Seattle

Washington State voters will decide the fate of a ballot initiative that would require girls from kindergarten through high school to undergo sex-verification testing before playing school sports — a measure critics call the most extreme of its kind in the country.

IL26-638 would bar transgender athletes from girls' teams by mandating that a health-care provider certify a player's sex assigned at birth, using genetic screening, testosterone testing or an examination of reproductive anatomy as part of the annual sports physical every young athlete already undergoes, reported The Cut.

“This measure was clearly not written by somebody who practices medicine,” said Dr. Gina Martin, a family medicine physician who offers sports physicals to her patients. “Physicals focus on the two most important aspects of sports. First, musculoskeletal health — thinking about kids’ joints, bones, muscles, and tendons — and then cardiac health, looking into their heart health and finding out if we need to screen for additional cardiac risk factors.”

“What is certainly not medically necessary is for me to do an exam and confirm somebody’s sex, either through hormone testing, genetic testing or a non-indicated genital exam,” Martin added. “I don’t even know how it would work because I’ve never run those tests on a patient.”

The measure doesn't specify who would perform the exams, who would pay for them, or how schools would carry them out — leaving open questions about whether young girls could be required to disrobe, potentially in group settings where many schools currently offer free physicals.

A renewable energy developer has pulled its controversial permit application to build an industrial-scale solar facility on an Eastern Washington mountain sacred to Indigenous nations.

Avangrid, a powerful player in the Northwest’s push for green energy development, sought for at least five years to build a solar plant on Badger Mountain. The project site straddled private as well as public lands. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation have protected rights to practice cultural traditions, such as food gathering and ceremonies, on Badger Mountain and other ancestral public lands.

A 2024 investigation by High Country News and ProPublica found that Avangrid and a consultant it retained, Tetra Tech, had omitted key archaeological and cultural information from a state-mandated review of the site, which would have been used for a solar farm. Avangrid continued pushing the project despite a state archaeologist’s warning that the planned development would threaten significant historic sites and current ceremonial activity. An elected member of the Colville Tribal Business Council told the newsrooms at the time that the project would destroy roughly half the root vegetable harvest in the area.

60,000 evacuated due to Spokane Complex Fire; Mayor calls it region’s ‘worst natural disaster’

60,000 people have been evacuated due to the Spokane Complex Fire, which has destroyed hundreds of homes in what Mayor Lisa Brown calls the region’s worst natural disaster.

“We’re here today to discuss, really, the worst natural disaster our region has faced, the Spokane complex of fires,” Brown said.

“Hundreds of homes and structures have been lost,” Brown said. “We are still assessing the potential for lives to be lost.”

As of Sunday, the Spokane fires had burned more than 5,300 acres. Statewide, more than 250,000 acres have burned.

... article continues ...

As best I can tell... this is still ongoing, and is essentially 0% contained, however that may be somewhat stale info.

I think this is at least a fairly recent overlay with evacuation zones:

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/64492843

There's 3 fires burning around 7,000 acres and they are completely uncontained currently.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown described the situation as "the worst natural disaster our region has faced", adding that authorities were assessing the extent of the damage and were "still discussing the potential for lives to be lost".

No deaths or injuries have been confirmed.

The fires in Spokane are among a total number more than a dozen wildfires in the state including 10 large ones, according to the dashboard on the state's department of natural resources.

The National Weather Service (NWS) had warned of "extremely critical" fire weather over the weekend, with strong winds and unusually dry conditions helping the flames spread rapidly.

Scientists have said that human-induced climate change makes the warm, dry conditions that lead to wildfires more likely - as well as leading to more frequent and intense heatwaves, and potential summer droughts.

That's almost two years' salary for Barnes, who is also getting to keep a $50,000 hiring bonus intended for rank and file officers, which he received after former mayor Bruce Harrell hired him last year. Police officers have to return the bonus, on a prorated basis, if they leave before five years.

Today Mayor Katie Wilson announced she’s already fired Seattle’s next police chief after he somehow teargassed Capitol Hill, deleted public records, hired someone to have an affair on the job with, and threatened to fight a reporter all before 9 a.m.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/64240087

Go anti-woke, go broke. A planned anti-trans rally outside of a WNBA game in Seattle, of all places, appears to have been a major flop.

