text:
Tag: encampments
Development, homelessness, human services, Mayor Durkan, Morning Fizz, Transit, Transportation, zoning	 January 14, 2021 January 14, 2021
An example of a lot in West Seattle that went up dramatically in value after a developer built a 300-unit apartment complex on site.
1. At Sound Transit's system expansion committee meeting today, agency staff will present new numbers showing a greatly reduced cost differential between the elevated and tunnel options for light rail between Ballard and West Seattle, according to multiple sources. Previous cost estimates indicated that any tunnel would be far more expensive than the agency's preferred elevated options, adding well over a billion dollars to the cost of the project; if the difference turns out to be negligible, a tunnel alignment would start looking better and better.
Sound Transit's preferred alternatives for the Ballard-to-West Seattle segment include both elevated and tunnel options, but the tunnel has always come with an asterisk: The agency will only consider building it if tunnel supporters can find third-party funding to pay the difference.
Last week, Sound Transit released new cost estimates showing that the Ballard-downtown-West Seattle alignment will cost between 53 and 59 percent more than the agency estimated in 2019, due primarily to increased property acquisition costs. As PubliCola reported, the most dramatic percentage increase is in the elevated West Seattle to downtown segment.
Joe Gray, Sound Transit's director of real property, said in an interview Wednesday that Sound Transit based its new property value estimates on the past several years of property sales in the neighborhoods along the alignment, without regard to the development potential of individual properties. For example, a vacant parking lot that is zoned for nine stories of residential development would be assessed not at the potential value of the future apartment building, but on the actual sales price of comparably zoned parking lots in the area over the past five years. If someone buys that parking lot and puts a 300-unit apartment complex on it (see image above), the difference in value becomes an unanticipated cost.
"It's an estimate, because we only have the data that's out there," Gray said. This could be one reason the West Seattle estimates went up more dramatically than those for Ballard—"it's a hot market," Gray said, and the large number of property sales is reflected in Sound Transit's higher estimates for that area. (Sound Transit spokesman Geoff Patrick confirmed that the difference between the cost increases in West Seattle and Ballard "is due to the property development currently underway in the area.")
An alternative approach would be to pick a different cost escalator—one based on the likelihood that West Seattle and Ballard will continue to grow, particularly along the light rail alignment—and come up with new, higher estimates based on that assumption. But Gray said that would require assumptions Sound Transit is not prepared to make; after all, "the bottom could fall out" of the real estate market. "We wish we had that crystal ball to say that growth is going to continue in the commercial and in the industrial [sectors], but we just can't," he said. "We have to go to on what the property is [worth] today. We don't guess."
That approach—basing cost estimates on recent sales—is conservative in the sense that it doesn't assume huge spikes in property values without direct evidence. In another sense, though, it could actually be risky: By assuming that property values will basically stay on their current trajectory into the indefinite future, even if their underlying zoning is designed specifically to encourage development that will dramatically increase its value, Sound Transit may be ensuring that it will have to come back with new, higher estimates year after year.
For now, the Sound Transit board and staff will consider a more immediate question: What will happen to the West Seattle-Ballard line? One possibility is that the new line (which is actually three separate segments, any of which could be built on its own) could be truncated or delayed. Another is that Sound Transit will give the tunnel options a closer look. Property values have less of an impact on tunnels because they just don't require as much property acquisition. But tunnels can go over budget, too—and some of the new costs revealed last week have nothing to do with property values.
2. After numerous delays, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is preparing to hire a director—which the agency calls a "CEO"—and is interviewing four finalists for the job this week. As part of that process, the candidates will be meeting separately with members of the Lived Experience Coalition, a group of homeless and formerly homeless people that has three representatives on the regional authority's implementation board. The idea, board member and Lived Experience Coalition founder Sara Rankin said, was to bring these marginalized people closer to power, in this case by giving them a chance to sit down with the potential leaders of the new agency.
On Wednesday, the board approved another informal meeting—this one with representatives of the Sound Cities Association, a group of suburban cities that are members of the authority. The SCA, which includes Renton, Kent, and other cities that are often at odds with Seattle and King County's approach to homelessness, reached out to ask for the "informal meet and greet," as former Bellevue mayor John Chelminiak put it. "If this body is going to be successful, there has to be some sharing and some building of trust, so I would be in favor of finding a way to do this," Chelminiak said.
Board member Simha Reddy, a doctor who provides health care to people experiencing homelessness, supported the motion for a different reason. "It's important for the candidates to know what they're getting into."
3. During a press conference announcing a city-led effort to vaccinate people living in congregate settings such as long-term care facilities on Tuesday, PubliCola asked Mayor Jenny Durkan whether the city had any plans for reaching the thousands of unsheltered and temporarily sheltered people experiencing homelessness during later vaccination phases. Homeless people who "live in or access services in congregate settings" won't get their turn in line until Phase B4 unless they're over 70 (Phase A2), and the current list of phases does not include any guidance at all about people living unsheltered, who may spend little or no time in congregate settings at all.
Durkan's response was nonspecific. "That is something we've been discussing a lot with the county and the state," she said, adding that "that phase is in robust planning" by city and county officials. "Some of those people live in congregate settings, like permanent supportive housing, and so setting up systems to get them vaccinated will be easier than those who are unsheltered."
This is probably an understatement. Because the vaccine must be administered in two doses, unsheltered people who receive the first shot must "keep a record of their vaccination status and when they need to follow up for a second dose," according to the CDC. Then, after hanging on to that piece of paper for nearly a month, they have to follow through on schedule. How Seattle and King County will track down unsheltered people who fail to show up for their second vaccination appointments remains unclear.
Filed under: encampments, light rail, Lived Experience Coalition, regional homelessness authority, Sound Transit
City Hall, Elections, Health, homelessness, human services, Morning Fizz, Parks, Police	 December 15, 2020 December 15, 2020
Election Speculation, Sweep Scheduled for Cal Anderson Park, and Sad News at the Seattle Indian Center
1. As speculation ramps up over who will jump into the race for mayor next year, a number of good and not-so-good rumors have come across Fizz's radar. Here's a look at the list of potential and supposedly potential candidates, in what we believe is the current general order of likelihood.
Decent Bets
City council president Lorena González. (González didn't respond to a text sent last week but her name was on the shortlist of candidates even before Mayor Jenny Durkan announced she wasn't running for reelection.
Deputy Mayor Casey Sixkiller. (Asked if he's running, Sixkiller—who helped craft a compromise homelessness plan for 2021—responded, "Since the Mayor's announcement last week I, like many others, have started thinking about the various ways I can contribute to the City and its future. But for now I'm focused on the important work of advancing Mayor Durkan's agenda while overseeing a number of the City's daily operations and engaging with our residents and businesses about ways we can support them as part of the City's ongoing response to COVID-19.")
Former mayoral candidate and state legislator and current Civic Ventures staffer Jessyn Farrell. (Farrell did not respond to a request for comment).
