The Newsdesk Minutes: Seattle restaurant fires 9, Boeing sells 25 MAX planes

The KIRO Newsradio newsdesk brings you their top stories on the morning of Thursday, July 21.

Seattle restaurant fires 9 workers in labor dispute

A Seattle restaurant has fired nine workers who walked off the job for one day, in a dispute over sharing tips.

According to the Seattle Times, the workers at Capitol Hill’s Barrio Restaurant say they have repeatedly asked for documentation showing how their tips are shared.

But they say restaurant managers ignored their requests.

The practice of “tip-pooling” has become more common in Seattle restaurants, where servers, hosts, bussers, and bartenders share tips with behind-the-scenes workers like dishwashers and cooks.

The workers say they’re not opposed to sharing, but want more transparency over how what percentage they’ll give up.

The restaurant says when employees are hired, they’re told exactly how much of their tips will be shared, and say the breakdown of the amount disbursed is “100% transparent.”

Boeing sells 25 MAX airplanes

Boeing has sold 25 more 737 MAX airplanes.

The company announced Thursday that Qatar Airlines has finalized their order for the 737-10, which is the largest plane in the 737 family.

The deal was signed at the Farnborough International Airshow in England.

Dedo’s Daily Crime Corner: Have you seen this man? Hate crime in Queen Anne

Normal light rail service resumes

Good news for all light rail commuters: train service downtown returns to normal Thursday.

The northbound platforms at the Columbia City station had been closed for construction, but they will now be reopening.

And trains will once again be running on a regular schedule between Northgate and Angle Lake. For the last 10 days, trains had been reduced to every 20 minutes between the stadiums and Angle Lake.

Summer construction is not over: there will be another couple weeks of disruption at the end of August. It’s all part of the light rail growth, as the system gets ready to expand north, east, and south next year.

Edmonds considers next steps on safe gun storage legislation

Some members of the Edmonds City Council are exploring their options after a state court threw out a city gun storage law.

The Everett Herald says the issue was explored at a city council meeting Monday, but they may have few options.

Edmond’s gun storage ordinance was implemented in 2018 but challenged three weeks later by gun rights organizations and overturned by a state court in April.

Edmonds City Attorney Jeff Taraday says that there are few legal alternatives the city could implement and be compliant with state law.

He says first, there would have to be a change at the state level, to allow more local gun control.

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