DES MOINES, Wash. – Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has proposed a plan to send some misdemeanor offenders in Seattle to South Correctional Entity (SCORE) in Des Moines.

According to a press release from the Mayor’s office, this pilot program would use 20 beds at SCORE which would cost between $1.5 to $3 million per year, allowing the City of Seattle to “more consistently book individuals who have engaged in misdemeanor criminal offenses”

Though SCORE would temporarily hold misdemeanor offenders for 24–48 hours under this Interlocal Agreement, groups like SEIU 925 are concerned about how people would get to SCORE and what happens to them at the facility.

“Our biggest fear is that our attorneys will not be able to access our clients and our clients will not be able to appear appropriately in court to have their cases adjudicated,” said Molly Gilbert, Chapter President of the union representing King County Public Defenders under SEIU 925.

When King County had a deal with SCORE, Gilbert says SCORE turned away social workers, attorneys trying to visit defendants and defense experts who tried to conduct evaluations.

“We had internet issues and then getting clients to court was a constant problem as well.” said Gilbert. “We had problems with in-person visits and remote visits, and we never found a solution before the county canceled its contract.”

Gilbert says concerns were raised over deaths that happened while King County used SCORE.

“There had been deaths that had not been reported to the county during the county’s contract with SCORE,” said Gilbert. “Additionally, it didn’t appear that SCORE was following the DOH and RCWs on how to report these unexpected fatalities, there were no reports submitted to the state and there were no public announcements of those deaths as well.”

Gilbert doesn’t believe Mayor Harrell’s agreement would work for Seattle Municipal Court, citing concerns with transportation and for clients held at SCORE that would potentially be released outside the facility.

“In the Seattle Municipal Court system, many of the people being arrested are homeless, so we are removing them entirely from the city where they live and removing them from a lot of the support services that they access,” said Gilbert.

Gilbert believes Seattle Municipal Court judges need to speak up about whether courtrooms can operate with people being sent to SCORE and that more analysis needs to be done on what happens after people are booked into SCORE.

According to Mayor Harrell’s office:

“The City will continuously assess the effectiveness of this program and reserves the right to terminate this program if it does not meet the needs and expectations of the City. SCORE jail beds used this year would be paid for with underspend from the King County jail contract and in 2025 would be paid for as part of the City’s general fund.”

For now, Mayor Harrell’s office says his legislation will be sent to City Council for approval, but it won’t go into effect until operational issues are addressed, and the City officially notifies SCORE.

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The Seattle Seahawks are hoping to improve on the offensive side of the ball this upcoming season, specifically in the passing game.

After a historic 2022 campaign, Geno Smith didn’t meet those same standards in 2023, leading the Seahawks to trade for Sam Howell from the Washington Commanders. On top of that, there’s a new coaching staff in town. The offense will be led by Ryan Grubb, and he hopes his adjusted college passing attack can translate to the NFL.

“Ryan Grubb’s explosive passing game helped the University of Washington make it all the way to this past season’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game,” NFL.com’s Eric Edholm writes. “Will the offensive coordinator’s scheme translate to the professional team in town? Seattle’s receiving corps — headlined by DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba — gives Grubb plenty of firepower, even if there are big worries with other elements of the offense.”

The Seahawks may boast one of the best receiving corps in the NFL, but that will mean nothing if Smith cannot learn Grubb’s new system the way he needs to. It may be a little different than what the Seahawks were running before, but there’s potential for it to be even better.

It all comes down to whether Smith (or Howell) can run the offense effectively. If the Seahawks have a steady hand leading the way, they could make a return to the postseason in 2024. The Seahawks are set to begin training camp practices on Wednesday.

SEATTLE – Frustrations arose at a transit town hall meeting in West Seattle where locals wanted specific answers about how a light rail proposal might impact their homes and businesses.  

It was a chance for many to ask questions of transit leaders that some business owners and residents feel have gone unanswered so far. 

“We are going to do so much more planning than a retail space,” said Erin Rubin, Mode Music Founder & Managing Director.

Rubin is one of the business owners who spoke during public comment Wednesday night. She’ll have to relocate if the West Seattle Link Extension proposal moves forward as expected. 

“We are starting to get to the point, get to the feeling that if we are going to move, we are going to have to fund that move or be prepared to fund that move yourself,” said Rubin.

Laurel Trujillo, the owner of Ounces Taproom, also came to Tuesday’s meeting, hoping to learn more about what’s next for business owners who will be forced to relocate.  

“We’ve constantly been asking for concrete information,” said Trujillo. “It’s all kind of fallen on deaf ears.” 

Some members of the crowd asked Director of Community Relations, Leda Chahm, to get specific about what businesses would be impacted. She said they could keep it general. Another Sound Transit official added that the panel didn’t come prepared to speak about each property impacted by the project.  

“As we move forward, into design we will be doing a lot more exploration once we know what the project is that we will be building and learn more, about what that process is,” they said.   

During the question and answer period, one man asked why a proposal was made to send the light rail line through the West Seattle Health Club pool. 

“I’d love to know why the decision has been made to this point,” he said.

The owner of School of Rock in West Seattle also expressed frustration at a lack of clear financial support.

“It’s a joke that there isn’t more people helping. So, what is it that we have to do? What was the trick? Was it a lawsuit?,” said Philip Gustavson of School of Rock. “You guys have to answer this question. I asked it so many times.”

When Faith Roland of Sound Transit explained some of the ways that they calculate moving expenses, Gustavson said that the Sound Transit team had already told him he was out of luck.  

“When I said, ‘Are we basically screwed?’, your whole team nodded at me on Zoom,” said Gustavson.   

“Well, I’ll apologize in front of everybody today to say that that won’t happen again,” said Roland.   

Trujillo asked Roland for an estimate on how much it had cost in out-of-pocket expenses for other businesses that had been forced to move during previous projects. 

“Do you provide 100% of the relocation assistance needed for these businesses to fully and successfully relocate?”, asked Trujillo.  

Roland only said that transit has successfully relocated 1,200 to 1,500 residents and businesses in the past. 

Rubin is asking other businesses that have been forced to relocate due to transit projects to contact her directly.  She provided this email at contact@modemusicstudios.com for those businesses to contact her.

“I would welcome anyone that did have a successful story or unsuccessful story to reach out to us,” said Rubin.

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