This week, I met two lovely people who made me worry a tiny bit less about how I am doing as a parent.

You may have heard of . He’s a genius who works at the University of Washington (UW) on creating brand-new proteins. He was just awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work. He’s a pretty big deal.

More on Dr. Baker: UW biochemist wins Nobel Prize for breakthroughs in protein design

What you may not know is, long before he was a Nobel recipient, he was a kid in Seattle Public Schools. He went to Garfield High School and what was then Meany Junior High.

He also went to Montlake Elementary School, which just happens to be where my kids attend school right now.

I emailed Dr. Baker to learn more about his time at Montlake, and he introduced me to his mom, Marcia. It turns out that she and David’s dad, Marshall, still live in the same neighborhood — just a short walk from my home — in the very house where David grew up in the 60s and 70s.

Earlier this week, I walked over to visit with them. We talked about the school, the neighborhood, the city and all the changes they’ve seen over the years. We also talked about David as a young kid.

Seattle’s double standard: Adding surveillance cameras while cutting public transparency

Marcia told me that before school began, the family doctor was worried about David’s development. He wasn’t talking much and was slower compared to kids his age in key ways. Marshall recalled how David played soccer at the Montlake Community Center, but wasn’t very good.

Despite the worries about how he would do academically and athletically, David kept at it. He tried new things like chess and skiing. Then he discovered math and science and reading.

The Bakers told me their son blossomed once he found his place.

And, of course, we know now where all of this leads. Marcia said they were excited and so happy about the incredible honor for their son, but she also said that proud was the wrong word because she said it wasn’t something they had done.

Reflecting on the conversation later, I kept returning to the same thought. It was actually something Marcia and Marshall did. They supported and loved David no matter what. They let him develop at his own speed and be exactly who he was meant to be — a Nobel Prize-winning scientist.

More from Travis Mayfield: Downtown Seattle showing signs of life, is it making a comeback?

It seems like such a simple thing, yet as a parent in the middle of it all right now, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters.

I think as humans who are also in the middle of it all right now — parents or not — it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters. So maybe let David, Marcia and Marshall’s story be a small reminder to be exactly who you want to be and find your own way to your own success — Nobel or otherwise.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his commentaries and stories here

For many folks these days, the mental picture isn’t great. And for good reason. It’s been a tough season for downtown Seattle.

Now, let me ask you … when was the last time you were actually in Downtown Seattle?

Seattle’s double standard: Adding surveillance cameras while cutting public transparency

It had been a minute since I had been downtown. But earlier this fall, we went for dinner. Then a few weeks later, we went for a movie. A day or so later, we went shopping. During a recent weekend, we took the kids to the new park connecting Pike Place Market and the waterfront.

After each recent visit, I have found myself thinking, wow … that is not what I was expecting. There have been crowds, lines, families and life.

I know downtown isn’t perfect and I know there are still significant concerns over the number of unhoused people, crime-heavy hot spots and empty retail and office space. Still, I can’t help feeling hopeful again about what I see with my own eyes.

I know many employees are unhappy about Amazon requiring workers back in the office five days a week, yet I am sure that will only help life flourish downtown.

We can all gripe about the city council, the mayor, the police and so on. However, it does feel like we’ve reached a pivotal new moment — and it’s a moment that maybe you want to see with your own eyes.

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If it’s been a while since you were downtown, I would love to invite you to explore the amazing new aquarium extension. Then, after that, why not stroll the dockside promenade? Then climb the terraces that make up the new Overlook Park. Check out the 360-degree views of Elliot Bay, the city skyline and Mt. Rainier from each level. Wander through the market, chat with the vendors and have some food.

I’m not saying every square inch of downtown is perfect. What I am saying is that there is progress and there is life — and it’s worth your time to see it for yourself.

Then, the next time someone says the words “Downtown Seattle,” your mental picture will be a little more up-to-date.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his commentaries and stories here.

I think cameras in courtrooms bring transparency. I think public broadcasters bring accountability. I think the more light we can shine in the darkness, the better.

Yet, I find it ironic that this week, the Seattle City Council voted 7-1 to add live video surveillance cameras to three city neighborhoods.

More from Seattle City Council: Seattle passes plan to install cameras in crime-ridden areas

It’s not because I don’t agree with many of the residents of those neighborhoods who are begging the council for crime relief and support the cameras. Or law enforcement experts who said it would be a force multiplier when we have so few cops on the street.