Former state legislator and current Grist executive Editor Brady Walkinshaw. (Walkinshaw did respond, but didn't say whether he's thinking of running.)
Chief Seattle Club director Colleen Echohawk didn't respond to our email but has reportedly been talking with consultants.
Council member Teresa Mosqueda, who would not confirm anything specific, was reportedly wavering on whether to run for reelection to her current seat this year, much less run for mayor. Word is that she has decided to run for a second term.
Scott Lindsay, the former Ed Murray advisor who now writes reports calling for a crackdown on homeless people in public spaces, has been making a lot of public appearances lately (most recently on KOMO 4's second installment of the "Seattle Is Dying" propaganda series), but he says he's "still looking" for "a 'back-to-basics' Obama-Democrat candidate who has a serious plan to address our city's homelessness and public safety challenges" to emerge. "[S]adly, it's a tough political environment for anyone to want to throw their hat in the ring," Lindsay said.
If you're reading this, we know you're someone who appreciates deeply sourced breaking news, features, and analysis—along with guest columns from local opinion leaders, ongoing coverage of the kind of stories that get short shrift in mainstream media, and informed, incisive opinion writing about issues that matter. Earlier this month, we took a look back at just some of the work we've been able to do thanks to generous contributions from our readers, but those pieces represent just a handful of the hundreds of stories we've published this year.
We know there are a lot of publications competing for your dollars and attention, but PubliCola truly is different. We cover Seattle and King County on a budget that is funded entirely and exclusively by reader contributions—no ads, no paywalls, ever.
A grab bag of names are on this list, including people who are unlikely to run and a number who said explicitly that they aren't running. Deputy mayor Mike Fong and former council member (and, briefly, mayor) Bruce Harrell are on this list, along with former council member/mayor Tim Burgess (who told us he isn't running, and that "it's time for younger leaders to emerge"), county executive Dow Constantine (who just announced his bid for reelection and told employees of the county's executive department last week unequivocally that he isn't running), and United Way of King County director Gordon McHenry.
McHenry's name has been floating around for the past week or so, but United Way King County spokesman Cesar Canizales told PubliCola, "Gordon is not running for public office. He is committed to the United Way of King County's mission and he has no intention of running for public office whatsoever. He has given us 100% assurance, unequivocally that he's not running."
2. Several dozen people living in tents at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill got notice this week that the city plans to clear the park on Wednesday morning, in preparation for the "reopening" of the park. Cal Anderson has been at the center of protests against police violence since June. Seattle Police Department officers have cleared the park several times before—including in August, when several activists occupied the shelter house in the middle of the park—but this is the first time campers have received prior notice, according to an encampment resident.
"They have never given us notice before—they've just sort of shown up at five or six in the morning and announced it," the resident, who said their name was Mud, said. "They don't like us to be prepared, and I don't know how they do it, but they usually catch us when our guard is down."
It's also the first time, to PubliCola's knowledge, that the city has orchestrated an encampment removal during the pandemic without the Navigation Team, a group of police officers and social workers who were responsible for removing encampments until earlier this year. The city council disbanded the team as part of the 2020 budget rebalancing package in August. The Parks Department, which already has the authority to remove encampments on its own, plans to orchestrate this one with backup from SPD.
The city has mostly suspended encampment sweeps this year in light of an explicit CDC recommendation that cities allow unsheltered people to "remain where they are" to prevent the spread of COVID.
The Parks Department says they need to remove the encampment to reopen and reactivate the park, with programming that will include "music, art, community volunteer events, and ongoing offering of social service supports to those in need," according to a spokeswoman for the department. Continue reading "Election Speculation, Sweep Scheduled for Cal Anderson Park, and Sad News at the Seattle Indian Center" →
Filed under: Cal Anderson Park, election 2021, encampments, Seattle Indian Center, Seattle Parks Department, Seattle Police Department
City Council, homelessness, Mayor Durkan, Morning Fizz, Parks, Transportation	 December 11, 2020 December 11, 2020
Council Plans Police Budget Cuts, Parks Board Debates Encampment Sweeps
This post was updated with additional details about the SPD budget provisos on Friday, December 11.
1. City council members Teresa Mosqueda and Lisa Herbold have introduced legislation that makes good on Mosqueda's earlier proposal to cut $5.4 million from the Seattle Police Department's 2021 budget in response to the police department's fourth-quarter budget request for that amount this year. The council decided to grant the request but expressed its "intent" to come back with legislation to cut the department's budget by the same amount next year.
SPD said it needed the extra funding to essentially backfill the cost of protest-related overtime, unanticipated family leave, and higher-than-expected separation pay for officers who are leaving. Mosqueda and other council members countered this week that the police knew perfectly well that the budget explicitly did not fund any additional overtime, and that they were supposed to stay within their budget.
After some behind-the-scenes discussion about whether Acting Police Chief Adrian Diaz would be personally liable for unpaid wages if the council didn't come up with the money, budget committee members decided last week to express the council's "intent" to cut $5.4 million from SPD's budget in 2021, most likely using the savings from higher-than-expected attrition.
Herbold said on Wednesday that she wasn't "a person who is rigid in saying that I would not support more overtime," but "there needs to be a consequence for a continued large expenditure of overtime resources."
The council adopted the 2021 budget in November; Mosqueda's proposal would cut that budget. "I am not interested in giving the department one more penny," Mosqueda told PubliCola. "The reality is, we are in this situation because the department made managerial decisions to spend money on overtime instead of on other purposes."
2. The budget committee also rejected a separate proposal to lift 13 provisos (spending restrictions) that the council imposed on SPD's budget in August. The provisos withhold a total of $2.9 million until the department makes an array of cuts, including laying off officers who work on specialized units like the Harbor Patrol, SWAT and the (theoretically disbanded) Navigation Team.
The mayor's office told PubliCola that SPD hasn't been able to make most of the cuts the council requested, because they require "out of order layoffs" that would violate provisions in the city's police-union contracts that require the least-senior officers to be laid off first. The city's labor negotiation team will need to bargain with both unions before those layoffs can take place; in the meantime, SPD hasn't laid off any officers, so the department still needs to pay their salaries.
As a result, city budget director Ben Noble told the council, SPD needed the council to lift all 13 provisos so that the department can use the $2.9 million to fill holes in its budget. Mosqueda told PubliCola on Friday that "it's premature to lift the proviso" before the council knows by how much SPD will underspend its budget in November and December. SPD, Mosqueda said, was only "in that spot because they failed to stay within [the] spending authorized" by the council in August. Noble maintained Wednesday that there won't be enough of an underspend to fund the $2.9 million shortfall.
3. The Seattle Board of Parks Commissioners and the Park District Oversight Committee were scheduled to discuss the issue of encampments in parks during a joint meeting Thursday night, but a lengthy discussion about whether to permanently limit car traffic on Lake Washington Boulevard (in which historic-preservation advocates tossed around buzzwords like "redlining" and "equity" to justify turning the recently calmed roadway into Lake Shore Drive) pushed the discussion to the board's next meeting in January.
