Washington GOP sues King County elections director: That primary race for Public Lands Commissioner got so hot that the Republicans in the state are suing. After a recount, Democrat Dave Upthegrove beat Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson by just 51 votes. The state GOP believes an online tool allowing voters to fix ballot issues such as signature challenges swayed the election results. The lawsuit against King County Elections Director Julie Wise alleges she "did not ensure that voter information transmitted over the app had adequate privacy and security protections because the tool is operated by a private company," reports KUOW. The GOP wants these votes not to count.
Spare us: Summer will not release its hold on us yet. Early September is blind to your pumpkin flavorings and deaf to your desire to dress in layers. Sure, you may be suffering from that summer surge of COVID, but the weather will not let you rest. Friday promises temperatures in the 90s. Saturday shall keep heated in the high 80s. Sunday, we can rest easy in the upper reaches of the 70s.
Happy Friday! It is another warm day in September here in Western Washington with widespread Moderate HeatRisk. Areas along the coast will hit their highs in the early afternoon today as the pattern begins to shift inland.
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) September 6, 2024
Stay cool, stay hydrated, and stay safe!#wawx pic.twitter.com/k5QfOPcjiz
Hottest summer ever: Congrats! We broke another record for hottest summer on record on planet earth. If it's seeming like we already broke this record, it's because we did—last year. While summer 2024 unseated summer 2023 as the hottest ever, 2024 as a year has yet to unseat 2023 from its hottest-ever crown. But scientists are pretty sure 2024 will easily overtake 2023 as the hottest year on record. That's what we call the new normal, baby. Climate change is in the driver's seat, and its foot is on the gas pedal.
Spare us, again: The praying Bremerton football coach, Joe Kennedy, has a new biopic coming out about how he made the football team pray, was fired for making them pray, and then was reinstated to his position last year after Donald Trump's appointees to the Supreme Court decided that separation of church and state didn't really apply here. The good news is this movie has a very God's Not Dead-type-Christian-propaganda-meets-Hallmark-Channel vibe to it. In other words: bad. Also, it's called Average Joe.
Moon volcanoes: Three tiny glass beads recovered from the surface of the moon by a Chinese spacecraft hold evidence that the moon not only had volcanoes, but they were erupting until about 120 million years ago. Scientists previously thought moon volcanoes last erupted between 2 and 4 billion years ago. Look, I didn't even know the moon had volcanoes to begin with, so this is all news to me. The three beads were part of the 3,000 rock samples studied by scientists. They were the only ones showing signs they derived from volcanoes.
An actually good movie trailer: Will Farrell's new movie about going on a road trip with his friend, Harper, after she came out to him as trans seems like something good for our souls and for understanding each other as people.
Will Ferrell and his close friend, former head writer at SNL, Harper Steele embark on a cross-country road trip together after Harper comes out as a trans woman in the documentary film, WILL & HARPER. In select theaters this September and on Netflix September 27. pic.twitter.com/FULaHVuMkR
— Netflix (@netflix) September 5, 2024
Our blue bubble: According to the Seattle Times' FYI Guy, 55.5% of voting-age adults in King and Snohomish Counties identified as Democrats or Democrat-leaning. Only 18% identified as Republicans. In a similar survey conducted around 2010, 49% of adults in those counties were Dems and 26% were Republicans. An influx of new people in the 2010s and a post-Donald Trump America have impacted these trends, the FYI Guy muses.
Jobs report still not great: The August jobs report is better than the July jobs report, but things are still not looking great in the job-o-sphere. In August, US employers added 142,000 jobs, an increase over the paltry 89,000 added in July. Unemployment fell from 4.3% to 4.2% in August. So, things are slow, yet potentially steady. No need to sound the alarm bells, no need to celebrate.
Georgia shooter's dad arrested: Colin Gray, 54, the father of Colt Gray, the 14-year-old suspect accused of killing two students, two teachers, and injuring nine others at his Georgia high school with an AR-15 rifle, was arrested for "knowingly allowing" his son to have a weapon. Gray was charged with "four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children." He told investigators he had purchased the gun for his son as a Christmas present. Months before that Christmas present, authorities had alerted the Gray family about Colt Gray making online threats about school shootings.
Shooter's first court appearance: Colt Gray appeared in court for the first time Friday. He will remain in detention as his lawyer did not seek bail. The judge set another hearing for Dec 4. Since he's a minor, Gray will not face the death penalty, but he could face a maximum of life in prison without parole.
JD Vance has made his peace with this reality: In the wake of the Georgia shooting, the cyborg running for the vice presidency on the Trump ticket declared that school shootings are simply "a fact of life." Vance said to crowd in Phoenix, "We don’t have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We’ve got to deal with it.” By dealing with it, Vance doesn't mean making guns harder to access or providing more mental health services. He wants to increase security in schools.
So long, Alex Morgan: Women's soccer great Alex Morgan, 35, announced her retirement from the sport on Thursday.
Thank you🫶 pic.twitter.com/8BkofVOh3s
— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) September 5, 2024
RIP: The Bellevue Art Museum announced its closure this week due to financial obstacles and low attendance. The museum and its funky exhibits closed the same day as the announcement.
Idaho murders case: The murder trial for Bryan Kohberger, the 29-year-old accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022, has yet to start. It likely won't start until next June. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, and there will be a death penalty hearing on Nov 7.
New Mexico goes big on abortion access: New Mexico is breaking ground on a state-funded reproductive health and abortion clinic. The clinic aims to help its local residents but also to provide sufficient care to people traveling there from restrictive states such as Oklahoma and Texas.
Disney adulting has gone too far: Scott and Diana Anderson, an Arizona couple, paid $31,500 annually to be part of a secret dining club, Club 33, in Disneyland. They were living the life in Club 33. They spent $125,000 annually on travel, hotel, and club fees to sate their Disney obsession. The Andersons rode the Haunted Mansion 1,000 times. Then, they lost access when Scott violated one of Club 33's cardinal rules—he was publicly intoxicated near the California Adventure entrance in 2017. Their access to Club 33? Revoked. The Andersons sued. They spent a cool $400,000 fighting for their right to Club 33. Scott claimed he wasn't drunk but rather suffering from a vestibular migraine triggered by red wine. These claims didn't hold up in court. On Tuesday, a court ruled against the Andersons. Diana said she'll keep fighting. “I’ll sell a kidney,” Diana said. “I don’t care.”
A song for your Friday: You like rock n' roll? What about local rock n' roll? I've been digging this new track from Seattle band, Bad Honey.