[WBHG NEWS – Chelan, WA] – The Chelan County Sheriff identified Zachary A. Soltis of Texas as the person who vandalized the Leavenworth, Washington Christmas display on 22-23 December. He is facing multiple criminal charges.
The sheriff alleges it was Soltis behind the wheel of a silver 2024 Toyota Tundra pickup truck that did donuts on the sledding hill and other areas in downtown Leavenworth, sending at least two pedestrians scrambling. During his 15 minutes of Internet fame, Soltis even drove the truck up on the sidewalk and parked in front of the gazebo in the city park, providing police with a clear view of him in the driver’s seat and the truck’s license plate.
Thanks to the Patrol Deputies’ tireless efforts, and with help from our citizens and visitors, the suspect has been identified as Zachary Soltis, who resides in Texas. There is probable cause for his arrest for Malicious Mischief 2nd Degree and Reckless Driving.
Chelan County Sheriff
After he was identified on Friday, Soltis purged his social media accounts. According to public information, he lives in Carrollton, Texas. His deleted LinkedIn page listed Toyota of North America in Carrollton, Texas, as his employer, and prior to that, he claimed he was in the United States Marine Corps as an Aviation Ordnance Specialist. It is unclear if he was driving his personal vehicle or a company vehicle at the time of the vandalism.
The Sheriff’s Office identified Soltis at the end of the day Friday, so charges are pending. Officials are working with the Chelan County prosecutor, with the sheriff’s department recommending charges of 2nd Degree Malicious Mischief, a Class C Felony, and Reckless Driving.
[WBHG NEWS – Seattle, WA] – The Seattle-area abandoned Tesla Cybertruck, known on the internet as “Cyberstuck,” ended up in a Copart junkyard waiting to be sold at auction.
Back in early September, pictures were shared on Reddit about the Cybertruck parked on Martin Luther King Way. The $90,235 Tesla, with its love-it-or-hate-it looks, had its license plates removed and its rear wheel twisted in an odd way. In the following days, news articles spread around the world, and the truck even became a listed tourist attraction on Google Maps called “Cyberstuck.”
A Redditor claimed to have spoken to the owner in early September, who said that his Cybertruck had “a kid hit [it]…a few weeks ago and was still trying to figure out the insurance to get it fixed.”
The fun of the Cyberstuck tourist spot didn’t last long. On the night of September 10, the City of Seattle had the Tesla towed away. A video showed the Cybertruck, with its unique suspension damage, being towed by Lang Towing, Inc., which has been providing “towing and storage services in District III” for the Seattle Police Department since 2001.
Even though the visible body damage was limited to some plastic pieces by the driver’s side rear wheel, the Cyberstuck turned into Cyberjunk, ending up at a junkyard in Arlington, Washington. In mid-November, it was listed on Copart’s website with 12 photos. The company says the salvage value of this once $90,000 truck is now down to $31,156. The mileage is officially listed as “zero,” but there are no keys, so no one can check the odometer.
Photo credit – Copart
Claims on social media that the Seattle Cybertruck was vandalized are untrue. Pictures that recently circulated claiming to show the windows smashed and other damage are from a different wrecked Tesla in a Texas Copart yard.
Many reviews of the Cybertruck, which started selling in November 2023, have pointed out that its suspension might not be strong enough for its 7,000-pound weight, especially considering Tesla’s marketing claims. Owners have posted photos of bent or broken parts of the rear suspension. These issues are often seen in photos and videos where some of the wheels are twisted, just like Seattle’s Cyberstuck.
However, the photos raise more questions than they answer. The only clear damage is around the driver’s side rear wheel, with just a bit of rust on the front trunk from sitting in the rain. Today, Copart has 21 salvage Cybertrucks up for sale across the U.S. Three of these are totaled because of front or rear suspension damage, but they have more damage than the famous one in Arlington.
It will remain a mystery how Seattle’s Cyberstuck Cybertruck ended up as Cyberjunk unless its eventual new owner shares more information.
[WBHG News – Kirkland, WA] Puget Sound Energy reported almost 39,000 customers were without power after a late morning windstorm moved through Puget Sound. Whidbey Island was the hardest hit, with scattered outages reported in Kirkland, Bellevue, Sammamish, Mercer Island, and Bainbridge Island.
Sustained winds at Paine Field in Everett reached 30 MPH with gusts to 56 MPH. At Seatac International Airport, a gust of 47 MPH was recorded. At the storm’s peak, over 64,000 homes and businesses were without power. Trees weakened by the November 19 windstorm, which knocked out power in some areas for a week, were toppled across the region.
December 14, 2024 – Downed trees tore down powerlines and damaged electrical infrastructure in Kirkland, Washington. Photo credit – David Obelcz
In Kirkland, NE 112th Street was blocked by a down tree, which damaged utility poles, power lines, and Internet cables. Kirkland police had blocked off the area. At the time of publication, Puget Sound Energy’s outage map indicated that many ongoing outages should have been resolved between 1 PM and 5 PM but did not have crews assigned.
Over the last 12 months, over 1,100 unrecorded charter flights have arrived in Managua, Nicaragua, carrying more than 80,000 people from North Africa, the Middle East, India, and China, with hopes of reaching the United States. Border incidents spiked in early 2024 as Russian state media, propagandists, and their proxies amplified stories about the southwestern border crisis.
A months-long investigation, including interviewing victims, uncovered a complex web of propagandists, government officials, charter flight executives, and human traffickers selling hope of a better life in the United States via Nicaragua. What many find on their road to the southwest border is crippling debt to human smugglers, a dangerous journey through Guatemala and Mexico, and no guarantee of entry or asylum when they reach the United States.
Nicaragua’s involvement started in 2021, but in the spring of 2023, French language immigration ads targeting the citizens of Africa’s coup belt in the Sahel exploded, promising easy access to the United States. Some of the ads are financially backed by self-described Stalinist Luc Michel and his Rossosphere network and other Russian and pro-Russian sources. The social media influence campaign worked, fueling a 500% increase in United States Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) encounters with African nationals in 2023 that continues today.