Still, the commission gave parks department staff, including a beleaguered-looking Parks Director Jesús Aguirre, a preview of next month's discussion, when they'll consider weighing in formally on the city's decision to put a pause on sweeps during the COVID pandemic. Commissioner Tom Byers, a mayoral staffer during the Charley Royer administration (1978-1990) expressed frustration that neither Aguirre nor anyone else at the city would commit to removing encampments and telling people to move along. When Royer was mayor, Byers said, the city and businesses would work together to ensure that unsheltered people couldn't "take over parks," and the city should show a similar commitment to keeping parks "clean" now. Continue reading "Council Plans Police Budget Cuts, Parks Board Debates Encampment Sweeps" →
Filed under: budget 2021, encampments, Parks Board, police overtime, Seattle Police Department, Teresa Mosqueda
City Council, homelessness, housing, human services, Mayor Durkan, Parks	 December 2, 2020 December 3, 2020
After LIHI Moves 15 Into Tiny Houses, City Accuses Agency of "Circumventing" Process Meant to Ensure Equitable Shelter Access
Image via Seattle.gov
By Erica C. Barnett
Over the weekend, Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat argued that the solution to homelessness in Seattle—a problem that afflicts more than 12,000 people in King County—was to build 1,000 new tiny house villages and "enforce the laws" against "camping" in public areas by removing the people who remain.
To demonstrate his point, Westneat used the example of John C. Little Park, Sr. in the New Holly mixed-income housing complex, where more than a dozen tents have occupied a space near the restroom and a playground used by the community. In Westneat's telling, workers from the Low Income Housing Institute showed up at the camp and offered them spots in tiny house villages—encampments that offer case management, privacy, and a sense of safety and community—and within "15 minutes," nearly everyone had agreed to leave.
All that is true. But there is much more to the story. And the debate over what happened at John C. Little, Sr. Park is a microcosm of the issues Seattle will face in transitioning city-led homeless outreach from a system led by the Navigation Team to one led primarily by providers but housed, as before, inside the city.
"My office asked if LIHI was aware of any spaces where folks could, basically, safely camp and not be near playgrounds, and they offered to move them into some tiny houses that had become available. They were very knowledgeable and treated everyone with dignity."—District 2 Council Member Tammy Morales
The first thing to know about the John C. Little encampment LIHI didn't discover the encampment by accident—they were asked to go there by city council member Tammy Morales, who represents New Holly, at the behest of residents whose kids haven't been able to use the playground in months. Morales said she saw her approach as a win-win: New Holly residents "got their playground back for their kids who are at home," and 15 people, including one man who had just returned to the encampment from Harborview with a diagnosis of pneumonia, got safer places to stay.
"My office asked if LIHI was aware of any spaces where folks could, basically, safely camp and not be near playgrounds, and they offered to move them into some tiny houses that had become available," Morales said. "They were very knowledgeable and treated everyone with dignity."
The relocation of the people living in the park was a win for LIHI too: Proof that people prefer to move to tiny houses over traditional shelter, and that LIHI—although not authorized by the city to do outreach in encampments—is well-positioned to do so. After the move, LIHI director Sharon Lee sent a letter to HSD director Jason Johnson, deputy mayor Casey Sixkiller, and Seattle Parks Department director Jesús Aguirre touting their success at John C. Little as an example of "a new way of doing outreach."
"LIHI failed to report and bypassed an intentionally designed shelter referral process, implemented to strive for equity of access and prioritize those most in need of the City's limited shelter resources."—Seattle Human Services Department
"LIHI staff includes people with lived experience and outreach skills who are effective at working directly with unsheltered homeless people," Lee wrote. "We understand LIHI is not currently being paid by HSD for 'outreach' nor included by HSD staff in outreach planning, but we believe, as shown by last week's example and our work at CHOP that we are particularly effective in the field."
LIHI's decision to move people from the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone directly into tiny house villages in July exasperated HSD, whose director, Jason Johnson, argued that LIHI was cherry-picking clients for tiny houses that should have been available to any outreach provider in the city, not just LIHI. LIHI countered that they had to act quickly because the Seattle Police Department had threatened to remove people from the park—people that, she said, the Navigation Team had failed to shelter before LIHI came along.
Lee's letter touting a similar action at New Holly sparked a similarly frustrated response from HSD. In an email to city council homelessness committee chair Andrew Lewis, an HSD staffer, speaking for the agency, wrote:
LIHI is required by contract to report vacancies at tiny house villages and the Lakefront Community House to HSD, so that folks living unsheltered in tough conditions across Seattle may access these sought-after public resources. In this instance LIHI failed to report and bypassed an intentionally designed shelter referral process, implemented to strive for equity of access and prioritize those most in need of the City's limited shelter resources. By circumventing this process, eleven individuals were prioritized for referrals as a result of a location-based outreach effort—potentially taking those highly sought after shelter resources away from other unsheltered individuals with higher needs in other parts of the city. …
It's also worth mentioning that LIHI is not contracted by the City to do outreach, nor to decide who can or cannot access tiny houses and enhanced shelter. At times, LIHI has shied away from taking in more high-need individuals into their shelters, leaving very vulnerable people on the streets—which is one of the reasons why outreach is conducted by professionally trained outreach agencies like DESC's HOST program, Chief Seattle Club, Urban League and REACH. This system-wide perspective is something contracted agencies on their own do not have, but would continue to be leveraged by the Unsheltered Outreach and Response Team or HOPE team, in partnership with providers, this year and beyond.
The new HOPE program, which was part of a compromise between the mayor and council on homelessness outreach and engagement, is supposed to serve as a sort of governmental nerve center connecting outreach providers in the field with the most appropriate shelter and service referrals for unsheltered people they encounter in the field.
We know there are a lot of publications competing for your dollars and attention, but PubliCola truly is different. We cover Seattle and King County on a budget that is funded entirely and exclusively by reader contributions—no ads, no paywalls, no secondary businesses behind the scenes.
Whether it will work that way is an open question. Transitioning to a system where outreach providers use a city-run system to make referrals will require significant resources as well as major culture shifts within agencies accustomed to seeing the city as a roadblock. LIHI's decision to go around the process the city is working to establish is just one example of how agencies may choose to circumvent a new centralized system that, in the interest of fairness to people living unsheltered, creates an extra layer of process.
Lee, who had been unaware of HSD's response to her email touting LIHI's success at moving the park residents into tiny houses, said she doesn't understand why HSD doesn't see LIHI's actions at both John C. Little and in Cal Anderson Park—which, after all, result in fewer people sleeping in parks, regardless of which particular people they are—as a positive outcome. Continue reading "After LIHI Moves 15 Into Tiny Houses, City Accuses Agency of "Circumventing" Process Meant to Ensure Equitable Shelter Access" →
Filed under: COVID-19, encampments, Low Income Housing Institute, Sharon Lee, tammy morales, Tiny house villages
City Council, City Hall, homelessness, housing, human services, Mayor Durkan, The C Is for Crank	 October 5, 2020 October 4, 2020
Progress on Outreach, Shelter, and Homeless Services Depends on Mayor-Council Unity. Good Luck With That!
