We need a transportation package from Olympia in order to get more light rail in Seattle.
We need a transportation package from Olympia in order to get more light rail in Seattle. Sound Transit

Talks About the State Transportation Package Are Stalled: That's because talks about the state budget—which is needed to stop the government from shutting down—are not going well. “I don’t think anyone can at this stage be anything other than incredibly somber and concerned and deeply troubled by the direction that the discussions are going,” Representative Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, told the Seattle Times. One reason you should care: We need a transportation package in order to tax ourselves to pay for more light rail.

Even So, Some Lawmakers Are Watching Golf: An activist group is calling out lawmakers who go to the US Open at Chambers Bay instead of negotiating that budget deal.

Nine People Are Dead After a Hate Crime Shooting at a Historic Black Church in Charleston: Police believe a 21-year-old white man is responsible for a shooting during a Bible study last night at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Authorities are calling it a hate crime. The church’s pastor and a state senator, Clementa Pinckney, is among the dead, the Post and Courier reports. The suspect has now been arrested.



"I Have to Do It." That's what the gunman reportedly told victims. The cousin of the pastor who was killed told NBC she spoke with a survivor of the shooting "and she said that he had reloaded five different times... and he just said 'I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go.'"

More than 700 bear sitings have been reported this year on the Eastside, KIRO reports.
"More than 700 bear sightings have been reported this year on the Eastside," KIRO reports. Menno Schaefer/Shutterstock

If You Live in Redmond, Bears Want to Eat Your Garbage: This spring on the Eastside, KIRO reports, "Fish and Wildlife officers said they have responded to more complaints, trapped more bears and tried to scare away more bears than ever."

Heroin Deaths Spiked in King County Last Year: Fatal overdoses linked to heroin increased by 58 percent in the county last year, the steepest rise in local drug-related deaths in 17 years.

City to Pay Nearly $2 Million in Use-of-Force Settlement: Nathaniel Caylor was shot by police in 2009 after they were called to his apartment because a family member thought he was suicidal. He was left "spitting out teeth and pieces of his jaw." The $1.975 million settlement is believed to be the largest in city history.

Rachel Dolezal Has Been Asked to Resign from a Police Oversight Body in Spokane: That group, which is supposed to help oversee the city's police ombudsman, is falling apart right before the city's eyes. Dolezal and two others have been asked to resign after a city investigation found evidence of "records tampering, disclosure of sensitive information, demeaning treatment of city employees and attempted overstepping of their authority," reports the Spokesman Review.

Good thing shes funny since she isn’t movie-star thin or model-pretty.
Good thing she's funny since "she isn’t movie-star thin or model-pretty." CarlaVanWagoner/Shutterstock

Finally a Man to Explain Why a Woman Is Funny! Seattle Weekly has the story no one wanted on comedian Amy Schumer. Or should I say, lady-comedian Amy Schumer. The piece is actually called, "The Dude’s Guide to Amy Schumer" (subhead: "Women love her raunchy new brand of feminism. But what does she have to teach guys?").

I Didn't Make Up Any of These Sentences, Which All Actually Appear in the Piece: "She isn’t movie-star thin or model-pretty, which makes her seem approachable," "And despite having a strong female fan base, she also resonates strongly with men," "In her stage persona, at least, there’s no guessing about her thoughts or feelings. If men—like me, yes—often have trouble figuring out what’s going on in the heads of their wives or girlfriends, Schumer’s candor serves as reassurance that women aren’t as different from men as our culture often leads us to believe. Their struggles may be different, but the emotions surrounding them are not."

If You're a Dude and You Need Another Dude to Explain to You Why a Wildly Popular Non-Dude Is Funny: I'm not sure what to tell you. Keep picking up Seattle Weekly, I guess.