Seattle news

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

  24-12-2015 23:33 via thestranger.com
  
  American 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 Nigerian-born Pittsburgh coroner who first put the puzzle pieces together on the impact that football has on the
  
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• Goodwill’s move may help revitalize East College Way in Mount Vernon

  24-12-2015 23:26
  
  The Goodwill store in Mount Vernon is set to relocate, and officials hope the move will give the business park in the 200 block of East College Way a boost in the process.
  
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• SL Letter of the Day: Snatch-22

  24-12-2015 22:36 via thestranger.com
  
  Originally posted on January 22, 2014.Five years ago, my wife and I decided to pursue her MFM threesome fantasy. Part of her fantasy was that the other chap have a BBC (big black cock), so we advertised and met this great guy who we've seen three times a year ever since. He is nice and open-minded, and we've become so comfortable with our BBC that we meet at our home now instead of a hotel. So there are respectful and safe people out there to be found! The issue I'm writing about is a problem wi
  
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• Olympia High counselor to head to D.C. as award finalist

  24-12-2015 22:06
  
  Kim Reykdal has “done an awful lot of heavy work for our students,” Olympia High principal Matt Grant said. Reykdal has worked at Olympia since 2006, and before worked as a counselor at Yelm, Capital and Tumwater high schools.
  
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• Olympia High counselor heads to D.C. as award finalist

  24-12-2015 22:06
  
  Kim Reykdal has “done an awful lot of heavy work for our students,” said Olympia High principal Matt Grant. Reykdal has worked at Olympia since 2006, and before worked as a counselor at Yelm, Capital and Tumwater high schools.
  
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• A Giant Asteroid Will Not Hit the Earth Today

  24-12-2015 22:00 via thestranger.com
  
  No, the 3,600-foot-long 'Christmas Eve asteroid' flying by will not destroy Earth, NASA says https://t.co/Qeptpghbe4 pic.twitter.com/mZfu6rbar7— ABC News (@ABC) December 24, 2015
  This cocoon-shaped (or baby Jesus shaped?) asteroid, which has been dubbed "the Christmas Eve asteroid," will not crash into our planet today, reports ABC News:"The 3,600-foot-long asteroid 2003 SD220 will fly by Earth tonight at a safe distance of 6.8 million miles, NASA said in a statement on Wednesday."
  SD220 i
  
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• Anacortes couple in ‘Argo’ Iran escape await word on restitution

  24-12-2015 21:38
  
  An Anacortes couple who were part of a group of Americans that escaped Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis are waiting to hear if they will be compensated.
  
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• Family finds strength in each other — and The Salvation Army

  24-12-2015 21:00
  
  The Kuewa family had always been self-sufficient, until they moved from Hawaii to the Northwest and their fortunes took a turn for the worse. With help from The Salvation Army, they’re back on their feet.
  
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• The Governor of California Gives Robert Downey Jr. a Very Special Christmas Gift

  24-12-2015 20:44 via thestranger.com
  
  An official pardon for his '90s-era drug offenses!LA Times:
  Actor Robert Downey Jr., who spent time behind bars in the late 1990s on drug convictions, received a Christmas Eve pardon from Gov. Jerry Brown, effectively scrubbing his criminal record clean.
  How long did he spend in prison again?
  Downey had a long history of problems with drugs and the law, including repeated arrests in 1996. In total, the actor served two years, eight months.
  Remember that time he crawled into his neighbor's house
  
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• White Christmas? It could happen in Puget Sound area

  24-12-2015 20:22
  
  An updated weather forecast for Seattle, as of Christmas Eve morning: Parts of the Puget Sound area have at least a chance of having a white Christmas, and an even better chance of having weekend sunshine.
  
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• At least 3 prisoners released in error by state have committed new crimes

  24-12-2015 20:21
  
  State corrections official say some prisoners released early by mistake have been returned to custody. Earlier this week, the state said about 3,200 inmates have been released early since 2002, due to a calculating error.
  
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• 3 prisoners released in error by state believed to have committed new crimes

  24-12-2015 20:21
  
  The alleged new crimes occurred when the freed prisoners should have been serving their sentences. Earlier this week, the state said because of a calculating error, about 3,200 inmates since 2002 had been released early.
  
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• Folks making do as they wait for passes to open, try alternate routes

  24-12-2015 20:17
  
  Impassable passes disrupting some holiday plans.
  
