Originally posted last night at 9pm.

The Seattle Police Department and King County Prosecutor’s office are investigating a Washington State assistant attorney general for alleged fraud and identity theft related to several adult hookup sites.

Earlier this month, according to a police report, a woman told police that someone had been impersonating her online and had arranged sexual encounters under her name, giving out her phone number. The report says that between December 25th, 2006 and May 15th, 2008, the woman received between 25 and 30 phone calls from people looking for sex.

According to court documents, the first incident occurred on Christmas day in 2006, when the victim received a telephone call from a Tacoma couple who claimed they had arranged a meeting on Adult Friend Finder to have sex with her. The couple told the woman that a person claiming to be her had given out her name and phone number to arrange a tryst.

Records say that over the next year and a half, the woman received one or two calls a week from people looking for sex. Some of the callers were from New York City, Florida, and California. The callers—a number of whom were female—all said someone claiming to be the victim had contacted them on Adultfriendfinder.com or Fling.com, using handles like BiseattleBi06 and Mellywood. Some of the callers said they had received photos from the impersonator, which were not of the victim. Most of the accounts have been removed, but one account on Adultfriendfinder lists the account holder as a 24-year-old Seattle woman who is “lookin to play, willing to travel.” The account also includes a picture of a young brunette woman.

In May 2007, five months after the calls began, the victim contacted the FBI and Seattle Police. Authorities subpoenaed information from Adultfriendfinder and the accounts were then traced to a Washington state IP address that belongs to the assistant Attorney General.

Police asked the woman if she recognized the assistant Attorney General’s name and she identified him as the husband of a former co-worker at a local news station. The victim had also lived in the same Seattle neighborhood as the assistant AG and his wife until 2007, when they moved outside of Seattle. The Stranger is not naming the man as no charges have been filed.

According to court records, the victim told police that after her former co-worker and the co-worker's husband moved out of her neighborhood, she still saw him walking near her home a half-dozen times, sometimes alone, sometimes with a stroller. Neighbors also told her they’d seen the man in the neighborhood.

On July 31st, police searched the man’s home and took 16 CDs, a USB drive, 2 digital storage cards, an RSA encryption device, a laptop, paperwork, and three cameras.

Kristin Alexander, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, says the AG’s office has been informed of the investigation but has not put the employee on leave. Alexander also says it does not appear that any state computers were used to access Adultfriendfinder.com or Fling.com.

The man being investigated has been with the attorney general’s office for nine years.

Russian Roulette: Bush Administration will give $1 billion in aid to Georgia—and may include military support. Russia still occupies some territory.

“Compassionate Conservatives”: Now putting their “Country First.”

The Harder They Come: Bush calls McCain “the man we need”; then spotlight is usurped by someone more credible—a wishy-washy former Democrat who ran against Bush.

Lie-Berman: Joe’s speech assailed for inaccuracies about Obama’s voting record on bipartisanship, troop funding.

Wrong Paul: Thousands of dupes attend shadow convention for Paul. Congressman’s access to Republican convention restricted.

Ms. Maverick: Palin requested $197 million in earmark funding for Alaska.

Convention Protesters: They protest either party, apparently—but they always make the left look bad.

Cut the Cord: Buses to carry commuters while the viaduct—West Seattle’s “lifeline”—is under construction. “That will never work,” say drivers with no alternative.

Chopper: NATO helicopters in Pakistan kill 15—women, kids, Taliban, and governor.

The Was Easy: Staples’s second-quarter profit drops 16 percent.

Six Dead in Skagit County: Shooter kills six, including sheriff’s deputy responding to a disturbance, on multi-house murder spree and turns himself into police. Mother says he is mentally disturbed and has lived in the woods on and off for years.

Making Waves: Georgia prepares for Tropical Storm Hanna—currently over the Caribbean—expected to make landfall Friday afternoon.

Absent Ape Eight-foot mechanical gorilla missing in Maine.

Urban Wildlife: City creates $462,000-dollar parks-ranger program. They don’t carry guns and act like social workers.

