Seattle news

• Seattle’s population boom approaching Gold Rush numbers

  14-09-2015 03:39
  
  Driven by tech hiring — particularly by Amazon — the city’s growth is as fast as it’s ever been.
  
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• Ticket Alert: Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean, Jessie Reyez, and More Seattle Events Going On Sale This Week

  27-08-2026 23:09 via thestranger.com
  
  Summer isn’t quite over yet, but we’re here to help you make plans for a fun fall. Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean reunite for an arena show celebrating the 30th anniversary of the iconic, genre-bending Fugees album, The Score. Canadian R&B singer Jessie Reyez goes on tour this fall in support of her new release, A Little Vengeance. Plus, tickets for Emerald City Comic Con 2027 just went on sale. Read on for details on those and other newly announced events.ON SALE FRIDAY, AUG
  
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• Slog AM: Teachers Authorize Strike, Infinity Mirrors Artist Dies at 97, Number of Dead and Missing Rises in Nepal Floods  

  27-08-2026 18:45 via thestranger.com
  
  This morning, I have no bad news concerning the departure of a beloved pop culture icon from this world to wherever next is or might be or might not be. Now, there’s a powerful Ghanaian novel by Ayi Kwei Armah called The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. It was published in 1968, near the end of a long and very violent process of decolonization. But I disagree with Armah on one point: The beautiful have been and are being born, but they’re clearly more fragile than the spiritually ug
  
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• Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson Signs Order on Traffic Safety

  26-08-2026 23:30 via thestranger.com
  
  Last week Seattle politicians spent a whole lot of time talking about public safety, but one actually did something about it.The big news came on Friday when Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson signed an executive order on Vision Zero, the city’s goal to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries to zero by 2030. Numbers have been trending the wrong way for years—19 pedestrians died on the city’s streets in 2025, compared to six in 2016.Safe street advocates have said the Seattle D
  
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• Seattle Copes with Dolly Parton’s Death

  26-08-2026 21:45 via thestranger.com
  
  Around 10:53 am on Tuesday, August 25, news broke that Dolly Parton, the Queen of Country, died in Nashville at 80. I raced to Scarecrow Video and scrambled upstairs to the Musicals section to grab a copy of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas before it was gone. On the television above the register, Rhinestone, the 1984 romcom in which Parton stars opposite Sylvester Stallone, was on. Her angelic cloud of platinum curls glittered in a dark bar on screen.I wasn’t the only one in a rush fo
  
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• Pop Loser: RIP ZZ Top Drummer Frank Beard, Sub Pop Expands Retail Empire, a Troubling Exposé of Ex-Maktub Frontman Reggie Watts

  26-08-2026 20:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Welcome back to Pop Loser. I’m filling in for Audrey Vann again. In this week’s column, we mourn the sad passing of ZZ Top’s drummer since 1969, Frank Beard, note the expansion of Sub Pop Records’ retail empire, discuss King Youngblood leader Cameron Lavi-Jones’s newly launched youth voter outreach program, and recoil in horror at a recent Rolling Stone article that reveals some disturbing aspects of former Seattle musician/comedian Reggie Watts.
  This Week in Music
  
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• Slog AM: Dolly Parton Died, Tim Curry Died, I’m Too Sad to Do the Real News

  26-08-2026 18:34 via thestranger.com
  
  Yesterday, Dolly Parton died. I can’t think of another person who was so widely beloved. It felt like a global day of mourning as thousands of tributes poured in from every direction. I loved her, too. So yes, we’ll do the news this morning, but let’s also remember just a few of the ways in which Dolly Parton was an anomaly, an angel, a once-in-a-lifetime talent, and a once-in-a-lifetime human being. She maneuvered sexism in the music and film industry with humor and grace, an
  
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• Where to Eat By the Water in Seattle

  25-08-2026 21:21 via thestranger.com
  
  One of the main perks of living in a city surrounded by rivers, lakes, canals, bays, and, of course, one very large Sound is that waterfront dining is usually within reach. And while smoked salmon and clam chowder will always be our staples, Seattle has just about every version of the “on the water” experience you could ask for: fish and chips on Elliott Bay, tacos after a long paddle around Portage Bay, oysters overlooking the very boats that hauled them in, and even brunch with an
  
