A recent poll puts Biden leading Trump 54-38, but the ex-president has committed supporters ahead of state’s primary
Had he heard it, Joe Biden would surely have been delighted by Bianca Siegl’s comment – and the fact she barely paused before making it.
“Of course I will be voting on Tuesday,” says the 47-year-old, speaking at a farmers’ market in Seattle’s University district. “If Trump were to get elected, it would be incredibly dangerous for the world and for my family.”
Continue reading...After successes in Michigan, Minnesota and Hawaii, local organizers urge voters to keep pressure on Biden for ceasefire
The movement among Democrats to cast a Gaza protest vote against President Joe Biden in the primary election moves to Washington state on Tuesday.
Organizers with Vote Uncommitted WA have been working for two weeks to ramp up outreach to voters via phone, text, online and in-person connections to explain how they can use their primary ballots to check “uncommitted delegates” to send a message to Biden in support of a permanent ceasefire.
Continue reading...Former NFL star Richard Sherman was arrested early Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to the Washington State Patrol.
In a probable cause statement, Trooper Jordan Hazzard-Thomas, who helped respond to the traffic stop, reported talking to Sherman and noticing “the odor of intoxicants” and that Sherman’s eyes appeared to be “bloodshot and watery.”
Sherman was stopped by the Washington State Patrol for going 79 mph within a 60 mph zone at about 2 am local time, according to a first appearance document obtained by CNN.
Continue reading...Three officers were first to be tried under five-year-old Washington law, which removes need to prove officer acted with actual malice
A Washington state law aimed at improving police accountability is under scrutiny after three Tacoma officers were acquitted in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who was shocked, beaten and restrained facedown on a sidewalk as he pleaded for breath.
The measure approved by voters in 2018 was designed to make it easier to prosecute police accused of wrongfully using deadly force. Initiative 940, referred to as I-940, removed a requirement that prosecutors prove an officer acted with actual malice in order to bring a case – a requirement no other state had – and established that an independent investigation should be conducted after use of force results in death or great bodily harm, among other things.
Continue reading...Parent volunteers and students claimed polychlorinated biphenyls leaked from the firm’s light fixtures made them sick
A jury in Washington state on Monday ordered Bayer’s Monsanto to pay $857m to former students and parent volunteers of a school north-east of Seattle who claimed that chemicals known as PCBs made by the company leaked from light fixtures and made them sick, according to an attorney for the plaintiffs.
The jury found the company liable for selling polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) used in the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Washington. The verdict included $73m in compensatory damages, and $784m in punitive damages, according to Henry Jones, an attorney at the law firm Friedman Rubin, who represents the plaintiffs.
Continue reading...Victims fell for alleged serial killer’s tale that he needed help finding gold in area of his Washington state farm, authorities say
An alleged serial killer in Washington state has been hit with new murder charges after authorities revealed that he may have used the same scheme to kill all four of his victims by telling them he needed their help finding buried treasure.
Richard Bradley Jr, 40, who has been awaiting trial of murder charges in the death of 44-year-old Brandi Blake since his arrest in 2021, has now been charged in the deaths of three more people, one identified from ribs buried on Bradley’s 160-acre Game Farm Park in Auburn and matched to his mother using DNA.
Continue reading...Rivers swell to dangerous levels and forces road and rail closures as rain relieves parched states of Washington and Oregon
An atmospheric river deluged the US north-west for a third day on Tuesday, swelling rivers to dangerous levels, forcing road and rail closures, and possibly killing two people who may have been swept up in floodwaters, officials said.
The rain has helped relieve the parched states of Washington and Oregon, which missed much of the historic rain that fell on California a year ago and ended that state’s extended drought. Much of Washington and Oregon still face severe or moderate drought, according to the US Drought Monitor.
Continue reading...Adam Smith of Washington state calls spray-painting of garage ‘sadly reflective of the coarsening of the political discourse’
A Democratic congressman says his home was vandalized on Thursday night by “people advocating for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza”.
Adam Smith, a US House member from Washington state, called the vandalism to his home in the city of Bellevue “sadly reflective of the coarsening of the political discourse in our country, and is completely unwarranted, unnecessary, and harmful to our political system”.
Continue reading...About 400 workers walk out in dispute over allegedly unfair labor practices and failure to agree new contract
About four hundred Macy’s workers in Washington state began striking on Friday – known as Black Friday among retailers and one of the year’s busiest shopping days – citing allegedly unfair labor practices and the retail giant’s purported refusal to agree to a new contract.
The union representing the employees, UFCW 3000, said workers started arriving about 3am on Friday to form picket lines. Workers are striking outside the Alderwood, Southcenter and Bellis Fair Macy’s stores and plan to continue for three days.
