This week the Seattle City Council will discuss and vote on a long list of amendments for the 2025-2026 budget. Here are the big fights to look out for. by Hannah Krieg

This week the Seattle City Council will discuss and vote on a long list of amendments for the 2025-2026 budget. Here are the big fights to look out for. 

Capital Gains: Comrade Cathy Moore (she’s earned the title until she pisses me off later in this same post) proposed a 2% tax on profits exceeding $262,000 from the sale and exchange of stocks, bonds, and business interests. The tax could generate anywhere from $16 million and $51 million in its first year and would only apply to about 860 of the city’s wealthiest residents, according to central staff analysis.

Moore wants to use that money to pay for fund rental assistance, homeownership programs, and to fight food insecurity. However,  my typical expert sources on progressive revenue declined to comment on Moore’s proposed spending priorities. Notably, Moore did not propose explicitly codifying those priorities and it's not like anyone respects spending plans anyway! 

Moore’s tax would be a local expansion of the statewide capital gains tax that the good people of Washington overwhelmingly voted to protect from a right-wing attack earlier this month. That same attack, an initiative backed by hedge fund millionaire Brian Heywood, stopped the previous council from voting on a capital gains tax in their last budget process. At the time, The Stranger (me, it was me) lamented that the incoming conservative council would decline to take up the fight, or if one brave member did, they simply wouldn’t have the votes to pass it. Council Member Tammy Morales and Rob Saka are co-sponsoring the amendment, a collaboration that signals broad support. Morales represents the leftmost voice on the council and Saka usually aligns with the conservative majority. If you want the amendment to pass, my best advice is to urge Council Members Joy Hollingsworth and Dan Strauss to vote yes — they seem the most likely path to a majority. 

Other revenue: Morales has her eye on other revenue streams. Even though the Mayor proposed a balanced budget, filling the looming deficit largely by raiding JumpStart funds that ought to pay for affordable housing, the City will still face another, smaller deficit in 2027. Morales requested Central Staff to write plans implementing a digital advertising excise tax and an excise tax on “professional services” such as realtor, accountant, architect, and other services. Thinking ahead. We love to see it. 

SLUT shaming: Saka proposed an amendment asking the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to make a plan to retire the South Lake Union Streetcar, which people sometimes call the “SLUT” even though the acronym would actually be “SLUS.” 

In a press release, Saka said he’s “deeply concerned that residents aren’t getting what they paid for” from the SLUT. Before the pandemic, the SLUT saw 500,000 riders a year, but in 2023, it only saw about 175,000, according to the Urbanist. 

“There are much more effective ways we could be investing our transit dollars and that’s why I’m proposing the executive take a serious look at alternatives with my amendment,” Saka said in a press release. “This isn’t about killing transit – it’s about ensuring our transportation dollars are wisely spent on expanded transit service in the area that people will actually use! At its core, this is a 1-for-1, transit-for-transit investment that would require a thoughtful transition of service.”  

He and his cosponsors Moore and Bob Kettle also proposed an amendment to scrap the plan to connect the two streetcars from the Capital Improvement Program. 

For Our Boys In Blue: If you thought the Mayor’s budget and the Chair’s subsequent balancing package couldn’t get any friendlier to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), you would be wrong. Moore proposed an amendment to ask SDP to draft a plan to provide officers with childcare, possibly run by the City. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of public childcare for everyone, but the City Council and the Mayor consistently give special treatment to the cops over other City workers and Seattle residents. Moore will likely make a feminist appeal over the amendment because figuring out officers’ childcare woos may encourage more women, often saddled with more responsibility in raising children, to join the force. 

Renters rights: Morales answered one of the loudest calls from the working people of the budget — reverse Harrell’s defunding of renters services. Her amendment would fully restore tenant services to the tune of nearly $1 million over the biennium. Since all amendments must come with a funding source, Morales suggested taking the money from the Office of Economic Development and reducing funding for the Mayor’s Downtown Activation Plan. Guess we won’t get a second Space Needle anytime soon, but the amendment just might save your housing. 

However, Moore proposed a proviso that limits funding for eviction legal services to those who make under 200% of the area median income. That’s inline with State law and while City law provides some flexibilty, the Housing Justice Project says they haven't taken on clients above 80% this year at all. 

The proposal mirrors one introduced earlier this year by King County Council Member Regan Dunn. Both of them must have been following the conservative media circus around the landlord in Bellevue who claimed his tenant was loaded, but choosing not to pay rent. That narrative of the freeloading tenant has gained popularity with landlords, most notably the Low Income Housing Institute. 

Speaking of provisos: Moore also partnered with Council Member Martiza Rivera on a proviso that would hold hostage $29.5 million —or six months of funding —earmarked for shelter services through the Human Services Department (HSD). HSD can lift the proviso by submitting a report and answering a list of questions. You can read up on all the amendments up for individual vote here. Over the next few days, watch the council discuss final amendments in real time on the Seattle Channel or follow my play-by-play on Twitter.

