cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/62409099

The Iran Football Federation wants FIFA to prevent any “ceremonies or promotional activities” in support of the LGBTQ+ community at a much discussed “Pride Match” between Egypt and Iran on Friday in Seattle, as well as restricting symbols or representations of the Pride movement at Lumen Field.

Since Seattle was confirmed to have a June 26 World Cup fixture, the city’s host committee has been preparing activations to mark the occasion, with the match at Lumen Field fixed as Egypt vs. Iran following the draw last December. The Seattle FWC26 committee’s website has a page dedicated to the Pride Matchday and it is holding a Pride Match Day press briefing on Thursday.

FIFA told The Athletic on Wednesday it is permitting rainbow flags at all of its World Cup matches this summer.

The Iran Football Federation wants FIFA to prevent any “ceremonies or promotional activities” in support of the LGBTQ+ community at a much discussed “Pride Match” between Egypt and Iran on Friday in Seattle, as well as restricting symbols or representations of the Pride movement at Lumen Field.

Since Seattle was confirmed to have a June 26 World Cup fixture, the city’s host committee has been preparing activations to mark the occasion, with the match at Lumen Field fixed as Egypt vs. Iran following the draw last December. The Seattle FWC26 committee’s website has a page dedicated to the Pride Matchday and it is holding a Pride Match Day press briefing on Thursday.

FIFA told The Athletic on Wednesday it is permitting rainbow flags at all of its World Cup matches this summer.

As the current administration and pro-natalist groups continue to panic about women delaying motherhood, we must reject the “alarming fertility statistics.” If women choose to have children, that decision should be guided by their own goals, circumstances, and desires, not by pressures to solve a manufactured problem.

At the end of the day, supporting families means creating conditions in which people can make reproductive decisions freely. The solution to declining birth rates is not limiting women’s choices, but ensuring they have the resources and support needed to build the lives and families they want.

King County is hurtling toward a major demographic milestone. According to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau, we are just a hair’s breadth from crossing the threshold.

As of July 1, 2025, non-Hispanic white residents made up exactly 50.1% of King County’s population, putting the county on the verge of having no single racial or ethnic majority group for the first time.

It’s a remarkable shift over a relatively short period. In 2020, the county was more than 55% white. That figure has dropped by more than 1 percentage point on average each year since. If current trends hold, King County will officially have no racial/ethnic majority in next year’s census data release.

Thirty-eight of Washington’s 39 counties had a single racial/ethnic majority in 2025. Nearly all were majority non-Hispanic white, but three — Adams, Franklin and Yakima — were majority Hispanic. And only one — Grant County in Central Washington, where Moses Lake is located — already had no racial/ethnic majority group. In this largely agricultural county, non-Hispanic white people made up around 48% of the population, and Hispanic people 46%. All other groups made up only around 6%.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association estimates that of approximately 250,000 student athletes, between five and ten of them are transgender girls competing in sports. That is, at most, 0.004 percent of the student athlete population.

This November, voters will decide whether the state should subject all student athletes to genital exams to prevent the 0.004 percent from competing.

IL26-638, which qualified for the November ballot after Let's Go Washington gathered the required signatures, would prohibit students designated male at birth from competing in female-designated interscholastic sports. To enforce that prohibition, every student who wants to participate in a female-designated sport must provide a signed statement from their personal health care provider verifying their biological sex. That verification may come from a genetic test, a testosterone test, or - most likely - a genital exam.

According to the charges filed against him, Arnold was dating a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy until she broke up with him in January. They continued to text each other about the relationship and subsequent break up for a couple weeks before she told him in early February to leave her alone, the charges say.

On Valentine’s Day, Arnold texted the woman and made a comment about her going on a date with someone new, and she in turn blocked Arnold’s phone number, charging papers say.

Two days later, the woman found a typed, two-page letter taped to her front door that referenced her relationship with Arnold and was signed, “You know who it is,” according to the charges. She reviewed footage from her front door camera and saw Arnold, armed and in uniform, drive to her home in his patrol vehicle and tape the letter to her door, the charges say.

Seeing the footage made her “very uncomfortable” because Arnold had previously told her “he would kill anyone who took his law enforcement career from him,” charging papers say.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.blahaj.zone/c/politics/p/833864/postal-service-skips-hearing-with-wa-lawmakers-on-mail-in-ballot-rules

U.S. Postal Service officials were set to meet publicly with Washington state lawmakers Monday as the agency considers a sweeping rule change to add federal oversight to mail-in voting.