As Mayor Jenny Durkan rolls out the details of her proposed 2021 budget, an image has begun to emerge of the city's post-COVID approach to unsheltered homelessness. Although the city budget office dropped the 751-page "budget book" last week, Durkan has continued to stage-manage announcements about specific budget line items, making it difficult for reporters and the public to get details about the budget until the mayor is ready to put out a press release.
The biggest headlines, so far, are the city's decision to lease "up to 300" hotel rooms for people experiencing homelessness—a significant change to the city's previous policy of placing most people in large, "deintensified" congregate facilities; and the dissolution of the Navigation Team, which will be reconstituted as a new "outreach and response" team that currently lacks a catchy name.
Bye-bye, Navigation Team, Hello "Outreach and Response" Team
Last week, Durkan's office put out a scorched-earth press release announcing that in light of the council's decision to eliminate the Navigation Team, which has removed homeless encampments since 2017, she would cease all city-led outreach and engagement efforts immediately and lay off current team members or reassign them to other duties. In a letter to the council that accompanied the announcement, deputy mayor Mike Fong said the Navigation Team would stop responding to encampments and begin disposing of people's property the city currently has in storage, returning the team to a pre-Navigation Team world where the only option for removing encampments was to call the police.
The letter sparked outrage on the council, and a retort from council members Tammy Morales and Lisa Herbold that the council had never proposed eliminating the Navigation Team without replacing its outreach functions. In fact, the two council members noted in a joint statement, they had explicitly allocated $1.4 million in savings from eliminating the team to city-contracted outreach providers so that the outreach work the team has been doing during the COVID-19 epidemic could continue without a hitch.
"Let's be clear. The Council had a plan. That plan would increase services and allow the Navigation Team a smooth cooperative transition," Morales said. "What the Mayor is offering this week is counter to that plan, and honestly doesn't serve our housed or unhoused neighbors. Neither does it start to repair the relationship between our constituents living outside and our City."
Complicating matters further is the fact that it's still unclear how the mayor's proposed outreach and response team will work and how many encampment removals the newly reconstituted team will do after the mayor's COVID-19 "moratorium" on sweeps expires.
The role the new team will play in "coordinating" outreach—and, specifically, how much authority the city will have over the day-to-day operations of nonprofit outreach providers that receive funding from the city—remains similarly unclear. What seems likely is that the new team will oversee outreach providers in a more direct way than the city has before—telling them, for example, where to deploy and which clients to serve, even if those clients are not among a provider's traditional client base.
The new team may also require service providers to track metrics similar to those that the city council previously required of the Navigation Team, including things like shelter and service acceptance rates and the number of contacts a provider has with individual unsheltered people. Efforts to increase the amount of data providers give the city could be hampered, however, by the fact that providers don't currently have the ability to track this kind of information; even the Navigation Team has reported difficulty, for example, tracking the number of people who receive referrals to shelter and actually follow up on those referrals.
New Shelter, Hotel Rooms, and Permanent Housing
The mayor's 2021 budget proposal also includes COVID-19 relief funding "from the City reserves and other funding sources" for 125 new "enhanced" shelter spaces—24/7 shelters where people can store their belongings and have a guaranteed bed—and "up to 300" hotel rooms that will be available for about 10 months. Continue reading "Progress on Outreach, Shelter, and Homeless Services Depends on Mayor-Council Unity. Good Luck With That!" →
Filed under: Casey Sixkiller, encampments, Human Services Department, Navigation Team, permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing
Featured, homelessness, housing, human services, Mayor Durkan	 May 27, 2020 May 26, 2020
Co-LEAD Allowed to Start Moving People from Seattle Streets Into Hotels, Too Late to Help Those Removed In Last Three Sweeps
Bundling up items to drag outside the police barricades during an encampment removal on South Weller Street last week.
More than six weeks after the Seattle-based Public Defender Association launched its Co-LEAD program in Burien, the diversion program has come home to Seattle and began serving five homeless clients last week. Co-LEAD provides hotel rooms, case management, and other basic supports to people experiencing homelessness who have been in the criminal justice system and lack legal options for making money during the COVID-19 pandemic. After launching the program in Burien in April, the PDA had hoped to enroll some of the people who were dispersed throughout the city during several recent encampment sweeps, but were unable to do so because the city moved ahead with the removals before Co-LEAD case workers could identify and enroll new participants.
Since announcing the "suspension" of encampment removals except in the most "extreme" circumstances, Mayor Jenny Durkan has overseen three major encampment sweeps, removing dozens of tents from three locations in Ballard and the International District. The latest two removals were last week.
The city says it did weeks of prior outreach at every encampment it has removed during the pandemic, a claim that some people living in the encampments contradicted. On its blog and in a series of bellicose Twitter posts, HSD said that 63 people were referred to shelter during two encampment removals last week, and claimed that "some campers admitted" to showing up from somewhere else on the morning of the sweep just to get shelter referrals. HSD has not responded to questions about how many of those people actually showed up at shelter, how many people simply dispersed before the morning of each sweep, and how many people who showed up at shelter are still indoors.
"Programs such as Co-Lead should be provided two weeks to offer motels to the homeless at South King; consequently, we are willing to allow the South King encampment removal to be delayed until Sunday, May 31st." —Letter from Interim CDA, Chinese Information and Service Center, Friends of Little Saigon, SCIDPDA, CIDBIA, The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, APICAT, Kin On, and Helping Link/Mot Dau Noi to Mayor Jenny Durkan before two encampment removals in the Chinatown International District last week
Despite calls from advocates and the city council to move people living outdoors into individual rooms, as the CDC recommends, the Durkan Administration has continued moving people into mass shelters and tiny house villages, saying that people are more at risk living outdoors than they are living in congregate settings. (Generally speaking, the CDC disagrees.) People living at the Ballard Commons were removed on May 4; the camps on South King and South Weller Streets, in the International District, followed on May 20 and May 21, respectively.
Twice in a row, Co-LEAD has hoped to move at least some displaced encampment residents into blocks of hotel rooms it has reserved around the Seattle area, but has been unsuccessful.
During this unprecedented time of crisis, your support for truly independent journalism is more critical than ever before. The C Is for Crank is a one-person operation supported entirely by contributions from readers like you. Your $5, $10, and $20 monthly donations allow me to do this work as my full-time job.
Every supporter who maintains or increases their contribution during this difficult time helps to ensure that I can keep covering the issues that matter to you, with empathy, relentlessness, and depth.
In Ballard, the PDA was unable to work out a deal with the city before the camp was swept.