Breaking Wind: Hurricane Gustav blows out electricity to one million in Louisiana, causes damage estimated at $10 billion in insurance claims in the Gulf; destroys or damages 90,000 homes in Cuba.

Blowing Hard: RNC resumes program with prime-time speech from former self-proclaimed Democrat Joe Lieberman.

Striking Out: Bellevue teachers begin strike on first day of school. Issues stem from standardized web-based curriculum, heath-care benefits, and, of course, shitty pay.

Sweet Baby Jesus: Evangelicals cheering for Palin’s abstinence-only-educated, unwedded, pregnant daughter. "The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a 'hypocrite,' but all it really means is that she and her family are human," says ‘hypocrite’ cheerleader James Dobson.

Forgive Them, Father: All about the baby's daddy, Levi Johnson, a self described "f---in' redneck."

Browsers: Google releases open-source Chrome browser today to tackle Internet Explorer. What's wrong with IE? Observe this excellent cartoon.

Smokers: Fox reports that unnamed “medics” say Amy Winehouse was brain damaged by cannabis.

Protesters: One hundred and thirty charged with felonies after thousands join a peace march outside RNC. St. Paul has received $50 million in federal grants for local policing.

Competitors: Gregoire and Rossi both taking money from drug and insurance companies.

Hot House: Thailand declares state of emergency, banning groups of more than five people in public after one died in weekend protests. Demonstrators accuse the government of ties to ousted former prime minister.

Dog House: Garfield High School reopens after years of remodeling the 1920s building.

White House: Alberto Gonzales took classified documents out of secured areas. “He regrets this lapse,” his legal team says.

"It's Like a Seat Belt": Concealed weapon permits up 44 percent in Washington over four years.

Southern Discomfort: Gustav's winds hit Gulf shore at 105 miles per hour 70 miles southwest of New Orleans, where engineers expect levees to hold; hurricane path projected to cross Baton Rouge, LA.

Midwest Meeting: McCain to accept party nomination despite storm, but many Republican National Convention plans in limbo.

Northern Exposure: Palin’s 17-year-old daughter pregnant, not married, but due in December, and due to be huge in October.

Courting Disaster: Eyman sues to maintain standards for amending King County charter.

Car-Free Sunday: Shuts down Rainier Avenue South; people successfully ride bikes, walk.

Prime Minister in Japan: Resigns after floundering in deadlock with parliament.

Floods in India: Eighty dead and 500,000 without food or drinking water.

Glass Onion: EU to hold emergency meeting, threatening to isolate Russia over Georgia invasion.

Uppity Teachers: Strike could delay first day of school in Bellevue.

Dirty Hippies: Dust storm consumes Burning Man.

Best of luck tonight, tomorrow and into the future. We're with you in spirit.

And a parting bit of better news:

DATA SUGGEST THAT THE LANDFALL INTENSITY OF GUSTAV WILL LIKELY BE NOT VERY DIFFERENT FROM ITS CURRENT CATEGORY THREE STRENGTH.

That was then...

This is now.

Just spent an hour at the gym watching the noos on CNN and MSNBC. It's wall-to-wall Gustav. And this time George Bush is on top the situation. Bush learned his lesson last time a hurricane destroyed New Orleans and he's not gonna get caught napping—or vacationing or playing air guitar or speaking at the RNC—again this time, that's for sure. This time the federal government, under George W. Bush's leadership, is prepared.

Can't help thinkin' that the man could probably run a wonderfully competent invasion of Iraq right about now.

Jacksonville Daily News in North Carolina:

Gay angle may have hurt probe

A New Hope: Obama accepts nomination, America swoons.

Place Your Bets: McCain to announce VP pick.

Battle in Bangkok: Thai police clash with protesters pushing for change in government.

If At First You Don't Succeed As Gustav heads towards Gulf Coast, New Orleans readies evacuation plan.

Bomb the Sububs: California legislature works to reduce driving, sprawl.

Don't Be Late For Class: North Texas teachers allowed to carry concealed guns.

Head Case: Mexican police find 11 headless corpses.

Cutting Corners: Canadian airline removes life vests from planes to lighten load.

One more Saturday morning classic:

Earlier this week, City Council Member Richard McIver tried to use taxpayer money to pay two $500 ethics violation fines, using a city policy loophole which indemnifies council members against any financial penalties incurred in the course of their work on the council.

In response, Council Members Sally Clark, Tim Burgess, Tom Rasmussen, Jean Godden and Richard Conlin distributed a letter earlier this afternoon, promising to close the loophole some time in September.

Moments ago, McIver sent out his own letter:

Today I delivered a personal check for $1,000 to the Seattle Ethics & Elections Commission in payment for the fine assessed by that body. While my earlier action to have the City’s Judgment Claims Fund pay this fine is legally defensible, it is clear that it is not politically acceptable and creates the appearance that I somehow feel that the City’s ethics sanctions do not apply to me. That is not the case and not the impression that I want to give to the citizens of Seattle.

Good. Glad that's settled.

A South Dakota Grand Jury has charged Seattle Police detective Ron Smith and four other members of the Iron Pigs Motorcycle Club—a biker gang made up of law enforcement officers and firefighters—for their involvement in an August 8th shooting at a Loud American Roadhouse bar in Sturgis, South Dakota.

Smith and four other officers—one from Colorado and two others from Washington—were on vacation in Sturgis for an annual biker rally when a fight broke out at the Loud American Roadhouse. Smith claims he was attacked by a Hell's Angel and fired his weapon in self defense.

Smith is a high-ranking member of the Seattle Police Officers Guild and the editor of the guild's monthly paper, The Guardian. Some of Smith's rants have been featured here on Slog.

The Grand Jury has asked that Smith be charged for aggravated assault or simple assault, perjury and for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

The four other Iron Pigs members—Scott Lazalde, James Rector, Erik Pingel and Dennis McCoy—are also being charged with carrying unpermitted weapons.

Joseph McGuire, the Hell's Angel who was shot, has also been charged with Assault.

If convicted of aggravated assault, Smith could face up to 15 years in jail and a $30,000 fine. A Perjury conviction would add another five years while the unpermitted weapon charge has a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a two-thousand dollar fine.

This morning, the Seattle Police Department issued a brief statement:

Upon the Department’s notification of the incident in Sturgis, South Dakota, all SPD personnel involved were placed on administrative leave. As the Department continues to gather and receive information, the officers will remain on administrative leave.

Seattle Police Officers Guild would not comment on the charges.

A majority of Californians—by a wide margin, wide enough to compensate for bigoted folks who tell pollsters what they think they want to hear—are telling pollsters that they're going to vote against a proposed ban on same-sex marriage. So things are looking good for the gays in California. And yet the Lord God is hurling another hurricane at New Orleans.

The Lord works in mysterious ways, etc.

Coming Out Swinging: Biden accepts VP nom, begins taking shots at McCain.

Storm Warning: As three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, Louisiana declares state of emergency for Tropical Storm Gustav.

Jack Out the Box: Justice Department asks federal judge to slash Abramoff's sentence.

Uncle Ted Rides Again:Sen. Ted Stevens under indictment, still wins GOP primary.

Time to Start Building That Ark: Arctic ice drops to near record-low levels.

Who Says There's Racism in Golf? LPGA will require players to speak English.

More classics:

New York Times:

In March or April 2007, three noncommissioned United States Army officers, including a first sergeant, a platoon sergeant and a senior medic, killed four Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots to the head as the men stood handcuffed and blindfolded beside a Baghdad canal, two of the soldiers said in sworn statements.

Why did they do this? Because they had been ordered to release the men, due to lack of evidence.

Release them? Fuck that. Let's kill them instead.

Sergeant Leahy, in his statement, said, "I'm ashamed of what I’ve done," later adding: "When I did it, I thought I was doing it for my family. Now I realize that I’m hurting my family more now than if I wouldn’t have done it."

