Political Issues

She’s queer, mixed race, and conservative in Seattle. One reaction? ‘It’s as if I’m betraying my own identity’

“I often experience complete shock from people when I share my political views with them,” says Mellina White Cusack, a libertarian-leaning conservative. “But as of late, the shock has shifted to something like disgust.”

/ June 23, 2017

How to Win at Seattle: ‘You never know when you might need to join a protest’

When Nikkita Oliver was growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana, her mom made sure to save up enough money to bring Nikkita and her sister on a road trip every summer. On stage at Impact Hub with The Evergrey’s Mónica Guzmán last Thursday, Nikkita recalled one of those trips. She remembered her mom stopping the car […]

/ June 13, 2017

Nikkita Oliver: ‘I have to have friends who disagree with me’

Days after Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant drew cheers for keeping Republicans distant, Seattle mayoral candidate Nikkita Oliver told a crowd that she not only has Republican friends, but feels that she has to.

/ June 9, 2017

Chris Cornell’s Seattle is gone. Where are we now? Seattle’s week in two minutes

> Chris Cornell’s Seattle. We worry a lot about the city’s future. How fast we’re growing. How much we’re changing. Who can afford to stay. Then we learned that Chris Cornell took his own life Wednesday night after a concert in Detroit. He was the lead singer of Soundgarden, a band that was born here […]

/ May 19, 2017

Six major candidates for Seattle mayor, and four of them are women

The Seattle City Council isn’t the only political group that’s got a female majority. Now our slate of major candidates looking to head up Seattle as mayor is also dominated by women. At least, for now.

/ May 12, 2017

Seattle really can work better for everybody. Here’s how.

Seattle is growing and changing fast. So how can we locals make sure it’s headed in a good direction? Paul Gambill, a project manager and member of The Evergrey Writing Group, has a proposal.

/ May 8, 2017

Ask a Republican: Seattle’s left and right meet in a Capitol Hill living room

Ten people met for tacos and tense conversation when Maddy Vonhoff invited locals and Seattle progressives to chat with Republicans in her Capitol Hill apartment.

/ April 27, 2017

Should Seattle’s new sports arena go in SoDo or Seattle Center? Here’s how to decide, and how to speak out

There are a few ways Seattle could build a sports arena to draw a pro basketball and hockey team to the city, and city officials will be deciding which to go with pretty soon. Care about Seattle traffic or housing prices? UW prof Jeff Shulman tells you why you should be paying attention.

/ April 14, 2017

Is this ‘the most damning political scandal in recent Seattle history’? — Seattle’s week in 2 minutes

The Seattle Times dropped a bombshell on the city yesterday when it reported that our mayor’s being sued for allegedly sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in the 1980s. Not only that, but two other men have come forward with similar accounts.

/ April 7, 2017

Amazon on Seattle’s growth: ‘We have a lot of people working really hard to make sure that we are very good neighbors’

To what extent should a fast growing, wildly successful tech company be held accountable for changes in the city that’s booming along with it? Journalists, audience members, and Amazon VP John Schoettler seemed to be circling that question throughout the tense conversation at Wednesday’s Civic Cocktail.

/ April 6, 2017