In the International District, where LEAD again offered to enroll people in Co-LEAD and move them to hotels, the program actually had the support of neighbors who wanted the two encampments gone. In a letter to Durkan, nine organizations in the Chinatown International District, including Interim Community Development Association, asked the mayor to "bring all possible resources to bear to serve the needs of the people living unhoused on South King and South Weller, preferably sheltering these individuals in permanent or transitional housing, which includes motel/hotel/quarantine sites" before doing the sweeps.
Continue reading "Co-LEAD Allowed to Start Moving People from Seattle Streets Into Hotels, Too Late to Help Those Removed In Last Three Sweeps" →
Filed under: encampment removals, encampments, homelessness, Human Services Department, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, Mayor Durkan, Navigation Team
Featured, Health, homelessness, Mayor Durkan	 April 28, 2020 April 27, 2020
As Tents Proliferate, It's Time to Figure Out What Comes Next
One of the most obvious sidewalk-level impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic, in Seattle as well as other West Coast cities, has been the proliferation of homeless encampments in public spaces. Prior to the epidemic, the encampment-clearing Navigation Team, aided by the police and the parks department, were removing about 100 encampments a month, 96 percent of them without providing any prior notice, outreach, or offers of shelter or services to the people living there. Since mid-March, the city reports that the Navigation Team has shifted its role and is now offering information about "expanded shelter resources," testing referrals, and hygiene kits that include bars of soap—not terribly useful without a ready source of running water.
However, the team was still doing sweeps—which the city refers to, in language that removes humans from the equation, as "cleans"—through mid-March. After that, they moved to doing "litter picks," another odd term that implies people living unsheltered are wantonly tossing trash about, when the reality is that only a handful of established encampments get trash bags and pickup from the city. In all the "site journals" the team produces during their operations, the "before clean" photos are zoomed-in, prurient—a bottle of pee, an extreme close-up of a piece of feces on a sidewalk, a tight crop on two needles sitting on a ledge. The "after clean" shots, in contrast, are zoomed out, territorial—they take in the entirety of an area, demonstrating the fruits of a job well done.
But you can't deny the encampments. They're everywhere, from Ballard to Highland Park to Beacon Hill. The city, county, and state have failed to provide housing for the thousands of homeless people living unsheltered, and the thousands more who spend their nights on shelter floors, in transitional motel spaces, or moving from couch to street to couch. That was before the epidemic. Now, they've failed to provide safe places for most of these people to go.
The tents, sprouting everywhere, are the fruits of that inaction. There simply is no "good" story to tell on housing or shelter right now, because so many people are unhoused, and because the shelters aren't safe. The city of Seattle has created just 95 new spaces—half of them in tiny houses, half in shelter—for people to sleep, and "solved" the problem of overcrowded shelters by opening bigger spaces so that people can sleep head to toe, six feet apart. People are trying to survive an epidemic in conditions no elected official would want for their own family members—sharing air, bathrooms, and common areas at a time when the rest of us are ordered to stay at home and far away from other people.
The county has opened hundreds of hotel rooms, but thousands more are needed, and the city has resisted even discussing the idea. On Monday morning, city council member Teresa Mosqueda quizzed staffers from the City Budget Office about what the city is doing to provide individual spaces for homeless people to shelter in place; the answer was that the city was "focused on trying to provide additional space for our existing shelters" and that the county was "taking the lead on isolation and quarantine rooms," which was not what Mosqueda asked about.
Meanwhile, the tents proliferate. And even if the city decides to follow the lead of the county, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities and find the money to put people in hotels, it's unclear what happens next. It seems impossible, in this moment, to think of returning to the old system of endless sweeps—if nothing else, the city is now in a budget crisis and the Navigation Team costs more than $8 million a year—but no one at any governmental level has proposed an exit strategy for all these people, whose current living situation is untenable in the long run. Elected officials say we have to deal with the immediate crisis in front of us and worry about funding and housing options later. Advocates say there has to be a solution that doesn't retraumatize people by returning them to chaotic, overcrowded shelters. Right now, we're still in a middle of a crisis, but things are also on hold. Perhaps that creates some space to consider our priorities, what we owe to each other, and the consequences of doing things the way we've always done them.
During this unprecedented time of crisis, your support for truly independent journalism is more critical than ever before. The C Is for Crank is a one-person operation supported entirely by contributions from readers like you. Your $5, $10, and $20 monthly donations allow me to do this work as my full-time job. Every supporter who maintains or increases their contribution during this difficult time helps to ensure that I can keep covering the issues that matter to you, with empathy, relentlessness, and depth. If you don't wish to become a monthly contributor, you can always make a one-time donation via PayPal, Venmo (Erica-Barnett-7) or by mailing your contribution to P.O. Box 14328, Seattle, WA 98104. Thank you for reading, and supporting, The C Is for Crank.
Filed under: COVID-19, encampments, homelessness, Navigation Team
City Council, Featured, homelessness, Mayor Durkan, Morning Crank	 February 25, 2020 February 25, 2020
Council Scrutinizes Navigation Team Report: No Progress on Shelter as Zero-Notice Encampment Removals Hit Highest Rate Ever
1. Seattle Police Department Lt. Sina Ebinger, the Navigation Team leader who ordered a private trash contractor to haul away items from her house earlier this month, has reportedly been reassigned to other duties while the Office of Police Accountability conducts an investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, Sili Kalepo, the field coordinator who reportedly oversaw the trash pickup at Ebinger's house, has reportedly been put on administrative leave by the Human Services Department.
SPD spokesman Patrick Michaud said the department isn't "going to have any further comment on this investigation until it is complete" and suggested I could find out Lt. Ebinger's current employment status with the department by filing a public disclosure request, which I have done. A spokesman for HSD said he couldn't provide any details on an ongoing investigation but confirmed that Kalepo's conduct is under review.
2. The Navigation Team's encampment removal practices will come under scrutiny from the council's special committee on homelessness Wednesday, when HSD director Jason Johnson and team director Tara Beck present a report responding to a number of council questions, including how the Navigation Team determines that an encampment is an "obstruction" that must be removed right away and how the team plans to increase the number of displaced encampment residents who actually show up to shelter. (These quarterly reports, which always cover a different set of questions, are required under a budget proviso adopted several years back.)
Under Mayor Jenny Durkan, the Navigation Team has moved away from providing 72 hours' notice and offers of shelter and services before removing unauthorized encampments—the "navigation" part of the equation—to a model where encampments are routinely designated as "obstructions" and removed without warning.
The report makes clear that the Navigation Team considers any encampment located in a public park or right-of-way to be an "obstruction" that can be removed without notice or outreach, regardless of whether it is actually impeding anyone's use of the park or right-of-way.
The latest quarterly report confirms the continued escalation of this trend, noting that in the last three months of 2019, the team provided the once-standard 72 hours' notice and outreach to just 11 encampments, compared to 292 encampments that were deemed "obstructions" or "hazards" and removed without warning. Put another way, the Navigation Team deemed 96 percent of the encampments it removed in 2019 to be exempt from the once-standard outreach and notification rules adopted in 2017. At the same time, the total number of encampment removals has continued to escalate; in the last quarter of 2019, according to a memo by council central staff, the number of encampment removals doubled compared to one year earlier.
