Seattle news

• Cleanup ahead for crushed-concrete ‘eyesore’ in Skyway

  15-12-2015 23:18
  
  “Mount Anderson,” a block-long, two-story-high pile of crushed concrete in the West Hill neighborhood, was ordered removed by King County.
  
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• Everett man arrested after drive-by shooting at Marysville party

  15-12-2015 23:11
  
  A 19-year-old Everett man was arrested on suspicion of drive-by shooting Tuesday after a fight at a house party in Marysville.
  
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• Seattle Police Officer Resigns Rather Than Face Firing Over Romantic Texts

  15-12-2015 23:09 via thestranger.com
  
  The case of Officer Mark Henry is an example of SPD's accountability system actually working. seattle.gov
  If veteran Seattle police officer Mark Henry had not recently resigned, Chief Kathleen O'Toole would have fired him, according to a disciplinary report obtained by The Stranger. The chief of police came to the decision, the records show, after the department's civilian-led accountability arm found that Officer Henry was "dishonest" and had abused his position of authority to make advances to
  
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• Good to Go credit-card problem is solved, state says

  15-12-2015 22:28
  
  The state says toll contractors have fixed the snafu that blocked motorists’ credit-card payments for thousands of Good to Go accounts.
  
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• 30 lives extinguished, but no regrets: A killer’s story

  15-12-2015 22:03
  IGUALA, Mexico (AP) — The killer says he “disappeared” a man for the first time at age 20. Nine years later, he says, he has eliminated 30 people — maybe three in error. He sometimes feels sorry about the work he does but has no regrets, he says, because he is providing a kind of […]
  
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• Small businesses booming in these 25 cities

  15-12-2015 21:47
  
  Data from one invoicing company shows how well small businesses are doing in 25 cities across the U.S., and Seattle is ranked well.
  
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• World’s warmest-ever November; Arctic warming twice as fast as rest of planet

  15-12-2015 21:30
  
  The global conference on climate convened in Paris at the end of what has turned out to be the world’s warmest November in recorded history. Measurements by NASA show that temperatures across the planet were 1.05 degrees Celsius or 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the earth’s 1951 to 1980 average.  It was the second consecutive month in which temperatures exceeded the previous average by at least one degree Celsius.  The NASA figures were first reported Tuesday in The Was
  
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• State finds 442 safety violations, recommends some Ducks back on road

  15-12-2015 21:23
  
  A three-month state investigation launched after September’s deadly crash on the Aurora Bridge recommends that Ride the Ducks be allowed to return to service with half its amphibious-vehicle fleet.
  
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• WATCH: A Live-Stream of Seattle Cats

  15-12-2015 20:45 via thestranger.com
  
  The cats in the video below are adoptable. Club4traveler/shutterstock.com
  As many of you know, Seattle has been in a cat war with Portland for weeks now. So many arguments have been fought on so many grounds that it seems impossible to summarize them all, but I'll give you the briefest possible rundown.My eloquent and gracious colleague, Megan Burbank, esteemed arts editor for the Purrtland Mercury, urged the single women of Portland to adopt more cats despite the fact that a recent survey found
  
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• 25 Stranger (Than Usual) Things To Do This Week

  15-12-2015 20:45 via thestranger.com
  
  Santa Claus Conquers The Martians is one of the worst films ever made, and the EMP agrees. That's probably why they're playing it for free this weekend.
  Our arts critics have already recommended 49 awesome things to do this week, but there are lots more events happening. To save some of the out-of-the-box ones from slipping through the cracks, we've got the highlights here—from an adults' Lego building night to an outdoor movie night (yes, in December) to an ugly sweater night with a Weeze
  
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• Washington Pharmacists Vote to Recommend Descheduling Medical Marijuana

  15-12-2015 20:36 via thestranger.com
  
  Pharmacists want to create a distinction between recreational and medical marijuana. Brian Goodman/shutterstock.com
  When I arrived at Highline College to sit in on a meeting of the Washington State Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission (PQAC) last Friday, I was fairly certain the puke-yellow puffy Ed Hardy jacket I’d spotted on the bus on the way there would be the most interesting thing I’d see all day. Instead I was treated to a riveting theoretical discussion of the ramifications
  
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• Bremerton coach suspended for praying files complaint

  15-12-2015 20:23
  The Bremerton High School assistant football coach who was suspended for praying at midfield after games has filed a discrimination complaint.
  
