Guy Oron
@guyoron
Seattle-based writer and journalist. Pronouns: he/they. Subscribe to my newsletter Gossip Guy for free! gossipguy.net
Something interesting I learned reporting on this story is just how many advantages landlords have. It’s hard to see the rationale for adding on pet rent
Gotta give credit to Kshama Sawant, she mobilizes volunteers like a general. The campaign has canvassers tabling out in the smoke since 7am at every light rail station in the South End.
There’s only 6 hours left to vote in today’s primary elections. Only 20% of voters in King County have turned in their ballot so far. Boomers are out voting Gen Z by almost 5 to 1.
UPDATE: After a day of speculation, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has announced SPD Chief Shon Barnes’ official resignation after less than two years on the job. Deputy Chief Andre Sayles will serve as interim chief. Wilson did not share the reasoning for Barnes (apparently forced) resignation.
There’s still time to support @realchangenews.org vendor Debbie Nichols! Send her a tip at Real-Change on Venmo, and include her badge number 10542. This is a great way to directly and materially support hardworking community members like Debbie. #VendorWeek
I'm excited to be participating in this year's @realchangenews.org Vendor Week to celebrate the 100s of essential and hardworking vendors of Seattle's only street paper. Please join me in fundraising for Debbie Nichols, you can send her a tip via Venmo. (Don't forget to include her badge no. 10542!)
I find Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson's statement puzzling. Instead of magnanimously taking the W on universal school meals, she says something antagonistic toward the council. Doesn't bode well for this year's budget season.
These signs got put up in Maple Leaf, Seattle a few weeks after ICE kidnapped someone in the neighborhood. But what are the actual plans to enforce it? Or is it just the reality that the city is powerless to stop Federal immigration enforcement?
Activists are rallying outside Seattle City Hall to demand the city take down the surveillance cameras that are part of the SPD crime prevention pilot. While they appreciated Mayor Katie Wilson’s decision to turn off the stadium district cameras, they argue she hasn’t followed her campaign promises.
Earlier this week King County released its biennial survey of homelessness, which found that more Seattleites than ever before are living on the streets. Advocates said more resources are needed to prevent people from becoming homeless, and provide them shelter once they are unhoused.
The KCRHA has released its initial Point-in-Time Count, which found that the number of homeless people on any given night in Seattle and King County rose from 16,900 to 18,400 between 2024 and 2026, a 9% increase. This was fueled by an increase of 21% in unsheltered people.
Right-wing dark money group Change Washington is sending out text blasts encouraging its supporters (and apparently many non-supporters that they have added to their lists) to email Seattle officials and agitate about gun violence and street-based sex work on Aurora Avenue.
Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss said the new shelter fills a gap for housing people with complex needs, such as disabling mental health illnesses and substance use disorders. Those people are at highest risk of unsheltered homelessness and are often banned by other tiny house villages.
Amy King, the CEO of Pallet, said the timeline for the shelter’s construction was remarkably quick, with it taking only two months from the lease being secured to the permit granted and units constructed. She said it was one of the fastest processes she had worked on for such a project.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is announcing today the opening of a 75-unit enhanced tiny house shelter for people experiencing homelessness, located in the Interbay neighborhood. The facility is a part of Wilson’s plan to open 1,000 new shelter beds per year, with 300 beds announced so far in 2026.
My story "What happens after city officials take everything you own?" for @realchangenews.org has just won first place in Poverty & Homelessness Reporting - Small in the NW Excellence in Journalism awards. Thank you so much to @spjwash.bsky.social for the recognition!
INBOX: The family of 14-year-old Mattheis Johnson, who tragically died of a fall after climbing the Gas Works Park towers last year, has dropped its lawsuit against the City of Seattle after it removed the climbable parts of the structures. Since 2008, 3 people have died and 11 injured climbing them
Someone is polling Seattle voters about Mayor Katie Wilson’s “taller, denser, faster” plan to revise the comp plan update and testing out different supportive and oppositional messaging.
About 40 people showed up in the rain today in South Seattle to commemorate the 6-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder and protest police brutality
VIDEO: On Friday, the Seattle Social Housing Developer announced its first building acquisition. The moment was a milestone for the city’s housing movement, after 5 years of hard work and two successful ballot initiatives.
Andrew Bly (left) of Olympia and Alex Schaeffer (right) of WA’s 6th Congressional District were intercepted on May 19 while trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. A video published by Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir showing activists being abused has drawn widespread condemnation.
@bootsriley.bsky.social shows support for SIFF cinema workers and their collective bargaining at the opening of the Seattle International Film Festival
Around 1,000 people joined today’s May Day march in Seattle. Participants showed their support for worker rights and other causes such as defending immigrants, ending the war on Iran and opposing the Trump administration.
Community members are demanding justice for Seattle activist Kai Sorem, 26, who was killed on April 19 by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in what is being described as a massacre of civilians. Sorem was a part of an activist delegation to visit peasant communities of Toboso, Negros Island.
The Trump admin has opened an “antisemitism” investigation into the University of Washington, the latest move in a crackdown on pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel voices. For the last 2.5 years, U.S. students have been suspended or arrested for protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“This is student housing” A person wrote on their tent outside Seattle Central College, USA. When your home becomes a site of protest, viral art installation and indictment of the capitalist economic system. Instead of hiding class violence, they chose to highlight it for all to see.