Queen Anne News

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Seattle executive branch employees will soon have to report to work in-person three days a week as the downtown area slowly continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced that executive employees will return to office more often starting Nov. 4. The city has approximately 14,000 total employees and about 13,300 of them work for executive branch departments and offices.

Queen An &Ma olia Queen Queen Anne &Magnolia news Queen Anne &Magnolia news

Joining the city executive branch is King County, which is also implementing a return to worksites at least three days a week starting in the fall.

XXX Decreasing revenue projections have members of the Seattle City Council concerned about a likely $260 million budget deficit in 2025.

Members of the Seattle Select Budget Committee were briefed Wednesday on the latest economic forecasts for the city. The main takeaway: the deficit is predicted to go up from an estimated $245 million.

During the committee meeting, Seattle City Council Chair Sara Nelson brought up the business and occupation tax revenue estimates dropping more than $5 million this year and next year. Nelson said that tax represents economic activity.

The tax is now estimated to collect $404 million in 2026, a decrease of $8.7 million from the April forecast.

“Those negatives reflect what is

The Center Square

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Ferguson and Reichert to face off for governor in November

Washington state’s longtime attorney general and a former county sheriff will face off to be Washington’s next governor this November.

Based on Tuesday night’s initial returns, Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson will face former King County Sheriff and U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican, in the general election.

Initial primary returns showed Ferguson way out in the lead with 49.5% of the vote, with Reichert garnering 27.92% of the vote.

Washington has long had a reputation as a solid Democratic stronghold and hasn’t had a Republican governor in nearly 40 years.

Washington’s last Republican governor was John Spellman. He was elected in 1980 but was not reelected and since then Democrats have won 10 straight gubernatorial contests. With Gov. Jay Inslee retiring, Washington will get a new governor for the first time in 12 years.

Under Washington's primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the November election, regardless of party. For months, experts have

predicted a Ferguson and Reichert matchup in November.

If campaign donations were any indication of that, the predictions were on track, though Ferguson has far outpaced Reichert when it comes to dollars.

According to Public Disclosure reports, Ferguson had $9.1 million

in campaign contributions going into the primary and had spent $7.1 million.

Reichert raised less than half the revenue of the Ferguson campaign, bringing in $4.4 million so far and spending $3.9 million ahead of the primary.

Though there were many other candidates in the race,

only two others generated enough recognition and campaign funding to be considered in contention.

Democratic candidate Mark Mullet, a state senator, raised $1.3 million and received 5.84% of initial returns in the primary.

Republican candidate Semi Bird, who received the Washington State

Republican Party endorsement, raised just over $709,000 and received 9.4% of initial primary ballot returns.

It is unclear if either Mullet or Bird intend to offer their endorsement to Ferguson and Reichert, respectively.

The general election is Nov. 5.

WA senators set to face off in November to replace longtime insurance commissioner

A pool of eight candidates to be Washington state's next insurance commissioner has been narrowed down to two following Tuesday’s primary election.

State Sens. Patty Kuderer and Phil Fortunato, a Democrat and Republican, respectively, are leading in the race, with Kuderer way out in front with about 45% of the vote to Fortunato's 28%, an impressive showing for having less than onesixth of his opponent's campaign contributions.

"I said spend every single penny we have because it's not going to do me any good to have money there if we lost the primary," Fortunato told The Center Square on Wednesday afternoon.

Republican Justin Murta got about 10% of the votes on Tuesday evening.

Democrat John Pestinger, a project manager in the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s consumer division, had just under 6% of the votes.

The remaining four – Bill Boyd, Jonathan Hendrix, Chris Chung and Tim Verzal – each received less than 4% of the vote.

Current Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, who has held the office for the last 23 years, did not seek reelection.

The OIC is one of the smaller state agencies but oversees Washington's insurance industry at a time when insurance rates have been skyrocketing.

On average, insurance companies nationwide sought to raise homeowners' premiums by more than 11% last year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Since 2022, most homeowners

have faced increased premiums of about 20%.

