• On February 1, Musab Mohamed Masmari was arrested in association with the New Year's Eve arson at Neighbours nightclub. "Investigators learned that Masmari had a one-way ticket to Turkey," says a court record released February 3, which adds that "officers arrested Masmari as he was leaving his house, believed to be on his way to the airport." Among other details: "Passports from the US and Libya were found on his person." Masmari is being held in King County jail. He was due to appear in court February 4 but refused, according to the county. His bail was set at $1 million.
• Mona Elassiouti, the daughter of the owner of Neighbours, contacted The Stranger after last week's issue came out to say, "I don't know anything about this person," referring to Masmari. "I don't have any acquaintance or knowledge of this person." A confidential source had told The Stranger that Elassiouti may have been acquainted with Masmari, but The Stranger had not been able to verify that, and our many attempts to reach Elassiouti had gone unanswered. Elassiouti declined to speak in detail when she called a week later, saying she would be releasing a statement. Shortly thereafter, in a comment attributed to her on The Stranger's website, Elassiouti reiterated that she "does not know Masmari in any capacity," that "that applies to every member of the Elassiouti family," and that they hope that Masmari "is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
• The city's task force on gender pay equity has been meeting for months to come up with recommendations, after a report last summer revealed a startling 10 percent wage gap between the City of Seattle's male and female employees. But while recommendations were expected mid-January, they haven't made an appearance yet. Sources say the group's just taking time to make sure the work is complete, but given how long it took for the original report to come out of former mayor Mike McGinn's office—and how angry the city council was about it then—unexpected delays are kinda lame.
• At a February 4 press conference on police reform, Mayor Ed Murray started to mention his big Super Bowl bet with Denver mayor Michael Hancock—at which point US Attorney Jenny Durkan stepped in to warn him: "I don't want to hear about interstate gambling." Hardy-har.
• McDonald's representatives were in Olympia on January 27 handing out apples and reminding legislators how much they contribute to Washington's economic and agricultural bottom line (all part of a restaurant lobbying day). They talked about how many thousands of pounds of eggs they purchase each year—but they forgot to mention that more than 50 percent of their employees need public assistance just to make up for the benefits and wages they don't get from the monolithic corporation, according to an October 2013 report by the National Employment Law Project. A McDonald's spokesman replied to The Stranger: "No comment."
• At a January 27 press conference with Mayor Murray, Income Inequality Advisory Committee cochair Howard Wright (of the Space-Needle-and-hotel-owning Wrights) emphasized how eager he is to avoid a $15 minimum wage ballot measure. "I don't want to see this deteriorate into class warfare," said the upper-class Wright. Great! That's exactly the kind of class-conscious fear we need to keep this issue moving forward. 