According to CBP data, through June 2024, 54.5% of all encounters at the southwest land border of the United States were with citizens from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. In 2014, it was 96.2%. Some of the shift is due to a sharp increase in the number of Haitians and Cubans attempting to cross the border, who are also part of the Nicaraguan pipeline.
Lost in the CBP 2023 data, an estimated 60,000 people from African nations were arrested at the southwest border, a 500% increase from 2022. Over one-third of those arrested from July to December 2023 were from Senegal.
US: Large numbers of single adult men from all over the world are crossing illegally into Border Patrol’s Tucson, AZ sector.
Our team shot this video in Lukeville, AZ, where men from Africa have been crossing daily, Bill Melugin reports.
A shadowy network of travel agents, tour companies, and charter airlines, supported by advertising on WhatsApp and Telegram and social media influencers on TikTok and Twitter (also known as X), charge migrants $10,000 to $100,000 for transport to Nicaragua, then a taxi ride to Honduras, and overland travel by handlers to the United States-Mexico border.
Changes in Nicaraguan visa laws and the selling of special immigration visas by the Daniel Ortega regime have turned Mangua into what some activists call a hub for human trafficking.
Russia and its alliance of nations have weaponized immigration in Europe, with Poland and Finland bearing the brunt of attempted border crossings. Moscow has learned that anti-immigration sentiment is a hot-button issue for pro-Russian isolationists and uses information warfare to amplify fear and misinformation, with increasingly violent results. In 2023, investigators in Europe found that Moscow went further and was directly involved in funneling migrants from Northern Africa and the Middle East to the Polish border through Belarus and the Finnish border.
Nicaragua’s Weaponization of U.S. Immigration is Profitable
Passports from African nations are among the weakest in the world, requiring travelers from a majority of countries to apply for visas before arrival. In late 2021, Nicaraguan Dictator Daniel Ortega loosened visa requirements for Cubans, Haitians, and several African nations and made further changes in early 2023. Despite the formal immigration policies, a program was created to sell visas at Nicaragua’s points of entry to immigrants arriving on charter flights. Their information is undocumented, and they don’t receive a passport stamp.
May 2024 – Irregular migrants from Africa outside the main airport terminal at Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport in Managua, Nicaragua, awaiting transport to the Honduras border – photo credit AriosMedios, photographer name withheld for their protection
Called irregular migrants, upon arrival, they pay between $150 and $250 in cash to Nicaragua’s General Directorate of Migration and Immigration (GDMI). The funds are classified as “other service fees” and “fines” by the Ortega regime and netted $43.5 million in 2023, almost 65% of the income collected by the GDMI. Reviewing public records from 2021 and 2022, the revenue from “other service fees” grew by 62% in 2023.
Migrants have been instructed to hire a taxi driver, who will charge around $50 for the 5-hour drive to the Honduras border or are met by handlers. The drivers who wait for the migrants are authorized to access the airport and use the same taxi stands for tourist and business travelers. They gather as the charter flights arrive, with some walking outside the airport, holding up the pictures and names of the irregular migrants they’ve been pre-hired to transport.
People from Africa and the Middle East pay agencies between $5,000 and $10,000 for charter flights from Dakar, Dubai, Madrid, and Casablanca and another $3,000 to $5,000 for the journey to the U.S. border. Citizens of India and China, which make up a much smaller percentage of immigrants, are charged as much as $96,000 while receiving a “white glove” experience. The common experience between them all is the charter flight to Managua.
The human trade isn’t limited to the Middle East and Africa. Through October 2023, charter flight operators flew over 35,000 people out of Haiti and up to 20,000 from Cuba, charging $3,000 to $5,000 for the short flight to Managua. On October 31, 2023, the Port-au-Prince government banned all charter flights to Nicaragua, leaving thousands stranded and in debt. Before the ban, 60% of Haitians arriving at the Southwest border connected through Nicaragua.
In June, the U.S. government accused Ortega and his wife of putting in place “migration policies that have introduced opportunities for migrant smuggling and trafficking networks to exploit migrants for economic gain and fuel dangerous, irregular travel towards the U.S. southwest border.”
Fear Sells Plane Tickets and Funds Human Smugglers
The cheaper route for migration to the United States is via flights to Brazil, Columbia, and Venezuela. However, this route requires a 130-kilometer crossing of the Darien Gap. The region divides Panama and Columbia and is made up of mosquito-infested swamps, rainforests, and steep mountains. Less than 9,000 people live in the region, which has no infrastructure, not even primitive roads. The terrain isn’t the only danger. Human traffickers, cartels, kidnappers, and robbers operate throughout the gap, targeting people moving north.
In May 2023, the migrant route through Managua became so popular that the Nicaraguan government hired a Dubai-based company to train Nicaragua’s civil aviation officials to create and manage immigration procedures for the charter flights.
El Salvador was also a growing port of entry for migrants seeking access to the United States. In October 2023, the country added a $1,130 per person tax on travelers arriving from 57 countries, mostly in Africa, to deter irregular immigration.
Russia’s 40-Year History with Dictator Daniel Ortega and a Renewed Relationship
Ortega has opposed the United States since the 1980s when he led the Soviet-backed Sandinistas against the United States-backed Contra rebels. He and his wife, Rosario Murillo, have ruled Nicaragua as dictators since 2007 and embraced Russia in 2015. In 2016, Moscow donated 50 T-72 main battle tanks, with Nicaragua’s neighbors expressing concern over the import of heavy weapons. In 2017, Russia built a GLONASS satellite navigation ground station and, in 2022, established a small permanent military base.
