Pearl Jam, they’re just like us: Pearl Jam hates the traffic and homelessness makes them sad. That’s why they’ve pledged to donate $10 million from their Seattle concert dates — the aptly named “home shows” — to combat homelessness during a week filled with similarly motivated events. During the August 8 and 10 shows, over 70 partners and individual donors will also kick in some proceeds. With two weeks to go, the shows have already raised $11.5 million.
Edmonds starts paying its teachers a living wage: The starting pay for molding the minds of the future is actually not too shabby. Teachers in Edmonds will be making $62,688. The proposed pay scale would make them some of the highest paid teachers in the state.
Catholic Church isn’t about the death penalty: Pope Francis changed the Church’s stance on the death penalty. He says it’s inadmissible and is working to abolish it worldwide.
Clean up off of Delridge Way: It’s slick under the West Seattle Bridge this morning. A tanker truck tipped its load. The tanker is gradually leaking out its 5,000 gallons oil and the roadway is coated. The immediate concern was fire and destruction from having oil on the road. Then firefighters realized some of the oil slipped past them, down a drain, and likely into the Duwamish river. Oops.
Outdoor burn ban: Don’t touch that flint before you double-check whether or not you’re going to light the entire Olympic Peninsula on fire. Part of the whole state of emergency thing means that all outdoor burning activity such as “burn piles, prescribed burns, and the use of charcoal briquettes” has to stop. This doesn’t extend to federal land so campers have to check local restrictions. Probably don’t do it though. Also don’t light fireworks in any gorges.
Courts side against Trump on sanctuary cities: Donald Trump wants to kneecap sanctuary city funding. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trump’s executive order to slice and dice sanctuary city funding was unconstitutional. It’s outside the realm of his power. Congress does the funding and presidents don’t have the power to withhold it to further their policy goals. The one limitation of the court’s ruling is that any of the states not covered by the 9th Circuit may be susceptible to the executive order.
Should we draft this 6-year-old to play on the Seahawks?
Little man is only 6 years old. 😳🔥 (Submitted by @blaze_813)
A post shared by House of Highlights (@houseofhighlights) on
New Blabbermouth podcast! Episode 160 starts off with a discussion of Paul Manafort, the first witch to face trial. (Five other Trump officials have already pled guilty.)
UW students are getting scammed by fake police: The administration needs to work “a healthy level of skepticism” into the orientation program at UW. Phone calls from numbers that look like the Seattle Police Department’s number are scamming students. The caller threatens students to send money. The UW Police Department even received a scam call. No students have paid the scammers yet, but with UW students returning to campus next month who knows what will happen.
Starbucks grinds out new China deal: The ink is still wet on the partnership between the coffee powerhouse and Alibaba. The agreement allows Starbucks to put its online store up on Alibaba’s apps as well as create a customer rewards program. A new delivery system will be launched, as well.
Breezy:
Forecast high in Seattle today of 68° is 9 degrees below the normal of 77°. The last time Seattle had a high 9 degrees or more below the daily normal…April 16th ( 47° versus a normal of 59° ). #wawx
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) August 2, 2018
Why does Paul Manafort have so many clothes made from weird animals? Manafort, at one point Trump’s campaign chairman, is on trial for bank and tax fraud. The trial thus consists of going through Manafort’s personal life and belongings and highlighting extravagance. Manafort’s personal style has been subjected to this scrutiny. Despite how ugly, Manafort’s tastes are lavish. He owns an ostrich jacket and a python jacket. Both cost upwards of $15,000. This is my Halloween costume this year.
Manafort appears to have purchased not just an $15,000 ostrich jacket, but also a $9,500 ostrich vest. And the cost of that Python jacket? $18,500, according to invoices from Alan Couture entered into the case’s evidence collection. https://t.co/e5otj27Pqj
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) August 2, 2018
Park your ass and ride: New York hero transports couch on subway, relaxes.
Trump pumps the brakes on carbon dioxide emissions: Perhaps it’s the insecurity about his hands that has Trump making sure he has the biggest carbon footprint. Or, he’s in the pocket of big business and big businesses don’t like environmental regulations. It’s a toss up. Trump is planning to revoke an Obama-era mandate that requires automakers to make cars fuel efficient. This directly goes against California’s environmental policies.
Inspiring: I like the part where it the obstacle the guy runs through looks like a line at an amusement park.
Would you try this?
Credit: https://t.co/OUEiuuXjq4 pic.twitter.com/6ZX4OPelD8
— What The F*** Facts (@WhatTheFFacts) June 22, 2018
Tokyo medical school intentionally lowered women’s test scores to keep them out: Apparently, in 2010, the amount of admitted females to Tokyo Medical University doubled. The school wasn’t about that. In 2011, it started intentionally lowering female scores by adding a fixed coefficient. One justification for this was that women would quit after finishing school to get married and have children. Men, on the other hand, would support the university hospital.
An update from my alley:
The deadline to cast your ballots is coming up. August 7th, you knew that, didn’t you? If you didn’t, please vote. It’s not that hard and it’s very important. I still have to decide how I’m voting.
No, not in that election. In the election in my alley.
You see there has been campaigning for well over a year. It’s guerrilla stuff. Really makes you think. But, the candidates are mysterious, the platforms ambiguous. However, when it comes down to it — just like anything — it’s a choice.
Susan.
Or not Susan.
These are the options.
Now, it’s hard to base anything on fact when what I have to go on is the number of times someone has chalked a pro-Susan message vs. an anti-Susan message. Before I cast my vote, I’d like to know more about Susan.
But maybe Susan’s appeal lies in her enigmatic nature. “Susan is better” the chalk reads and, you know, I’m compelled to believe it. Better than what? We’re not offered a concrete answer, but who needs one? Susan gives us hope. Whatever she is, she is better. I’d take better.
Tonight’s best Seattle entertainment options include: A synth-filled screening of Pietro Anton’s documentary Italo Disco Legacy, the Pioneer Square Art Walk, and the Williams Project’s performance of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Spanish tragedy Blood Wedding.
