Posts

Seattle’s Nanny State Is “Deputizing Trashmen as Secret Police” to Snoop Through Wastebins

/0 Comments/in , /by

If the cops in Seattle want to dig through a city resident’s garbage to look for evidence of a crime, they have to go get a warrant first.

But garbage collectors in Seattle are not only allowed to dig through the trash without a judge’s consent, they’re actually required to do so.

Seattle is on the cutting edge of nanny state-ism with a new citywide ban on throwing any compostable material into the trash, no matter how gross, smelly or disgusting it might be. The city government is serious about this — so serious that they have deputized the trashmen as a sort of secret police who are being ordered to rat on residents’ trash habits to the nannies at Seattle Public Utilities.

If this sounds like an arrangement that violates a whole bunch of amendments to the U.S. Constitution (and the Washington State Constitution too, in the event you’re familiar with it), well, you’re not alone.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit law firm that loves challenging ridiculous government regulations like this one, filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a state judge to shut down the Seattle trash-snooping program. (Read more from “Seattle’s Nanny State Is “Deputizing Trashmen as Secret Police” to Snoop Through Wastebins” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Foss Maritime Fights to Host Shell’s Drilling Rigs in Seattle

/0 Comments/in , /by

downloadFoss Maritime said Friday it plans to appeal the city’s decision that the Port of Seattle needs a new land-use permit to host Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet at Terminal 5.

Mayor Ed Murray said Monday the Port needs a new permit because the current permit allows for cargo loading and unloading — not for maintaining and supplying oil-drilling rigs.

Foss argues, however, that the current permit for Terminal 5 allows port customers to tie up vessels so goods and cargo can be stored, loaded and unloaded, “which is precisely what Foss is doing at Terminal 5,” the company said in the statement.

The company estimates the appeal process will take months to complete. In the meantime Foss intends to move ahead with its operations at Terminal 5 as Shell prepares for the summer oil-exploration season in Alaska.

“The city’s position is not supported by the plain language of the permit at issue, and will cause long-term harm to the maritime industry as a whole,” Foss said in the release. “This action is akin to the mayor ordering Seattle City Light to cut off all electricity to Amazon on the Friday after Thanksgiving.” (Read more from “Foss Maritime Fights to Host Shell’s Drilling Rigs in Seattle” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

100% Student Walkout for Common Core SBAC Test at Seattle High School

/44 Comments/in , /by

schoolNot a single 11th grade student showed up to take the SBAC test at Nathan Hale High School this week, a Seattle Public Schools spokesperson confirmed.

The news that 100% of the 11th graders opted out of the test was first reported on an education blog.

State Superintendent Randy Dorn released a statement Friday on the potential “fallout” from students opting out of testing. Dorn said there could be academic and financial consequences for the state of Washington if students don’t take the SBAC.

“No test is perfect. But the Smarter Balanced tests, with their emphasis on real-world skills, are better than any standardized test our state has administered before,” Dorn said in a statement.

He said without the testing results, educators will have a harder time identifying learning gaps in the student population and that results will be less reliable. Dorn also pointed to federal expectations, saying that without a 95% participation rate, the Department of Education could cut funding to schools and label Washington as “high risk.” (Read more from “No Juniors Show up to Take Common Core SBAC Test at Seattle High School” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Planes Delayed After Bomb Threats Throughout the Nation

/1 Comment/in , /by

By Mike Lindblom. Passengers on two arriving planes were delayed and then bused to the terminal following bomb threats Sunday afternoon, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Both planes were “cleared of security concerns” and passengers bused to the terminal, the airport tweeted around 6 p.m.

The first one, JetBlue Flight 1006 from Long Beach, arrived around 4:15 p.m. from Long Beach. It was sent to the far southwest end of the airfield, about 2,500 feet from other coming and going flights, said Cooper. Passengers were walking off using portable stairs, he said. They were taken to the terminal on buses. A passenger named Tiffany has been tweeting pictures of airport police, luggage being sniffed on the pavement by dogs, and the sunset.