Every Sunday morning from 5-7am we present an encore airing of Tuesday night's Classical Edge with host Chris Wartes, featuring the best in 20th & 21st Century Classical Music.
.

Plus, Spokane wants historic teardowns to go to good use and Idaho wants phones banned in all schools ENOUGH PROGRESS?…

"Take me out to the ball game!" are words I shout every trip to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles…

Crammed in a narrow canyon of North Idaho's Silver Valley, in perhaps one of the most inconvenient but also beautiful places for a hub of human habitation, are the rusted remains of a once-lively mountain mine town…

Art and community have gone hand in hand for millennia…

Spokane owes its existence to bridges…

In July, Lake City Playhouse staged Oliver!, the first production to be held on its own stage in four years…

The former 'ER' actress reveals she spent Covid-19 lockdown having a bake-off with her son and the judges that involve their neighbors always love the kid's cookies more.

In this episode, Ida gives us an in-depth look at the iOS app Widget Baby.

In Widget Baby you can adopt and take care of a cute digital companion. The app allows you to track the widget baby's health stats, provide food, sleep, soothing, and diaper changes as needed. You can play mini-games together with your widget baby and climb leaderboards. The widget baby will grow over time and have new stories and adventures to share. You can customize the widget baby's home and collect supplies to keep them healthy. Additional subscription features include capturing augmented reality memories, linking with friends to care for the same widget baby, and sending the widget baby on unique escapes. Widget Baby aims to be a fun, interactive app for users who enjoy virtual baby games.

In this episode, Ida gives us an in-depth look at the iOS app Widget Pet.

In Widget Pet, you can adopt and care for a virtual pet. You can select and customize a dog, cat, bunny or other virtual pet from the in-app WidgetPet pet shop. Once selected, the pet can be incubated and hatched. You then feed, play with, and care for your virtual pet, impacting its mood and triggering activities. As the pet grows, it unlocks new capabilities like mini-games and virtual vacations. The app features a customizable widget that follows the pet's health, hunger and happiness levels on iOS screens. It provides real-time updates on the pet's emotions and activities throughout the day. The widget can be added to iOS devices and Apple Watch to keep the virtual pet close by.

In this episode, Thomas Domville demonstrates how to connect to a Windows computer using the Files app on iOS and iPadOS, in order to transfer files over your local network.

To do this, you'll first need to make sure file and printer sharing is enabled on your computer by going to Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > Advanced sharing settings, and making sure "File and printer sharing" is on for your current connection type, either public or private. To view your computer's internal or "Private" IPV4 address, which you'll need to enter on your iPhone or iPad, either use the ipconfig command line tool as demonstrated in the episode, or locate it via the GUI by going to Settings > Network & Internet > Advanced network settings > Hardware and connection properties.

To connect to the computer from your iPhone or iPad, open the Files app, double-tap the "More" button near the top right of the screen, and choose "Connect to server" from the resulting menu. Enter your computer's IP address in the "Server address" field, and double-tap Connect. You'll then be prompted to authenticate with the username and password you use to log into the computer, after which it should appear in the brows view of the Files app, under the "Shared" heading.

Once connected, you can brows and modify the file and folder structure of the C Drive from the Files app, as well as transfer files from other apps on your device to this location. To disconnect your iPhone or iPad from your computer, focus on it in the brows view of the Files app and choose "eject" from the Actions rotor.

Note: This feature was demonstrated on a computer running Windows 11. While it is available on prior versions of Windows, the process for configuring it may be slightly different.

transcription:
Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello and welcome.

My name is Thomas Domville , also known as AnonyMouse.

Now this podcast is going to be for my advanced users out there.

Now I've been in this position for quite a while and I have been thinking about how could I streamline this process.

So are you one of those people that tend to transfer files a lot back and forth from your iPhone or your iOS device to your computer?

If you are, raise your hand.

This might be something for you to think about.

Yes, you do have the option to kind of transfer from your phone to your computer by using a third party service such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or maybe Microsoft OneDrive.

But the problem with that, it can be slow, right?

Or I just don't want to store it up in those surfaces for whatever reason that is.

In my case, I tend to have some very large files and can take some time, especially if you have a slow internet access.

So in other words, anytime I need to transfer something, so I'm essentially sending it up through the internet, through the cloud, store it up there.

So it takes that time to do it and then go on my phone, go through Microsoft OneDrive and go to the drive and pull it back down.

And it's kind of tedious.

I wish it would be more…

Report follows Walsall Labour group claims.

Watson works for gritty Golubic win at LTA Viking Classic Birmingham.

British tennis star reaches last eight at LTA Viking Classic Birmingham.

Watson bids to reach last four of LTA Viking Classic Birmingham.

Jabeur and Kasatkina to face off in LTA Viking Classic Birmingham.

Labour’s West Midlands Mayor candidate pledges to build 3,000 new affordable homes per year.

