Paula Wissel

A new benefit may be in store for you if you work in Seattle.  After September 1, 2012, employers in the city will be required to provide you with paid sick leave. It covers whether you're  full time, part time or work just occasionally in the city. 

Here's a link that to the specifics of the new paid sick leave law from the city of Seattle's Office for Civil Rights. For the most part, starting next month workers will earn 1 hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

King County Proposition 1 would replace what’s called the Youth Services Center at 12th Avenue and East Alder Street with a brand new facility.  The current buildings sit on 9 acres of a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood near Seattle University. The proposal includes selling off 3 corners of the property to developers.

As candidates go, Washington Supreme Court Justice Steve Gonzalez seems to have everything going for him. But his supporters worry his name may hurt him.

The King County Council approved an agreement with the investors who want to build an NBA arena in the SoDo district of Seattle. The council voted 6-3 to ratify the "memorandum of understanding" and "interlocal agreement," documents which define the terms of the arena deal.

"There is intrinsic value in this arena," said county councilmember Julia Patterson. She added that she had voted against Seattle's other sports arenas in the past, when she was in the Washington State Legislature, but voted yes on this deal.

In opposition, councilman Pete von Reichbauer said transportation issues had not been resolved. 

"If you build it, they will come – they can't come if they're stuck in traffic," he said.

The King County Sheriff’s Department does a poor job of investigating police misconduct complaints. That’s the conclusion of an outside audit of the department. This comes five years after the county pledged to implement improvements in the troubled law enforcement agency.

The rate for taking a taxi to Sea-Tac Airport from downtown Seattle is going up to $40.  That's an $8 increase from the previous flat rate of $32.

In the 1980’s, the Washington State Legislature considered making it the official state song. The measure failed, but “Louie Louie” is still listed on government websites as the “unofficial” state rock song.

Sure it’s got a good beat and it’s easy to dance to, but is a song about a Jamaican sailor longing for his girl really the best tune to represent Washington State?

How did this classic party song become so much a part of our cultural DNA, anyway?

Read More on "I Wonder Why ... ?"

Race can be a volatile subject.

Still, judging from the reaction to a recent "I Wonder Why ... ?" story, it’s something people are eager to talk about.

Charla Bear’s story explored why Seattle is one of the whitest big cities in the country, whiter than such places as Denver, Oklahoma City, even Minneapolis.

The response to the report was overwhelming.

Read more on "I Wonder Why ... ?"

Port officials say placing a new sports arena in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood without significant transportation improvements would be a "job killer." And one King County councilman wondered if area residents shouldn't vote on the idea.

Is a community at risk when cops don’t get enough sleep? Washington State University researcher Bryan Vila says it is. In a briefing before the King County Council, he said there are hazards associated with overworked officers.

He says lack of sleep affects your ability to think clearly and problem solve and do other things law enforcement needs to be skilled at, such as:

Sex offenders have to register when they get out of prison in Washington. So why shouldn’t people who commit a violent crime with a gun have to do the same?

It’s an idea being floated by the Seattle Police Department.

(Updated with audio story, attached.)

Seattle has had it with the flare of gunfire lighting up its streets – and that’s driving city leaders to pull out the stops to find solutions.

More aggressive search and seizures, stiffer local gun laws, increased police patrols, video cameras and now a technology that registers where a gun is fired in the city and notifies police seconds after the shooting – these are some of the tools Seattle officials are looking at to tamp down the violence.

Officials in King County say the adoption of a more advanced Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) a year ago has led to additional crimes being solved.

The regional AFIS is paid for through a property tax levy.  It costs the average homeowner in King County about $20 a year.

 It used to be if you can't go to a four year school, go to community college.  Now, it's like what are you supposed to do if you can't go to community college?   

  Daniel Jean Baptiste, South Seattle Community College student 

Tuition will go up at the state's public two-year colleges by an average of 12 percent this fall.  For a full-time student, tuition will go from $3,542 to $4,000--a 13 percent increase.

The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges voted on the increase to help offset $110 million in state cuts to the community and technical colleges. 

Many students, already struggling to afford school, say it threatens to put higher education out of reach.

Amazon will be having its annual shareholder meeting in Seattle on May 24 and Seattle area unions are gearing up. Today, they staged a protest in the plaza below Amazon's new headquarters buildings in the South Lake Union neighborhood.

It was something of a forerunner to a rally planned for the upcoming meeting.  Several union activists carried signs that read,

"Hello, Amazon, see you on May 24."