The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Nathalie Graham Another apparent assassination attempt: Donald Trump wasn't able to finish his golf game in West Palm Beach on Sunday because a man 300 to 500 feet away from him was crouching in the bushes with a semiautomatic weapon. The Secret Service spotted the rifle barrel and shot at the man, who fled, driving off, only to be stopped and detained soon thereafter. Officials say the suspect is 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a former construction worker. What do we know about him? The New York Times interviewed him last year about how he volunteered in Ukraine to help the war effort against Russia. He reportedly said he wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight in Ukraine.  More and more deranged stuff keeps coming out about this guy: In 2002, Routh barricaded himself inside a building with a fully automatic weapon. He was registered as an "unaffiliated" voter in North Carolina and he donated to "Democratic causes," but a Twitter user that matched his name admitted to voting for Trump in 2016, expressed support for Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley, and posted a bunch of ideological slop on main, according to Vox. Routh also wrote a self-published book titled, Ukraine’s Unwinnable War. In it, he urged Iran to come and kill Trump. Routh wrote how he once voted for Trump and was to blame for the "brainless" ex-president coming to power.  Biden's two cents: In the wake of what looks like another assassination attempt on Trump, President Joe Biden said the Secret Service "needs more help" and that "Congress should respond to their needs." According to CNN, the Secret Service currently employs 8,000 people, but it has a goal of 9,500 employees. Overtime shifts and long assignments typically contribute to a high turn-over rate.  I guess this is the new normal:  If we're going to live with piles of dead kids in schools, we're going to have to live with assassination attempts. — Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) September 15, 2024 Spokane Street Bridge closed after crash: A speeding 25-year-old westbound driver crossed into the opposite lane on the Spokane Street Bridge and plowed through multiple gates on the bridge on Saturday. Damage to the bridge's barrier and its "mechanical housing" mean that the bridge, which swings open to allow boats through on the Duwamish waterway, is not operational and will be closed for an indeterminate amount of time. The driver showed signs of alcohol impairment and did not easily comply with officials after the crash—it took six people to restrain him.  Threats at Thornton Place: Things were not quite so regal at Northgate's Regal movie theater on Friday. During a movie, a 30-year-old man reportedly got heated after a fellow moviegoer passed in front of him in his row multiple times. After the second pass, the man allegedly yelled he had a handgun, then whipped it out and beat his victim with it. Fellow moviegoers tried to wrestle the gun away from him and managed to eject the gun's magazine. Police say the man yelled, "I have a gun" and "I'll shoot everyone." Injuries included a 40-year-old man with a nearly-ripped-off ear and a 42-year-old woman with a head laceration. The suspect tried to simply walk out of the theater and away from the scene but was later detained by an officer. It is unclear what movie they all were watching. Seems like Deadpool & Wolverine behavior to me.  A perfect day on deck: Clouds will linger in the morning this Monday, and then they will quickly burn off as we reach the afternoon. Highs could reach 70 degrees. The sky, I promise, will be blue. There's a chance we could see the northern lights tonight, however the clouds are expected to return come nightfall.  Sick from Stoneburner: If you got the runs after eating at Ballard's Stoneburner restaurant in August, it's not just you. Seattle Public Health found a norovirus-like illness in seven customers who ate at Stoneburner on August 11 and August 14. At least two restaurant staff members had norovirus symptoms at the same time, Public Health found. Don't go to work sick! And, bosses, don't make your employees work sick! Stuck in space until February: Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two astronauts stuck in space, won't be able to come back to Earth until February 2025. Their jaunt up to the International Space Station to test out the Boeing Starliner capsule was only supposed to take eight days. Now, it'll be more than eight months. The astronauts requested absentee ballots so they can vote in the presidential election from space.  #NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams speak out for the first time since learning their one-week mission aboard the International Space Station will last for eight months. @Clayton_Sandell has more. pic.twitter.com/HB1YKXswPt — Scripps News (@scrippsnews) September 13, 2024 RFK Jr. cannot stay away from a perfectly good animal carcass: And it's getting him in trouble. We already heard about the bear carcass RFK Jr. deposited and posed in Central Park. Now, it's come to light that in 1994 he found a washed-up whale carcass and decapitated it with a machete. He then lashed the whale head on top of the family car and drove it five hours back to his house, according to an interview from his daughter. The Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund is calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to investigate Kennedy for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and possibly the Endangered Species Act. Kennedy says, "This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents." Something tells me it's not and it's actually about illegally decapitating a whale.  16 dead in Israeli airstrikes: Palestinian officials say strikes from Israel destroyed a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. That strike killed 10 people. Another strike on a house in Gaza City killed six. In total, the strikes killed five women and four children. During this war, which has been going on for nearly a year, Israel has killed around 41,000 Palestinians. Floods in Eastern Europe: The Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria are dealing with torrential rains and the ensuing floods. So far, the floods have killed 16 people. Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated. Massive flood in Central Europe killed five more people in Poland and one in Czech Republic, officials said Monday.The floods already killed six people in Romania and one in Austria.Read more: https://t.co/9YDBho3fQo pic.twitter.com/DgFpfvpy7W — ABC News (@ABC) September 16, 2024 The Emmy's happened: The Bear, which is far more stirring than it is funny, won most of the comedy categories except for best comedy series, best writing, and best actress—those went to Hacks. In the drama category, Shogun ruled. Baby Reindeer swept the limited series section. It was all a bit snoozy.  Abortion bans have killed at least two women: According to a ProPublica report, two women died because they couldn't access abortions or medical care in their state. And, as the report soberingly states, there are most certainly others. In one instance, a Georgia woman opted for an abortion. She took an abortion pill, however her body didn't expel all of the fetal tissue from her uterus. She needed a simple dilation and curettage, or a D&C procedure, yet her Atlanta hospital could not perform it because Georgia had recently made performing the procedure a felony. Practitioners found guilty could face a decade in prison. So, her infection spread. It wasn't until her organs began to fail that doctors operated. She died. Abortion laws in restrictive states urge doctors to wait until patients are on the brink of death before they operate so as to avoid any legal trouble. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, doctors warned women would die. And, indeed, they are dying.  A song for your Monday: This is not quite a recommendation, but this is a song that featured heavily in my life this weekend, so it's top of mind for me. Enjoy, maybe?