But the Postal Service representatives canceled just hours before they were set to appear before a state House panel, said the committee’s chair, Rep. Sharlett Mena, D-Tacoma. Mena said the federal officials stated they’d “improperly confirmed” participation in the meeting.

The Postal Service acknowledged an inquiry about the situation from the Standard, but didn’t immediately provide comment.

The rule proposed this month would require state election officials to share with the Postal Service a list of mail-in voters. It also sets new conditions for states to send ballots via mail, including design of the envelopes.

“States would retain full control over who would (or would not) be able to vote by mail in federal elections within each state,” the rule says.

This is the latest in Trump’s long-running crusade against mail-in ballots.

Democrats, who in other states more often vote by mail than Republicans, see it as an intrusion on elections, which are run by states. Critics of the plan also say adopting the changes so close to the November elections could cause chaos.

Proponents of the new rule say it would help improve integrity and trust in elections.

There’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Washington.

The Washington Legislature established vote-by-mail as an option for all elections in 2005. By 2011, 38 of 39 counties in the state had switched to this system, and the Legislature adopted it as a statewide requirement.

Secretary of State Steve Hobbs called the new federal proposal “an unnecessary rule” that “does nothing to provide security in our elections.”

“Once again, we’re seeing federal overreach that threatens to undermine the rights of eligible voters and override states’ authority over elections,” Hobbs said in a statement earlier this month. “This is clearly another attempt by the Trump administration to exercise authority they don’t have.”

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/62242442

Taking direct inspiration from Lilith Fair, the inaugural event features a lineup of only female artists or female-fronted bands, including Chappell Roan, Bikini Kill, Doechii, Mitski, the Breeders, Garbage, Katseye, Santigold, and Rachel Chinouriri. The day will also include rising acts Not for Radio, Die Spitz, Quiet Light, and Eli, and special guests Stevie Nicks, Karen O, and Sarah McLachlan.

Net profits from ticket sales are directed toward nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing and advocating for women and girls, such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood, and Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health. All of the artists have agreed not to take a profit from their performances.

Taking direct inspiration from Lilith Fair, the inaugural event features a lineup of only female artists or female-fronted bands, including Chappell Roan, Bikini Kill, Doechii, Mitski, the Breeders, Garbage, Katseye, Santigold, and Rachel Chinouriri. The day will also include rising acts Not for Radio, Die Spitz, Quiet Light, and Eli, and special guests Stevie Nicks, Karen O, and Sarah McLachlan.

Net profits from ticket sales are directed toward nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing and advocating for women and girls, such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood, and Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health. All of the artists have agreed not to take a profit from their performances.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/62078979

The Seattle Art Museum officially has a large-scale union.

A large majority of workers, 94%, voted Wednesday to form the Seattle Art Museum Workers United. The vote was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board and included employees from all SAM locations: downtown, the Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Olympic Sculpture Park.

More than 100 Seattle Art Museum employees working across over 20 front- and back-end departments, including marketing, operations, visitor experience, curatorial, education, development and other departments, announced their intent to unionize last month. It was the latest effort in a movement of labor organizing at museums and fine art institutions around the country that has grown over the last six years.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/61930759

The victim appeared before the court on Tuesday and asked for the maximum sentence, according to WBRZ. She spoke of the incident where Mystikal “choked her, pulled braids out of her hair and forcibly raped her.” After she spoke, the rapper told the courtroom, “If I did that to you, I deserve the max sentence.”

The victim appeared before the court on Tuesday and asked for the maximum sentence, according to WBRZ. She spoke of the incident where Mystikal “choked her, pulled braids out of her hair and forcibly raped her.” After she spoke, the rapper told the courtroom, “If I did that to you, I deserve the max sentence.”

The Washington Department of Ecology said it has no inspection records for the failed tank.

“Other than the spill control and stormwater pollution prevention plans noted previously, the agency does not regulate white liquor tanks,” Andrew Wineke, the agency’s deputy communications director, wrote in an email.

The Washington Department of Labor and Industries, the state’s workplace-safety agency, said prior inspections at Nippon Dynawave, going back to 2016, focused on other safety issues.

Reviewing structural inspection, maintenance, engineering or hazard-assessment records for the failed tank “would have been outside the scope of what we were there to look at,” L&I spokesperson Matt Ross wrote.

Ross said Nippon Dynawave still had a legal duty to address tank risks.

“State law in Washington requires every employer, including pulp and paper mills, to assess the unique hazards on their job site and make sure they are taking steps to address them to keep their workers safe on the job,” Ross wrote. “That includes tanks like this one.”