🗳️ Ballots in a dumpster?

Possible Suspension on New Data Centers

Mayor Katie Wilson announced that she is considering a moratorium on new data centers amid an over 64,000 online letter campaign calling for just that. The campaign came after The Seattle Times reported that Seattle City Light was approached about building five large data centers, which, at full capacity, would use roughly a third of what the city currently uses. [Seattle Times]

• Concerns: The high energy demand of these centers has several potential impacts that people are worried about. In her statement, Wilson said she shared “community concerns about environmental justice, economic resilience, and impacts of increased costs for Seattle rate payers.” [Facebook]
• Organizers: The organizers of the letter campaign, 350 Seattle, were able to get over 33,000 letters sent within the first day after launching the campaign. Councilmember Eddie Lin told the Seattle Times his inbox was full of thousands of concerned emails. [Instagram]
• Protests: In Tukwila, organizers have been protesting the Sabey Corporation’s decision to rent office space to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The corporation operates data centers for the city of Tukwila that function as its Seattle campus. [Real Change News]

🗳️ Hundreds of ballots in a dumpster? The Washington State Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh released a video saying “a concerned citizen” found a box of roughly 400 ballots, the majority unopened and unvoted, in a dumpster in Renton. King County election officials are investigating how the ballots ended up there and then at the party’s office. [WA State Standard]

🛍️ West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day poppin’: Since the registration for this year's event opened on April 1, over 460 sales have been registered. If you want to register, do it before 11 p.m. tomorrow night. More details, including the map and list of sales, will come out on May 2, 2026. [West Seattle Blog]

🤧 Allergy season getting worse: Due to warmer winters and hotter summers, allergy seasons across the Northwest have gotten longer. Using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Central found that allergy season in the region has increased by 31 days since 1970, which is more than any other region in the U.S. [Seattle Times]