2025 Reflections: Looking Back at News

What was the South End's news storyline for 2025? 

In sifting through this year's Emerald news stories, one visible thread was how the South End grappled with this federal administration's policies and announcements. Federal moves to cut back or threaten to stop funding sources for food assistance, health care, child care, and other services caused community members and local jurisdictions to scramble. The creep of increased costs of living was also at the root of many stories.

Emerald articles in 2025 represented the neighborhood responding to these and other challenges in true South End style — celebrating and caring for each other as we worked through challenges, like the need for affordable housing, access to health care and food; protecting our immigrant neighbors; addressing public safety issues and harmful historical systems impacting the community today — all during a significant election year.

Here are some stories that punctuated the year at the Emerald.

Immigration

Among the many Emerald stories that covered the South End's large immigrant communities, one of the year's earliest was Nimra Ahmed's January article on how the local hospitality and restaurant industries responded to the Trump administration's executive order to bring on mass deportations.

Affordability

A set of stories about the largest free clinic in our region and the opening of a new El Centro de la Raza affordable housing site in Columbia City served as examples on how the community worked to address our neighborhood's basic needs. 

Elections

Between spring and fall, a flurry of articles about candidates helped South End voters make informed decisions during election season, including Maya Tizon's report on what people in Southeast Seattle considered important issues during the 2025 voting season. (The Emerald also hosted three candidate forums and highlighted South End contenders as the nation watched Seattle's high-profile mayoral race.)

Public Safety

A string of at least 11 arsons took place in Beacon Hill and the north end of Rainier Valley during the summer and fall. One target was the Columbia Funeral Home, which has served the South End for generations. Maya Tizon followed the arsons and wrote about how the impact of the fire has led to the sale of the property.

After a March shooting at Capri Hookah Lounge in Rainier Beach that left two dead, Rosette Royale visited the neighborhood and covered how the community was navigating multiple cases of gun violence over the past year. The city passed new legislation for after-hours establishments within weeks of the violence at the hookah lounge and other late-night businesses.

Addressing Historical and Systemic Issues

Lauryn Bray followed Black homeownership advocates who fought for anti-displacement measures to be worked into the City's comprehensive plan. The group's efforts are referred to in the citywide plan and a "Roots to Roofs" bill, which increases development capacity for housing and community projects on sites that have had a "historically racially restrictive covenant" — though some Black homeownership advocates criticize the bill for not doing enough to authentically and meaningfully help the community.

Some people from the Japanese American community, whose families had been forcibly removed from their communities along the West Coast and incarcerated in concentration camps during WWII, saw parallels between the treatment of Japanese Americans at that time and  immigrants today. About 120,000 people of Japanese descent were incarcerated because of racial discrimination and fear of colluding with an "enemy" country. Some members from this community demanded local elected officials be vigilant and speak out against harsh immigration policies today, which Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero covered in August.

As we face 2026, the South End's loving, gritty, and formidable spirit of hunkering down in our work and caring for each other moves the neighborhood forward in a landscape of challenges, joy, grief, and problem-solving. Whatever comes, the Emerald is here to continue reflecting the community's many facets.

Yuko Kodama is the news editor for the South Seattle Emerald. She is passionate about the critical role community media plays in our information landscape and loves stories that connect us to each other and our humanity.