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PSA: It's time for another installment of our STRANGER DEBATES series. We've got a LOT to talk about tonight with Sarah Reyneveld and Liz Berry, the two candidates running to represent Washington's 36th Legislative District. The debate starts at 8 pm and wraps up a little after 9 pm. Reserve your seat HERE—GET ON IT! Crosscut also published this feature on the two candidates today, in case you're looking for even more background reading.
Here's the resolution https://t.co/5azmsfqtWL
— Rich Smith (@richsssmith) October 20, 2020
Trump repeatedly went after Dr. Fauci today: In a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, Fauci said “there has been a restriction" on him going on television since the start of the pandemic. He said the restriction "isn’t consistent," but the disclosure seems to have ticked off Trump, who started the day by calling Fauci a "disaster" in a campaign staff call. "People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots," said Trump, America's Top Idiot. Then he took his complaints to Twitter:
...P.S. Tony should stop wearing the Washington Nationals’ Mask for two reasons. Number one, it is not up to the high standards that he should be exposing. Number two, it keeps reminding me that Tony threw out perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of Baseball!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2020
Well, that didn't take very long: It looks like former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best has a new job as a KING 5 law enforcement analyst. That's in addition to her estimated ~$117K to $134K yearly pension. Rough.
BREAKING: Former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best has a new job.@KING5Seattle pic.twitter.com/r3sfQcjCAv
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) October 19, 2020
Local fav burger chain Katsu Burger opened a bakery in Edmonds on Saturday: Katsu Burger & Bakery serves house-made milk brioche buns, mini pies, and croissant-muffin hybrids, among other takeout-only dessert goodies. The move marks a big new development for the local chain. It's times like these when I wish I had a car. Will someone pick some up for me? Thx.
More local Food & Drink News: The relatively new West Seattle brewery The Good Society Brewery and Public House just won the title of "Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival over the weekend. The little brewery welcomed the good news, considering it opened shortly before the West Seattle Bridge closed down and, oh, the pandemic. Congrats, Good Society!!
The Russian military prepared to launch a cyberattack against the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: The revelation comes from a joint operation between US and UK intelligence agencies, who concluded the country also attempted to disrupt the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. More:
The evidence is the first indication that Russia was prepared to go as far as to disrupt the summer Games, from which all Russian competitors had been excluded because of persistent state-sponsored doping offences.
The UK has also become the first government to confirm details of the breadth of a previously reported Russian attempt to disrupt the 2018 winter Olympics and Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It declared with what it described as 95% confidence that the disruption of both the winter and summer Olympics was carried out remotely by the GRU unit 74455.
Speaking of the GRU: "The Justice Department announced charges Monday against Russian intelligence officers in a string of global cyberattacks that targeted a French presidential election, the Winter Olympics in South Korea and American businesses," reports AP.
A 7.4 magnitude quake off Alaska caused scattered tsunami warnings around the state: Don't worry, we're all good down south.
A #tsunami warning is in effect for South Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula due to a 7.4 magnitude #earthquake. No warnings in effect for anywhere else at this time.https://t.co/8Ly36T5cYX
— NWS PTWC (@NWS_PTWC) October 19, 2020
No tsunami threat for the West Coast. If this had you nervous, learn your tsunami evacuation routes at https://t.co/RZHgJRRX8g #wawx https://t.co/2KglhsFeMD
— WA Emergency Management 😷 (@waEMD) October 19, 2020
Big Tech employees say working from home is burning them out: In a new survey from the anonymous workplace chat app Blind, 68% of employees surveyed said they feel more burned out now than they did when they worked at an office, reports Business Insider. Some people think this polling suggests that work-from-home is more exhausting than work-from-office, but it could also be that working, in general, is just more exhausting during a pandemic. The reported burnout was often related to "an unmanageable workload, insufficient rewards, and a lack of control of their work." I think many of us can relate.
State health officials reported 460 new coronavirus cases and 19 more deaths this afternoon: I should note that the state Department of Health isn't reporting deaths on the weekend, so that tally may be higher earlier in the week. (I got a free COVID test this afternoon—It's easy, Seattle!)
The next presidential debate is this Thursday (unless Trump weasels out of it): The debate, their second and final scheduled debate, will take place in Nashville on Thursday, October 22. Trump says he'll take a COVID-19 test before the debate. How nice of him. Biden's campaign said today that Biden tested negative, again, and that he's taking the day off the campaign trail to focus on Thursday's debate.
What happens if you mail in your ballot, but then you die before election day? In some states, your vote still counts. A silver lining, I guess.
Writer Jeffrey Toobin is suspended from his job at the New Yorker: Why? "He exposed himself during a Zoom call with colleagues in what he says was an accident." Toobin is also CNN's chief legal analyst, and the company has said "Toobin has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted."
There but for the grace of Zoom go we. https://t.co/OKui8ASe8H
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) October 19, 2020
And THAT’S the face #ZoomToobin make when he realized his camera was on....
— Mike Carter (@stimesmcarter) October 20, 2020
A Texan woman with COVID-19 died while on an airplane: She died while the plane was still on the tarmac in Arizona, after having trouble breathing and receiving oxygen. The incident happened back in July but is just now being reported. It was unclear if the woman knew she had COVID-19 before boarding. The woman, in her 30s, had underlying high-risk health conditions. Officials did not identify which airline the plane belonged to, reports BuzzFeed News.
You know the deal: It wouldn't be a Slog PM in October without a scary movie recommendation. Tonight, as I make my way through Scarecrow Video's Psychotronic Challenge, I'm tucking into A Chinese Ghost Story. The challenge for today? "BEYOND THE DARKNESS," watch a psychotronic film "with a love story in it. There is more than one way to get mushy!"
I picked this one because the poster looks too good to pass up.
ICYMI: The Stranger's Matt Baume's got a new PLAY DATE up, this time on the new(ish) Hades game and its hot hot himbos.