Good morning! Don those ThunderShirts my bitches, today’s going to be a stormy one. Chance of showers, with a high of 71. [Editor’s note: I had to Google it; I think it’s a dog joke.]
Asylum-seekers march on county council: The 200 asylum-seekers who have camped next to an Econo Lodge in Kent since June plan to march to the King County Council meeting today. A release from one of the mutual aid groups supporting the migrants said that King County has slowly allowed the services at the camp, including showers, to deteriorate. The group plans to confront the council over “its hostile neglect of asylum-seeker housing.” The march starts from Goat Hill Park at 12:45 pm, and the King County Council meeting starts at 1:30 pm.
ICYMI: Hannah covered a protest at Cal Anderson Park on Sunday, where demonstrators demanded that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris publicly support a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel when she speaks at the Democratic National Convention this week. The Biden-Harris Administration has supported a ceasefire plan, but it has not implemented an arms embargo “to actually stifle the carnage in Gaza,” Hannah wrote.
And that carnage has wiped out entire families: The Guardian has a piece this week about eighteen members of the same family killed in an Israeli airstrike. The official estimate for the number of people killed in Gaza hovers at about 40,000, but government officials estimate thousands more bodies lay buried under the rubble.
For those of you who tap your ORCA cards: The fare system changes in 10 days. Starting August 30, Sound Transit plans to switch to a flat rate for the Link, rather than imposing a fare range of $2.50 to $3.50 depending on your destination. It’s not a crazy change up, but it’s good to know for those of us who forget to tap on the way out. (And also on the way in. Haven’t caught me yet, Mr. Ambassador.) No, actually, I’m not that cool, I always tap. Also, Sound Transit, where the hell are my Boop toys? You create this little ORCA mascot, put out a bid for someone to make them, and yet, I’ve heard nothing. Where. Is. Boop?
The Sound Transit Uncertainty Principle states that “you can either know where the trains are going, or when the trains are going, but never both” pic.twitter.com/EqUmZXpWgf
— Skyhawk (@Skyhawkson) August 11, 2024
The Seattle Times fear-mongers about sex offender island: Real quick, we’re going to take a second look at The Times piece about McNeil Island, a place where Washington sends people for sex offender treatment after they finish their criminal sentences. Based on the Times’ framing, you’d think they discovered a huge number of people committing new sex offenses after the state released them from the island. What they actually found was that out of 179 people released over the past decade, 13 committed a new sexual offense. But, unshockingly the Times led the piece with a heinous example of one person who went on to commit a rape after release. An interesting tidbit buried in the piece is that the state released a record number of people from McNeil Island last year in part because the state had been “inflating the degree of dangerousness” of the residents “particularly after age 60.” If you want to read a less biased reporting on civil commitment for sex offenders, check out The Marshall Project.
Former Seattle Police Department (SPD) Officer Daniel Auderer gives interview: Sad boy Auderer, who was fired from SPD after the department found he mocked the death of 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula, told Jason Rantz he never thought he’d be terminated from SPD. Honestly, me neither, Auderer. A good thing to remember about Auderer as he laments his forced departure from SPD is that even prior to his body camera catching him laughing at the death of Kandula, he already had a major disciplinary history. In 2015, he punched and choked a homeless man, twice in 2016 the department investigated him for punching women, including one who was handcuffed at the time, and in 2010 he and a group of officers nearly beat to death a schizophrenic man.
Speaking of cops: DivestSPD has a short piece today on SPD Officer Ernest Cleaves, who drove three times the speed limit without emergency lights while chasing an SUV. The department reprimanded Cleaves for the unauthorized pursuit, which Cleaves justified because the SUV had backed into his patrol car, which he considered an intentional assault on him.
George Santos pleads guilty: The downed diva pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to the Associated Press. Basically, he stole identities to make donations to his campaign and deceived donors, but he also admitted in court to duping voters. He has to serve six years in prison.
When it’s all over I think history will confirm that the only person who actually had a brat summer was George Santos
— 🕳️ (@orinanne) August 19, 2024
Biden’s bye-bye: President Joe Biden gave the closing remarks at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) last night. He lauded his many accomplishments during his time in office and promised he wasn’t angry at all about those backstabbing, two-faced, bastards who kicked him off the ticket. My favorite thing was that throughout the speech Biden kept correcting the crowd on their response to his speech, saying stuff like, “I’m not trying to be funny,” and “That was a joke.”
Notice me https://t.co/w4IHjZ2QHc
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) August 20, 2024
The room (and the internet) also loved AOC’s speech: The Congresswoman from New York delivered a speech lauding Harris as a champion of the middle class, was one of two speakers who mentioned a ceasefire, framed Trump as slimy salesman who would “sell this country for a dollar,” and said she’d gladly go back to bartending “because there’s nothing wrong with working for a living.”
AOC’s full DNC speech pic.twitter.com/4jHnHEl0mo
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 20, 2024
Next up tonight on the DNC: Vice President Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, takes the stage. Vox already called him a Zaddy, but anyone else who does it will face instant banishment. NPR has a little profile on the Second Husband and the potential first First Husband.
