisa Lahti, Polish Festival Seattle executive director and producer. “We’re very proud of our culture and evolving traditions and like to share our music, food, dance, arts, crafts, and
with others.”
This festival is part of the Festál series of 25 cultural festivals presented by community groups and hosted by Seattle Center throughout the year.
Wash. may have to dip into emergency reserves, despite historic tax increases
By TJ Martinell | The Center Square
Despite passing the largest tax increase in state history amid record revenue levels, Washington state’s wallet may be empty by the end of the 2025-27 biennium, according to a new report by the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.
While ERFC members noted during its Tuesday meeting that the news comes just as the state is entering the biennium, State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti, a former legislator, pointed out that the state can also turn to its rainy day fund.
“I am concerned that we’re seeing numbers lower and if we were to do nothing we would go negative by the end of the biennium,” ERFC member Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, told colleagues at the meeting. “I had concerns from the start when the budget was being adopted in the legislative session.”
However, he added that “if you’re looking at it from a straight numbers standpoint, we do have time to make changes. The fact that it’s in the first part of the
biennium ... make those course corrections easier than in second year of the biennium. That means when we come back in January, we would have time to make some adjustments in the budget to ensure that we did not end up going negative by the end of the biennium.”
Whether or not legislative intervention is necessary may depend on a variety of factors that ultimately a ect the state’s revenue. According to state O ce of Financial Management Director Katherine Chapman-See, that can include state caseloads and reductions to federal funding.
ERFC member Rep. Timm Orsmby, D-Spokane, said at the meeting “we’re monitoring those things closely. I think with the new numbers … we will have to continue to make nonpartisan analysis of the forecast. When we have that, we’ll be a little bit more clear.”
Pellicciotti told ERFC that the budget stabilization account, also known as the rainy day fund, has “su cient reserve levels to be able to respond.” The BSA is projected
to have an ending fund balance of $2.2 billion for the 2025-27 biennium.
“The budget stabilization account was created in part for moments like this to not have a total negative balance,” he said.
Earlier this month, ERFC voted to adopt an economic outlook without a 4.5% assumed growth rate that would have added $1 billion to assumed revenue.
After facing a multibillion budget shortfall due to spending outpacing revenue increases, the state Legislature passed a budget with the largest tax increase in Washington history; the Senate Republicans released their own budget proposal that would not have raised taxes.
According to the ERFC report, total state revenues are expected to grow 11.3% between the 202325 biennium and the 2025-27 biennium. At the time the budget was signed in May, critics within the Legislature warned of potential unintended consequences.
exhibits
DCYF reveals child death/near-death numbers in first quarter of 2025
By Carleen Johnson The Center Square
O cials with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families are reporting an alarming increase in the number of children under state supervision who died or su ered near-fatal incidents due to opioid exposure in the first quarter of this year.
Last week, DCYF held a meeting with key sta and o cials to discuss the “concerning” and “drastic” increase, with 54% of critical incidents being fentanyl related. Critical incidents include near fatalities and fatalities. The disturbing numbers follow troubling statistics from 2023 and 2024, when a total of 37 children under state supervision were killed either by drug exposure, abuse and neglect, or other incidents, including fire or being left in a hot car.
Of the 37 deaths, fentanyl was the leading cause of death for children under DCYF care in 2023-24.
According to information provided in last week’s briefing from
DCYF and shared with The Center Square, there were 27 fatal and near-fatal child incidents in the first three months of 2025, compared to 9 incidents in the first quarter of 2024. Seven of the incidents were fatal, 20 were near-fatal, and 16 involved children from birth to age 3. The last figure is an increase from six such incidents in the first quarter of 2024.
Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, told The Center Square he will again champion a bill he has tried before to amend the Keeping Families Together Act, which he blames for leaving children to languish in dangerous home environments with drug addicted parents.
"As we go into the next session in January, that bill will be reintroduced again,” he said. “And what's unfortunate in the Keeping Families Together Act in this space is that the longer it takes, the more kids die. And that's why I've been absolutely on a mission to try to fix it, and I'm at a point now where I'm starting to get some reasonable Democrats in Olympia to listen to
this.”
