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

Ube French Toast, Sesame Martinis, and Mochi Doughnuts

by EverOut Staff

This week, Barrel & Bacon brings American comfort food with Filipino influences to Interbay, and the upscale Korean destination Paju moves into its new digs in South Lake Union. Plus, read about a new bubble tea and mochi doughnut spot preparing to hit Capitol Hill (it’s pink!). For more ideas, check out our food and drink guide.
NEW OPENINGS 

Barrel & Bacon
This new bar and kitchen serving “signature cocktails, craft draft beers, mocktails, and American comfort food with a twist” soft opened in what looks to be the former Champagne Diner space in Interbay last weekend. I’m especially intrigued by the ube French toast, sinigang-glazed wings, and the “Yes Chef” cocktail (a riff on the Negroni with barrel-aged gin).
Interbay

The Stranger

Harrell’s move amounts to a budget cut as the City fails to free up the bureaucracy-bungled $20 million that students won in 2023 to prevent future tragedy.

by Hannah Krieg

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s $10 million proposal for “mental health support and school safety” in response to the tragic shooting at Garfield amounts to a budget cut as the City fails to free up the bureaucracy-bungled $20 million that students won in 2023 to prevent future tragedy after the last time a student shot and killed another student at Ingraham High School. 

“It’s a disappointment and doesn’t follow through on [the City’s] commitment to better serve youth and communities like in Reach Out Seattle,” said Chetan Soni, a representative for the Seattle Student Union, a group of local high school students that lobbies for gun safety legislation and mental health care in schools. 

After a 14-year-old shot and killed another child at Ingraham High School in November 2022, the Seattle Student Union demanded that the Seattle City Council reroute $9 million from the Seattle Police Department to pay for mental health counselors in schools, which they believed would better prevent gun violence. 

That year, the council unanimously approved a joint proposal by the Mayor and then-Council Member Teresa Mosqueda to increase funding for mental health resources in K-12 schools by $4 million over the 2022-2023 biennium. That money came from a mix of JumpStart and levy funds. 

In 2023, the council narrowly passed (5-4) then-Council Member Kshama Sawant’s bill to raise JumpStart less than one-twentieth of one percent to pay for $20 million worth of mental health counselors in schools. While the City began collecting the increased tax rate at the beginning of the year, the council must pass another law to authorize the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) to spend it, according to the Mayor’s office. That’s because mental health counselors fall outside the purposely restricted use for JumpStart revenue: Affordable housing, Green New Deal initiatives, economic development, and a little bit to administer the tax. 

But gun violence continued as the City sat on the money. 

On June 6, 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine was shot and killed in the school parking lot while attempting to break up a fight. The Seattle Student Union posted a statement on Instagram, demanding Harrell and the City of Seattle release the $20 million they won in 2023 by the upcoming school year this fall. 

“I’m just thinking, like, if this money were implemented quicker, would this have happened?” Soni said in a phone interview. “I don’t know.” 

The Stranger asked the Mayor’s office more than once if he will support changing JumpStart to allow DEEL to spend the $20 million the council approved in 2023. Mayoral spokesperson Callie Craighead said, “It is not feasible for the City to stand up a $20 million program in six months” due to a “national shortage of psychiatrists and mental health workers.” Craighead repeated the Mayor’s commitment to seek $10 million from JumpStart in the mid-year supplemental budget, which will include $2.4 million for telehealth services and $2 million toward violence prevention. This move will serve 2,000 students—“a number determined by [City] research of students considered medium to high risk,” she said.

The Mayor’s $10 million investment still requires approval from the city council to spend, Craighead said. 

The city council doesn’t seem motivated to set the full $20 million loose, either. In a budget committee meeting last week, Council Member Maritza Rivera—who used the tragedy at her kids’ school, Ingraham, to propel her campaign— expressed skepticism about the funding. Budget Chair Dan Strauss did not respond directly when The Stranger asked if he would act to free up the revenue generated by Sawant’s 2023 JumpStart hike. 

“We are assessing what needs to be changed and how to get dollars out the door quickly to support student’s mental health,” Strauss said in a text to The Stranger.

