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Can He Do That? Bruce Harrell spoke at a fundraiser for the Political Action Committee supporting his campaign, according to an email invitation obtained by The Stranger. The state’s election authority told us it’s “unusual” and introduces questions about campaign financing. Like if he’s doing it legally. The law is complex, so at this point, it’s unclear if Harrell violated campaign finance law. His campaign didn’t clear it up for us.
Good Guy Harrell: Mothers who lost their sons to gun violence told Publicola that Mayor Harrell ignored their pleas for help during his years in office, and only reached out to some during his reelection campaign.
These mothers included Nicky Chappell, mother of D’Vonne Pickett. Pickett owned The Postman mailing and shipping store in the Central District. He was shot and killed outside his store three years ago. Thousands attended Pickett’s memorial at Climate Pledge Arena. Harrell spoke, saying that what happened to Pickett happened “time and time again” when he was a little boy in the Central District. “We have to do everything humanly possible to save our own community, because no one’s going to do it for us,” he said. “We have to hold up the family. You don’t say, ‘What can I do? Do it.’” Apparently, “no one” included Harrell. Chappell said the Mayor didn’t speak to or acknowledge her at the memorial, and hasn’t reached out in the years since.
“Don’t Come Half-Assed”: Publicola also spoke to Black business owners and advocates who’ve met with Wilson and support her because they think she’ll make a place for them at the table. “Some wouldn’t go on the record, citing a fear of retribution if Harrell gets reelected,” Publicola wrote. “Others talked at length about their disappointment with a mayor they thought would stand up for their communities.”
The Weather: Charles can finally rest easy. The clouds have arrived, and they’re multiplying. Tomorrow, there’s a 50 percent chance of rain. Saturday, a late morning rain is likely. Sunday, expect early morning rain and showers after 11 a.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday? Rain, rain, rain (probably.)
Sorry, M’s: The Blue Jays wiped the floor with you last night. Don’t let a 13-4 loss in game 3 get you down. I have only one thing to say…
Shooting: A 20-year-old man was shot and killed in Northgate around 5 p.m. Wednesday. Police found him in a hotel parking lot near the 2100 block of Northgate Way. He’d been shot in the chest and died at the scene. There are no suspects in custody, police said.
ICE Wrongfully Detained Seattle Man: This July, Alan Phetsadakone sat down for a routine meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, like he’d done in the decades since his felony conviction for bank fraud. At the time, he’d been issued a deportation order to Laos, which he left as a child refugee. Laos wasn’t accepting deportees, so Phetsadakone was released on the condition of these regular check-ins. But on this visit, ICE detained him without warning and took him to the ICE detention center in Tacoma. A judge later ruled his detention was unlawful. As KUOW reports, Phetsadakone is not alone.
Kindergarten (Through 12) Cops: Last week, the Seattle School Board voted against a one-year pilot program to put a cop at Garfield High School. The Urbanist has the details on how it played out.
It’s Time for the Pretend Earthquake: It’s Great ShakeOut Day and earthquake drills commence at 10:16 a.m. Here’s a few tips to avoid death (drop, cover and hold on), and how to make sure the ShakeAlert Early Warning System will reach you.
Tenth Time’s the Charm: Sixteen days into this government shutdown, the Senate will vote on the House GOP’s short-term government spending bill a 10th time. It’s expected to fail.
One Way This Shutdown Affects You and Your Neighbors: As the South Seattle Emerald reports, 6,000 low-income, food-insecure people on the South End who are pregnant, postpartum, or have children under five could lose access to the infant formula, healthy food, and other assistance they get through the Women, Children, and Infants program. On October 1, officials announced it had one or two weeks of funding left.
Nauseating: A 9-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl in Ohio have been charged with allegedly assaulting, strangling, raping, and then attempting to murder a 5-year-old girl in a Cleveland field last month. All we know: The victim’s mother posted about the crime on Facebook and said her daughter’s hair had been pulled from her scalp. The Cleveland police acknowledged the post and that they were investigating a case with multiple children under the age of 10. It has declined to comment further. The prosecutor’s office in Cuyahoga County filed the charges in juvenile court yesterday. The two children have not been arraigned yet. Because the suspects are under 14, the case will not be transferred to adult court.
I Don’t Have to Show You Any Stinking Badges: Pentagon reporters who cover the US Military turned in their access badges and left the building yesterday rather than agree to Pete Hegseth’s aggressive rules for what they could write and where they could go without escort. The administration calls the attack on the “very disruptive” free press “common sense.” This is not the end of reporting on the military. This administration leaks like a fucking sieve. They’d have to ban telephones, computers, and the Signal app these clowns love communicating military secrets on to actually put a five-cornered lid on “unapproved” information.
Speaking of Leaks: US officials told the New York Times that the Trump administration has secretly given the CIA permission to conduct covert action in Venezuela, including lethal operations. They aren’t so covert now. I just read about them in the fucking New York Times.
Welcome Back, Regime Change: For weeks, Trump has been blowing up boats off the coast of Venezuela, killing 27 people he claims are drug traffickers. The administration has accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of running a cartel he is not running. Publicly, Trump says he authorized covert action because Venezuela had “emptied their prisons into the United States of America.” Privately, officials say the end goal is to remove President Maduro from power.
Get Fucked, National Guard: A US District Judge in Oregon extended her restraining order blocking National Guard troops from deploying to Oregon. Her temporary restraining order was set to expire this Saturday. It’s been extended another five weeks. Our sister publication, The Portland Mercury, has more.
Speaking of That Fair City: House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose last name is slang for penis, said last weekend’s “emergency” naked bike ride to protest ICE was “the most threatening thing I’ve seen … I mean, it’s getting really ugly.” As he said this, the elected officials standing behind him laughed. He did not laugh. Four people were arrested the day of the ride. It’s unclear if any of them were naked bike riders.
ICYMI: Here’s Politico’s story about a leaked 2,900 page chat where Young Republican leaders said that they loved Hitler, wanted to put their political opponents in gas chambers and rape their enemies, and “lauded” Republicans they believed to be pro-slavery. Some of them work for elected Republicans. One of the men in the chat, Samuel Douglass, is a Vermont state senator.
Chat, Are We Cooked? The Kansas GOP said the Kansas Young Republicans are now inactive. In the chat, its leaders Alex Dwyer and William Hendrix used anti-Black and anti-gay slurs and laughed “at comments that implied they were pro-Nazi,” according to NPR affiliate KCUR. Hendrix also referenced “1488,” white supremacist shorthand for the 14 words ( “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children”) and Heil Hitler (h is the eighth letter of the alphabet.)
