Seattle news

• Leaked birth-control rule would broaden employers’ religious exemptions

  31-05-2017 21:31
  
  Women's groups are threatening to take the Trump administration to court after a leaked, draft regulation revealed a plan to let employers opt out of providing birth control at no extra cost to women, for the employer's religious and moral reasons.
  
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• Guest Rant: Seattle Can’t Afford Not to Feed Every Child

  22-07-2026 00:20 via thestranger.com
  
  Every August, before I thought about lesson plans, I went shopping for snacks.When I taught elementary school in a Washington, DC neighborhood shaped by generations of segregation and concentrated poverty, I kept food in my classroom because I knew children living a few miles from the halls of power would come to school hungry. Years later, after moving back home to Seattle and teaching history at my alma mater, Garfield High School, I found myself doing the same thing. Sometimes students
  
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• Beat the Heat with These Air-Conditioned Activities in Seattle

  22-07-2026 00:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Seattle might not see many truly scorching days each year, but when they happen, they tend to happen all at once. One day the weather is in the 60s and raining; the next it feels like the Sound itself is evaporating. Rather than melting away in your home pretending that your window fan is making a difference, consider taking refuge somewhere that has ice-cold air conditioning. There’s no need to rack your withered, heat-stroked brain thinking of places to go for respite; look no further t
  
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• Summer Sweet

  21-07-2026 23:15 via thestranger.com
  
  Summer Sweet not your vibe? Check out Boozy Summer Savory instead.I’ve never drunk alcohol. I heard a Minor Threat song when I was 14 and swore off booze right then and there. But few things are more pathetic than a 46-year-old identifying as straight edge.Thankfully, booze-free cocktails are getting increasingly popular, and non-drinkers are no longer relegated to a life of Italian Sodas served in collectible glasses. But as someone who never developed a taste for dirt or wood or whateve
  
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• Summer Savory

  21-07-2026 23:15 via thestranger.com
  
  Summer Savory not your vibe? Check out N/A Summer Sweet instead.In June, when the temperatures creep above 70, I leave the Manhattans behind, and start sniffing out margaritas, mai tais, anything with orgeat that helps me pretend I’m on the vacation I keep promising myself I’ll take “next month.” But my palate can only handle so much fruit juice, and by July, I’m looking for something to wash away the sugar. So this month, allow me to humbly suggest: the savor
  
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• Cashing Out

  21-07-2026 19:06 via thestranger.com
  
  I’m a straight woman in her early thirties dating a straight man in his late twenties. We’ve been together for two years. We kept things casual for the first sixteen months or so. When we had our “define the relationship” talk he agreed to a “no important secrets” policy. The big secret I shared with him: I was engaged for a year, so I have an extremely bitter ex-fiancé out there. (I’m friends with most of my other exes, while he hates all o
  
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• Slog AM: Try to Stay Cool, More Washington Journalists Strike over AI, and How Not to See ‘The Odyssey’ for the Right Reasons

  21-07-2026 18:30 via thestranger.com
  
  It’s a Hot One: Too hot even, dangerously for some. The city hasn’t updated its summer heat safety website since August of last year, but it still has handy links to cooling centers and the like; just ignore all the old dates they mention. It’s today and tomorrow that will be the worst according to the National Weather Service.Workers at State’s Largest Employer (the State) to Walk Out: Governor Bob Ferguson’s austerity fantasy met reality this weekend. The state w
  
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• Slog AM: Slog Am: Try to Stay Cool, More Washington Journalists Strike over AI, and How Not to See ‘The Odyssey’ for the Right Reasons

  21-07-2026 18:30 via thestranger.com
  It’s a Hot One: Too hot even, dangerously for some. The city hasn’t updated its summer heat safety website since August of last year, but it still has handy links to cooling centers and the like; just ignore all the old dates they mention. It’s today and tomorrow that will be the worst according to the National Weather Service.Workers at State’s Largest Employer (the State) to Walk Out: Governor Bob Ferguson’s austerity fantasy met reality this weekend. The state w
  
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• Opinion: I didn’t move to Seattle for progressive politics. I moved here to survive.

