November 27, 2018

SeaTac mayor resigned, gave up law license after allegations he swindled vulnerable client

On the evening of Sept. 11, SeaTac Mayor Michael Siefkes (R) made a surprise announcement.

“I have enjoyed being up here and doing this… but with some continuing health issues, and with other things, this is going to be my last council meeting,” Siefkes said at the end of a SeaTac City Council meeting. He resigned effective the next day and said he’d be leaving town.

Siefkes’ statement left a lot out.

By the time he quit, Siefkes (pronounced “Seef-kees”), an attorney specializing in elder law, was facing potential disbarment over allegations he’d wrongfully extracted as much as $300,000 from a vulnerable client, according to interviews and public records.

He also had been investigated by the King County Sheriff’s Office, with a detective last year recommending a charge of first-degree theft, though no charges were filed.

Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seatac-mayor-resigned-and-gave-up-law-license-after-allegations-he-swindled-vulnerable-client/

November 27, 2018

Politician, ex-codebreaker Baroness Trumpington dies at 96

LONDON -- British socialite, codebreaker, politician and bon vivant Jean Baker — better known by her title, Baroness Trumpington — has died. She was 96.

Son Adam Baker says she died Monday in her sleep.

Born into a wealthy family, Baker served in naval intelligence at the Bletchley Park codebreaking center during World War II.

She later became mayor of Cambridge and entered the House of Lords in 1980. She served as a whip and minister in 1980s and 90s Conservative governments.

Read more: https://www.thenewstribune.com/entertainment/celebrities/article222234035.html

November 27, 2018

Seattle reaches $75K settlement with one of ex-Mayor Murray's accusers

The city of Seattle will pay $75,000 to settle a lawsuit by the former foster son of ex-Mayor Ed Murray, who had accused Murray of misusing his official position to defame the man while fighting accusations of decades-old sexual abuse that led to the mayor’s resignation last year.

Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said in a statement Monday the negotiated settlement with Jeff Simpson allows the city to avoid the uncertainty and expense of a trial, “which helps limit further financial exposure of the taxpayer. I wish Mr. Simpson nothing but the best, and I hope this settlement allows him to move forward.”

In an interview, Simpson said he sees the settlement as a vindication and a blessing.

“My gosh. I am so grateful. I didn’t think it would be possible. Everybody told us it would not be possible,” he said. “To me, as a survivor and a victim of a sexual predator who was a powerful person, God does answer prayers.”

Read more: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/nov/26/seattle-reaches-settlement-with-one-of-ex-mayor-mu/

November 27, 2018

Idaho regulators take testimony on Avista's sale

Hydro One Ltd.’s independence was on the stand Monday as Idaho attorneys grilled executives about the Ontario government’s influence on the utility trying to buy Avista Corp.

Most of the discussion in the Idaho Public Utilities Commission’s 6 1/2-hour hearing revolved around whether the Canadian province acts primarily as an investor in Hydro One or whether it meddles in management.

About 47 percent of Hydro One’ s stock is owned by the province of Ontario. In July, newly elected Premier Doug Ford called for the resignation of Hydro One’s board of directors and the retirement of its chief executive officer. Hydro One’s credit rating dropped as a result of the sudden ouster, which company executives said was politically driven.

“Avista is fairly well run. They’ve got good credit ratings and they’ve got some of the happiest customers in the state,” Kristine Raper, one of the three public utilities commissioners, told Hydro One executives. “They’re asking us – you’re asking us – to approve a merger.”

Read more: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/nov/26/idaho-regulators-take-testimony-on-avistas-sale/

November 27, 2018

Federal Way Megachurch Faces Financial, Sexual-Abuse Suit

Federal Way, Washington -- On the heels of a sexual-harassment lawsuit that was recently settled against megachurch Christian Faith Center, a local attorney is gearing up to file another suit.

The suit, which attorney Joan Mell plans to file next week, will include allegations of sexual harassment, exploitation, abuse of authority, and financial corruption against former and current Christian Faith Center pastors, as well as founder and senior pastor Casey Treat and his wife, Wendy.

“The Treat enterprise is a personal for-profit enterprise or business disguised as a church,” Mell told the Federal Way Mirror during an interview at her office with the plaintiffs in the soon-to-be-filed case. “It’s really the Treat’s personal enterprise and that includes exploiting … the women and men of the church for purely personal self-gratification.”

Plaintiffs in the case include Leslie Massey, also the plaintiff in the sexual-harassment case against Treat and the church, which settled for an undisclosed amount on Oct. 9. In that case Massey claimed that Treat’s son, Caleb Treat, who was a pastor there, had sexually harassed her and other female employees and church members. The other two plaintiffs in the upcoming case include former church members Janet and Kelly Russell, who claim that another campus pastor sexually assaulted Janet.

