Disney's big-budget live-action Mulan remake is going straight to streaming: We're going to see lots of blockbusters go straight to streaming in the coming months. Although hopefully without this slight catch... To see Mulan online, you have to pay $30 and also be a Disney+ subscriber. I don't get it.
Mulan is coming to Disney+!?
...For thirty dollars. pic.twitter.com/xYrEkd9Kgl
â Alicia Stella (@AliciaStella) August 4, 2020
US coronavirus infection rates are high and death rates are rising... but virus testing in many states is... declining? Some officials blame the low testing rates on long wait times at testing sites and extended delays for test results. âWe have the capacity. Iowans just need to test,â said Iowa's governor. Iowa's testing rates have declined by 20% in the last two weeks.
The AP found that "the number of tests per day slid 3.6% over the past two weeks to 750,000, with the count falling in 22 states. That includes places like Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri and Iowa where the percentage of positive tests is high and continuing to climb, an indicator that the virus is still spreading uncontrolled."
The United States should be more like the NBA: "The numbers are still perfect. Of the 343 players tested since results were last announced July 29, none has been confirmed positive." Looks like that Disney bubble is working, so far.
Washington State reported 706 new coronavirus cases today and five more deaths. Washington state has conducted over a million tests for coronavirus since the pandemic started, but the Department of Health hasn't reported the number of negative tests since the beginning of August, claiming a reporting system error. So they're not positive about WA's positive test rate at the moment. UW Virology is reporting an overall positivity rate of 5.3%.
Gyms are supposed to be places where you can improve your health: Not catch and spread a potentially fatal respiratory disease... and yet... "Eight Eastern Washington fitness centers have been fined a total of more than $77,000 for violating the stateâs coronavirus closure order and potentially exposing employees to the virus," reports the Seattle Times. Maybe people think germ theory is fake news.
In-person schooling is about to be canceled: Rich Smith has more here on how the state is not recommending kids go to school unless they are little kids living on the San Juan Islands, basically.
Big ass boat alert: This makes me think of how much Rich loves barges. And also barge-gate.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jonesâ 109-meter superyacht arriving at the waterfront downtown from r/Seattle
Seattle City Council President Lorena Gonzalez believes the mayor's "strategy" is "to delegitimize, delay, and distract" efforts to defund SPD "in the hopes that the political whims will change." Nevertheless, today the council unanimously agreed to go forward with SPD staff reductions. Nathalie Graham just published a post on today's council shenanigans.
Huge crowd just arrived at City Hall #seattleprotest #seattleprotests pic.twitter.com/mbeGQvn3HK
â David Ryder (@davidmryder) August 5, 2020
What this means: An SPD exec making $220,000/year will have gross pay for rest of 2020 reduced to around $180,000.
Because just these 13 execs are paid so much, this'll save nearly half a million dollars this year to invest in Black & Brown working classhttps://t.co/Wywy81zunk
â Kshama Sawant (@cmkshama) August 5, 2020
An Ellensburg brewery put up a picture of Gov. Inslee dressed as a Nazi: They're "facing pushback." I wonder why. "I was getting people from Tacoma and Seattle threatening us," the owner told the Sinclair-owned KOMO, which wrote a very sympathetic article about the brewery.
If you want some video from Tim Eyman's election night party, KOMO's also got that right here. And here's the message Eyman sent supporters this morning.
Some of the weirdest newz of the day... Details of this investigation have not been disclosed. Firearms were seized from the 23-year-old YouTube celebrity's home.
The FBI used a SWAT team to enter Jake Paul's mansion in Calabasas on Wednesday and executed a search warrant as part of an investigation, a bureau spokesperson saidhttps://t.co/xJrqkGfIw0
â The New York Times (@nytimes) August 5, 2020
"No mask, no travel, no exceptions": If you're over the age of 2, you have to wear a mask on all Alaska Airlines flights starting Friday, reports the Seattle Times. (Although, honestly, why are you even flying?) I'm anticipating tantrums from our nation's patriots.
Good news! Gov. Inslee has extended the utility shutoff moratorium until October 15.
"A show of progressive might": That's the New York Times headline on Cori Bush, the progressive activist who "toppled" veteran Representative William Lacy Clay Jr. of Missouri yesterday. Love reading this analysis: "...the same brand of politics that has helped young, liberal candidates of color unseat veteran party stalwarts in places like Massachusetts and New York could also resonate deep in the heartland..." It's like people forget electeds like Ilhan Omar represent the midwest.
pic.twitter.com/1FWav4DQ7U
â Cori Bush (@CoriBush) August 5, 2020
And speaking of elections... we've got another ballot drop update! Take it away, Rich Smith:
As of today Washington has counted 1.4 million ballots, and we have an estimated 621,145 more to go: Not much really shifted during the latest ballot drop, but we can start thinking about some trends. There was little moment in the executive branch, with current Secretary of State Kim Wyman widening her lead a touch and Jay Inslee dropping down slightly to 51.3%. In the 10th Congressional District, former Seattle Chamber of Commerce CEO Marilyn Strickland maintains her lead, and State Rep. Beth Doglio is holding onto second place with 13.7% of the vote share. Former State Rep. Kristine Reeves dropped a touch to 13%, and socialist trucker Joshua Collins cracked 1,000, though heâs still behind perennial candidate Richard Boyce of the âCongress Sucks Party.â
Up in the 42nd District: Democratic incumbent State Rep. Sharon Shewmake is still losing to Republican Jennifer Sefzik, though sheâs now only down two points. Shewmake needs to close a 1,056-vote gap. Still, this will be a close race in November and a possible GOP pick-up in the State House.
Down in the 28th LD: Democratic State Senate hopeful Tâwina Noblesâ two-point lead over Republican State Senator Steve OâBan has dropped to a virtual tie. She now leads by only 23 votes. Again, this will be another close race in November, but itâll be a possible pick-up for the Senate Demsâas long as they donât spend all their money trying to save State Senator Mark Mulletâs seat from another Democrat, psychiatric nurse Ingrid Anderson.
Speaking of whom: Andersonâs lead over Mullet narrowed to just a point today. Sheâs leading by 246 votes.
Thanks, Rich! Check out our other takeaways from last night's ballot drop here.
JEEEEESUS: How many Resistance Dems watched this and had November 2016 flashbacks?
A Lebanese bride poses for a wedding photo shoot. Then 2750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded. pic.twitter.com/CZJbFaQpvo
â Bel Trew (@Beltrew) August 5, 2020