Seattle news

• Why Seattle's Proposed Head Tax Is Making So Many People Go Ape-Shit

  09-05-2018 23:50 via thestranger.com
  
  by Charles Mudede"Taxes are, woo-woo..." lisegagne/gettyimages.comI have written elsewhere that humans should be less political than chimpanzees. My reasoning is that the human, as an animal, is really about equality; therefore, a human group or society in such a state—one of general fairness (the most natural state for our kind of animal)—has no need for politics (or the police for that matter). Chimps, on the other hand, have a sociality that recognizes and directly rewards sheer s
  
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• Connelly: Reichert, House Republicans try to force Ryan's hand on DACA

  09-05-2018 23:49
  A group of moderate Republican House members, going around Speaker Paul Ryan, is seeking to force a floor vote on renewal of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protected young undocumented immigrants.Seventeen Republicans have signed a discharge petition, a procedural maneuver that can bring legislation to the floor if a majority of House members sign the petition.Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., has signed the petition  Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., vocal in his advoca
  
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• Labor Group Asks Bob Ferguson to Criminally Charge Amazon Over Construction Pause

  09-05-2018 23:30 via thestranger.com
  
  by Steven Hsieh Charles Mudede
  Amazon’s decision to halt construction of downtown offices over the City Council’s head tax proposal was cold, but was it criminal?
  Working Washington thinks so. In an open letter to Attorney General Bob Ferguson, the labor group called on the state’s top prosecutor to charge Amazon for intimidating a public servant, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.According to state law, "a person is guilty of intimidating a pub
  
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• What to See at This Month's Capitol Hill Art Walk

  09-05-2018 23:29 via thestranger.com
  Nine Picks for May 9by Stranger Things To Do StaffEvery second Thursday, rain or shine, the streets of Capitol Hill are filled with tipsy art lovers checking out galleries and special events. On our Capitol Hill Art Walk calendar, you'll find a bunch of great options for May's event, but, below, we've compiled our critics' picks—the things you shouldn't miss. Follow the links for more details and images.
  Akira OhisoWriter, blogger, and artist Ohiso will show mixed media works combining pho
  
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• The Top Nine Things to See at the May 2018 Capitol Hill Art Walk

  09-05-2018 23:23 via thestranger.com
  Our critics' picks for May 9.by Stranger Things To Do StaffEvery second Thursday, rain or shine, the streets of Capitol Hill are filled with tipsy art lovers checking out galleries and special events. On our Capitol Hill Art Walk calendar, you'll find a bunch of great options for May's event, but, below, we've compiled our critics' picks—the things you shouldn't miss. Follow the links for more details and images, and, if you can't make it out tonight, check out our complete visual art cale
  
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• Annex Theatre’s ‘Silhouette’: an a cappella sci-fi musical with rich ethical questions

  09-05-2018 23:00
  "Silhouette" is Scotto Moore's a cappella science-fiction musical about a space pilot who crash-lands on a rogue planet. But it also asks an intellectual question about resistance and revenge.
  
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• Angela Garbes Explores the Secrets of the Placenta

  09-05-2018 23:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Blabbermouth Podcast Episode 148: "Like a Mother"by The StrangerBlabbermouth Podcast episode 148 talks about all the latest political drama and then, with Mother's Day around the corner, Angela Garbes reads an excerpt from her new book, Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy. Kelly OSubscribe to the podcast FOR FREE by clicking right here!We just went through another big round of pre-midterm primaries, and Dan Savage, Eli Sanders, and Rich Smith talk about
  
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• Renton to combat illegal street racing by closing streets

  09-05-2018 22:32
  Closed on Friday and Saturday nights will be Oaksdale Avenue Southwest, between Southwest 16th Street and Southwest 41st Street; and Southwest 27th Street, between Lind Avenue Southwest and Oaksdale Avenue Southwest.
  