The evacuation was a precaution, and other jets continued to take off and land, Cooper said earlier.

Then another plane was detained, Delta/SkyWest #4741 from Phoenix. The pilot mentioned three bomb threats, said Jenna Luthman, an executive producer at Northwest Cable News, who was on board and spoke live to KING 5 during its 5 p.m. newscast. (Read more about the delays after bomb threats HERE)

__________________________________________________

BOMB THREATS NATIONWIDE FORCE PLANES TO REROUTE, ISOLATE UPON LANDING

By JORDAN SCHACHTEL. Two planes that had just touched down on Sunday afternoon at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were immediately isolated, reportedly due to multiple bomb threats.

A third plane, a Delta Airlines flight originally scheduled to fly on Sunday afternoon from Los Angeles to Orlando, was diverted to Dallas due to “a security concern”. . .

It remains unclear whether the three Sunday bomb threats are connected. Sunday’s threats come just one day after NORAD scrambled two fighter jets to escort two flights to Atlanta. On Saturday, airline officials received a “credible” bomb threat via Twitter, prompting the partial shutdown of Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Seattle Woman Sees Drone Peeping Into Her Apartment Window

/5 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: PIERRE ANDRIEU / AFP / Getty ImagesSeattle Police are investigating a report of a drone peeping into a woman’s apartment window.

Police were called to the downtown Seattle apartment complex on Sunday morning after she spied an unmanned aerial vehicle hovering outside the building. The woman said she was concerned the drone was looking into her apartment.

Read more from this story HERE.

Christian Preachers Brutally Beaten at Gay Pride Festival (+video)

/13 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: YouTubeTwo street preachers were brutally beaten — punched and kicked — by a crowd at a gay pride festival in Seattle and the entire melee was captured on video.

The preachers were holding signs reading “Repent or Else” and “Jesus Saves From Sin.” The video shows a group of people initially screaming and threatening the men during Pridefest at the Seattle Space Needle.

Television station KOMO reported that some of the attackers belonged to a group called NOH8.

A group of women tried to steal their signs but were unsuccessful. The video then shows a group of men grabbing onto one of the preacher’s signs and dragging him to the ground. At some point he was punched in the back of the head a number of times while others can be seen kicking the man.

Another preacher was sucker punched in the back of the head.

Read more from this story HERE.

Interstate Bridge Collapses Near Seattle (+video)

/0 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Jessie BarnhartThe Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed Thursday evening, dropping two vehicles into the water and injuring three people.

Both the northbound and southbound portions of the bridge collapsed into the river sometime before 7 p.m., according to Washington State Patrol trooper Mark Francis.

Xavier Grospe, 62, who lives near the river, said he could see three cars with what appeared to be one person per vehicle. The vehicles were sitting still in the water, partially submerged and partly above the waterline, and the apparent drivers were sitting either on top of the vehicles or on the edge of open windows.

Rescue crews in several boats were able to pull all three people from the semi-submerged vehicles, which were tangled in the wreckage of the bridge.

All three were taken taken to a local hospital and the extent of their injuries is not known. Nobody was killed in the collapse.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Outrage Over Diver Who “Strangles,” Eats Huge Octupus For Art Project

/4 Comments/in /by

By James Nye. A rising tide of outrage is forming after pictures emerged of a 20-year-old diver who dragged a giant Pacific octopus from its watery home and then killed and ate it for his friends art project.

Angry fellow divers from the shore of Seattle took photographs of Dylan Mayer proudly standing with the large octopus and then watched in disbelief as he and his friend tossed the still live 30 pound female onto the bed of his truck before driving off.

Their shock turned to horror as a grinning Mayer posted images of himself measuring the now dead octopus onto his Facebook account and now is in the position of having to justify to the diving community why he hunted the gentle and intelligent animal.

‘As they were coming in you could tell the octopus was alive. It was writhing around and they were wrestling with it,’ said Bob Bailey who witnessed Mayer bring the octopus to shore.

‘Its just not done. It’s bad form. Even if you can do it, you shouldn’t do it.’ Read more from this story HERE.