Washington State Attorney General Bob Fergusons office is suing GEO Group, a private prison corporation partially funded by the Gates Foundation.
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office is suing GEO Group, a private prison corporation partially funded by the Gates Foundation. ASK

Bob Ferguson Wants Detained Immigrants in Tacoma to Be Paid More: Currently, people incarcerated at the Northwest Detention Center are paid $1 a day or less for janitorial, maintenance, and other types of work. Yesterday, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced his office is suing GEO Group, a private prison corporation that operates the immigrant jail, for failing to pay detainees the $11 an hour state minimum wage. Although state law exempts government facilities, including city, county, and state jails from paying the minimum wage, Ferguson's complaint says the law doesn't apply to NWDC because it is privately-run. "GEO has a captive population of vulnerable individuals who cannot easily advocate for themselves. This corporation is exploiting those workers for their own profits," the AG said during a press conference announcing the lawsuit.

The Death Toll Climbs in Wake of Mexico Earthquake: At least 237 were killed after the 7.1 magnitude struck. Rescue workers and untrained volunteers are now racing to find people buried in the rubble from their schools and other buildings, the Guardian reports.

Amazon Opens New Office in New York: The new, 360,000 square-foot Manhattan office, which is separate from the tech giant's plans to open a second headquarters, will employ around 1,800 people. It's slated to open next year, GeekWire reports.

City of Edmonds Will Not Recognize Columbus Day and Indigenous People's Day: Instead, like Seattle, the city will celebrate Indigenous People's Day only, thanks to a new resolution passed on Wednesday, reports My Edmonds News.

From a 2014 parade celebrating the Seahawks Super Bowl victory.
From a 2014 parade celebrating the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory. Emily Nokes

One Thing Seattleites Old and New Share: A love of the Seahawks.

Speaking of Which: Current and former professional football players, including Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, are calling on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and other league officials to recognize November as activism awareness month as part of a campaign for racial equality and criminal justice reform. Bennett claimed that Las Vegas Police officers racially profiled him after they detained him during an active shooter call last month.

A Reminder That People Are Horrible: A babysitter in Marysville was convicted of second-degree manslaughter after she shook 4-month-old Kailynn Watson "with enough force to damage her spine," KOMO reports. "Doctors said the spinal injury paralyzed Kailynn's diaphragm, cutting off her oxygen."

Aaaaand Here's Another One: A Shoreline cat was stolen from the Whisker City cat rescue and later found in a dumpster with its head crushed in. The cat's name was Quixote and he was "a one-year-old exotic Savannah" who was set to go to his forever home tomorrow, KING 5 reports. Anyone who may have information should call the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311.


Tina Fey's Supremely Stupid "Sheet Caking" Sketch Inspires Fundraiser Near Olympia: The Thurston County Democratic Women group, which ramped up activities after Trump's election, will get together to eat cake and raise money for their organization, the Olympian reports. Politically engaged women and food are all great things! That insensitive sketch, however, is not.