Fires are raging across the state. Credit: EDUARD MUZHEVSKYI/GETTY IMAGES
Fires are raging across the state.
Fires are raging across California. EDUARD MUZHEVSKYI/GETTY IMAGES

The Aurora Bridge is going to be a mess today: One of three southbound lanes will be closed for an emergency inspection, potentially snarling commutes on Monday. The decision came after a bridge inspection found “advanced deterioration of steel on the underside of the Aurora bridge.” Which seems like a big deal. Also, weren’t they rehabbing the bridge all summer? How did no one see this structural decay? Sorry, I won’t speculate. But anyway, closures will continue until the bridge is fixed.

ISIS leader killed: In a nighttime raid by US Special Forces, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed. During the raid, he detonated a suicide vest. Al-Baghdadi was the leader responsible for turning ISIS into a global terrorist organization. With the announcement of his death, President Donald Trump was hoping to uh, trump, the impeachment conversation. However, Trump is not the reason this raid was possible. Many of his recent moves have directly worked against undertakings like this one. His distrust of alliances and intelligence communities, for one, may make missions like this one impossible in the future.

The Kurds delivered as well: Kurdish forces killed al-Baghdadi’s right-hand man and ISIS spokesperson just hours after al-Baghdadi was killed. It was a joint operation with Kurdish and US forces.

Wall Street wants our water: The water market is here, and heavy hitters want in on the game. They’re turning to Washington to corner the water markets. One company has been buying up water rights of farms on tributaries of the Columbia River, according to the Seattle Times. It has spent more than $2 million so far scooping up our life sauce (new name for water). There is way more to this, including the future of the water business, a look at the farms in the region, and a fight with the farm that refuses to sell. Give it a read.

It was a chilly night: And will be a chilly morning. If you see some frost on your windows, that’s because temperatures dipped into the 20s last night. Today should turn into a nice, crisp, sunny day. However, I feel like the last few times I’ve written about the weather, it’s been completely wrong. Maybe best not to trust me here.

Just locker-room talk?: There are allegations of a disturbing culture among the Bothell High School football team. There have been two open-and-shut investigations into some sort of hazing the team allegedly does called “Rape Squad,” where players will restrain a teammate and poke or fondle the teammate’s genitals or between his butt cheeks. No evidence was found of the hazing, and one player who complained does not want to press charges.

Mukilteo City Council candidate cheated at debate: Somehow, Peter Zieve had all the answers to all of the questions. He was caught by one of his opponents, who asked during the debate, “Did any of the other council members receive the questions ahead of time?” And then said, “I think my opponent has the questions.” When confronted, Zieve said he did have the questions but didn’t give a straight answer about who gave them to him.

Trump gets booed: Trump attended Game 5 of the World Series at Washington, DC’s Nationals Park. When he appeared on the jumbotron, the crowd broke into a chorus of boos and chanted, “Lock him up!” Some fans even unfurled a giant “Impeach Trump” banner.

A Hong Kong recession: After five months of protests that show no sign of stopping, Hong Kong’s financial secretary has said that the city is likely to achieve no growth this year. The statement came after a weekend of violent protests where protesters set fire to shops.

California is burning: I still have a Los Angeles area code. I got a call at 4:30 a.m. telling me there was a mandatory evacuation order. A new fire started in the Sepulveda Pass near the Getty Museum and spread quickly. It’s now gobbling up acreage near Brentwood and Westside hillside communities. Some residents had only 15 minutes to evacuate. The winds are strong and are going to get stronger this morning. Some of the most affluent homes in the Los Angeles area are threatened. One man remarked, “I have to figure out what I’m going to do with my Ferrari.” He had two cars and wouldn’t be able to drive them both.

Northern California is no exception: North of San Francisco in Sonoma County, the Kincaid fire is burning out of control. It is only about 5 percent contained and spans 54,298 acres. It’s about twice the size of San Francisco. Winds are expected to die down a bit in the area on Monday but will pick up Tuesday.

London corpse truck update: A man has been charged with the deaths of 39 people found in the back of a truck in London. Meanwhile, all of the bodies have now been transported to a nearby medical center for autopsies. Authorities refuse to speculate about the nationalities of the dead, but multiple Vietnamese families have reported relatives missing.

We’re going to need a bigger boat: How much do you think Jaws weighed? Do you think it was more than 2,000 pounds? Because there’s a great white shark swimming along the East Coast that weighs 2,000 pounds. And is 15 feet long. She’s now in Florida and her name is Unama’ki, or “land of the fog.”

Representative Katie Hill resigns: Hill, a freshman congresswoman, has been the subject of an ongoing sexual-harassment investigation stemming from rumors that she had an inappropriate relationship with members of her staff. Those rumors were fueled by nude photos leaked to (and published by) conservative media outlets by her husband that she is in the process of divorcing. Hill, a victim of revenge porn, has announced her resignation.

Today’s EverOut picks are: A chance to hear Lori Goldston play live at Playback: Seattle Public Library Showcase, an evening of chilling tales set in the forest with fiction writer Ben Percy, and the spooky Navy Strength takeover Nightmare on Wall Street. See more on our EverOut Things To Do calendar.

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...