Couture says despite having bipartisan support for the bill to remove children from the homes of drug addicted parents until they get clean and sober, DCYF has repeatedly resisted the legislation.
“The ultimate roadblock is the recommendations of [the] Department of Children, Youth & Family Services, namely the secretary of DCYF, who used to chair the [House] Human Services, Youth & Early Learning Committee, that this bill would go to,” Couture said, a reference to DCYF Secretary Tana Senn.
The committee was disbanded and its responsibilities redistributed in 2025.
Couture said he’s been told by the chair of the House Early Learning & Human Services Committee, Rep. Steve Bergquist, D-Renton, that if child deaths continue to go up “and it didn't look like things were working,” that he would revisit the bill and hear it in committee.
Couture said the first quarter
numbers of critical incidents involving children should sicken everyone.
“And if you extend and you project those numbers between quarter one throughout the rest of the year, we are easily landing at over 100 deaths of children in our state or near deaths,” he said. “If you don't have the ability to bathe, feed, nurture, care for a child, then that is a negligent place to be in as a parent. We know that people who are abusing fentanyl can't even do those things for themselves, let alone another human being like a small toddler or a child or a baby.”
Couture noted Washington’s child endangerment laws also need modification as they specify meth use of a parent, but not fentanyl, which is the current prevalent drug of choice for hardcore addicts.
The Center Square reached out to DCYF via email to inquire about the briefing and first quarter 2025 statistics, as well as Couture’s assertion that the agency has resisted
changes to the Keeping Families Together Act.
"About half of these are fentanyl related, and the other half are physical abuse and/or neglect. It is not possible or appropriate to point to a single cause. The agency will continue to review the data, the cases, and update information,” DCYF Child Welfare Communications Consultant Kortney Scroger emailed The Center Square. She continued: “Additionally, the agency is concerned about the increased impacts of the fentanyl epidemic on young children and families across Washington state. At this time, DCYF is working on a decision package of services to support all families and young children, including those impacted by high-potency synthetic opioids.”
DCYF is hosting a media briefing regarding the data on Friday, June 27. The Center Square plans to cover it.
Sound Transit unlikely to alter ST3 plans as part of revised financial plan
By TJ Martinell
While Sound Transit plans to revisit its financial plans in response to increased project costs, even if and when ST3 is fully completed, the agency’s system will still make up a small percentage of daily transportation trips, according to regional forecasts.
The Puget Sound Regional Council develops policies and coordinates transportation, growth management decisions within the central Puget Sound region, which includes King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. According to its Regional Transportation Plan approved in 2022, by 2050 there will be an estimated 24,000,000 daily trips, with 3% of them via Sound Transit light rail or bus. Overall, all public transit agencies combined will compose 13% of daily work trips, but only 7% of nonwork trips.
Annually, there will be 746,686,000 public transit boardings, with 278,515,000 or 37% of them within Sound Transit’s system. According to the PSRC’s plan, the largest shift in modes of travel will be away from single-occupancy vehicles in favor of carpooling.
Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers is the chair of both PSRC and Sound Transit. He told The Center Square that the PSRC’s transportation plan’s forecast are based on modeling, but “It’s our best estimate of what most likely to achieve given the plan.” Regarding public transit’s share of daily trips by 2050, he said “we have an opportunity to do better or worse, I’d prefer to see it better.”
Sound Transit earlier this year announced it intended to reexamine its financial planning in response to project cost overruns, which could be exacerbated by reduction in federal funding. Additionally, the agency has struggled to recover its pre-pandemic ridership levels.
Some organizations such as Smart Transit have argued that rather than building out light rail, the emphasis should be on less expensive alternatives to single occupancy vehicles, such as vanpools, automated shuttles, and on-demand car or van service. In a statement given to the PSRC last month, Smart Transit argued that Sound Transit should “reprogram” ST3 funds “to make the four-county bus network the best on earth. We have 300 miles of HOV lanes–grade separated transit. Let us use them as they were intended for increasingly electric bus transit, vanpools, and carpools.”
Nevertheless, Somers indicated that while timelines and other aspects of ST3 projects may change, none of them are getting scrapped.
