Sexy News Item

Amazon.com has fired another employee for discussing their work with The Stranger. Arielle Davis, 20, who was named "Seattle's Sexiest Customer Service Rep" in The Stranger's February 14 issue, was fired from her job as a receptionist—contracted through an employment agency—last week because, she says, of an off-handed comment she made about a crazy customer.

Davis's firing comes two weeks after Amazon fired Stranger blogger Sam Machkovech for writing about a Billy Ray Cyrus performance at Amazon's downtown offices, on Line Out, The Stranger's music blog.

In her Seattle's Sexiest interview, Davis joked about a "crazy caller" she had dealt with, who "claim[ed] to be Jeff Bezos's sister... crying, to contest a $2.50 shipping and handling fee."

Davis says her coworkers playfully teased her about her Stranger appearance, but when Davis read about Machkovech's firing she became concerned. After rereading her quote about the customer, Davis contacted The Stranger and asked us to remove the comment from the website. She also e-mailed an apology to her coworkers. Then, Davis says, Amazon's public relations department contacted her. But, instead of firing her, Davis says Amazon asked her if they could put her Seattle's Sexiest write-up on the company's internal employee page. Davis says Amazon's PR department told her the comment was "no big deal."

A week later, on February 28, Davis was fired. "I've never been fired before in my life," she says. "I've never had a disciplinary hearing, I've only called in sick once in my life. [This] really sucks."

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment. JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE

Boring News Item

The Seattle Police Officers' Guild has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the city, after Mayor Greg Nickels's office orchestrated a bold move to circumvent the guild and bring the city's contract offer straight to officers.

At the request of the mayor's office, a number of SPD's assistant chiefs—who are not represented by the guild—distributed a summary of the city's contract terms to officers during roll call on February 27, despite the guild's claim that the city had agreed to keep the contract terms confidential.

Negotiations between the city and the guild have been stalled for months, with both sides accusing each other of making unreasonable demands. The city offered up a 24 percent wage increase—over four years—but the guild claims the city will not compromise on police accountability issues. JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE