OPINION: Passionate Testimony Brightens a Bleak Seattle Budget

by Geov Parrish

Sept. 23, hundreds packed Seattle City Council chambers and an overflow room for their first chance to offer public testimony on Mayor Jenny Durkan’s proposed 2019-20  budget, and potential council amendments to it. Some 140 people and groups signed up to offer testimony in what turned out to be a frequently emotional four-hour marathon that hopefully left council members — at least those who weren’t looking at their phones all evening — a lot to think about. To her credit, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw chaired the hearing with a notably fairer and more restrained hand than council President Bruce Harrell employs in contentious council meetings.

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General Election 2018: The Vote to Save Democracy

by Geov Parrish

Okay, so granted, the concept of “American democracy” is a bit tarnished: Citizens United, voter suppression, gerrymandering, this list goes on ad nauseam. A 2014 Princeton study found that there was no statistical correlation between what, according to public polling, the American public wants Congress to do and what Congress actually does. But there is a very high correlation between what the very wealthy want (using the same metric) and what Congress actually does. That’s not a representative democracy but a plutocracy — which is, arguably, what America’s heavily worshiped “founding fathers” wanted to begin with.

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The Minority Report: Lynnwood Man Uses DNA Test to Claim Native Identity

by Bypolar

I read an article a while back about Ralph Taylor, a white business owner from Lynnwood who took an at-home DNA tests that estimated he was 90 percent European, 6 percent Native and 4 percent sub-Saharan African. Now he, of course, feels he should be qualified for insurance breaks meant for business owners of color, naturally.

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PHOTOS: Hundreds Join Boo Bash for Halloween Fun

Stories and Photos by Susan Fried

Hundreds of costume-clad children and adults showed up at the fifth annual Boo Bash in Rainier Beach to celebrate Halloween at what the organizers describe as “The biggest free Halloween event in the entire region.” There was lots of activities for the families to participate in and a ton of candy to be had at the 82 different trick ot treat stations located throughout the Rainier Beach Safeway parking lot. In addition to the many opportunities for children to fill their bags with candy and treats, they could also take a brief ride on a horse provided by the 10th Cavalry Division Buffalo Soldiers, learn about birds of prey from Jon the Falconer, watch magician Ruben Barron perform tricks, sing Karaoke, listen to stories, or play on three inflatable games provided by Amusements on Demand.

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PHOTOS: Youth and Children Lead Familias Por Familias Rally

by Susan Fried

Dozens of children and their families gathered together on Sunday, October 28, at the Centilia Cultural Center to hear from young people about how the government’s immigration policies affect them, their families, and their friends. The Families for Families Rally and March/Familias por Familias featured the voices of children who know very well how immigration policy can impact their lives.

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Opinion: If You Care About Climate Change, Don’t Listen to Cliff Mass; Vote Yes on 1631

by Alex Lenferna

Washington voters who open their voting guides will be in for a surprise when they see a lone atmospheric scientist standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Big Oil to oppose Initiative 1631, a plan to make polluters pay for their pollution and invest in clean energy and healthy communities.

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From the Archives: Filmmaker Shares Untold Tale of the Duwamish

Sandra Osawa

This article originally appeared on the Emerald in 2014. We are reposting it now in advance of a screening of Princess Angeline on Nov. 1. Click here for details.

In a lifetime spent unearthing stories from history’s cellar as an award winning filmmaker, Sandra Osawa has discovered her fair share of untidy portions of the past that most would sooner forget. Osawa, however, has made it her mission to shed ample amounts of daylight on the travesties of yesterday and their lingering residue found in our present times.

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Williams Project Brings Kushner’s ‘Bright Room Called Day’ to Hillman City

by Georgia McDade

Should I stay or should I go? Be there or not to be there? Speak up or be silent? The characters in Tony Kushner’s drama A Bright Room Called Day  ask themselves these questions and many others, but not at the beginning of the play. The audience, by extension, may ask themselves the same questions.

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