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• Ski report: Recent heavy snowfall is a holiday blessing for skiers and snowboarders

  24-12-2015 19:52
  It has been a December to remember for skiers and snowboarders, but too much snow fall at some Cascade ski areas has temporarily postponed on-mountain activities due to road closures or power outages. At places like the Summit at Snoqualmie – less than an hour drive from Seattle – more than two feet of snow fell Wednesday, […]
  
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• Dead-whale skeleton to be displayed in Tacoma

  24-12-2015 19:37
  A dead yearling humpback that washed ashore in Gig Harbor has been towed to Tacoma, where its skeleton will eventually be placed on display.
  
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• Last-Minute Plans: 27 Cheap & Easy Things To Do This Weekend

  24-12-2015 19:30 via thestranger.com
  
  Dancers, music, and falling snow (of the fake variety) are promised at Bellevue's free Snowflake Lane. THE BELLEVUE COLLECTION / FLICKR
  If 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 D
  
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• All I Want For Christmas Is To See Jimi Hendrix’s Memory Further Defiled By People Attempting to Venerate Him

  24-12-2015 19:30 via thestranger.com
  
  Are yule experienced? Christopher Frizzelle[ Comment on this story ][ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
  
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• Person of Interest: Krampus, Christmas Man-Beast

  24-12-2015 19:08 via thestranger.com
  
  KELLY O
  
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• Words that Need to Die in 2016

  24-12-2015 19:01 via thestranger.com
  
  "Et tu, 'Problematic'?"GhostKnife / shutterstock
  I wanna start with a line from Wittgenstein, that ol' Austrian philosopher of language who seriously embraced silliness and who wrote two of the best books ever. In Tractatus he wrote: "The limits of my language means the limits of my world."George Lakoff and Mark Johnson do a good job of illustrating this point. In Metaphors We Live By, the two scholars note that the language we use when we talk about "argument," for example, is all about war. Yo
  
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• The Thing The Atlantic Didn't Mention In Its Profile of Nick Hanauer

  24-12-2015 18:46 via thestranger.com
  
  He has championed good causes, like the $15 minimum wage. But when Nick Hanauer is wrong, the results aren't pretty. YouTube
  Nick Hanauer, the local progressive plutocrat who's written things published in The Stranger and who now pays former Stranger writers to write stuff for his think tank,is profiled in The Atlantic's new issue. It's a good read, showing how Hanauer's combination of vocal advocacy and well-funded citizen initiatives is getting results on everything from higher wages to gun co
  
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• Carbon Washington’s Initiative 732 is a go after all

  24-12-2015 18:36
  Carbon Washington is going ahead with its carbon-fee Initiative 732 instead of bowing out in favor of a competing climate proposal, campaign leaders said.
  
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• The Christmas Eve Morning News! Avoid I-90, Avoid Southeast 60th Street in Bellevue, and It's Snowing in Some Places!

  24-12-2015 17:30 via thestranger.com
  
  It snowed so much at Snoqualmie Pass last night that I-90 is closed and will be for hours. Snowy Snoqualmie/Shutterstock
  I-90 Might Not Reopen Until Tonight, So a Lot of People Are Stuck in Their Cars Out There for the Foreseeable Future: "I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass may not reopen until Thursday evening due to heavy snow, fallen trees and avalanche danger," Komo reports. "Forecasters say up to a half a foot or more of new snow fell overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning."
  Some Asshat in Be
  
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• Christmas Eve Morning News! Avoid I-90, Avoid Southeast 60th Street in Bellevue, and It's Snowing in Some Places!

  24-12-2015 17:30 via thestranger.com
  
  It snowed so much at Snoqualmie Pass last night that I-90 is closed and will be for hours. Snowy Snoqualmie/Shutterstock
  I-90 Might Not Reopen Until Tonight, So a Lot of People Are Stuck in Their Cars Out There for the Foreseeable Future: "I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass may not reopen until Thursday evening due to heavy snow, fallen trees and avalanche danger," Komo reports. "Forecasters say up to a half a foot or more of new snow fell overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning."
  Some Asshat in Be
  
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• Gilman, 1994 Nobel Prize-winning scientist in Texas, dies

  24-12-2015 17:15
  
  DALLAS (AP) — Dr. Alfred Gilman, a 1994 Nobel Prize-winning scientist and former dean of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, has died after a lengthy illness. He was 74. Russell Rian, a spokesman for UT Southwestern in Dallas, said Thursday that the university learned of Gilman’s death from his family on Wednesday. Gilman […]
  
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• Dr. Alfred Gilman, Nobel Prize-winning cell researcher, dies

  24-12-2015 17:15
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Dr. Alfred Gilman, who won a Nobel Prize for his breakthrough research into the inner workings of cells and later left Texas’ much-ballyhooed $3 billion cancer-fighting initiative, citing a lack of oversight that led to a scandal, has died. He was 74. Gilman was the former dean of the University of […]
  
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• Sheriff’s deputy pulls injured man out of burning Darrington house

  24-12-2015 17:13
  
  A man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after being pulled from a Darrington house fire by a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy.
  