Also, in 2022, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on three Nicaraguan entities for “repressive actions” and a failure to decrease human smuggling through the country. One of the sanctioned companies is a Russian training center operating in Managua since October 2017 that enables anti-democratic behavior and repression. A press release from the Treasury Department said Russia was one of Nicaragua’s “main partners” and accused Russia of providing specialized courts for the Nicaraguan National Police. Moscow backs “a repressive state apparatus, carrying out extrajudicial killings, using live ammunition against peaceful protests, and even participating in death squads.”
Highlighting the strength of the relationship between Managua and Moscow, on October 12, 2022, Nicaragua was one of only four countries in the United Nations that voted against condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, joining The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and Syria.
Honduras Supports the Nicaraguan Route by Creating a Legal Path
In response to the growing tension along the Nicaragua border and the increasing number of undocumented migrants reaching Honduras, the government created a program that permits undocumented migrants to pass through the country if they exit within five days. In 2023, Honduras also waived fines normally levied on irregular migrants trying to buy bus tickets, as it left thousands stranded.
When taxi drivers drop off the irregular migrants on the border, they are greeted by handlers who provide one-night lodging with a meal and assistance on their journey through Honduras. The agencies and handlers complete the government paperwork and give the migrants a bright yellow bracelet. The bracelet identifies them as “legal travelers” through Honduras, so the police do not stop them. They travel in groups of 20 to 100 and connect with new handlers in Guatemala.
These programs have turned Honduras into a sort of rest area before the harder and more dangerous journey through Guatemala and Mexico.
Nicaragua is Working with Russia to Influence U.S. Politics and Elections
Speaking with El Pais, Manuel Orozco, a migration expert and analyst at The Inter-American Dialogue, said that Ortega’s ultimate goal is to provoke the United States. “Ortega said that they were going to send migrants to the United States. So, the motivation is fundamentally political and ideological due to the hatred that Ortega has for the U.S.”
Russia has run similar hybrid warfare campaigns across Europe with mixed results. Illegal immigration, particularly from the Sahel and Northern Africa, was front and center during recent elections in The Netherlands, Germany, and France.
In November 2023, Finland closed its border crossing with Russia due to the weaponization of immigration and Moscow’s direct involvement.
The situation on Poland’s border with Belarus is worse. Middle East agencies have created videos mocking Polish border guards, openly showing that Russia and Belarus are directly involved in their transit. In May, a Polish soldier was stabbed to death by a migrant attempting to cross the Belarus-Polish border. On July 13, the Polish Seym approved a law that authorizes border guards and soldiers to fire live ammunition at migrants for “self-defense” and in a “preventative manner.”
Russian and Iranian Anti-immigration Disinformation Campaigns Fueled Riots in the United Kingdom
A shocking demonstration of how powerful Russia’s hybrid warfare campaigns have become played out in the United Kingdom. On July 29, 17-year-old Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a British citizen born in Cardiff, entered a studio in Southport, stabbed three children to death, and seriously injured eight more and two adults. The victims were attending a summer Taylor Swift-themed dance lesson, and the injured adults tried to stop the attack. A Russian disinformation campaign amplified by far-right parties in the U.K. led to two days of riots, dozens injured, and shops, cars, homes, and a mosque vandalized and burned.
On July 29, while emergency services were still removing the injured, a Russian disinformation campaign started. It was quickly picked up and amplified by the targeted audience. Posts on social media, especially Twitter (also known as X), alleged the attacker was a 20-year-old Islamic extremist who arrived illegally in the U.K. by crossing the English Channel in a boat. They claimed he was a political refugee seeking asylum despite being on a terrorist watch list, and the stabbings were an act of Islamic-motivated terrorism. Those claims were picked up by fake news sites with legitimating sound names and amplified by British tabloids and even ITV, better known as Channel 3.
The false claims spread on Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, and Instagram and were viewed over 18 million times and amplified by large accounts, including Tommy Robinson, accused rapist Andrew Tate, and British politician Nigel Farage.
On extreme right-wing social media channels, white nationalists and isolations planned protests, which quickly devolved into riots. In an attempt to quell the unrest, British officials made the unusual step of providing as much information about the suspect within the law as British born with immigrant parents. It did nothing to quell the unrest, which left Southport shattered and local residents feeling they were attacked for a second time.
On August 1, the British court took the extraordinary step of releasing the juvenile attacker’s name and providing press access to his first hearing. Rudakubana didn’t arrive by boat, wasn’t on a terrorist watch list, and isn’t an Islamic extremist.
Prosecutors told the court that he was diagnosed with autism and had been “unwilling to leave the house and communicate with family for a period of time.” The British tabloid The Mirror interviewed neighbors, who described the teen as shy but happy, a lover of singing and music, actively involved with the local church, and, from outward appearances, having supportive parents.
In the aftermath of the disinformation-fueled violence, new U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed that the far-right rioters would face the “full force of the law.” He added that the “criminal disorder” was “clearly driven by far-right hatred” and issued a warning to social media firms. “Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them. Violent disorder clearly whipped up online: that is also a crime. It’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere.”
Hours later, Twitter’s billionaire owner, Elon Musk, responded with exclamation points to a tweet by Tommy Robinson, condemning Starmer for calling the rioters “thugs” and for giving “police more power to prevent further protests.” While a small act, Musk alleges to have over 190 million followers, wielding massive global influence.
The protests are far from over, with up to 30 right-wing and anti-immigration organizations planning to descend on Southport this weekend. A new disinformation campaign is spreading on Twitter, accusing a Muslim extremist of being arrested for having a knife near the damaged mosque in Southport. The man arrested was Jordan Davies, 32, a known British white supremacist.
Weaponized immigration also brought unrest to the United States. In February 2024, hundreds of protesters descended on Eagle Pass, Texas, after Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency and blocked federal officials from accessing a small area of the United States-Mexico border. Those protests were fueled in part by a surge in immigration fueled by the actions of Nicaragua and amplified on social media platforms.
Russian disinformation campaigns made wild claims and actively encouraged the decades-long Texas Secession movement. The right-wing protesters who arrived at Eagle Pass discovered that undocumented migrants arrived in a steady stream of small groups, and along nearby areas on the border, only desert could be found. Others were surprised to find few Latin Americans crossing the border.
The Biden Administration and Other Nations are Quietly Fighting Back
The Biden Administration has quietly taken steps to stem the flow. Sanctions announced on May 15 included over 250 members of the Nicaraguan government, including “select non-government actors for their roles in supporting the Ortega-Murillo regime in its attacks on human rights and fundamental freedoms, repression of civil society organizations and profiting off of vulnerable migrants.”
On June 13, the State Department imposed visa restrictions on an unnamed executive of a “charter flight transport company” for facilitating irregular migration to the United States via Nicaragua from outside the Western Hemisphere.” Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the State Department, said the unnamed individual preys “on vulnerable migrants by operating services designed primarily to facilitate irregular migration to the United States. At the same time, the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua continues to financially benefit from the exploitation of vulnerable migrants.”
Two days later, it was announced that more sanctions had been imposed. Visa restrictions were added to additional “owners, executives, and senior officials of companies providing transportation by land, sea, or charter air designed for use primarily by persons intending to migrate irregularly to the United States…for knowingly facilitating the travel of irregular migrants to the U.S. southwest border.”
On July 3, an agreement was reached with Panama to cover the costs of repatriating migrants who enter Panama illegally through the Darien Gap. Last year, over 500,000 people made the dangerous journey.
Two weeks later, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced security forces had closed some unofficial access points and started installing barbed wire fencing to funnel migrants to a single checkpoint.
In May 2024, according to the State Department, an Egyptian court initiated the trial of 16 people accused of smuggling migrants to the United States and have been charged with acts of organized crime and human smuggling. According to Egyptian officials, the group arranged air transportation of migrants and placed them in “dangerous, degrading, and inhuman circumstances throughout the smuggling process.”
Also in May, authorities in Jamaica refused landing rights to a charter plane carrying irregular migrants.
In June, the number of migrants trying to cross the U.S. border dropped to the lowest level since 2019. Most Americans have forgotten about Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Operation Lonestar, and the standoff between federal officials and the Texas National Guard.
That’s probably set to change. Less than 12 hours after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection, the Associated Press reported that a caravan of 2,000 migrants from over a dozen countries, waiting in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, had started their journey to the U.S. border.
The city sits on the border with Guatemala, and some of the irregular migrants told reporters they had waited for weeks for travel permits, which were unexpectedly approved shortly after Biden’s announcement.
If the Federal Trade Commission is convinced to permit the Kroger and Albertsons merger to move forward, Washington will be the most impacted state in the country.
Last week, Kroger and Albertsons released a list of 579 stores that would be sold to C&S Grocery Wholesalers as part of their merger. One out of five stores in Washington – 124 total – are slated to be sold off. These are the locations in our immediate area,
Bellevue:
QFC — 10116 NE 8th St QFC — 2636 Bellevue Way NE QFC — 3550 Factoria Blvd SE QFC — 15600 NE 8th St Ste K1 QFC — 1510 145th Pl SE
Bothell:
QFC — 18921 Bothell Way NE QFC — 22833 Bothell Everett Hwy Safeway — 20711 Bothell Hwy
Issaquah:
QFC — 1540 NW Gilman Blvd Safeway — 735 NW Gilman Blvd Ste B Safeway — 1451 Highlands Dr NE
Kirkland:
QFC — 11224 NE 124th St QFC — 425 Urban Plaza Ste 100 Safeway — 12519 NE 85th St Safeway — 10020 NE 137th St
Kenmore:
Safeway— 6850 NE Bothell Way
Redmond:
QFC — 15800 Redmond Way QFC — 8867 161st Ave NE QFC — 23475 NE Novelty Hill Rd Safeway — 15000 NE 24th
Woodinville:
Haggen — 17641 Garden Way NE
Kroger, Albertsons, and C&S leaders claim that the merger and sell-off will not impact consumers or employees, and none of the existing locations will close.
On February 26, the FTC moved to block the merger. In a letter, the federal regulator warned that the plan to divest stores was inadequate and that not enough stores were being divested to maintain market competition.
They warned that C&S only operates 23 stores and has no experience as an owner/operator at this scale despite its 106-year history and an estimated $20 billion in gross revenue. The company also has a documented history of closures and liquidation after purchase, including BI-LO, Southern Family Markets, Nell’s, and Olean Wholesale Grocery.
Regulators also believe that because Kroger and Albertsons currently compete at the same level, the combined companies won’t have to try as hard to convince customers to shop at their stores, resulting in lower-quality produce and meat.
C&S Wholesale Grocers, owned by private equity and headquartered in Keene, New Hampshire, announced in 2023 that they agreed to purchase 413 locations, but the number may be as high as 579. The company keeps the list of investors confidential and held its most recent quarterly earnings call on May 14. According to the press release, the company has an undisclosed amount of unsecured debt due in 2028. The most recent publicly available gross revenue data is from 2017, estimated at $20 billion.
C&S is primarily a wholesaler that sells to over 7,500 independent grocery stores, institutional customers, and the U.S. military, stocking 100,000 items. It also owns the Grand Union Supermarkets and Piggly Wiggly brands. Three years ago, according to a 2021 press release, the company serviced more than 7,700 locations with an inventory of over 137,000 products.
In 2003, C&S acquired Fleming Companies, which owned the Piggly Wiggly brand, out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Fleming was forced into reorganization after years of SEC investigation into its business practices and creative accounting. Over the last 21 years, 23% of Piggly Wiggly locations have been shuttered.
Today, there are 12 Piggly Wiggly corporate stores and 491 independently run under a franchise model. Most stores are located in smaller communities in the so-called Bible Belt states, with almost one in four in Alabama. There are a handful of stores in New York, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia. A sub-brand, Piggly Wiggly Midwest, operates in Wisconsin and Illinois.
