May Day, 2013
May Day, 2013 Ansel Herz

It's May Day. Wonder How the Cops Are Trained to Deal with Protesters? Ahead of today's May Day protests, Ansel reports on a 2013—and maybe still in use today—training manual from the Seattle Police Department: "The document discusses crowd control formations, mass arrests, and how to strike protesters with batons. (The Department of Justice found in 2011 that 57 percent of baton usage by Seattle police was unnecessary or excessive.) It doesn't include a single reference to, much less any guidance about, first amendment-protected activities, 'free speech' rights, or civil disobedience."

TV Wants You to Be Worried About Traffic: "Protesters, police, Friday traffic, warm weather and nightlife are all mixing into a potent cocktail of potential chaos for Seattle commuters on May Day," KIRO frets. Some people have to leave work early and others have to get to the 8 p.m. showing of Phantom of the Opera early. The horror!

But This Is What You Should Really Be Worried About: Is the Seattle Police Department using undercover officers to gather information on May Day protesters? A department action plan for May Day 2012 says yes, but a police spokesperson says the department only uses plainclothes officers, "people who aren't identifiable as police, who are there for the sole purpose of identifying criminal activity when it happens."

Here's Where to Follow What's Happening Today: The actions planned for today include a Black Lives Matter protest at MLK Memorial Park at 10:25 a.m., an El Comite-sponsored march for immigration reform at 3 p.m. at Judkins Park, and an anticapitalist march at 6 p.m. at Seattle Central College. Everything you need to know will be at @strangerslog, or follow us all at @Ansel, @sydbrownstone, @heidigroover, @AGarlandPhoto, and @drunkoftheweek

Western is joining 108 other schools being investigated for possible violations of Title IX regarding sexual violence or harassment.
Western is joining 108 other schools being investigated for possible violations of Title IX regarding sexual violence or harassment. Jim Feliciano/Shutterstock

The Feds Are Investigating Western Washington University for Its Response to Reports of Sexual Assault: Western is under investigation by the US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights for possible Title IX violations in how they handled reports of sexual assault. According to the Bellingham Harald, the Feds are not disclosing any details of the investigation, but the school says, "This investigation is automatically triggered because of the filing of a complaint by a WWU student."

Patty Murray Wants a $12 Federal Minimum Wage: And the US senator's bill would phase out the federal tip credit, which allows employers to pay tipped workers a lower minimum wage, by 2025. Murray hopes to get Republicans on board because "a lot of them know from their own home state experience that raising the minimum wage is very important to their own state and their economy and they want our country to move forward on this," KPLU reports.

Comcast Settles over Allegations of Discriminatory Hiring Practices at Its Everett Call Center: According to the AP, the company will pay $190,000 in "back pay and interest to 96 current and former female employees who were channeled into lower-paying jobs than male colleagues, as well as to 100 black, Asian and Hispanic applicants who were disproportionately rejected for jobs."

We suspect it was hit by a car, says USFWS spokesperson Brent Lawrence about a wolf found on I-90 Tuesday. As with many things that are found along the highway, its pretty messy.
"We suspect it was hit by a car," says US Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson Brent Lawrence about a wolf found on I-90 Tuesday. "As with many things that are found along the highway, it's pretty messy." Ana Gram/Shutterstock

Why It's a Big Deal That a Wolf May Have Been Found on Interstate 90: Sydney Brownstone explains: "Conservationists are particularly excited about this potential new wolf development, because they say it shows recovery of an endangered species that had been practically wiped out in Washington by trapping, poisoning, and shooting roughly a century ago. 'The fact that this wolf was found less than 50 miles from downtown Seattle is a testament to the fact that we've preserved some wild places that wolves are interested in populating,' Shawn Cantrell, Northwest program director at Defenders of Wildlife, said."

Three Whatcom County Residents Who Were Missing in Nepal Are Okay: They were not affected by the deadly earthquake over the weekend. Meanwhile, two 19-year-old hikers from Seattle are still missing.

What Happened When Orting, Washington, Hired Its First Black Police Officer? It did not go well. Read a story about it here by the Washington Post's always-excellent Eli Saslow, and listen to KUOW's interview with Saslow here.

Of Course You Want to Hear Dan Savage and Mike McGinn on the Same Podcast: This week's episode of Blabbermouth (The Stranger's new podcast about what happened this week) is so good, you guys! McGinn, Savage, and others talk tipping, Kshama Sawant, May Day, and Joni Mitchell.