Slog AM: A No Good Very Bad Day for Trump, Boeing Coughs Up $11.5 Million in Worker Back Pay, Dave Reichert Brings Gun to Seattle Times
The Stranger’s morning news roundup.
by Nathalie Graham
You’ve already heard this news: The 45th president of the United States is now a convicted felon, found guilty on all 34 charges in the hush-money case, actions that influenced the outcome of the 2016 election and altered the trajectory of our cursed little country forever. By now, your liberal family members have finished their gleeful texts, your conservative family members have exhausted their fingers from all their furious Facebooking, and you’ve already scoured the internet for analysis—like the post Rich Smith wrote yesterday—about whether this means Donald Trump can still be president. To recap everything: Yes, he can still be president, sentencing will occur on July 11, Trump could face up to four years in prison, he plans to appeal the verdict, and being a convicted felon is unlikely to sway Trump voters against voting for him. Since there’s not much else for me to add, I’ll share some fun tweets:
when the jury convicts you pic.twitter.com/umEmXFmY67
— ishmael n. daro (@iD4RO) May 30, 2024
This shank is Donald Trump’s 35th felony
pic.twitter.com/TkieC2I5DZ
— W (@ZitiDoggsGolf) May 30, 2024
“mother teresa could not beat these charges” is entering my lexicon for all eternity i fear https://t.co/ZFMkJGa5Qr
— chuck (@tenetyaoi) May 30, 2024
A great sitcom premise. pic.twitter.com/wYTC1XZxmW
— Lee Konstantinou (@LKonstan) May 30, 2024
so is trump cooked now? or is it like Air Bud logic where it’s like “there ain’t no rule says a man with 34 criminal convictions can’t be president”
— zach silberberg (@zachsilberberg) May 30, 2024
This is exactly like when they found Laura Palmer pic.twitter.com/BLrIGe43gV
— White Guy Fieri (@whiteguyfieri) May 31, 2024
Trump announced he’s holding a press conference this morning: It’s being broadcast from Trump Tower. I’m sure it will be completely sane.
Pedestrian-killing SPD cop’s past checkered with collisions: Kevin Dave, the cop who hit 23-year-old pedestrian Jaahnavi Kandula in 2023 while going 74 miles per hour, was fired from his previous gig at the Tucson Police Department after five internal investigations, according to PubliCola. Part of his bad behavior in Tucson included two car collisions. In one instance, Dave failed to yield to another car while turning in his patrol vehicle and ripped off the cop car’s bumper. In the second collision, Dave was driving his personal vehicle when he rear-ended another car, an accident he didn’t promptly report to his superiors. The driver of that car reported Dave to the police department for not having proper insurance. The department later found Dave had been driving with expired registration for seven months. The Seattle Police Department hired Dave despite this record.
Seattle Public Schools feels the heat from parents: Look, if your school district announces it’s closing down 20 elementary schools due to budget cuts, then you’re going to have some thoughts. Seattle parents this week flocked to two SPS meetings on the impending elementary school closures. Tuesday’s meeting at Roosevelt High School was an emotional cluster fuck. Thursday’s meeting at Garfield High School was more organized. Parents questioned the district and the district provided little information. One of the main questions was whether there was an alternative to these school closures. Superintendent Brent Jones answered: “That’s a great question. We don’t have a comprehensive alternative model. If there is a set of strategies that’s comprehensive, that recognizes our current state, our current instability, we are very interested.” So, not only will the closures go forward, but so will further budget cuts, since SPS faces a $105 million budget deficit for the next school year and a $129 million shortfall for the year after that.
Dave Reichert came packing to a Seattle Times interview: Gubernatorial candidate and former King County Sheriff brought a gun to the Seattle Times offices. He reportedly told them he had a gun on his hip because “he didn’t like the Seattle Times.” He mentioned this tidbit after saying how big a fan he was of the Second Amendment.