Ugh. On the bright side, the three soldiers are expected to be charged with murder.

King County has rolled out its Green Bikes Project (GBP), a partnership between the county, the Cascade Bicycle Club, REI and local businesses to cut down on car commuting.

The GBP will provide 200 Novara bicycles to employees at partner companies—Foss Maritime, Expedia, Zymogenetics, Perkins Coie, Boeing, REI, Swedish Hospital and other—who commit to riding to work through May 2009. Companies must provide secure bike parking and access to showers and employees must take safety classes and sign a liability waiver.

"We spent a lot of time encouraging people to drive. We built houses out in the burbs, schools out in the burbs, this is turning things around," says Cascade Bicycle Club Advocacy Director David Hiller, who refers to the GBP program as "social marketing."

While it's an interesting idea, we're about to head into our dreary, nine-month rainy season. Although GBP participants aren't required to ride between November and February— GPB also operates on an honor system and rider mileage will not be tracked—Hiller doesn't see the impending crappy weather as a problem. "This is really the time to test people’s tolerance for 42 degrees and drizzle," he says. "I have a felling that the bikes will all be spoken for in very short order."

GBP participants may get to keep their bikes when the pilot program ends, and Hiller hopes companies will start up their own biking programs. The county is waiting to see how the program goes, and there probably won't be any talk of expanding or continuing the program until next year.

Mending Fences: Hillary comes out to support Obama.

Space Germs: International Space Station infected by computer virus.

Oil and Water: UK calls dibs on oil rich section of Atlantic Ocean.

If She Won't Talk, Waterboard Her: Judge orders Harriet Miers to testify in US Attorney investigation.

Fencing Lessons: Film on Golden Gate Bridge suicides reignites debate about building a barrier.

Is Nothing Sacred? TV ad links hot dogs with cancer risk.

Welcome to the 21st Century: Baseball finally starts using instant replay for in-game calls.

Here's another forgotten childhood favorite:

PI:

And on Monday, the Coalition to Stop the Seattle Bag Tax said it turned in petitions with more than 20,000 signatures to the City Clerk in an effort to overturn the 20-cent fee on plastic and paper grocery store bags. The ordinance, which backers say is needed to help protect the environment, is set to go into effect in January.... A spokesman for the anti-bag-tax group said the signatures were collected in 11 days, using paid signature gatherers.

So if the tax is onerous and must be stopped, maybe the city should ban plastic and paper shopping bags altogether.

Rednecks With Guns : FBI investigating Obama assassination plot.

Because Discouraging Adoption Is Always a Great Idea:: Proposed Arkansas law would bar gay couples from adopting.

Crackdown: Feds detain 350 workers in Mississippi factory raid.

The Upside to Pain at the Pump:
Study says higher gas prices mean fewer traffic fatalities.

Border Patrol: Security tightened along US-Mexico border over threats from drug cartels.

Movie Madness: Netflix blames week-long meltdown on "faulty hardware component."

Now, forgotten cartoons from my childhood:

A judge has ordered the Seattle School District to halt plans to remove a grove of 68 trees from Ingraham High School's campus in North Seattle.

Under the judge's order, the district must now reapply for permits from the city and go through a full environmental review.

Seattle Schools spokesman David Tucker says the district is hoping to get the case dismissed.

The district already owes a logging company as much as $17,000 for delaying the tree removal, and Tucker says the district is also worried about dealing with rising construction costs. "Any delays start to effect...construction costs and our ability to continue with the project," Tucker says.

I've got a call in to Save Our Trees spokesman Steve Zemke to talk about his legal victory.

The fight to save a grove of trees at Ingraham High School continues:

In an email, Save Our Trees spokesman Steve Zemke says:

Save the Trees is back in court today on their motion for a Preliminary Injunction to prevent the Seattle School District from cutting down 68 Douglas fir, Western Red Cedar and Pacific madrone trees on the west side of Ingraham High School

The temporary restraining order barring the district from cutting the trees expires today, so if a judge does not extend the injunction against the Seattle School District, logging could begin tomorrow.

