Gooood morning! The National Weather Services says the weather today will be partly sunny, high near 68 degrees. Expect some calming winds in the afternoon.
Texas Attorney General drops challenge of Seattle hospital: In December, a Seattle hospital filed a lawsuit against Texas AG Ken Paxton after he demanded the hospital turn over the medical records of Texas children who receive gender-affirming care from the hospital. Paxton dropped the request for medical records as part of a settlement agreement with the hospital, according to KOMO. However, the hospital also had to drop its registration to do business in Texas. That won't affect children receiving gender-affirming care, but it may be annoying to the hospital employees who live in Texas and work remotely for the hospital.
The. Rent. Is. Too. High: People with low incomes have started to buckle under the burden of rent at supposedly "affordable" housing complexes, which should raise questions about whether that housing has remained affordable as rents shoot up. In response to a rise in nonpayment of rent cases, affordable housing companies are now organizing to pressure local lawmakers into rolling back tenant protections to allow for quicker evictions, according to the Seattle Times.
Walmart pays fine for allegedly violating gig workers' rights during the pandemic: Walmart must pay about $170,770 to more than 470 workers in a settlement after it allegedly failed to give them premium pay for working during the pandemic. The company also allegedly failed to inform gig workers of their rights for sick leave and benefits. Do you suspect your employer of stealing your wages, not giving you your work schedule in a reasonable amount of time, or failing to follow fair chance employment? Then file a complaint with Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards through the agency’s handy form. You can also just ask them questions if you’re unsure of something!
Cops say the dumbest shit: In a story about low staffing numbers at the Seattle Police Department, MyNorthwest quoted from some exit interviews of SPD cops who said said the City "is dying" and who talked about how people hated them during 2020 and it made them sad. Then they blamed public distrust in the department on political leaders for using "anti-cop rhetoric," and not themselves for gassing the people of Seattle for months on end. Good riddance to the cops who refuse to take accountability for the role they played in the 2020 protests. Also, even amidst low SPD staffing numbers, crime dropped last year, and homicides this year have also declined, though shots fired numbers are still up. Yet another data point showing that the number of cops has little effect on violent crime.
Former Yakima cop suspected of killing two people, abducting a child: Law enforcement officials are searching for Elias Huizar, a former Yakima cop who they believe killed two people, including his ex-wife, before abducting his one-year-old son and fleeing Monday. The former school resources officer was due to appear in court Monday for an alleged rape of a teen girl, according to KGW8. Unfortunately, this news means the Seattle Police Department has lost another potential lateral hire.
More than 300 bodies uncovered in mass grave at Gaza hospital: Aid workers discovered the bodies after Israel withdrew from the Nasser Medical Complex earlier this month, according to the Gaza Civil Defense director. The director said workers found some of the bodies with hands tied behind their backs and evidence of mass executions, though CNN has not independently verified that information.
Meanwhile, US college students continue to protest Israel's aggression against Palestine. Police arrested protesters at an encampment at Yale on Monday. Police also arrested protestors at Cal Poly Humboldt and Columbia University.
lmao Cal Poly Humboldt students don't PLAY! pic.twitter.com/2Ib5wqRSXT
— Joni (@poetryc0mmunity) April 23, 2024
Baltimore says the owner of the ship that hit that big bridge was negligent: The City called the owner and manager of the shipping company responsible for a cargo ship that hit and wrecked the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month. The City said the company should face legal responsibility for the crash, according to the New York Times. The company had asked a federal judge in Maryland to exonerate the company from any responsibility for the incident, which also killed six people.
Donald Trump's hush-money trial continues: The former president is on trial over his alleged cover up of hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels. The latest update shows prosecutors calling out Trump for violating the gag order in the case by sharing updates about it on Truth Social. Honestly, rude of them not to set him up for success, he's psychologically incapable of complying with a gag order.
Sydney Sweeney apologizes for great tits: In an Instagram post, Sweeney shared a photo of herself in a sweatshirt that says, "Sorry for having great tits." The rest of the sweatshirt says "and correct opinions," but she rightly left that out of the IG post, because that's cringe. The post comes amidst some random producer giving her shit and basically calling her untalented, according to the Daily Beast. I usually ignore Sweeney discourse, but the post was solid.
"I cry a lot, but I am so productive:" Taylor Swift summed up the last four months of my life. Sun is back though. That helps.
each stop is one of the blacksites where she tortures the poets pic.twitter.com/1EMxKrXhtJ
— Edward Ongweso Jr (@bigblackjacobin) April 23, 2024