The Stranger’s morning news round-up.

by Nathalie Graham

Cartoon villain shit: This week, the Everett Herald announced layoffs to over half of its staff with the elimination of 12 positions. Publisher Rudi Alcott claimed “readers wouldn’t notice” the significant cuts to the staff, according to the Herald’s own reporting. But, the publisher deleted that article from the website on Thursday, calling its portrayal of real events and the impact on real local journalism “a hit piece.” Unfortunately, this move drew more attention to the layoffs, stirred up some good old-fashioned outrage, and a “friendlier” version of the piece was restored to the site after several hours. The Streisand effect strikes again!

The original version of the story lives on in print: As they say, print is forever. Wait, they say that, right?

Our publisher took down this story online after laying off half the newsroom. Luckily print lives on. @EverettHerald @EverettGuild pic.twitter.com/JzEbd2Ussj

— Jenelle Baumbach (@jenelleclar) June 20, 2024

No arrests in Garfield shooting: It’s been two weeks since a lunchtime altercation at Garfield High School left 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine dead. The Seattle Police Department still has not caught the suspected “school-aged” shooter, yet they are working “very, very hard on that investigation,” according to a department spokesperson.  

Some solstice news: Yesterday, as we all of course know, was the summer solstice. The longest day of the year fluctuates between June 20 and June 22. This year, the solstice came on June 20 at 1:24 p.m. That’s the earliest solstice in 228 years. To put that into context, the last time the solstice happened this early, George Washington was president. This doesn’t spell doom or gloom, but is merely a result of calendar quirks. 

Summer lovin’: We did it, we’ve reached the sweaty, skin-sizzling zenith of the year. The sun will be out and will be showing off Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, the sun will take a break and let the clouds have another mainstage moment. 

Warm, dry conditions will continue into Saturday. Cooler temperatures are expected along the immediate coast. High temperatures will peak for most interior areas on Friday. Cooler temperatures are likely by Sunday as a weak system moves through the area. #WAwx pic.twitter.com/I2nHqM8cTn

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) June 20, 2024

This is the bad place: In addition to leading Joe Biden in the polls, convicted felon Donald Trump is absolutely obliterating Biden when it comes to fundraising. In the last month, Trump fundraised $60 million more than the Biden campaign. The 34 felonious counts seem good for business; Trump raised $141 million in May alone.

Another mysterious monolith: Remember in 2020 when those strange monoliths popped up in places around the world and then quickly disappeared? To my knowledge, we never got any answers about those. Maybe our chance for truth is now—another monolith has just appeared in Nevada’s Desert National Wildlife Refuge. I hope the culprit is aliens rather than performance artists or, worse, a corporate marketing scheme. 

MYSTERIOUS MONOLITH!

We see a lot of weird things when people go hiking like not being prepared for the weather, not bringing enough water… but check this out!
Over the weekend, @LVMPDSAR spotted this mysterious monolith near Gass Peak north of the valley. pic.twitter.com/YRsvhJIU5M

— LVMPD (@LVMPD) June 17, 2024

FBI raids Oakland mayor’s house: First-term Mayor Sheng Thao’s house was overrun with FBI agents on Thursday. It is unclear what the raid concerns. ABC News heard from sources that it is a public corruption case, and the IRS and the US Postal Service are working together with the FBI on it. In what seems to be a connection to this raid, the FBI also raided properties owned by politically influential Duong family which owns the recycling company Cal Waste Solutions.

Charges dropped against most Hamilton Hall protesters: On Thursday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office dropped most of the charges against the Columbia University students who took over a school building during pro-Palestine demonstrations this spring. The office dismissed 31 of 46 trespassing charges due to “lack of evidence.” Fourteen other people, only two of whom are students, will have their charges dropped if they are not arrested in the next six months. A fifteenth person still faces a trespassing charge as well as a charge of burning an American flag and breaking an NYPD camera while in a holding cell. 

Just Stop Oil protesters broke into a private airfield to vandalize Taylor Swift’s private jet.

Neither of the two aircraft that were actually vandalized are owned by Swift. pic.twitter.com/cH47JqLjrx

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 21, 2024

Barcelona bans Airbnb: The Spanish city’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, announced Barcelona will ban all short term home rentals for tourists by 2029 as a way to control rental costs for actual residents of the city. Barcelona will stop issuing new short-term rental licenses and will stop renewing existing licenses. 

Well, that’s a relief: The US Supreme Court issued an opinion Friday upholding an existing law banning alleged domestic violence offenders from owning firearms. The opinion was 8-1 with Justice Clarence Thomas the only dissenter. 

Forbidden paint job: Two climate protesters with Just Stop Oil broke into a London airfield and spray painted two private jets orange. They were reportedly trying to target Taylor Swift’s jet, but her plane wasn’t parked at that airfield. This demonstration comes just days after other Just Stop Oil protesters spray painted Stonehenge orange. Are these tactics working? No idea. But, they’ve gotten my attention, so maybe that’s a sign of efficacy. 

Just Stop Oil protesters broke into a private airfield to vandalize Taylor Swift’s private jet.

Neither of the two aircraft that were actually vandalized are owned by Swift. pic.twitter.com/cH47JqLjrx

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 21, 2024

You just can’t make this shit up: Apparently, Michigan Republican congressional candidate Anthony Hudson is in hot water because he deepfaked some audio and made Martin Luther King Jr.’s voice endorse him in a campaign video. According to Michigan’s Fox affiliate, a TikTok video from the candidate featured MLK saying, “I have another dream. Yes, it is me, Martin Luther King. I came back from the dead to say something,” the audio says. “As I was saying, I have another dream that Anthony Hudson will be Michigan’s 8th District’s next congressman. Yes, I have a dream again.” After the backlash, Hudson said his friend was the one who posted the video. I’m really enjoying thinking about the creative process behind this. Like, a bunch of Republicans in a room being like, “You know what would be crazy? If we could get the coveted post-humous MLK endorsement.”

A song for your Friday: In honor of Kendrick Lamar’s Juneteenth concert where he played his Drake diss track “Not Like Us” five times here’s that track for your listening pleasure:

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