The Stranger’s morning news roundup.

by Nathalie Graham

Keeping it in the family: Sounders FC, with the help from investment firm Carlyle, bought the Seattle Reign from the team’s French ownership team, OL Groupe, for a cool $58 million. Now, both the Seattle men and women’s soccer team will be owned by the same group. Sounders leadership will take the reins (pun not intended) for all things Reign. This could be a neat evolution for the Seattle soccer world as well as the National Women’s Soccer League as a whole. This sale already is a signal of the rapid growth of women’s sports; when OL Groupe bought the Reign back in 2019, they only paid $3.5 million for the team. 

We’re no dummies, we take the bus: Seattle is a bus town. That’s what new ridership numbers from King County Metro show. On May, 15, 2024, Metro broke a milestone: 303,000 people took the bus that day, which is a 22% jump from a year ago and a 156% increase from 2020. Metro thinks those numbers will grow as they add more bus service in the fall, including more weekend and evening options and the introduction of the RapidRide G Line, which will connect Madison Valley and downtown Seattle. Yay, keep riding the bus, Seattle. And, Metro? Please give the people all the buses they want. 

Belltown Hellcat reaps what he sowed: Miles Hudson, 21, the driver of the souped up, bengal-tiger-striped muscle car, is in legal heat for not only disturbing downtown’s streets and for non-compliance of the court order to stop disturbing downtown’s streets, but also for alleged stalking and assault. A woman filed a protection order against Hudson in May for harassment and sending “revenge porn” of her to other people. His mom also recently filed a domestic violence incident against Hudson, saying he “pulled over the chair she was sitting in.” So, it does not seem as if the Belltown Hellcat is a great guy. Who would’ve thought? 

The weather: My sources (aka googling “Seattle weather today”) tell me it will be cloudy and cool today. Enjoy that! Or don’t. Sun returns tomorrow. By Wednesday, it’ll be full summer again.

COVID is still a thing: Lest you forget, the COVID-19 virus hasn’t gone away. In fact, infections in King County are ticking up as the summer gets underway and people start traveling and gathering more. We’re still not at emergency levels, but doctors are noticing an uptick in emergency room visits. Plus, infection is likely even higher than the numbers show since people aren’t really testing themselves for COVID these days. To avoid catching it yourself, take precautions. Mask up. Get your updated vaccines (you can find out where to do that here.) And, remember, 400 people have died from COVID in King County since January. The threat from this virus is still very real. 

Don’t fuck with the bikini baristas: A man patronizing Taste of Heaven Espresso in South Seattle tossed his drinks at owner, Emma Lee, who responded by hitting his windshield with a hammer. “Women are allowed to respond when there is danger in ways other than crying,” Lee said. “This is something other women in the industry know happens.” Good for her. The drink-throwing and hammer-smashing happened at the end of a 15-minute argument where the customer threatened Lee and refused to leave after becoming upset over the cost of the drinks. Lee caught the whole thing on surveillance video.

⁩ ⁨Bikini-clad barista takes hammer to customer’s windshield after he threw coffee at her. ⁨In this scene, who is wrong and right again? I consider the action of the barista coffee shop employee to be the right action. pic.twitter.com/bjvBMhBrlQ

— hirae4b (@Hermione1234556) June 17, 2024

Greek coastguard kills migrants: According to witnesses and a new BBC investigation, the Greek coast guard is responsible for the deaths of at least 43 migrants on the Mediterranean. The coast guard is believed to have killed these people by throwing them off boats into the sea and to their deaths. 

A warning label for social media: United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said he would push for slapping a warning label on social media platforms advising parents that their use could impact teenagers’ mental health. The label would be similar to the ones used for tobacco and alcohol products. Murthy penned an essay in the New York Times saying social media hadn’t been proved safe. He likened its effects to car crashes and contaminated food. 

Wondering why we haven’t had as many car-free Lake Washington Boulevard days this year? Blame Mayor Bruce Harrell. 

Brazil’s wetland blaze: Brazil’s Pantanal, a unique and biodiverse place, is the largest tropical wetland on earth—and it’s an inferno right now. Researchers have counted 733 fires in the Pantanal biome so far in June. The previous record for fires in the Pantanal was set in June of 2005, when 435 blazes burned. The dry season in Brazil is only just beginning. 

An unprecedented wildfire in Brazil’s Pantanal has alarmed local residents as the fires in the world’s largest tropical wetlands have surged almost tenfold this year https://t.co/8sOwkrPujr pic.twitter.com/myf9laSsJo

— Reuters (@Reuters) June 13, 2024

ICYMI: Publicola reported that Kevin Dave, Seattle Police Department officer who mowed down and killed 23-year-old pedestrian Jaahnavi Kandula in 2023, did not have a valid Washington driver’s license at the time of the collision. Dave, a transplant from Arizona, was using an Arizona license and seemingly had been far beyond the 30-day limit transplants have to switch over their licenses. It’s fun when laws are meaningless to those who enforce them. 

Netanyahu disbands war cabinet: Two of the moderate members of Israel’s five-member war cabinet resigned. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the cabinet, which was formed in October after Hamas’ attack on Israel. The decisions on the war will be put to a broader vote and go through a separate security cabinet, a group that includes two notable far-right Israeli figures who are stalwart in their belief that the Israeli offensive in Gaza should continue. 

A sobering read for your Monday: The Associated Press compiled a report about Palestinian families who have lost 25 or more family members due to Israeli attacks from October to December. They identified sixty families with that amount of loss, a quarter of whom had lost 50 or more family members in that short span of time. This is a hard read, but it is a piece of journalism that touches on the real, tangible loss of life in this conflict. 

Who will be Trump’s running-mate? Donald Trump is seeking “a fighter” as his vice president. Does fighting include killing your helpless dog because you didn’t want to train it? Because then South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem could have the job. 

Finally, progress: Waffle House announced it will be making the “single largest additional investment in our workforce” and will give workers a raise. Starting in June, workers will receive a base pay of $3. That’ll increase to $5.25 by 2026. 

The Stranger