Continue reading...Bethany Alhaidari granted permission to defy custody order because of serious risk of death if she returned to Saudi Arabia
A US court has ruled that an American activist who fled Saudi Arabia with her daughter in 2019 will be allowed to defy a Saudi custody order and remain in the country with her child because she would face a serious risk of being put to death if she returned to the kingdom.
The case represents the first time that Saudi rules governing child custody and its use of the death penalty against female activists have faced judgment in a US court.
Continue reading...Evacuations ordered after wind-fueled blaze expands unchecked near eastern city of Spokane and shuts highway
A wind-driven wildfire in eastern Washington state has destroyed at least 185 structures, closed a major highway and left one person dead, authorities have said.
The blaze began shortly after midday on Friday on the west side of Medical Lake, about 15 miles (24km) west of Spokane, and then expanded, state Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Isabelle Hoygaard said on Saturday.
Continue reading...Lesions found on 99% of southern resident orcas studied on Pacific north-west coast
Scientists studying an endangered population of orcas resident off the Pacific north-west coast of Canada and the US have recorded a “strong increase” in skin lesions on the animals’ bodies, which they believe is owing to the decreasing ability of their immune systems to deal with disease.
The lesions appear on the whales as grey patches or targets, or black pin points. Some resemble tattooed skin. Their presence on the animals’ graphically black and white bodies is “increasing dramatically”, according to Dr Joseph K Gaydos of the SeaDoc Society at the school of veterinary medicine at the University of California, lead author of the scientific paper.
Continue reading...Kairan Quazi, the youngest graduate in the school’s history, will start at the company’s satellite internet division Starlink in July
Kairan Quazi is years away from legally being able to watch an R-rated movie at the theater by himself or buy a drink at the bar, but he’s about to get a college degree and start a job at SpaceX.
Other than that, the 14-year-old insists he’s had a fairly normal academic journey.
Continue reading...Democrats and activists applaud state for new legislation, which includes a ban on the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles
Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee signed a trio of bills meant to prevent gun violence on Tuesday – one banning the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles, one imposing a 10-day waiting period on firearms purchases, and one clearing the way for lawsuits against gun makers or sellers in certain cases.
A crowd of gun-control activists and Democratic lawmakers broke into cheers as he signed the measures, which he said would not solve all gun violence but would save lives.
Continue reading...Zohreh Sadeghi, 33, and Mohammed Naseri, 35, found dead along with Texas trucker Ramin Khodakaramrezaei who died by suicide
A Texas truck driver allegedly broke into the home of a woman who hosted a podcast to which he listened and killed her as well as her husband before dying by suicide in what authorities are describing as a stalking case.
Authorities identified the victims as 33-year-old podcaster Zohreh Sadeghi and her husband Mohammed Naseri, 35, according to the Daily Beast. The suspect, meanwhile, is Ramin Khodakaramrezaei, a 38-year-old trucker.
Continue reading...Spokane county judge ordered Church at Planned Parenthood to pay $960,000 for interfering with patient care
An anti-abortion group has been ordered to pay almost $1m in fines to Planned Parenthood, over demonstrations outside a clinic in Spokane, Washington state.
According to its website, the group, Church at Planned Parenthood, was formed to stage “worship service at the gates of Hell”.
Continue reading...Police say 21-year-old Jarid Haddock ‘just walked in and started shooting’, killing three in a ‘random situation’
A 21-year-old man wanted in connection with the random killing of three people at a convenience store in Yakima, Washington, early Tuesday shot and killed himself as officers approached him behind some warehouses several hours later, authorities said.
Yakima police chief Matt Murray said in a video message posted online that a woman called 911 on Tuesday afternoon. The caller reported that the man had used her phone to make a call.
Continue reading...Eric Dodge wore Make America Great Again baseball cap twice but judge found no ‘tangible disruption’ to Washington school
A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a former teacher in Vancouver, Washington, concluding that his wearing a hat supporting Donald Trump to school was protected speech under the first amendment.
Documents from the ninth circuit court of appeals show that Eric Dodge, a science teacher, brought the Make America Great Again baseball cap to an Evergreen Public Schools building twice before the 2019-2020 school year.
Continue reading...Heartbreaking stories pour in about people missing a heart transplant or dying inside a car
One man never came home from a grocery run. Another man missed a chance at a new heart. A woman died after getting trapped in her car.
The human toll that the winter blast which gripped much of the US last week has continued to mount. Since the “blizzard of the century” swept through multiple parts of the nation last week, at least 60 people have died countrywide, and details about the heartbreak their families are enduring have been trickling out.
Continue reading...Ordinance in Everett, Washington, requiring coffee servers to cover up is unconstitutional, judge rules
A Washington city’s dress code saying so-called bikini baristas must cover their bodies at work has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court.
The decision in a partial summary judgment this week comes after a lengthy legal battle between bikini baristas and the city of Everett, on the outskirts of Seattle, over the rights of workers to wear what they want, the Everett Herald reported.
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