Mike Lewis – MyNorthwest.com Seattle news, sports, weather, traffic, talk and community. Mon, 07 Oct 2024 15:32:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8 /wp-content/uploads/2024/06/favicon-needle.png Mike Lewis – MyNorthwest.com 32 32 FAA appears poised to recertify the 737 Max this week /kiro-nights/faa-appears-poised-recertify-737-max/2314704 /kiro-nights/faa-appears-poised-recertify-737-max/2314704#respond Tue, 17 Nov 2020 01:05:14 +0000 /?p=2314704 The Federal Aviation Administration appears poised to recertify the flight worthiness of the 737 Max this week, perhaps as early as Wednesday morning, said sources familiar with an expected FAA announcement.

American Airlines hopes to return 737 MAX to service by end of 2020

The commercial aircraft, which was grounded after two deadly crashes and ongoing reports of safety mismanagement, has not flown nationally or internationally since March 2019.

The FAA did not return calls seeking comment. The grounding of the aircraft followed the deaths of 346 passengers and crew across two catastrophic flights, in late 2018 and in early 2019.

In the months following the crash, numerous reports — including award-winning — outlined a series of management decisions and lax FAA oversight that contributed to the twin disasters.

Ryan Rule, president of one of Boeing’s largest unions, said getting the passenger airplane back in the air will be a boost for the company and employee morale.

“I think people took this very personally,” said Rule, president of the Society of Professional Engineering and Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).

“If this is happening this week, that’s great news,” Rule added.

In a statement, a Boeing spokesperson said the company “didn’t have anything to add at this point.”

Recertification does not mean the single-aisle airplane will return to service immediately. Thousands of pilots worldwide will require retaining on the Max’s new flight software, originally the issue that helped get the aircraft grounded.

According to a BBC report following the Lion Air crash, a faulty sensor “fed information to the plane’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System — or MCAS. That software repeatedly pushed the plane’s nose down, leaving pilots fighting for control.”

Boeing officially announces plan to move 787 production out of Everett by mid-2021

The grounding of the 737 Max, an airline industry workhorse and Boeing’s biggest selling passenger plane, hit the company hard financially, culturally, and reputationally: Victims’ families sued, airlines canceled orders and asked for billions in compensation, and critics lashed the 104-year-old company with allegations of coverups and a corporate culture that put profits over safety.

Those hits, later coupled with the subsequent pandemic, which decimated the airline industry, put the nation’s largest aerospace company in dire straights with thousands of layoffs and billions in losses.

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Mark Cuban: If big companies get bailouts, taxpayers should get something in return /kiro-nights/mark-cuban-taxpayers-bailouts/1856709 /kiro-nights/mark-cuban-taxpayers-bailouts/1856709#respond Thu, 07 May 2020 14:23:33 +0000 /?p=1856709 Billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban joined 成人X站 Nights Wednesday to offer a measured take on what taxpayers should demand when bailing out the country鈥檚 failing large corporations.

成人X站 NIGHTS: Maybe three weeks ago or so when we’re in the upswing of the pandemic there was a lot of talk about government bailouts for various industries. We know the airlines were looking at bailouts. We know that Boeing was offered one but turned it down. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Mark Cuban: Sure. I mean, look, if we鈥檙e using taxpayer money, you should get something in return. There’s an interest in keeping our biggest companies that employ a number of people going and supporting them with loans. But on the flip side, you know, there’s a (private) market for that and it’s been around for a long, long time.

Like any investor, whether you’re the U.S. government, or me, or whoever, you want the appropriate return for your investment. I didn’t think that the taxpayers, historically, had been well represented when we鈥檇 loan money to companies for bailouts. So what I said was in exchange for that money 鈥 using Boeing as an example — 聽the taxpayers should get shares of stock in exchange, and potentially even preferred shares of stock, which pays a dividend to shareholders.

That money should be distributed, those shares (and) that equity, depending on what the deal is. (They) also should be distributed to Boeing employees, for example, because they鈥檙e the ones who are going have to make the company turn around. The other half of that money should go to the taxpayers.

成人X站 NIGHTS: You talked about (banning) stock buybacks. What makes that such a bad idea for taxpayers?

Mark Cuban: When companies buy back to stock, in essence they are doing financial engineering. What happens is those same companies that are buying back shares end up giving shares or granting shares or options to their senior management. I just think that if you’re going to be part of a bailout, if you’re going to get taxpayer money, then you should not be allowed to buy back shares of stock.

Listen to 成人X站 Nights weeknights from 7 – 10 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Beast Showed: Ranking Marshawn’s acting credits after ‘Westworld’ cameo /kiro-nights/marshawn-lynch-acting-credits-ranked-westworld/1727741 /kiro-nights/marshawn-lynch-acting-credits-ranked-westworld/1727741#respond Fri, 21 Feb 2020 13:42:34 +0000 /?p=1727741 Some eagle-eyed television fans saw him first in the trailer — after all the man himself (and HBO) had dropped hints about it awhile back. So, it didn’t take long for both science-fiction and sports fans make the matter a national sports story on Thursday.

Former Seahawk Marshawn Lynch of HBO’s enormously popular sci-fi thriller, Westworld. You can look for him as a security guard at the 55-second mark . It remains unclear how much more screen time he’ll get.

Even so, the news got the hosts of 成人X站 Nights and Seahawks expert and 710 ESPN’s show host to thinking about Beast Mode’s small-but-impressive acting career.

The conclusion? Without knowing yet what he did in Westworld, here is our ranking of Lynch’s Top Three Scenes on television so far:

Third place is Marshawn Lynch vs. the Hog on Running Wild With Bear Grylls:

Second is Lynch’s turn as a quesadilla enthusiast and unhelpful crime witness on

And first is his painfully funny send-up of Superbowl XLIX in FX’s :听

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New state bill would let Washington cyclists roll through stop signs /kiro-nights/bikes-stop-signs-legislation/1719171 /kiro-nights/bikes-stop-signs-legislation/1719171#respond Fri, 14 Feb 2020 20:26:26 +0000 /?p=1719171 When can red mean yellow? The answer: When riding a bicycle in Washington state, according to legislation approved by the the state Senate.