No, what I find ironic is that Seattle city leaders are so willing to switch on these new cameras and aim them at you and me … while at the same time switching off cameras aimed directly at themselves.

That’s right. These new CCTV cameras will cost $1.5 million — an expense the council is apparently glad to pay. But the current budget cuts proposed for next year would decimate the city-operated … and how much would it save? Just a little over $1.5 million.

Hi Peter. This is Paul.

With these cuts, residents and taxpayers will lose all the hours of original public affairs programming, including deep dives into city policy, robust arts coverage and granular civic affairs discussions. In other words, the very positions, policies and proposals our city leaders are pushing will get even less examination than they get today.

More from Travis Mayfield: Teaching kids about hypocrisy was way too easy this week

Our elected leaders will have to answer even fewer questions about the business they claim they are doing in our name. But you know who will now be answering even more questions? People in those three Seattle neighborhoods soon to be under constant video surveillance.

I am absolutely fine with cameras being used to reveal wrongdoing, as long as those cameras are fairly aimed at the right places.

 is a local media personality and fills in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

This week, I found myself explaining to our second and fifth graders what hypocrisy — and what being a hypocrite — is. First, I had to spell it for them. Then I read the definition from Merriam-Webster aloud: A person who pretends to have virtues or qualities that they do not have. Then, I offered some examples.

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And this week, there were way too many examples.

There were both vice presidential nominees on national television demanding the other be honest and then, when their own chance came, stopping short of the same level of truthtelling. Governor Tim Walz couldn’t simply say he misspoke and apologize after he was caught lying about whether he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square democracy protests in 1989. Senator J.D. Vance refused to admit the undeniable fact that his running mate, former President Donald Trump, lost the 2020 election and then made it worse by claiming it was a peaceful transfer of power and not a deadly near coup.

Now, before you brush those off as national politicians doing what national politicians do, I have a local example this week as well. Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Superintendent Brent Jones sent a letter to parents, staff and the wider community saying he now only wanted to close five schools, but in order to make up the rest of the budget shortfall, sacrifices from everyone would be required. Minutes later, at a closed-door meeting, the school board gave him a $25,000 dollar raise. So teachers, parents, kids — y’all need to sacrifice, but no sacrifice for Jones.

More from Travis Mayfield: Dear Gonzaga, it’s time to join the Pac-12

It’s hard to do the right thing. But that doesn’t make it any less necessary. Candidates for leadership in this nation’s highest offices need to tell the truth. School leaders who want us to trust their decisions need to lead by example. Hypocrites should be losing these battles, but it seems instead, they just keep on winning.

What’s funny is our kids understood all this immediately. It makes sense at such a basic level. Being honest and practicing what you preach are the right things to do.

So why is it so tough for so many grownups to simply do them?

 is a local media personality and fills in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

I also value local tradition and civic pride.

And honestly, those are the two most important reasons Gonzaga University (GU) should join the newly rebuilding Pac-12.

More on the Pac-12:

Washington State University (WSU) and Oregon State University (OSU) were both left holding the bag when Washington and Oregon saw green and fled.

For a minute, locals – fans or otherwise – thought the Pac-12 might be dead. But the Cougs and the Beavers are more fearsome than that. They are also a lot savvier than some folks thought.

Now with the new schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State — joining the Pac, it needs team No. 8 to seal the deal under NCAA rules.

Gonzaga is a premier national player. It outgrew the West Coast Conference years ago. In fact, playing in the WCC probably hurts the basketball program each season, both by lowering national expectations and also by not properly hardening the Zags up for the big dance.

Sure, there’s no Zag football team, but honestly, that’s barely a problem, especially if GU’s reputation convinces other schools to join up, too.

Like the Ducks and the Huskies, the Zags are hearing the call for more money. But instead of the Big 12 calling, what if that call is coming from inside the building?

Or inside the region.

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reports the school could see between $5-12 million more if Gonzaga joined the Pac-12.

I’m not a college sports financial expert, so I’ll leave that math alone. Instead, what I want my college to remember is that it owes so much of its decades of success to its city, state and region. We helped build the Gonzaga that dances big each March. We love and support and cheer and give because y’all are one of us.

