Thank you for the bountiful overtime wages, City Light. Credit: Ryan McVay/ Getty
Thank you for the bountiful overtime wages, City Light.
Thank you for the bountiful overtime wages, City Light. Ryan McVay/ Getty

Seattle gender wage gap still very much a thing: In the past, Seattle’s progressivism was lauded because women working for the city earned nearly 90 cents to the dollar. Overtime pay wasn’t taken into account. In three of the city’s largest departments — Transportation, City Light, and Public Utilities — men “brought home about $39 million in extra pay last year, women earned just $4 million,” Crosscut reports. Women’s gross salaries in these professions are 78 percent of men’s.

Hart family concerns raised months ago, no welfare check: A 911 call made by one of the Hart family’s neighbor’s father was disregarded by the Clark County Sheriff’s department. Dana DeKalb told her father about when one of the Hart’s daughters rang her doorbell at 1:30 a.m asking for help. They didn’t contact the police. DeKalb told her father months later and he contacted the authorities in November. Because the incident occurred in August, the sheriff didn’t act. DeKalb later contacted the authorities in March.

Redmond woman charged in wife’s murder: Aterraka Scotland strangled her wife to death after learning she had had an affair. Scotland then tried to cover up the murder with the help of two friends. The victim’s body was found wrapped in carpeting with a stab wound to the torso and cuts to her neck. Scotland later told police she was planning on disposing of the body and had even posed as the victim so people would assume the victim was still alive. Scotland has been charged with second-degree murder.

BREAKING: Trump Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert is resigning, White House says

Need some ivory tusks? Check Facebook! The body parts of threatened wildlife are being sold in public and private Facebook groups. Facebook joined a coalition against wildlife trafficking online. They’ve got Bengal tiger fur belts, black rhino horns, elephant tusks. You can do all your Christmas shopping for the animal trafficker in your life on Facebook! Facebook didn’t return comment.

Facebook is a bit busy being questioned by Congress: Today, a committee including Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell will question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the Cambridge Analytica leak. He’s testifying “before a joint hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee” today. Tomorrow he’ll be testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. These testimonies are an effort to restore public confidence and stave off government regulations. He’ll discuss new safeguards and improvements Facebook has made to remove fake accounts.

Like getting a golden ticket but more foreboding:

Russia is hacking our drones now: First our elections, now this? Russia has figured out how to jam U.S. drones over Syria. They’ve been scrambling the drone GPS systems. The tech they’re using is sophisticated and capable of getting past encrypted signals and anti-jamming receivers. This is fucking up military operations.

Don’t buy a rhino horn on Facebook, see one at the Woodland Park Zoo: The zoo has never had a rhino before! That’s changing. Taj, a greater one-horned rhino, will be debuting the Woodland Park Zoo’s new rhino exhibit on May 5th. He’s the first of two rhinos who will make up the exhibit.

Oregon’s slacking snowpack: Despite cold weather and snow, snowpacks in parts of Oregon are well below normal. “Most are measuring 40 to 70 of normal levels,” the Seattle Times reports. Farmers, who depend on a good snowpack, are holding out hope for a cold spring.

Tuesday will be chilly in Washington: It’s not quite winter weather. Temperatures will be dipping, it’ll be wetter, and it’ll be windy. That’s probably not enough to pad Oregon’s snowpack. It’s the thought that counts, though.

Burien residents worried about gang violence: Two teenage girls were killed in Burien a few weeks ago. Police believe it was gang-related violence. Now, a scared community is banding together to try to stop the cycle of gang activity. They don’t know how just yet, but they’ve had their first community meeting on the subject.

Orcas to start your day:

FBI raids Trump’s lawyer’s office: Trump called it an “attack on our country.” Michael D. Cohen is central to many facets of Mueller’s special counsel investigation. He also admitted to paying off one of Trump’s accusers, Stephanie Clifford, or, as you may know her, Stormy Daniels. The FBI seized documents related to Clifford but also tax documents and business records. Trump is very angry about the whole thing.

Breakthrough with Alzheimer’s: For the first time, scientists have successfully neutralized the most significant gene responsible for the disease. They managed to prevent it from damaging human neuron cells. This study could open the door for a drug that could potentially halt the disease. The experiment took place in human cells which is a big deal.

Budget deficit expected to hit $1 trillion: The Congressional Budget Office said that “US debt could rise to a level comparable to World War II and the financial crisis.” Tax cuts and higher public spending will result in a $1 trillion deficit by 2020. It will temporarily boost the U.S. economy but, the CBO says it would have “serious negative consequences for the U.S.”

Most badass thing you’ll see all day: Fuck a wage gap.

Tonight’s best Seattle entertainment options include: The all-ages Big Queer Talent Show hosted by BenDeLaCreme, a show with Toronto-based hiphop artist Roy Wood$, and a presentation of Cristina Mittermeier’s photographs at National Geographic Live — Standing at the Water’s Edge. Today is also Equal Pay Day (which “symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year”), and you can find Seattle events for that here.

Nathalie Graham covers anything she finds fun, weird, or interesting. You can find a lot of that in her column, Play Date. Her work has also appeared around town in The Seattle Times, GeekWire, and the...