On a vote of 44-1, Senate lawmakers approved this week, a measure that would bicyclists to treat all traffic stop signs as “yield” signs, a change that would permit them to legally roll through sign-controlled intersections without stopping (provided it’s safe to do so). Currently, bicyclists are required to obey the signs in the same manner as vehicle traffic.

The measure would not apply to traffic lights.

In to the Senate Transportation Committee, said the change would improve safety for both cars and cyclists.

“The bill allows cyclists to keep up their momentum,” the Spokane Democrat said. “And to keep distance from cars.”

“Often at stop signs, the bikes are hanging back on the side,” he continued, “[They’re] really in the blind spot of cars. When this has been done in other states, it really increases safety as well as convenience.”

Billig added that the change also is something motorists would appreciate. When a cyclists comes to stop signs, it takes them a while to get back up to speed. If they roll through, he said, they can more easily and quickly get out of the way of trailing motorists.

Lawmakers hinted that questions remain about SB 6208, including whether electric bicycles should also be allowed to roll through stop signs, given their relative higher average speeds and ability to accelerate quickly. As currently written, electric bikes would be included in the changes in the same manner as regular bicycles.

The measure now is headed to the state House of Representatives. in four other states, including Arkansas, Delaware, and Idaho.

Listen to 成人X站 Nights weeknights from 7 – 10 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Mike: We should not restrict guns but their owners are different story /kiro-radio/guns-owners-licenses/1669366 /kiro-radio/guns-owners-licenses/1669366#respond Tue, 14 Jan 2020 02:59:28 +0000 /?p=1669366 If you are a commercial pilot or general contractor likely you understand the value of licensing; So why not license gun owners?

Tell me I鈥檓 wrong.

Yesterday, New Jersey Sen. dropped out of the race for U.S. President. The Democrat simply wasn鈥檛 getting any traction in the polls. And this is too bad. He was the only candidate pushing hard on a plausible facet of gun legislation: Gun owner .

Before you start getting overly reactive or tune into another station or podcast or story, hear me out. Booker鈥檚 idea about gun licensing is pretty straightforward and you鈥檒l be surprised who supports it.

First, the plan.

Under Booker鈥檚 plan, anyone who wants to buy a gun must apply for a license in much the same way a person applies for a passport. The application would involve submitting fingerprints, sitting down for an interview, a state and federal background check and completion of a certified gun safety course.

The presumption would be that people would be issued a gun five-year license unless red flags came up. The presumption also would be that barring any problems, that license could be re-issued indefinitely.

Daniel Webster, the director of the Center for Gun Policy and Research, said a 2018 national poll of gun owners . The support is, obviously, even higher among non-gun owners.

Other parts of Booker鈥檚 proposal were non-starters, such as an , limits on ammunition purchases, and the like. But those items are easy trade bait to get the central idea into legislation. And polling for those ideas are as polarized as you might guess.

But licensing stood out for its popularity.

Gun rights people — same as gun control supporters — talk a good game about background checks, mental health, warning signs, red flags. But existing laws and prevent effective, universal screening.

And before we argue that the Second Amendment means that no restriction should be put on gun ownership, we already place limit on every constitutional amendment, . 聽And the argument that it would not affect criminals is true for every new criminal law 鈥 until someone gets arrest for violating it.

In fact, I like licensing so much I鈥檇 be willing to toss out any bans on so-called assault weapons or ammunition restrictions. Heck, I鈥檇 be fine with no purchase restrictions on any firearms sold today in this country in exchange for licensing.

If the real problem is, as I am often told, 鈥,鈥 then let鈥檚 put our money where our thoughts and prayers are and license the person. Everybody wants to lionize ; I simply want to license him 鈥 or her 鈥 as well.

Tell me I鈥檓 wrong.

And by the way, those of you who have tweeted at me during the presidential campaign that I look and sound like a white Corey Booker, I鈥檇 simply like to say two things: One, I am flattered and two, I鈥檓 three years older. So maybe Corey looks like a black Mike Lewis.

Listen to the Candy, Mike and Todd Show weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Mike: Replace Washington gas tax by inflating tire prices /kiro-radio/gas-tax-inflate-tire-prices/1645755 /kiro-radio/gas-tax-inflate-tire-prices/1645755#respond Thu, 19 Dec 2019 01:20:39 +0000 /?p=1645755 While the state of Washington ponders how to make the switch from a declining gas tax to a more stable miles-traveled tax, it is faced with a fair amount of pushback from people who don鈥檛 want their cars tracked by a state-mandated device.

The state鈥檚 budding response has been to find a maximum annual tax to assign to the resistors who don鈥檛 want the vehicle tracking device that would assess the to fund work on state highways.

But why is the max tax the only option? Here鈥檚 a better solution for people who don鈥檛 want a mileage tracking device: tax tires. Every tire sold in the state of Washington, every tire sold online to a Washington address, every tire possible in the state. And not just cars, but bicycles and motorcycles, every single vehicle that uses tires on public roads.

Electric vehicles use tires. Same for high-mileage hybrids. Every vehicle does. (Note: If you use a helicopter or jetpack, this story is not for you.) If you get the tracking device, you get the tax rebate.

Moreover, all the money raised should go to road repair as the gas tax does now. Not the general fund.

Tire types and sizes are firmly linked to gross vehicle weight, among other factors. Tire wear largely depends on miles driven. And . Ask people who build roads. They will tell you the impact on roads of gross vehicle weight.

Have you noticed when your city puts in concrete paving for bus stops and bus lanes? This is why.

The paying by the miles solution makes sense in the same way all usage fees do. But the people who don鈥檛 want to track their vehicle should have a usage fee, too. Will they drive out of state to purchase tires if they live in Spokane, for example? I don鈥檛 know. Do they travel right now to buy gas? Probably. But no tax can account for every variable for ducking it.

The feds already for tractor trailers. The feds understand the impact of gross vehicle weight and of giving commercial vehicle owners a break. But even the feds miss the boat when it comes to assessing the fees or credits because the assessment or rebate does not vary based on miles driven.

So make it tires. Some people are happy with a discrete, VIN-linked GPS tracker that looks only at miles. And the ones who don’t want the device?聽 Make them pay a surcharge on their tires. And before you tell me this gives people a perverse incentive to driver longer on bad tires, take a look around. They already do.

