Good morning! The deep freeze is really over. The weather is mild and wet, and the highs and lows are both in the 40s, just like the Seattle Gods like it. In all of the frigid weather, it might have been easy to miss that we’re also squarely out of the Big Dark. The sun’s going down at 5:36 pm today, and we’re way closer to the spring equinox than the winter solstice. High five, you got through the worst of it and showed your seasonal affective disorder who’s boss.

Okay, we’ll start with Trump this morning.

“He who saves his country doesn’t violate any law.” That quote was plastered across Trump’s social media accounts over the weekend. If you use any Meta apps like Facebook or Instagram, you probably saw it against your will, like I did. It’s a twist of a quote often attributed to Napoleon, but it also reminds me of a Nixon quote: “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.” Didn’t quite work out for him.

Presidential Immunity: The New York Times interpreted it to be the ethos of his second term: “Mr. Trump, through his words and actions, has repeatedly suggested that surviving two assassination attempts is evidence that he has divine backing to enforce his will,” Charlie Savage wrote. He’s already pushing the limits of presidential authority, and unfortunately, the Supreme Court gave him an advantage that Nixon never had: “The powers of the presidency that he returned to were bolstered by last year’s Supreme Court ruling that he is presumptively immune from prosecution for any crimes he may commit using his official powers.”

Cuts Hit the FAA: Hey remember when that horrible, fatal mid-air crash was (possibly) blamed on understaffing in air traffic control? This weekend, the Trump admin started firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees. According to the AP, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said it was “analyzing the effect of the reported federal employee terminations on aviation safety, the national airspace system, and our members.” I’ll be holding off on getting on a plane while they sort that out.

The Anti-Science Administration: The American Association for the Advancement of Science gathered last week, and they’re spooked . “Angst and anxiety and, to a certain extent, grief,” is how one scientist summed up the mood. The Trump administration’s cuts to the sciences—through funding freezes crackdowns on DEI initiatives, threats to endowments from DOGE, and the possible deportations of undocumented students—have taken less than a month, and the science community is worried the worst is still to come. The New York Times analyzed how Trump’s cuts to medical research alone would hit universities in each state, and surprise! Washington is one of the worst. The University of Washington could lose $86 million in NIH funding—and that’s just one institution. But the courts still have to allow these changes to move forward.

Speaking of Cuts: Our very own nuclear site is working on a skeleton staff. Senator Patty Murray sounded the alarm over the weekend after dozens of Department of Energy workers were laid off, costing the central Washington site safety engineers, environmental scientists, and employees who protect workers’ rights, Murray said. “These reckless firings will slow down critical cleanup work and make workers less safe—trying to run Hanford with a skeleton crew is a recipe for disaster that could have irreversible impacts.”

Gulf of Mexico Fun Fact: Did you know that the Gulf of Mexico is home to the Hot Tub of Despair? It’s a deep sea lake off the coast of New Orleans, about 3,300 feet below the surface. It’s so salty that it kills almost everything that enters it. Why are we telling you this? No reason, really. But we heard Trump hates it when news outlets call it the Gulf of Mexico.

Need a palate cleanser before we move on from Trump? I’ve got a good one. Last Thursday, New Yorker editor Susan Morrison sent out a mass email invitation to an event for her forthcoming biography of Lorne Michaels. Apparently, she didn’t know that she should put everyone on bcc, so inevitably, the Boomer Reply Alls started rolling in. Some people politely said they couldn’t make it, or asked, bewildered, why they were on this list. Gradon Carter replied, in all seriousness: “Honestly, I have my own life. I cannot devote any more time to Lorne …” And then the comedians started chiming in. It’s a goddamn delight, and it has zero implications about our national security, basic human rights, and a decline into authoritarianism. Read it here .

Harrell’s War on Graffiti: Because it wasn’t embarrassing enough that he’s trying to use drones to fight graffiti in Seattle, Harrell’s battle against tagging continues. Since 2022, the City has spent $12 million on graffiti removal and abatement.

Your Least Favorite NextDoor Commenter Is Running for Mayor: Remember Rachael Savage ? Yeah, we’d forgotten about her for a bit too. As a refresher: Last fall she went a little viral after posting a racist, fear-mongering clip on twitter with then-Republican Attorney General candidate Pete Serrano. (She said she was scared of entering the Capitol Hill light rail station while her camera man zoomed in on a Black man just…sitting on a bench). She’s also one half of Savage Citizens, an organization that was leading a campaign to block construction of a 120-unit supportive housing building on Belmont Avenue in favor of mandatory treatment and abstinence-only living spaces. And now, she’s running for mayor , as a Republican.

What Does a Republican Seattle Mayoral Campaign Look Like? Well so far, her plans sound familiar: Declare a state of emergency on day one; Call in law enforcement from outside of the city; Stand up a temporary jail on city property; Saying things like “We can create the best version of Seattle that has ever existed.” Looks like she saw the Trump campaign and thought, “that seems like fun.”

Washington Republicans Are Pissed: Conservatives showed up to the state capitol this weekend to protest Dem’s changes to the so-called Parental Bill of Rights. Conservatives think Democrats are taking away their right to parent their own children. Democrats are literally just abiding by the laws that allow kids aged 13 and up to manage their own mental health care. State Senator Jamie Pederson pissed the Fox News crowd off by saying just that, which was cute.

Wage Theft in the City? According to Geek Wire , a class action lawsuit was filed against the City of Seattle last week. The suit alleges that a new payroll system from a company called Workday caused payroll errors that affected thousands of employees across the City.

Pardon Me, Ferguson: With the Trump administration threatening deportation for any immigrants that are convicted of crimes, immigrants in Washington State are looking to the governor for help. Ferguson is still empowered to pardon many convicted of crimes on the state level, so people are fighting for limited hearing slots before the state Clemency and Pardons Board . “It’s one of the very few options that exist when a conviction creates mandatory deportation,” said Jennie Pasquarella, legal director of the nonprofit Seattle Clemency Project.

ICYMI: The social housing initiative, Proposition 1A trounced the Chamber of Commerce-backed alternative this month. Considering Mayor Harrell plastered his face across the campaign, it’s not only embarrassing for him—it tells us a lot about what we can do in November. Stranger columnist Katie Wilson broke it down here .

Ever Heard of a Hydrofoil? I hadn’t either, but if they’re anything like the Seattle Times described them, I’m on board: “Two local endeavors are aiming to build passenger-only boats with hydrofoils—underwater wings that lift a boat’s hull out of the water, lessening drag on the vessel for a faster, less choppy journey and producing little to no wake, allowing them to sail close to shore without disturbing banks or piers.” These “flying ferries” could be part of your future commute, if Olympia funds them.

Have you heard the one about the guy who got swallowed by a whale? It actually happened, sort of, in Chile and it’s my new favorite video on the internet. A father and (adult) son were kayaking in the Strait of Magellan when a humpback whale scooped the son up in his mouth, kayak and all, promptly realized he wasn’t a small fish, and let him go. Catch and release, you might say.

 

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