More kind words for WARDS OF THE STATE. Thank you, @LarissaMacFarqu and @ABRAMSbooks! WARDS is out on May 20. Book launch info coming soon.

We got into it about sex trafficking on Aurora Ave., and #Seattle's novel attempt to tackle the gun violence that goes with it. Pretty boisterous for public radio.

Painfully apt.

Hercules and Nessus, by Giambologna, 1599

Please share this resource: seattleops.org/

In many of these cases, the government is, in fact, the parent. That's what foster care is -- the state acting as parent -- and lots of youth on the street are foster kids.

Hundreds of kids -- minors -- are walking the track in Seattle every year. It's brutal, sometimes deadly, and a safe place for them is within reach. Why can't we get there? Crisis on Aurora Avenue: Why can’t we solve this? | The Seattle Times share.google/DJoAI54vuliBoCY…

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Seattle's last attempt at a therapeutic community (read: addiction) court was a total neo-abolitionist farce, where people diverted to it faced no consequences for not showing up (and most did not), and there were almost no meaningful interventions offered to the few who did. But that doesn't mean that a well conceived and resourced municipal misdemeanor-level therapeutic court isn't a good idea. There are therapeutic courts in suburbs like Auburn and Renton that do really excellent work helping those suffering from addiction regain control over their lives. Seattle could benefit from one too, provided it's done correctly. And King County Drug Court, which I recently had the privilege of visiting and touring, does absolutely incredible work turning around the lives of people arrested for serious crimes after falling deep into the trap of addiction. Which brings me to this very smart must read op ed (link to follow) in @SeaTimesOpinion today from my friend @josephbarsana about how drug court-style therapeutic approaches make a real and positive difference in people's lives. He should know, since he's both a graduate of King County Drug Court and now works there, providing meaningful assistance to those following in his footsteps as they seek to turn their lives around. He writes: "One of the biggest misconceptions today is that compassion and accountability are opposites. They are not. In therapeutic courts, they work together. Compassion does not mean lowering expectations. It means recognizing that people grow through support, not fear... And at the heart of diversion is a simple truth: We meet people where they are, but we do not leave them there. Therapeutic courts understand that people enter the system in crisis, but with the right expectations, support, and structure, they can leave with stability, dignity, and purpose."

Indeed. Who needs journalists, when you’ve got journalism. 👀

"The real issue is a culture of administrative dysfunction and school board passivity that for years has undermined the education of students in Seattle. One place it shows up, over and over, is in the district’s human resources office." seattletimes.com/opinion/edi…

When will we admit it: Between lowered expectations, "equity" grading, and AI we have a very, very serious situation staring right at us.

This photo should be on the front page of every single newspaper in America today.

The state made big cuts in K-12 that target higher-poverty districts and early learning programs (Transition to Kindergarten) -- typically the highest-impact and most cost-effective uses of funds. 2/n

Of course he doesn't, because he believes he is SUPERIOR to Jesus -- richer, smarter, more beloved (in his own mind only, but still) -- and, besides, as is well documented, Trump doesn't like heroes who let themselves be captured, much less crucified.

I don't know if you've noticed, but the guy just rid us from Orbán. You know what it takes to win an election against Orbán? It's not just making a party and campaigning. The rules were massively rigged. Hungary was gerrymandered to oblivion. The regime played dirty.

“Nothing to see here, please move on”

howard dean yelled a little too loud at the 2004 Iowa caucus and was deemed too unhinged to be president just thinking about that for no reason today

Read the entirety of @RoweReport's excellent Sunday @SeaTimesOpinion editorial detailing Shuldiner's assessment of where things stand at SPS here: seattletimes.com/opinion/edi…

As a college English professor at an “access institution,” I have been watching the demise of literacy in real time. (For some of that time, I have worked under administrators whose answer to the problem was to give us subtle hints that we should allow students to “use“ AI to “help them” with “writing” their papers.) As literacy has declined among my students, so has their curiosity and ability to think. I only teach at one institution, so I don’t know how representative my students are. But my gut tells me that we are heading for something apocalyptic.

Still, there is this.