(This article originally appeared on PubliCola and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
A pair of amendments to the King County charter on the ballot next month open a door for significant reshaping of the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO). The measures have sparked two opposition campaigns — one closely tied to the King County Police Officers’ Guild (KCPOG), which represents sheriff’s officers — that have cast the amendments as radical attacks on law enforcement, while the measures have received limited vocal support from the most prominent local police accountability advocates.
The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a “coordinated attack” from hackers that disrupted an online town hall for Skyway hosted by the King County Local Services Department on October 6, according to a statement from the King County Executive’s Office. Hackers broke into the meeting and used Zoom’s annotations feature to post “offensive, anti-Black, anti-Semitic, and sexually explicit images and words,” according to King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay on Twitter, who was part of the meeting.
Skyway, an unincorporated community sandwiched between Seattle and Renton, has few representatives. While other areas in King County have “essentially what amounts to lobbyists working for them and their interests,” as King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay puts it, Skyway has no mayor or city council.
A free, multi-service resource center hosted by Renton Innovation Zone Partnership will be stationed at 12643 Renton Ave. S.on Sept. 4, Sept. 18, and three dates in October, to provide Skyway residents with housing assistance, school supplies, and food resources, among other things.
Following a shooting Tuesday, August 18 at the 3000 block of Rainier Avenue South, a man in his 20s was treated for life-threatening injuries and rushed to Harborview Medical Center. “We’ve always had gun violence in our community. We’ve been facing gun violence for a very long time,” said Dom Davis, CEO and Founder of Community Passageways, a Seattle-based nonprofit felony diversion and prevention program. But the incident August 18 was one of a potentially record-setting number of shootings this summer in Seattle. The case is ongoing.
March 15 was one of the hardest days of my professional life. That was the day Governor Jay Inslee announced expanded limitations on large gatherings and closures of certain small businesses to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Immediately after his order came down, my email inbox and social media channels were flooded with messages from terrified King County residents. I heard from restaurant owners saying the restaurants they had operated for generations were in jeopardy; barber shop and beauty salon owners wondering how they could continue paying their commercial rent; Uber drivers facing imminent financial demise.
The lone media report about the Jan. 16 shooting that broke the chill, silent night along Renton Avenue South and South Kenyon Street is brief: “Several shots were fired across a South Seattle neighborhood Thursday night and police are still searching for the gunman.”
The shooting came just six days after the Seattle Police Department released its annual gun violence report, which showed an increase in gun violence throughout Seattle, and in five neighborhoods, in particular. Three of those five neighborhoods –– New Holly, Rainier Beach, and North Beacon Hill –– are located in South Seattle. Continue reading Morales, Zahilay Take Part in Community Dialogue Addressing South End Gun Violence→
Girmay Zahilay, the King County Council’s newest member, chose to be sworn into office on Sunday evening at Franklin High School, a place close to his heart. It was a place where Zahilay, born in Sudan to Ethiopian refugees and raised in the South End, found himself and found community. Continue reading Girmay Zahilay Sworn in as Newest County Councilmember at Franklin High School→
The South Seattle Emerald met with candidates running for King County Council’s District 2 seat. District 2 spans from the University of Washington to Skyway and encompasses the Central District and Southeast Seattle. Incumbent Councilmember Larry Gossett has run largely unopposed for years, but this race faces newcomer Girmay Zahilay, who led the race in the August Primary. These interviews invite the candidates to talk about their campaigns in their own words. Today, we speak with Larry Gossett.
