Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 1h

I am devastated to share that my sweet little dog Nala died in my arms yesterday. She was almost 18 years old. She was my family and my best friend, and I feel very grateful that we got to spend so much time together.

Amy wearing red glasses, a black coat, and a beanie holding Nala, a little dog with white shaggy fur and one black ear, in front of a dramatic cloudy sky and ocean.

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Reposted by Amy Sundberg

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 1d

New from 404 Media: police used a nationwide network of Flock cameras to search for a woman who self-administered an abortion, said it was for her 'safety'. But new docs show they considered charging her with a crime as part of a 'death investigation' into the fetus
www.404media.co/police-said-...

Police Said They Surveilled Woman Who Had an Abortion for Her 'Safety.' Court Records Show They Considered Charging Her With a Crime

Court records show that the narrative Flock and a Texas Sheriff's Office has told the public isn't the whole story, and that police were conducting a 'death investigation' into the abortion.

www.404media.co

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 2d

Yikes.

ProPublica @propublica.org · 2d

NEW: After paying for hotel rooms to shelter homeless people, Seattle deliberately left them vacant.

By the end of 2024, taxpayers were spending $4,200 a month per empty room at a time when thousands of residents were without a roof over their heads.

Seattle Spent Millions on Hotel Rooms to Shelter Unhoused People. Then It Stopped Filling Them.

Early last year, the city signed a $2.7 million lease extension to continue using a hotel’s rooms as shelter space. Yet despite committing to pay the rent, the city stopped sending people there.

www.propublica.org

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Reposted by Amy Sundberg

Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 2d

I really wish media covering Trump's invasion of US cities would step away from this "Trump wants to fight crime, but how bad is it really?" framing. They obviously don't give a shit about local crime, but this manufactured narrative dominates all the coverage.

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

As Trump ramps up National Guard threats, what’s crime really like in Portland and Seattle?

Donald Trump has often name-checked both cities, describing them as dangerous. Here's what the numbers show.

www.seattletimes.com

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Reposted by Amy Sundberg

Steve Herman @newsguy.bsky.social · 4d

Wired - Documents show that ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok and other platforms to target people for deportation. www.wired.com/story/ice-socia...

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team

Documents show that ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms to target people for deportation.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Amy Sundberg

Glen Stellmacher @glentalk.bsky.social · 4d

My public comment concerning proposed Public Records Act model rule changes by the Washington State Attorney General

October 4, 2025

Dear Attorney General Brown,

I offer comments concerning CR-102.

I am a licensed architect in Washington State and a freelance investigative journalist.

My reporting has been published by Mother Jones, The Urbanist, Real Change, Prism, The South Seattle Emerald, and has been cited by the Seattle Times and in federal court filings by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

In the past year I have filed and settled two Washington State Public Records Act (PRA) lawsuits against the city of Seattle concerning requests I made to the Seattle Police Department (SPD). The city of Seattle has since admitted to violating the PRA in fulfilling one of my requests.

My reporting is often hindered by officials who destroy records, refuse to answer questions, or delay response to public records requests. Recently, a city of Seattle investigation substantiated that an SPD public records officer was dishonest to me while fulfilling my public records request, closing it prematurely without a proper search after numerous delays.

An internal counseling memo I uncovered revealed that the same SPD legal unit employee left 79 SPD public records requests unfulfilled past their assigned due dates. According to the memo, one public records request submitted to the SPD appeared to be silently delayed 25 times without notification to the (unknown) requestor. Forensic audits have also determined that SPD employees have destroyed thousands of records from their city-issued cell phones. Delays in fulfilling public records requests have even been a known liability for the department according to their own internal legal unit communications.

The scope of my reporting has revealed information of extraordinary public interest, including the infiltration of FBI/SPD informants within Seattle’s 2020 protests, the willful negligence of Seattle’s police accountability systems and that the SPD was knowingly dishonest in their public statements concerning the use of surveillance t…

That is exactly what is happening today within the SPD. The public is being kept in the dark through the SPD’s culture of lawlessness in fulfilling the city’s responsibilities under the PRA. This leaves a void of information that the SPD then aims to exploit with their own propaganda to manipulate public opinion in furtherance of their own objectives.

This is something that I have conclusively reported in Real Change, that the SPD used their own former federal consent decree court monitor as a surrogate to advance the department's own interests in the media. Cascade PBS later took down an op-ed from their website after I revealed it was initially secretly drafted by an SPD official.
Throughout history, Seattle officials have routinely postured in public statements, touting the value of transparency. In practice, the SPD’s actions show that the department continues to restrict the public’s access to information, through delays, dishonesty, and destruction, revealing an institutional commitment to the anti-democratic suppression of information.

The SPD’s effective weaponization of the PRA and institutionalized delays through understaffing, “grouping” requests, the use of personal cellphones to conduct official business, and negligent searches have effectively allowed the city to manipulate Overton Windows, moments of popular support for policy changes that certain department officials do not personally support.

This institutionalized process within Seattle city government is antithetical to the intent of the PRA which states that “The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.”

I support the proposed CR-102 rule changes that insert promptness and diligence as best practices in fulfilling public records requests.
Sincerely,

Glen Stellmacher
Investigative Journalist
https://www.hardpressed-info.com/

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 4d

Oh, you don't have to convince me. I'm just saying it's an argument that has been in use for a long time, not that it's a good one.

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 4d

Since everyone is talking about the CARE first responders today, I'll share my article from yesterday again: www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/02/s...

