Angela Poe Russell’s commentary: A PSA all pedestrians need to hear

Her point? The law may well be on your side, but the law won’t hit the brakes if the driver doesn’t see you. There’s a bigger lesson here though. On the football field of life, the key to staying alive is a good defense.

I know this by instinct because I grew up as the small person who was picked last in gym class. In playground fights, I believe my record is 0-2 … so I have learned to avoid any physical conflict. Therefore, right of way or not, I don’t step into the crosswalk unless the road is empty.

The trouble is that this “live defensively” strategy has its limits – as we heard in today’s interview with Shannon Lerner of ProPublica. Her latest article describes how 3M lost control of its “forever chemicals” to the point that those chemicals show up in the blood not just of its plant workers, but people who’ve never been near a 3M plant.

“These chemicals accumulate in your bodies,” Lerner said. “According to the CDC, virtually everyone has some level of a forever chemical — at least one, but probably several — in their blood.”

So we’re not necessarily doomed. But how do you defend against that? A fine? The company’s already paid a fine.

“They were square with the law, but basically it was too late because the chemical seeped out of their products and basically into all of us,” Lerner added.

More from Dave Ross: If you hope the government will save kids from social media, think again

At some point, even my patience runs out and I can no longer play defense. You have to go on offense and say, “I don’t care how great your chemical is, I don’t want it trespassing in my body.” Which is why the 3M employee who saw those blood tests blew the whistle on her company.

Whether it’s giant factories churning out untested chemicals, or the ten thousand pounds of carbon that the average car pumps out of the tailpipe in a year, it’s all like peeing in the pool. Which is why I never open my mouth underwater.

And that’s today’s life lesson: Keep your eyes open in the crosswalk, your mouth closed in the pool and your whistle handy when you go to work.

Listen to “Seattle’s Morning News” with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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But despite best efforts, life and the law don’t always mesh. Just because we as pedestrians have the right to cross at a given moment, doesn’t mean we should. For more reasons than I can count — think of drivers who are drunk, deviant, distracted, you name it.

But I want to talk about a more common scenario playing out on roadways and it contributes to more than 9,000 accidents each year. I’m talking about Sun glare.

More KIRO Newsradio opinions: What would ‘the most trusted man in America’ think of AI, ‘news’ now?

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is the second environmental factor that leads to car crashes behind slick roads.

The summer and spring seasons are deceiving because we have more bright, clear days. But with sun glare, things can take a turn in a second. I experienced this the other day while driving. Even with glasses and pulling the visor down, the sun was blinding.

Suddenly, I had to slam on my brakes as a woman appeared in front of me moments from stepping onto the street. She was visibly frustrated because numerous cars had passed her by or almost hit her. The problem wasn’t distracted or impaired drivers or people who didn’t care — it was the sun creating this huge blind spot. And no one could see her until up close.

Thank goodness this woman was paying attention. But how many of us don’t and just assume a driver is going to stop? How many of us don’t look both ways? How many of us have the nerve to wear the air buds blasting music? OK, I’m guilty of that too!

But sometimes we need a reset, and this is a potentially life-saving one. Unfortunately, we can’t rely solely on other people and pedestrian signals. It’s ideal to make eye contact with drivers before crossing.

More from Angela Poe Russell: What we can all learn from Harrison Butker’s shocking speech

I’m not trying to put all the responsibility on pedestrians. Drivers should slow down and look out for children or people in wheelchairs who are particularly vulnerable.

Ultimately, it is legally the drivers’ responsibility to watch for pedestrians and to ensure they operate their vehicle’s safely. But in life, when best efforts fail, pedestrians pay the price. And for that reason, I’ll take being safe over being right.

Angela Poe Russell fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio and has been around Seattle media in different capacities for a number of years.

That’s three out of four people surveyed.  That’s a lot.

And 7 out of 10 people were not confident in their own abilities to detect a fake picture, video or audio.

So, who should we trust going forward?

In the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, Walter Cronkite was called the most trusted man in America. (And yes, I’m dating myself when I say I grew up watching him as a kid.)  He was an inspiration of why I got into news.

He died 15 years ago: 92 years old.

What would he think of artificial intelligence (AI) in our world of opinionated “news” outlets (and that’s news in quotes)?

How people put trust into cheating sports starts, politicians who lie blatantly without hesitation and leaders of industry who do the same? (And they’re all not fake, they are real people.)

Who would Cronkite – the most trusted man in America – who would he trust?

