Cutting car-tab taxes violates the state Constitution: according to the city, county, Port of Seattle, and others, who all filed a complaint this afternoon, reports the Seattle Times. "Whether passed by the Legislature or by the people, all laws in the State of Washington must comply with our Constitution. Initiative No. 976 ('I-976') fails this test," begins the lawsuit.
Here's the lawsuit from Seattle/King County/others against I-976.
Claims:
- Violates single subject rule
- Misleads voters on "true nature" of the initiative.
- "Matters of local concern should be decided locally"
- "Impairs contractual obligationshttps://t.co/zYia9wFDJg
â David Kroman (@KromanDavid) November 14, 2019
PCC is open in Ballard: The store opened at 9 a.m. It features a 25-seat restaurant with beer and wine.
What the hell happened at today's first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry? Republicans embraced conspiracy theories. Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor told California Dem Eric Swalwell that the âholding up of security assistance that would go to a country that is fighting an aggression from Russia, for no good policy, no good substantive reason, no good national security reason, is wrong.â Also...
Jim Jordan GOT WELCH'D: Frizzelle has more here.
Meanwhile, Trump's out here shaking ErdoÄan's hand and saying he's doing a fantastic job: This isn't too surprising, considering yesterday he said dictators are welcome to visit the United States.
Erdogan is ethnically cleansing Kurds and destroying Turkish democracy. https://t.co/Je5Rzdj2lU
â Max Boot (@MaxBoot) November 13, 2019
BoltBus has new competition: The European bus service FlixBus will start service in the Pacific Northwest starting on November 21. "The buses will connect Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Portland, Eugene, Olympia, Corvallis, Coeur d' Alene, Albany, Ellensburg and Salem," reports Willamette Week. A Portland-to-Seattle trip will be $9.99.
More hospital nightmares: Over 150 peopleâeven babies!âcould have been exposed to tuberculosis at an Auburn hospital. An employee was diagnosed with the illness and they were "in contact with 27 mothers, 26 babies and 107 members of the hospitalâs staff," reports the Seattle Times. Yikes.
AARP vice-president has a hot retort to "OK BOOMER": âOkay, millennials, but weâre the people that actually have the money," said Myrna Blyth in a recent Axios interview. The comment set off the Twitterati. Firstly, millennials didn't start OK BOOMER, that came from Zoomers. Secondly, LOL. Thirdly, AARP released a statement on the drama: âBlythâs point is that ad and marketing execs routinely pit generations against one another and overlook older people, especially older women." ...Was that really Blyth's point? OK BOOMER.
Hong Kong is experiencing next-level protests: Beijing-backed police have started to encroach on universities, which were believed to be safe zones in the ongoing Hong Kong protests. The New York Times described the universities as resembling "medieval citadels under siege." Police are firing tear gas, rubber bullets. Students are hurling Molotov cocktails, bricks, and even bows with flaming arrows, reports the Times, which has a fantastic timeline of the protests here.
NOWâthese road blocks made of bricks, bamboos and glass in Hong Kongâs CBD Central have become a kind of protest art installations #HongKongProtests pics by me pic.twitter.com/JBuRskPedx
â Vivienne Chow (@VivienneChow) November 13, 2019
A Puyallup teacher threatened to shoot and kill her students: Real news! The math teacher was arrested today and booked into the Pierce County Jail "on suspicion of making threats to bomb or injure property." When visited by Pierce County sheriff's deputies she "didn't back down from the threats," which prompted her arrest.
Who will win in the upcoming UK election? No one knows! The upcoming UK election, happening in under one month, is unprecedented, but the Evening Standard's election polls tracker shows the Labour party rising in popularity. I recommend this regular podcast from the BBC if you find UK politics totally confusing like I do.
More SmartRent drama: Remember Rich Smith's feature in September on Seattle's latest trend in apartment living: forced installation of "smart" devices? Capitol Hill Seattle blog has an update today on complaints filed with the city against developers over these invasive, unwanted devices.
I forgot to mention the new Sonic the Hedgehog trailer: In case you somehow missed it, the last Sonic the Hedgehog trailer got dunked on for being terrifying. The movie retooled the animation and it's so much better.
https://t.co/mufNWpqiE3 pic.twitter.com/FJZ9NLuB8k
â David (@DiscreetLatino) November 12, 2019
Here's the original trailer side-by-side with the new one: The Sonic on the left is the stuff of fever dreams.