Seattle City Council rejects more dense affordable housing: It would be cool if nonprofits and developers could build larger and taller buildings than zoning codes allow if they had affordable housing and/or community spaces, but only bill sponsor Tammy Morales and councilmember Dan Strauss voted to make that happen. The Seattle Times reports that some new council members said the city should address zoning as part of a larger planning effort instead of passing a lone bill. Before the vote, Strauss proposed a NIMBY-friendly amendment reducing the amount of additional density the bill allowed, but most of the council even rejected that.
ICYMI: Yesterday, I reported that Northwest Film Forum is struggling and cut nearly half of its staff to offset a financial deficit. The vital resource for Seattle filmmakers is not anywhere near closing, but it is enduring a hard time for nonprofits, especially for one that screens cool movies for a relatively niche audience.
Yesterday the Northwest Film Forum laid off nearly half of its small staff. Executive director Derek Edamura confirmed the cuts and said the nonprofit is struggling, but not closing.https://t.co/UUpPI7BG0F
— The Stranger 🗞 (@TheStranger) April 30, 2024
KUOW kills youth radio program, staff positions: One of Seattle’s two NPR stations announced $2 million in cuts Tuesday, scrapping its RadioActive Youth Media program, eight current positions, and the open jobs. Caryn G. Mathes, KUOW’s President and General Manager wrote in a statement that the reductions were necessary to maintain long-term financial stability. This is the first time KUOW has cut positions because of financial concerns. It’s an awful year for media layoffs!
KUOW’s RadioActive program has produced amazing alum like @faruq_kiefer, @jadennecabahug, @RealChangeNews‘s Associate Editor Marian Mohamed, and many others. For the past 20 years, it’s introduced youth to radio journalism and fostered a talent pipeline that will no longer exist.
— Ethan C. Campbell (@ethan2sea) April 30, 2024
Bruce Harrell hires firm to investigate SPD sexism: The Mayor announced Marcella Fleming Reed of MFR Associates will delve into claims of persistent sexual harassment and gender discrimination within the Seattle Police Department. Last week, four women in the department filed a $5 million tort claim alleging Chief Adrian Diaz and other department leaders discriminated against and sexually harassed them. Earlier this year, 27-year department veteran and assistant chief Deanna Nolette sued SPD and Diaz alleging gender and job discrimination. In November, a Black female detective also sued the department for 43 years of alleged gender and race discrimination. Is it just me or are you also sensing a theme…
Seattle judge gives crypto CEO light sentence: CNBC reports Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to allowing money laundering through the world’s largest crypto exchange. In November, Zhao struck a deal with the US government to resign as CEO and resolve an investigation into his company. Binance paid $4.3 billion in fines and forfeiture, while Zhao paid $50 million from his own pocket. He should be happy he got off so easy. The feds recommended a three-year sentence for Zhao and slammed his former rival Sam Bankman-Fried with 25 years for fraud and misusing customer funds.
Fish heist: Someone stole $12,500 worth of smoked salmon from Seattle Fish Guys in the Central District. Owner Sal Panelo told KING5 that one of his employees discovered the break-in over the weekend. Panelo said replenishing the stolen fish will take at least a week, and that the goods would’ve been enough to feed around 200 people.
Happy May Day! It’s a beautiful day to support your fellow workers around the world (especially in countries like Turkey where May Day celebrations have been unlawfully banned) and the weather’s nice, too. Expect a cool and dry day in the 50s. Someone at the National Weather Service in Seattle even made this cute graphic.
Happy May! A weak system sliding by the region this afternoon-tonight may bring a few light showers to the Olympic Peninsula & mountains today, however expect much of the interior lowlands to remain dry & cool. Afternoon highs will be in the mid to upper 50s. #wawx pic.twitter.com/lEvEq8fmMe
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) May 1, 2024
Florida’s 6-week abortion ban goes into effect: At six weeks, most people don’t know they’re pregnant. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 15-week ban that was still less restrictive than neighboring states, which made the state a common access point for reproductive care in the Southeast. Last year, Florida providers performed at least 84,000 abortions. USA Today reported the new law will change that, likely sending that number tumbling and Floridians traveling to North Carolina and Virginia for abortions, if they can afford the trip.
Cops arrest more than 200 at Columbia University: The New York Times reported that 56 years to the day the New York Police Department violently cleared a student occupation motivated by the Vietnam War and University plans to expand into Harlem, cops arrested 230 Pro-Palestine demonstrators that had taken control of the Hamilton Hall building. In a letter to police, University President Nemat Shafik has asked the NYPD to stay on campus until graduation on May 17.
Recap of tonight @ Columbia :thread::
Students were brutally arrested. Any news outlet that is reporting these were “peaceful arrests” is blatantly lying. Go watch videos from students inside to see how they were shoved down the stairs. Listen to their screams.
— Samaa Khullar (@samaakhu) May 1, 2024
Brown will vote to divest from Israel: Student protesters at Brown University struck a deal with University administrators Tuesday afternoon, reports The Brown Daily Herald. They agreed to clear their encampment and not hold any unauthorized protests between now and commencement in May in exchange for the school’s highest governing body, The Corporation, agreeing to vote on divesting from companies linked with Israel at a meeting this October.
ACLU releases report on police mistreating LGBTQ+ people: Using data from NORC at the University of Chicago, the ACLU, the University of Illinois, and the University of California, Irvine, discovered that LGBTQ+ people reported more adverse treatment from police. A staggering one in four transgender people surveyed reported experiencing physical force from police, and 44.9% said police had directed insulting language toward them. The report also found LGBTQ people were more likely to be detained, searched, and arrested more than non-LGBTQ people. Overall, the researchers found the treatment corresponded with less trust of the police which … sure makes a lot of sense.
The federal government is cool(er) with pot now? The DEA is set to take marijuana off its list of Schedule I drugs and reclassify it as much less dangerous. The move would knock it down to Schedule III to hang out with ketamine and formally recognize pot’s medical uses. The feds are stopping short of legalizing recreational pot, signaling their allegiance with suburban cops who love busting kids for jazz cigarettes and prosecutors addicted to drug convictions.
Biden team pulling the emergency lever https://t.co/waaRRlTQMI
— ali golub 🌼 (@alibrooke4ever) April 30, 2024
Three-year search for viral mystery song ends with a porno: In 2021, a hazy 17-second clip of what sounded like a lost catchy pop song from the ’80s was uploaded on the website Whatzatsong. Nicknamed “Everybody Knows That,” the song had since gone viral on TikTok, and spawned a subreddit dedicated to finding the origin of this infectious little nugget. Well, they finally figured out a guy named Christopher Saint Booth who produces films for SyFy wrote it for a 1986 adult film called Angels of Passion. The song’s real name is “Ulterior Motives” and you can finally listen to the whole thing (and totally hear loud moaning from a woman enjoying more than this song).
Vivian McCall
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