The answer may be in an old Ronald Reagan Cold War phrase we should keep in mind: Trust, but verify. It’s a phrase that’s neither Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative,  but just common sense.

It’s now incumbent on for all of us to do just that. Don’t believe everything you see and hear right away. I think that’s what the poll is telling us.

Unfortunately, “That’s the way it is, Friday March 6th, 1981. … Good night.”

I could not have ended this commentary any other way.

Matt Markovich often covers the state legislature and public policy for KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Matt’s stories here. Follow him on X, or email him here.

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But that law is headed straight to federal court, and we could have a whole new government by the time there’s a verdict in that case.

That tells me those of you who are hoping the government will save your kids from social media will need a Plan B.

My generation didn’t have social media growing up, but we had something almost as scary – we were the guinea pigs for television. TV taught us smoking was healthy, had us playing Cowboys and Indians with cap pistols, and spread rock and roll music, which caused some of us to have sex and get muddy at Woodstock.

(I say “some” of us – because I had a job that summer and missed Woodstock.)

More from Dave Ross: Social media companies must be responsible for content they broadcast

How television and companies like TikTok differ

But the big difference between TV and social media – was that the TV was in the living room, and we usually watched with our parents, and they had the power to shut it off at any time.

Social media works even under the covers.

There was a vigorous discussion about in The New York Times, and I want to read this comment from a reader named CC, writing from Paris, who says:

“I am a tech founder and … Knowing tech, the idea that a social media platform will adequately shield your child from questionable content …is laughable.  Even if they wanted to, it is vastly difficult (and with no financial return to please shareholders). There is an indescribable amount of terrible content on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube … because PEOPLE WATCH IT…

As a parent, the idea that any responsible human would give their child unhindered access to a phone and social media for five to six hours per day is terrifying.  At the risk of sounding judgmental, the correct amount of social media time for people under 16 is zero. I desperately wish we could clean up the internet for our young people, but it’s not going to happen. WE… the adults, need to guard … our young people from online perils, just like we would stop them from wandering around alone at night in a bad neighbourhood.”

Other readers replied that they tried getting kids off social media but, “it’s close to impossible.”

Dave Ross content: We built it, and they had better come

My kids are grown. I’m in no position to give advice.  But I agree – social media companies won’t change their business model, and the government isn’t coming to the rescue.  So your choice is to surrender, or get those kids hooked on safer media alternatives.

I’d suggest radio. It’s free, it’s instant, and it’s everywhere – although, I’d stick to the talk stations.  The music stations are still all about the sex.

Listen to “Seattle’s Morning News” with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Listen to the Seattle’s Morning News w/ Dave Ross & Colleen O’Brien Show every weekday at 5am on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM

Listen to the Gee and Ursula Show every weekday at 9am on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM Listen to KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM or go to MyNorthwest.com to learn more!

It is hard to believe. I remember the slam books that circulated when I was in school – notebooks with the names of targeted classmates, surreptitiously passed around to attract snarky comments.

Teachers confiscated them despite the First Amendment – because they were a distraction, and because it’s not healthy for a kid to be ripped apart in public. And back then, we were only looking at an audience of maybe a few dozen.

Today, there’s no limit.

And there needs to be a limit.

Current federal law holds social media companies immune from prosecution for today’s equivalent of the slam book.

That’s because the law pretends social media is like the phone company. But it’s not. A phone call takes place in private between people who agree to the conversation.

More from Dave Ross: We built it, and they had better come

Social media companies broadcast content

But a message posted where anyone can see it?  That’s not a phone call, that’s a broadcast. And it should be treated just like a broadcast is. That’s why we’re on an audio delay. I’ve been on the air here for 46 years – no one is more trustworthy than I am.  OK, maybe Colleen. Yet, we’re still on a delay because the company is held responsible for everything we broadcast.

I suppose we should be insulted, but you know what? We manage live with it.

And the time has come for social media companies to accept the same responsibility for the stuff that they allow to be broadcast.

Dave Ross content: Does the right to protest outweigh the right to learn?

There’s a lot of evidence that unsupervised platforms have helped create an epidemic of depression and classroom distraction among children. A business model like that can’t hide behind the first amendment any more than a gun smuggler can hide behind the second.

Just as your freedom to travel doesn’t mean it’s OK for the mechanic to forget to screw the bolts on.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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“For the last few years now, we’ve heard two presidents, not just President Biden but also former President Trump, argue that there is a national security issue with TikTok, but the government has never made a public accounting of what that issue is,” CBC Tech Contributor Ian Sherr said on Seattle’s Morning News.

