Category Archives: Washington state

‘Illegal’: mayor says Trump cannot disband Seattle’s ‘autonomous zone’ – video

Posted on by

Seattle's mayor has defended the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or 'Chaz', a space over several blocks transformed into a community without police which Donald Trump has threatened to disband.

In a tweet, Donald Trump described the protesters as 'domestic terrorists', In another tweet addressing the Seattle mayor, Jenny Durkan, and the Washington governor, Jay Inslee, he told them to 'take back your city NOW… If you don’t do it, I will.'

Continue reading...

Washington governor orders new investigation into police custody death

Posted on by
  • Manuel Ellis, an African American, died three months ago
  • Inslee says investigation will be ‘free of conflicts of interest’

Governor Jay Inslee of Washington has ordered a new investigation into the death of Manuel Ellis, an African American man who died more than three months ago in police custody, following questions over the independence of the investigation.

The move comes one day after a lawyer for the Ellis family released footage from the night of his death, which shows him screaming, “I can’t breathe sir. I can’t breathe,” followed by what sounds like an officer saying, “Shut the fuck up.”

Continue reading...

‘It’s irresponsible’: Washington state sees sudden rise in Covid parties

Posted on by

Gatherings held with the intent of catching, and overcoming, coronavirus are jeopardizing public health says state official

You can call them BYOC parties. That’s bring your own Covid-19.

Health officials in Walla Walla, Washington, are admonishing the sudden rise in so-called “Covid-19 parties” where non-infected guests mingle with those who have tested positive for the virus, ostensibly in hopes of speeding up the process of catching, and overcoming, the virus.

Continue reading...

‘Murder hornets’ in Washington state threaten bees and whip up media swarm

Posted on by

Asian giant hornet, which became more active in the state in April, is the world’s largest and can kill humans with multiple stings

Researchers and citizens in Washington state are on a careful hunt for invasive “murder hornets”, after the insect made its first appearance in the US.

The Asian giant hornet is the world’s largest and can kill humans. But it is most dangerous for the European honeybee, which is defenseless in the face of the hornet’s spiky mandibles, long stinger and potent venom.

Continue reading...

US anti-lockdown rallies could cause surge in Covid-19 cases, experts warn

Posted on by

Epidemiologist predicts ‘new epidemic surge’ as protesters across the US flout social distancing measures

As healthcare workers in Colorado and Pennsylvania staged counter-protests against rightwing anti-quarantine rallies that continue to spread across the US, some experts warned such rallies could cause a surge in coronavirus cases.

Several nurses gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Monday, where a protest against stay-at-home orders was taking place. The nurses carried signs urging people to go home.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden hopes to cement lead in crucial Democratic primaries

Posted on by

Bernie Sanders, second in the race, campaigns in Michigan hoping to win the state with the most delegates

Joe Biden is hoping to cement his position as frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president on Tuesday, as millions of voters in six states have their say in the next round of primary election contests.

For Bernie Sanders – the second of two major remaining candidates in the race – the six primaries in Michigan, Washington, Missouri, Mississippi, Idaho and North Dakota will be a crucial test of whether he can reverse the momentum the former vice-president enjoys coming out of his victories in the Super Tuesday states last week, and prevent him from extending his delegate count lead.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus: Trump hurls insults as 21 cases confirmed on cruise ship

Posted on by
  • President attacks CNN and Democrats at CDC event
  • Universities cancel classes in Washington state

Donald Trump used a freewheeling press conference on Friday, intended to provide updates on the coronavirus, as an opportunity to attack Democrats, praise his own intelligence, lash out at CNN and spread false and misleading information about the status of the outbreak, as a slew of new cases were confirmed aboard a cruise ship off the California coast.

Speaking at the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) main campus in Atlanta, Georgia, while wearing his red “Keep America Great” re-election campaign hat, the president went on a rant criticizing Washington state’s governor, Jay Inslee, as a “snake” and saying he disagreed with his vice-president’s complimentary remarks toward the Democrat. Inslee, who ran for president last year, is overseeing the response to the most serious outbreak in the US.

Continue reading...

Eco-friendly ending: Washington state is first to allow human composting

Posted on by

Legislation would let facilities offer ‘natural organic reduction’ which turns a body into about two wheelbarrows’ worth of soil

Ashes to ashes, guts to dirt.

Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation Tuesday making Washington the first state to approve composting as an alternative to burying or cremating human remains.

Continue reading...

Republican lawmaker and ally tell rally to arm themselves for civil war – audio

Posted on by

Recordings obtained by the Guardian show Republican state representative Matt Shea and several associates telling an audience to arm themselves for a looming civil war. The audio was taken in a remote north-eastern religious compound in Washington state last year. In the recordings they can be heard saying 'How many of you have pulled the trigger on your AR-15 in the fight we are in yet?' and 'The war is here – the bad guy is here'

Continue reading...

Republican discussed violent attacks and surveillance with rightwingers

Posted on by

Washington state representative Matt Shea exchanged messages with far-right figures, chat records obtained by the Guardian reveal

A Washington state Republican politician took part in private discussions with rightwing figures about carrying out surveillance, “psyops” and even violent attacks on perceived political enemies, according to chat records obtained by the Guardian.

State representative Matt Shea, who represents Spokane Valley in the Washington state house, participated in the chats with three other men. All of the men used screen aliases – Shea’s was “Verum Bellator”, Latin for true warrior. The Guardian confirmed the identity of those in the chat by cross-checking phone numbers attached to the Signal accounts.

Continue reading...

‘Church’ to offer ‘miracle cure’ despite FDA warnings against drinking bleach

Posted on by

Group to hold ‘effective alternative healing’ event in Washington state in which they peddle a ‘sacrament’ known to be industrial cleaner

A group calling itself Genesis II Church of Health and Healing plans to convene at a hotel resort in Washington state on Saturday to promote a “miracle cure” that claims to cure 95% of all diseases in the world by making adults and children, including infants, drink industrial bleach.

The group is inviting members of the public through Facebook to attend what they call their “effective alternative healing” at the Icicle Village Resort in Leavenworth on Saturday morning. The organizer of the event, Tom Merry, has publicized the event on his personal Facebook page by telling people that learning how to consume the bleach “could save your life, or the life of a loved one sent home to die”.

Continue reading...

Four-year-old shoots mother in face after finding gun under mattress

Posted on by
  • Pregnant woman, 27, has ‘life-threatening’ injuries
  • New Washington state law governs unsafe gun storage

Authorities said a pregnant Washington state woman was shot in the face on Saturday by her four-year-old son, after the boy found a loaded and unsecured gun under a mattress.

The King county sheriff’s office said the 27-year-old woman, who is eight months pregnant, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Continue reading...