One could argue that to propose $10 million and ignore a previous commitment of $20 million amounts to cuts to mental health resources for students. Soni speculated that the Mayor is trying to use the DEEL money as a “sneaky” way to balance the $250 million budget shortfall in 2025. He pointed to Rivera’s universally condemned amendment to freeze up funding to Equitable Development Initiatives as another possible attempt from the City to use JumpStart funds to fill the deficit, something big business seems to be lobbying for.

The Mayor’s office did not address accusations of withholding the funds to balance the budget in an email exchange with The Stranger. The Mayor’s office also did not respond to a request for comment about the characterization of their $10 million investment as a cut to the promised $20 million. 

The Stranger

What’s legal, where to buy it, what to smoke, and how.

The post Ohio legal cannabis buyer’s guide to 2024 appeared first on Leafly.

Leafly

The best new music to hit Dave Segal’s inbox this week.

by Dave Segal

Meridian Brothers, “Mandala” (Ansonia Records)

Led by guitarist/vocalist Eblis Álvarez, Colombia’s Meridian Brothers have been weirding up the Latin American musical genres such as cumbia, salsa, and vallenato on recordings over the last 18 years. On albums such as 2012’s Desesperanza and 2015’s Los Suicidas, for example, they deploy space-age-electronic textures within the framework of cumbia’s intricate, sinuous rhythms and vivacious melodies. The results are deliriously disorienting. That a South American group this strange has broken through, to a degree, in North America is highly unusual. Sometimes the music-industry gods bestow benevolence when you least expect it.

Meridian Brothers’ new album, Mi Latinoamérica Sufre (out July 12), again finds Álvarez playing every instrument on it. The man’s occasional penchant for goofy singing unfortunately surfaces on the record’s first single, “En el Caribe Estoy Triste,” but the sprightly, Ghanaian highlife guitar figure, galloping beats, and vigorously shaken maracas tilt the song into the “W” column. You will feel one-quarter of your actual weight while this zesty gem is playing. 

Mi Latinoamérica Sufre‘s newest single, “Mandala,” again features Álvarez’s guttural-vocal shtick, but the music’s even more off-kilter, an oddly metered rhythm rolling and tumbling over a pointillistic, hypnotic guitar spangle that bears a timbral similarity to NYC No Wavers Robert Quine and Jody Harris’s eccentric interplay on the 1981 cult classic, Escape. The press release for Mi Latinoamérica Sufre cites the influence of the “rhythmic pulse of Afro-Venezuelan ‘tambor,'” and on this evidence, we all need to explore that genre in more depth.

Meridian Brothers prove that irreverence toward artistic tradition and unlikely fusions of sonic elements often yield the most interesting results. More than a quarter century into their existence, they continue to generate fresh ideas while maintaining their distinctive identity.  

enereph, “Cold Family” (NAGA) 

Seattle producer enereph (aka Connie Fu) is making some of the most interesting electronic music in the Pacific Northwest. A proponent of the Seattle-based electronic-instrument company Madrona Labs, Fu uses its software synth Kaivo and other products to forge complex tracks that flit among styles with scientific rigor and a gusto for unusually fascinating timbres. 

You can hear enereph attaining an even stronger command of her considerable skills on the new Immortal Mirth mini-album (released June 10 on Vancouver, B.C. label NAGA). The record begins auspiciously with “Talisman,” a new species of trip-hop that’s way more otherworldly than the original ’90s version. Fathoms-deep bass bellows amid swirling, sub-aquatic synth sorcery and unusual percussion tics as finely delineated as needlepoint. This is how you draw in listeners. 

“Carved Nephrite” is deeply cavernous, kinetic IDM in which enereph slices and dices beats with the intensity of a world-class sushi chef. The impact of Autechre’s mid-’90s machine funk looms, but not in an overbearing way. “Carved Nephrite” achieves the difficult feat of sounding both disciplined and haywire. (By the way, the internet informs me that nephrite is a lesser-valued jade that symbolizes balance, harmony, and luck. This cut is as hard as that substance.) With its splenetic, punch-press beats, glistening, alien atmospheres, and wispy chants, “Insolubility” balances aggression and vaporousness with impressive skill. “Numbers Fall From Stars” deviates from the record’s punchy norm, going into meditative-ambient mode, all icy grandeur and tremulous beauty.