A little bit bouncy: I’m taking off this week Wednesday through Friday, and I kind of expect to be listening to this as I leave the city and hit some open road. Here’s Pixey’s “Million Dollar Baby.”
You didn’t explain the Sound Transit tapping very well at all Ashley. I never heard of tapping after the trip. Who would think to do that? Why? I always tap upon entering the Light Rail, never afterwards. Which routes do you tap afterwards? If you tap before AND after, are you charged twice on something and then it gets sorted out? Why is this so complicated? I don’t understand.
Glad to see them letting more people off McNeil. If we as a state want to decide to jack up the sentences for sex crimes that’s at least a discussion we can have. But locking people up after they have done their prison time is just wrong.
I can’t wait it see what happens the first time George Santos gets caught swindling his cell mate.
@1 Do you actually take light rail?
And btw-the Boy from Brazil is not actually getting sentenced until February.
@1 In the current system, you’re charged based on the distance between your entering and leaving stations. You tap in to tell ST where you started (say Northgate) and tap out to tell them where you ended (say Westlake). If you don’t tap out, I believe that it assumes that you went the maximum possible distance and charges you accordingly. In the case above, they would assume you went to Angle Lake.
In the new system, it’ll just be a flat rate no matter how far you go.
@1, If they have distance-based fares you need to tap out so they know to charge the correct rate. If you fail to tap out they will charge the maximum so you’ve probably been overpaying the whole time but now it’s a flat rate so you don’t need to tap out at all. You can always ask an attendant to hold your hand if this is too complicated for you to handle on your own.
@1: It depends what kind of card you have. mine gets loaded with a set amount every month – $50. so i’m motivated to tap off. I can also use it to get my car on a ferry (and pay for other passengers). my wife’s card is “unlimited”, but she can’t use it on the ferry.
The Stranger calling out The Times for biased reporting is funny.
The Stranger calling out anyone for biased reporting is funny.
@2 they are not being held on McNeil after their sentence is over as a form of punishment they are being held because (in the opinion of the mental health professionals) there is a high likelihood they would reoffend if released. It’s a form of involuntary commitment and given the nature of some of the crimes committed I would prefer they remain on the island and away from the general populace rather than be free to prey on more people. There was a big issue about this in Enumclaw last year and this is no joke one of the quotes from the meeting (https://www.courierherald.com/news/enumclaw-residents-outraged-over-group-home-for-violent-sex-predators/)
“But the meeting went off the rails about half an hour later, when Martha McGinnis, a victim’s advocate with the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, wanted to address questions and concerns regarding this LRA being closer than 500 feet to an Enumclaw School District bus stop.
“The onus of keeping your kids safe is on you,” she said, pointing out into the audience.”
The hubris of that statement is mind boggling.
6-8: Thank you guys, the bee is now out of my bonnet.
All this time I’ve been overcharging myself.
@10 What was unmentioned until fairly late in the ST article is that the state was under a court order to make a path toward release for prisoners. It turns out that the courts take a dim view of the state holding people indefinitely without charge after their prison sentences are complete.
@12 as well they should but if said individual has committed horrific crimes in the past and has a high likelihood to reoffend based on the opinion of health professionals do you think the state has an obligation to keep that person away from the community or do you go along with the official who said its up to the community to take care of themselves?
@11: fwiw, many who have free passes via their work never tap off so many people aren’t even aware they “need” to tap off (for accurate fare). Long term though that kinda hurt employees because all those workers’ rides were counted as the most expensive fare and that eventually is reflected in what the workplace pays for the passes.
@10 – whether they’re being held as punishment or to protect society, the deprivation of their liberties is the same. If we as a society decide that the sentence for sex offenses is life, then so be it. But we have not. And this kind of “administrative detention” is a cowardly substitute.
Think long and hard before you decide it’s OK. Because a future administration could decide that people convicted of other kinds of crimes are also so dangerous that they need to be preventatively locked up. That is getting really close to Russia, or China, etc. Do we want this country to look like those?
@15 I think there is a long path from committing someone with a history of violent sexual abuse and the thought police. We’re talking about all of them and not necessarily a life sentence either. We are talking about those with a high likelihood to reoffend. Are you more comfortable erroring on the side of releasing them knowing that a percentage will reoffend and victimize more innocent people?
It’s an interesting conversation as well in the context of the homeless issue as well because there has been discussion of involuntary commitment for those with mental/addiction issues as a solution. I would guess you would be opposed to that. I don’t know what the right answer is but if the state knows someone has an uncontrolled disposition toward sexual violence and releases them into a community I can’t see how that works out well for anyone.
@16
It’s not a long path for a government entity to create an enemies list and decide to remove citizens from public life. While that isn’t directly related to treatment of sexual abusers , if Trumpy-poo gets elected, you can bet the likes of Stephen Miller (and others) will find reasons to incarcerate protesters.
What if criminals just served the sentence they were given by the courts in accordance with their constitution rights as Americans even if that means some suburban moms might feel like they need to keep a closer eye on their own children.