More on TikTok: Cantwell must not obstruct full Senate from debating TikTok’s future

Sherr said there have been private meetings with Congress where the case has been made, but the American public has yet to hear any of it. That could be what spurred the lawsuit by TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance. The lawsuit argues the ban violates the First Amendment.

“Part of what I think is going to be interesting about this lawsuit is that it may force the government to actually be able to explain itself and explain what this danger is, instead of merely gesturing at national security as a reason for doing it,” Sherr said.

ByteDance’s lawsuit goes on to explain that this is the first time in history that Congress has singled out a company (which they refer to as a “speech platform”) for a ban. And therefore, bars millions of Americans and others from taking part in this online community.

While evidence of this “national security risk” has been hard to come by, Sherr shared a story about running app Strava, which was really popular among members of the military for a time. The app tracked the user’s runs and allowed competition among friends, but also featured a map of the U.S. that became problematic.

More from Colleen O’Brien: Mount McKinley became Denali; will Mount Rainier’s name also change?

“It had a map of the United States where you could see where everyone was running” Sherr explained. “Well, if you zoomed in on suspected classified areas of this country, imagine in the desert somewhere, you could see where people were running around nuclear silos, right. And suddenly, this app was leaking national security (information).”

Right now, the lawsuit sits with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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“I think Mount Rainier, the name will change. I think they’ll change it to ‘Taquoma,’ eventually, probably in our lifetimes. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Banel said on “Seattle’s Morning News” Wednesday.

The exact pronunciation of “Taquoma” is also up for debate. While Banel will give it a softer ‘h’ like ‘Tahoma’ some tribes pronounce the name with a sound emanating from the back of the throat and truer to the ‘qu’ in the name. How to pronounce it will be up to the tribes at the center of the push to rename Mount Rainier.

“With the English language, there’s certain poetry to names like ‘Rainier’ and ‘Baker’. It’s sort of so familiar, but ya know, it’s a terrific debate to keep having continually,” Banel said.

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names would ultimately have to approve of the name change and they are well aware of the Puyallup Tribe’s efforts.

“(They’ve been) engaged in a years long process to create consensus around the indigenous community about what they would like it renamed. So, I do think in our lifetimes, we’ll see a change like that and it’ll be like Denali up in Alaska, but a bigger deal,” Banel said.

More on the history of Denali

I turned to various online sources to understand the history of Denali, and how it might inform the potential fight ahead of local tribes to rename Mount Rainier. The name for Denali was ensnared in a years-long battle between the federal government and Alaska.

In 1975, it was the Alaska legislature who lobbied the federal government to change the name from “Mount McKinley” (after a gold prospector and also President William McKinley) to “Denali,” which would pay homage to the Indigenous tribe that first named the mountain ‘Deenaalee’ meaning ‘the high one.’

It wasn’t until President Barack Obama’s administration that the name change was granted. (Readers can view of a PDF of the Department of Interior’s order to change the name as a PDF here).

Interestingly, according to CNN, when then-President Donald Trump was in office, he met with senators from Alaska to ask about reversing it. But his efforts, apparently, ended there.

Feliks Banel joins “Seattle’s Morning News” every Wednesday and Friday for his features on local history. You can click on the player above or head here to hear the full conversation about Mount Rainier, which began with a brief history of Northwest explorer Captain George Vancouver‘s adventures and the fact that he is still honored to this day at a tiny cemetery in England.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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The district has a massive budget shortfall it needs to make up because COVID-19 funds that had been covering the looming funding cliff ran out.

At the same time Seattle is also closing all its advanced learning schools.

More in the city: Seattle Public Schools’ budget in disarray, could close 20 elementary schools

The district says it has no choice because it has lost thousands of students in the last five years. And since that’s how the state funds schools, the district is out of money.

The problem to any parent is clear: Closing elementary schools means much bigger class sizes. Returning highly capable kids to regular classrooms and expecting teachers to do more work with no extra help burns those teachers out and short changes all the kids.

PTAs will now be expected to raise even more money from families to try and keep things like art, music and PE classes, something many PTAs are already doing.

At some point the formula no longer makes sense to families. Those with means pull their kids out and go to private schools. Now with more than 20 elementary schools closing families with potential incoming students won’t even consider public schools but opt right into private and religious schools and those kids won’t come back.

And guess what happens next? The district loses tens of thousands more students and they must again cut and maybe close more schools. And on goes the cycle until what?