The C Is for Crank is supported entirely by generous contributions from readers like you. If you enjoy the breaking news, commentary, and deep dives on issues that matter to you, please support this work by donating a few bucks a month to keep this reader-supported, ad-free site going. Your $5, $10, and $20 monthly donations allow me to do this work as my full-time job, so please become a sustaining supporter now. If you don't wish to become a monthly contributor, you can always make a one-time donation via PayPal, Venmo (Erica-Barnett-7) or by mailing your contribution to P.O. Box 14328, Seattle, WA 98104. Thank you for keeping The C Is for Crank going and growing. I'm truly grateful for your support.
These numbers only account for encampments removed by the Navigation Team; as I've reported, some police officers have also been trained to remove encampments directly, without providing outreach or shelter referrals; during a three-month period last year, police authorized to remove encampments reported 515 "interactions" with people living in unsanctioned encampments, and made just nine referrals to shelter.
The report makes clear that the Navigation Team considers any encampment located in a public park or right-of-way to be an "obstruction" that can be removed without notice or outreach, regardless of whether it is actually impeding anyone's use of the park or right-of-way. Citing the definition of "obstruction" from the city's rules on unauthorized encampments, which includes "people, tents, personal property, garbage, debris or other objects related to an encampment that: are in a City park or on a public sidewalk," the Navigation Team's report argues: "Each of the items in the list above stand independently from one another, meaning only one statement needs to be true for an encampment to qualify as an obstruction." As I've reported, this rule has already been interpreted broadly; for example, one encampment slated for removal last year was located down a steep, dangerous slope inside a grove of trees far away from any public path.
Only about 6 percent of the people the Navigation Team contacted—which is, itself, a fraction of the number of people living in encampments—ended up in shelter.
The Navigation Team did not respond to the council's request for detailed information about each "obstruction" that justified an encampment removal. Instead, it provided a list of locations where "obstruction" encampments were removed, along with the number of "contacts" the team made at each encampment in the weeks before removing it. What's most notable about this list is that the "contacts" column is a sea of "N/A"s—"not applicable," meaning that the team removed tents, trash and personal property without talking to anyone who lived on-site at all.
When the Navigation Team did make contacts, the report shows, fewer than one in four accepted referrals to shelter, and of those, fewer than one in four actually showed up at the shelter to which they were referred. Put another way, only about 6 percent of the people the Navigation Team contacted—which is, itself, a fraction of the number of people living in encampments—ended up in shelter. This contrasts sharply with HSD's own "performance-based contracting" standards for other outreach providers, who must refer at least 60 percent of their clients to shelter. According to the central staff memo, "There is no data to indicate that the Navigation Team's effectiveness in connecting people with shelter improved" in the past quarter. Continue reading "Council Scrutinizes Navigation Team Report: No Progress on Shelter as Zero-Notice Encampment Removals Hit Highest Rate Ever" →
Filed under: city council, encampments, Human Services Department, Navigation Team, shelter, unauthorized encampments
City Council, Featured, gender, homelessness, human services, King County, legislature, Morning Crank	 February 19, 2020 February 19, 2020
County Plans All-Gender "Potty Pilot," Socialist Denounces Progressive, and Tiny House Villages Expand
Photo via LIHI.
1. The city council adopted legislation allowing up to 40 new "transitional encampments," including so-called tiny house villages as well as tent encampments and safe parking lots for people living in their cars, but not without fireworks. The bill, sponsored by council member Kshama Sawant, also loosens several land-use restrictions that limit where encampments can be located and how long they can remain in place. Council freshman Alex Pedersen proposed several amendments that Sawant said would destroy the bill, including one that would reduce the number of permitted encampments from 40 to 15, one that would have limited permits to "tiny house villages," rather than tent encampments, and one that would have reinstated a sunset date.
Pedersen's amendments prompted a strong rebuke from Sawant, who called his proposal to reduce the number of permitted encampments "a no vote in disguise."
"Since council member Pedersen obviously opposes expansion of tiny house villages, I would prefer that the was honest about it and voted no on the bill," Sawant said. "It's a sleight of hand that he's engaging in. … I would urge the public to be aware of what is really going on."
Sawant's supporters, who had filled council chambers in response to one of her regular "PACK CITY HALL!" action alerts, applauded. After their cheers died down, council member Lisa Herbold implored Sawant to stop "impugning the motives of [her] colleagues" and noted that Sawant did not similarly denounce council member Andrew Lewis, who proposed a similar amendment limiting the number of encampments to 20 last week. "I would just like us to show a little grace for each other up on this dais," Herbold said, to boos.
Sawant responded that she answered only to "ordinary people," not politicians, and reiterated that Pedersen did not have "good intentions," to more applause. Council member Debora Juarez, who was running the meeting, reminded the audience, "this is not a rally," and said that the council agrees with each other "95 percent of the time." When that comment was met with derisive laughter, Juarez gave up, muttering "Jesus" into the hot mic and moving on with the vote. The bill ultimately passed, without Pedersen's amendments or support, 6-1.
2. Sawant also had harsh words for state Rep. Nicole Macri (D-43), the sponsor of legislation that would enable King County to pass a business payroll tax to pay for homeless services. Sawant's beef with Macri is that, according to Sawant, she hasn't done enough to ensure that the bill won't contain language preempting the city from passing its own "big business" tax, which would derail Sawant's "Tax Amazon" campaign.
Sawant proposed a resolution "oppos[ing] opposes the passage of any legislation which preempts the city from taxing big business" and denouncing Macri's proposal for capping the county's taxing authority at 0.2 percent of a business's total payroll.
Macri, Sawant said, should not be viewed as a "progressive hero," because "you only get to be called a progressive if you are absolutely fighting for a progressive agenda." She then recounted a conversation with Macri, in which Macri supposedly told her that "'as a fellow progressive, our lives are hard.'"
"I don't think progressive politicians can complain that their lives are hard, because the lives of ordinary people are a thousand times harder," Sawant said.
In her day job, Macri is deputy director of the Downtown Emergency Service Center, which provides direct services, low-barrier shelter, and housing to some of the "hardest to house" people in Seattle. As a legislator, she passed a major eviction reform bill last year, and has championed funding for housing, health care, and services for people experiencing homelessness. By denouncing Macri as a tool of the ruling elite, Sawant is walking out on a very thin limb. There are Democrats in the legislature who are actually arguing for preemption. Macri isn't one of them. Trashing her as a sellout may win applause (it certainly did at Monday's meeting) but rallies don't always pass legislation. That's something Sawant learned again on Monday, when her resolution failed 5-2.
