News Yesterday 4:03 PM

What’s Behind the Gilded Doors of Aegis Senior Living?

Allegations of Labor Violations and Neglect, and the CEO at the Heart of it All

If you’ve seen old folks’ homes with a certain Cheesecake Factory aesthetic popping up around Washington, you know Aegis Living. A private pay assisted living chain that does not accept Medicare, Aegis owns $2.5 billion in property across Washington, California, and Nevada, including 23 “luxury” senior living centers in the Seattle area. Aegis’ CEO claims that the company brings in nearly $250 million in annual operating revenues from resident costs that can climb into the tens of thousands of dollars per month. Living at Aegis appears to be worth it, though: in March, their Greenwood facility was named the number one senior living facility in the country.

With Medicaid cuts threatening to shut down many of our elder care facilities in the Pacific Northwest, there’s never been a better time to get to know our local retirement home landlord.

To understand Aegis Living, you need to know about Dwayne J. Clark, the charismatic CEO driving the company’s vision. Clark has done a good job of building his mythology. In puff pieces like his most recent in Seattle Magazine, he talks about a childhood marked by hardship: His father left when he was five, and Clark’s mother raised him and his three siblings in Lewiston, ID, before relocating to Spokane, WA. He and his three siblings didn’t have much. In a story Clark recounts often, his family struggled so badly once that his mother, a line cook at the Elks Lodge in Lewiston, smuggled home a handful of potatoes from work and turned them into soup that sustained the family for a week.

If you believe his PR efforts, Dwayne J. Clark was a bootstrappin’ young kid who was so inspired by his mother’s hardships that he made it his life’s mission to give our aging seniors more dignified lives—a serious and noble endeavor.

But the truth is uglier. And weirder.

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News Yesterday 2:56 PM

We’ve Got a Mayor’s Race!

New Polling Shows Bruce Harrell and Katie Wilson Are Virtually Tied

A new poll by the Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) tells us what we were all hoping to hear: We have a real mayor’s race this year.

NPI, our local public opinion expert, ran a poll simulating a general election throw down between the two candidates who have raised the most in their campaigns so far: Transit Riders Union General Secretary Katie Wilson (at $256,318) and Mayor Bruce Harrell (at $390,585).

The top line is: in a poll of 522 likely voters, Wilson got 36 percent of the vote, Harrell got 33, and 30 percent remained undecided. I know it looks like Wilson has a solid lead, but technically, the margin of error is 4 percent, so it’s a statistical tie.

But it’s a tie! With two months left in the primary, Wilson is starting to give Harrell a run for his ($390k of) money.

The survey was done in two parts. First, they asked respondents to choose between Wilson and Harrell, and more than half of them (56 percent) said they weren’t sure. Harrell had the benefit of name recognition, with 25 percent, and Wilson got 18. But then NPI gave the undecided respondents another shot, providing excerpts of the candidates’ positions, and links to their campaign websites. After reviewing them, the tables turned. Among the undecideds, 34 percent said they’d vote for Wilson, 15 for Harrell, and 51 percent remained unsure. When combined, we get 36 percent for Wilson, and 33 for Harrell.

Harrell was clearly more recognizable to likely voters. But NPI’s polling also asked about his job performance, and Seattle just isn’t that into Harrell at this point. Only 37 percent of the city approves of his work, and 45 percent disapproves. When respondents were asked why they said they’d vote for Wilson, 10 of them simply said, “She’s not Bruce” or “She’s not Harrell.”

And Seattle has a unique relationship with incumbents. Anywhere else, being an incumbent gives you a substantial leg up. But Seattle tends to speed date our mayors. In the last 25 years, we’ve only given one mayor a second term—Greg Nickels, who only got it because he didn’t have a good challenger.

This poll is very early, and the number of undecideds shows that both candidates have a lot of work to do, and it could still be anyone’s race. “This race looks like it could go in multiple directions right now and could be one of the most exciting of this local election cycle," said NPI founder and executive director Andrew Villeneuve in a statement. 

The filing deadline was only two weeks ago, and while there’s still a lot of campaigning ahead of us, the race is starting to take shape. In a city without political parties, the closest thing we have is two major donor classes: labor and business. And so far, Harrell is sweeping the field. This week, the MLK Labor council, our county’s union of unions, endorsed Harrell. So has the CEO of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Governor Bob Ferguson, AG Nick Brown, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, among many others.

