Harger: One year of daily commentaries. A few things I’ve learned in this chair
One year ago tomorrow, I started doing a daily commentary on "Seattle's Morning News." But to tell you where this really started, I have to go back to 1989.1 month ago
Harger: I love my diesel F350. She costs me $11,300 a year just to commute. That’s why I drive an EV to work
My commute is roughly 80 miles round trip, from Auburn to KIRO in Eastlake, five days a week. That's about 400 miles. At 11 miles per gallon, that's roughly 36 gallons of diesel a week.1 month ago
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirms secret bidding war for Seattle SuperSonics expansion team
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed Tuesday that multiple private groups are competing to land an expansion franchise in Seattle.1 month ago
Harger: A Mongolian grill owner left 31 tips for a happy marriage on every table. I still think about them
On every table, right next to the menu, the owner left three laminated pages of marriage advice. Two pages were his. One was his wife's.1 month ago
Costco just launched a brand-new food court item. We tried the $6.99 chicken strips and compared them to Raising Cane’s.
Costco's food court has a brand-new menu item this week, and it's one shoppers have been waiting months to get their hands on.1 month ago
Harger: You put the plastic in the recycling bin. Nobody will tell you what happens next
Recycling is a great thing when it actually conserves resources and prevents pollution. But does it work, or does it just make us feel like we did?1 month ago
Six organized retail theft suspects in King County court Monday as Washington leads nation in shoplifting
Six defendants accused of organized retail theft were arraigned in King County court Monday.1 month ago
Harger: Washington leads the nation in shoplifting. A 33-officer department in Bonney Lake is trying to do something about it
The Bonney Lake PD runs a Facebook page called Can You ID Crime. There you'll see surveillance stills of people they haven't identified yet, with the date, what got taken, and a tip line.1 month ago
Harger: He’s accused of stealing $1,000 in copper off the West Seattle Bridge. Ratepayers got a $100,000 bill. He didn’t show up to court
Galitzeck had bundles of copper wire hanging from his arms. When asked what he was doing up there, he said he was working for Seattle City Light.2 months ago
Harger: 511,000 signatures to repeal Washington’s income tax. Five reasons that might not be enough
I think initiative supporters attempting to repeal Washington's "millionaire tax" have a lot more to be concerned about than they're letting on.2 months ago
‘It’s a total loss’: Washington’s most wished-for Airbnb, the Hobbit Inn near Lake Chelan, destroyed in Chelan Hills Fire
The Hobbit Inn, a hobbit-hole vacation rental carved into a hillside near Orondo, was destroyed over the weekend by the Chelan Hills Fire in Douglas County.2 months ago
Harger: Seattle hid its addiction crisis for the World Cup. Ginny Burton is walking 307 miles to face it
Then the tournament ended. The tourists left. The cameras left. Seattle just proved it can clean up its most visible blocks. So what happened to the people who used to be there?2 months ago
Harger: Seattle had 74 homicides in all of 2023. This past June, it had zero, the first murder-free month since 1970
For the first time since 1970, the City of Seattle went the entire month of June without a single homicide.2 months ago
Harger: In 2004, 91% of us were proud to be American. On our 250th birthday, 33% are
Two and a half centuries of the loudest, messiest, most improbable argument in human history, and the thing still runs. That's worth a party, no matter who's in the White House.2 months ago
‘Does she have crab in her bra?’ Washington Fish and Wildlife officer uncovers 21 hidden Dungeness crabs at Tokeland
A WDFW officer who asked four crab harvesters six times whether they had any more Dungeness crabs got the same answer every time. No. He found 21 crabs hidden on their bodies.2 months ago
Harger: Your PSE bill went up 12% this year. They’re asking for 30% more. And Olympia is about to print the reason on it
Sometime this winter, the electric bill started climbing, and not in the rounding-error way. I started asking around. Neighbors. Coworkers. Everybody's PSE bill is up.2 months ago
Harger: Washington is No. 1 in the nation for retail theft. The state found a fix that worked, then killed it over $500K
Forbes ranks us as the state most impacted by retail theft in the country. Third-worst for value of goods stolen per resident. Second-worst for larceny per capita. No. 1. Out of 50 states.2 months ago
Harger: One listener says I’m a closet liberal. The next says I’m a right-wing mouthpiece. Same mailbag, same morning
Listeners, viewers, and readers all like to sound off on my daily commentaries, and they don't hold back. We hear from a bunch of them every day.2 months ago
Harger: Jamie Pedersen passed Washington’s first income tax. After 20 years, his own party won’t endorse him
Run your finger down the state Senate races to the 43rd District. The name on the endorsement line is Hannah Sabio-Howell. The name missing is Jamie Pedersen.2 months ago
Harger: Seattle cleaned up downtown for the World Cup. So now we know we can
I've spent years watching Seattle promise to fix downtown and then not fix downtown, so I figured this would be more of the same. I was wrong. Pleasantly, completely wrong.2 months ago
Harger: Shoreline wants $100 million for a swimming pool. With a lazy river. For a city of 62,000 people
The City of Shoreline wants voters to approve $100 million for a swimming pool with eight lap lanes, a recreation pool, a hydrotherapy pool, a lazy river, a sauna, and a snack bar.2 months ago
Harger: 68,000 fans chanted USA at Seattle’s World Cup match on Friday. Then the internet had to weigh in
The US won 2-0. One of the best soccer atmospheres this country has ever produced, and it happened in Seattle. Then both political tribes got involved.2 months ago
Harger: In Seattle, even the kinda-left Democrats aren’t left enough
On Tuesday, the Democrats of Seattle's 43rd District endorsed a 30-year-old labor organizer named Hannah Sabio-Howell over Jamie Pedersen for state Senate.2 months ago
