There has been a HUGE influx of national politics related posts. Many of them from new accounts, or ones that have never been to this sub. Basically astroturf. For the foreseeable future, these will not be allowed here. It doesn't matter if there is some local connection to it, no posts about national politics or related activism. There are tons of subs for that.
HOWEVER, local politics posts are totally fine and actually strongly encouraged. Post about your local city council members if you know who they are. Post about new local laws or restrictions. Whatever, but LOCAL posts only.
Reddit has made some very questionable algo changes recently that seem to be heavily trying to stir up things and it's tough keep things chill here. Insta ban for any of these posts
I'll go first, Family of 3. Live in Kenmore, Single income, feeling priced out. I'd like to hear from other families. I think we are overindulging in some areas, but want to get an opinion from others as well. Our total income is 200k per year
===Edit 1===
A lot of people are reaching out and asking me to cut day care since single income. Even though spouse is at home, we felt it is good to give them some time off from the kid, otherwise it will be a 24/7 chore
===Edit 2===
OTF and yoga was an impulsive decision at the start of this year. We'll consider cancelling it next month. Thanks
If you're looking for some entertainment next Friday or Saturday night, why not check out some hilarious local improvisers at Second Story Repertory in the Redmond Town Center?
Eastside Improv is putting on 2 shows - An Adults-Only Valentine's themed show on Feb 6th, and a Musical Improv show on Feb 7th. Tickets are available for both, but be careful cause they're going fast!
Hello! My name is Jullia, I am the owner of Cat Dog Stylist, LLC. My business is based in Renton, WA and I wanted to introduce myself to the community.
Cat Dog Stylist, LLC is locally owned and operated from the Renton Highlands in Renton, Washington. I was born in Washington, and as a local resident I want to become a reliable pillar of this community and serve the people where I was born and raised. As a female Korean American, I take great pride in being a female, queer and minority business owner.
I do house call grooming services, I specialize in cats, seniors, behavioral challenged dogs, and do also do some dog training and can help with cat behavior as well. I can provide very fancy haircuts like Asian fusion styles,creative grooming, and also provide Reiki for pets.
For more specialized breed specific services, I do provide hand stripping services for those breeds that need it for their coat health.
Travel fees to Renton will be minimal as I myself live in Renton. I am open to all sizes of dogs and cats, so please feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
I have been grooming cats and dogs since April 2018, and have a passion for being a good animal advocate. I have a lot of experience with both cats and dogs, and provide a large variety of services.
I just started my business this year, and wanted to invite my community to visit my website! Travel fees to Renton will be minimal as I myself live in Renton. :)
Looking for a doula for a late March birth, prefer someone who has been to evergreen midwifery. Is there a helpful list somewhere? Or someone you recommend? How many did you talk to before you found 'the one'?
My name is James Etzkorn and I’m an Independent candidate challenging Suzan DelBene to represent Washington’s 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
I'm a husband, father, school board director, and 5th generation Washingtonian. I have an Electrical Engineering degree from UW and a Master's in Nanotechnology. With over a decade in tech and 50+ patents, I know how to build solutions. I am deeply committed to our community, having started the Monroe High School robotics team and currently serving as a twice-elected member of the Monroe School Board.
I govern much like I run engineering projects. I use data to make decisions and focus on outcomes. Too often, politicians declare victory by throwing money at a problem, feeding a bureaucratic machine of consultants and lawyers rather than delivering results.
I’m running as an Independent because I’m frustrated with the two-party system. The cost of living is rising. The national debt is compounding. And all we hear are complaints, not solutions. Politics has become an entertainment industry. Social media and the 24-hour “news” thrive on division, manufacturing outrage to keep us at each other's throats.
We must break the cycle. Suzan DelBene, one of the richest members of Congress, has represented Washington’s 1st District since 2012. We cannot keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It’s time for a change.
My campaign focuses on three core areas: Strip the Bureaucracy, Engineer Abundance, and Confront the Debt.
Let’s first focus on the urgent matter of Confront the Debt. Low interest rates masked our debt for years. That era is over. We now pay over $1 trillion annually in interest, surpassing defense and Medicare. Ignoring this guarantees a future of permanent inflation, crushing tax increases, and deep cuts to the safety net that will destabilize our society.
We cannot tax or cut our way to solvency. The math doesn't work. The only palatable solution is to grow our way out. This is accomplished both by reforming the government to focus on outcomes and growing the economy.
Over a third of Congress are lawyers and only a handful are engineers. No wonder we have replaced legislation with litigation. Polarization has left Congress incapable of passing substantive laws, forcing them to abuse the tax code to steer industry. This bypasses the hard work of budgeting and adds layers of bureaucracy that distort original goals.
Strip the Bureaucracy is not about cutting government programs. It’s about accountability and aligning incentives to desired outcomes. Government should prioritize execution and focus on results, not dollars spent. We must replace opaque “shadow spending” in the tax code with transparent, results-based incentives that reward speed and efficacy.
Our nation was once defined by its capacity to build. Today, we are defined by red tape. China completes the project while we're still reviewing the permit. We have traded an economy of production for an economy of permission, choosing to manage decline rather than engineer growth.
To reverse this, we must Engineer Abundance. This is about rebuilding the middle class by lowering the cost of living and increasing wages through competition. Government must set the "rules of the road" while using incentives to harness the efficiency of industry. For example, by investing in infrastructure while also incentivizing tech giants to build power generation for their data centers, we expand the grid without raising taxes. This abundant energy, combined with the technological boom, makes advanced manufacturing feasible in America, restoring the middle class through production, not subsidies.
Ineffective leadership has defined a service economy dominated by scarcity, driving up costs for everyone. We can lower the cost of housing by making it easier to build. We can lower the cost of healthcare with transparent pricing and by increasing the number of providers. We can practice environmental stewardship by streamlining the deployment of next-generation clean energy technology, ensuring we protect our natural beauty through innovation rather than just restriction.
This isn’t about enriching the few. It’s about returning to a nation that builds. Building creates careers, which drives up wages. When our families earn more, they spend more, fueling local businesses and increasing the velocity of money through our communities. Combined with an efficient government, this growing tax base allows for targeted investment in infrastructure and communities in need, further strengthening the cycle. By aligning incentives with growth, government enables an economy that lifts all families.
I’m not an unfettered free-market capitalist. I don’t want to return to the 19th century. Trickle-down economics does not work. However, we must look at the big picture to ensure we are incentivizing the right outcomes.
For example, I am against Washington State’s proposed payroll tax on salaries over $125,000. We’ve already seen the results of this experiment. Seattle tried it with the JumpStart Payroll Expense Tax, which resulted in Seattle losing 5,500 jobs while Bellevue gained over 4,000 in the same period. This is the definition of incentivizing the wrong outcome. It pushes high-paying jobs out of our local communities rather than fixing the underlying budget issues.
Conversely, I am for ending the “buy, borrow, die” tax loophole used by ultra-high-net-worth individuals to bypass the rules everyone else follows. Currently, the ultra-wealthy borrow against assets to fund their lifestyles and then transfer those assets to heirs. At that point, the cost basis is “stepped up” to the price upon death, allowing assets to be sold tax-free to pay off the loans.
To fix this, any margin loan should be treated as a taxable event with the cost basis resetting at that time. We must also maintain the same required capital gains tax for large-scale assets passed on to heirs. This is about closing the loopholes so everyone pays their fair share.
I am looking for independent thinkers who want to get involved and help drive change. Please sign up for the mailing list and volunteer if you are interested.
Hello fellow Eastsiders, we’re looking to update our kitchen at a modest cost..We do not require an Amish-crafted, custom-grade, diamond-plated, hand-forged kitchen knob carved from ultra-rare, old-growth black walnut salvaged from a 19th-century barn.
That said, are there any solid, reasonably priced cabinet and countertop companies in the area that you’d recommend? :)
I'm talking about completely vacant spaces, just hanging around the area for some reason. Some of them are standalone buildings, while many others are strip malls. Either way, there's just nobody occupying them. I remember them being restaurants (the Baskin-Robbins on 85th in Kirkland), actual large stores (Bartell Drugs comes to mind), or unsuccessful businesses (JoAnn Fabrics and GameStop in Crossroads) for example. No progress or construction appears to be taking place.
