Happy Thursday, Seattle. Here’s what’s going on…
It’s National Bird Day. And Seattle’s rapid development is forcing some songbirds — specifically species who tend to form monogamous relationships (such rebels!) — out of their homes, which leads them to split up and ultimately stunts their ability to find a new mate and reproduce. That’s according to researchers at the University of Washington. Read the full UW study here or if you want to learn more, get in touch with the study’s lead author, John Marzluff. Thanks to GeekWire for the tip.
Eastern and Western Washington need each other. In case you missed this — and yes, it’s for real — three Republican state legislators have proposed splitting Washington into two states and renaming the eastern half “Liberty.” In response, Crosscut’s Knute Berger had this to say to them and to Seattleites who had a “mocking and hostile” reaction to the proposal: Stop arguing, start listening. He writes, “We can lecture each other about the right way to live, we can settle into our prejudices — reinforced, often, by the very media that are supposed to connect us. But nothing substitutes for spending time with each other, learning how others live, finding human commonalities that live outside the voting booth.” Speaking of which, remember that trip to Sherman County, Oregon we proposed last year? We’re working out details now. So stay tuned, and let us know if you’re interested.
What could our new waterfront look like? Here are some clues. The firm that designed New York’s High Line – a popular park built on top of an abandoned rail line – is also in charge of Seattle’s more than $700 million waterfront redesign. Nat Levy of GeekWire talks to the principal developer of the project, who called Seattle’s waterfront “a unique beast that needs its own signature elements.” This is some fun insight into how the waterfront might look once big drill Bertha finally does her thing. (Here’s the latest on where she is. No idea who the heck we’re talking about? We did a brief explainer on Bertha here).
Some Seattle police are now wearing body cams. And by the end of the year, 850 Seattle officers will be using them, reports Carolyn Adolph of KUOW. Want more context? Here’s a New York Times story from last October that looks specifically at Seattle to examine the potential complications of this level of transparency.