🐕 Pet rent could be outlawed

After the World Cup, What’s Next for Seattle?

As the city basks in the last few weeks of revelry and the somewhat unusual experience of being in the global spotlight, attention has turned to lessons learned. There’s mourning to do over a devastating US Men’s Team loss, but art and small business tours remain accessible, and conversations about which neighborhoods benefited and which were left out will continue. Plus, there’s some return to business as usual which means… traffic 😬

• Revive I-5 begins again: Work on the highway across the Ship Canal Bridge picks up again this weekend, meaning that northbound I-5 will be fully closed with only northbound express lanes open. Then, starting next week through the end of the year, the right two northbound I-5 lanes will be closed across the Ship Canal Bridge. WSDOT has the full details of closures and lane reductions into 2027. [WSDOT]
• Mayor Wilson turns stadium CCTV cameras back off: On Tuesday morning, Mayor Katie Wilson announced she had the Stadium District cameras turned back off until her office receives the audit they ordered in the fall. “We will share the audit publicly and engage thoughtfully around next steps regarding the previously planned expansion of these cameras to additional areas.” She also clarified that “cameras in the Downtown Core, the Chinatown International District, and North Aurora, which have been in place since last year, will remain operational.” [City of Seattle]
• Who benefited from the World Cup? The promised boost in small business foot traffic and corresponding dollars has been unevenly distributed. Today on the podcast, we spoke with Vince Vu, owner of Ahn Ơi, a bakeshop in the International District, who said he saw less business on the days of World Cup matches (listen here! 🎧). Plus, questions remain about the approach to the chronically unsheltered people who often call Pioneer Square home. The coalition that formed around the World Cup believes it has now found a template for getting people the resources they need that it can build on. [New York Times]

📜 Rental-junk-fee legislation: This afternoon, Mayor Wilson will bring new legislation to the City Council, creating a team to enforce restrictions on “junk” fees (no more pet rent, for example). The team would be funded through a new regulatory fee on landlords – $11 per rental unit billed every two years. CHS Blog has details on the fees that would still be allowed. [CHS Blog]

🥕 Food stamp error: Due to changes made to SNAP funding under President Trump’s "big, beautiful bill," states now have to cover 5% to 15% of food stamp benefits usually covered federally, depending on how often they make errors in payments. Our state’s error rate of 6.98% in 2025 was well below the national average but would still require Washington to pay more than $90 million. [South Seattle Emerald]

🚨 Wave of immigration arrests: The last weekend in June, there were at least a dozen immigration arrests spanning Lakewood, Bellevue, Pacific, Shelton, Lynnwood, Auburn and Kent. It is unclear if this represents a larger trend. According to the Deportation Data Project, there were roughly 750 immigration arrests in Washington during the first three months of 2026. [KING 5]