Seattle news

• Washington’s Supreme Court agrees to review case against Seattle’s ‘democracy vouchers’

  21-12-2018 23:58
  Under the program, the city raises $3 million in property taxes annually. Each election cycle, voters receive four $25 vouchers that they can sign over to candidates who abide by certain rules.
  
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• Plato's Ring of Invisibility Is on Trump's Finger

  21-12-2018 23:35 via thestranger.com
  
  by Charles Mudede Clairobscur24/gettyimages.com
  In Book 2 of Plato's The Republic, the philosopher Socrates is presented with an important problem: Is a citizen intrinsically moral, or are they moral because they fear being seen breaking the laws and doing bad things? Meaning, does morality have content or not? Is it imposed or is it naturally felt and expressed by an individual among other individuals. This is how the issue is problematized by the philosopher Glaucon, who confronts Socrates. In
  
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• We Could Fund the Border Wall. Or We Could Buy 2 Billion Tacos.

  21-12-2018 23:00 via thestranger.com
  
  by Katie HerzogWho's gonna pay for it?! We are! ELFLACODELNORTE/GETTY
  According to Department of Homeland Security officials (and Fox News), Trump's goddamn-no-good-very-fucking-stupid border wall—which, if it happens, either the American taxpayers or these idiots on GoFundMe are going to pay for—will consist of 215 miles of a “wall system” on the southern border. This "wall system" will supposedly include some fencing, some border patrol agents, and some cameras for the
  
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• 65 Free, Cheap & Easy New Year's Eve 2018 Events in Seattle

  21-12-2018 22:55 via thestranger.com
  No advance planning required for these $20-and-under New Year's Eve events.by Stranger Things To Do StaffIf you want to go out for New Year's Eve but don't want to shell out the cash for something extravagant, you have many, many options. Below, we've rounded up concerts (like Freakout New Year's Eve), DJ dance parties (like the STILL ILL Hiphop Throwback Party), places to watch the free Space Needle fireworks show (like El Chupacabra Alki), annual traditions (like the Moulin Rouge! New Year's E
  
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• Ice Cream Cakes and More Seattle Food News You Can Use: Dec 20, 2018 Edition

  21-12-2018 22:45 via thestranger.com
  
  by Stranger Things To Do StaffLocal ice cream cake maker Icebox is teaming up with Molly Moon's to bring ice cream cakes to all of their stores. Icebox
  Ice cream cakes have come to Molly Moon's, Ada's Restaurant and Bar in Phinney has re-opened, and the Hyatt Regency Seattle brings an Italian restaurant and a new location of Daniel's Broiler with a whiskey bar. Read on for more essential food news and upcoming events. For more options, check out our list of food and drink specials to try in Dece
  
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• Inbox Jukebox Track of the Day: The Funky, Zeitgeist-y "Human Extinctions" by Enigmatic Seattle/San Antonio Hiphop Duo hERON

  21-12-2018 22:30 via thestranger.com
  
  Seattle/San Antonio hiphop group hERON's "Human Extinctions" profoundly and funkily captures the country's Stygian sociopolitical zeitgeist—without rapping a single word.by Dave SegalhERON would like to dank you for listening to their foreboding hiphop. HOLLIS W PORTER FOR BOKEHRANG PHOTOGRAPHY
  hERON, "Human Extinctions" (Furnace)
  Seattle/San Antonio hiphop duo hERON—Erick Progeny Frias of Chisme/Ghost Palace and Rob Castro of Grayskul/Ghost Palace—follow up their outstanding s
  
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• Oregon couple arrested after allegedly mistreating 35 cats

  21-12-2018 22:03
  SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Police in Oregon say a couple has been arrested after they enclosed 35 cats into a U-Haul for three days with no food or water. Three of the felines died. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that 52-year-old Richard Kleimeier and his 46-year-old wife Jenny Kleimeier were booked for multiple […]
  
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• Stumbling Monk, the Vanguard of Seattle's Sour Beer Scene, Turns 20

  21-12-2018 22:01 via thestranger.com
  
  Stumbling Monk is precious gem of a bar.by Lester BlackRob Linehan and the Stumbling Monk on Wednesday night.Lester Black
  Rob Linehan wasn't trying to change anything when he opened Stumbling Monk twenty years ago. If anything, he wanted his pub to be the opposite of change, a beacon of staid taste like a timeless pub in a European village.
  But something curious happened during his two decades in business. America developed a taste for quality beer, including an appreciation for the strange sour
  
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• What Can We Learn From the Latest Poll on Political Correctness? Basically Nothing.