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• Nearly half of Republicans believe Trump is ‘most electable’ GOP candidate

  15-12-2015 19:59
  Forty-seven percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters believe that Donald Trump is the GOP’s “most electable” candidate in 2016, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll — even though 44 percent of Republicans said they were “anxious” at the prospect of Trump as President. The billionaire real estate mogul continues to expand his lead in the GOP race, despite the firestorm over Trump’s comment last week that he would temporarily bar Mus
  
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• What to Expect from Tonight's Pointless Republican Debate

  15-12-2015 19:55 via thestranger.com
  
  It will be broadcast again from the Reagan Presidential Library, minus Scott Walker this time. It starts at 5:30 pm. Eli Sanders and Sean Nelson will be liveslogging it. Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com
  Once more unto the blech, dear friends. The Republican personalities assemble yet again tonight to say words — so many words! You can watch them, if you want, but tonight's your only chance to see Jackie Beat at Narwhal (the downstairs stage at Unicorn), an event you're far more likely to app
  
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• Okay, Nerds, Let's Talk About Those Star Trek Beyond and Independence Day: Resurgence Trailers

  15-12-2015 19:12 via thestranger.com
  
  STAR TREK BEYOND "Beyond... what? Captain, are we going... BEYOND DARKNESS?"
  Along with roughly 400 other previews, the trailers for Star Trek Beyond and Independence Day: Resurgence are slated to play with Star Wars: The Force Awakens when that movie opens on Thursday. But probably because studios know that starting Thursday the only thing geeks are going to be talking about is Star Wars, those two trailers debuted online already. LET US DISCUSS.
  Let's begin with Star Trek Beyond, which looks a
  
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• Police: Woman held captive, brutalized in car in Edmonds

  15-12-2015 19:11
  A Seattle woman who said she had been beaten, slashed, strangled, shocked with a stun gun and held hostage inside a car by her boyfriend was hospitalized in Edmonds early Tuesday morning.
  
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• 6 from Seattle area arrested in credit-card theft scheme

  15-12-2015 18:58
  
  Police in the Portland area say they arrested five adults and a 15-year-old girl on suspicion of buying thousands of dollars in gift cards with credit-card numbers stolen from seven states.
  
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• Alaska Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Spokane

  15-12-2015 18:47
  The flight from Seattle to Spokane made an emergency landing after passengers said smoke filled the cabin.
  
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• Judge awards $8 million to family of woman who died in Spokane jail

  15-12-2015 18:33
  
  A judge signed a judgment in favor of Jessica Alvarado’s family Dec. 2 after the county did not file an answer to the lawsuit for nearly three months. The county says that was an error.
  
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• The Morning News: Seattle Becomes the First City to Give Uber Drivers Collective Bargaining Rights

  15-12-2015 17:58 via thestranger.com
  
  On Monday, Seattle became the first US city to give Uber drivers the ability to unionize. But Mayor Ed Murray won't sign the legislation.HG
  ICYMI, the City Council Unanimously Passed a Landmark Uber Unionization Bill: It's a big deal. It's radical. And given the city's history, Seattle may have been the perfect place to do it.
  ...But Mayor Ed Murray Won't Sign It: That's not the same thing as a veto. The bill will still become law, but Murray said he was concerned about the "costs of administeri
  
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• A Jedi mine trick for Bertha?

  15-12-2015 17:27
  
  Bertha's pit bears a striking resemblance to Star Wars' Sarlacc Pit.
  
