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Janitors prep for strike that could be messy for downtown Seattle

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Janitors prep for strike that could be messy for downtown Seattle


King County janitors clad in their union colors — purple and yellow — rallied Friday in Seattle, warning that 4,000 cleaners may walk off the job as early as June 30 if a new contract isn’t reached.

Service Employees International Union 6 janitorial members are employed by large cleaning services firms: ABM, SBM Management Services, Pacific Building Services and Alliance Building Services, among others. These janitorial workers are scattered around the Seattle area, but met in downtown Seattle because many work in buildings there.

The SEIU6 janitors and the employers continue to negotiate ahead of the current contract’s June 30 expiration date. If no deal is reached, janitors could then strike.

The region’s largest labor organization has agreed to support the strike by barring other union members, including sanitation workers, from servicing the buildings where SEIU6-represented janitors are picketing.

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The employers did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

During a Friday trek through downtown Seattle, hundreds of union members chanted, “No contract, no peace,” and “Sí, se puede” — a labor slogan that is Spanish for “yes, it can be done” — while being bolstered by drums, speakers blasting music and even a mariachi band. The group traveled from F5 Tower on Fifth Avenue to Safeco Plaza on Fourth Avenue, ending the rally at DocuSign Tower on Third Avenue — the common denominator being that SEIU6 janitors work at each building.

SEIU6 janitors make on average about $45,000 a year, according to the union, prompting many janitors to take on multiple jobs to bridge the increasing gap between wages and rising costs of living.

“The struggle is real. … A lot of our members right now are having to just sacrifice everything,” said Zenia Javalera, SEIU6 president. “They’re working two to three jobs, they don’t get to spend time with their family.

“Our members are literally a paycheck away from being homeless right now.”

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The janitorial sector of SEIU6 represents 4,000 members and usually renegotiates its contracts around every four years. This recent contract was extended by one year because of the pandemic.

Recent negotiations have been moving along, with the main concerns being wages and medical insurance, and it is not clear whether a strike will occur.

“Right now, we have a good contract overall,” Javalera said. “Our members do not clean toilets because of the great wages that they’re making. It’s really because of the great quality health care that we have.”

Javalera, 36, said employers initially only offered a 15 cent-an-hour raise during bargaining, but have since improved their offer.

“We have seen the disrespect of starting off with 15 cents, but the table is moving,” Javalera said. “We are not asking for a handout. We are asking for a hand up.”

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With a majority of the janitors working at night, if a strike were to occur, they would all walk off the job during that time.

After SEIU6 announced its intention to strike last month, the Martin Luther King, Jr. County Labor Council executive board authorized a strike sanction. If a contract is not agreed to by the end of June, it “will trigger labor stoppages for other sectors, including delivery and sanitation services,” the SEIU6 statement said. That means other unions have agreed not to cross the picket line and to avoid locations that are striking.

King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay and state Rep. Mia Gregerson, D-SeaTac, were in attendance showing their support for the union.

On the bargaining committee is Amir Kalabic, 58; this is his fourth contract. For 18 years he has worked at the Amazon campus alongside his wife. Kalabic, an immigrant from Bosnia-Herzegovina, now works two additional jobs alongside his janitorial work.

“We have never thought about a strike more than this year,” Kalabic said Friday. “They don’t see us as human.”

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Kalabic and his wife each make “a little bit over” $45,000 annually doing janitorial work.

“The rent is so high; gas, food, everything’s going up,” said Kalabic. “I don’t know what will happen when I get to retirement.”

The SEIU6 union is diverse, with members speaking 30 languages. Most members are immigrants, refugees or people of color, according to Javalera.

“We feel that being able to have a good contract is also a racial issue, because our members are left at the bottom,” Javalera said. “We need to make sure that we’re picking them up in a way where it’s dignified.”

Full-family medical insurance, which is currently 100% employer-paid at no cost to the workers, is under threat in the new contract.

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For Anthony Simpson, 55, whose 5-year-old just got his tonsils removed, this is a major concern. With his current company insurance, the surgery was completely covered.

“They are trying to eliminate it and make us pay for that,” Simpson said.

Simpson is on the bargaining team and has been working in the janitorial business since he moved to Seattle 10 years ago. Currently, he works night shifts for ABM.

“If the owners were to ever come out in the buildings at night … and see what the night people do,” Simpson said, they would see workers “deserve everything they’re bargaining for.”