The “rally” took place outside the Climate Pledge Arena ahead of the Seattle Storm v. Indiana Fever game. Even calling it a rally is generous though — per a video posted to Instagram by local news outlet The Burner, attendance was sparse. According to ESPN, the crowd consisted of “a few dozen,” who were there to both voice support for Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and for legislation that would bar trans girls from participating in school sports in Washington state.

When sea water, or any liquid, gets warmer, it expands. It’s the main reason that climate change has been raising sea levels, along with glaciers melting.

The expected arrival of a strong, if not record-breaking, El Niño later in 2026 could further boost sea levels temporarily by heating up much of the Pacific Ocean.

Oceanographer Ian Miller with Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington said strong El Niños in 1982 and 1997 raised sea level on the Pacific Northwest coast by almost one foot, while another big El Niño in 2015 raised it about 6 inches.

An El Niño in the winter of 2023-24 added six to eight days of high-tide flooding on the Oregon and Washington coasts and two to four days on Puget Sound, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Northwest Climate Hub.

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration researchers say there’s an 80% chance of a very strong El Niño weather pattern by autumn.

Most global climate models, operated by scientists at different institutions, are forecasting an El Niño of unprecedented strength.

“The vast majority of models, about 90% of the runs now, expect a record-setting El Niño event, stronger than anything that we have observed since records began in the mid-1800s,” Berkeley Earth climate scientist Zeke Hausfather said.

RENTON, Wash. — Health officials are warning the public that a rabid bat was found near a popular park in Renton.

According to Public Health - Seattle & King County, the rabid bat was found on July 28 on the sidewalk at the south end of the park, in the area near the playground, south shelter and park restrooms.

Anyone who may have had physical contact with this bat (even if not bitten) could be at risk and should seek medical evaluation immediately or call Public Health at 206-296-4774 to determine whether rabies preventive treatment is necessary.

Rabies is fatal once symptoms begin, according to the health department.

“Rabies is treatable if it’s caught before symptoms begin, so it’s important to identify anyone who has had contact with the bat as soon as possible,” said Jocelyn Mullins, Public Health Veterinarian at Public Health – Seattle & King County. “Contact includes touching a bat, being bitten or scratched, or having any other bare skin touch a bat or its saliva.”

If you see a bat outside, do not touch the bat. If you are concerned that the bat is sick, call animal control at 206-296-7387 (PETS).

In a press conference on Tuesday, police said they have now recovered three weapons used in the shooting. The first, an illegal Polymer 9mm ‘ghost gun’ with an extended 33-round magazine, was found with 19 rounds left in the magazine on the 15-year-old-suspect.

A second gun, a Springfield RO 9mm, was discovered, but not used, according to Chief of Police Shon Barnes.

In addition, a third gun, a Glock .45 9mm pistol with an automatic switch and extended 40-round magazine, was discovered during clean-up on Monday ― hours after the shooting. The Glock had 21 rounds left in the magazine.

Both the Glock and the ‘ghost gun’ were believed to be used in the shooting, according to Chief of Police Shon Barnes.

A shooting killed two people and wounded five including a child on Sunday evening during a popular food festival near the Space Needle in Seattle, a city fire department spokesperson said.

Video of a vendor recording an ad as his coworkers and the public react to the shooting in real time: https://bsky.app/profile/candylovely.bsky.social/post/3mrm6lpc4zc2y

11:47 PM US Pacific: Edited title to reflect latest news. https://www.kuow.org/live-updates/live-updates-multiple-victims-shot-at-seattle-center

Several people died and some wounded. I just got word from my partner and they're okay.

Shout out to @specialseaweed@sh.itjust.works for updating the other post on this topic!

Transcript:

"Now Council is proposing to pull this funding from our general fund, which is already facing a $175 million deficit. I look forward to seeing which critical services they plan to cut from the general fund to make their numbers work."

The mayor’s office had argued that universal school meals would help out more than 6,800 students whose family income barely exceeds federal thresholds. But Hollingsworth and Foster said equity should come first with additional aid to Seattle’s poorest youth. The question of whether to siphon off funds from one food program to another started a bitter zero-sum debate between proponents of means testing and universalism.

