Weinstein Fallout Reaches Former President: Two women have now publicly claimed that George H.W. Bush groped them as they posed for a photo. According to the latest allegation, published by Deadspin, Bush joked that his favorite magician is “David Cop-a-Feel” and before grabbing a woman from behind. Reports of abuse by the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein popularized the #MeToo movement and opened the floodgates for sexual harassment and abuse reports in film, television news, magazines, restaurants and government.
Bottlenecked Shelters: The Seattle Times launched a new, non-profit funded initiative focused on the homelessness beat. The project’s first story highlights the problem of “bottlenecking” Seattle’s shelters. Basically: Too many people spend too much time in emergency shelters, leaving fewer beds for people sleeping outside. Why is this happening? People are having trouble getting into stable housing.
In Related News: City assessor John Wilson has a map of 300 empty parcels in Seattle. His takeaway: There’s “entirely” enough space to meet our shelter needs, Crosscut reports.
Cary Moon Campaign Faces Illegal Debt Complaint: Political campaigns sometimes rack up debts. Moon’s is about $60,000 in the red. But Jenny Durkan advisor Sandeep Kaushik filed a complaint with the ethics commission that Moon’s latest round of mailers appear to be more expensive than what the campaign can afford, the Times reports. The complaint suggests Moon’s campaign consultant, Moxie Media, is illegally fronting those costs. Earlier this week, an aide to former mayor Ed Murray wrote a letter to the local election ethics commission raising concerns that Kaushik’s background as a lobbyist could create conflicts-of-interest for Durkan, should she win.
Head Tax on Top 10% of Seattle Businesses? Moon and Durkan both oppose the city council proposal. Same with council member Lorena González.
Puyallup Green Beret Among Four Killed in Niger: The deadly ambush in Niger has taken over the national news cycle mostly because of Trump’s feud with a congresswoman and a widow. Staff Sgt. Bryan Black’s family wants nothing to do with the spat. Black died alongside three other special forces in Niger this month. In this Times obituary, he is remembered as a talented chess player, wrestler and stock trader.
City of Lakewood Resisting $15.1 Million Verdict For Unarmed Black Man Killed By Police: In 2013, Leonard Thomas died from sniper fire on his front porch during a SWAT standoff in Fife. The sniper called it a “frickin’ million dollar shot.” In July of this year, a federal jury awarded Thomas’ family more than $15 million over his death, with millions of punitive damages against the police chief and two of the officers involved in the standoff. Lakewood tried to get that figure reduced, arguing that national anger over police killings influenced the price tag and that it would financially ruin the officers. (They’re not covered by city insurance.) Nothing came out of arbitration, the Times reports.
Knute Berger on Seattle Weekly:
Its journalism made a mark. Its coverage of politics influenced the careers of many politicos, from Dixy Lee Ray (Madame Nuke, as she was dubbed by the Weekly) to Gary Locke (“The Man Who Mistook His Life for the Legislature,” a headline ran). It was an urbanist paper with architecture critics whose eyes most often focused on downtown. Some criticized the Weekly for loving the city too much. In 1990 at an alt-newsweekly conference in Denver, I remember the colorful editor Mike Lacy of Phoenix New Times thundering that the Weekly’s love of its city was inappropriate — that was the job of the Chamber of Commerce, he bellowed. The Weekly never saw itself as an outlaw, as many alts did, but as a place for great writing and building a better city.
$70 Entrance Fee For Mt. Rainier Park: That’s if the National Park Service gets its way. Also on the list: Olympic, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Zion, Yosemite and Yellowstone.
Burien Mayor Pushing “Burien First” Candidate Slate: Sydney Brownstone continues reporting on the politics in our neighbors down south.
Candy Corn: Dan Savage says Rich Smith is wrong about the halloween candy.
Take Us Away, Fats Domino:
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