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Seattle, WA

The Sale Of The Seattle Seahawks Gets A Big News Update

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The Sale Of The Seattle Seahawks Gets A Big News Update


On May 8th, Seth Wickersham wrote an article for ESPN discussing the initial market for the Seattle Seahawks. The team had been publicly up for sale for a few months at that point, having been announced as such shortly after winning the super bowl. At that point in time, Seth indicated that there had been surprisingly low amounts of interest from potential buyers.

The market was described as ‘soft’, and the NFL was said to have hoped for better. A few prospective purchasers were named, and it was still believed that the team would easily set an NFL record for price once sold, but there wasn’t a frenzy of interest. Less than three weeks later, however, it seems as if things have changed.

The Suddenly Robust Market

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Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald (left) and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pose with the Vince Lombardi trophy. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

New reporting indicates that the market for the defending champs is now ‘robust’. While nothing is yet guaranteed, and no names were named, there is now reason to believe that the sale is imminent. In fact, there’s a possibility that the new owner could be in place before the 2026 season starts in early September, which would be quite the escalation.

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Ian Rapoport believes that a special league meeting to approve a new owner could be coming in late August, around the time the NFL preseason wraps up. He also believes the price of the sale can eclipse the $10 billion mark, which leaves room for it to hit the $11 billion mark that was speculated on back in February. Either way, it’s a record.

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To be clear, it’s a record by a massive amount. The current high-water mark for an NFL team was set by the Washington Commanders, who went for $6.05 billion in 2023. Even a sale of $10 billion would be a massive step up, and anything beyond that would start to flirt with doubling it. Clearly, a defending super bowl champion is worth something extra.

What Happens Next?

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Seattle Seahawks chairman Jody Allen celebrates with the Vince Lombardi trophy on the podium after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The wording of the most recent news indicates that things are moving fast, and implies that there’s at least one firm candidate to actually close the deal. Perhaps there’s more than one, and there will be a bidding war at the end. Either way, there’s an air of inevitability around the recent updates. Maybe it won’t be done before the season starts, but it will be done.

Obviously, there’s a mixture of emotions that fans will have about this. We always knew Jody Allen’s tenure as ‘owner’ was temporary, but it’s impossible to argue that she’s been remarkably effective in her role these last several years, so the next owner has big shoes to fill. The Allens have made this fanbase one of high standards. The next owner must continue that.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Super Bowl champions from Seattle Seahawks On SI —

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Pollen forensic technique links missing woman cold case to the Pacific Northwest

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Pollen forensic technique links missing woman cold case to the Pacific Northwest


Police from Vancouver, British Columbia, traveled to Portland to announce a break in a cold case from four years ago, linking a missing person to the Portland-Seattle area.

“This is a woman who died alone, a long way from home. And we feel an obligation, and it’s important to be able to reunite her with her family,” said Sgt. Adam Donaldson with the Vancouver Police Missing Persons Unit in Canada.

On September 29, 2022, a tugboat crew found a woman’s body floating in the waters off Spanish Banks in British Columbia.

She was found near a blue inflatable kayak and had candy, insulin, and a backpack, but no identification.

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While they were able to get a pulse back on her, she never regained consciousness and was officially declared dead the following morning.

Police from Vancouver, British Columbia, traveled to Portland to announce a break in a cold case from four years ago, linking a missing woman to the Portland-Seattle area. By sharing her story on YouTube and spreading flyers with this illustrated rendering of the unidentified woman across the Pacific Northwest, they hope to get tips that lead to answers/Avery Elowitt, KATU News

“We know what somebody’s got to know about her. She’s somebody’s sister. She’s somebody’s daughter. She’s somebody’s friend. Somebody’s coworker. Somebody will know who she is,” said Detective Rebecca Matson with the Vancouver Police Missing Persons Unit.

After four years with no leads, Sgt. Anton Schamberger with the Vancouver Police Missing Persons Unit in Canada came across a forensic technique that hadn’t been used by their agency, and has increased movement in this four-year-old investigation.

“They were able to say, based on pollen grains and fern spores found on her sweater, that the sweater had had recent exposure to an urban or suburban environment in the Pacific Northwest, most positively between Portland and Seattle,” said Sgt. Schamberger. “They were also able to say, based on the complete lack of pollen grains and fern spores that were native to British Columbia, that she likely had not had any exposure or was likely not a resident.”

