A peek at my first round of movies Im trying to get through for this years SIFF, which kicks off tonight!
A peek at the first round of films we're trying to get through for this year's SIFF, which kicks off digitally tonight! SIFF

West Seattle Blog has updates on the new, updated rules on who can drive on the West Seattle low bridge: SDOT dropped the new rules today, and they include changes to open-to-all traffic hours and who can apply to have special access to use the lower bridge. Specifics here. And here's the presentation on the traffic updates:

In case you somehow missed it: We've got a big broken bridge. We assume everyone knows about our big broken bridge—but who knows! Maybe you just moved here!

Today in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, medical experts took the stand to reiterate what everyone except the defense seems to understand: George Floyd died of asphyxiation from Chauvin kneeling on his neck for nearly nine-and-a-half minutes, rather than the result of any health issues or drug use.

The pal of creepy-creep Rep. Matt Gaetz and wildly corrupt former Florida tax collector, Joel Greenberg, is expected to plead guilty to charges of sex trafficking and wire fraud: Aaaaaand who wants to bet that he'll happily flip on Gaetz to shave years off his prison time? (Hee, hee, heeeeeee.)

And I—

—OOP:

Meanwhile, trending on Twitter:

Screen_Shot_2021-04-08_at_4.45.58_PM.png

As Jasmyne mentioned in Slog AM today, Biden announced a round of modest gun safety executive orders: While saying very clearly that these measures are not nearly enough, President Biden released his first slate of gun control mandates that include getting rid of "ghost guns"—handmade firearms without serial numbers—and making it easier to flag family members who shouldn't own guns. (Personal question, can we nominate everyone in our extended families?) He's also called for a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. (Those sounds you hear are your neighborhood cowards running to the gun shop.) Here he is announcing the new orders this afternoon:

Aaaand right on cue: Yet ANOTHER mass shooting occurred today in Bryan, Texas, where several people were injured and the suspect is still at large.


👀:


$326,074 to 350 workers is no small change.

The RuPaul's Drag Race empire expands: The eight-episode RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under will kick off the global Drag Race franchise in Australia and New Zealand next month, premiering May 1. RuPaul and Michele Visage will oversee the judging panel alongside comedian Rhys Nicholson. In the US, viewers can watch the spin-off on the Wow Presents Plus app.


Hello Kitty better watch out, because I guarantee this kitty girl won't rest til her media franchise tops the queen of Sanrio.

Quite a line to open a story: "Brian Robson is looking for the two Irishmen who helped stuff him into a wooden crate in 1965 and ship him home to the U.K. in the mail."

A new report from the Guardian found over 3,600 US health care workers died from COVID-19 in the country's first year battling the pandemic: The yearlong investigation reports that most of the workers who died were nurses or support staff and that more than half of those who died were under the age of 60. "In the general population, the median age of death from Covid-19 is 78," writes Jane Spencer and Christina Jewett. "Yet among healthcare workers in our database, it is only 59." Some of the accelerators for these deaths included "widespread PPE and mask shortages, a lack of Covid testing, weak contact tracing, inconsistent mask guidance by politicians, missteps by employers, and lax enforcement of workplace safety rules by government regulators."

Around the world: Virus and death. The AP:

  • "Brazil’s death toll has risen past 340,000, the second-highest total in the world behind the U.S., where nearly 560,000 people have been confirmed killed."
  • "South Korea reported 700 more cases, the highest daily jump since Jan. 5."
  • "In India, home to 1.4 billion people, only 11 million are fully vaccinated. In Brazil, less than 3% of the country’s 210 million people have received both doses."
  • "Michigan has averaged more than 7,000 new cases a day — a number that makes the state second in the nation behind New York. Michigan also has the highest number of new cases per capita, with 1 of every 203 state residents getting diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 31 and April 7."

    • School's out next week: Keep your COVID to yourselves, kids!


    How's that Amazon union vote going? "When counting ended Thursday night, there were 1,100 votes against unionization and 463 votes in support, with about half the ballots counted. The preliminary results put Amazon ahead by more than a 2-1 margin."

    The land that houses the National Archives at Seattle will not be sold: The Biden Administration intervened in the sale, reports the Seattle Times.

    “Tribal consultation is a priority for this Administration … the process that led to the decision to approve the sale … is contrary to this Administration’s tribal-consultation policy, and I am accordingly withdrawing OMB’s approval of the sale of that facility,” said the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.

    In 2016, the shadowy five-person Public Buildings Reform Board determined the 10 acres that houses the National Archives should be sold to developers due to "a deferred maintenance backlog of $2.5 million." That meant a potential devastating cultural erasure for local tribes and community groups. Washington state fought back and earned a preliminary injunction to prevent the sale earlier this year, but now it's official. Great job, great job, now someone, please, get them the resources to digitize everything next!! (As Matt Baume wrote earlier this year: "The archives building contains thousands of priceless historical treasures, of which only .001 percent are digitized.")

    In other deferred maintenance news: Cal Anderson's "fountain mountain" is getting a facelift.

    Here's your long read for the evening if you missed it this morning:

    A reminder, for no reasons WhatSoEver: Seattle Police Department had the most officers in DC on January 6

    Looking for something to do tonight? Join us in working our way through the Seattle International Film Fest's 2021 line-up. Tonight's opening film stars Eric Bana. While it's sold out, there are lots of other films to grab tickets or passes for. The fest runs from April 8 through 18 and is *~*all digital*~*

    Here's what's first on our lists tonight:

    While we still have your attention: Will you just gawk at how cute this image is again? Dohhhhhhh. Thanks, Hotdog Junior. Click through for more trailers.