“If we start lopping o parts [of ST3], the attorneys start saying, ‘You can make minor tweaks, but if you make major changes, you have an obligation to go back to voters.’ There’s not any discussion of lopping o light rail," Somers said. "We have not had any conversations [about that]. If we did, we’d have to go to the voters.”
“We have a voter approved plan, so we want to figure out how to deliver it,” he added. “The financial model plan that we have tells us that some of the projects are going to cost more than we thought. We’re going to have to adjust project scope
and timelines like we did before. At the end of the day the finances are going to drive the decision.”
According to feedback given to PSRC by residents in central Puget Sound, “participants said they would prefer not to drive in Puget Sound because it can be frustrating, unpredictable, expensive, and time-consuming. However, they still drive because of the unpredictability of public transit options, and because hyper-local pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure is incomplete or unsafe to use for travel to transit.”
The feedback also noted that “to enable a mode shift away from single-occupancy vehicles, the region must think beyond expanding transit stations and stops, and prioritize the half mile between stations and nearby residences. If there’s a transit station within a half mile of their home, but they have no sidewalks, crosswalks, or well-lit pathways between their home and that station, or no covered area to stay dry while they wait for their bus, participants say they would still drive a car to their final destination.”
Somers said that a certain amount of money has been set aside for access improvements to planned ST3 projects, such as enabling bikers or cyclists to get on and o buses easier.
“There are funds for that,” he said. “They are limited, but it is part of the plan.”
He added that they’re looking at potential pedestrian/vehicle overpasses over Interstate 5 for the Everett light rail line. “Those facilities [are] not funded in the plan, but we are having them modeled.”
of levy-supported renovations completed in October 2024. You can find a complete list of air-conditioned Library locations at www.spl.org/ Shelter. Need book ideas? Find librarian-created book lists for kids at the Library’s website, or stop by your local branch to find a book list, talk to a librarian or browse. More information The Library and three local artists – Katana Sol, Victoria Urrutia and Yolanda Galery – collaborated on artwork for the Summer of Learning. Find information about the artists on our Summer of Learning page. The Library believes that the power of knowledge improves people's lives. We promote literacy and a love of reading as we bring people, information and ideas together to enrich lives and empower community. Find more events at www.spl.org/ Calendar. Contact the Library’s Ask Us service by phone at 206-386-4636 or by email at www. spl.org/Ask.
| The Center Square
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Seattle City Council outlaws rent-setting software used by corporate landlords
By Spencer Pauley The Center Square
The Seattle City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill banning algorithmic rentsetting tools that some claim have helped set higher rents in the city.
Council Bill 121000 bans software that analyzes market data to recommend rent levels, occupancy targets, or lease terms, which are tools often used by corporate landlords. It also creates a penalty of up to $7,500 per violation committed by a landlord.
According to Seattle City Councilmember Cathy Moore, the sponsor of the bill, there has been an increase in corporate landlords using new software that enables anti-competitive collusion and price setting to set higher rent floors in the last few years. Property management software company RealPage is in the midst of an April lawsuit by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. Brown’s o ce alleges "that RealPage and its software are central to a conspiracy and unfair competition by certain landlords
that resulted in rapidly rising rent prices for their tenants."
The Seattle City Council approved the bill with one abstention from Maritza Rivera, who is a landlord. Fellow Councilmember Robert Kettle said that the bill supports the city’s core value of establishing a “level playing field” for both tenants and landlords.
“As we move forward with technology and especially in the advent of AI, it is important to make a statement that our principles are upheld even in the areas
potentially cloaked or hidden by technology,” Kettle said during Tuesday's city council meeting.
The city council delayed the June 17 vote on the bill until Tuesday to allow more time for public review. Moore opposed the delay, arguing the bill, similar to proposed Senate Bill 5469 in the state Legislature, was already optimal. At Tuesday's meeting, Moore conceded the delay was the right choice.
“We were able to address some of the concerns that weren’t actually addressed in the Senate bill,”
Moore said. “At the end of the day we have a very strong bill that we should all be proud of.”
