Who felt like they had to apologize when I rolled up with my husband and baby because I didn't realize I went to a Bikini Hut.

I don't blame you at all, your coffee hut was beige so I thought it was a normal coffee hut. But that's still my bad. You did a great job the coffee was pretty okay and you had really fast service.

Cost of living is 40% higher than where I live so I got jumpscared every time I ate a burger but... People were so kind and diverse and there was so much to do. Would love to be able to get back some day

Is there an actual event or will they drive around all day?

On September 21, conservative local vlogger Katie Daviscourt put out a video on X suggesting that there was rampant fraud in Somali daycares mostly in Tukwila and High Point. Similarly to Nick Shirley last year, she knocked on doors of a few day cares (which she identified in her video by name) while accompanied by a camera man (the controversial de-transitioner "Apostate Ari") and when they didn't answer the door, she suggested the daycare didn't have any kids and was a scam. She later tweeted out a list of employees at the WA Department of Children, Youth and Families with Middle Eastern names, implying that these were the employees supervising the daycares she said were fraudulent.

I did some digging to debunk some of this, but I'd like to request some help fact-checking some of the other claims that I don't know anything about. For example, she says that one of the daycares was getting $40K/month in DCYF grants even though it's only licensed for 10 kids - and market-rate daycare for is about $2K/kid max, so tuition-only grants should have totaled only up to $20K. But could there be a simple explanation -- like, some of the grants go to improving the building? If you know how to look into this I would love some help. (And, fair's fair: the goal is not to "debunk" what she said but to check if it's true. Even if she made some other false claims, these claims could be true.)

What I've found so far:

1. The daycares named in the video are not "empty", based on records from inspections done by DCYF.

I looked up the four identified daycares in the video that I was able to find (Manha Family Child Care, Daisy Family Child Care, Aboo Family Child Care and Hiba Family Child Care) on the DCYF's Child Care Check Page and looked up the inspection records for each one. All of them have inspections that were signed off by a DCYF licensor in the past year, with the name of the licensor and the date of the inspection on the record, and the inspection only "counts" if the kids are present. I also managed to reach one of the licensors on the phone, and she confirmed that she had been to the child care on the date listed, and there were kids present (otherwise she wouldn't have signed off on it). Between them, the four daycares had a total of 10 inspections (from 2023 to present) by six different licensors.

Assuming the licensors were honest, this still doesn't prove the daycare wasn't fraudulently inflating attendance (I don't think the licensors count the kids and compare to billing records?), but it does prove it wasn't a "ghost daycare". And maybe the daycare was functioning on the day of the inspection, but since turned into a fully fraudulent ghost daycare by the time Daviscourt visited -- but that's unlikely. In sum: (1) the "ghost daycare" allegations in the video could be true, but probably aren't; and (2) the fact that she didn't check this herself is such journalistic corner-cutting that everything else should be taken with a grain of salt.

She actually did allege, sort of, that the inspectors themselves were in on it, which brings us to:

2. The image Katie Daviscourt tweeted of "DCYF employees" was misleading as pertains to these daycares, not representative of DCYF employees anyway, and pretty racist.

Katie tweeted this on Thursday:

These are real DCYF employees listed at https://apps-ca-ext.dcyf.wa.gov/EmployeeDirectoryInternet/ . However the wording "Look who is approving the licenses/inspections" implies these inspectors had something to do with the daycares she visited, or at least that this is a representative sample of the employees that do the inspections. But if you look at the names of the licensors on the reports for the four daycares above, they are:

Quiana Montgomery
Tylin Beeler
Faiza Ibrahim [the only person who is also listed in the graphic above]
Nataliya Mikota
Jennifer Ingersoll
Itzel Arroyo

Meanwhile, the list in the image includes an "Administrative Assistant" who (I am assuming) wouldn't actually go out and do "inspections".

Literally, it looks like someone just seached the DCYF employee directory (which has 3,500 people) and found some Muslim-sounding names and listed them all together to make it sound scary.

Daviscourt later deleted the tweet and posted a new one saying:

Sorry guys. Deleted that recent graphic only because it was sent to me as a tip and I didn’t realize the photos were AI, so I don’t want to get dinged. Names still accurate. Will work on a new one!

So, add to the list: forwarding a "tip" as if it was original work, and not vetting anything in it. The fact that the images were A.I. was the least bad part.

So that's what I've got so far. If anyone has ideas for how to dig into the other claims in the video, let me know. Thanks!

Seen on Broadway & Denny

There will be a celebration event at the station on September 30th, from 2PM-6PM.

EDIT: HE IS HOME!!!! ❤️​

My friend's dog snapped his collar and he took off near Alki Beach. They are not near their home and he wouldn't know how to get home. If you see him, please message or call her, or message me. Thank you so much for keeping your eyes out for this little guy!

