Seattle news

• Yes, CNN, Kshama Sawant Is a “Politician to Watch” in 2016, but Not Because of Democracy Vouchers

  23-12-2015 23:50 via thestranger.com
  
  Another day, another national media outlet wondering if you're aware there's ANOTHER socialist out there who's not Bernie Sanders. City of Seattle
  CNN posted an article today declaring nine politicians across the country "who figure to make themselves known in 2016."
  First on the list: Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant, whose photo ran under a version of what has become the national media’s favorite way of mentioning her: “A Socialist to watch, and it's not Bernie Sanders.&rd
  
  Read more

• SL Letter of the Day: End in Sight

  23-12-2015 22:23 via thestranger.com
  
  Originally posted on December 24, 2014.I am a college student just trying to get through my senior year with some halfway decent grades and a smidge of sanity. As such, I have basically given up the social scene. I avoid sexual or romantic interactions. The problem is, while I recognize that I will have plenty of time for social stuff once I graduate (and some far better prospects available with a degree to my name), the rest of me is having trouble getting with the program. My weekends are a lo
  
  Read more

• Ted Cruz Can't Decide: Is Gay Marriage a Threat to Democracy, or Not a Priority?

  23-12-2015 21:43 via thestranger.com
  
  Hello, I am Ted Cruz, a person literally without any purpose for existing. Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com
  Which Ted Cruz do you prefer: pandering opportunist, or dangerous zealot?
  When he's talking to evangelicals, Cruz likes to boast about his opposition to gay marriage. Fair enough; the guy's chosen his side and homophobia comes with the territory, just as it's only the dark side that can wield force lightning.
  But when he's talking to more socially-liberal supporters, his tune change
  
  Read more

• I, Anonymous: Postal Props

  23-12-2015 21:31 via thestranger.com
  
  STEVEN WEISSMAN
  To the postal worker who kept her cool while a customer went postal: You, a hardworking USPS professional, remained calm as you were called "hard-ass" and "bitch" by the woman who cut in front of all of us in line. She shouted that at 58 she shouldn't have to wait in line for a single stamp. She took 10 minutes arguing with you about the stamp, which you calmly, kindly applied to her solitary piece of mail…
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Navy: USS Nimitz to stay in Bremerton, not return to Everett

  23-12-2015 21:24
  
  The Navy says the USS Nimitz is going to stay in Bremerton, instead of returning to its home port in Everett.
  
  Read more

• Black bear rides for 65 miles on California trash truck

  23-12-2015 20:59
  
  FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A black bear crawled inside a trash compactor and took the ride of its life on a garbage truck, traveling about 65 miles to a dump in central California where briefly ran free. Fresno officers went to a disposal site Tuesday after getting a report of a large bear running loose. […]
  
  Read more

• Trump far ahead of GOP foes, publicizes Christmas Eve church-going plans

  23-12-2015 20:51
  
  Donald Trump prepares to welcome the new year next week on Fox News — where else? — as he enjoys a big lead in the new CNN/ORC national poll, taken after last week’s Republican presidential candidates debate in Las Vegas. Will Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, make fighting same sex marriage a “top-three priority” if elected President.  “No,” he tells private fundraiser in New York. The survey, taken Dec. 17-21, puts the real estate mogul far in front with 39
  
  Read more

• Savage Love: Cock Locked

  23-12-2015 20:44 via thestranger.com
  
  JOE NEWTON
  After spending some years in the doldrums after having kids, my husband and I are now enjoying hot kinky sex and the occasional free pass to fuck other people. We couldn't be happier. I have a friend who was extremely keen for me to cage his cock with the same kind of locking male chastity device I got for my husband—a fixed-ring stainless-steel type…
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Donald Trump Canonized in Art History As the New Urinal

  23-12-2015 20:20 via thestranger.com
  
  Piss on this.
  An anonymous student at Cornish College of the Arts has extended the venerable art tradition of the urinal by creating the above installation in the basement level men's room in the music building, I'm told by Greg Kucera. An unnamed friend took the picture and sent it to him, with the note, "Not sure which student did this... but I encourage their artistic vision."
  May we all piss upon it.
  
  Read more

• Susan Surface Believes Architects Need to Radically Change Their Approach to Social Responsibility

  23-12-2015 20:04 via thestranger.com
  
  At Chelan Cafe: Susan Surface goes to the West Seattle diner almost every other day to eat, think, and work. She calls it “a pure diner,” with “perfect diner aesthetics” and “no bullshit.” KELLY O
  The annual Seattle Design Festival is a two-week-long event that brings together architects and designers from around the city to celebrate "the ways design makes life better." Usually, it's a safely cohesive conference.
  But this year's event included a panel discuss
  
  Read more

• Olympic Music Festival moves from Quilcene barn to Port Townsend theater

  23-12-2015 20:01
  
  After 32 years, the Olympic Music Festival is moving from its beloved, rustic barn in Quilcene and joining forces with the Centrum Foundation in Port Townsend.
  