Concerns raised by public commenters included the bill’s impact on short-term rentals and hotels, which was addressed by an approved amendment that explicitly excludes short-term rentals or hotels.
The bill now goes to Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s o ce for his signature. It becomes e ective 30 days after he signs it into law.
Women's hockey on the rise in Pacific Northwest
By Andrew Destin | Associated Press
SEATTLE — Elly Garcia-Dudek can't help but gaze out toward the ice during hockey practices at the Kraken Community Iceplex.
The 12-year-old Garcia-Dudek is a big fan of women's national team stars like Hilary Knight, who starred for the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women's Hockey League last season. Pretty soon, Garcia-Dudek — who started playing through the Seattle Kraken's Learn to Play program — won't have to look across the country for role models like Knight.
The PWHL is expanding to Vancouver and to Seattle next season, which was music to GarciaDudek's ears. She and her family are Kraken fans and have already put down deposits for PWHL Seattle season tickets. Luckily for Garcia-Dudek, Knight has agreed to play in Seattle.
"It's really inspiring and cool to watch them play because it's di erent from the men's game because women aren't used to playing with contact, but they get to with the PWHL, which is really cool to watch," Garcia-Dudek said. "It inspires me personally like, 'Oh, I can be one of them when I grow up.'"
Seattle's lineup should feature plenty of offense from the outset, especially with Knight — a four-time Olympian and PWHL MVP finalist last season — on the scene.
"Hilary is a superstar in every way, right?" Seattle GM Meghan Turner said of Knight after the PWHL expansion draft. "Like she plays the way she plays, the way she carries herself in the locker room, the way that she carries herself outside the rink. She's just really got at all."
The Pacific Northwest expansion will give the PWHL eight teams and its first two west of Minnesota. The moves are expected to spur even more interest across the region in hockey, which has steadily grown especially in Seattle since the arrival of the Kraken in 2021.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST HOCKEY
When Martin Hlinka began his tenure as director of the Kraken Youth Hockey Association in April 2021, they had just 72 players across six teams. The KYHA now has 39 boys and girls teams, including a 14U Jr Kraken team that Garcia-Dudek will play on this year. Hlinka credits this growth in large part to the Kraken's presence.
"The growth was great because more kids watch games on TV or in person," Hlinka said, "and they have a better interest and they're excited to be part of it."
The expectation on Hlinka's end is that the addition of PWHL Seattle will only further increase Seattle's intrigue in hockey at the youth level. The sport has already taken sizable steps forward, though, over the last few decades.
Since 2014-15, there's been an increase of 1,744 more youth hockey players in Washington. And since 2021-22, when the Kraken began play, an additional 268 kids have started playing in the state.
The growth has been observed by Julia Takatsuka, a goalie coordinator for the Jr Kraken who grew up playing hockey in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood. When she was a kid, Takatsuka said, she had to travel to Canada every weekend for tournaments, and that practice rinks were relatively spartan compared to the Iceplex, which boasts three rinks and was built in September 2021.
"I would have loved to train at a place like (KCI) where we have all of the actual things we need," Takatsuka said. "I was a goalie, so we need pegs to hold the nets down. I didn't have that. We have that now. We have ice that has real creases for the goalies. Didn't have that growing up, either."
The Seattle area requires more work and time to become a women's hockey hotbed, though. As Hlinka pointed out, there is only so much ice time to go around, and there aren't nearly as many
rinks in Seattle as there are in cities like Vancouver or Toronto.
SEEDS FOR GROWTH
Still, there's clear evidence women's hockey has already grown in Seattle.
The women's club hockey team at the University of Washington played its inaugural season in 2021. This has allowed Regan Thomas, a West Seattle native and student at Washington, to continue playing the sport she adores. It wasn't until she went to boarding school in New Hampshire that Thomas even became aware she could play hockey.
Soccer was Thomas' sport of choice as a kid, and she had quite the role model in Megan Rapinoe, the national team standout who starred for Seattle Reign FC for a decade. Though Thomas wishes Seattle could have had a pro women's hockey team when she was a kid, such won't be the case for countless young girls in the Pacific Northwest moving forward.
