Lawyers for Suspect in Juniper Blessing Murder Say Their Client is Not Competent to Stand Trial: Christopher Leahy has been in pre-trial detention since surrendering to police after Blessing’s killing, but has yet to enter a plea. He was supposed to be formally arraigned on murder charges yesterday, but this was postponed as the judge ordered Leahy committed to the Western State Hospital where staff will determine whether he is able to stand trial. The Seattle Times has the details.
Pacific Northwest Newspaper Unions Call for Advertisers to Boycott Their Papers: Fresh off a one-day strike meant to bring management to the negotiating table, union journalists for McClatchy-owned newspapers represented by the Idaho and Washington NewsGuilds are asking advertisers to hit ownership in the pocket. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199NW said it paused a $25,000 ad buy with McClatchy Media until ownership makes a deal with workers at The Tacoma News Tribune, The Olympian, Tri-City Herald, Bellingham Herald and Idaho Statesman. SEIU and the NewsGuilds are asking other advertisers to join the boycott.
Seattle’s Waterfront Parks Have Finally Reopened: Closed by the billionaire class for a year for redevelopment, Myrtle Edwards Park and Centennial Park have reopened in time for throngs of World Cup fans to wander north from the waterfront and end up lost in Interbay’s railyards. There’s still some grass left to grow, but most of the waterfront is now accessible, including several new beaches, a “Scandinavian” cafe, and new bathrooms. The public fishing pier is still abandoned, yet not demolished, and stands as a monument to the civics of Seattle past.
Here’s a Massive Guide to all 1,248 World Cup Players: Greedy FIFA officials have expanded the World Cup into a bigger tournament than ever: more teams, more matches, more host countries, and more cities, including Seattle. That’s great for advertisers like Coca-Cola and Adidas, but less ideal for casual sports fans trying to parse the pathos and tactics on the field. The Guardian took a crack at simplifying that with this guide to every player in the tournament broken down by team and group.
Cattle Rustlers Back on the Prowl in Washington Territory: In a scene I choose to imagine in the vein of The Fast and The Furious, police say last month a Pasco man ran a semitruck hauling cattle off the road last week in Eastern Washington, hijacked it, and then sent the driver a ransom video. He allegedly cut in front of him and then brake-checked him repeatedly, not unlike Vin Diesel. The man in question claims the truck cab belongs to his wife, and is now facing a variety of criminal charges, the Tri-City Herald reports.
Idaho Flag Ban Mars Boise Pride Celebrations: The reason the Idaho legislature banned cities from flying anything other than government flags on government buildings is clear to Republicans and the queer population alike. The law is working exactly as intended, with organizers for Boise’s Pride celebrations, the largest in the state, blocked from adorning a local boulevard with Pride flags as they have in Junes past. A compromise with the parks department will allow for rainbow ribbons instead, but city government dodged the Idaho Statesman’s inquiry as to why they didn’t use a loophole allowing temporary flag displays to get around the ban.
Most Democrats Join Republicans to Reject Lebanon War Powers Resolution: Rep. Rashida Tlaib forced a vote Thursday on removing US troops from Lebanon, where the Israeli Defense Force is conducting ethnic cleansing operations against the Shia population. Democratic leadership support the war, as was made clear for all to see when Tlaib’s bill failed 91-324, Politico reports. Among the 117 House Democrats who voted against the war powers resolution were Washington representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Kim Schrier and Adam Smith.
Polish Government Retaliates Against Ukraine for Repatriating Remains of Notorious Nazi Collaborator: Andriy Melnyk was a top leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, a fascist cult in the early 20th century that collaborated with the Nazis to commit the Holocaust in Eastern Europe and murdered over 100,000 Poles during a wartime ethnic cleansing campaign behind German lines. Melnyk escaped West with the Nazis with other OUN leaders after the war, but was recently reburied in Ukraine with full military honors courtesy of Volodymyr Zelensky (whose presidential campaign previously opposed such Nazi glorification). Zelensky’s decision is now facing blowback from Poland, whose own nationalist administration has been anti-Melnyk for over a century. Le Monde has details.
Beloved Seattle Historian Paul Dorpat Dies: The Seattle Times has a touching tribute to Dorpat, whose friends are asking for donations in his memory to HistoryLink, the free online Washington state history encyclopedia he co-founded. Dorpat’s regular Seattle Now & Then entries for the Times brought local history to life through the recreation of archival photographs in modern light, and, like most of his work, they’re accessible on his website.
We’ll Have to Make Our Own Seattle Now & Then Collages Now: I stopped by Interbay yesterday to recreate one of my favorite local historical photos: Seattle police officers perched atop the brand new Magnolia Bridge aiming machine guns at striking longshoremen during the Battle of Smith Cove in 1934. Things have changed a little since then, but not much.
