Week in Review: drug law, election issues, and A.I.

Bill Radke discusses the week’s news with Axios Melissa Santos, Seattle Times Jonathan Martin, and KUOW’s Dyer Oxley.

On Tuesday, Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill into law that would possessing or publicly using drugs a gross misdemeanor offense. The current law, which was set to expire on July 1st, is less strict than the new one. The new law will carry a penalty of up to 180 days in jail, and a maximum fine of up to $1,000. A gross misdemeanor is a step down from felony, so does this heat or cool the war on drugs?

This week it was announced that Marc Dones, the first CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority resigned. During his tenure, the RHA was marked with several administrative woes, including the ability to carry out basic administrative tasks, and criticism from the nonprofits it pays to provide homelessness services. Dones said in a letter that the reason for his resignation was “burnout.” How will Dones’ departure affect people?

On Monday, Governor Inslee signed a law that dismantles the state commission that was studying airport locations in Pierce, Thurston, and one near Enumclaw in King County. A new body that will study aviation capacity requirements will replace it, and there will be no set deadlines. The Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission was supposed to submit their final recommendation for a new site by June 15. How will we deal with increasing air travel demand?

Friday marks the end of candidate filing week for Seattle and King County elections. The Seattle City Council races have more than 30 candidates officially on the books to run. Is there a which-way decision shaping up, a choice about a civic direction? Who are some of the candidates to pay attention to?

This week, members of Congress questions OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about safeguards and rules for artificial intelligence. His response was that his industry needs certain rules and regulations in place in order to keep the future of AI from becoming dangerous. Microsoft has invested $13 billion in the company OpenAI. How will Congressional scrutiny effect Open AI’s big investor Microsoft?