NEWS
This week: ERICA C. BARNETT continues her hysterical (as in overblown, not humorous) reporting on Mayor Greg Nickels's supposed "crackdown" on Seattle nightlife, a story no one outside of The Stranger's air-conditioned sea of cubicles is worked up about. Continuing with a piffle about a water-balloon fight (no, really); a sure-to-be fair obit of former Spokane Mayor Jim West; and—BREAKING NEWS!—a local sex shop is no longer doing window displays! Pulitzer, you have been notified. ALSO: CounterIntel, In the Hall, In Other News, and Police Beat

SHORT FEATURE: Bait and Switch
It's an oft-made quip: Seattle is a 25-mile island surrounded by reality. And if JOSH FEIT's whimpering and predictable story this week is any indication, the old saw has merit. Venturing outside of the liberal echo chamber like a newborn fawn, Feit heads to the dreaded eastern part of the state to "interview" (translation: file a poorly researched hit piece) on Senate hopeful Mike McGavick. It should come as no shock that Feit's reporting is dreadful and his analysis beyond sophomoric—and yet it does.

PULLOUT: Capitol Hill Block Party 2006
Every year The Stranger attaches its name to this weekend event celebrating booze, heatstroke, and tinnitus. Every year we, the readers, are afflicted with some 20-odd pages of lame advertorial content in anticipation of said event. This year is no different.