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• Colorado to test new wildfire prediction system next year

  24-12-2015 17:10
  
  BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Colorado plans to test a new wildfire prediction system next year that could protect firefighters from blazes that have been burning out of control and causing more devastation in recent years. The state will launch a trial run of technology from the Boulder-based National Center for Atmospheric Research starting late in […]
  
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• Meet King County’s most unwanted dogs, waiting to be your best friend forever

  24-12-2015 17:07
  
  Two pit bulls and one Chihuahua are the most unwanted dogs at three main Seattle-area shelters. All are good dogs, say those who’ve fostered them, but they’ve been with the shelters from nine to 31 months.
  
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• Snow, trees, avalanche risk: Snoqualmie Pass closed all day; Stevens also closed

  24-12-2015 15:21
  
  Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass will be closed all Thursday, and Stevens Pass also is closed due to heavy snow and avalanches. WSDOT recommends several alternatives.
  
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• Headed over Snoqualmie, Stevens Pass? Good luck with that

  24-12-2015 15:21
  
  Northwest Washington's major routes to the eastern part of the state are subject to intermittent closures Thursday due to a major winter storm system moving through the region.
  
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• Seattle’s first Vietnamese-English bilingual preschool is up and running

  24-12-2015 15:00
  
  The Hoa Mai preschool fulfills a dream for Vietnamese parents who wanted to preserve their children's ties to their culture. It also offers opportunities to low-income children in the city's new pre-school program.
  
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• Paris climate goals mean emissions need to drop below zero

  24-12-2015 12:14
  
  STOCKHOLM (AP) — If governments are serious about the global warming targets they adopted in Paris, scientists say they have two options: eliminating fossil fuels immediately or finding ways to undo their damage to the climate system in the future. The first is politically impossible — the world is still hooked on using oil, coal […]
  
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• FBI: Man robs bank, buys Christmas tree, uses it to hide

  24-12-2015 11:33
  
  BEND, Ore. (AP) — The FBI says a 28-year-old man faces federal and state charges after he robbed a credit union in Bend, then went on a shopping spree that included buying a Christmas tree he later used to try and hide from police. The Oregonian reports that the FBI says Brett Gillispie-Comstock went into […]
  
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• More Chinese cities issue red alerts for heavy smog

  24-12-2015 06:20
  
  BEIJING (AP) — More Chinese cities are issuing their first red alerts for pollution in response to forecasts of heavy smog after the capital, Beijing, issued two this month following criticism for not releasing them earlier. Shandong province in eastern China issued alerts in four cities after warning that the density of particulate matter in […]
  
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• Utility agrees to faster resident relocation amid gas leak

  24-12-2015 06:06
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California Gas Co. on Wednesday agreed to speed up the relocation of residents affected by a now 2-month-old gas leak in Los Angeles. Under an agreement approved by a county judge, the utility has agreed to pay for up to three retired judges to oversee the ongoing relocation and for […]
  
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• Seattle activist ‘Ike’ Ikeda was a giant in the community

  24-12-2015 04:47
  Tsuguo Ikeda left the community better than he found it, writes columnist Jerry Large.
  
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• Backers of I-732 measure may scuttle revenue-neutral approach in favor of new carbon fee proposal

  24-12-2015 04:43
  Carbon Washington, the grass-roots initiative campaign to put a price on carbon pollution, may not file its initiative after all, despite gathering enough signatures to put the measure on the 2016 ballot.
  
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• A Christmas morning when Buffalo is warmer than Las Vegas, and Phoenix is colder than New York City

  24-12-2015 04:30
  
  A cold rain is falling in Seattle, each succeeding storm adding a foot of snow in the Cascades, but the East Coast and even the upper Midwest will be balmy this Christmas. Buffalo, New York, so frequently buried in snow, will wake up to a “low” temperature of 41 degrees on Christmas morning, three degrees warmer than Las Vegas.  New York City will be a mild 57 degrees Fahrenheit, 10 full degrees warmer than Phoenix. The snowpack is back in the Northwest, but the Northeast and Mi
  
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• Man burned in West Seattle fire dies

  24-12-2015 04:23
  The 39-year-old man suffered burns on 85 percent of his body from a fire Tuesday at an apartment building, according to medical examiners and fire authorities.
  
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• Seattle area may get a dusting of snow for Christmas, forecasters say

  24-12-2015 04:21
  The National Weather Service said there’s a 40 percent chance of snow showers before 10 a.m. Friday.
  
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• DNA study unlocks brain tumor treatment

  24-12-2015 04:09
  
  A study of gliomas found that DNA structure was disrupted, allowing separate segments to merge and activate a growth gene. An existing chemotherapy drug may fix that.
  
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• Fungus killing tree critical to Hawaii’s native forests

  24-12-2015 04:04
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — A newly discovered fungus is killing a tree that’s critical to Hawaii’s water supply, endangered native birds and Hawaiian cultural traditions like hula. The disease called rapid ohia death has hit hundreds of thousands of ohia lehua trees on the Big Island. As of last year, it was found to have affected […]
  
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• Sanders comes clean to Trump: Men go to the bathroom, too

  24-12-2015 03:22
  
  Sen. Bernie Sanders is campaigning for president on an unchanging message that he’s crafted for half a century: That corporate power is gnawing away at ordinary Americans’ lives and that concentration of wealth is a national crisis. Still, vulgar remarks by Donald Trump after Saturday’s Democratic debate were enough to take Sanders off message on Wednesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as the Vermont senator displayed an unusual flash of wit. Bernie Sanders comes clean:  “I
  
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• Bernie Sanders comes clean to Donald Trump: Men go to the bathroom, too

  24-12-2015 03:22
  
  Sen. Bernie Sanders is campaigning for President on an unchanging message that he’s crafted for half-a-century, that corporate power is gnawing away at ordinary Americans’ lives and that concentration of wealth with the very rich is a national crisis. Still, vulgar remarks by Donald Trump after Saturday’s Democratic debate were enough to take Sanders off message on Wednesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as the Vermont senator displayed an unusual flash of wit. Bernie Sanders comes cl
  
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• Charges: Fraudsters squatted in Eastside homes

  24-12-2015 03:13
  
  A Seattle-area couple accused of swindling contractors and squatting in Eastside homes now faces a host of charges.
  
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• Bertha ready to burrow in early January

  24-12-2015 02:58
  
  Bertha has been performing well in tests this week and is ready to break out of its repair vault in early January, the Highway 99 tunnel’s construction chief says.
  
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• Free Will Astrology: For the Week of December 23

  24-12-2015 01:33 via thestranger.com
  
  fesTA/Shutterstock
  CAPRICORN (Dec 22–Jan 19): The coming year will be a favorable time for you to nourish a deeper devotion to truth, beauty, and goodness. Anything you do to make your morality more rigorous will generate benefits that ripple through your life for years to come. Curiously, you can add to the propitious effect by also cultivating a deeper devotion to fun, play, and pleasure. There is a symbiotic connection between the part of you that wants to make the world a better place
  
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• Yes, Bertha Moved. The Real Test Will Be When the Machine Breaks Out of Its Access Pit and Into Seattle Soil Next Year.

  24-12-2015 01:23 via thestranger.com
  
  Seattle Tunnel Partners' project director Chris Dixon: a man of confidence. Bertha moved multiple feet this week without breaking. SB
  The Washington State Department of Transportation is hailing this week as a milestone in the unfortunate saga of Bertha, the $80 million tunnel boring machine that's been stalled for two years beneath downtown Seattle.In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) moved the repaired machine 1.64 feet, then another 6.5 feet by Tuesday afternoo
  
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• Mayor's Office Sends Out Press Release Misspelling New Council Member's Name

  24-12-2015 01:14 via thestranger.com
  
  Debora—D-E-B-O-R-A—Juarez. Courtesy of Debora Juarez
  In what is not even the first awkward misstep involving Mayor Ed Murray and Council Member-Elect Debora Juarez, Murray's staff sent out a press release today misspelling Juarez's first name. The release was promoting plans for the mayor and someone named "Debra Juarez" to "visit [the] North Helpline food bank to thank volunteers and to help clients" tomorrow. The mayor's office quickly sent a correction. Maybe this is a subtle Ron
  
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