Five shot at International District Hookah Lounge: Around 4 am on Saturday morning, police responded to reports of gunfire at Caravel Hookah Lounge in Seattle's Chinatown International District. While they found evidence of a shooting—shell casings inside and outside of the building—the police found no victims. Instead, four people with gunshot wounds took themselves to Harborview Medical Center and a fifth called 911 while wandering around Sodo. According to nearby businesses, this is not the first late night shooting at Caravel. The hookah lounge has been a hotbed of late-night drama. 

Hmmm... maybe the mayor's approach isn't working: A new Seattle Times piece ties the surge in International District neighborhood crime with Mayor Bruce Harrell's policies to clean up downtown. By prioritizing sweeping and cleaning up visible homelessness downtown, Harrell has pushed people on the street elsewhere. Harrell is failing to address the problem by prioritizing short-term punitive measures, such as increasing misdemeanor arrests, instead of providing adequate shelter or housing. People have left downtown and flocked to places without regular police patrols or three-times-a-day sidewalk power washes, like in the ID's Little Saigon. But at least the business owners in the Downtown Seattle Association are happy. 

Boat ablaze in Elliott Bay: A 40-foot boat about a mile offshore of West Seattle caught fire on Sunday. A civilian boat rescued the boater from their burning vessel before emergency crews arrived. 

 

 

More layoffs at Boeing: More union engineers have been cut at a beleaguered Boeing. According to the website of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), Boeing cut 222 additional union workers last week. That's on the heels of cutting 438 other SPEEA roles last month. 

Hopefully this one doesn't die: Speaking of Boeing, a still-alive whistleblower recently revealed that thousands of "nonconforming" or faulty parts "go missing" during aircraft production. He said he believed those bad parts could be on Boeing planes. More than 200 whistleblowers have come forward with reports of mismanagement and sloppy inspections in this no good, very bad year for Boeing. Notably, two Boeing whistleblowers died suddenly this year. 

HBD: Swanson's Nursery in north Ballard is celebrating its 100th year in business. 

Good news: It'll be sunny today. 

Sigh: With the news that Tammy Morales is stepping down from the Seattle City Council, perennial election loser Tanya Woo says she's "not ruling out" another shot at a seat on the council. 

Syrian rebels topple Assad regime: After more than 50 years of authoritarian rule by the Assad family in Syria and nearly 14 years of civil war, a group of rebel forces ousted President Bashar Assad and his government in a two-week offensive. As soon as Damascus fell, rebels rushed to prisons to free the tens of thousands of political prisoners and those who vanished since the onset of the civil war in 2011. Syrians are celebrating. Roads back into the country are clogged as refugees make their way home. The rebellion was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group with ties to al-Qaeda. However, the leaders say they have cut ties with the extremist group. It is unclear who will lead Syria and how the new government will function. President Joe Biden called the regime ousting a "fundamental act of justice" while cautioning that it is also "a moment of risk." 

Some hope for now: 

 

More details around Syria: Assad fled to long-time ally Russia for asylum. The rebel forces' success was partly due to the fact that Assad's allies Russia, Hezbollah, and Iran were spread too thin and preoccupied with their own wars with Ukraine and Israel to be of any help. Never one to pass up an opportunity for a land grab, Israel seized Syrian-held territory in the wake of the rebellion. 

In healthcare assassin news: The New York Police Department finally located the bag the killer of UnitedHealthcare's CEO left in Central Park shortly after the shooting. Inside, the cops found a Tommy Hilfiger jacket and Monopoly money. They still have no idea where this guy went or who he is. Their current lead is that the shooter took a bus out of the city. They're combing a Central Park lake for the murder weapon. Internet sleuths say they won't try to find the killer. Meanwhile, in the perfect culmination of the newest trend, New Yorkers hosted a shooter look-alike contest. Someone has already penned fan fiction about the shooter. 

 

Protect and serve? The Broward County Sheriff's Department whipped up batches of crack cocaine, sold it to people, and then arrested them for buying crack cocaine back in the 1990s. Despite the Supreme Court ruling the practice interfered with an individual's right to due process, an estimated 2,600 may still carry the stain of those convictions on their permanent record. The State Attorney for Broward County wants to make things right and help people clear their names by reaching out to the State Attorney’s office. 

Protect and serve! A cop in a parade injured 10 bystanders in Palm Springs, California when he lost control of his motorcycle while trying to pop a wheelie. 

ICYMI: We visited Wellspring Health Access, the last full service abortion clinic in Wyoming, and captured a day of patient care at their oasis in a sea of red. We saw a teenager getting abortion care and long lasting birth control. We saw a patient travel nine hours, across state lines, only to find out that they couldn't get an abortion that day. We saw protestors and clinic escorts, and took cigarette breaks with staff behind security gates. It's easy to think that Wyoming is worlds away from our experience here in Washington, but don't forget about Newport, WA, where a patient would have to travel 250 miles to Yakima to access abortion care. Abortion deserts are everywhere. Check out the whole photo essay here.

A song for your Monday: I'm told Father John Misty's newest album is a divorce album. Here's a song off of it: