Erica C. Barnett

@ericacbarnett

Seattle-based reporter, cofounder (with @joshfeit.bsky.social) and editor of , and author of Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery She/her, Latina, Texan

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Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· 27d

I'm sorry but this is objectively hilarious The other side says "Stop blocking free school lunches"

Screen shot of public commenter Bennett Haselton, who just made a confusing point about how "a man criticizing a woman is not harassment" after playing a protest video at a Seattle City Council meeting. A person behind him is holding up a sign that says "SHUT UP BENNETT/THIS IS NOT THERAPY" as the City Clerk talks to her.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· 28d

so Geekwire refers to this dogshit as AI slop, but then basically says it's adorable and cool what is it with tech reporters? If you use the automplete machine to make a fake "fun girl" or pliable young "actress," do they just feel some compulsion to cover "her"? www.geekwire.com/2026/grunge-...

Shitty "AI"-rendered images of white guys with long hair and wool caps wandering through what looks like a record store with nonsensical signs along with "Buy and trade used CDs"

White person's hand thumbing through records that are the wrong size, with nonsensical labels that include characters that aren't real letters.

AI-rendered young, white, blonde lady with her hair piled on her head, wearing a nirvana shirt with a brown plaid shirt. Three dudes long hair are standing in the background drinking pints of beer outside a realistic-looking image of the Central Saloon.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jul 9

wishful thinking. "slightly better than the 90s" isn't a "reckoning." Three women came forward with stories that disqualified Platner, including violence. They were pilloried by his supporters as lying bitches and Republican plants until one felt compelled to tell her story of a forcible rape.

Nearly a decade after the #MeToo movement, American politics appear to be in a new reckoning over sexual violence, and how best to respond when prominent or powerful figures stand accused.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jul 8

oh look, it's Burien city council member and failed state legislative candidate Kevin Schilling, testifying on behalf of the Rental Housing Association against Mayor Katie Wilson's proposed ban on rental junk fees

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jul 8

Incredible response from Jason "Rantz" to lawless anti-homeless street blockages I started writing about eco-blocks—which businesses, City Light, and now SPS use to block off street lanes—way back in 2021, and kept covering them as they proliferated around the city publicola.com/2021/07/01/e...

Seattle Public Schools proved eco-blocks work. It’s time to legalize them

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jul 7

interesting claim from the police chief, who is currently making the rounds of conservative media to take credit for a drop in fatal shootings in June. This KIRO host didn't indicate he asked the obvious follow: Which countries, Chief? mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion...

Barnes says fans keep coming up to him with photos they took with his officers. Visitors from countries where you avoid the police are treating Seattle cops like part of the attraction.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 30

New York Times as always using cool, neutral language to describe someone challenging the status quo www.nytimes.com/2026/06/29/u...

Ms. Luna had played a key role in forcing the resignations of two House lawmakers, one Republican and one Democrat, accused of sexual misconduct, and was on the warpath to rid Congress of other harassers.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 29

Omitted from the right-wing version of the story is that demand for "trophy homes" has more than tripled, which would definitely contradict their "wealthy are fleeing" narrative. From the Puget Sound Business Journal:

According to a recent Realogics report, King County’s inventory of homes priced above $5 million increased 24% year over year in the second quarter of 2026. Pending sales in June surged 333% from the same month last year, while waterfront sales volume jumped 600%, suggesting that repriced trophy properties are attracting renewed buyer interest.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 29

very funny to see the right wing media crashing out over, of all things, a vastly overpriced megamansion being cut to a merely staggering price the story this links to notes that the staggering number was always an essentially fake "aspirational" price seattlered.com/housing/denn...

A $30 million haircut on a single home is the kind of number that would normally attract the attention of Washington Democrats. It will not. They have spent the better part of a year insisting that the state’s new 9.9% income tax would not chase anyone out, even as the luxury market keeps telling a different story.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 26

It is also, of course, fair to just read this as "boomer scared of younger people"

I rarely see young people drinking wine in restaurants, though. Is it because of the price? The lack of sommeliers? Popular culture, which treats wine as if it’s a cocktail? I’m not sure, but whatever the reason, I fear they are missing out.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 22

wow I didn't realize local journalists also agreed to refer to Lumen Field (which currently has its name awkwardly blacked out for the World Cup) as "Seattle Stadium" (from the Seattle Times)

The opener between Belgium and Egypt last Monday was announced a couple hundred fans shy of a sellout at Seattle Stadium, but still featured a lively atmosphere inside and outside of the stadium.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 22

I know everyone is giving King County Executive Girmay Zahilay shit for posing with right-wing activist/anti-trans initiative sponsorBryan Heywood, but have we considered the weirdness of this post with Paris Hilton?

