When was the debate? Today So Far

• A lot of candidates for Seattle's District 6. But how many debates have happened?
• Bars, and restaurants, and the race for Seattle City Council.
• What's going on in SoDo?
• One-sixth of new cars on Washington's roads are electric vehicles?

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for July 31, 2023.

Quick hits

• Seven staffers injured in youth brawl at King County juvenile detention facility
• Where does Amazon want Sound Transit to build a new Seattle light rail station?
• Today So Far's summer 2023 mixtape

The Aug. 1 primary is tomorrow and Seattle will be voting for a whole lot of city council candidates. How well do we know them?

Events like debates, forums, town halls, etc. can help voters determine who they lean toward, but KUOW's David Hyde points out that Seattle's District 6 has only had one debate leading up to the primary. It took place back in May, before some candidates joined in. District 6 covers Ballard, Magnolia, Fremont, Green Lake, Loyal Heights, and other nearby neighborhoods. That's a big chunk of Seattle weighing in.

The situation could pose a bit of an issue for candidates. Technically, if they're participating in the city's Democracy Voucher Program, they have to do three debates before the primary, and three before the November election. But what are they supposed to do if nobody is hosting such events? Read the full story here.

You've probably heard by now that seven out of nine Seattle City Council seats are up for a vote this year, and about the top issues, and with more than 40 candidates running there is quite a blend of approaches to these issues. But KUOW's Ruby de Luna noticed another small nexus among the candidates — food. More specifically, three candidates have emerged from the food and service industry. There's Stephen Brown from Eltana Bagels on Capitol Hill, Olga Sagan from Piroshky Piroshky, and Pete Hanning from the city's nightlife industry (he once owned the Red Door in Fremont and is now with the Fremont Chamber of Commerce).

But as I mentioned above, there's more than 40 candidates running, which makes tomorrow's primary a significant step, indicating who will ultimately be on the ballot in November.

What's going on in SoDo? The city says that it didn't ramp up any encampment sweeps because of the MLB All-Star Week that just happened in the area. Though one official admitted to KUOW that such clearings have become more frequent recently.

Those living in vehicles around SoDo report that things have changed recently. One person, Neal, says that he used to be able to park his vehicle for weeks at a time, but lately, he has to move every couple days as a sweep comes through. Casey Martin has the full story here.

Did you know that one-sixth of new cars on Washington's roads are electric vehicles? I was surprised it was that high, but it turns out, the number of EVs in the state doubled from two years ago. That's good news, however, the state is still a bit short if it wants to meet its EV goals a couple years away.

Luckily, Washington has a few million dollars to play with, thanks to a court settlement with Volkswagen. Some of that money is slated for rebates and incentives to buy EVs. But some of it is also being targeted at local governments in the form of grants to pay for converting diesel-powered fleets to electric alternatives. Check out the full story here.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Dash cam video from a Seattle patrol car in the early morning hours of July 23, 2023 on Capitol Hill. Three hours later, a shooting occurred at a street racing incident in the same area. (Seattle Police Department)

DID YOU KNOW?

Every summer, someone brings up that old song, "Seattle." You know the one: "The bluest skies you've ever seen in Seattle; And the hills the greenest green in Seattle..."

You most likely know this song from Perry Como's 1969 version that was a chart topper. But the song actually goes back a little further than that. This song was originally written as the theme song to a TV comedy show called, "Here Come the Brides," which aired from 1968-1970. Bruce Lee starred in an episode, after his success on "The Green Hornet." The show was based on a bit of an awkward historical event in Seattle's history. In the 1860s, Seattle had a lot more men than women. That prompted Asa Mercer (yes, that Mercer name) to come up with a solution, which was to import eligible brides from the East Coast to Seattle where they could find plenty of single guys hanging around.

Despite The Beatles, Otis Redding, and The Doors topping the charts at this time, "Seattle" became a bit of a hit. The original TV theme was a bit more western than the popular Perry Como version. It was covered by country artists, pop artists, and bands like Game Theory in the 1980s (which, in my opinion, is the only tolerable version).

ALSO ON OUR MINDS

The CDC sees signs of a late summer COVID wave

Most of the hospitalizations are among are older people. And deaths from Covid are still falling — in fact deaths have fallen to the lowest they've been since the CDC started tracking them. That could change in the coming weeks if hospitalizations keep increasing, but that's not an inevitability.

SUBSCRIBE TO TODAY SO FAR