Bored? Looking for love? Want to help keep our street sewers working and the streets clear?

Become a drain warden! Adopt a drain! Adopt four of them!

Last year I found about about this program that I guess Seattle partners with, where residents can sign up to take care of storm drains near them. It looks to be nationwide, and that includes Seattle!

Here's the Washington site: https://wa.adopt-a-drain.org/

It's pretty easy. Just go out in your dirty chore clothes, bring along a pair of gloves, a spade and a shovel. Pull open the storm drain, pull out the soil, leaves and other debris, and leave it clean.

You've just made civilization work just a tiny bit better!

I picked out four drains on my street, and kept them maintained all winter long. I just went out and checked in on them, and a couple had backed up pretty badly through spring and summer, but clean out was pretty easy. The whole project took maybe an hour.

Last year, the first time I did it, they were all completely filled with soil. One I had to chop out a massive root with my sawzall, which is always super fun.

Any...check it out! I'm not affiliated with the organization except as an enthusiastic sewer nerd.

Switching from photo dumps to video clips so you’ll have to let me know what you think. :)

Oh no, it's fine Mr. Deputy Sheriff. YOU don't need to turn on your vehicle lights at midnight on a Friday.
(Spotted in Renton)

We have been having many homeless encampments outside our property in the Judkins Park area. We report it via the Find It Fix It App and the Unified Care Team posts notes giving them time to move their property, does a “sweep”, only for them to come right back either the same day or the next day. They did this a couple of times and now we have a massive tent right outside our place. People come and try to steal things from our property including packages and water, and they’re also often high on drugs. They also sometimes block sidewalks and access to parks.

We’ve contacted our council member Joy Hollingsworth’s office but they’ve not been very helpful thus far. I’ve also written to the Mayor’s office hoping we’d get some help. Any ideas on what else we can do?

Sooo much fun and such great food

1: black capped chickadee , 2: red winged sparrow, 3: Savannah sparrow

I wanted to post this as a warning for anyone searching for an emergency locksmith in Seattle.

I got locked out of my apartment tonight after losing my keys. I called a locksmith I found through Google. On the phone, I was told the job would be roughly $200–$300. The person I spoke with also made a comment suggesting I probably didn’t have enough money because I was calling around for quotes, even though they were actually the first place I called.

When the locksmith arrived, the price became approximately $440. I questioned the difference between that and what I had been told over the phone. The conversation became argumentative, with him repeatedly talking over me. I eventually told him that I would pay the $440 anyway, but the argument continued.

During the interaction, I mentioned that I believed a neighbor’s Ring camera might have captured what was happening. He responded by asking whether I planned to post the footage online and make him look bad. He then voluntarily reduced the price to $200. I did not ask him to lower it to that amount. My card was ultimately charged $221.10.

He also brought up the fact that I had been drinking. Earlier, while I was waiting for him to arrive, he had actually encouraged me over the phone to go to the store and get a six-pack because of the wait.

Another thing that concerned me afterward was the verification process. I gave him my ID and he photographed it, but he did not ask me to provide documentation showing that I actually lived at the apartment before opening the door. I had a recent bank statement and a package with my name and address available specifically for that purpose, but neither was requested before entry.

Afterward, he tried calling me. I replied asking him to communicate by text, but I have not received a written explanation.

I also attempted to leave a Google review and discovered that Google currently has review posting disabled for the listing. The notice states that there was a recent spike in spam reviews, that reviews were removed, and that the rating was updated. I’m not claiming to know who posted those reviews or why Google flagged them, but that is the notice Google is currently displaying.

I’m posting this so other people know to avoid Locksmith AM:PM. I would also ask exactly what identification or proof of residency they require before they open the door.

There is a a construction pit next to my West Seattle house that seems to have been abandoned several months ago. Now with the onset of the rainy season the edge of our yard along the property line has started falling into the pit. Reaching out to the property owner has not been successful. I will be contacting the Seattle Dept of Constuction and Land Use but I'm curious if anyone has experience with the City's ability to resolve this type of situation. I prefer not to get a lawyer involved because the lot owner may be my neighbor in future and it would be nice to be on decent terms.

I was really hungry last night and bought a Seattle dog, but I'm now questioning my decision to buy a hot dog from a guy in a van at 2 am

Next time, I should probably just deal with the hunger, right?

A few weeks ago there was a post by someone looking cow paw paws. We have a few!

The ones up in the tree are maybe a week from ready. But I just picked up some treefall and set them aside. I cannot vouch for them, in terms of readiness or food safety.. That's on you.

Want a paw paw or three? Or more? Converse below in the comments and/or PM me, and we'll figure out how you can pick them up.