Auto insurance rates have gone up even more. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, each of the 10 largest underwriters raised their premium rates by double digits, compounding substantial hikes in 2022.

Insurance companies insist they're just playing catch-up, after two years of big losses. For every dollar in home and auto premiums they collected last year, insurance companies paid an average of $1.10 in claims and expenses, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

According to the OIC's website, among responsibilities of the office is answering questions and investigating problems from more than 120,000 consumers each year and recovering millions of dollars a year for consumers with insurance disputes or delays.

Kuderer’s campaign website lists universal healthcare, protecting access to reproductive healthcare and climate change insurance as top priorities.

"Climate change insurance, I'm not sure what that is," said Fortunato, who told The Center Square his priorities are focused on reducing regulations and increasing competition to bring costs down. With less than three months to go until the November election, Fortunato thinks he has a shot.

"We're both broke and she, [Kuderer] spent all that money and didn't cross the 50% threshold which is kind of interesting," Fortunato said.

According to the PDC website, Fortunato still has $21,000 unspent from contributions to his campaign. Kuderer has $78,000 remaining unspent from her contributions ahead of Tuesday's primary.

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Who wants to go for a ride?

Who could resist climbing aboard a fire truck? Not everyone. At the National Night Out, Walt Zierman received a surprise visit from the Magnolia fire truck that appeared in his neighborhood. He could not resist and climbed up into the cab. “The view is great from up here,” said Walt. You may have seen Walt around Magnolia before. A long-time member of the Rotary Club of Magnolia, Walt has been seen at the Farmer’s Market and most recently at Summerfest selling tickets to the Rotary’s Annual

Tennis Ball Roll. Walt reports that all tickets have been sold and the big roll-off is planned for Sunday, Aug. 18 at 10 a.m.

“This is a fun event for the community and a great fundraiser for Rotary. All proceeds stay in Magnolia to support the community,” reports Walt. “And the winning prize is $250 and the privilege of having your name included on the trophy?”

The roll-off is held at the field next to the Magnolia Community Center. There will be four preliminary rounds leading up to the final. All are invited to come and cheer on this fun event.

Emergency blood shortage: Red Cross supply drops 25%

The American Red Cross is experiencing an emergency blood shortage as the nation faces dangerous levels of heat and people head out for final summer travel plans. Since July 1, the Red Cross national blood supply has fallen by more than 25%, and blood donors of all types, especially those with type O blood, are urged to give as soon as possible to help patients receive lifesaving medical care. Heat impacted more than 100 blood drives in July in nearly every state where the Red Cross collects blood – compounding other seasonal obstacles to blood donation, such as travel and summer activities. Together these factors contributed to a shortfall of more than 19,000 blood donations in July. At the same time, hospital demand for blood products remains strong. Blood products are being sent to hospitals faster than donations are coming in. Right now, type O inventory is so low, distributions of this vital blood type

Savvy Senior: Paying for nursing home care with Medicaid

Dear Savvy Senior, If my mother needs to move into a nursing home, what are the eligibility requirements to get Medicaid coverage?

Caretaking Son

Dear Caretaking, The rules and requirements for Medicaid eligibility for nursing home care are complicated and will vary according to the state your mother lives in. With that said, here’s a general, simplified rundown of what it takes to qualify.

MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY

Medicaid, the joint federal and state program that covers health care for the poor, is also the largest single payer of America’s nursing home bills for seniors who don’t have the resources to pay for their own care. (Note that some states have different names for their Medicaid program.)

Most people who enter nursing homes don’t qualify for Medicaid at first but pay for care either through long-term care insurance or out-of-pocket until they deplete their savings and become eligible for Medicaid.

between $30 and $160. You also need to be aware that your mother can’t give away her assets to qualify for Medicaid faster. Medicaid officials will look at their financial records going back five years (except in California which has a 30-month look-back rule) to root out suspicious asset transfers. If they find one, her Medicaid coverage will be delayed a certain length of time, according to a formula that divides the transfer amount by the average monthly cost of nursing home care in their state.

