The Mayor talks eviction moratorium and cops
The Mayor talks eviction moratorium and cops. Screenshot from KING5's Facebook livestream

Bruce Harrell staves off mass homelessness for at least 30 more days: People who can not afford to live in this god-forsaken city rejoice! Mayor Bruce will not let your landlord kick you out for not paying rent for the past two years – at least not yet. Today, Harrell announced that he will extend the city’s eviction moratorium for 30 days. That means it ends on Feb. 14, so maybe landlords will serve eviction notices like an elementary school Valentine’s Day party – one for everybody!

The next 30-days: In a press release Harrell outlined his priorities for what could be the final month of the moratorium. He said we can look forward to an advisory board of tenant advocates and small landlords, outreach and education for at-risk Seattleites, an online portal to connect renters and small landlords to resources, and Harrell’s favorite strategy: looking at the data.

While he takes more time to figure that out, tenants see cracks in the systems designed to protect them.

Ruse news: Yesterday, the Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee met to discuss the cops’ very, very bad ruse. I tweeted about it a little if you want to check that out.

The gist: So basically Andrew Myerberg, director of the city’s Office of Police Accountability met with the council to talk about the cop’s imaginary Proud Boy ruse on June 8, 2020. Myerberg said that the tactic really was not a “true ruse” but a misinformation/disinformation campaign. Ruses are in bounds, misinfo is not. Committee Chair Lisa Herbold wants ruses subject to additional oversight and documentation. She wondered if the lower-ranking cops should be absolved of violating SPD policy per the initial conclusion of the OPA, which blamed the officers' supervisors.

Councilmember Andrew Lewis was looking for someone to just freaking take responsibility. What’s he gotta do? Defund you? Jk he didn’t say that. No one said we should stop paying cops to lie, actually. But the council is troubled. Capitol Hill Seattle Blog had more of the story.

Harrell on cops: The saga continued today in a press conference. Harrell also wants the cops to take some responsibility. The shrugs, the playing-dumb, Harrell was not a fan. He said if you did not know about the Proud Boys' supposed presence on June 8, you were not reading the news. And Harrell reads the fucking news. Harrell also took the bold stance that he has an “open mind” to banning cops from lying. Antifa has truly won.

But wait, there’s more: The South Seattle Emerald received an email that shows the cops also lied about the Proud Boys to various City departments.

New Bumbie: Okay, in non-ruse news, Neumos co-owner Steven Severin and Museum of Museums founder Greg Lundgren will take the lead on reimagining the beloved (and often sweaty) music festival, Bumbershoot. Hopefully they won’t change too much, high schoolers smuggling vodka in sunscreen bottles is a time-honored tradition.

Echohawk’s new gig: Colleen Echohawk? I haven’t heard that name in years. Months? What day is it? Today, Louie Gong, founder and CEO of Native-owned lifestyle brand Eighth Generation announced his leadership retirement and Echohawk will pick up his duties as CEO. So even though she gave up her position at Chief Seattle Club and lost her bid for mayor, it looks like Echohawk has landed on her feet.

A very nice photo from her campaign to jog your memory
A very nice photo from her campaign to jog your memory COURTESY OF ECHOHAWK FOR SEATTLE MAYOR CAMPAIGN

We need blood… The Seattle Times reported that Bloodworks Northwest has less than a day’s supply of blood right now. In fact, the whole country is low on blood. Yikes.

…But not your blood: Call it picky, call it chosey, or call it what it is – discrimination. The FDA does not allow men who have recently had sex with men to donate blood. And they define "sex" pretty broadly. (Sorry, no condom-ed BJs either!) Joni Madison, Interim President of the Human Rights Campaign, called for the FDA to end the homophobic policy as it’s outdated, unscientific, and unfairly stigmatizes men who have sex with men.

Think of the children: So we are in a COVID surge if you cannot tell. Scary world out there. And the kids are going back to school from winter break – you know, the time when people gather, inside, with all their various germs. With the virus taking teachers out of work, many schools are switching to remote learning temporarily. Keep an eye on your emails if you have school-aged kids at home because your school could announce a closure any day.

Think of the children also: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend gave testimony today to a federal grand jury investigating him for sex crimes. The two were in an open relationship when Gaetz allegedly paid to have sex with a 17-year-old in 2017. The reporters who have been watching this closer than I say this is very big and could possibly bring the Department of Justice closer to indicting him.

Stop the “stop the steal” questions: So, the girlies on Twitter will already know this, but the former President Donald Trump agreed to a 15 minute interview with “Morning Edition” host Steve Inskeep. Trump only lasted 9 minutes before he hung up because the goddamn journalist was being a goddamn journalist. Inskeep pressed Trump on his very poor-loser claims that the election was “rigged” against him and somehow fraudulent. The man has limits and he just hung up. Can’t blame him. We are, all of us, cowards.

Right-wing occupation in Snohomish: You’ve heard of CHAZ, CHOP, and CHAZ/CHOP, but KUOW dug into what happened when the right-wing occupied a street in Snohomish – spoiler: it resulted in a documentary.

I am weed: Machine Gun Kelly proved today that even creepy weirdos can land the hottest of all the hot girls, Megan Fox. Kelly popped the question today with a custom ring. Gross skeletal men have taken the world by storm as of late. Kim K has Pete Davidson, Fox has Kelly, and I have my very thin boyfriend. Not sure what it is about these men, but honestly, it's probably just that they text back quickly.