So... the American Family Association is boycotting Hallmark, which any idiot could've seen coming. So I'm thinking...

Considering the number of companies being actively boycotted or threatened with boycotts by Christian fundies, perhaps Hallmark should launch a line of greeting cards for the CEOs of companies—Disney, Ford, McDonalds, Hallmark itself—that are being boycotted by the likes of the American Family Association. I'm seeing something tasteful on the front of the card, perhaps a photo of a beautiful sunrise, along with the words "We heard you're being boycotted by the American Family Association..." Open the card and the inside reads: "...which must mean you're doing something right. Thanks."

In Case You've Been Living Under a Rock: Obama picked a VP over the weekend (spoiler warning: it wasn't Hillary).

In Iraq: 25 killed in suicide bombing.

In Court: Electronic Frontier Foundation suing US government over warrantless wiretaps.

Out of Jail: Israel to release 200 Palestinian prisoners. Meanwhile, 300 IRA members seek to overturn convictions.

Out in the Cold: Farmer's Almanac predicts an especially chlly winter.

Out of Ideas: Texas schools will use GPS to track truant students.

In honor of the Redeem Team's big win, here's a little vintage '92 Olympic basketball action.

In Mono: Seattle firefighters rescue stranded passengers from a stalled monorail car. Again.

Olympian Heights: Today marks the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Games.

O'Biden: Deciphering the new political juggernaut.

Hearts and Minds: Hamid Karzai furious as 95 Afghani civilians killed in a coalition airstrike.

Get Money: How much will a hypothetical bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae cost the average tax payer?

Marching: People touched by gang violence marched through Judkins Park Saturday.

Drinking Age: College officials who want to reexamine the legal drinking age of 21 state that they simply want a debate.

NOLA: Even after the horrific lessons of Katrina, many of the same levee engineering mistakes are being repeated.

Iiiiit's Biden!: You can stop checking every ten minutes for the text message now. Obama picks Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his VP nominee.

Georgia: Even as the majority of their troops leave the country, Russian leaders eagerly plan a new status quo with their neighbor.

Energetic: Puget Sound Energy customers expected to see their rates raise 8.25 percent for electricity and 5 percent for natural gas.

White Lines: Colorado convict found to be source of 'mysterious white powder' emailed to John McCain's Colorado campaign office.

Rescue 911: Two teenagers rescued from ice cave collapse on Snoqualmie Pass.

Pakistan: US frantically searches for a new ally against the Taliban amongst the post-Musharraf political candidates.

Go Away, Fay: Tropical Storm Fay makes landfall in Florida for the fourth time, sets its sights on New Orleans.

Big Brother Wants You To Go To Class: Texas court authorizes the placement of GPS devices on the ankles of consistently truant students.

Better Late Than Never: Mariners snap 7 game losing streak with solid 7-5 victory over Oakland.

No, Megan, this is the story that'll ruin your day if you read it.

MSNBC:

Nebraska’s new “safe-haven” law allowing parents to abandon unwanted children at hospitals with no questions asked is unique in a significant way: It goes beyond babies and potentially permits the abandonment of anyone under 19.

While lawmakers may not have intended it, the month-old law raises the possibility that frustrated parents could drop off misbehaving teens or even severely disabled older children with impunity.

Much less link to it, but...

Meet Mayra Lizbeth Rosales. She's so fat that she's immobile. Actually, strike that—the woman was just mobile enough to beat her two year-old nephew to death. Now prosecutors are trying to figure out how to bring Rosales to trial. And that's not going to be easy since she can't "fit through a door to leave her home," according to Time Magazine, which should be ashamed of itself for reporting this story at all.

In five days, Seattle's last freestanding newsstand could be gone. The stand's owner, Ben Gant, turned in permit applications to the city on Tuesday, but later received a letter from the Seattle Department of Transportation saying it will not accept them forms as some of them are incomplete.

