Jonathan Choe joins reporters on Newsmax to discuss the illegal takeover of Washington state property in Seattle where homeless occupants are felling trees, building driveways, and setting up pools. Watch the full clip here:
The city of Burien, Washington altered the parade route for its 100th Annual Independence Day Celebration to avoid a massive homeless encampment. The encampment on SW 152nd St near the entrance of a Grocery Outlet and Dollar Tree is now close to 20 tents deep. “It’s best just to err on caution,” Debra George, who leads Discover Burien, a coalition of business owners responsible for making the last-minute decision, said. “We’re going to take a left on 4th and just head into town square park,” George added. Families, children, and tourists usually line downtown streets to get a glimpse of the floats and marching bands, but George says they have no choice but to alter the route since the city is refusing to remove the Read More ›
New Developments King County Metro (@KingCountyMetro) is removing the bus shelter at 12th Ave and Jackson St in #Chinatown-ID in the coming weeks. Neighbors say the signs were posted a few days ago. REASON: “Ongoing safety issues and unsanitary conditions.” In other words, city and county leaders are now desperately trying to find solutions to address one of the most notorious hot spots for drug dealing, sales of stolen merchandise, and other crimes. These bus shelters are ideal since it gives cover for all the illicit activity. Problem is, when it rains or snows, Asian American seniors and other riders will have to deal with the elements. As usual, I spent the weekend scoping out all the action. Whenever there’s Read More ›
No Words Sometimes you see a piece of video and are just left shaking your head. Tuesday evening, a witness says a fight broke out at Ballard Commons Park between a well known homeless guy and a dude with dreads. At the same time, a little kid just scampers through the outdoor fountain play area, totally oblivious to what’s going on. Thankfully it ended without anyone being seriously injured. Adults, let’s try to set a better example for the children. This all went down as the Seattle Parks (@SeattleParks) concierge was packing up the large chess set and signs. No park rangers or police nearby. Councilmember Dan Strauss’ (@CMDanStrauss) district remains problematic. But so far, crews have been able to Read More ›
Jonathan Choe and radio host Ari Hoffman join Fox Business to react to Seattle residents joining forces to clean up the city’s squalor before the MLB All Star game. Click here to watch the clip.
Dismissing Dow In what may be one of the most defiant moments of the year, the #Burien business community and volunteers decided to ignore legal threats made by King County Executive Dow Constantine (@kcexec,) and proceeded to sweep a problematic homeless encampment on their own. No law enforcement showed up Thursday morning and it was completely orderly. This could be a playbook for other communities tired of being strong armed by #KingCounty. It all depends on how Martin v. Boise is interpreted and applied. Back in 2018, the landmark ruling struck down Boise’s city-wide public camping ban because it lacked adequate emergency public shelter beds. Non-profit Burien Cares (@BurienCares) officially took over the lease for this plot of land and Read More ›
A showdown is looming in Burien over a homeless encampment in the center of downtown. Now more than 20 tents deep, a resident walking her dog near the site describes homeless encampments like this one as “a national humanitarian crisis.” The encampment is being blamed for open air drug use, a spike in thefts, and sex trafficking. Burien City Councilmember Stephanie Mora tells me she has become aware that “there have been several underage girls sleeping there.” The city decided to lease out the property that the encampment is on to Burien Cares, a local non-profit with plans to turn the site back into a dog park. Burien Cares put up signs around the property asking campers to leave by Read More ›
More Work On Thursday city cleared encampments along E. Howell St. in Capitol Hill including one near Greek Orthodox Church with 3 people. But city did not include one that’s really problematic on 17th Ave. blamed for fires, drugs, and trash piles. Capitol Hill Crisis This is what it looked like for weeks leading up to Thursday’s sweep. And 17th Ave. is still a hot mess. Next Stretch Explosive growth of tents at 17th Ave and E. Howell St. First week of January, cops got called for “incendiary device.” Ended up being guy burning fire to stay warm. Camps remain major liability and drain on city.
Weekend Recap Powerful protest Saturday against controversial OPIOD CLINIC about to open near Boys & Girls Club. Demonstrators CALLING OUT @laurendavisWA, Acadia Healthcare, @GovInslee, and @WADeptHealth. Organizers promising ferocious fight. Reinforcements Called Numerous groups including #Lynnwood City Council Members and @KCGOP showed to take a stand. Protest organizers say this will be one of many demonstrations scheduled this month against Acadia Healthcare’s OPIOID CLINIC. Company is refusing to stand down. Serious Allegations @lynnwood Mayor Cristine Frizzell noticeably absent from rally. Council Member George Hurst couldn’t attend but in prepared statement accused Frizzell and #Lynnwood official Julie Moore of meeting w/Acadia, then failing to notify them about backroom conversations. Community Stakeholders While Boys & Girls Club+nearby residents could be impacted, building’s Read More ›