Food & Drink

Space Needle Workers to Rally, $10 Toll Possibility & More

The top Seattle news stories you should be reading today

By Lauren Mang March 18, 2015

spaceneedle_1

Ten dollars can buy you a lot of things. This coffee, yogurt and banana (with tip) that I’m currently enjoying, for one. Ten dollars might also soon buy you a trip down I-405 express lanes. A bit steep, eh? According to King 5 News, The Washington State Transportation Commission will hold its final public meeting and vote tonight on what the toll rates and carpool rules should be. “During peak hours, the toll rates may be as high as $10 per trip. The transportation commission calls this a destination polling model where it would cost more the longer people drive on the interstate.” The lanes are expected to open in the fall.

Affordable housing news: A group of activists and low-cost housing advocates authored a report called “Solutions to Seattle’s Housing Emergency” in the hopes of bringing attention to the housing crisis our city currently faces. Among the ideas in the report, “a proposal calling on the city to issue $500 million in bonds to pay for new low-income housing, changes to zoning regulations to allow more affordable housing, tenant protections and limits on rents in Seattle,” reports MyNorthwest.com. Several councilmembers, including Kshama Sawant, are supporting the group’s suggestions.

After news surfaced recently about the new higher paid seasonal workers coming on board at the Space Needle, longtime employees who receive lower wages were up in arms. Now, along with labor activists, those employees have plans to protest for higher pay outside the Needle at 9:30 a.m. today. 

R.I.P IE: Microsoft announced it will abandon its Internet Explorer brand and instead use a “new name and brand” in Windows 10, reports Geekwire. There is still no word on what the new browser will be called.

 

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