After some technical difficulties, we’re back up and runnin’.
First Things First – Say Goodbye To The Sunshine: It was nice while it lasted.
But Hey, It’s Officially Spring, So At Least It’ll Be Pretty! Sunday was the Vernal Equinox, which marks the first day of spring, and Washington is about to become absurdly gorgeous. Sights to behold: Big leaf maple trees in bloom, tulip festivals, and the wonders within our state parks (for which there are THREE free days coming up!). Meanwhile, the world will be invaded with neon-colored chickens.
Berners Swarmed Seattle Center For A Rally: Sanders gave speeches to a crowd of 5,500 outside of Key Arena and another 10,300 inside the building, campaigners reported. While the presidential candidate spoke to supporters outside who couldn’t make it inside, members of Tulalip Tribes performed onstage. For anyone who couldn’t attend one of Washington’s three rallies yesterday, you can check out Bernie’s Seattle speech below.
Hillary Is Coming To Town, Too: She’ll be in Seattle and Everett tomorrow.
Speaking Of Notable Visitors: Alicia Garza, founder of Black Lives Matter, and Jose Antonio Vargas, journalist and immigration rights activist, popped by Seattle to speak at Citizen U, a community forum, which discussed race, identity, and “what it means to be American now.”
“Black organizing has changed the landscape of what is possible.”—@aliciagarza#CitizenUCon16 #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/pzjBqzBGIu
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) March 20, 2016
Tamalyn Nigretto Of The Seattle Fire Department Says Her Achievements Have Been Overlooked After Nearly 30 Years of Service: She told The Seattle Times that “she has applied for, and been denied, promotions regularly since 1999” and has been passed up to be a media representative. Nigretto has worked as fire battalion chief for the last 16 years and is one of two women to ever hold the position in the department. She was the incident commander in the aftermath of last year’s Ride the Ducks crash and most recently, the Greenwood explosion.
If You REALLY Weren’t Paying Attention, The Light Rail Opened This Weekend: Yes, we’re a little obsessed with the new light rail stations – we did write a whole issue about it, after all. However, we did go to the UW and Capitol Hill station openings. According to Dave, they sounded pretty cool, too.
Who Knew Tacoma Had A Cuban Sister City? According to The News Tribune, 12 Northwesterners headed to Cuba to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Tacoma-Cienfuegos sister city relationship. Oh, and they apparently beat Obama there.
Trump Supporters Were Delayed From Attending An Arizona Rally And, No Surprise, Were Assholes About It: Native American, immigration rights activists, and other protesters gathered outside of Fountain Hills, Ariz. and temporarily blocked a road leading to the Phoenix Convention Center where the real-life Sontaran was set to speak. Three protesters were arrested. At a rally later that day, a Trump supporter sucker-punched and stomped on a Trump protester at the Tucson Convention Center, the New York Daily News reports.
After Terrorist Attacks In Ivory Coast and Turkey, The ‘Je Suis’ Movement Is Strangely Silent: Just last week, a car bomb went off in Ankara, killing 37. The same week, al-Qaeda terrorists massacred 19 beach-goers in Grand Bassam, the former capitol of Ivory Coast. The coastal city, whose economy relies on tourism, is now struggling, KPLU reports. Liz Cookman aptly points out in The Guardian: “There was no global outcry after the attacks in Turkey. After the Paris attack last November, some Turkish schools had mourning ceremonies that lasted a full day. Buildings sported the tricolor flag, people lit candles in solidarity with the victims and hung pictures in condemnation of the senseless violence. This was despite the fact that, when a similar number of people were killed at a peace rally in Ankara the month before, the ripples were hardly felt by the rest of Europe,” Cookman wrote.
This post has been updated.
