SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

The canary in the coalmine is starting to cough

Jul 11, 2016, 9:50 PM

Murray, jungle...

Todd Herman wonders why Mayor Murray is not focusing on bigger issues than employee paternity leave. (Ed Murray via Twitter)

(Ed Murray via Twitter)

So we know that Mayor Murray cannot schedule the police properly with overtime. We know that he can’t meet a budget. We know that he can’t deal with the heroin epidemic in Seattle. (In fact, his solution is to invite more heroin addicts here.) He can’t address the record levels of property crimes in our city. Not to mention that he can’t address the increased number of shootings in South Seattle.

With all of this on his plate, the action he takes is to propose paying city employees more for working less. Somehow, the priority for this city is to focus on eight weeks of parental leave. Two months!

That’s Mayor Murray’s focus!

If the City of Seattle can do without these people for two months, maybe it can do without them for three months, or four months.

With all the problems this city faces, we’re focusing on how people can take more time off? Or raise the minimum wage so that employees hours get cut? Or make it harder to get into Seattle and harder just to park your car?

This is the canary in the coalmine.

It all adds up to a city where the canary is not sounding so good. You can see it all around you.

A photo of Phillip Wayne Pitts during his arrest in Seattle. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Marshals S...

MyNorthwest Staff

U.S. Marshals arrest man wanted on attempted child rape charges in West Seattle

A 50-year-old man was arrested Tuesday on a felony warrant for attempted rape of a child and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

48 minutes ago

homegrown seattle close...

Jason Sutich

Homegrown to close remaining Seattle-area stores after years of financial challenges

Homegrown is preparing to close its downtown Seattle and Mercer Island sandwich shops as the company shifts its focus to catering.

1 hour ago

Hiring signs are displayed in Wheeling, Ill., Wednesday, October. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)Cr...

Associated Press

US job postings jumped sharply in September, a sign hiring could pick up

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers ramped up their job postings in September as stronger economic growth may be encouraging more hiring. Yet voters are headed to the polls Tuesday largely gloomy over an economy beset by higher prices. U.S. job openings jumped to 7.5 million from a revised 7.19 million in August, the Labor Department […]

1 hour ago

i-5 crash move over law...

Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show

‘Are we more reckless or more distracted?’: Gee and Ursula weigh road safety after three I-5 crashes involving troopers

Drivers crashed into Washington State Patrol vehicles on I-5 three times in 10 days, with the latest collision occurring Sunday near the Kent-Des Moines exit.

2 hours ago

wa election night...

Charlie Harger

Harger: 6 things I’m watching on election night, starting with a $250K check that would have been blocked 2 weeks ago

Drop boxes close at 8 p.m. sharp, and I’ll be on the air at KIRO Newsradio and YouTube Live from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. These are the six things I’m watching for.

2 hours ago

President Donald Trump after speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Monday, Nov...

Associated Press

Trump says US will halt $4B in aid to Israel as country shifts to buying military hardware instead

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the U.S. will stop providing $4 billion in aid each year to Israel in 2027 but will sell arms to its closest ally in the Middle East. The Republican president told Fox News Channel during a phone call on Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had approached […]

2 hours ago

The canary in the coalmine is starting to cough