So, for example, if your mom lives in a state where the average monthly nursing home cost is $8,000 and she gave away cash or other assets worth $160,000, she would be ineligible for benefits for 20 months ($160,000 divided by $8,000 = 20).

SPOUSAL PROTECTION

are reduced below what hospitals count on.

“It’s critical hospitals have both type O positive and O negative blood ready to go for patients in the most life-threatening situations,” said Dr. Eric Gehrie, executive physician director for the Red Cross. “Type O is especially important for victims of accidents and other trauma who are receiving emergency treatment. Now is the time for donors of all blood types to give and ensure hospital shelves can be restocked before any impact to patient care.”

The Red Cross is working with hospitals around-the-clock to meet the blood needs of patients – but can’t do it alone. To make an appointment, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

As a thank-you, those who come give blood, platelets or plasma through Aug. 31 will get a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card by email. For details, visit RedCrossBlood. org/Help.

To qualify for Medicaid, your mother’s income and assets will need to be under a certain level that’s determined by your state. Most states (except California) require that a single person have no more than about $2,000 in countable assets ($3,000 for a married couple) that includes cash, savings, investments or other financial resources that can be turned into cash.

Assets that aren’t counted for eligibility include your mother’s home if it’s valued under $713,000 (this limit is higher – up to $1,071,000 – in some states), her personal possessions and household goods, one vehicle, prepaid funeral plans and a small amount of life insurance.

But be aware that while her home is not considered a countable asset to determine eligibility, if she can’t return home, Medicaid can go after the proceeds of her house to help reimburse her nursing home costs, unless a spouse or other dependent relative lives there. (There are some other exceptions to this rule.)

After qualifying, all sources of your mother’s income such as Social Security and pension checks must be turned over to Medicaid to pay for her care, except for a small personal needs allowance – usually

Medicaid also has special rules (known as the community spouse resource allowance) for married couples when one spouse enters a nursing home, and the other spouse remains at home. In these cases, the healthy spouse can keep one half of the couple’s assets up to $154,140 (this amount varies by state), the family home, all the furniture and household goods and one automobile. The healthy spouse is also entitled to keep a portion of the couple’s monthly income – between $2,465 and $3,854. Any income above that goes toward the cost of the nursing home recipient’s care.

WHAT ABOUT MEDICARE?

Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors 65 and older, and some younger people with disabilities, does not pay for long-term care. It only helps pay up to 100 days of rehabilitative nursing home care, which must occur after a three-day hospital stay.

For more information, contact your state Medicaid office. You can also get help from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (see ShipHelp.org), which provides free counseling on Medicare and Medicaid issues.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

Rotarian Walt Zierman enjoys the view from the cab of the fire truck. Courtesy

State: 1 in 5 charge failures a ‘substantial risk’ to Washington’s EV strategy

Washington state’s goal of shifting the transportation sector away from fossil fuels and toward electrification is at “substantial risk” due to the documented unreliability of public charging stations, according to a state electric vehicle council.

Per a state law, the sale and registration of fossil fuel vehicles made in 2030 or after will be illegal in Washington. To make the use of EVs feasible, the state will need to have fast-charging electric vehicle ports every 50 miles across the state highway state, and 3 million total in both public and private charging ports.

The estimate assumes every one of the public charging ports will be functional.

Meanwhile, one out of every five attempted charges at a public port fails, according to a Harvard-led study. Released in June, the study found that just 78% of attempted charges at the nation’s roughly 64,000 public port succeeds, making them less reliable than gas stations.

“Imagine if you go to a traditional gas station and two out of 10 times the pumps are out of order,” scholar Omar Asensio said in a news release.

Asensio is the climate fellow at Harvard Business School's Institute for the Study of Business in Global

BUDGET from Page 1Æ

going on in our daily economy and that is impacted by the policies we make,” Nelson said at the committee meeting.

The city will likely rely more on its JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax, which has now updated its revenue projections to $430 million next year, according to the August forecast.

