It’s Election Day! VOTE! Our endorsements are here! Don’t wanna read all that? Here’s our cheat sheet! Your ballot must be dropped into a ballot box by 8 p.m. tonight. Find one near you at King County’s website. Forgot to register to vote (or never received your ballot) but still wanna participate? You can vote in person at one of King County’s vote centers which, here in Seattle, is at Lumen Field Event Center. It’s open today from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Vote! Vote! Vote! Then get yourself a little treat!
Voter Turnout Is Low (Again): As of 8 a.m., fewer than 19 percent of registered voters in King County have returned their ballot. That will pick up today, of course, but it still might be low. Just over 40 percent of registered voters in King County bothered to vote in last year’s August primaries. Go vote! I know primary local elections aren’t the sexiest elections, but can you imagine how mad Bruce Harrell will be if Katie Wilson’s numbers stand up to his? SO MAD! He’ll hit a table, probably, because he seems to like to do that!
Stay Tuned to The Stranger for the Results: Members of The Stranger’s Election Control Board will be popping into all the election result parties tonight and reporting back the vibes, the food, and the reactions to the first results, which will drop a little after 8 p.m. Follow along! It’s fun!
It’s Smoky Out There: Seattle’s air quality took a dive yesterday when smoke from the Bear Gulch fire in the Olympic National Park started to blow this way. The air has already started to clear this morning. Keep an eye on air quality levels at fire.airnow.gov.
Speaking of Weather and Fire: We might get a smattering of rain this week, but Seattle is “6.5 inches below its normal amount of rainfall since Jan. 1 and 9 inches below average for the water year, which started Oct. 1,” according to the Seattle Times. I’m not an expert, but that doesn’t sound great! June was Washington’s third-driest in the past 130 years.
Density Is Coming: Yesterday, Seattle councilmembers proposed more than 100 amendments to Mayor Bruce Harrell’s One Seattle plan, which would build denser housing like three- to six-story apartment buildings in dozens of neighborhoods across the city. Some councilmembers, including Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dan Strauss, hope to expand the list of included neighborhoods, while others are moving to trim the list down. “Think about the trees!” they say. Weirdos. The next public hearing is September 12 if you wanna join the conversation.
Epstein File Update: This morning the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the DOJ as well as former government officials like Bill and Hillary Clinton and James Comey, for all files related to the Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation. They have until August 19 to hand over all their shit.
Gov. Abbott Throws Tantrum, Threatens Dems With Arrest: Dozens of Democratic state reps in Texas have left the state to protest a special session in which the Republicans hope to remap congressional districts. The redistricting would convert five blue seats into likely GOP districts, making it easier for Trump to hold onto a majority in the House next year. The State House can’t proceed without at least two-thirds of the legislative body present, and more than 50 lawmakers have left, with many vowing to stay gone until the end of the session on August 19. Yesterday afternoon Gov. Abbott and the Republicans voted “to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans.” No one snitch; let ‘em cook.
This is what is happening right now.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen.bsky.social) August 3, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Is Now the Time, Greg? Three people are still missing after deadly flooding hit Texas in July, killing 135 people. Now Texans are pissed (and scared and heartbroken and traumatized) because the State isn’t doing enough (or much at all) to help victims begin to recover. The disaster caused an estimated $18 billion to $22 billion in damages and economic loss and Abbott’s shitting his pants about congressional redistricting? Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle published this damning op-ed, calling Abbott out on his bullshit.
Today’s Another Short(er) Day: Today, August 5, will be milliseconds shorter than any other day in history, according to science. “It won’t be noticeable,” according to Space.com, but some experts are trying to understand why our planet has started to spin faster in recent years. (It’s called anxiety.)
Don’t Pick Below the Knee, Unless You Like Dog Pee: It’s blackberry pickin’ time! My very favorite part of summertime in the Pacific Northwest.
I took this picture this weekend at my secret spot in West Seattle. No, I won’t tell you where it is. Okay, yes, I will, it’s by the golf course on 35th Avenue Southwest—save some for me. I highly recommend Jerrelle Guy’s Blackberry Corn Cobbler. Make it for yourself after you vote!
Now, Listen to Sea Lemon: This Friday, Seattle’s own Sea Lemon (aka Natalie Lew) will headline the Tractor alongside Tomo Nakayama and Nathan Reed. Stranger Staff Writer Julianne Bell interviewed Lew for our August issue (on stands tomorrow!), and Lew talked about how giant squids and horror movies inspire her songwriting. Read more here, and dig the song “Crystals” which features Ben Gibbard on co-vocals—it’s swirly and haunting and kissed with just the right amount of ’90s vibes that make me think it should be on The Craft soundtrack.
I was puzzled why Abbott couldn’t release flood relief money anyway and do redistricting – but not until the last two paragraphs of the Houston Chronicle article is it made clear:
‘Instead, he used flood recovery as a bargaining chip for Democrats: first, swallow a redistricting map that further plunges your party into irrelevance, and eventually we’ll toss a lifeline to Central Texas.’
Sawant zombies protest at a town hall for Congressman Adam Smith in Renton. Three arrested. Unfortunately, Sawant was not among the detained.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/three-arrested-during-disruption-rep-131026170.html
FYI https://fire.airnow.gov is a 404 not available link.
I don’t get the hand wringing over low voter turnout – it typically picks up come Election Day, and in most cases, folks don’t care about the primary as it simply weeds out a bunch of nobody candidates who have no shot at making the general.
For me the only semi interesting race is Seattle attorney, where the question will be can AD make it to the general (I doubt it but maybe I’ll be surprised). Good news, we seem to have more than a couple good candidates in that race.
Outside of that one race, every incumbent will make it through to the general election.
Good for Strauss for proposing what seems to be a sensible extra neighborhood center in his district, but disappointing Hollingsworth is trying to reduce one in hers. I’d think adding housing in Madrona would help reduce displacement in the CD.
@3, Mike Blob, At least Megan supplied some attribution for someone else’s work.
@2 oh the guy who previously called for “leftwing fascists” to be arrested had protesters arrested? Smith and Sawant are both absurd figures just in opposite ways.
Increased high density housing, because what’s better than stacking people up like cordwood in a small area?
Include communal kitchens and bathrooms and you’ve got something out of an Asimov novel.
@3 https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/ is my go-to for current conditions.
@4 agree with you accept for the fact there is also a tax increase on the primary ballot for both the city and county that if approved will be a done deal. I think its bs that the city/county are allowed to put these kinds of measures on the primary ballot when they know there will be low turnout. Hopefully people pay attention and vote.
@3: Remove all characters after “.gov” in the link.
@10 I include the tax measures in my no surprises (we know these will pass, right – regardless of the turnout). If this was a more rural county, then maybe more intrigue but for King/Seattle tax measures, they’re close to an automatic yes (been this way for decades).
Megan,
You have to try the native trailing blackberries some time. They are so much better than those big seedy (non-native) Himalayan blackberries. They are tiny, but oh so good. You’ll never go back! 🙂
Tree weirdo here. You write plenty about effects of climate change but don’t seem to know that keeping trees in cities and (gasp!) building out green space actually keeps cities cool.
@10 How is Seattle Prop 1 a tax increase?
15: It replaces the expiring levy with a new one that increases the funding amount. Note NO, or you’re a doofus.
dense housing allows for more green space where trees can grow
@15 @16 Yeah, it’s an additional .23 per 1000 dollars of your property value… so if you have $500k in property it’ll raise your taxes about $10 a month… and all the money goes to …parks, outdoor education programs, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, Memorial Stadium, Seattle’s Waterfront Park, the Pacific Science Center. Ballfield preservation. youth and amateur sport programs and forest conservation… you know… doofus shit that nobody in Seattle could possible care about or like. Nature? Well cared for parks? Science? Who needs it? Not us! We’ve got our red hats and the reading comprehension level of a 3rd grader! What else do we need, right Coolidge?
@16: It’s actually a decrease in the levy.
@18: Wrong levy. That’s King County Prop 1, which technically is a tax increase of, like, $25 a year.
18: Yeah, all the accumulated property taxes cost an average Seattle home $8K-$10K a year. The fraction amount per 1000 is a very effective scam.
I paid an escrow shortage about $2000 this summer just to keep my monthly mortgage from going up over $100. Landlords will make their renters suffer as well.
19: Why are you lying? You (HEART) property tax increases.