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• US high school graduation rate ticks up to 82 percent

  15-12-2015 16:56
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s high school graduation rate has ticked up slightly to 82 percent, a new high. The Education Department said Tuesday that the rate for the 2013-14 school year — up from 81 percent the previous year — was the highest since it started using a new, uniform measure in 2010. Still, […]
  
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• After watching a film about trauma’s effect on students with 200 people, this is what we learned

  15-12-2015 16:00
  
  On Saturday, Education Lab, the Road Map Project and Seattle Jobs Initiative hosted a film screening of "Paper Tigers" and a post-film discussion.
  
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• Man calls 911 in Kitsap County to say he killed his grandfather

  15-12-2015 15:47
  When Kitsap County deputies responded, they found an elderly man dead and took the caller into custody.
  
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• Blistering cold follows on heels of wintry storm in West

  15-12-2015 15:25
  A wintry chill was taking hold Tuesday in the Southwest, where forecasters warned of freezing temperatures in the desert and wind that could kick up freshly fallen snow in mountainous areas. The chilly predictions follow storms that moved across the West this week and dumped several inches of snow in northern Arizona, while leaving behind […]
  
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• Russian capsule heads for space station

  15-12-2015 15:21
  BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) — A Russian space capsule carrying three astronauts from the United States, Britain and Russia has blasted off for the International Space Station. The Soyuz capsule is scheduled to dock with the orbiting laboratory at 8:23 p.m. Moscow time (1723 GMT) Tuesday, about six-and-a-half hours after it lifted off from the Russian […]
  
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• Russian capsule docks safely at International Space Station

  15-12-2015 15:21
  
  MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian spacecraft carrying three astronauts from the United States, Britain and Russia has docked successfully at the International Space Station. NASA’s live broadcast from the Russian Mission Control showed the Soyuz spacecraft mooring smoothly at 8:33 p.m. Moscow time (1733 GMT) at the space outpost Tuesday about 6 ½ hours after […]
  
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• Valeant in new distribution deal with Walgreens

  15-12-2015 15:13
  
  Valeant Pharmaceuticals has a new distribution deal with Walgreens, sending shares of the beleaguered Canadian drug company up sharply in morning trading. The company said Tuesday that the agreement will help to lower the prices of its branded prescription-based dermatological and ophthalmological products by 10 percent. The reduced pricing will apply to the wholesale list […]
  
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• Following the money: Ethics concerns muddy state’s clean-energy grant program

  15-12-2015 14:30
  
  TIMES WATCHDOG: A Washington state clean-energy grant program faces questions of insider advantage involving former state Department of Commerce officials and two startup firms.
  
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• Ups and downs of 520 bridge project

  15-12-2015 05:14
  
  Work continues on the massive Highway 520 bridge project, which is now fully connected to the new western and eastern high-rises.
  
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• Seattle reaches 10-year cable-TV deal with Comcast

  15-12-2015 04:49
  
  The Seattle City Council on Monday approved a new cable-television franchise agreement with Comcast.
  
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• Nisqually refuge to be named in honor of activist Billy Frank Jr.

  15-12-2015 04:39
  
  A bill to rename the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in honor of the late Nisqually statesman, Billy Frank Jr., passed in the U.S. Senate Monday and is now headed to President Obama’s desk.
  
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• Tedium of traffic tales: the new Seattle small talk

  15-12-2015 04:35
  You can’t go anywhere in town anymore without being regaled with car talk.
  
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• Double take from the Convention Center

  15-12-2015 04:04
  
  Following two iPad sketches I published last week, here and here, I decided to do a little experiment today. I sketched the same view both digitally and in my usual pen and ink and watercolor style. Do you like one better than the other? What attracts me to iPad sketching is the ability to add […]
  
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• 'Give Salmon a Brake' campaign to promote copper-free brakes

  15-12-2015 03:46
  
  "Give Salmon a Brake" campaign to promote copper-free brakes
  
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• Senate passes legislation to rename Nisqually Wildlife Refuge for Billy Frank Jr.

  15-12-2015 03:42
  
  The U.S. Senate on Monday passed the Billy Frank Jr., Tell Your Story Act, and sent to President Obama the legislation that will rename the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge after the late Indian fishing activist. The legislation, a brainchild of U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., a longtime friend of Frank, was cosponsored by the entire Washington State Congressional Delegation. Billy Frank Jr. poses for a photo near Frank’s Landing on the Nisqually River, three months before his death at th
  
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• State urges customers to stop calling over Good to Go snafu

  15-12-2015 03:36
  
  The state promises to clean up motorists’ accounts once the credit-card-processing problem blows over.
  