Why not throw your lot in with the other local schools – WSU and OSU – that looked death in the face and said no thanks, that’s not how it’s done here in the Pacific Northwest.

Gonzaga, show the rest of college sports — and your friends and neighbors — you, too, know how it’s done here on the Pac coast.

 is a local media personality and fills in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

One of the biggest concerns has always been the radioactive material seeping into groundwater or, worse, the Columbia River.

Now, according to , the feds are moving forward with a pilot project to treat and then send two thousand gallons of the stuff to Texas, where it’s too dry to worry about groundwater.

More on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: WA, DOE agree to updated cleanup plan for Hanford Nuclear Reservation

At first, this sounds like good news. On its face, it is.

Local leaders, though, are raising red flags. The plan is actually calling for the material to be sent by train in liquid form. Once it reaches its destination, it will be further processed and turned into more solid grout, which will then be disposed of.

Watchdog organizations are warning transporting thousands of gallons of radioactive liquid — even if it is low level — by train runs the risk of derailment.

Eastern Washington, Oregon and Idaho could all see these trains run right through their communities. Tribes, whose lands the railroad tracks cross, are calling the risks unacceptable. The mayor of Spokane used similar language.

Experts said it would be much safer to process the material into a more solid state and then transport it. The feds so far aren’t listening.

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I agree with watchdogs, tribes and community leaders. This work should be done, but it needs to be done in the safest way.

This test may turn out fine, but if it works, there are millions of gallons of waste that could then see the green light to be trained through neighborhoods and communities. The risk at that point goes up exponentially.

Do the right thing now and lower the risk in the long run.

 is a local media personality and fills in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

Boeing, now is your chance to do exactly that and to truly fix a problem more than two decades in the making.

The aerospace company used to care deeply about its employees, and for generations, they, in return, cared about the company and put their hearts and souls into the product.

It’s why, for so many years, the phrase “if it ain’t Boeing, we ain’t going” truly meant something.

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Then, company leaders decided to move away from the men and women who built the company and their product. Instead, they moved closer to Wall Street.

They moved the headquarters. They moved production lines. They moved their loyalty. The thousands of employees left behind — many right here in Washington — tried at first to keep the faith.

But each subsequent contract has layered insult on top of injury. Then things started to break.

It turns out airplanes safely and reliably fly when they are built by the best employees in the world who are treated like the best employees in the world. When you treat people like trash, and the wind blows … they blow away.

More from Travis Mayfield: Set aside today’s trifles and join me at the beach?

Well, the winds seem to be shifting … maybe.

The people at headquarters are finally moving back. Genuine attention to the production lines is moving back. Now it’s time to move the loyalty back, too.

Boeing, now is the time to put your money where your mouth is and tell your machinists they are the best in the world and you want them to help you become the best in the world again too. You may still be Boeing, but they are going unless you finally return some loyalty and genuine respect.

 is a local media personality and fills in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

But then, I looked outside. I saw the glorious green trees, a brilliant blue sky and the warm, happy sun. I thought about the joy of walking our kids to the bus stop for their first day of school this week. I remembered our second grader’s questions about how fog forms and why the lawn is covered in dew. I took a deep breath and savored the clean air filling my lungs.

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My brain immediately forgot the small trifles and insignificant slights.

They don’t actually matter, do they?

Why not extend some grace to others? I can’t know their challenges or their obstacles, but I can actually choose to give the benefit of the doubt. I can decide to take a deep breath and focus on all the amazing things around me.

So that’s what I am doing. After school today, I’m taking the kids to the beach. We are going to swim out to the floating dock and jump off the high dive. We are going to put on our goggles and explore the bottom of the lake. I am going to lift them both, one at a time, high into the air and throw them off into the water as they shriek with laughter. We are going to swim back to the sandy beach where we are going to dig holes, make castles and lounge in the warm afternoon temperatures.

More from Travis Mayfield: Marysville schools could be a harbinger of things to come

Then we are going to go home and I’m going to let them decide what we have for dinner. Chicken nuggets? Sure. Macaroni and cheese? Why not. Let’s eat outside on the deck in the fading-yet-still-warm light. We can laugh and talk and just be together as a family in this amazing place where we are lucky enough to live.

Is there something bugging you today? Something stuck in your craw? Can it wait? Can you put it aside? Can you join me in looking out at all this gloriousness and choose to be here for that today instead?