  21-07-2026 00:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Last month, I was featured in an NPR article exploring America’s growing phenomenon of “ideological sorting.” “In a country that’s growing ever-more polarized, the shifting demographics cut in both directions—and it is happening across the country,” they wrote. “In one study from 2022, researchers concluded that ‘at no point since the Civil War have partisans been as clustered within individual states as today.’” I told NPR
  
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• The View From the Cheap Seats

  20-07-2026 21:17 via thestranger.com
  
  We have looked forward for years to the World Cup coming to Seattle, and it finally swept through the city this summer. Much of Seattle’s effort to become “game ready” felt like putting makeup on a pig—a spectacle more than a transformation—but we were excited nonetheless.
  We hit the streets to document the tournament the way most fans actually experienced it: not from stadium seats, but from sidewalks, bars, and community hosted events. We followed the crowds
  
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• Stranger Suggests: Your Agenda This Week, July 20–July 26

  20-07-2026 19:00 via thestranger.com
  
  MONDAY 7/20Vanishing Seattle +  Collide-o-Scope(FILM) Two beloved institutions team up at Clock-Out Lounge for a celebration of Seattle’s weird and wonderful past. Pop-culture conservators/video wizards Shane Wahlund and Michael Anderson of Collide-O-Scope are back with Vanishing Seattle curator/documentarian Cynthia Brothers for a night of civic memory and warped entertainment promising “an all-new special concoction of vintage video, freaky film, and found-footage fun in cele
  
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• Slog AM: Spain Wins the World Cup, the Iran War Keeps Escalating, and Diarrhea Lettuce Mystery Continues

  20-07-2026 18:38 via thestranger.com
  Good Morning! After another weekend of perfect weather, the late summer nonsense is officially upon us this week: Temps will be in the 80s and 90s at least until Thursday, and we’re expecting a blanket of wildfire smoke from the Canadian wildfires to finally hit Western Washington. Now is an excellent time to dust off that portable AC unit, check the filters in your air filters, and remind yourself that this only happens for a couple weeks out of the year. In the meantime, let’
  
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• I Saw U: After the US Lost a World Cup Game, Making Out on Light Rail, and Reading ‘The Colour of Magic’

  18-07-2026 00:00 via thestranger.com
  
  lesbianism at metier during usa v. aus match
  we sat next to each other at the bar. you: rapinoe jersey, me: with my black lab. you wished me a happy pride on your way out. drinks sometime?Gas Stations Glances
  North Bend Sinclair 7/3/26. You with kids in a ?Suburban? dreaming of escape. Me – leopard print leggings and my 4-runner. Let’s go into the woods!To the two trans women making out on the light rail on 6/19
  I was the trans woman sitting in front of you, while you talked and mad
  
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• I Saw U: After the US Lost a World Cup Game,

  18-07-2026 00:00 via thestranger.com
  
  lesbianism at metier during usa v. aus match
  we sat next to each other at the bar. you: rapinoe jersey, me: with my black lab. you wished me a happy pride on your way out. drinks sometime?Gas Stations Glances
  North Bend Sinclair 7/3/26. You with kids in a ?Suburban? dreaming of escape. Me – leopard print leggings and my 4-runner. Let’s go into the woods!To the two trans women making out on the light rail on 6/19
  I was the trans woman sitting in front of you, while you talked and mad
  
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• SIFF Cinema Workers Union Walk Out of SIFF Downtown Ahead of 70mm ‘The Odyssey’ Screening

  17-07-2026 23:37 via thestranger.com
  
  Members of the SIFF Cinema Workers Union (SCWU) walked out of the 570-seat SIFF Cinema Downtown Friday before the sold out 3 pm 70mm screening of Christopher Nolan’s fantasy epic The Odyssey. The union said the action was authorized by a majority of members, citing concerns about the slow pace of contract bargaining and SIFF management’s proposals on wages, healthcare, and staffing.
  In a social postmade midnight on Friday, the SCWU said that during union negotiations SIFF refused &l
  
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• The Stranger’s Noise Complaint: Episode Two

  17-07-2026 22:05 via thestranger.com
  
  Welcome to Noise Complaint, The Stranger‘s new audio and video music podcast featuring live performances right here at The Stranger HQ. Streamed live and released every other Friday, we invite a great band, musician, or wonderfully weird act to perform. Tune in, discover something new, and support art in your city.On Apple, you can subscribe to the video podcast here.
  On Spotify, here.This week’s episode is Eleni Govetas Kompania.Eleni Govetas Kompania is a band compo
  
