Our local leaders continue to allow people to die while sleeping outside: As we all know, homelessness is a policy choice. Yesterday, organizers with WHEELā€™s Women in Black gathered on the steps of Seattle City Hall to honor at least 17 unhoused people who died outside, in public, or by violence in the months of April and May.Ā 

Remember their names:Ā 

Roger Toolan, 57Ā 

Ā Linda Jimmy, 26Ā 

Tyree Guillory, 41Ā 

Rickey Burns, 52Ā 

Teke Airhart, 41Ā 

Todd Epperson, 56

Donald Hayes, 49

Danny Jones, 60

Gregory Oakes, 57

Mark Brummel, 62

Ricardo Lopez, 51

Aaron Oxyer, 34

Fanette Pinkston, 71

Alicia Lopez, 47

Eric Behrens, 62

Jeffrey M. Gill, 41

Gary Asher, 36

The demonstration paid special homage to WHEEL member Laura New, who died recently, and a baby referred to as ā€œBaby Girl S,ā€ who died in the hospital. These recent tragedies bring the total deaths of unhoused people to at least 80 this year. As part of the solution, WHEEL demanded an end to Mayor Bruce Harrellā€™s cruel, relentless sweeps.

Shoppers arenā€™t happy: Last fall, Amazon ended its offer for free delivery for Prime members on Whole Foods orders over $35. Now, two groups of shoppers have filed separate lawsuits claiming Amazon misled customers and violated state law. Ā 

Landslide update: The family who lost their huge home in Bellevue to a landslide is suing the City of Bellevue for damages, alleging the City was negligent when officials failed to say or do anything about aging water pipes.

Seattle is not dying: Well, at least not this classic, grunge-era club. Pioneer Squareā€™s Central Saloon, which has hosted music legends Nirvana and Alice in Chains, is here to stay. The owners just bought the building. If this place had closed, I could just imagine Seattle's right wing complaining about a broken window closing A GRUNGE BAR and not about the fact that landlords profit off of simply owning property they do not use.Ā 

You canā€™t buy Central Saloon, but you can buy Bob Sagetā€™s house: As Iā€™ve mentioned, I was profoundly impacted by the death of Full House actor and raunchy comedian Bob Saget. His house just came on the market, and its only as expensive as a really nice family home on Greenlake. Anyone wanna go splitsies?

SPU students are tired of the homophobic board: Unsurprisingly, the evangelical Christian university hates gay people, and it shows in its hiring decisions. Two weeks ago, the board members looked at their discriminatory hiring policies, shrugged their shoulders and kept it. Staff and students have camped outside of the university president's office ever since.Ā 

Gun control: King County has seen a 70% increase in the number of shooting victims between 2017 and 2020. With the added pressure from the re-ignition of the national gun-violence conversation, King County Council members proposed a voluntary firearm and ammo return through the Sheriff's office. Ā 

Gun control part two: The U.S. Congress also jumped on the gun control wave, passing a bill to keep guns out of the hands of people we think are too young to drink alcohol.Ā 

ICYMI: House Our Neighbors (HON) is behind on signatures for I-135. If voters approve the measure in November, it would establish a Public Development Authority with funding for 18 months, which is an important first step to getting social housing, or housing free from the clutches of the private market. The nonprofit is a little under 20,000 signatures short. If you wanna sign before the June 20 deadline, hereā€™s where to find HON.

Axes and alcohol: I imagine axe-throwing over a few beers in an urban setting is the perfect date for like, a dude who is a little too into Marvel and a girl who straightens the ends when she curls her hair. You know what I mean? Anyway, great news for those folks, because the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board voted to allow businesses with liquor licenses to let their customers throw axes.

They didnā€™t know scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes and eating raw onions counted as hazing: A freshman at WSU died in a hazing incident in 2019. KING 5 looked at police interviews from the young men in the frat and found that fraternity leadership claims they didnā€™t know which activities constituted hazing.Ā 

Watch out! The January 6 committee hearings start today at 5 pm!Ā