This new levy would generate $4.5 million annually, which is an increase from the original levy’s $3 million annually.
https://ballotpedia.org/Seattle,Washington,Proposition_1,DemocracyVoucher_Program_Property_Tax_Renewal_Measure_(August_2025)
@15 you’re right, its not an increase just a continuance of the current tax. My point though is they are putting these tax measures on low turnout votes in order to get them through easier when people are generally not paying attention. @12 is prob right that they would pass anyway because voters around here have not turned down a tax that I can ever recall but I feel if we are going to have a vote on taxes you should do it when more people are voting during the general.
@20 you can keep saying its “only” blah blah but as @21 noted they add up. This doesn’t even take into account counties continuing effort to raise the property tax lid to 3% and I noticed this story in the Times the other day:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/wa-appeals-court-says-counties-can-sue-state-for-public-defense-funding/
That story has McCleary written all over it and once the SC weighs in and orders the state to fund this for counties you can expect another huge tax increase to come our way. So its not just about the current increase on the ballot its also about looking to the future and what is probably coming.
How is presenting a levy as a rate a scam? That’s literally what a levy is
@21 if only there was a way to keep home prices down even a little, like say building a lot more housing in the city?
@20 To be fair, I did say I had the reading comprehension of a 3rd grader so….
@22 I’m not lying. The levy is decreasing from $1.94 to $1.50 per $1,000 assessment. The reason it’s collecting more revenue is the increased price of housing in the past 10 years.
It is simply not a tax increase. When the price of goods go up do you call the extra sales tax you’re paying a tax increase?
@21 Do you wrap your homeowner’s insurance into your mortgage? That also accounts for escrow shortages. I do agree that property taxes are too high in Washington state, which is why we need an income tax.
@28: Yes. Most do. But aside from a few fees and insurance rate increases, it’s all property taxes.
Glad you agree they’re too high.
@17 FTW!
@28, I would vote for an income tax in a heartbeat as long as the same amendment to the Washington State Constitution required every dollar raised by the income tax be used to lower the sales tax or property tax dollar for dollar.
The average property tax in my neighborhood (if Zillow is to be trusted) sits around $14,000 (mix of houses, townhomes, small apartment buildings, etc.) – in 2023 they jumped almost 24% in one year (that quick jump applied to every housing option).
And FYI, this is just a normal Seattle neighborhood (not one of the fancy neighborhoods) – an income tax can’t come soon enough.
@32 John Wilson had to pay for his surveillance gear somehow.
@32 hahaha – touché
Only really naive people or true believers think an income tax would be revenue neutral and that is why we will never have one.
What’s weird about wanting to save trees, Megan, especially our rapidly vanishing old growth forest areas?
If you hate trees so much you can always move to a desert.
@17 barth and @30 Mr. Magoo: Promoting denser housing sounds like less of a concern to preserve trees and more like the New York City-ification of Seattle and Washington State to me. I find this worrisome, particularly as long as crumbling infrastructure in the PNW is still not being adequately being addressed.
Like Felon Mu$k and his Mein Trumpf ad nauseum, Greg Abbott is in dire need of a rabies shot as well as castration. The sooner the better.
@36 “What’s weird about wanting to save trees, Megan, especially our rapidly vanishing old growth forest areas?”
What’s weird are the density opponents who are either misguided or disingenuous in claiming to defend trees by fighting any and all upzoning. Especially if you want to save older growth areas you should support increasing density in the urban core, because the alternative is more construction in as-yet-undeveloped sites along I90 and elsewhere.
@37 thirteen12: Density is one thing. But can’t we still have our urban trees, too? I agree with your valid point about preventing suburban sprawl. I’m mainly concerned, however, by all the tree “services” in my area that don’t trim but actually clearcut and totally raze greenbelts for density and housing. Without trees, our region faces glare, increased outdoor temperatures, and smog from increased carbon emissions. Trees provide oxygen and welcome shade, especially during these warm summer months. Once forests and urban greenbelts are gone, they are GONE, and they’re never coming back.
I, personally, am not impressed by increasing density in our cities, particularly in King and Whatcom Counties. The “Growth is Great” advocates where I live make me think of high rises in New York City where the human population of 8.4 million is ~ 531 square feet per person (see Google). And don’t get me started about traffic.