3. After an internal survey, numerous meetings, and the creation of an alliterative shorthand—#PottyPilotProject—King County and the city have abandoned plans to replace single-gender restrooms with gender-inclusive ones at the new Regional Homelessness Authority headquarters at the county-owned Yesler Building downtown. According to a July 27 memo obtained through a records request, the plan to retrofit existing restrooms as all-gender facilities "is not moving forward." However, the "potty pilot" is still on track for other county departments.
Continue reading "County Plans All-Gender "Potty Pilot," Socialist Denounces Progressive, and Tiny House Villages Expand" →
Filed under: "Amazon Tax, Alex Pedersen, all-gender restrooms, encampments, head tax, homelessness, kshama sawant, Nicole Macri, state legislature, Tiny house villages
campaign finance, City Council, Elections, featuredslider, headliner, homelessness, human services, Mayor Durkan, Morning Crank	 July 23, 2019 July 28, 2019
Morning Crank Part 1: City Acknowledges Navigation Team Rarely Provides Services or Outreach
1. Seattle Human Services Department director Jason Johnson acknowledged that the city's Navigation Team is now dedicated primarily to removing tents and people from public spaces, rather than providing outreach and services, at a meeting of the city council's special committee on homelessness on Monday.
In an update on the work of the Navigation Team—recently expanded to include two new "system navigators" after the nonprofit that had been trying to connect homeless people living in encampments to services, REACH, said it would no longer participate in removals—Johnson told council members that "most" of the people the Navigation Team encounters when clearing out encampments "are complying, meaning they are moving themselves and their belongings out of the right-of-way and are not engaging in a services conversation with the system navigators." The navigators were supposed to replace REACH outreach workers, who stopped participating in removals when it became clear that their presence was harming their ability to build trust with unsheltered people traumatized by frequent sweeps.
This is hardly surprising—under new policies implemented by Mayor Jenny Durkan, the Navigation Team now focuses overwhelmingly on removing "obstruction" encampments without providing any prior notice or outreach, which tends to engender hostility and mistrust—but it was an unusually blunt acknowledgement of the facts on the ground.
Deputy Mayor David Moseley added that the city has no problem with people living outdoors—they just aren't allowed to have any possessions that would make it slightly safer for them to do so. "Our mantra has been, it's perfectly fine for you to stay here, but your equipment that's obstructing the public right-of-way can't." (He clarified that by "equipment" he meant things like "your tent that is obstructing a wheelchair.") Tess Colby, the mayor's homelessness advisor, added that homeless people had been "taking over" dugouts, picnic areas, and P-Patches, and the Navigation Team's goal is to "get the public spaces back for public use." In other words, unsheltered people are allowed to exist in public spaces, but they can't have any type of shelter from the elements—a view that may comply with the recent 9th Circuit ruling that homeless people have a right to sleep, but is somewhat at odds with Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
In any case, there aren't enough places for people to go. Even leaving aside the fact that directing traumatized people to mats on the ground hardly qualifies as"outreach and services" most people living unsheltered require, the Human Services Department's own numbers, which they also presented Monday, show that there are, on average, only 17 beds of any kind available to the Navigation Team. Last month, the Navigation Team referred a total of 18 people to shelter, according to the city's data.
2. NEW at 1pm Tuesday: On Tuesday, the city's LGBTQ Commission sent a letter to Mayor Durkan and the council criticizing the recent increase in encampment removals, including the sharp increase in removals with no notice to residents. Citing reporting by this site, the commission wrote, "The current policy of encampment removals does nothing to solve the underlying issues that lead to homelessness, and instead this escalation seems to be a way to make it appear that the city is taking action versus gathering the political will to raise revenue to support real change." Noting that LGBTQ+ and other marginalized people are more likely to become homeless, the letter continues, "Until there are adequate numbers of safe short-term beds available, there is a significant risk that folks whose tents are confiscated or destroyed in an encampment removal will have even less shelter from the elements than they had before."
3. Also at Monday's meeting, Johnson confirmed that the "see a tent, report a tent" posters that made the social-media rounds last weekend were not produced by the city, but added that the city does consider the Find It Fix It app an appropriate place to report people experiencing homelessness to the Navigation Team. "If there is someone you're concerned with who is sleeping outdoors it is also a way to get that on the Navigation Team's radar," Johnson said. "It is through the Find It Fix It app that we can be alerted to someone who is in distress and may be in need of services."
Council member Teresa Mosqueda asked Johnson to clarify that reporting tents is not the intended use of the app. "What is our response to people who have used the app in this inappropriate way?" she asked. "You can use the Find It Fix It app to report all sorts of inappropriate things," Johnson responded.
As I reported last month, 20 percent of all illegal dumping reports made through the app are recategorized as illegal camping and referred to the Navigation Team.
The C Is for Crank is a one-person operation, supported entirely—and I mean entirely— by generous contributions from readers like you. If you enjoy the breaking news, commentary, and deep dives on issues that matter to you, please support this work by donating a few bucks a month to keep this reader-supported site going. I can't do this work without support from readers like you. Your $5, $10, and $20 monthly donations allow me to do this work as my full-time job, so please become a sustaining supporter now. If you don't wish to become a monthly contributor, you can always make a one-time donation via PayPal, Venmo (Erica-Barnett-7) or by mailing your contribution to P.O. Box 14328, Seattle, WA 98104. Thank you for keeping The C Is for Crank going and growing. I'm truly grateful for your support.
Filed under: encampments, homelessness, Human Services Department, Jason Johnson, Navigation Team


In complement to its ITU and chassis range, MODALIS can also support its customers by choosing the most appropriated wagon type. In order to be the most cost effective, the most performing ITU must be operated together with a wagon that does not limit their possibilities.
From conception to delivery, Modalis follows all the steps and regularly informs its customer about status of construction.
Like for the other equipments for intermodal transport, MODALIS can propose you long term contracts, appropriated financing or simply support mission for the acquisition of rail equipments.
MODALIS develops performant wagons with the ambition to optimize your intermodal and rail logistics solutions.
A short (40 ft) and light (16T tare weight) container freight wagon with a payload of 74T. When used with the Intermodal Transport Units specially adapted to the wagon, also developed by MODALIS, it has the same cargo capacity as a regular wagon while simultaneously offering greater flexibility of use. The superstructure can be separated from the wagon infrastructure to allow for minimal stopping, easier maintenance and greater loading versatility for all types of goods.
A 3-bogie combined transport wagon, in a range that's adjustable in loading plan length (40 to 49') and maximum speeds (100 to 140 km/h).
You can reach us on +33 4 42 65 92 36 or send us a message using the form below.


text:
Clips Streaming TV
New Clip Released for 'Star Wars Resistance: The Platform Classic'
By Matt Heywood November 21, 2018
A new clip has been released for the next episode of Star Wars Resistance, which is titled, "The Platform Classic". Apparently in this episode, Yeager will come across someone from his past who has ties to the Guavian Death Gang, which we first met in The Force Awakens aboard Han and Chewie's freighter.