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• The "Intellectual Dark Web" Is a Terrible Name for an Interesting Idea

  09-05-2018 22:09 via thestranger.com
  
  A New York Timescolumnist unveiled a nascent intellectual movement this week.by Katie Herzog stevanovicigor/Getty
  Bari Weiss is at it again.On Tuesday, the much loathed New York Times Opinion columnist—who began her journey out of the left's good graces last year with a piece entitled Aziz Ansari Is Guilty. Of Not Being a Mind-Reader—published a long column on the Intellectual Dark Web. This, as Weiss explains it, is "a collection of iconoclastic thinkers, academic renegades and medi
  
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• Connelly: EPA's Pruitt is an isolated, ignorant law breaker -- his EPA predecessor

  09-05-2018 21:34
  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is isolated, "doesn't know the law" and "doesn't obey the law," his Obama administration predecessor Gina McCarthy said in Seattle on Wednesday.
  
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• Labor-backed group asks Washington state AG Bob Ferguson to charge Amazon with felony over head-tax threat

  09-05-2018 21:33
  Working Washington compared Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to "a subprime mob boss lording it over a company town" and cited the state law making it illegal to threaten politicians and other public employees with bodily harm or other damages, including financial harm, in an attempt to sway a vote or other official action.
  
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• Romaine lettuce outbreak update: 149 sick in 29 states

  09-05-2018 21:00
  NEW YORK (AP) — Four more states are reporting illnesses in a food poisoning outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its numbers on the outbreak Wednesday, revealing that 149 people in 29 states had gotten sick. It’s unclear if new illness are still occurring. There’s a lag in […]
  
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• WSU coach Mike Leach joins lawmakers on trip to Cambodia

  09-05-2018 20:37
  Mike Leach and three Washington lawmakers are in the Cambodian capital this week, where they met with the prime minister and other government officials.
  
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• Washington state Rep. David Sawyer challenges attempt to suspend his committee chairmanship

  09-05-2018 20:22
  Sawyer’s attorney accused state House Democrats of politicizing an investigation into allegations that the lawmaker engaged in inappropriate behavior and may have created a hostile work environment.
  
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• Washington state House Democrats suspend Rep. David Sawyer’s chairmanship over allegations of inappropriate behavior

  09-05-2018 20:22
  Sawyer’s attorney accused state House Democrats of politicizing an investigation into allegations that the lawmaker engaged in inappropriate behavior and may have created a hostile work environment.
  
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• State House committee recommends suspending Rep. David Sawyer’s chairmanship

  09-05-2018 20:22
  Sawyer’s attorney accused state House Democrats of politicizing an investigation into allegations that the lawmaker engaged in inappropriate behavior and may have created a hostile work environment.
  
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• Tonight: Don't Miss Sheila Heti's Reading at Elliott Bay, or the Party at The Factory Inspired by Her New Book

  09-05-2018 20:18 via thestranger.com
  
  by Christopher FrizzelleEveryone is talking about Sheila Heti's new novel, Motherhood. She's in town on Thursday, appearing at Elliott Bay Books and The Factory. Lee Tondrow
  “On the one hand, the joy of children. On the other hand, the misery of them.”
  That’s the dilemma facing the narrator of Motherhood, Sheila Heti’s brilliant, uncategorizable, funny, and profound new novel. It’s a novel that exists on the edge between fiction and nonfiction—a book that expl
  
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• Tomorrow: Don't Miss Sheila Heti's Reading at Elliott Bay, or the Party at The Factory Inspired by Her New Book

  09-05-2018 20:18 via thestranger.com
  
  by Christopher FrizzelleEveryone is talking about Sheila Heti's new novel, Motherhood. She's in town on Thursday, appearing at Elliott Bay Books and The Factory. Lee Tondrow
  “On the one hand, the joy of children. On the other hand, the misery of them.”
  That’s the dilemma facing the narrator of Motherhood, Sheila Heti’s brilliant, uncategorizable, funny, and profound new novel. It’s a novel that exists on the edge between fiction and nonfiction—a book that expl
  
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• The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Documentary RBG Captures the Woman, the Meme, and Everything in Between

  09-05-2018 19:39 via thestranger.com
  Justice is served.by Elinor JonesOn Saturday Night Live, Kate McKinnon plays Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a silly, slightly nasty old lady with an uncomfortable white-lady-talks-black shtick. In the new documentary RBG, Ginsburg is shown watching the clip and lightly chuckling to herself. When it ends, she lifts her gaze and flutters her eyes in what could be an elderly twinkle or a light wink—but could also be an extremely subtle eye roll.Like a cat, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is small and cunning, an
  
