homelessness

I left San Francisco just in time — at the end of 2016. Sure, I saw the occasional junkie shooting up in public when I still worked in the city. And yes, I saw men use the sidewalk at the intersection of 5th and Market Streets as a toilet. But I never saw swarms of shoplifters emptying pharmacy shelves. If I needed new shoes, I could pop over to Nordstrom at the Westfield San Francisco Centre at 5th and Market. The number of friends who had stopped going into the city entirely — and switched to shopping in suburban malls — was unsettling, but tourists could help fill the gap. This week, sadly, Nordstrom announced it won’t renew its lease Read More ›

You can see, and smell, the gasoline staining the black top at Wallingford, Seattle’s United States Postal Service (USPS) station. But these aren’t your usual spills. John Pierce is a supervisor at the Wallingford station and says for the past few years, several homeless men have been siphoning gas from his delivery trucks in the parking lot. The men even go underneath the vehicles to cut fuel lines. “Every day’s a challenge,” says Pierce who tells me that the men “collect [gas] with a bucket” and siphon it out of their trucks with hoses. One of the postal service’s most prolific offenders comes by in broad daylight to steal fuel. The man has removed the license plates from his blue Ford Read More ›

By Marvin Olasky and Covenant College students Emma Fallmezger, Jacob Sonke, Elysse Carrillo, Anna McDonald, Charity Chaney, and Lydia Dorman. Los Angeles has been the poster child of homelessness. The first official act of new mayor Karen Bass was to place the city in a “state of emergency.” The Los Angeles Business Council scrutinized LA public opinion on homelessness and found almost unanimous agreement that the problem is serious, with 73 percent saying “very serious.” Most saw a lack of inexpensive housing as the prime reason for homelessness. National attitudes are different. Yes, a recent Rasmussen poll showed 92 percent of American adults saying homelessness is a serious national problem in America — and 65 percent said “very serious.” That Read More ›

Encampment Shooter on the Loose Monday morning, I got tipped off about a shooting in #Chinatown-ID. But once I got there, law enforcement officers were swarming a homeless encampment off Dearborn St. under I-5 on Washington State Department of Transportation (@WSDOT) property. It’s finally being cleared later this week. One person was shot in the ankle. The circumstances remain unclear. Shooter is still on the run. I returned later in the evening and bumped into some fentanyl addicts who were clueless about what happened. More crime and drug related problems in Councilmember Tammy Morales’ (@CMTammyMorales) district. Lets see how she votes on the proposed bill to make open air drug use a misdemeanor. #Seattle @GovInslee @MayorofSeattle @kcexec @SeattleCouncil @KCCouncil @KingCoRHA Read More ›

(The Center Square) – The 2023 point-in-time count numbers show a significant increase for individuals and families without a permanent abode in Spokane, though a large encampment had been drawing down at the time. According to the 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress released earlier this year, “homelessness in Washington state increased 10% overall from 2020 to 2022,” and the Spokane Regional numbers over that same time period are a significant increase on that percentage. The 2023 data, presented during Thursday’s Spokane City Council Study Session, shows 2,390 people from 2,136 households were counted as homeless this year. This is a significant increase compared to the 2022 numbers showing 1,757 people from 1,513 households, a rise of 36% and 41% for Read More ›

(The Center Square) – The One Seattle Homelessness Action Plan’s first count of 2023 reveals the verified homeless tent count is down 42% from the end of last year. The latest count conducted in March by the city found 414 tents within the city limits. That is down from 712 counted in December 2022. The SODO District had the most tents and RVs counted with 158 combined. The city attributes the drop in tent numbers to its recently-launched Unified Care Team, alongside its partnership with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. According to the city, its Unified Care Team facilitated 1,831 referrals to shelters and tiny house villages last year, with the help of the authority and 30 outreach providers.  The city Read More ›

Downtown Madness Continues The warm weather is fueling a crush of illicit activity in the downtown #Seattle core this weekend. Dealers are out peddling fentanyl for as little as one dollar a pill. Once again there were multiple drug overdoses and the black market of stolen goods is flourishing. I was out late Saturday night into the early Sunday morning hours, focused primarily on 3rd Ave and #Chinatown-ID. The moment the sun sets, it gets absolutely wild. Even the classical music crowd exiting Benaroya Hall (@benaroyahall) got a taste of the “fetty” and meth fumes. Not enough police officers to keep up. There is no denying the severity of what’s happening to Coucilmember Andrew Lewis’ (@CMAndrewJLewis) district. Like I said, Read More ›

It Keeps Expanding Four new tents popped up near the skate bowl over the weekend at Hubbard Homestead Park (@SeattleParks, @SeattleShines) bringing the grand total to 19. This homeless encampment is on the city’s radar, but there is no timeline yet on when it will be removed. Neighbors and local biz owners say it’s become a blight on the Northgate community. Along with the overwhelming use of fentanyl, some of the campers are also being blamed for thefts in the area. Someone went on the Nextdoor app and claimed a tent was being used to run a meth lab. Of course I had to check it out. Otherwise, everyone living here was super accommodating and wanted me to tell their Read More ›

It Was Inevitable First tent just showed up to the Leary Triangle in Ballard. City removed the fencing and concrete blocks around this parcel last week, hoping to turn this into a dog park. Meanwhile, the tent encampments in the area continue to expand. The 72 hour parking rule is being enforced, but the RV’s keep coming back. Councilmember Dan Strauss (@CMDanStrauss) has his hands full. Marc Dones and the @KingCoRHA needs to do more outreach here. I counted at least 30 tents and RV’s in this area alone. No end in sight for this part of #Seattle. @GovInslee @kcexec @MayorofSeattle @seattlecouncil @KCCouncil @SeattleParks @seattledot Block Party’s Over…Sort of Earlier this month, SDOT removed the blocks around Leary Triangle. But Read More ›