Seattle councilmembers: “Save” the Showbox, ignore property rights and good sense
It’s cheap and easy for Seattle city councilmembers to troll for votes by “saving” the Showbox music venue. It’s cheap and easy for the activists they’re trying to appease, too. After all, it doesn’t cost you much to block a $100 million building on a property you don’t own. (Shift WA)

Former Washington legislator and current Trump Administration official Don Benton is accused of violating the Hatch Act after speaking at a Hawaii Republican Party fundraiser last week. Attorney Delaney Marsco with the Campaign Legal Center said the type of function Benton spoke at “is clearly ‘political activity’ under the Hatch Act and its implementing regulations.” Benton heads the U.S. Selective Service System, which registers young men for the draft. (Washington Examiner)

Despite all of the city’s spending to make Seattle a bike friendly location, just 2.8 percent of workers who reside in the city limits commuted to work by bicycle last year. The number of biking commuters has fallen consistently since 2010. (Seattle Times)

The Spokane City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that caps city employee pay. City employee salaries will be capped at four times the state Office of Financial Management’s calculated median household income for Spokane – which means hardly any city employee would be effected. (The Spokesman-Review)

“Give the hardworking families here in the Tri-Cities a break,” Chris Cargill, director of the Eastern Washington office of the Washington Policy Center said. Cargill was speaking about Ben Franklin Transit’s high collection of sales tax, considering its dwindling number of riders. “What we are advising is Ben Franklin Transit right-size the agency to the community need,” said Mariya Frost, policy analyst for the group’s Coles Center for Transportation. (Tri-City Herald)

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