War is back: The US and Iran exchanged missiles for the first time since late July. After we claimed to hit two rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz (claiming they were just about to fire missiles carrying naval mines toward the water), Iran struck US bases in Jordan and American military assets in the United Arab Emirates. Iran says our attacks killed and wounded several of its soldiers and civilians. In a feat of verbal hopscotch, the US denies that firing a missile was an act of aggression. It was, of course, a “limited, precise action.”
Speaking of precise: The humanitarian pacifists at Lockheed Martin claim their ballistic missile of the future, the Lockheed Martin Precision Strike Missile, is lethal, long-range and pinpoint. As we have seen since it was first deployed in combat on the first day of our war on Iran, a weapon designed to explode in midair and “propel tens of thousands of dense metal pellets at high speed in all directions” is not pinpoint. Three missiles that struck the city of Lamerd in southern Iran killed civilians 164 feet away from the impact zone.
In apparent defense of the homeland, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 76-year-old Loreto Javar, a green card holder with Stage 4 prostate cancer during an interview for US Citizenship. He has been detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma for two months. A retired hotel worker who lives in Fife with his wife and daughter, Javar has no criminal history in the US and has lived here for more than 30 years. In federal court documents, the US government alleges that in the 1970s, Javar spent three years in jail in the Philippines after an “altercation” that left a man dead, the Seattle Times reports.
Authorities claim Javar did not disclose his conviction when he moved to the US to join his father in 1995, which would have made him “inadmissible” at the time. He is “therefore ineligible to remain in the United States now,” ICE said in a statement. Javar’s family and activists want him released. Medical neglect is commonplace in ICE detainment, including untreated cancer. He’s already getting his meals late, which makes it difficult to take his cancer medication on time.
On Friday night, Dolly Parton fans held a candlelit vigil and sing-along to honor their dearly departed queen. “When I heard that Dolly passed, I was just so hungry to be with other people,” vigil organizer Francesca Hays told KUOW’s Casey Martin. “She was the epitome of love and light, and what you want people to be,” said attendee Andrea Leuser, who wore a sparkling, flowing dress and pink butterfly hair clips, “and 80 just wasn’t long enough for a woman like that.”
Five people are dead after a head-on collision 11 miles north of East Wenatchee on State Route 2 late Sunday. Near milepost 137, a westbound Nissan Maxima crossed into the eastbound lanes, slamming head-on into a 2015 Chevrolet Sonic. The male driver of the Nissan and his three male passengers were killed. Two were not wearing seat belts. The driver of the Sonic, a 77-year-old woman, was also killed. The Washington State Patrol says drugs or alcohol were involved.
In South Seattle, a shooting on the 1200 Block of SW Holden Street and Delridge Sunday evening left a 21-year-old in serious condition. The man was taken to Harborview.
One person is dead and 15 are missing after a flash flood at Grand Canyon National Park, reports the Washington Post. At least 62 people were evacuated by air after the flood hit around 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon. None of the evacuated were injured. The National Park Service is “seeking information” about hikers, backpackers, and people with camping reservations in affected parts of the canyon a day before the flood.
Walkers, do not rejoice! Last week, the Pike Place Historic Commission unanimously approved the next phase of the pedestrian pilot program, curtailing vehicle access to the market on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from October through March. If you’re not clued in, this may sound neat, but, it’s the commission bringing back car access five times a week for the first time in 18 months, despite the pedestrian pilot boosting attendance and sales, two things businesses adore. The Urbanist has more.
I know that some of you derive a near-orgasmic pleasure from leaving your Lime bikes and scooters wherever the fuck, but please consider the deafblind people tripping over them. “Safety needs to be number one,” said Mae Lynn Mullen, a Columbia City resident who is deaf and has visual impairment, told the Emerald through a sign language interpreter. “It’s come to a point where [multiple] scooters or bikes are turned over at a four-way intersection, and people are just walking over them and around them. I don’t accept that. We can do better.”
Weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 72. Near perfect. The sky is blindingly blue. The rain may come Tuesday night and it’ll almost certainly be here by Wednesday.
Since you’ve been reading the morning papers and war is coming back in style, here’s the Dead Kennedys:
