Good morning! Cloudy and hot today, not my favorite combo. We'll see a high of 74 degrees and a very slight chance of rain later tonight. Also, today is the last 7 pm sunset. RIP vitamin D.
School closure plan halts: After a bunch of parents rallied against Seattle Public Schools' (SPS) plan to close between 17 to 21 elementary and K-8 schools, Superintendent Brent Jones has backed off, according to the Seattle Times. The plan would have addressed about a third of the district's budget deficit. Jones said he plans to retool his proposal and return with a plan that incorporates some of the angry feedback he's gotten over the past couple weeks.
Macklemore said something cool: At a pro-Palestine festival in Seattle over the weekend, Macklemore said, "Fuck America," according to KOMO. After a right-winger got mad about it on Twitter, the Seattle Kraken and the Seattle Sounders FC released a statement saying they're "evaluating our collective options" about how to respond, as those comments did not "align with the values of our ownership groups." Right-wingers also want the Mariners to stop playing Macklemore songs during the 7th inning stretch. Fucking dumb.
Macklemore's comments came as Israel began killing women and children in Lebanon over the weekend while claiming they sought only to destroy Hezbollah weapons caches that Israel said the group had hidden in residential neighborhoods, according to CBS news. Meanwhile, the US continues to send weapons to Israel for them to use in their "genocidal wars" as US Representative Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, said online Monday, according to the Intercept. But, yeah, KOMO, the problem you should focus on is how Macklemore said, "Fuck America," not that we genuinely should tell the US government to cut this shit out.
US sends more troops to Middle East: As the fighting in the region escalates, the US plans to send in more troops, though it won't say how many, according to the Associated Press. The State Department also started warning Americans to evacuate Lebanon.
Biden's last UN General Assembly as President: President Joe Biden spoke to the US General Assembly Tuesday in what CNBC framed as one of Biden's final opportunities to frame his presidency as one that resulted in positive foreign policy. Tough to do given *gestures at Ukraine, Middle East, Sudan* everything. New Yorkers probably loudly honked and yelled at the resulting gridlock caused by this massive influx of diplomats and politicians to their city.
City council advances plan to increase cop hiring bonuses: At a hearing by Council President Sara Nelson Monday, her Governance, Accountability & Economic Development Committee voted through a proposal to make permanent the City's recruitment bonuses for cops program while increasing bonuses from $35,000 to $50,000 for already trained police officers. Nelson acknowledged the program had previously done nothing to increase the number of officers the Seattle Police Department (SPD) hired, but it did increase the number of applicants. Totally worth the $1.5 million the City plans to allocate to the program.
Let's check in on that bonus program: The City also gave out bonuses to lateral officers in 2019, which benefitted SPD Officer Kevin Dave, who hit and killed Jaahnavi Kandula with his patrol car in 2023. SPD hired Dave despite a sketchy driving history, according to Publicola. Dave received a traffic ticket for hitting Kandula with his car, which he has continued to contest, and appears in court this morning on that infraction. Update: The judge continued the hearing.
Also, the Seattle Police Officers's Guild endorsed former Republican US Representative Dave Reichert. Reichert should be real proud that the organization is best known right now for its vice-president, Officer Daniel Auderer, laughing after an SPD officer hit and killed Kandula.
I love a list of lunches: Eater put together a list of the best lunches in Seattle, and I love them for it. I want to try a bunch of these places. I also really want to go to Ken's Market in Greenwood for their Tuesday and Thursday smash burger thing. But if you're looking for the best restaurants in Seattle, then look no farther than The Stranger's list of the top 15 right here, fresh from our new A+P quarterly.
Kroger-Albertsons still trying to make it work: CEOs for the grocery conglomerates Kroger and Albertsons testified in a Seattle court Monday trying to justify the need for a merger of the two corporations, according to the Seattle Times. Kroger owns QFC and Fred Meyer, and Albertsons owns Safeway and Haggen. The two companies said that Walmart, Costco, and Amazon undercut them and they need the merger to prevent store closures. The state argues the companies remain plenty profitable and the merger would reduce competition and drive up prices. Mostly I just love when this story is in the news because I can drop this hard-hitting piece of journalism:
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Speaking of fuck, marry, kill: I'm trying to figure out what the next fuck, marry, kill prompt should be for a video. I guess dating apps? Hinge, Bumble, Tinder? IDK... pitch your ideas.
Good riding-the-bus music: Dolores Forever's song, "Split Lip Acoustic," inspires mild head bopping.
