@everettherald journalist covering Everett and transportation. formerly @whidbeyrecord. once ate a 12-inch cheesecake in a single day and didn't vomit
425, WA
Joined March 2009
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Ben Watanabe retweeted
Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign.
The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers.
Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵
ALT Martin Kao, CEO of defense contractor Navatek, poses next to Sen. Susan Collins for a photo. Collins is holding a model of a boat in her hands. Behind them is a large sign with the Navatek logo.
Ben Watanabe retweeted
There is a corner of the internet I had never heard of before I started reporting this story.
It’s called the “burnerverse”: a sprawling network of anonymous college-sports accounts that can look, at first glance, like ordinary shitposting.
Then I started looking closer. And what I found was a highly coordinated network of hundreds of anon accounts, dedicated to doxxing girls and ruining their lives.
My investigation for @WIRED — including some of the men allegedly behind some of these accounts — is out now. wired.com/story/burnerverse-…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
BREAKING: A mass shooting has been reported at Seattle Center
seattletimes.com/seattle-new…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
As family homelessness hits record highs, school districts are offering parking lots as safe sites for students and their families to sleep at night hechingerreport.org/school-p…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
President Trump said he told White House budget director Russell Vought, "'Don't send any money for day care,' because the United States can't take care of day care."
"We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care," Trump said Wednesday while speaking at a White House Easter lunch. He went on to say that the states should "take care of day care, and they should pay for it, too," by raising their taxes.
"We have to take care of one thing, military protection," Trump added. "We have to guard the country."
Ben Watanabe retweeted
The FDA won’t tell Americans where their generic drugs are made, so ProPublica did it instead.
Use information from your prescription label to locate the factory and see if the plant has a history of inspection violations.
projects.propublica.org/rx-i…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
Internal messages from Live Nation reveal two execs talking about "robbing [fans] blind."
“These people are so stupid. I almost feel bad taking advantage of them," one says.
That man is now the head of ticketing for the unit responsible for Live Nation's 150 amphitheaters.
Ben Watanabe retweeted
Asked whether Americans should be worried about retaliatory attacks at home, Trump acknowledges the possibility:
“I guess,” he says
“Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.” time.com/7382697/trump-iran-…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
US immigration officials picked up a blind Rohingya refugee last week in Buffalo, NY. Then, realizing they had no basis to deport him, they released him five miles from his home. He needed a walking stick and died trying to make his way back to his house: investigativepost.org/2026/0…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
NEW: No one has heard from Seattle organizer Frank Gabriel Yzaze Yegres since Friday when he said he would be deported this weekend. ICE lookup system says he's in custody, but won't say where. Advocates demand WA congressional delegation step in
theburnerseattle.com/post/se…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
The Snohomish County Council is starting a page program for high school students! This year's program will run the week of April 27th - May 1st. If you know of a high school student who might be interested in participating, please scan the QR code below.
Ben Watanabe retweeted
"As her 13-year-old son wailed and her older daughter produced paperwork proving her mother was in the United States lawfully, the agents shackled Ms. Mehari and took her away." nytimes.com/2026/01/26/us/po…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
Trump’s paramilitary forces just shot and killed another person in Minneapolis. vox.com/policy/476374/minneo…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
Food is further out of reach for more Washingtonians as SNAP funds wither on the vine. 🥫🫰
Just who those Washingtonians are is a question Uncle Sam made a lot harder to answer as federal data on the matter disappears. 💸 #waleg
washingtonobserver.substack.…
Ben Watanabe retweeted
ICE agents in Minnesota detained at least four children from the same school district, including a 5-year-old, deepening skepticism about the Trump administration’s claims of targeting violent criminals. wapo.st/3Ny2xmD
Ben Watanabe retweeted
The Empire is a disease that thrives in darkness, it is never more alive than when we sleep.
Ben Watanabe retweeted
Breaking News: The EPA will stop considering lives saved when setting pollution limits and instead calculate only the cost to businesses. nyti.ms/45RcBNE
Ben Watanabe retweeted
My last story published last week, as Cascade PBS sunsets its investigative team desk -- ending coverage of a company with egregious safety violations developing a $44 million Port of Longview project. One that's already had an excavator fall into a pond.bit.ly/4hf2Ey7