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• Flagging Indicator

  25-08-2026 19:02 via thestranger.com
  
  Bi female here. I’ve been seeing an ENM M/F couple for almost four months. The F was an acquaintance of mine for about two years. We are all close in age (late thirties, early forties). This is my first ethically non-monogamous relationship.Here are the pros: they are charming and attractive; the sex is great; they are affectionate with me in public and introduce me to their friends as someone they are dating; they invite me to sleepover at their place, they cook for me, and show other ac
  
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• Slog AM: Feds Undermine Washington Unemployment Protections Ahead of Possible Big Strikes, a Congressional Candidate Honors His Nazi Grandfather, and the US Removes Syria from the Terror List After Putting Al-Qaeda in Charge

  25-08-2026 18:30 via thestranger.com
  
  Neumos security staff won their union election: The National Labor Relations Board tallied their votes Friday and everyone who showed up voted yes. Workers at Neumos, Barboza and The Runaway, all owned by Fokus Industries, began organizing publicly this spring, with the security staff announcing a union earlier this month. Neumos Security Union organizer Ozi Goldstein emailed The Stranger the following after results were announced:
  “We achieved this result because workers already saw that
  
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• US Supreme Court Sides with Trump Administration in Attack on Mail-In Voting

  25-08-2026 02:19 via thestranger.com
  Today, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that could, in the short term, allow the implementation of President Donald Trump’s master plan to upend mail-in voting and delegitimize legitimate voting systems just in time for a midterm election where his approval rating is lower than it has ever been.  In March, Trump issued an executive order to restrict mail-in voting to only “eligible” voters—there would be a list of these adult US citizens—and would ste
  
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• Stranger Suggests: Your Agenda This Week, August 24–August 30

  24-08-2026 19:00 via thestranger.com
  MONDAY 8/24Kavi Yaga with Diana XinLINAARPS PHOTOGRAPHY(LITERATURE) I recently devoured the novel Martyr! by poet, novelist, and editor Kaveh Akbar, so when I found out that he’d chosen Hyderabad, India-based author Kavi Yaga’s debut short story collection The Vanishings for The George Garrett Fiction Prize, my interest was immediately piqued. Akbar wrote, “I love what The Vanishings makes of empty space, of the disappeared and disappearing, the once-longed-for, the self, the
  
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• Slog AM: ICE Agents in Washington Arrested the Wrong Man, Iran’s Rial Plummets in Value, and Can the Improved Route 8 Survive Monday’s Commute?

  24-08-2026 18:30 via thestranger.com
  During an operation in Lakewood to arrest a Mexican national with a final deportation order last month, ICE agents instead detained 23-year-old Venezuelan citizen Moises Velasquez, an immigrant who had entered the United States legally but was driving the same car, a grey Volkswagen GTI, as their target. In an order granting Velasquez’s habeas corpus petition to challenge his detention, US Magistrate Judge S. Kate Vaughn said agents had demonstrated a “complete lack of procedures,&r
  
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• I Saw U: Picking Up Trash on University Way, Dropping Your Earbud Outside of Poquitos, and Washing Windows at Capitol Hill Block Party

  22-08-2026 00:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Playboy Bunny Boy Picking up Trash
  I saw you on the corner of 43rd and University Way. I giggled to myself the rest of the night because you were so attractive to me in your mask.Umpqua Hot (for you) Springs
  Fully naked, you offered the best conversation and company. A fellow solo adventurer and hot sauce enthusiast. I hope your niece enjoyed her 1st bday!I was your first dance at Parkchata
  Your name starts with a V. You were lovely to dance with, and we went for another song! I was wearing a w
  
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• The Stranger’s Noise Complaint: Black Ends

  21-08-2026 21:25 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 YouTube here.
  This Week’s episode features Black Ends!We’ve loved Black Ends for years, at least
  
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• The Best Bang for Your Buck Events in Seattle This Weekend: Aug 21–23, 2026

  21-08-2026 20:42 via thestranger.com
  
  Hate to break it to ya, but there’s officially only four weekends left in summer. Take advantage of our dwindling sunny days at cheap and cheerful events from Festival Sundiata’s Black Arts Fest to Hai! Japantown and from SOUK Seattle to the 16th Annual Off The Wall + 13th & Fir Mural Reveal Party. For more ideas, check out top picks of the week.FRIDAYLIVE MUSICBupp! // Treefold
  You never quite know what you’re going to get from local experimental band Bupp!, but that&rsqu
  
