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The 3 Most Underreported Stories Of The Week, According To Our Roundtable — Jan. 31

Here are the three most underreported stories of the week, according to the guests of our news roundtable:

Justin Carder: The Substance Of Police Reform

“What does reform really look like? I don’t see anyone reporting on it, really. Is it just [Seattle Police Chief Kathleen] O’Toole, is it just the chief? Is she really going to be the one who just fixes all this? It seems unlikely.

“Maybe it’s just the news cycle, but it felt like this time, especially, there’s just been a reluctance to look past the incidents and look at a bigger picture.”

Benjamin Romano: Income Gap In Washington State

“There was a report out by the Income Policy Institute this week that found income growth in Washington during the economic recovery — so 2009 to 2012 — has gone almost entirely to the richest 1 percent of people while everyone else saw their incomes decline during that period.

“This is a huge issue, and I think the big story we’re all going to be watching in Olympia in the coming months is to see, you know, what are our lawmakers going to be doing to improve the quality and access to education at all levels that are going to prepare Washingtonians to work in the kind of tech-industry jobs that pay enough to be able to afford to live in Seattle anymore.

“A big part of that proposal is a capital gains tax that’s going to basically reach right into the pockets of a lot of people who invest in and build companies in the tech economy. And those are the same people who are clamoring for more trained workers to fill their open positions.”

Jessica Partnow: Local Gambians’ Reaction To Recent Coup Attempt

“We had a protest earlier in the week from local Gambians living in Seattle in support of a coup attempt that happened a couple of months ago.

“I read the story, and I was kind of like, ‘What? There was a coup attempt in Gambia? Oh, and we have a Gambian-American population here in Seattle.’ I just hadn’t heard a lot about the situation and was surprised.

"And it was actually two U.S. citizens who attempted to coup in Gambia and are now in a lot of trouble, because U.S. citizens are not allowed to attack other countries' governments unless it's wartime."