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• Horse Feathers Talk Folk Itches and Identity Crises

  09-05-2018 19:31 via thestranger.com
  
  The folk institution shares Appreciation.by Ben SalmonFor a decade (encompassing five well-received albums), Horse Feathers were known for delicately gorgeous acoustic folk songs, often dressed up with orchestral arrangements and anchored by frontman Justin Ringle’s cerebral lyrics. But on 2014’s So It Is with Us, the Portland-born institution started prudently exploring new sounds, tempos, and textures.That exploration blooms in full on the band’s new record, Appreciation, rel
  
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• More than 100 tech leaders warn Seattle’s tax plan sends dangerous message

  09-05-2018 19:06
  The Seattle tech community is following Amazon's lead, publicly pressing the City Council to drop a proposed tax on top-earning companies to fund affordable housing and homeless services. On Tuesday afternoon, 130 startup founders, CEOs, venture capitalists, and other business leaders issued an open letter to Mayor Jenny Durkan and the City Council opposing the so-called "head tax" and warning about its potential consequences.
  
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• PREMIERE: Shelby Earl's "Strong Swimmer" Video Is a Powerful Ode to the Strength of Gender Nonconforming Youth

  09-05-2018 18:45 via thestranger.com
  
  by Sophia StephensAn image from the "Strong Swimmer" video.
  Shelby Earl’s “Strong Swimmer,” from the Seattle artist’s third full-length studio album The Man Who Made Himself a Name, is an easy song to love. Earl’s sweetly emotional vocals and heartfelt guitar combine in a universal ode to the lifelong process of healing and moving on. Over a year after the album’s March, 2017 release, the accompanying music video premieres today."I realized there were people f
  
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• Alaska commercial fisherman struck, killed by vessel line

  09-05-2018 17:39
  DUTCH HARBOR, Alaska — A 55-year-old Alaska commercial fisherman was killed when he was struck by a boat’s line. Alaska State Troopers say Christopher O’Callaghan died May 2 on the Ocean Hunter, a 95-foot (29-meter) longline trawler that fishes in the Bering Sea. The accident occurred as the Ocean Hunter transferred fish to another vessel […]
  
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• Panel established to study pregnancy-related maternal deaths

  09-05-2018 17:34
  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A new law in Pennsylvania will help officials gather information about the causes of deaths of women during pregnancy or within a year after they are no longer pregnant. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday signed a bill that establishes a Maternal Mortality Review Committee at the state Health Department. Officials […]
  
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• Seattle police rescue man from Lake Union

  09-05-2018 17:06
  Officials said it was unclear what the man was doing in the chilly water.
  
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• Slog AM: Seattle Soda Tax Rakes in a Sweet $4 Million So Far, a No-Hitter for the Mariners, North Korea Releases American Detainees

  09-05-2018 16:43 via thestranger.com
  
  Mormons break up with the Boys Scouts, Kitsap County housing market is on the up and up, Facebook and Google crackdown on adsby Nathalie GrahamCrack one open, fund a program.explosivekeeper / Getty Images
  Soda tax is a $4 million success so far: That’s only the tally from the first three months. The 1.75 cent-per-fluid-ounce Seattle tax on sugary drinks went into effect on Jan. 1 to the chagrin of local businesses, especially a whiny CostCo. The outrage has waned and the numbers are here.
  
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• Mother Nature to treat us with gorgeous weekend for Mother’s Day

  09-05-2018 16:19
  The weather forecast is looking good for Mother's Day, with a high predicted of 81 degrees. On Saturday, it's expected to be sunny with a high of 75.
  
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• Washington state prison inmate sentenced for punching correctional officer

  09-05-2018 15:54
  Authorities say the inmate, who was previously incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary, had punched correctional officer Jack Miller on the head in October 2016.
  