C&S acquired Grand Union Supermarkets in 2001 after the chain filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy and then closed most locations. In 2012, C&S sold the brand and remaining stores to Top Friendly Markets, better known as Top Foods. Top merged with Price Chopper Supermarkets in 2021 and was forced to sell off locations to gain regulatory approval. C&S bought back 12 Grand Union locations and resurrected the brand, and has since shut down one store. The 11 remaining stores are located in Vermont and upstate New York.
C&S also owns or licenses a portfolio of private brands, including Best Yet, That’s Smart, IGA (under license), TopCare, Simply Done, Full Circle, Craven, and the pet brands Paws and Pure Harmony.
A Warning from the Past
The merger goals and sell-off plan proposed by Kroger and Albertsons are eerily similar to those of the earlier Albertsons—Safeway merger.
In 2014, when Albertsons acquired Safeway, it created one the largest grocery retailers in the United States with $61 billion in sales at more than 2,200 locations. To approve the merger, the FTC required 168 stores to be sold off, and Washington was one of the most impacted states. In December 2014, Bellingham, Washington-based Haggen bought 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores for $300 million. Company leaders and the FTC hailed the agreement as a victory for workers and competition, creating a new super-regional grocery chain on the West Coast. Overnight, the boutique brand, with 18 locations, became a regional supermarket chain with 164 locations and 106 pharmacies in five states. The acquisition was a catastrophe, with Haggen closing 26 locations before the transition process was completed.
In September 2015, Haggen management filed a $1 billion lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, seeking triple damages against Albertsons, accusing the company of “coordinated and systematic efforts to eliminate competition and Haggen as a viable competitor in over 130 local grocery markets in five states,” and “made false representations to both Haggen and the FTC about Albertsons’ commitment to a seamless transformation of the stores into viable competitors under the Haggen banner.”
The lawsuit accused Albertsons of “malicious and unfair actions” during the transition, including:
Using proprietary and confidential information to plan and execute aggressive marketing campaigns intended to undermine Haggen grand openings;
Providing Haggen with false and misleading historic pricing data, causing Haggen stores to inflate prices unknowingly;
Cutting off Haggen-acquired store advertising before the transfer, decreasing customer traffic;
Timing the remodeling and rebranding of Albertsons and Safeway stores that prevented Haggen from entering into its acquired markets;
Deliberately understocking inventory at the Haggen-acquired stores below industry levels just prior to conversion, resulting in shortages during grand openings;
Deliberately overstocking perishable goods at Haggen-acquired stores above industry levels just prior to conversion, forcing Haggen to dispose of inventory that Haggen was forced to purchase;
Removing store fixtures and inventory from Haggen-acquired stores that Haggen paid for;
Diverting inventory allocated for Haggen to Albertsons stores; and
Failing to perform routine maintenance on stores and equipment prior to the transfer.
On September 9, Haggen’s grand opening plans were destroyed. The company owed more than 5,000 creditors up to $100 million and was forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Later, during the restructuring, the now-merged Safeway and Albertsons bought back 33 of the 146 locations for pennies on the dollar—mostly in the Southwestern United States, with some properties purchased for $1.
The federal lawsuit was settled in 2016. Albertson’s agreed to pay Haggen $5.75 million but admitted no wrongdoing. It then purchased the 29 remaining Haggen locations and brand for $106 million. As part of the purchase, 14 locations were closed.
35 Years of Consolidation has Weakened Competition
In 2023, the top ten grocery chains in the United States control approximately 60 cents of every grocery dollar. This list doesn’t consider total earnings but grocery-specific gross earnings from July 2022 to June 2023,
Walmart – Walmart, Walmart Super Center, Sam’s Club
The Kroger Company – QFC and Fred Meyer
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Albertsons – Safeway, Haggen, and Albertsons
Ahold Delhaize USA – no presence in Washington
Publix Super Markets – no presence in Washington
H-E-B – no presence in Washington
Amazon (online and physical stores combined – grocery and HBA)
Target Corporation
Meijer, Inc – no presence in Washington
According to the most recent data available, a 2019 USDA study found that the top 20 corporations in the grocery industry control almost 70% of the $717 billion Americans spend on groceries. In 1990, the top 20 controlled 35%. If the proposed merger is approved, the new company would be the second largest grocery retailer in the United States, behind Walmart.
Kroger and Albertsons Claim the Merger is a Matter of Survival
A central argument in support of the merger is that Kroger and Albertsons are on the brink of being unprofitable. Publicly available data shows that isn’t true. Margins in the grocery industry, as with most brick-and-mortar retail, have always been low compared to online shopping and other industries. A grocery store chain with a 2% net profit margin is considered extremely healthy. The business model is viable because consumers need to buy groceries.
Kroger’s profits have steadily increased since the beginning of 2022, with a net profit of $1.69 for every $100 spent in its stores, but it still has not recovered from the post-COVID dip.
Albertsons’ profit margins are also recovering. In the most recent quarter, the company earned a net profit of $1.63 for every $100 spent in its stores. That’s a 64% increase since mid-2021 and close to the 1.73% net profit the company was achieving after its 2014 merger with Safeway.
What can you Do
At this point, not much. While the FTC has challenged the merger and appears to be playing hardball, experts believe that, ultimately, the merger will be approved.
For our area? Based on the past history, expect higher prices, less choice, and longer lines coming soon to a Fred Meyer near you. Those stores would remain under the merged Kroger and Albertsons.
[WBHG News 24 – Kirkland] – It isn’t unusual for Seattle to tickle 60 degrees in January, but to reach or pass 60 degrees four days in a row was enough to set a new heatwave record. It stayed above 50 degrees for 5.5 days – 131 hours from January 27 to February 1, and three new high-temperature records were added to the books.