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Now, the Vancouver Police Department, Portland Police Bureau, and the Seattle Police Department are reaching beyond the Canadian border.

KATU’s Avery Elowitt asked, “With this new information, how will future outreach efforts be different from these previous efforts now that we have more local ties?”

Sgt. Donaldson answered, “Well, if we have more local ties, we can focus the information, and since we’ve done some outreach in the past few days, we have had some actionable tips to our email address. So now we’re going to have to go back, start investigating those tips, and build up that investigation. It may not be information that leads directly to her identification, but it can narrow the scope of the investigation.”

By sharing her story on YouTube and spreading flyers with this illustrated rendering of the unidentified woman across the Pacific Northwest, they hope to get tips that lead to answers.

Police from Vancouver, British Columbia, traveled to Portland to announce a break in a cold case from four years ago, linking a missing woman to the Portland-Seattle area. By sharing her story on YouTube and spreading flyers with this illustrated rendering of the unidentified woman across the Pacific Northwest, they hope to get tips that lead to answers/Avery Elowitt, KATU News

Police from Vancouver, British Columbia, traveled to Portland to announce a break in a cold case from four years ago, linking a missing woman to the Portland-Seattle area. By sharing her story on YouTube and spreading flyers with this illustrated rendering of the unidentified woman across the Pacific Northwest, they hope to get tips that lead to answers/Avery Elowitt, KATU News

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“What we need is one tip. All it takes is one. All it takes is someone saying, ‘hey, that’s my auntie,’ ‘that’s my mom.’ Or, ‘that was my neighbor,’” said Sgt. Donaldson.

The unidentified woman is believed to be approximately 30-40 years old, Black, and despite extensive investigation across North America, no missing persons report matches her descriptions, according to the Vancouver Police Department.

If you have any information on this case, email thekayaker@vpd.ca or call 604-717-0619.



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Seattle, WA

Where to Stay in Seattle If You Like to Eat

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Where to Stay in Seattle If You Like to Eat


Populus

When it opened in 2025, this “carbon-positive” hotel brought a touch of eco-futurism to historic Pioneer Square, Seattle’s oldest neighborhood. The massive lobby is full of plants and nature-inspired art, and there are dozens of fun interior design choices throughout the hotel, like depictions of plants painted onto room doors. Salt Harvest, Populus’s restaurant, continues this eco-centric theme, focusing on seasonal ingredients cooked simply at the wood-fired hearth; the new $125 chef’s counter experience guides diners through a five-course menu with details on how and where every ingredient is sourced. At rooftop bar Firn, the cocktails play with different ice formats—spheres, oversized cubes, shaved mounds, and more—and the cafe downstairs serves Monorail Espresso, a longtime local coffee roaster. Populus is ideal for tourists coming for a concert or sporting event at the Seattle stadiums, located mere blocks away, and it’s a stone’s throw from Chinatown-International District, one of the richest dining areas in the city.

The deconstructed Key lime pie at La Loba in 1 Hotel Seattle.

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Photo by Miles Fortune

1 Hotel Seattle

Slightly farther from the water is the 1 Hotel, which made a big splash in the dining scene in 2025, when it tapped James Beard nominee Oscar Amador to open its flagship restaurant. La Loba earned accolades from local food critics for its fusion of Barcelona culinary techniques and Pacific Northwest flavors (its smoked “candy” salmon is not to be missed). The restaurant leans extravagant with offerings like a tableside beef tartare, far from the norm in famously casual Seattle. Rooms are peaceful in tones of beige and gold, with wood floors and plenty of greenery. If you need to take a break from a food-centric vacation, the 1 has a wide array of wellness treatments, including IV vitamin therapies.

Harry’s Guest House

For a more intimate experience, try this bed and breakfast in a leafy, quiet section of Capitol Hill. The quaint but stylish converted house is next door to Harry’s Fine Foods, a restaurant whose cozy indoor-outdoor porch belies its inventive menu that borrows influences ranging from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia. Guests can get continental breakfast and room service when the restaurant is open, but the great advantage of Harry’s is the location—Capitol Hill is the center of Seattle’s nightlife scene and LGBTQ+ community, and you’ll be within walking distance of a plethora of clubs, coffee shops, and restaurants. The B&B also has dedicated parking spots for guests, a major perk rarely found in this part of town. Keep in mind that Harry’s only has two rooms (exclusive!), so you’ll want to book here well in advance. (You can also book the entire house, which accommodates six people.)



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