The downtown seawall project: Source of a stench?
The downtown seawall project: Source of a stench? SEATTLE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Seawall Stench? "It's described as anything from a pungent sulphur odor to the aroma of sewage," KOMO's Mark Miller reports. "Some say the unpleasant odors emerged once construction started. They acknowledge it's not noticeable every day. But they suspect it's coming from the construction site."

Money, Gender, Power, and the Sweet 'n' Sour: We talk about it all on this week's Blabbermouth podcast. Dylan Orr, the man just picked to enforce Seattle's $15 minimum-wage law, is on the show. He's also the first transgender mayoral appointee to a cabinet-level post in Seattle history. And Stranger art editor Jen Graves is on as well, talking about changes at the UW School of Art and some Seattle art you need to see. Listen here.

Man Who Fatally Stabbed Community College English Professor in Pioneer Square Is Ruled Incompetent: "First-degree murder and attempted-murder charges were dismissed Thursday against a 46-year-old man who was found incompetent to stand trial for an unprovoked knife attack that killed one man and injured his girlfriend in Pioneer Square in September 2013," the Seattle Times reports.

Seattle Times Asks for Parking Stories, Nondrivers Answer: The Times says "It’s getting tougher, and more expensive, to find parking in our growing city," so they want "your parking stories and, even better, any solutions you’ve discovered." Here's how some are responding:




Today in Rent-Is-Too-Damn-High News: KUOW has a breakdown of the city's neighborhoods, comparing the rents in each and the pace at which they've shot up. Ballard, for example, which has the second highest rents in the city, saw a 61 percent average rent increase from 2008 to 2014. (And over on the Eastside, the Seattle Times reports that the average house "now costs almost $772,000 and the average monthly rent is $1,500.")

The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission Is Not into the Mayor's New Campaigning Rule: The commission decided Wednesday night it's not yet willing to recommend that the city council pass the proposed rule change—which would ban city council members' campaigns from official city events organized by that council member— because of too many unanswered questions about how it would be enforced. The ACLU has also raised concerns about the rule change, which seemed to be a reaction to a recent meeting at city hall held by council member Kshama Sawant.

Claim Filed Against Olympia Police Involving Same Officer Who Shot Stepbrothers: Lawyers for an African American Century Link repair technician Tyrone Johnson filed a claim against the Olympia Police Department for $1 million, KING 5 reports, stemming from an incident after he returned to the company's garage after working late one night. "Johnson claims Officer Ryan Donald cuffed him and questioned him on why he was in the office so late," according to KING 5. "He says five other officers backed up Donald, drawing their guns. They eventually let him go, but Johnson says he feared for his life. 'The part that pissed me off that I don't understand is…they started fist-bumping each other and laughing. It's not a game. It's not a game playing with somebody's life, pointing guns at somebody,' said Johnson."

Rideshare Driver Allegedly Demanded Sex for Lost Phone: According to the Seattle Police Department Blotter, a woman who left her cell phone in a Rideshare car called the driver and "he initially refused to return the woman’s phone, but said he would bring it back to her if she would have sex with him." Once she convinced him to come back, "she reached inside his vehicle to retrieve her phone [and] the driver sped away, dragging the woman a short distance down the street, leaving her with cuts on her legs, feet, arms, and hands."

For the Strangers first-ever District Date, two writers got lunch with Mike OBrien at Drunkys Two Shoe BBQ in Council District 6.
For The Stranger's first-ever "District Date," two writers got lunch with Mike O'Brien at Drunky's Two Shoe BBQ in Council District 6. Kelly O

The Stranger's City Hall Reporter Eats Sauerkraut and Rides Bikes with Mike O'Brien: For the first installment of a new series, we rode around the newly created Council District 6—covering Fremont and Ballard—with incumbent Mike O'Brien. Then we walked around with his challenger Catherine Weatbrook. Hooray for districts!