  Read more

• Series of earthquakes rattles Reno, Nevada

  23-12-2015 19:58
  RENO, Nev. (AP) — Northern Nevada officials said Wednesday they’ve been unable to detect any earthquake damage after a string of temblors shook the Reno-Sparks area the night before. The quakes started at 6 p.m. Tuesday and the biggest one happened around 10:45 p.m., rattling homes and businesses from south of Reno to north of […]
  
  Read more

• Quake on major fault line rattles Reno; experts monitoring

  23-12-2015 19:58
  RENO, Nev. (AP) — A series of more than 30 earthquakes that rattled the Reno area over the past two days occurred on the most significant fault structure in the area, and scientists are monitoring for potentially bigger shock waves to follow, experts said Wednesday. The quakes began Tuesday evening and continued into Wednesday morning. […]
  
  Read more

• Bank robber dubbed ‘Beardo’ strikes again in Everett

  23-12-2015 19:57
  
  The FBI has nicknamed the persistent robber “Beardo” because of the phony facial hair he wears as a disguise. He has robbed at least six banks in Everett.
  
  Read more

• Holiday travelers throng Sea-Tac on busy flying day

  23-12-2015 19:41
  
  Sea-Tac Airport expects Wednesday to be the heaviest travel day of the holiday season, with about 137,000 passengers expected. In all, about 1.5 million travelers will use Sea-Tac through Jan. 5.
  
  Read more

• The Winner of The Stranger's Design a Christian Starbucks Cup Contest!

  23-12-2015 19:27 via thestranger.com
  
  MICHAEL CASTLE
  
  Read more

• NOW files complaint against Spokane mayor

  23-12-2015 19:16
  
  Complaints are piling up against Spokane Mayor David Condon over how he handled allegations of sexual harassment against former police Chief Frank Straub.
  
  Read more

• Fatal shooting in Tacoma appears to be over $50

  23-12-2015 19:03
  A Tacoma man may have been killed because he owed a man $50 and asked the man’s girlfriend for a ride.
  
  Read more

• How Christianity Infiltrated Seattle's Music Scene with a Little Help from Mars Hill Church and the City Council

  23-12-2015 18:58 via thestranger.com
  
  "To me, Christian music is propaganda." David Bazan simultaneously shrugs and nods when he says this, as though stating the obvious. Bazan's career makes him uniquely qualified to comment on the relationship of Christian music to the secular world. Having grown up an evangelical Christian, he and his friend TW Walsh began releasing records under the name Pedro the Lion in 1997. The songs dealt openly with complex themes about Christian faith and appealed to a big audience of religious kids, man
  
  Read more

• No surprise to Washington residents: Our drought is over

  23-12-2015 18:19
  
  The state’s drought declaration, which was declared in March, will be allowed to expire thanks to a series of favorable snowstorms.
  
  Read more

• Angry owl back in Salem, Oregon; 2 attacks reported

  23-12-2015 18:19
  
  At least two attacks from owls have been reported near a Salem, Ore., park where joggers were attacked in January.
  
  Read more

• Ho ho ho your boat? Santas paddleboard across Lake Washington

  23-12-2015 18:15
  The Washington Department of Transportation tweeted a series of photos of festive paddleboarders on Lake Washington.
  
  Read more

• PHOTOS: Most wanted sex offenders in Washington (updated Dec. 21)

  23-12-2015 18:12
  
  PHOTOS: Most wanted sex offenders in Washington (updated Dec. 21)
  
  Read more

• The Morning News: Local Judge Smacks Down the NRA, Vigil Held for Shooting Victim Brent McDonald

  23-12-2015 17:55 via thestranger.com
  
  Seattle's tax on gun ammo goes into effect next year. bplanet/Shutterstock
  The City of Seattle's Tax on Guns Withstood a Challenge from the NRA: As Heidi reports, King County Judge Palmer Robinson found that "per-gun and per-bullet fees were indeed taxes, not regulations, in part because they will raise money to fund public health programs, not the regulation of guns in the city." One of the groups challenging the law, along with the National Rifle Association, vowed to file an "immediate appeal
  
  Read more

• Elephant at Oregon Zoo euthanized after leg injury

  23-12-2015 17:54
  
  The Asian elephant named Tusko was euthanized after a decades-old leg injury that had impaired his mobility.
  
