Renton's minimum mistake: According to the Raise The Wage Renton campaign, the City of Renton calculated the 2025 minimum wage incorrectly. Renton billed the new wage at $20.90 per hour, using a 3% increase from 2024's wage. Turns out, they used the wrong percentage because they weren't calculating the increase on the correct growth rate. They needed to boost the wage by 4%. With this change, Renton minimum wage workers would make $21.10 per hour.
Light rail strikes man in wheel chair: The light rail struck a 67-year-old man in a wheel chair while he crossed the rails between Othello and Columbia City stations. He is in serious condition. As King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay said in a tweet, "the vast majority of pedestrian and vehicle collisions in the Sound Transit system occur in South Seattle." The only parts of the light rail system are at-grade (directly on street level) are in South Seattle. An at-grade system increases the risk for collisions, be it with cars or pedestrians.
Forget the EV future: The Trump administration will make it harder for electric vehicle (EV)-usage to expand across the country. The administration announced it would block $5 billion in Biden-era federal funds for installing EV chargers and creating an EV charging network across the country. In Washington, that means the $71 million in grant money earmarked to build chargers along Interstate 5 and other highways won't see the light of day. You would think with Elon Musk, the man who popularized EVs with his shitty little Teslas, would be all for EV expansion. But, likely, Musk—whose cars only run on Tesla-specific chargers—wants to impede competition.
Meanwhile, in Idaho: The legislature is trying to make death by firing squad the de facto execution method in the state because of its quick efficiency and certainty. Um, whatever you say, Idaho House Republicans, who passed it through to the state Senate. All nine House Democrats opposed the bill. Only five states allow execution by firing squad, but it isn’t the primary death penalty method in any of those states. There are currently nine people on death row in Idaho.
More in Idaho: The Idaho legislature is also considering a bill that will make abortion medication classified as a controlled substance. If passed, this would mean abortion pills would have to be locked up in hospitals and a data base would keep a list of people who prescribe or take the pills, meaning more surveillance for abortions. Texas is considering similar legislation. It's already in effect in Louisiana.
Speaking of Abortion: I highly recommend you read "Abortion, Every Day," a newsletter about all the ways reproductive health is under attack in this country.
Have You Voted? Election day is on Tuesday, February 11, so dig that ballot out of your pile of unpaid bills, check out our voter guide, and get to it.
Congrats to Amazon: Wow, good job, quarterly profits exceeded $20 billion for the first time. It is so good they have all that money so they can continue to do good things like *checks notes* completely change human behavior and turn us all into antisocial slaves to convenience while making rich men richer and altering the makeup of the cities they inhabit.
Brrrrr: My sources say it is frigid out there this morning. The roads are likely frozen over with pesky black ice. Chill out if you're on the roads. Emergency severe weather shelters are still open if you don't have anywhere warm to be.
NCAA kowtows to Trump: On Thursday, the NCAA banned trans-women from competing in college sports, a move made in the wake of Trump's executive order directing the withdrawal of federal funding from institutions allowing trans-athletes to compete in athletics. Previously, the NCAA left the decision about whether trans-athletes could compete up to individual sports' governing bodies. Not any longer. According to the president of the NCAA, last year "there were fewer than 10 transgender athletes among the 500,000-plus students who play N.C.A.A. sports." Do not get it twisted, this is not policy to protect women and girls and their athletic pursuits. This is harming a small minority for political gain.
Russ Vought to Lead Office of Management and Budget: The lead architect of Project 2025 "who detailed how the budget agency could be used to withhold money appropriated by Congress and eliminate dissent within agencies by purging them of employees" was just approved by the Senate in a 53-47 vote. Vought has called the OMB the "nerve center" to ensure Trump's policies are enacted through government agencies, according to 19th News.
Sawant Denied Indian Visa: Former Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant is reportedly unable to go to India to visit her sick mother because the Indian consulate won't grant her a visa. Sawant has applied and been rejected for a visa three times. She said the consulate told her she is on a "reject list." Sawant, a socialist, has been outspoken about India's Narendra Modi-led government and its policies. In 2023, while on the council, Sawant proposed a successful resolution outlawing caste discrimination.
Forced Leave at USAID: Musk and Trump's gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development—the biggest source of foreign aid donations in the world—continued Friday. Of the around 8,000 direct hires and contractors working for USAID—5,000 of whom are abroad—the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will only keep 300 employed. The Trump administration gave USAID workers abroad 30 days to pack up and return back to the US. The government will foot the relocation costs through those 30 days, but not after. Will the US still dole out foreign aid? Secretary of State Marco Rubio said aid will continue "but it is going to be foreign aid that makes sense and is aligned with our national interest." In an administration that seems to be bursting at the seems with white nationalists and racists, I don't even want to consider what "our national interest" means these days.
Oh, maybe this is "our national interest?" Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) because the ICC is investigating Israel for genocide and has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The sanctions impose travel bans for ICC officials, their relatives, and anyone who helped with ICC investigations. They could also impact the ICC's technical and IT functions and have a chilling effect on victims of atrocities' willingness to come forward. The United Nations is asking Trump to reverse those sanctions.
A Scandal in Italy: An Italian radiologist is under investigation for taking his injured cat into work during off-hours and administering a CAT scan and then performing a small surgery to drain fluid from her lungs. "If I hadn't done everything I could...and my cat had died, I would never have been able to forgive myself, particularly as my children adore her," he said. The hospital said he could face charges for "wasting public money and depriving patients of essential services."
A song for your Friday: This is one of my favorites off of Thunderpussy's newest album. Listening to it after being in the bad news trenches feels like a salve. At least in bad times there will always be art. Right? Well, we'll see what happens to free speech.
