Paul Ryan Goes to Washington: The House Speaker is in Everett this morning taking a tour of the Boeing plant to “chat with workers about his plan to slash the amount of federal taxes paid by the plane-builder and other businesses in order to spur economic growth,” the Everett Herald reports. Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse will join him. Although she is on Washington State Ways and Means Committee that would deal with tax legislation, Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene was not invited on the tour, the Herald noted.
Paul Ryan is inside Boeing—which got an $8 billion tax break to stay in WA then cut jobs—pitching tax cuts. Watch: https://t.co/WOdJei3npZ
— Heidi Groover (@heidigroover) August 24, 2017
Cancel Your Weekend Plans and Go Fishing: The Atlantic salmon spill near Cypress Island is much worse than it was initially reported to be. Representatives from Cook Aquaculture are now saying a whole salmon farm was destroyed and some 300,000 non-native salmon are on the loose near the San Juan Islands. The Washington Department of Agriculture now “considers the escaped fish a pollutant, and the company could potentially face penalties for the incident,” the Seattle Times reports.
Even North Korea Has Had it With Trump’s Tweets: Pyongyang officials called the president’s social media posts “weird articles of his ego-driven thoughts” and said Trump “spouts rubbish to make his assistants have a hard time,” according to CNN.
More Endorsements for Seattle Mayoral Candidates: The SEIU 1199NW, which represents nurses and other health workers, endorsed Jenny Durkan while Cary Moon won the sole endorsement of the King County Democrats.
Seattle Dropping Major Dollars to Defend City Income Tax: With multiple lawsuits already filed to overturn Seattle’s high-earners income tax, city officials have agreed pay three Pacifica Law Group attorneys up to $250,000 to help City Attorney Pete Holmes defend it. Seattle City Councilmembers unanimously approved the city income tax in July.
SPD to Form Gang Task Force in Hopes of Solving Donnie Chin’s Murder: During a community forum in Chinatown-International District last night, Seattle Police officials announced their gang task force would focus on gang-related murders. Chin, director of the International District Emergency Center, was fatally shot in 2015, but his murder was never solved.
A Back-to-School Dilemma: There aren’t enough school bus drivers.
UW Football Coach Teaches Players About Sexual Assault: Coach Chris Petersen is prioritizing sexual assault prevention education for Husky football players as part of a “real man” program, according to KING 5. The coach has brought in sexual assault survivors and King County prosecutors to discuss consent with the athletes. “It’s about doing the right thing, changing culture, changing how men need to conduct themselves,” Peteren told the news station. “I think sexual assault and those type of issues, those are much more male problems than female problems. The males are the ones that can solve this.”
What’s the Deal With John Smelcer? Although he’s a prolific author, Smecler isn’t well known. Despite this, he was recently nominated for a PEN Literary Award for his book Stealing Indians, which some literary critics said perpetuates negative stereotypes about indigenous people. Some authors claim he is a “living con job” with questionable ties to the Alaskan Native heritage he claims. Rich Smith dives into all the mind-boggling details in his latest feature. Don’t miss it.
