Why is Seattle’s rent so high? Justice Department investigates possible price fixing Local leaders are paying attention to a Politico story that broke this week. It says the US Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation into big corporate landlords. The concern is they’re using a third-party algorithm to orchestrate a price-fixing scheme. Joshua McNichols
A boy named Adam: When psychosis spills onto Seattle streets (Lost Patients podcast) Sydney Brownstone
King County Council members push back on criticism over handling of asylum-seeker crisis The plight of a couple hundred asylum-seekers looking for shelter has been juggled among various community and religious organizations that are calling on elected officials to do more. Libby Denkmann Play AudioListen 24 mins
Too many King County sexual assaults are pleaded down to lesser crimes, advocates say Advocates for sexual assault survivors say King County is letting too many defendants plead guilty to lesser charges - often, to non-sex-crimes. Ann Dornfeld
King County says its contractor failed to pay $1.1 million to child care providers in subsidy program Fawsia Diriye, a child care provider in Kent, has been waiting on $1,400 from King County to cover some of her clients’ monthly bills. The payments are part of the Best Starts for Kids levy that King County voters approved in 2021. Diriye is among 330 childcare providers the county said were missing payments for the children they serve. Ann Dornfeld
Viral teen car theft trend has some Seattle 'Kia Boys' facing adult consequences One teenager's charges for allegedly stealing cars using a simple trick popularized on TikTok technique raises questions about how to handle the flood of recent youth car theft cases - especially when they land in adult court. Ann Dornfeld Play AudioListen 4 mins
A safe RV lot in Bellevue took a year to set up, which may be longer than it lasts After a year of searching for the right service provider, Bellevue’s City Council agreed to a deal this week with a local nonprofit to run the city’s first parking lot for homeless people living in their vehicles. Casey Martin
Burien’s Sunnydale Village was a ‘safe community’ for over 60 homeless people. Now it’s gone Dozens of unhoused people packed up their belongings in the rain this week in the parking lot of Burien’s Oasis Home Church. The camp, called Sunnydale Village, was home to at least 60 people who now have nowhere to go. Casey Martin
Digital reading is on the rise in King County. How do I even do that? We recently reported that the King County Library System was the second most popular library across the United States, digitally. That inspired a great question from a reader: I'm paraphrasing, but they basica Katie Campbell
