Council chambers at Seattle City Hall are absolutely packed for the swearing-in of new councilmember Dionne Foster, who keeps getting applause every time her name is mentioned. Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth is about to be appointed Council President, an internal decision I reported last year.

SPD Chief Barnes Hires Two Harrell Staffers to Executive Positions, Saka Hires Ex-Cop Who Ran for Council Today's Afternoon Fizz. publicola.com/2026/01/06/s...

The children today don't understand how many of our delicate brains were shaped by watching MTV literally every waking moment, except when we were calling in to the radio hoping to be caller 93

men gain weight as they age too! are we really supposed to all start panicking about menopause-related weight gain at THIRTY YEARS OLD?? www.seattletimes.com/life/aging-r...

By the way: "Don't arrest people for misdemeanor possession" isn't some radical policy. It was SEATTLE's policy until 2023, when the city created these misdemeanors. And it was the city's policy for low-level drug felonies starting in 2009. The war on drugs was revived in Seattle RECENTLY.

My story isn't a simple "debunking" of the rightwing narrative; rather, it's a piece I was reporting already about how Seattle's police chief appears to have issued a directive in a vacuum, alarming cops and helping set of a right-wing media firestorm aimed at new Mayor Katie Wilson.

SPD Chief Sent Email Overstating New Drug Diversion Policy, Sparking False Narrative in Right-Wing Media Spent part of the weekend reporting out this story, only to have KOMO drop a false, ragebait version that went predictably viral on RW social media publicola.com/2026/01/05/s...

New Mike Solan just dropped: kentloux.com (Context: www.kuow.org/stories/seat...)

New Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans, speaking at her inauguration at City Hall, says she's "already started the process of setting up a new, reimagined community court," a therapeutic court her predecessor, Republican Ann Davison, dismantled.

Police chief Shon Barnes just appointed Sarah Smith, a top public safety advisor to former mayor Bruce Harrell (and a deputy of Harrell's public safety director Natalie Walton-Anderson) as his Chief Operating Officer, replacing Brian Maxey.

Mayor Wilson's Team Grows With Addition of High-Profile Reformers and Housing Leaders The new hires include a longtime ACLU attorney, the head of the LEAD diversion program, and a leader of the Low-Income Housing Institute. publicola.com/2026/01/05/m...

Katie Wilson Wants a City Where People Can Do More than Just Survive Turns out this IS the time for hope. publicola.com/2026/01/05/k...

This Week on PubliCola: Fired SPD employees allege retaliation by police chief, Harrell pre-election request sent Seattle Channel staffers scrambling, and more news to close out 2025. publicola.com/2026/01/04/t...

it's so cute that Danny Westneat thinks an addiction assessment is a form of "drug counseling" as someone who did many assessments, I can assure you it is not, and that this box-check (affirming that fentanyl users are, in fact, addicted to fentanyl) is meaningless

daily newspapers' letters to the editor pages exist entirely to platform uniformed opinions by low-information people. "Golly, ever notice how houses cost less and now they cost more? That's because of last year's upzoning!" Meanwhile your only two variables are housing prices and time

Via @kottke.org: an argument against thermochauvinism, the idea that it's normal for people in the (global and US) north to live in (and adapt to) cold places, but deranged and backward for people in the global and US south to live in hot places. www.solarshades.club/p/against-th...

One of the first speakers at Seattle mayor Katie Wilson’s inauguration was Ifrah Abshir, a onetime Somali refugee who went to Rainier Beach High School and works in Minnesota. Jonathan Choe, the far-right activist who’s been harassing chile cares locally, said loudly, “Minnesota. Of course!” .

Turning Point USA activist Jonathan Choe is here at Seattle mayor Katie Wilson’s inauguration, gleefully harassing celebrants.

A timely reminder for anyone who's struggling.

Good morning and happy new year. Katie Wilson became Mayor of Seattle at midnight.

Tort Claim by Two Fired SPD Employees Alleges Gender, Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination Under Police Chief Shon Barnes Barnes' chief of staff reportedly responded to concerns about a crackdown on the nude beach at Denny Blaine Park by saying, "We're not here for the gays." publicola.com/2025/12/31/t...

Mayor Wilson: Audit SPD's Public Disclosure Office! SPD has shown they won’t comply with the state Public Records Act on their own. So make them. publicola.com/2025/12/31/m...

tonight I learned, from the Seattle Times' lawsuit alleging Seattle police violated state public records law and a settlement with the Times, that SPD rushed to respond to a KOMO records request, providing documents in less than a month that a Times reporter had been waiting on for almost 2 years.

ah yes, who can forget those five glorious days when Bruce Harrell decided he didn't want to be mayor after all and handed the job to Tim Burgess www.seattlepi.com/local/articl...

Harrell's "Last-Minute Request" for Pre-Election Budget Video Sent Seattle Channel Scrambling The unusual video required the work of 11 staffers and took priority over regularly scheduled programming. publicola.com/2025/12/30/h...

Burien City Council member gives accurate assessment of who's preventing housing growth, has to apologize for use of "adult" language on hot mic: b-townblog.com/burien-housi...