But Wilson has momentum—and not just based on this poll. She qualified for the democracy voucher program in just five days, and is collecting endorsements from groups like the King County Democrats, the Transit Riders Union (duh), and progressives like former City Councilmember Tammy Morales.

How to Seattle 2025 Yesterday 11:31 AM

Arts & Culture

Where to Find Pop Surrealism, Experimental Dance, and the Best Popcorn You’ll Ever Eat at a Movie Theater

Artists here aren’t afraid to get a little weird, to take risks, to forgo the formal process of getting their work in museums and instead wheatpaste it right onto the city’s walls, spray paint it under freeway overpasses, or stick it to the back of No Parking signs. (Graffiti and stickers are art!) Which isn’t to say we don’t have contemporary fine artists. We do! But much of Seattle’s art scene is rich with wit, humor, playfulness, and schadenfreude (we love to dunk on billionaires as often as possible). Many of our contemporary galleries have embraced a less stuffy way of operating, too—our art spaces, and the work they show, are often immersive and interactive. They invite you to join in—to explore, touch, contemplate, laugh, and, in at least two instances, scream your face off.

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How to Seattle 2025 Yesterday 11:31 AM

Attractions & Landmarks

Welcome to Our Weird Little Corner of the Country

Here’s something you might not expect to read in an alt-newspaper run by cynical assholes: Many of Seattle’s well-known attractions and stereotypical “tourist traps” are worth visiting at least once. Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, Smith Tower, the Seattle Underground... sure, they’re often crawling with bumbling out-of-towners, but they’re also packed with history, offering context to this strange little world we’ve created in the upper left corner of America. (For example, did you know how much of Seattle was built on sex work? Google Lou Graham and get a head start on your homework.)

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How to Seattle 2025 Yesterday 11:30 AM

How to Seattle 2025

Arts! Music! Food! Drinks! Nightlife! Beaches! Dildos!

Welcome to Seattle! Everything you’ve heard about us is wrong.

Much has been said about our little corner of the world. For years, Donald Trump has been painting Seattle as a lawless danger zone where we force everyone to use they/them pronouns and skin rich people alive. The right-wing media has followed suit by doing bogus on-the-ground reporting from our city streets and editing footage to make it look as though our whole city is a depressing wasteland akin to The Last of Us. 

Don’t believe what the conservative mainstream media wants you to believe: Seattle can actually be a really beautiful, welcoming place. The air smells nice, we produce some very cool weirdos, and our nature is Lord of the Rings-level stunning; we here at The Stranger love this place with a capital L-O-V-E. And we want you to love it, too.

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EverOut Yesterday 10:10 AM

The Best Bang for Your Buck Events in Seattle This Memorial Day Weekend: May 23–26, 2025

Northwest Folklife Festival, George Floyd Day Rally and March, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15

If you're as eager as we are to start the long weekend, then save time planning with our trusty cheap and easy guide. We're suggesting you head to events from the Northwest Folklife Festival to the George Floyd Day Rally and March, and from a Memorial Day Benefit DJ Night for Planned Parenthood to Salmon Bay FC's first-ever friendly match. For more suggestions, check out our top event picks of the week.

FRIDAY

SPORTS & RECREATION

Ballard FC 2025 Home Games
USL League Two champions Ballard FC are back this season to defend their title. The team returns to Interbay Stadium this year, bringing them closer to their namesake and adoring fans. Don't miss the home opener on May 23; last year the game ball was delivered by parachuters and Dick's burgers were thrown into the crowd after every goal. Even without all that hullabaloo, I would recommend a game to anyone as cheap, entertaining, family-friendly fun. It doesn't get much more local than being sponsored by Reuben's Brews and having "Up the bridges!" as the team’s main chant. SHANNON LUBETICH
(Interbay Stadium, Interbay, $14-$40)

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Hard Times at Harvard: Enemy of the educated, President Donald Trump, announced the newest tactic in his war against Harvard. The Trump administration, through Department of Homeland Security director and murder of dogs Kristi Noem, halted Harvard's ability to enroll international students. Not only that, but the administration said all existing international Harvard students must transfer or lose their legal status. This ongoing battle with Harvard stems from Trump's claims that the university didn't comply with his orders and was guilty of "fostering violence, antisemitism and coordinating with the Chinese Communist party on its campus." This punishment is a way for the Trump administration to "root out the evils of anti-Americanism and antisemitism in society and campuses," Noem's letter to Harvard read. 

