First things first: I hope you soaked up some of that sun yesterday because it's not looking so nice today! Seattle, you can expect a cloudy morning with temperatures in the high 40s. Temperatures will peak around 2 pm in the low 50s, and then the rain should start at 4 pm and stick around for the rest of the evening. 

Debate time: Five Republicans faced off in Miami last night in the third Republican presidential primary debate: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, that annoying dude Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. Again, former President Donald Trump did not grace the public with his presence. 

Debate summary: In this debate, we got a better idea about what separates these presidential hopefuls from one other. DeSantis insisted Mexico will pay for the southern border wall, and Ramaswamy suggested another wall for the northern border. Haley, Christie, and Scott pledged to continue financial support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia while Ramaswamy and DeSantis seemed as if they were over paying for the war. Haley called DeSantis a “liberal” (derogatory) when it comes to the environment, and DeSantis promised to frack the shit out of Florida, just not the Everglades. The candidates mostly agreed that the US should raise the age of retirement so that we work ourselves even closer to death. Also, they love Israel. Duh. 

Soft launch: Twitter enjoyed itself very much after Scott’s girlfriend made an appearance at the debate last night. This comes after some donors threatened to stop funding him because he’s unmarried. 

Film is SO back: The actor's union finally struck a tentative agreement with their bosses, ending a historic strike. The union has not shared all the details of the contract yet, but, according to CNN, they seem pretty pleased.

Electanyl: King County Election (KCE) employees and volunteers evacuated headquarters in Renton after one staff member found a plain envelope with a mysterious white powder inside of it. According to a preliminary test, the powder appeared to contain fentanyl. Election departments in Pierce and Spokane County also found envelopes filled with white powder in their mailrooms yesterday, though the cops said that the culprit used baking soda in Pierce. 

Brave workers: Despite the scare, KCE still delivered an update to the election results. With just about 20,000 ballots added to the pile in the whole county, things did not change much compared to the initial count. Progressive City Council candidates, down a tremendous amount on Tuesday, made up a little ground. Stay tuned for a bigger shift today—probably.

Chin up: I felt bad Tuesday night. Like, bad bad. Like, worse than I felt as a new reporter when I saw Bruce Harrell beat Lorena Gonzålez in a landslide in 2021, back when I still believed Seattle could be a progressive city. I basically succumbed to the idea of a council full of Sara Nelsons. But then I saw math whiz and politico Andrew Hong crunch the numbers. I really should shut up and let these dudes cook. District 4 City Council candidate Ron Davis, probably the strongest advocate for progressive revenue out of all the races, could still win. Council Member Andrew Lewis may still pull ahead too, which yes, would be better than a seat for Bob fucking Kettle. 

Tacoma, lefty capital of Washington: Things look really good for the left in Tacoma. Based on the most recent results, Tacoma City Council Candidate and Democratic Socialist Jamika Scott increased her lead over the establishment candidate, and, barring an uncharacteristic flurry of conservative late ballots, it looks like she will win. The Tacoma for All Renters’ Bill of Rights will be a tighter race. The initiative gained a little ground, but Pierce County Elections still counts more “no” votes than “yes” votes. 

Fuck Boeing. All my homies hate Boeing: Anti-war protesters gathered at the Boeing delivery center yesterday afternoon to protest the company's involvement in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which has killed 10,000 Palestinians. Boeing, a longtime business partner with Israel, recently struck an almost $1 billion contract with the Israeli military. Still, the Washington State Legislature gives the company massive tax breaks, which in a way cosigns the business' behavior. If legislators wanted to show solidarity with Palestinians, they could hit Boeing right in the profits and end those tax breaks.

Detective Cookie: Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin, the City's favorite cop for PR, filed a lawsuit Friday against the Seattle Police Department for the racism and sexism she faced in her four decades on the force. 

Completely essential trip to Finland: Urbanists flamed Washington State Sen. Marko Liias for taking a trip to Finland on the taxpayer's dime to learn how to create safer streets. Liias clapped back, calling his critics extremists, which is a very cringe way to handle legitimate criticism of the way you are spending OUR money. We're not an ATM for your vacation, Liias. 

Out of hibernation: Ivanka Trump testified yesterday in her father’s New York fraud trial. The attorney general’s office questioned her at length about loans for the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Florida through Deutsche Bank. She also denied having any knowledge that her father overvalued the penthouse she bought in a financial statement. Overall, CNN said the testimony stayed relatively chill. 

Bombs: Two US F-15 fighter jets dropped bombs on a weapons storage facility in east Syria that an Iran-backed militant group uses. The AP has more. 

For your ears: I’m seeing her in concert Saturday hehe uwu