We're a week out from the 2023 Primary election: You must drop off your ballot by 8 pm Tuesday, Aug 1 at any of these ballot drop box locations. If you want to use the mail, then mail it by Friday to make sure your vote counts. Yesterday was the last day for online voter registration, but you can still register in-person all the way until Election Day. Check your registration status online. But wait—who do you vote for? That's the easy part. Read The Stranger's endorsements and vote the way we say, or just use the cheat sheet if you're in a rush. 

US Senator Maria Cantwell talks fentanyl in Seattle: Cantwell spoke with cops, treatment experts, and the mother of someone who died from a fentanyl overdose, according to the Seattle Times. Washington's fentanyl overdose numbers spiked at a rate higher than the national average between February 2022 and February 2023. Cantwell said she's working on a bill to get Congress to declare the issue a crisis, which would bring in more federal resources. 

Sweeps to continue despite court ruling: The Mayor's Office told the Seattle Times yesterday the City planned to make no changes to its unconstitutional policies for clearing homeless encampments. A King County Superior Court Judge acknowledged the City's right to clear encampments that obstruct City property or public areas, however the overly broad definition of obstruction allows the City to violate the constitutional rights of people living on the street. The City Attorney's Office plans to appeal the judge's ruling.

The complaint in the lawsuit recounted the callous and cruel nature of sweeps. The City threw away these people's belongings, and the people suing the City provided examples, some sentimental—such as a wedding ring, the artwork of a person's late spouse, and a dog's ashes—and others more essential, such as insulin and other medications. 

Seems to be a case of the blue flu: Over the weekend, a cadre of cops did not line every sidewalk around the Taylor Swift concert, as they did during the All-Star game events. Their absence might be explained by reports of cops staging an illegal sick out, according to conservative talk radio host Jason Rantz. The lack of enforcement also goes to show that maybe All-Star weekend didn't need a gigantic show of police power, considering the Eras Tour brought out similar numbers of people and the City didn't burn down as a result.

It rained! I feel like a new person. Showers should wrap up Tuesday (dEvaStatiNg) with temperatures reaching the low 70s around 3 pm. 

Power outage in West Seattle: A power outage in West Seattle Monday night left more than 4,700 customers in the dark for a couple hours, according to the West Seattle Blog. The energy of the people in the replies on the blog's post brought me a lot of joy. Power outages and snow days have a similar energy that I appreciate. Anything to disrupt the system.

Body found in that University District fire: Firefighters found a body in the remains of the old Jet City Improv building after the building burned down Monday morning, according to KIRO 7. Officials did not release a name Monday afternoon. 

Bite of Seattle flopped over the weekend: The food festival staged at the Seattle Center returned after three years away and attendees got "fed up" pretty quick, according to GeekWire. Seattle-based tech start up CHEQ, a food ordering app, bought the rights to the festival and then required vendors to use CHEQ as an option for people to order food. Lots of people online complained about glitches and other issues with the app, including "app glitches, double charges, wait times." To be fair, wait times at Bite of Seattle have always sucked.

Biden Administration sues over Texas' buoy barrier: Gov. Greg Abbott put a bunch of buoys on the Rio Grande to try and stop migrants crossing the US-Mexico Border. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit asking a judge to tell Texas to take down the barrier because, among other things, Mexico says the barrier violates international treaties, according to the Associated Press. 

The buoy barrier comes out of Operation Lone Star, a multi-billion dollar attempt by Texas to keep migrants out of the state using razor-wire fencing and policies such as pushing "asylum-seekers back into the Rio Grande," the Associated Press reports. 

GOP leaders using must-pass bills to advance culture war: As Congress works to pass a budget, bills in the House Appropriations Committee continue to include "policy riders targeting agency diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives," according to Politico. The Democratic-led Senate makes it unlikely the policies will pass, but by adding these controversial policies to funding bills, Republicans gum up Congress and force everyone to stress about funding the government every three to six months.

Biden establishes national monument for Emmett Till: The Biden administration plans to announce the monument Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. Till's lynching and the choice of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, to show his body to the world helped launch the civil rights movement. The site of the monuments are planned for Mississippi and Chicago.

Jan 6 rioter sentenced to jail for beating a cop with an American flag pole: A judge sentenced the Arkansas man to 52-months in jail for dragging a cop down the steps of the US Capitol on Jan 6 and hitting the cop repeatedly, according to the BBC. A video also surfaced of the man saying "'death is the only remedy'" for the lawmakers at the Capitol that day.

Welp, that's the news, folks: This morning I'll leave you with "Morning Pages" from The Japanese House, which comes off their immaculately produced album, In the End it Always Does. Filled with longing and haunting vocals, I only recommend this to folks deeply recovered from their last break up.