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You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s Gone: Today is the last day before our next heatwave that Seattle was never built for. So enjoy the perfect, mid-70s weather before a string of 85 degree days. Go outside and stand in the shade, in the sweet spot where the breeze smells a little bit like spring.
But first, the news.
School’s on Schedule: The teacher’s union settled on a contract before the August 31 deadline, so school’s starting on time this year (sorry kids). The union and the district decided to push forward with a short-term, one-year contract (it’s usually three) because Seattle Schools don’t need yet another thing throwing them into disarray. It’s already short on cash, doesn’t have a permanent superintendent, and the federal government is giving them the wedgie of a lifetime. The new contract includes a 2.5 percent raise, new protocols for student discipline, and additional safeguarding for teachers. The first bell rings on September 3. Like the nice weather, enjoy the public education while we still have it!
“Severe Emotional Distress”: The Tacoma City Council authorized the city to pay $600,000 to Timothy Rankine, one of the former police officers that killed Manuel Ellis, a Black man who was walking home from a convenience store. On March 3, 2020, almost three months before George Floyd was killed, Rankine and two other officers pinned Ellis to the ground and took turns kneeling on him while he told them repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. They struck him in the head, tied his legs together, and put a mesh spit hood over his face. He died on the street. Rankine and his fellow officers were cleared of any criminal charges in 2023, and now Rankine and his wife, Katherine Chinn, are claiming that Tacoma elected officials and city employees made “politically motivated, false accusations” that Rankine and two other officers were criminally racially biased when they killed Ellis. Chinn argued the city’s actions damaged their marriage and led to “severe emotional distress.” At least some of the Tacoma City Council feels gross about this settlement. Councilmember Jamika Scott told the Seattle Times: “When we’re facing something like this, sometimes the best choice for us, and the fiscally responsible choice for us, is not always the choice that feels good for us as council members or you all as community members.”
We’re Having a COVID Spike: Didn’t know that? Yeah, that’s what happens when you dismantle our public health infrastructure and put anti-vaxxers in charge. Fortunately, according to wastewater data at least, it looks like this wave is milder than we had this time last year, but it’s still bad enough that you probably know someone who’s got it right now. We all know how to avoid getting COVID: mask in crowds, stay in well ventilated spaces, get vaccinated.
18 Arrested at Microsoft Protest: This week, a group for current and former Microsoft employees, No Azure for Apartheid, built a small encampment at Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters to protest the company’s work with the Israeli military. On Tuesday, police shut it down pretty quietly, but on Wednesday, they arrested at least 18 people at the encampment. Microsoft has insisted that Israel is only using their technology for the stuff that isn’t war crimes, but following an investigation by The Guardian, they committed to formally investigating how Israel is using their technology for surveillance. “Microsoft will continue to do the hard work needed to uphold its human rights standards in the Middle East, while supporting and taking clear steps to address unlawful actions that damage property, disrupt business or that threaten and harm others,” said the spokesperson for a company that clearly has its priorities in order.
Bob Ferguson Found His Spine: Maybe it was in the drawer with his letterhead, because on Tuesday, he spat fire in a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi. Last week, Bondi sent threatening letters to 32 mayors and 7 governors of “sanctuary” cities and states, demanding, rather unspecifically, that they, well, stop it. She told them they had until this Tuesday to respond. So on Tuesday, Fergie shot back. “You are hereby notified that Washington State will not be bullied or intimidated by threats and legally baseless accusations,” he wrote in a two-page letter. “Your threat to criminally prosecute state officials embarrasses and disgraces the office of the United States Attorney General.” He said that he is “prepared to defend Washington” from any lawsuit Bondi throws our way. “You seek to have Washington State bend the knee to a Trump Administration that, day by day, drags us closer to authoritarianism. Never,” he wrote. “I am not intimidated by you or the President. I will defend our democracy, the rule of law, and the people of my state.” Here’s to hoping that stiff spine doesn’t bend.
SPOG Is Back in City Politics: For the first time since the Defund SPD movement, the city’s police union is getting its money back in city politics. And naturally, they’re putting their money on Republican City Attorney Ann Davison. We’ve got more on the money they’re throwing around here.
Uncle Sam Wants YOU for the US Gestapo: Apparently offering student loan forgiveness and $50,000 bonuses to new ICE recruits wasn’t enough. ICE is now recruiting from the Department of Defense. 404 media obtained an email sent to civilian employees on Wednesday asking them to sign up for a “volunteer force” that will help Trump’s mass deportation campaign in both Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The application page says that they would be deployed to ICE and CBP sites, possibly in “austere” locations, for 180-day deployments.
Texas Gerrymandering at Its Fineest: After Texas Democrats literally fled the state to avoid redistricting their congressional map to Trump’s exacting specifications, the Texas House passed what the New York Times called “an aggressively partisan” (read: voter disenfranchising) map on Wednesday, possibly giving Trump the five new Republican seats in the US House in next year’s midterms. The state senate could vote on it as soon as this evening, and then it would head straight to Governor Abbott’s desk, who can barely contain his excitement for the little pat on the head he’s about to get from Trump. We assume.
Stephen Miller Tries to Look Like a Human; Fails: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller went to a Shake Shack in a DC train station with VP JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to try to have a burger with the boys (the Feds currently occupying DC). Apparently they didn’t realize that DC residents don’t like them, and when they were mercilessly heckled by commuters, Miller promised “thousands more resources” in the federal crackdown in the city. “All these demonstrators that you’ve seen out here in recent days, all these elderly white hippies, they’re not part of the city and never have been,” Mr. Miller said, insisting that he was doing it for the Black residents of DC. Sure, bud. Sure. A reminder that this is all happening because some youths beat up a DOGE staffer known as “Big Balls.”
Known Extremist Netanyahu Bends to Other Extremists: On Wednesday, despite growing international criticism for their ongoing genocide, Israel approved new settlements in the West Bank and announced that it would move forward with their plan to take over Gaza City, which was home to more than a million Palestinians. Israel has already established a foothold outside the city, and Palestinians are already fleeing. Experts told the New York Times that these two moves suggest that Netanyahu is bending to the even more extreme factions in Israel in order to maintain power. It’s unclear whether a new cease-fire proposal—which officials have said is similar to terms that Israel previously endorsed—has any chance of moving forward.
A Bag of Cold Hard Gratitude: Winnie Greco, a now disgraced, now former, longtime adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, did her best House of Cards impression when she pressed a potato chip bag full of money into the hands of a local reporter in New York City. The reporter, Katie Honan, had been critical of Greco in the past. Greco’s attorney said that the bag of cash “was not a bag of cash,” and definitely wasn’t a bribe. It was a “gesture of friendship and gratitude.”
I’ll Send You Off With a Song: I first fell in love with Jay Som when she released her 2018 single, “Pirouette.” Now she’s out with a new single ahead of her October album release, and it’s worth having stuck in your head today.