  21-12-2018 21:06 via thestranger.com
  
  You should probably define the term before you ask people how they feel about it.by Katie HerzogEmma thinks PC culture has gone way too far.Getty Images
  This week NPR/PBS/Maris released the findings from a new poll about political correctness. It found that over half of respondents do not want more of it. Or, at least, that's what the headlines will tell you.Respondents' feelings about political correctness varied by demographic, with women, young people, black people, and Democrats favoring pol
  
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• Trump officials cancel Obama-era policy on school discipline

  21-12-2018 21:03
  The Trump administration has revoked an Obama-era policy intended to make sure minority students aren’t unfairly punished because of their race. Education Department officials say the policy was withdrawn Friday at the recommendation of President Donald Trump’s school safety commission. The 2014 guidance encouraged schools to use “restorative” disciplinary practices instead of suspending or expelling […]
  
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• Deal reached on use of 1st small US nuke reactors in Idaho

  21-12-2018 20:56
  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy, a Utah-based energy cooperative and a contractor that operates an eastern Idaho nuclear research facility announced an agreement Friday involving what would be the nation’s first small modular nuclear reactors in eastern Idaho. The Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy announced the agreement with Utah Associated […]
  
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• Deal inked involving small nuclear reactors in Idaho

  21-12-2018 20:56
  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy, a Utah-based utility and a contractor that operates an eastern Idaho nuclear research facility have reached an agreement involving plans to build a dozen small modular nuclear reactors in eastern Idaho. The Energy Department’s Office of Nuclear Energy on Friday announced the agreement with Utah Associated […]
  
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• No US charges against Chinese billionaire in alleged assault

  21-12-2018 20:54
  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Chinese billionaire Richard Liu will not face charges over a rape accusation by a Chinese student studying in Minnesota because prosecutors said Friday they could not prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Liu, founder of the Beijing-based e-commerce site JD.com, was arrested Aug. 31 in Minneapolis on suspicion of felony rape […]
  
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• 2018: The Year in Weed

  21-12-2018 20:48 via thestranger.com
  Looking back on the year's big pot stories.by Josh JardineAs 2018 draws to a close, let's look back on the year's big stories, assess where
  the cannabis industry stands, and what we might expect from weed in the New Year.Racist Elf Fired: A Nation RejoicesIn January, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memorandum, which had offered states a semblance of protection from federal intervention regarding cannabis programs. Failing to recognize one of the country's only growth industries
  
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• Pickathon Starlight Series, Episode 2: Hailu Mergia

  21-12-2018 20:34 via thestranger.com
  by Ciara Dolan Nehemiah Sliwoski
  Just in time for the shortest day of the year, when daylight's scarce and the sun's warmth is but a distant memory, we've got the second installment of the Stranger's ongoing Starlight Series, where we post a video of an artist playing that after-hours stage at last summer's Pickathon. This month's edition features Ethiopian jazz legend Hailu Mergia performing his song, "Yetewat Hilm."
  An abridged version of Mergia's incredible story: The first musical outfit he
  
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• Man found not guilty of committing hate crime

  21-12-2018 20:25
  COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho man accused of a felony hate crime has been acquitted. The Coeur d’Alene Press reports a jury on Thursday found 52-year-old Richard Sovenski, of Hayden, not guilty of malicious harassment, but guilty of a misdemeanor charge of battery. The charges stemmed from an incident last summer in which […]
  
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• UPDATE: The Link's Escalators Are Bad Because Americans Can't Make Good Things Anymore?