I hope so. I truly hope so.

is a local media personality and fills in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

Marysville schools within the district have been financially troubled for years. The administration, board and even voters have been unable or unwilling to solve the issues, so the state stepped in and started mandating change.

More coverage on Marysville School District: State cites ‘serious concerns’ as Marysville School District fails to compile viable budget

Unfortunately for the kids in Marysville, the adults still haven’t been able to fix the mess. Earlier this week, the state moved to tighten control by putting the district under “enhanced oversight” and financial monitoring.

It could be school closures, layoffs and much more.

And here’s the thing: While the Marysville situation is one of the worst spots in the state, nearly all schools in Washington are facing its own deep budget hole right now. They’ve been hit with years of high inflation paired with the end of billions in federal COVID-19 dollars.

Making matters much worse, a number of years ago, the State Supreme Court ordered state lawmakers to fully fund schools, and our lawmakers said they would. But the truth is that they didn’t. In some ways, the situation is worse. The true cost of special education for the true number of students who need help in the true number of schools in this state is easily double what the state gives, and that’s just one of the areas where we were told things were “fixed.”

The truth is when the state legislature convenes in January, lawmakers absolutely must fix much of this. First, these districts need immediate inflation help. Second, voters in each district need to regain the freedom to vote on more realistic levies to fund schools instead of having them artificially capped for austere political reasons. Third, the state needs to fund a top-to-bottom independent evaluation of what it truly costs for public education in this state and then write a brand new formula for how to actually do that.

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Finally, the hard fact is that any common sense from the state won’t come soon enough. Districts will have to make cuts in the months ahead. Some buildings will be closed. Some teachers will be laid off. Our job as taxpayers and school families is to participate in that process, to ensure our school boards are listening to us and looking for ways to cut administrative and district costs that bloat before they even consider touching our classrooms.

It’s a tough time to have a kid in public schools in this state, but we are tough people and, as the old adage says, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Lawmakers, school districts, parents and taxpayers, lets get going.

Travis Mayfield is a local media personality and fills in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

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But despite mountains of evidence that the vaccines save lives, many of you reading right now won’t bother getting one. Even within the most at-risk population — seniors 75 years old and older — just 40% of that age group received last year’s updated boosters, according to .

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I keep hearing folks saying that COVID-19 is now just something we have to live with, something that evolves and changes and waxes and wanes. I hear it compared to the flu.

I don’t even disagree with that assessment, but I want to underline a key phrase: COVID-19 is something we have to live with.

In July, COVID-19 was killing an estimated 600 people per week. Sure, that’s down from the first years of the pandemic, but it is still way too high — twice what it was last winter. That statistic involves 600 people who were loved by others, who had lives, who had dreams, who could have otherwise lived.

It’s easy to find blame for this vaccine complacency. Misinformation and anti-vax hysteria exploded online during lockdowns, and it still hasn’t gone away. It continues to chip away at otherwise rational people’s healthcare choices. Even if you want a shot, it can still be confusing and a hassle to find updated COVID-19 vaccines and locations to get them. The day-after side effects still suck, especially if you have trouble taking a sick day.

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Finally, if you are in assisted living, it’s essentially you or your family’s responsibility to get a vaccination due to staffing shortages.

One big solution to all this could be a major mindset shift — to roll the annual flu vaccination into the annual COVID-19 vaccination. Several vaccine makers are currently testing a single shot to do both. If that gets approved and those free school, office, grocery store and nursing home flu clinics simply switch to combo shots, it could go a long way in widespread habitual adoption.

Still, until that time comes, it’s up to every one of us to not only protect our health, but protect the health of others who could be exposed to our germs and to search out an updated COVID-19 vaccine.

Travis Mayfield is a local media personality and fills in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio

I tell you this, because in recent years we’ve seen a lot of evidence of like-minded people sharing more and more spaces. We’ve seen tribalism politically, socially and now even geographically. We increasingly live in bubbles of our own making. And in the creation of those bubbles we believe we are surrounding ourselves with other good people and those elsewhere are bad people.

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This screaming, swearing, fury happened in our city, in our neighborhood, on our very street almost directly in front of our own home.

And then, we went on vacation. We traveled to Wyoming and Montana for 10 days. While in Yellowstone a man wearing a bright red Make-American-Great-Again hat came right up to us and offered to take our family picture. He joyfully told us about his travels, asked us about our own and walked away calling back to tell our kids to mind their dads.

