This is not what they mean by free samples. Credit: South_agency/Getty Images
This is not what they mean by free samples.
This is not what they mean by free samples. South_agency/Getty Images

Here comes Expedia’s new headquarters: And here comes inevitable congestion. Despite the company’s assurance that the new Interbay HQ will be a bikeable, walkable, free-shuttle-able transit hub, they also about doubled the size of the existing 1,230 parking spots onsite to 2,300 spaces. That sure does accommodate a lot of cars. In the fall, 4,500 Expedia employees will be making the trek to Interbay instead of Bellevue (Amazon now owns their old building). How will traffic fare?

No leads in Sunday’s White Center shooting: Three people were shot in a White Center alley at around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. No one involved called 911. Instead, three men showed up at Harborview Medical Center with gunshot wounds and King County Sheriff deputies connected the dots between their wounds and the shooting scene where about 40 shell casings were found. Anyone with information about the shooting should call 911 or the nonemergency line at 206-296-3311.

Drought is bad: You don’t need me to tell you that. Our rivers are dangerously low. According to officials, the streamflows in more than half of the rivers in Washington are flowing in the bottom 10th percentile. While underperforming is an embarrassment on its own, that also means less water for drinking, irrigation, and our fishy friends. A hell summer is upon us. It’s just biding its time before it strikes.

Weather today does not seem like hell summer weather: Is this the calm before the (fire) storm?

Costco is a hot spot for purse snatchings: Watch out, Western Washington purse-carriers, there’s a spike in purse snatchings outside big retail stores, including Costco. This one lady got her bag nabbed, and the process—a teen shoving her to the ground—broke her shoulder in two places. Authorities across the Puget Sound area are investigating around 52 snatchings.

This tightrope walk over Times Square happened last night: It was 25 stories up and it’s making me sweat. I also don’t want to be a dick or anything but… I’m less impressed with the whole thing because the two people are tethered. Where’s the risk of mortal peril?

This gets my heart racing, though: These people are probably crazy good at slacklining.

New food bank opens in Sodo: On Monday, the SODO Community Market will replace Cherry Street Food Bank for good. But don’t call it a food bank. The food pantry’s emphasis is on the “community market” of it all. It will be laid out kind of like a Trader Joe’s, with employees stocking the shelves throughout the day. There will be healthy food and no limit to what customers can take. The focus is on dignity.

Get ready for the Democratic primary debates: They’re this week on Wednesday and Thursday, and they will present the first (and for some the only) opportunity for the dense throng of Democratic hopefuls to differentiate themselves from the pack.

New Mexico militiaman arrested for allegedly impersonating border patrol: The man is a member of the Guardian Patriots, a group that has been camped out in Sunland Park, New Mexico, near the border. The US Department of Justice filed two federal charges against one member who allegedly impersonated a border patrol agent back in April. The groups say their goal is to help overwhelmed border patrol officers.

Want to see something cool? Check out this underwater hotel in the Maldives.

Detroit police arrested graffiti artist who was hired by the city: The man was painting a mural on the side of a viaduct. He was commissioned to do so by the city as part of a citywide effort to fight illegal graffiti with city-approved art. Police didn’t believe him, nor did they believe the city official who showed up to vouch for him. He was arrested.

Turkey’s long-time president faces biggest political defeat of his career: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is still in power, but his influence may be waning. On Sunday, his candidate in the mayoral race for Istanbul lost in a landslide defeat. Erdogan, who is from Istanbul, has long maintained power in the city with his political party, the Justice and Development Party. Now, after 25 years, the tides in Istanbul are shifting away from him.

Teen boys around the world are shaking: This robot stole their ultimate trick.

Japan’s high-speed rail thwarted by a slug: In May, more than 12,000 passengers were delayed in the country’s southern Kyushu region after the power went out during morning commute hours. The reason? A small slug got into the power lines. The slug burned to death. Maybe it’s slugs that are causing all these light-rail outages in Seattle.

The US’s pursuit of their fourth World Cup championship continues today: The United States will play Spain this morning at 9 a.m. That’s an hour from now! Assuming you’re reading this at 8 a.m. I’ll be watching.

Tonight’s best Seattle entertainment options include: A screening of The Big Lebowski at Central Cinema, a rock show with Jim James and the Claypool Lennon Delirium, and the first day of Negroni Week.

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...