Mask-off: Today is the last day of Washington stateās indoor mask mandate. You can lose the mask at restaurants, gyms, grocery stores, etc. unless of course the business wants to enforce its own policy, in which case donāt be a dick? People do not make $17 an hour to deal with your meltdowns. āWell, actually silver foxes, Gov. Inslee and King County Executiveāā shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up. You are such a nerd and you have zero class solidarity.
There are some places where you still have to wear a mask and again, Iām gonna ask you to please be chill. You gotta wear a mask in health care facilities such as hospitals, pharmacies, and long-term care settings. You also have to wear them on transit, such as buses, light rail, and airports. Got it? It'll be a learning curve, so maybe keep a mask with you even if you want to wear it as little as possible. I will probably still wear it so I can blame any breakouts on mask-ne (mask acne).
It has been so long since Iāve been happy:
7 pm sunsets begin in less than 72 hours.
ā Seattle Weather Blog (@KSeattleWeather) March 11, 2022
Remember: Set your clocks FORWARD on Sunday. Spring FORWARD. I do not know why we ever put our clocks back, winter is hell on earth. Iām sure someone will repost a story from like 2013 about why we do the clocks and it wonāt be like farming during the war or whatever. I do know, however, that the state Legislature passed permanent daylight saving (yay!), but the feds need to approve it (darn).
Wow, this seems like a long time coming??? Washington Supreme Court decided we shouldnāt use past sexual contact as evidence when ruling in sexual assault cases. Very good move. Cannot believe the ālustful dispositionā doctrine didnāt get the boot like 20 years ago, my GOD. Hereās the court's reasoning, according to Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis: āThe term ālustful dispositionā perpetuates outdated rape myths that sexual assault, including child sex abuse, results from an uncontrollable sexual urge or a sexual need that is not met.ā If a defendant's past is somehow relevant to their motive or proves they were planning, the court will allow it as evidence.
Short, short session: You state government nerds arenāt kidding when you call even-numbered years a short session. Holy shit. That went by so fast (as someone who was not actively reporting on it, Rich might have a different perspective lol). [Eds note: I do not. It's always too short. The session should go all year, and we should pay those assholes double so that the Legislature isn't just a bunch of proto-lobbyists and retired cops/homeowners.] If you missed it, the lovely Rich Smith wrapped up the session in Slog PM. And Iām sure there will be more details from him to tie a bow around the last 60 days soon.
KOMO knows its audience: Yesterday KOMO tried to answer a question near and dear to the hearts of property owners: Why canāt we put everyone in jail? The news outlet spoke with the presiding judge of King County Superior Court, a victim of violent crime, and, of course, a small business owner.
Save the trees: May is a beloved western red cedar tree, one of the tallest on South Mayflower Street. Sheās 44.5 inches in diameter, so she easily qualifies as an āexceptionalā tree, which means if you want her gone to put in a parking lot or something, you gotta go through the city. When a developer planned to build a new single-family home and submitted a request to chop May down, neighbors protested. Their efforts seem to have worked, but the South Seattle Emerald reported that it is up to developers to self-report taking out protected trees, so big trees around the city could be cut down without the city ever knowing.
More sweeps: Today the city will sweep Westlake Park at 9 am ā unless they randomly decide to delay for weeks and then clear tents with two hours' notice. After a standoff at the City Hall encampment, tensions in the city are high, but the regular anti-sweep crew is exhausted. Iāll keep an eye on the situation and try to update you on Twitter.
RIP Emilio Delgado:
Emilio Delgado, the actor whose decades-long portrayal of āSesame Streetās fix-it shop owner Luis Rodriguez, died in New York City today. He was 81 https://t.co/zerCin1C1i
ā Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) March 11, 2022
So do Proud Boys like cops or? A top Proud Boy from the Auburn-area got hit with his 7th charge for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege. This time, he got dinged for āassaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.ā He pleaded not guilty. The CIA or the cops or whoever found at least a dozen people from Washington who domestic terrorismād too close to the sun at the Capitol riot. The Department of Justice said that people from basically all 50 states participated. Very united, these states are.
Russia continues to bomb and kill Ukrainians: Russia attacked new targets in Ukraine. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia bombed Lutsk, near the Polish border; and Ivano-Frankivsk, in the southwest; taking out two military airfields. Three Russian airstrikes also hit Ukraineās fourth largest city, Dnipro, a major industrial hub in central-eastern Ukraine.
As of 20 hours ago, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has killed at least 549 civilians, including 41 children.
A little more heart-warming:
I received an update from a relative of Marianna - a pregnant girl from Mariupol's bombed hospital. They were able to reach her on the phone briefly. Last night at 10pm, Marianna gave birth to a baby girl! They are ok, but it's very cold in Mariupol and the bombing doesn't stop pic.twitter.com/PSLxI6I0zZ
ā Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) March 11, 2022
The U.S. reacts: AP News reported that Joseph Robinette Biden, in true Democrat fashion, will do the soy-est form of intervention, pleasing neither the anti-war crowd nor the people frothing at the mouth to fulfill some weird USSR fantasy with violent conflict. The U.S., along with the European Union and the Group of Seven countries, will revoke āmost favored nationā trade status for Russia. This is a little more severe than removing Russia from our Myspace Top 8. Taking away the status will allow these countries to impose tariffs on Russian imports. At the same time, the U.S. Congress just passed a $14 billion aid package for Ukraine.