1 big thing: Relative of '94 murder victims never got closure

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Take your career to the next level

2. Morning Buzz: Good luck seeing any birds

Gov. Jay Inslee shares his love of pickleball with ESPN

3. Inslee shares his love of pickleball with ESPN

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4. 👋 1 goodbye to go 

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☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high near 80.

🚨 Situational awareness: City and county health officials are warning people not to swim or go in the water at Howell Park, Madrona Beach, or the Lake Washington shoreline between them due to a recent sewage spill that could make people or pets sick.

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Today's newsletter is 919 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🩻 Melissa is happy to report that her broken toe has now healed to the point where she can jog (or at least shuffle quickly) a little.

Yes, but: It still hurts like hell when her toddler steps on it, which is at least four times a day. 🤬

🌮 Lewis is truly impressed with how effortless his Axios Local colleagues make it look to put out a daily newsletter for their cities. It’s anything but — and yet, they crush it each and every day.

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Seattle

A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Seattle.

Axios Seattle

1 big thing: Sheriff's office investigating Seattle officials' missing texts

Image of former Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan with ex-police chief Carmen Best cheering during a Seattle Storms basketball game.

2. Allegations mount against ex-CEO Dan Price

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3. Morning Buzz: Smash burgers and crimefighting

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4. Starbucks must reinstate fired union activists

Demonstrators and supporters picket outside of Starbucks Coffee to demand better working conditions and unionization on Aug. 12 in Brookline, Massachusetts. 

Check out our Job Board

5. Chicago's WNDR Museum expanding to Seattle

A visitor to the WNDR Museum in Chicago immerses herself in an art exhibit of mirrors.

Today's weather: Cloudy, then becoming sunny, with a high near 80.

🏀 Situational awareness: The Seattle Storm beat the Washington Mystics 86–83 in Game 1 of the WNBA playoffs matchup behind Jewel Loyd's late go-ahead shot.

Today's newsletter is 963 words — a 3.5-minute read.

💤 Melissa is desperately in need of a nap.

1 big thing: Police department has backlog of 2,800 records requests

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Several Seattle-area light rail projects will be delayed

2. Light rail projects hit roadblocks

3. Local company's vintage Mexican ball caps are a hit

4. Morning Buzz: Seattle gets LeBron fever

Is a new job in your future?

5. 📸 One Lake Union boat pic to go

It's Monday! And we're working our way up to it.

☀️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. 

🏀 Situational awareness: The Seattle Storm advanced to the WNBA playoff semifinals after sweeping the Washington Mystics in their first-round matchup with a 97–84 win Sunday.

With 18 points and 10 assists, 41-year-old Sue Bird became the oldest player to record a double-double in a WNBA playoff game, per ESPN.

Today's newsletter is 918 words — a 3.5-minute read. 

📑 Lewis looks forward to the day when he'll get the records he requested from the Seattle Police Department, but he's not holding his breath.

🧺 Melissa has come to peace (for now) with the reality that she will never fold all the laundry. Ever.

1 big thing: Kids fall behind on vaccines required for school

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Washington secretary of state candidates spar over experience

2. Takeaways from secretary of state debate

Julie Anderson and Steve Hobbs, candidates for Washington Secretary of State.

3. Morning Buzz: MacKenzie Scott gives big

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4. Is it too early for Pumpkin spice? You tell us 

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On the job hunt?

It's Thursday — and we're making the most of it.

🌤 Today's weather: Partly sunny with a high near 90.

🌌 Situational awareness: The Northern Lights may be visible from Seattle this week, The Seattle Times reports.

Today's newsletter is 946 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🥟 🍮 Melissa is happy to be done with debate-moderating duty, so she can spend more time sampling food and drink to tell you about in this fine newsletter.

🗞 Lewis, meanwhile, is more comfortable writing about news than food and drink (though he enjoys Brew Stops, obviously).

How the federal climate bill could help cut Washington's emissions

1 big thing: How the federal climate bill could help cut our emissions

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2. Ex-worker sues Kreidler's office over remote work

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler speaks into a microphone.

3. More people return to pre-COVID (maskless) lives

4. Morning Buzz: Blame it on TikTok

Do you see yourself with a new career? 

5. A San Juan pic to go

Roche Harbor is filled with boats on a summer morning.

