King County health clinics in trouble: Executive Dow Constantine said the county would be lucky to keep two of its 10 public health clinics open next year if the State Legislature doesn’t let him collect more property taxes or give him any other way to raise revenue. He’s already trimmed $12.6 million from King County’s general fund this year and said he may have to cut $35 million next year if things don’t change. Constantine has been talking about the problem since last year, when rising inflation came up against state laws that limit how counties are able to raise money.

Tacoma police trial continues: An eyewitness said officers roughly handled Ellis before fatally restraining him, contradicting the defense's claim that nobody saw how the encounter began. On March 3, 2020, Sara McDowell, and former boyfriend Keyon Lowery, say they saw Ellis casually walk past a Tacoma police cruiser when an officer inside called to him. After Ellis walked to the cruiser, the passenger door swung open, and knocked Ellis to the ground. That's when McDowell started recording. Her video shows officer Christopher Burbank on top of Ellis, punching him with closed fists. The driver, Officer Matthew Collins, lifts Ellis and slams him to the ground. Days after Ellis died, Collins told investigators Ellis had charged him. Burbank told a different story, saying he slammed his door into Ellis as he assumed “an aggressive stance.”

Wildfire in Argentina: Evacuations are underway in the country’s central province of Cordoba as strong, dry winds push wildfires outside the city of Villa Carlos Paz. Last night, 960 firefighters, eight planes, and two helicopters fought the blaze. Ulises Xarate, 27, is accused of starting the fire. He told police he was making coffee over a campfire and lost control of the flames in a gusting wind.

Remaining Titan sub debris retrieved: The US Coast Guard said they’ve found what's left of the sub and its five passengers, all of whom died when the Titan imploded. The Coast Guard discovered the first of the debris a few days after the OceanGate sub went missing, and they found the last of it yesterday on the Atlantic seafloor. The sub was an “experimental,” dangerous piece of crap that frightened and/or angered everyone in the deep sea diving industry. Stockton Rush, the company’s CEO who died in the implosion, ignored every warning. An investigation is ongoing.

Electricity runs out in Gaza: The only power plant in one of the world’s most densely populated areas ran out of fuel and shut down today. Israel cut off supply to Palestinian civilians in retaliation against attacks from Hamas. Doctors and Gazan officials say it is impossible to provide basic life services without electricity. There's no way to explain the long, long conflict between Israel and Palestine in Slog, but Gaza has been under an Egyptian and Israeli military blockade for 16 years, a situation Amnesty International and Human Rights call an apartheid state. For recent updates on the conflict, check here.

Israel forms emergency government: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz will form an emergency government. The war cabinet will not promote any policies or laws unrelated to fighting. Israel is expected to launch a ground invasion of Gaza. The country's opposition leader, Yair Lapid, is not currently expected to join the emergency government.

City to remove Black Lives Matter garden in Cal Anderson: CHOP organizers planted the Black Lives Memorial Garden in June 2020. Seattle Parks and Recreation plans to restore the grass this week, probably to create more space for unleashed dogs. The group Black Star Farmers say they’ll organize to protect the space. Parks wants to move the farm behind the Rainier Community Center. Hannah will have more soon! 

Sarah Huckabee Sanders blew $19,000 on a lectern: A public records request revealed the purchase from the “fiscally responsible” Republican Governor of Arkansas, and a whistleblower says her office tried to cover up her spending. Documents show that days after a lawyer and blogger submitted a huge records request, the Arkansas Republican party reimbursed the state for the lectern. Public officials spend our money on stupid bullshit all the time. Luxury hotel–I get why. Surf and turf–yum. Designer clothes–whatever. But a fancy lectern? That’s a wildly unrelatable vanity purchase. In an embarrassing cliche, the company that sold Sanders the lectern, Beckett Events LLC, is a Washington lobbyist, so maybe it wasn’t about the lectern after all. Oh, wait, it gets better: After the lawyer submitted the records request–Sanders tried changing the state’s Freedom of Information Act because it “endangered her family.” Speaking of corrupt Republicans…

...He’s so back: A new federal indictment accuses Rep. George Santos of 1) stealing the identities of his campaign donors and 2) charging thousands of dollars to their credit cards. In one instance, Santos allegedly charged $12,000 to a donor’s card and transferred most of the money to his bank account. You can’t take this man anywhere, he’s outrageous! Then again, these folks donated to a man who allegedly stole money from a veteran’s dying dog. Like George W. Bush once said, invoking that ‘ol Tennessee saying, “Fool me–you can’t get fooled again.”

Case dismissed: Back in February, police arrested Larnell Washington–of Lacey, WA–for a 1990 murder in Milwaukee. Detectives there said a small trace of Washington’s DNA was found on Annette Love’s body more than 30 years ago. But last week, a judge dismissed the case. Prosecutors didn’t have enough evidence, and their witnesses changed their stories. Now that he’s free, Washington’s family said they’ll pursue a civil case.

Last chance until 2046 to see an annular eclipse, also known as a “ring of fire” eclipse. This celestial event is self-explanatory. Between 9:15 am and 11:50 am Saturday, the moon will pass in front of the sun, leaving a ring of fire above us, or a black hole sun, whichever you prefer. While it may look dark, it’s still the sun. Please don’t look directly into the sun. If you’ve hung onto your eclipse glasses from 2016, your time is finally here, friend.

What is your job, exactly? Aspiring governor and mind-reader Caitlyn Jenner says trans people hate her because she’s white and works for a living, and not for supporting conservative interests instead of the rights of trans people. Trans people hate you because you’re annoying!