Powered by the frantic skittering beats of footwork, “Cold Family” also evokes a rave anthem of sorts, but with more complex rhythms and interesting textures than those typically possess. These whiplash, threshing beats slap hard and the sounds whooshing, burbling, and boinging above them duly psychedelicize your mind. This track is so strong, it merited its own pugnacious remix, by the Canadian producer Looting.

After seeing enereph perform at 4Bs Tavern not that long ago, I predicted that she would be playing festivals before 2024 was over. If that prognostication doesn’t come to pass, then that’s on festival organizers, not enereph.

The Stranger

Does Being In The Sun Increase Your Weed High

Summer time is for being outdoors during the long days, but does being in the sun increase your weed high?

The post Does Being In The Sun Increase Your Weed High appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The Fresh Toast

Edmonds Arts Festival, Revival Juneteenth Market, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15

by EverOut Staff

Unlock the key to a good weekend by reading through our cheap and easy weekend guide. We’ll make sure you’re in the know about all of the best events, from the Edmonds Arts Festival to REVIVAL Juneteenth Market Pop-Up and from the 10th International Day of Yoga Celebration to Flying Lion Brewing’s First Annual Light Beer Fest. For more ideas, check out our guide to the top events of the week or our Father’s Day guide.

FRIDAY
FILM

Five Minutes to Live!
If there’s anything missing from the typical movie theater experience, it’s a democratic voting process and a lil’ bit of intrigue. Right? Right??? If you agree, you’ll dig Five Minutes to Live, wherein the Beacon will screen the first five minutes of four different mystery movies. The crowd will then vote on which flick to watch in its entirety. It’s kind of like a real-life choose-your-own-adventure game, staged within the theater’s cozy blue-and-red rows. Keep an open mind if your flick pick doesn’t end up on top—no one likes a grumpy movie-goer. LINDSAY COSTELLO
(The Beacon, Columbia City, $12.50)

The Stranger

But when I took a deep breath and stood up from my seat in the decadent ballroom at Vice President Harris’s fundraiser, I hoped that my action would be one small drop in a growing stream of collective action.

by Arin Flaster

As a health care researcher specializing in traumatic injury, I see hospital patients with burns, amputations, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries. Over the last eight months, I have felt so much moral horror and sadness that US bombs, funded by my tax dollars, are dropping on Palestinians and causing these very injuries. More than one thousand children have lost limbs. Fathers have suffered traumatic brain injuries from bombs exploding and buildings collapsing. Mothers have burns over their entire body. It is too much to witness. 

I feel powerlessness and cognitive dissonance; while I am at work caring for patients and researching how to prevent traumatic injuries, US tax dollars and weapons are causing those very same traumatic injuries in Palestine. The scale of traumatic injury and disability resulting from US weapons and funds to Israel is overwhelming, alongside the fact that the Israeli military has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in what the International Criminal Court calls a “plausible” case of genocide. 

Many people, including myself, feel powerless to curb the US’s role in facilitating violence in Palestine. We sign petitions. We march in the streets. We block roads. We start encampments on university campuses. We call our senators. Nothing changes. The weapons and money keep flowing. 

I assume we’re used to this–political representatives acting in ways we don’t like, or even in ways we deplore. That is not new. However, the next stop doesn’t have to be political apathy. Instead, it is an invitation to build collective power. You can start small. Small actions can accumulate and motivate others; each small individual or group action is us running our section of the relay, passing the baton to the next person or group. Maybe this small action will motivate that next person to join a protest, learn more about the issues, and get active. 

That’s why on Saturday, June 1, 2024, I disrupted Vice President Kamala Harris’s Seattle fundraiser by standing up in the middle of the event and asking her, “When will you stop sending weapons to Israel?” 

I participated in this disruption for four reasons. First, Vice President Harris is second in command below the President. Wherever she goes, we need to remind her that many US voters are horrified by US weapons and funds facilitating violence in Palestine. Currently, 70% of likely voters support a permanent ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence in Gaza, and the plurality think we should decrease military aid to Israel. 

