Seattleholding.com

ICE agents reportedly put man on wrong plane at Seattle airport

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents reportedly put a man on the wrong plane at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) last May.Rakesh Rakesh was flown to Alaska instead of New York on his way back to India, according to The Seattle Times.Alaska Airlines said ICE was told it was the wrong plane, but put him on it anyway.“The established procedures for this passenger were not followed by ICE,” Alaska Airlines spokesperson Alexa Rudin told The Seattle Times in a statement. “Our

Bipartisan bill would strip pensions from lawmakers convicted of sexual assault, violent crimes

Emily Randall, D-Wash., is co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill to deny taxpayer-funded pensions to members of Congress convicted of sexual assault and other serious crimes.The Congressional Pension Integrity Act would strip retirement benefits from lawmakers convicted of sex crimes, violent crimes, or major corruption offenses, or those who violate House rules by engaging in sexual relationships with staff.The legislation follows the April 14 resignations of former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson sparks ‘Nordstrom’ name debate

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson shared her plans on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio for expanding housing options to combat homelessness. She also answered questions about what “activist” Katie Wilson would tell Mayor Katie Wilson after her first 100 days in office. And she shared she loved the pace of the job and getting to listen to and understand different stakeholders’ opinions.Then, the interview drew lighter attention for a moment, unrelated to policy — Wi

‘This is egregious’: Seattle lawmakers move to dissolve King County homelessness agency after $13M audit findings, $45M deficit

They made that announcement during a quickly formed press conference in Seattle City Hall on Thursday.Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera and King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski said the findings raise serious concerns about financial oversight at the agency, which was created in 2019 to address homelessness across King County. Auditors said they could not rule out whether any of the missing funds were stolen.“The state of the record keeping is apparently so bad that they, while

‘Two ways of calculating’: Trump defends his mathematically impossible calculations on drug prices

Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., at a congressional hearing when she said that claiming price cuts exceeding 100% might suggest “companies should be paying you to take their drugs.” Kennedy said during the hearing that Trump “has a different way of calculating.”On Thursday, Kennedy argued that drug manufacturers had raised prices on popular medications by more than 100% and that Trump was then cutting the price down substantially — meaning he was wiping out percentages of costs worth more than 100%. “

Salt & Straw expands further, opening new store in WA this Friday

4th Street with a whole weekend of celebrations planned, Salt & Straw announced.First 100 Salt & Straw customers score surprise gift cards at Bellevue’s grand openingOn opening day, the first 100 Salt & Straw fans to line up at the doors will receive surprise gift cards, ranging in amounts that will cover everything from an ice cream flight to an entire year’s worth of Salt & Straw ice cream.The celebration continues that same day with an exclusive debut of Salt &

Trump administration vows crackdown on Chinese companies ‘exploiting’ AI models made in US

lawmakers, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, made similar allegations and said China should not be allowed to advance “autocratic AI” by “appropriating and repackaging American innovation.”Anthropic, the maker of the Claude chatbot, in February accused DeepSeek and two other China-based AI laboratories of engaging in campaigns to “illicitly extract Claude’s capabilities to improve their own models” using the distillation technique that “involves training a less capable model on the outputs of a

‘It’s time to see a different pathway’: Seattle council president wants to rethink city’s investment in King County homeless agency

After a King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) investigation found that between $8 million and $13 million in funding went unaccounted for, Seattle City Council President Joy Hollingsworth echoed Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s concerns about the agency’s fiscal management.Hollingsworth told “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio that Seattle funds between 50 and 60% of KCRHA’s overall budget and has contributed more than $500 million since the agency

Federal officials charge US soldier with using inside info to win $400K bet on Maduro’s capture

soldier has been charged with using inside information to win $400,000 in an online betting market on Venezuelan President Maduro’s capture, federal officials announced Thursday.Gannon Ken Van Dyk was part of the work to capture Maduro in January and used his access to classified information to make money on the prediction market site Polymarket, the federal prosecutor’s office in New York said.He has been charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft

Haiti’s new UN-backed gang-fighting force exceeds funding expectations

He said maritime and border support will be particularly important to help Haiti manage its ports and commercial entry points.He stressed the importance of effective coordination with the United Nations — which will provide logistical and operational support to the force — the Haitian government, and the region, including the neighboring Dominican Republic.Looming electionsSpecial envoy Ruiz Massieu told reporters the government’s current idea is to have the first round of elections at the

Republican proposes giving Democratic-leaning part of Virginia back to DC after redistricting vote