Read more: http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/families-speak-out-as-federal-way-megachurch-faces-financial-sexual-abuse-suit/

November 27, 2018

Two Doofuses Pulled Off One of Mexico's Greatest Art Heists

It's the subject of Alonso Ruizpalacios's hypnotically beautiful new film, Museo.


Two huge events happened in Mexico City in 1985 that shook the entire country. First, there were the literal shakes: In the early morning of September 19, 1985, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck the greater Mexico City area. The quake was almost 220 miles away from the city, but since it's precariously built on top of an ancient lake bed, around 412 buildings collapsed and the quake caused the deaths of at least 5,000 people. A second earthquake would hit Mexico City the following April with a magnitude of 7.0. The tremors left the whole city exposed.

The second event that rocked Mexico City was confined to just one location, the city's National Museum of Anthropology and History, but the aftershocks of the event extended across the entire globe. On Christmas Eve, while the guards were drunk, thieves took advantage of the museum's faulty alarm system and got away with around 125 Mayan, Aztec, Miztec, and Zapotec artifacts. The country panicked.

Most of the theories around who stole the items involved foreigners, with many suggesting that the CIA or KGB were behind the heist. (In 1972, a Mexican law banned the sale of pre-Columbian objects for private collections. People argued this theft was an example of how foreigners were getting around that law.) "It’s no secret to anybody that pre-Hispanic pieces stolen from different zones of our country leave Mexico daily, to be taken principally to the United States, a country which, lacking its own valuable cultural antecedents robs or buys others," wrote the columnist Joel Hernandez Santiago in the weekly newspaper Punto.

But three and a half years later, federal officials retrieved nearly all of the stolen artifacts and arrested two men who were behind the theft: Carlos Perches Trevino and Ramon Sardina Garcia. Far from KGB operatives, the men were two ordinary guys who "visited the museum more than 50 times, made sketches and plans, then jumped the fence, crawled through an air-conditioning duct and looted seven display cases before dawn on Christmas Day, 1985," according to the New York Times.

Read more: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/11/26/36181812/two-doofuses-pulled-off-one-of-mexicos-greatest-art-heists

November 27, 2018

Activists form 'wall' to protect belongings of homeless outside Spokane City Hall

At 9:30 am Monday morning, activists and homeless individuals joined hands outside Spokane City Hall, forming a "wall" to protest the city's plans to clean up the camp that was formed there to demand more resources for the homeless.

"This is what community looks like!" shouted Alfredo LLamedo to the group of dozens of people holding hands.

Yet city code enforcement didn't show up at 9:30 am, when the campers thought the city would come clear out the camp. Instead, city spokeswoman Marlene Feist says code enforcement officers will be out there today for "litter control," but she says they won't take any personal items from the campers.

LLamedo is an activist and social worker who has been staying outside City Hall for weeks. It started as a hunger strike in an attempt to get Spokane City Council to suspend an ordinance that barred people from sitting or lying on downtown sidewalks during the day. City Council did so last week, but he's continued his protest outside City Hall to demand additional beds and warming shelters. He's been joined by homeless individuals who have formed a camp outside the front doors.

Read more: https://www.inlander.com/spokane/activists-form-wall-to-protect-belongings-of-homeless-outside-city-hall/Content?oid=15066179

November 26, 2018

Texans owner Bob McNair dies

Texans owner and founder Bob McNair died Friday afternoon, the team announced.

McNair was 81 years old.

McNair had dealt with skin cancer for several years and spent time in a hospital this year. He had been away from the team for several months.

McNair's son, Cal McNair, is the chief operating officer and has been a fixture at practices and games for years. He has been heavily involved in the day-to-day affairs of the team during his father's illness.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Houston-Texans-owner-Bob-McNair-passes-away-13417299.php

November 26, 2018

The Left Banke - Dark Is The Bark

Yes, that is Steven Tyler singing background vocals.

November 26, 2018

Fights break out as Bank of America ATM in Texas keeps spitting out $100 bills

It was the kind of glitch that no one complains about.

For about two hours late Sunday night into Monday morning, an ATM near Houston was spitting out $100 bills instead of $20s to people who withdrew cash, according to KTRK.

The call went out over social media late Sunday night, that the Bank of America ATM near F.M. 1960 and Interstate 45 was giving away “free money,” KPRC reported.

For every $20 requested by the customer, a $100 bill was dispensed by the machine.

Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article222181695.html

BoA should be able to trace all of that money back to the people that made withdrawals so I hope they aren't going on shopping sprees.