  Read more

• Severe storms sweep across the South; 1 killed in Arkansas

  23-12-2015 17:04
  
  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The latest on the severe storms moving across the U.S. and the unusually warm December weather (all times local): 9:50 a.m. Severe storms are sweeping across the country’s mid-section and a death has been reported in Arkansas. The Pope County Sheriff’s Office says a person was killed when a tree […]
  
  Read more

• 10 arrested in Pierce County online child-sex sting

  23-12-2015 16:44
  
  During the two-week undercover operation, detectives posed online as underage girls or parents selling their children for sex.
  
  Read more

• Accident victim seeks $4,600 for damage to Chanel handbag, Prada boots, Burberry coat

  23-12-2015 16:40
  
  A Portland woman who was struck by a drunken driver while in a crosswalk has filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for designer clothing she was wearing at the time in addition to the price of her medical bills.
  
  Read more

• 10 local bars open on Christmas Day

  23-12-2015 16:00
  
  Tan Vinh’s list of best bars to hit on Christmas Day in Seattle and on the Eastside includes George and Dragon, Neighbor Lady and Kirkland’s Central Tavern.
  
  Read more

• Washington among top states for increases to education spending, study says

  23-12-2015 15:00
  
  Washington State is spending more to comply with the state Supreme Court's 2012 McCleary decision, but lawmakers also have had to fill budget holes left by the 2008 "Great Recession."
  
  Read more

• Astronauts get food, water as ship docks at space station

  23-12-2015 14:50
  
  MOSCOW (AP) — An unmanned Russian cargo ship has docked with the International Space Station. The Russian space agency said the docking occurred without problem on the first attempt at 1027 GMT (5:27 a.m.) Wednesday. The Progress spacecraft blasted off Monday from Russia’s space launch complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, carrying 2.5 metric tons of fuel, […]
  
  Read more

• Will Smith’s Performance of a Nigerian Doctor in Concussion Is Subversively Not Entertaining

  23-12-2015 13:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Will Smith’s Performance of a Nigerian Doctor in Concussion Is Subversively Not Entertainingby Spike FriedmanAmerican football is currently in the midst of an existential crisis. Awareness of the impact of head injuries casts an increasingly long shadow on America's most popular sport. What it means to play or support the game is an increasingly morally fraught question.Concussion wades into this conversation scared to say too much of anything. Starring Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the
  
  Read more

• Top 10 Live Shows This Weekend: Christmas Edition

  23-12-2015 13:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Rap, Pop-Punk, British Techno, And More Picks From Our Music Criticsby Stranger Things To Do StaffYes, it's Christmas weekend, but there's still some solid local rap, pop-punk, and British techno you should check out this weekend. Plus, there are even more shows on our complete music calendar.
  SATURDAY
  She is We
  "If you’re a fan of the local indie-pop scene, you might be saying to yourself, “Wasn’t there a band called He Is We?” Well, after the initial breakup of He Is We
  
  Read more

• The Hateful Eight Is Good but Not That Good

  23-12-2015 13:00 via thestranger.com
  
  The Hateful Eight Is Good but Not That Goodby Charles MudedeWas I entertained by Quentin Tarantino’s new western? Yes I was, particularly during its first two hours. Did I laugh? Yes, on several occasions. Did I cry? No, not at all. In fact, I never cry. I hate crying, and I think crying over stuff in a movie is the sign of a soft mind. As Harrison Ford said in a recent interview: “It’s just a movie.”
  What did I like most about the movie? Samuel L. Jackson, who plays a ba
  
  Read more

• Mustang Has a Kick-Ass Heroine

  23-12-2015 13:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Mustang Has a Kick-Ass HeroineRelated Film: MustangRelated: An Excellent Iranian Mystery in About Elly | A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night: The Iranian Vampire Westernby Kathy FennessyBy turns lyrical and wrenching, Mustang depicts the process by which five orphaned sisters relinquish freedom for a form of cultural bondage. Until then, they flirt with boys and play on the beach, but what looks like innocent fun to Western eyes earns reprobation from their insular Turkish community.Concerned about
  
  Read more

• Last-Minute Plans: 27 Cheap & Easy Things To Do On Christmas Weekend

  23-12-2015 13:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Snowflake Lane, TRL Ugly Sweater Night, A Misfits' Christmas Eve, And Moreby Stranger Things To Do StaffIf you want to have fun this weekend but a) Don't have plans for Christmas Eve, b) Blew all your money on Christmas presents, or c) Are saving up for New Year's Eve, we've got you covered. Here are 27 free and cheap things to do this weekend, like Nectar's ugly sweater-themed Total Request Live night, a free screening of Die Hard , and a $10 concert from one of Dave Segal's favorite bands. For
  