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• Slog AM: High-T Navy May Name Aircraft Carrier After Noted Coward, Wildfires Cost Washington $207 Million in Two Months, and After Husband Dies in Alaska, Mexican Widow Not Allowed into US 

  21-08-2026 18:22 via thestranger.com
  
  Local coffee roaster and cafe operator Starbucks is laying off 224 of its employees, including 120 people who didn’t want to relocate to Nashville and live the honky-tonk life. The affected workers live in Seattle and beyond. The company said the layoffs are the “final piece” of its global restructuring plan, reports KING 5.The price of climate denial grows: According to the Washington State Standard, fighting the 20 wildfires crisping Washington this July and August cost $207
  
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• The Stranger’s Exhaustively Comprehensive Bursting-at-the Seams Guide to Bumbershoot 2026!

  21-08-2026 01:16 via thestranger.com
  
  Phew! Another music festival? But it’s almost September! Isn’t it time to go back to school and drink hot cocoa under a cozy blanket and pretend to care about football? No! There is still summer fun to be had, as exhausted as you may be, because Bumbershoot is taking over the Seattle Center September 5 and 6 with two days of music, comedy, art, wrestling, fashion, and so much more. (Like, literally there is a mermaid???)We know how overwhelming festivals can be, and this year&r
  
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• Every Band Playing Bumbershoot: Saturday

  21-08-2026 01:03 via thestranger.com
  
  KEY:
  ⭐ Don’t Miss
  📍 Local!⭐ 📍 ANTHERS
  This comparison will only resonate with maybe six people, but I’m gonna say it anyway: If you loved long-defunct Seattle punk rock noise makers pleasureboaters, go see ANTHERS and party like you’re at Healthy Times Fun Club circa 2008. Not a 40-something who lived in Seattle nearly two decades ago? Fine. Here are some more rock bona fides—ANTHERS’ latest singles, “Soup” and “Colle
  
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• Every Band Playing Bumbershoot: Sunday

  21-08-2026 01:01 via thestranger.com
  
  KEY:
  ⭐ Don’t Miss
  📍 Local!📍 American Flats
  If you need a break from all the modern music pummeling your eardrums, catch local American Flats, who describe themselves as “a rock and roll band with Americana and punk influences.” It’s not revelatory, it’s not perfect, but it’s a warm hug if you’re longing for those days of seeing Tom Petty at the Gorge every summer. (Upper Courtyard Stage) MEGAN SELINGATARASHII GAKKO!
  If you love J-
  
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• Every Arts District at Bumbershoot 2026

  21-08-2026 00:59 via thestranger.com
  
  ⭐ Means don’t miss it!⭐ Bumbermania
  In which local wrestling crew SOS Wrestling builds a real-deal ring in the middle of the Seattle Center, and dozens of local wrestling superstars (66, to be exact!) fight, tackle, pummel, and toss one another around for a chance at the Bumbermania belt. It’s so fun, so captivating, that I missed part of Janelle Monáe’s headlining set last year because I couldn’t look away. MEGAN SELINGCat Circus
  It is my journalist
  
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• Who Said It?

  21-08-2026 00:58 via thestranger.com
  While waiting for Death Cab for Cutie to take the stage Sunday night, see if you can guess who penned each line of morbid prose—Ben Gibbard or 19th-Century gothic writer Edgar Allan Poe!1. “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing / Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”2. “Oh, how this penchant is a curse / All the way from the cradle to the hearse / And there are days when I wish you’d just become / An acqua
  
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• Ticket Alert: Jonas Brothers, Brett Goldstein, and More Seattle Events Going On Sale This Week

  20-08-2026 22:03 via thestranger.com
  The Jonas Brothers are throwing it back to 2008, reprising their Burning Up Tour “all over again,” this time with support from younger brother Franklin Jonas. Brett Goldstein, the actor, writer, and comedian who plays lovable grump Roy Kent on Ted Lasso, brings his new Sex, Death and Small Talk stand-up show to Seattle. Plus, underground hyperpop hip-hop artist Lucy Bedroque drops a new single from their upcoming album alongside a fall tour announcement. Read on for details on those
  
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• Art on a Farm, Lovers in the Streets, and We Really Think You Should Have $10,000!

