🦇 Did you touch this bat?

Youth Prisons Suffer From Crowding and Staffing Issues

A new report from Washington State’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee on the state of youth prisons in Washington State shows an overcrowded system where staff feel undertrained and often leave within a year. [Washington State Standard]

• Crowded facilities: The audit, conducted in 2024 and 2025, found that prisons were overcrowded. One of the facilities, Green Hill School, had a safe capacity of 180 but had a population of well over 200 at several points. As of June, it sat at 196. This led to more fights, assaults, and contraband occurrences between 2022 and 2024. The audit also found that young people of color were more likely to be confined to their rooms as a behavior management strategy than their white counterparts.
• Staff retention and training: Green Hill employees reported burnout, uncompetitive salaries, and not enough training to handle safety and front-line issues. Many employees left within a year of starting, feeling unprepared and undertrained for their roles.
• Improvements: The JLARC report recommends smaller facilities to help with capacity, as well as improving staff training and ways to improve retention, and tailor needs to each individual. The Department of Children, Youth and Families is expected to report back by summer 2026 with updates.

⚽ World Cup post-mortems: Even though it’s been two weeks since Seattle had its last World Cup game, people are still writing and talking about what a success it was. Seattle journalist Grace Madigan has a reflection out in CHUM and Mayor Katie Wilson wrote an opinion piece for the Seattle Times. Both pieces agree: this was Seattle at its best. [CHUM, Seattle Times]

🐴 SIFF walkout: Late last week, members of the SIFF Cinema Workers Union walked out just prior to the 3 pm screening of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. The union believes SIFF is dragging its feet in negotiations. SIFF says it has bargained in good faith. City Cast contributor Chase Hutchinson has an explainer video on what all this means for an audience wanting to see The Odyssey there. [The Stranger]

🦇 Rabid bat!? A bat found on University Way NE between NE 41st and 42nd streets near UW tested positive for rabies. This is the first confirmed rabies case in King County this year, and the fourth statewide. If you happened to have touched that bat, please call public health at 206-296-4474 or seek medical attention immediately. [The Daily UW]