"I think having those role models is incredibly important," Thomas said. "I find myself even now like 'Ugh, I wish this was around 10 years ago.' Because not that I would have ever made it, but just kind of the dream of making it — you figure out how to push yourself harder."
Lindsay Skogmo's son, Oliver, already has plenty of role models whenever he shows up to KCI for practice with the 8-and-under Jr Kraken team. When Skogmo was recently at her son's school, she heard rumblings from girls about how hockey wasn't for them.
Skogmo hopes pro women's hockey in Seattle will inspire young girls like Garcia-Dudek to keep dreaming big.
"I feel like in this world right now, in our country, a lot of females feel like it's not going good for us, or it's going against us," Skogmo said. "So, for us to be able to get a professional female team here really gives a lot of girl power."
Wash. forests safe, for now, after backlash torches federal land sale proposal
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Washington’s national forests are safe from being purchased after U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, walked back a proposal to sell public land owned by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management as part of the Republican tax and spending bill.
A budget bill backed by Lee proposed selling o 3.3 million acres of public land, including parts of Washington’s national forests. Lee led the initiative to sell the land, which he continues to say will help address a nationwide housing crisis, while providing more money to help the federal government pay o debt.
The proposal drew major pushback from the public and elected o cials, including Washington Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove, who told The Center Square that the proposal was a “reckless short-sighted scheme.”
“This ill-conceived proposal to sell millions of acres of public land for private benefit across the western United States and right here in Washington state undermines the public interest,” Upthegrove emailed The Center Square.
On Monday night, Lee announced that he is removing all U.S. Forest Service land from the list of public lands for sale, as well as “significantly” reducing the amount of Bureau of Land Management land in the bill to only land within five miles of population centers.
U.S. Sen. Je Merkley, D-Ore., ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, put out a statement regarding ensuring that the Byrd Rule is followed for any attempt to change the reconciliation bill, including public land sales. The Byrd Rule is a U.S. Senate rule that allows senators to block provisions in a budget reconciliation bill if they are deemed extraneous to the budget process.
“Democrats will not stand idly by while Republicans attempt to circumvent the rules of reconciliation in order to sell o public lands to fund tax breaks for billionaires,” Merkley said.
“Yes, the Byrd Rule limits what can go in the reconciliation bill, but I’m doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward,” Lee wrote in the social media post.
The senators' original plan would
have required the government to auction o between 2.2 million and 3.3 million acres of land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to generate between $5 billion and $10 billion of income between fiscal years 2025 and 2034.
In total, the federal government owns roughly 640 million acres throughout the U.S., or nearly one in three acres. That means, at most, this legislation would sell only 0.5% of all the federal land, as previously
reported by The Center Square.
In Washington, U.S. Forest Service land for sale included parts of the Wenatchee, Okanogan, and Gi ord Pinchot National Forests.
Despite Lee’s change of heart, Upthegrove said he isn’t declaring victory yet.
“I am glad Sen. Lee has apparently rethought his outrageous plan to sell o our national forests but I remain concerned that this bill still puts our public lands at risk for private benefit,” Upthegrove said.
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community’s support, especially during the high call volume of the summer months.
Just know that, for safety reasons, most fire stations can’t accept homemade food from folks they don’t know. If it’s unsealed or anonymous, it (very lovingly) goes straight in the trash.
If you’re looking to show some love, skip the mystery banana bread, avoid creating awkward decisions for the crew, and try one of these instead:
■ Prepackaged snack baskets
■ Coffee, energy drinks, or cold bottled beverages
■ Catered lunches or pizza from a local restaurant
■ A handwritten card from your kid (these are gold)
Also, don’t underestimate the power of waving when they drive by or chalking a thankyou outside the station. A little neighborhood cheer goes a long way.
LIGHT UP THE SKY, NOT 911 LINES
The Fourth is meant for flags, family, and hot dogs—not house fires. Let’s keep it safe, support our first responders, and give the fire station a peaceful evening off (unless you're bringing pizza— then by all means, stop by).
Happy Independence Day from all of us at the Queen Anne & Magnolia News — may your burgers be juicy, your playlists patriotic, and your fireworks … handled by professionals. FIRE
