Today's weather: Today begins with clouds, and then the sun will gradually making its appearance along with a high of 71 degrees. Feels like the slow slip into fall has begun. 

Council Member Cathy Moore tweaks independent report: The Public Safety Committee meets at 9:30 am today to discuss Moore's bill to reinstate the City's prostitution loitering law and to create of a Stay Out of Area Prostitution (SOAP) zone, as well as a bill to create a Stay Out of Drug Area (SODA) zone. This morning, I broke the news that Moore appeared to try to tip the scales in favor of her bill by asking for revisions to a central staff memo so that it no longer included two concerns raised about her bill. Central staff memos are supposed to be nonpartisan and independent, and people familiar with Council procedure called the move unusual, and possibly unethical. Moore needs a little help on her bill though, considering that more than two dozen sex work, LGBTQ+, and anti-violence organizations publicly oppose the bill. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington also criticized the legislation.

Protestors call for Officer Kevin Dave's firing: Members of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression gathered at City Hall Park Monday night to renew calls for the firing of Dave, the Seattle police officer who hit and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula, according to KING 5. The Office of Police Accountability (OPA) paused its investigation into discipline against Dave while he faced criminal investigation, and as of early August, the OPA had yet to resume its investigation.

Latest ballot drop: Results from the primary election continue to roll in. The latest ballot drop boosted city council candidate Alexis Mercedes Rinck up to 50% as she continues to dominate incumbent Council Member Tanya Woo, who now looks to finish not only second, but more than 10 points behind Rinck. Meanwhile, in the race for Public Lands Commissioner, Dave Upthegrove has squeaked past Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson, but he only holds a lead of about 5,700 votes, and there are about 72,000 ballots left to process, so blood pressures should remain high as we wait to see if the race will be a battle between two Republicans. Hannah has more on the other races.

Homicides drop in Seattle: Pulling from a Council on Criminal Justice report, the Seattle Times compared homicide numbers from 2019 and 2024 and found that Seattle saw 10 more homicides during the first half of this year than it did during the first half of 2019. While the number of homicides now compared to pre-pandemic times remains higher, current homicide totals dropped by about 20% compared to the first six months of 2023. The Times' story has some interesting data, but I think people should also check out Axios's story from earlier this year that provides a little more context around Seattle's homicide statistics. Also, just go check out the homicides trends for yourself.

A "notable" rumble in Los Angeles: A little after noon on Monday, a 4.4 magnitude earthquake shook the city, temporarily trapping one person in an elevator and causing a leak to spring from a sprinkler head "at the top of the city hall rotunda" in Pasadena, CNN reports. That's gotta be my favorite ever damage report from an earthquake. 

Trump's campaign got phished: The FBI admitted to launching an investigation into "a campaign cyberintrusion." A "senior law enforcement official" told the New York Times that the investigation centers on a successful phishing operation into the Trump campaign that yielded "research and planning documents," and attempted hacks into the campaigns of "top Democrats" that have so far yielded nothing. The news comes days after Microsoft reported that a group "affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps" called, lol, Mint Sandstorm, hacked Roger Stone's email. Iran denies allegations of involvement. 

Another false start: Elon Musk interviewed Trump on an X.com audio live stream 45 minutes after its scheduled start time, mirroring the technical issues the wealthy doofus faced when he tried to elevate Florida Governor and heinous transphobe Ron DeSantis's political career with a similar live interview. Musk blamed a "DDOS [distributed denial of service] attack" for the technical difficulties, according to Politico. Musk's fawning interview gave Trump the opportunity to lie and dissemble for an "hour-plus" about Biden, Harris, war, immigration, crime, etc., in front of a million listeners. 

Insight finds a drink: The 2018 Mars Insight Lander found "a reservoir of liquid water on Mars - deep in the rocky outer crust of the planet," according to the BBC. The lander used a seismometer to "listen to the pulse of Mars for four years," and scientists discovered squiggles that indicated the presence of liquid water. If you want a sip, you'll have to dig; the water lies between six and twelve miles underground. 

War in Sudan at "catastrophic, cataclysmic breaking point": Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan refuses to meet with the US to begin the process of ceasefire talks after a year of civil war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are helmed by his former deputy, Hemedti Dagalo. Dagalo plans to show up to the talks no matter what al-Burhan does. The UN warned of the country reaching "a catastrophic, cataclysmic breaking point": where tens of thousands more will die, after tens of thousands have already died; 10.7 million remain displaced within the country and 2.3 million have already fled for their lives, Al Jazeera reports. 

Ukraine on the offense: Ukraine took a chunk out of Russia's Kursk region, causing some agita among Kremlin loyalists and reportedly giving the defending power a much-needed shot in the arm, the Washington Post reports. A Russian newspaper said some people in the western Russian province felt "abandoned" by Putin and "lied to" about having the situation under control. US war hawks are using the news to push for the sale of weapons that would allow Ukraine to fire into Russia, not just into the parts of Ukraine currently under Russian control. Though Ukraine now holds a 7.5-mile area that includes about "28 communities," Russia still holds one-fifth of Ukraine. 

More hot girl music: My friends continue to try to create the perfect playlist for this summer. We've added some GloRilla and Megan Thee Stallion.