After 20 Years as a Prosecutor in Illinois, I Quit. It's happening. Oregon is already short of public defenders, and supposedly this is one of the reasons those charged with crimes are set free.
In 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court invalidated the primary criminal drug possession statute in a case called State v. Blake. This decision effectively legalized the possession of hard drugs, including methamphetamines, fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin. The Legislature, at the time, approved a bill to make possession of hard drugs a misdemeanor after two pre-arrest “referrals.” Since 2021, the open use of hard drugs has significantly increased across the state, sparking demands for change from law enforcement, counties, and cities.
During this year’s legislative session, the legislature debated a bill, SB 5536, attempting to rectify the consequences of Blake. …Some Democrats voted against the bill, expressing the opposite view: that punishment for substance abuse is inherently inhumane.
You may have seen in the news that some cities, like the Bellingham City Council, have passed ordinances making public drug use an arrestable offense in response to Blake and growing concerns about drug use and crime in urban areas. If SB 5536 is passed by the full House of Representatives and signed by the governor, cities would be prevented from taking their own steps to address open drug abuse in their streets.
Boring Report is an interesting idea, but I don't want to read all my news on the phone.
Interesting solution to the debt ceiling problem. I agree that it won't happen, though. And you can't pull this trick over and over. Hey, let's ask Zelensky if he could float us a loan! Things are so out of hand now.
Some good and bad news for breast cancer patients. The FDA approved a new drug, Veozah (fezolinetant), to treat moderate to severe hot flashes. Common side-effects: abdominal pain, diarrhea, insomnia, back pain, hot flush and elevated hepatic transaminases. But there is a shortage of doxorubicin, the backbone of adjuvant chemotherapy regimens for breast cancer. Many other drugs are getting to be more difficult to obtain.
If not for A.I., the S&P500 would have been down 2% instead of up 8%. But the underlying reason for the increase is that companies are planning on improving their margins, eliminating hundreds of millions of jobs, lowering expenses. This is not a time for people to strike for higher wages.
