John Ryan

One of those meddling kids in public radio.
I cover env't @KUOW-Seattle
Tips? [email protected] or DM for Signal #
(Also @heyjohnryan on bsky/mastodon/insta)

[Murrow College WSU @MurrowCollege]

CBS News Radio has signed off after 99 years, marking the end of a historic network built in part by WSU alum Edward R. Murrow.

Read more from The Spokesman-Review. https://t.co/BDdoXtsRFV

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

This New York Times piece is worth your time. Here’s what is happening, as simply as I can put it.

Back in January, Trump sued the IRS, an agency he controls, demanding $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns a number of years ago.

IRS lawyers did their jobs. They wrote a memo laying out the defenses that could beat the suit, including the fact that Trump filed too late. His own lawyer was in court when the leaker pleaded guilty in October 2023, more than two years before Trump sued.

The Justice Department never showed up to court. Never argued back. Never used the defenses sitting on their desk.

The judge got suspicious and ordered both sides to explain whether they were actually opposing each other or just colluding. The day before that brief was due, Trump dropped the suit.

Same day, his Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded “anti-weaponization fund.” 

Trump gets a formal apology. The IRS agrees to drop any audits of him and his family, even though a 2024 Times report found a loss in an ongoing audit could cost him over $100 million.

The acting Attorney General, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, picks the five commissioners who decide who gets paid. Trump can fire any of them. Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are not ruled out.

This is the most corrupt thing I’ve ever seen from an American president.

Where in the hell are my Republican colleagues?

https://t.co/La0nlLuz1r

[Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25]

This is staggering in both its corruption and the incentive it creates to do illegal things on Trump’s behalf knowing you can get both a pardon and a payout.

[Andrew Weinstein @Weinsteinlaw]

When a federal agency tasked with protecting all Americans decides to mandate a specific religious worldview, it ceases to protect democracy and begins to threaten it.

[Peter Baker @peterbakernyt]

At 250 feet tall, Trump's arch would be the biggest such structure in the world. Asked last fall what this modern-day arch was meant to commemorate, Trump pointed to himself and replied, “Me.” @sbg1 https://t.co/TmpDbdlYLp

[Colin McCarthy @US_Stormwatch]

March 2026 was the third-worst month for drought in observed history for the United States.

The only two worse months were July and August 1934, during the infamous Dust Bowl.

[John Ryan @heyjohnryan]

@borenbears Seth, do you mean contiguous (Lower 48) or continental (49 states including AK) US?

[Pam Fessler @pamelafessler]

Every leader in this country needs to denounce these threats. NOW.

The public needs to speak out too.

[julie k. brown @jkbjournalist]

Some personal news.
https://t.co/R9P9zWcbgp

[Josh Larson @coloradowx]

To give you a picture of how ridiculous this upcoming heatwave will be: this Saturday, #Denver is likely to break a record from more than 100 years ago by up to 9-12°F...The record is 78°F from 1907 and I think Denver will see 87-90°F for a high on Saturday. #COwx #weather

[Nahel Belgherze @WxNB_]

In Phoenix, Arizona, temperatures could reach an unbelievable 107°F (+42°C) on Friday. If that verifies, it would break the record for the earliest occurrence of 107°F since records began in 1895, pulverising the previous record by a whopping 44 days.

This is totally bonkers.

[Pam Fessler @pamelafessler]

Again, the public interest is reporting the truth not repeating government propaganda.

[Drew Harwell @drewharwell]

Epstein case relevant again

[Don Van Natta Jr. @DVNJr]

Firing a reporter via email while she’s in a war zone risking her life for her readers is a despicable, disgraceful act.

[David Boardman @dlboardman]

Informative thread by @RonanFarrow on the @DonLemon arrest. While it appears to me to be a clear-cut outrage, Farrow correctly points out that the crackdown on press freedom began not under Trump but under Obama.

[Drew Harwell @drewharwell]

A retiree wrote this email to a DHS attorney. Within five hours, DHS demanded Google turn over records for his account.

A Kafkaesque form of domestic surveillance, intimidating Americans for lawful speech.

New from us at the Post: https://t.co/kkE8jMg3hp @JohnWoodrowCox

[Alec MacGillis @AlecMacGillis]

This is quite an exchange with @DavidAFrench about whether we are witnessing the emergence of a "dual state."

[David Boardman @dlboardman]

Deeply disappointed but not surprised. The only surprise to me, having run the paper that covered @JeffBezos for years in Seattle, is that it took this long for him to show his true colors.

[David French @DavidAFrench]

Do not let anyone tell you that you shouldn't record law enforcement (so long as you're not physically impeding them). Citizen video has decisively rebutted the administration's lies. The evidence of our eyes contradicts the dishonesty of the administration's words.