Oh! pic.twitter.com/sHHhxDFCC5
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) May 30, 2024
Israel is in central Rafah: Despite international backlash from allies and critics alike, Israel announced its forces had pushed deeper into Rafah, the southern Gaza enclave where many Palestinians sought refuge. Now, with a ground offensive complete with tanks and heavy artillery, Israel is displacing civilians again, as many flee for the second or third time in the span of this conflict.
Atmospheric river ahead: Friday will be nice, mostly sunny, and warm enough. Come Sunday, a deluge of rain will return. Soak up the sun before you get actually soaked. Even more disappointing than the rain is that cloud cover will obscure another chance to see the Northern Lights this weekend.
It’s not often we get to say this, but …
A rare June super-soaker is on tap for Sunday. Up to an inch of rain could fall in Seattle proper.
June 2 rainfall record of 0.48 inches is likely toast 🥂
— Seattle Weather Blog (@KSeattleWeather) May 31, 2024
Here is a look at the period of heaviest rainfall with the upcoming atmospheric river pattern Sunday night through Monday. Generally, most locations have at least a 50% chance for seeing rainfall totals of at least 1 inch Sunday evening through Monday afternoon. 🌧️ #WAwx pic.twitter.com/pRiIJFQXdJ
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) May 31, 2024
Another weekend update: Vice President Kamala Harris is coming to town on Saturday. It likely won’t impact you unless you have millions of dollars to give to the Biden re-election campaign. Well, it will impact you if you’re traversing the roads. Check those traffic maps if you want to avoid a snarled commute.
Vermont tells oil companies to pay up: Vermont became the first state to require fossil fuel companies to pay for a share of damage caused by climate change-fueled extreme weather events. The legislation became law on Thursday, though Republican Gov. Phil Scott did not sign it. The funds paid by these polluters will go to beefing up state infrastructure. This is landmark legislation in a world where we are seeing the impacts of climate change every day. But, what’s striking me the most about this news is that Vermont has a Republican governor. How did that happen?
A brief rabbit hole: So, I guess Vermonters really like people over politics, and they value “balance,” so the governor’s office tends to change party hands “every time since 1961.” Republican Gov. Phil Scott is seen as a “brake on a big leftward lurch” since Vermont has such strong Dem presence in both chambers of the legislature. Okay, that’s enough of that. Strange place, Vermont.
Boeing coughs up record amount of back pay: In a record-breaking settlement for the Washington Department of Labor & Industries, Boeing paid $11.5 million in wrongfully withheld travel pay to 500 workers. The workers are part of Boeing’s Aircraft-on-Ground team of traveling technical experts who help fix up grounded planes and get them back into the air. Boeing didn’t compensate these workers’ travel fees from October 2019 and August 2023. The publicity hits keep coming for our neighborhood plane maker.
Spelling Bee champ crowned: Florida’s Bruhat Soma, 12, won the 96th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in a lightning-round tie-breaker. The spell-off is only the second ever spell-off in Bee history. Soman spelled 29 words in 90 seconds. I love sports!
This is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen.
29 words in 90 seconds to win the Spelling Bee!
— Jake Marsh (@PMTsportsbiz) May 31, 2024
See ya, styrofoam: Kiss your packing peanuts goodbye. Well, technically, packing peanuts were banned as part of this legislation last June. So, continue to mourn your packing peanuts and kiss any other styrofoam products you covet goodbye because the next phase of the styrofoam ban goes into effect on Saturday. As of June 1, Washington is banning “the sale or distribution of Styrofoam coolers, plates, cups, bowls, and similar items.”
I hate it when my loved ones fight: Wordle, the New York Times-acquired word game, is suing Worldle, a geography-themed spin-off, for “creating confusion” and capitalizing on Wordle’s brand. Let all the silly brain-itching phone games you haven’t acquired yet be, New York Times. Okay? Great. Now, it’s time for me to play Connections and Strands.
A collection for your Friday: You ever think about how having kids in a world riddled by climate change feels not only kind of wrong, but also impossible? The teams over at Vox, Grist, and The 19th put together a collection of stories all about pregnancy and climate change. They’re worth your time.
A song for your Friday: This song is so funky.
The Stranger
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