We attended the rodeo where every other person was wearing red white and blue and evangelical symbology in some kind of mix. Those folks scooched over to make room for us in a crowded grandstand. They smiled at our kids and raised their hats in respect to my in-laws.

We visited a mountain top where our son struck up an instant friendship with a family from Pennsylvania. A family with very different life experiences from a very different part of the country. Yet when we saw them again randomly in another place days later they gleefully called our son’s name and came over and we all compared notes about what we had seen and done so far.

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I tell you all this because this happened outside our bubble. These interactions came between people who met at random in new places where the prevailing political and social norms are supposedly very different.

These are anecdotes. Points in time. Plots on a grid. They are random. Yet, I cannot stop thinking about what they actually could mean. They could mean that when we other other people or other groups…we lose something. When we cling to our tribe we aren’t always clinging to just good people. There are bad people here too and there are good people there.

Maybe instead of sheltering ourselves and othering people, we should be actively looking for new ways to connect with more people from more places and looking for the common good we all share.

On the flight home I heard a familiar voice and then from one row back I heard someone say my name.  I turned and there – at random and by coincidence was my friend Molly, a genuinely good human.

It turns out, no matter where you go, there are friends, new and old good people  just waiting to find you.

Travis Mayfield is a local media personality and fills-in as a host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio.

That said, we should all care deeply about our ballot being counted. And there is one surefire way to actually do that … check yourself!

Your county and the state of Washington both allow and encourage you to follow the progress of your ballot from the moment it is mailed to you to the end result of when it is tabulated and added to the final vote count.

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You can start at votewa.gov. If you need to register to vote, you can still do that. But if you are already registered, all you need to do is log in with your information and see exactly where your ballot is. At this point, it will likely say your ballot is in the mail. Over the next two weeks, that status will change as your ballot arrives, as you vote and as you return it to be counted.

That’s easy enough, but there is actually an even easier way to track your vote — sign up for text alerts! Simply grab your phone and text the word VOTE to 868392. After a few simple prompts, you will start getting messages right to your phone telling you where your ballot is and any action you need to take.

I signed up during a previous election and I already got my first alert for this election. The text alert read, “BALLOT ALERT: Your ballot has been mailed. If you do not receive your ballot within five days, call at (206)-296-8683. Happy voting!”

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Looking back up the text thread from the last election this spring, I can see when my previous ballot was mailed, when it was returned and when my signature was verified so my vote was counted.

If you prefer, you can also visit your local county’s website for more information on text alerts or online tracking.

I cannot recommend this enough! It’s simple. It’s practical and it is actually a meaningful election integrity effort that you can take now. So text VOTE to 868392 and happy voting.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

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Investigators believed it was an abandoned cooking fire paired with a severe drought and extremely low humidity that erupted into the week of July 10, 2001.

The conditions were perfect for a firestorm that swept through the Chewuch River Valley. Fourteen firefighters and two campers were trapped by the inferno. Ten of those trapped survived — Tom Craven, Karen Fitzpatrick, Jessica Johnson and Devin Weaver did not.

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I have visited the Chewuch River Valley. I have seen the steep rocky walls of the canyon where the fire literally exploded over the top of the fire shelters deployed by those four wildland firefighters.  I have touched the rectangular stones carefully stacked around the four etched portraits of those brave heroes. It’s a haunting place, but today, it’s a peaceful and beautiful one as well.

It is that peace and beauty on which I reflect today and those four humans whose lives stopped that day.

At the time I was a young reporter only a few years out of college working in Yakima. I was assigned to interview the family of Devin Weaver. At that age and at that point in my career, I had known very little personal loss and even less grief. I had no idea what I was doing when I knocked on the Weaver’s door. To this day I wonder at how gracious they were in the midst of the worst loss of their lives — inviting me in, agreeing to speak on camera and sharing with me a bit about their son and brother.

Before I left their home, I promised them I would never forget Devin. I don’t know why I did it. I was immature. I was stupid. I had no real grasp of what I was promising. And yet, 23 years later, I still remember. I’ve thought of Devin and Tom, Karen and Jessica many times over the years. I’ve thought of who they were and who they could have become. Their names are etched as deeply in my memory as their faces are etched in the stone at that memorial.

