This is incredible. King County elections is now saying they have 45,000 ballots left to count. If Wilson gets exactly the same margin of those as she got today she'll take the lead by... 20 votes!

Speaking of razon thin races -- this council race between an incumbent conservative Republican and a young pro-choice activist is starting to look like a huge upset for progressives in Spokane:

Seattle politics nerds explaining the next week of ballot counting

According to King County elections they had "a LOT" of dropbox activity in this election (emphasis theirs). They expect there's probably another 230-235K ballots countywide, so probably 115K or so in Seattle. Tonight will be a drop of 50-55K countywide, 25K or so in Seattle.

Wilson: “I think we’re feeling really optimistic. We’re expecting the later ballots to trend our way, so we will be out there trying to make sure every vote is counted, very hopeful for a good final result.”

First ballot drop shows Harrell ahead of Wilson 53% to 46%. Wilson says it’s within the range of what her team expected, and she’s hopeful they’ll catch up as more ballots are counted.

Packed house at Katie Wilson’s election watch party:

Less than 20% of registered voters across WA had returned their ballots as of 5 p.m. Monday. That puts the state on track for record low turnout. Data shows returns lagging even in places with high-profile contests for offices like county executive and mayor. Voters can return ballots until 8 p.m.

Crosscut is dead. Long live Crosscut. Today’s the official last day for me and my Cascade PBS newsroom colleagues. We did good work over the decades and it is supremely sad to see it shut down.

More than two dozen women incarcerated in an Idaho prison told us they were sexually abused by staff. And we identified 37 prison workers accused of sexual misconduct toward imprisoned women in the last 10 years. Most resigned or faced few consequences. www.investigatewest.org/staff-sexual...

Shutdown got you down? Bone up on your FOIA strategies at our AccessFest panel at 2:30 EST. Cracking government secrets: Smart FOIA strategies that work With @jasonleopold.bsky.social @sanfordnate.bsky.social @fishnette.bsky.social @ire.org

I'm speaking on a panel at IRE's AccessFest today about how to obtain government chatbot records!

The last story I edited before Monday's news was @laureldemkovich.bsky.social's excellent examination of Bob Ferguson's first 8 months as governor, a tenure marked by low public approval, decisions baffling to Dems and Republicans, and reduced press availability. www.cascadepbs.org/politics/202...

It’s difficult to find the words to express how our unit is feeling right now, but we’ll take a stab at it: shocked, disappointed, angry, gutted. @cascadepbs.bsky.social’s choice to eliminate long-form written reporting is a massive loss for our community in a critical moment. tinyurl.com/LayoffFund

Tomorrow, KNKX reporter Nate Stanford will be joining us about ChatGPT logs and how you can obtain them through public records. Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

I’ll be talking about my reporting on government AI use on MuckRock’s FOIA Friday podcast this week, and on a panel at @ire.org AccessFest conference next month. This investigation wouldn’t have been possible without support from the editors + news team who Cascade PBS decided to lay off this week

MuckRock is requesting ChatGPT logs from local governments across the country. Have a suggestion for us? Let us know!

Earlier this month, three trans women were beaten by a group of young men in Seattle's gay neighborhood. According to the county prosecutor's office, there's been at least four more group beatings since June 2024. In one case, strangers joined in. The kicker? www.thestranger.com/news/2025/09...

My colleagues at Cascade PBS do essential accountability reporting. This is a huge loss for the community and devastating for local journalism

It's been a bad day! For now I'll just say I can't think of a worse time to have fewer reporters and editors on the job and that I'm very glad to have a union on our side.

Today, I was laid off from Cascade PBS along with my entire team and most of the newsroom. I'll have more to say, but I have loved my time as news editor alongside some of the best journalists I have ever worked with. Every time a newsroom closes, stories go with it. The silence that follows is loud

A dark day for Northwest journalism: @cascadepbs.bsky.social is axing the @cascadepbsnewsroom.bsky.social, laying off 17 people, per internal memo obtained by @kuow.org. Cascade PBS got ~10% of its budget from Corp. for Public Broadcasting. Unclear why its whole newsroom had to be axed.

Devastating news for local journalism.

BREAKING: Cascade PBS, which operates the website Crosscut, is laying off 19 people, reportedly including its entire news staff. In an email to staff, CEO Rob Dunlop blamed federal cuts, saying the nonprofit is "winding down our longform, written journalism."

