Good morning! We’ve bought three extra days of this good climate, and the universe very kindly made two of them a weekend. These are the times that out-of-towners don’t know exist right here. Go hang around at a street-end park. Search for mushrooms within the arboretum. (However solely eat them if you recognize what you’re doing!) Lock down a grill at Golden Gardens at an absurdly early hour, and textual content everybody you recognize.
However earlier than all that, let’s replenish on the information so you may put it out of your thoughts for a number of days.
Tesla Tax: We’re in the previous few days of our state legislative session, and Dems got here up with a pleasant new manner to assist shut our price range shortfall: a tax on Elon Musk. Oooobviously it doesn’t name him out by title. As an alternative, it particularly taxes the businesses that made “windfall earnings” from our state’s “cap and commerce” model system for automobile producers. (It’s manner simpler for firms to accrue emissions credit score after they by no means made combustion engines within the first place.) State Republicans are calling it a focused assault on Tesla; the invoice’s sponsor, Home Majority Chief Joe Fitzgibbon, mentioned the information on our car-emission credit reveals “one outlier” (Tesla) who’s “very worthwhile,” and has constructed up a lot of the credit below the state’s program. “I don’t care who the CEO is,” Fitzgibbon mentioned. I do. He’s been profiting off of American taxpayers for a decade, and he’s now actually the richest man on the planet. Let’s get him.
Flip Flop: However in a great way. As of yesterday, eight worldwide college students at UW and Seattle U had gotten their authorized standing again. The reversals appeared to occur out of the blue—not as the results of a choose’s order. It’s an enormous reduction for the scholars, however one of many college students’ attorneys reminded the Seattle Occasions that regardless that they’ve regained their standing, there may be “nonetheless loads of harm” carried out by the administration to those college students—together with harm to their reputations and disruption of their research. “[The government] would possibly simply be making an attempt to brush it below the rug,” one other lawyer warned. The Trump administration not taking duty for his or her actions? By no means.
FBI Arrests Decide: This could’t be good. Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, tweeted after which deleted a submit on X saying that they’d arrested Wisconsin Decide Hannah Dugan for obstructing the ICE arrest of an immigrant in her court docket (ally). Based on native stories, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz was in Dugan’s courtroom for a pre-trial convention final week, for 3 misdemeanor counts of battery. When ICE arrived with an arrest warrant for him, Dugan took Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer to a facet door within the courtroom, directed them down a non-public hallway, and right into a public space. He didn’t evade arrest for lengthy—ICE pursued him on foot and arrested him shortly after. CNN stories that Dugan’s in federal custody, ready for her first look.
Goal on ActBlue: Trump is siccing his administration on the principle fundraising platform utilized by Democratic campaigns, and liberal and progressive orgs. In a memo to the AG and the treasury yesterday, he claimed that ActBlue is facilitating “unlawful ‘straw donor’ and international contributions in American elections.” That is all a part of an express effort by Trump and Republicans in Congress to undermine Democrats’ and the left’s capacity to marketing campaign, and it’s already spooking organizations across the nation that rely on this infrastructure.
LOL DOGE: Elon actually is the punchline that retains on giving. A brand new report from a nonprofit group that research the federal workforce referred to as the Partnership for Public Service got here up with a tough estimate of the price of DOGE’s firings, re-hirings, misplaced productiveness, and paid depart of 1000’s of employees. The full? Upward of $135 billion this fiscal 12 months. What did Elon say he was finally saving the American taxpayers? $150 billion. Thanks for shaving that $15 billion off, bro. Trying ahead to that $440 DOGE dividend examine.
Superintendent Reykdal Confirmed the Fuck Up: Yesterday was the Trump administration’s deadline for Okay-12 colleges to certify that they might not implement DEI packages, dangling the specter of their federal funding. In return, Washington state Superintendent Chris Reykdal instructed him the place to shove it. “We won’t signal further certifications that lack authority, lack readability, or are an assault on the autonomy of states and native faculty districts,” he wrote when the order first got here down earlier this month. “We’re not going to stroll away from educating genuine historical past or supporting our college students with disabilities or any of our DEI and fairness work,” he instructed the Seattle Occasions yesterday. And we’re in good firm: We’re joined by 18 different states who’ve refused to certify. Who’re the bootlickers? New Hampshire bought an additional particular shout-out from the Secretary of Ed for not simply certifying that they wouldn’t do the “unlawful DEI,” however constructing a complete web site to tout every district’s certification. Ew.
Tomorrow is Indie Bookstore Day, and Seattle takes it severely. Beginning tomorrow, you’ve bought 10 days to hit all 29 taking part native lit retailers. In case you fill your passport, you get a 25 p.c one-time low cost at each retailer.
Dad and mom Invoice of Rights Heads to Ferg: The state Democrats’ model of the so-called Dad and mom Invoice of Rights is headed to the governor’s desk. The brand new invoice truly adheres to state legislation by eliminating language that grants mother and father entry to their kid’s school-based medical and psychological well being data—defending susceptible youngsters like LGBTQ college students. State Republicans threw a correct match over the invoice. One even delayed the vote by simply standing up and yelling lots. But it surely finally handed on celebration strains.
Keep in mind George Santos? The 36-year-old homosexual Republican who lied his method to Congress and was then kicked out of it lower than a 12 months in? The disgraced New York consultant and sunglass icon was sentenced immediately to 87 months in jail. Final 12 months, he pleaded responsible to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of practically a dozen folks, together with his members of the family, to fund his (completely made up) successful marketing campaign. On the time, he agreed to pay roughly $580,000 in penalties, and immediately, the choose determined what sort of jail time goes to be tacked onto that. His attorneys thought two years is cheap, however prosecutors pushed for seven as a result of he “stays unrepentant.” I’m guessing plugging his $100 Cameo profile proper earlier than sentencing most likely didn’t assist. Neither did calling them a “cabal of pedophiles.”
Competition Information: It’s been a bizarre 12 months for festivals. Capitol Hill Block Social gathering is down to 2 days, and Day In Day Out introduced that they’re taking 2025 off, however Modest Mouse gained’t be deterred: they’re beginning their very personal music pageant at Remlinger Farms. Known as the Psychic Salamander Competition, it’s co-presented by the Seattle Theatre Group and can run on September 13 and 14. They also have a lineup already: Each nights might be headlined by Modest Mouse, however earlier than that, you may see The Flaming Lips, Courtney Barnett, Constructed to Spill, the Vaudevillian and Mattress, Sleater-Kinney, Yo La Tengo, Friko, and Solar Atoms. Single-day tickets are $125, or you may go for the entire weekend for $225.
Right here’s a bit of La Lom to ease you into Friday. And talking of Remlinger Farms, they’ll be there subsequent month!