  Read more

• Greed Isn't Good in The Big Short

  23-12-2015 13:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Greed Isn't Good in The Big ShortRELATED FILM: The Big Shortby Ned LannamannThere's nothing subtle about The Big Short. Director Adam McKay (Anchorman) uses every trick in the Martin Scorsese handbook—freeze-frame, montage, fourth-wall-breaking narration—to tell the true story of a few investors who predicted the catastrophic financial crisis of 2008. Christian Bale, not exactly a low-key performer to begin with, is given Asperger's syndrome, a stutter, and a glass eye, Steve Carell'
  
  Read more

• 16-year-old charged as adult in 4 slayings at Ohio home

  23-12-2015 12:58
  
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A 16-year-old boy has been charged as an adult in the slayings of four people at an Ohio home last summer. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said Tuesday a 29-count indictment against defendant Jordyn Wade includes charges of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping. O’Brien says Wade is accused of helping […]
  
  Read more

• Chinatown defendant ‘Shrimp Boy’ says FBI agent forced money on him

  23-12-2015 10:02
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A key defendant in an organized crime case in San Francisco’s Chinatown will face more questions from prosecutors after testifying that the undercover agent leading the probe tried to drag him into conversations and force money on him. Under cross-examination by prosecutors Tuesday at his trial on murder and racketeering charges, […]
  
  Read more

• Robert Durst of ‘The Jinx’ to be extradited to California on murder charge

  23-12-2015 09:49
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Durst, the scion of a prominent New York real estate family who gained new notoriety this year in an HBO documentary on his alleged crimes, has agreed to come from Louisiana to Los Angeles to face charges that he killed a friend to stop her from cooperating with an investigation […]
  
  Read more

• Man held decades in Colorado for rape he denies walks free

  23-12-2015 09:45
  DENVER (AP) — A Denver man who spent more than a quarter-century in prison for an attack he denies committing walked free, locking arms with his wife as his tearful children applauded and his grandkids embraced a man they had never met. Clarence Moses-EL, 60, had just posted a $50,000 bond that a judge required […]
  
  Read more

• Weird weather pattern turns weather upside-down across US

  23-12-2015 06:46
  In a reversal of a typical Christmas, forecasters expect New York to be in the mid-60s on the holiday — several degrees higher than Los Angeles.
  
  Read more

• Weird pattern turns weather upside-down across U.S.

  23-12-2015 06:46
  In a reversal of a typical Christmas, forecasters expect New York to be in the mid-60s on the holiday — several degrees higher than Los Angeles.
  
  Read more

• Pair suspected of following UPS truck, stealing packages arrested in Clark County

  23-12-2015 05:40
  
  This was the second such incident in a week, police said.
  
  Read more

• Idaho to delay Medicaid reimbursement cuts on in-home care

  23-12-2015 05:34
  
  Health officials announced Monday that they will now implement the change in February rather than at the beginning of the year.
  
  Read more

• 14 homeless people who died remembered at annual Yakima vigil

  23-12-2015 05:30
  
  The annual memorial service, put on for the 11th time Monday by Yakima Neighborhood Health Services and the Homeless Network of Yakima County, drew about 60 participants.
  
  Read more

• For holiday travelers, snow in mountains could pose problems

  23-12-2015 05:17
  Meteorologists expect a snowstorm in the North Cascades to increase in intensity Tuesday night, and by late Wednesday, bring between 1 and 2.5 feet of snow.
  
  Read more

• New analysis shows Oso landslide was no fluke

  23-12-2015 05:13
  When the Oso landslide engulfed a neighborhood along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River last year, its size and ferocity were stunning even to geologists. But a new analysis shows that the deadliest landslide in U.S. history was not a fluke.
  
  Read more

• How Christianity Infiltrated Seattle Music with a Little Help from Mars Hill Church and the City Council

  23-12-2015 05:05 via thestranger.com
  
  Mars Hill Church and the Seattle City Council Helped Make a Safe Space for Religion in the Secular World of Local Rockby Kathleen Tarrant"To me, Christian music is propaganda." David Bazan simultaneously shrugs and nods when he says this, as though stating the obvious. Bazan's career makes him uniquely qualified to comment on the relationship of Christian music to the secular world. Having grown up an evangelical Christian, he and his friend TW Walsh began releasing records under the name Pedro
  
  Read more

• Search for missing skier suspended because of avalanche danger

  23-12-2015 04:32
  
  Monty Busbee, 43, of Maple Valley, went missing Saturday after intending to ski in the Commonwealth Basin area.
  
  Read more

Follow @Seattle_news_ on Twitter!