No tax system is perfect, but if we want to make it fair, if we want to create a system that also is fair to people who want less government intrusion in the form of tracking or facial recognition, give them a fair option. A tire tax is that option.

Tell me I’m wrong.

Listen to the Candy, Mike and Todd Show weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Mike: Take a year off and don鈥檛 buy anything for anyone this Christmas /kiro-radio/dont-buy-anything-christmas/1640218 /kiro-radio/dont-buy-anything-christmas/1640218#respond Sat, 14 Dec 2019 16:12:51 +0000 /?p=1640218 Americans are expected to spend $1 trillion dollars this holiday season, an average of nearly $1,000 a person. This is up from last year, which was up from the prior year which was up 鈥 You get the point.

Candy: The 鈥榃ar on Christmas鈥 isn鈥檛 real

While we fight about the so-called war on Christmas, or on the whereabouts or interpretation of nativity scenes, or on the day鈥檚 status as a religious, secular, or commercial holiday, we always default to this: someone, somewhere deserves a present. Our spouses, partners, kids, employees. Ourselves. Whomever.

Even when we go on an austerity plan — picking names or eliminating adult gift giving — we still purchase something for someone. We buy less, but we still buy. We always do.

But now is your chance to take a year off. No presents. At least none you can buy. Not for a single solitary soul. This isn鈥檛 about being miserly and embracing your inner Grinch; it鈥檚 about giving something that matters more than a smart assistant, a retro turntable, or platinum jewelry, or Star Wars whatever, or boxing robots.

It鈥檚 your time.

Go make a list of the people and situations you love, the friends you don鈥檛 see enough, the kids you don鈥檛 take on a bike ride, the grandmother you forgot to call. Check that list twice. This is the list of people to whom to give your time.

Now make another list. It鈥檚 of the people and things you spend too much time on — the Netflix, the needless face time at work, the boozing, the people or situations that make you feel a little worse, a bit diminished each time you interact with them. Check that list twice, too. This is the time you are going to spend.

Now for the giving part. Take people on the first list and put them permanently, regularly on your calendar. Literally, write or type them in. Use that former gift money for a plane ticket, a dinner out, a coffee, a drive across town. Bank it instead of that voluntary overtime at work.

Let your kids, your spouse or your siblings know that they are going to get more — and more regular — blocks of your time instead of boxes of items. Yes, I know it’s going to be an adjustment, especially for the kids.

And that other list? You鈥檇 be surprised how much time and goodwill you can free up when those people and situations are hauled out of your calendar in the same way you clean out your garage, closet, or basement.

The Christmas season should be about giving. Actually, all year should be. And what about gifts on birthdays, graduations, anniversaries? Sure. Gift whatever and whoever you like. Knock yourself out.

But if you really want to capture the Christmas spirit — be you secular or religious — run away from the slow-drip corrosion that comes from buying wholly into one notion of holiday spirit at the expense of a more important one. Those boxes of things will be briefly loved then broken, tossed, yard-saled, and forgotten over time.

So start using the gift that asks less of your wallet and more of you.

It won鈥檛 be lost. It won鈥檛 be forgotten or exchanged. It will fit beautifully each time. And burnished by your memory’s repetition, it will just get better and more valuable.

Bring back Christmas by being present — not by buying one.

Tell me I’m wrong.

Listen to the Candy, Mike and Todd Show weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Mike: Washington’s vaping ban is little more than a political ploy /kiro-radio/washington-vaping-ban-harmful/1615236 /kiro-radio/washington-vaping-ban-harmful/1615236#respond Tue, 26 Nov 2019 14:04:26 +0000 /?p=1615236 On Oct. 10, faced with 29 vaping-related deaths — a number that now has grown to 30 — Washington Governor Jay Inslee banned flavored vaping products in Washington state.

The rationale was two-fold: At the time, we didn鈥檛 know what was inside the vaping juice that might be killing and seriously injuring people.聽 And two, it appeared the flavored juices such as mango and bubblegum enticed teens to vape.

Today, one of every five high schoolers in American say they vape. It鈥檚 a problem. No doubt.

But ask yourself this: Why is it that Great Britain which has had the same per capita number of adult vapers as the U.S. not had a single death? And while you are at it, also ask yourself why the teen vaping rate — even with flavored juice there, remains far lower than in the U.S.?聽

The answer, as it turns out, is regulation, not bans. And this is a lesson we know very well because we learned it first from cigarettes and smoking.聽

Vape store struggling with sales and layoffs due to WA flavored vaping ban

In the 1950s, more than 55 percent of Americans smoked. By the 1990s, with the help of a stepped up regulation, a relentless health awareness campaign and a decline in legal advertising, tobacco use had begun to decline. But teens continued to smoke.

By the late 1990s, the Centers for Disease Control reported that 35 percent of high schoolers smoked. Every public high school in my hometown had a smoking area. But steep taxes on smokes coupled with a national public awareness campaign that targeted teen vanity — not mortality — began to take effect.聽

Today, fewer than 10 percent of teens smoke cigarettes while only 14 percent of adults do. It is considered the greatest public health victory in U.S. history.聽

Even so, one of every five American deaths each still can be blamed on smoking. This means half a million people a year or 1,300 people聽a day die from a completely preventable condition. This is more annual deaths than from vehicle accidents, alcohol, illegal drugs, suicide and murder combined.

Temporary ban on flavored vaping products approved in Washington

Then came vaping. Originally it was touted as as harm reduction solution that could reduce those deaths. It soared in popularity. And for the first few years in the U.S., led by JUUL, smokers by the thousands turned to vaping as a way of managing a nicotine addiction while not ingesting the 39 carcinogenic chemicals that hitch a ride on every smoker鈥檚 inhale.聽

But what didn鈥檛 we do with vaping? Regulate it. But the Brits did.聽

When vaping began soaring in the UK, the British government did two things: It limited the chemical catalysts in the vape oil (also called juice) and it strictly limited the amount of nicotine.聽

This did two things: First, the Vitamin E acetate which is blamed for the injuries and deaths in the U.S. was never allowed in British vape juice.聽

Second and less noticed, was the sharp restriction on nicotine, rather than a restriction on flavors. The British government restricted the amount of the addictive chemical in every milliliter of vape juice. This means the teens who vape, are much less likely to feel compelled to continue.

