Posts — Page 491

The Seattle Sauna Festival returns to Ballard’s National Nordic Museum Nov. 7–8, with regional saunas, cold plunges, music, and Nordic-inspired food.

Looking for someone to play with me at the Redmond/Bellevue club. I regularly play around 6:30 AM. Looking for people playing around the same time. Open to play during the weekends as well.

I put together an analysis of the recent September 22 Port of Seattle Commission meeting regarding the postponed Chase Sapphire Lounge vote. Given the discussion around public agendas, transparency, and commissioner preparation, I wanted to share this breakdown with the community. The Port of Seattle Commission was scheduled to decide on September 22 whether to authorize a lease for a proposed Chase Sapphire Lounge at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Port staff placed it on the agenda as an action item, with a memo and presentation. The materials named Chase Sapphire, identified the proposed operator, and laid out the financial terms. The proposal called for a roughly 16,000-square-foot lounge on Concourse A under a 15-year lease. Staff projected about $7.9 million in annual rent and said the tenant would invest $70 million in the initial buildout and a later refurbishment. The Port had previously approved another $24.36 million to finish an expanded, Port-run lounge in that space. Staff recommended the Chase lease as a way to bring in more revenue without that additional construction expense. Commissioners had a significant decision in front of them. Yet Commissioner Toshiko Hasegawa began with a basic question: What is Chase Sapphire? She also asked who would use the lounge and why airport space should be reserved for those travelers. Equitable access is a fair issue to raise. But SEA already has many different airline lounges. If a Chase lounge raises a concern that those facilities do not, the commission should be able to explain the distinction. Knowing what the proposed lounge is seems like a reasonable starting point before arriving at the meeting scheduled for its authorization. Air travel itself requires passengers to afford a ticket. SEA currently lists 11 commercial passenger lounges, and an ordinary boarding pass alone does not grant access to any of them. Entry depends on a qualifying fare, airline status, a lounge membership, an eligible credit card, or a day pass. The food and drinks inside are part of what travelers receive through that paid or earned access. A Chase lounge would add another version of a service the airport already offers that any member of the general public could buy a day pass for. Lounges can also help people who never use them. Passengers waiting inside are not competing for seats near their gates. The Port itself cites reduced gate crowding as a reason to expand lounge space. More capacity could mean more places to sit for travelers who prefer to wait near their flights. Commissioner Hamdi Mohamed raised a separate concern: lounge guests eating and drinking inside might spend less at other airport businesses. That is worth examining. How much spending would shift? Would the proposed rent offset any lost concession revenue? Those questions deserve figures rather than guesses. The three commissioners present voted to postpone the decision until October 27. Mohamed also wanted the two absent commissioners involved. They were entitled to do that. A staff recommendation does not make approval automatic. But if commissioners needed basic information about access and the effect on other businesses, why had those questions not been resolved before a 15-year lease reached the agenda for authorization? Then, after the vote was postponed, Commission Vice President Sam Cho complained that news of the lounge had appeared online before the commission approved it. He suggested the plan had been leaked and pointed to its appearance on Reddit. The Port, however, had published the plan itself. Its public memo identified the proposed Chase Sapphire Lounge. Its presentation named the lounge and included renderings. The Port says meeting materials are generally posted three to five days before a meeting. A travel writer could read those materials, report that approval was pending, and have readers share the story on Reddit. The details in that coverage were already public. Nothing about their appearance online requires a leak. That cannot rule out the possibility that someone privately shared information. It does mean that the public reporting offers no evidence that a leak was needed to explain the story. Commissioners should scrutinize major leases. Seattle travelers should also expect them to come to an action-item meeting familiar with the proposal in their own packet—and to recognize that a public agenda is meant to be read before the vote.

Going to climate pledge for a first time at an event here soon, what are food and beverage prices like in the arena? I know they’re going to be expensive as it’s the arena but just looking for ballpark ideas. Thank you

I put up a meshcore repeater up today, in the window of my office at Detroit/Cook (3rd floor facing east). It should remain there for the forseeable future. Hope this helps. 🛸

Does anyone know of a reason PSE would be leavening all the facilities security lights on 7/24 at the Todd Road training facility. Attempts to reach a facility manager have been to no avail. PSE could turn the parking lot lights off during the day and save some energy. This does not sit well with me in lieu of PSE's pending major rate increase.

I've been wanting to move to Seattle for years and I am finally going to do it. I have a job right now and money saved up, but I am not going to move until I secure a job in Seattle (or remote). I've visited enough to know that I love it there. I'll look for an apartment once I know when I'll be moving, but I know I'd like to live in Fremont if possible. I am also open to other neighborhoods if anyone has recommendations for places I might like that are similar. Is there anything I should know before moving? Thanks!

*Reposting due to this being taken down initially* Hello! I'm starting a regular group that will meet on Tuesdays for discount movies at local theaters (SIFF Uptown, Downtown, Majestic Bay, etc.) We'll meet for food and drinks before or after the movie, depending on showtimes. No commitment, no cost (except for what you purchase.) Our first meeting will be 10/6 for Primetime at SIFF Uptown. Find us on the Luma app to RSVP

Zahilay's announcement touted an estimated $2.5 million per year in savings due to fewer staffing and administrative costs if the district gets assumed. But that figure remains contested, with KCTD chair Claudia Balducci citing a much lower figure. [...] "Staff did go through the numbers and made an estimate that, with the leanest possible operations, it would cost about $650,000 a year to operate the KCTD as an independent entity with its own legal services, its own accounting services, paying for some staff time, managing meetings, the sort of administrative work that the district would need to do to be independent." Just this week, the council's budget committee received a briefing that confirmed that Metro's sales tax revenues are expected to fall an additional $125 million short through 2031, largely due to adjustments to sales tax exemptions included in the new statewide tax on incomes over $1 million. ~ A majority signed on August 25. The first hearing is October 20. What gets decided in between is who writes the next transit tax measure and who checks how the money gets spent.

Any places close to Marysville, Whidbey island, Everett that are great for fall foliage? Is the arboretum worth the drive? Or is it better to wait another week or two? Thanks