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Eight years ago, our own son died and as I began my own journey through the darkness and fog of grief I remembered Devin and his family. I remembered the stupid promise I made to his family and I realized what I had actually done.

I know something deeper now about what Devin’s parents felt that day and have likely felt every day since the day he died.

All I have ever wanted since our son’s death is for him not to be forgotten. It makes my heart swell when others say his name, remember his life or mark his death. Our son Tommy lived and I will do everything in my power until my dying breath to remind the world of that fact.

So this week, I do the same for Devin, Tom, Karen and Jessica. I say their names — Devin Weaver, Tom Craven, Karen Fitzpatrick and Jessica Johnson — aloud and I say firmly: You are remembered. I didn’t know you in life, but I knew of you through those who loved you and I am better for it.

I will never forget you.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

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Today, I love walking to the neighborhood branch of the with our kids. I love that they have their own library cards and know how to use them. I love programs like the .

So, it breaks my heart to read this week about a public library in Idaho . in the small town of , announced in May it was being forced to make the change due to a new state law. Among other restrictions, the new law requires Idaho public libraries to have adults-only sections out of children’s range. Donnelly’s library is physically too small to make that possible. And so to avoid being sued or, worse, close down entirely, the tiny library put up a sign restricting everyone under the age of 18 from entry.

Kids can still go into the library, but only if they are with an adult or have in advance from an adult.

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I could say I am outraged. I could say I am perplexed. I could say I was disgusted. But what I really am is just sad. I’m sad that a growing number of people in this country have decided that knowledge – and by extension books and libraries – is(/are) dangerous for kids.

Instead of teaching our kids the joys and the freedoms of exploring new knowledge we are closing those avenues and placing them off limits. I understand that some families have different values from my own, but why do those families now believe they can impose their values on the rest of us?

A public library is a place where you should be able to explore all kinds of conflicting ideas. It’s a place where you can see worlds that don’t look like your own. Books are fountains from which the thirsty can drink and keep drinking.

We can debate the perspectives, narratives and ideas presented in books. But to get to a place where that debate is even possible, first, we must have access to the books.

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Lawmakers forcing a library into a place where it must close its doors to kids may not yet be burning books, but it certainly is turning up the heat.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

What did Seattle do instead? Parking enforcement was moved into a different department (it has subsequently been moved back), the police chief’s salary was slashed (police morale plummeted along with staffing levels), and we did basically nothing regarding non-police alternatives.

Fast forward to today and we continue to pay the price for those terrible choices.

But finally, someone is talking about non-police responders!

This week, the Mayor announced that the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) team pilot program could be expanding. What started last fall with just six responders focused on downtown could go citywide with 24 responders and three supervisors if the city council approves.

Those folks aim to offer responses to people in crisis seven days a week across Seattle.  The nearly $2-million-dollar expansion cost would be offset by a federal grant.

The idea is to de-escalate situations where a police officer -with a gun – might make things worse. And by all counts, the small targeted pilot is working just as similar non-police responder teams have worked in other cities like Olympia and Eugene, Oregon.  These folks don’t replace police but work in conjunction with law enforcement for a targeted response.  Dispatchers have choices about who to send to a scene that best fits each situation’s circumstances.

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It sounds a lot like what we should have done years ago before we started any actual police defunding. But that’s not how we roll here in Seattle. Never let deliberate and fact-based problem-solving get in the way of political posturing.

Regardless of being so late to all this, we are finally here and by all counts seeing success with the CARE team. That’s why the Mayor wants it expanded.

Still, are 24 responders enough for the number of crisis calls we see in Seattle? It turns out 24 is the limit of the number of these kinds of responders we can actually have right now. The city apparently agreed to that number in the latest labor agreement with the Seattle Police Officer Guild.

I’m not a labor negotiator, but I have been a local journalist for decades and it seems to me that what Seattle Police need most right now is more help. The department hasn’t had a lot of luck hiring to fill its needs. The department’s image hasn’t improved much.  Crime isn’t exactly plummeting across the city. So yea, maybe more help would be good for everyone?

This entire multi-year journey through the Seattle Process has been infuriating and frustrating. But we finally have a glimmer of something workable.

