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Supreme Court Undermines Voting Rights, Alters Political Representation

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Seattle Medium
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Demonstrators outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, on October 15. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
Demonstrators outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, on October 15. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

By Tierney Sneed, Fredreka Schouten, CNN

(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday kicked yet another leg out from under the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 civil rights law that Chief Justice John Roberts’ court has repeatedly undermined over the years.

Wednesday’s opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito with the dissent from the court’s three liberals, will make it much harder for voters of color to challenge redistricting plans that allegedly dilute the political power of minority communities.

The ruling will bring about major changes to political representation at all levels of government in future elections, starting in earnest in 2028. Many states will either choose to make changes to legislative boundaries or be forced by courts to redraw districts that currently guarantee the ability of minority voters to elect the candidate of their choice.

State legislatures controlled by Republicans could opt to eliminate a slew of Democratic-held seats, particularly across the South, in an effort to cement the GOP’s hold on the US House.

However, the decision’s impact on the 2026 midterm elections could be limited given the practical and legal hurdles to redrawing legislative plans at this point in the electoral cycle.

In the case, which examined Louisiana’s congressional plan, the Supreme Court ruled that a map that had created a second majority-minority district in the state because of a Voting Rights Act challenge amounted to an unconstitutional use of race. The opinion had the effect of drastically changing a legal test the Supreme Court put forward 40 years ago for how courts should approach Voting Rights Act redistricting cases.

Alito played down how much he was reworking that test, but in a dissent joined by the court’s two other Democratic appointees, Justice Elena Kagan said “the Court’s decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity.”

Here’s what to know about the historic ruling and what happens next:

GOP could see immediate benefits

Wednesday’s decision lands in an election season that already is underway, but it could set off an effort in several states to create new maps ahead of November’s midterm elections for Congress.

Republicans appear likely to benefit from the initial scramble.

Louisiana, the state at the center of the case, saw the high court strike down a map that created a Black-majority district now held by Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields.

Republican officials who control state government in Louisiana have not yet indicated how they will respond. But in a statement Wednesday, state Attorney General Liz Murrill said she would work with the state’s legislature and Gov. Jeff Landry on how to proceed with a “constitutionally compliant map” moving forward.

In a statement, Landry did not address whether the state would move to redraw lines.

Any redistricting action in Louisiana would disrupt the state’s May 16 primary. Early voting is slated to start Saturday, and overseas and military ballots already have gone out. Fields and other Democrats argued it already is too late draw new lines.

Alito’s opinion for the conservative majority returns the case to the lower court for more proceedings but without any instructions about whether the map should be withdrawn for the midterms.

His opinion also did not mention a legal doctrine known as Purcell, which says courts should avoid issuing rulings that would cause chaos and confusion for voters as an election is approaching.

Adam Kincaid, the president and executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, notes that Purcell is only a limitation on last-minute court action and should not constrain state lawmakers from moving forward.

“I think Louisiana very likely could do it,” he told CNN. “We’ll see if they do.”

Other states that have not kicked off voting in their primaries could also move quickly to draw lines. That includes Tennessee, which holds its primary August 6.

US Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Wednesday urged state lawmakers to draw another Republican seat in response to the court’s decision. That move would likely target the state’s sole Democrat in the House, Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents Memphis.

In Florida, state lawmakers on Wednesday approved new congressional boundaries devised by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis that aims to help Republicans secure 24 of the state’s 28 US House seats this fall.

The high court’s ruling likely will strengthen DeSantis’ hand in defending that map against expected court challenges.

His legal team had cited the looming voting rights decision as one of its justifications for moving forward with mid-decade redistricting, and the high court’s ruling was quickly distributed electronically to members of the state Senate Wednesday as they prepared to vote on the boundaries.

Centers intentional discrimination

The Supreme Court’s ruling essentially means evidence of a discriminatory motive may be necessary to win Voting Rights Act-based challenges.

The decision cuts against 40 years of understanding that Congress wrote the VRA provision in question to push back not just on intentional racial discrimination, but on redistricting plans that had the effect of discrimination, even if intentional discrimination couldn’t be proven.

Alito wrote that VRA plaintiffs could only succeed “when the circumstances give rise to a strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred.”

He claimed Wednesday that the court was stopping short of requiring a “finding of intentional discrimination.” But he significantly narrowed the kinds of evidence plaintiff can use to prove their cases, requiring a focus on “current” conditions.

Altogether, the ruling will make VRA redistricting cases “all but impossible to win,” said Omar Noureldin, senior vice president of the policy and litigation department of the voting rights group Common Cause.

Lawmakers don’t just say out loud that they are drawing maps for the purpose of diluting the political power of communities of color, Noureldin said, and legislative privileges often prevent plaintiffs from getting discovery that would show what map-drawers’ private intentions were.

Intentional discrimination cases are “much rarer than they used to be,” said Jason Torchinsky, an elections lawyer who has represented Republicans in redistricting fights, told CNN.

“You need some sort of smoking gun evidence,” said Torchinsky, who had represented Louisiana in the lower court proceedings in the current case. “You need an email where someone says ‘Yeah, I carved up the Hispanic neighborhood,’ and people don’t do that.”

Partisan gerrymanders as shield

The new ruling elevates the role partisan gerrymandering can play in warding off Voting Rights Act claims, coming on the heels of a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that said federal courts can play no role in policing partisan gerrymandering.

