"Wait, who's going extinct?" Credit: through-my-lens/Getty Images
Wait, whos going extinct?
“Wait, who’s going extinct?” through-my-lens/Getty Images

Washington lawmaker in $500,000 contract with Cambodian regime: In case your Southeast Asian politics are a little rusty, Cambodia is in an authoritarian backslide after closing many of the country’s independent newspapers and a 2018 election that many saw as a sham. Sen. Doug Ericksen and former state Rep. Jay Rodne recently disclosed the contract given to their company, PacRim Bridges, by the Cambodian government and even visited the prime minister in Cambodia’s capital, according to the Seattle Times. While they lumped praise on Prime Minister Hun Sen, they’re now the target of widespread condemnation, especially from Washington’s large Cambodian population.

While we’re on the topic of shameful admissions: Boeing announced yesterday that they knew over a year ago that a warning light linked to a key sensor was faulty. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if this was just that light you can call flight attendants with, but this warning light was linked to the Angle of Attack sensor that eventually led to the crash of both the Indonesian and Ethiopian flights. Not even the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) knew, but I guess that’s not too surprising because this scandal has shown how Boeing pretty much just regulates themselves.

Seattle Times journalist Mike Rosenberg suspended over sexually harassing messages: The news reporter sent explicit messages to a New York-based freelance journalist and is now under investigation by the Times. After Talia Jane, the women who received the texts, told him this was not professional and inappropriate he offered to make a $1,000 donation to the National Organization for Women, to which Jane responded, “Wrong move. women are not toys. We certainly should not be played with and efforts to manipulate us will not be tolerated.” Rosenberg claims that the messages were meant for another person but failed to specify who that was.

A response from the Times:

Violence flares up in Israel and Palestine: At least 22 Palestinians were killed, including 9 militants and about a dozen civilians, while Israel lost four civilians. It was the worst weekend of violence since the last full-blown war in 2014. They have brokered a very fragile ceasefire for the time being, but this weekend provides a preview of what could be another prolonged military conflict between the two countries.

Meghan Markle delivers the latest royal baby: The last year has been Brexit disaster after disaster, so I think they’ve earned a proper national freakout over his royal cuteness. Markle and Prince Harry said they want to keep the child’s first few days pretty private, but the British tabloids are ruthless so no doubt at least a picture is forthcoming.

It’s fucking hot! And we’re only just getting started. Friday is supposed to be in the 80’s which is bonkers. Time to break out the suntan lotion or, if you’re like me, just really let yourself burn.

UN-affiliated group releases damning report on biodiversity and natural habitats: You know we’re fucking up the earth, that’s nothing new, but just how much are we fucking things up? According to this report, a whole awful lot. Seventy-five percent of the earth’s surface has been “significantly altered” by humans. That’s insane given shit like the Sahara desert and broad swaths of high arctic tundra nobody really lives in. It also says that one million species—plants and animals—are headed for extinction, many within just decades, if we don’t do something to stop the rate of die-off. Mammal biomass, the total mass of all mammals on earth, has already declined by 82% since prehistory.

House Democrats will hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt: He played hooky on the planned testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, much to the chagrin of House Democrats who have a million questions about his handling of the Mueller report and potential false claims he made under oath. The contempt citation is for not complying with a subpoena for the un-redacted Mueller report and the underlying evidence for the claims in that report. The fight over access to top officials for congressional testimony is just now heating up, with Robert Mueller’s testimony as the ultimate prize for House Democrats.

Now listen here you $#!%: It feels like summer outside and there is nothing better to do in the summer than go to music festivals. While there might be a few things, but that’s definitely on my shortlist. Capitol Hill Block party is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from The Stranger’s office so lets hop, skip, and jump our way through some of my favorite acts on the lineup this week.

Tonight’s best Seattle entertainment options include: A Wand concert, a screening of Airplane! at Central Cinema, and the Seattle Opera’s Carmen.

Timothy Kenney is a former Slog AM intern. He's written for multiple Seattle outlets, helped CNN cover a mudslide in Sierra Leone, and almost threw up on James Franco once.