Meet In CommonNews

News in Monroe, WA

Nearby reporting

Stories from surrounding communities, closest first.

Capital Press · Seattle, WA

Nearby: Seattle, WA

Judge rejects union bid to reset piece-rates for farm work

A federal judge in Seattle largely upheld the Labor Department’s rules for setting prevailing piece-rates for farm work, declining to order wholesale changes sought by a farmworkers union. Familias Unidas por la Justicia alleged the rules artificially limit piece-rate opportunities for foreign and domestic farmworkers. Instead, farmworkers must work for hourly wages, which pay less, the union claimed. U.S. District Judge John Chun agreed with the union on one rule, but mostly left intact the current methods for setting wages. Although the union’s suit focused on farmworker wages in Washington, a broader ruling in favor of the union could have affected farmworker wages nationwide. “The Labor Department can’t have a separate set of rules for Washington,” Worker and Farmer Labor Association CEO Enrique Gastelum said.

The Stranger · Seattle, WA

Nearby: Seattle, WA

Nobody Wants a McDonald’s in Chinatown

McDonald’s wants to put a new store in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID). Almost nobody thinks that’s a good idea. They are decidedly not loving it. Last night, about 80 CID residents and supporters packed the meeting of the International Special Review District (ISRD), the neighborhood’s historic preservation board. Impassioned public comments, handmade protest signs in Chinese and English, and several people in Ronald McDonald-esque clown masks injected the typically sleepy meeting with life. McDonald’s wants to place its new franchise on the corner of 4th Avenue South and South Jackson Street, along a busy thoroughfare close to the regional transit hub and sports stadiums. The storefront has remained vacant since Bartell Drugs closed four years ago. In submitting its proposal, Mickey D’s managed a remarkable feat: Uniting the community to take action in the span of less than a week.

International Examiner · Seattle, WA

Nearby: Seattle, WA

Exhibit explores the connection between Hwagae Market in Korea and Pike Place Market in Seattle

Surrounded by dense forests, the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center for the Arts houses the Leonor R. Fuller Gallery. As a contemporary state-of-the-art venue, it currently features an exhibit of installations and paintings by local Korean women artists—telling the “Stories of Immigrant Life through the Spirit of the Marketplace.” If you were fortunate to make the opening reception on September 18, you were treated to an amazing performance by the Gunsan City Children’s Dance Company. Afterwards, you likely gorged on a delicious Asian style buffet. And, of course, you were captivated by the artwork. Curated by Kellis Parlett, the exhibit titled “From Hwagae Market to Pike Place Market” displays the talents of Korean women artists. As an artist herself (as well as the curator for Jade Choe Gallery at Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma), Parlett had in-depth answers to our questions about the exhibit.