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 20

"a rare opportunity" (from the Seattle Times, which I'm not linking) An actually insightful take on the fact that Juneteeth is now a nationwide holiday that white people intrude on/participate in, depending on your POV: southseattleemerald.org/newsletters/...

For some participants, Friday offered a rare moment to share Black history with a largely white crowd.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 19

Scene inside the @kuow.org studio right now (that’s former city attorney Ann Davison and KUOW’s @scottgreenstone.bsky.social watching the World game as we record Week in Review)

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 15

Washington Post had a normal one yesterday (from my rss reader)

Three screenshots showing posts of dozens of live updates from the Washington Post about Trump's UFC fight on the White House lawn. The Post had live updates every few minutes starting around 4pm and going until around 10:30 at night.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 13

if there are still people out there who remember John Curley as the charming host of "Evening Magazine" on KIRO, just know that he is now describing himself as a hyper-logical and intelligent "vulcan" and proposing IQ tests for voting. mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion...

Curley found that the overall fix may lie with requiring a literacy test in order to vote, and laid out how people technically could lose their right to vote simply for being unintelligent.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· Jun 7

so cool that this guy and his producer want to lecture women about abortion. I'm sure both these men would happily take on the cost and responsibility of caring for a child with an as-yet-unknown level of disability, up to and including giving up his career to be a full-time caregiver

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 31

It's very funny that this long, long piece about how women should be "hetero-optimistic" about men never actually makes the case for men. Instead, it says "yes, some men are incels, but" and then just lays out the incel case against women as if it was true. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/o...

Gender relations are tense to the point of hostility these days. Straight men and women are politically and culturally divided. We’re in a world of Andrew Tate and OnlyFans, trad wives and incels. Just over half of single men and women alike report feeling pessimistic about finding a partner they’ll be happy with. Our prospective other halves, women say of men, are at best clueless and emotionally immature and at worst actively toxic. Among men, women are often viewed as romantically spoiled, drowning in options we’re too self-absorbed to select from if we’re even worth their time at all. It’s no wonder we aren’t having much sex.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 30

Here's my transcription of Strauss' full quote, which makes it clear that Seattle is not going to be satisfied with the current proposal. He said we need to build light rail to Everett and Tacoma before expanding beyond what was in ST3—not before expanding to Ballard. Seattle voters approved both.

We get to be able to back into Crown Hill, back up to Northgate, out to Bothell, when we're going through West Seattle, we need to be able to get down to White Center, down to the airport. These are the conversations we need to be having, but because our agency is broken trust at the ends of our spine, we can’t, and that's something that we need to stare at very directly. I was asked at one point about what would I do. I said, Golden Spike this thing. We need to put construction equipment into Tacoma, and into Everett, as soon as feasibly possible. That's just where I'm at, because we need to be doing more for transit, and we can't until we've addressed the broken promises that we've been making for so many years.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 30

A lot of people are dunking on Danny Westneat for his defeatist "let's give up on light rail" column, so I'll just add that he misquoted Dan Strauss in a way that misleads the public about what he actually said.

“We can’t continue to talk about expanding,” Strauss continued. “We need to put construction equipment into Tacoma and into Everett first.”

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 29

other than potential labor trafficking, which @cmtmosqueda.bsky.social and others have raised as a concern, these are speculative concern-trolling complaints targeting immigrants who sell food on the street and don't compete with sit-down restaurants. www.seattletimes.com/opinion/edit...

The dangers are myriad: increased risk of food-borne illness, potential labor trafficking, economic damage to licensed business by unfair competition, increased tensions between licensed and unlicensed vendors.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 29

Posted the wrong image for the old story lede; here it is!

The long-awaited light rail extension to Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood was thrown a lifeline on Thursday by the Sound Transit board.

The board approved exploring cost saving measures and publishing a timeline on the Ballard extension — but stopped short of an immediate funding plan.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 29

And here are some screen grabs of the original and rewritten headline and lede, along with a link to the new version of the story: www.kuow.org/stories/soun...

