Kate Macfarlane

Corinthian columns

Immigration officials detain woman outside Issaquah immersion preschool

Immigration officials arrested a mother outside an Issaquah child care center Thursday, after they stopped her while she was driving to the Spanish-language immersion preschool, the school’s director says.

Timeline goes:
Nov 15, 2022 - somebody paints crosswalk

Nov 16, 2022 - SDOT removes it

June 2025 - SDOT announces plans to add a painted crosswalk in that location (visually and functionally identical to the one they removed 3 years ago)

Oct 2025 - still no painted crosswalk :(

While SDOT waits for funding, somebody painted a guerilla crosswalk at E Olive Way and Harvard — UPDATE: Washed away When it comes to moral quandaries in journalism, reporting on guerilla crosswalk installations is up there with secret all-ages music clubs, unauthorized skate ramps, and unofficial dog parks. But …

Meanwhile any actual tactical urbanism will be swiftly removed by SDOT. Like, within 48 hours.

www.capitolhillseattle.com/2022/11/whil...

I’m doing this! Reach out if you want to help

Screen shot of exhibit from linked report. Shows handwritten entries for 2000 tabs of ambien and 1000 of provigil, among others

Screen shot of exhibit from linked report. Shows handwritten entries for 4000+ tabs of ambien, 1900 of provigil, also lorazepam, diazepam, ketamine, morphine, fentanyl…

Remember these prescription lists from the last Trump administration?

That’s a lot of Ambien and Provigil (fighter pilot speed), not to mention ketamine, morphine, fentanyl, xanax…..

media.defense.gov/2024/Jan/09/...

It continues to be insane that Seattle School Board is an unpaid* job

Do you want legal and fiduciary responsibility for 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS? Do you want to run for office? Do you enjoy getting yelled at by strangers?

Great, we’ll pay you $4,800. Per year. Maximum.

Gross

Don’t forget “Pork. The Other White Meat”

Could these tiny ones be modified to add a phone number?

(For WA state, the @waisn.bsky.social deportation defense hotline 844-724-7373)

Seattle No Kings from the monorail

Me holding a sign that says “the only king I answer to is Chinook salmon.”

I made a Pacific Northwest themed sign for #noKings today.

Me and my dog Koji. I’m a white woman wearing a yellow fleece, Smokey the Bear hat, and a sign that says Only You Can Prevent Fascist Liars. Koji is a large grey labradoodle wearing red and orange fire costume with a sign that says Melt ICE

Protest signs from the parade in downtown Seattle. Prominent signs read Chicken a la No King” and “CAST DOWN the mighty from their thrones, and LIFT UP the lowly!” Lots of pride flags, costumes, and other signs, including drawing of Trump on the toilet

Phot from Seattle No Kings march, showing the protest moving past the Showgirls building on 1st. There’s an inflatable pink unicorn, a giraffe, lots of pride flags, and a sign that says “Fuck You you traitorous trouter turd rancid bigot”

Koji on the bus. He’s a large grey labradoodle lying in the floor of the bus, wearing a fire costume that says Melt Ice

Seattle showed up today!

We got there late and missed the rally, but the march was massive, joyful, and multigenerational.
Also totally non-violent as far as I could tell. We marched towards the end of the parade and didn’t see any graffiti or smashed windows

Is anyone in Seattle making and distributing whistle kits? I want to help do this locally

ICE is already here and snatching people, but nowhere near the scale of Chicago or LA. Yet.

For Seattle 3D printers, the WA hotline number is 844-724-3737 (@waisn.bsky.social)

Seattle crows, welcome to the war on cars

A US shirt factory.

A worker measuring a part of a shirt on a work table.

In the clothing industry, the term CMT stands for "cut, make, trim." It means you are paying someone to cut, make, and trim the garment. Essentially, it's your manufacturing labor cost without taking into account the cost of material.

The CMT price for making a shirt in the US is about $35.

Have any Thai curry paste on hand? Red curry with pineapple is delicious

Secure bicycle box 6 spaces - ALTAO® Pod - Secure collective shelters The ALTAO® Pod, designed and manufactured by Altinnova, provides secure parking for 6 bicycles, protected from the elements and vandalism.

My ideal solution is for cities to convert on-street car parking spaces to secure bike storage. Paris is installing these ALTAO pods and charging €75/year to use.

1 car parking spot >> 6 bicycles

www.altinnova.com/en/products/...

Another huge barrier for e-bike adoption is secure storage.

E-bikes are heavy. Unlike a car, you can’t just park it on the street (theft risk is too high)

I love my e-bike, but hauling it up a half flight of stairs from the basement storage room is a definite barrier

Seattle Police Prioritizing ICE’s Records Requests Over Citizens’ While many journalists and Seattleites wait years for the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to fulfill languishing public records requests, the SPD is fulfilling Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (I...

Mayor Harrell, what data has SPD already shared with ICE?

Per @glentalk.bsky.social’s records request, in April SPD fulfilled a data request from ICE in just four days.

But your office is delaying answers about ICE data sharing until after Nov election. Seattle voters deserve to know!

I’m calling Harrell and my councilmembers to demand full transparency on the extent of SPD’s collaboration with ICE. What data is SPD sharing?

Mayor Harrell 206-684-4000

City council contact info here
www.seattle.gov/council/memb...

Bruce Harrell likes to bluster about standing up to Trump

But behind the scenes, SPD is collaborating with ICE, and Harrell’s trying to hide it until after the election

ICE wants data? No prob, that will take 4 days

Journalist question about data sent to ICE? Sorry, best we can do is 4 months

Do you know the scope of the data that SPD has turned over to ICE? Did they give ICE a list of names and addresses for anyone ever arrested in Seattle?

Egregious either way

Tiny House Village in Southeast Seattle Remains Stalled as Winter Approaches The village, now whittled down to just 14 tiny houses, has been in the works since 2023. The latest hurdle: A lease agreement between Nickelsville and the city.

In 2024, Tiffany Washington abruptly cancelled permits for a tiny house village only weeks before it was scheduled to break ground.

So instead of 15 tiny homes for people currently living outside, we get a vacant overgrown lot.

ericacbarnett.substack.com/p/tiny-house...

Oh look, another example of Harrell’s terrible management skills

Tiffany Washington, Deputy Mayor for Homelessness, refused to fill hotel rooms that the city paid for. Reason? She doesn’t like the program lead

Not the first time Washington has acted in favor of more homelessness, either

Oregon has other constitutional limits that make their property tax system comparably ridiculous

www.orcities.org/application/...

YouTube video by Parachute Adams Portlandia - Overbearing Dog Rescue

That’s definitely real, and reminds me of this Portlandia sketch. (Watch until the very end for full effect)