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• Nearly $60 million settlement reached in Taylor Bridge Fire

  15-12-2015 03:14
  
  Authorities say the fire likely was caused by sparks from welding or cutting work on a bridge project southeast of Cle Elum in the Cascade Range.
  
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• Oldest Oregon death row inmate dies of natural causes

  15-12-2015 02:24
  
  Mark Allen Pinnell, 67, Oregon’s oldest death-row inmate, has died of natural causes.
  
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• The networks’ Trump-centric Sunday talk shows ought to drop in on a warming planet

  15-12-2015 02:01
  
  The most entertaining voice on Twitter on fall Saturdays belongs to Chuck Todd, with the Florida-born “Meet the Press” host in anguish over blown opportunities,  bad calls by zebras but suddenly cheering surges by his beloved Miami Hurricanes football team. On Sunday morning, however, you can wonder if  Todd appreciates that portions of the Florida coastline will be underwater by the end of this century, if the rise in global temperatures is not curbed and the world’s
  
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• The Seattle City Council Just Voted to Allow Uber and Lyft Drivers to Unionize

  15-12-2015 01:13 via thestranger.com
  
  The Seattle City Council chambers had standing room only today as the council voted on a bill giving app-based drivers a way to unionize. HG
  With a unanimous Seattle City Council vote today, Seattle became the first city ever to create a system under which drivers for Uber, Lyft, and other app-based services can collectively bargain with those companies. After the vote, supporters broke out in a chant of "When we fight, we win!"The historic bill, championed by Council Member Mike O'Brien, create
  
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• Coroner: Kennewick man likely killed wife, daughter, self

  15-12-2015 01:11
  
  Investigators believe a Kennewick man shot to death his wife, their daughter with developmental disabilities and then killed himself.
  
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• Savage Love Letter of the Day: What Speech Was That?

  15-12-2015 00:40 via thestranger.com
  
  My husband is bisexual.
  When we first began our relationship he told me he hadn't expected to fall for a woman because sexually he preferred men. He broached the subject of having an open relationship but I wasn't cool with it so he dropped it. Fifteen monogamous years later we're married with two kids, three dogs, and a mortgage. I thought we were happy but something seems to have snapped in him this summer. In just the last few months he has cheated on me three separate times with three differ
  
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• Despite Bauhaus Closure, Twice Sold Tales in Ballard Is Still Open for Business

  15-12-2015 00:39 via thestranger.com
  
  You can find this cool cat on any Twice Sold Tales bookmark, free with every purchase of a book. Courtesy of Twice Sold TalesSeattle residents have rightfully been reeling since Wednesday's announcement that Bauhaus would be closing its doors, but the news hit John Watkins particularly hard. He's the owner of Twice Sold Tales in Ballard, and he subleases his space from Bauhaus' owner and shares a wall with the cafe. Bauhaus' closure means he's spending the last few weeks of the year in a state o
  
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• Last Stop for Jabon's Bizarre, Site-Specific 151515 Project Tomorrow at University St. Tunnel Station

  15-12-2015 00:08 via thestranger.com
  
  Jabon's weird ambient music's been infiltrating many far-flung non-performance spaces this year. Ms. Jaye D
  Jabon (Seattle audio engineer/avant-garde musician Scott Colburn) will play the last of his monthly 151515 shows Tuesday, 4:20 pm, December 15 at University Street Tunnel Station across from Benaroya Hall. Colburn—who's worked on records by Sun City Girls, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Mudhoney, and many more—has spent this year playing 15-minute sets of his eldritch ambient
  
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• Carnegie Endowment challenges Tesoro claim about greenhouse gas emissions

  15-12-2015 00:08
  
  Tesoro asked to “correct” a pamphlet that promotes a proposed Vancouver, Wash., terminal as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  
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