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• Sunshine, Tears, and Disco

  17-07-2026 20:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten of Chinese American Bear (华裔美国熊) started making music for fun, and three albums later, it’s clear that joy is still their top priority. Since 2019, the Seattle-based couple has made bouncy bilingual pop, sung in Mandarin and English, that has led them to gain an international audience. Their latest album, Dim Sum & Then Some, is an explosion of everything pure and good in this world: laughter, fantasy novels, true love, sw
  
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• The Best Bang for Your Buck Events in Seattle This Weekend: July 17–19, 2026

  17-07-2026 19:40 via thestranger.com
  Cheer on your favorite team during the World Cup‘s third-place and final matches at this weekend’s World Soccer Fan Celebration in the U District. There’s more cheap fun to get up to at the Alki Art Fair, the Indian Days Powwow, and the Seattle Bon Odori Festival. For more ideas, check out our top picks of the week.FRIDAYLIVE MUSICCat Valley, Linda From Work, & Poysenberry
  Bellingham band Cat Valley has been making lo-fi riot grrrl punk for a decade now, touting their
  
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• Slog AM: Trump Spews Election Misinformation in Bad Speech, Fires in Canada, Poop Parasite in Your Crunchwrap Supreme

  17-07-2026 18:30 via thestranger.com
  
  Trump Lies: Well, President Donald Trump’s speech on Thursday was a real doozy. He attacked elections. Citing heavily redacted intelligence documents out of context, Trump claimed that China interfered in the 2020 election by stealing millions of voter files on behalf of famed Chinese communist Joe Biden. According to The New York Times, “the documents outline some nascent interest by Chinese officials in influence operations; they concede Beijing never endorsed any broad-based effo
  
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• The Seattle City Council Didn’t Totally Screw Up Mayor Katie Wilson’s Biggest-Ever Seattle Transit Measure to Expand Bus Service in the City 

  17-07-2026 02:40 via thestranger.com
  
  It took over three hours of debate in the Seattle City Council’s Select Committee on Seattle Transportation Benefit District, a slew of dumb amendments, a few good amendments, and sitting through Committee Chair Rob Saka’s tortured pronunciation of the word “machete,” but the Seattle Transit Measure (STM) is intact and headed to a full council vote next week. If it passes, the measure will go to the voters this August.Wilson’s proposal will bump up the sales tax co
  
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• The Seattle City Council Didn’t Totally Screw Up Mayor Katie Wilson’s Biggest-Ever Seattle Transit Measure

  17-07-2026 02:40 via thestranger.com
  
  It took over three hours of debate in the Seattle City Council’s Select Committee on Seattle Transportation Benefit District, a slew of dumb amendments, a few good amendments, and sitting through Committee Chair Rob Saka’s tortured pronunciation of the word “machete,” but the Seattle Transit Measure (STM) is intact and headed to a full council vote next week. If it passes, the measure will go to the voters this November.Wilson’s proposal will bump up the sales tax
  
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• Ticket Alert: Thundercat, Michelle Branch, and More Seattle Events Going On Sale This Week

  16-07-2026 23:01 via thestranger.com
  
  Get ready to rumble with tickets to these newly announced shows. Groovy genre-bending bassist Thundercat will come through Seattle to support his recent release, Distracted. Pop-rock singer-songwriter Michelle Branch has announced a new album and cross-country tour for the fall. Plus, Daily Show correspondent and former pro tennis player Michael Kosta brings his Big Dad Energy stand-up special to Seattle next spring. Read on for details!ON SALE FRIDAY, JULY 17MUSICThe Amity Affliction: House of
  
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• Don’t Be a Drag 

  16-07-2026 22:00 via thestranger.com
  
  My friend group and I attend drag shows and brunches year-round. For the most part, these shows are beautiful displays of queer art and joy, and are valued spaces for the Seattle queer community. In the past month, I have been to several shows where drunk straight people (yes, I’m assuming) had to be kicked out for talking over the performers, shit-talking the venue, and/or transphobic bullshit. As if that isn’t bad enough, I’ve been noticing straight people are not
  
