House Republicans Divided Against Themselves: Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) bid for Speaker of the House failed big time yesterday when twenty Republicans voted against his candidacy. That’s a good thing, because Jordan sucks. First of all, he won’t acknowledge that Trump lost to Biden in 2020, and he seems to have had some role in plans to overturn the results. He’s also never been the primary sponsor of a bill enacted into law, and a Jordan victory would be a disaster for LGBTQ rights. If all that wasn’t bad enough, Jordan may have turned a blind eye to sexual abuse at Ohio State University when he was assistant coach of the wrestling team. A second vote is planned for Wednesday morning.

Lunchables in the school cafeteria? If you’re over the age of eight and not an executive at Kraft Heinz, you can probably see the problem with processed Ritz crackers, ham discs, and cheese squares counting as a nutritious lunch in America. To clear our embarrassing national standards for federally subsidized lunches, the company only had to change two ingredients in its pre-packaged lunch, and it stands to make billions from US schools. Check out this long read from the Washington Post about how we got here.

King County to create Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention: To address the disproportionate number of shootings in the county’s south end, the new office will expand existing violence interruption services from Regional Peacekeepers Collective and open locations in Kent, Burien, and Skyway as an extension of Public Health – Seattle & King County. Last month, President Biden established a similar federal office to distribute funds from a Congressional gun safety bill passed after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. 

Explosion at Gaza hospital: The health ministry in Gaza said at least 471 people are dead. The Palestinian government blames Israel, and Israel blames the explosion at al-Ahli Hospital on a rocket misfire from the group Islamic Jihad. So far, the findings and videos are inconclusive, but several experts who spoke to the BBC said the explosion is not consistent with what they’d expect from an Israeli air-strike. The heat generated on impact may have come from leftover rocket fuel or the exploded cars in the parking lot. Bellingcat was able to identify what appears to be an impact crater. The cone-like shape is consistent with an exploded munition, but it doesn’t appear to be caused by the  500, 1000 or 2000-pound bombs used in airstrikes. "Early intelligence" from the US, including "satellite and other infrared data," shows "a launch of a rocket or missile from Palestinian fighter positions within Gaza." The explosion drew worldwide condemnation and inspired protests in Turkey, Jordan, and in the occupied West Bank. The story is still evolving and misinformation is everywhere. 

Arms race? The war in Gaza is just the latest conflict enriching weapons suppliers. The war in Ukraine and the perception of China as a security threat were already driving a global shopping spree for fighter planes, tanks, missiles, artillery, and ammunition; some governments are buying to keep up with advancing technology. Excluding sales in the US, worldwide military spending will likely hit $241 billion next year, a 23 percent increase since 2022, the largest in nearly two decades.

Jewish Seattleites call on Sen. Patty Murray to support ceasefire in Gaza: Hundreds gathered outside the Jackson Federal building downtown yesterday to prevent the death of more people. After Murray declined to speak with the ten who went inside, protesters gathered in the lobby and sang Jewish songs and prayers. Activists couldn’t talk to her on Friday either. This comes after progressive Jewish groups protested outside the White House Monday, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of planning a genocide. 

And now to Ashley 🙂

King County deputy charged for punching handcuffed suspect: King County Prosecutors filed assault charges Tuesday against King County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew W. Good, 44, for punching a handcuffed man six or seven times in the chest while he sat seat-belted in the back of a patrol car, according to charging documents. Two deputies had to pull Good off of the the man. Deputies reported the man had kicked another deputy in the chest a few times before Good grabbed that deputy, moved him out of the way and climbed on top of the man in the patrol car and then allegedly punched him several times. An independent review of Good’s actions found he’d basically done almost nothing right as far as police training goes in that scenario and he likely violated state law. Deputies did not book Good on charges due to jail booking restrictions, however a spokesperson with the prosecutor’s office said the Sheriff’s office placed Good on administrative leave. Good’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct 25.

Back to me!

Manny Ellis case continues: Lawyers for the three Tacoma Police officers charged in Ellis’s death argued against prosecution witness David Hallimore presenting his transcript of Ellis telling officers he couldn’t breathe seven times. The retired Houston police officer with 37 years experience with forensic audio stitched together a transcript from videos taken on the night Ellis died.  The defense questioned Hallimore’s skillset, which he said allows him to parse unclear audio with more precision than the average person. Pierce County Superior Judge Bryan Chushcoff allowed the transcript but ordered that two of the seven instances of “I can’t breathe” to be marked as “unintelligible.”

Your student loan payment may be higher than they should be: Loan servicer MOHELA goofed up when it used last year's poverty guidelines to calculate how much some borrowers need to pay under the new income-driven repayment plan, SAVE. MOHELA’s error gave 1 percent of borrowers, or 280,000 people, “moderately higher” payment amounts. If affected, the Education Department should’ve let you know.

Lawsuit over woman’s emergency room death: After staff at Providence Regional Medical Center assessed 41-year-old Cheyenna Costello as critically ill, she sat in the emergency room lobby for more than four hours until she died from “easily treatable” pancreatitis, according to a new lawsuit filed by her husband in King County Superior Court. The lawsuit accuses the hospital of negligence and seeks general and special damages. 

What’s going on with Bandcamp? The beloved direct-to-consumer music marketplace got fucked over Monday when its new parent company, the music licenser Songtradr, axed half the staff. One former employee told Pitchfork only three support specialists remain at Bandcamp, a company that processes thousands of music transactions each day. Bandcamp is one of the few reliable ways small-time musicians make money from digital music sales. We really don’t know what’s going to happen next.

Prosecutors appeal in WA insurrectionist case: The Justice Department is seeking harsher sentences for four Proud Boy leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy, including Ethan Nordean from Auburn, Washington. A judge sentenced Nordean to 18 years for his role, but prosecutors want to put him in prison for 27 years. 

At least the weather is nice? Expect unseasonably warm temperatures.