@13 Sentences are sentences. If the state can prove that people should be involuntarily committed after the end of their prison sentence in accordance with the law, then by all means they are free to do that. I believe* that the judge just said that there has to be some reassessment by the state so there’s a possibility of release rather than a single finding and throwing away the key.
Interesting that you failed to mention that the county issued a formal apology about the “your responsibility to keep your kids safe” comment. It seems like that is relevant information to the discussion. Also interesting that you ignored that before a McNeil Island detainee is eligible for release, they go through two reviews by a team of medical experts and psychologists, a review by the head of the facility, and then a judge. So it’s not like DOC is airdropping people into the community without any concern for what’s an appropriate level of supervision.
And finally, yes I do believe that it’s a parent’s responsibility to teach children in age appropriate ways about the possibility of predators and how to recognize and avoid them. Not all predators are helpfully marked by the state like those released from McNeil are. School-based sex ed can also help in this education.
It’s been a couple of days since I read the article, so it’s possible I’m wrong
@19 you should probably read the full thread before you make comments. I noted several times that any person kept on the island after their sentence is complete is at the behest of health professionals. I don’t think its relevant at all that the county issued an apology. The comment itself speaks to the point of view of the agency. You may not find it so and clearly @18 does not but I find it sad that concerns of the community are viewed with such contempt. It’s a recurring feature of WA governments. I don’t disagree with your last comment but we shouldn’t deliberately put kids in harms way either.
@17 you’re peddling in conspiracy theories. Believe what you want but you sound like the right wingers who are insisting Jan 6th protestors are being persecuted.
@ 21 Yeah, not so much. For example in 13 “…and has a high likelihood to reoffend based on the opinion of health professionals do you think the state has an obligation to keep that person away from the community…” You’re explicitly assuming that the health professionals are saying that the person should continue to be confined but they get released anyway. That’s not how it works in real life. You’re pretending that the health professionals are getting overruled when you pose your whatabout. You do the same thing in @16 in your last paragraph assuming that the inmate may be released even with “an uncontrolled disposition toward sexual violence.” You’re scaremongering based on assumed scenarios that bear little resemblance to reality.
The apology by the agency is an explicit acknowledgement that the statement is not the agency’s point of view. Otherwise they wouldn’t have issued an apology. Sometimes human beings say things that don’t align with an agency’s values even when they are nominally representing the agency. When that happens, the agency clarifies its position (often with an apology or other statement) and may or may not discipline the employee or take them off of the same kind of duty.
Of course, if we applied your logic, every crappy thing that an SPD officer says is automatically the policy of the department because we can see the contempt they have for the community. Is that where you want to go?
@22 that’s not at all what I’m saying. My response was to the OP who said they should be let out when their sentence is complete and I was arguing that if a health professional thinks they are a danger we should listen to the professional and keep them locked up.
“ Of course, if we applied your logic, every crappy thing that an SPD officer says is automatically the policy of the department because we can see the contempt they have for the community. Is that where you want to go?”
Isn’t that what this publication and most of the commenters here like yourself already do? Seems fair to apply it equally.
@23 Ah, OK. I missed that.
“Isn’t that what this publication and most of the commenters here like yourself already do? Seems fair to apply it equally.”
Well, that depends on whether SPD issues an apology and works with/disciplines the officer to ensure that it’s not repeated. You’re pretty far out on a limb lumping me in with TS and other commenters on that particular issue. I generally only criticize SPD as a whole when they’re unrepentant. Individual officers are a different matter.
But I do see that you default to defending SPD but not DOC. Kinda odd that, since they’re both law enforcement.
@24 fair enough, I’ll grant the agency some grace on this but I would hope you concur that is a pretty callous statement to make and I do hope the individual who made it faced some sort of discipline.
I hope TS is working on something big (odd that there have been no subsequent postings since Slog AM)
Ashley, if you want readers to see your writing as actual journalism you might consider using the respectful title that actual journalists use when talking about Doug Emhoff: Second Gentleman. Easily upgradeable, should VP Harris win a new title this November. Calling someone First or Second “Husband” just makes them sound like the latest spouse in a series.
@17
“… if Trumpy-poo gets elected,
you can bet the likes of Stephen Miller
(and others) will find reasons to incarcerate protesters.”
nah.
they’ll
just Legalize
driving your automobile
into the crowd, letting Gawd sort it out
and/or
the Bounty
System for any
Non-MAGAts who
choose to appear out
in Public (they’ll Know them
by their clothing [corduroy with wool,
eg] hair [where’s your Beard, young man]
or just by their nonchalant, happy attitudes).
oh
and
dissent
will be OUTLAWED.
pleasing
oodles of
tS’s commentariat
who
are quite
unhappy
@25 Absolutely they needed a stern talking to, and probably removal from public-facing meetings for a while. I don’t know about formal discipline–that would depend a lot on whether the person was explicitly a public relations person (ie they can’t do their job without being public facing) or a more technical role (they can go back to desk duty), not to mention the disciplinary processes at the agency.