Many teens there try it, drop it and move on. In the U.S., with completely unregulated nicotine percentages — also led bu Juul and its patented nicotine salts — kids vape, get addicted and continue vaping into adulthood.聽

The restriction on flavors isn鈥檛 the answer. And we know that.

But for regular adult smokers, when the chemicals in the juice are regulated, vaping is objectively WAY safer. No major health official says otherwise.聽

The Washington state ban on juices is a mildly effective political ploy. But as a health matter, it鈥檚 all smoke.聽

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Opening bids to buy (and save) Seattle Showbox likely to fail, sources say /kiro-radio/showbox-seattle-bids-likely-to-fail/1611874 /kiro-radio/showbox-seattle-bids-likely-to-fail/1611874#respond Fri, 22 Nov 2019 18:09:06 +0000 /?p=1611874 A joint, secret offer from two Seattle non-profits to purchase the Showbox Market is rumored to be well short of the asking price and is likely to be rejected outright, according to sources familiar with the bid to save the popular downtown music venue.

Seattle settles lawsuit with Showbox owner

The , announced by the and , came in at less than half of the original $40 million bid that fell through when the city temporarily rezoned the downtown music venue when it faced sale and demolition.

Naomi West, director of philanthropy and engagement for Historic Seattle, declined to confirm the amount. She said the group has not been told that the offer was rejected.

鈥淲e are making a good-faith offer,鈥 she said. 鈥淎s long as the door is open, we鈥檙e not going to be talking about it. We put forth an offer in October and as far as we know, it has not been declined.鈥

But sources said very likely will be, if it hasn鈥檛 been already. Roger Forbes, owner of the Showbox property, is believed to be unhappy about the amount of the secret bid and subsequent publicity campaign by the two groups seeking to buy and run the venue.

West countered that STG and Historic Seattle remained quiet initially about the bid, before deciding that the time was right to let people know that the groups were forging ahead with a plan.

The 80-year-old Showbox became the leading civic center of attention in July 2018 when a $40-million offer for the 1st Avenue parcel became public. was to build a $100 million, 44-story luxury apartment tower.

But Seattle鈥檚 music community and city council pushed back on the plan to shutter the downtown venue for good, first by giving the building landmark status, and then later by declaring that the building now was part of the protected, development-restricted .

The newly restricted rezoning of the property prompted the Onni Group to cancel the multi-million-dollar offer.

Why Seattle Councilmember was lone vote against Showbox protections

Forbes sued the city for $40 million, declaring that the council鈥檚 decision amounted to an illegal 鈥渟pot zoning,鈥 meaning that that city arbitrarily plucked out a single parcel for sharply different regulations than the adjacent properties.

A judge agreed. In the subsequent settlement, the city agreed to pay Forbes nearly $1 million dollars, but in return, he was asked to consider a bid from a city-sanctioned non-profit that would seek to purchase the property and continue its run as a music venue.

STG — which runs the Paramount and Moore Theatre music venues among other — joined forces with Historic Seattle forces to save the Showbox. The two nonprofits made the offer in October.

But Forbes, early on, made it clear he鈥檇 like money the similar to the failed Onni bid. Other developers are rumored to be lining up to make bid on the property that sits across the street from Pike Place Market, and that has the potential for an unimpeded, panoramic view of Elliott Bay.

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Mike: UW’s quarterback should declare for the NFL draft ASAP /kiro-radio/mike-jacob-eason-nfl-draft/1601994 /kiro-radio/mike-jacob-eason-nfl-draft/1601994#respond Sun, 17 Nov 2019 06:27:35 +0000 /?p=1601994 Let me show you a paragraph from today鈥檚 Seattle Times:

But by returning to the Huskies for one more season, the Lake Stevens native can not only improve his draft stock, he can create the legacy at UW that eluded him in 2019. Eason is just a guy right now, but if he returns, he can leave as the man.

This is a story about Jacob Eason, the uber-talented Huskies quarterback . The author, Seattle Times sports columnist Matt Calkins, why the young man should walk away from millions of dollars and straight into your ambitions for the UDub鈥檚 2020 football season.

It鈥檚 not just a lousy idea; It runs counter to what we should be telling this young man. If he were in the computer science department, if he were a singer, and someone offered him before getting his degree, what would we say?

Walk away from generational wealth so you can entertain fans 鈥 who can鈥檛 legally pay you 鈥 for another year and risk your financial security? For a legacy that matters most to the people who didn鈥檛 even create it?

And why is it that are people who don鈥檛 create legacies always so want to be in charge of other people鈥檚?

Does Jacob Eason owe them anything?

No.

If the NFL and 鈥 in other words like it billion-dollar, free-labor minor league 鈥 then NFL-grade athletes in the system should take that lesson from their elders and treat it in a similar fashion.

Two of the richest men in the country 鈥 Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg 鈥 dropped out of school when an opportunity seemed too good to pass up.

Does anyone whine about what they owe the fans of both schools? Does anyone think about their collegiate legacies?

Exactly. Go grab the money, Jacob. And if it doesn鈥檛 work out in the pros use one sixtieth of that first-round dough to get yourself some schooling wherever you choose.

Or just live off the interest. Not the fan鈥檚 interest, which is what the legacy police argue. The money鈥檚 interest.

That鈥檚 interest you can actually bank on.

Tell me I鈥檓 wrong.

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Mike: Tell Me I’m Wrong, Seattle’s best sports moment of 2019 was on Sunday, not Monday /kiro-radio/tell-me-im-wrong-mike-seattle-sounders-seahawks/1595944 /kiro-radio/tell-me-im-wrong-mike-seattle-sounders-seahawks/1595944#respond Wed, 13 Nov 2019 18:39:00 +0000 /?p=1595944 The game was electrifying, a see-saw affair that could have gone either way. The stadium was packed and the atmosphere was an electric as it could get. And the underdog came out on top.

Mike: Tell Me I鈥檓 Wrong, we should move Halloween

Of course, I鈥檓 talking about Sunday. Not Monday.

Monday鈥檚 Seahawks win mattered a bunch — just not as much as Sunday鈥檚 Sounders win.