It's Wednesday! No midweek slump to see here.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny with a high near 86.

🥵 Situational awareness: A heat advisory has been issued for today through midnight Thursday for much of the Puget Sound region, per the National Weather Service.

Today's newsletter is 982 words — a 4-minute read.

🗣 Melissa is going to Olympia today to moderate a debate between secretary of state candidates. (Thanks for the question suggestions! You can watch live at 11am!)

䷤ Lewis is grateful for getting to spend time with family lately.

WNDR Museum — Chicago's Instagram-friendly, pop-up art gallery — is set to open in Seattle this winter.

The latest: WNDR officials announced Thursday they’d selected Seattle — along with San Diego and Boston — as the first of its expansion locations, with more cities expected in the future.

WNDR plans to occupy a space at 906 Alaskan Way near the newly designed Waterfront Park at Pier 62.

What they're saying: "As the home of Chihuly, Amazon and Microsoft, Seattle thrives with a young and diverse community who is hungry to engage with art and technology," Ryan Kunkel, president of WNDR Global, told Axios in an email Thursday.

Background: Launched in Chicago in 2018, WNDR aims to reimagine the traditional museum experience with hands-on interactive and immersive exhibits from local and global artists, collectives and studios.

Current Chicago exhibits include the "Infinity Mirror Room" by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, as well works by Keith Haring and Alex Israel placed "in conversation with thought-provoking, interactive technologies," per its website.

Chicago's WNDR Museum expanding to Seattle

Chicago's Instagram-friendly, pop-up art gallery is set to open in Seattle this winter.

Yayoi Kusama's "Infinity Mirror Room" in Chicago. Photo courtesy of WNDR Museum

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="WNDR Museum" data-vars-click-url="https://www.wndrmuseum.com/" data-vars-content-id="11973ed4-241b-49dd-93cf-5402c6cbd5fe" data-vars-headline="Chicago&#x27;s WNDR Museum expanding to Seattle" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.wndrmuseum.com/" target="_blank">WNDR Museum</a> — Chicago&#x27;s Instagram-friendly, pop-up art gallery — is set to open in Seattle this winter.The latest: WNDR officials announced Thursday they’d selected Seattle — along with San Diego and Boston — as the first of its expansion locations, with more cities expected in the future.

Things to Do

Vianne Falcon waited nearly 28 years to see the murderer of her daughter and toddler grandson brought to justice.

Six months ago, when King County prosecutors charged a California prisoner with the 1994 shooting deaths of Stacy Falcon Dewey and Jacob John Dewey, it looked like Vianne would finally get that chance.

Vianne died two months ago — before local prosecutors ever brought the suspect, now charged in the decades-old cold case, to trial.

The latest: Vianne, whose loved ones' delayed murder investigation was featured in The Seattle Times' 2019 series "In the Dark," died June 4 and never saw suspect Jerome Frank Jones stand trial for Stacy and Jake's killings — even though authorities allegedly linked him to the crimes through DNA two decades ago.

Jones has yet to enter a plea to the charges.

Lillian Bradley, Vianne's older sibling, told Axios that her sister fell into a coma after an accidental fall at home in May.

Vianne didn't regain consciousness and was pronounced dead three weeks later, Bradley said.

Why it matters: As the saying goes, justice delayed is justice denied — and according to Bradley, that adage fits perfectly in this case.

What they're saying: "I'm so upset that she got no closure before she died," Bradley told Axios of her sister. "She left this world without knowing what was going to happen. But this whole thing should've been over and done with a long time ago."

The other side: "If our office caused any additional suffering to Vianna Falcon, we're sorry," a spokesperson for King County prosecuting attorney Dan Satterberg told Axios in an email.

Complexities with case evidence and information-sharing protocols made it "challenging to strike the right balance between preserving the efficacy of an ongoing investigation and sharing information with the people who have been harmed by the crime," the spokesperson’s email said.

👋 Lewis here: As the author of "In the Dark, I interviewed Vianne Falcon multiple times. I last spoke to her in late February, after a first appearance hearing for Jones set to happen in Kent was canceled amid extradition delays.

She shared with me then her doubts that a trial would ever happen.

Catch up quick: In 2002, Washington state forensic scientists linked DNA evidence collected from the 1994 crime scene — a dead-end in Renton where the bodies of Stacy, 23, and Jacob, 3, were found outside Stacy's car — to Jones, per the Times' series.

