Back from cancer recovery to kill kids with cancer.
Back from cancer recovery to kill kids with cancer. US Senate

Health Care for Millions of Americans Back on the Line: John McCain, the Republican senator who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, announced he will return to the Senate today, potentially representing the vote that puts a bill on the floor that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, effectively stripping health care away from 32 million Americans.


But this is the Senate, and nothing is as simple at it seems. If the Republicans corral the majority votes they need today, that simply allows majority leader Mitch McConnell to put a bill up for debate. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky says he won't vote for "repeal and replace," but it looks like he might get his way. Meanwhile, Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska say they won't vote on "repeal" without "replace." Senator Susan Collins of Maine says she'll hold out regardless. Other senators have their own concerns.

Seattle Public Schools Bring on Disadvantaged Kids to Play Sports, While Academics Take a Back Seat: Don't miss this one. A federal law 16 years ago made it easier for homeless kids to bypass residency requirements to attend public schools. But the Seattle Times found that more and more Seattle schools are taking advantage of this program to recruit student athletes. The designation allows kids to play sports with lower grade point averages, and the Times found evidence suggesting schools aren't really making an effort to prep students for the future. As one former Garfield High School football coach said, “They’re using kids who are chasing the dream of being professional athletes, by hiding behind a law for homeless students — it’s just wrong.”

Seattle Is Becoming Too Expensive for Wealthy Foreign Home Buyers: Just last year, Seattle was the top city for Chinese homebuyers. But recent data from the Chinese real estate site Juwai.com shows that Chinese interest in Seattle homes has already decline 10 percent since then. And foreign home sales overall in Washington State are down 24 percent from last year. Overseas buyers, many of whom aren't even living in the homes they're buying, are looking at cheaper markets. The Times' real estate guru Mike Rosenberg points out the irony that the foreign investors driving up housing prices in Seattle are driving other foreign investors out of Seattle.

City Council Approves Three Central District Upzones: The move allows developers to build taller buildings along 23rd Avenue, at the intersections of East Union, East Cherry and South Jackson Streets.

Movies at Magnuson Park Canceled: Organizers cite "security concerns."

Mudede on the Misappropriation of Trees: Charles Mudede loves trees. NIMBYs claim to love trees when really they hate density.

Federal Ruling Protects Northwest Immigrant Rights Project's Right to Provide Legal Services to Undocumented Immigrants: The Justice Department sent the group a cease-and-desist letter saying they violated rules by helping undocumented immigrants without formally representing them. NWIRP sued, saying the Feds violated its First Amendment right to associate. Yesterday, a federal judge sided with the immigrant advocates over the deportation machine.

Pramila Jayapal Attends Town Hall in Dave Reichert Territory: People held signs asking "Where's Dave?" Three Reichert challengers showed up. Julie Negrin of Mercer Island said she would refuse cancer treatment if the Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare. Rich Smith reported.

Showing up in place of no-shows.
Showing up in place of no-shows. Courtesy of Pramila Jayapal campaign

"Stuff That Makes White People Uncomfortable": Is the name of Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett's upcoming book.

Four Former Seattle Mayors Say Mayor Murray Should Finish His Term: They signed a letter emphasizing the importance of a organized, undisrupted transition. Charles Royer told The Stranger he doesn't believe the child sex abuse allegations against Murray, explaining, "If you don’t know the truth, you have to believe your friends."

LGBTQ Commission Says Mayor Murray Should Resign: Some of the members of the commission, which makes policy recommendations to the city, were appointed by Murray himself. "Claiming homophobic intent to shield yourself from accountability and erase the experiences of survivors of sexual abuse is silencing, manipulative, and morally repugnant," the group's letter said.

Two City Council Members Want an Independent Commission to Decide What Should Happen If Murray Gets Impeached: Lorena González to Mayor Murray, referring to his attack on the child welfare workers who found that he abused his foster child in the 1980s: "I also encourage you to refrain from categorically attacking the credibility of caseworkers and institutions, who are charged with the difficult work of investigating serious child sex abuse allegations."

Kshama Sawant: "The council has an independent duty to act on this because it’s a question of how our decisions appear in terms of what courage we were able to show in our duties toward sexual violence survivors and what precedent that sets."

But the City Council Probably Won't Impeach Murray: They don't appear to have the votes.

Despite calls to step down, Murray says he won't resign.
"Despite calls to step down, Murray says he won't resign." DAVID RYDER / GETTY

Beware the Trump Youth: "U-S-A! U-S-A!" chanted a huge crowd of Boy Scouts during a jamboree in which the president of the United States of America attacked the media, gloated about his election victory, and promised to repeal Obamacare.

110 of 111 NFL Players' Brains Examined by Neuropathologist Had CTE: The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the clearest link to date between playing football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.