  20-08-2026 20:00 via thestranger.com
  
  The past two weeks have been nothing short of fucking delightful. We’ve sneakily delivered cakes loaded with candy, googly eyes, neon sprinkles, and all manner of sugary bits and bobs by Arts Editor, and secret confectionary genius, Emily Nokes, to this year’s six Genius recipients. I’m not a gifted liar—even white lies come out of me with shifty facial tics and tells—so it was an extra-strenuous task to fool literal artistic geniuses by luring them into our office
  
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• Slog AM: Mayor Wilson Recall Gets Court Date, Trump Threatens Economic Sanctions Again, and Seattle Christian Metal Band Sues Netflix 

  20-08-2026 18:32 via thestranger.com
  
  That dumb Mayor Katie Wilson recall petition has a court date. In last week’s Slog AM, I mentioned that a Bruce Harrell supporter and her husband filed papers to recall Mayor Wilson. The charges will be heard in King County Superior Court on August 31. The Seattle Times says Mayor Wilson has retained Dmitri Iglitzin as counsel. If a judge decides the recall charges meet the legal threshold of “malfeasance,” “misfeasance,” or a violation of her oath, the filers of t
  
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• Bike Trail Flail

  20-08-2026 00:00 via thestranger.com
  
  To the unapologetic mom and child who made me fall off my bike at Seward Park, I think your kid should learn better trail etiquette before being able to ride a bike in the middle of the trail, if they can’t follow “on your left!” Not to mention, barely even staying for a moment to check in after I could finally get up from the ground after avoiding ramming into your child and falling into trees instead, bending my handlebars and my knee.  You should ALSO know I
  
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• Hunger Strike Over Poor Food Quality at NWDC Concludes

  19-08-2026 21:20 via thestranger.com
  
  After nearly a week, more than 140 immigrants detained in the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) have concluded their hunger strike in protest of inedible food, often served at irregular hours. The action marked the 20th hunger strike in the Tacoma facility this year.Detainees in the center’s G3 unit began the protest last Tuesday, and were joined by detainees from the G4 unit the following morning. The participants then established contact with the immigrant solidarity group La Resistenci
  
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• Pop Loser: Courtney Love Update, New Shabazz Palaces Single, and Three Blood Brothers Return as Evil Island

  19-08-2026 20:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Welcome back to Pop Loser. I’m Dave Segal and I’ll be filling in for Audrey Vann over the next three weeks. Not gonna lie: I generally don’t mess with pop music, but I am familiar with losing. So, the content of this column may hit a little differently than it does under Audrey’s byline; she has a mastery of the domain that I, a writer more than twice her age, could never match. However, I have had dalliances with pop during my Stranger tenure. Over the years, come late
  
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• Pop Loser: Courtney Love Update, New Shabazz Palaces Single, a Blood Brother Returns as Evil Island

  19-08-2026 20:00 via thestranger.com
  
  Welcome back to Pop Loser. I’m Dave Segal and I’ll be filling in for Audrey Vann over the next three weeks. Not gonna lie: I generally don’t mess with pop music, but I am familiar with losing. So, the content of this column may hit a little differently than it does under Audrey’s byline; she has a mastery of the domain that I, a writer more than twice her age, could never match. However, I have had dalliances with pop during my Stranger tenure. Over the years, come late
  
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• Slog AM: Trump Declares Oman and Iran’s Strait of Hormuz is Ours, Mariners Humiliated Before Tens of Thousands, Washington Judge Rules Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness Now Apply to Data Center Power Lines

  19-08-2026 18:30 via thestranger.com
  
  Conservative KIRO News Radio is now concerned about a report by Washington Health Benefit Exchange that “showed 66,000 people in Washington dropped their Affordable Care Act (ACA).” That’s close to a 25% drop. Since Trump took office, around 100,000 people in this state lost their protection from the accidents of life; they can’t afford to go to the hospital if something suddenly happens, and something bad always happens to the body sooner or later to a body, otherwise i
  
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