Alito’s new opinion – and a racial gerrymandering redistricting case the court handed down in 2024 – suggest that minority voters can only succeed in Voting Rights Act cases if they can propose maps that would protect whatever partisan advantage a legislature was seeking with its plan.

Alito said that to prevail in a Voting Rights Act case, plaintiffs will first have to show that it would be possible to draw the majority-minority district in a map that met all the other goals a legislature would have in drawing a plan – including a legislature’s goal of boosting one party over another. Secondly, Alito has said plaintiffs must show a minority group votes as a bloc in ways that are distinct from party affiliation.

In a two-party system, “racial divides often mirror the partisan divide,” said Hilary Harris Klein, a senior counsel for voting rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

“When these partisan objectives really amount to silencing Black and brown communities, the result is the same,” she said, accusing the Supreme Court of “allowing states to whitewash the dilution of minority voting strength.”

Roberts, Kavanaugh switch their views

In Wednesday’s decision, the Supreme Court essentially adopted arguments made by Alabama in a separate redistricting case decided three years ago — arguments that two court conservatives rejected then – but are siding with now.

Roberts — who wrote the 2023 opinion in Allen v. Milligan upholding a longstanding interpretation of the Voting Rights Act — didn’t write a concurrence in Wednesday’s Louisiana case to explain why he changed his views or how he squared the new redistricting ruling with the last one.

Neither did Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who joined Roberts and the three liberals in the Alabama case.

Roberts in 2023 upheld a legal test known as Gingles that the Supreme Court laid out for VRA redistricting cases in 1986.

It said that for voters to prevail in their challenge to redistricting plans, they must show that “the minority group must be sufficiently large and (geographically) compact to constitute a majority in a reasonably configured district;” that the minority group is “cohesive” in its political views; and that White voters can vote as a bloc to defeat the minority group’s preferred candidate.

Now, in the Alito opinion in the Louisiana case that Roberts has signed on to, the bar plaintiffs must meet in VRA cases is much higher.

Earthquake for 2028 and beyond

While practical and legal obstacles will limit the effects of the ruling for 2026, it will likely render major changes for the legislative maps used in 2028 and will be extremely influential in the redistricting drawn after the 2030 census.

Republican-controlled states will be inclined to take a look at their current maps and consider redrafting any majority-minority districts they were forced to draw under the Voting Rights. Southern states like Georgia and South Carolina could see new maps before 2028, as could Ohio and states where tribal populations had forced the creation of VRA districts.

(In Georgia, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson on Wednesday called on state lawmakers to add redistricting to an expected special session. The state’s primary election is fast approaching on May 19.)

Democratic states that were inclined to preserve their current plans may nonetheless face lawsuits arguing those plans violate Wednesday’s opinion in how race was used to draft them.

Illinois could be vulnerable to a lawsuit like that, according to Torchinsky. California’s plan may face legal challenge too, however, the way Wednesday’s ruling protects plans drawn for partisan reasons could protect it, as that was the goal of the recent initiative that redrew California’s congressional map.

Because of the Purcell doctrine, those lawsuits will not be able to force changes before the 2026 election. But they will need to be filed soon in order to be litigated in time for the 2028 election.

Democratic redistricting strategists have said they expect states controlled by their party – including New York, Colorado and Washington state – to attempt to mount counter-offenses in the coming years to draw maps that swing more US House seats to Democrats.

One Republican involved in redistricting efforts predicted Wednesday that 70 seats could be redrawn by the end of the 2028 election.

CNN’s Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.

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Are Bus-Only Lanes Hindering Or Enhancing Traffic Flow?

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Seattle Medium
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Yordanus:
“It hinders traffic. Busses are really long, and they take up a lot of space. Especially when there is traffic, you can’t even go past them, and you are just stuck there, holding up the line.”
April:
“I don’t take the bus, but for me as a driver, it slows traffic down. But I do have mixed feelings about it. I feel like since there are more people taking the bus, then there should be less traffic. I hope that the buss lanes enhance the traveling experience for people who don’t catch the bus, because it seems it would take away car traffic.”
Malachi:
“They hinder traffic because 98% of the time, there is nobody in the bus lane. If you get in that lane, you get a ticket, and it doesn’t make any sense when there are traffic jams and the bus lane is wide open, but we can’t use it.”
Eunice:
“I think that it hinders traffic. The bus lane hinders drivers and traffic because it has turned two lanes into one now, and sometimes when people are turning, it holds us up. We could be going to work or be pressed for time, and it can cause a huge delay.”
Destiny:
“I think they are good for the city. I think they are better for large cities or very populated areas. A lot of people don’t have cars or can’t afford them, so I think that it gives a lot of people free transportation in Seattle.”
Tia:
“For the bus commuters, they are a good thing and help. I haven’t been a driver here in Seattle, but when the traffic gets really bad, the lanes are really helpful to get to our stops on time.”

Gaps In Care Leave Autistic Youth At Higher Risk For Mental Health Struggles

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Seattle Medium
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By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium

Autistic children and adolescents face significantly higher risks of anxiety, depression and suicide than their peers, yet gaps in care, awareness and research continue to leave many without adequate support.

In recent decades, autism diagnoses have risen steadily, bringing increased attention to the condition. But amid public debate and growing scrutiny at the national level, the lived reality of autistic youth, particularly their mental health needs, is often overlooked.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, approximately 70% of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder have at least one co-occurring mental health condition, most commonly anxiety disorders and depression. Rates of suicide attempts and deaths are also higher among autistic adolescents and young adults than in the general population.