Morning Fizz: Police Chief Takes the Holidays Off, SPD Won't Answer Questions About Two Anti-Prostitution Stings They Announced Chief Barnes will make $12,500 during his time off. publicola.com/2025/12/29/p...

New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok! So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...

"Many saw [calling Muslims "savages" and saying they are ruining France] as racist," but the NYT is too objective to take a position—and they elide the fact that Bardot's husband is a literal fascist. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...

A rare clear-eyed look at homelessness on the op/ed page of the Seattle Times (who snuck this through?) "Visual relief [from encampments] is blinding." www.seattletimes.com/opinion/home...

just as a reminder, Seattle police already have a system where retail security officers can fully apprehend and file police reports directly, no $70-an-hour cops required. The only reason to have multiple officers doing big sting operations is to put out press releases like this one.

Seattle Nice: Our Hopes and Predictions for Seattle in 2026 It's our annual New Year's extravaganza! publicola.com/2025/12/22/s...

turns out that as you get older, taking a drug that causes you to lose muscle mass, as one of the direct "benefits"—35-45% of weight loss on Ozempic-type drugs is muscle loss—is bad, actually (unrelated, wtf is going on with that illustration) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/h...

This Week on PubliCola: December 20, 2025 SPD Invites Cops to Evangelical Event, City Attorney Quadruples Drug Prosecutions, and Seattle Approves Eight-Unit Apartments Everywhere publicola.com/2025/12/20/t...

In Seattle, Choe usually crashes press events wearing nasty hospital-grade slides, mudflap-girl track pants, and a ratty hoodie and baseball cap. Would be interested in hearing what @dieworkwear.bsky.social thinks of our local Charlie Kirk acolyte's MAGA glowup.

Seattle Times opens up its pages for random people to just complain and complain about how hard it is to park in downtown Seattle, how there's supposedly shit all over the sidewalks, and oh yes, how we aren't MAGA enough. www.seattletimes.com/opinion/some...

very frustrating to see stories irresponsibly blaming addiction for Nick Reiner's alleged murder of his parents, and stating as fact that addiction can "lead to" murder. We know nothing so far about any mental health conditions he may have used drugs to self-medicate. So can we all just take a beat?

Sent the Seattle Police Dept two sets of questions about two different stories: A sting they did on a strip club where they claim they found "human trafficking" and the "john letters" they are sending to men suspected of soliciting sex workers. Both were on SPD's blotter. Just got their response./1

Gen Z seems smaller in this Seattle count because the cohort only includes a 12-year span here, while millennials and Gen X are 15-year generations. If all 15 years were included, Gen Z would have Gen X-like numbers—and Boomers, chopped up here into two cohorts, would be similar to millennials.

More news from this week: Council Passes Watered-Down Consultant Ethics Bill, Wilson Appoints SDOT Director Who Headed Waterfront, Mercer Projects publicola.com/2025/12/19/4...

Due to an editing error by SOMEBODY, this post was originally posted over an unrelated one. HERE is the new, improved link! publicola.com/2025/12/19/s...

Seattle City Council Approves Eight-Unit Apartment Buildings Everywhere The changes are part of the city's long-delayed comprehensive plan, which still isn't finished—giving the new mayor and councilmembers an opportunity to add urbanist improvements. publicola.com/2025/12/18/c...

It’s been a tumultuous year in local politics, with voters supporting new leadership in the city & county. Journalists @ericacbarnett.bsky.social, @sanfordnate.bsky.social, & Greg Kim break down biggest stories of 2025 & what they mean for year ahead. Watch full show w/ @callananseattle.bsky.social

Drug Prosecutions Quadrupled In Final Months of City Attorney Ann Davison's Term Incoming City Attorney Erika Evans says diversion, not punishment, "should be the default response for people dealing with substance use disorder.” publicola.com/2025/12/18/d...

Just got 10 form messages letting me know that the Seattle Police Department has moved my "placeholder date" for the records requests they are ignoring, going back te 2023, to the end of NEXT year. Almost unbelievably, they have only provided ONE set of records on ONE request (from 2024) this year.

NYT accidentally argues for taxing the rich www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/d...

NEW: Mayor-elect Katie Wilson has chosen Angela Brady, director of the Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects and Sound Transit, as head of the Seattle Department of Transportation. Brady will replace Adiam Emery, former mayor Bruce Harrell's SDOT director and his former deputy mayor.

SPD Paid for Top Exec to Stay at Four-Star Hotel for a Month; Unclear Whether New Contract Would Have Let Police Handle Auderer Case Internally Today's Afternoon Fizz: publicola.com/2025/12/16/s...

everybody stop complaining the Seattle Times posted a Manhattan Institute editorial that says you're just whining unnecessarily about the cost of living "Some have high expectations that their incomes can’t meet" like being able to go out occasionally www.seattletimes.com/opinion/affo...

ICYMI: The Seattle Police Department invited officers to attend a retreat hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, headed by Trump ally Franklin Graham. Four years ago, then-chief Adrian Diaz had to rescind a dinner invitation from the same group over its anti-LGBTQ views.