Here鈥檚 why:

  • Most obviously, it was a championship; the second in four years and it came from the team鈥檚 third trip to the final in the past four years.
  • It caps the 11th time in 11 season that the city鈥檚 MLS team has made the playoffs, an unprecedented run in local sports.
  • The crowd of nearly 70,000 people was the largest ever at Century Link Field 鈥 larger than any Seahawks game. The team averaged more than 40,000 fans during the regular season.
  • The Sounders have been in Seattle since 1974 鈥 a full three years more than the Seahawks.
  • The team鈥檚 coach Brian Schmetzer is not only is local, he began his affiliation with the Sounders in 1980 as a player. He鈥檚 now a two-time national champion.

The championship seals what now is regarded as the most dominant MLS team of the past decade. No other team in the league can match the Sounders consistent success on and off the pitch.

That MVP quarterback with the Seahawks? Guess which team he bought into as a part owner. And guess where he was on Tuesday.

This isn鈥檛 to take anything away from the Seahawks nail-biter win from the 49ers and the revival of that rivalry. Monday night completed a great week in Seattle sports. And before you tell me about how many people on TV watched the game 鈥 yes, I know it exceeds the Sounders 鈥 but the gap is narrowing each year.

And as for that NFL expansion to London? The Sounders draw better there already and will even after the NFL arrives.

Before you accuse me of being anti-football I鈥檓 not. I was just as happy as the Seahawks win as you. But the long-term trend line nationally and internationally works in soccer鈥檚 favor. Now鈥檚 your excuse to get on board.

And before you tell me I鈥檓 wrong about soccer answer me this: Which sport is your child playing?

鈥淭ell Me I鈥檓 Wrong鈥 airs every day on the聽Candy, Mike and Todd Show at 3:30. The Candy, Mike and Todd Show airs every weekday afternoon from 3-7 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.

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Mike: Tell Me I’m Wrong, we should move Halloween /kiro-radio/wrong-halloween/1582848 /kiro-radio/wrong-halloween/1582848#respond Tue, 05 Nov 2019 06:32:12 +0000 /?p=1582848 With Halloween over, we now sit and wait 鈥 and plan 鈥 for Thanksgiving. As always, it鈥檚 the fourth Thursday in November. It鈥檚 been so since President Lincoln declared 鈥淗arvest Day鈥 (it鈥檚 original name) as final Thursday of this month.

And we鈥檙e fine with that, right? Even with its status as a federal holiday 鈥 one that many people mark as their favorite 鈥 we鈥檙e fine with it falling on a different date from year to year.

We know how to plan because we can all count to four.

So why not do the same for Halloween?

Yes, I know Halloween is pegged to October 31. And yes,. It started with an ancient Celtic festival. Then in the eighth century A.D., Pope Gregory III declared that November 1 would be the day to honor saints in the form of All Saints Day.

The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve and later Halloween.

But in the modern United States, Halloween mostly has lost its religious trappings. It鈥檚 about candy, trick-or-treating, costumes and parties.

So why not just make it the fourth Saturday of October?

There are a few great reasons:

— given its distant connection to the date, the 31st matters less all of the time;

— children would be safer trick-or-treating on a weekend night without commuters out and without parents racing to get home from work to take their own children out;

— party planning gets way easier;

— most important, we would not be forced to deal with the epic weekday traffic like we had last Thursday when parents鈥 rushing home ran headlong into commuter jams. (Don鈥檛 believe me? Just as 成人X站 Radio鈥檚 Tracy Taylor.)

Put simply, we are long past needing Halloween to fall on the 31st. We roll the date for Thanksgiving. We can do it for All Hallows Eve, too.

Let鈥檚 change it. Tell me why I鈥檓 wrong in the comments section below.

鈥淭ell Me I鈥檓 Wrong鈥 airs every day on the聽Candy, Mike and Todd Show at 3:30. The Candy, Mike and Todd Show airs every weekday afternoon from 3-7 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.

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Mike: Tell Me I’m Wrong! The Supreme Court is too old and we need term limits now /kiro-radio/supreme-court-old-term-limits/1573684 /kiro-radio/supreme-court-old-term-limits/1573684#respond Tue, 29 Oct 2019 13:02:45 +0000 /?p=1573684 Since the country began, we鈥檝e had 15 presidents who call themselves Democrats and 19 who call themselves Republicans. It鈥檚 a split, a shift of the power center we all should be proud of. (And yeah, there were other political parties in the presidency. That鈥檚 why the math doesn鈥檛 come out to 45.)

We made this idea, this shift into law in our Constitution with term limits on the presidency. But while that limit on power centralization does work, it鈥檚 out of step with where power actually has moved.

The U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court of the United States is, if you didn鈥檛 know, a lifetime appointment. If you are a 50-year-old male, the odds are you are likely to be dead before Neil Gorsuch leaves his seat on the Supreme Court.

Justices are staying in the job longer than ever and we should be alarmed. It鈥檚 not just me who thinks this way; Thomas Jefferson wrote that we 鈥渆rred鈥 as a country with lifetime Supreme Court appointments. Both conservative and liberal legal scholars have been saying the same thing for years.

Ask yourself this: why should we have endured segregation advocate, Mr. Separate but equal Henry Billings Brown for a generation? Why did we spend a lifetime with justices who didn鈥檛 think women were full citizens with a legal right to vote? What about the decades with justices who didn鈥檛 think people should have rights against government search and seizure?

We have endured that. The drunks. The corrupt. The bigots. The lazy. And, to be fair, we鈥檝e benefited from geniuses, too.

The country鈥檚 attitude and sensibilities change over time. But the Court does not change in the same way. It has been called the most powerful and least accountable branch of government.

The Solution

The solution is 12- or 16- or 18-year appointments. Simple. We still get the prime of a legal scholar鈥檚 working life and we still get an independent appointment that outlasts a single presidency. But we don鈥檛 get justices hanging on a decade past their due date to give the next president the appointment.

Better still, we don鈥檛 get an acid bath that is the confirmation process because the stakes are lower. Even the Catholic Church favors older popes so no one stays in the top job too long.

There were great reasons for the founders to implement lifetime appointment. But lifetime now means something longer, deeper, and more powerful than it ever has.

The Supreme Court is supposedly the nation鈥檚 conscience, not its storage locker of out-of-date ideas, attitudes, and lawyers.

Tell me I鈥檓 wrong.

