Podcast appearances and mentions of Fred Meyer

Today we uncover an invisible killer hidden, for over a hundred years, by reasonable disbelief. Science journalist extraordinaire Carl Zimmer tells us the story of a centuries-long battle of ideas that came to a head, with tragic consequences, in the very recent past. His latest book, called Airborne, details a  largely forgotten history of science that never quite managed to get off the ground. Along the way, Carl helps us understand how we can fail, over and over again, to see a truth right in front of our faces. And how we finally came around thanks to scientific evidence hidden inside a song.EPISODE CREDITS:Reported by - Carl ZimmerProduced by - Sarah Qariwith mixing help from - Jeremy BloomFact-checking by - Natalie MiddletonEPISODE CITATIONS:Books -  Check out Carl Zimmer's new book, Airborne (https://zpr.io/Q5bdYrubcwE4).Articles -  Read about the study on the Skagit Valley Chorale COVID superspreading event (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32979298/).Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab's science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

For MCoBeauty CMO Meridith Rojas, the ability to democratize the beauty industry lies in the power of dupes.  “We're in this moment, in this cultural zeitgeist, where people don't want to have to spend $1,000 on a face of beauty and don't want to be left out of the trends,” said Rojas. “We really want to create luxury for everyone. And of course, we have amazing dupes, but we also have some homegrown innovation. The combination has been really magnetic, and our community is growing in the U.S. so fast. We have a very exciting year ahead of us.”  Dupes, the colloquial term for a lower-priced product inspired by a luxury category leader, makes up about half of MCo's offering. Unlike counterfeits or copies, which are often associated with unsafe formulas and flagrant IP violations, dupes are in their own category and are incredibly popular globally.  MCoBeauty sells recognizable dupes for popular products from brands like Charlotte Tilbury, Drunk Elephant, Sol de Janeiro and Laneige for around a third of the price. For example, MCo Beauty's best-selling Flawless Glow Foundation retails for $14.99, and its Miracle Flawless Pressed Powder goes for $9.99. Similar products from Charlotte Tilbury retail for $49 and $28, respectively. It also offers non-dupes, like its best-selling XtendLash tubing mascara, which sells for $13.99. MCoBeauty was launched in Australia in 2016 by founder Shelley Sullivan, a former modeling agency owner. It is currently the top-selling color cosmetics brand in Australia and New Zealand, according to Greg Barker, MCoBeauty's evp of North America. As previously reported by Glossy in December, MCoBeauty launched its U.S. expansion at the end of 2024 with entry into 1,700 Kroger stores, which include regional grocery stores like Smiths, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Frys, Ralphs and more. The expansion also includes DTC sales via MCoBeauty's site and Amazon. This week, MCo Beauty also launched into 1,300 Target doors and on Target.com.  Rojas joined The Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss MCoBeauty's U.S. expansion and the marketing strategy supporting it. She shared anecdotes about the company's OOH and digital marketing successes, including advice on building a digital community, connecting with influencers early in their careers, getting the best community UGC and hiring digitally-minded celebrities to lead social-first campaigns.

CBS Margaret Brennan on Middle East + Trump legislation // Charlie Harger with QFC and Fred Meyer on Superbowl snacks // CBS Thane Rosenbaum on birthright citizenship // Matt Markovich legislative update // Herb Weisbaum on buying flowers for Valentines Day // Gee Scott on the best Superbowl snacks for your party // Paul Holden weekend feature

Todays episode is packed with wine, news (both good and bad) and festiveness! In our last episode before Christmas, we taste through 2 Italian wines and a very special red blend from Kestrel Vintners, their Lady in Red! #HappyFriday! #ItsWineTime! #Cheersing #EasterEggWines this episode:Geografico Le Mire Bianco Toscana ($13.11 from Wine Library)2022 Il Rosé Chiaretto di Bardolino ($13.11 from Wine Library)16th Edition of Lady in Red ($10 from Fred Meyer)A HUGE thanks to our sponsors: Rocky Pond, Terraza Waterfront Grill and Naked Wines!Rocky Pond Winery: Rocky Pond a family-owned powerhouse committed to creating the finest Bordeaux and Rhône blends. Rocky Pond Winery - Unforgettable Wine Experiences, Shared with Family and Friends. For more information, please visit https://rockypondwinery.comTerraza Waterfront Grill: Terraza Waterfront Grill is serving up global-inspired dishes in a vibrant atmosphere. With a focus on fresh ingredients and unmatched culinary excellence, Terraza offers something for every taste. Come experience exceptional food, cozy ambiance and top-notch service at this stunning waterfront grill. Visit https://terrazacda.com/ for more information or call 208-758-0111.Naked Wines: Straight from the winemaker right to your door, premium wine without the premium pricing is what Naked Wines is all about. Save big on wines from the world's best winemakers! Visit https://us.nakedwines.com/winetimefridays to get $100 off your first 6 pack case. With Naked Wines, discovering new wines is truly risk-free!The Elsom Cellars Wine Word of the Week - FloralIn the context of Chiaretto di Bardolino Rosé, "Floral" refers to the wine's delicate and fragrant aromatic profile, characterized by subtle notes of rose petals, lavender, and orange blossoms that add depth and elegance to its refreshing taste.Elsom Cellars: Good times are meant to be shared and so are great grapes and great wines! Since 2006, Elsom Cellars has been producing brilliant Washington wines. For more information about Elsom Wines, please visit http://www.elsomcellars.com or call them at 425-298-3082Mentions: Mix It Up Home, Wine Library, Eternal Wine, Brad Binko, GaryVee Wine Club, Wine Text, Kestrel Vintners, Blazen Divaz, Andrea Robinson, M.S., Fred Meyer, Sara Lane, Pilgrim's Market, Lindsay and Brian LaFaille, Martino Trost.Some Wines we enjoyed this week: Durigutti Proyecto Las Compuertas Criolla Parral (from Lindsay and Brian), Rocky Pond Stratastone, Ferrari Carano Chardonnay, Badet Clement Révélation Chardonnay, Clos d'Argentine Chardonnay, Château de Seguin Sauvignon de Seguin Bordeaux, Château German Castillon - Côtes de Bordeaux, Domaine Droughin Pinot Noir, Eternal Wine Rocket Man Red and Incanto Prosecco.Please find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WineTimeFridays), Twitter (@VintageTweets), Instagram (@WineTimeFridays) on our YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/@winetimefridays and on Threads, which is @winetimefridays. You can also “Follow” Phil on Vivino. His profile name is Phil Anderson and will probably “Follow” you back! 

Hey friend!   If you are looking for the perfect low cost recipe for the holiday season that you can also enjoy any time of year, look no further!   This week's recipe not only uses staples most households typically have on hand, but it even can utilize an ingredient that you may normally throw away. Now that's frugal!   Blessings to your family, Mandy Thank you for helping this show rank in the top 2% globally! I appreciate you so much!   P.S. As promised, here is the full recipe with instructions:   Bread Pudding Ingredients: 6 slices day-old bread, torn into small pieces (FREE if you use up what you would toss, otherwise buy day-old or marked down bread for cheap.) 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted ($4.49 for 16oz today at my Fred Meyer, but you're only using a tiny amount) 2 cups milk (2% or whole is recommended) $2.59 ½ gallon or $3.69 gallon ¾ cup white sugar ($2.99 for 4lbs) 4 large eggs, beaten ($4.99 lowest price at my store) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ($1.25 at my store) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract $1.99 for imitation or $5.99 for pure (can also sub another flavor if you have it on hand or to change it up: Ex. pure orange extract is $2.29 at Fred Meyer or almond is $3.69, lemon is 3.49 (may need to play around with quantities of other flavors) Steps: 1. Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. Place bread pieces into an 8-inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter over bread. Sprinkle your choice of mix-ins over top - optional. 3. Whisk milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla together in a medium mixing bowl until well combined. 4. Pour mixture over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until all bread is covered and soaking up the liquid. 5. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and the top springs back when lightly pressed, about 45 minutes. Enjoy! Or add any optional toppings after if you'd like, but it's not needed.  

Nesta edição do podcast cinematório café, nós conversamos com a equipe do filme - e, agora, também série - “Meu Sangue Ferve Por Você”. Após o sucesso nos cinemas, o romance musical sobre a história do cantor Sidney Magal e sua esposa, Magali West, ganha versão estendida no streaming. Confira os bastidores na entrevista exclusiva que fizemos com o próprio Magal, o ator Filipe Bragança e o diretor Paulo Machline ("Trinta", "O Filho Eterno"). - Visite a página do podcast no site e confira material extra sobre o tema do episódio - Junte-se ao Cineclube Cinematório e tenha acesso a conteúdo exclusivo de cinema “Meu Sangue Ferve Por Você” é descrito como uma “fábula magalesca”. A expressão significa que o roteiro é inspirado em uma história verídica, mas que é narrada com todas as licenças poéticas necessárias para aproximá-la do universo musical e caliente de Sidney Magal. Com isso, o filme escapa de ser uma mera cinebiografia sobre a vida do artista -- que já havia ganhado um documentário sobre sua trajetória em 2002, o premiado "Me Chama que Eu Vou", dirigido por Joana Mariani, também produtora de “Meu Sangue Ferve Por Você”. Na verdade, “Meu Sangue Ferve Por Você” é sobre a mulher que se tornou protagonista da vida de Magal: Magali West, interpretada na tela pela atriz Giovana Cordeiro. Já o cantor é vivido por Filipe Bragança. O elenco ainda conta com Emmanuelle Araújo, Caco Ciocler, Julia Konrad, Sidney Santiago e Tânia Tôko. A divertida fabulação da história de Magal e Magali chegou aos cinemas em maio de 2024 e conquistou o público. Repetiu a dose no streaming e, agora, no final do ano, ganha uma versão estendida em formato de série. O cinematório café é produzido e apresentado por Renato Silveira e Kel Gomes. A cada episódio, nós propomos um debate em torno de filmes recém-lançados e temas relacionados ao cinema, sempre em um clima de descontração e buscando refletir sobre imagens presentes no nosso dia a dia. Quer mandar um e-mail? Escreva para contato@cinematorio.com.br. Este episódio contém trecho da música "O Meu Sangue Ferve por Você", de Sidney Magal, Fred Meyer, Jack Arel e Serafim Costa Almeida. Todos os direitos reservados aos artistas.

Last week, plans for the largest U.S. supermarket merger in history imploded in spectacular fashion. First, an Oregon federal judge blocked the $24.6 billion bid by Kroger to take over Albertson's, its next largest rival. Less than 24 hours later, Albertsons, which also owns Safeway, pulled out of the deal entirely — and then filed a massive lawsuit against Kroger, the parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC. The bitter breakup marks the end of a two-year saga that stood to upend grocery shopping across Oregon and centered largely right here in Portland. On the latest Beat Check, Oregonian/OregonLive reporters Kristine de Leon and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh unpack the final twists and turns of the supermarket deal gone sour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Shelley and Phil taste through two wines you're very likely to find on the grocery store shelves at price points that are right around 15 bucks. These will be easy to grab and taste along with them! #HappyFriday! #ItsWineTime! #CheersingWines this episode:2022 Edna Valley Vineyards Chardonnay ($15 at Fred Meyer)2023 Hess Select Chardonnay ($14 at Fred Meyer)A HUGE thanks to our sponsors: CDA Gourmet and CDA Gourmet: Are you looking to elevate your kitchen? You need to check out CDA Gourmet! Located in Midtown Coeur d'Alene, CDA Gourmet offers a diverse mix of flavor enhancing product as well as the tools to make it all happen. Visit https://www.cdagourmet.com for more information or  call 208-551-2364. CDA Gourmet: Your kitchen elevated.Eternal Wine: Are you a Rhone Ranger or just really love Syrah? Then you need to check out Eternal Wine! Their focus is on single vineyard Rhone valley wines in Washington State. Also check out their Drink Washington State brand of approachable wines! Visit https://eternalwine.com for more information or simply call 509-240-6258. Eternal Wine: Drink Wine, Be Happy.*Check out The (Almost) Tragic Story of Carménère by Eternal Wine by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucKOK6oRKVsThe Rocky Pond Winery Word of the Week - ButteryCalifornia Chardonnay often undergoes oak aging, which impart a rich, creamy, buttery flavor.Rocky Pond Winery: Rocky Pond a family-owned powerhouse committed to creating the finest Bordeaux and Rhône blends. They invite you to become a friend, celebrate life to the fullest and join them at Rocky Pond. Rocky Pond Winery - Unforgettable Wine Experiences, Shared with Family and Friends. For more information, please visit https://rockypondwinery.comMentions: Gary Vaynerchuck, Rich Perry, Brad Binko, Jesse Balsimo, Rivaura, Sam Lange, Seasons, Daniel, Tirridis.Some Wines we enjoyed this week: Erath Pinot Noir Estate Selection, J. Bookwalter Suspense & Readers Red blend, Giovanna Tantini Bardolino Chiaretto, Hanna Chardonnay, Salentein Reserve Malbec and DAOU Chardonnay.Please find us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WineTimeFridays), Twitter (@VintageTweets), Instagram (@WineTimeFridays) on our YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/@winetimefridays and on Threads, which is @winetimefridays. You can also “Follow” Phil on Vivino. His profile name is Phil Anderson and will probably “Follow” you back! Wine Time Fridays Rating System: Phenomenal 

Soldotna police say a man died by suicide last Saturday, mothers and moms-to-be on the central Kenai Peninsula will now have the chance to take home free baby goodies and learn about local parent support systems. in a motor home parked at Fred Meyer, and the Northwest Arctic community of Kiana declared an emergency Tuesday after several days without running water.

Two airlines — Kenai Aviation and Reeve Air Alaska — are bidding to offer air service between Seward and Anchorage as part of a federal program that subsidizes air travel for qualifying communities. Soldotna police say a man died by suicide last Saturday in a motor home parked at Fred Meyer. A proposed ocean and fish restoration project in the Gulf of Alaska is trying to generate support at the local and state level. Mothers and moms-to-be on the central Kenai Peninsula will now have the chance to take home free baby goodies and learn about local parent support systems.

