Homelessness

That Didn’t Take Long Tuesday afternoon, 12th Ave & Jackson St was clear. The open air drug use was gone. No more sales of stolen merchandise. Actually saw a clean sidewalk. But by sunset, it was back to business as usual at this notorious intersection in Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood. The common denominator, no more cops on patrol at night. Btw, a lot of the hustlers now use baby strollers to transport stolen merch and drugs. They say it puts people at ease and cops are less likely to check. Why didn’t I think of that? The one lone bright spot, volunteers with Mosaic Church feeding some of the fellas and providing supplies. They come out here every Tuesday night.

Recurring Nightmare Remember back in July when the city cleared dozens of RV’s and tents along this stretch of 3rd Ave in SODO? Officials said it was already planned and had nothing to do with the MLB All-Star Game coming to T-Mobile Park. Well, all the fellas are back. It’s the same folks who have been cleared multiple times and know the game. All of them tell me they have been offered shelter and services numerous times. They don’t want to go to any future RV lots either because this is prime location near all the food banks, drug dealers, and it’s easy access to the heart of the city. By the way, this is CM Tammy Morales’ (@CMTammyMorales, @TammyMoralesSEA Read More ›

The Truth This homeless woman in Portland nails it. The subculture of the streets is alluring. Why be a working stiff when you can get everything for free, live without rules, and pay ZERO taxes? Video from: Kevin Dahlgren

Getting Worse? There are so many unresolved homeless encampments in Seattle. But this one in Greenwood behind the Fred Meyer keeps getting worse. I counted close to 30 tents, including one with a door. Neighbors keep flooding my DM’s saying the city along with Councilmember Dan Strauss (@CMDanStrauss) are ignoring the problem. Same issues: open air drug use, more crime, yelling at all hours of the day, trash spilling out into the streets, etc. There’s also concern this place is being used as a CHOP SHOP. One guy told me he was sawing off the metal part of a brand new hose line to sell at a local scrap yard. Perfectly legal, as long as it’s not stolen. On a Read More ›

Wesley J. Smith joins Dr. Elaina George on Liberty Talk to discuss the origins of the homelessness crisis. Listen to the podcast episode below:

A year ago, Kaylee Gordon was setting up camp deep in the woods of West Seattle. “I feel safe in this spot,” she told me. At the time, Kaylee was hopeful that her future contained a career in music. “It’s always been my passion, it’s my life,” she said. She sang, played guitar, and told me this season of homelessness was just a speed bump along her journey. “So, this isn’t really in character for me,” Kaylee told me, saying that her beloved dog and her guitar were enough to get by. This week, over a year later, she was spotted in Belltown entering Dan’s convenience store on Third Avenue. Without shoes, dirty, and disheveled security guard Giovanni English tried Read More ›

Do You Have Time Travel? Literal madness on the streets of Seattle Monday afternoon. A woman was totally naked on the sidewalk across the street from Seattle City Hall. This is the best I could do with the blurs. I asked if she needed help. Instead, she wanted my muffins. Then she started talking about “time travel.” I parked my car and watched her go into a new tent encampment under the highway near 7th Ave and James St. This city is wild. Crazy town. Once again, these streets are the new asylums.

Back to California. Maxim Gorky’s The Lower Depths, first staged in 1902, focuses on run-down people living in a flophouse: Vaska the thief, Nastya the prostitute, Luka the tramp, and Kvashnya the meat-pie seller, along with a downwardly-mobile baron, a suicidal actor, and others equally miserable. But in the play, at least temporarily, they are alive and conscious. If fentanyl had hit Russia then, even famed Moscow Arts Theater director Konstantin Stanislavski would have been stymied in creating some dramatic action: Users of the synthetic opioid are often inactive, with stiff limbs. Gorky portrayed lower depths, but fentanyl drops users in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district into the lowest depths, close to death. I’ve walked many crime-ridden areas by day, but Read More ›

Worse Than Ever Despite progress being made to improve other parts of Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s (@MayorofSeattle) administration just can’t figure out the 12th Ave & Jackson St. disaster in Chinatown-ID. This is a FULL BLOWN take over by street thugs, drug addicts, dealers, and even Asian grandmas buying stolen goods in the black market. They also blast loud music at all hours of the day and the trash situation is out of control. Go there right now and see for yourself. In the three and a half years covering this crime corner, I have reported on shootings, stabbings, fights, drug dealing, thefts, graffiti vandalism, small biz leaving, sales of stolen goods, etc. But I have also seen efforts to Read More ›