Weather records
Date
Normal Low
Normal High
2024 Low
2024 High
January 27
38° F
49° F
48° F -50° F at 11:00 AM
56° F
January 28
38° F
49° F
51° F
61° F – record
January 29
38° F
49° F
51° F
61° F – record
January 30
38° F
49° F
51° F
60° F – record
January 31
38° F
49° F
53° F
60° F
February 1
38° F
49° F
47° F – 50° F at 10:00 PM
58° F
High and low temperatures versus average at Seatac Airport from January 27 to February 1, 2024
The four-day streak broke the previous three-day record set in 2015, which was also the warmest January in modern history, with an average high of 49.9 degrees. Because 2024 was a fire and ice experience with a cold snap from the 11th to the 18th, the average high was 45.74-degrees, but still more than 4 degrees above normal.
Does this prove climate change
Weather is not climate, and climate is not weather. A singular weather event, like a four-day heatwave, does not prove climate change, just as a seven-day cold snap does not disprove it. Since 1981, the average daily high in January has increased by 1.4 degrees, and the average low climbed 2.6 degrees. Almost all climatologists agree that part of that broader increase, and our increasingly wet weather, has been caused by human activity.
What was unusual about the 2024 winter heatwave was how warm the low temperatures were from January 28 to 31 – 13 to 15 degrees above normal. Had the January heatwave been in July, Seattle’s low temperatures would have been 70, 70, 70, and 72. How warm would that have been? The warmest low temperature in Seattle’s history was 73 degrees during the June 2021 “heatpocalypse.” It would have been misery for the region, which has the second-lowest number of air-conditioned buildings and homes in the United States.
What’s next
As for the week ahead, starting Saturday, normal temperatures are returning, with highs near 50 and lows close to 40. Saturday will be cloudy but dry, and Sunday should be pleasant under party-cloudy skies.
[WBHG News 24 – Seattle] – After a January 23 report from the Seattle Office of Police Accountability concluded Officer Daniel Auderer violated SPD’s professionalism and bias-based policing policies while discussing the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, including saying she had “limited value,” SPD leadership has recommended harsh discipline, up to termination.
On the night of January 23, 2023, Officer Kevin Dave was responding to a drug overdose call when he struck 23-year-old college student Jaahnavi Kandula in a marked crosswalk while driving 63 MPH, mortally wounding her. Dave stopped briefly, radioed he hit a pedestrian, and then continued to the cocaine overdose call.
Auderer, a drug recognition officer and vice-president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, was deployed to evaluate Dave for potential impairment. After conducting his investigation, a two-minute phone conversation with SPOG President Mike Solan was accidentally recorded on Auderer’s bodycam. A whistleblower within SPD found the video and reported it to his chain of command. The video was released to the public on September 11, 2023, sparking international outrage.
The recording only captured Auderer’s side of the conversation. After telling Solan, “She is dead,” he guffawed, then continued to mock Kandula, saying, “She had limited value,” and the city should “Just write a check – $11,000.”
One year to the day after the accident, OPA recommended sustaining the findings that Auderer “violated SPD’s professionalism and bias-based policing policies by laughing about Kandula’s death, describing her as having “limited value,” and making other disparaging remarks.”
OPA Director Gino Betts Jr. called the officer’s words “derogatory, disturbing, and inhumane.”
According to the Seattle Times, a Seattle Police Department Disciplinary Action Report has recommended punishment ranging from a 30-day suspension without pay up to termination. In a commanders’ disciplinary memo sent to Auderer, SPD leadership wrote, “Even crediting your explanation as true, that does not excuse the callousness of your comments.”
Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz will meet with Auderer on March 4, where he will be given a final opportunity to explain his conduct.
Kandula was a graduate student from India studying for her master’s degree at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus. Two days after the video release, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco called the video “troubling,” writing on Twitter (also known as X), “Recent reports including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling. We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC.”
Recent reports including in media of the handling of Ms Jaahnavi Kandula’s death in a road accident in Seattle in January are deeply troubling. We have taken up the matter strongly with local authorities in Seattle & Washington State as well as senior officials in Washington DC
The U.S. State Department also issued a statement, calling the incident “disturbing.”
At the time of the accident, Dave was driving through a construction zone at 74 MPH with no siren. Kandula attempted to run but had less than one second to react, and an investigation found that Dave had slowed to 63 MPH at the moment of impact. A report released in June 2023 concluded, “Had Ofc. Dave been travelling [sic] 50 MPH or less as he approached the intersection and encountered [sic] and Ofc. DAVE and responded in the same manner; this collision would not have occurred.”
In August, when Auderer learned about the bodycam video, he asked OPA Director Betts Jr. for rapid adjudication. The optional disciplinary review enables a police officer to admit to minor to moderate policy violations and accept “reasonable discipline” without appeal, bypassing a formal OPA investigation. Betts Jr. denied the request, which SPOG decried.
With public outrage growing and a September 21 appeal by Seattle’s Community Police Commission to suspend Auderer indefinitely without pay, SPD administratively re-assigned him to desk duty.
Other statements made by Auderer have raised additional questions about the integrity of SPD’s accident investigation. In the same phone conversation with Solan, he said that Dave was driving no more than 50 MPH, and Kandula was thrown less than 50 feet. A secondary investigation found she was thrown 138 feet. The King County Prosecuting Attorney is considering criminal charges for Dave and has hired an outside consultant to conduct an independent investigation. An announcement is expected in the coming weeks.
Auderer is a 14-year veteran with SPD and no stranger to professional conduct investigations. Since May 2014, he’s been investigated 30 times by the OPA, referred to supervisory reprimand or guidance 11 times, and had allegations of unprofessional conduct sustained three times. His prior actions have cost the City almost $2 million in settlement payments.
SPOG has maintained its defense of its vice president, repeatedly stating that Auderer and Solan were engaged in “gallows humor” and declared, “The video captures only one side of the conversation. There is much more detail and nuance that has not been made public yet… SPOG has full confidence that the civilian led [sic] police accountability system known as the Office of Police Accountability / OPA will conduct a thorough and fair investigation.”
