More Americans are self-identifying as LGBT: A new Gallup poll says 5.6% of US adults identify as LGBT, up from 4.5% in Gallup's previous poll based on 2017 data. Some noteworthy bits from the data:
A "natural" gas leak caused over 2,000 people to lose power this afternoon in the Central District: Seattle Fire Department also evacuated the blocks around Gerber Park. Take a look at this flaming streethole:
2700 Blk. of E. Cherry St.: this is confirmed to be a natural gas leak, the gas has ignited and melted through asphalt. One block in each direction from MLK Jr. Way and E. Cherry St. evacuated. pic.twitter.com/ua5TlnE7nZ
â Seattle Fire Dept. (@SeattleFire) February 24, 2021
I guess this is what it's really like to explore "natural gas town." As of around 4 PM, Puget Sound Energy secured the gas leak and power returned to some of the neighborhood.
A driver killed a pedestrian near Capitol Hill this morning: The fatal crash happened at 10th Ave. E. and E. Newton St. SFD tweeted that the pedestrian was a man in his 50s. The driver was a woman in her 50s. SFD medics transported her to Harborview Medical Center.
@SeattleFire and @SeattlePD responding to a car/ped collision at 10 Ave E/E Newton St. Serious injuries reported. Please avoid the area if possible.
â Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) February 24, 2021
For all you disaster kinksters... Make sure you're set up to receive the ShakeAlert test, happening tomorrow at 11 AM. The ShakeAlert system should roll out in Washington state in May. We're excited to jump under our kitchen tables just to feel something.
Welp, time to yet again update our stationery! Seattle, Portland, and New York City are no longer run by anarchists. Wow. Just like that!
President Biden says Portland is losing its
"anarchist jurisdiction" label https://t.co/frBD9qHXdv pic.twitter.com/ZmLznySQNo
â Rebecca Ellis (@Rjaellis) February 24, 2021
The Seattle City Council is down with Rainier Valley Creative District: At a meeting yesterday, the council passed a resolution in favor of creating the first state-designated Creative District (CD) in Seattle. Jasmyne Keimig wrote about the push behind the CD proposal in southeast Seattle last weekâread it!
That AMBER alert you got on your phone this afternoon? Solved! The child was found.
Fry's Electronics is closing for good.
Do you have your HUMP tix? Get 'em while you can.
Ahh yes, an excellent varietal. Strong in flavor. #HappyHUMPDay pic.twitter.com/Zxi2Nk2ULt
â HUMP! (@humpfilmfest) February 24, 2021
The second installation of art for the AIDS Memorial Pathway (AMP) in Capitol Hill begins today: Last December saw the installation of the poet and interdisciplinary artist Storme Webber's "In This Way We Loved One Another" inside the Capitol Hill Housingâs Station House. Starting today, crews will install two of Seattle-based design practice Civilization's three groups of statues called "Weâre Already Here." Placed on the north end of the plaza, the south end of the plaza, and near the edge of Cal Anderson Park, the statues resemble protest signs that evoke "historic moments of public convergence." They plan on finishing by Friday, intending to install all four planned artworks by this summer. Jasmyne will visit the site later this week and report back with updates.
Joe Manchin is likely a no on Neera Tanden but a yes on Deb Haaland: That means Haaland, Biden's pick to lead the Interior Department, will likely be confirmed. Tanden, Biden's pick to be the director of the Office of Management and Budget, is in limbo. It's Joe Manchin's Senate, baby! đ€ź
"I believe Deb Haaland will be a Secretary of the Interior for every American and will vote to confirm her," Manchin said in a statement https://t.co/ec0t8fnjsy
â Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 24, 2021
In statehouses across the country, Republicans are pushing a torrent of new bills that would make it harder for people to vote in a US election. Apparently the lesson they took from the 2020 election was "cheat more," rather than "create policies people like."
All hail this ridiculous (but safe!) new USPS truck design:
I wrote the only correct USPS truck take https://t.co/iKvobRwNqg
â Alissa Walker (@awalkerinLA) February 24, 2021
Surprising absolutely fucking no one: A close ally of Marjorie Taylor Greene (the crossfit lady turned space laser lady turned congresswoman) took part in the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
So much for Trump supporters' love of classical art: The curators at the U.S. Capitol request $25,000 in emergency funding to cover the restoration and repairs of art damaged during MAGA Nation's storming of the Capitol building in January. The art and statues on display mainly suffered damage from "pepper spray accretions and residue from chemical irritants and fire extinguishers" that will require "expert cleaning and conservation."
An op-ed for the evening: Biden is locking up migrant children. Will the world still care with Trump gone?
Huzzah! More blood! A bill that would allow teens to give more blood passed the Washington State Senate today. (Currently, teens are allowed to donate whole blood, but they arenât allowed to undergo a process known as âapheresis,â which separates platelets from donations before the blood is returned to the donorâs body. We wrote about it here.) Now the bill moves to the House, where they will have to decide if the state should drain more teen blood. It should!! Let sexually active gays give blood too, you homophobes!!
A former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo alleges Cuomo kissed her on the lips without consent, reports AP:
A former member of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomoâs administration who previously accused him of sexual harassment offered new details Wednesday, saying he once kissed her on the lips without consent.
Lindsey Boylan said that during her more than three years in the Democratâs administration, Cuomo âwould go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs,â compared her to one of his rumored ex-girlfriends and once remarked they should play strip poker.
Cuomoâs spokesperson Caitlin Girouard said that all Boylanâs âclaims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false.â
Portland city attorneys have agreed to pay more than $2 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the family of Quanice Hayes, a Black teenager who was fatally shot by a Portland cop in 2017. In doing so, the city will be absolved of responsibility for Hayes' death. While the decision will bring welcome closure to a stressful legal battle, the Hayes family is determined to continue their fight for police accountability outside of the courtroom.
Yikes:
SPD Internet Crimes Against Children unit arrests Washington State Patrol employee: https://t.co/Rxp6eNpDFy
â Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) February 24, 2021
A win for renters, via Heidi Groover at the Seattle Times: "A judge on Wednesday rejected a landlord groupâs challenge to three Seattle laws meant to protect renters from eviction once the pandemic moratorium expires. King County Superior Court Judge Johanna Bender found the laws, including Seattleâs ban on winter evictions, largely constitutional."