How Timely: Unrelated to this recent Trump tantrum, a federal judge in California issued an order blocking the Trump administration from "terminating the legal statuses of international students at universities" across the US. Additionally, the injunction "prohibited the administration from arresting or detaining any foreign-born students on the basis of their immigration status."

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How many city leaders does it take to resolve the fight over Denny Blaine?

On Tuesday, Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes, a police lawyer, and Chief Public Safety Officer Natalie Walton-Anderson sat down with District 3 Council Member Joy Hollingsworth, her chief of staff, representatives for Friends of Denny Blaine, and Jaelynn Scott, executive director of Lavender Rights Project, and gave it a shot.

Just maybe, their attempt at a long overdue conversation would help bring an end to this multi-year fight that’s had everything from a privately-funded playground, loud meetings, a lawsuit, and wayward cops.

Sophie Amity Debs with the park stewardship group Friends of Denny Blaine is “cautiously optimistic.” Everyone at the meeting generally seemed on the same page, but she wanted to see what the city, and the cops, actually do next.

“At a bare minimum, we should ideally not have folks arrested at the beach for nudity,” Amity Debs says. “It sounded like there was a commitment to getting a more sane handling of the beach at a city-wide level.”

The city will now dispatch Seattle Park Rangers to calls about “lewd behavior” at the beach instead of police, advocates say, but the city didn’t put that commitment in writing. Both Barnes and Walton-Anderson seemed interested in signs identifying Denny Blaine as clothing-optional, they say.

Though the naked people should make it quite obvious, under Washington state law, indecent exposure is defined as conduct “likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm.” A sign eliminates the chance for surprise and gives beachgoers something to point to if challenged. This idea was raised in mediated talks with the Parks Department last year, but neighbors shot it down.

Chief Barnes also agreed to work on a micro-community policing plan with Friends of Denny Blaine, a department collaboration with Seattle University’s Crime & Justice Research Center that involves data gathering and community engagement.

The sand-kicking over Denny Blaine never seems to end. The meeting came weeks after Seattle Police Officers on a “directed patrol” of the park told everyone naked to put on their clothes. One transgender woman who refused to dress was handed a business card with the word “trespass” written on it and banned from the park for a week. It wasn’t the first time cops had shown up in recent weeks to investigate unfounded claims of lewd activity, beachgoers say, sometimes cruising slowly by on boats.

At a combative public meeting in Leschi less than a week later, Barnes clarified that nudity was “free expression” and legal in Seattle and told the woman, who was at the meeting, she could come back to the beach. Last week, the ACLU of Washington sent a letter to Barnes, congratulating his department’s “swift response to the incident,” but noted that it was part of a larger pattern of enforcement, citing reporting from The Stranger.

“Public nudity is not a crime. The heightened police surveillance of the park is understandably seen by members of the queer and transgender community as a continuation of the violent legacy of policing queer and transgender people and spaces, especially under the guise of public decency,” the letter read.

Last month, a group of neighbors known as Denny Blaine Park for All sued the city for its management of the park, accusing city leaders of letting Denny Blaine fall into the greasy grip of public masturbators. The suit targets nudity as well, alleging the Parks Department is depriving neighbors enjoyment of the park in violation of its code of conduct. Masturbation happens, but beachgoers say the neighbors’ claim is a cartoonish exaggeration.

Denny Blaine Park for All was not at the meeting and did not respond to The Stranger’s request for comment. Council Member Hollingsworth, the Seattle Police Department, and Bruce Harrell’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Friends of Denny Blaine wants park issues to be handled by park employees who know park dynamics and “park law.” Colleen Kimseylove, who co-runs the group, says it’s perfectly reasonable to call the police when there’s immediate danger or violence. But the status-quo of neighbors calling police when they see masturbation has “factually” not worked. By the time police arrive, the perpetrator is typically long gone, and nothing is accomplished.

“There’s not a change in perception of tolerance for bad behavior, there’s no consequences, the person is not disturbed from their behavior at all. We’d like to see the police department figure out what changes can be made so that police are used accurately and effectively,” Kimseylove says.

Scott said the Lavender Rights Project wants to ensure queer and trans people can “experience joy and a celebration of their queerness without being criminalized.” She found Barnes warm and receptive to their concerns.

“What we’re seeing is really Project 2025 making gains in its own way in our state, and that includes neighborhood groups and community groups,” she says. “This neighborhood group that targets Denny Blaine, it just follows a very disturbing pattern.”

