Judge: Seattle’s Garbage Checks Are Unconstitutional; S.C. Gov. Slams Detainee Relocation Plan

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
PRIVACY | A King County Superior Court judge declared Seattle’s ordinance, permitting garbage collectors to check people’s trash for food scraps, unconstitutional. The city requires residents to place food scraps in the same bin as yard waste to be composted, rather then sent to a landfill, fining people $1 and businesses and multifamily dwellings $50 for violations. According to the attorney who challenged the law in court, the judge “was skeptical this program could be enforced in any way except through privacy violations.” [The Seattle Times]

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
STATE & FEDERAL RELATIONS | South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley decried the possible relocation of terrorist detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig—arguing it would make Charleston a new target for terrorism. Current law prohibits the detainees on U.S. soil, but President Obama proposed a plan to transfer them to one of 13 sites that might improve the country’s image concerning their treatment. Haley worried tourism would suffer and local law enforcement would be distracted with heightening security. "There is no amount of money . . . that can justify those detainees coming to South Carolina,” the governor said. [The Greenville News]

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
INCLUSIVITY | The NCAA will no longer hold sporting events like basketball Final Fours in cities that discriminate against people for any reason, the organization’s Board of Governors ruled at their quarterly meeting. NCAA host cities must now show “they will provide an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination, plus safeguards the dignity of everyone involved in the event.” Inclusivity is expected regarding race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity—the last of which has been targeted recently by several state laws like North Carolina’s barring transgender people from bathrooms of the gender they identify with. [The Indianapolis Star]

GILLETTE, WYOMING
COAL | In a “moon shot” attempt to ensure a future for the coal industry in the Cowboy State, Gov. Matt Mead on Wednesday, along with other state officials and utility executives, broke ground on a test center meant to find new economic uses for carbon emissions. The $21 million facility will be built next to one of the newest coal-fired power plants in the U.S. Wyoming is contributing $15 million to the project. Teams of scientists working at the test center will vie for $10 million from the X-Prize Foundation. The winning team will be the one that removes the most carbon from the plant’s emissions and turns it into the product with the greatest value. “We're looking for a game-changer for the world," Mead said. [Billings Gazette]

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA
IMPEACHMENT | A Republican state representative pushing to impeach GOP Gov. Robert Bentley has gathered the signatures needed to proceed with the effort. Rep. Ed Henry said he has 23 signatures supporting an impeachment resolution. That’s more than the 21 needed to refer it to the House Judiciary Committee. Bentley is embroiled in a controversy involving allegations that he had an affair with a former top political advisor and that he improperly fired the state’s law enforcement secretary, Spencer Collier. Last week, Collier filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination and defamation. He claims the governor urged him to lie to the state’s attorney general in a matter tied to an ethics case against House Speaker Mike Hubbard. An impeachment process has not been attempted in Alabama in over a century. [The Huntsville Times]

OPA-LOCKA, FLORIDA
CORRUPTION | Opa-Locka’s city manager is accused of shaking down a business owner seeking a $150 license, and now a local commissioner has blamed the city attorney for his silence on the matter. But City Attorney Vincent Brown said he told Commissioner Joseph Kelley to say whatever he wanted. Not even residents addressed the FBI’s city corruption investigation at Wednesday night’s two-hour commission meeting. “I don’t do shakedowns,” said City Manager David Chiverton after the meeting, despite the business owner’s claims he recorded under-the-table cash payments to city officials while wearing a wire. [Miami Herald]

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
CANNABIS | Marijuana “cafes” in Alaska would not be able to serve booze, but non-alcoholic beverages and food would be permitted. That’s according to draft rules the state’s Marijuana Control Board accepted Tuesday. The pot parlors would have to be located in designated areas on the premises of marijuana retail stores. Alaska is the only state so far moving to create rules that allow for public spaces where people can smoke or eat recreational cannabis products. Alaska voters approved a ballot initiative in 2014 that called for the state to set up a regulatory system for commercial marijuana production and sales. The Control Board anticipates that it will begin issuing marijuana retail store licenses this September. [Alaska Dispatch News]

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
WATER | Drinking water treatment plants in Southern California that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build are sitting largely unused, at certain times of the year, amid lower demand for water. In San Diego County, a dozen of the facilities can produce up to 830 million gallons of potable water daily, but last year they were treating only 530 million gallons when demand peaked over the summer. A spokesman for the San Diego County Water Authority said its treatment facilities were designed to meet future needs. “[W]e don’t build freeways to handle traffic on Sunday morning, we build them to accommodate rush-hour traffic,” he said. [Voice of San Diego]

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
COMMUNICATIONS | As New Orleans consolidates its 911 employees Sunday, 24 dispatchers, mostly with the police department, will be absent—resigning over the loss of city retirement benefits and job security. The Orleans Parish Communications District will oversee all police, fire, and emergency medical dispatchers in an effort to improve response times and increase staffing. But the effort backfired with respect to the latter, at least in the short term, with the majority of resignees seeking transfers within city government. [The Times-Picayune]

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
INVESTIGATION | Federal and state subpoenas reached Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office as investigations into its fundraising activities heat up. While de Blasio, himself, hasn’t been ordered to appear in court, top aides have been. In 2014, de Blasio prioritized getting Democrats elected to the state Senate by directing the flow of campaign contributions in a manner his administration holds was perfectly legal. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara isn’t so sure, and is looking into whether contribution limits were exceeded [The New York Times]