HERE
VOTE: Cast your ballots today for the primary election to set candidates for Spokane City Council and Spokane Valley City Council. See drop-off locations. Polls close at 8 pm. (Inlander)
Nez Perce tribal members temporarily blocked a "megaload" of oil refinery equipment passing through Idaho this morning. (S-R)
Investigators believe butane and cigarette sparked the car explosion in the Garland District. (KREM)
Someone stole approximately $100,000 in gold and silver coins from a home safe in Coeur d'Alene on Sunday. (CDA Press)
THERE
Northwest firefighters brace for new round of lightning storms. (Oregonian)Gunman kills three at Pennsylvania town meeting. (CNN)
Amazon mogul Jeffrey Bezos buys Washington Post. (NY Times)
WORLD OF WEIRD II
THE HORROR: A 100-pound python kills two Canadian children after escaping pet store. (AP)
Washington man jailed for blowing up dog with explosive device. (Seattle Times)
Beware the fat-berg: Waste workers find bus-sized, 15-ton glob of food fat clogging sewer system in London suburb. (BBC)
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Let's try to break the 30 percent mark this time around, shall we?
Those of you who are registered to vote have received your ballots in the mail and (we trust) read our rundowns on who's asking for your vote for the Spokane City Council, the Valley City Council and the state senate seat representing the far-flung 7th District. If not, bone up, and/or check out the County's Voter Guide.
Ballots must be postmarked or dropped at one of these locations by 8 pm tomorrow (results starting flowing at 8:15):
Tags: election 2013 , spokane , spokane valley , legislative district 7 , News , Image
The ordinance defines surveillance equipment as anything “capable of capturing or recording data, including images, videos, photographs or audio operated by or at the direction of a City department that may deliberately or inadvertently capture activities of individuals on public or private property, regardless of whether ‘masking’ or other technology might be used to obscure or prevent the equipment from capturing certain views." That includes “drones or unmanned aircraft and any attached equipment used to collect data.”
Stuckart introduced the ordinance following Seattle’s consideration of a similar law. He told a Public Safety Committee meeting in June it would be “better to have this protection in place versus waiting for it to happen and then us be upset about police drones above us.”
But the original ordinance didn’t mention leased equipment and excluded a handful of technologies used by police that activists argued should be better regulated.
The ordinance did not require any pre-approval for handheld or body-worn devices used by law enforcement, traffic cameras, cameras inside or at entrances to city buildings, cameras in or on police vehicles or those on fire, emergency, utility or street maintenance vehicles “intended for safe operation of the vehicles,” or “a camera installed to monitor and protect the physical integrity of city infrastructure.”
In a letter late last month, the ACLU of Washington argued the ordinance should cover all surveillance equipment and activities “that pose a potential threat to privacy,” like red light cameras and cameras mounted on public buildings. Other community activists argued body cameras shouldn't be excluded, Stuckart says. So now he’s “stopped being so stubborn” and is looking at ways to balance “everybody’s needs and wishes,” he says.
Stuckart says in the new ordinance the requirement for council approval will still only apply to new technologies — not those already in existence, like license plate readers — but departments will be required to write protocols for existing and exempted equipment. Those protocols will be public and include things like how the department will use the data it gathers and how long it will be stored. Stuckart says he’s working with prosecutors, police and activists in rewriting the ordinance. He expects to send the revised ordinance to other council members by the end of this week.
Jacob Jones contributed to this report.
Tags: city hall eyeball , drones , aclu , spokane , ben stuckart , surveillance , News , Image
HERE
Mobius science museum struggling with finances, seeking new location. (S-R)
Car explosion in Garland District sends man, 3-year-old daughter to hospital. (KXLY)
A suspected drunken driver crashed into a Skipper's on North Monroe this morning. It's the second time this year. (KREM)
THERE
A US military helicopter has crashed in Japan. (Reuters)
A-Rod facing suspension for alleged drug and collective bargaining violations. (NYTimes)
Trial for Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger wrapping up closing arguments today. (Boston Globe)
WORLD OF WEIRD
Scientists serve up first test-tube hamburger for London news conference. (BBC)
California deputy faces jail time for allegedly spraying teen's pizza with pepper spray during traffic stop. (NBC)
Japan launches first talking humanoid robot into space to keep astronaut company. (Time)
Tags: Morning Briefing , News , Image
In May we showed you Teen Wolf. In June you voted for Office Space. Now, after a summer hiatus — we were busy moving to our new HQ — we've got a date for the next Suds & Cinema event on Sept. 11.
Now all we need is the movie. Vote from these five suggested by readers, including a reappearance from last time's runner-up, Spaceballs. Scroll down for trailers if you're not sure which way to cast your vote. Voting ends at 5 pm on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Airplane!
Animal House
Harry and the Hendersons
Hot Rod
Spaceballs
Tags: suds & cinema , Film , Video
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