Weather: Expect a pleasant day with a high of 75, a light breeze, and clouds clearing out throughout the day. It’ll be nice walking weather all week with the possible exception of Saturday, which carries a 30% chance of thunderstorms, according to forecasts from the National Weather Service.
City of Olympia won't arrest over shrooms: According to KING 5, city funds and resources won’t go toward busting, investigating, or prosecuting people in possession of (or high on) psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelic plants and fungi under a resolution unanimously approved by Olympia's city council, significantly decreasing the risk of bad trips in our state capitol. According to Olympia Police, it hadn’t been much of a priority anyway, as they haven’t arrested anyone for shrooms in the last five years.
Olympia, Washington City Council unanimously voted to decriminalize psilocybin (and other entheogens) to lowest priority of law enforcement. They also asked the state and federal government to pay attention and do the same.
— Paul Stamets (@PaulStamets) August 14, 2024
Thank you Olympia City Council for recognizing this… pic.twitter.com/hdxz19nHYs
Sorry: South Lake Union’s streetcars are shut down indefinitely because mechanics don’t have the parts from overseas to fix an electrical problem. King County Metro suspended service on Friday after an outage cut power between the electric substations and the catenary wires that power the cars. As of June, an average of 494 people per week rode the 1.3 mile-long SLU line. Officials say it’ll take several weeks to fix the problem, which wouldn't have been a problem if they'd had replacement parts on hand.
King County Metro says it can't get the right parts from overseas to fix an electrical breakdown. https://t.co/IrHA1B7WhV
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) August 14, 2024
Starbucks CEO out: Starbucks’s Laxman Narasimhan is stepping down and Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol is taking his job. Narasimhan’s Tuesday resignation is effective immediately, and it comes after yet another feeble financial quarter. With his history of union hostility at Chipotle, Niccol is sure to fit right in.
In 2022, Chipotle shuttered a store in Maine soon after its employees petitioned to form the company's first union.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) August 13, 2024
The NLRB ruled the closure was illegal union-busting.
Here's Niccol after a Michigan store successfully unionized later that year:https://t.co/jSQUlzAGsZ
Ballot dropppp: Democrat Dave Upthegrove is still fighting for second place in a tight race for Washington’s Public Lands Commissioner. He’s only 5,400 votes ahead of MAGA Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson and 17,000 votes behind the clear frontrunner, former Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler. In Seattle, Alexis Mercedes Rinck held firm with just above 50% of the vote in her city council race against never-elected incumbent Tanya Woo, who is sitting 12 points behind Rinck at 38%. To quote Woo’s campaign manager on election night: “brutal.”
Physician’s assistant disciplined for allegedly failing to treat inmates: A physician’s assistant in eastern Washington voluntarily surrendered his license after the state accused him of failing to treat inmates with life-threatening and chronic conditions living at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Richard T. Oliver allegedly left cancerous skin lesions untreated, allowed for diabetic inmates’ blood sugars to rise precipitously over months, and did not properly examine an inmate complaining of shortness of breath who was later rushed to the hospital with a slowed heart and possible heart attack.
Hamas won’t attend Thursday peace talks: A Hamas representative in Lebanon said attending would bring them back to “square one.” He accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of wanting to prolong the war and evade any agreement that “ends the aggression completely.” While Netanyahu has denied this, he has added new conditions to Israel’s demands that his own negotiators fear as obstacles to peace. However, officials briefed on the talks told the New York Times that Hamas would still engage with mediators if Israel put forth a serious response to their last offer in July.
The US approved a $20 billion arms sale to Israel: Just in time for the ceasefire talks, the sale included advanced air-to-air missiles and Boeing fighter jets, to be delivered in installments between 2026 and 2029. In a statement, the State Department affirmed the US’s commitment to the security of Israel.
The squad lives on: The Associated Press called the primary race in Minnesota 5th Congressional District for incumbent Ilhan Omar, a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and a member of the left-leaning “squad” in the House. Other members of the squad, Rep. Jamaal Brown of New York and Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, lost their primaries this summer after pro-Israel groups dumped millions on their races so they’d lose. Unlike those contests, Omar's race did not see much spending from outside the district.
I am honored that my community voted to *send me back to Congress*. Tonight’s victory shows that the Fifth District believes in the collective values we are fighting for in Washington. pic.twitter.com/DwcRVI55fQ
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 14, 2024
Ohio police officer indicted for killing Black woman: Last August, Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb shot the pregnant 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young through her car windshield, killing her and her unborn child because he’d suspected her of shoplifting. Nearly a year later, on Tuesday a Franklin County grand jury indicted him on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter, and felonious assault. The court scheduled his arraignment for Wednesday.
Japan’s prime minister will step down: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced at a news conference that he wouldn’t run to lead the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) next month. Kishida was never popular, and scandal has rocked his office since he took power in October 2021, including revelations about the LDP’s ties to a church that many living in Japan regard as a cult and a slush fund of donations omitted from party records.