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It doesn't look like Trump will agree to rule changes for the upcoming presidential debates:
Despite his dumb-ass comment (he did not win that debate), Trump's top campaign officials said today that Trump looks forward to the next two debates. Yesterday, the Commission on Presidential Debates released a statement that Tuesday's debate "made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues." I'm still crossing my fingers for a mute button, but it seems like Trump would just walk over and start yelling into whatever mic is available.Why would I allow the Debate Commission to change the rules for the second and third Debates when I easily won last time?
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2020
King County Sheriffâs Office's Fire Investigation Unit is looking for help: The building that will be the home to Black Coffee Northwest in Shoreline was hit with "several" incendiary devices early Wednesday morning. The department asks people with information regarding the potential arson to call their non-emergency line at (206) 263-2070. The coffee shop and community hub was supposed to open today, but that opening has been pushed back "a few weeks" due to the fire. Find out more about the shop here.
Early this morning we were dispatched to a structure fire. Upon our arrival, it was extinguished, but determined it was...
Posted by Shoreline Fire Department on Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Do you know the guy who cut the head off that Canada goose at Green Lake Park? There's a reward. I'm not embedding the video because it's fucking gross, but it's out there.
Thank you for reading Slog, but you've still got time to dip and watch this Seattle Town Hall hosted by KUBE 93.3âs Besa from 6 to 9 pm tonight. It features:
Watch it here:
The Stranger is also ready to rumbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhlllllll: We're hosting four candidate debates in October. The eight candidates we selected are all running to represent the Seattle area in Olympia, and they'll squirm through a gauntlet of tough policy questions, fantasy character-building exercises, a freakin' mini-quest, and a totally low-rent online talent show. Learn more about who's debating and how to get a ticket HERE.
Feds were instructed to "make public comments sympathetic to Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with fatally shooting two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin," according to talking points obtained by NBC News:
In preparing Homeland Security officials for questions about Rittenhouse from the media, the document suggests that they note that he "took his rifle to the scene of the rioting to help defend small business owners."
Another set of talking points distributed to Homeland Security officials said the media were incorrectly labeling the group Patriot Prayer as racists after clashes erupted between the group and protesters in Portland, Oregon.
It is unclear whether any of the talking points originated at the White House or within Homeland Security's own press office.
Crime in Seattle has dropped: And that's according to SPD's own statistics. Capitol Hill Seattle blog has the skinny:
In the East Precinct including Capitol Hill and the Central District, despite the massive influx of protesters, demonstrators, and campers during months of unrest and the CHOP occupied protest, crime is down 4% through August so far in 2020. In June during the height of CHOP, crimeâincluding everything from animal cruelty to street robberiesâdropped a whopping 14% from recent years across the precinct.
Read CHS blog's great analysis here.
Today's fog was appropriately moody for the first day of October: But I hope it totally clears out by nightfall because tonight's a full moon. In Japan, October 1 is tsukimi, a moon-viewing festival that features that grass emoji, dumplings, and little moon rabbits. Even if it's foggy where you are, make a stack of moon-viewing dumplings and pretend you can see that fat rock.
All roads lead to....uh, well looks like the abyss this morning. If you're out driving, hope your commute is going well in this thick fog! pic.twitter.com/RxUj322dsT
â WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) October 1, 2020
Your long-read for the evening: The Secret History of Kimberly Guilfoyleâs Departure from Fox over at the New Yorker.
Guilfoyle, one of the Trump family/campaign's most popular faces, tells the New Yorker she "never engaged in any workplace misconduct of any kind." But the paper's report reveals that Guilfoyle's earlier exit from Fox News came while she was facing rumors of sexual harassment:
Among other things, [Guilfoyle's assistant] said that she was frequently required to work at Guilfoyleâs New York apartment while the Fox host displayed herself naked, and was shown photographs of the genitalia of men with whom Guilfoyle had had sexual relations. The draft complaint also alleged that Guilfoyle spoke incessantly and luridly about her sex life, and on one occasion demanded a massage of her bare thighs; other times, she said, Guilfoyle told her to submit to a Fox employeeâs demands for sexual favors, encouraged her to sleep with wealthy and powerful men, asked her to critique her naked body, demanded that she share a room with her on business trips, required her to sleep over at her apartment, and exposed herself to her, making her feel deeply uncomfortable.
Trickle-down white supremacy from the White House: Gavin McInnes's Proud Boys are reporting renewed interest in their paramilitary force forâuh, what's their PR line, ohâ"Western chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world." One spokesperson for the Proud Boys told the Seattle Times he received "25 emails just this morning from people asking about what they have to do to become members."
If you need a refresher on the "boys":
Trumpâs violent thugs the Proud Boys are trending again because they attacked a BLM protester with a baseball bat, beat the shit out of him while he was down and pepper sprayed him repeatedly.
Using gang leader Gavin McInnesâ own words, hereâs who the Proud Boys are: pic.twitter.com/aSYjlvlBVK
â Vic Berger IV (@VicBergerIV) September 8, 2020
In the middle of its second outbreak, UW now reports over 100 COVID cases among frat and sorority members: Less than a day ago, the Interfraternity Council reported 88 cases. Two days ago, the UW's Environmental Health & Safety Department confirmed 44 cases. The growing outbreak has spread across nine frats and sororities, reports The Daily.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson sues Brown Paper Tickets: The Seattle-based ticketing company is accused of failing to pay event organizers for events that occurred before COVID-19 shutdowns. They're also accused of not refunding customers whose events were canceled due to the coronavirus. BPT's founder and president claims they're just working through the refunds: "Like many businesses, we were unprepared for a crisis of this scale, but we are making headway."
Our office will sue ticket company Brown Paper Tickets for not paying event organizers or refunding ticket buyers. We received 583 complaints about its conduct during the pandemic and the company owes more than $6.75 million across the US. Read more here: https://t.co/31lEBxUi3T pic.twitter.com/iZ6M4JsK4r
â Washington State Attorney General (@AGOWA) September 30, 2020
Here's the press release from the AG's office.
Amazon says almost 20,000 of its front-line workers in the United States have tested positive or been presumed positive for COVID-19: And somehow these overlord dorks are bragging about that figure. "The online retail behemoth, revealing the data for the first time, said that the infection rate of its employees was well below that seen in the general U.S. population," writes Anne D'innocenzio for AP. "The disclosure comes after months of pressure from Amazon workers and labor groups calling for the company to divulge the COVID-19 numbers."
It's the first night of Scarecrow Video's Psychotronic Challenge: It's 31 days of "psychotronic" movies, baby! Details here. The challenge for tonight is:
"FAMILY TIME: Tired of seeing the same faces every day? Look at a movie instead! Rated PG or less. Ease into it."
I chose Ernest Scared Stupid (lol) because: 1) Eartha Kitt, 2) the trolls scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.
Here's a very weird fan-altered trailer:
The first #scvpsychochallenge is "Family Time: Rated PG or Less." We're going to go fairly extreme with it, starting with "Who Killed Doc Robbin?" pic.twitter.com/srYvJ2lpFz
â ScarecrowVideo (@ScarecrowVideo) October 1, 2020