“A diagnosis of ASD is associated with increased risk for a host of mental health concerns, and there are a number of reasons why people on the autism spectrum might be susceptible to mental health challenges,” said TK Brasted, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and autism services lead at Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic. “Two areas identified by research are high rates of adverse childhood experiences and limited access to needed services.”

Brasted said the quality of mental health care for autistic adolescents often falls short, in part because widely used therapies are not always adapted to meet their needs.

“The quality of mental health care for autistic adolescents tends to be poorer, due to a lack of evidence-based psychotherapies that are adapted to suit their unique needs and communication styles,” Brasted said.

Even when research exists, it does not always reach the families and providers who need it most. Corinne Purtill, a science and medicine reporter for the Los Angeles Times, said many existing services and interventions are not well-suited for autistic individuals, leaving families to navigate a fragmented system.

“The standard childhood and mental health interventions that parents assume would be helpful for their child don’t necessarily work as well with kids on the autism spectrum,” said Purtill. “This slow pace we see in getting this information to people who need it, I think, is not really that uncommon in certain areas of child health.”

Purtill said the issue is less about a lack of research and more about a disconnect between those conducting the research and those providing care.

“The people who are doing the work are busy doing the work, and the people who are caring for children are busy caring for children, and they don’t necessarily have the time or the mechanisms to be able to talk to one another,” added Purtill.

Autism affects social communication, including how individuals engage in interactions, interpret nonverbal cues and develop relationships. For younger children, these differences can present as behaviors that, if not addressed, may contribute to later mental health challenges.

“[They have] temper tantrums, aggression, elopement, and/or sleep disorders. Certainly, such behaviors can be secondary to mental health conditions. However, for the age group that I work with, they are more common due to communication delays, learned interaction patterns, and/or biological differences,” said Brasted. “If not addressed, these behaviors can be risk factors for mental health challenges down the road.”

At the same time, mental health conditions in autistic youth are often overlooked or misdiagnosed. Symptoms may be attributed to autism itself, delaying appropriate treatment.

“I once worked with an autistic teen who was experiencing frequent auditory and visual hallucinations,” said Brasted. “Her parents raised concerns about her unusual behavior to other providers in the community, but they failed to do sufficient assessments because they assumed it was probably related to ASD.”

For many individuals, co-occurring mental health conditions can have a greater impact on daily life than autism itself.

“While autism and mental health conditions have very different symptoms, they also have very different effects on the quality of life of the individual living with them,” said Purtill.

One contributing factor to these challenges is masking, the conscious or unconscious suppression of autistic traits in order to fit social expectations. Purtill described masking as a significant mental health risk, particularly among intellectually gifted individuals.

“Intellectually gifted individuals tend to have very high masking abilities. It is very much a survival mechanism for a lot of people to navigate the world,” said Purtill.

 Purtill also noted that children who are both intellectually gifted and autistic are significantly more likely to experience suicidal thoughts.

Despite growing awareness, gaps remain in both research and clinical practice. Standard screening methods may miss key warning signs, and therapies designed for neurotypical populations may be less effective for autistic individuals.

“Even though mental health conditions, like anxiety and depression, have been found to be more common among adolescents diagnosed with ASD, and autistic individuals are at increased risk of experiencing adverse childhood events, there continues to be significant gaps in research on autism-specific symptom presentation and therapies,” said Brasted. “To date, there have been few studies that have investigated the use of well-established therapies, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), on an autistic population. We have more to learn about how to modify these therapies to best suit the needs of neurodivergent individuals.”

Black Women In Washington Report Widespread Workplace Harm, Limited Support

By
Seattle Medium
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Ayanna Colman, pictured above, speaks to a room full of Black women at the Black Women in the Public Sector: Training, Co-Creating and Self-Care event. Courtesy photo.

By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium

Black women shouldered the brunt of layoffs in 2025, a disparity driven largely by cuts in the public sector. These layoffs, combined with ongoing reports of workplace mistreatment, point to broader systemic inequities.

In response, the Washington State Women’s Commission and Blacks United in Leadership & Diversity surveyed 410 Black women across Washington’s public sector. Nearly every respondent reported experiencing barriers affecting well-being, career advancement and decisions about whether to remain in the field.

Only one respondent reported experiencing no workplace harm, underscoring the widespread nature of these challenges.

More than 70 Black women recently gathered in Olympia for the Black Women in the Public Sector: Training, Co-Creating and Self-Care event. The event created space to share experiences and identify solutions.

“We were just reading story after story about how Black women who are deeply represented in the public sector, across government, nonprofits, and social human services were not receiving the same care,” said Brittany Gregory, Washington State Women’s Commission executive director. “They were facing mistreatment and discrimination and harassment, and taking into consideration some of the layoffs, like unemployment numbers for Black women and how Black women were getting laid off at three times the rate of other women, it was really important that the Women’s Commission would uplift the stories of Black women at this time and provide them some support.”

Survey findings reveal patterns across agencies and roles. Respondents rated workplace experience an average of 2.68 out of 5, while human resources support received an average rating of 1.92 out of 5. Nearly half of respondents gave human resources the lowest possible rating, reinforcing concerns that reporting systems are not experienced as safe or effective channels for addressing harm.

Microaggressions were the most commonly reported form of harm, with 88% of respondents reporting the experience, alongside unequal standards, exclusion from decision-making and fear of retaliation.

