Updates from the Israel-Palestine war: Attacks continue in Rafah, a city Israel told Palestinians to evacuate to. The bombarded area includes a hospital and a United Nations-run shelter with thousands of refugees. The UN agency estimates that 12,000 people pack every square kilometer of Rafah. Israeli airstrikes have destroyed a Mosque and homes there. Attacks nearly struck an Al Jazeera crew live on air. Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Cairo, Egypt for Qatari-mediated cease-fire talks. There’s no deal yet, but proposals have been put on the table that would release more Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Donald Dumped: The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that former President Trump is ineligible for office under the 14th Amendment’s insurrectionist ban and the state removed him from the ballot, CNN reported. Holy shit? An appeal will certainly head to the US Supreme Court in no time. We’ll see if those conservatives are the “originalists” they claim to be. The New York Times wrote about what might happen next.
Trump defended racist remarks: The former President defended his explicitly white supremacist comments about migrants crossing the southern border, “poisoning the Blood of America,” to a crowd of Christmas trees and MAGA hats. As extremism researchers have pointed out, the sentiment bore the resemblance to fascist writers like, I don’t know, this guy named Adolf Hitler? Extremism experts pointed out the similarity to rhetoric the Nazi leader justified the persecution and eventual mass death of European Jews with the purity of the pseudoscientific Aryan racial ideology. Trump said he “never read Mein Kampf.” Dude, we know the only books you’ve read are Hop on Pop, The Art of The Deal, and the novelization of Home Alone 2 and that’s not the point. He didn’t address the Colorado decision.
Speaking of insurrection: A judge sentenced Charles Donohoe, a Proud Boy lieutenant and Marine veteran from North Carolina who cooperated with federal prosecutors, to 40 months in prison Tuesday. It's a sliver of leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio’s 22-year sentence. Donohoe’s already served 38 months so he’ll likely be out in two months. Before apologizing to his family and America, Donohoe told the court that he knew he was breaking the law the moment the barricades went down. He pleaded guilty last August. His sentence is more than two years shorter than what federal guidelines recommend. The Washington Post reported that details of just how Donohoe helped prosecutors were redacted from a sentencing memo.
I hope you're hungry—for nothing: This Republican-controlled Congress (the 118th) voted more times (724) and passed fewer laws (27) than any time in the past decade, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. There was still plenty of bullshit under the reign of Democrats last year, they at least passed (248) a significantly higher percentage of bills they voted on (549).
New Green River Killer victim identified with DNA testing: Police collected what remained of Lori Anne Razpotnik in Auburn 38 years ago. Until 2023, she was known as “Bones 17,” one anonymous victim in the 49 women Gary Ridgway killed. She ran away from her Lewis County home at 15 in 1982 and her family never saw her again. According to the Seattle Times, she was last seen climbing into a truck. Three years later, a car swerved off Mountain View highway and into a ditch where investigators found the remains of several victims. A last set of remains, “Bones 20,” has not been identified.
Alaska Airlines Pilots Informational Picket: The union and airline still cannot reach an agreement on a contract, so a bunch of off-duty flight attendants and pilots held a picket outside Sea-Tac Tuesday, KING 5 reported. They wanted to remind stressed holiday travelers they’re not the only ones getting fucked by an airline this Christmas. While the company held out their empty hands and cried about their “economically infeasible” proposal, they were working out a deal to buy Hawaiian Airlines for nearly $2 billion.
Young Edmonds woman found dead in Nevada desert: Marayna Rodgers vanished after meeting with a friend, 19-year-old Sakari Hampton, and her boyfriend, former University of Arizona basketball player Chance Comanche, in Las Vegas. They reported her missing, and police charged them with kidnapping, and then amended those charges to murder, according to the Tacoma News Tribune. Rodgers was a nurse at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue.
Car collides with Renton school bus: The sedan slammed into a bus transporting adult students with disabilities in the rain Tuesday afternoon, spinning and fishtailing into the impact. One car passenger died. Two were taken to the hospital. All on the bus survived. The Renton Police Department is investigating the car's driver for potential DUI charges, according to KIRO 7. Police think the three occupants of the car are in their early 20s.
New infection-resistant metal implants could save lives: Each year, more than 100,000 people who undergo joint replacement get infections from bacteria colonizing their metal implants weeks or months after the surgery; half die. Amit Bandyopadhyay and Susmita Bose, a husband-wife professor power couple at Washington State University developed a 3-D printed alternative with an antibacterial alloy of titanium, tantalum, and copper, staving off bacterial infection, reports KUOW.