Stephen Pennell meets Jo Jeffries, inspiration behind the upcoming Birmingham Music Awards.

Glynn Purnell steps up to the plate at Longbridge Dining Club.

Celebrities to virtually decide charity baking contest.

There are two special events taking place this month at Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire’s Ironbridge Gorge.

Top award in green tourist scheme.

State of the art addition to 300 year-old site.

New green heart unveiled as part of ongoing regeneration of Longbridge.

Last chance to catch Birmingham Phoenix in action this summer.

Bigger and better as Birmingham Phoenix prepare to do battle.

UK’s Barbershop of the Year set to shape-up another venue.

Richard Lutz roams through another week.

A design team, based in Longbridge, wins a European electronics industry accolade at the Elektra Awards 2011

Construction is now underway on the latest phase of homes to be built on the former MG Rover factory in Longbridge, near Birmingham.

Festive fun in new shopping area.

Competition winners revealed.

Claim by Birmingham MP.

'Rat run' fear over decision to open up street to through traffic.

CEC celebrates forty years in business with commitment to Net Zero.

Holly Haywood spends a night in historic Warwickshire.

New venture to provid permanent venue for expansion.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to meet with state counterparts on December 21-22 for pre-budget discussions and a GST Council meeting. Key agenda items include potential GST exemptions for certain insurance policies and rate reductions on various goods. The Council may also consider raising GST on luxury items like high-value shoes and watches.

The Audacity to Podcast is back! And before jumping back into the content to help you grow and improve your podcast, I want to share three things I'm really excited about!

The post Exciting News: Podcast Award, Podgagement, and Podcast Hall of Fame first appeared on The Audacity to Podcast.

We're looking for a team lead / solution architect to work with AWS and SFMC. Position is full remote, but must be in the USA. Details are here.

A federal judge is permanently blocking Georgia’s 2019 “heartbeat" abortion law, finding that it violates the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled against the state Monday in a lawsuit filed by abortion providers and an advocacy group.

Although New Zealand is about as far — in miles, at least — as you can get from Minneapolis, protests have erupted there over the killing of George Floyd. The Indigenous Maori people in particular have pushed back against police use of force, which disproportionately affects them. At first glance, the context seems quite different. New Zealand police don't usually carry firearms. The reason goes back to the 19th century British aversion to creating a police force too much like a military. In general, if New Zealand police officers need to use a gun, there is one in a lockbox in their car that they can use with a supervisor's permission. But after a white nationalist gunned down 51 people in two mosques last March in Christchurch, New Zealand's police introduced a pilot program to send heavily armed police teams on patrol in three communities. One of these communities was around Christchurch. The other two were far away in counties near the city of Auckland. The police said it would

Copyright 2020 KUNC. To see more, visit KUNC . MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: As cities across the country consider diverting police department dollars into social programs, some are looking at summer jobs for low-income youth. Through these summer youth employment programs, young people can make some money, learn new skills and stay productive. From member station KUNC in northern Colorado, Leigh Paterson reports. LEIGH PATERSON, BYLINE: Last month, New York slashed police spending but did fund its massive summer youth employment program. Cincinnati shifted a million dollars out of its police budget to expand youth employment. Los Angeles did something similar to its $1.8 billion police budget. Here's LA city council member Curren Price. CURREN PRICE: Well, my motion shifted $150 million from the police department budget. PATERSON: Ten million of that will go to the city's summer youth employment program. He said this reallocation is a direct response to recent protests against police violence.

Copyright 2020 Northern Public Radio. To see more, visit Northern Public Radio . NOEL KING, HOST: All right. Here's a story about unexpected consequences. People are buying fewer lottery tickets because of the pandemic, which is bad for convenience stores and gas stations. But it also means hundreds of millions fewer dollars for school funding. Peter Medlin of member station WNIJ in DeKalb, Ill., explains what's going on. PETER MEDLIN, BYLINE: Last year, the Illinois Lottery set records sales. Proceeds from Powerball tickets to scratch-offs contributed $731 million to public education. That translates to more than 10% of the state's funding for school districts. But the receipts don't look nearly as good this year. With more strict reopening guidelines, sales have plummeted. And revenue has nosedived nearly $90 million during the pandemic. Victor Matheson teaches economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, where he researches sports and the lottery. VICTOR MATHESON: So

Tim Miller fled Republican politics, disgusted with the party’s direction under Donald Trump. Now he has written a memoir that is as much a warning as it is a searing exploration of his own shame and regrets.

The first angel of Revelation 14 proclaims a judgment that occurs before Jesus comes in glory. Once every case has been decided in the heavenly courtroom, Jesus will return with His rewards.

http://www.musicxray.com/xrays/2672450 AGON SG - AGON - BRIDGES BETWEEN WORLDS

a comic about the end of the world! :D

Rene Ritchie returns to the show to speculate about pending Apple product announcements and events. Lots of guessing, no wagering.