Week in Review: Seattle City Council, tolls, and drones

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with Seattle Times' Jonathan Martin, PubliCola’s Erica Barnett, and Seattle Channel’s Brian Callanan.

Budget hearings for the City of Seattle began this week. Reducing shootings, homelessness, and guiding people toward drug treatment are all policies that would require money, but the city is currently dealing with a deficit. How is the city going to spend less or charge taxpayers more?

Meanwhile, four witnesses testified this week at the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged with killing 33-year-old Manuel Ellis. Aiyana Mallang said she was looking through her bedroom window and she heard Ellis plead with officers in-between Taser shocks. The Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled suffocation was homicide, but it also reported Ellis had an enlarged heart and an extremely high concentration of methamphetamine. According the medical examiner, “It is unlikely that this death would have occurred due to physical restraint alone, without the contributing conditions. An argument could be made that the extremely high methamphetamine concentration should be considered the primary factor." What does that mean for a homicide conviction?

The state's express toll lanes on 405 and highway 167 can run to $10 during peak hours. Commissioners voted unanimously yesterday to seek public comment, then hold a rate vote in January before raising tolls in February or March. The price would increase to as much as $15 by next spring, and up to $18 by 2025 if the proposal is approved. How does the state decide what’s too high?

This week Amazon announced it’s going to be doing same-day prescription drug delivery in Seattle and in Texas, via drones. They will descend to a height of about 13 feet and drop a padded package. The drone will check to make sure the delivery zone is clear of pets, children, or any other obstructions before dropping the package on a delivery marker. What are the potential downsides?

Last week, the union Starbucks Workers United posted "Solidarity with Palestine" on the social media site X. Starbucks says hundreds of customers thought it came from the company and sent in angry messages, so Starbucks is suing Starbucks Workers United over trademark infringement, to try to stop the union from using its name. The union has sued back, asking a federal court to rule that it can use the name Starbucks Workers United as well as a green logo similar to the Starbucks logo. Are you surprised?