Seattle City Councilmember Rob Johnson used some of his past work experience in explaining his support for legislation to make work schedules more predictable in Seattle. He joined Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Lorena Gonzales, both of whom have been working on the issue for the last several months. On the Seattle Channel, Johnson mentioned that he had worked in the restaurant industry during college. He said, “it was a lot easier [for me] than it was for some of my colleagues who had young kids who were changing their hours on a week to week basis.”
The Seattle Times reports that the number of million dollar Seattle homes has tripled over the last four years, but we aren’t the only Northwest city besieged by high housing costs. The Vancouver Sun reports that our neighbors to the north think rising housing costs are hurting their economy. “Only Shanghai and Hong Kong had less-affordable housing,” points out Vancouver Sun journalist Kelly Sinoski. What’s the problem? Not enough homes are being built, and international (mainly Chinese) investors keep buying up the ones that are available as investment properties.
Sea-Tac Airport expects record passenger loads this summer. The airport hired 90 private security contractors this week to work alongside TSA agents and try to shorten security lines. The Stranger argues that hiring private contractors is “not a real solution to the problem.” There are 95,000 more people are expected to fly every day this summer than last summer, but the TSA has 5,000 fewer agents, thanks to budget cuts. Sen. Maria Cantwell has asked the Senate Appropriates Committee to give the TSA more money, but that hasn’t happened yet.