That takes us to the state capital

Which leads us to Olympia where truly the blame for all this should rest. Lawmakers say they fixed school funding when the State Supreme Court ordered them to do so under the McCleary ruling. What lawmakers really did was make things worse. They capped levies so bigger districts get less money. They changed the definition of basic education to exclude even things as crucial as nurses. They said the state should no longer help pay for veteran teachers leaving those costs to districts.

Funding problem fixed!

Wrong. Things are worse than ever and school districts big and small are now just left to watch as students, family and funding leaves.

Democrats, you control the House, Senate and governor’s mansion. If you want that to continue, you must announce a clear, concrete and actionable legislative plan to make this right and it must happen next legislative session or public schools as we know them in this state will be left circling the drain.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

But this anchor used the report as an opportunity to stir up a culture war. North vs. south. Elite private institutions vs. public universities. All while saying, “See? This is why they don’t want to hire you.”

More KIRO Newsradio opinions: Ursula says the outside investigation of SPD can’t come soon enough

While criticizing a school’s handling of a situation is fair and so is student behavior, good journalists know better than to make blanket statements about a group or a place. Having worked for years as a reporter, I know that within crowds are many stories and journalists should share them and offer context and nuance.

Columbia University has more than 30,000 students, either undergraduate or graduate level.

If you compare that population to the number of on-campus protestors, it becomes impossible to talk about any university as if the students and their motivations or methods for protesting are exactly the same.

When Columbia’s school newspaper polled more than 700 students, 45% hoped the protestors’ demands were met. So just under half. When asked if the disruption was worth it, 31% said they felt cheated out of their “Columbia experience.”

More from Angela Poe Russell: Some free answers for Seattle Schools’ $100,000 question

The bottom line is anytime we label an entire group, we don’t see the whole story. Most importantly, we miss out on the opportunity to see each other and what we have in common. There is enough conflict in our world without someone stirring up a culture war. There are privileged kids at public schools and poor kids within Ivy Leagues. Some protestors are hateful and others are seeking peace.

We as consumers are capable of complexity. So, I suggest we seek out news outlets that give this to us.

Angela Poe Russell fills in as a host on KIRO Newsradio and has been around Seattle media in different capacities for a number of years.

Celebrities, including 2024 Oscar nominee and graduate of Mountlake Terrace High School Lily Gladstone, were adorned with florals, Renaissance-inspired pieces and even sand.

Though the name of the party’s accompanying exhibit featured “Sleeping Beauties” it wasn’t really about Princess Aurora from the fairytale, according to The Associated Press (AP). Rather, it was about highlighting and illuminating fragile garments from the museum’s collection that were now being “awakened” to the world. Still, it’s safe to say the museum went all in on the fairytale vibe.

Other awards: Golden Globes include twists, turns, a local winner, and host

Entering the Great Hall, guests passed a huge centerpiece, 32 feet tall, representing a “whimsical tree.” The AP reported huge, green, flowers made of fabric sprouted over a forest-like undergrowth, with twisted branches that looked just like the foliage Sleeping Beauty’s prince had to hack through to give her a true love’s kiss. Guests then walked through a live string orchestra and a tableau of performers dressed as woodland creatures — in tunics and tights — frolicking in the forest.

Met Gala guests were still arriving at 9 p.m. and even much later. But for those who made it for dinnertime, the AP laid out what was on the menu: a main course of filet of beef, pea tortellini, morels and spring vegetables, followed by a dessert of petits fours inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale of, yep, “Sleeping Beauty,” along with confections “in the shape of bespoke hats.”

What seems like a modern Hunger Games event, the Met Gala is meant to fundraise for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s costume institute. This year’s event raised a record-breaking $26 million, the AP reported.

The AP also reported that tables of 10 started at $350,000 for the dinner. According to The New York Times, a single ticket cost $75,000 which was 50% more than last year’s ticket.

More on Lily Gladstone’s dress

As explained in a piece in Vogue that ran ahead of the gala, Gladstone chose a look created by Gabriela Hearst and the Kiowa jeweler Keri Ataumbi.

“I am so in love with the Met, and getting to become a part of its history is truly moving,” Gladstone said to the acclaimed fashion magazine.

Vogue’s story went on to explain that while the Met Gala is often an exercise in who can wear the boldest look, it was important to Hearst and Ataumbi to create a final design that was impactful yet subtle.

“The Met Gala is a competition of attention-grabbing — everybody’s dresses are on steroids,” Hearst noted.