The tax is paid by Seattle businesses with at least $8.5 million in local annual payroll. The rate the businesses pay ranges between 0.7% and 2.4% on salaries and wages paid to Seattle employees who make at least $150,000 per year. Companies such as Amazon, Meta and Google would be subject to paying the tax.

Seattle previously authorized approximately $105 million in 2023 and $130 million in 2024 as the maximum amounts available to transfer from the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax Fund to the general fund to address a looming $140 million revenue gap the city is facing.

Approximately 10,000 jobs within Amazon moved from Seattle to the neighboring City of Bellevue in response to the payroll tax. Nelson flagged that drop in employment will hurt JumpStart tax revenue in

Society, or BiGS, and led the study.

The Harvard study also noted a lack of public charging ports in regions of Washington such as Ferry County, where the county's only existing public charging port has been removed. It's a problem the Harvard study attributes to a lack of EV car sales.

The one in five failure rate could prove to be a logistical challenge for the state EV Coordinating Council, which is tasked with creating the electrification strategy for the state’s transportation sector, with public charging ports a key aspect of that strategy.

The state Legislature has already invested $184 million for passenger EV charging to build 752 fast charging ports, while additional federal funding is expected to bring the total to 1,019 fast charging ports; the state currently has 1,283 fast charging ports in presumed operation.

The council’s Transportation Electrification Strategy estimates there will need to be 3,030 public fast charging ports for light-duty vehicles by 2025; the council estimates that there will need to be 728 private ports to meet EV charging demand.

However, in an Aug. 6 draft proposal under development by the Washington State Department of Commerce's Clean Transportation Unit, it states that the failure rate

the future.

The Seattle City Council recently passed a new pilot program with the South Correctional Entity for additional jail services. That is estimated to cost between $1.5 million to $3 million per year, depending on utilization rate.

Prior to the vote, Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales brought up the budget deficit, calling out city officials for not prioritizing how these initiatives will be paid amid calls to reduce spending to address the budget shortfall.

“It is clear that it is going to be more than $2 million [for the program] and it is also clear that so far the mayor has only identified $600,000 to pay for this,” Morales said at recent council meeting. “So where does the balance come from?”

Morales also mentioned $7 million to $8 million in ongoing costs for 48 new positions included in the midyear supplemental budget.

“We’re pushing our budget deficit ... close to $260 million without asking the hard questions of how we are going to pay for this,” Morales added.

The city council is now set to vote on a mid-year supplemental budget package on Aug. 13 as it continues work to address the budget shortfall.

means “the state would need to overbuild total ports to reach the targets.

“Public fast charging investments and reliability need stronger improvement,” the proposal goes on to say. “For consumers without experience using an EV, it is often not clear that most charging takes place at home unless such access is not feasible or driving exceeds 150-200 miles each day. This makes public charging convenience and reliability a key component of public willingness to make the transition to electric.”

However, the draft proposal adds that “beyond ensuring there’s sufficient public charging access to

support EV adoption, unreliable public charging is a substantial risk to adoption if not urgently improved. Reliability is especially key because there was no reliability factor assumed, meaning a port needed is assumed to be a port that functions.”

The current draft proposal seeks $103 million for the 2025-27 operating budget, $90 million of which would fund an ongoing EV rebate program that started earlier this month.

The Department of Commerce is currently soliciting public feedback on the draft proposal through a survey that is open through Aug. 16. The draft proposal is ultimately due to the Governor’s Office by Sept. 10.

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The first round of King County employees to return to worksites more often will be executive branch department directors in November.

Each department director will work to develop a plan by January 2025 for an increased on-site schedule and strategy for county hybrid workers.

According to a news release from Harrell’s office, more than three-quarters of King County employees work on-site daily.

Seattle first required employees to return to their offices at least two days per week in 2022.

