UW accused of poor conduct as 2,400 postdocs and researchers strike

Real Change
Grant allows Estelita’s Library to expand

By Gabriella Wider | June 21, 2023

Edwin Lindo dreamed of building Estelita’s Library into something more than just books. Now, his dream is coming true.

Estelita’s Library, a community library and online bookstore in South Seattle that focuses on books about social justice, is set to receive a $2.4 million grant this year from Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) to purchase property, upgrade its facilities, expand its work and incorporate affordable housing. ...
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Real Change
Creating an oasis of hospitality and affirmation in Leschi

By Guy Oron | June 21, 2023

Walking up to Leschi Market, an independent grocery store nestled across the street from the Lake Washington shore, you may see black chalk billboards emblazoned with colorful, playful, inspiring and affirming messages.

These chalkboards are the brainchild of Tina Bryan, a grocery buyer and clerk at Leschi Market. Every couple of weeks, she spends hours researching affirmations and drawing them on the boards. ...
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Real Change
Snipping red tape | Saving Chinatowns

By Ashley Archibald | June 21, 2023

Snipping red tape

Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed two pieces of legislation that would eliminate design review requirements for affordable housing projects and home ownership options, which he says will allow developers to move forward with projects faster.

The design review process largely covers aesthetic elements, such as the appearance of the building, how it looks in the context of buildings around it, the quality of materials and a few other factors. ...
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Real Change
Smart urban planning made Northeast 43rd Street a hub for U District’s community

By Guy Oron | June 21, 2023

If you browse Seattle Twitter enough, you’ll see that the city’s transportation system is awash with controversy, ranging from outrage over a record number of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities to a reputation for notoriously bad drivers to the all-too-frequent escalator breakdowns at light rail stations.

However, one bright spot in all of that is the redesign of Northeast 43rd Street between U District Station and 15th Avenue Northeast, with online urbanists readily heaping praise on the project. ...
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Real Change
Some Seattleites living in RVs will have one safe place to live by end of summer

By Tobias Coughlin-Bogue | June 21, 2023

It’s not much to look at yet, but a vacant parking lot in Interbay that was once home to a carwash and coffee stand is going to be a really big deal.

Since 2016, when a safe parking lot for RVs run by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) closed, there has been no safe and legal place for people who live in larger vehicles to park. The property on 15th Avenue West, known for being covered in colorful murals by local artist henry, will soon be a bigger, better version of LIHI’s original safe lot. ...
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Real Change
Online complaints about mutual aid pantry get real

By Tobias Coughlin-Bogue | June 14, 2023

On June 12, 2021, Victoria Shutts launched Shuttsie Love, a small — but effective — resource center for people in need. She moved the box for resources she’d placed in her Meadowbrook yard to the corner of her lot, on a side street near an elementary school, a middle school and a high school. She supplemented the box with a small fridge and some drawers with dry goods and hygiene essentials. ...
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Real Change
Telling history: ‘We Are Puget Sound’ exhibit forgets to show

By Katherine Luck | June 14, 2023

A museum exhibit is, essentially, a narrative: a presentation of connected objects, events, experiences or phenomena. And as we all know, good narratives don’t tell, they show. The Burke Museum has a history of crafting superb narratives, whether about the story of the dinosaurs as portrayed by genuine dinosaur fossils (the only real ones you can see in Washington) or the richness of our region’s artistic and cultural heritage depicted through an array of modern and ancient tools, carvings, baskets and apparel. ...
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Real Change
After 10 years of unfair incarceration, Santiago Ortuño Pérez demands justice

By Guy Oron | June 14, 2023

Santiago Ortuño Pérez just wants to be able to live with his family again. At age 34, he says that he has spent nearly 10 years repeatedly punished and separated from his family and 12-year-old son for a crime he didn’t commit. Now, Ortuño Pérez is speaking out against what he says is the injustice and racism he faced at the hands of the criminal legal and immigration enforcement systems. ...
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Real Change
Camp Hope closes | Fallout | He found out | City Hall Park reopens | Elections equity

By Ashley Archibald | June 14, 2023

Camp Hope closes

The last residents of what officials say was Washington state’s largest homeless encampment moved out on June 8, allowing authorities to close the camp. ...
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Real Change
UW accused of poor conduct as 2,400 postdocs and researchers strike

By Guy Oron | June 14, 2023

Union leaders have accused the University of Washington (UW) of deploying underhanded tactics amid a labor dispute with research staff and postdocs.

About 2,400 UW workers went on indefinite strike June 7 to protest an impasse in contract negotiations around issues such as pay, child care support and sexual harassment protections. ...
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