“Tell Me I’m Wrong” airs every day on the Candy, Mike and Todd Show at 3:30. The Candy, Mike and Todd Show airs every weekday afternoon from 3-7 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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New report asserts Seattle won’t prosecute nearly one of every two arrests /kiro-radio/report-seattle-prosecute-arrests/1535697 /kiro-radio/report-seattle-prosecute-arrests/1535697#respond Mon, 30 Sep 2019 21:16:47 +0000 /?p=1535697 Seattle’s city attorney won’t prosecute approximately 50 percent of the non-traffic arrests brought to his office by police and then moves so slowly to file charges on the rest that hundreds of offenders disappear and never face jail time or diversion programs, according to a released Monday by local business groups.

Seattle council not sold on Mayor Durkan鈥檚 plan for prolific offenders

Taking data from municipal court system, Seattle police and City Attorney Pete Holmes’ office, the System Failure 2 report asserts that the city prosecutor declines to file on nearly half of the referrals it receives (5,000 cases each year); takes more than six months to file charges on cases it does move forward; and declines to press charges 65 percent of the people who are suspected of crimes but not in custody.

Assembled by the same business groups who funded , which focused on repeat offenders, the group’s overall conclusion is that the city attorney’s reticence over filing cases not only keeps repeat offenders on the streets and out of jail, it doesn’t get those who could use treatment routed into the system for help.

In a statement, Holmes said his office would push through more cases if it simply had more money.

“Nothing has changed since these issues were flagged in the business associations鈥 first report: it would take at least an additional $2 million per year for enough prosecutors and staff to consider all cases for filing within 48 hours of receipt, and seeing the cases through to disposition,” Holmes said in a statement shortly after the release of the report.

“I鈥檇 welcome the input of anyone wanting to develop a strategy for how to best increase funding for my office – hopefully this funding would be coupled with sufficient resources for Courts to fashion remedies that best minimize recidivism, substance abuse, and mental health issues.”

In all, the 40-page report, written by former city attorney candidate Scott Lindsay, concludes that “the City Attorney’s office is undermining Seattle’s $500 million investment in its criminal justice system, resulting in dysfunction that does little to resolve the chronic crime issues in Seattle neighborhoods.”

The report does not say, however, how Seattle ranks among other similar-sized cities when it comes to prosecution. In other words, is the 50 percent non prosecution rate an outlier or typical?

Advocates for the report said it doesn’t matter, more cases should be prosecuted regardless. During the past decade, the city prosecutor’s office steadily has been declining to prosecute cases, “from 17 percent of all misdemeanor non-traffic cases to 46 percent,” the report states.

Lindsay, the report’s author who worked in Mayor Ed Murray’s administration, decline to comment publicly on the work. But local business owners, including representatives with major retailers such as Uwajimaya market in the International District, confirmed that Lindsay surveyed store representative about crime.

Indeed, Uwajimaya is featured prominently in the report:

“Uwajimaya鈥檚 management states that they have seen a significant increase in theft and security incidents in the past six years and it has had a major impact on their business, employees and customers. They estimate they have between 10 and 20 security incidents per day,” the report says.

“Records show that Uwajimaya reports less than one incident to police per day. But even those reports show very little return for their efforts. Of the 261 cases that Uwajimaya referred for prosecution through the Retail Theft Program in 2018 (including detailed reports with an admission from the suspect, statement from security聽 and evidence collected), only 11 had resulted in a guilty plea or pre-trial diversion as of July 2019.”

Representatives for the popular Asian market could not be reached for comment.

Mayor Jenny Durkan released the following statement on Monday:

鈥淪eattle is a great city, and one of the top places to live, visit, and work. But as we grow, people must be able to thrive and feel safe. We know that too many people cycle through the criminal justice system and do not get the help they need – this hurts both those individuals and their communities. Our growing city must address the complex intersection of behavioral health, substance use disorders, homelessness and the criminal justice system in new ways.

We know that different individuals may need different interventions, including diversion programs, treatment, and a criminal justice intervention. Many times the right intervention is not our criminal justice system 鈥 it鈥檚 a range of strategies and approaches to address the underlying needs of individuals.

While no single jurisdiction oversees all the tools, programs, or resources needed to address these challenges, we have a responsibility to work together and make meaningful progress. Earlier this year, I convened a High Barrier Working Group of jurisdictions to bring the responsible courts, prosecutors, and others across our region to develop pilot programs to address this complex challenge. After months of hard work, we agreed on four new pilot programs to be implemented in late 2019 and early 2020 upon Council approval.

My 2020 Proposed Budget would make significant investments in these new steps, continued investments in restorative justice and diversion, and add two additional Assistant City Attorney鈥檚 to the Criminal Division of the City Attorney鈥檚 Office. I hope that as City Council considers my 2020 Proposed Budget they will support these new steps and new resources so we can put this more focused approach into action.鈥

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8 years of polls show Seattle council’s downward popularity slide /local/seattle-council-poll-downward-popularity-slide/1418697 /local/seattle-council-poll-downward-popularity-slide/1418697#respond Fri, 14 Jun 2019 12:13:19 +0000 /?p=1418697 The Seattle City Council is facing a partial overhaul in the upcoming election with seven seats in play and with a minimum of four new council members come November, given a handful of retirements from the nine-member council.

Seattle City Council poised for major shakeup in 2019

And while city councils in many large metropolitan cities suffer from popularity dips, Seattle鈥檚 council has hit an unusually low mark this May: Nearly half of voters surveyed (47 percent) in a private poll in May believe the city is on the wrong track 鈥 the highest total recorded in nearly a decade.

Additionally, while 38 percent of the voters surveyed believe the city is headed in the right direction, that number is down from 50 percent of respondents just one year ago.CourtesyThe tracking data, obtained by 成人X站 Radio, comes from a dozen private, policy polls funded since 2011 by local groups and trade unions. In each, between 400 and 1,000 people were asked if they believed the city was headed in the right direction or if it is on the wrong track. That question, typically, is asked in many polls before the specific policy issue is raised, such as the education levy.

In the same polls, the mayor’s office — regardless of who the mayor is — tends to fare better in public opinion than the council does. So do some council members within their own districts.

Generally, the Seattle City Council doesn’t spend as a group on polling. But some interest groups and unions, such as SEIU, occasionally fund polls on specific issues and then make the results available to council members. This was the case on the 2018 poll which revealed to the council the effect of the large-company employee tax, also called the head tax.

