COVER ART Corianton Hale with Ryan Snook

NEWS In real news, they're known as follow-up stories. In The Stranger, they're obviously the result of "reporters" who don't want to do the legwork to come up with anything new. To wit: a news section full of stories based on previously reported stories from this very paper. AMY JENNIGES checks in with last week's height-limit dispute on Capitol Hill, ELI SANDERS updates readers on the sentencing of Micah Painter's attackers, and SANDEEP KAUSHIK keeps us up-to-date on the governor's-race lawsuit. ERICA C. BARNETT's story, which has something to do with Ron Sims and political contributions, lost me before I could finish reading the headline, but I'm pretty sure she's written about this kind of thing before.

PLUS: CounterIntel, In the Hall, Sound Bite, and Police Beat

VIGNETTE The Young and the Godly

Continuing The Stranger's assault on religion, SANDEEP KAUSHIK and DARREN BURGESS profile a group of young and idealistic organizers of a recent religious event at the University of Washington.

PULLOUT Stranger SIFF Notes 2005

I have fond memories of early summers during the mid-'60s spent in Cannes downing wine at outdoor cafes with gods like Truffaut, Godard, and the beautiful André Bazin, before the whole thing came crashing down in the hell of '68. What does this have to do with Seattle's very own film festival? Sadly, very little-though my little trip of nostalgia happens to be far more interesting than any criticism found within The Stranger's bloated festival guide.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS This week kicks off a feature on www.thestranger.com known simply as Forums, where readers can publish their own thoughts (including critiques of the paper, not unlike my own). My prediction is that this will eliminate the middleman, and all the sorry trash at the paper will be out of work faster than Spiro Agnew.