This character is an Ace who is in town for the Platform Classic, and it appears that Kaz will be enlisted to help him out after his own mechanic. His name is Marcus, and like I said, he has ties to Yeager, so this should be an interesting episode.
Based on Marcus' appearance, I almost think he'll be related to Yeager, but who knows. Maybe they both served in the Rebellion, or maybe Marcus is why Yeager wants nothing to do with the Resistance himself. Oh well, we shall learn more this Sunday night!
Head on up above to check out the clip.
The new episode – "The Platform Classic" – will also be available SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25th (12:01 a.m. PT) on the DisneyNOW app and Disney Channel VOD, giving kids and families access to the series wherever and whenever they want to watch.
"There's always time for Star Wars Time!"
Watch Kenobi in Action In New Trailer for Star Wars Battlefront II: Battle of Geonosis
November 21, 2018 2 Mins Read
Know Your Star Wars: Lobot

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Motorola UK has today revealed a plan to bring the Moto X to the UK, with the phone set to launch here through Phones 4U, Carphone Warehouse, Amazon, Techdata and via network O2 next month. Phones 4U will have a white model, but apart from that there's no mention of the advanced customisation options the US had. Shame.
Moto X. Just Talk, it responds.
LONDON, 14th January, 2014 – Meet Moto X™ by Motorola, the ultimate wingman, because your smartphone should work for you – not the other way around. Moto X represents the best of Motorola and Google, and it's coming to the UK.
Moto X has a unique curved back, designed to fit your hand. Talk to Moto X and it learns your voice. With Google Now, it tells you what you need to know – even when you're not touching it. With two flicks of your wrist, Moto X becomes your camera and captures the shots you used to miss. All of this coupled with its all-day battery means that Moto X is ready when you are.
To use your Moto X, you only need your voice. Without touching it at all, you can get directions, set an alarm or do just about anything – just by talking. Say "OK Google Now" to get started. Ask it if you need an umbrella and it gives you up-to-the-minute weather for your location. Tell it you're going home, and your Moto X will get you there. Because it knows your voice, Moto X can do things other phones can't.
Moto X is always ready to tell you what you need to know. Instead of an unhelpful blinking light, Active Display on Moto X quietly pulses the info you need without interrupting you. Even while it's asleep, it's always on top of things. A last-minute dinner invite? A missed call from your boss? A key email while an important meeting is going on? Moto X will discretely keep you up-to-date.
Moto X knows when you need a camera. Just twist your wrist twice and it's ready. Touch anywhere on the screen, and you'll get the shot. All in just a few seconds. The camera's 10MP high-quality sensor with Clear Pixel technology will capture the darkest scenes or stop motion blur in bright light. With Moto X, you'll always get the shot.
Don't have your Moto X nearby? The Motorola Connect extension for Google Chrome™ lets you see and respond to notifications and text messages – right from your desktop. Hate the hassle of switching phones? Motorola Migrate makes it easy to wirelessly transfer photos, texts, SIM contacts, call history and more from your old Android phone to your Moto X – you can even migrate contacts and calendar events from your iOS device. While Motorola Assist helps keep interruptions at bay when you're doing specific tasks like driving, attending an important meeting, or sleeping. It can read and reply to texts for you or screen your calls. Just a few examples of how Moto X puts the smart in smartphone.
With Corning Gorilla Glass, an advanced water-repellant nano coating, and an all-day battery, Moto X is as durable as it is smart. It has a gorgeous edge-to-edge HD display which strikes the perfect balance between readability and one-handed use. And it is powered by the Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System, a tightly integrated system of eight processor cores that have been purpose-built for the demands of today's mobile users in terms of device size, performance, responsiveness, battery life and overall user experience. All of this packed into an approachable and warm design with a curved back sculpted to fit comfortably and securely in your hand.


text:
Business 472393263
Best Buy giving bonuses because of corporate tax cuts
By Kavita Kumar Star Tribune
February 2, 2018 — 9:08pm
Best Buy is the latest major corporation to hand out worker bonuses and to make additional charitable donations as a result of the recently passed corporate tax cuts.
In a letter to employees Friday, CEO Hubert Joly said full-time workers will receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 and part-timers, $500.
All permanent employees who are not on an existing bonus plan will receive the additional funds. The bonuses will show up in workers' paychecks this month.
In all, more than 100,000 of Best Buy's 125,000 employees in the U.S., Mexico and Canada are expected to receive the extra cash.
In addition, the Richfield-based retailer is making a one-time contribution of $20 million to the Best Buy Foundation to help further expand its teen tech centers and Geek Squad academies across the United States. A portion also will be used to create a nationwide employee volunteer program aimed at teenagers and technology.
"Our goal was simple: to say 'thank you' to more than 100,000 of our employees and help accelerate our work to bring much needed technology training to 1 million underserved teens a year," said Jeff Shelman, a Best Buy spokesman.
Best Buy store in Mays Landing, N.J. (Craig Matthews/The Press of Atlantic City via AP, File)
In recent days, other major retailers including Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart have also said they will give bonuses, expand benefits and raise wages in light of the tax measures. Walmart said last month it will raise its starting wage for hourly employees to $11 and Lowe's said it would give one-time bonuses of up to $1,000 to workers based on their length of service.
In Minnesota, U.S. Bancorp and TCF Financial have also handed out bonuses to workers and increased charitable donations. U.S. Bank said it would raise the minimum wage of its hourly employees to $15. Wells Fargo, which has a large corporate presence in the Twin Cities, also raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour after President Donald Trump signed the tax law and said it would donate $400 million to nonprofits.
And St. Paul-based Ecolab has said it will make a $25 million contribution to its corporate foundation.
Kavita Kumar covers the fast-changing retail landscape. She reports about Target, Best Buy, Mall of America, and other national and local retailers as well shopping trends.
kavita.kumar@startribune.com kavitakumar
Music Aerosmith rejects its drummer before this weekend's performance at the Grammys
Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Wednesday after U.S. stocks tumbled overnight as a virus outbreak in China rattled global markets.
General Motors' self-driving car company will attempt to deliver on its long-running promise to provide a more environmentally friendly ride-hailing service in an unorthodox vehicle designed to eliminate the need for human operators to transport people around crowded cities.
Family-run Venture's implements complement its turf, grounds products.
PolyMet foes accuse Minn. regulators of destroying evidence
Former MPCA commissioner is expected to take the stand Wednesday.
As they planned the All in Motion line, Target designers envisioned a logo representing "collective, inclusive movement." They found it in one developed for its predecessor 52 years ago.
Bloomington-based Toro spends $167M to acquire tractor and equipment maker • Business
For tech-weary Midwest farmers, 40-year-old tractors now a hot commodity • Business
Stamped on Target's new athleticwear: an homage to its parent, Dayton's • Business
Struggling Minnesota farmers weigh their support for Trump
With Halloween over, Target and others roll out Black Friday deals • Business