Dick Lilly

Dick Lilly is a former Seattle Times reporter who covered local government from the neighborhoods to City Hall and Seattle Public Schools. He later served as a public information officer and planner for Seattle Public Utilities, with a stint in the mayorā€™s office as press secretary for Mayor Paul Schell. He has written on politics for Crosscut.com and the Seattle Times as well as Post Alley.

An Alarming Racial Disparity in Seattle Public School Reading Scores

Between 60 and 70 percent of BIPOC students in Seattle canā€™t read effectively. You donā€™t need dozens of academic studies to know that any weak reader will continue to do poorly in school.

Poison Always Leaves a Trace: Navalny Documentary Wows Opening-Night SIFF Audience

It would be hard to imagine a greater example of the power of film, the essence of what SIFF is all about.

An Emphasis on Homelessness and Public Safety

Most notably, after two years of variations on ā€œdefund the policeā€ pushed by activists and most on the council, Harrell reassured Seattleites that the city would ā€œenforce criminal lawsā€ including ā€œorganized retail theftā€ while ā€œwholly committed to avoiding the mistakes of the past.ā€

And Just Like That, An Elegant Affordable Housing Plan Fizzles

The basic proposal: Give landlords of qualified properties a real estate tax exemption in exchange for freezing rents at current levels for six years.

What You Pay For: Lessons from Swiss Schools

But at heart the Swiss program is very different. School for first graders is roughly 8 a.m. to noon which includes a 25-minute snack-time/recess. Then itā€™s walk home for lunch and back to school just two afternoons a week for classes between 1:45 and 3:20.

Postcard from Zurich: Connections to Home

Itā€™s not that homelessness is nonexistent. Thereā€™s just not a lot ā€“ well, practically none ā€“ compared to U.S. cities. Still, thereā€™s enough to make the Swiss nervous.

Eric Redman’s New Mystery Explores Fault-Lines of Hawaiian Identity

ā€œBones of Hiloā€ brings out the personal and group conflicts arising between the preservation of Hawaiian culture and the overwhelming forces of development and tourism.

A Plan to Help Low-Income Renters

This legislative session could have a silver lining for renters and advocates for affordable housing in a tax break offered to landlords who will freeze rents for six years.

Guardrails Down, What to do With Trump’s Militia Legacies?

It is the status-threatened, outsider and alienated groups where Trump likely has left us with unusually lasting damage. Trump brought them into politics, a place they hadnā€™t ā€“ at least in an organized way ā€“ been before. He gave them a role.

How to Save Downtown Seattle? A Tax Deal for Streetside Retail

Property tax exemptions designed to lower rents for street-level businesses may be just whatā€™s needed to resuscitate stores and restaurants gasping from Covid 19 restrictions and restore vitality to downtown and neighborhood business areas.

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