By then, Jones was serving a prison sentence in California after being convicted of killing a man in that state, records show.

During a 2002 interview with a detective, Jones denied ever meeting Stacy despite his DNA found on her and her son.

For years, prosecutors in Washington never charged Jones with the killings, nor did they inform Vianne or other family members they had linked a suspect to the murders.

In February, prosecutors charged Jones largely based on the same evidence they'd had for years, but they've yet to extradite him to Washington to stand trial.

Less than four months later, Vianne Falcon — then 74 and in poor health — died.  

Meanwhile, Jones, 52 — an inmate at the Kern Valley State Prison — is now appealing his ongoing 56-year-sentence for his California murder conviction.

King County prosecutors say they've placed a formal hold on him and will seek Jones' extradition once his appeal matter is resolved.

"Bottom line: this case is very much on our radar, he's not available to us yet, we have a hold on him, and as soon as we can get him back to King County we will so he can be held accountable," the prosecutor's spokesperson said.

Separately, Vianne Falcon's sister isn't holding her breath.

"We're hurt ... that this didn't get resolved before she passed," Bradley said. "I am a very Christian person. I don't believe in holding grudges … I'm just hoping this gets taken care of, but who knows."

Relative of victims in '94 Renton murders never got closure despite charges

A photo of a blue tarp draped over the side of a car.

Investigators used a tarp to cover the bodies of Stacy Falcon Dewey, 23, and Jacob John Dewey, 3, after they were found outside Falcon Dewey's car at the end of a dead end road in Renton in October 1994. Photo: Washington State Patrol Crime Lab

Vianne Falcon waited nearly 28 years to see the murderer of her daughter and toddler grandson brought to justice.<ul><li>Six months ago, when King County <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="prosecutors charged a California prisoner " data-vars-click-url="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/man-imprisoned-in-california-charged-in-1994-slayings-of-mother-toddler-in-renton/" data-vars-content-id="27d55b9b-cde0-4fd0-9a31-8aea1fc81dee" data-vars-headline="Relative of victims in &#x27;94 Renton murders never got closure despite charges" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/man-imprisoned-in-california-charged-in-1994-slayings-of-mother-toddler-in-renton/" target="_blank">prosecutors charged a California prisoner </a>with the 1994 shooting deaths of Stacy Falcon Dewey and Jacob John Dewey, it looked like Vianne would finally get that chance.</li></ul>

News

The King County Sheriff's Office is investigating whether former Mayor Jenny Durkan, ex-police chief Carmen Best or others broke the law when thousands of potentially key text messages exchanged during the city's 2020 racial justice protests were deleted from their city-issued phones, Axios has learned.

Driving the news: The Sheriff's Office opened the probe July 28 at the request of King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, his spokesperson said in an email to Axios on Thursday.

What they're saying: "The case had never been referred to us, and typically we don't ask for an investigation to be conducted," Satterberg said in a statement to Axios on Thursday. 

"But in recent weeks and months, I heard from people in the community that this matter was important to them and I considered it my responsibility to make this request to the Sheriff before the end of my term."

Separately, a Sheriff's Office spokesperson told Axios in an email Thursday the agency was "in the early stages of reviewing this matter."

"We look forward to sharing periodic updates as appropriate," the spokesperson added.

Why it matters: Anyone who willfully destroys or conceals a public record is guilty of a felony in Washington.

Until Satterberg did so, city, county and state officials had avoided calling for or opening a criminal probe into the missing text messages.

The text messages are public records required to be kept under state law and could have served as possible evidence in multiple pending lawsuits against the city over its handling of the 2020 protests.

The other side: Durkan has said she accidentally dropped her phone into salt water and denied setting her replacement phone to automatically delete messages.

Best testified in a deposition earlier this year that she periodically deleted texts in bulk from her city-issued phone after independently deciding the messages didn't contain significant information that would require them to be saved.

Context: Since the public first learned about the missing text messages in May 2021 from a city ethics investigation, no one has been held accountable for deleting them.

In May, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, interim Police chief Adrian Diaz and City Attorney Ann Davison separately told Axios they weren't planning to pursue a probe.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office also said it wasn't his responsibility to investigate the matter, saying that duty belonged to local law enforcement.