In today's episode, Shelley and Phil taste through two of their favorite varietals, Carménère and Cabernet Franc. Both were purchased here in Coeur d'Alene, are priced right and are VERY good! International Carménère Day is this Sunday and Cabernet Franc Day is Wednesday, December 4. Grab one or both of these wines and taste throught with us. #HappyFriday! #ItsWineTime! #Cheersing Wines this episode:2021 Axel  Carménère ($21 at Pilgrim's Market)

David Campisi President and CEO of Big Lots is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes radio amfm iHeart Podcastone. Big Lots has a lot of heart and made a 50 Million dollar donation to create a behavioral health facility dedicated to the treatment and research of children and adolescents from across the country with behavioral health conditions. The Company has been around for 50plus years in the non-traditional discount retail industry. Campisi also has held prominent positions at Khols, Fred Meyer, and May Department stores.

It's Labor Day, and that can only mean workers standing up for our rights on the job. We begin this week with the launch of this weekend's national hotel strike by workers in Unite Here. After some quick stories on workers fighting for Palestine, the massive surge in unionization in academia, and more warehouse organizing by the Teamsters, we get into our main stories. We follow up with the UAW strike at Cornell, as workers have won a historic new contract. Workers at the Audubon Society have announced they will strike next week as their highly paid CEO continues a petty, illegal union busting campaign. Fred Meyer workers also struck this weekend, simultaneously showing how important stopping the Kroger-Albertsons merger is. Negotiations for a new contract for the East Coast dockworkers in the ILA have ground to a halt, potentially portending the first east coast port shutdown in nearly 50 years. We also discuss this week's 99.99% strike authorization vote by flight attendants at United and a new report showing just how deep the exploitation in the industry is. Finally, we celebrate the union election win of 4000 "temporary" workers at Firestone's massive rubber plantation in Liberia. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee More info on the show at http://workstoppagepod.com/

The Red Sox tailspin continues, thousands of college students move back to Boston, employees of the Fred Meyer grocery chain are on strike in Oregon. Stay in "The Loop" with #iHeartRadio.

Today on City Cast Portland, we're talking about the Fred Meyer strike as the biggest grocery merger ever is debated in a local court, the frantic wrangling over plans as Measure 110 officially comes to an end, and the sky-high costs of building renovations as Portland Public Schools resume classes. Joining executive producer John Notarianni on this week's Friday news roundup are Malia Spencer of the Portland Business Journal and our very own producer, Giulia Fiaoni. Discussed in Today's Episode: FTC Trial Continues: Exec From Specialty Grocer Sprouts Called as Witness Against Kroger-Albertsons Merger [

Seven & i Holdings tries to block a takeover bid from a competitor, Fred Meyer grocery workers in Portland begin a one-week strike, and Walmart deals with an apple juice recall.

On Monday, a judge at the U.S. District Court of Oregon in Portland will hear arguments to temporarily block the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains. The nearly $25 billion deal, which was announced nearly two years ago, would create the largest supermarket chain in U.S. history, with roughly 5,000 stores and 700,000 employees across 48 states. Kroger owns Fred Meyer and QFC grocery stores in the Northwest, and Albertsons owns Safeway.  In February, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the merger, claiming it would hurt workers, stifle competition and raise prices for consumers. Executives at Kroger and Albertsons dispute those claims, saying the merger will result in lower prices and more choices for consumers, and result in no layoffs of “frontline workers.”  On Capitol Hill, opposition to the merger is being led by Oregon’s senior Democratic Senator, Ron Wyden, and Washington’s U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-07). Sen. Wyden joins us to share his perspective on the proposed merger, the presidential election and other issues. 

Company mergers are often touted as a way to create more efficiencies for the companies and savings for customers. Albertsons, the owner of Safeway and Carrs, wants to sell to Kroger, the parent company of Fred Meyer. The deal would affect multiple stores in Alaska. The companies say the merger will result in better prices for consumers. Do economists, public advocates and attorneys agree? We ask them on this Talk of Alaska.

In this week's episode of Downhill Fast, Tamara makes a grand entrance by arriving fashionably late—45 minutes to be exact! Rheannon was almost convinced she'd choked on a chip, but Tamara made it just in time to share her epic tales. Tamara recounts the adventure of procuring a TV, complete with Rheannon's witty banter. Could there be a ghost in Tamara's apartment? Tune in to find out! Meanwhile, things got lively at Fred Meyer, and Rheannon had a blast kayaking and fishing on the river. Tamara also shares her movie night experience and her thoughts on the latest flick. All this and more on this week's episode of Downhill Fast!

Listen to our latest story about Fred Meyer's $7,500 donation to the Clark County Food Bank at the opening day of the 2024 Clark County Fair. Learn about the impact of this donation on the community and the shift from the traditional pancake breakfast to a more meaningful contribution. Read the full story at https://tinyurl.com/4ptfuwns on www.ClarkCountyToday.com. #FredMeyer #ClarkCountyFoodBank #Donation #ClarkCountyFair #Ridgefield #WashingtonState

In this episode, we dive into some Idaho wine history as we taste through a well-known Chardonnay along with an Idaho Grenache from our friends at Rivaura Estate Winery, on the second Friday of Idaho Wine Month. Grab a bottle, pour a glass, sit back and enjoy! #HappyFriday! #ItsWineTime! #CheersingWines this episode:2022 Sonoma -Cutrer  Chardonnay ($27 at Fred Meyer)

What’s Trending: An SUV slammed into a Prius in a Fred Meyer parking lot in attempt to flee from Seattle Police. Joe Biden has challenged Donald Trump to two debates. A family had a scary face-to-face encounter with a cougar in their backyard. // GUEST: Bob Ferguson #3 (from Graham) explains why he decided to run then subsequently pull out of contention for the governor’s race. // A Georgia Instacart driver got a delivery order from an inmate. A meetup of gay people eating garlic bread at a Seattle park went viral.  

Oregon’s Bottle Bill, which offers cash refunds for empty bottles and cans, was a landmark piece of legislation when it first passed in 1971. Since then, it’s served as a model for similar bills in other states and led to some of the highest recycling rates in the nation. The bill was originally intended to discourage littering, but the cash refunds it offers have increasingly become a lifeline for low-income Oregonians and people experiencing homelessness. As extensively reported in Willamette Week, critics now say the bill is fueling open-air drug markets outside return sites. We’ll get an overview of the Bottle Bill from Eric Chambers, vice president of strategy and outreach for the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative. We’re also joined by RJ DeMello, chair of the St. Johns Neighborhood Association; Ken Thrasher, former CEO of Fred Meyer and board chair of the Northwest Community Conservancy; and Kris Brown, manager of The People’s Depot, a Portland redemption center run by can collectors. They share their perspectives on how the Bottle Bill does – or doesn’t – interact with the state’s growing opioid and homelessness crises.  

In todays episode, we raise a glass (or four) in honor of International Riesling Day, which is this coming Wednesday, March 13! Today we're diving deep into the world of Riesling, exploring its fascinating history, styles and why it deserves a permanent spot on your wine rack. We've even incorporated another edition of Old World vs New World with Rieslings from France, Germany (Old World) and Washington State (New World and it's week two of Washington Wine Month!#HappyFriday! #ItsWineTime! #Cheersing #InternationalRieslingDay #RieslingLove Wines this episode:2021 Pacific Rim Dry Riesling ($9 at Fred Meyer)

Lords: * Ryan * Alexander Topics: * Getting so agitated that you cook dinner * What's an acquired taste that's worth acquiring? What's one that's not worth the effort? What's the point of even "acquiring" a taste for anything when there are probably infinite options you don't have to teach yourself to enjoy? * Texturally enhanced alternative beverage * Bagme Bloma * https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Bagme_Bloma Microtopics: * How the science gets done. * Measuring the height of a flagpole by measuring its shadow. * Using calculus to find the surface area of a potato. * Measuring and re-measuring until you get the result you want. * Confronting your professor about their involvement in Frog Fractions 2. * Country and Western music fused with synth heavy prog rock. * Using the gun to parallel park. * That time Ryan died while recording Topic Lords. * Getting so agitated that you do some differential equations. * New guy just dropped: guy who whenever he thinks about death he has to make a sandwich. * The first step towards rejecting a task: assessing the task. * Today is a good day to fill your Prius with snakes. * The Raccoon Prius story. * Hilarious mothers. * The inside of a Prius: nothing but corners. * Officer, it's not what you think. No, not that either. * Putting the AC on so the python in the back seat gets sluggish. * Getting a fork and spoon and twirling up snakes like spaghetti. * A taste worth busting your ass for. * An oral history of tricking alcohol post your tongue. * An entire generation that has never had to work to enjoy things because there are so many things that are easy to enjoy. * Twelve year olds from Alabama calling you a cuck. * New ideas that you haven't been thinking of even without looking at your phone. * Hiking: it's just hard walking. * Getting so agitated that you developed a taste for hiking. * The guy in the Fred Meyer buying Reese's cups while wearing a tuxedo. * The Men's Wearhome. * The Men's Wearhouse employee who is not allowed to tell you that they don't have anything for fat people so he brings out less and less flattering outfits until you take the hint. * Orbitz. (The soft drink from 1996.) * A proto-boba. * Drinking a random test tube from a bioengineering lab. * What if everyone had a number floating above their heads that represented the number of times they had to drink Orbitz before they developed a taste for Orbitz and now that Orbitz is out of production everyone's number stays the same forever * Big Dick's Energy. * Flavor-blasted slushies. * The sense-horror of drinking an Orbitz. * Shelf-stable tapioca pearls. * A free-to-play game for your tongue. * Texturally subdued beverages. * Decaf Red Bull. * The hypothetical beverage enthusiast who wants a decaf Red Bull. * How to make Orbitz in your toilet. * How many Orbitz you have to drink to reach Nirvana. * eBay sellers insisting that you don't drink the thirty year old novelty beverage they're selling you. * Thinking a poem is a Middle Earth thing but it's actually a regular Earth thing. * Poetry that is alliterative rather than rhyming. * Making art by fucking around with a new medium. * Music in a foreign language. * What Simlish sounds like in different languages. * A quest to discover why they started dotting the letter Y. * Expecting scrolls in 3 to 5 days.

