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Millionaires tax passes Senate: After a three hour debate, the 9.9 percent income tax on earnings over $1 million a year passed with a 27-22 vote. Three Democrats voted with Republicans. Lawmakers approved an amendment that repealed part of our sales tax, but didn’t approve a tax break on baby diapers.
Legalize It! “It” being smaller, cheaper elevators. The Washington State Senate approved a bill aimed at culling onerous standards that prevent elevators from being built at all. Sponsored by mushroom (and ibogaine) crusader Sen. Jesse Salmon, the bill will direct the state’s building code council to take on the issue next year.
Conviction in Anti-Trans Case: Andre Karlow is facing five to seven years in prison for beating a transgender woman in the University District last year. A jury found him guilty of a hate crime and second-degree assault. A group of men joined Karlow in the beating, but none have been identified. Six months earlier, Karlow was convicted of assaulting another trans woman, a Sound Transit fare ambassador, when she asked him for proof of payment.
Another Day, Another Boeing Suit Over Deadly Crash: Twenty families have sued the plane-maker over the South Korean Jeju Air Flight 7C 2216 crash, the country’s deadliest aviation disaster. The cases, representing 23 of the 179 people killed in the crash, all allege a bird strike just before landing, causing the electrical and hydraulics systems to fail. The families allege the company kept outdated safety systems on the aircraft to avoid costly redesigns and recertification processes, even though modern systems were safer.
Weather: There’s a chance of snow before 1 p.m., and a chance of rain after. If snow does fall, it’s not expected to stick. Our snow-they-won’t-they situation continues through Thursday night.
Rev. Jesse Jackson Dies: The civil rights leader, two-time presidential candidate, close ally of Dr. Martin Luther King, and unbelievably influential American was 84. In November, the Rev. Jackson was hospitalized to treat progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare neurodegenerative condition. He was somebody.
Seattle Judge Back in Action: City Attorney Erika Evans reversed her Republican predecessor’s order to routinely disqualify Seattle Municipal Court Judge Pooja Vaddadi from hearing criminal cases like DUIs and domestic violence charges. “I believe in litigating cases—not attempting to ban judges we do not like,” Evans said in a statement.
Tick-tick-tick-tick: Anderson Cooper is leaving CBS’ 60 Minutes after 20 years balancing the job with his other low-stakes gig at CNN. The gay dad of news said in a statement that he wanted to spend more time with his children. While he didn’t say he wanted to spend less time with CBS News’ Bari Weiss, it certainly looks that way. (In December, Weiss speciously held a 60 Minutes report on CECOT prison in El Salvador, bringing a ton of attention to the segment and herself.)
In other CBS News news, Late Show host Stephen Colbert says the network’s lawyers yanked his interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico before air on Monday evening to comply with the FCC regulation that requires stations to give “equal time” to political candidates and their rivals. News is exempt, and for the past 20 years, talk shows have been considered exempt, too. But the FCC chair Brendan Carr is rejecting that thinking. “Fake news” shows like Colbert’s shouldn’t count on the exemption. Anyway, Colbert’s show posted it on YouTube.
The Hated Haters: Wired has been monitoring a forum for current and prospective Homeland Security Investigations Officers where ICE Agents talk shit on other ICE agents.
Who Will Lie to Us Now? DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is leaving the Trump administration, two DHS officials told Politico. McLaughlin did not immediately respond to their request for comment.
Guthrie Case Update: The 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie has been missing for more than two weeks without a suspect. The night she disappeared, a masked person wearing a handgun holster in surveillance video outside her home is shown wearing a backpack exclusively sold at WalMart. Investigators are working with the company to develop leads on this suspect. Guthrie’s family, including her daughter, “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, are not suspects.
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Vivian McCall
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