Catch up quick: The missing texts overlap with a period in June 2020, when police used violence to quell demonstrators and abandoned the East Precinct, and the city allowed protesters to take over six-square blocks of Capitol Hill.

Durkan and Best's messages could be crucial in understanding how city officials responded to the tumultuous period.

Already, the missing texts have proved costly to taxpayers: The city attorney's office spent more than $400,000 on a forensic analysis to try to recover them and $200,000 to The Seattle Times to settle a public records suit about them.

King County sheriff's office investigating missing texts of Durkan, Best

Anyone who willfully destroys or conceals a public record is guilty of a felony in Washington.

Image of Jenny Durkan and Carmen Best cheering at a Seattle Storm game.

Then-Mayor Jenny Durkan, right, and Police chief Carmen Best, cheered for the Seattle Storm game in 2018. Photo: Genna Martin/Getty Images

The King County Sheriff&#x27;s Office is investigating whether former Mayor Jenny Durkan, ex-police chief Carmen Best or others broke the law when thousands of potentially key text messages exchanged during the city&#x27;s 2020 racial justice protests were deleted from their city-issued phones, Axios has learned.Driving the news: The Sheriff&#x27;s Office opened the probe July 28 at the request of King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg, his spokesperson said in an email to Axios on Thursday.

Politics

The Seattle Police Department's slow responses to public records requests persist, with the agency now taking months — sometimes longer — to turn over records that could shine a light on its inner-workings.

Yes, but: An SPD spokesperson told Axios the department's responses have improved since last year — down from an average of 87 days to 79 days to close requests.

Why it matters: Washington's Public Records Act requires government agencies provide "prompt responses" to records requests under the law that guarantees citizens "do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know."

State of play: SPD's public records portal still greets requesters with a boilerplate notice citing Gov. Jay Inslee's since-rescinded pandemic emergency order, warning prospective requesters of the potential for a "slower than anticipated response."

The latest: As of last Thursday, SPD said it received 7,667 requests this year and closed out 5,765 of them, leaving a current backlog of more than 2,800 open requests.

What they're saying: "We think there is a serious, systemic problem in the city of Seattle in terms of its transparency," Michael Fancher, president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, told Axios.

The other side: "We would love to be faster and more responsive (to requesters) … but that just has not been in the cards according to budget," SPD spokesperson Detective Valerie Carson told Axios.

SPD receives more than half of all records requests submitted citywide, per the mayor's office. 

The volume combined with new complexities — including multiple new digital data sources holding records — requires more time and expertise to respond to seemingly simple requests, Carson said.

Zoom out: SPD received funding to add four public disclosure officers and one technical support employee since last year, bringing the number of employees devoted to records requests to 18, Carson said.

A proposal to fund another tech worker devoted to email searches wasn't approved last year, however. 

👋 Lewis here: Since I joined Axios in March, SPD has yet to provide a single document in response to any of five records requests I've submitted. That includes a request for a two-page email made in May. 

I also had multiple outstanding requests with SPD — including several still open after more than a year — when I left The Seattle Times.

Last year, SPD — which owns the biggest budget of any city department at $363 million — cited staff and funding shortages for rampant delays as it warned that requests could take 6–12 months to fulfill.

Background: SPD's laggardness in responding to requests persists at a time when a host of key issues face the department — from widespread scrutiny of budget practices and ongoing police reforms, to a looming decision for hiring a permanent police chief. 

It also comes on the heels of several high-profile public records snafus in the city, including a deleted text messages scandal now under investigation.

Aside from a lack of transparency, such problems also cost taxpayers big, including a $200,000 settlement with the Times in which the city agreed not to withhold records unnecessarily.

Meanwhile, council member Lisa Herbold, who told Axios she has pushed to increase SPD staffing for handling requests, said she's "hopeful and eager" to work with Mayor Bruce Harrell to ensure the additional staffer devoted to email searches is included in his forthcoming budget plan.

A spokesperson for Harrell's office told Axios in an email the city now spends more than $14 million and employs 70+ workers in over 38 city departments to handle the 15,000–16,000 requests received annually.

Harrell "supports continued efforts to improve SPD fulfillment times," the spokesperson added.

