Is Mark Driscoll Trying to Make a Comeback? Former Mars Hill pastor and all-around asshole Mark Driscoll has been making a series of public appearances, including in Mill Creek, Washington, where some former Mars Hill members protested his appearance. Those former members say he’s “unrepentant,” writes Nina Shapiro in the Seattle Times, while a Northern California church leader says, “This guy’s a more humble version of himself than he’s ever been.” Yeah, OK.
An Activist Has Locked Himself to an Excavator at the Construction Site of a New Animal Research Lab at the University of Washington: “One of the two activists [who climbed onto the excavator] has been locked to the hydraulic lift at the top of the piece of heavy equipment since about 4:30 a.m.,” KIRO reports, “where he hung a banner reading, ‘You will not build this lab.'”
Cyclist Hits Pedestrian Then Stabs Him on Capitol Hill: One person who said she saw the incident told Capitol Hill Seattle blog, “The man who was stabbed was attacking the bicyclist and continued to provoke more fighting after he was stabbed. He was so drunk that he did not even realize he was bleeding profusely.”
Parts of the Patriot Act Allowing the Government to Gather Vast Amounts of Phone Records Have Temporarily Expired: That means that, “for now, the NSA will no longer collect newly created logs of Americans’ phone calls in bulk,” the New York Times reports. “It also means that the FBI cannot invoke the Patriot Act to obtain, for new investigations, wiretap orders that follow a suspect who changes phones, wiretap orders for a ‘lone wolf’ terrorism suspect not linked to a group, or court orders to obtain business records relevant to an investigation.” The Senate is now debating a House bill to reform how the National Security Agency collects phone data.
State Makes a Plan for Possible Government Shutdown: State lawmakers have until the end of June to reach a budget deal—they just entered their second special session—or parts of the state government will shut down. Here’s what that might look like.
Protesters Clashed with White Supremacists in Olympia: “The white supremacists eventually fled,” one witness explained to the Olympian, “while some protesters gave chase, including picking up metal chairs from a restaurant providing outdoor seating, and then flinging them at several trucks occupied by the white supremacists.” Earlier in the day, about 30 people gathered peacefully in a park “to talk seriously about how they, as Caucasians, can better assist the Black-Lives-Matter movement, black leadership, and people of color.”
Seattle City Light Reports E-Billing Error: “Certain customers who were billed on May 27 accidentally received incorrect billing statements through the e-billing online payment service,” City Light said in a press release yesterday. “No Social Security number, bank account, credit card, or debit card information was involved, and this will not result in any disruption of service to customers.” The online billing system has been temporarily taken off-line, but customers can still make payments through the site’s “one-time payment” option.
A Drone Was Stuck in a Power Line in Eastlake Over the Weekend: For “many days,” in fact, according to a Slog tipper. As Kathleen wrote last week, it is legal to operate drones within the city, but not in parks.
Scientists Say All of Idaho is in Drought: The last time the state saw this level of drought was in 2005. That follows the news on May 15 that all of Washington is experiencing drought.
Do Not Use a Cell Phone App to Decide If Mushrooms Are Poisonous: That’s what sent four people to the hospital in Central Oregon.
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