  21-12-2018 20:19 via thestranger.com
  
  by Charles MudedeBadly Made in America kali9/gettyimages.com
  Gossip is important. How else do we know about what's really going down in the White House but through networks of gossip? Now that that's said, I have some gossip about the dysfunctional escalators in Link's stations. Nathalie Graham reported that between 2017 and 2018, "the escalators in Sound Transit light rail stations broke down 2,115 times for a total of 19,289 hours." That's bad. But why are these escalators so bad? No one will
  
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• Mexican workers’ suit against Whatcom County blueberry farm given class-action status

  21-12-2018 20:15
  The lawsuit alleges Sarbanand Farms violated by Trafficking Victims Protection Act through threats and implied threats that the workers would be sent to Mexico if they complained or did not meet production standards. The company has denied wrongdoing.
  
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• Class-action status granted in workers’ suit against Whatcom County farm

  21-12-2018 20:15
  The lawsuit alleges Sarbanand Farms violated by Trafficking Victims Protection Act through threats and implied threats that the workers would be sent to Mexico if they complained or did not meet production standards. The company has denied wrongdoing.
  
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• The Public Domain Is About to Start Growing Again

  21-12-2018 19:55 via thestranger.com
  
  by Ned LannamannHarold Lloyd's iconic silent film, Safety Last, one of several works from 1923 due to enter the public domain in 2019.
  At the start of 2019, the United States public domain—which has been frozen in time like Walt Disney's brain—will begin to include new works again. And by "new," I mean works first published in the US in the year 1923, which will all enter the public domain at midnight this New Year's Eve.
  It's the first time new (old) works have entered the US public
  
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• Fairbanks man faces assault charges

  21-12-2018 19:44
  FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A Fairbanks man whose conviction in a 1997 killing was vacated nearly 20 years later faces felony assault and criminal mischief charges. Kevin Walter Pease is accused of swinging a bat at a woman in a car earlier this month. Court record didn’t show an attorney for Pease. The Fairbanks Daily […]
  
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• Loggers find dog of missing Glendale man, no sign of man

  21-12-2018 19:37
  AZALEA, Ore. (AP) — Loggers working near Azalea found a dog that belongs to a missing 78-year-old man but there has been no sign of the Glendale man. The Daily Courier reports Friday that loggers also found Terry L. Dodds’ truck off a muddy logging spur road less than 2 miles south of Interstate 5 […]
  
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• 124 Free, Cheap & Non-Holiday-Related Things To Do in Seattle: Dec 21-30, 2018

  21-12-2018 19:30 via thestranger.com
  
  by Stranger Things To Do StaffDon't miss your chance to see Clotilde Jiménez: Apple of My Eye at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery before it closes on December 29. Jacob Lawrence Gallery
  If you're looking for ways to spend your days off but you're not interested in these cheap holiday options, you're in luck—there are still ways to be entertained over the next nine days that don't require advance planning (or a holiday sweater, for that matter) and won't cost more than $10. Below, find all
  
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• US appeals ruling that restored grizzly protections

  21-12-2018 19:29
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. government attorneys are appealing a court ruling that restored protections for grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies and blocked plans to hold the first public hunts for the animals in decades. Notice of the appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was filed Friday by […]
  
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• Ruling that blocked grizzly bear hunts appealed by US

  21-12-2018 19:29
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. government attorneys filed notice Friday that they are appealing a court ruling that blocked the first public hunts of grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies in decades. The appeal challenges a judge’s ruling that restored threatened species protections for more than 700 bears in and around Yellowstone National Park. Protections […]
  
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• Ruling that blocked grizzly bear hunt plans appealed by US

  21-12-2018 19:29
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. government attorneys filed notice Friday that they are appealing a court ruling that restored protections for grizzly bears in the Northern Rockies and blocked plans to hold the first public hunts for the animals in decades. The legal move challenges a September ruling from U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in […]
  
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• Welcome to Marwen: Creepy Dolls, Icky Sentiment, and, for Some Reason, the DeLorean

  21-12-2018 19:26 via thestranger.com
  by Ned LannamannRobert Zemeckis has remade thedocumentary Marwencol as a motion-capture nightmare with Steve Carell, Leslie Mann, Janelle Monáe, and, for some reason, the DeLorean from Back to the Future. Something is wrong with Robert Zemeckis. If you thought it was too late for a movie to enter the “Worst of 2018” sweepstakes*, welcome to Welcome to Marwen!Marwencol told the true story of Mark Hogancamp, an artist who photographs tableaux set in a model World War II–er
  