Having the spirit of Indigenous design present at the famed Manhattan event meant everything to the actress.

“Indigenous people have always belonged in the world of luxury fashion; beauty is embedded in our cultures,” she explained.

Lily Gladstone attends The 2024 Met Gala Celebrating “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2024 in New York City. (Photo: Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images)

KIRO Newsradio hosts start their own Met Gala?

Gee Scott, host of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio joked about putting together a GoFundMe for him to raise money to go to the event.

“Chances are, I’m not going to be able to afford to go and chances are, the GoFundMe won’t get enough, I probably might get up to about $125. And that won’t be enough. But one of the things that really stands out to me about this event is that it’s a mystery,” Scott said.

Because we see them on the red carpet. But once you see them on the red carpet and interviews are done, when they go in, there’s no cell phones. No reporters, nobody can go in there so you don’t get an opportunity to know,” he continued.

Gee then brought up the idea of putting together a KIRO Newsradio Met Gala.

“What I was thinking was this. Me, Dave Ross put together our own big party here where we don’t allow cell phones or anything. People get dressed to the nines to help raise money,” Scott said.

“For journalism?” Colleen O’Brien, host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio asked.

“No, to help raise money for me to go to the Met Gala,” Scott replied.

Dave Ross, host of “Seattle’s Morning News,” joked that he would wear his REI hiking gear.

Ross: Gov. Kristi Noem’s new book includes alleged meetings with dictators, dead dogs

To listen to the full Seattle’s Morning News podcast, click below:

The Met Gala launched the costume institute’s spring exhibit, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” which opens to the public on Friday.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Steve Coogan, MyNorthwest

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

“I talk about it because what I’m tired of in this country is politicians who pretend to be something that they’re not,” Noem said.

Whereas she is someone who can take charge and does not shy away from tough challenges.

Except, for one particular tough challenge. In her book, she wrote, “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me.”

More KIRO Radio opinions: The outside investigation of SPD can’t come soon enough

On Face The Nation yesterday, Margaret Brennan asked her, point-blank: Did you meet Kim Jong Un?

“Well, you know, as soon as this was brought to my attention, I certainly made some changes and looked at this passage, and I’ve met with many, many world leaders,” Noem responded.

She wouldn’t give a direct answer, so Brennan tried again.

“So you did not meet with Kim Jong Un?” Brennan asked Noem. “That’s what you’re saying?”

“No, I met with many, many world leaders,” Noem answered.

It’s like you asked your kid, “Who broke the dish” and the kid responds with, “I’ve handled many, many dishes that did not break.” That’s not the question! So Brennan asked Noem the question again.

“I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders,” Noem responded once more.

Nobody asked you about other world leaders, just the one! Did you meet him or not?

“I take responsibility for that being in the book,” Noem said. “And as soon as it was brought to my attention, I asked for it to be changed.”

But how does a mistake like that happen? This is like trying to figure out who overlooked the missing bolts. In this case, Brennan reminded Noem that she read the passage aloud for the audiobook.

“You didn’t catch these errors when you were recording it?” Brennan asked.

“I marked it as soon as it was brought to my attention,” Noem answered. “I took action to make sure that it was reflected. And listen, this is what is so discouraging about politics in the media today.”

The media! Always trying to find things out! How dare they!

More from Dave Ross: We built it, and they had better come

I understand a politician not wanting us to cover a sleazy sexual encounter. But this is the opposite. This is about not encountering someone. It was as if Kristi Noem wants us to think she actually did meet him, but that it was supposed to be a secret.

“There are world leaders that I’ve met with that are in this book and there are many that I met with that are not in this book, but I’m not going to talk to you about those personal meetings that I’ve had with world leaders,” Noem said.

And then she said that, even though the mention of the meeting with Kim Jong Un was taken out of the book, she is “not retracting anything.”

Not retracting anything? OK, but I have to say that this new generation of authentic politicians is sounding a lot like the old generation.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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They cite a valid business reason: not being able to operate these facilities at a profit. That’s fair. But remember, Walmart, one of the most profitable corporations on earth, owned by the wealthiest family in America. And they can’t afford to take a loss to provide affordable health care options for their customers, or their employees?

Our nation’s largest private employer, whose workforce is largely taxpayer subsidized (the vast majority of Walmart employees qualifying for both food and Medicaid assistance), isn’t willing to operate a portion of their multi-billion-dollar business at a loss to provide what is often the only health care option for their customers?