That included the City of Alexandria and the areas that now include the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery.Virginia and Maryland had given over the land decades before to form the nation’s capital, but resident’s rumblings over a trailing local economy and fears that Congress would ban slavery in the district fueled the return to Virginia in 1847, according to the City of Alexandria. Virginia would go on to secede from the United States, with the Confederacy’s capital in Richmond. Th

Everett flips Flock cameras back on under new state law

The City of Everett has turned its Flock cameras, a popular type of automated license plate reader (ALPR), back on after a new state law took effect, exempting ALPR footage from the Public Records Act.A city spokesperson confirmed with The Everett Herald that the camera network was restarted in early April following the signing of Senate Bill 6002 (SB 6002). Under the new law, police can use ALPR data when investigating felonies or gross misdemeanors, stolen vehicles, or missing persons, accordi

Emory professors take on their own university after arrests at 2024 Israel-Hamas war

ATLANTA (AP) — Three professors at Atlanta’s Emory University filed a lawsuit Thursday over their arrests during a 2024 campus protest over the Israel-Hamas war, saying the university broke its own free speech policies when it called in police and state troopers to aggressively disband the protest, making 28 arrests.“The judicial system would find that Emory failed to protect its students, to protect its staff, to protect the educational mission of the university,” said philosophy Professo

Cuban diplomat denies that releasing political prisoners is part of US negotiations

Ernesto Soberón Guzmán said internal issues regarding detainees “are not on the negotiating table.” The longtime adversaries held discussions in Cuba this month for the first time in a decade.“We have our legal system, like here in the U.S., they have their legal system,” he said. “So we have to respect both of our internal affairs.”An American delegation arrived for secret meetings in Havana on April 10 in a diplomatic push to urge Cuba to make major changes to its economy and political governa

Retiring Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart won’t take new high-paying role at school

Capilouto said he will raise private funds — “not athletic funds, not funds that would go toward NIL opportunities or university funds,” Capilouto said — to handle compensation for Barnhart’s exit tied to his contract terms.“Work has already begun on the Initiative but recently it has become apparent that now is not the right time and we would never stand in the way of what we deem best,” Barnhart said.On Tuesday, Beshear released a statement saying he is “losing confidence and growing inc

‘I need a fight’: Tacoma dog trainer charged for making 2 dogs fight each other at training facility

The witness confirmed that the suspect’s story did not match what was seen on the footage.Documents showed Thanos had puncture wounds to his legs and foot, while Nino had puncture wounds to his neck and face.The suspect had been working at the facility for three months, according to the witness, and she was unaware of any prior incidents.A facility manager reached out to investigators with a statement via email, including links to footage of the incident and a post-incident interview in wh

Eastbound SR 18 to close across Tiger Mountain this weekend for paving work

All lanes of eastbound SR18 will close across Tiger Mountain from the Issaquah-Hobart Road to I-90 starting Thursday.This closure was scheduled for last month, but poor weather delayed the project.“Weather is good enough to work on the final paving and striping,” the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) stated.The closure will stretch from 9 p.m. Thursday, April 23, to 5 a.m. Monday, April 27. Crews will install the final layer of pavement along nearly two miles of eastbound SR 18 during this closure. WSDOT is telling drivers to use alternate routes.Follow <a href="https://wsdot.com/Travel/Real-time/Map/?featuretype=alert&featureid=694514" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WSDOT’s Real Time Traffic map</a> for updates.<a class="twitter-follow-button" href="https://twitter.com/http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest" data-show-count="false" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest</a><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What to know about a kidnapping case involving a child flown back to the US from Cuba

DOJ officials sent one of its aircraft to Cuba to retrieve the child.The use of the plane came as the Trump administration has sought to block access to gender-affirming care for minors and pressured health care providers over the issue.What evidence has been released showing surgery was the goal?The child, identified in court documents as MV 1, was assigned male at birth but identifies as a girl because of what family members believed to be “manipulation” by Rose Inessa-Ethington, according to

US charges 2 Chinese nationals with managing cyberscam compound in Myanmar

Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who announced the charges at a news conference in Washington, said the type of scam perpetrated at the Shunda compound is among the fastest-growing and most financially devastating forms of cybercrime, costing Americans billions of dollars in losses.“This isn’t abstract. It is hitting your neighbors’, your friends’ and your parents’ retirement accounts,” Pirro said. “Some of these victims are so distraught that they end up taking their own lives.

‘We feel we’re ready’: WA Lands Commissioner says restored wildfire budget puts state in better shape for fire season

Washington has fully restored $60 million in wildfire preparedness funding that was cut last year, Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove said, calling it a critical investment as the state heads into another fire season amid a fourth consecutive year of drought.The legislature slashed the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) wildfire preparedness budget from $120 million to $60 million shortly after Upthegrove took office in 2025. He spent the past year lobbying lawmakers across t