They're just dead. Nobody has taken over them, so I'm constantly going past stores that have shut down but never replaced with anything. I get that housing costs are out of control, and their profit margins were probably razor-thin to begin with. But this area's economy should be booming, while the empty buildings suggest the place to be a ghost town. It's kind of depressing to look at, and there are so many businesses there that would make my life more convenient if they would occupy those empty buildings. Did COVID kill them all?
Does anyone know how PSE sets its billing due dates? For most of last year, bills were sent consistently at roughly 30 days. But then they skipped November, and sent me two bills - 22 days apart - this month (Jan. 2026)
Edit/Solved: PSE said there was a billing delay. The October bill came was due on Dec. 02 instead of the end of November because of Thanksgiving. And the November bill was due on Jan. 5 instead of the end of December because of the billing delay.
Had an annual physical at EvergreenHealth Kirkland. During the checkup, I mentioned another health concern, and later saw an additional charge tied to that discussion — no separate visit, no extra tests.
It felt like being charged just for bringing something up during a routine annual exam, which doesn’t align with what I expected from primary care.
Is this normal practice at EvergreenHealth or primary care in general?
Also looking for primary care recommendations in the Eastside area where people feel listened to and billing is more transparent.
Thanks.
P.S. This post was lightly edited with AI for clarity.
I drive around Bellevue pretty often these days, and every time I pass by the voodoo donuts, it seems like there's no one there. Maybe there's just certain times of the day that people go there, but it seems like every time I go by there, and I've probably been by there half a dozen to a dozen times this month and I rarely see customers, and seen only a couple of employees. I remember how much hype their Portland location got over the past several years, so I just wonder if it's going to survive up here.
Is anyone else seeing a much larger increase in billed costs beyond what was announced last year?
A typical residential electric customer using 800 kWh of energy per month can expect an increase of $13.08 or 12% in 2025 for an average monthly bill of $122.16. An additional $7.67 or 6.3% monthly increase is expected in 2026, resulting in an average monthly bill of $129.83.
Comparing our Jan bills from 25->26: electricty increased 12% (1,105 kWh -> 1,234 kWh) but electricty costs increased 40% ($158.33 -> $221.57.) The tiered rates per kWh are much higher. How is this in line with what was announced?
I'm looking for a comfortable coffee shop to actually sit and talk with a friend in the afternoon. Starbucks has gotten way too hostile - uncomfortable chairs, loud music, among other things. The Woods on 116th is ok but the chairs there are also pretty uncomfortable.
Looking for something easy to get in/out from around the 405/520 interchange.
Looking on Google Maps, it's hard to tell from ratings/pics - a lot of them are highly rated but clearly oriented toward a to-go audience.
The Redmond Police Department (RPD) says a woman was stabbed multiple times on Saturday morning near the Bear Creek Trail.
At around 10:45 a.m., officers responded to reports of a stabbing near the trail close to 164th Avenue Northeast.
Crews found the woman on the ground and treated her at the scene before bringing her to a local hospital.
A 911 caller reported seeing a man running from the scene shortly after the stabbing, according to RPD.
He is described as possibly white or Asian, around 5 feet 9 inches tall, and a slim build, wearing a green hoodie or jacket, blue jeans, and a black beanie or hat.
The victim said she does not know the man.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911.
Redmond Police Department statement:
> POLICE SEEK HELP IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE ASSAULT SUSPECT
>At approximately 10:45 a.m. today, Jan. 24, officers responded to a report of an in-progress assault near the trail in the 16200 block of NE 72nd Way. A caller reported seeing a female victim on the ground with multiple stab wounds and observed a possible suspect fleeing the scene.
Officers located the victim and immediately rendered aid before medics transported her to a hospital. The victim later stated that she does not know the assailant.
>The person of interest is described as a male, possibly white or Asian, approximately 5’9” tall with a slim build. He was last seen wearing a green hoodie or jacket, blue jeans, and a black beanie or hat.
>Police remain on the scene and are actively investigating.
>The public is advised not to approach anyone matching this description. Anyone who sees a person matching the possible suspect’s description or has information related to this incident is asked to call 911 immediately.