The vote did not fall neatly along progressive and centrist lines. Foster, a sponsor, is one of the council’s three progressives, while the centrist Saka gave an impassioned speech about how his childhood experiences motivated him to oppose any delay.

“We qualified for free and reduced lunch, which means we also would have likely qualified for Medicaid,” Saka said. “But I never went to the dentist and only went to the doctor a handful of times in nine years because of the severe, significant, non-trivial, and substantial administrative paperwork burden imposed on people that need these valuable resources.”

In a press statement, Wilson pledged to work closely with the council and city departments to implement the programs funded by the FEPP levy.

Washington joined the ranks of states like Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine in enacting a so-called millionaires tax. It places a 9.9% levy on households earning more than $1 million per year. The tax doesn’t apply to the first $1 million of income — only the income beyond that threshold.

Supporters of the tax argue that it affects only a sliver of households in the state, while opponents warn it threatens opening the door to a broader statewide income tax.

Let’s Go Washington, a political action committee sponsored by hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, put forward the repeal measure. “We are proud to lead the fight to protect families and small businesses from Olympia expanding their state income tax on all Washingtonians,” he said in a statement July 15, when its initiative met the signature threshold for appearing on the ballot.

Meanwhile, a campaign urging voters to reject the repeal bid has won the backing of some high-profile Washingtonians, including travel writer Rick Steves and “Jeopardy!” winner-turned-host Ken Jennings.

Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) signed the bill creating the tax in March. It takes effect in 2028, with the first taxes due in 2029.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/news@lemmy.world/p/2230332/a-bad-week-for-flock-but-a-good-week-for-privacy-and-local-organizing-in-washington-sta

As the pushback against Flock and other ALPRs grows all around the country, Washington state is doing its part!

The Seattle area job market appeared to improve over the last quarter, with the unemployment rate declining and job openings increasing slightly. But those averages obscure a significant restructuring that may reshape the regional labor force.

Job growth is shifting away from the tech industry — once seen as the unstoppable economic engine of the region — toward healthcare and frontline services. That’s according to new data compiled by the Workforce Development Council (WDC) of Seattle-King County, a nonprofit that helps set employment strategy for the region.

The 300-foot-long wetland, anchored along a dock in Ballard, is designed to give young salmon some of the calm, shaded, shallow habitat they’ve lost along the city’s hardened shorelines. “They need every help they can get to survive,” said Nancy Rottle with the University of Washington’s Green Futures Lab.

Since 2022, the Green Futures Lab has partnered with the nonprofit EarthCorps to study whether a constructed floating ecosystem can survive in saltwater and help salmon do the same. “To our knowledge, no one had tested them in salt water,” Rottle said.

Researchers say more than 75% of Seattle’s shorelines have been altered by development, making it harder for young salmon to find the protective nearshore waters they need to grow. The floating wetland tries to bring some of that habitat back by providing shade, food sources and other ecological benefits right at the marina.

“The perfect place to provide habitat that would provide shade for salmon, food for salmon, other aquatic advantages, ecosystem services,” Rottle said.

The Seattle City Council approved a beefed-up renewal of the city's dedicated transit funding measure Tuesday on a 9-0 vote, giving voters the chance to sign onto a major expansion of city-funded King County Metro service. If approved in November, the refreshed Seattle Transit Measure will generate around $138 million per year, the vast majority of which would maintain and expand supplemental bus service across the city to increase Seattleites' all-day access to transit.

Increasing the Seattle Transit Measure's funding source from its current 0.15% sales tax rate to 0.3% will allow the City of Seattle to purchase around 100,000 more bus trips per year, ramping up from the 180,000 provided today. That will mean 10-15 routes see increased frequencies, particularly on nights and weekends, with the exact corridors determined using existing equity criteria in place at the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT).

SR3 believes the shootings may be fueled by the “dangerous myth” that harbor seals are primarily responsible for declining salmon populations, according to the petition.

However, harbor seals eat a wide variety of prey, including sole, flounder, sculpin, cod, herring, octopus and squid.

Researchers have also found that eliminating seals and sea lions from Washington waters alone would not restore salmon populations because habitat loss and other human-driven factors remain the primary causes of salmon declines, SR3 said.

Harbor seals are common throughout Washington’s nearshore waters, including Bellingham Bay, Hood Canal and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.