It Snowed Last Night! A whole one or two inches. Today it’s turning into rain. Still, Seattle Public Schools delayed classes for two hours, and Lake Washington has canceled all classes. Some bus routes are not on time and the Seattle Times is listing school closure updates here.
A State Trooper’s Cruiser Was Hit by a Car on I-5: The trooper was investigating a collision in his car when he was hit by yet another car near 145th street. State authorities say it’s a suspected DUI, but there was also snow and ice on the road.
Washington State Is Suing Monsanto Over PCBs: The cities of Seattle and Spokane have already sued the agrochemical giant over the production and sale of PCBs that pollute our waterways, but now the lawsuit is going statewide. The complaint alleges that Monsanto knew about the dangers of PCBs early on and continued to sell products with them. Monsanto was the only producer of PCBs between 1935 and 1979.
Seattle Police Seize a Rifle in a Guitar Case on the Seattle Central Campus: “Police are investigating after a bizarre incident at Seattle Central Wednesday in which a man was arrested after school security found he was carrying what authorities said was an assault rifle inside a guitar case on the Capitol Hill college’s Broadway campus,” Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reports. The suspect was booked into King County jail.
The Measure That Wants to Hold Cops Accountable for Unjust Shootings Might Not Make the Ballot: I-873, also known as the “John T. Williams” bill, named after the Native American woodcarver killed by police officer Ian Birk in 2010, would strike language from state law that makes it nearly impossible to prosecute police officers for unjust killings. The ballot measure signature gathering effort has been organized by the family members of people killed by police, but they’re still 100,000 signatures short and only have until the end of the month to qualify for the ballot. “The initiative’s organizers will meet Sunday evening to decide whether or not to pull the plug,” David Kroman reports. I-873 has been endorsed by Congressman Adam Smith, Mayor Ed Murray, and a number of state senators. Read more about I-873 here.
Portland Will Tax Publicly-Traded Companies for Obscene CEO Pay: Companies with CEOs making more than 100 times the median pay of their workers will be subject to the new tax, the first of its kind. “Under the new rule, public companies doing business in Portland must pay an additional 10 percent in taxes if their chief executives receive compensation greater than 100 times the median pay of all their employees,” the Seattle Times reports. “Companies with pay ratios greater than 250 times the median will face a 25 percent surcharge.”
Heroin Deaths Surpass Gun Deaths for the First Time: The opioid death toll hit 30,000 in 2015, an increase of 5,000 over the year before. “Criminalization drives people to the margins and dissuades them from getting help,” Grant Smith, deputy director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, told the Washington Post. “It drives a wedge between people who need help and the services they need. Because of criminalization and stigma, people hide their addictions from others.”
This Environmental Group’s Video About Non-Recyclable Starbucks Cups Is Actually Funny:
There’s Another Gender Justice League Free Legal Clinic Coming Up: Need to change your gender marker on your ID? Head to the Gender Justice League’s free legal clinic on December 18.
Washington Legislators Have Already Pre-Filed a Bill That Seeks to Restrict Trans Rights: “This murderers’ row of bigots are trying to bring back the trans bathroom bill despite losing in the legislature last year and failing to qualify for the ballot where it almost certainly would have lost because even in Trump’s America, that shit can end careers (how ya doing, Pat McCrory?),” Seattlish writes. Ugh. We’ve seen this before.
Sen. Maria Cantwell Warns Obama Administration About the Trans-Mountain Pipeline, or “Standing Rock North”: The Trans-Mountain pipeline will carry more barrels of oil per day than the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and Dakota Access, and the Canadian government just approved its passage through British Columbia. The pipeline will increase oil tanker traffic through the Salish Sea by a factor of seven, and Cantwell is asking the Obama administration to intervene for risk of oil spills. Four Washington tribes have also tried asking the Canadian government to reconsider, to no avail.