Ballard light rail extension saved in critical Sound Transit vote, though funding uncertain

Sound Transit board shelves Ballard extension, saves South Seattle stations

Original story lede, which reads: The long-awaited light rail extension to Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood was thrown a lifeline on Thursday by the Sound Transit board.

The board approved exploring cost saving measures and publishing a timeline on the Ballard extension — but stopped short of an immediate funding plan.

New story lede, which reads:

A long-awaited light rail line to Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood was set aside by the Sound Transit board on Thursday as the agency tried to balance a $34.5 billion shortfall.

The Ballard line was one of multiple projects on the chopping block as transit advocates have called on the agency to “build the damn trains.”

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 24

literal Gen X erasure in the NYT lol (also banning SSRIs is an insane and bad and stupid idea) www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/s...

Millennials were part of the first generation to be prescribed stimulants and antidepressants as children and teens, he said, and physicians in that group are more conscious of poor outcomes years later. “Meds are not the answer, and they have seen this in their own lives,” he said.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 12

AI transcriber is hallucinating again - this time in song?

much. Applause. You So You The You You You You You You I Thank Thank You You You I You You You Oh, I i You. Thank I think Get some People I You that's. To Say, I it And Thank i You I i You I i You I I So I You Thank You Hi, I You So I You You I You I You You Hi, I I So I You I Promise You You Oh, hmm.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 11

Seattle Times editorial board: Will no one think of the waterfront property owners??

One would think living with a view of Lake Washington would mean a life of peace and serenity. But that’s not the case for dozens of Seattleites in the Mount Baker and Leschi neighborhoods.

Weekend after weekend, and sometimes during weeknights, residents are awakened or disturbed by music blaring from vehicles or portable speakers at Stan Sayres Memorial Park or the city’s moorage parking lot on Lake Washington Boulevard.

The park closes at 10 p.m., but that doesn’t stop park partyers from gathering there until closing time. And when the gate isn’t closed on time, the parties, which are frequently punctuated with what sounds like commercial-grade fireworks, have rolled on for hours past 10 p.m., residents say.

This year to date, there have been 19 calls for service compared to 12 by this time in 2025. This year, This year, none of the calls were for violent crime; 10 of the 19 calls were for disturbances.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 9

Towey then says the $8 million that has been described as missing (the audit said this money may have to be "written off") mostly just seem missing because KCRHA's budget is reimbursement-based; that is, they pay nonprofits to do work, they get reimbursed by funders, and the budget goes up and down.

Against this backdrop, KCRHA’s initial review of the general ledger indicates that the approximately $8M balance is driven primarily by timing differences between expenditures and reimbursements, partial or short payments, limited remittance detail, and cross-fund reimbursement practices. While a fully itemized, transaction-level composition is still being finalized, initial analysis indicates that most of the balance is driven by these factors rather than a simple underbilling issue. This work is being conducted in coordination with King County and the City of Seattle, including validation of balances and alignment on any required recovery actions or accounting treatment.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 9

The letter, from strategic director William Towey (hired immediately after mass layoffs by CEO Kelly Kinnison w a salary around $200,000), takes "full accountability" for the problems (money that can't be accounted for, overspending, growing negative balances) but says they've largely addressed them

Thank you for your April 22, 2026, letter and for the independent forensic evaluation conducted by Clark Nuber. We take full accountability for the conditions identified and have already implemented immediate control actions while advancing a structured reconciliation and corrective action process. The findings primarily reflect conditions present through mid-2025; since that time, KCRHA has made significant improvements to financial systems, processes, and controls. This letter addresses the four high-risk items requested for May 8, 2026. A comprehensive Corrective Action Plan will be provided by May 23, 2026.

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 8

Right-wing dummies: People aren't coming to Seattle for the world cup because we're a shithole! One-second google search: Bookings in EVERY US host city are down because no one wants to come to the US. www.nytimes.com/athletic/725...

Meyer: Seattle’s World Cup hotel slump is what happens when a city refuses to fix itself

Erica C. Barnett@ericacbarnett· May 6

prisons sandals model and all-time creep Jonathan Choe, of Turning Point USA, barged in on a private meeting at a library conference room and proceeded to film people against their will after being told he didn't have permission to record—a violation of state law. SPL, trespass this menace!