Federal Judge Rejects Dakota Access Pipeline Permits: United States District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled Wednesday that the oil pipeline requires further environmental review. In a 91-page opinion, Boasberg writes the Army Corps of Engineers “did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline’s effects are likely to be highly controversial.” However, the ruling will not stop the oil already flowing through the pipeline. That is “a separate question,” the judge wrote. In a statement, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II called the ruling “a major victory for the Tribe… We applaud the courts for protecting our laws and regulations from undue political influence and will ask the Court to shut down pipeline operations immediately.”
ICYMI, Mayor Ed Murray Says His Accuser’s Decision to Drop Sexual Abuse Lawsuit “Vindicates” Him: Yesterday, Delvonn Heckard withdrew a lawsuit alleging Murray raped and molested him in the 1980s when he was a teenager and Murray was in his 30s. During a press conference at City Hall yesterday, Murray said he would “consider [his] options” to restart his re-election bid as a write-in candidate, Heidi Groover reports.
One of Murray’s Accusers Is Raising Money to Take a Lie Detector Test: Jeff Simpson, who also accused Murray of sexually abusing him as a minor, launched a GoFundMe campaign to pay for a polygraph test “to prove that Mayor Ed Murray is the one lying to the people of Seattle WA.” After Murray’s press conference yesterday, Simpson, who was not involved in Heckard’s lawsuit, told The Stranger: “What is he is trying to get everybody to believe is because of this momentary setback, he’s found an excellent opportunity to grandstand in front of everybody and say, ‘I’m innocent.’ No you’re not. Not only are you not innocent, you haven’t done anything to prove you’re not innocent.”
Boeing May Move Jobs to Arizona: In an effort to cut costs, Boeing executives announced it may move its Shared Services Group, which employs about 3,000 people in the Puget Sound area who assist the aerospace company’s corporate and production units. “The moves include efficiencies gained from automation, adjusting our management structure and we will be consolidating and relocating some work that supports enterprise-wide services over the next few years to Mesa, Ariz., and other Boeing sites,” KING 5 reports. Boeing officials have not yet said how many jobs will be impacted.
School Start Time Nightmare for Seattle Parents May Soon Be Over: On Wednesday, the Seattle City Council approved a one-time $2.3 million grant to ease the headache of getting Seattle’s public school students to school, Paige Cornwell reports for The Seattle Times. “With that money, the district plans to start all its schools at one of two times this fall: 8 or 9 a.m.,” Cornwell reports. “This school year, schools started at three different times: 7:55, 8:45 and 9:35 a.m. Families said the 9:35 a.m. start time posed significant hardships for working families and families with children in schools that started at different times.”
Seattle Public Schools Will Have More Buses: Seattle’s Department of Transportation will foot the bill for buses, drivers, and fuel to support the new start times, Angela Nhi Nguyen reports for KUOW.
BREAKING: Chocolate Milk Doesn’t Come from Brown Cows: In findings from a recent online survey, the National Dairy Council discovered 7 percent of adults in the United States—about 16.4 million people—believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. While this idea is hilarious, it’s actually part of a larger problem of agricultural illiteracy, The Washington Post reports.
Read Ijeoma Oluo on the Middle Class’ Housing Crisis Wake Up Call: She writes for The Guardian: “For those of us who have been locked into a housing crisis for generations due to race, gender, class or disability, we are left wondering why so many are just now paying attention to an issue that has already destroyed countless lives.”
At Least Seven Killed, 66 Injured in Explosion Near Kindergarten in Eastern China: Although classes were being held during the blast Fengxian police told CNN “no children or teachers are among the dead.” The blast occurred Thursday evening near the gate of Chuangxin Kindergarten in Fengxian, which is in the Jiangsu province. Nine people are seriously injured, according to Chinese Central Television. Chinese authorities have not yet confirmed the cause of the explosion, the news station says.
This Week on Blabbermouth: In the wake of a shooting at a baseball practice for Congressional Republicans in Washington, DC, Eli Sanders, Rich Smith, and Amber Cortes discuss gun control, Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare, and the question of what incites political violence.
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