The CARE team can succeed citywide if it gets genuine support from both the police and the political classes.  Here’s to hoping both can get out of their own way so we can all be on our way to something better for Seattle.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

There are many legitimate reasons to be concerned about the health of our representative system in this country. But one that we don’t talk much about is our own willingness to actually participate.

I volunteer with our kids’ school PTA. This week, we had the chance to meet with the state senator who represents our neighborhood. It was a good discussion. I think we learned a lot and he was able to hear our legitimate concerns.

What struck me when it was over was just how easy it really was to have such direct access to someone who votes on the literal laws that govern our lives. In my career as a journalist, I have interviewed countless elected leaders at every level of government.  That’s a kind of access often afforded journalists and I am grateful for that access. I always felt like it was my privilege to represent you at home with my questions during those interviews.

More from Travis Mayfield: We’re all a little ‘sus’ but we can also do better

But this was different. This was me – just a random human – talking for 30 minutes with the lawmaker who has been asking for my vote for the last two decades or so. The process was simple. We had concerns. We reached out for a meeting. The meeting was scheduled. We had the meeting.

That’s it.

I bring this all up because as I was reflecting on it, I realized this was only the second time in my entire life that I had—as a private citizen—had one of these meetings with a lawmaker.

I consider myself well-read, politically engaged, and certainly an active participant. I haven’t missed casting a ballot in any election since I was legally able to vote almost 30 years ago.

Yet this meeting felt special and unique and revealing.

More Mayfield: Washington lawmakers must fix broken school funding system

This made me wonder why we aren’t doing this kind of thing more often. Why have I only done this twice in my life? Why do we often let others do this kind of work for us? We think activists and lobbyists get a lawmaker’s ear and that’s true, but in our system of government…we get an ear as well if we are willing to take and bend that ear.

Let’s continue this national debate over the health and future of democracy, but at the same time, perhaps we could all examine our own civic participation. Let’s all ensure that we, too, are playing an active—and direct—role in shaping that future.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

He’s not wrong. I still call things cool or awesome without any irony. I often wear ankle socks (which the internet says makes me old). I’ve never downloaded TikTok and I still don’t understand  Skibidi Toilet on YouTube.

But here’s the thing … I’m also not upset about it.

I bring this up because I think it’s a surface-level feeling we all experience as we age. I bet right now you are thinking about some of the things you still say, do, or like, probably make you sus too.

Mayfield: Washington lawmakers must fix broken school funding system

Now though, I’m going to admit something that is tougher to talk about … sometimes modern discussions about evolving ethics, morals and viewpoints also make me feel uncool.

I have always considered myself open-minded and willing to listen to other points of view. I have fought for acceptance and equality. I have tried to teach our kids the value of equity and diversity.

And yet, sometimes, if I am honest, I still struggle to understand. I can even feel discomfort or confusion around some social justice topics like gender and race. My initial reaction in my mind, unspoken, isn’t always a good one. Sometimes I have to stop myself from reacting to a news story, an online campaign or even an email from our kids’ well-meaning school.

Sound familiar?

Yet, I would argue, it’s what happens next that is key.

Too much of our world today is built on instant response, instant reaction and instant outrage. Right now, it’s impossible to have a balanced discussion around the war in Gaza without being buried under an avalanche of vitriol. You can’t bring up pros or cons around gender-affirming care without being swamped with outrage. And of course, good luck even saying the names of the current or former president without a firestorm of tribal rage.

Other news: Judge tosses lawsuit aimed at removing state’s gender-affirming care for youth

We live in a nuanced world where nothing is ever clear or direct. Every person has a different lived experience. We need to do a better job of listening to each other and then being brave enough to confront our own discomfort. Maybe we can find our hearts are fully changed. Maybe we can find a way to meet in the middle. Or maybe we do indeed remain unconvinced, but we can remain that way while still respecting and even, dare I say, loving others who differ.

Do we check our initial reaction and then listen even harder to what’s being discussed? Do we consider what others are authentically thinking, feeling and sharing? Do we check in after we have given ourselves time to digest and consider or reconsider?

Let’s remember we are all uncool in our own ways and it is how we choose to proceed that will determine how sus we truly are.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

The district has a massive budget shortfall it needs to make up because COVID-19 funds that had been covering the looming funding cliff ran out.

At the same time Seattle is also closing all its advanced learning schools.

More in the city: Seattle Public Schools’ budget in disarray, could close 20 elementary schools

The district says it has no choice because it has lost thousands of students in the last five years. And since that’s how the state funds schools, the district is out of money.

