Reporter’s Notebook: Yes in my backyard

Jobs, Journalism, Justice

Opinion

Seattle City Council honors vendor Sharon Jones with a proclamation

By Tim Harris | May 22, 2019

Director's Corner | Timothy Harris, founding director

Sharon Jones would have loved the May 20 meeting of the full Seattle City Council.

As the session began, Council President Bruce Harrell suspended the rules of order so that Councilmember Lisa Herbold could say a few words in honor of the late Real Change vendor Sharon Jones, and read a proclamation into the official record:

A Proclamation Honoring the Life of Sharon Jones

Whereas, Sharon Jones was born in Shreveport, Louisiana into an Air Force family; and ...

The kindness of strangers: thoughts on Jewish identity and the idea of community

By Matt Kanter | May 22, 2019

COMMENTARY

As Jews, we are taught to welcome the stranger as Abraham did the angels and to remember that we, too, were strangers wandering the wilderness. We are taught many of our values in simplified words or phrases, like Tzedakah (Justice), G’milut Chasidim (Acts of Loving Kindness) and Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World). But we don’t always see these ideas in practice.

In my childhood, I witnessed these values in action. ...

The Middle Ground by Sam Day 5/22/19

By Sam Day | May 22, 2019

Contact Sam Day at [email protected]

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Stale cookies and unsolicited conversations

By Oscar Rosales Castañeda | May 22, 2019

Real Change columnist

I joined peers from the UW School of Social Work on May 3 to counter-demonstrate an “Affirmative-Action Bake Sale.” We collectively decided to show our presence, not so much to directly engage but to observe and be present for anyone in need of a sympathetic ear or a space to process their thoughts. The event was, after all, a cheap stunt meant to antagonize and dehumanize. ...

At least my quasi-apocalypse had room for some homeless people — and The Gap

By Dr. Wes Browning | May 22, 2019

Real Change columnist

One of our vendors calls me “Dr. Crank Monster.” It’s nice to be appreciated for who you truly are deep down in your cold, dead heart.

I’m thinking about this now in connection with my reaction to the knowledge that Northgate Mall is going to be redeveloped, right about when the light rail line reaches it. This cranks me up.

The press releases are blossomy. They’re going to add greenery. There will be at least one hotel, and office buildings, and not one but three ice rinks for an NHL team. The whole place is going to look like a campus. Whoop-de-freakin’-do. ...

Feature

Life, Death and Dignity: Robert Fuller planned every detail of his wedding — and his death soon after

By Ashley Archibald | May 22, 2019

Part 1 of 3

For the last hours of his 75 years on Earth, Robert Fuller was married to a man who he loved.

“I anoint you,” said Nancy Rebecca, a nurse, clairvoyant and sometime wedding officiant, “Mr. Robert and Mr. Reese Baxter-Fuller.” ...

Changemaking

Real Change vendor Walter Kozbiel is walking towards a goal

By Bridget Mountain | May 22, 2019

Walter Kozbiel has big dreams and many goals. His current goal is to walk more than 66 miles in one day, which would break the world record. “I feel like I could break that record. Maybe even walk 72 or 73 miles,” Kozbiel said. Although he’s walked in cities all over the country, he’s walked around Seattle for — to borrow lyrics from Billy Joel — “the longest time.” ...

Seattle

Medical Examiner Report: Homeless community deaths up nearly 15 percent

By Ashley Archibald | May 22, 2019

The number of deaths of people presumed homeless investigated by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office jumped by nearly 15 percent to 194 in 2018, marking the fourth consecutive year that the number has grown.

Thirty-eight percent of the deaths were due to natural causes such as cardiovascular or respiratory illness, slightly more than the 32 percent of deaths attributed to drug overdoses. ...