After receiving your application and submittals on August 20th, I identified the following items were not included. These items are required in order for the application to be considered complete. • Letter from adjacent property owner for permission to have the newsstand and to vend the approved items. • Insurance showing the City of Seattle as an additional insured. See enclosed Client Assistance Memo 2102 for insurance requirements. • Health Department Vending Permit or proof of exemption to vend food and beverages. • Missing items from site and elevation plan: o Electrical specifications with a description of electrical hookup to adjacent property. o Stamp from a Professional Engineer. o Windload calculations. • Fire Marshall propane permit, if using for proposed food preparation.

The complete permit application needs to be submitted by August 27th

Gant—who just launched a new website for his newsstand to raise money for construction—says he has in fact turned in some of the "missing" items, including "a letter from [the Woolworth's building] agreeing to supply the newsstand with electricity, as well as letters of support from Ross, Walgreen's, Bruno's, and Samuel's jewelers."

Gant also says he's gotten an exemption permit from the health department, is waiting on on some documents from his structural engineer and will contact the Fire Marshall later today.

SDOT spokesman Rick Sheridan says it will take the city about 10 days to review Gant's application once it's complete, although Gant may also have to go through permitting process with DPD if any electrical work needs to be done.

Deadline: According to the ceasefire agreement, today is the deadline for Russian troops to leave Georgia.

Romney Mania: Political writers gone wild over leaks that Romney may be McCain's pick.

Disappointment: Obama said to have made the call to the candidates who won't be joining him on the stage in Illinois on Saturday.

Tree Killer: Seven trees along the Burke-Gilman Trail injected with herbicide.

2011: Draft agreement sets last day for United States troops to leave Iraq.

Hateful: Seattle City Auditor's Office declares hate crimes to be more common, widespread than previously thought.

Bolt-ing: Usain Bolt and the Jamaican relay team shatter the world record for the 4x100-meter relay.

Grin and Bear It: Chinese man attacked by bear has successful face transplant. No, really.

In a dramatic about-face, the city council has issued a series of rules and regulations governing council member blogging, which is strikingly different from the proposed rules I posted yesterday.

For months, the city's legal, administrative and IT departments have been discussing implementing blogging and web rules for council members. A rules proposal released last month "discouraged [council members] from establishing and maintaining additional or alternate sites" and would have required council members to take down campaign websites after elections.

"We wanted to start off restrictive, see how this thing works and see how people are able to work with it," says city council administrative director Denise Williams. "We wanted it to be clear to citizens that when [a council member is communicating] with you [online] it is in an official capacity."

Continue reading "City Council Sets New Policy On Council Blogs" »

The Seattle Parks Department and Seattle Police are on the hunt for a tree murderer after maintenance crews discovered seven poisoned trees near the Burke Gilman Trail in North Seattle

This week, Parks crews found that someone had drilled a series of holes into the trunks of seven 70-foot silver poplars and Douglas firs along the Burke Gilman near NE 77th St in the Sand Point neighborhood, and pumped the trees full of herbicide.

The damage is estimated between $40,000 to $60,000 and Seattle Parks spokeswoman Dewey Potter says the all seven trees will have to be removed.

Seattle Parks has asked SPD to investigate. If someone is caught, they could be charged with malicious mischief or for a "timber trespass," the illegal cutting or damaging of trees.

The trees will have their revenge.

King County Prosecutors have filed charges against a 15-year-old boy for allegedly shooting a 20-year-old man in the Central District last week.

According to court records, the 15-year-old approached the man as he was getting in to his car on 26th and Dearborn and fired several shots, striking the man in the head. The man was able to flee from the scene.

Court documents say the 20-year-old man had an "ongoing conflict" with the boy, who lives two blocks away from where the shooting took place.

The boy is being charged with assault and unlawful possession of a firearm and records indicate he has previously been convicted on drug and auto theft charges.