Ayanna Colman, chief human resources officer at the Office of Administrative Hearings, participated in the survey and attended the event. After 14 years in state government, this effort marked the first initiative centered specifically on the experiences of Black women in public service.

“I think this was a very unique experience. With all due respect to the private sector, corporate, and all of those other industries, this really spoke to my heart. Walking into that room and seeing a full room of women, and as we talked, I learned we all had so many different backgrounds,” said Colman. “But what united us is that we are Black women in the public sector, called to public service. And as much as we care about our neighbors and our communities, we need our workspaces to care about us too.”

Hiedi Popochock, director of aviation finance and budget at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said the event underscored the persistence of workplace inequities.

“These spaces are important because anti-Black racism is alive and well. It is an experience that Black women, and Black people experience every day in the workplace,” said Popochock. “Black executive leaders are not immune from anti-black racism, having anti-black racist staff or anti-black racist supervisors. We have seen it all. We have experienced it all.”

Survey findings also highlight the impact of these experiences. Seventy-five percent of respondents reported negative effects on mental health, along with impacts on sense of belonging, confidence and career advancement.

Many respondents also reported that workplace experiences influenced decisions about remaining in public service, pointing to broader retention challenges for agencies that depend on experienced workers.

“This might not be surprising for some, but it was pretty surprising for us that 99.8% of all the respondents have experienced some form of harmful behaviors and systemic barriers in the workplace, and 75% of respondents said that their treatment in the workplace impacted their mental health. There was only really one respondent who said they hadn’t experienced any type of history in the workplace,” said Gregory. “However, the most surprising finding was that the more senior you are in your organization or agency, the worse your experience was.”

Most respondents were experienced professionals, with more than 60% reporting eight or more years in the public sector across roles ranging from entry-level to executive leadership.

“Society, our education, our family structure, and our neighborhoods. By the time we get to the workplace, we have proven ourselves over and over again to be there. And then you get to the workspace, and you still have to deal with so many of those barriers that you thought were gone. What more do we have to prove?” said Colman. “Black women absolutely need these spaces to connect, to hear from one another, to learn from one another, and to have a safe place to just let things out.”

Popochock described a sense of isolation in leadership spaces, even after more than 20 years in public service.

“Personally, it was very meaningful to be around other Black women sharing lived experiences in the public sector. Professionally, it was very supportive,” Popochock said. “There aren’t that many Black women executive leaders in the public sector in Washington. So, it was reassuring and validating to have us there in the same room connecting with one another.”

Colman described how isolation and workplace dynamics can push highly qualified Black women out of roles.

“The higher I went up in my career, the less of me were in the room and I had walked away from roles, quite honestly because dealing with the workplace dynamics and overall not having that support, I had to make a change and exit those situations,” said Colman. “I heard other Black women say that you need to know when to exit. Which is so unfortunate because so many of us are highly educated and qualified, and we deserve to be in those rooms.”

Gregory said findings will help shape future programs, partnerships and policy priorities.

“Black women are some of the most educated people out there, and so we are choosing to use that expertise to help others who need help, and then getting mistreated in response?” said Gregory. “[The survey] confirms the need for more expansive, holistic training, and for us to have a deeper conversation. It also reflects the bigger conversation that state agencies and other nonprofits are facing right now about what we’re characterizing as DEI and how some folks are shying away from it.”

Seattle Leaders, Ghanaian Officials Look To Build New Economic Ties

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Seattle Medium
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Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Emmanuel Smith, Staff photo/Aaron Allen

By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium

Seattle leaders and high-ranking Ghanaian officials gathered this week to strengthen economic ties between the Pacific Northwest and West Africa, signaling a shift from cultural connection to long-term investment and business collaboration.

The meeting, held in Seattle, brought together members of the Ghanaian diaspora, local organizations and diplomatic leadership to explore how the region can serve as a gateway for U.S. companies looking to engage with one of Africa’s most stable and rapidly growing economies.

Dr. Francis Abu Bila, president of the Ghana Association of Greater Seattle, said the region’s Ghanaian community is uniquely positioned to help bridge that connection.

“This event is very important for us because we as a diaspora group are looking for opportunities to connect the Pacific Northwest and Seattle in particular to Ghana,” said Abu Bila. “Ghana is one of the most stable economies in Africa and will serve as a gateway for investment, opportunities, tech, and other businesses that want to get into the African continent.”

Abu Bila said the growing diaspora, which spans from Vancouver, Washington, to Spokane, plays a critical role in linking local industries with emerging markets abroad. With a young and expanding population, Africa represents a significant opportunity for future economic growth, making Ghana an entry point for companies seeking to build a presence on the continent.

The message from Ghana’s leadership was clear: the focus is shifting away from aid and toward partnership.

Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Emmanuel Smith, outlined that vision in a keynote address, emphasizing trade, investment and shared economic growth as the foundation for future collaboration.

“The message I gave is to look for partnerships… to invest in Ghana,” said Smith. “We share in the belief that trade and investment, not aid, are what drive job creation, industrialization, innovation, and technology transfer.”

Smith pointed to several sectors where Seattle’s expertise could align with Ghana’s development goals, including the digital economy, agribusiness and health care infrastructure. He highlighted opportunities to connect the region’s technology sector with Ghana’s growing fintech and digital services landscape, as well as collaboration in telemedicine and agricultural processing.

At the same time, Smith issued a direct call to action to members of the diaspora, urging professionals to take an active role in shaping Ghana’s economic future.

