Our local leaders continue to allow people to die while sleeping outside: As we all know, homelessness is a policy choice. Yesterday, organizers with WHEELās Women in Black gathered on the steps of Seattle City Hall to honor at least 17 unhoused people who died outside, in public, or by violence in the months of April and May.Ā
Remember their names:Ā
Roger Toolan, 57Ā
Ā Linda Jimmy, 26Ā
Tyree Guillory, 41Ā
Rickey Burns, 52Ā
Teke Airhart, 41Ā
Todd Epperson, 56
Donald Hayes, 49
Danny Jones, 60
Gregory Oakes, 57
Mark Brummel, 62
Ricardo Lopez, 51
Aaron Oxyer, 34
Fanette Pinkston, 71
Alicia Lopez, 47
Eric Behrens, 62
Jeffrey M. Gill, 41
Gary Asher, 36
The demonstration paid special homage to WHEEL member Laura New, who died recently, and a baby referred to as āBaby Girl S,ā who died in the hospital. These recent tragedies bring the total deaths of unhoused people to at least 80 this year. As part of the solution, WHEEL demanded an end to Mayor Bruce Harrellās cruel, relentless sweeps.
Shoppers arenāt happy: Last fall, Amazon ended its offer for free delivery for Prime members on Whole Foods orders over $35. Now, two groups of shoppers have filed separate lawsuits claiming Amazon misled customers and violated state law. Ā
Landslide update: The family who lost their huge home in Bellevue to a landslide is suing the City of Bellevue for damages, alleging the City was negligent when officials failed to say or do anything about aging water pipes.
Seattle is not dying: Well, at least not this classic, grunge-era club. Pioneer Squareās Central Saloon, which has hosted music legends Nirvana and Alice in Chains, is here to stay. The owners just bought the building. If this place had closed, I could just imagine Seattle's right wing complaining about a broken window closing A GRUNGE BAR and not about the fact that landlords profit off of simply owning property they do not use.Ā
You canāt buy Central Saloon, but you can buy Bob Sagetās house: As Iāve mentioned, I was profoundly impacted by the death of Full House actor and raunchy comedian Bob Saget. His house just came on the market, and its only as expensive as a really nice family home on Greenlake. Anyone wanna go splitsies?
The āFull Houseā actor bought the home for $2.895 million in 2003 and moved in with his three daughters, and later lived there with his second wife, Kelly Rizzo, according to listing agent Adam Saget of Compass, who is also Mr. Sagetās nephew. https://t.co/uOBcaj2gH1 pic.twitter.com/miPYFs4FuR
ā WSJ Real Estate (@WSJRealEstate) June 8, 2022
SPU students are tired of the homophobic board: Unsurprisingly, the evangelical Christian university hates gay people, and it shows in its hiring decisions. Two weeks ago, the board members looked at their discriminatory hiring policies, shrugged their shoulders and kept it. Staff and students have camped outside of the university president's office ever since.Ā
Gun control: King County has seen a 70% increase in the number of shooting victims between 2017 and 2020. With the added pressure from the re-ignition of the national gun-violence conversation, King County Council members proposed a voluntary firearm and ammo return through the Sheriff's office. Ā
Gun control part two: The U.S. Congress also jumped on the gun control wave, passing a bill to keep guns out of the hands of people we think are too young to drink alcohol.Ā
House passes sweeping gun bill to raise assault rifle purchase age to 21; plan faces long odds in the Senate https://t.co/K7Mkr0K6JT
ā CNBC (@CNBC) June 9, 2022
ICYMI: House Our Neighbors (HON) is behind on signatures for I-135. If voters approve the measure in November, it would establish a Public Development Authority with funding for 18 months, which is an important first step to getting social housing, or housing free from the clutches of the private market. The nonprofit is a little under 20,000 signatures short. If you wanna sign before the June 20 deadline, hereās where to find HON.
Its a HUGE weekend to be out gathering sigs. We have 12 DAYS &need just under 20K more! Check out these maps to find a signature gathering opportunity near you &go out to get as many as you can! (also good reference to find where to sign if you haven't!)https://t.co/XbJMA621YI pic.twitter.com/gzwVmwVJP8
ā Sign I-135 šļøš² (@houseRneighbors) June 8, 2022
Axes and alcohol: I imagine axe-throwing over a few beers in an urban setting is the perfect date for like, a dude who is a little too into Marvel and a girl who straightens the ends when she curls her hair. You know what I mean? Anyway, great news for those folks, because the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board voted to allow businesses with liquor licenses to let their customers throw axes.
They didnāt know scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes and eating raw onions counted as hazing: A freshman at WSU died in a hazing incident in 2019. KING 5 looked at police interviews from the young men in the frat and found that fraternity leadership claims they didnāt know which activities constituted hazing.Ā
Watch out! The January 6 committee hearings start today at 5 pm!Ā