• A man shot a 64-year-old Metro bus driver on August 12 in an altercation that started with a dispute over paying the fare. The suspect, shot by police after fleeing the scene, has died. The bus driver is reportedly alive and “in good spirits.” We’d like to propose a Bus Driver Appreciation Week, a full seven days to show our gratitude for drivers who take us to work, take us home, and deal with the criminally insane.
• The Seattle Parks Department is considering banning cigarettes and dogs in Westlake Park and Occidental Park at the insistence of neighbors who argue the rules could help remove unsavory people. “These aren’t homeless people or people that live in the Mission we are talking about,” former Seattle mayor Charlie Royer testified during a recent meeting of the Board of Park Commissioners. “They are not the problem here. The problem is the young thugs smoking not only cigarettes who just turn people away from the park.” Discounting the undercurrents of racism and classism in his statement, there are many glaring flaws to this reasoning: Smoking within 25 feet of certain park spaces with kids is already prohibited, and parks officials have warned a ban may be disproportionately enforced—like, you know, applied only to anyone cops consider a “young thug.” Same goes for a dog ban. The parks department is slated to address the issue by September 26.
• Seattle City Council member Nick Licata is hosting a fundraiser on August 19 for Fair Elections Seattle, a PAC helping to pass Proposition 1, which would bring back public financing of city council elections. Meanwhile, Fair Elections Seattle’s endorsements page lists all the city council members as supporters—except for Sally Bagshaw.
• If Seattle’s August 6 primary election is any indication, the November mayor’s race is slated to be a real pants-pooping nail-biter. As of press time, state senator Ed Murray leads Mayor Mike McGinn by only 29.89 to 28.45 percent—a margin of 2,018 votes. 