I know it’s easy for me to say how the Walton family and Walmart how to spend their money. But Walmart has no problem limiting their employees ability to earn a living wage by limiting the number of hours they’re allowed to work a week or restricting their health benefits by not making them full-time employees. Walmart has no problem earning billions and billions in profit due in part to the fact that we as tax payers subsidize their workforce.

How much is enough profit, Walmart? If billions and billions isn’t enough, what is?

Isn’t a healthy customer base good for business? Wouldn’t you think Walmart had a vested interest in making sure that their customers, not to mention their own employees, have access to affordable healthcare? What about the extra trips into Walmart people will now no longer make because they have to go somewhere else to pick up their prescriptions? If Walmart is getting rid of health services, are Kroger and Albertsons stores up next?

More from Spike O’Neill: Why Seattle’s new art space won’t work

I think a good business is one that invests in not just their employees, but also their community. Is it too much to ask that Walmart invests a small percentage of their billions in annual profit to keep their customers and employees healthier? What does this mean for the people who have come to count on Walmart for their health needs? Should we really be doing more to limit access to health care, all in the name of profit?

And I’m no tax expert, but I’ll bet Walmart has a building full of lawyers who can find a way to write off those losses to provide health care to their communities and employees.

Listen to Jack and Spike weekdays from noon-3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

That’s only about 12% of the people who saw Taylor Swift in Seattle, but for the opening of a rail line that only goes six miles, it’s not too bad. It shows that people are at least curious about how it feels to get to Redmond without driving there.

But I can’t help noticing that relatively few people currently live within walking distance of those Eastside light rail stations. The South Bellevue station is basically in a swamp.

And for the system to be worth all the money we’ve spent, that will have to change. There will have to be massive development around those stations, whether the salmon like it or not. That’s where the future growth has to happen. Large residential high-rises, and the businesses and parks to support them.

In Bellevue: Sound Transit’s East Link 2-Line is online

And it means the character of many of the neighborhoods along that line will have to evolve.

The only question is – are we going to accept it – or engage in a resistance movement that is doomed to fail.

I predict that this area is going to continue to grow – because if nothing else, climate change is going to create domestic refugees from the overheated areas south of here.  And there is no room – and no money – for more highways.  Interstate 405 (I-405) is already more like an airstrip, and I don’t think we’re going to build a third bridge across the lake.

So we are at peak pavement.

And the newcomers will have to live in communities that don’t need cars.

Which may sound crazy, but it’s how my parents grew up, and they survived pretty well.

More from Dave Ross: Does the right to protest outweigh the right to learn?

I may not live to see it, but with any luck, 20 years from now, we’ll be zipping back and forth wondering how anyone back in the 2020’s tolerated wacky ideas like Express Toll Lanes, diverging diamonds, mammoth three-level cloverleafs, and all the endless congestion, construction, conflict and carbon that came with trying to put every commuter in their own – mostly-empty – car.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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These app companies have figured out how to offload the costs of maintenance, insurance, and that ever-variable in rising cost of gas onto the employee, which is smart business. But it also puts more burden on the workers to maintain the equipment needed to do their jobs. Big tech develops and maintains the app and provides customer service. But the actual work gets done by those on the ground — the people the PayUp legislation was intended to help.

Critics focus on what seems like a “higher than minimum wage” for drivers. But when you factor in their actual costs, especially with the fuel prices we pay in Washington, food delivery is not making drivers wealthy. And I’d argue they’re not getting more than they deserve. No one is getting rich here …

… Except for UberEats and DoorDash. They’ve got the cash to throw at lobbyists. Revenues for the online food ordering sector reached $294 billion in 2021. And no one’s saying these companies can’t continue to profit. But they don’t get to offload the bulk of their costs, create a product that pressures independent restaurants to buy in to remain competitive, profit massively, and expect to basically write the laws in their favor.

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I think these companies are missing an opportunity. Try this: Be the company that attracts more drivers and a greater share of the market by proudly advertising how much better you make things for your employees. You offer better pay, solid benefits they can actually use. And here’s a classic move you might try: undercut your competition. Lower the fees the mom-and-pop restaurants pay, or remove the $5 charge in Seattle for customers — resulting in more deliveries, and more tips for your drivers and less business for your competitors.

Ultimately, these apps are a luxury. They’re not an entitlement, and most people (with a few homebound exceptions) don’t really need them to live. They’re convenient — and convenience has a price. But they’re not a convenience for the workers — and those whose labor and time has netted billions in revenue for Silicon Valley, shouldn’t be shafted in the process of any adjustments.

