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| | | | Mayor Wilson Turns On the Cameras | On Friday, Mayor Wilson announced that the surveillance cameras in the Stadium District will be activated during the World Cup. Wilson said her decision came after a briefing with the Seattle Police Department and FBI, in which the agencies identified “general but credible threats to safety and security during the games.” Last week, Councilmember Bob Kettle sent Mayor Wilson a letter saying that her decision to pause the expansion of cameras was ‘inconsistent with council legislation.’ [City of Seattle] | - Change in policy: Back in March, Mayor Wilson announced that she would pause expansion of the CCTV cameras and perform an audit. At that time, the city moved forward with installing 22 cameras in the Stadium district, but they would not be turned on unless there is a “credible threat” reported to authorities.
- What defines a ‘credible threat?’ When asked, Wilson responded that the phrase is “pretty standard law enforcement terminology, so if we have information that someone intends to cause harm to people or property or a large event, and we believe that they have the means to carry that threat out.” [KOMO]
- Concerns over federal misuse: Critics of the camera expansion wanted Wilson to pause or roll back expansion, citing concerns over immigration enforcement, abortion rights, and gender care. In the event that the federal government does try to access the feeds, they will be turned off for 60 days. [Seattle Times]
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| What Seattle’s Talking About |
| 🚈 We’re number 1! April and May numbers for light rail are averaging around 155,000 daily boardings, a jump up from 122,700 in February. This makes Seattle’s light rail number 1 in the U.S. The reason? The new crosslake connection between Bellevue and Seattle, as well as the Mariners baseball. There’s still a long way to go to hit the 185k Sound Transit initially forecast. [Seattle Times] | | 🐽 Odor closes CID library: A mysterious and lingering odor is keeping the CID Seattle Public Library branch closed indefinitely. Possible culprits that have been ruled not the cause are dead rodents and odors from nearby restaurants. Now the team at Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority is looking into what’s behind walls and within a closed-off crawlspace. What a mystery! [International Examiner] | | | 📢 Seattle has a loud preacher problem: And now the world knows about it. The New York Times reported on street preachers who deliver sermons near fans lining up outside stadiums, and whose loudspeakers are as loud as a chainsaw next to your head, and how the city of Seattle hasn’t yet found an effective way to deal with them. What a welcome to town for the nearly 750K people coming for the World Cup! [New York Times] | | 🏒 Hilary Knight gets traded: Seattle Torrent player and fan favorite Hilary Knight is leaving the Torrent after one season to head to Detroit as part of a deal with Las Vegas. She will sign with Las Vegas and then will be traded to Detroit. Knight spent two years in Boston before coming to Seattle for the 2025 - 2026 season. She’s a five-time Olympian. [AP News] | |
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