The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Ashley Nerbovig Goood morning: I'm a little cranky because I had to take yesterday off due to a stomach bug so now I feel behind this week. But at least it's going to be a pretty day, with a high of 44 degrees and it'll gradually become sunnier throughout the day. Much like my mood, I expect.  Blast Balls hearing: The Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee is scheduled to meet today to once again discuss whether to repeal a never-enforced ban on the Seattle Police Department (SPD) using blast balls to break up protests and large demonstrations. Blast balls, which are like little grenades that explode and sometimes spray peppery gas, have gotten the City into trouble in the past—especially in 2020 when cops used the weapons in ways that violated SPD policy, went against officer training, severely injured a lot of people (including stopping one woman's heart, y'know, minor things), and resulted in a $10 million settlement for the people SPD hurt.  If you want to take a real deep dive into how SPD managed to circumvent the City Council's ban on blast balls that came out of the 2020 protests, check out Hard Pressed's piece on the topic. Surprisingly, this Council has proposed 10 amendments to Mayor Bruce Harrell's proposed repeal of the ban, some of which seem like real attempts to provide oversight to the police department. I'll dive more into those as I follow along with today's hearing scheduled for 9:30 am.  Parents demand Governor Bob Ferguson support wealth tax: As we discussed briefly in yesterday's Slog AM, some education organizations have launched a "Billion Dollar Bake Sale" to raise awareness about the need for education funding for Washington schools, according to the Seattle Times. But are they really going to patch billion-dollar budget holes with baked goods? Nah, their whole schtick is that you literally can't sell cookies to fix the massive funding increase needed to maintain Washington's public education system. It's a good gimmick. Tucked into the story is a pretty clear critique of Ferguson's decision to come out against a wealth tax. You're losing the parents, Bob. But that's what happens when you cater to the millionaires over school children. Bob could learn some lessons from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum: Over the weekend, Sheinbaum gave an hour-long address marking her first 100 days in office and reiterated her commitment to Mexican humanism, saying, “For the good of all, the poor come first," according to the Mexico News Daily. She also promised not to return the country to the neoliberal policies of the past. Wow. She seems like she really cares about the people who live in her country, doesn't she, Bob? Instacart and Uber reactivate deactivation lawsuit: A new Seattle law tells Instacart and Uber they have to give workers 14 days notice before they deactivate them from working for the apps, make sure humans review the deactivations, base them on "reasonable" policies, and provide workers with information and documentation about why they're no longer allowed to work for the apps. Instacart and Uber hate this and sued over it. They lost, but now they're appealing the decision, according to GeekWire.   China wins the culture war: With the US government threatening to unalive TikTok to "protect" Americans' data from China, Americans have unilaterally said, "No, actually, bring China in," and started downloading RedNote, which is basically a Chinese Instagram-TikTok hybrid, according to USA Today. Everyone is making the jump, including Hannah and my sister's fav TikToker, Dr. Bryanlicious2. We're all downloading RedNote now. This time next year we're all going to be speaking Putonghua. Rednote exodus > bluesky exodus — Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) January 14, 2025 Speaking of Hannah: She reported on some of the people who want to be appointed to replace Council Member Tammy Morales. The Council plans to hold a special meeting this Friday to pick some finalists.  INBOX: Seattle City Clerk posted a list of the  20 "qualified applicants" for the District 2 appointment. The Council will hold a special meeting this Friday, Jan. 17, to select finalists. pic.twitter.com/1UUfPNKoIl — Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) January 13, 2025 Starbucks launches closed-door policy: Remember in 2018 when Starbucks faced backlash for one of its managers calling the cops on two Black men who wanted to use a Starbucks bathroom, ultimately leading to their arrest? Well, back then, to calm everyone down about the racism, Starbucks instituted an open-door policy that allowed people to be in their stores and use their bathrooms regardless of whether they'd made a purchase. Seven years later, the coffee conglomerate is reversing that policy, saying they want to make Starbucks a more inviting place to enter, and the first step to that is barring access to the bathrooms until you agree to buy a $4 brownie. Racism, union busting, and now classism? As Starbucks would say, "It's just the right thing to do." Hegseth's confirmation hearing: Fox News alum Pete Hegseth, who has been accused of sexual assault and has a documented pattern of excessive drinking, is undergoing his confirmation hearing to run the Pentagon. Aside from the allegations against him, Hegseth also maintains disturbing beliefs, such as how he doesn't believe women should be in combat. To defend the "smear campaign" (his words) against him, Hegseth, who literally worked for Fox News, said the news media "sadly, doesn't care about the truth." Will he be confirmed? The Senate will vote after the hearing. If all Democrats vote against his confirmation, Hegseth can only stand to lose three Republican votes.  Sen. Jack Reed: "I do not believe you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job. We must acknowledge the concerning public reports... the totality of your own writings & alleged conduct would disqualify any service member form holding any leadership position ..." pic.twitter.com/WyURc8KUPg — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 14, 2025 Progress on Ceasefire in Gaza: US and Arab negotiators made headway on a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, according to the Associated Press. As of this morning Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. Qatar, the mediator in this process, said this is "the closest point" Israel and Hamas have come to "sealing a deal" to end this war. But we've heard promises before about progress in negotiations that ultimately led to very little real change for the people of Gaza, where Israeli actions have killed more than 46,500 people, displaced about 90 percent of the population, and where people continue to lack access to food and basic medical care, according to the Guardian. Of course, it may be something we don't see until Donald Trump retakes The White House. Also: the U.S. calls the shots. Trump said he wanted it over by 1/20. Therefore, it must be over by 1/20. This has never been complicated. Biden was not weak, Biden supported the war. https://t.co/XfNmJSQoob — Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) January 13, 2025 Help the people fighting the LA fires: As you watch the coverage of the fires in Los Angeles, where the death toll has risen to 24 people, it's good to note that more than 900 imprisoned people are fighting those fires for meager wages. But you can support them through donations and Keri Blakinger has written a whole piece on how for the LA Times. Slow down, you're doing fine: I've been humming this to myself since last week. I love this song. I love murmuring it under my breath and then someone saying, "This song makes me believe you could actually learn to sing on key." Anyway. Choose peace this week everyone, it's a long year ahead of us.