Check your tree privilege Credit: captivecookie / Getty Images
Check your tree privilege
Check your tree privilege captivecookie / Getty Images

Sound Transit has the affordable housing hook-up: All the surplus property Sound Transit owns around Link Light Rail stations will go to affordable housing developers. The measure mandates that “developers utilizing surplus property around light rail stations set aside 80 percent of their residential units for tenants earning 80 percent of the area median income or below,” the Seattle Weekly reports. This move will mitigate traffic congestion and the lack of affordable housing in the Puget Sound area.

Racial disparity in Seattle tree cover: The Emerald City is shaded under a canopy of trees and greenery, yet not all trees are planted equally. Can you beleave it? A recent report by Investigate West shows that non-white neighborhoods have consistently lower tree coverage; Chinatown-International District, for instance, “is 80 percent non-white and has less than 10 percent tree cover,” Curbed Seattle writes, compared to the rest of the city’s 28 percent. Rob Johnson has created a new ordinance to keep up our tree cover and to plant trees in those neighborhoods that don’t have them.

Wallingford woman murdered over eviction dispute: Lita Byrnes was stabbed 60 times on March 12. According to police, Byrnes had been trying to evict Ian Flaherty, her 25-year-old roommate, because he wasn’t paying his share of the expenses. Despite Flaherty’s version of events are different—he says he had heard Byrnes arguing with an unknown male, that the two turned on him, and Byrnes started attacking him—police searched his car and found bloodstains matching Byrnes’ DNA.

Did you miss May Day? It was marked by peaceful protests except for the one guy who threw a rock at the Amazon Spheres. That is obviously unacceptable and he has been arrested. Get caught up on what else went down.

Russian flag removed from consul-general residence: The U.S. State Department doesn’t want a high-flying Russian flag on the historic East Madison Street mansion. So they removed it. The Russians own the building and are demanding the flag be raised again. No dice. Welcome to the new Cold War.

Honeymooner struck by pickup truck in downtown: A 57-year-old woman was crossing First Avenue and Pine Street when she was struck by a turning truck. The driver was an 86-year-old man who was taken into custody for investigation. A man with the woman said they were on their honeymoon. She faces life-threatening injuries.

Baby orca in Hood Canal: A transient pod of orcas has a new calf with them. A whale watching company in the area has observed the pod in the Hood Canal feeding on harbor seals. Here’s a video of the whales. It’s precious:

Snap plummets to record low: The company is now down 24 percent this year. It missed projected revenue by about $14 million, reporting $230.7 million instead of the $244.93 million Wall Street estimate. It blames the decline on the app redesign. Which, yes. Snapchat used to be a decent app and now it’s a clusterfuck to use. Usability was forsaken for more room for advertisers and look where it’s go you, Snap. There was also the whole domestic abuse ad debacle. A classic mix-up.

Happy May 2nd! Did you know today is International Scurvy Awareness Day? Of course you did, you have such beautiful gums. The weather is going to be spectacular today. It might reach 70 degrees.

I am not envious of those people currently in tornado season:

Florida is the gateway to Hell: I’ll take tornadoes over the random sinkholes that are appearing in this Florida town. Either some Godzilla-lookin’ motherfucker is about to burst out of there or Hades is trying to trap a modern day Persephone.

Remember how we all thought Trump’s physical was too good to be true? Yeah. Well. The first whiff we got that something was amiss was that this guy administered the physical:

Dr. Harold N. Bornstein was Trump’s doctor for 36 years! He was gunning for the role of White House physician but the opportunity slipped through his fingers. See, according to him, he made the vital mistake of telling reporters that Trump took a drug to promote hair growth. Next thing Bornstein knew, his office was being raided and all of Trump’s medical records were removed by Trump’s aides. Bornstein saw Dr. Ronny L. Jackson’s recent fall from grace as his shot at the big leagues. Finally, his name in lights. Bornstein’s dreams were soon dashed and, frustrated and honestly probably a little bit hurt, he decided to tell the truth. The letters he wrote vouching for Trump’s health during the campaign were dictated to him by Trump himself. We should’ve known when the letter said that the 70-year-old, over-done-steak-eating Donald Trump was “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”

Boy Scouts drops the “boy” part: The Boy Scouts of America are trying to be the scouting program of choice for America’s children. That means boys and girls. The organization will still be called Boy Scouts of America (BSA) but the signature program will just be called “Scouts BSA.” The future has come swiftly and thoroughly to the organization. In just 2015 BSA decided to lift its ban on gay leaders.

Israel stole a bunch of documents from Iran: The spy agency reportedly stole 110,000 documents about Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Israel and the U.S. say the documents provided “new and compelling details” about Iran’s past behaviors.” They are using it as proof of the program’s flaws. Other experts disagreed and said this unearthed nothing new.

If the shoe fits: The man who threw his shoes at George W. Bush way back in the day is now seeking a parliament seat in Iraq. Muntazar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist, was sent to jail after the incident. He was released early on good behavior. His platform for parliament isn’t clear yet.

Tonight’s best Seattle entertainment options include: Chuck Palahniuk’s signing of his book Adjustment Day, a night of dreamy soundscapes with Briana Marela, Lucy and Lucille, JMoneyFur, and slowfoam, and a live taping of Carvell Wallace’s Webby-nominated podcast Closer Than They Appear, featuring Sondra Perry.

Now, what you’re eating today: I hope there’s some citrus in there. It’s International Scruvy Awareness Day, remember?

Steel cut oats with blueberries and, of course, a big ass cup of coffee.

Lets trademark this rabbit cup
Let’s trademark this rabbit cup Lissa C.

Jim put in some extra effort in his presentation this morning of his breakfast.

Oatmeal with strawberries, a runny egg with cayenne pepper and bits of havarti, and some brown liquid.

“I wonder if the pepper should have been sprinkled on before or after the cheese,” Jim writes. This is already out of my culinary depth so I’ll leave it to the commenters.

A+ plating, Jim.
A+ plating, Jim. Jim C.

Nikki is eating oatmeal with cinnamon and almond butter and bananas and berries. She also has a leg up on everyone and is already enjoying the sunny day. Truly healthy living.

A little dash of sunshine, too??
A little dash of sunshine, too?? Nikki J.

Looks tasty, Jude.

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Jude B

Nathalie Graham covers anything she finds fun, weird, or interesting. You can find a lot of that in her column, Play Date. Her work has also appeared around town in The Seattle Times, GeekWire, and the...