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• Shiloh Davies

  16-07-2026 20:00 via thestranger.com
  
  This story was originally published in The Stranger’s July 2026 print issue.Multidisciplinary artist and designer Shiloh Davies is looking to “bring a little more play into the everyday.” Their textile works—which include soft sculptures, costume designs, and installations—are fantastical, surreal, and full of childlike whimsy. Whether it’s large pancakes stacked along a wall, giant pastel bobby pins, or vibrantly patterned couture outfits, their pieces are d
  
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• Seattle Art Fair 2026 Cheat Sheet 

  16-07-2026 19:00 via thestranger.com
  
  It’s time for the Seattle Art Fair, taking place July 23–26 at the Lumen Field Event Center. I probably don’t have to explain art fairs to anyone, but art fairs are the glitzy cousin of trade fairs, usually housed in fluorescent-flooded convention centers, where galleries gather under one roof to show off their hottest, most buyable work. The daddy of art fairs, Art Basel, started in Switzerland in 1970; in the subsequent decades, more art fairs were born, which begat sat
  
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• Slog AM: Pete Hegseth’s Elite, High-T Warriors, the Great “Chinese Child Pornography” Robbery, and Trump’s Illegal $1 Not-Gold Coin

  16-07-2026 18:30 via thestranger.com
  
  The Naked and Infamous: Denny Blaine Park, Seattle’s favorite hangout for nude gays, will stay open and partially naked, a judge ruled yesterday. The unsightly anti-masturbation fence will stay up, and the city will have to staff the beach with masturbation spotters, place signs outlining good and bad behavior, and establish buffer zones that block neighbors’ views of the naked. Our contributor Guy Oron has the story.Think you’re having a bad day at work? Imagine being Rep. Sh
  
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• Denny Blaine Park Stays Open and Naked, Judge Rules

  16-07-2026 03:13 via thestranger.com
  
  King County Superior Court Judge Samuel Chung has ordered Denny Blaine Park to remain open and naked (on the lower half  of the park), with conditions.The anti-masturbation fence—the City’s response to Chung’s court-ordered abatement plan to curb masturbation and “lewd” conduct—will remain stoically in place. The City will also have to develop a park code of conduct, ensure regular landscaping (no pun intended), establish buffer zones to block neighbor&r
  
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• Pop Loser: “Let’s Fuck Her Up”

  16-07-2026 00:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Welcome back to Pop Loser! This week in music news, the Black & Loud Fest lineup dropped, Peppa Pig shaded Clairo (sigh), and Lorde deemed AI glasses “not sexy.” Power ballad queen Bonnie Tyler died unexpectedly at 75. And I’ll share the song that makes me want to punch a hole in drywall. Subscribe to Pop Loser here!
  This Week in Music: This week in Strangerland, contributor Dave Segal wrote about the new local music you shouldn’t miss, including drops
  
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• Who is the Lead Federal Prosecutor in Western Washington? That Depends on Who You Ask, and That’s Terrifying

  15-07-2026 23:04 via thestranger.com
  
  This morning, the federal judges for the US District Court for the Western District of Washington unanimously appointed veteran local attorney Roger Rogoff as our US attorney, and he was sworn in by Chief Judge David Estudillo. At 8:30 am, he headed into his new office, and asked to see Charles Floyd, the former ICE attorney and hardline Tacoma immigration judge who Trump selected to be US attorney, but who remains unconfirmed by the Senate and is leading the office as “First Assistant&rd
  
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• Slog AM: Trump Says Yes to ICE Traffic Stops, Bob Ferguson Fights Brian Heywood, and Something Is Killing Puffins in Tacoma

  15-07-2026 18:44 via thestranger.com
  
  Tax the Rich Already! Gov. Bob Ferguson has joined the campaign to fight Initiative 645, which would repeal the Millionaires Tax that Ferguson signed into law in March. I-645 is Trump-loving millionaire Brian Heywood’s attempt to repeal the tax (and ban any other taxes on individual income). But here’s the bonkers thing: According to the New York Times, Heywood has spent $11 million since 2022 on pushing conservative policies (which have included everything from anti-climate to anti
  
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