Matt Butler is the producer for “KIRO Nights with Jake Skorheim” and a contributing writer to MyNorthwest.

First, a little personal backstory.

My freshman year at Cornell saw the same kind of chaos we’re seeing on campus this year. In the spring of 1970 there were Vietnam protests, building occupations, the Africana Studies center was burned down in April and then it all broke loose after the Kent State shootings in May.

Half a million demonstrators marched on Washington.

And I missed a bunch of classes, enough classes that my career track changed from physics to English.

I’m not claiming that, but for those demonstrations, I might have one day cracked the mysteries of quantum electro dynamics. However, it pretty much gutted my academic schedule.

I got through it, and managed to find a decent fallback career.

But it’s the reason I had an instant reaction to Sunday’s headline in The New York Times which read:

“With pro-Palestinian protests spreading across campuses nationwide … When does a demonstration cross the line?”

I can answer that.

When a protest devolves into violence, obviously it crosses a line. But I think it also crosses a line when it means disrupting the education of students who didn’t pay all that tuition to be surrounded by chaos.

An organizer of the recent protests at Cornell – who was suspended for a demonstration which involved loud chanting and a “die-in”– wrote a piece in the Cornell Daily Sun to explain himself.

He writes that he’s a sophomore who feels strongly about genocide. He also opposes Cornell’s support of a tech company involved in the design of the unmanned bulldozers being used by Israel. That’s true – the Israeli press has documented the unmanned bulldozers – in fact Israel also uses robot dogs for surveillance. So he has every right to expose all that.

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But however strongly he may feel, he doesn’t have the right to disrupt somebody else’s education.

If he wants to expose Israel’s hypocrisy, he can march, wave a sign, write op-eds, start a YouTube channel– better yet, travel to Israel and join the protest camp outside (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s residence.

But the idea that campus protesters think the expression of their opinions trumps everybody else’s right to an education strikes me as pretty arrogant. You are disrupting the lives of people who played no part in the injustice you are trying to end.

And they won’t forget.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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I’ll never forget the moment I was done with public school.

My fifth-grade daughter explained she’d been finishing classwork early and getting bored. I asked the teacher if she could keep worksheets on hand, never imagining the answer would be anything other than absolutely, but the response was indeed no. I can’t say I even got an explanation.

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We were fortunate to be able to do a private middle school where, coincidentally, the teacher kept challenge worksheets in a folder for any student who wanted the extra push.

The bottom line is that people want to work with organizations and businesses that go the extra mile. No doubt there are many SPS teachers who do, but something is clearly off.

The district has lost 4,000 students in the last five years. And there are some things Seattle Schools can’t control — like the fact that the city has more dogs than children. In King County, the number of people under the age of 18 dropped for the first time in 40 years!

During the pandemic, kids poured into private schools frustrated with continued delays to in-person learning. Also, a number of families left the city over public safety concerns.

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But with any problem, there’s always a role we play in it and Seattle needs to own its part. So I’ll channel Dua Lipa here and offer some “new rules.”

1. The plan you had to eliminate Seattle Public Schools’ advanced learning program, scrap it

I agree that the advanced learning program has problems, but the solution is to fix what’s broken, not shut it down. And by the way, telling people that the new neighborhood model is going to be better because it’s “equitable, inclusive and culturally sensitive” is not the best marketing.

Plans call for the advanced learning program to be gone by the 2027-28 school year, with the new model available in every school by the 2024-25 school year.

2. When people offer you help, consider taking it

It’s been reported on a few occasions that nonprofits offering to support Seattle schools are facing so many barriers they give up and go to other districts. We need partnerships.

3. Brush up on your customer service

While I get that you can’t treat schools like a business, you most certainly can embrace the principle of offering products people want. Programming, opportunities. If you make it attractive, people will come.

I realize declining public school enrollment is a national trend but Seattle seems to be expediting this by stripping away what makes it appealing to those with more choices.

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I hate to make education a numbers game, but at the end of the day, fewer students mean less money and cuts to programs. And while that may be a hard pill to swallow, better to take their medicine now before it gets worse.

Angela Poe Russell is a longtime Seattle media personality and a fill-in host for KIRO Newsradio.

“They fix those problems. But now we have a new problem. And that is that some colleges said they received incorrect information from this government FAFSA form, the department of ed said, we get it, we know we have problems, they’re correcting these errors. Most of these problems should be resolved by the end of this month. But that leaves a lot of families sort of in limbo waiting to hear,” Schlesinger told Seattle’s Morning News on KIRO Newsradio.

