The Hollingsworth family is growing pot and their story is pretty awesome. Whether or not you approve of our state’s legal cannabis industry (which has brought in almost $1.5 billion over the past three years), you’ve got to check out this story by Bob Young of The Seattle Times about a guy who turned his passion for cannabis into a full-fledged family business. It all began in the basement of his parent’s house, when Raft Hollingsworth III presented a 32-page PowerPoint slideshow on why they should all – as a family – start a pot farm in Mason County. Now, his sister, mom, dad and aunt work tirelessly to help Raft make his dream come true. Raft’s sister Joy had wanted to go into business with her brother since they ran a lemonade stand together as kids. “It might sound cheesy but nothing is better than being with family,” she said. ?????? Oh, also definitely make five minutes to watch this heartwarming video (which includes the birthday celebration for Raft’s 96-year-old grandmother) by Erika Schultz and Corinne Chin.
Seattle’s police force has gotten more racially diverse. About 35 percent of Seattle’s 1,200 police officers are nonwhite. That’s up ten points over the last two years, reports Ansel Herz of The Stranger, and that’s good news for anyone who thinks a more racially diverse police force could improve the strained relationship between the police and communities of color. “There aren’t enough people like us on SPD — we want to see officers in our community who share our physical traits and values,” said one Seattleite quoted in a report by the Seattle Community Police Commission. But research is mixed on whether racial diversity actually helps reduce tensions, writes Jen Fifield of Stateline, a journalism project of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Other strategies like “hiring officers who know and understand the community, asking officers to build better relationships with neighborhoods they serve, reducing officers’ use of aggressive arrest tactics and increasing officer training” can help as much or more, Jen notes. So it’s important that we don’t see this as the whole solution. Just a step in the right direction.
A Muslim UW student was hit in the face with a glass bottle two weeks ago and police don’t know if it’s a hate crime. Some Muslim leaders are calling the attack on Nasro Hassan a hate crime, but police say they don’t have enough information to officially call it one, writes Sara Jean Green of The Seattle Times. Here’s what happened. Nasro says she was walking on campus around 5 p.m. when a guy with a black hoodie hit her in the face with a glass bottle. She got a concussion and all she remembers is a “sharp ringing” in her head and the man laughing as he ran away, reports Sara Bernard of Seattle Weekly. The Muslim Student Association at the UW is advising all Muslim students to walk with a buddy on and off campus, and asking that bystanders who witness a hate crime step in, reports KUOW. Earlier this week, Nasro’s mom, Dahabo Hassan, spoke about the attack: “We are same. We have same feelings, same emotions, everything… Please… let us be a human being, all of us, and also take care of each other.” Yes. Please.