“We have been talking to our brethren in the diaspora for so many years… we are trying to excite them about the opportunities, so they come and help us build our country,” said Smith. “Our country has potential—oil, gold, cocoa—we can build our country in a better way than we are doing at the moment.”

For many in attendance, the connection between Seattle and Ghana extends beyond business. It is rooted in shared identity and a growing effort to translate cultural ties into economic opportunity.

Michelle Merriweather, representing the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and the Black Teacher Co-op, described how that connection has evolved in recent years. Over the past three years, her organization has taken 70 Black leaders from Washington state to Ghana to build relationships and deepen understanding of the diaspora.

“We’re building bridges across the diaspora that build economic wealth,” said Merriweather. “Yes, we want to go for leisure, for vacation, for exploration, learning our ancestry. But now we’re building bridges… it’s an honor to be a part of this discussion and furthering that connection to the diaspora and to the continent.”

The gathering reflects a broader shift in how diaspora communities are approaching international engagement, moving from symbolic connection to structured economic collaboration.

With the African Continental Free Trade Area opening access to a market of more than 1.3 billion people, leaders said partnerships between cities like Seattle and countries like Ghana are increasingly positioned to play a role in global trade.

“The future of Ghana’s economy will not be built by government alone,” said Smith. “Together, we can unlock new opportunities, create sustainable wealth, and build a prosperous future that benefits us all.”

Seattle Mariners Honor Negro Leagues Legacy Through Steelheads Initiative and Community Investment

By
Seattle Medium
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Seattle Mariners infielder J.P. Crawford is shown wearing the Seattle Steelheads uniforms. The team wears the uniforms for every Sunday home game in honor of the city’s 1946 Negro League team. Seattle Mariners Photo/Ben Van Houten.

By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium

Every Sunday home game, the Seattle Mariners take the field in Seattle Steelheads uniforms, honoring the city’s 1946 Negro League team and its place in Black baseball history. For many fans, the uniforms are a visible and powerful reminder of a legacy that helped shape the game long before integration.

But for the Mariners, the tribute goes far beyond what happens on the field.

Through the Steelheads Initiative, the organization has committed to a broader effort to connect that history to present-day impact. Central to that effort is the Steelheads Community Fund, backed by a $500,000 investment to support Black-led baseball and softball programs, along with community initiatives across the region. Additional funding comes from Steelheads merchandise sales and Sunday 50/50 raffles, creating ongoing opportunities for fans to participate in the effort.

Christian Halliburton, Seattle Mariners Deputy General Counsel and Senior Director of Government and External Affairs, said the idea to wear the Steelheads uniforms began with a desire to properly recognize the legacy of Negro Leagues Baseball and its influence on the sport.

“We know that the Negro Leagues were synonymous with baseball excellence, and were at the core of a vibrant industry that fundamentally influenced the game as we know it today,” said Halliburton. “So, we felt it was our duty to pay homage to that contribution in a way that connects the past with the present while looking towards an even brighter future.”

That commitment to honoring the past while investing in the future guided how the Mariners approached the initiative from the beginning. Rather than developing the program internally, the organization worked to engage community voices throughout the process.

“Instead of designing the program behind closed doors, we convened a series of meetings and ongoing conversations with community leaders and stakeholders so that we could listen to a variety of perspectives and learn about what it would take to build something that would feel real and resonate as authentic,” said Halliburton.

That approach also required reflection within the organization itself, including how the Mariners wanted to show up in their relationships with the community and how to align the initiative with broader values.

“It was also important that we engaged in honest reflection on our organizational identity, how we wanted to show up in our external relationships, and how we could align shared interests to guarantee that the Initiative was rooted in a genuine commitment to the intended outcomes,” said Halliburton.

The result is a multi-layered initiative that blends recognition, investment and community engagement. The Steelheads Sundays experience at T-Mobile Park, the uniforms and the community fund are all designed to work together as part of a long-term commitment rather than a symbolic gesture.

Halliburton said the investment in Black-led baseball and softball organizations reflects the Mariners’ belief in the role the sport can play in expanding opportunity and building community.

“The Steelheads and the Negro Leagues were the embodiment of these beliefs, and given the alignment with the Mariners core values, we were proud to be able to invest in a future that promotes access to baseball and shares our love for the game,” said Halliburton.

For many in the community, that investment represents more than funding. It helps create access points for young athletes who may not otherwise have opportunities to participate in organized sports, while also reinforcing the cultural significance of baseball in Black communities.

The initiative also extends beyond the field through partnerships that bring history into everyday spaces. Steelheads Alley, a Seattle brewery, taproom and event space, was developed in partnership with Métier Brewing Company to celebrate the legacy of the 1946 team while creating a gathering place rooted in that history.

The space features craft beer from Métier Brewing, one of the few Black-owned brick-and-mortar breweries in the country, along with visual displays that highlight the history of Black baseball and the Negro Leagues.

“Fans visiting Steelheads Alley are treated to exceptional brewed beverages and complementary food offerings, and they can enjoy those food and beverage offerings in a space that showcases the visual history that inspired it,” said Halliburton.

For Métier Brewing founder Rodney Hines, the space represents a powerful intersection of history, culture and community.

“Steelheads is busy, it’s vibrant, and what truly makes it different is when you pause and look up, you are met with powerful images of Black and brown softball and baseball players from the ’30s, ’40s, and beyond,” said Hines. “Stories deserving to be seen, remembered, and honored.”