Looking at the data over several years, it makes clear that prospective candidates and incumbent council members 鈥 who had access to much of this polling over the past several years 鈥 knew it was either time to step aside or mount aggressive fundraising efforts to win a seat.

Secret poll reveals deep unpopularity of Seattle City Council

The slide in public perception also underscores why the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, business groups, and wealthy donors, were willing to back numerous challengers for seven council seats.

The three current council members who have chosen to run — Kshama Sawant, Lisa Herbold and Deborah Juarez — are fundraising aggressively. Sawant, alone has raised over $150,000. Her leading opponent, Logan Bowers, also ranks among the top fundraisers for council seats in the city.

But the data doesn’t just indicate a long-term, dimming perception of Seattle’s direction; it also shows the dramatic effect of the current council’s defining move in March 2018, when it . The chart vividly shows — with a large “X” in the graphic —聽 the dramatic, opposite paths of “right direction” and “wrong track.”

And while the council’s reputation took a slight upward tick after the council later repealed the head tax — a vote that occurred, in part, because council members saw the secret poll — the public’s mood about the council has yet to fully recover.

This, along with democracy vouchers, explains the 55 people lining up to run for council seats.

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Seattle’s District 7 candidates set to debate crime, homelessness /local/seattles-district-7-candidate-forum/1413887 /local/seattles-district-7-candidate-forum/1413887#respond Tue, 11 Jun 2019 01:38:31 +0000 /?p=1413887 Seattle City Council District 7 — which contains the downtown epicenter of the city’s well-documented struggle with crime and homelessness — will be the site of a candidate debate Tuesday tonight.

The 6 p.m. forum at 1513 3rd Avenue (next to the Melbourne Building) is open to the public who will be able to ask questions of the five candidates expected to attend, including: , , , (who has not yet confirmed), .

Nine candidates have declared for the District 7 race. The top two finishers in the Aug. 6 primary advance to the general election. In all, 55 candidates have filed candidate papers across the seven council district seats.

District 3 candidates distinguish themselves from Sawant
Homelessness takes center stage at District 2 forum

District 7 covers Seattle’s downtown, South Lake Union, Pioneer Square, the International District, Queen Anne and Magnolia. The event was organized by 3rd Avenue Residents — an informal group who live in the heart of the district that has seen a 600 percent population increase over the past seven years.

The debate will be moderated by 成人X站 Radio’s Mike Lewis of the Candy, Mike and Todd show, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. 0n 97.3 FM and available on demand and streaming.

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Seattle crane accident: Missing connector pins considered as possible cause /uncategorized/seattle-crane-missing-connector-pins/1368145 /uncategorized/seattle-crane-missing-connector-pins/1368145#respond Mon, 29 Apr 2019 21:58:10 +0000 /?p=1368145 State safety inspectors are examining the possibility of missing connector pins as the primary cause of a construction crane accident in downtown Seattle that left four people dead Saturday afternoon, sources close to the investigation said Monday.

The 3:30 p.m. accident near the corner of Fairview Avenue and Mercer Street occurred during gusty winds as the giant crane was being disassembled. Witnesses said multiple sections of the structure came loose and plunged to the street, crushing several cars. Two people in cars died along with two ironworkers who were working on the crane.

State Labor and Industries inspectors are focused on sequence of events leading to the accident, specifically: when were the crane arm connector pins removed, and when was the disassembly crane attached? According to the engineers and crews who assemble large building cranes seen all over Seattle, an assembly crane is used for the build up and eventual take down of large construction cranes.

RELATED: Investigators look at loosened bolts on collapsed crane
RELATED: Weather conditions and the crane collapse
RELATED: Photos from the crane collapse in Seattle

But on the Mercer accident at the Google building project no pins — broken, sheared or otherwise — were found on the arms or in the debris field by people on scene afterwards. This has led inspectors to speculate that the pins might have been removed prior to the disassembly crane being attached as a backup.

Coupled with the sudden and unexpected wind gusts, the sections of structure might have been loose and left vulnerable to collapsing, sources said, because they were not already anchored to the take-down crane.

“It doesn’t look good,” said one person who was at the scene and asked to remain anonymous.

But many questions remain. First, if the pins were removed prior to attachment of the disassembly crane, did the ironworkers detach it under the instruction of a site engineer or supervisor? And, if so, why wasn’t standard procedure followed? As one person familiar with the accident aftermath put it, “this wasn’t the decision of a single rogue ironworker. ”

The Seattle Times reported that pin or bolt removal also was to blame for a similar 2012 incident the Dallas campus of the University to Texas. According to the Times: “That tower crane collapse, which聽, also occurred during dismantling and featured just the crane鈥檚 mast, not its horizontal arm.

鈥淧rior to dismantling of the mast, the employer removed mast bolts from every other tower section,鈥澛犅燽y the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found. 鈥淪ome of the remaining bolts were also de-torqued.鈥

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Is Seattle planning to tax Uber, Lyft rides to pay for transit and homeless? /uncategorized/seattle-council-uber-lyft-tax-poll/1250420 /uncategorized/seattle-council-uber-lyft-tax-poll/1250420#respond Tue, 22 Jan 2019 02:02:50 +0000 http://mynorthwest.com/?p=1250420 An unidentified market research company surveyed Seattle residents about their support of potential city council legislation to tax ride share companies, to help “raise millions” for local transit, homeless services, and health benefits for rideshare drivers, according to sources familiar with the work.

RELATED:听Rideshare, bike numbers spike in Seattle during Viadoom

Completed late last month, the survey additionally sought a “favorability rating” of the city council and mayor.

One respondent who didn’t want to be identified was positive on both.

“I gave them both good marks,” the person said with a laugh. “I might be in the minority in that assessment.”

Sources said that while officials in Seattle City Hall knew about the research, the mayor’s office neither commissioned nor paid for the survey. And the existence of the survey does not necessarily mean the mayor’s office or the city council will pursue legislation, especially given that seven out of nine total council seats are up for election in 2019.

Oftentimes in polls like this, a third party is tasked with issuing the poll — in some cases, it could be a union friendly to city council. The union will then do a poll on their own issues, and then add in questions about the policy as requested by the city.

