LGBTQ Breaking News

LGBTQ Breaking News Service

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Slog AM: Gay Marriage Is Back at the Supreme Court Today, Humps Rise in West Seattle, and a Notorious Cannibal Is Dead – The Stranger

Kim Martel

The Supreme Court is hearing oral argument in a gay marriage case. What, again? Yes, again. Conservatives just will not let it drop. This time they’re mad about equal protection laws, and there’s a Colorado baker who wants to discriminate against gay couples. You can follow along with live coverage here.

No more snow, at least not here. Temperatures will rise just enough this week to melt the remaining globs of snow, and we’ll have very dry air through Thursday, when rain is expected. Be sure to moisturize until then. Meanwhile, there’s heavy snow up in the mountains, with numerous crashes and closures. Be sure to check the mountain pass report for closures if you’re planning a mountain drive, and bring chains. Or, if you’re engaged in an even more harrowing pursuit (parenting), you can find links to school closures, delays, and bus reroutes here.

No more morality police. Iran appears to have abolished the police body that enforces morality codes. There’s some confusion over whether the news is actually true, in that it was described by one official, but others haven’t addressed it. Protestors are demanding more, including the end of the Islamic Republic.

Who killed Glenn Starks? A driver in Everett went off the road Saturday morning, fatally striking a 50-year old employee of an RV dealership who was shoveling snow. The driver, an unidentified male, abandoned his car and fled on foot. It’s the latest in a string of recent fatalities on Highway 99, which is managed by WSDOT. The road does not have a sidewalk in that location.

He wasn’t the only victim. Also this weekend, a driver at Aurora Ave N and N 107th St (part of WSDOT’s Highway 99) struck a pedestrian, sending them to the hospital. A driver at Green Lake Way N and Kenwood Place N hit a pedestrian, who left the scene in an ambulance. A driver hit a pedestrian at Belmont Ave and E Pine St. A suspected drunk driver hit and killed a woman in her sixties in Everett. A driver hit a person on a bike on West Green Lake Way N. Near Seattle Center, a driver hit two pedestrians at 30 mph, one of whom was a 19-year-old who was transported to Harborview. (On average, a person hit at that speed has a one in five chance of dying.) 

Bon voyage, airplanes. France is moving toward eliminating wasteful air travel, banning flights between cities that have rapid rail service. Authorities will study the impact of the policy for three years. If it’s successful, then they’ll replace more flights with rail service.

More humps! West Seattle got a bunch of new speed humps this weekend, combatting dangerous speeding on Alki and Harbor Avenues. 

Japan’s most notorious cannibal is dead. In the 1980s, Sagawa Issei was a Japanese student studying in France when he murdered a classmate and then mutilated, ingested, and performed sexual acts with her body. French authorities ruled that he was insane, and they had him sent back to Japan. Japanese authorities found him sane and were legally unable to hold him. He faced no legal consequences for his actions. He died of pneumonia last week.

Ho ho ho. This weekend was Midwest FurFest, in case you were wondering why all your software engineer friends in polycules were out of town. One of the nice highlights of the weekend was this very sweet marriage proposal with a surprise twist. Also: event attendees raised over $100,000 for an animal rescue org.

A Florida cop “jokingly” killed another Florida cop. The two were roommates. The Sheriff claims that the two were kidding around, and one pulled out what he thought was an unloaded gun, aimed it at his roommate, and pulled the trigger. You know, like how you do when you’re making a joke. More than 1,000 people have been shot and killed by police this year, which is about average in this country.

Did someone knock out power to tens of thousands in order to stop a drag show? Rumors are circulating that a domestic terrorist destroyed power stations in North Carolina in order to sabotage a drag show. While it’s true that power stations were damaged and authorities say it was done intentionally, and it’s true that conservatives were up in arms about a drag show this weekend, there’s been no clear link between the two other than suggestions and innuendo. It’s tempting to believe, but I’m skeptical. Generally speaking, when a piece of news feels like something that came out of a writer’s room, it usually turns out not to be true. That having been said … earlier this year, a group of white supremacists pled guilty to plotting to attack power grids. So who the hell knows!

Got a camera? Want a job? The Associated Press is looking for an experienced photographer “able and willing to work any shift, including at night and on weekends.” Good luck!