During the civilian-led investigation, Solan was called as the only witness. He has since accused the OPA of “union discrimination,” “intimidation,” and conducting a “fishing expedition” after being asked to meet with investigators for a second time to clarify his earlier testimony.
In his first statement to OPA on September 12, Solan told investigators, “It’s how police are,” adding, “Sometimes officers use sarcasm and humor to overcome emotional hurdles, which can be very burdensome.”
Solan claimed that he only agreed to meet with the OPA a second time after being warned he could face dismissal.
Kandula’s family, who lives in India, has not filed a lawsuit against the city. Northeastern University announced they would issue an honorary master’s degree later this week.
[WBHG News 24 – Kirkland, WA] – The Washington State Patrol shared a picture of a vehicle that went around construction barriers on I-405 and drove into the ongoing roadworks at the Exit 18 bus terminal and highway interchange expansion project. No one was injured.
According to Washington State Patrol Trooper Rick Johnson, the driver of the Subaru SUV went around the construction barriers, continued southbound on the Exit 18 offramp, and drove into the construction area. The driver was not impaired, and Trooper Johnson alleged the driver said they “forgot” there was a road closure. It is unclear how they drove around the barriers.
The Washington State Department of Transportation, King County, and the City of Kirkland had previously announced that parts of Northeast 85th Street and the I-405, Northeast 85th Street Interchange would be closed from January 26 to 29 to demolish the off-ramp bridges at I-405 and Northeast 85th Street. A second set of closures is planned for February 2 to 5 to replace the existing infrastructure with new four-lane intersections.
The picture shows skid marks leading to the dropoff and a piece of construction equipment well below where the car stopped, suggesting the accident could have been more serious.
The most recent data from Washington state about construction zone accidents is from 2021, which posted a 10.8 percent increase over 2020, with accidents in interstate construction zones increasing by 15.4 percent. Both years had significantly reduced traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic and work-from-home mandates. The biggest increases were among rear-ending accidents and crashes involving commercial vehicles, with fatal work zone accidents increasing by 18 percent. There was no data available on accidents caused by drivers who wilfully ignore road closures.
[WBHG News 24 – Kirkland, WA] – Seattle temperatures rose above freezing for the first time in 89 hours on Monday, but a sloppy weather system is poised to bring snow, sleet, and freezing rain to the Puget Sound lowlands on Tuesday night.
During the evening commute, precipitation will arrive in Puget Sound, rapidly spreading. From Tacoma north, expect snow and sleet before a transition to freezing rain and rain.
Focusing on our forecast area of eastern Puget Sound – Kirkland, Bellevue, Bothell, Kenmore, Redmond, and Woodinville – snow will be falling across the entire region by 7 PM. Up to 1/2 an inch of wet accumulation is possible before the transition begins. Higher hills and along the King-Snohomish County line may see a little more.
Between 8 PM and 10 PM on Tuesday, the snow and sleet will transition to freezing rain and rain. Up to 1/10 of an inch of accumulation is possible on the east side of central Puget Sound, but there is a lot of disagreement in the forecast models. We’re forecasting a transition between 1 AM and 3 AM on Wednesday morning, but keeping an eye on the situation.
The center of Seattle will have a mostly rain event, with the line between rain and a period of freezing rain roughly in the middle of Lake Washington. Kenmore and Northgate will also be in the area of freezing rain. If you’re driving east from Seattle on I-90, you may enter the tunnel on Mercer Island with it raining and exit the other side into freezing rain!
The Euro, which is the best model for predicting winter weather in our area is forecasting a transition between 5 AM and 7 AM. If this model is correct, the Wednesday morning commute will be even more challenging.
You should put off any travel on Tuesday after the evening commute, especially during the overnight hours. Low traffic and convective cooling will accelerate ice build-up on ramps, bridges, and side roads. If you have to drive, give yourself plenty of extra time, route around hills, leave extra room between you and other vehicles, and plan ahead as you approach traffic lights and stop signs.
[Oak Harbor, Wash.] – WBHG/MTN – Former United States Navy Chief Petty Officer Sarah Bils, better known as the Russian propagandist Donbass Devushka, was interviewed by FBI agents at her Oak Harbor, Washington home on Sunday, according to a report by Newsmax, and is also under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
An open-source intelligence investigation spearheaded by NAFO, a loosely affiliated group of pro-Ukrainian social media users who are united in their fight against Russian disinformation, identified Bils as the person behind a Twitter and Telegram disinformation empire that started in 2014 while she was in the U.S. Navy, and exploded after Russia expanded its war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Malcontent News was the first to report on Ms. Bils’s alter ego and was able to verify the self-declared “Russian Jew” Donbas maiden was actually born in Voorhees, New Jersey, according to her 2011 marriage license.
On Monday, Bils told the Wall Street Journal, after an exclusive interview with the newspaper on Saturday, that she was “forthright and honest with the FBI and NCIS in regards to what my clearances were and what I had access to, which was literally nothing.” The FBI interviewed her on Sunday.
In early April, investigators with Bellingcat determined the Donbass Devushka Telegram channel was the first to publicly leak edited secret and top secret documents from the Pentagon allegedly distributed by U.S. Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeria on a private Discord server called Thug Shaker Central. Teixeria, who has no connection to Bils, was arrested without incident by federal officials on April 13.
On Monday, an unnamed source with the U.S. Department of Justice said that “she is actively under federal investigation, but the circumstances of the content of the investigation is unclear at this time.”
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh was peppered with questions about Bils during a Monday press briefing. When asked if the Department of Defense was aware that the former Navy chief petty officer had been posting Russian propaganda since 2014 and if she had been under investigation prior to the revelation of the document leak, Ms. Singh replied, “Because this investigation is ongoing, I would refer you to the DOJ for that.”
Ms. Singh did confirm that Bils had not been under investigation by the U.S. Navy “while she was in uniform,” adding, “as far as I am aware,” and referencing additional questions to the Department of the Navy. On Tuesday, an NCIS spokesperson told the South Whidbey Record that the NCIS “is continuing to work jointly on an investigation of her activities with the Department of Justice.”
On April 5, four poorly edited top secret Pentagon documents were posted on her Telegram channel, with Bils claiming that she was not responsible for the post, that it was done by another admin who was “disciplined,” and the documents removed. However, on April 14, the documents, which have since been deleted, were still available contrary to her claims during her Wall Street Journal interview.
Over the last two days, a clearer picture of Bils’s life has started to form. At the end of 2020, she was promoted to E7, chief petty officer, which is a senior non-commissioned officer rank. But just under the surface, her life was falling apart. She was already involved in a bitter divorce battle over custody of her daughter, and in court papers reviewed by the South Whidbey Record, Bils declared she was suffering from depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a “substance abuse disorder.”
In 2021, court papers show the U.S. Navy sent Bils to a substance abuse treatment program in Utah. In September 2021, she was in a serious car accident where she rear-ended another vehicle while traveling at a high rate of speed. Drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the daytime crash, and Bils was cited by the Washington State Patrol for speeding. According to her mother, the Donbass Devushka was seriously injured in the crash, and she traveled to Washington to help her daughter recover.
Two days after the accident, Bils posted on Twitter that she totaled her car and lost custody of her child. She was honorably discharged from the Navy on November 27, 2022, with a demotion to E5, petty officer second class. In the U.S. Navy, a petty officer is a non-commissioned officer and would be equal to a sergeant in the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Space Force.
Bils had previously filed for divorce in 2014 and requested a temporary restraining order, which was delivered to her husband by the Island County Sheriff on June 13, 2014. The 14-day temporary order was not extended by the court. In 2016, Bils withdrew her petition for divorce.
Since she left the Navy, Bils has made various claims on why she was discharged, including telling the Wall Street Journal that she was suffering from PTSD, writing on social media it was due to her “leftist views,” and, in another Twitter thread, claimed she stopped showing up for duty. In a series of Tweets on Monday, which are currently protected from public view, Bils, or one of up to 15 people that she claims helps run her social media empire, posted a Tweetstorm defending her actions, declaring that no laws had been violated, while calling out numerous news agencies for sharing and analyzing the top secret documents released by Teixeria. At the time of publication, the Donbass Devushka Telegram channel remained active, posting dozens of times a day.
The investigation by the FBI and NCIS comes at a time when the U.S. government appears to be cracking down on Russian influence in American politics. In a separate case, the DOJ announced on Tuesday that four U.S. citizens and three Russian nationals have been charged with “conspiring to covertly sow discord in U.S. society, spread Russian propaganda, and interfere illegally in U.S. elections.” A federal grand jury alleges that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents recruited, funded, and discredited U.S. political groups to act as unregistered Moscow agents. Omali Yeshitela, Penny Joanne Hess, Jesse Nevel, and Augustus Romain Jr. of St. Petersburg, Florida, have been charged with violating the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and each faces up to five years in prison.
Moscow resident Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov was one of the three Russians charged with a FARA violation. He’s accused of using foreign influence to “create the appearance of American popular support for Russia’s annexation of territories in Ukraine.”
Malcontent News’s research for our initial report on Bils included potential legal consequences; a legal expert advised that an area of potential trouble for the Donbass Devushka lies with FARA.
FARA requires certain agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities or other activities specified under the statute to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities. Disclosure of the required information facilitates evaluation by the government and the American people of the activities of such persons in light of their function as foreign agents.
United states department of justice
Bils’s social media work is endorsed by the Telegram channel Rybar, which has over 1.1 million followers and is one of the most influential Russian military-aligned social media brands on the planet. Rybar is led by computer programmer Denis Shchukin and former Russian Ministry of Defense press officer Mikhail Zvinchuk, according to Kung Chan of the Chinese thinktank ANBOUND. The pair are alleged to be connected to the FSB, although they insist that they receive minimal funding from the Russian government and have an operating budget of $20,000 a month.
On social media, the Donbass Devushka frequently praises and defends the Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner Group led by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. In November 2022, Prigozhin opened a new headquarters for PMC Wagner in St. Petersburg, Russia, which included plans for material and financial support for journalists and bloggers. Prigozhin has bragged publicly about interfering in the 2016 and 2020 United States elections and was using his company, Concord Management and Consulting, as early as 2014 to manipulate U.S. elections. 2014 is the same year Bils became more active in posting anti-Ukrainian and anti-United States content, and is the same year the DOJ alleges Ionov first violated FARA.
Bils has periodically complained about financial trouble on social media; for years she solicited donations of cash and cryptocurrency through CashApp and Buy Me a Coffee, claiming the money was going to support Russian causes. Online and in her interview with the Wall Street Journal, she claimed that no money went to Russia, and what little funds were raised went to cover her personal technology and equipment costs.
A critical question that the Department of Defense needs to answer is how an individual with a documented history of substance abuse, mental illness, financial problems, and a troubled marriage involving custody battles and restraining orders was able to maintain their top security clearance.
Bils has blocked us on social media and did not respond to a request for comment.
Mental illness and substance abuse are sensitive topics that can release strong emotions. If you are depressed, despondent, or having suicidal thoughts, there is help available. In the United States, you can dial 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Hotline. You can also call 800-273-8255 24 hours a day. If you’d rather not talk to a person, you can text 741741, and for U.S. veterans, you can text 838255.
Editor’s Note: It is Malcontent News’s editorial policy to use an individual’s most current legal name. Sarah Bils changed her legal name to Lyudmila Mikhailova Karakova on March 31, 2023. Given the particular circumstances of this story, we chose to use her previous name for clarity.
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