According to two respondents and others familiar with the question, the focus of the survey was to gauge the mood about a potential city council legislation tax on rideshare companies, with Uber mentioned specifically by name.

Such a measure would fall under the umbrella of congestion pricing, something that’s proven controversial both in Seattle and on a statewide level.

The survey questioner noted that Uber accounted for 10 percent of the traffic in downtown on any given day before asking about the tax.

RELATED:听Uber advocating for downtown Seattle tolling

While it is unclear if any possible fee would be levied on drivers, rides or both, the questioner asked if the respondent would favor a tax that would “bring in millions” for three specific programs: Mass transit and the trolley, low-cost housing for the homeless, and medical care for Uber divers, one respondent said.

Additionally, the surveyors asked if negative response ads about the tax, and ads that describe the tax as stifling innovation, would affect the respondent’s support of such a tax.

“I told them ‘No,'” one respondent said. “I would not mind seeing Uber get taxed.”

It’s worth noting that it’s not clear what specifically a tax would be directed at, whether it’s a tax on Lyft and Uber rides specifically, the companies themselves, or some combination of both.

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Secret poll reveals deep unpopularity of Seattle City Council /local/secret-poll-unpopular-seattle-city-council/1207766 /local/secret-poll-unpopular-seattle-city-council/1207766#respond Thu, 06 Dec 2018 14:05:29 +0000 http://mynorthwest.com/?p=1207766 Last August, the Seattle office of EMC Research was commissioned to poll public opinion on , the city鈥檚 $600 million education property tax which eventually passed with nearly 69 percent of voters endorsing it.

But the poll, never released to the public, showed something else as well: While the voters were overwhelmingly willing to tax themselves for the expansion of preschool and student health care, they strongly dislike the Seattle City Council and they deeply distrust city leaders to manage the money correctly.

Adding insult to injury for the City Council — seven of whom are facing re-election next year 鈥 the EMC poll revealed that council members remain increasingly unpopular even as opinion about Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan becomes more favorable. The poll surveyed 400 likely voters in the city. Overall, it seems to indicate that voters generally like the mayor, but not the council. Also, it cautioned the backers of the levy 鈥 including the mayor 鈥 to keep some distance from the City Council when advocating the property tax hike.

鈥淭he mayor is well-liked and can be an effective messenger,鈥 the report analysis says, 鈥渂ut visibility from the City Council runs the risk of connecting the levy to voters鈥 broader concerns about the city.鈥

Noted one longtime Seattle political consultant who asked to remain anonymous, 鈥淭his is the most unpopular city council in a decade. It will make for an interesting spring when council elections really get underway.鈥

Among the results in the poll obtained by 成人X站 Radio and MyNorthwest.com:

  • The city council鈥檚 disapproval rating has climbed to nearly half the voters (48 percent) with 26 percent 鈥 one in five of those polled 鈥 having 鈥渟trongly unfavorable鈥 views of the current city council.
  • Mayor Jenny Durkan, whose popularity took a sharp dip during the Head Tax fight, appears to have completely recovered with 63 percent of respondents having a favorable view compared to 25 percent unfavorable (with 10 percent 鈥渟trongly unfavorable.鈥)
  • Nearly half of the voters (45 percent) feel the city is headed on the wrong direction, the second highest total in the past seven years. The highest negative total, 47 percent, also happened this year as the Head Tax issue peaked in June.
  • Overall, residents are getting increasingly pessimistic about the city鈥檚 capacity to spend money responsibly. In the six months between March and August, the public鈥檚 trust in Seattle leaders鈥 fiscal responsibility dipped to 42 percent from 52 percent.

 

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Ballot bust: Pre-paid postage for Washington ballots didn’t increase voter turnout /local/pre-paid-postage-washington-ballots-turnout-2018/1185759 /local/pre-paid-postage-washington-ballots-turnout-2018/1185759#respond Thu, 15 Nov 2018 14:48:45 +0000 http://mynorthwest.com/?p=1185759 Washington state鈥檚 experiment with pre-paid mail-in ballots didn鈥檛 turn out as predicted with no increase in voter turnout in the 2018 election, state officials confirmed.

The state paid $1.2 million for 38 counties — King County was the lone exception 鈥 to cover the postage on mail-in ballots in an effort to increase voter turnout. But a funny thing happened on the way to the ballot box — nothing new.

鈥淚t does appear, at least in the primary — and the general (election) trend is also looking the same 鈥 that the statewide turnout is the same as 2010 in both the primary and then the general,鈥 said Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman.

In their analysis, officials drew comparisons with the voter turnout numbers in the 2010 midterm elections which had, essentially, same slate including U.S. Senate. By comparison, the 2018 primary race showed voter participation improvement in one-third of the counties and a decline in the other two-thirds.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a mixed bag,鈥 Wyman said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still reviewing the data.鈥

In May of this year, state elected officials touted the state-paid ballots as a way to get more registered voters to participate. Gov. Jay Inslee, who backed the effort, : “More voter participation makes for a stronger democracy. Because Washington is a vote-by-mail state, pre-paid postage is one important way we can reduce barriers to casting ballots.”

Early results show that it didn鈥檛 seem to matter much. Early tests indicated that some local, special elections did benefit from pre-paid postage. Statewide though, voter participation increases in some counties were matched by decreases in others. And the numbers showed that that the central driving force remains the same as it ever was: which elections are in play.

King County started the push to pay for mail-in ballots in April of 2018 when County Executive Dow Constantine allocated $381,000 to pay for ballot postage within the county. One month later, Wyman鈥檚 office followed suit statewide saying it was unfair for voters in only one county to get free postage.

Now, Wyman said, the static voter turnout numbers indicate that the Legislature might not be warm to funding government-paid postage moving ahead.

鈥淚 think if we had seen stronger voter turnout, I鈥檇 be a stronger advocate (for continued state ballot-postage funding),鈥 Wyman said.

鈥淲as it nice for the state to do this for voters? Sure it was,鈥 she added.

But she got an earful from both the people who supported the effort and those who saw it as a waste of taxpayer money. The larger point that lawmakers should deal with, she said, is that the state does not adequately cover the cost of the elections it requires the counties to hold.

The smaller and midsize counties have to dip into their general funds to pay staffing costs for elections.

鈥淭he state doesn鈥檛 pay its share of election costs,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e need to have that conversation in the Legislature.鈥

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