On this topical show, Crystal welcomes Renton City Councilmember Carmen Rivera and Raise the Wage Renton Steering Committee member Maria Abando to learn more about the upcoming citizen initiative on the February 13th special election ballot. Modeled after the successful Raise the Wage Tukwila initiative that passed with over 80% of the vote in 2022, community organizers in Renton are campaigning to raise their city's minimum wage to keep up with surrounding cities like SeaTac, Tukwila, and Seattle. Maria and Carmen discuss how the ability to earn a living wage uplifts everyone, the signature gathering learning curve their coalition experienced, and the reaction - both positive and negative - to the effort. With ballots arriving in mailboxes this week and a well-funded opposition materializing, Maria and Carmen share how folks can get involved and help their campaign across the finish line. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii, find Maria Abando at @maria_abando, Councilmember Carmen Rivera at @riveraforrenton, and the Raise the Wage Renton campaign at @RTWRenton.   Resources Raise the Wage Renton   Donate to the Raise the Wage Renton campaign   City of Renton Initiative Measure No. 23-02 | King County Elections “Minimum Wage Initiative Launches in Renton, Builds Off Successes in South King County” by Christopher Randels from The Urbanist   “Renton $19 minimum wage measure qualifies for February special election” by Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks from The Seattle Times   “Renton City Council Rejects $19 Minimum Wage but the Fight Continues” by Hannah Krieg from The Stranger   “Renton voters to decide on city's minimum wage increase in February” by Bailey Josie from The Renton Reporter   “Renton residents, city leaders weigh in on raising minimum wage to at least $19” by KIRO 7 News Staff   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review show and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. I'm really excited about today's conversation with folks from the Raise the Wage Renton campaign. Today, I'm being joined by Renton City Councilmember Carmen Rivera. Hey, Carmen. [00:01:05] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Hey, how you doing? [00:01:07] Crystal Fincher: Doing well. And also Maria Abando on the Raise the Wage Renton Steering Committee. Hey. [00:01:14] Maria Abando: What's up? What's up? [00:01:16] Crystal Fincher: So I am so thrilled to have this conversation. We have previously talked about other minimum wage increase campaigns. We eagerly spoke with, and then followed, and then celebrated the success of the Raise the Wage Tukwila campaign from last year. Last year, 2022? One of those years - time is weird for me these days. But now Renton is up to the plate. And so starting off, I just want to start with why this issue is so important - how did this even become an issue in Renton in the first place? - starting with Carmen. [00:01:52] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Thank you so much for having us on and sharing the space with us. This was born actually from a coalition of organizers and labor union workers that really found that there was a need in Renton. When you think about Renton, you may not fully understand or know that she is 60% non-white, she is the fourth largest city in King County, the eighth largest city in Washington state. We have about 21% of our population at or below two times the poverty level, 8% at or below the poverty level. And almost half of our city are renters, with the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment at about $2,195. And so - yeah, yeah. We're right there on par with Seattle, so invite me back when you want to talk about tenant rights and tenant protections in Renton - because we do not have any more than what the state allows. We do not have any increases, and so that's another aspect of this that - happy to talk more on. But all that intertwines with having a livable wage - something that makes it just a little bit easier for people to not only just survive in Renton, but thrive. And so when organizers came to me in January of 2023, they presented this initiative that was pretty much a copy-and-paste from Tukwila. And we met and we spoke about it, and I didn't agree initially with all aspects of the initiative. However, organizers felt very passionate about it - they did some outreach. They stuck with what they had and they started gathering signatures. And I felt that it was important for me to use my position and my platform to endorse and support their campaign and help get the message out there. Because this represents not only over 6,000 workers who live and work in Renton, but 50,000 who also commute into Renton, the 45,000 who commute out of Renton - possibly to chase higher wages. So there is a lot going on here and a lot of people who can be directly and indirectly impacted by just increasing the minimum wage by a few dollars, so people can have a little bit more of a cushion. And I think Maria can really speak more to the coalition and the grassroots organizers who are really leading this initiative across King County where it's most needed - because we saw in a report from The Seattle Times in June of 2023, that you need to be making close to $30 an hour to afford to live in King County. And that isn't exempt in South King County, where we're a very diverse city and some people are just surviving barely. [00:04:16] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, Maria, what brought you to this work, and why was this so important to address right now? [00:04:24] Maria Abando: Yeah, yeah. So I was one of those organizers that came to Carmen asking for her to endorse and join us as well. But really, I feel like the origins of this campaign are really community, you know, that there's no other way to put it. And I think it really was community that was continuing to do the work post the Tukwila campaign with Transit Riders Union and also with the Stephanie Gallardo campaign - the Gallardo campaign for Congress in 2022 in Washington's 9th Congressional District, where we did end up doing work in Renton and across South King County. And so genuinely, a lot of those same folks from TRU, from the Gallardo campaign, recognized that we - regardless, temporary campaigns, they end. But when you do have true community-based organizing, this ensures that once those temporary campaigns are over, the movements continue, right? And in those campaigns - these were movements where we're talking about uplifting the oppressed, uplifting the poor, the working class people. And in general, I think, reminding our communities how powerful we are when we come together and fight together for a more just world - whatever that looks like, and particularly here in Renton - raising the wages. So it's a lot of those same organizers - myself, Guillermo Zazueta, who's chairing the campaign, Bailey Medilo, Aram Balsafi, Michael Westgaard, even some of our same volunteers and our canvass hosts - Christina Mann and Ben Warden - and so on and so on. I wish I could name more. But I do think that it's important to uplift those names because we are a community, right? It's not just Carmen, it's not just myself - there's so many of us working behind the scenes. And there are a lot of folks from those previous campaigns that happened to call Renton their home. And so after those campaigns were over, we knew we wanted to pivot, attempt to do this type of work in Renton, and started to begin really filling out our leadership and filling out our volunteers from Renton residents - because we knew we had to make a really intentional effort to make sure that Renton residents were the ones that were the leading voices, and everyone else just comes in and supports. But we all also, I think, have felt really inspired. We know that we are walking in the path that has been paved before us with the - of course, 2015 historic victories in SeaTac becoming the first city in the U.S. to adopt a $15 minimum wage. And of course, Seattle following suit after that. And it was 2022 - of course, Tukwila passing their ordinance mandating a $19 minimum wage after that as well. And, oh my gosh, being able to receive over 80% of the vote, which, again, incredible. And then there's more happening, right? There have been efforts in Burien. I know that last year, King County councilmembers were proposing a near identical $19 minimum wage for unincorporated King County. So all of this is, I think, coming to a point in terms of why is this important, right? Again, it's about uplifting the poor and uplifting the working class - and everyone else who benefits from that. But also, I think if we're zooming out and looking at this regionally - thinking about what happens to the neighboring cities, to the neighboring towns, to those neighboring suburbs when one major city raises their wages significantly, right? And the answer to that, I think, is that the region must follow. So Carmen speaking to the ways that there are thousands of folks that commute out in order to chase those higher wages. So your highways, your transit systems - they're flooded with people flocking to chase those higher wages. We know that what ends up happening when you end up commuting to work in a different city with higher wages - you also end up spending your money in that other city as well, instead of the city where you live. Because you're maybe getting your coffee, maybe getting some food, maybe hanging out afterwards in that city. Or you're just losing a lot of time - people commuting an hour to work and commuting an hour back, which could be time spent with family or doing things that you care about. And we also know, and I can say personally from my perspective as a Black and Filipino woman, that Black and brown folks are often the ones that are in these surrounding cities and towns because of gentrification. And Carmen has uplifted that Renton is very diverse - it is a majority-minority place. And so we know, keeping all of those things in mind, that this is something that uplifts everybody. When Renton workers are able to earn a living wage, everyone benefits - and especially folks that are having to commute, especially folks that are really struggling to make those ends meet. And putting more money in folks' pockets to be able to spend that money on basic necessities like childcare, healthcare - and are in general less likely to miss rental payments and less likely to be able to lose stable housing. So I think all this is really, really important. [00:09:55] Crystal Fincher: It's super important, and especially as wages haven't kept up with just about anything over time. But my goodness, the cost of housing is just out of control and has been out of reach for someone making minimum wage. And that is just fundamentally not the kind of community that we want to build. It's not what we think of when we think of "the American dream." It's not what we think of when we think of - Hey, get a job, work hard, and you'll be able to support yourself. You should be able to do that - that's what giving up your time and labor should be able to provide. And it used to, and it doesn't now. We've got to get that back to the right place. Now, I want to talk about what this initiative does. Reading from the ballot text - this proposed ordinance requires employers to pay a minimum wage based on that established by the City of Tukwila - which we just talked about raised their minimum wage. Offer additional hours to existing part-time employees before hiring new employees or subcontracted services - which is something that many cities and states have moved to, something that just makes a lot of sense and is more fair for workers. To not retaliate against employees exercising rights created by the ordinance and comply with administrative requirements. If enacted, the ordinance cannot be repealed without voter approval. And so this is for the February 13th election, a special election date. So make sure people are ready for that February 13th election. You will get a clue when you get your ballots in the mail, which will be mailed on January 24th. You can register to vote online. You can register online up until February 5th. You can register up until Election Day - even on Election Day - at the County Elections Office in Renton, up until February 13th, the date of the election. So you said this was largely based off of Tukwila's initiative - it refers to that in the ballot text. When putting this together, was it looking at - Tukwila and Renton seem to be pretty similar, this meets the needs. Were there any conversations about things specifically for Renton? How was this initiative put together, and how is it decided what was needed for Renton? [00:12:13] Maria Abando: So we definitely ended up working hand-in-hand with Katie and Artie from Transit Riders Union to see what was successful and to see what wasn't successful - for the most part, though, they were just successful with their campaign. And we did think about Renton and we were really recognizing that it's a very different place. Tukwila was fairly small. Renton has, I believe, over 60,000 just workers themselves that would be impacted by this - it's a lot bigger. It has some waterfront property kind of neighborhoods within the Kennydale area. It has The Landing, of course, which is a major shopping center where many, many folks come - not just from Renton, but from outside Renton as well - to be able to shop and spend money. And so we were really trying, I think, to do our best to recognize that because it was so much bigger and because the communities, I think, are - I wouldn't say more diverse than Tukwila, but just fairly expansive, there's just a lot there in Renton - that we wanted to talk to as many people as possible and grow a coalition with as many people as we possibly could. And so we really started with really working with our councilmember, Carmen Rivera, as much as we could. But also reaching out to as many labor unions as we could. We were really proud to get the very early endorsement from the Renton Education Association, which is our teacher's union. And then many unions followed suit - UAW 4121, UFCW 3000, the Teamsters, the MLK Labor Council, to name a few, and just so on and so on - and to ask their Renton members as well, what types of things are they looking for? What types of things that they foresee? What types of challenges might they foresee? And everyone was really communicative with us, which - we really appreciate it. And I think we really started to try and figure out our strategy based off of what our community was saying and really trying to let those Rentonites lead. But I also will say we had to learn some of this stuff along the way, Crystal. We had to learn - I think we had a little bit more of learning what didn't work that hopefully can be used with other campaigns in the future, because we know this movement is going to keep on and keep on. One of the things that we learned, for example - this journey was a long one in terms of gathering signatures to be able to qualify for the ballot at all. And of course, we launched in January of 2023. And so here we are on the special election in February 2024. So we obviously shot our shot for November and we weren't able to qualify there, despite the fact that we did, in total, gather over 17,000 signatures, made over 50,000 door knock attempts, engaged over 150 volunteers, distributed nearly 12,000 campaign flyers, and even employed part-time canvassers and signature gatherers to be able to make all of this happen. What we learned was signature gathering in places like Renton that has a huge also community of unincorporated King County, that we were going to have to be a little bit more strategic about that because folks might have a Renton address, but that actually be in unincorporated King County. And so they actually can't sign those petition forms to be able to qualify for the ballot. And so we didn't know that. We were out there tabling in The Landing, doing what we need to do, trying to chat up all the people that were coming through and educate them on what we were trying to do. And the reception was really, really lovely. And people were signing. And we didn't realize that some of those Renton addresses were in unincorporated King County. So that was a hard lesson that we had to learn and recognize that our efforts are best spent at the doors, despite the fact that we would be able to get a lot more signatures doing tabling. We had to recognize that it's not about quantity, right? It's a quality thing. I think we felt a lot of urgency and had to check ourselves on our values - that it's not about the urgency of this so much as it's about really improving the conditions of workers in Renton. And so we had to hit those doors in the areas that we knew would be able to vote for this. We had to have those conversations with those folks - genuinely get their feedback - and also work with businesses as well. So we've had multiple business walks - walking to chat with the small businesses downtown - to also get their feedback and get what their thoughts and their support in this as well. So I think, in general - trying some things, realizing some things that didn't work, and just continuing to be flexible and stay really grounded in what we're trying to do here. [00:17:08] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Now, what has the reception been like, Carmen, from your colleagues on the council? [00:17:16] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: I'm so glad you asked me that, Crystal. It has been mixed, and I think that's very reflective of the Renton community. Our council is very reflective of Renton, and something that Maria lightly touched on was - and I'm going to say it a little bit more candidly - this is probably the most conservative city that these organizers have attempted to pass such an initiative. I could arguably say that Seattle, SeaTac, and Tukwila - at the time that these initiatives were passed - were less conservative. And that being said, we have an interesting mix in Renton. We have a very changing tide of new Rentonites, young families starting out here, diverse majority, people of color. And we also have a lot of people who have been here for generations. And we have a lot of history with Boeing - being the home of Boeing - and union workers and labor workers. And so, some of my councilmembers did not agree with more aspects of the ordinance than I, but I think that they had differing opinions and they felt it was more important to leave it to the voters to decide if we should be raising the minimum wage in a place like Renton, or if it's going to be something that we decide. And they felt it was more important for the voters to decide. [00:18:37] Crystal Fincher: Right, because there was an opportunity for the council to choose to enact this without this having to go to the voters. The council could have made this happen - certainly a number of residents were asking the council to do just that. Residents, organizations, some small businesses that we saw in the area saying - We don't need to go through the time and expense of an election, we can just make this happen when we know it's the right thing to do. The majority of the council opted not to do that, so it is going to residents. Maria, what has been the feedback that you've been receiving from residents and businesses in Renton? [00:19:12] Maria Abando: So we've had a lot of feedback, a lot of concerns - of course. As we've kind of touched on, things are really, really expensive. And whether that's rent, whether that's cost of your groceries, cost of your fuel, whatever - folks are really struggling to make ends meet. So it's no surprise that when we talk about raising the minimum wage, there are folks who would get concerned that this is just going to end up raising the costs of everything else. And the fact of the matter is that isn't true. We have seen that after SeaTac and Seattle raised their minimum wages years ago, the vast majority of businesses ended up doing just fine and didn't have to really raise prices too much, or have to hurt businesses or force them to close. Studies actually show that raising the minimum wage does benefit small businesses by doing lots of things like reducing employee turnover and absenteeism, because not as many folks are going out and chasing those higher wages. It increases worker productivity because workers are feeling good, earning a little more, feeling proud to work where they work because they're treated right. It puts money back into the local economy because it increases, for us as consumers, our purchasing power. You got a little bit more money to spend at the Renton farmer's market. You got a little more money to spend downtown in Renton businesses. And overall, just helps ensure that working families can afford to live in Renton. So I think there was some pushback around - Are things going to get more expensive? Is this going to hurt small businesses? And we know studies show that that's not the case. I also think that we have gotten some feedback at the doors where folks might say - Yeah, isn't raising wages something that our legislators are supposed to do? Our councilmembers - isn't that something they're supposed to do? Isn't that something that unions do? Like I'm part of a union, and unions are the ones who negotiate wages for me. So that's something that we've heard. And of course, of course, right - in a perfect world, yes, our councilmembers, our legislators would do this. We know that the fight for higher wages does need a multifaceted approach and is connected to so many other pushes. We do need unions to continue to be empowered to negotiate higher wages for workers. And again, that's