Seattle's only morning news roundup. by Ashley Nerbovig Good morning: I went for a lovely walk in the sunset yesterday, which very quickly turned into a walk through a shower, which was nice. We've maybe got some more rain expected tonight, but should be partly sunny most of today with a high of 54 degrees. Former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz placed on administrative leave: Seattle Police Department (SPD) Chief of Police Sue Rahr had placed Diaz on administrative leave yesterday, along with Director of Communications Jamie Tompkins. In an internal email, Rahr called the matter a "complex situation," and that she couldn't share more details with SPD staff. Diaz got ousted from the department after dozens of complaints against him, as well as a handful of lawsuits over claims of harassment and sexism. He also maybe sent his driver to Kittitas County for some beef jerky. Lol. Two new investigations launched into Diaz in September, bringing the total number up to 63 since 2022, according to DivestSPD. Seattle City Attorney's Office (CAO) sued: The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU-WA) filed a lawsuit Monday against Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison over her office's policy of disqualifying elected Seattle Municipal Court (SMC) Judge Pooja Vaddadi from all criminal cases, and SPD Officer Kevin Dave's traffic case (little outlier.) ACLU-WA said in a press release that Davison had overreached with her use of prosecutorial discretion to effectively remove a sitting judge from the bench. ACLU-WA brought the lawsuit on behalf of Washington Community Alliance (WCA) and three Seattle voters. Vaddadi declined to provide a comment when I reached out to her for reaction. So did the CAO, and said in an email they'd respond through the courts. The CAO has basically refused to respond to any requests to comment about this recently, and while they promised members of the press that they'd provide a list of cases they felt Vaddadi had wrongly decided, they've never actually turned over the spreadsheet containing those cases.  Ballot boxes exploded in Oregon and Washington: The FBI launched an investigation into explosions at ballot boxes in Vancouver and Portland Monday morning, according to an emailed statement from FBI Seattle public affairs. The Seattle Times has a solid rundown of what people should know about this, including what to do if your ballot may have been affected. Also, it should be noted that Jonathan Choe and other right wing influencers have started to seize on this issue as some sort of sign of public disorder, and linking the attacks to anti-fascist organizers. Earlier this year, the US Department of Homeland Security issued warnings about right-wing extremists' plans to bomb election drop boxes, according to WIRED. Cui bono? While we’re baselessly speculating, we might want to ask: Who benefits from creating the impression that mail-in ballots are insecure? https://t.co/cFslZkb8Nk — DivestSPD (@DivestSPD) October 28, 2024 Teenage boy shot and killed in Central District: The Seattle Police Department reported that a teenage boy died Monday evening at the intersection of 27th Avenue and East Spring Street, according to the Seattle Times. Few details are available at this time. Housekeeping: Rich Smith no longer works as news editor for The Stranger. It can be awkward to talk about a member of staff being let go, but this is an honest farewell to someone who dedicated nine years to this place, starting as a book reviewer and ascending to the role of editor. I'm going to be embarrassing and sincere for a moment, but I'll never forget my job interview with Rich. I'd just moved to Seattle and thought I had to come clean to everyone I met about my recent arrest. But as I started to explain to Rich what had happened, he said, "I want you to know, I don't believe what you did was a crime." Rich cut through a lot of the bullshit that keeps people thinking the same thoughts and saying the same stuff. He used that skill to force direct answers from politicians and public officials, but he also used it to be kind to a nervous reporter whose life had just collapsed around her. Thank you, Rich.  And yet, we march on: Marcus Harrison Green has stepped in as our interim news editor. Marcus is the co-founder and former editor-in-chief of the South Seattle Emerald. He's also the founder of Hinton Publishing, and was a columnist at the Seattle Times for years before bringing his column over to The Stranger this summer. Yesterday, Gennette Cordova wrote about his legacy of community-based journalism, and how that could impact the way our newsroom grows. We're excited to have him. Thank you for joining the team Marcus! Israeli strike kills dozens, including children: Earlier today, an Israeli attack on a residential building in Gaza left 109 Palestinians killed and more wounded, according to Aljazeera. Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry said the healthcare system in north Gaza has fallen apart, according to Reuters. Airlines must automatically refund canceled or delayed flights: As people prepare for the holiday season, you should know you'll finally receive money back when the airlines trap you in a holding pattern waiting for your flight, which then gets canceled, according to USAToday. The rule went into full effect this week and means that any domestic flight delayed by more than three hours, and any international flight delayed by six hours qualify for a full refund. I'm still revisiting this album. But I think this track got slept on a bit. Maybe because its not that good, but I like it.