One of the baddest apples: Christopher Burbank, (a Tacoma cop acquitted of manslaughter and second-degree murder in the death of Manny Ellis, an unarmed Black man) got a new gig next-door in Thurston County. Understandably, the new hire pissed people off. Cops should not get to tase an unarmed Black man three times while another officers chokes out that person, get their little wrist slapped, and then get another job as an armed defender of capital elsewhere. After receiving death threats, Burbank resigned just two days after getting hired. Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders said in a written statement that when he decided Burbank, he "failed to consider the greater community impact." Instead, Sanders said he based the decision on "business needs to remedy TCSO’s staffing crisis.” He went on to say, “I recognize the harm this has caused to marginalized communities, and I was wrong.”
Let's not get ahead of ourselves:Â Take a look at this forecast:
Happy Thursday! Low clouds have rolled in this morning from a low to the east. Showers will be possible via wrap-around moisture late this morning and afternoon/evening. Highs will top out in the low 50s.
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) April 4, 2024
đź“·Space Needle Panocam: https://t.co/YNHQqeDffc#wawx pic.twitter.com/J4IBFv7QQz
Housing or handcuffs (Part I): Tuesday night, about 300 migrants, including 70 children, camped on the tennis court at the Garfield Community Center. This same group has been passed around as state, county, and city governments give them just enough money to get inside for a few weeks at a time. In a Wednesday press conference, they called on local governments or ANYBODY to help them get longer-term housing. One speaker suggested six months to a year would be long enough to allow them to get work permits and start earning their own rent money. Yesterday, the City would not commit to paying for housing and would not confirm suspicions that the Mayor might order a sweep to clear the refugees for tennis season.Â
Housing or handcuffs (Part II): Sitting on their hands worked out for the City—this time. I missed this in the initial story (everything happened so quickly, and I got locked out of my apartment, and we updated it and I’m SORRY), but Wednesday evening a donor came through with enough money to move people inside 61 rooms for 11 days. As KOMO reported, the migrants dismantled their encampment upon hearing the news.
Housing or handcuffs (Part III): But 61 rooms may not house everyone at the camp, according to an organizer helping the migrants' advocacy efforts. Another organizer said that the migrants don’t know where they will go after that money dries out, so who knows where they will set up camp next. This is the exact issue I tried to highlight in my story: Temporary shelter does not make someone un-homeless. Maybe the Mayor did not have to choose between tennis season and refugees (an easy choice I do not trust the City with) this time, but until SOMEONE gets these migrants some stability, we will keep having this same conversation. The Mayor’s spokesperson said they are working on it! In an email late yesterday evening, the spokesperson said, "Medium- and long-term solutions will require collaborative statewide action. To that end, today, Mayor Harrell convened a meeting with regional mayors and King County to discuss next steps with the state."
The City and the County continue to fail to bring these migrant families inside. Temporary shelter does not make people un-homeless. Not clear if the City will find a permanent solution this time, but there's a mutual aid request in case of another failure: https://t.co/U2ihdrrjjh pic.twitter.com/NqC8RAXkBW
— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) April 3, 2024
AI genocide: According to The Guardian, intelligence sources revealed that Israel used an AI system called "Lavender" to identify as targets 37,000 Palestinians allegedly connected to Hamas. The sources also claimed that during the early weeks of the war, Israel allowed its military to kill 15 or 20 civilians during airstrikes on "low-ranking militants." So, no. I don't think this is a war against Hamas.Â
Incoming: Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell will unveil his long-awaited draft of the transportation levy. The current levy, approved by voters in 2015, pays for about 30% of the City’s transportation budget. I don’t have any insider info unfortunately, but advocates already sounded the alarm that Harrell will probably write “an austerity levy focused on street maintenance and repaving” rather than making Seattle a more connected and accessible city for transit riders and pedestrians. I’ll have more later today!
They should put this program in the levy lol:
It's clever because it works pic.twitter.com/wvVsEPx1j1
— Mens_Corner__ (@Mens_Corner__) April 2, 2024
Speaking of transportation: Council Member Bob Kettle wants to keep Pike Place car-friendly. Personally, I think that's bad! And more than 10,000 people sent a letter through Seattle Neighborhood Greenways' letter campaign telling Kettle to knock it off.
Today Councilmember Kettle introduced legislation that would forbid the next transportation levy from funding improvements to Pike Place. We disagree. Let's make Pike Place a better experience for everyone.
— Seattle Greenways (@SNGreenways) April 2, 2024
Take action: https://t.co/PcQcQUUmop pic.twitter.com/Nimaoqj0HO
Full steam ahead: A New York judge rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to delay his hush-money case while the US Supreme Court decides his presidential immunity claim. The judge said, "This Court finds that Defendant had myriad opportunities to raise the claim of presidential immunity." Trump should have asked for the delay in his omnibus motions last September, the judge suggested.Â
Leave it blank: A campaign for New York Democrats to leave their presidential primary ballot blank won 12% statewide as of preliminary results from the day after Tuesday’s election. I wish they would have joined us in voting “uncommitted,” but it's still cool to make Biden a lil scared. Â
End the war: According to the AP, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lowered the age of conscription from 27 to 25 in Ukraine so as to replenish their troops after more than two years of defending itself against Russia.Â
A tale of two school board directors: The Seattle School Board of Directors appointed the actual wildest combination of people for the two openings. Representing District 2 will be Sarah Clark, the director of policy at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, AKA the most powerful, conservative political force in the city. And District 4 gets Joe Mizrahi, the secretary-treasurer of UFCW 3000, one of the most powerful progressive forces in Seattle politics. Bonkers!
New Chappell Roan song out tonight: Celebrate with her Tiny Desk performance!