Thanks, dudes! Credit: Lester Black
Thanks, dudes!
Thanks, dudes! Lester Black

Our Rainbow Connection: The rainbow crosswalks outside of our office were disfigured by recent construction (presumably for the future WeWork building). But today, they got fresh paint jobs. They’re looking sexy. I’m proud of them. Stranger‘s Lester Black took more pics:

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Lester Black
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Lester Black

Amazon and Google stocks drop as preparations for antitrust investigations begin: Get your popcorn ready, the stage is set for (VERY LONG OVERDUE) antitrust inquiries by U.S. regulators into big tech companies like Amazon and Google. Many Democratic and Republican lawmakers—most notably, Sen. Elizabeth Warren—have called for scrutiny of the companies as they’ve experienced rapid growth. It seems there may finally be some action on this front. With many investors uncertain how U.S. regulators will act, GeekWire reports that Amazon and Google stocks have fallen more than 4 and 6 percent, respectively, Monday morning.

Singer-songwriter Neko Case tweets “Wow. Ballard is gone,” triggers gigantic Twitter fight: It started with this.


Twitter wasn’t having it.


There are a lot of stakeholders in this fight.


This goes on and on. Neal McNamara at Patch broke down the conflict here.

Unfortunately, the name of your street will not be changed to Cannabis Way: Really disappointed in this news, but apparently the phone calls many Kitsap residents have been receiving from a one “Bob Doblina of Kitsap County Public Works” are FAKE. Total pranks. Not real. If you’re a Kitsap resident and you receive a phone call about any of the following topics, you are advised to hang up, says the Seattle Times:

The county said that, among other things, residents were told:

  • We’re going to be digging a 6-foot hole in your yard on Monday. There was money left in a budget and someone needed to learn how to dig a hole.
  • We’ll be parking a truck in front of your business or residence for two weeks to repair a pothole.
  • Your address on Clear Creek Road is being changed to Cannabis Way.
  • We’re installing a cell tower at the end of your driveway.
  • We’re going to be marking your yard tomorrow to dig 3 feet on Monday.

    • Trump is officially on his U.K. tour: He’s there for three days of “vital meetings,” but first, the most vital thing:


    Amazingly, Fox News is not available in Britain. Even if they wanted to be, “the UK’s media regulator said that the conservative channel didn’t abide by the country’s impartiality rules,” reports Vox.

    Nevertheless, he persisted:

    New vinyl bar open: Life on Mars, a “vinyl-centric” bar that offers a plant-based menu (I believe “plant-based” is the new vegetarian/vegan—they’ve rebranded), has opened on Capitol Hill. As Stranger’s Dave Segal noted earlier this year, it’s run by KEXP DJ/associate programming director John Richards, his partner Amy Richards (Pair Music Collective), Neumos/Barboza/Runaway co-owner Steven Severin, and his wife Leigh Sims (Wake Up Promotions). It’s in the Pike Flats building, and it’s located on the same corner where the War Room and 95 Slide used to be.

    Gruesome stuff from the SPD blotter:

    A 57-year-old woman was injured Monday after her 16-year-old grandson stabbed her with a machete in a Rainier Beach home and then fled into Lake Washington, where he was later found dead.

    Shortly after noon, the victim called police and reported that her grandson had stabbed her inside her home in the 9700 block of 57th Avenue South, and fled.

    Medics transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center in stable condition.

    Say goodbye to the “Sea Gals”: Just like the vegans, these Gals are rebranding. The Seahawks’ dance team will no longer be called the “Sea Gals,” opting instead for “The Seahawks Dancers.” Why the change? Because there will be MEN on the dance team for the first time ever. I think they could’ve just kept calling it Sea Gals.

    I interrupt this news to bring—Oh god, this picture, it’s so uncomfortable:


    Trump just had a state banquet with the Queen of England. He praised the “eternal friendship” between the U.K. and U.S., according to the BBC. He was also allowed to eat off the good china. I don’t know why, but this banquet is giving me flashbacks to this nightmare:

    Proposed Washington state healthcare premiums only slightly higher this year: By less than 1%! The past three years have seen double-digit rate increases in premiums, reports the Seattle Times. The CEO of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange suggested this means the market is stabilizing.

    Today’s Very Important Slogs:
    Seattle City Council election news:

  • “Will Seattle City Council Candidates for District 3 Raise Taxes to Pay for Housing and Homelessness?”
  • “Here’s Where the Seattle City Council Candidates Stand on Upzoning”

    • Seattle Art Fair news:

  • “Seattle Art Fair 2019 Announces Exhibitor List and Programming Which Includes Bread Face. Hot.”

    • Seattle beer news:

  • “Cloudburst Brewing Is Opening a New Taproom in Ballard”

    • Seattle has a new highway for fish: Check out this great piece from Seattle Times‘s Daniel Beekman if you missed it this morning. It’s on a new seawall downtown that has eased the passage for juvenile salmon. “The UW team saw an estimated 10,000 juvenile salmon of various species on a single day of surveying last May and as many as 300 chinook on another day the same month,” wrote Beekman.

    Heh:

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    Chase Burns is The Stranger's former editor. He's covered everything from gay luchadores to chemical weapons to Isabella Rossellini's favorite pets.