U.S. expels 60 Russian diplomats: According to senior Trump administration officials, all 60 of the diplomats were spies. The expulsion comes as a response to similar steps taken by other United Nations to punish Moscow for its alleged role in poisoning an ex-spy in Britain. It was also a move meant to send a message to Russia about the unusually high number of Russian intelligence operatives in the U.S. The Seattle Russian consulate was also ordered to close. Itâs a counter-intelligence concern because of its proximity to a U.S. naval base, Naval Base Kitsap, and Boeing. Definitely not a good time to get into the Russian spy business.
Russian diplomacy might be the only industry with worse job security than journalism.
â Jamie Ross (@JamieRoss7) March 26, 2018
In case you didnât know where Seattleâs Russian consulate was: Or that we even had a Russian consulate.
Hereâs where the Russian Consulate in Seattle is /was. pic.twitter.com/nYiqUFZgOD
â Susannah Frame (@SFrameK5) March 26, 2018
Canada joins in:
JUST IN: Canada also announces it will expel 4 Russian diplomats, joining U.S. and 14 E.U. states in taking action after UK spy poisoning case. U.S. currently expelling the most of any individual country - 60 total. E.U. states expel "more than 30." #KOMOnews https://t.co/q4rbCHXI56
â Cayle Thompson, KOMO (@CayleThompson) March 26, 2018
Bellevue mosque blaze not a hate crime: Inside the mosque there was evidence that squatters had been living there since the original fire in 2017. Authorities think it might have been teenagers. The words âFuck Schoolâ were graffitied on the wall, after all. Also, neighbors had seen kids jumping the fence. A group of people, possibly teens, was seen running from Bellevueâs Islamic Center of Eastside after it was engulfed in flames last week. There was no evidence of a hate crime.
Refugee numbers decline in Washington: Over the last six months, only nine Somali refugees came to Washington. To put that into perspective, last year over the same time period there were 210 Somali arrivals. These declining numbers reflect whatâs happening on a national scale; they indicate that Trump is holding fast to his refugee policies. Nationally, Trump has cut the number of refugees the U.S. will take in to 45,000 from Obamaâs previous 110,000 goal. The Seattle Times breaks down the data here.
Seattle keeps reeling 'em in: The Emerald City was among five metropolitan areas to bring in more people than it lost. The other four are Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Riverside, California â which, who the fuck is moving to Riverside of all places? People are jumping ship in other big cities. The other Washington (D.C) saw a net loss of 21,500 domestic movers last year while Boston saw 18,000 and San Francisco saw 24,000. Seattleâs population is now the 15th largest in the nation with 3.87 million people.
Two light-rail stations for South Lake Union: God forbid anyone should have to walk an extra five blocks. Yeah, five blocks, thatâs how close the two stations in SLU are going to be to each other. One of them is going to cost $544 million. There are concerns that with these costs â half a billion for one station, in case you forgot â other features that were included in the Sound Transit 3 package wonât be possible anymore. Construction will be done as soon as 2035. Will you live long enough to see it?
Forecast for today: The National Weather Service gets us.
And here's what to expect on what might be your 7th favorite day of the week. Yeah, it's going to be soggy. At least Monday is living up to some low expectations, right? đ Good news, though. It gets drier on Wednesday. #wawx pic.twitter.com/GUZqUtfSSi
â NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) March 26, 2018
Remington files for bankruptcy: One of the nationâs oldest gunmakers â since 1816! â is feeling the heat. The bankruptcy filing allows them to stay in business while they restructure their debt. They plan to keep making guns. However, this is just the latest sign of struggle for the gun industry. Across the board, gunmakers have reported dismal sales and plunging profits.
Flat-earther blasts off, crashes back down: Remember that flat earth conspiracy theorist? No, not the rapper B.o.B. The self-taught rocket scientist who kept trying to launch a rocket without accounting for gravity. Well, Mike Hughes finally had a successful launch. Sort of. He propelled himself 1,875 feet into the air in the Mojave Desert. But, as everyone except probably Hughes knows, what comes up must come down. He landed hard and then he went home and had dinner with his cats. The earth remained round.
A California man who blasted into the sky in a homemade rocket is recovering from minor injuries. Mike Hughes climbed more than 1,800 feet above California's Mojave Desert, after several failed attempts. @cbsmireya says he wants to prove the earth is flat, like a frisbee pic.twitter.com/GwmyGOIHoJ
â CBS News (@CBSNews) March 26, 2018
Wendyâs releases five track mixtape called You Beefinâ? Yeah. Thatâs about it. There are call out tracks for McDonalds and Burger King. This is an excerpt from the track âRest in Greaseâ: "You number one? That's a joke. Why yo' ice cream machine always broke?â I am so tired.
Lawyers for Trumpâs lawyer accuse Stormy Daniels of lying in interview: The highly anticipated Stormy Daniels interview aired on 60 Minutes last night. Daniels says she was threatened in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011 and told not to speak out against Trump. Michael Cohenâs attorney says that all of Danielsâ claims amount to nothing more than defamation. Her claims that someone close to Trump threatened her are, according to him, âspeculationâ and âguessworkâ
Cohenâs lawyer fired back almost immediately after the Daniels interview with this letter saying allegation of goon threatening her was false >> pic.twitter.com/TWH2djrFPq
â Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 26, 2018
Silicon Valley gets political with season 5 intro: The intro of the HBO show is altered a little bit each year to account for real-life changes in the tech world. Last night, the fifth season aired. Here is a bit of this yearâs intro:
HBOâs Silicon Valley throwing some subtle shade Facebookâs way on the Season 5 premiere. đđđ pic.twitter.com/JoDeOo7BBH
â Ryan McCaffrey (@DMC_Ryan) March 26, 2018
Good news for you whale watchers! There has been a spike in whale sightings along the Oregon and Washington coast. The Whale Watching Center at Depoe Bay in Oregon have cited between five to 10 whale sightings a day. The numbers of actual whales passing through are relatively normal. However, whale trackers in Los Angeles say they have seen a high number of northbound whales. West Coast gray whales also had a baby boom over the last six years.
Did you miss Saturdayâs March for Our Lives? Check out some of the best signs we saw.
Tonight's best Seattle entertainment options to conquer your Monday blues include: A talk with legendary comedic actor John Cleese, Lauren Yee's The Great Leap, and a night of noise-pop with U.S. Girls.