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• Tons of dead fish wash up in Rio de Janeiro lagoon

  21-12-2018 19:12
  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Residents of a high-end neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro woke up to the unpleasant smell of 13 tons of rotting dead fish floating in the city’s Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon. Biologists believe that the extreme heat caused by El Nino killed the fish overnight and caused them to wash ashore […]
  
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• Ruth Bader Ginsburg Had Surgery for Lung Cancer, But Everything Looks Fine Don't Panic

  21-12-2018 19:02 via thestranger.com
  
  CHILLby Rich SmithIt's fine, she's fine, we're all fine. For now.Alex Wong / Getty ImagesThe Associated Press is reporting that RBG had "cancerous growths removed from her lung." When news of this surgery broke on Friday, early commenters on social media immediately started offering up their lungs for donation. Right now, at least, it looks like she won't need them.According to NPR, "doctors say prospects look good for a full recovery" and she "hopes to be back on the court for the start of the
  
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• Body of missing 2-year-old Conway boy found, presumed drowned

  21-12-2018 18:57
  Sheriff's deputies believe the boy, who would have turned 3 on Christmas, drowned.
  
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• Don't Like "Baby, It's Cold Outside"? Fine, Here's a Perfect Replacement.

  21-12-2018 18:39 via thestranger.com
  
  by Wm.™ Steven HumphreySteve & Eydie are here to save the holidays. NBC Television
  You—and by "you" I mean "the internet"—have been mad about the classic holiday tune, "Baby It's Cold Outside" for awhile and apparently continue to be mad. Some of you are mad that people still like this song despite its rapey overtones. Others are mad because some of you are placing modern day ethics on a 74-year-old song. MEANWHILE, I'M MAD ABOUT SOMETHING NEITHER OF YOU HAVE THOUGHT OF.
  The
  
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• Justice Ginsburg has surgery to remove cancerous growths

  21-12-2018 18:30
  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had three bouts with cancer since she joined the court in 1993.
  
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• Idaho unemployment drops to 2.6 percent

  21-12-2018 18:30
  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s unemployment has dropped to 2.6 percent. The Idaho Department of Labor in a news release Friday says the state’s unemployment rate in November dropped a tenth of a point from the previous month’s 2.7 percent. The agency says it’s the 15th consecutive month Idaho’s unemployment rate has been at or […]
  
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• Need 911? Texting now possible in King County; here’s how that works

  21-12-2018 18:09
  The texting service is available in King County cities and unincorporated areas, as well as Snohomish, Kitsap and Thurston counties.
  
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• It's Day 21 of 25 Days of Giveaways—Enter Now!

  21-12-2018 18:00 via thestranger.com
  by Stranger Things To Do Staff
  Each day this month until Christmas, we're giving away new and exciting prizes from local Seattle businesses as part of 25 Days of Giveaways. Everything from event tickets to restaurant and retail gift cards to unique experiences is up for grabs.Today's prizes are:
  Artist Home: Two weekend passes to Timbrrr! Winter Music Festival (Jan 25-26 in Leavenworth, 21+)
  Central Saloon: Four admission punch cards, good for 10 shows per card, and four Central Saloon T-shirts
  
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• Bill to help solve crimes against Native Americans stalls

  21-12-2018 17:27
  FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A bill meant to help authorities solve cases in which Native American women go missing or are killed on tribal land looks like it will expire before getting a vote in the U.S. House. The Senate passed the initiative sponsored by outgoing North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, but Heitkamp said the […]
  
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• Slog AM: You Can Now Text 911 for Emergencies in King County, A Possible Government Shutdown, Intern Says Farewell

  21-12-2018 17:16 via thestranger.com
  
  by Michael Bellu up? someone's in the house. lol SolStock/Getty Images
  Talking on the phone sucks: Everyone knows it. Starting yesterday in King County, 911 dispatch is now accepting emergency text messages. This is actually great news for a number of reasons, least of which has to do with people who don’t like conversing on the phone. There are many instances in emergency situations where it could be difficult or even impossible for someone to make a voice call.It’s winter solstice!
  