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• Washington state regulators tell utilities to tally social costs of carbon emissions

  09-05-2018 15:00
  Washington regulators, stepping up activism on the climate front, want three utilities to reconsider their reliance on coal-fired power.
  
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• Seattle collects more than $4M from new tax on sugary beverages

  09-05-2018 15:00
  The city has received $4,082,015 in first-quarter tax payments and expects that number to rise. The 1.75 cent-per-fluid-ounce tax on the distribution of sugary beverages took effect Jan. 1.
  
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• Breeding wolverine heralds comeback in Washington’s Cascades

  09-05-2018 15:00
  Wildlife advocates are thrilled to document a breeding female wolverine south of I-90 for the first time in modern times. The carnivore is a cherished commando of the forest realm, and a master of its landscape.
  
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• $75 tolls and $200 martinis: Seattle’s future is nearer than you think

  09-05-2018 15:00
  We say we’re freaked out about the high cost of living around here. But we’re sure not acting like it.
  
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• 'Stupid': Bikini barista fire leads to arrest of 2 men

  09-05-2018 14:50
  Police from the southern King County town of Pacific arrested two men early Monday morning who allegedly confessed to setting fire to a bikini barista stand.
  
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• Red tide causing surf to glow in parts of California

  09-05-2018 13:03
  SAN DIEGO (AP) — A red tide is causing the surf to glow in parts of California. An algae bloom filled with bioluminescent phytoplankton has been lighting up the ocean from La Jolla to Encinitas since Monday. It’s a stretch of about 18 miles (29 kilometers). The micro-organisms light up along the face of the […]
  
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• The Most Important Development for Seattle Craft Brewing in Decades

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  Skagit Valley Malting might be the biggest thing in the Seattle craft beer scene since Redhook.by Lester BlackSeattleites think they know a lot about beer. We can tell the fruity aroma of Citra hops from the piney pop of Simcoe. We know the yeasty difference between a spicy Belgian pale ale and a crisp German lager. But what about barley? Can we tell barley varietals apart like we can hops?I recently went to Skagit Valley Malting, where CEO Dave Green placed three small glasses of beer in front
  
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• The 32 Films You Must See at the Seattle International Film Festival 2018

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  Our guide to the very best movies playing at the Seattle International Film Festival.by Stranger StaffSIFF, America's biggest film festival, runs from May 17–June 10 this year, and we have a complete guide to its every aspect on our SIFF calendar, including showtimes, ticket links, trailers, and reviews from Stranger critics. During the 25 days of the 44th annual Seattle International Film Festival, there will be screenings of 433 films (many of which will play more than once and 89 of whi
  
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• Talking Weed Laws with Crispin Blunt.

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  A member of England's government gives our cannabis columnist a joint.by Lester BlackIt's generally against the rules for journalists to accept gifts from sources—we can't have bribes clouding our judgment—but there is one notable exception to this rule. It's colloquially referred to as the "Holy Shit! A Member of British Parliament Just Handed Me a Joint" Exception.Recently, Crispin Blunt, who happens to be a member of British Parliament, reached into his pocket as we were sitting a
  
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• "On the one hand, the joy of children. On the other hand, the misery of them."

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  That's the dilemma facing the narrator of Sheila Heti's novel Motherhood.by Christopher Frizzelle"On the one hand, the joy of children. On the other hand, the misery of them."That's the dilemma facing the narrator of Motherhood, Sheila Heti's brilliant, uncategorizable, and profound new novel. It's a novel that exists on the edge between fiction and nonfiction—a book that explicitly plays with that edge.The chapters ruminating on whether or not the narrator should have children are intercu
  
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• I've Never Seen a Play Before Where the Characters Talk Like This

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  The marvelous language and characters in Familiar remind me of my family.by Charles MudedeReading the script of Danai Gurira's play Familiar, currently playing at Seattle Repertory Theatre, was an unsettling experience for me. Gurira, a playwright and actor—she is known for her role in The Walking Dead and, more recently, as the Wakanda warrior Okoye in Black Panther—was raised in virtually the same world that I was. And there are not many people I know who have been raised in this c
  
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• I, Anonymous: Me, My Son, and Your Kind Words to Carry Us Along