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May 1 is typically the date to choose a college or university, but without answers on whether a prospective student got the financial aid needed, there’s no way to declare that. Some schools have extended the deadline by a couple of weeks, which helps, but there is no clear deadline on when FAFSA issues will be resolved.

This opens up the opportunity for a larger conversation, according to Schlesinger, that should start freshman year of high school but may still be valid at any point: Is your degree worth the loan?

“I think the biggest problem that we have seen maybe in the past 20 years or so, is that people are had been assuming loans and huge loans. And they said, OK, well, I’ll get a great job, I’ll pay it back. But what we have found out is that, of course, many people are really struggling to pay down this debt, because they’ve gotten jobs that didn’t support the amount of the loan that they took out,” Schlesinger said.

So, I think people need to have very frank conversations. This has to be a conversation where we are talking to one another about what this family as a total family can afford? What will that do to whoever is paying these loans back? How will we balance the need for us to plan for our retirement and send you to college, all these things are really important,” she continued.

Schlesinger said college degrees are still valuable. Research has shown college graduates earn more money over their careers, but borrowing too much money means their advantage will begin to narrow.

Colleen O’Brien: Seattle’s new walkability maps

Schlesinger has developed a rule of thumb for student loans: Limit the borrowing for the student to what you believe will be their first-year salary. That may sound tough to calculate, but there are plenty of websites out there that offer a peek into salary ranges.

You can hear the entire conversation with CBS Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger on the April 19 Seattle’s Morning News podcast, where Colleen O’Brien and Travis Mayfield ask her about President Joe Biden’s continued efforts to eliminate or reduce student loan debt.

To listen to the podcast, go here.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Instead of starting up your car, driving through traffic, circling to find a parking spot, and then finally arriving at your destination, you can instead strap on your comfiest walking shoes, fit in some exercise, take in the sights and sounds of your neighborhood, and access businesses with ease.

Capitol Hill resident Nat Henry loves his neighborhood. He loves it so much that he decided to develop an interactive website showing everything around him and how long it would take to get there by walking.

The idea grew beyond Capitol Hill to include other Seattle neighborhoods. When he released his creation to the public, he got such great feedback that he quit his full-time job at the University of Washington and went all in on Close.City.

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“I think that people wouldn’t be surprised to learn that areas like Capitol Hill, downtown Ballard, places like North Beacon Hill, are all very walkable, and you can meet most of your daily needs within a five or 15-minute walk,” Henry said. “There were some other neighborhoods that were surprising that are these very dense built-up areas that we think of in South Lake Union, or in Belltown. These are some of the densest neighborhoods in the city. But they don’t have the elementary schools, they don’t have the public libraries. And to get them, you either have to go across downtown or walk up Queen Anne Hill.”

What he didn’t anticipate happening as the maps came together was how valuable this data would be for city planners as the idea of a “15-minute neighborhood” gains popularity. It’s the idea that you should be within a 15-minute walk for daily services like groceries or health care.

“Zoning is the number one determinant of what people can and can’t do when they want to add an amenity or be close to a park,” Henry explained. “Every 10 years, Seattle has to update its comprehensive plan and basically lay out a vision for how the city is going to grow and change over time. And if five years from now, you want to open a supermarket in your neighborhood, and you found interested investors, and you’re ready to take the leap, you also have to go to the city and say, does this fit into the guidelines that were laid out in this comprehensive plan?”

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It’s a chicken and egg question once again – do you build up a neighborhood with amenities and hope people find the housing they need to support those businesses? Or do you build housing first then slowly add amenities?

“Seattle is considering in its next comprehensive plan, these neighborhood centers, which will be just small pockets of commercial retail that will then support the surrounding neighborhood so that more people can take walking trips to get to those amenities instead of driving to a different neighborhood,” Henry said.

Not driving as much is key to Henry’s motivation to get this map built out – and he’s already gone national with it and has interest from other city leaders on how they can use his map to plan their development. Seattle hasn’t yet reached out to Henry.

“Right now, Seattle’s car pollution is the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions in the city. And the majority of that is personal vehicle trips. Seventy-five percent of people say that they use cars just to get to their daily needs,” Henry told us. “If we could find a way to make the areas we live in more friendly to walkability, we might be able to have people saying ‘maybe we don’t need that that second car for the family,’ or ‘maybe we can just walk this trip instead of driving it.'”

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Follow @http://twitter.com/ColleenKIROFM