Prosecutors will hold a hearing on August 29th to discuss whether to charge the 15-year-old as an adult

At Parkland, Washington's drive-thru espresso stand Java Girls, a lady in a bikini will serve you up the specialty coffee beverage of your choice—unless you're a man wearing a bra and panties and exposing yourself, in which case a Java Girl will douse you with boiling water.

KIRO has the story:

Jamae Feddock, a bikini clad barista at Java Girls, said she first thought the man dressed in women’s underwear and exposing himself was a sick joke, until the man came back several times. “He has underwear over his face, he's wearing hot pink panties now and the underwear that he was wearing is over his face and there's a little peephole so he can see,” Feddock said.

Feddock and another barista were working around 5 a.m. last Thursday when the incident happened. They tried to get a look at the man’s license plate, but that too was covered up with women’s underwear.

When the man came back a third time one of the baristas took a cup of scalding hot water and doused him with it.

First, the fact that the sick-fuck underwear man concealed his license plate with panties is inspired.

Second, it sounds like he might have enjoyed the scalding. As Jamae Feddock told KIRO:

“[We] opened the door and threw boiling hot water on his face and his chest and he said oooh yeah.”

And as Jamae Feddock's sister told KIRO in a follow-up report, the flashing wasn't an isolated incident:

“At the Auburn stand of Java Girls, some guy came through doing something similar,” said Sharia Feddock.

Sharia said things like this don't just happen to bikini baristas. She was flashed when she was working in jeans and a T-shirt.

Sharia said she doesn’t think the flashing incidents have anything to do with being a bikini barista.

Pierce County police are investigating.

Pulling Out Doesn't Work: Despite pledging to remove troops from Georgia by Friday, Russian forces show no signs of leaving.

Ironically Enough...: United States and Iraqi negotiators draft agreement regarding how long American troops will stay in Iraq.

Understandable: John McCain admits uncertainty over just how many houses he and his wife own.

The Getaway: Highline resident witnesses crime, escapes gunfire of criminals via high-speed unicycle ride.

Inquiry Begins: 153 dead in disastrous accident during takeoff of SpanAir flight from Madrid airport.

Energetic Planning: Seattle City Light rolls out plan to double the city's energy conservation over the next five years.

RIP: Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio dies at age 58.

Baseball Town: Despite having a team that's not particularly good at it, Seattle fans make the Mariners the sixth best attended club in baseball.

And because you'll almost certainly be bombarded today with news of a Vice Presidential nature, we will skip that part of the morning news and instead focus on this gentleman, who is walking on his hands in a competitive setting:

Neat.

Guardian:

Britain could be heading for it wettest August for a century as forecasters predicted more heavy rain today, but held out the hope of a drier bank holiday.

Homes were flooded and cricket and horse racing events cancelled yesterday as heavy rain lashed the country, causing rivers to burst their banks.

It appears City Hall is trying to crack down on council members' personal blogs and campaign web pages because of concerns about possible confusion with official, city-endorsed websites.

This week, the city's legislative department sent out a proposed policy change, which was approved by Conlin, to council members late last month. The memo is excerpted below.

It is very important for the City to maintain one identity on the Internet, so that citizens know that the information they are receiving is official information from the City of Seattle.

To this end, councilmembers shall utilize the provided City web address as their primary web site. Redirection, cross-linking, or otherwise orienting visitors to an alternate site is contrary to the policy and purpose of the City Council web site and is not allowed.

Councilmembers are discouraged from establishing and maintaining additional or alternate sites. Steps should be taken to clearly identify personal sites as non-government sites.

Election sites should be taken offline at the conclusion of your campaign.

Several city council members maintain blogs, but the rule-change appears to be directed at council members Tim Burgess and Bruce Harrell, who regularly post to blogs on personal websites.

Continue reading "City Hall Cracking Down on Council Members' Blogs" »

Three weeks after a violent clash between cyclists and a motorist during a Critical Mass ride on Capitol Hill, the fractured cycling community finally sat down with the city to talk about how to move forward.