Cursed Katie Wilson AI YouTube slop thumbnail:

NEW: Delegates from the MLK Labor Council voted Wednesday evening to endorse both Mayor Bruce Harrell and challenger Katie Wilson in Seattle’s mayoral election. Before the primary, MLK Labor had given Harrell a sole endorsement in this year’s race.

A judge just dismissed conservative pastor Sean Feucht's lawsuit against Spokane as meritless. Feucht (the guy who played at Gasworks last month) had alleged that a 2023 council resolution denouncing the mayor for appearing with him violated his free speech my.spokanecity.org/news/release...

NEW: Seattle residents could see expanded use of artificial intelligence in permitting, customer service and more. On Thursday, Mayor Harrell announced a new 26-page AI plan that includes guidelines for training employees, evaluating tools and expanding the use of AI in city services.

Lynnwood may become the latest Washington city to raise its minimum hourly wage above $20 — higher than almost anywhere in the nation. The city currently follows the state’s minimum, but advocates are gathering support for an initiative to raise wages to $20.24/hour & strengthen worker protections.

It's an interesting debate. On one hand, it makes sense on its face to only distribute vouchers to D5 residents for their district special election. On the other, candidates will be able to collect donations from people citywide and beyond, so it does reduce the impact of the voucher program.

Come for the chat with the anonymous artist behind @theseattlechannel.bsky.social puppet show on his motivations, goals, and process for the episodes. Stay for @photogenna.bsky.social's amazing behind-the-scenes photos. www.cascadepbs.org/politics/202...

"I think there probably are ways that generative AI can be helpful for newsrooms, but I’m still pretty wary of it. I’m worried about accuracy, public trust and plagiarism."

I talked with @poynterinstitute.bsky.social about how to get copies of government officials' ChatGPT histories. FOIA around and find out: www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

Love this Q&A from my @cascadepbsnewsroom.bsky.social colleague @sanfordnate.bsky.social on how he did his investigation on cities using AI. Some really useful tips on how to do it for your local governments. www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

From an event to announce Seattle's new AI policy: The expansive update replaces a 2023 policy requiring disclosure of generative AI specifically, and appears to do so retroactively, potentially letting departments who used ChatGPT and other tools without proper transparency off the hook.

Seattle Mayor Harrell is announcing a new "plan to use AI to improve service to residents while protecting privacy and security" today. That includes an updated city AI policy and a "new employee training and upskilling program, and responsible use toolkit."

Ph.D. student Anna-Maria Gueorguieva spoke with @sanfordnate.bsky.social for a @knkx.org story on increasing use of AI by local government officials and staff. Records show use of ChatGPT and other services for grantwriting, constituent responses, and job searching. www.knkx.org/government/2...

Can an LLM successfully slop local news coverage? This company evaporated part of a desert lake to digest the transcript from a King County Council meeting, and it highlighted Alex Tsimerman's daily public comment rant as proof of "deep divisions and frustrations felt by some constituents."

I talked about my government ChatGPT reporting on the Public Records Officer podcast with Jamie Nixon. Check it out! open.spotify.com/episode/3Q0a...

The City of Bellingham was a victim of its own efficiency this week — a swift response to a public records request put the city front/center in a news report about local government's use of generative AI.

Some Washington cities are using artificial intelligence to handle varying types of government business, according to a recent review of public records. In Bellingham and Everett, city officials asked ChatGPT to generate policy documents and create email responses to constituents.

Give a listen to this interesting conversation about local government's use of AI on KUOW today:

Everett Herald Editorial Board published an editorial calling for "sound guidelines" in response to my reporting on cities using ChatGPT: "As the use of this tool becomes more frequent, transparency regarding its use will be key to maintaining the public’s trust." www.heraldnet.com/opinion/edit...

Flock cameras are all over the county @lpangborn.bsky.social and I teamed up for some of the most extensive research and data-compiling I’ve ever done, more to come!

I'll note that Bellingham and Everett both deserve a lot of credit for acting in good faith and providing a comprehensive response to my (expansive and time-intensive) records request. Some cities have not been as cooperative.

Anecdotally, I can report that journalists are also increasingly receiving emails that were clearly written with LLMs:

Should citizens have a right to know when they're receiving ChatGPT-generated communications from their local government? Bellingham Mayor Lund said she wasn't sure. She countered that many constituents are increasingly using AI to write emails to the city www.knkx.org/government/2...

Incredible reporting here, and some hilarious instances of people getting mad at the computer.

I thought it was interesting that records showed police in both Bellingham and Everett using ChatGPT for help researching Flock: