The latest victim of Republican misrule. Credit: John Moore / GETTY

Two Tacoma cops acquitted for Manny Ellis’s death ask the state to pay their defense: Lawyers for the third officer, Timothy Rankine, are reviewing the motion. A Pierce County judge could decide whether Washington owes hundreds of thousands, or millions more, to the former officers. Last month, the Tacoma Police Department paid the officers $500,000 each to leave the department. A hearing is set for March 8, a little more than four years to the day since officers restrained Ellis as he told them he couldn’t breathe. A Pierce County medical examiner ruled his death a homicide by asphyxiation. 

Fact checked: The Washington House killed a bill that would have expanded a judge’s ability to dismiss cases for low-level crimes, potentially reducing the number of people languishing in jail for theft and trespass, if defendants complied with certain conditions. But if you read the Seattle Times Editorial Board, or watched KING 5, you would have been under the mistaken impression that it was a debate between jail and a court-ordered program, or that it would make people move out of Seattle. Maybe they should have read the bill, instead of parroting City Attorney Ann Davidson? Read Ashley’s analysis here.

00 number 2: A Lynnwood man is facing voyeurism charges for allegedly installing spy cameras under toilets at Expedia’s Seattle offices. Investigators said the cameras captured at least 10 people using the restroom. When police arrested ex-Expedia employee Marcelo Vargas-Fernandez outside his apartment earlier this month, they found 15 spy cameras, 22 SD drives, and six hard drives with 20+ terabytes of storage. An employee first noticed the cameras in December, but they weren’t immediately taken away because security thought they were a backup battery to the soap dispenser (batteries don’t have lenses?). Vargas-Fernandez got caught because he reinstalled the cameras.

25th Bartell Drugs is closing in Wallingford: When owner Rite Aid declared bankruptcy in October, a judge told the company it had until March to complete a turnaround. Last month, the company hired two liquidators to help cull stores while its financiers considered whether to salvage or sell off struggling locations. Reportedly, they’re talking to two buyers. It’s unclear what happens next, but past closures sure have been a lot quieter than the one in Wallingford. The extensive signage and sign-wavers have “all the subtlety of a mattress sale,” reported the Seattle Times. Even furniture is up for grabs.

The Black Death visits Oregon: Health officials say a sick pet cat likely infected the patient with bubonic plague. The cat sadly died, but the human is undergoing treatment. The community is not believed to be at risk. The world’s most has-been disease, a bacterial infection that worms its way into our lymph nodes, never really went away. According to the World Health Organization, the pestilence infects between 1,000 and 2,000 people a year. In the US, about seven people get plague each year. Back in the 1300s, bubonic plague killed half the population of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, and significant outbreaks continued for hundreds of years.

Local trans choir pledges to pay its BIPOC board members: The Seattle Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble is seeking donations to fund a $200 a month stipend for each of its BIPOC board members. “STANCE is committed to continuing to deepen our racial equity work in 2024,” it wrote on Instagram. “In order to do that, we rely heavily on the input of our BIPOC board members who provide an invaluable perspective.”

Democrats take back George Santos’s seat in special election: Former congressman Tom Suozzi’s victory in the competitive district cuts the already slight Republican majority in Washington by a seat. Before Suozzi’s win, Republicans controlled all of Long Island. He could be sworn in as soon as tomorrow. 

Ireland and Spain ask for an EU investigation of Israel: The countries want to know if Israel is complying with human rights obligations in Gaza under the EU/Israel Association Agreement, according to a letter from their prime ministers. They wrote that they were deeply concerned with the worsening situation in Israel and Gaza and its effect on innocent civilians, especially women and children. They called for an immediate ceasefire. An EU spokeswoman said they’d “look into it.” More than 28,000 Palestinians have died since October 7.

More anti-trans violence in the UK: Authorities have charged a cis woman in London with attempted murder after she allegedly stabbed a young trans woman 14 times. The 18-year-old trans victim was at a roller-skating party with her friends when a group of people yelling slurs attacked. The alleged perpetrator, 19-year-old Summer Betts-Ramsey, denied any involvement in the stabbing. The attack comes weeks after a judge sentenced two teenagers to life in prison for the brutal murder of 14-year-old trans girl Brianna Ghey. Like in the United States, transphobia is growing in the United Kingdom. Hate crimes against transgender people in England and Wales hit a record high between March 2022 and March 2023.

Wisconsin Republicans un-gerrymandered themselves: After years of GOP domination, state Republicans approved maps supported by their Democrat governor that weaken their hold on the Legislature, but they did not do so out of the goodness of their hearts, or love for democracy or whatever. Rather, they were scared of a worse deal. (One state senator said they had a gun to their head.) During her wildly expensive campaign, newly elected state Supreme Court judge Janet Protasiewicz called the maps rigged and said she’d welcome a chance to review them. State Dems aren’t happy with the maps, either. Nearly all of them voted against the maps in hopes for better ones.

Self-crashing cars: Reporting from the Washington Post revealed that a Tesla recruiter’s 2022 death was likely the first-ever full self-driving fatality. The software, which the company oversold and later recalled, was struggling to comprehend the winding mountain curves of Colorado when it suddenly swerved off the road and burst into flames. The surviving passenger told Post reporters that hours before the crash, the driver had to repeatedly yank the car back on course.

Chicago is ditching ShotSpotter: Mayor Brandon Johnson said he won’t renew the City’s contract with the gunshot detection system of dubious value this summer, making good on a campaign promise. Maybe Seattle should take the hint and do the same. But the Sun-Times notes that after it reported on his decision, Johnson released a statement saying he’ll decommission the software in September after the historically violent summer months and the Democratic National Convention. 

If you fail, then try, try again: House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas twice yesterday. They failed the first time and succeeded the second time by a single vote. They accuse the man of willfully refusing to enforce border laws and breaching the public trust, but Republicans in the Senate might not do anything more because they believe his actions don’t clear the bar of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Mayorkas is the first sitting cabinet secretary ever to be impeached. 

Vivian McCall is The Stranger's News Editor. In her private life, she is a musician and Wii U apologist. If you’re reading this, you either love her or hate her.

15 replies on “Slog AM: Tacoma Cops Ask State to Pay Defense Fees, Dems Take Back Santos Seat, Republicans Impeach Mayorkas”

  2. Not sure Chicago is the city you want to hold up as an example for all to follow.

    Then again given the unchecked crime, drug use and prosecutors who hate to prosecute, it would appear they a few things in common.

  3. @3:

    As I noted in the comments on yesterday’s SLOG-AM post, ShotSpotter is completely worthless in terms of correctly identifying criminal activity; it’s just a very expensive feel good panacea for people which otherwise only provides the cops with yet another toy they can play with while avoiding doing the actual – and decidedly more difficult – job of getting out and investigating crimes the old-fashioned way, which they still somehow managed to do for decades before the advent of surveillance technology.

  4. I missed this until today, but the Biden White House added requirements on 2/8 for recipients of military aid to show that they are in compliance with international law, including human rights law. It’ll be interesting to see how that shakes out in Israel.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/02/08/national-security-memorandum-on-safeguards-and-accountability-with-respect-to-transferred-defense-articles-and-defense-services/

  5. @5 It’s weird how some of our commenters here froth at the mouth about accountability and showing effectiveness when it comes to diversion programs, homelessness prevention, etc. and yet are completely unconcerned about effectiveness of things like ShotSpotter. What can it all mean?

  6. @8 It does give Biden the option to say that military aid stops if Netanyahu doesn’t make real efforts to avoid civilian casualties in an assault on Rafah. AKA gives teeth to Biden’s recent public statements. We’ll see if that results in changes on the ground. So far, Netanyahu has largely ignored Biden. This policy gives Biden some additional leverage should he choose to use it.

    And it doesn’t especially matter what the Israeli street thinks of the war in terms of what weapons the US chooses to supply. US policy matters.

  7. Everything has its season, right? Sorry that Bartell’s is fading away. I can’t remember ever thinking Bartell’s was a waste of time. Always clean. Always organized. Had just about everything you wanted in a drug store. Good sales, too. Glad I got to experience it. You know, there were parts of Old Seattle that I missed out on because I came too late. I always regretted never getting to dine at Ruby Chow’s, for instance. A few months after getting into town, they were tearing it down to build that medical center.

    We tried briefly decriminalizing crime here in Los Angeles. First, I want to know how “minor” the crime has to be before it’s dismissed. You know, with all the muggings on Melrose, all the shoplifting, and all the smash-and-grabs, word got out pretty quick that you could rip-off that $3000 Coach bag or ka-bong someone on the street for $34 in cash and if you got caught, be back out on the sidewalk by mid-afternoon. In fact, there were more than sporadic cases of thieves being caught again the next day after arrest.

    So, no, babies, that shit ain’t gonna fly. You have to be careful these days making cultural references when talking about tolerance and participation in crime. It’s radioactive to do so, but what seems to be missing here is a sense of citizenry and a lack of personal honor and responsibility. I don’t know how you instill that in someone whose role models since diaper-dom have been, shall we say, legal-adjacent? So until we come up with something better than just letting people go for bad judgement, sorry kids, if you break the rules, and the rules are just, you have to pay the price of your transgression against society.

    Personally, I think anyone who’d pay $3000 for an 8”x6”x3” leather box is, by my definition, a fucking fool – whether you can afford it or not isn’t the issue. There will always be some who are so affluent as to flush away $100 bills. Our job, it seems to me, is not to adore and try desperately to emulate them, but rather to keep a watchful vigilance, making sure they never become totally in charge.

    Bubonic plague. Jesus. Fleas, right?

    Spain and Ireland now, eh? History, people, history.

    Though I love the idea of a routinely safe automatic auto, I still want my George Jetson car that I was promised 60 years ago please.

    I can’t believe I’m thinking this, and I would never, ever do it (Bad Karma), but do they make a wood chipper for mindless, little know-it-all Christian Nationalists? House Republicans are still wiping shit off their mouths with dirty napkins for choosing this little wunderkind. Vote Democratic in the fall, y’all. It’s the only way.

    You guys watch that blood glucose level with all that chocolate. I can’t partake hardly at all anymore. I’m astonished that a 1-lb. box of See’s Nuts and Chews is just about $30 now. For that, I want some action (k/d).

  8. It’s weird how you premise all of your statements about the war with concern about the lives of Gazans and yet you also see only one villain. The IDF is a mere babe in the woods, unable to act on anything but in response to Hamas. They are incapable of any ill intent, of any malice, of any war crime. No, all falls on Hamas. Any evidence of obvious IDF war crimes is met with “Well that’ll be investigated later and may be charged at some point in the future if prosecutors meet an impossible standard of evidence” while simultaneously demanding that Hamas be eradicated in the present moment for equally-well-documented war crimes.

    If Netanyahu pisses Biden off sufficiently to get military aid cut off, what do you think that means long term for Israel? That they’ll then go and commit more indiscriminate killings just as the ICJ is looking at their progress in reducing civilian casualties? You cheered the UNRWA getting defunded when Hamas was found in their ranks. What do you think happens when Israel is found to commit war crimes? The aid gets cut off, sanctions are applied to war criminals, and any pretense of moral high ground is lost. Good luck!

    But most likely you’ll just keep rolling on with the double standard. Israel can do no wrong, and no Gazan life has value.

  9. @ 12: “Most countries create a military to protect the populace from outside threats. Hamas has turned that on its head by sacrificing the populace to protect the military.”

    That’s because, as you know, Hamas is not interested in strategy or country or statehood. If there’s any planning goling on at all it’s about how to kill more people. They’re a death cult. Killing babies? That’s OK because children are without sin, and they go directly to Paradise right away, You are doing them a favor. The Islamic faithful? That’s OK, too, for the same reason. Everybody else? The infidels? You’re sending them to Hell which is a good thing. And while you are at it, blow my brains out, too, ’cause I needs them 70-something virgins, honey.

    Jihadist are the lowest form of life. Civilization is impossible with this threat. And how does the world grow when there’s the insistance it remains in the 7th Century?

  10. @5 COMTE and @7 boatgeek: What IS it about the latest technology systems? I share your concerns and curiosity. This seems to corroborate with my theory that Big Tech is out to get us. Once again, in the race for the last U.S. dollar, it’s profit$ over people.

    @11 Bauhaus I: Yep. I’m voting big Democratic D straight down the line again, after 40 years as a registered voter. RepubliKKKans are indeed, horrible excuses for people, steadily getting worse ever since Richard Nixon.

    You were promised a George Jetson car 60 years ago? What with self-driving cars as they are, I’d rather go back in time with my beloved VW six decades to when phones were phones (not multi-purpose, pocket-sized Swiss Army knives with frequently lousy reception), and cars like mine were built to last. I miss what was good about the 20th Century.

    Agreed, too, about the dangers of too much chocolate. My milk chocolate days are behind me. It’s strictly dark chocolate for Griz. I’ve gotta watch my sugar intake, too, as well as avoid gluten. It’a a movie night tonight, nonetheless—red wine, red roses, dark chocolate, and popcorn with sea salt!

    @15 Garb Garblar: Science, yes. Big Tech (i.e., ALI–short for Artificial Lack of Intelligence, ShotSpotter, etc.), hard pass.

    Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

  14. Last I checked self driving cars were 6.7 times safer than human driving cars. (From a study based on Waymo).

    The robots will keep getting better along the lines of Moore’s law while we get worse and start shooting at other drives. Just don’t watch the first episode of ‘Upload’.

  15. @22 RacketyRacketeer: Yeah, well, you can keep your self-driving, disposable Tesla for $60 K, and watch all the FOX TeeVee propaganda you want. I’m keeping my beloved, proven reliable stick shift VW that has never needed a catalytic converter, a key fob, a voice activated GPS system, power steering, power brakes, or automatic front seat bun warmers, and never will.

    And thank you, too, for the reminder of how fortunate I am to no longer have a TV.

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