“Momgate” Strikes Back: Remember during Mayor Katie Wilson’s campaign when former Mayor Bruce Harrell’s team tried to turn getting financial support from her parents for her toddler’s childcare into a scandal? It’s back. Wilson was fined $250 by the city for not reporting the $10,000 given to her by her parents, which the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission decided should've been reported as in-kind contributions. Wayne Barnett, the commission’s executive director, said child care help hadn’t come up in past campaigns, which makes sense. Most campaigns in this city are run by wealthier people and men. Wilson cooperated fully with the commission and promptly paid the fine, he said.

One Less Sweep in the City: Yesterday, Mayor Wilson visited an encampment in Ballard scheduled to be swept by the city, took a look around and decided to stop that sweep (temporarily), so they could take more time to “improve outcomes” for the residents, which presumably means getting them sheltered. And shortly after that, the Mayor sent out an alert that this morning, she is making a major announcement about her emergency housing plan. We’re watching for updates later today. Sidenote: We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez was also at the encampment, making videos about how annoyed she was that Wilson didn’t agree that treatment should in fact come first (studies show it shouldn’t).  

Off the Menu: The Washington State legislature is considering a bill that would ban the sale, possession, transport, and distribution of farmed octopus in the state. “Octopus are intelligent creatures. They’ve shown aptitude for problem-solving,” said Rep. Adam Bernbaum, a Dem from Port Angeles. And a 2021 study showed that they can experience distress and happiness. (Maybe they can solve our budget problems, which certainly distress them.) Now don’t worry, the bill isn’t meant to keep you from your favorite grilled octopus if that’s your jam. “But if we can make sure that its harvest is done in a more compassionate, less painful way with fewer ecological impacts, we should do so,” said Bernbaum.

Again: A week after ICE shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, a federal officer shot a man in the leg in the same city. DHS said the officer was attacked with a shovel while trying to make an arrest. After a car chase involving a Venezuelan national ended in a crash, DHS claims the driver and two other people attacked the agent. An ICE agent and the man ICE shot were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Minneapolis officials said on X: “The City of Minneapolis again demands that ICE leave the city and state immediately.”

Now to Vivian, for more bad news.

Very tough, Tim: Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act to stop people from protesting and/or filming his ICE agents in Minneapolis (which VP Vance has said are allowed to operate with “absolute immunity”). Trump wrote on Truth Social: “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz posted a “direct appeal” to the President, asking him to “turn the temperature down.” “This is not who we are,” Walz wrote. Seeing as this keeps fucking happening, I think it is exactly who we are!

Yesterday, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt at the White House to talk about the future of the semiautonomous Danish territory Trump is threatening to take by force. Rasmussen said there’s still a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland and that it was “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland.” Trump didn’t take part, but said after the meeting that “We need Greenland for national security … We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”

At Denmark’s request, NATO allies Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada are deploying troops to Greenland for a joint exercise, the pointedly named “Operation Arctic Endurance.” In a speech today, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would be sending “land, air, and sea assets” to Greenland. Denmark’s army chief says he’s ready to defend Greenland. Breaking with our NATO allies to seize Greenland’s mineral resources and Trump’s refusal to accept the territory is not for sale is serious shit. It could cause global conflict, maybe wars. It is absurdly dangerous

In a CNN interview earlier this year, Trump’s aide Stephen Miller said Greenland rightfully belonged to the US and that nobody would fight us militarily for it. His quote has been echoing in my head since: “We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.” 

Alright, back to me!

Fucking with the Fourth Estate: The FBI raided the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her devices as part of a leak investigation tied to a Pentagon contractor. Natanson wasn’t accused of any wrongdoing, but agents took her phone, laptops, and Garmin watch. They said they were in pursuit of a government employee who was accused of improperly retaining classified material. Executive Editor Matt Murray said the search was “deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work.”

Border Patrol Shooting Victim in Court: Luis David Nino-Moncada was one of two people a Border Patrol agent shot in a car last week in Portland. Agents claimed he’d repeatedly slammed into their car. After being hospitalized for several days, he pleaded not guilty yesterday to aggravated assault on a federal employee and damaging federal property. His passenger, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, is being held at an immigration detention facility in Tacoma, facing a charge of illegal entry into the U.S. The DHS claims both were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Megadonors, Megacuts: The Gates Foundation is going on a $9 billion spending spree this year to fund for global health, vaccines, women’s health, education, and AI (?????) while quietly shrinking its workforce by up to 500 jobs. 

Emergency: Seattle’s emergency management system is stretched thin ahead of a season of storms, floods, and the World Cup. Officials told city leaders the city lacks the staff and solid crisis plans to handle co-occurring disasters, from power outages to transit shutdowns, without buckling. Aging infrastructure and climate change adds to the strain. City leaders now face pressure to patch long-neglected holes in the safety net.

The Girls Are Fighting: Boomers posting bad takes on social media is annoying enough. But when they’re boomer cops posting bad takes on Facebook about an ICE agent shooting and killing a woman? Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank posted “PSA: if law enforcement tells you to stop. STOP,” he wrote. Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders called him out on Facebook, saying it’s “disturbing that we have an elected sheriff in our state mocking Renee’s death on social media.” Swank shot back and called him an “altruistic narcissist.” What? 

News Bad, Weather Fine: Cloudy. High of 46, low of 42.