Second, I hoped my question would continue shining a light on the Biden administration’s equivocations about when they will stop sending weapons to Israel. For example, the Israeli military recently dropped US-made, Boeing bombs on a refugee camp in Rafah. The “tent massacre” killed 45 people and injured more than 200. In early May, President Biden said, “If they [Israeli military] go into Rafah, I’m not going to be supplying the weapons.” However, the Biden administration is now backpedaling and claiming that the current invasion into Rafah is a “limited” operation, not an “all-out assault.” I believe the Biden administration is posturing and has no intent of stopping military funds or weapons shipments to Israel. 

Third, I wondered if Vice President Harris would say something on the record. Maybe something concrete that would get attention and force more internal conflict or dialogue within the Biden administration. But, alas, as a seasoned politician, she just said, “Thank you, I am speaking now.” 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jewish Voice for Peace Seattle (@jvpseattle)

Finally, I knew that disrupting this speech was not on its own going to change Vice President Harris’s views or behavior in relation to the violence in Palestine. But I thought that maybe you would change. Vice President Harris was the main event, and you were the audience. We captured a short video of the disruption, hoping it would get a few thousand views. The  Instagram video reached ~224,000 accounts and was viewed ~469,000 times. I was shocked. More importantly, I felt affirmed–that many people saw our action, which means they are thinking about what’s happening in Palestine. Maybe this action was the baton pass that someone else needed. 

And to be clear, I am not a seasoned activist. You could do this. You could do this, and we did this (another person participated in the disruption with me) because we did it as a team. Our team spent hours prepping: talking through the plan, assessing risks, studying similar events in other parts of the country, practicing getting booed (because we expected that from other attendees), preparing press releases, preparing jail support in the unlikely event we were arrested, and more. This was not an impulsive solo event. I am emphasizing this because there is a role for everyone. Consider this your invitation. It is only through collective action and organizing that we can build the world we want and stop the violence perpetrated by our elected representatives. 

Some voters are concerned that protesting the Biden administration like we did will increase the likelihood of a Trump presidency: younger voters in swing states may be swayed not to vote for Biden, leading to a Trump presidency, which would be worse for US civil rights and for Palestinians. My response: I hear and understand the very real fear of another Trump presidency. I am not naive about that risk, AND we still need to speak out when the current US administration is facilitating unthinkable violence in Palestine, or any country. 

Additionally, if the Biden administration loses the 2024 election, it will be because the Democratic party failed to deliver policies and actions that voters wanted. Let’s not blame progressives for the Democratic party’s losses. If the Democratic party can’t win elections, it’s because they’re not doing a good job listening to voters. For instance, the violence in Palestine is not a fringe progressive issue. In the presidential primary, hundreds of thousands of Democrats—including those in key swing states like Michigan—voted “undecided” or “uncommitted” to protest the Biden administration’s perpetuation of the violence in Palestine. These “uncommitted” votes tried to incentivize behavior-change from Biden. Biden didn’t change his behavior. I don’t know how many of those “uncommitted” voters will vote for Biden in the general election. My sense is that some might not if the Biden administration keeps facilitating the violence in Palestine.

But when I took a deep breath and stood up from my seat in the decadent ballroom at Vice President Harris’s fundraiser, I hoped that my action would be one small drop in a growing stream of collective action. 

Vice President Harris and President Biden, you could stop the flow of weapons and funds to Israel right now. You have the ultimate lever for ending this genocide in Palestine. Stop the flow of weapons now. 

Arin Flaster is a health care researcher focusing on mental health and traumatic injury. Arin has worked in health care research for 10 years and has been involved in research on childhood/adolescent trauma, spinal cord injury, chronic pain, health services, and other long-term health conditions. Arin has lived in Seattle for 10 years. 

The Stranger

What Is The Dosage For A Marijuana Light Chill

Sometimes you just need to take the edge off but still want to focus, so what is the dosage for a marijuana light chill?

The post What Is The Dosage For A Marijuana Light Chill appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The Fresh Toast

How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Saliva

While drug tests are generally in decline, they still exist. So how long does marijuana stay in saliva?

The post How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Saliva appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The Fresh Toast