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• Science Says: A big space crash likely made Uranus lopsided

  21-12-2018 17:05
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Uranus is a lopsided oddity, the only planet to spin on its side. Scientists now think they know how it got that way: It was pushed over by a rock at least twice as big as Earth. Detailed computer simulations show that an enormous rock crashed into the seventh planet from the […]
  
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• Police: Colorado woman likely killed at home, fiance charged

  21-12-2018 16:45
  DENVER (AP) — Police in Colorado said Friday that a woman missing since Thanksgiving Day was likely killed at her home, and they have arrested her fiance and charged him with murder. Woodland Park police Chief Miles de Young would not say whether Berreth’s body had been found or what led to the charges of […]
  
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• It’s here! Winter solstice brings promise of longer days to fight the gloom

  21-12-2018 16:08
  There’s some hope to be found in the gloom of these dark December days: The winter solstice is here, which means the days will gradually get longer after Friday. Today, on Dec. 21, the sun will rise around 7:54 a.m. and set at 4:20 p.m. in Seattle, marking the shortest day of the year. From […]
  
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• It’s finally here! Winter solstice brings promise of longer days to fight the gloom

  21-12-2018 16:08
  There’s some hope to be found in the gloom of these dark December days: The winter solstice is here, which means the days will gradually get longer after Friday. Today, on Dec. 21, the sun will rise around 7:54 a.m. and set at 4:20 p.m. in Seattle, marking the shortest day of the year. From […]
  
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• Authorities investigating death of maximum security inmate

  21-12-2018 16:08
  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Authorities say they are investigating the apparent suicide of an inmate at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in southwestern Idaho. The Idaho Department of Correction in a news release Thursday says 69-year-old Clifford Daniel Singer was found hanging in his cell on Saturday evening at the prison in Kuna. Officials say […]
  
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• Third lawsuit over killing barred owls dismissed

  21-12-2018 15:05
  SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a third lawsuit challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s experiment with killing barred owls to protect threatened spotted owls. The Capital Press reports U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that nonprofit group Friends of Animals lacked the legal standing to file the complaint in federal […]
  
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• Why are Seattle-area home prices falling now? Sorting out the myths and the facts

  21-12-2018 15:01
  There are a lot of theories to explain King County's recent real estate cooldown — from interest rates to foreign buyers to Seattle falling apart — and the data shows some have merit while others are likely fiction.
  
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• What if the megaquake happens when you’re in a Seattle high-rise? New study predicts stronger shaking

  21-12-2018 15:00
  The city is boosting seismic construction standards for new skyscrapers, but the biggest risk is to older high-rises and old brick buildings.
  
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• Podcast: Minneapolis ends single-family zoning — could Seattle follow suit?

  21-12-2018 15:00
  Minneapolis is the first major city to open up every neighborhood to denser housing options. Activist Anna Nelson explains how the city got there, and whether there are lessons for Seattle and other cities.
  
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• How safe are Seattle’s high-rises? New study predicts stronger earthquake shaking

  21-12-2018 15:00
  The city is boosting seismic construction standards for new skyscrapers, but the biggest risk is to older high-rises and old brick buildings.
  
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• Jury awards $540K to woman who slipped in Biscuits Cafe

  21-12-2018 14:35
  PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A jury has awarded $540,000 to a woman who slipped and herniated a disk on a wet floor at Biscuits Cafe in West Linn. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Jennifer Cooper was 38 when she, her husband and their teenage son went to the restaurant to celebrate the first paycheck her son had […]
  
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• Aquarium apologizes for tweets about sea otter

  21-12-2018 14:17
  MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium has apologized after some people perceived a tweet about a sea otter as body-shaming. The aquarium on Tuesday tweeted a picture of Abby, an otter who helps train orphaned otters how to survive in the wild. The tweet featured social media words and phrases such as “thick,” […]
  
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• Aquarium apologizes for fat-shaming tweets about sea otter

  21-12-2018 14:17
  MONTEREY, Calif. — California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium has apologized after some people perceived a tweet about a sea otter as body-shaming. The aquarium on Tuesday tweeted a picture of Abby, an otter who helps train orphaned otters how to survive in the wild. The tweet featured social media words and phrases such as “thick,” ”c […]
  
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