“Humbly in partnership with the Seattle Mariners, the Black Heritage Society, and others, we are doing more than just telling history,” continued Hines. “We are making sure it is known, celebrated, and carried forward.”

For the Mariners, the Steelheads Initiative also serves as an opportunity to engage in broader conversations about the history of the Negro Leagues and the conditions that led to their creation.

The Negro Leagues were established during an era when Black players were excluded from Major League Baseball, yet they built a thriving and influential baseball culture that shaped the game in lasting ways. By honoring that history, the Mariners hope to highlight both the contributions of those players and the barriers they faced.

“It serves as a reminder of the contribution that Black and Latino players were making to the game even before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier,” said Halliburton. “It gives us an opportunity to use that history to inspire the pursuit of a future of inclusion that those tremendous athletes dreamed of.”

The organization has also seen growing interest from fans who are learning about the Steelheads and the Negro Leagues for the first time through the initiative.

“One of the most exciting results of the Mariners launch of the Steelheads Initiative has been the number of baseball fans, young and old, who are discovering the Steelheads story and the legacy of the Negro Leagues for the first time,” said Halliburton.

By connecting history with present-day investment, the Steelheads Initiative reflects a broader effort to ensure that the legacy of Black baseball continues to shape the future of the game and the communities it touches.

Judge Sharonda Amamilo Brings Human-Centered Approach To State Supreme Court Race

By
Seattle Medium
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Judge Sharonda Amamilo

By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Sharonda Amamilo, who is running for the Washington State Supreme Court, approaches the bench with a philosophy grounded in both legal precision and human understanding.

In the quiet, high-stakes environment of the courtroom, Amamilo operates under a framework she calls “FIRE”: Facts, Issues, Rules and Exceptions. But for Amamilo, the law is never just a technical exercise. It is a human story, often a fragile one, and a responsibility to ensure that every person who enters the courtroom is treated with dignity.

“I don’t know the life that people led, or the things they’ve had to deal with,” says Amamilo. “My number one job is not to inject any trauma into their story. I don’t get to be dismissive. I don’t get to be unkind.”

Amamilo’s campaign for the state’s highest court is rooted in that perspective, shaped by nearly two decades of legal work at what she describes as the “vulnerable edges of the fabric of society.” Her decision to seek a seat on the Washington State Supreme Court reflects a belief that meaningful change requires addressing systemic issues at a broader level.

Amamilo’s journey to the bench was not driven by a lifelong ambition to serve as a judge, but by a growing recognition that the systemic failures she encountered in school, medical and justice systems required intervention “upstream.”

Before being elected as the first African American judge in Thurston County, Amamilo built a career as a public defender and private practitioner, often representing parents in high-stakes child welfare cases. Those experiences exposed what she described as the “Goliath” nature of the justice system and the profound consequences of its decisions.

“It’s so profound a privilege to be able to stand in the gap when someone is getting ready to lose their identity as a parent,” said Amamilo, recalling years spent visiting clients in prisons across the state and advocating for families in court.

Amamilo’s transition from advocate to judge was shaped by what she calls “abuse of agency power.” In one case, she challenged the emergency removal of four children from grandparents, arguing the decision would have separated siblings across the state. In another, she identified what she described as a “spurious” attempt to arrest parents on the eve of a dependency trial.

“Those two things were the final straw,” said Amamilo. “I needed to get up higher to be able to say to a wrongdoer: ‘I see what you’re doing, and I see what’s going on.’”

That desire to operate at a higher level of influence now informs her campaign for the Supreme Court, where decisions shape legal standards and affect communities across Washington.

On the bench, Amamilo has developed a reputation for careful scrutiny and a refusal to simply affirm recommendations without question. She has been particularly vocal about disparities in bail and sentencing decisions.

She recalled a hearing in which a white defendant facing a third felony DUI was recommended for $10,000 bail, while a younger Black defendant with a less severe record faced a $50,000 recommendation.

“I just call it out in the courtroom,” said Amamilo. “I told counsel, ‘This young man has a much different picture that doesn’t sound equitable to me. That doesn’t sound reasoned.’ It is a good deterrent when they know a judicial officer is going to call them out on the record.”

With years of experience handling felony trials, administrative appeals and complex civil matters, Amamilo now regularly presides over cases with statewide implications. As a judge in the state capital, much of her work involves reviewing agency decisions that affect large segments of the population.

For Amamilo, whether a case involves a multi-million-dollar tax dispute or what she describes as a “little life thing” such as a consumer issue, the guiding principle remains consistent: clarity and fidelity to the law.

“Every perceived wrong doesn’t necessarily have a remedy in the law,” Amamilo said. “You have to be able to suss that out for folks and make sure they understand with clarity what you’re ruling on and why. I use the FIRE acronym to facilitate respect, respect to the people, the issues and the law.”

As she seeks a seat on the Washington State Supreme Court, Amamilo continues to frame the role of a judge not as an advocate, but as a decision-maker grounded in knowledge, preparation and accountability.

“The way you show that you care is that you make sure you’re informed and you’re involved,” says Amamilo. “You can’t just talk about it. You have to know it from an intimate level.”

City Leaders Look To Expand Childcare, Education And Career Pathways

By
Seattle Medium
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Pictured left to right: SPS Superintendent Ben Shuldiner, Seattle Mayor, Katie Wilson, Director of DEEL, Dr. Dwane Chappelle

By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium

Standing before a crowd of community leaders, residents, families and students at the Yesler Community Center, city leaders unveiled a sweeping six-year implementation plan for the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise (FEPP) Levy. Approved by 80% of voters, the initiative aims to reshape access to childcare, nutrition, education and career readiness across Seattle.

