The state Legislature has chronically failed to meet state Supreme Court orders demanding proper funding of public schools. In an interview with KUOW, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn laid out several possible approaches to bringing the Legislature and governor into compliance. The most dramatic of them: close down the schools. In a court brief he filed Wednesday, Dorn suggested fining individual legislators and holding them in contempt of court, cutting tax breaks for Boeing and others, preventing the state from spending on anything other than schools that isn’t constitutionally necessary, and— last resort — shutting down public schools. The shutdown strategy was used in New Jersey in 1976. The Washington Supreme Court has already been fining the Legislature $100,000 per day.
Washington State Ferries will no longer offer WiFi to customers starting June 30, Geekwire reports. And it may be that no one misses it. It’s been available on the ferries since 2008 through Los Angeles-based company Boingo, but no one was really using it, opting instead to surf the web using mobile data. This might be because it wasn’t free. Besides having to pay, one customer told the Seattle Times that service could also be slow and inconsistent.
Mike Washburn, Seattle’s South Precinct captain, is moving on this year, the South Seattle Emerald reports. He’s worked in the Seattle Police Department for 30 years, but only took over as South Precinct Captain in April 2015. He’ll be taking a job as Police Chief in Indio, California, and will be succeeded by Eric Greening, who previously led the precinct’s community policing efforts. In an interview with the Emerald, Washburn spoke fondly of his time working in the South Precinct. He's proud to say that crime in South Seattle has gone down by 25 percent, something he attributes to the strong sense of community in the area.
