How are those police hiring incentive bonuses going? Not too well, according to reporting from Axios. Dozens of officers have left the Seattle Police Department since the $7,500 bonuses kicked in, so hiring has only kept pace with attrition. In February, the department counted 948 service-ready officers in its ranks, a 30-year staffing low. Public Safety Committee Chair Lisa Herbold told Axios that recruitment is not what the council hoped, but “it does feel like we’re starting to turn a corner.” So far, Seattle has spent $154,000 dollars on the hiring bonuses, with an additional $191,000 to be paid out as new officers complete probationary periods.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee has stockpiled three years of the abortion pill mifepristone: A federal court ruling from a Trump-appointed judge in Texas could order the Food and Drug Administration to rescind its approval of the drug. Inslee directed the state Department of Corrections, which can distribute the drug to health providers across the state, to place the order using its existing pharmacy license. The University of Washington Medicine bought another year’s worth of supply. Between the DOC and university, the state has about 40,000 doses of the medication. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is part of a multi-state lawsuit to protect access to mifepristone.

Another Washington insurrectionist pleaded guilty to busting into the Capitol: Jeffrey Grace, 64, of Battle Ground, could face up to six months in prison for entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds (a.k.a. The Capitol) on January 6. Prosecutors dropped three other charges as part of the man’s plea deal, reports KGW8. Jeffrey Grace follows in the footsteps of son, Jeremy Grace, who pleaded guilty to the same charge. He was sentenced to 21 days in prison with a supervised release. The father-son duo traveled to Washington with a Proud Boy identified only as “Travis” in court documents.

Game over: Amazon laid off about 100 people in its video game division this week, as part of broader company cuts. The layoffs affected workers at Prime Gaming, Game Growth, and employees of the company’s San Diego game studio. This comes after Amazon-owned Twitch laid off 400 people and CEO Andy Jassy told employees that 9,000 would lose their jobs in coming weeks.

Thieves are targeting South Asian homes and businesses in Bellingham: Detectives say they don’t know why a “regional burglary group” is targeting one group of people. A community alert from the department says criminals are hitting homes near greenbelts and trails because it offers an escape route, according to KOMO News.

So, this guy named Donald Trump was indicted…: As Ashely wrote in Tuesday’s Slog AM, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents and accounting records. The former president pleaded not guilty to all counts. The indictment says “legal fees” paid to Trump’s former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, weren’t really legal fees, but reimbursement for hush-money the lawyer paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from talking about a 2006 affair during the 2016 election.

Trump also paid hush-money to the National Enquirer to suppress Playboy Model Karen McDougal’s story of another affair. A third hush-money payment killed a story from a former Trump doorman about a secret, out-of-wedlock child, though that story was untrue. Bragg says it was all part of a scheme to violate election laws. To convict Trump, the DA must prove the records were falsified in order to conceal another crime. Here is an annotated indictment from the New York Times.

Lay down your sheep in silence: Klaus Teuber, creator of Settlers of Catan, is dead at 70. According to the game’s official website, Tueber died after a brief, severe illness. Catan is one of the first European board games (or Eurogames) to achieve international success. The game was already super popular in 2020, but sales surged during lockdown. Tueber, a former dental technician, didn’t start developing games until he was in his 40s, so … don’t let your dreams be dreams.

Kansas legislature sends bizarre abortion bill to its Governor’s desk: Lawmakers in Kansas passed a bill that requires doctors to provide care to infants “born alive” during an abortion procedure. The only problem: This is not a thing that happens in modern care, according to medical experts and providers. Some doctors call the bill unnecessary overreach that may prevent them from providing end-of-life palliative care to infants born before viability. Anti-abortion groups have pushed similar bills in other states and at the federal level, according to the Kansas City Star. Governor Laura Kelly is a staunch abortion advocate, but the state Senate and House passed this bill with the two-thirds majority needed to override her veto.

Brandon Johnson wins the Chicago Mayoral Election with 51% of the vote. To be fair, Chicago had a tough choice in the runoff race. (1) Brandon Johnson, a former Chicago Public Schools teacher, union leader and a progressive first-term Cook County Commissioner who campaigned on racial justice and working class issues. (2) Paul Vallas, a business community favorite who made a career of wrecking public education.

Policing was a key issue in this race, as was investment in public institutions such as education, housing, and mental health treatment. Johnson won out with a holistic approach to solving city problems, while Vallas echoed conservative talking points about crime and public safety. If you want to read more about the election, skip the national outlets and the innumerable hordes of Chicago Understanders on Twitter. Read the Triibe.

Speaking of elections, liberals took control of Wisconsin’s supreme court, ending 15 years of conservative rule. Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz beat Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly after the most expensive judicial race in US history. The candidates, political parties, and special interest groups sunk $40 million dollars into this election. Why? Liberal justices now hold a one-vote majority ahead of some major, consequential cases. They’re likely to overturn the state’s abortion ban and end the use of gerrymandered legislative districts in Wisconsin.

More cringe shit from Elon. As if changing Twitter’s logo to Doge (causing Dogecoin to surge temporarily), Twitter is now labeling NPR as “US state-affiliated media.” Newsflash, it is not. I checked if PBS had the same designation. It doesn’t, but their bio does just say “WOMEN,” which is unrelated but bold.