why we're super proud to have the support - I named a few of the unions, but there are, I think, 15 endorsed local labor unions. And I didn't mention, but thank you, Carmen, including the Boeing Workers Union, which is IAM&AW 751. The healthcare workers unions, public school teachers unions - the Highline Education Association included. We saw 2023 being a strong year for labor and for labor unions - from Starbucks to the UW grad students and so on and so on. And so, yes, of course, we want unions to be able to do this. And that's why they are working in-hand with us as well to make sure that we hit this from a really multifaceted approach. And two, are our legislators supposed to be doing this? We've hit on this a little bit. Yes, our coalition did show up strong at a December 4th Renton City Council meeting asking our Renton City councilmembers to just pass this outright. We had done a small letter-writing campaign to them, and so we did get folks to send over a hundred letters to our Renton City councilmembers before that meeting that were asking them to pass this - many of them unique. And like you have hit on, Carmen was our lone supporter. There were others that - on the council - more conservative members that ended up speaking against it. One of the councilmembers, even before it got started - perhaps seeing the amount of people that showed up - made a proposal at the start of the campaign to reduce the amount of time that people that showed up could testify and could speak. That was tough to see. But after meeting with more councilmembers and continuing to uplift why this is important, we were proud to be able to get the endorsements of two more councilmembers after that - Kim-Khánh Văn and Ryan McIrvin. And so we can see that we are gaining steam. And even when we can't necessarily do this by city council, the people can coalesce and come together and raise wages ourselves. [00:23:37] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: And I do want to add that we got real direct feedback - part of the initiative, you have a position open up - you have to offer those hours of that position to any part-time employee before you hire a new employee to ensure that you are not taking advantage of your employees by only having them work part-time so you do not have to pay them benefits, which is a way that we've seen employees and part-time employees and minimum wage employees be exploited. And so that was one of the things, I think, a lot of feedback was given. And when you look at the money - and always follow the money - 60% of the City of Renton revenue comes from our business taxes and sales taxes. And so the business community has a very heavy influence in politics - understandably so - and especially organizations that might be a little biased when it comes to advocating for workers over business interests and, in my opinion, corporate greed. [00:24:33] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, certainly all feedback is welcome. Everyone in the community has a stake in this - whether they're an employer paying people, whether they're an employee, other people who live and work in the city, other organizations and entities. But it really is about how out of balance things have gotten. And being responsive to community needs - it is not easy to collect that amount of signatures. I think for people who are not acquainted with signature gathering, it's like - Oh, you know, you just need a few thousand signatures. 10,000- 20,000 - just as many people thought - just set up at The Landing, or go to Renton River Days, or do whatever you want to do - gather a bunch of signatures there. Those are the worst places to gather signatures when you're in a place, especially like Renton, that has a high volume of people commuting in and out to work, the high volume of people, like you talked about, living in unincorporated King County and not Renton proper - the municipal boundaries. So it does take going door-to-door, it does take a long concerted effort, and it does take legitimate interest from the residents in the city. And so to me, what was striking was to see how dismissive some councilmembers were to the residents of the city who didn't just sit at home and think - Ah, this would be good. But took a step to say - You know what? I actually want this to change. I believe this should change. I believe this specific policy should be enacted, and I'm willing to go this other route if the council doesn't enact it themselves. That, to me, should have been a sign to the council - okay, let's at least listen. Let's see if maybe there's something workable here that we can work with, even if there was a compromise, right? Some kind of responsiveness to the residents who live there. Unfortunately, we didn't see that. But there is an opportunity for the residents to do this themselves, which we've seen them do in other cities. And in other states, frankly - some southern states have raised their minimum wage in places that people consider to be really conservative, are saying it's in the community's interest to make sure that we aren't trapping people in poverty by enabling them to work without making a wage that can support the basics in our own community. Everyone loses when that happens. And so this is why I'm excited and gratified to see this happen and this step be taken in response to what the residents have asked for via petition. So now we're at the point where this is now a campaign. And a lot of times when campaigns happen and you're like - This is a good thing - especially when we're talking about issues impacting the business community, opposition occurs. Opposition appears. And that is what's happened here in Renton. So what have you seen with this opposition and how are you countering that, Carmen? [00:27:30] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Yeah, it's been interesting to see the opposition pop up. It came very quickly and very swiftly. And this was something that we were afraid of and tried to anticipate when we wanted this to be adopted outright - and that was my argument. We saw in 2022 the lowest voter turnout since 1936 in recorded King County history - incredibly concerning because people are a little, I think, apathetic and tired around politics and who can blame them? And so when the opposition came - almost a week after the meeting where we decided to place this on the ballot - the Washington Hospitality Association, the Washington Retailers Association, the Seattle Hospitality for Progress, all tried to create a No-PAC to campaign against raising the minimum wage. And they have raised, I believe, close to $96,000 at this point. [00:28:25] Maria Abando: Seattle Hospitality for Progress itself dropped $20K at the start of the year, which is a whole thing. [00:28:30] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: And it's just happening so quickly - that's the other aspect of it. We've been working on this movement for a year. And in that time, we've raised maybe $75,000 in a year. And from organizers - no corporations - organizers and organizational groups that are about people and community and coalition building. And in a matter of days, almost $100,000 has been raised by these corporations. And mind you, these are the corporations that are going to be most directly impacted. How the ordinance reads - and this is not being advertised specifically by the Renton Chamber of Commerce, which is believed to be an apolitical organization. However, they've gotten very politically involved - the president and CEO has become one of the champions, again, in the No campaign - using her platform and privilege to actually spread misinformation and to fearmonger some of her small business owners and some of the members of her Chamber. There is no information being spread in the business community, sadly, that if you have fewer than 15 employees, you're entirely exempt from this initiative. This initiative will not apply to you if you have fewer than 15 employees. If you have anywhere between 15 and 499, it is more of a tiered-step system, where I believe it's $2 the first year and then $1 every year after that. And so there is a more understandable system there when you explain it like that. And the direct impact, which is why we have this No-PAC created, is going to be to Walmart, Home Depot, Applebee's, Red Robin, Topgolf, World Market, LA Fitness, Starbucks, McDonald's, Fred Meyer, Safeway, gas stations, Target - those are the individuals that we're asking to pay just a few more dollars so people can have a little bit more comfort to live. And so I want to ask voters, and even those who are campaigning against this initiative - the entire No-PAC - can you really look me in my eye and tell me that the person who makes your coffee in the morning, or the person that you order your food from, or the person who checks you out, or helps you out at putting stuff away at Walmart, or helps direct you at Home Depot, or is working at Fred Meyer - doesn't deserve a livable wage? And that is going to be an interesting conversation to have on January 31st when we actually are going to be debating this at Carco Theater in Renton. [00:30:49] Maria Abando: And many of those corporations are making record profits right now, and they can easily afford a modest wage increase for their lowest paid employees. I also have some questions and concerns about the Renton Chamber of Commerce spearheading a lot of this opposition work, because they are supposed to be an official 501c6 - nonpartisan, apolitical, receives public funds to be able to maintain operations - and being a top contributor to the No-PAC is concerning. And I'll be honest too - although I wasn't as super familiar with the Renton Chamber of Commerce when I was jumping into this, I am absolutely familiar with the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Folks who have been around in Seattle labor conversations - the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber were the ones that filed that lawsuit against the JumpStart Tax in 2020. They were crying that the JumpStart Tax was taking away the right of residents to earn a living wage - so they do know the concept of what a living wage is, which is funny because the JumpStart taxes for qualifying businesses taxed 0.7% for every employee making over $150,000. So if you're telling me $150,000 of a salary is a living wage, then okay - say that then. And then I think it increased for employees that are going over $500,000. So these folks know what a living wage is, and they spread misinformation to protect their bottom lines. I also have to just shout out and appreciate the dope Hacks & Wonks episode at the end of last year that Shannon moderated with BJ Last and Amy Sundberg from Solidarity Budget - when they were highlighting, again, that it wasn't just back in 2020 that the Chamber was getting involved with this. The Chamber was still involved now - they called out how the Seattle Metro Chamber has still been trying to pause the JumpStart Tax. And I believe it was Shannon as well that reminded us all that 15% of the JumpStart Tax revenue is supposed to be going towards small businesses. So if the Chamber is supposed to be supporting small businesses, why are they trying to prevent that 15% from going to small businesses in support of them? The Seattle Hospitality for Progress - again, the group that dropped that $20,000 into this No-PAC at the beginning of the year - happens to share an office in the building and work, probably together, with the Seattle Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Washington Hospitality Association. So they want to spread misinformation and say that - Oh, you know, this whole initiative is folks coming out of the region coming to change the identity of Renton - which is a little bit of dog whistling, in my opinion - but also not being transparent of the fact that they are pouring in thousands from other cities to be able to try and stop this from happening, something that will deny the lowest wage workers a living wage and continue to place the burden on the lowest wage workers of Renton. [00:33:57] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: It's disappointing. I believe chamber of commerce organizations are important. I think they're a valuable part of the community. I think that there is a lot of potential when it comes to chamber of commerce because you do want a small business community that is thriving. And you want a small business community that can grow, and I appreciate that. It's really just unfortunate where you see certain biases and power plays being utilized. And that's really just doing a disservice to the community because a very new Renton, a growing type of Renton, is coming here. And I think they're very scared of that. I think it threatens what they believe to be kind of their way of life. And I think there's a lot of emotion at play in terms of who's supporting this initiative and who isn't. And I just want us to all be able to have a wholehearted conversation without emotions and feelings. [00:34:49] Maria Abando: And at the end of the day - regardless of the opposition - we are very, very positive, Crystal. We know that we have a really, really strong winning strategy. And that winning strategy is engaging community. At the doors - I mentioned some of the questions and the feedback, but I didn't mention how many people were just immediately so overwhelmingly supportive as well. Many people recognizing - yes, things are so expensive. And so, yes, we need this. I know people who are working low wage jobs and I know folks who could really use this. So we engage community. We engage our unions. We are going back and engaging our signature signers, since we did have so many of those folks sign and so many of those folks write letters and express support. We're, again, engaging those businesses. And finding ways to continue to register voters and expand the electorate so that we can just turn out the vote. So I think the opposition is going to opposition. And we're just going to continue to keep on marching, keep on pushing, and don't stop until we win a more livable wage for folks. [00:35:57] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: And I think you bring up a really good point, Maria - because what we've also seen in King County over the years is the more that there is a nasty No campaign, it actually gives more power to the initiative and the campaign that is happening. And we've seen kind of these hateful campaigns backfire. And that's really my hope - because we've been on the ground for over a year - meeting with residents, outreaching to community, working with workers and business owners and community organizers and unions to make sure that we can get this passed. Because I think if we can get this passed in Renton, we can see this passed in other South King County cities. And I think that is also what is scary to the Washington Hospitality Association, the Chamber, and this No-PAC - because this will signal a changing tide. [00:36:44] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. I think the time is now. This is a really important and necessary thing to do for our communities. And hearing some of the opposition saying that this isn't the role of local government, but fighting against minimum wages overall - I think this has been said several times online - but that's basically their admission that they would be paying you less right now if they were legally allowed to. I don't think anyone thinks that's where we need to be. In this era where we are hearing of record profits - billion dollar profits - looking at CEO and executive compensation in the tens or hundreds of millions, the idea that raising the minimum wage - the wages of your lowest wage workers, and not all of your middle management, not your executive pay and compensation packages. Not any of that contributes to higher prices - when we've seen pay stagnate and prices climb anyway. So it really isn't an issue. This threat, I think, is losing teeth of - Well, if we raise low wage workers' wages, then things are going to get more expensive for you. Well, you haven't done that and things have gotten more expensive and now no one can afford it because wages are too low. So we really need to address this and we need to give people in communities power to buy from the businesses in their communities. What we see when lower wage workers make more is that has a direct and immediate impact on local businesses, on businesses inside that community - because now people do have the money to spend on it. So I'm eager to see this - looking forward to the remainder of the campaign. If people want to get involved in this campaign and help spread the word before the February 13th deadline for this election, how can they do so? [00:38:28] Maria Abando: Yes, so we definitely need people's support. We need folks to give what they can, especially volunteering. And so you can get involved at raisethewagerenton.org. Additionally, I would not be doing my due diligence if I did not come to all of y'all and remind everybody that these types of efforts do take funds. When we are up against large PACs that are being able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, it makes it more important for us to be able to send out mailers and have yard signs. We are hoping to raise $10,000 before Election Day to help dispel some of the lies and the misinformation that the No-PAC are sending out and also just to uplift the coalition and uplift the positivity of what we're bringing. And so I really, really ask everybody to consider, if you can, to also donate. And you can do that at bit.ly - so it's short link bit.ly/GiveRTWR - and that RTWR is capitalized. So please, please, please, folks - regardless if you're in Renton or not, we really, really need and appreciate the support. I also just want to uplift just again from a personal standpoint that we're in a moment where we are seeing 67% of Black folks in Renton living in poverty. We are seeing 72% of Latino folks living in poverty as well. And so just again, the recognition that we are really working to uplift folks like this. This is not only a struggle for labor. This is a racial justice struggle. This is a struggle, in general, for anybody that is struggling right now. And so we are committed to standing and staying in this fight for the long run, regardless. We know that this campaign is going to end and we're going to keep on pushing. Even after this campaign is over, our PAC does not dissolve. We are going to continue to stay and continue to walk businesses, continue to educate folks on what they can do to support with implementation, what they can do next. Maybe we work with Carmen on tenants' rights. Maybe we continue to take what we've learned and see if we can support in the coalitions in other cities to be able to get this done. So really, this is not something that's going to be over in February. We need folks to sign up. We need folks to help us knock doors. We need folks, if you happen to be in a South King County city - that you're hoping to see this be implemented in your city as well - join now. Join now. Because community endures, and we're going to keep on going. [00:41:20] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Absolutely. And I would also ask - what is really forgotten by people who only live in Renton and only have ever lived in Renton is that there are people who used to live in Renton who would like to move back to Renton. There are people who are only living outside of Renton temporarily - I lived in Seattle for a minute, I owned in Redmond for a hot second. And I wanted to also come back home to Renton. And I was privileged enough to be able to do so. Not everyone has that ability. And so I meet students, I meet young graduates. I meet people that are either from Renton, they lived in Renton for a minute, or they got priced out of Renton - they want to come back to Renton. And if you have any tie to Renton, if you know anybody in Renton - if you care about South King County - help us get out the vote. Please, I am begging of you, so we do not give this election up to the old Renton that does not want to include the new, diverse, forward-thinking, progressive Renton. I want to involve all Renton, and so I want to make sure all of Renton is going to be able to vote in February. So my ask is please text your friends, post on your TikTok, your Twitter, your Facebook, your MySpace, your Snapchat, your Instagram, whatever. Just get the vote or get the word out there that we need to vote and get those ballots in by February 13th if you live in incorporated Renton - please. Because what we've also seen is the Washington Hospitality Association has bragged on their podcast about pushing off the unincorporated King County raise the wage initiative that Girmay Zahilay introduced last year. And so we need to really combat, again, corporate greed, corporate PACs, the Washington Hospitality Association - and advocate for workers and those that really need this, because that's who I'm fighting for. [00:43:02] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Well, we will include links in our episode notes to the campaign and where people can get more information and get more involved. We thank you, Maria and Councilmember Carmen, for taking the time to help educate us about the Raise the Wage Renton campaign. Thanks so much. [00:43:21] Councilmember Carmen Rivera: Thank you. [00:43:22] Crystal Fincher: Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is produced by Shannon Cheng. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on every podcast service and app - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review shows and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