In past statements, Denny Blaine Park for All spokesperson Lee Keller has said its concerns have “nothing to do with the LGBTQ community.”

What Happened At The Beach On May 4th?

By the time Ocean arrived at Denny Blaine, three police officers were clustered around someone lying naked on the grass. Angry, she walked down the concrete staircase to sunbathe, she said in an interview with The Stranger. Before she could settle down near a hedge, another beachgoer said the police were warning people they couldn’t be naked. Ocean, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect her identity, stripped down anyway, thinking that it was “bullshit,” not to mention incorrect.

Dozing in the sun, Ocean heard a passerby say the police were threatening to arrest people. They’re trying to scare us, she replied, and jumped in the water. While drying off on shore, she was approached by Kimseylove, who said that in 10 minutes, police would start arresting or trespassing anyone still naked. So Ocean introduced herself to the clothed person lying next to her and asked if they’d take a friend’s phone number, just in case. She lay back down on her stomach and dozed off again. She heard the officer’s footsteps before the hello and the request with only one acceptable answer.

Ocean asked on what grounds she had to cover herself. Public indecency, the officer replied. Ocean said nudity wasn’t public indecency in Washington. The officer said it was, and so on, until the officer threatened to trespass Ocean, she says, or ban her from the beach. Ocean asked if she was being detained. The officer said absolutely she was. She asked for Ocean’s name, information, and how she identified. (Ocean is a transgender woman.)

“Fuck off, Pork,” she answered. She shouted to beachgoers that the only way the police can get them to comply is if they complied. “Fuck Stuart Sloan,” she added.

The officer handed her a business card with the word “trespass” written on it, along with her badge number, last name and an incident number, and explained that Ocean could be arrested if she came back to the park. The officer said she wouldn’t go back and forth with Ocean, but Ocean could take it to court.

She stood up, put on her clothes and ankle brace. A group tried to intervene. Ocean says she yelled that they shouldn’t waste their time arguing with police. They could resist, or shut up, she said.

In the scramble, Ocean lost the business card. Handing her a new one, the officer said that normally Ocean wouldn’t be allowed back for a year. But she’d make it a week instead.

“You probably think I’m the worst person in the world right now, but next time just come back and wear a bikini,” Ocean recalls the officer saying.

Ocean got in her car and went grocery shopping. Later, she called a friend and cried. But it would be okay, she said, as she was sure the community would win this fight.

“And I still feel that way still,” she says. “That’s been my overwhelming feeling.”

How Did This All Get Started Again?

It’s a long story, or several long stories.

To sum it up, in spring of 2023, Stuart Sloan had had enough of the naked people on the beach next to his house.

He snapped a few photos, obscured the genitals and did what any sensible rich guy with the Mayor’s private cell phone would do: Send the photos with a text message about how “DISGUSTING” it was and how the problem ought to be dealt with before the good weather returned. Harrell promised that Adiam Emery, his then deputy mayor who now directs SDOT, would help.

By summer, there was a plan to build a deterrent in the form of a children's playground. Sloan, the millionaire owner of University Village and a philanthropist who gave $78 million to Fred Hutch Cancer Center in 2022, would foot the bill and anonymously donated $1 million for construction. That June, public records show, Sloan and Emery met at City Hall. Five weeks later, they met at a Starbucks near the beach. Shortly after, Emery and Andy Sheffer, the deputy superintendent of Parks, paid Sloan a visit at home.

The playground plan outraged beachgoers, who organized to stop it. After a packed, thunderous public meeting with Parks, the city scrapped the project. The day after, a Saturday no less, Harrell met with Sloan. Harrell maintains that he never knew the identity of the donor.

All was relatively quiet on the naked beach for more than a year before the suit and police missteps.

Do You Also Take Pictures? Friday 5/2 Arboretum

You kinda laughed and said yes but then you walked away so I'm writing you here because my friend found a 4 leaf clover and I'd like to believe in it.


Septum pierced guy 5 bus N May 21

You got on around 330pm Thomas and Aurora. You were sitting up front then came and sat across from me. Cute smile Hang out?

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This is for the random compliment givers. Specifically, the person who stopped me mid-crosswalk a Friday or two ago in Ballard and said, “I love your top! It looks so good! Are you kidding me?!” and the person who, about an hour later, said, “I just have to tell you I love your look!”