Sales Tax Hike Would Fund Civilian Responder Expansion, Barring SPOG Obstruction » The Urbanist

# Mayor Bruce Harrell has proposed a 0.1% sales tax hike for public safety investments, including doubling the size of the civilian CARE department. However, CARE’s future rests on cooperation from th...

www.theurbanist.org

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 4d

It has been the pervasive argument around doing anything at the state level relating to police guilds (and SPOG in particular) for a loooong time.

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Reposted by Amy Sundberg

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 5d

“The judge or the prosecutor doesn't know which portions were written by the AI and which portions were written by the officer,” EFF’s @MGuariglia.bsky.social told KPBS News. “It interjects a lot of uncertainty — and a lot of deniability for the officer.” www.kpbs.org/news/public...

Chula Vista, police reports and AI: What you need to know

San Diego County's second-largest city is embracing AI tools for policing as California considers new regulations.

www.kpbs.org

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 6d

I just apologized to my dog for making her wait for her walk while I made my annual mammogram appointment. Then realized how absurd that was. 🤣

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Reposted by Amy Sundberg

Ashley C. Ford @smashfizzle.bsky.social · 6d

As long as the loudest folks on the left insist tone-policing, compromise on human rights, and acquiescence are our only options for a unified country, they will continue to lose the faith of the marginalized. And even when they win, they’ll just be waiting to lose the same way again.

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 6d

In my latest, I wrote about the proposed city sales tax hike and the latest news about the CARE alternative responders. Really interested to see that new SPOG contract Mayor Harrell is promising.

The Urbanist @theurbanist.org · 6d

NEW // Sales Tax Hike Would Fund Civilian Responder Expansion, Barring SPOG Obstruction

By @amysundberg.bsky.social

Via @theurbanist.org www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/02/s...

Sales Tax Hike Would Fund Civilian Responder Expansion, Barring SPOG Obstruction » The Urbanist

# Mayor Bruce Harrell has proposed a 0.1% sales tax hike for public safety investments, including doubling the size of the civilian CARE department. However, CARE’s future rests on cooperation from th...

www.theurbanist.org

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 6d

The stories about ICE's Chicago apartment raid last night are horrific.

The whole 🧵 is interesting because yes, we talk about how policing impacts crime rates (or how it doesn't) and how much $ it costs, but rarely do we talk about the social costs. Same with surveillance.

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 6d

Lots of crim legal reformers have been arguing—correctly—that ICE’s behavior that is drawing outrage isn’t *that* much different from lots of routine police actions.

But I think this is. Even the bigger gang raids have not indulged in this magnitude of wanton indiscriminate collective punishment.

Andrew Hazlett @andrewhazlett.bsky.social · 6d

Terrorizing and wrecking an entire 150-unit apartment building--hundreds of people, mostly legal or citizens--to detain 37 people. This should be a much more massive story.

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 6d

Wow, what an uninspiring message. So much so it's incredible it was even said out loud.

Anyhow, of course we should hope. No one knows what's going to happen in the future. So let's hold strong to our convictions and work towards a better world.

Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 6d

In his closing statement, Harrell said, "This is not the time for hope. Passion and great ideas and inexperience is just not going to get us there. Trump will walk all over a person without experience, period."

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 7d

Ryan is definitely the expert on this topic.

Ryan Packer @typewriteralley.bsky.social · 7d

Bruce Harrell at the Fremont Neighborhood Council forum last night: "Let's talk about pedestrian deaths: since I've been in office, the death count now is at 10, that was about half of what it was in 2021."

Fourteen people walking have been killed in Seattle so far this year, with 3 months to go.

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Reposted by Amy Sundberg

Laura Loe @lauraloeseattle.bsky.social · 7d

At a very serious briefing about potential impacts to Medicaid in WA State and it’s just devastating what might happen/ will likely happen in 2026.

💔

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 7d

I didn't interpret the answers you received to be "pay less attention" but rather, make sure you're also spending some time doing things that bring you joy/meaning/peace.

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 7d

For sure. I would never purchase a Ring camera.

Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 7d

Oof, maybe I'll spare myself from that aspect.

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 7d

Thank you for writing! I started listening to that conversation this morning and I've been thinking about it all day.

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 7d

"I don’t think an unwillingness to engage with both sides is problematic because I firmly believe that we can get through this without sacrificing anyone in the process. I do not think we need to fight fascism with fascism."

Meron @meronmonroe.blacksky.app · 8d

hi friends! I finally started my blog, and my first post is on *that* conversation between Ezra Klein and Ta-Nehisi Coates

the making of a martyr — Meron Unfiltered

I spent the better part of my Sunday afternoon listening to and reading the transcript from the conversation between Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein. Coates is one of my favorite contemporary writer...

www.meronunfiltered.com

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 7d

Oh yeah, I read about that. The things I want from my Kindle: long battery life, easy to get materials onto it, can change size of font, not too heavy/bulky so I can carry it everywhere with me. That's it. That's all I want.

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 8d

Ugh. I live for examples. They help me make my understanding more concrete.

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Amy Sundberg @amysundberg.bsky.social · 8d

Like collecting more surveillance data that the feds can then try to co-opt. Nothing could go wrong with this plan.

Erica C. Barnett @ericacbarnett.bsky.social · 8d

Seattle Councilmember Bob Kettle, expressing "shock" at Trump's announcement that he plans to send the military into more "dangerous" cities, just said (in the context of public safety at Seattle Center) that the threat makes it "even more imperative that we do think was right here in the city."

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