On this week-in-review, Crystal is joined by Chair of Sierra Club Seattle, long time communications and political strategist, Robert Cruickshank! Crystal and Robert dive into the open machinations of the big corporate donors to appoint their preferred candidate to a Seattle City Council vacancy and how the messy process has leached its way into Seattle School Board politics. They then discuss the qualification of a right-wing initiative to dismantle the state's plan to take on the climate crisis. Robert gives a rare kudos to The Seattle Times for their presentation of a debate over homeless encampments, they both are dismayed at the depressing and infuriating news that the Tacoma officers in the Manuel Ellis case are getting paid $500k each to voluntarily leave the police department, and the show rounds out with analysis of some media's treatment of AG Ferguson's lawsuit to block a merger between Kroger and Albertsons. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find today's co-host, Robert Cruickshank, at @cruickshank.   Resources RE-AIR: The Big Waterfront Bamboozle with Mike McGinn and Robert Cruickshank from Hacks & Wonks   “Harrell Administration Consultant Tim Ceis Urges Businesses to Back Tanya Woo for Open Council Seat” by Erica C. Barnett from PubliCola   “Business, labor lobby for open seat on Seattle City Council” by David Kroman from The Seattle Times   “Seattle City Council candidate has residency conflict in School Board role” by Claire Bryan from The Seattle Times    “Initiative 2117 (repealing Washington's Climate Commitment Act) gets certified” by Andrew Villeneuve from The Cascadia Advocate   “‘Should Seattle remove encampments?' Advocates debate” by Greg Kim from The Seattle Times   “Tacoma cops acquitted in death of Manuel Ellis will get $500K each to resign, city says” by Peter Talbot from The News Tribune    “Kroger-Albertsons merger would hike grocery prices, create near monopolies in some Washington communities, AG says” by Helen Smith from KING 5   “WA suit to block Kroger-Albertsons merger gets cheers, raised eyebrows” by Paul Roberts from The Seattle Times   Find stories that Crystal is reading here   Listen on your favorite podcast app to all our episodes here   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy walks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get full versions of our Tuesday topical show and our Friday week-in-review delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Today, we're continuing our Friday week-in-review shows where we review the news of the week with a co-host. Welcome back to the program, friend of the show, one of our audience favorites, and today's co-host: Chair of Sierra Club Seattle, longtime communications and political strategist, Robert Cruickshank. [00:01:12] Robert Cruickshank: Hey - thanks for having me on again, Crystal. [00:01:14] Crystal Fincher: Hey, excited to have you on again - here in 2024. Well, we've got a lot to talk about - things are getting spicy in the City of Seattle, with regards to this upcoming Seattle City Council appointment to replace Teresa Mosqueda's seat. Because Teresa was elected to the King County Council, which created a vacancy - so now it needs to be filled. So what happened this week? [00:01:38] Robert Cruickshank: Well, I think a lot has happened with the machinations around this appointment process - and in fact, things we're learning about how the new regime at City Hall is conducting itself - and they come together. I think this is basically Tim Ceis - who is former deputy mayor to Greg Nickels back in the 2000s, corporate lobbyist, close to established power in Seattle - and Council President Sara Nelson, who, of course, just became council president after the new council with a bunch of her allies got sworn in at the beginning of the month. They seem to be conducting a purge of anyone progressive in the City Hall, in City staff, and are determined to consolidate power around what is actually, I think, a fairly radical agenda for the city that most voters didn't really actually select, especially when it comes to cutting taxes for big businesses and slashing public services. But in order to try to achieve that, they know that they need to try to push out and keep out anyone who might disagree, anyone who might even be remotely progressive on anything. I think it's a pretty significant misreading of the results of recent elections in Seattle - their candidates won often narrowly on questions of public safety, not on cutting taxes for big businesses. In fact, most of their candidates hedged on the questions of taxes when they were asked during the campaigns. But I think you see a real desire to consolidate power around a small group of loyalists, no dissent allowed. And this is a approach to governance that I don't think Seattleites expect or want. I mean, most people in Seattle assume and want a fairly technocratic, go-along-to-get-along government where everyone is sort of driven by data, gets along with each other, and try to do things in the public interest. Now, you and I, a lot of our listeners, know that's not really how the city operates. But what we're seeing now is, I think, a much more aggressive and - in some ways, unprecedented for Seattle - attempt to impose a radical agenda on the city from the right. [00:03:26] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, this isn't what voters thought they were signing up for. This isn't what anyone campaigned on. Voters are looking at what the candidates are saying, they're looking at the mail, the commercials - again, definitely talked about public safety, talked about homelessness. But what we saw in Sara Nelson's first statement was austerity - we're cutting taxes for business. But voters didn't weigh in on this at all. And I don't think people are going to have a great reaction to this. [00:03:55] Robert Cruickshank: When Seattle voters weigh in on questions of taxes, Seattleites pass almost every tax put in front of them. When it comes to state ballot initiatives to tax the rich - they might fail statewide as they did in 2010, but they pass with wide support in Seattle. When it comes to money in politics, Seattleites approved taxing themselves - raising their property taxes slightly - to create the Democracy Voucher program. This is a city that does not want corporate money in politics and yet, that is exactly what's happened here. The reason we're talking about all this right now is not just because there's a council appointment, but because Tim Ceis, this aforementioned corporate lobbyist, sent out an email at the beginning of the week urging all of the people - whether they're wealthy individuals or from big corporations - who donated to the independent expenditure campaigns to help get a lot of these councilmembers elected last year, telling them - Hey, we need you to mobilize right now to stop Vivian Song, who is currently on the Seattle School Board, who's seeking the appointment - Ceis says, We got to stop her. She held a fundraiser for Teresa Mosqueda. She endorsed Ron Davis. She's friendly to unions. And gosh, we can't have that on our council. And the way Ceis put it was to basically act as if these wealthy interests had bought the council. They now own the council - it is theirs, not ours. Not ours in the sense of "we the people." And they can do whatever they want with it. So Ceis' attitude - and I think Sara Nelson shares this - is that it's theirs now, nobody else can tell them what to do with the city council. They have the absolute right to pick whoever they want to and impose this agenda on the city. I think both that attitude and a policy agenda they want are not what the city wants at all, and they are going to run into a big backlash real fast. [00:05:30] Crystal Fincher: Real fast. And the brazenness with which he stated this was wild. This is from the email that Tim Ceis sent - "While it's been a great two weeks watching the outcome of our effort as the new City Council has taken office, the independent expenditure success earned you the right to let the Council know not to offer the left the consolation prize of this Council seat." Okay, they're just admitting that they bought this seat. They're just admitting that - Hey, yeah, it was our effort that got these people onto the council. And we spent a million dollars plus in this independent expenditure effort and that gives us the right - he said the "right" - to tell the council what to do, which I don't recall seeing something this overtly stated before. [00:06:17] Robert Cruickshank: There's an important contrast we can draw - both Bruce Harrell and Eric Adams, mayor of New York, were elected in 2021. And at the time, Eric Adams was hailed as some sort of future of the Democratic Party - center right, tough on crime, pushing back against progressives. Well, here we are at the beginning of 2024 - Eric Adams has a 28% approval rating in New York - highly unlikely to win a re-election at this point. There are a lot of reasons for that, but one of the primary reasons is cuts to public services - libraries, schools, parks, all sorts of things. And the public is just clearly rejecting that. Bruce Harrell is up for re-election next year. And I think Harrell's going to have to decide for himself - does he want to be the one to get all the blame for this? Or maybe he just thinks Sara Nelson takes all the blame. Who knows? Maybe there's a good cop, bad cop approach being planned here - with Sara Nelson being the bad cop pushing austerity and Harrell's try to be the good cop, try to bring everybody together. Who knows? But I think what you see in New York is what you're going to see in Seattle - a significant backlash. I also want to mention - you quoted Ceis' letter talking about giving a prize to the left. Vivian Song is not a leftist. This is the part that just blows my mind about all this. She's as mainstream a Seattle Democrat as it gets. If you read her application letter for the council appointment, she talks about hiring more cops, being careful with city spending. She's honestly probably a little bit to the right of most of the previous city council that just got voted out. But to Ceis and Nelson, she's unacceptable because she's friendly with unions, was friendly with some progressives - what that shows me is that they only want extremists like themselves or who will just do their own bidding. And I think they're setting themselves up for a significant backlash. [00:07:58] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, and the final point - in looking at this, there were so many applicants to this - all across the spectrum, right? There weren't just progressive applicants for the seat. There were dozens and dozens of people from across the spectrum - and good choices - people who had experience, who have the right intentions from across the spectrum. This isn't about - Well, we just don't want an extreme leftist from these corporate interests. This is about - You're going to pick our person. Because there are several other choices on there - they're talking about Tanya Woo. Why aren't they talking about Phil Tavel, right? Why aren't they talking about anyone else that seems to align with their interests? They want loyalists - that's the bottom line. It goes beyond what the ideology is. It's - are you going to be loyal to me? Are you going to back me on what I'm doing? And without that assurance - We're not backing you. With that assurance, you're in and we're going to fight. And hey, we spent a million plus to get these other folks in. Now we're using our muscle to get you in too. And we're telling people - Hey, this was our show. We elected these people. It was our effort and that gives us the right to dictate what's going to happen. When you have the primary concern, the primary litmus test being loyalty and not is this going to help the residents of the city? Do they have experience? Can they credibly lead and do this? Wow, we get into a lot of trouble if it's just - Are you going to back me? Are you not going to question anything I'm doing? Are you going to rubber stamp this? So this appointment process is really going to be an opportunity to see where the loyalties lie. Are they serving their constituents or are they serving the business community? Because again, there are lots of picks if they wanted to go with a conservative person, right? I think they probably will. But the point is, it's got to be the one handpicked by business. This is going to tell us a lot about where the heads of these new councilmembers are at. Yeah, it [00:09:49] Robert Cruickshank: will. And I think it's also setting up 2024 - not just in terms of the policy discussions we'll see in City Hall, but the campaigns. This seat that gets filled in this appointment process later this month will be on the November 2024 ballot citywide. And I think Tanya Woo would likely run for that seat if she's appointed to it. If so, then she's going to have to go to voters - not as someone picked for her qualifications, at least in the way the public will see it. The public will see it as - she was picked by business because she's loyal to business. Vivian Song may want to run for that seat too - last night got endorsed by the King County Labor Council to hold that appointment. It sets up a very interesting - not just 10 days between now and when this appointment gets made, but 10 months between now and the November election, where I think you're going to see real contests over the future of the city. [00:10:35] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Another interesting dimension with this about Vivian Song is about her residency and her existing Seattle School Board position. What's going on here? [00:10:45] Robert Cruickshank: Yeah, so we'll go back to 2021 - where there was an article that appeared in The Stranger when Vivian was running for the school board, questioning her residency - that she had changed residencies and changed voter registration - and questioning whether she was eligible to run for the District 4 seat for the school board. Now, the school board districts don't line up exactly with the city council districts, so listeners should keep that in mind - but Vivian won, won citywide. Because in school board, you are first elected out of the primary in just the district. Then the top two from that district go on to a citywide election in the school board. So Vivian won citywide in 2021. Last summer, it emerges that some of her critics and opponents on school board were questioning where she lives now - that she might not actually live in the district she technically represents. This is brought to the school board legal department, which looked at it and did not see a need to kick her off the school board, or declare her seat vacant and force an election. People move around for personal reasons, and they don't have to be told to tell those personal reasons in public. But Vivian is not someone who is manipulating the system for political gain - there are legitimate reasons she was moving. And yet this comes out in a Seattle Times article this week and gets mentioned at a board meeting last night - the only board meeting during this entire council appointment process. This has been under discussion behind the scenes at the school district for months. But why does it emerge now? I think it's the obvious reason why it emerges now - because some of Vivian's critics on the school board, whether they're working directly with Tim Ceis and Sara Nelson or not, are certainly helping Tim Ceis and Sara Nelson try to torpedo Vivian Song's candidacy. Now, from a progressive perspective, this doesn't necessarily mean that Vivian's the right pick for the appointment process. We should take a look at everybody. But I think the relentless efforts to destroy her, both in her position on the school board and to keep her out of the city council, suggest to me some real problems with the way both the city council and the school board are now being governed by small little cliques determined to hold on to their own power, to push austerity, unfriendly to labor, and hostile to public input. I think it's a really shocking and disturbing development that we're seeing in our city. Away from small-d democratic governance. I think everyone in the city should be really concerned about these developments. [00:13:05] Crystal Fincher: Completely agree. And statewide news - big news - it's going to impact our November 2024 ballot. The second right-wing initiative qualified for the 2024 ballot. What does this do and what does this mean? [00:13:21] Robert Cruickshank: So background here is that the far right chair of the state Republican Party, State Representative Jim Walsh - hardcore MAGA Trump guy - became State Party Chair last year and is working with a wealthy mega-donor, a guy named Brian Heywood, to try to repeal the main accomplishments of the Democratic majority in the legislature of the last few years. So we've got six initiatives so far that they've submitted to the state to qualify - two of them have made it to the ballot. One of them you just mentioned, which will be Initiative 2117 to try to destroy our state's climate action plan. They want to repeal the carbon pricing piece of it - sometimes known as cap and trade, cap and invest, whatever you want to call it. Their argument is - Oh, it's why gas prices are so high in Washington state. Well, no. One, we on the West Coast have always had higher gas prices than the rest of the country. And in fact, the reason Washington has high gas prices is because of King County. I did an analysis a few weeks ago that shows - if you cross the river from Portland to Vancouver, Washington, the average cost of gas is the same. If you are in Tacoma, you're paying less than you pay in Portland, Oregon. So if carbon pricing was causing gas prices to soar across Washington state, you'd see it everywhere - but you don't. What that suggests to me is you might actually be seeing oil companies gouging King County - that's worth investigation, which the oil companies don't want. But point being - Jim Walsh, who's a Trump guy, Brian Heywood, who's the wealthy funder, want to destroy our ability to tackle the climate crisis. They want to destroy our ability to fund the things that are needed to help people get off of fossil fuel. And so they're putting this on the ballot. They're going to put some other initiatives on the ballot to try to repeal our capital gains tax on the rich, that funds schools and early learning. And this is going to be one of the big battles that we're seeing this year - an effort to impose, again, a far-right agenda on the state of Washington. And I think that progressive organizations, the State Democratic Party are maybe a little slow to respond to this - I think they will engage, but now's the time to start letting people know what's happening here, what this attack is, how dangerous it could be, and the importance of stopping all six of these initiatives. [00:15:30] Crystal Fincher: We've seen Republicans have an increasingly hard time winning statewide and legislatively over the past few years - they've lost power, they tried the courts. The Supreme Court actually just rejected a case trying to come to the Supreme Court about the capital gains tax. So this is their only recourse now. And unfortunately, because of the way our political system is, money gets you really far. And so if you have these multi-hundred millionaires, these billionaires who come in and say - You know what, this is what I want - they're able to basically make us go through this whole charade. And so we have to fight against it. It's here. We have to do this. But it really is important to talk to people about - not to fall for these cheap lines that, Oh, this is another gas tax. It's the hidden gas tax, as they say. But we've had this price gouging conversation before - I think more people are seeing it, which is encouraging. But we're going to have to go through this whole campaign. [00:16:29] Robert Cruickshank: Yeah, and I think that it's worth noting there are reasonable discussions to be had about how to do carbon pricing right and what it should fund. And there were very intense conversations and disagreements about that when this was passed in 2021. And I think it makes sense to take a look and say - Okay, how do we make sure we're doing this right? That's not what this initiative does. This