The “Every Child Ready” initiative represents a $1.3 billion commitment to support Seattle residents from birth through college or career entry.

Dr. Dwane Chappelle, director of the Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning, opened the event by framing the overwhelming voter support as more than a mandate, calling it a call to action for the city’s future.

“80% is not just a number. It’s a mandate, a community declaration that every child, yes, I said it, every child in this wonderful city deserves the opportunity to thrive from birth to career,” said Chappelle.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson followed by outlining the plan’s core priorities, emphasizing affordability and access as central to the city’s long-term vision for families.

“Seattle is only going to be a great place to raise a family if it’s a more affordable place to raise a family,” said Wilson. “The investments I’m announcing today take a big step in that direction by expanding the Seattle Preschool Program, providing free school meals to all students, offering free mental health care to all teens and young adults, and more.”

Among the most immediate changes is the expansion of free school meals to every student in Seattle Public Schools, regardless of income, beginning as early as this fall. City leaders said the move is designed to eliminate stigma while ensuring that all students have consistent access to the nutrition needed to learn.

“We are going to provide free school meals to every student in every school,” said Wilson. “This means no stigma, no eligibility bubble that squeezes out struggling families just because they miss some threshold.”

The plan also expands the Seattle Preschool Program by increasing access to full-day, year-round care. More classrooms will operate on 10-hour schedules and extend through the summer, a shift aimed at better aligning with the needs of working families. Most Seattle families will continue to have access to tuition-free preschool.

In addition to early learning and nutrition, the initiative includes a major investment in youth mental health. Under the proposal, all Seattle teens and young adults would have access to free mental health services over the life of the levy, along with expanded school-based health centers providing medical, dental and behavioral health care.

City leaders also highlighted expanded mentorship opportunities and stronger partnerships with community-based organizations that have established trust within the communities they serve.

At the high school level, the plan builds on the city’s “Path to Trades” initiative, connecting students to high-demand career pathways in industries such as construction, aviation, maritime and welding. The effort is designed to create clearer, more accessible routes to living-wage jobs for students who may not pursue traditional four-year degrees.

For students like Devon Woods, a cement mason apprentice who spoke at the event, those pathways offer long-term stability and opportunity.

“They offer a living wage, retirement, and health insurance,” said Woods.

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner, who said he has visited 92 of the district’s 106 schools in his first 90 days, pointed to the scale of the city’s investment as a defining factor in the plan’s potential impact.

“The idea that the city is giving more money to the schools, to the children, because they think that is what’s important—that is incredible,” said Shuldiner. “This does not happen in other places.”

Shuldiner also used the moment to encourage families to consider returning to Seattle Public Schools, noting that approximately 20,000 Seattle children are currently not enrolled in the district.

At the postsecondary level, the plan continues support for the Seattle Promise program, which provides tuition-free access to Seattle Colleges, while also expanding partnerships with institutions such as the University of Washington and local employers to strengthen pathways into public service, technology and skilled trades careers.

Dr. Rosie Rimando-Chareunsap, chancellor of Seattle Colleges, said the investments reflect a broader commitment to long-term community impact.

“We know that when we have come together across the city to seek to make college access, including access to skilled trades programs and workforce development programs available to all by lowering barriers, we are not just improving one student at a time, we are improving the whole community and the whole city with us,” said Rimando-Chareunsap.

While city leaders emphasized the scale and urgency of the plan, its implementation will require approval from the Seattle City Council. The proposal is expected to be reviewed by the Council’s Library, Education and Neighborhoods Committee, with a vote anticipated in the coming months.

If approved, several components of the plan, including universal school meals and expanded preschool access, could begin rolling out as early as this fall, with additional investments phased in over the six-year life of the levy.

Washington Attorney General Sues Albertsons Over “Buy One, Get One Free” Promotions

By
Seattle Medium
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Washington Attorney General Nick Brown

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Albertsons Companies, alleging the grocery chain misled customers for years through deceptive “buy one, get one free” promotions.

The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, claims Boise-based Albertsons Companies, the parent company of Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen stores, overcharged Washington consumers in more than 3 million transactions over a five-year period. The company operates 225 grocery store locations across the state.

According to the complaint, the stores used a practice known as “price hyping,” in which prices on common household items were increased in the weeks or months leading up to a BOGO promotion, then lowered again shortly after the promotion ended.

The alleged result, according to the Attorney General’s Office, is that customers believed they were receiving a free item, when in reality they were paying an inflated price for the first.

“For example, a Gig Harbor Albertsons hiked the price of a bottle of olive oil to $10.99 for the BOGO promotion from $6.99 a week earlier,” the complaint states. “After the deal ended, the price returned to $6.99.”

State officials estimate the practice generated as much as $19.7 million in additional revenue for the company between October 2019 and May 2024.

“We’re not going to stand for people getting fleeced by these deceptive practices,” Brown said. “We want to make sure we’re protecting people’s pocketbooks, and we all know that affordability is a major issue these days.”

The lawsuit alleges Albertsons violated Washington’s Consumer Protection Act by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices, including misrepresenting prices and using misleading promotions to attract customers.

