Impoverished PNW Journalists Strike McClatchy Newspapers: Just as they threatened, dozens of journalists struck papers across Washington and Idaho today, claiming management won’t send decision-makers to logjammed contract negotiations over increased pay. The workers say the strike will last one day, and request readers not cross the virtual picket lines and avoid the websites of the Tacoma News-Tribune, Idaho Statesman, Bellingham Herald, the Olympian, and the Tri-City Herald. More details from the Idaho and Washington State NewsGuilds.
Mexico Will Host Iranian World Cup Team: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the change of scenery yesterday, saying FIFA contacted her about moving the team after the US said it didn’t want to host Iran, which it has been bombing for months. The Iranians are still slated to play several matches in the US during the World Cup, including in Seattle, but Al Jazeera says they’ll be in Tijuana, not Tucson.
CBS End News Radio Broadcasts: Unqualified CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss claimed another victory in her war against the media over Memorial Day Weekend, shuttering CBS News Radio after 99 years on air and laying off all radio workers. The Spokesman Review has a darling piece on the old radio news personalities and the Edward R. Murrow School down at Washington State University.
Susan Collins Earns a Nazi Gaffe of Her Own: Not content to let her challenger hog all the anti-Semitic scandal with his Nazi tattoo, Republican US Senator Susan Collins of Maine posted a photo op with a white supremacist militia on Memorial Day. She later deleted it.
Judge Says King County Prosecutor’s Failure to Provide Exculpatory Evidence “Systemic”: Judge Tanya Thorp says Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion’s office withheld evidence in a number of juvenile cases that would have let defendants off the hook. Thorp hit the prosecuting attorney’s office with $10,000 in sanctions last week according to The Seattle Times.
The Weather is Kinda Shit Today: The sun should peek out in the afternoon, but you should still bring a jacket.
Young People to Go Hungry under SNAP Cutbacks: When the Trump administration slashed billions of dollars from the nation’s primary food assistance program (SNAP) last summer, they also increased requirements to qualify for benefits in the first place. New work requirements are poised to kick millions of young adults off SNAP. According to The New Republic, “able-bodied adults without dependents between the ages of 18 and 64 must either work, participate in job training, or volunteer for at least 80 hours per month. If they do not record participating in these activities over three months, they will not be eligible for SNAP for another three years.”
Landlords Fork Back Illegally Raised Rents to Tenants: Washington might not have rent control like a real country yet, but the legislature did put a cap on rent increases last year of about 10 percent. Since then, dozens of landlords have been fined for illegally increasing rents, though, according to the Washington State Standard, none of the fines have actually been paid yet (you can’t exactly threaten them with eviction).
Eastern Washington Mice LOVE Having Hantavirus: According to a new study, the mice and deer out in the Palouse are infected with Hantavirus at an above average level. Great! In an interview with the Spokesman Review, Washington State University researcher Pilar Fernandez said, “It’s not one or two rodents. It’s nearly a third of the rodents. It is circulating and it’s not going away. It’s here, it’s being transmitted, and it’s going to be a constant threat to the human population.” This is not what I want to hear from a disease ecologist.
I Do Not Know if Marmots Can Get Hantavirus: But hopefully this one doesn’t.
