These days, there's so much news.

It can be hard to keep up with what it all means for you, your family, and your community.

The Consider This Podcast from NPR features our award-winning journalism.

Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a news story and provide the context and analysis that helps you make sense of the news.

We get behind the headlines.

We get to the truth.

Listen to the Consider This podcast from NPR.

Hey, good morning. It's Patricia Murphy. It's Thursday. This is Seattle now. It's opening day of baseball today. The Mariners are starting fresh with zero wins and zero losses. There is a lot of hope and a lot of cynicism floating around. The M's are looking to put the last two heartbreaking seasons behind them and get back into the playoffs this season. Seattle Now Sports correspondent Vaughn Jones will tell us how in a minute. But first, let's get you caught up. You may have some democracy vouchers sitting on your desk. Today, a Seattle City Council

Committee will talk about Mayor Bruce Harrell's proposal to renew the program for another decade.

It gives Seattle voters a hundred bucks worth of vouchers to support local candidates.

It's funded through property taxes. The renewal would cost the median homeowner $13 a year.

Voters will ultimately decide on the program's renewal this August. Today's city council meeting starts at

two. Protesters will gather tomorrow outside the Henry M. Jackson Federal

building in downtown Seattle to speak out against federal funding cuts to HUD. That's the Department

of Housing and Urban Development. The Trump administration wants to cut HUD's workforce by nearly

half and has already stalled $60 million in funding intended for affordable housing developments

nationwide. Tomorrow's protest is organized by the Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness.

It begins at 11.30 a.m. And if you ride the bus, you could see some changes beginning of Saturday.

That's when King County Metro is updating schedules, adding service for some routes, and reducing service for others.

The Rapid Ride C-line that serves West Seattle will come less frequently during the afternoon commute,

but the G-line and the H-line are both adding trips during the weekdays and weekends.

In total, more than 250 weekly trips are being added, funded by the voter-approved

...