#wa state

[maeganbobaegan]

Face mask ban for police in Washington is signed into law • Washington State Standard

SEATTLE — Law enforcement officers in Washington state can no longer cover their faces to conceal their identities.

[heystephen]

For a few months, I have wanted to use my platform, no matter how limited it is, to bring awareness to a missing persons case taking place in my county that has been horribly mishandled. I couldn’t find any posts about him on here, so I’m taking the initiative to spread the word.

Jonathan Hoang is a 22 year old (21 at the time he went missing) high support needs autistic man from Arlington, Washington who vanished from his home the night of March 30th, 2025. Despite his family’s insistence that Jonathan did not desire to leave his life, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office has done little to investigate his case as they are running with the narrative that as an adult, Jonathan had the right to leave. They have even made cruel jokes to his family that in a few years, Jonathan will return with a wife and children and a full beard, and they will all laugh about the whole thing. Jonathan did not know how to use public transportation, how to use money, and relied on his family to help him navigate the world around him. He was enrolled in a school program for disabled individuals which he enjoyed, and had recently expressed to his parents that he did not wish to live on his own someday and had even told them that he was afraid of getting older and being told to move out, so the notion that he left on his own accord to start a new life is absurd. He left behind items like his cell phone, his jacket and his favorite shoes, things that would be very uncharacteristic for him to leave home without, and instead took his WiFi-only tablet and apparently wore his mother’s garden shoes.

An endangered missing persons alert was not sent out until 5 days after Jonathan had been reported missing, and searches were called off very hastily. Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office also maintained that Jonathan was low support needs and that he possessed skills that his family and teachers have disputed. This, coupled with the joking remarks about Jonathan returning someday with a family, have painted the picture of a very botched handling of this case.

On June 23rd, a man strongly believed to be Jonathan showed up in Kirkland, Washington over 40 miles away on the ring footage of some homes in the middle of the night. He appeared to be confused, and was notably stimming with his hands and vocally stimming. The street he was on had the same number as the one he lives on in Arlington, and if it is Jonathan, many believe he was trying to get home. However, how he would have gotten to Kirkland remains a mystery.

If you are located anywhere in Washington State, or surrounding states, please keep an eye out for Jonathan. The circumstances of his disappearance are very concerning and strange, and he could be anywhere. And please spread the word wherever possible. His family just wants answers and to have him home.

[sainttheosylas]

So does anyone have a checklist/timeline of everything you need to correct after a legal name change?

[sam-keeper]

Hey if you're in Seattle you still have time to vote for affordable housing!

if you weren't aware, there's a vote on tuesday about funding the social housing initiative that passed last year. that initiative created an authority in the city that can just buy property and build housing that the city owns, a portion of which will be permanently affordable (unlike a lot of "nonprofit" housing in the city, which they can put back on the market and jack up the rents after a few decades). you should have gotten a ballot in the mail if you're registered to vote (if you didn't or if you're not you can go to votewa.org to get that fixed).

the ballot has two parts: a y/n vote on whether to fund the initiative (so, yes on that) and then a 1a and a 1b option. we're pushing for 1a, which would create a new tax on business who have someone on their payroll earning more than $1,000,000. if someone's earning a million dollars a year, their employer has to start paying 5% into the housing fund. the other option would raid existing city housing funds to pay for this permanently affordable housing.

you can see an example of how to fill out the ballot on https://www.letsbuildsocialhousing.org/ and read more about the initiative (which, again, we OVERWHELMINGLY already voted in favor of a year ago! people want social housing, but the goofy way ballot initiatives work in Washington gave big business and their city council stooges a chance to try and scuttle the project)

and check your mail for your ballot! there's tons of locations in the city where you can just drop your ballot off, no lines, no fuss.

[spotamus]

In the yard last night. Mama found something good to eat!

[voltaspistol]

ATTN: Washington State Residents

The Bureau of Land Management is trying to pass rules that make it easier to sell public land to corporate strip mining and other mineral extraction projects on BLM lands.

New rule text here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/17/2025-13412/rescission-of-regulations-regarding-existing-use-and-occupancy-under-the-mining-laws

Yes, the rule as written is confusing, it's like that one purpose, you don't have to use the same fancy lawyer language they do, just explain from your heart why YOU feel that it's a BAD IDEA to make it easier to sell off BLM land to greedy investors and mining CEOs. We have until August 18th 2025 to post as many unique comments as we can to gum up the works on this, because past a certain threshold it becomes much more difficult for them to implement this rule.

Comment form here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/07/17/2025-13412/rescission-of-regulations-regarding-existing-use-and-occupancy-under-the-mining-laws

So far there's JUST TWO COMMENTS. THAT'S NOT NEARLY ENOUGH. GO KICK A STEEL TYCOON IN THE METAPHORICAL BALLS BY MAKING IT HARDER FOR THEM TO GET THEIR HANDS ON BLM LANDS.

[averagemoss]

[spookygurll]

Olympic National Park, WA