initiative uses voter concern about gas prices to totally destroy our ability to tackle the climate crisis. This is coming from people who don't believe the climate crisis is real. Or if they do believe it's real, they don't really want to do anything to stop it because they think driving and keeping oil companies happy is more important. We see wild weather all across the region - we remember that super hot heat wave from the summer of 2021, we remember the long droughts of 2022 - this is not a time to mess around. If we want to look at how to address needs to ensure that carbon pricing works - great. If we want to take a look at what it's funding - great. But to totally destroy the system entirely because a bunch of right-wingers and wealthy donors want it, I think, is a disaster. [00:17:30] Crystal Fincher: Absolute disaster. I was certainly one of those people who had criticisms of the Climate Commitment Act. There are certainly tweaks that should be made. There are some better ways that we can go about some of these processes. But the option isn't - do nothing. That's unacceptable. It isn't just dismantle and repeal everything. Just like with Social Security, just like with Medicare - these big, important pieces of legislation - that do come with benefits. We're going to have to tweak them. We're going to have to get information back, get data back, and respond to that with some technical fixes, some tweaks to make sure that we steer it onto the best path that it can be. But wow, we cannot afford to do nothing. We can't afford to dismantle this at this point in time. This is one of the most hopeful opportunities we have - really in the country - to show how states can lead and come together to get this done. We can't dismantle this at this point in time. Also want to talk about a debate that we saw, on the pages of The Seattle Times, among homeless advocates that reflects a lot of the conversation going on in communities about how to handle encampments. What was talked about here and what's important to understand? [00:18:42] Robert Cruickshank: Yeah, I want to do something I don't always do, which is give credit to The Seattle Times for hosting this discussion. I think it was a really good way to do it - between two people - Tim Harris, who used to be the executive editor of Real Change, and Tiffani McCoy, a leader in the Initiative 135 House Our Neighbors Now social housing effort here in Seattle. These are two progressive people who have long records of advocacy for housing and for the needs of the homeless. So they didn't do the usual thing that media will do - is pit a progressive against some crazy right winger. These are two people, who I think come at this with the right intentions and the right values. And they both made some pretty good points about how we handle this issue of sweeps and encampments. Sweeps - I believe they're awful. They're also popular. The public likes them. We saw the 2017 mayoral race, we saw in 2021 mayoral and city council races, city attorney race. We saw it last year in the city council races. Candidates who back sweeps almost always defeat candidates who oppose them - we're getting nowhere, and the people who are living in these encampments aren't getting help. Now, this doesn't mean we should embrace sweeps. And I thought that Tiffani McCoy did a really good job of laying out, again, the damage that sweeps do to not just the possessions of people who are living in tents, but to their own psychological state. And it often makes it harder for them to escape addiction, harder for them to find stability they need to get a home. I thought Tim Harris, though, made some good points about the problems that happen if you leave an encampment in place - how drug dealers eventually find it. And even the best managed encampments - it just takes one or two people with bad intentions to show up and the whole place kind of falls apart into violence. So leaving an encampment out there doesn't help the people who are living there, especially now we're in the extremely cold winter season. But what happens is, too often, this gets framed as a discussion between - do we sweep or do we leave encampments indefinitely? And when that's the terms of the discussion, sweeps will win every single time. And we've seen that for years now. And I think progressives need to realize that that's the case. We are not going to stop sweeps by trying to argue against sweeps alone, and to argue essentially for leaving encampments indefinitely. We have to get out of that binary that we're losing and the people in those encampments are losing. And I think the only way out is to go to the solution, right? We need to build housing for people immediately. Bruce Harrell took office on a promise to build 2,000 units of housing for folks - homes, shelter, tiny homes, whatever - to get people out. Did that happen? Where did that go? You know, there are some tiny home villages that are out there. They do a great job. But why aren't we massively expanding those? Where are the safe RV sites? Where are other forms of shelter? Where's the permanent supportive housing that we need? Where are the new SROs that we need? I think that's where progressive energy needs to focus - is on getting people out of tents now - into real housing with a roof, with a door that locks that they like, where they can bring all their possessions, including their dog and their partner. And I think that's where the emphasis needs to go. I think if we get stuck in this sweeps versus indefinite encampments, we're just going to keep losing. The people who need help aren't going to get it. And so I thought that this debate that The Times hosted did a good job of really laying out why we need to go in that direction. [00:21:59] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. I think this is another area where - just the classic communications issue - you can't just argue against something. You have to argue for the vision that you want - because it doesn't translate - what people do here is exactly what you said. Well, okay - if we aren't going to sweep, then they're going to just stay there and that's unacceptable too. And it's unacceptable to a lot of people for a lot of different reasons, right? Some people are those crazy right wingers who just, you know - Get them out of my sight type of thing. But there are people who are saying - We need to get these people into a better place. We have lethal cold in the winter. We have lethal heat in the summer. We have public safety concerns. People who are unhoused, who are in these encampments, are more likely to be victims of crime than just about anyone else. This is a hazard to their health, to everyone's health. This is a big challenge. We need to get them into housing. We need more shelter options. We can't have this conversation while we know there isn't the infrastructure to get everyone indoors. Until we have that infrastructure, what are we talking about? We have to build. We have to build more transitional housing. We have to build more single residence occupancy, or those SROs. We have to move forward with housing. And I do believe in a Housing First approach. There's also this preemptive kind of argument that we're hearing from right wingers - Oh, we already tried that. Oh, we so have not tried that. We've never come close to trying that - on more than a trial with 20 people basis - that has never been a policy that the city has pursued overall. We have pursued these encampment sweeps and you can see they aren't getting us anywhere. The problem has actually gotten worse while we're doing this. So we have to make sure that we're speaking with unity and articulating what we want to see, what we're pursuing, what needs to get done. [00:23:50] Robert Cruickshank: Yeah, and I think there is another reason for urgency here. Sweeps, under rulings of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals - federal - in the case against the City of Boise, Idaho, and a similar case against the City of Grants Pass, Oregon. The appeals court ruled that you cannot sweep an encampment without offering shelter to the people living there. A lot of cities, including San Francisco and others, have wanted to get out of that. They appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the last few days. The Supreme Court has said - Yes, we will take up those cases. It is highly likely then, perhaps by this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court will say - You can sweep whenever you want to. You can eliminate an encampment without having to offer shelter at all. And I think a lot of advocates will point out that those offers of shelter, you know, are maybe a fig leaf at best. That fig leaf is going to go away very soon. So I think that just creates even more urgency to push really hard to get the city and the state to step up and provide housing, whether it's, you know, buying more hotels to get people out of tents or put up more tiny home villages. Whatever it takes, we have to do it, and we have to do it now because there is now an actual ticking clock at the U.S. Supreme Court on this. [00:24:57] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. And you know what? I do want to recognize what Dow Constantine has been doing with leaning on this issue - with the buying the hotels, working in concert with different cities in the county, offering - even in the Burien debacle, it was really the county who provided the light at the end of the tunnel and real tangible assistance to actually deal with the issue and get people into housing. So, you know, more of that - more of what we've seen from Dow Constantine, more of focusing on getting people housed. Absolutely want to see it. And just absolutely dejecting news - where I wasn't shocked, but certainly dismayed. The Tacoma cops from the Manuel Ellis case are getting $500,000 to voluntarily leave the department. What are your thoughts on this? [00:25:47] Robert Cruickshank: I mean, it's unsurprising and appalling that they're getting half a million dollars after killing Manuel Ellis and getting away with it. I mean, getting away with it was bad enough - the way that the jury ruled in that case a few weeks back. Now they're literally getting money in their pocket after this - being waved goodbye. And I'm sure that this does not come with any stipulations that would make it difficult for them to get a new job anywhere else. I remember when McGinn was mayor in the early 2010s, the Ian Birk case. Ian Birk, the Seattle officer who shot and killed Native American woodcarver John T. Williams. Birk was not really prosecuted. There was an inquest. But Birk left the department, got a job somewhere else. Well, one of the things McGinn did was pursue legal remedies to make it impossible for Birk to get another job as an officer. I do not see any such thing happening here in the Tacoma case. These officers are getting a payday and getting away with it. But I think what this shows, yet again, is the importance of having real teeth in police accountability. And I think it also shows that the criminal justice system is not a substitute for that. We can't assume that the criminal justice system alone is going to hold cops accountable, as we saw in this case - yet again, it didn't. We need reforms at the state level to remove officer accountability from bargaining. We need to make it easier for cities to hold cops accountable who break the law, who commit murder, things like that. And that's where this needs to go, because what has happened here is injustice upon injustice upon injustice. And if this doesn't spur us to act, then what's going to? [00:27:32] Crystal Fincher: There's currently a federal review going on by the U.S. attorney for Western Washington. The family of Manny Ellis is calling for a consent decree for the City of Tacoma's police department with this. So those levers are turning. This issue to me is really - my goodness, this is not a pro-cop or an anti-cop thing, right? How do we hold people accountable who violate the standards that we set for them, who violate the standards that are already in place? This reminds me of what happened in the City of Kent with the assistant chief who had Nazi memorabilia, Hitler mustache, Nazi signs at work - and then got paid a ton, got rich to leave voluntarily. What are we doing when there's no mechanism to fire a Nazi in the workplace? For people who are absolutely in favor of more police, why are you tolerating this? That's my question. Why are we allowing this to fall into the - Well, either you love cops or you hate cops and you're evil if you want to do anything attached to accountability. What are we even doing? I could go on about this for a long time, but this just falls into - What are we even doing? What is the point of anything if we have to pay people who violate our standard to leave? [00:28:53] Robert Cruickshank: Yeah. I mean, we've been told since the summer of 2020 - Oh, we can't defund the police. Okay, then what are we going to do? Because we can't allow this sort of behavior, whether it is Nazi memorabilia in the actual work office in Kent or killing Manuel Ellis on the streets of Tacoma to continue - which is what I fear is actually what critics of police accountability want. They just want cops to be able to do as they please without consequences because in their minds - and these are mostly white folks like me who are saying these things - they don't think they're ever going to have to face those consequences. They want to maintain their hierarchy, their place at the top as much as they can. They see police as part of that. It's really toxic. And I think that it just shows, once again, the urgency of fixing this - including at the state level, to get the legislature out of this idea that some legislators have that - Oh, somehow it undermines labor unions and labor rights if we take accountability out of police bargaining. Well, military soldiers can't bargain, they can't form a union. They have a strict uniform code of military justice. They're held, in many cases, to much higher standards than police officers. I think we could point out ways in which even the military needs to be held to higher standards, but at least there are some. They exist and they operate. Police - they are convinced that they have the right to do as they please and to get away with it - and to be paid well for it, even when they do horrific things. And that is what we have to reject. And I think at this point - cities, we need to hold them accountable and push them. But the state needs to step in and we need to see changes to state law to make it easier to have real accountability at the local level. [00:30:25] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. Final thing I want to talk about today is a lawsuit announced by Attorney General Bob Ferguson to stop the Kroger-Albertsons merger that they have announced their intention to do, saying that this is going to be bad for competition, creating grocery monopolies. Grocery prices are already sky high - this would make it worse. What do you think about this? [00:30:49] Robert Cruickshank: Yeah, I think it's absolutely the right thing to do and well within Attorney General Ferguson's right to protect local business and to protect consumers. And people notice that Fred Meyer and QFC are owned by the Kroger company already, and there's not enough competition there - prices there are higher than they should be. You add in Albertsons to the mix, and that's even less competition. I think people understand that more competition helps bring prices down, it's good for consumers. More local ownership - good for consumers. And this is popular, right? I think the public likes it. What's interesting to me is the way this gets covered. There's an article in The Seattle Times today about Ferguson's lawsuit. And to read the body of the article, it makes it very clear that the public loves it, that there's a legitimate reason for Ferguson to sue to protect the particular needs of Washington businesses and Washington consumers - because our grocery market industry is not always the same as other states. And we need to have our attorney general in there fighting for our interests. People get that. The Federal Trade Commission under Lina Khan is doing a great job really finally reinvigorating antitrust law and taking on mergers like this. And she's fantastic. But the article opens with this weird frame, questioning whether this is all a political stunt and saying - Oh, well, Ferguson jumped out and filed a lawsuit before the FTC did. Maybe he's trying to undermine the FTC or going rogue. Maybe it's just a political stunt. Yet the rest of the article makes it super clear that that's not the case at all. The article shows that the FTC says - No, we can work with Washington. They don't seem to be worried about this. In fact, the FTC regularly works with attorneys general around the country in multi-state lawsuits, in partnership with the federal government. So it struck me as a case where the second two-thirds of that article was really useful, but the top of it seemed to be The Times going out of their way to try to spin this against Ferguson. And I think it's a real lesson to the State Democratic Party and to Ferguson's campaign that they cannot trust the media to give him a fair shake here in 2024. The media is going to be hostile. The media is going to try to take things that look potentially helpful for Ferguson and spin them against him. So they're going to have to be ahead of that game and prepare for that, as well as make sure they're doing their own comms, using social media really well to get the story out there. Because the public gets it - the public doesn't want to see Albertsons, Fred Meyer, QFC all owned by the same company. They know it's either going to raise higher prices, fewer staff in stores, or fewer stores outright. We've already seen some stores close across the region. You're going to get more of those bad outcomes. So thank you, Bob Ferguson, for stepping up. And Bob, watch your back, because the media is coming for you. [00:33:28] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. This is a positive thing. This is consumer protection. This is what we ask him to do as our attorney general. We have seen the direction that things go when there's consolidation. There's a lot of people who order delivery now. I don't know if many people have been in stores lately, but it is a miserable experience because they've reduced staff to untenable amounts where you have to wait for someone to unlock half the thing or stand in a special section and a special line. It's just - this is the wrong direction that we're going in. We've already seen this as a result of consolidation. We don't want to see any more. [00:34:03] Robert Cruickshank: Yeah, and you can look at another act of consolidation that I wish someone had sued to stop, which is when Rite Aid bought Bartell Drugs in 2020. Everyone knows that's been a disaster. Bartell, locally owned store - you had great locally owned products for sale. You could go and get your prescription filled really quickly and easily. Once that merger happened, all of a sudden people's prescriptions got lost, lines got really long, took you hours to get your prescription filled. And then all of a sudden, stores started closing all over the place. Now Walgreens is closing stores because there's not a lot of competition. There's no incentive for them to keep these stores open. And now we're going to see the same things happen with grocery stores - those trends that are already kind of lurking, accelerating if this merger goes through. So kudos to Bob Ferguson, but he's got to watch out for the people who are coming for him, especially in the media. [00:34:52] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for listening to Hacks & Wonks on this Friday, January 19th, 2024. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Shannon Cheng. Our insightful co-host today is the Chair of Sierra Club Seattle, longtime communications and political strategist Robert Cruickshank. You can find Robert on Twitter, or X, @cruickshank. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter. You can find me on all platforms - BlueSky, Threads, anything - @finchfrii. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review shows and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

