Washington State Department of Transportation
Water is pumping out of here at a rate of 600 gallons per minute.
Transportation Officials Try to Reassure City Council: Yesterday, we reported that the city council was going to question tunnel officials about the safety of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, after learning that it sank 1.2 inches near the site of where Bertha is stuck. Well, that meeting lasted 80 minutes, and according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, it involved state transportation officials mostly trying to reassure a skeptical city council. Among the attempts at reassurance:
- WSDOT engineer Tim Moore said he would let his 8-year-old daughter bike underneath it.
- Moore said the viaduct’s original lifespan of 75 years has been compromised. (It’s 61 years old now.)
- Moore said he was “95 percent” certain that the viaduct would survive until the tunnel project is done.
Oh, and Councilmember Mike O’Brien never got an answer to his question about what level of subsidence the viaduct would no longer be considered safe. WSDOT officials said they haven’t stopped the water pumps around Bertha (contrary to previous reports), and that stopping them and then starting them back up again later could increase the level of subsidence. However, a WSDOT official said the problems with digging the Bertha repair shaft could delay the restart of the boring machine beyond the current March 2015 goal.
What Else Is the Bertha Rescue Pit Causing to Sink? It's unclear, but thirty buildings in Pioneer Square will be inspected just to be sure, according to the Seattle Times. It’s not clear when the inspections will be done, however. Meanwhile, those pumps continue to suck water from the ground at a crazy rate of 600 gallons per minute. More reassuring words: “We’re pretty sure that it’s not continuing to settle,” said an WSDOT consultant.
Senate Report Condemns CIA’s Post-9/11 Tactics, Say They Didn’t Work: The Senate Intelligence Committee released a damning report today on the CIA’s interrogation practices after 9/11, saying the agency inflicted pain and suffering on prisoners with tactics that went beyond legal limits. It also says the CIA deceived the nation with its insistence that its tactics were saving lives.
Slavoljub Pantelic/Shutterstock
Amazon is threatening to test their drones abroad.
Amazon Wants to Test Drone Flights in Washington State … or Else: In a letter to the FAA, Amazon officials warned that if they don’t get permission for outdoor tests in the state, they’ll “have no choice but to divert even more of our [drone] research and development resources abroad." [Shudders.]
This cab driver says he was called a terrorist and beat up by a passenger. Police investigating possible hate crime. pic.twitter.com/kINr1XO6Gk
— Alex Rozier (@AlexRozier) December 9, 2014
Police Say Taxi Cab Driver Beating was a Hate Crime: Officers say a 26-year-old man called a taxi cab driver a “terrorist” before beating him unconscious early on Sunday in the Magnolia neighborhood. According to the police, the cab driver had picked up the man and three others in Belltown:
The suspect then gave the driver his credit card to pay for the trip and apparently became angry at how long the transaction was taking. …The suspect reportedly told the cab driver “you are a terrorist,” “you should go back to your own country” and “I will shoot you,” then leaned across the seat and repeatedly punched the driver in the face. The driver lost consciousness and his foot slipped off the brake, causing the cab to roll downhill, strike several cars and eventually come to a stop after crashing into the stairs of an apartment building. Once the car stopped, the driver regained consciousness. Meanwhile the suspect ran down the hill and then resumed punching the driver as two other male passengers joined in, the victim told police.
The suspect and other passengers fled the scene, but the suspect then returned when police arrived to investigate, and claimed he acted in self-defense. Luckily the driver was able to identify him, and police arrested him for investigation of malicious harassment. The cab driver was treated at the scene by medics.
Protesters blocked the intersection at 4th and Pine and were ordered to disperse or risk arrest. pic.twitter.com/xdtrgp1N1j
— The Stranger (@strangerslog) December 9, 2014
Protesters Were Way Outnumbered by Police Last Night: The protests in Seattle may be shrinking in size, but in the Bay Area, they’re still going strong. In Berkeley, about 1,000 protesters shut down Interstate 80 last night and halted an Amtrak train.
#TRAFFIC: #Berkeley protesters blocking eastbound I-80. WATCH LIVE: http://t.co/aLpvwy7Nfs #berkeleyprotests pic.twitter.com/sQS1UmLUQn
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsBayArea) December 9, 2014
Closing Arguments to Be Heard Today in Trial of Man Charged in 2012 Shooting Death of Yancy Noll: Yesterday, Dihn Bowman told jurors he doesn’t remember reading an online manual on how to avoid being arrested after he shot the Seattle wine steward in what he claims was an act of self-defense.
Paul Allen Gives $100 Million to Study Cells: According to the AP, a new cell science institute will focus on how information encoded in our DNA translates into living cells and “what goes wrong in disease.” Seahawks/EMP owner Rick Horwitz as been named executive director of the organization.
a katz/Shutterstock
De Blasio bows down.
New York Mayor Gushes About Seattle: “I hope you appreciate that we bow before you here in the largest city in the country, and we look with great respect at what you’ve achieved,” Bill de Blasio told the Local Progress National Convening, a meeting of progressive elected officials that took place on Friday at New York’s City Hall. He was referring to Seattle’s minimum wage hike.
Worker Injured at Boeing’s Everett Plant Dies: The man was working on a plane’s airbag system back in November when the inflator discharged while the system was partially disassembled.
Racists Getting Fired: It’s happening.
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