Diaz Claims Wrongful Termination: Former Police Chief Adrian Diaz is suing Seattle and Mayor Bruce Harrell. Last year, Diaz was fired after a slew of discrimination and harassment allegations against him came to light and a rumor about a romantic relationship between him and a staffer circulated. Diaz claims that he was actually fired because he didn't fire Officer Daniel Auderer, the speeding cop who killed pedestrian Jaahnavi Kandula in 2023, like Bruce Harrell told him to do. According to Diaz, Deputy Mayor Tim Burgess had previously told him that Diaz couldn't fire Auderer because of his role in the Seattle Police Officers Guild. Anyway, a sticky situation. Diaz said he didn't toe the line and then was retaliated against when a rumor surfaced about him having a relationship with Jamie Tompkins, his chief of staff. What's true? We'll need to tune into the trial. Drama!
Please Do Not Walk on the Highways: A pedestrian in Tacoma was walking in one of the lanes on southbound Interstate 705 at around 11:30pm on Tuesday night when a car crash involving four cars also struck and killed the pedestrian. It's unclear what caused the crash.
A Little Density, as a Treat: The Seattle City Council still hasn't made any progress on passing the Seattle Comprehensive Plan, the legislation that will map growth in Seattle for the next 20 years. As a sort of stop gap, and as a way to comply with new state laws on zoning, the council approved a temporary housing plan for all neighborhoods. The plan, in step with state law passed in 2023, allows areas previously reserved for single-family zoning to accommodate up to four units per lot and up to six units per lot in areas near transit. Nothing here is really different from the existing law of the land, so don't give the council any real praise here.
The Tribe Has Spoken: Okay, props to Paige Cornwell at the Seattle Times for the best "find the local angle" story possible. In the news story about Survivor's upcoming 50th season casting announcement, Cornwell managed to plug the fact that Washington Attorney General Nick Brown not only played in Survivor's second season (Australian Outback, duh), but he made the jury. In Survivor world—and I guess in the law world—the jury is key. Brown was good at Survivor! As Cornwell notes, Brown was not chosen to play in the 50th season. Though, he's not opposed to donning a Survivor buff again one of these days.
Elon Voted Off Trump Island: Elon Musk is officially out of the federal government—at least, so he says. Musk's departure comes after he talked smack about Trump's domestic spending bill, saying it would increase the national deficit. It must be acknowledged that Musk did not accomplish any of the goals he set out to accomplish, like, for instance delivering generational savings by cutting government waste. Instead, he wreaked havoc on the government and real people's lives. And for what? It's unclear what will happen to the Department of Government Efficiency without Musk at its helm. What's pretty juicy about this whole thing is that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is subtweeting the fuck out of Musk. There's a rumor floating around about Musk, Miller, and Miller's wife.
The weather: It'll be cloudy today. That's good. We need to build up our sun tolerance slowly.
Two Charged in Pioneer Square Triple Homicide: Earlier this month, three people were shot and killed outside the OHM Nightclub. Police arrested two men, a 24 year old and 25 year old. A third suspected shooter is still at large.
ICYMI: Hawaii's Kilauea volcano blew quite the gasket earlier this week.
STUNNING video of Mount Kilauea shooting lava upwards of 1,000 ft into the air during a recent eruption. 🌋
— MyRadar (@myradar.bsky.social) May 27, 2025 at 6:32 AM
📹: @USGS
[image or embed]
Well, That's Just Sick: The bozos in the Trump administration are either stupid or evil, and possibly both. On Wednesday, the administration canceled the over $700 million in funds awarded to Moderna to work on its late-stage bird flu vaccine. "The cancellation means that the government is discarding what could be one of the most effective and rapid tools to combat an avian influenza outbreak," said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Reuters. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the cancellation was due to the project not meeting "scientific standards or safety expectations." Man, shut up. Just say you want us poor, sick, and hungry so we're easier to control.
Trump's Illegal Tariffs: The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump's sweeping global tariffs, which he enacted via economic emergency legislation, are illegal. He cannot invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in this way, the court, comprised of three judges appointed by Reagan, Obama, and Trump, ruled. The summary judgment blocks all of the tariffs the president invoked under IEEPA, but leaves intact tariffs on imports of automobiles, steel, and aluminum. Trump, as you can imagine, is not pleased. Stephen Miller, whose wife may have just left him for Elon Musk, is fuming. "The judicial coup is out of control," Miller wrote on Twitter.
Let's Go to the Polls: Seattle sure hates its elected officials. The newest poll out of Northwest Progressive Institute found every elected official has a negative job performance rating. The most hated? Council member Rob Saka, that bumbling fool. He has a negative spread of 27 points. Meanwhile, both City Attorney Ann Davison (a Republican) and City Council President Sara Nelson have seen their disapproval numbers have ballooned in just a few months. As NW Progressive Institute puts it, "More than twice as many voters disapprove of Nelson’s work than approve." This could be a very interesting election year.
New Pluto Alert: Scientists discovered a new dwarf planet hanging out on the far reaches of our solar system. They've dubbed it Planet Nine, an insult to Pluto, the real Planet Nine. This is especially hurtful to Pluto because Planet Nine is three times smaller than Pluto. So, no one here is a real, actual Planet Nine. The new planet will be dubbed a dwarf planet.
At Least Your Pussy Is Pest-Free: A study in United Kingdom found that tampons had traces of carcinogenic pesticides in them. Those traces were 40 times higher in the tampons than the legal pesticide limit for drinking water. That's especially bad because chemicals absorbed by the vagina go right into the bloodstream. Vagina owners, next time your partner goes to eat you out, tell them they're lapping from the Silent Spring.
Something to Do: I highly recommend you go see "The Unfair Advantage" at the Seattle Repertory Theater while it's in town for the next month. The show is unlike any theater experience. First, it's intimate. Only 35 audience members gather around magician and casino security expert Harry Milas' card table. Second, it's just unique. Milas spends the show talking about himself and about his skills, mostly those that enable him to cheat at cards. He's spent decades of his life mastering these skills and secrets. He even shares some of those secrets, though they won't be as good if you don't work at it as he did. All of this is good and entertaining, but the striking thing about it was Milas' credo: "The time will pass anyway." He spent years of his life mastering the skill of memorizing decks of cards, among other things. That sounds like a lot, but what else was he going to do with that time? We can all do so much with the time we have if we so choose. It is only our faults if our lives pass us by. Mastering a skill slows the ever-ticking clock. I haven't stopped thinking about Milas' words (or his charm, swoon). Go see the show.