Christmas came early for 15 lucky boys and girls at the Canby Fred Meyer this weekend, as they and their families joined Canby Police Department officers for a beloved annual tradition, Shop With a Cop. The annual outreach by the Clackamas County Peace Officers Benevolent Foundation gives each kid a $200 gift certificate to purchase gifts and toys for themselves and family members. Generous donors and coupons from Fred Meyer help each kid stretch their gift cards as far as possible, as Canby Police Sergeant Nate Wallbaum, who coordinates the annual event, explains.

In today's episode, Shelley and Phil start getting merry and bright with wines that will go with any holiday and Christmas day, as well as talk about some other tips that might come in handy at this time of year! #HappyFriday! #ItsWineTime! #Cheersing #PeaceOnEarth #ElfReference #Holidayish #BowDownToWashington #GoDawgs #EasterEgg Wines featured this episode:NV Jaume Serra Cristalino Cava ($9 at Fred Meyer

Good morning! There are five days to Thanksgiving and a lot of us are already making shopping lists, if as yet for me only in my head. I love grocery shopping, a love I passed down to my daughter, and somewhere on the interwebs is a short video of her surfing her shopping cart through Fred Meyer market in Portland saying, “Wheeeee!” I love New York City, but the grocery shopping experience after nearly 30 years of well-lit, wide-aisled west coast supermarkets? Abysmal. As I mention in the audio, my plans this year got a little kiboshed. But! From adversity, opportunity, and I'll now go to two Thanksgivings, one day-of event with a lot of people I don't know and to whom I will get to feed pie, and a smaller one with family, for which I am not going go the whole 9 yards, there will be only 5 or 7 of us, a number likely to swell. We will not have turkey at this one but a roast goose, because one of the guests ate it once 30 years in Prague and remembers it fondly. I have never roasted a good but did watch some YouTubes and scanned for recipes and feel pretty confident, though will be very happy for your tips, and especially for a not-too-sweet glaze with which to baste the bird. I like sweet-and-meat but others do not so, hit me up. I am also going to be making a change to a standard recipe, if not a change this horrific. As I mentioned yesterday on the Twitter* machine, the correct number of eggs in mac-and-cheese is zero. What a I changing? The stuffing. Let me be clear: THIS WOULD NEVER BE THE CASE WERE I MAKING THE TURKEY. Stuffing, the kind I learned from my mom, is my favorite food, and while this means I should make it more than once a year, maybe just to stick in a chicken, I do not. A lack of at-hand giblets (which I knew meant the whole mess of innards you find in the bird; in the audio I meant gizzards, which I think is probably a fake word but anyway) might contribute, but mainly it's because to my mind you need to make vat of stuffing because it's so delicious and you want to feed it to many people and, if you are me, you need eat a great deal of it for yourself, before it goes into the turkey, and while you're stuffing the turkey, and at the dinner (three helpings), and cold from the fridge. I already look forward to 2024's repast.This year, along with the goose - and the potatoes that will be roasted in the goose fat - I will try a new stuffing recipe, one from my girl Alison Roman. As mentioned in the audio, I am already making changes to the recipe in my head. Here she is making it.Food is love (say it with me), and we've had a lot of both in this apartment these past few weeks, dinner parties and late-night hangs, including a few nights ago with a lot of the Reason mag peeps as well as the Fifth guys and their most recent guest, the awesome, funny, super-cute, whip-smart Mary Katherine Ham.Then two two nights ago - I am typing this at 8:39am on Sunday, hoping to get this up in time! - we welcomed our beloved Yael Bar Tur back from Israel. She was on the pod last month and in our hearts always. We ate all the food and drank all the wine and sang some songs and gave each other shirts we picked up in war zones. These friends, this life, I love it so much.A few links mentioned in the audio:“Sam Harris: The Bright Line Between Good and Evil,” Honestly podcastAnd the recipe! This, too, I love to much, and am sending all buttery love to you and yours xxThanksgiving Stuffing* 3 loaves white bread, supermarket variety, not too dense. I am liking potato bread these days. * 2 good-sized yellow onions, small dice* 6-8 stalks celery, small dice* 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter* salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, thyme if you have it* 6 - 8 cups turkey stock, plus the giblets you've simmered in the stock, choppedA day or two before you plan to make the stuffing, let bread slices dry out a bit. Turn then a few times so somewhat evenly dried but don't stress. Once semi-dry, cut bread into cubes.In a large heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter. Add onions and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent and onions are starting to brown just a bit. Add your chopped giblets. (You are of course welcome to add the meat you chop off the turkey neck. I eat the neck, sending all squeamish people running from the room.) Unless your pot is massive, remove half of the onion mix; you'll be making the stuffing in two batches.Add half your cubed bread to onion-mix, stir to start coating the bread, sprinkling with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and some thyme. Stir stir. Now start adding your stock, a cup at a time, until stuffing is moist but not wet.Stuff your turkey - or not! Any that does not fit in the bird, and there will be plenty, you can put in a buttered dish, maybe drizzle a little melted butter, and bake at a 350F oven until crisp on top.*And some outro love from the original X (man). Would that I could, I would feed him a wheelbarrow of stuffing and it would not give him half the joy he's given me. Happy Thanksgiving John Doe! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit smokeempodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Sprague is worried he is overly invested in the renovation going on at his local Fred Meyer grocery department. Then, Sprague notes a significant 11 year anniversary. Then, the latest in the Michigan sign stealing investigation and we play NFL Zig or Zag.

An episode that would have stood head and shoulders above the others in the annals of Bad Brothers lore has been deleted. Kinda. Michael thinks it's bad to make slaves build pyramids. Also: you fill in the blanks because there's no chance I'd skip an episode about the Fred Meyer lady. Instagram https://instagram.com/badbrotherspodcast https://instagram.com/easyasmdb https://instagram.com/ws_browning Apple https://apple.co/2JeSUIr Spotify https://sptfy.com/badbrotherspod   Bad Brothers Pod Michael and Will Browning Port Orchard (& Gig Harbor) (& Tacoma, Seattle, Puyallup, Wenatchee,  Frederickson, etc), Washington's Finest Podcast  

HOUR 1Ramaswamy's plane has "an unexpected cabin depressurization issue," /  (NBC News)  https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/vivek-ramaswamy-misses-third-event-less-month-due-private-plane-issues-rcna98664?Vice President Kamala Harris answered a question about President Biden's age in an AP interview from Jakarta / (AP) https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harris-says-she-ready-step-role-president-biden-unwell-may-have-take-over Vitiuk, the head of the cyber department at Ukraine's top counterintelligence agency overviews his strategies / (NPR) https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1196975759/ukraine-cyber-war-russia-sbu-illia-vitiukEnrique Tarrio, the former national chairman of the Proud Boys, has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol / (NPR) https://www.npr.org/2023/09/05/1197202616/enrique-tarrio-proud-boys-jan-6-sentence?Rick Whitbeck from Power the Future / https://powerthefuture.com/HOUR 2Labor unions in Alaska are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to block a $25 billion merger that would combine Fred Meyer and Carrs Safeway grocery stores into one corporate behemoth. / (ADN) https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2023/09/05/alaska-unions-urge-biden-administration-to-block-albertsons-kroger-merger/Mark from East Anchorage (who works at Walmart) discusses the effects of a Carrs and Fred Meyer merger"The homeless camp at Third Avenue and Ingra Street, which residents have dubbed “Tent City,” has seen an increased population and crime rate — making it more difficult to provide help to people living there." / (ANS) https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2023/09/05/tent-city-homeless-camp-near-downtown-anchorage-sees-high-crime-rate-violence/"The Anchorage Assembly is authorizing the use of more than $200,000 to address the crime and public health issues associated with large homeless camps throughout Anchorage" / (ANS) https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2023/09/06/anchorage-assembly-approves-funding-address-crime-public-health-concerns-large-homeless-camps/The impeachment trial of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton kicked off Tuesday at the state Capitol (NPR) https://www.npr.org/2023/09/05/1197811021/paxton-impeachment-trial-texas-attorney-general-ag-conspiracy-briberyDalton from Mat-Su thinks the TX impeachment is just the start Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson with a homeless policy update 

Some of the reasons Prigozhin may have been killed by Putin. 6,000 gallons of Washington wine was lost when a truck tipped over. KNOW IT ALL: 1) A violent and crime filled week in Tacoma. 2) Trump had his mug shot taken in Fulton County jail. // Video released of man who drove a car into a Fred Meyer store in Everett and blew it up. Wall Street Journal reporter has his sentence extended another 3 months in Russia. // The last days of Prigozhin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A proposed $24.6 billion merger could bring together Kroger, the parent company of Fred Meyer and QFC, and Albertsons, which has also owned Safeway since 2015. The Pacific Northwest is one of the regions where the two companies compete directly, so the combination could leave Oregonians with fewer choices for grocery shopping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paige Thomas has more than 25 years experience in the retail industry with an extensive off-price background and her passion for ecommerce. Paige most recently served as President & CEO of Saks OFF 5TH, leading the business from February 2020 through February 2023. Under Paige's leadership, Saks OFF 5TH has evolved the business operating model and strategy to focus on the digital experience. In 2021, Saks OFF 5TH's ecommerce business was established as a separate entity with a $200 million equity investment led by Insight Partners. Paige was named President and CEO of SaksOFF5TH.com to continue to build on its momentum and growth trajectory. Prior to Saks OFF 5TH, Paige spent eight years at Nordstrom where she launched NordstromRack.com and led the integration of HauteLook. Earlier in her career, Ms. Thomas held merchandising leadership positions at Kohl's and Fred Meyer.   Paige had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include: “One of the things I've really been working on is my pitch of who I am and what I can contribute” (6:40). “Who I am is this really diverse retailer that loves to drive growth and has an incredible proven track record” (7:35). “What I love is the idea of impact, and growth, and agility” (8:00). “The global pandemic gave the opportunity to actually really think about the customer and how you were going to drive change that was sustainable” (10:50). “[The pandemic] gave the opportunity to test and react, to maybe make bolder decisions than you normally would” (11:10). “What tends to happen in life is people fear the downside and therefore minimize the risk or opportunities that they're going to chase” (11:25). “The way I think about retail today, is it absolutely critical that you have a unique differentiation” (15:10). “I've been really looking at leaders and what their career path was and what has defined them, in particular female leaders” (22:40). “Confidence in yourself and validation for my agility and experiences is actually really valuable” (23:45). “What I think is a continued opportunity, particularly for female leaders, is to lift one another up” (24:00). “I think of my career as the art of winning” (24:50). “Five years ago, I don't know that I recognized some of my capabilities and impact that I brought to organizations. I undervalued my experience” (35:20). “The way that I think of myself from a core value perspective is I am a really authentic, loyal, leader” (40:40). “I'm an authentic coach every single day” (43:45). “Loyalty doesn't translate to ‘you're nice.' Loyalty, to me, is the opportunity to be the leader, be transparent, give people the opportunity for success, but it's theirs to own” (44:00). “In every organization I've worked for, I'm the first to raise my hand and say I want to be on [the DEI] committee” (48:00). “How do you support and represent the communities that you serve?” (49:05). “I believe that if you chase your passion, you will inherently be successful at it” (49:50). “The customer is my passion” (55:50). “I have so much more reward today out of leading than I ever thought was possible” (56:45). “That's how I think about the art of winning: it's not just a playbook, it's not just X's and O's, it takes a team, it's a marathon. And when those things come together, that builds a winning formula” (1:05:25). “For me, the art of winning is where I'm at” (1:09:10). “The future for me is how do I bring my core values, my proven track record, my leadership skills, to have impact” (1:09:25).   Additionally, you can connect with Paige on LinkedIn. Thank you so much to Paige for coming on the podcast! I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers. Thanks for listening.