Seattle Police's backlog of open record requests now over 2,800

Washington's Public Records Act requires government agencies provide "prompt responses" to records requests under the law.

The Seattle Police Department&#x27;s slow responses to public records requests persist, with the agency now taking months — sometimes longer — to turn over records that could shine a light on its inner-workings.Yes, but: An SPD spokesperson told Axios the department&#x27;s responses have improved since last year — down from an average of 87 days to 79 days to close requests.

A former employee has sued the Office of Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler claiming she was wrongfully fired after the state agency stopped letting her work remotely due to her "heightened risks of complication from COVID-19 infection."

Why it matters: Carolyn Cronin's discrimination lawsuit is the latest in a bevy of claims leveled at the office of Washington's embattled insurance commissioner.

Kreidler has faced multiple calls for his resignation — including from Gov. Jay Inslee — over his alleged boorish and bullying behavior.

The latest: The 10-page complaint filed in King County Superior Court last Friday describes Cronin as an administrative assistant who worked in the office for 20 years.

Cronin also suffers from the lung condition emphysema and a diagnosed anxiety disorder related to her fears of contracting COVID-19 — both of which are considered protected disabilities under Washington law, per the suit.

Driving the news: Cronin's suit says after a year and a half of allowing employees to work remotely amid the pandemic, the agency ordered them to return to in-person work, but initially let her keep working remotely.

Three months later, after Cronin asked for her remote work allowance to be extended, the office denied her request, forced her to go on three months of unpaid leave and ultimately firing her in April, the suit says.

What they're saying: Cronin's doctor advised she not "return to in-person work unless all employees were vaccinated and wore a mask in the office, but that she could resume working remotely," the lawsuit states.

"OIC was unwilling to accommodate Ms. Cronin's disability and terminated her employment."

The other side: A spokesperson for Kreidler's office confirmed in an email to Axios Tuesday that Cronin worked for the office, adding "we do not discuss personnel issues or pending litigation, so I'm afraid we are unable to provide any further comment."

Details: Cronin's suit cites as a cause of action the state agency's violation of the Washington Law Against Discrimination, contending the office discriminated against her due to her underlying health condition.

Background: Kreidler, the longest-serving statewide elected official in Washington, has been under fire since March, when public radio station Northwest News Network broke the story that an aide had lodged a formal complaint claiming he bullied and antagonized staff and repeatedly used slurs and other offensive language.

After the radio station later reported Kreidler fired the aide who made the complaint, the governor joined a chorus of legislative leaders calling on Kreidler to resign.

In the second year of his latest four-year term, Kreidler has said he has no plans to step down.

Of note: Cronin's complaint does not specifically name Kriedler as a defendant and cites only the state agency.

Ex-worker lawsuit says Kreidler's office fired her for wanting to work remotely

Carolyn Cronin's discrimination lawsuit is the latest in a bevy of claims leveled at the office of Washington's embattled insurance commissioner.

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler speaks 

Washington insurance commissioner Mike Kreidler testifying at a Congressional committee hearing. Photo: Douglas Graham/Roll Call/Getty Images

A former employee has sued the Office of Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler claiming she was wrongfully fired after the state agency stopped letting her work remotely due to her &quot;heightened risks of complication from COVID-19 infection.&quot;Why it matters: Carolyn Cronin&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="discrimination lawsuit" data-vars-click-url="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22138069-cronin-vs-office-of-insurance-commissioner" data-vars-content-id="6892f8aa-604c-4b3c-813b-7942b1227afb" data-vars-headline="Ex-worker lawsuit says Kreidler&#x27;s office fired her for wanting to work remotely" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22138069-cronin-vs-office-of-insurance-commissioner" target="_blank">discrimination lawsuit</a> is the latest in a bevy of claims leveled at the office of Washington&#x27;s embattled insurance commissioner.

Lewis Kamb

Stories

Relative of victims in '94 Renton murders never got closure despite charges

Seattle Police's backlog of open record requests now over 2,800

Chicago's WNDR Museum expanding to Seattle

King County sheriff's office investigating missing texts of Durkan, Best

Ex-worker lawsuit says Kreidler's office fired her for wanting to work remotely

Newsletter editions

⚖️ Justice delayed

👀 Police secrecy

👀 Missing texts probed

💉 We're falling behind

✂️ Cutting emissions