Judi Dench insists sheâd be dead if it werenât for TikTok: The platform, "saved her life," reports Vulture. Same, Judi, same.
Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda's "JumpStart Seattle" tax advances out of budget committee to a final full council vote set for Monday: The proposal would raise more than $200 million a year, targeting companies with many highly paid employees, reports the Seattle Times. Mosqueda has proposed using this tax to "underwrite $86 million in coronavirus relief this year, to buttress city services as Seattle emerges from the pandemic in 2021 and to fund affordable housing, business assistance and community development in the long term."
Uhhhhh this happened today: Of course these two meganerds know each other. Also zoom in on the reflection and you can see it's Grimes who took the pic.
When you go to your boys house and youâre both wearing orange đ pic.twitter.com/IyPOdEKaVY
â ye (@kanyewest) July 1, 2020
This morning the Seattle Police Department took back CHOP, making way for Seattle Department of Transportation and Seattle Parks and Recreation to start clearing the area of tents and barricades. Here are some more updates regarding the area:
The state of the encampment on 12th Ave by late this morning: It's all rubble.From Stranger World HQ we've been able to get a bird's eye view of some of the dismantling: Like the "E Black Lives Matter St" sign and the Black Power fist just above it.The #CHOP has been reduced to one giant pile of debris in the middle of 12th... pic.twitter.com/zsXI6DQjWC
â Joseph Suttner (@josephsuttner) July 1, 2020Black Lives Matter St is now in the back of a SDOT truck. #CHOP pic.twitter.com/jMP2ie9MUC
â Chase Burns (@chaseburnsy) July 1, 2020The Black Power fist on 11th and Pine came down, as did the BLM street sign just below it #CHOP pic.twitter.com/YHD0kOFpGl
â jasmyne keimig (@jasmynekeimig) July 1, 2020Goodbye, Seattle People's Department: The Daily's Jake Goldstein-Street caught the best piece of graffiti being scrubbed clean this afternoon.
No longer the East Precinct of the Seattle Peopleâs Department in the #CHOP. #seattleprotest pic.twitter.com/DbcYn0vGeM
â Jake Goldstein-Street (@GoldsteinStreet) July 1, 2020Mayor Durkan, Police Chief Carmen Best, and other heads of Durkan's administration had a press conference this afternoon about the clearing of CHOP: Best said more than three dozen people have been arrested today and that SPD officers went inside the East Precinct to survey the damage and assess when they will be able to return to the building. CHS Blog has a good roundup of information presented to the press here, including Durkan saying she believes misdemeanor arrests for things like obstruction "should not be charged."
Also of note: is Seattle Parks and Rec Superintendent JesĂșs Aguirre saying it possible that the community garden in Cal Anderson might become a permanent part of the park after CHOP's clean-up. We saw trucks driving away from the protest zone plants that are apparently going into the city's greenhouse facilities.
FWIW, the White House is pleased that Seattle has been "liberated" from CHOP: President Trump apparently "set the tone" for how to deal with the protest zone. Check out Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany barely coherent "victory speech" here:
President Trump is taking the credit for dismantling CHOP. Despite the ham-fisted partisan politics on display here, it is clear that Mayor Durkan and the Seattle Police Department stand with President Trump, in violent opposition to the people of this city. pic.twitter.com/KLXpZIKHS0
â Spek (@spekulation) July 1, 2020
Read Rich Smith's full overview of the day here.
Governor Gavin Newsom of California ordered indoor businesses to close after seeing a worrying spike in COVID-19 infections across the state: This closure order includes restaurants, movie theaters, museums, and zoos in 19 counties that had cautiously reopened earlier this month and comes just before the Fourth of July holiday weekend. In the past 24 hours alone, California has reported 5,898 new cases and 110 deaths. Hot dogs taste just as good at home, trust me!
Michigan is shutting down indoor service in bars after more than 100 cases of COVID-19 were tied to a popular bar in East Lansing: This shutdown has a lot of caveats as it does not apply to bars in the Upper Peninsula or in the northern Lower Peninsula and only applies to places that earn more than 70% of their gross receipts from alcohol sales reports the Detroit Free Press.
A Yakima gym is the first employer to be cited for violating Washington's COVID-19 restrictions: The owner of Anytime Fitness Selah has been "willfully" refusing to close despite attempts by authorities to get him to comply, resulting in nearly $10,000 in fines, reports KOMO.
President Donald Trump calls "Black Lives Matter" a "symbol of hate" in response to New York City's decision to paint the rallying cry on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower, reports Politico. He goes on to criticize cuts to NYC's police budget, which activists say doesn't go far enough to reduced NYPD's presence in the city.
....horrible BLM chant, âPigs In A Blanket, Fry âEm Like Baconâ. Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, wonât let this symbol of hate be affixed to New Yorkâs greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020
Russians vote overwhelmingly in favor of a constitutional amendment that paves the way for President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036 in a national referendum that concluded today. Uh, let's hope 45 doesn't get any ideas.
It's been two years since Capitol Hill's Mystery Coke Machine disappeared: I remember being creeped out by it in high school, but still slipping money into its slot just for the thrill. Please return, MCM. We miss you.
And in non-CHOP, non-COVID-19 but still extremely Capitol Hill news...it's been exactly two years since the Mystery Coke Machine disappeared. The vintage soda dispenser remains at large. https://t.co/1JYLmGhjeq
â Paige Cornwell (@pgcornwell) July 1, 2020
I'm on the Aminé beat, so I'm obligated to share his new music video with you all: "My High" features UK artists Disclosure and slowthai. It's a doozy.