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  by AnonymousMy favorite few hours every other Sunday is when I take my 4-year-old son to 5 Point Cafe for breakfast. We started doing this four months ago, after I decided to move out of the family house in the suburbs upon discovering that my wife was planning to leave me for someone else. You were the lovely older woman sitting with your husband next to us (I can only assume you were either tourists or really cool), and when my son stood up next your table to talk and say hi (something that he
  
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• Electro-Goth Diva Fever Ray Takes a Plunge into Queerness

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  Swedish icon Fever Ray's new album explores her kinky side.by Dave Segal"I want to run my fingers up your pussy," Fever Ray sings with pervy earnestness in "To the Moon and Back," the first single from her latest album, Plunge. Huh. ABBA never did it like this. In fact, nobody else from Sweden has had the huge success Fever Ray (aka Karin Dreijer) has enjoyed both with her now-defunct group the Knife and in her solo career by defying pop conventions so flagrantly. That's remarkable for an artist
  
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• Demian DinéYazhi' Mines a Toxic History

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  
  A noninvasive approach to land art.by Emily PothastIn July of 1979, a breached dam at Church Rock, New Mexico, sent more than a thousand tons of radioactive waste tumbling into the Puerco River. Despite being the largest release of radioactive material in US history, the incident received almost no media coverage. Many residents who used the river for irrigation weren't even notified, and the governor denied local requests to declare Church Rock a federal disaster area.Nearly three decades later
  
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• Crossword Solution: "Antisocial Network"

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  The solutions to the crossword puzzle in the May 9, 2018 issue of The Strangerby Brendan Emmett Quigley[ Comment on this story ][ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]
  
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• Conjugal Visit: I’m Not a Prostitute, but I’d Fuck Him for Free and Go Away Afterward Just the Same

  09-05-2018 13:00 via thestranger.com
  by AnonymousHe told me he was married and that his wife was too exhausted with the kids and housework for sex. He worked; she stayed at home. He told me he suspected that she either didn't like sex or didn't like it with him. He told me he'd be willing to pay me because he thought there was something to the notion that you don't pay a prostitute for sex, you pay them to go away afterward. I told him I wasn't a prostitute and that I'd fuck him for free and go away afterward just the same, if that
  
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• Volcanic gases prompt evacuation of stragglers in Hawaii

  09-05-2018 08:14
  PAHOA, Hawaii — Police went door-to-door in Hawaii to roust residents near two new volcanic vents emitting dangerous gases in areas where lava has poured into streets and backyards for the past week. Authorities had ordered nearly 2,000 residents to leave the two communities in the mostly rural district of Puna on Hawaii’s Big Island […]
  
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• Volcanic gases prompt door-to-door evacuation in Hawaii

  09-05-2018 08:14
  PAHOA, Hawaii (AP) — Police went door-to-door in Hawaii to roust residents near two new vents emitting dangerous gases in areas where lava has been pouring into streets and backyards for the past week. Authorities ordered nearly 2,000 residents to leave two communities in the mostly rural district of Puna on Hawaii’s Big Island last […]
  
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• Geologists: Explosive event possible at Hawaii volcano

  09-05-2018 08:14
  The U.S. Geological Survey said the risk of explosive eruption will rise if the lava drops below the groundwater level beneath the summit's caldera. In the Leilani Estates subdivision, police went door-to-door to roust residents near two new volcanic vents emitting dangerous gases.
  
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• Man suffers life-threatening injuries in West Seattle shooting; police investigating

  09-05-2018 05:28
  Medics took the man, whose age and identity remain unknown, to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
  
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• Man killed in shooting near West Seattle Stadium; police investigating

  09-05-2018 05:28
  Seattle police were called to the West Seattle Stadium parking lot, in the 4400 block of 35th Avenue Southwest, about 7:30 p.m., according to police. The victim had life-threatening injuries after he was shot several times,
  
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• Treat your eyes and nose on a hike outside Yakima — just don’t pick the flowers

  09-05-2018 04:55
  A considerable variety of native plants can be found on the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy’s lands and elsewhere throughout Central Washington’s shrub-steppe before they fade away into a dry, hot summer.
  
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