“As one of the first regional employers to bring employees back to the office, we’ve been encouraged by the embrace of this policy and what we’ve seen as a result: improved collaboration, a strengthened ability to foster conversations and explore new ideas, enhanced community and relationship building, and a real commitment to mentorship and employee growth,” Harrell said in the news release.

Sound Transit Interim CEO

Goran Sparrman also signaled his support for employees of his agency to return to officers as a way to “provide the mobility backbone that supports downtown Seattle reaching its full potential.”

“We will soon be shifting our own agency culture to prioritize in-person work, leaning into and returning to the best of in-person work, where people collaborate, innovate, and build communities together,” Sparrman said.

More employees returning to their offices in Seattle’s downtown core would boost the area’s recovery statistics. According to the Downtown Seattle Association’s Downtown Revitalization Dashboard, the downtown core averaged approximately 93,000 daily workers, which is the highest daily average since March 2020 when the COVID -19 pandemic caused many employees to work from home.

However, despite the positive trends in the rate of officers returning to their downtown offices, the 93,000 workers represent 58% of the daily worker foot traffic seen in June 2019.

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DOWNTOWN

Tweaking biscotti

This recipe is (nearly) an exact reproduction of a biscotti recipe from Bon Appetit. It follows the recipe almost to the letter, with two modifications. It reduces the amount of sugar slightly, which is my preference, and it makes one change to the baking method.

These changes were not my idea, but the idea of a friend who introduced me to the recipe. She brought these biscotti to a beach barbecue, and I knew I wanted the recipe when I found myself walking through the sand dunes munching on two fistfuls of cookies before we even lit the grill for the main course.

These biscotti have everything that I appreciate in a cookie: fruit, nuts and citrus, suspended in a wholesome biscuit that exhibits restraint in sugar. A notable difference was that the biscotti were slightly underbaked, veering from the classic method of baking this Italian confection to enamelcracking crispness. Instead, they have a wonderful crumbly perfection, which begs for more tasting without the risk of cracking a tooth. Which, of course, enables further munching.

DRIED CHERRY AND PISTACHIO BISCOTTI

recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

Yield: approximately 30 biscotti

▶ 1 3/4 cups unbleached allpurpose flour

▶ 3/4 cup granulated sugar

▶ 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

▶ 1 teaspoon baking powder

▶ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

▶ 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

▶ 2 large eggs

▶ 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

▶ Zest from one untreated

orange

▶ Zest from one untreated lemon

▶ 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

▶ 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

▶ 1 cup dried pitted cherries, coarsely chopped

▶ 1 cup unsalted shelled pistachios

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Briefly mix on low speed to blend. Combine the eggs, oil, orange zest, lemon zest, vanilla and almond extracts in a separate bowl and whisk to combine. Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine. Add the cherries and pistachios and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Divide the dough in half. Shape each dough half into a 14- to 16-inch-long log. Arrange on a baking sheet, spaced 4 to 5 inches apart. Flatten each log into a 2-inch-deep strip. Bake until golden brown and set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool for 15 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees. Transfer the biscotti to a cutting board. Cut into 3/4-inch-thick strips with a serrated knife. Place the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake until firm and golden, about 25 minutes.

Cool completely on racks. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Lynda Balslev is an awardwinning writer, cookbook author, and recipe developer based in northern California. Visit TasteFood at TasteFoodblog.com.

July12,1949~August7,2018

GinaC.RembiesapassedtotheothersideunexpectedlyonAugust7, 2018.Shewasatalentedanddeeply compassionatePsychotherapistfor over40years.Thoughalwayspetite instatureshehadenormouspresence.Inadditiontobeingavoraciousmysterybookreader,she thoroughlyenjoyedactionmovies, TVreruns,andcooking.Shemaintainedalifelongaffectionforand respectofallanimals,especially cats.Shewasawomanofgreat spirit,furiousdetermination, infectioushumor,anddeeplove. Sheistenderlymissedandjoyfully rememberedbymany,including KittiesBlaiseandEveandher husbandTom. Memorialscanbemadeto www.teenfeed.org.

GinaC.REMBIESA

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