With the San Francisco 49ers win and losses by both the Cardinals and Rams, Arizona and LA are the only teams in competition for the cellar in the division. Although many Seahawks fans would have been happy to accept a top two finish in the division, an emotional loss to the 49ers and a struggling defense has some fans looking ahead to a post-Pete Carroll future. But wouldn't this outcome have been considered a success six months ago? It's going to be difficult though to stay above .500 with the Kansas City Chiefs as the next opponent on the schedule. However, the Chiefs weakness on defense has been the strength of the Seattle team this season. It has the potential to be a high scoring affair even without Tyler Lockett on the field to help the offense. Can the defensive staff concoct a way to slow down Patrick Mahomes and Travic Kelce though? While we have the Broncos to thank for helping ensure Seattle won't finish below Arizona, it came at the potential expsene of the 2nd overall pick. With three weeks left in the season, it's going to take some serious work by the curse to get us back into that spot. A warning goes out to those in the pick'em league that everyone is watching and a warning goes out from Adam in 'Do Better' of the potential danger that exists when everyone is watching. We also discuss a 49ers beat writer is sick of answering stupid questions by Frisco fans. Better at life honors go out to a leader of the team and to a pair of fans who continue to remind everyone who is Better at Life Than Skip Bayless. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

After the Seahawks were destroyed by the run game against the Carolina Panthers, it doesn't get much easier for the defense facing the San Francisco 49ers tonight. Pete Carroll was asked about what needs to be done to fix this team's ability to stop the run. Based on his answer, it is more of a personnel problem than scheme problem. Don't expect a fix this season. The Niners have been dealing with injury issues at quarterback, but they haven't seemed to lose anything with Brock Purdy at the helm. With Purdy fighting through injury, will we see Josh Johnson on the field? Will it even matter considering that it's no secret how San Francisco should attack this Seahawks defense? The loss of Deebo Samuel will make it so Seattle has one player they don't have to account for in the run game. It's a shorter show this week with the Thursday night game. But we still take time to see where the Seahawks draft picks are at for 2023. Can Denver manage to hold on to that second spot considering their schedule coming up and with the difficult schedule the Bears face? The Arizona Cardinals and the real person to blame for the latest Seahawks loss fall into the Do Better segment. Better at life honors go to a recent scientific breakthrough and to members of the Flock who helped to make the latest trip more enjoyable. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

The Seattle Seahawks survived a nail biter on Sunday with a win over the Los Angeles Rams. Geno Smith, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett dominated the Rams secondary even with an offensive line that struggled against some of the Rams backups. Smith earned his first fourth quarter comeback with the Seahawks and DK earned his spot as perhaps the best receiver in the NFL. The game still shouldn't have been as close as it was, and part of the reason was to an interception call that made a great Bobby Wagner game even better. Adam has some thoughts on the call. Next up on the schedule is the Carolina Panthers. With the Seahawks in position to make the playoffs, why is a 4-8 team a cause for concern? Can Seattle's defense stop an offense that is last in the league on first down? Or a team that is second worst in the league on 3rd down? Fortunately, this Panthers team meets both of those criteria, but they've also been playing tough over the past six weeks. In the second half of the show, we take a look at where the Seahawks draft pick coming from the Broncos currently stands. Plus, both the Niners and Rams are going to have new quarterbacks at the helm for the rest of the season. We explore the worst-case scenario for the San Francisco quarterback situation. The Seahawks will have a decision to make a quarterback and one of those will be whether or not they'll be able to retain Drew Lock. We talk about why it seems more likely that he'll get a chance with another NFL team next season. The Tennessee Titans and Bobby Wagner get called out to Do Better. Better at Life honors go out to Andrew Luck for telling the story behind his retirement and Tariq Woolen for leading the NFL in interceptions and setting a Seahawks franchise record. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

The Seahawks return to starting in the IN column this week with the 27-23 victory over the Los Angeles Rams and we kick off the show with some Seahawks offensive moments from the first drive. Was Bobby Wagner a force in this game? Sure, but Seattle got him at least twice in this game. There was another Rams defender, however, a brown-eyed, terminating force that put two Seahawks offensive lineman into the OUT column. A Seahawks player draws a flag and still gets an in? And finally, a tight end stole our hearts, stole the show, and ripped the MVC with a late-game display. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

Fans went into this week's game against the Raiders with the expectation for a win. It wasn't much different from the game against the struggling Tampa Bay team. So we explore why it could be that this loss hit fans a little bit harder than the one going into the bye week. There is one key stat that has led to a perfect winning formula for Seattle and it involves linebacker Cody Barton. Plus, what was Darrell Taylor thinking when he ran onto the field in the middle of a Quandre Diggs interception return? Looking ahead to the Rams game on Sunday, there are a lot of unfamiliar names taking the field for LA. Despite the fact that Rams fans will be an endangered species in their home stadium, that they'll be starting a backup quarterback and that Seattle is coming in as a favorite by more than a touchdown - history plays a factor in how many of us feel coming into this game. We'll also see Bobby Wagner as he takes on his former team for the first time. In the second half of the show, we start our weekly watch for where the Denver Broncos draft pick currently resides. After their loss to the Carolina Panthers, Seattle would have the third pick in the draft. Based on the Broncos schedule to close the season, is the second overall pick in range? One of our listeners needs to do better after infringing on Adam's trademark phrase, and Joe Fann has a poll out that should simply have 'both' as an option. Finally, Better at Life honors go out to the Seahawks for making an announcement we've been waiting for. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

The Seahawks head into their bye week at 6-4 after some record predictions had Seattle at the bottom of the NFC West and winning only three games. With the loss to the Tampa Bay Bucs, they fall to 0-3 against the NFC South. We talk about what we want to see against the Panthers game in a few weeks to give us hope for the playoffs. If they hope to get there, there's one play that teams are going to continue to run against them until they figure out how to defend it. Could we see more man-to-man defense? Fortunately our Seahawks still have a winning record and the top spot in the division. Down in Denver, however, the Let's Ride Curse continues to impact the Broncos season. According to a former Seahawks player, Russell Wilson is losing his mind and using terminology that isn't even in the Broncos playbook. As we look ahead to the second half of the season, there is a factor that could come into play with so many young starters on the team. We discuss the 'rookie wall' and why it could be a factor, the players who could fight through it, and the guys who could hurt the team most if they hit in. Before we even get to the Mexico City game coming up on Monday, the expectation is that Cardinals fans need to do better. Bill Cowher needs to do better if he's going to be talking about putting in the work before someone deserves a head coaching job. Richard Sherman gets another Better at Life crown as the man who spawned the segment and the German 12s are recognized for their hospitality and enthusiasm at the game this week. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

The 2022 Seahawks rookie class has been impressive throughout the first half of the season, but cornerback Tariq Woolen may be the most impressive so far. Based on how the Arizona Cardinals approached Woolen and his performance against one of the league's top receivers, we can now say that the rookie has officially arrived on the NFL scene as one of the league's top corners after only nine career games. Ken Walker also delivered another impressive performance against Arizona, but can he do it against a Tampa Bay defense that has some big names in the middle of their defense? The Seahawks head to Germany to make history by playing in the first regular season game there. The Bucs haven't been playing well this season and barely squeaked out a win against the Los Angeles Rams to maintain their sub-.500 record good enough for the division lead. Does the comeback mean that Tom Brady is back to the point where the Seahawks defense should be on notice? Another win could help prove how the Seahawks belong in the discussion as one of the NFL's most complete teams. Geno Smith's wristband got a lot of attention in the media this week. Are these types of nitpicky things on Russell Wilson's game trickling out on purpose? What purpose do stories like this serve for the Seahawks. Budda Baker and one of the show's co-hosts were embarrassed this past week and need to do better.  Better at life honors go out to Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson and the Bleacher Report video team. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

Just like every good baseball team needs a solid closer, the Seattle Seahawks may have found a player to help close out their wins with running back Ken Walker. However, as we dive into the nooks and crannies of this week's win, there might be one spot in the rookie's game in need of improvement. Michael Jackson came up with a soul crushing play on defense and Noah Fant had an impressive performance on offense. But when it came to Will Dissly, we had a hard time deciding if he came up more clutch in the blocking game or the receiving game. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

After dominating the New York Giants last week, the Seahawks remain at the top of the NFC West standings. Although Tyler Lockett had a rough day, he was able to redeem himself in the end. There were moments on camera during the game and even after the game that shows just how close this team is growing together. Ken Walker didn't jump off the stat sheet, but he still jumped off the screen with his one touchdown run.  The Seahawks defense completely shut down the Giants run game and were all over Daniel Jones early on when he tried to escape from the pocket. The defense will be tested in a different way this week now that DeAndre Hopkins is back in the lineup for the Arizona Cardinals. Will the coaching staff make the smart move to avoid matching up Hopkins on Tariq Woolen, or will they try and go after the rookie corner? And will the addition to the passing game help open up a run game for the Cardinals that got shut down just a couple weeks ago. Another question is if the Cardinals defense will attack the Seattle offense the same way or if they'll now try and shut down Ken Walker and the Seahawks run game. It was the trade deadline for the Seahawks this week. Were there any trades we wish the Seahawks would have been able to get in on? We run through the list of trades and the compensation. Do better call outs go to the national media for hyping up a 49ers team that simply won a game they always win and for some recent airline trouble. NFL Films and a Seahawks special teamer earn Better at Life honors. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

Since the season started with the Seahawks Super Bowl (facing off against Russ and the Denver Broncos), Adam is continuing with the theme of naming a lot of these matchups. Geno Smith is on the third leg of his "revenge tour" as one listener points out that he's 2-0 now going up against Russ and a former team in the Chargers. This week's theme? The loser is not for real. There are questions surrounding both the Giants and the Seahawks if their success can be sustainable throughout the season and are legitimate playoff teams. This game should decide which team is not a legit contender. This game will also let us know if the improvements Seattle made on defense to defend the run will hold up. Not only do they face a talented back in Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones has been running wild on teams as well. The Seahawks are now on top of the division after their win over the Chargers last week. The Arizona Cardinals and 49ers aren't far behind though. Plus, Frisco made a big more this week to acquire a running back to help them down the stretch. But will it be a good move for the long term? Congratulations to Hard Tellin' Not Knowin'! for the Week 6 pickem win and Toonhawk for the Week 7 win. In Do Better, some of the criticism around Russ is starting to go too far and a Chargers fan was photographed going over the line of decency this week. Better at life honors go out to a college football player and to DK Metcalf. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

With the Seahawks 48-45 performance against the Detroit Lions, it helped earn several players league-wide recognition for their performance. Geno Smith was named player of the week, Rashaad Penny earned the honor of the ground player of the week and Tariq Woolen was among the finalists for top defensive honors. But was that good football overall? And how did it compare to the shootout we watched a few years back between the Chiefs and Rams? There is some optimism that the Seahawks may be able to turn things around defensively with a few players who were injured early in the season working their way back into the lineup. There are also reason to believe that the Seahawks offense and Geno Smith can have sustained success. Geno is officially on the Rich Gannon late-career surge watch list. If you don't know who Gannon is, we explain. The Seahawks will face a difficult test on the road this week though as they take on the New Orleans Saints. Pete Carroll has lost three straight regular season games against the Saints and Geno was at the helm the last time these two teams faced. Will Alvin Kamara play this week and what would his presence mean toward the game's outcome? Can Nick Vannett be the relatively anonymous tight end this week that destroys the Seahawks defense? In the second half of the show, we take a look at the state of the Los Angeles Rams as they suffered yet another loss to the 49ers. Which 2-2 team in the NFC West is in the driver seat for the conference title? There was one moment from that Monday Night Football that will be etched in our memory though and we discuss it in both the Do Better and Better at Life segments on this week's show. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

The Seattle Seahawks offense bounced back after six straight quarters of failing to score as we saw a unit that can at least put up points against sub-par defenses. Defensively for Seattle, it appears to be a different story. Are they a broken unit? Or can Pete Carroll and Clint Hurtt find a way to get the guys in position to at least stop the run? Seattle will give us a chance to help us answer those questions again this week as they go up against a very similar team to the Falcons. The Detroit Lions defense is among the worst (if not the worst) in the league and they have solid pass catchers and a strong run game when they're healthy. But with injuries to key players on the Lions offense, could we see the Seahawks defense step up? In the second half of the show, we enjoy some 49ers vs Broncos schadenfreude. We may have a new segment for the show as Adam continues to forget to make his picks ahead of the games. Matt Calkins of the Seattle Times and Patrick Daugherty both need to do better considering their takes on the Seahawks this past week. Finally, NASA and hurricane reporters earn a better at life nod this week. 2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via

After flying high from a Week 1 victory over the Denver Broncos, the Seahawks returned to earth following their matchup in Santa Clara. Geno Smith was efficient in the passing game, but Seattle was never able to run the ball effectively and got run over early by the 49ers offense. Was this game closer than the score indicated though? Or was the outcome indicative of a more dominant San Francisco team that now has a quarterback capable of taking this team into the playoffs? The Seahawks could face a tougher matchup that initially expected when we looked at the schedule this offseason. The Falcons made a strong effort to come back against the Rams last week and gave up a big lead to the New Orleans Saints in Week 1. There's one player for Atlanta who the Seahawks may not have a good answer for on defense. Plus, they're a team that has found a run game after Matt Ryan left for Indianapolis. Fans got the news this past week that Shaun Alexander is being inducted into the Seahawks Ring of Honor coming up in October. We are also forced to come up with a rationale that allows us as fans to be okay with the San Francisco 49ers going on a two-game win streak. We close the show by calling out a rogue agent in the guest booking industry and to an event that caused hotel prices to skyrocket in Oregon. Better at life honors go out to an NFL fan base that discovered a new and creative way to motivate their team's coach.  2022 Podcast Pick'em League This episode was sponsored by Liquid Death. Get Liquid Death at your local Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Target, or Chevron Extra Mile. Or find a Liquid Death retailer near you at LiquidDeath.com/HAWKRA. Looking for sports cards at a great price? Get cards of your favorite player shipped to you. Reach out to Ben at Flathead Sports & Hobby Cards via