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Good Morning! We’re in for some more perfect weather today. High 60s, partly cloudy. Can’t get outside today to enjoy it? That’s okay. It’s gonna be like this for the next 10 days at least. Just don’t call it Spring out loud, or it’ll get spooked and go back into hiding.

Alright, let’s do the news.

The Big Beautiful Bill: Trump may have signed a record number of executive orders in his first 100 days, but this legislative session has been exceptionally unproductive. So yesterday, when Trump showed up on Capitol Hill, he was ready to force some action, saying that failure to pass his bill “would be the ultimate betrayal.” Despite some major inter-party concerns about healthcare cuts, House Republicans fell in line. They started their debate before midnight, had a slumber party, and by dawn, they passed Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, 215-214. This bill extends $4.5 trillion in Trump 1.0-era tax breaks, and makes good on his campaign commitment to get rid of taxes on tips. It also would cost 8.6 million people their healthcare coverage, and push 3 million people off of SNAP benefits. And of course, it adds $200 million in spending on deportation and border security. Next up: the Senate, who plan to have their version ready by the Fourth of July.

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WEDNESDAY 5/21 

Dean Wareham with Jess Cornelius

(MUSIC) When I read Dean Wareham's memoir Black Postcards in high school, it changed the course of my musical life, turning me onto twee pop originators like Jonathan Richman, the Feelies, and the Dream Syndicate. For that, I am eternally grateful to Wareham and Galaxie 500's three flawless studio albums that have soundtracked many a good cry in my broken-down car. The New Zealand-born heartthrob will take a break from touring with his projects Luna and Dean & Britta for a solo tour supporting his new album, That's the Price of Loving Me. The album is his first collaboration with prolific producer Kramer since Galaxie 500’s This Is Our Music (1990). My fingers are crossed that he'll also play some songs from his debut EP, Anesthesia. Fellow New Zealand-born, LA-based indie rock artist Jess Cornelius will open. (Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+) AUDREY VANN

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Guest Rant Wed 12:19 PM

Guest Rant: Seattle Must Stand Firm on Renter Protections

They’re an Essential Lifeline Amid National Uncertainty

In a nation facing escalating attacks on the rights of Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC), Seattle must uphold and fortify its role as a beacon of inclusivity and progressive values. Amid national rollbacks, including hundreds of anti-trans bills introduced nationwide and increasing threats against immigrant communities, we cannot allow our local protections to weaken or unravel.

Recent renter protections in Seattle, particularly the Roommate Ordinance and Right of First Refusal, are essential lifelines that offer economic relief, protection from displacement, and basic dignity, yet currently face uncertain political futures. In a housing market shaped by soaring costs and racialized inequality, these measures are often the last defense against homelessness or forced relocation. Without them, people who are already navigating the compounded pressures of discrimination, underemployment, and generational disinvestment are left with even fewer options for survival. While unpaid rents at affordable housing developments can cause increasing problems, rolling back these specific measures would directly endanger our communities, exacerbating the vulnerability of those already marginalized.

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When I looked out the window of The Stranger's new office on 11th and Pike, I saw two cranes still on top of the 47-story towers called WB1200. I wrote about this development in December, 2023. At the time, the cranes had pretty much stopped moving for a year. And the big question was: Would the developer, Vancouver BC's Westbank, complete the buildings? A story in Globe and Mail, revealed that Westbank was basically broke and not paying contractors. But somehow, the project slowly returned to life, and the last I heard, at a bar near the towers, swimming pools had finally been installed on the top of the towers. But, clearly, the construction has yet to reach the end. And those cranes, seen from the window, have about them a weltschmerz mood. They be like Mobb Deep in the opening of "Quiet Storm": "Done been through it all, man... Blood, sweat and tears... What the fuck else can happen, yo? I don't think much more... We done seen it all, and been through it all, yo."

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News Tue 1:16 PM

Kristi Noem Is the Queen of Panem

Welcome to the Reality Hunger Games

A few days after the public learned the US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had, in the works, a reality show that featured immigrants competing for US citizenship, the show’s producer Rob Worsoff asserted that it would not be like the Hunger Games. It would instead be a “celebration of America in the most positive possible way.” The show, called The American, would involve immigrants digging up “clams in Maine or rafting down the Arkansas River in Colorado.” These are, one gathers, fun, wholesome things to do; whereas the contestants in the Hunger Games were thrown into a life-and-death struggle. The games on the reality show can, in Worsoff’s view, be characterized as utopian; the ones in the popular movie series, and the novels on which they are based, dystopian. 

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