SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Seattle is filled with crime, but bus passes are free

Jun 27, 2018, 8:25 AM | Updated: 10:05 am

One person is dead and another is fighting for their life this morning after a shooting in Seattle&...

One person is dead and another is fighting for their life this morning after a shooting in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood. (KIRO 7)

(KIRO 7)

It has been a crazy couple of days in Seattle. A 47-year-old guy was fatally stabbed in Pioneer Square early Monday morning. The suspect is still on the run. Doesn’t it seem that the unsolved crime rate is pretty high and that a lot of killers are running around free?

In Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood, a man was arrested last weekend for attempting to kidnap a child. He tried to pick the child up and run away in front of the kid’s father outside of their apartment building.

The Seattle Fire Department has now doubled the number of people who will respond to calls around Pioneer Square and nearby homeless encampments. In many cases, they’ve had to triple the number to six. We used to send two firefighters out on a call, and now the only way that they can ensure the safety of these firefighters is sending a crew of six. Think of the cost to taxpayers.

RELATED: Weekend of shootings exemplifies danger of our region

This is what’s happening in our city and in our region. And then Jenny Durkan tells us that it’s a “safe place.” When she’s in town, she tells us, that is — since she feels the need to run around the country solving other regions’ problems. Yeah, because we have 40 million people who come to our city as tourists and only a few of them are violently attacked.

I just can’t believe how deep in the sand Jenny Durkan’s head is, when our own first responders are telling us that they can’t do medical response calls without six firefighters on the call. Jenny Durkan is not a leader. She can go be a leader down on the Texas-Mexico border, but not here in Seattle.

And then the solution to this has been to put in the heroin dens and the rolling heroin van. And if Sally Bagshaw gets her way, perhaps we can even give the heroin to the addicts.

There is a tremendous migration of homeless people from around the country to our city. It’s undeniable that many of these serious crimes and abductions are committed by people from out of the state. What we’re seeing is an epidemic — people are getting stabbed, raped, shot, and assaulted.

Oh, but the good news is, the city is providing free bus passes to every public high school student. That’s the one thing the Seattle City Council has accomplished lately. This is just the public school students — private school students must buy their own Orca cards. Everything is free; that is the message. Of course, none of it is free. What it is is making other people pay for these kids’ Orca cards. That starts to cultivate an attitude that “other people should pay for my stuff.”

We have the second-highest grocery prices because we have the most burdensome government. When you have burdensome government, you make other people — who maybe scrimped and saved and denied themselves to pay for their kids’ college — pay for free Orca cards, free community college, and free heroin. Everything is free in Seattle, but the only thing that really creates is a bunch of freeloaders.

Associated Press

Cubans and Afghans deported from US arrive in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana ’s government said Saturday it has received the first of six deportees from the United States under the Trump administration’s third-country deportation system. Guyana’s Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud said the six nationals of Cuba and Afghanistan arrived on Friday after being vetted by his administration and found to have no […]

2 hours ago

FILE - Hiring sign for sales professionals is displayed at a store, in Vernon Hills, Ill., Wednesda...

Associated Press

Trump keeps heralding an economic boom, but even a solid jobs report is causing problems for him

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has spent 20 months promising that America was on the cusp of an economic boom. But Friday’s surprisingly positive jobs report ultimately provoked frustration from Trump. The August job numbers might have been a welcome break from after months of sluggish hiring and concerns about inflation that have been […]

3 hours ago

A swimmer remains near the shore as a motorboat passes commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of...

Associated Press

US military hits 3 Iranian oil tankers after saying Navy warships were targeted with missiles

CAIRO (AP) — The U.S. military says it has struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships were targeted with missiles. The military’s statement Saturday said an aircraft carrier and a destroyer evaded “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” and no U.S. personnel were hurt. It said two Iranian oil carriers were “permanently disabled” and the third, […]

3 hours ago

shooting bullets south seattle neighborhood...

Brandon Thompson, KIRO 7 News

For this South Seattle Neighborhood, it’s not the first time their homes have been hit by bullets

A South Seattle neighborhood is once again dealing with the aftermath of gunfire after a shootout left multiple homes and vehicles damaged Tuesday night.

4 hours ago

tulalip tribes sonics...

Ranji Sinha, KIRO 7 News

Tulalip Tribes in talks to bid for Sonics return to Washington

The Tulalip Tribes confirmed it’s in discussions about joining a bid to bring the Sonics back to Washington, but with a stadium potentially in Marysville.

4 hours ago

Associated Press

US phases out $45M annual support for Namibia HIV program

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — The United States will start phasing out its financial support for Namibia’s HIV response programs, the latest among southern African countries to feel the effects of the withdrawal of foreign aid by the U.S. administration. The U.S. will provide Namibia with $45 million for its HIV response in the 2027 fiscal […]

4 hours ago

Dori: Seattle is filled with crime, but bus passes are free