The Attorney General is asking the court to:

• Stop the use of allegedly deceptive BOGO promotions

• Require full restitution to affected consumers

• Impose civil penalties for each violation

• Award additional financial remedies, including pre-judgment interest

The lawsuit also notes that this is not the first time Albertsons has faced legal action over similar practices. The company paid $107 million to settle a 2016 class-action lawsuit in Oregon related to misleading BOGO promotions and resolved a separate case in Washington in 2023 involving similar allegations.

The Attorney General’s Office said the case is part of broader efforts to protect consumers at a time when many households are already facing rising grocery costs.

Consumers who believe they may have been affected can file a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

Facts Compete With Conspiracy Theories After WHCD Attack

By
Seattle Medium
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Monday. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Monday. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

By Donie O’Sullivan, CNN

(CNN) — No sooner had a gunman tried to storm the ballroom of the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place Saturday night, than social media was awash with conspiracy theories about what was still unfolding in real time.

From the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in 2024 to the LA fires last year, just about every major national breaking news story in the United States today becomes instant fodder for online conspiracy theorists who are often seeking to blame events on their perceived political opponents.

Some of the best-known journalists in the country were gathered in the Hilton ballroom on Saturday night and immediately got to work establishing the facts of what had happened.

But immediately — before anything was known about the suspect and his motives — the word “staged” started to emerge as a trend across social media platforms.

A clip of an innocuous comment White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made to Fox News as she walked into the event quickly began circulating online.

Speeches delivered by presidents at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner have traditionally been humorous, with the commander in chief normally making jokes at the expense of the media and himself.

Saturday was due to be Trump’s first time addressing the dinner as president, and when asked by Fox News what the audience should expect, Leavitt said, “It’ll be funny, it’ll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room. So everyone should tune in, it’s going to be really great. I am looking forward to hearing it.”

Leavitt’s “shots fired” remark, clearly a reference to jokes and jabs in Trump’s planned speech, suddenly and absurdly prompted suspicion. One version of the clip on X was posted less than 45 minutes after the shots were fired and has been viewed more than 6 million times — with many people sharing it as though it were evidence of something.

In a press conference held late Saturday night, Trump said the attack showed the need for a secure ballroom. Trump is controversially building a ballroom on the White House complex. Some social media users began baselessly to suggest the attack had been staged for this reason.

A second Fox News clip also became the subject of viral speculation.

Like many TV news reporters on Saturday, Aishah Hasnie, one of the network’s White House correspondents, reported live by telephone from the ballroom, sharing her firsthand experience of what had taken place.

Her phone line cut out halfway through her account of how earlier in the night press secretary Leavitt’s husband, who Hasnie was seated next to at the dinner, was talking about the importance of her taking safety precautions given her high-profile cable news job.

Some people began to speculate that Fox News had deliberately cut the phone call short.

“I don’t want to be fomenting conspiracies. But I mean … this was super weird. Super weird,” Angelo Carusone wrote while sharing the clip to his 32,000 followers on BlueSky. Carusone is the CEO of Media Matters, a left-leaning media watchdog that regularly calls out misinformation shared by Republicans.

Responding to the speculation, Hasnie later posted on X, “Our calls were dropping, because there is barely any service in that ballroom. To finish the story, he was telling me to be careful with my own safety because the world is crazy. Which is what my own father and other people have also said to me recently. He was expressing his concern for my safety. I was going to say – before I lost my signal – that it was unfortunate that only a short time later, this all happened.”

At the White House press briefing on Monday, Hasnie asked Leavitt about conspiracy theories circulating online. “It’s very important to us that we get the truth and the facts about this case and any case out there as quickly as possible to dispel some of that crazy nonsense that you do see running rampant online,” Leavitt said.

Saturday’s attack came amid a recent surge in prominent former supporters questioning the official story of the circumstances around the attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024.

The Justice Department, under both President Joe Biden and Trump, found the same thing: that would-be assassin Thomas Crooks acted alone.

But Tucker Carlson and former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene both said the the government needs to release more information about Crooks and suggested something is being covered up.

Writings of Cole Allen, the suspect in Saturday’s attack, where he expressed anti-Trump sentiments had been made public by Sunday morning.

Responding on X, Greene wrote, “I want to know why the Trump admin released Cole Allen’s manifesto immediately but they still keep a tight lid on Thomas Crooks.”

Despite her assertion, there’s no evidence the FBI has kept secret key information around Crooks, who killed one rally-goer when he fired at Trump. Afterward, a Secret Service sniper located and killed Crooks seconds after he started firing at Trump.

The FBI has long fought conspiracy theories around the Crooks shooting, including false claims that there was a foreign nexus.

Before the shooting, Crooks, according to the FBI, had searched online for the date of the Democratic National Convention and where Trump planned to speak, as well as other searches for Trump and President Joe Biden.

Former cable news host Keith Olbermann, a prolific anti-Trump voice on social media, posted to his almost one million followers on X late Sunday night, “I’m not saying it was STAGED… YOU’RE saying it was staged! You have DOUBTS? Just because Trump has lied to you every day about every thing for a decade? Just because his people are filth? Shame, cynic!”

In a separate post commenting on the lack of trust across American society writ-large, Cenk Uygur, host of the left-wing YouTube show “The Young Turks,” wrote, “It’s a sign of the times that as soon as you heard there was a shooting at WHCD, you heard speculation it might be staged. Why? Because we’ve lost all faith in our government. We know they lie to cover up the crimes of the powerful, we don’t trust anything anymore. Rightly so.”

The-CNN-Wire
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