The problem to any parent is clear: Closing elementary schools means much bigger class sizes. Returning highly capable kids to regular classrooms and expecting teachers to do more work with no extra help burns those teachers out and short changes all the kids.

PTAs will now be expected to raise even more money from families to try and keep things like art, music and PE classes, something many PTAs are already doing.

At some point the formula no longer makes sense to families. Those with means pull their kids out and go to private schools. Now with more than 20 elementary schools closing families with potential incoming students won’t even consider public schools but opt right into private and religious schools and those kids won’t come back.

And guess what happens next? The district loses tens of thousands more students and they must again cut and maybe close more schools. And on goes the cycle until what?

That takes us to the state capital

Which leads us to Olympia where truly the blame for all this should rest. say they fixed school funding when the State Supreme Court ordered them to do so under the McCleary ruling. What lawmakers really did was make things worse. They capped levies so bigger districts get less money. They changed the definition of basic education to exclude even things as crucial as nurses. They said the state should no longer help pay for veteran teachers leaving those costs to districts.

Funding problem fixed!

Wrong. Things are worse than ever and school districts big and small are now just left to watch as students, family and funding leaves.

Democrats, you control the House, Senate and governor’s mansion. If you want that to continue, you must announce a clear, concrete and actionable legislative plan to make this right and it must happen next legislative session or public schools as we know them in this state will be left circling the drain.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

Twenty-four hours later, we would make the most impossible decision to remove him from life support, holding him in our arms and singing to him until his tiny heart stopped beating.

My heart broke that day. My life burned to the ground. Everything I thought I knew about the world shattered into a billion pieces. Our family has spent every moment since that day trying to rebuild a life that makes any kind of sense.

Today, I can say to you without hesitation that we have done just that I can say we live a life of meaning, purpose and joy. I can look at my husband and our two living children and know we all share that kind of love. We do it for Tommy and with Tommy still.

More from Travis Mayfield: Including LGBTQ+ people in curriculum benefits all students

Some who hear me mark the death of Tommy will know exactly what it is to feel this kind of loss. To those who know, I hope you hear me today, reminding you that you are not alone. I hope you know I hold you and your loss in my heart too. I hope you understand that in saying our Tommy’s name aloud, we say your loved ones name as well.

Others will hear me and you may ask, “Why share this grief so publicly, still, after all this time?”

For you, I say that I am glad you do not know the loss that we feel. I wouldn’t wish it on another living person. And, yet, I also know you cannot escape this life without your own losses.

Today, you may not understand, but tomorrow you will. Today, you don’t need a light illuminating your path forward. But tomorrow, you will.

I hope, in your darkness, that some day you can remember that it is possible to put one foot in front of the other and to live again. I hope you can remember that in Tommy’s name.

Some people say grief is just love with no place to go. But I say love always has a place to go, and it is our job to share it with as many others as we can, as often as we can.

Editors’ note: This commentary was delivered on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio’s “Seattle’s Morning News” on Friday, April 12, 2024.

Travis Mayfield is a Seattle-based media personality and a fill-in host on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here.

A local public radio host predicated an entire show recently on how the newly elected councilors had already broken campaign promises because they haven’t filled the city budget hole yet. An independent liberal journalist recently called out the council for asking too many questions. A former left-wing candidate for city-wide office used social media to rebuke the council as “dark.”

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I listened to, read and thought about all these criticisms. I often agree with many of the ideas and arguments put forward by the progressive movement in this region, but I am also willing to listen to the pragmatic — and god-forbid even the conservative — voices among us when they have rational and logical policy arguments to make.

Which is why I find this attempt to delegitimize the new city council — barely three months into its new term — troubling. The left wing had its council for a decade and it did bring us many great advances like worker protections, wages and fairer taxation, but it also didn’t solve many of our systemic issues like crime, addiction and housing the unhoused.

Elections have consequences and voters resoundingly said they wanted a change. That change means new voices and new ideas. Yet, out of power, the chattering classes are still preaching dogmatic rhetoric and purity tests ever more feverishly.

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The new city council is not a failure … yet. Give them time to actually work and then judge them on that work. It’s possible they will fail. It’s also possible they may succeed. Either way, right now might be a great time for less chattering and more listening on all sides.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.