Yesterday, council member Tim Burgess met with Critical Mass riders, the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board, members of the Cascade Bicycle Club (CBC), City Attorney Tom Carr and Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to talk about the future of the Critical Mass and, Burgess says, "public policy related to cyclists and drivers and how to prevent these incidents from happening in the future."

In the days following the Critical Mass melee, police were quick to fault riders for escalating the altercation. However, it appears the department isn't planning to crack down on the monthly rides, and will instead be reaching out to riders through cycling message boards. According to council member Burgess, Chief Kerlikowske "spoke rather eloquently about the fact that the police dept has no desire at all to stop the Critical Mass rides or be heavy handed."

Although SPD made it fairly clear they believed cyclists were at fault for last month's altercation, no one has yet been charged.

At yesterday's meeting, Chief Kerlikowske said that SPD had submitted their case file on the incident to the King County Prosecutor's office for review. However, KC spokesman Dan Donahoe says SPD has not in fact handed anything over.

Cascade Bicycle Club Advocacy Director David Hiller—who has derided Critical Mass in the past—says CBC has been digging into the July 27th melee and says CBC is now convinced that the driver "made a deliberate decision to strike…one person with a two ton object and then accelerated into a group of folks. That makes him a criminal before he was a victim," Hiller says.

SPD will be on hand at the next Critical Mass ride on August 29th to distribute fliers. Although Burgess is an avid cyclist and was happy to facilitate yesterday's meeting, he says he won't be at the ride because he's "an old guy that operates within the lines."

The fact that we Americans have constructed our lives around the near-constant consumption of garbage food—every move we make through a given day takes us past fast food outlets, vending machines, donut shops, etc.; we eat during our commutes, we eat at work, we eat while we watch TV—has nothing whatsoever to do with the obesity epidemic and anyone who suggests that there just might be a connection between the near-constant consumption of empty calories and weight gain is a fatphobic bigot.

With that out of the way: United Airlines has announced that it will no longer be providing free snacks in coach.

Beginning Sept. 2, United Airlines will no longer hand out complimentary pretzels and cookies to economy class fliers across North America.

The airline is also dropping complimentary meals in domestic business class, effective Oct. 1, except for premium transcontinental flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to New York. And it's expanding the BOB, or buy-on-board, food offerings.

Oh, and the BOB prices are going up, also Oct. 1.

There will be much screaming and yelling, of course, but all this development means is that United passengers may have to go two, three, or four hours without mindlessly stuffing junk food into their mouths. United passengers who want to eat crap during their flight will actually have to consider whether or not they want the crap being offered badly enough to pay for it.

If the do, they can purchase it and go right on chewing. If not, they can struggle through a few snackless hours.

Disaster: With the Afghani government divided, the Taliban are on the rise... again.

Further Disaster: SpanAir jet crashes on takeoff at Madrid airport, killing "dozens."

Further-er Disaster: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teeter on the edge of a federal bailout.

Round Two... Fight!: Primary wins lead to rematches in the congressional race between Burner and Reichert and the fight for the governor's mansion between Gregoire and Rossi.

All That Glitters: Rocker-turned-child-porno-enthusiast Gary Glitter to be expelled from Thailand.

EP-Nay: Environmental Protection Agency thwarted by federal appeals court in attempts to change the Clean Air Act.

West Nile: The first case of the West Nile Virus this year strikes a woman in King County.

Cejudo!: American Henry Cejudo rises from poverty to win upset Olympic gold in wrestling.

And, a moment of political geek-dom:

Joe Biden for President, 1988: Because Experience Means Hairplugs

That 90 year-old mauled by pit bulls—or "eaten alive," according to witnesses—who wound up having three limbs amputated after the attack? He's dead.

That mentally ill anti-Semitic kid from New Jersey who stalked and briefly detained/kidnapped Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in an effort to force Wiesel to admit that the Holocaust was a hoax? He's kind of cute.

I wish that wasn't the first thing I noticed when I read the story about his sentencing this morning—to time served and mental health treatment—but there it is.

Oh, and Eric Hunt is also sorry and getting help and taking his meds and no longer an anti-Semite.