Topics: Multimedia, Video, Food, Seattle, Health, local business, Nightlife ..read more

A Seattle City Councilmember’s effort to incentivize the construction of apartment buildings that include affordable housing and ground-floor community amenities appears dead in the water after her Land Use Committee colleagues voted against the bill on April 17. Councilmember Tammy Morales’s Connected Communities Pilot would have allowed private or nonprofit developers to build higher or wider buildings, skip design review, and be exempted from certain development fees if they partnered with community organizations to construct projects where at least 30% of the units are subsidized at below ..read more

Whatcom County officials paid $225,000 last November to settle claims that a former Public Works director sexually harassed a female employee for more than two years. Jon Hutchings resigned in lieu of termination in October 2022, just one day before a third-party investigator interviewed three female employees who reported Hutchings had made sexual comments to them or touched them inappropriately while at work. But county leaders never formally disciplined Hutchings or adjudicated the complaints. And they helped him get a new job, writing a favorable “letter of introduction.” “It has been a pl ..read more

When police believe property like a car, boat or even just cash is tied to a crime, they can seize it and in many instances keep the proceeds. The practice is known as civil asset forfeiture. A new audit finds that law enforcement agencies here in Washington are complying with the state’s seizure law, but could do more to help people trying to reclaim property they’ve lost and to be more transparent about how the system works.  In a 110-page report released last week, the State Auditor’s Office delves into a program long used by police in combating drug-related crimes that has drawn fire ..read more

The ambiguous promise of Bed Bath & Beyond has long been the source of jokes and fanciful speculation. Might you find a panini press? Or a way to finally connect with your mother-in-law? When the downtown store shuttered in 2018 (well before the retail chain became an online-only brand), Vanishing Seattle pondered “Bed Bath & Beyond Help?” At least for this location, what’s “beyond” has been clarified. The long-vacant, 66,000-square-foot space — a 1960 building that looks like it’s being trampled by its own parking garage — is becoming a new arts and performance space called ..read more

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Handcuffing a suspect is like an intricate ballroom dance. Feet just so for balance. Hands moving in the correct patterns for control. Fingers rotating the suspect’s oblong wrists so they comfortably fit into oblong cuffs. One partner leading. The other mostly passive or occasionally resisting. A friendly vibe to ease the psychological tension. Recruits practice handcuffing techniques. (Genna Martin/Cascade PBS) “When police arrest a suspect, they’re always emotional, always upset,” said Rich Peterson, program manager for use of force and defensive tactics at Washington’s Criminal Justice Trai ..read more

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The money was intended for essentials like rent or groceries. A dedicated staff served to connect youth to that funding and to social services. Together, these resources could have helped hundreds of vulnerable teens and young adults who sought assistance from a new state-funded initiative called Lifeline WA. Instead, the state has ordered its contractor to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars as the $1.5 million Lifeline pilot program to support at-risk youth collapsed under scrutiny, just weeks after a Cascade PBS and Youth Today report last fall detailed service delays and questionable ..read more