The Stranger’s morning new roundup.

by Nathalie Graham

Deadly altercation on I-5: At 4 pm on Thursday police fielded a call about a man ramming his car into a WSDOT vehicle and lift over and over on an I-5 shoulder near Everett. Two WSDOT employees were on the lift. An altercation between the man, who was wielding a hammer, the two employees, and a trooper occurred. The trooper shot and killed the man with the hammer. All lanes northbound I-5 at Union Slough remained blocked well until around midnight Friday. 

#BREAKING: We just witnessed A CRAZY FREEWAY BRAWL between a man who appears to be a construction worker and another man on the side of the I-5 near Marysville. As you see, the construction worker was nearly dragged over the barrier— before he launches a counterattack on the… pic.twitter.com/j2Yg4dz8Xn

— Ryan Simms (@RyanTVnews) May 16, 2024

Guess how much Russell Wilson’s house sold for: I’ll give you some hints before you guess. Okay, it’s in Bellevue. It boasts six bedrooms, a big-ass gym, a movie theater, a yoga room, steps down to the lake or a tram if walking is too tedious, and it’s a whopping 11,000 square feet. It went for $28 million. He’ll probably need the cash now that he sucks at football. 

The call is coming from inside the house: According to the New York Times, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew an inverted American flag outside of his house after the ~contested~ 2020 election. Stop the steal truthers, election result deniers, and Trump loyalists used that inverted flag as a symbol during that period. Alito, a member of the supposedly apolitical Supreme Court, kept the flag up well into Jan 2021, a month you may remember for the literal coup those groups staged on the US Capitol Building. He also flew the flag while the Court was considering whether to hear a 2020 election case. “I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito told the Times in an email. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.” Yeah, okay, sure, whatever you say, Samuel. 

The weather: Look out your window. There’s your forecast. Crack it open a bit and you’ll find it’s slightly chillier than you’d like it to be.

Scientists hoping for hurricanes: A few hurricanes might cool off the “crazy haywire” heating going on in the world’s oceans, especially in the Atlantic, scientists believe. If the oceans don’t cool down, then this could be the worst coral bleaching event in history. Currently, 63% of the world’s coral reefs are suffering due to the hot, hot ocean waters. The worst coral bleaching ever got happened in 2017 when 65.7% of the world’s coral were impacted. 

I beg your pardon? Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a full pardon for Daniel Perry, an ex-Army sergeant convicted of killing an armed Black Lives Matter demonstrator, who was an Air Force veteran, in 2020. Perry claimed self-defense. The jury, who found him guilty of murder in 2023 did not consider this a self-defense situation. Witnesses say the victim never raised his gun. Back around the conviction, two things happened: 1) A bunch of social media posts from Perry came out showing he was, shockingly, a vicious racist and 2) Tucker Carlson called on Abbott to pardon Perry. So, in response to a recommendation for pardon by the Abbott-appointed Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Abbott issued a full pardon, which will also restore Perry’s right to carry firearms. Texas, how do you feel about your governor bending over backwards to make Tucker Carlson—of all people—happy? 

Take your bike for a ride along the lake! It’s a Lake Washington Bike Weekend! Sure, we could have a car-free Lake Washington Boulevard all the time, but that would be a hassle for the cars, so enjoy your scraps, non-drivers.

Bicycle Weekends on Lake Washington Blvd. is happening this weekend! 🚴🏾‍♂️ We invite the community to bike, jog or stroll along the boulevard between the Seward Park entrance and Mount Baker Park’s beach during the event times. https://t.co/bT9E6ZBi0V #SeattleShines pic.twitter.com/XjNvgH7R77

— Seattle Parks (@SeattleParks) May 16, 2024

Class action suit for Pagliacci: Pagliacci Pizza apparently can’t figure out this “being a good employer” thing. This time, the pizza place faces a suit alleging it did not properly reimburse delivery drivers for car expenses, such as not paying drivers on a per-mile basis. The funny thing is Pagliacci settled a different class action lawsuit alleging similar mileage reimbursement issues back in 2021, and it failed to implement any changes until 2024. This current lawsuit “alleges that because workers were denied full reimbursement of costs necessarily incurred in performing their jobs, Pagliacci was in violation of state minimum wage and wage rebate law,” the Seattle Times reports. 

Important golfer arrested before tee time: The golf world was rattled this morning when police arrested golf star Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship while he was on his way to compete. Police were investigating a pedestrian death outside the golf club hosting the PGA Championship. Scheffler, in a marked PGA car, reportedly drove past police. Officers screamed at him. He stopped, then the cops “pulled Scheffler out of the car, pushed him up against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs.” He was booked “for second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.” Despite being thrown in jail, he still made his tee time. Will this show golf fans that cops are not actually chill and cool guys?

Aid reaches Gaza by sea: For the first time in two months, aid came to Gaza from the sea. The shipments were delivered via a floating pier and causeway constructed by the US military and anchored to the beach. The US was clear that it only dropped off the shipments and that no US trucks went into Gaza. While any aid helps, officials say the sea shipments will not be enough to ameliorate the famine in Gaza. 

Storms rock Houston: A batch of wild thunderstorms swept through Houston Thursday night. Winds up to as high as 100 mph battered the city, felling trees, shattering windows, twisting metal poles, and, in one instance, breaking through a building’s wall. Four people died—two from fallen trees, one from a crane toppling over, the fourth cause unknown—and around a million people are without power. Things are expected to get hot in Houston this weekend and crews are scrambling to get power back on. 

No words Houston@ABC13Houston @Mattlanza @weatherchannel@TxStormChasers @spann @StephanieAbrams @JeffLindner1 @JenReynaTV #houwx #htx #TXWX #hounews #abc13 #storms pic.twitter.com/sNjifOReWi

— Storm Chaser Houston (@StormChaserHTX) May 17, 2024

UW cuts accused rapist: Tylin “Tybo” Rogers, the Husky running back awaiting trial for raping two women, has been cut from the football program. Rogers pleaded guilty to second- and third-degree rape charges. 

That’ll fix it: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that will delete all mention of climate change from Florida’s state laws. This should be a fool proof solution to the rising sea levels, record-breaking temperatures, and extreme hurricane seasons impacting the state. 

Mark your calendars, women soccer fans: Brazil is hosting the 2027 Women’s World Cup. This will be the first time a South American country has hosted the women’s tournament. I’m going to get my ass there if it’s the last thing I do. 

A long read for your Friday: It’s been 10 years since Elliot Rodger murdered six people around the University of California – Santa Barbara. His mother has been working to help prevent massacres like the one her son committed ever since. Read the Mother Jones piece about Chin Rodger here. 

New music for your Friday: Billie Eilish released her third studio album Friday. I’ve literally only listened to three songs so far, but this shit rips. Here’s the catchiest one of the three I’ve tuned into:

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